LESSONS FROM JESUS & NIGERIA

This morning I was in Matthew 7 where Jesus says,
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

How is it possible for someone to call Jesus “Lord” and in His name do many miracles, prophesy, and cast out demons, only for Jesus to say, I never knew you? Isn’t prophesy, casting out demons, and doing miracles in Jesus’ name, Christian work? How can we be deceived into thinking we are serving Jesus when we are not?

One only needs to visit Nigeria to find the answer to these questions. Our time there was truly enlightening. The southern half of Nigeria is 80% Christian and is home to the largest city in all of Africa, Lagos, made up of 21 million people. Yet, Nigeria is an extremely corrupt country and evil place. The kind of place we’d say, “needs missionaries.” Yet thousands of missionaries have been working there for well over 100 years. Multiple generations of born again Christians, and yet so little impact.

We met with a handful of local Christian workers, pastors and several other missionaries. It was interesting how each group blamed the other for their problems. When I asked the question, “So, what impact is the church having on society?” I received a flood of replies that varied from, “all the local pastors want is a Western ‘sugar daddy’” to “there is a tremendous lack of discipleship”.

The first issue is modeling. The nationals do what they see Westerners do. Several Nigerians told me:

• If the Westerners are dependent on the wealthy West, well then why shouldn’t we Nigerians get money directly from the West too? 
• If the Westerners have little or no accountability for their time, taking 3 or more months off every year or 2, why should we Nigerians be held accountable for our time? 
• If the Westerners complain and make excuses about the supposed difficulties of living in our country, why can’t we Nigerians claim the same difficulties as an excuse for little production?

The second issue though, may be more serious. When we asked people about their faith, it often came back to sharing about the things they did. When people did reply, I have a personal relationship with God, it usually turned out to be buzz words and not a deep relationship with God. Interest was high in getting training, finding materials, and learning new methodologies, but few seemed to understand how to discern God’s will, or what His voice sounded like.

The couple we mentor there has started a home for abused women and children and started 4 businesses, with 2 more in the works to start this year. As the women are healed, they are trained in a business so as to have a job, a future, once they are healed.

While I was there, the owner was interviewing a woman named Juliana for a receptionist position. Juliana lived in the community and did not come from an abused background. When he asked, “Why would you want to work here?” Juliana answered, “Because I have heard and seen that God is in this place and I want to work where God is.”

We are learning the importance of using the weapons God has given us to get wisdom and gain a godly understanding for ways of doing business in the community. In time, this should transform a community who we then hope will impact the wider society. We are learning how to put prayer, fasting, and discipleship into the workplace. God cares about everything we do. Everything we do is to be done unto His glory (Colossians 3:23). People need to be discipled in ways to fight for both what is in their control and not in their control. We control systems, machines, methodologies, hours at work, etc., but we do not control the unseen forces at work around us. With the latter, we need to learn to spiritually ask God for the things we do not see or understand, and for the discipline and discernment to apply what He tells us related to these forces.

But discipleship is not words. Discipleship is a relationship. Learning to live life – do business in the Spirit, is fighting in a new arena for most. We need to understand that discipleship is a relationship. These are things that cannot be taught by words alone, but must also be modeled through our lives and work.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus sends out His disciples to baptize and disciple. In Nigeria, the church and mission agencies seem to be succeeding at only half of this assignment.

As I am asking myself, may we ask one another; Is an incomplete obedience what Jesus means by, I never knew you? Is doing things in His name, different than doing things with Him?

I’d be interested to hear how you think things are going in your own church, or community? And how we might do them better!

A PARABLE

There was a huge, 3-day business conference being held downtown for which people paid a hefty
price to attend. During a break on the second day, a woman who had not paid the registration fee
snuck into the conference hall. She wanted to meet the Leader of this conference. She had read
his books, seen his video, followed him on his weekly blog, but she could not afford the
expensive conference fee.

The woman managed to get within a few feet of the Leader when one of the Leader’s team
members noticed the woman did not have a conference name badge, the proper security
identification. He then questioned her about it. Realizing she was in trouble and her chances of
speaking with the Leader were suddenly slim, the woman quickly shouted out the Leader’s
name.  He was less than ten feet from her, so he turned and looked at her. She immediately cried
out with a concerned voice, “Leader, help me please. My business is failing. My husband is an
invalid due to a previous work accident and no one is helping us.” The Leader turned away and
continued talking to the people in his inner circle.

