Through It All...

Tonight I have been playing catch up on the laundry, and thinking about my story. Later this month I will be sharing my story at the prison in St Joseph, Missouri. This visit is part of my work with the Power of Purity. With thoughts of my story flying through my head I am watching Sunday Best on BET. It's like American Idol for Gospel music. The theme tonight is a Tribute to Andrae Crouch. I have been blessed so very much by his music throughout the years. At one point the song "Through It All" was being performed. It brought tears to my eyes. The message is so very real to me. You see, I feel like being a Christian can seem so very negative to those who are not believers. Why wouldn't it... Christians often come off as self-righteous.; especially those in the U.S. church. They pick and choose sins to speak out about, and the ones to keep dirty little secrets of the church. The overweight pastor will speak about sexual sin, but never address gluttony. The pastor addicted to porn will not address it or share his story other men. He hides in his shame, and chooses to strike out at other sins. Now before everyone tells me that it is not every pastor and every believer… I get that. It is unfortunate that it is usually the most vocal ones. Why oh why would someone want to be a Christian? The answer for me... is the true message of the Gospel. Love thy neighbor as thyself, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. You see I am a sinner, and that will not change this side of heaven. And it is not a surprise to God. I have sinned against others, and they against me. The abuse in my childhood was not sin for me, but I was affected by the sin of another. That impacted me in ways that I can never get back. I loved Tyler Perry’s statement on Oprah (I know, some of my Christian friends are cringing at the mention of their names.), it was something like… that man (that abused me) put something on me that was not mine to carry. For those of you who are sinless, you will not understand what it means to receive the amazing grace of God. I have decided that I will stop killing myself to be the perfect Christian. There is only on Christ, and while I joke about my perfection... I know it is not true. Through it all I have learned to trust in Jesus. I have learned to trust in God.


Through It All
Songwriters: BROWN, GARY VICTOR / HARVEY, STEVE

I've had many tears and sorrows
I've had questions for tomorrow
There've been times I didn't know right from wrong
But in every situation
God gave blessed consolation
That my trials only come to make me strong

I've been a lot of places
And I've seen so many faces
But there've been times I've felt so all alone
But in that lonely hour
In that precious, lonely hour
Jesus let me know I was His own

Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to depend upon His Word

So I thank God for the mountains
And I thank Him for the valleys
I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through
Cause if I never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them
I wouldn't know what faith in His Word could do

Through it all
Through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all
Through it all

I've learned to depend upon His Word
Yes, I've learned to depend upon His Word
I've learned to depend upon His Word

Servant Leadership... a work in progress.

"The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves." ~ J. Carla Nortcutt

Have you seen those insurance commercials where someone watches another person do something good like open a door for someone, pick up trash, wipe up a spill etc, and then they repeat something good. It starts a cycle of positive behavior. It makes me think of servant leadership. Throughout my career I have been asked, “What is your leadership style?” My response was always, “I believe in treating people the way I want to be treated, and that shouldn’t ask them to do a task that I cannot perform at their level or better.” Simple concept for someone raised in a Christian home. After all, Christian and non-Christians alike know the Golden Rule. Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” What many Christians do not know, and some do not care to know, is that this teaching was first taught by Vishnu Gupta. He stated, “This is the sum of duty; do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” This teaching is present in so many belief systems.

What I didn’t know was there is a real leadership style called Servant Leadership. The modern servant leadership movement was launched by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 with his essay, “The Servant as Leader”, in which he coined the terms “servant-leader” and “servant leadership.”

(Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, www.greenleaf.org) Since his death in 1990, the concept has been developed by other writers such as James Autry, Ken Blanchard, Jim Hunter and Larry Spears.

Since learning about the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, I have been a member, and the information has been invaluable. Here are some questions that I have answered about Servant Leadership in past presentations.

What is Servant Leadership?

It is a philosophy which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Servant leaders may or may not hold formal leadership positions, but they encourage collaboration trust, foresight, listening and the ethical use of power and empowerment.

What makes Servant Leaders effective?