The woman continued shouting, “Leader, I am certain we have the right product, and we need
your help to market and deliver it.” At that outburst, someone called security and one of the
Leader’s assistants grabbed the woman to silence her. This resulted in her shouting even louder.
“Leader, please, please, I know you can help me. I brought my business plan, the by-laws,
balance sheet, my PL statement, cash flow sheet and some customer reviews!” The Leader
paused from his conversation and looked at the woman and said, “Madam, I am here to serve my
clients, the members of this conference. They have paid their fees. Sorry, you are not a member.”

Now what would the woman do at this point?
What would you do?
What would security do?
What would the Leader’s assistants do? (Likely throw her out.)

As security and the Leader’s assistants begin to push her toward the door, the woman breaks
away, sprints over to the Leader, falls at his feet and begs, “Leader please, I beg of you, I know
you can help me, please help me!”  To which the Leader replies, “Woman, it isn’t right to take the ideas and strategies which I have so diligently worked to master and teach to others, and give them away to deadbeats and cheapskates, to vagrants and bums who do not pay.”

Stop again.  Now at this point, how do you think the woman feels?  No one person in this crowd of 20 to 30 people are supporting her or encouraging her. Not one. Security has her in their grasp and they are lifting her to her feet, starting to move her away. How does she feel? What would you do if
you were her?

Then while being dragged away, she faces the Leader and cries out, “Yes Leader, you are right,
but even the vagrants and bums eat the crumbs, the garbage that is tossed out of the homes of the
rich.”  At those words, the Leader stopped, and looked directly at the woman. The Leader, whose name by the way is Jesus, says to the woman, “Your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.”

You may read another version of this story in Matthew 15:21-28.

Perseverance and believing your idea is His idea is essential to succeeding in B4T. Many of us
have been down to our last dollar. We’ve sold everything causing our families to suffer, yet we
kept believing. We worked even harder. And then, in His grace, Jesus answered our prayers for
our businesses.

Do you believe your job, your business, is Jesus’ idea? Are you willing to give it your all – and
put everything into it? Then keep working. Keep moving forward. And keep begging for His
blessing.

DO YOU COUNT EVERYTHING AS LOSS?

The following was submitted by an OPEN worker in the Arab world.

Paul tells the Philippians, For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3:3

Paul points out the differences between the circumcision (us) and the uncircumcision (non-believers) is 3-fold:
1) We worship by the Spirit of God. For example, Jesus tells the woman at the well that she worships what she does not know but a day is coming when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
2) We glory in Christ Jesus instead of the things of this world.
3) We put no confidence in the flesh, but instead put our confidence in the righteousness of Christ that depends on faith (v.9)

One of the three differences between us and the world is that we glory in Christ Jesus. Paul goes on to say that he counts all things as loss, including his earthly credentials (v.4-11). It got me thinking: what are the things that I glory in? Unfortunately, it’s not only Christ Jesus that I glory in. He has me in a process of learning, painful as it is, to count all things as loss and glory only to Himself. In Galatians 6:14 Paul chases this idea with, But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Isn’t that astonishing? May boasting in anything save Christ alone be far from us as well! I want to call us to a greater holiness here. As B4T’ers, many of us secretly glory in our business. I sometimes hear a pride in the voices of B4T’ers that we are working with our own hands and not living only off of what other people give. We could slip into a state of pride that our business is going well. We can forget to count as loss all that we have given up to get this far. These are traps. Let us not fall in them.

I struggle to count my career as loss. I struggle to not overthink about all that I could have back home. Do you see what I’m doing here? When I let my affections stir for these things I’m failing to count them as loss. I’m feeling as though I have sacrificed something to be here doing what I’m doing. This is a real problem because in these moments, I’m miscalculating the tradeoff I made. These things are rubbish, says Paul. These things are worthless in comparison to what I got.

In the parable of the treasure in Matthew 13:44, Jesus has this to say: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and buried. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The treasure we have in Christ is so infinitely valuable that the man sold everything to go and buy that field – and he did it with joy. He didn’t do it grumbling; he didn’t do it with the pressure of his local church behind him. He didn’t say, “Oh, okay, Lord I will do it.” In his joy he sold everything to get ahold of this.

We have this same treasure in Jesus. Let our businesses, let all the things we left behind, let money and fame, let approval, let control and power all be counted as loss for the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and being known by Him.



What do you need to count as loss today?

ANOTHER WORD FOR GRIT

This blog was submitted by an OPEN worker serving in the Middle East.

The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is: I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be outworked, period. You might have more talent than me. You might be smarter than me. You might be sexier than me. You might be all of those things. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: you’re getting off first or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple.
– Will Smith

If what Will Smith is saying about himself is true, he has some serious grit. But Will Smith knows what he’s after. If you don’t know what you’re after, it wouldn’t be the best idea to be very gritty. Grit demands a goal, it needs to have an end in mind. As B4Ter’s, we know our goal: we want to bring holistic transformation to the least-reached communities in the name of Jesus via business. Being fruitful in terms of B4T means seeing the power of God rescue men, women, and children from least reached people groups and transforming them into His likeness as part of His Church.

In her book, Grit, Angela Duckworth defines grit as the equation; passion x perseverance. Passion will fizzle out without perseverance. Yet, when the two are combined, you have the ability to pursue something wholeheartedly until the end. There is a good biblical word for grit: endurance. Where perseverance is the ability to hang in there until the end (and is grown in us by the testing of our faith – James 1:2-4), endurance is the persevering through pain and trials. When everything is against us and the world is crumbling all around, endurance will get you through. Indeed, the Scriptures say that the one who endures until the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22, 24:13, etc.).

So is Duckworth right? Is grit the defining characteristic of the successful? In one sense, she must be right. By the very definition, those who stick around until the end will see churches planted. Duckworth states that 90% of life is showing up. I think this is pretty accurate in terms of our faith as well. The Scriptures are clear that it is God who works in us to produce results (Philippians 2:13, Ephesians 2:10). We need to show up humble and ready to play His way, and He will coach us to victory.

So, though I’d add some necessary qualities to grit to bring about a harvest amongst the unreached, I’d also say that any qualities without grit (read: endurance) will not result in transforming lives or seeing a church planted. We need grit to work long-term overseas. We need grit to go the distance in order to see His plans for salvation of a lost people group brought to fruition.

YOUR IMAGE

I am cleaning out my files from the 1980’s – pre-computer days. I found this story. No author is attributed to it, so if you know, please let me know so I may credit them. I trust it will encourage you as it does me.

There was a group of women doing a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says; "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond sharing her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest in order to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. Then she thought again about the verse, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. "She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined."

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver in place, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver were left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" 

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh that's easy—when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that you are in God's hand, He has His eyes on you, and He will keep holding you and watching you until He sees His image in you.

Author unknown.

GRIT

The following was contributed by a tentmaker working in the Arab world.

In her book, Grit, Angela Duckworth presents a compelling case for why people are successful. As you might expect, she declares grit to be the decisive factor – as opposed to talent or anything else. The following quote from her book struck me:

Pitching…determines what I eat, when I go to bed, what I do when I’m wake. It determines how I spend my life when I’m not pitching. If it means I have to come to Florida and can’t get tanned because I might get a burn that would keep me from throwing for a few days, then I never go shirtless in the sun...if it means I have to remind myself to pet dogs with my left hand or throw logs on the fire with my left hand, then I do that, too. If it means in the winter I eat cottage cheese instead of chocolate chip cookies in order to keep my weight down, then I eat cottage cheese. – Tom Seaver, Hall of Fame pitcher

What if cross-cultural workers lived like this in relation to God’s calling on our lives?

If you think about your goals, your biggest goals (you should only have a few “biggest goals”), are they fully aligned with God’s calling on your life? If not, you need to scrap them. Under those big goals you should have some medium goals, and under those medium goals you will have smaller goals. If you have smaller goals that don’t aid your medium goals that don’t aid your big goals, scrap those as well!

Grit is about having the same “biggest goals” for a long time. It is about sticking it out when others are quitting all around you. It is about scrapping smaller goals that you find don’t aid your biggest goals (aka “pruning” from John 15) and trying new things in order to accomplish your biggest goal. For B4T’ers, our biggest goal is to see entire communities transformed in the name of Jesus via business.

What are your biggest goals? Are they aligned with God’s goals for your life and for His world? Are your medium and small goals helping you achieve your big goals? If not, I challenge you to scrap them and create better small and medium goals to move you in the right direction.

Lastly, Warren Buffet has reportedly given a helpful exercise to an employee of his. It goes like this:

Write down 25 career (or long term or life-long or whatever you want to call them) goals. 