Servant leaders know how to listen and build a sense of community. They devote themselves to serving the needs of organization members while focusing on meeting the needs of those they lead. Key areas of focus are employee development, coaching, and encouraging self expression to bring out their best gifts and talents while facilitating personal growth with all who work with them.

Servant leadership is characterized by a belief that leadership development is an on-going, life-long learning process. There are 11 characteristics that servant leaders commit to continually developing. Those characteristics include:

1. Calling
2. Listening
3. Empathy
4. Healing
5. Awareness
6. Persuasion
7. Conceptualization
8. Foresight
9. Stewardship
10. Commitment to the growth of people
11. Building community

What are some limitations of servant leadership?

Servant leadership is not a quick-fix, and is not quick to absorb in the DNA of an organization. It can be perceived by some as weakness, and too much listening or empathizing can lead to indecisiveness or lack of vision.

Are you a servant leader?

Some characters of servant leadership are inherent in attributes or beliefs that a servant leader needs to hold, some skills are developed, and the ultimate servant leader has developed all characteristics and is continuously growing and improving. If you are a believer in Christ, you already have a solid base for being a servant leader.

I am not the ultimate servant leader, but I am working on it every day. If your like me, you will find that it is easier to be a servant leader to those outside your own home. The same qualities that I am able to provide with those in my professional life are often difficult to bring into my personal relationships. Too often those closest to us bear the brunt of our unservant like behavior. My goal is to stive to bring servant leadership to my home as well as to those whom I serve at work. The process requires continious growth and improvement. Remember, one does not have to be a manager, director, senior leader etc. to be a servant leader. Anyone in any position can be a servant leader... won't you join me in impacting your world by serving others? 

Humility

Tomorrow morning I get pleasure of speaking during the half-time devotions for Crosspoint Church's Upward Soccer League. The kids are learning about humility. I have struggled with humility in my own life. Being full of pride compensated for me dying of shame in the inside. Fortunately God has brought people into my life to love me through my arrogance and help me understand my story. Intellectually I knew that pride was not good, and often heard people in the church quote Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” What I realize now is that this was often in conjunction with gossip that was spoken about the “prideful” person. What I never heard was the next verse Proverbs 16:19, “It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly.” This is probably because gossip is a form of pride. I’m better than this person, or can you believe this person did X, Y, and Z? In a sense the gossiper is saying that the one being gossiped about has sin worse than the sin of those doing the gossiping. But I digress… The kids are learning about humility from Philippians chapter 2. As I prepare, I find myself completely immersed in the study of the subject. Unfortunately, I only have about 6 minutes for half-time, so I have to stay focused and remind myself I am not teaching or preaching a series of messages. I need to get the point across in a concise manner. People who know me understand I love quotes. Here are 2 of my favorite quotes on humility: 1. “Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all.” William Temple 2. “Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less.” C.S. Lewis In Philippians 2:9-11, points out 3 things about Jesus that model the essence of true humility. 1. Jesus took the form of a servant. He didn’t live life in his divinity. Want to know if you are humble? How do you respond when you’re treated like a servant? Do you choose to be a servant? A servant can be unnoticed, overlooked and taken for granted. Our society says that this is a sign of weakness. We should be assertive, never be passive and never appear to be someone’s doormat. This is different from what the Bible teaches of humility. It is because of our identity in Christ that we can serve others here on Earth without need of recognition. We serve a God who sees and promises to reward us after our life here is done. 2. We see Jesus demonstrated his humility through obedience to the Father. Jesus did not impose his own will on God, but submitted and trusted God’s plan. Although not easy in our humanity, we can do this because his Word says he a plan for us. God’s plans for us are to, “prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). 3. Third, we learn the need to patiently wait for God’s timing. Jesus didn’t exalt himself; he waited for God to do it. Jesus, fully divine and flawlessly human at the same time, lived his life humbly as a servant. When it was time for him to die, his humanity cried out for another way, he submitted to his Father’s will. Jesus the perfect representation of humility. As followers of Christ, we should have the same attitude as Jesus. This my friends is something I will continue to struggle with and work toward the rest of my days on Earth. While I struggle in my own humanity, I strive to live with the attitude of Christ.