Do some soul searching and circle ONLY the top 5. 

Take a good look at the other 20, and then avoid them at all costs because you have now found the things that will distract you from the few most important things you are called to do.

Angela Duckworth said, “Any successful person has to decide what to do in part by deciding what not to do.” What things do you need to not do in order to fulfill His calling on your life?

INTERNS. BLESSING? OR BURDEN?

Internships, Interns. Do the words make you cringe? What thoughts does having an intern conjure up? “Baby sitting?” “Sloppy work?” These are just two of the many reasons B4Ters don’t like having interns. Yet having an intern can be a big help in building your business.

When I was still running our business and leading a team, people who were working in other regions would often ask, “How come you always seem to have so many people working with you?” The answer – interns. Throughout the years we had a steady stream of young people coming through our business and city. And often it was these interns who came back long-term. So, what are the keys to getting interns to return, and seeing them bring a blessing and not a burden to you and your work? There are two.

1. Understand that an internship is first and foremost a training program. When we invest in people, they see it and they feel it. It's true, training and mentoring a college intern requires time and effort; much more time and effort than someone with work experience. It is likely you will need to invest time up front to help the intern develop the skills that are useful in your business. In mentoring them you’ll need to anticipate the questions they will encounter and it’s wise to have someone who is assigned to oversee their work. I found on the average it would require an hour of my time each morning to keep the intern working and productive throughout the day. 
   
   Interns need guidance. In the beginning the first one or two interns required possibly 2 to 4 hours of guidance a day. Yes, that’s a big investment. But once I developed a structured training and evaluation process and trained others to oversee them, the amount of time involved training and supervising subsequent interns, became less and less, because I used that same process for every intern after that. In addition to their job, the process included where they lived, the Bible passages they studied, plus how to build relationships so as to learn some language and the culture outside of work. Making these inroads encouraged each intern to see there’s a future for them with our business and among our people group. It made them feel a part of the business and our community. And most importantly the intern experienced our commitment to investing in their life and work.
   
2. Secondly, every one of us has a project or three that we’d like to get done, but just don’t have the time to do it. The project or job we’d like done may require only 20-30 hours of our time, but with all that’s happening who has that time to spare? Interns are perfect for such projects. Yes, they’ll take an hour a day of your time; and yes it will take them twice or even three times as long to do the job than if you did it yourself. However, think about this. If it would take you 20 hours to do the project and an intern 40 hours, it may seem like a bad investment of your time. Yet if you invest one hour each work day with an intern over the course of two weeks, that’s 10 hours. If the intern is working on the project 6 hours a day during that time, that’s roughly 60 hours. Sixty hours is more than enough time for the intern to complete the project, saving you 10 hours. In addition, the intern gains valuable work experience, is exposed to B4T, forms a bond with you and your staff, and returns home having an honest sense of accomplishing something of value to the business. 

Interns need well defined goals and there should be measurable outcomes for the intern to complete, which you will learn to do as you work with the intern. If you need help with setting up a process for interns, OPEN has people who are available to assist you.

For example, here’s a recent email from JP working in SE Asia.

I am just now completing a Nexus B4T internship with Steven who I met at the B4TExpo. Steven will now head back to the U.S. to work with us as a sales person. He was with us about seven weeks and it has been beyond what I was praying for! Amazing how deep he was able to connect with our team and also the support he has been to our business during his time here. I talked to my wife yesterday about how now I realize the impact (spiritual and business) a high-quality intern can have. I wanted to pass along this positive input!

Needing some help? Consider trying an intern this summer. 

For more information contact Michelle(at)NexusB4T.com

ST. PATRICK & B4T

On March 17 many people around the globe celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. He was a human trafficking victim in the 5th century who became a missionary to the people and land of Ireland where he once was a slave. Obviously, Patrick’s Day is a special day! – for those of us who are both of Irish background and are named Patrick.

My friend Mats Tunehag shared with me this well-known prayer by St. Patrick, and he customized it to be a Business as Mission related prayer: (the original is in bold and italics). Let’s all pray this together on March 17th.

Christ with me, as I do business for Him and people.

Christ before me, as I plan my work each day.

Christ behind me, as I review my work performance.

Christ in me; my guiding light in my workplace.

Christ beneath me; He is the foundation of all I do.

Christ above me, He is the owner of my business.

Christ on my right, Christ on my left, He is the Lord of the marketplace.

Christ when I lie down, and rest from my work.

Christ when I sit down, in my office chair.

Christ when I arise, enthusiastic or weary to serve co-workers and clients.

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, and my job.

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, and my job.

Christ in every eye that sees me, my staff, customers, suppliers, and competitors.

Christ in every ear that hears me speak about my products and services.

For Jesus’ Sake, Amen

MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES

Your employees are the face, hands and feet of your business. They are the ones your customers interact with. As B4Ters we want to enable co-workers to excel, help them discover their own wisdom, engage themselves entirely in their work, and accept responsibility for the work they do. Train your people well and they will work well. Learn their career aspirations and help them accomplish what they aspire to do. Jesus says, “Whatever you wish men would do to you, do so to them.” (Matthew 7:12) 

As leaders, we are to serve. Employees who are well trained and held in esteem will return such godly leadership by working hard for you.

Our co-workers and/or employees are also the first line of witness to the goodness and reality of the Lord in our lives. We need to walk and work in the Spirit every moment we are at work. The following are some helpful comments from OPEN workers about how they keep their employees motivated and His light shining before all men at work.

• Recognize employees in your staff meeting for work they have done well. Constantly be on the lookout for chances to praise your people’s work
  
• Try to involve employees in your thinking and making plans related to the business. Not only will they know the local market better, including suppliers and customers, they will also strengthen the marketing of the business’s goods and services.
  
• Learn what the employees really value and provide that. In some locales the workers desire opportunities for personal growth, while in others they want respect, promotions, responsibility, and often more money.
  
• Give employees a chance to develop new skills that enhance their worth in their current position, and prepare them for future advancement inside or outside the company.
  
• Be relational. It may not be possible to hang out with employees, but celebrate their birthdays and personal holidays; get to know at least the names of their family members. Ask about their lives, their joys, and their struggles. Pray with them.
  
• Thank people for their efforts. This simple tool is often underused. Reward people with notes or little gifts of encouragement. Make sure the feedback is specific and frequent.
  
• Maintain a transparent culture in your business. Discuss company information with employees regarding future plans and strategies, new products, and the department’s and employees’ role in the overall plan. Involve employees in decision making, especially those decisions that affect them.

Which one will you do this week?

PRIVACY – NO ROOM ON THE BEACH

Are you ever tired? Looking for a bit of rest? Need a break?

Jesus often took breaks, but they didn’t always go as planned. In Matthew 13 Jesus goes out of His house to sit and rest by the sea.

I live 100 yards from the ocean. I have a favorite place to sit and enjoy God’s awesome creation. I would guess that Jesus had His favorite rock, or spot on the sand to sit at too. It is likely before He began openly teaching and healing people that He went there often. However, on this day, He no sooner sits down than someone sees Him and informs the community and a crowd forms.

People had come from as far away as Tyre (Mark 3:8) to hear Him or be healed, so it is logical to assume there were hundreds of people camped around the village of Capernaum where he lived, hoping for an opportunity to meet Him. He’s spotted, a crowd gathers. Wanting space and rest, He calls for one of His friends to bring over a boat and climbs aboard. He sits down, but rather than sail to some distant quiet spot, He addresses the crowd and begins to teach.

Do your ever tire of living in fishbowl – a life where people are constantly pushing and pulling on you, touching you, asking you for things, never allowing one minute of alone time? Being recognized by everyone as the only foreigner in the city or neighborhood?

Well give thanks to God, for we are being just like Jesus!

GROANING

Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling… For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5: 2&4

There is at the center of reality a groan. And the closer to the center we live, the more we will hear it and the more we will share in it: the center of creation, the center of the church, the center of work, the center of relationships, the center of those things that belong to the disciples of Jesus. The closer we move there, the more we hear the groan—the more we share the groan. And we will recognize it....

Paul says that the groan in creation, in us, in God, is a groan not of death; but a groan of childbirth – of life. God is giving birth to something new. God is doing something fresh. God is creating new heaven, new earth, and by the time I have mastered the groan, I will have to exchange it – for a WOW!

May we with all our hearts, and with all our souls and with all our minds and all our strength, groan for Him throughout 2018.

ARE YOU TOO BUSY?

The following was found in my notes from 1988. The Author is Unknown, I checked online.



Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church.  We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ.


Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches; let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Jesus Christ.


This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection through-out their day!"


"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow.  Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.  Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"


Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice.  Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive.  To keep the TV, internet, iPhone’s and their laptops going constantly at home and at work. See to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."


"Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers.  Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.


Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so their husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives.  That will fragment those families quickly!"


"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders.  Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!


And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Go ahead, let them be involved in soul-winning; but crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus.


Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work!  It will work!"


It was quite a convention.  The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more and more busy and more and more rushed, going here and there.


I guess the question is: Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge!
Does "busy" mean:  B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?




As I’ve said many times, there’s no such thing as a balanced life. Jesus was one of the most unbalanced people I’ve studied. The hours He worked, the miles He walked, the thousands He healed, spoke to and touched. The sermons He preached, the parables He told, the all-night prayer meetings, the 40 days of fasting, the demons He fought off.  Balance? If you seek a balanced life, do not go in to B4T work. But in the midst of all He did, Jesus was never rushed. He was always in control of His time.


And that’s how you know when you are too busy; it’s when you lose control of your time that you know you are too busy.  So.  Are you too busy?


And let me ask again. Has the devil been successful at his scheme?

31,536,000 seconds

     


Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during that day.


What would you do?  Draw out every cent, every day of course!!!!


Actually, we each have such a bank account. Its name is TIME.
Every morning it credits us with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever we have failed to invest. It carries over no balance.  It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If we fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is ours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to maximize your life and for the glory of Jesus. Manage those seconds well to bless your spouse, your children, your co-workers, your friends for Jesus’ sake. 


Start today, it’s a New Year. That’s a brand new 31,536,000 seconds.
The clock is running.  Make the most of 2018. Make the most of today’s deposit.

Remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!!


Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.          Ephesians 5:15-16


Happy New Year!  May this be your best year ever!

CHRISTMAS REALITIES

The joy comes quickly.  The joy goes quickly.
Jesus is in Bethlehem, and then he is gone.
The shepherds who looked at Jesus, are looking again after their sheep.
The wise men are no longer revering the Lord, but ruling their subjects.
Joseph is back in his carpentry shop, receiving customers - not gifts.
Mary no longer hears the voices of angels, instead, the cries of a baby.
The joy gives way to reality. 

How do you see the babe?  If we participate in a new birth, we naturally experience joy.  But with every new birth there is commitment; a cost.  There comes a time after the celebration that we must act.  We must put into our daily lives the practice of what we believe.  If not, we have only a greeting card faith.  The Messiah has come.


We dare not stop with the sentiment of Christmas. We need to ask ourselves is Christmas the celebration of a baby?  Or is it a call to commitment.  A call to a new life?


Personally, I am continuing to relearn that it's easy to live with the joy of new born babies – especially grandchildren.  Yet it's quite another thing to guide and encourage them in the midst of their trials and tribulations – especially dirty diapers. In all we do, remember the importance of putting the baby back into reality.


Have a Blessed Celebration of Jesus!

GOD IS SUPREME

I'll be honest with you. Sometimes it's a real pain to embrace the diversity in our movement. Working with strong personalities, bridging denominational differences, mission backgrounds and juggling various agendas is demanding.  I often hear a cacophony of voices pulling me in what sometimes feels like different directions:

“We need to make prayer a greater priority!”
“There’s not enough emphasis on business!”
“Why aren't we spending more time in worship?”
“Shouldn’t there be more emphasis on language learning?”
“Where is the power of Spirit in all this?”
“We don't spend enough time on best practices!”


But lately the Spirit has been showing me a more positive aspect to our diversity.  What is the unifying theme or ultimate value behind all of our desires? The ultimate value is our desire to see God glorified in all things. Truly we yearn for the supremacy of God working in us and through us.


What do I mean by the supremacy of God in all things? To value the supremacy of God in all things means that we seek a God-centered way of thinking, living, working and witnessing that exalts His magnificence and surrenders our flesh to His lordship. When I begin to exalt His magnificence, something happens in my heart. My self-centered focus, my burdens, my anxieties melt away. I feel secure. I feel loved. I feel rest.  My soul is fortified, my vision renewed. I am ready to fight the good fight of faith. This in turn moves me to greater surrender – because I long more of Him. Desiring the supremacy of God in all things glorifies God, satisfies my soul, and motivates me to serve Him.

I experience His supremacy when I acknowledge my dependence on Him through prayer. I experience His supremacy when I delight in integrating His glory in my work. I experience His supremacy when I walk in the Spirit and drink from the rivers of living water. I experience His supremacy when I submit to His will for the people and in sharing His will in their language.  

I am humbled and strengthened as I reflect on this ultimate value. I am humbled because I realize that I need a full dose of each of these things. No one person, no one strategy has it all. The supremacy of God is most fully manifested as we pray, worship, walk in the Spirit and abide in His Word. We need each of these emphases.


At the same time, I am strengthened because nothing moves me more deeply than exalting His magnificence and surrendering to His lordship. I feel like Mary this Christmas: “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Luke 1:47-48


May we all exalt the Lord in this season.

KEEP PLOWING

An OPEN worker writes,

This past week I was doing a quarterly review with one of our designers and one of the things he said to me was, “Boss, you need to be meaner to me, even if it’s just a little bit.” I said to him, “I don’t understand?” He went on to explain that there are no other bosses in Pakistan who treat employees the way we do and he’s worried that if he ever left, he wouldn’t be ready to work for such an obstinate boss.  This led us into an hour-long conversation on why because of what God has done in me I could never be a "mean" boss and how God Himself is a loving, kind, and compassionate God who isn’t out to get you, or use you, but rather looking for a personal relationship with you.  

This is excellent plowing. 

The key to opening ears is hearing Jesus’ words. The key to opening hearts is seeing Jesus life. Ears are truly opened through the eyes. People need to see Jesus first, then they will listen.
The Apostle John puts it this way, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Be patient, be steadfast in plowing into peoples’ lives.  Live out your faith. Hearts who see the difference will become eager to hear about Christ who is that difference.

GIVING THANKS

We just celebrated Thanksgiving here in the USA. I know that it's not always easy to be thankful
when you are facing customer deadlines, monies to make payroll, co-workers’ complaints, and
trying to fit in some time for your spouse, and children.

Like many of us, I run the risk of getting too wrapped up in what I don't yet have that I might not
focus on what I do have. With that in mind, I tried to step back this past weekend and consider
my favorite quotes about thankfulness. May these encourage you as they do me.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” ― Paul

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks”. ― Unknown

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has
cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” ― Albert
Schweitzer

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.” ―
Gerald Good

“Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” ― David

“It's a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.” ― Roberto Benigni

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those
which he has.” ― Epictetus

“When things are bad, be thankful...they are not as bad as they could be.” ― Dixie Waters

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you
in Christ Jesus” ― Paul

“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” ― Doris Day

“Have the wisdom to perceive all there is to be thankful for, and then be thankful for the wisdom
to perceive things so clearly.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich

“Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have
roses.” ― Alphonse Karr

“Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” ― Paul

THE PURPOSE OF B4T

The following was told as part of a message, given at the B4T Expo in San Jose this past weekend.

I recall the story by a professor in Greece.  He was speaking at a business conference in Eastern Europe. On the last day of the conference, he was participating in a workshop and as things were wrapping up, the leader walked over to an open window and looked out. Then he asked if there were any questions. The professor laughingly asked him, “What is the meaning of life?” Everyone in attendance laughed. However, the leader held up his hand indicating quiet, and then responded, “Allow me to answer your question.” He then took his wallet out of his pocket and removed a small round mirror about the size of a quarter.

“When I was a child during World War II,” he said, “we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but too many pieces were missing, so I kept the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun rarely, if ever, could shine. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places. I kept the little mirror, and as I grew up, I would take it out at idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. 

As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game, but a metaphor of what I could do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light, nor the source of the light. But light – be it truth or understanding or knowledge or God – is there, and it will only shine into dark places if I reflect it. I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of this world – even into the dark places of human hearts. And by reflecting the light, I believe I am causing others to see the light, and even seek to reflect the light themselves. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

What is the purpose of B4T?  Our purpose is to REFLECT THE LIGHT.

The Ideal Painting

This blog is contributed by an OPEN worker, serving in the Arab world.

The painting above, is the result of a marketing survey, which asked people “What would be included in an ideal painting?”  The most popular answers were; George Washington, deer, mountains, trees, a family, and clouds, so the artist created the above image. 

The idea was to show that sometimes marketing surveys ask tons of questions in such a way that they can’t possibly understand their customers’ needs from the answers they receive. It’s funny how many things could be in an ideal painting, yet when all of them are put together it makes for a goofy picture, one that nobody would really purchase to hang over their mantle.

Sometimes we try too hard. We try too hard to be something or someone, we are not. At times we try to know a certain subject or understand something new, when that’s not who God intends us to be. Yet when we try too hard, especially of our own devices, we end up looking like this hodge-podge painting that attempts to be jack-of-all-trades but master of none.

This story has many implications. For business, we must know our customers, our market niche. We can’t chase every opportunity that comes along to make money. We need to know our target market. We should focus on what we do best and leave other services or products for other companies.  We need to know what our customers want and give them that. We don’t need to sell George Washington, deer, clouds, mountains, families, etc.

When it comes to relationships with others, we need to know who we are. What is your identity? How do you view yourself?  Is your identity found in what you do (your job) or is it found in being known by the Most High?  Godliness requires we understand who we are in view of a holy, loving God. We will not be effective in reaching the unreached if we can’t even figure out who we are.  If our friends value George Washington and shouldn’t try to become George Washington to please them. And if we think that the speaker at a conference is terrific, like the mountains/deer/family/grass, that doesn’t mean we need to become like the mountains/deer/ family/grass to be like him. Each of us is designed uniquely by God with gifts given by Him that we use to present back to Him for His glory (Psalm 139 is a beautiful picture of this).

When Paul said that he became all things to all people in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, he had the prerequisite mastered first. He said that he was free from all. We are not free if we are trying still to be cool – to please men. (Galatians 1:10) We are not free if we are trying to impress our boss or our parents or our co-workers. Paul was already free from all that. He became all things to all people, so that he might save some. He was already others-focused when he decided to become a servant to all. (1 Corinthians 9:19)

So instead of trying to be like the ideal painting, which is an example of both a bad marketing survey and a botched attempt to create something beautiful, let’s be first servants of the Most High God. After we understand who we are in Him, we will be free to become servants to our neighbors, friends, co-workers, bosses, etc. so that we might save some.

JUSTICE

The following is contributed by a tentmaker, working in the Middle East.

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 
Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? – Amos 5:21-25

There are aspects of every culture and every age that bear resemblance of God’s intention for the people, although usually with some tainting by sin. There are also many aspects that are so twisted by sin they must be called out, overhauled and restored. This is the basis for contextualization. We contextualize the Good News because there are good things we can latch onto and proclaim to the people that our God is like _____ or He loves ______ just like they do. But there are things that God will judge in each culture too. Paul was masterful at finding the positives in a culture so that he could build a bridge to what needed to be redeemed.

Try convincing someone of anything while criticizing everything about them, and you will quickly have a door slammed in your face. Let this give you some hope if you feel like there is nothing left in today’s increasingly globalized culture that reflects the glory of God. One thing that is great and notable is the emphasis on social justice in business. For instance, if you are using child labor or treating your employees poorly, the media will find out and you will be out of business soon or at least your reputation will be dragged through the mud. In prior ages, this wasn’t even possible. Yet, as usual, even the good in a culture is tainted by sin.

The focus on social justice in today’s age regarding workers’ rights, etc. often exists as a PR stunt to increase profits. Even when it doesn’t, it often exists to move forward a certain agenda such as gay/transgender “rights” that are fundamentally at odds with the way He has called us to live. I don’t wish to indict all businesses here, because there are obviously some where the leadership truly cares about those in their community and wants to do whatever they can to help. As believers, we have a real opportunity here. Look at Amos 5:21-25 and see what the LORD hated in Israel’s dealings. He hated their festivals and songs, their so-called “worship.” He asked them if they had given sacrifices when they were in the desert for 40 years. The obvious answer is “no,” but He wanted them to realize that He doesn’t need their sacrifices; yet He desires obedience and true worship from the hearts. He tells them that they should let justice roll down like water and righteousness like a flowing stream. This would please Him.

We serve a God of justice. He hates greed, dishonesty, extortion, and all forms of social injustice done in the world of business. Let’s make our B4T businesses flow justice and righteousness like a rushing river, not for the side benefit of a profit increase or for our reputation in the world, but so that we would have a positive impact on the way the world functions – that our employees, our co-workers, would get to work in a place where they are treated with dignity and respect, that they would get a glimpse of a restored and redeemed world where things work as God originally intended them to. This is our version of justice. May our employees’ eyes be opened through our love and generosity, so that they may see and savor the beauty of the living God and what He has done for us through Jesus.