Dog Treats

When I leave our house, I typically give the dog a treat. We play this little game of me throwing it, her running to it, waiting for me to approach and then grabbing it and running away.  Today was no different with one exception. After our little game, I walked into the kitchen, filled my cup with coffee and noticed from the corner of my eye that Spunky had another treat. "How in the world did that happen? Did she have one from yesterday?" 5 minutes later, returning to the living room, she had another treat! 

In a flash, I had a thought, not a good one! I ran into the laundry room and right there in front of me was the explanation! The plastic container had tipped over, slowly releasing the doggie treats! Spunky had eaten her weekly allowance in one morning! 

One can not blame the dog, the gifts were plentiful and she was just enjoying them! What kind of dog would she be if she did not eat those treats?

I wonder how many of us are not receiving all of the gifts that are plentiful and available to us? Jesus offers us these amazing gifts.

Forgiveness- He is the only one who can do this. John 1:9
Eternal Life - I John 5:11-12
A changed heart- This changes our emotions, attitudes and values. II Cor. 5:17)
Peace- Luke 2:13,14, Philippians 4:7
Love- John 3:16

These gifts keep coming, one after another to all who put their trust in Him. I love that it is His birthday and yet He is giving the gifts!

Guest Blog: There ain't no future in your frontin'...

I would like to preface the following thought with this – I am the guy who does believe that you need to “fake it till you make it” - another blog for another time.  That being said, don't act like you can... if you can't.  Your peeps will know. No matter what kind of leadership position you hold, pastor, small group leader, usher, prayer ministry, etc… you have to know what you are good at.

Your ministry partners, especially those who follow you and are part of your specific ministry area, are very astute.  They watch you. They know what you are good at and what you are not good at.  I bet they even talk about you behind your back, both good and bad, when you are not there.  And rightly so. You are the leader of your ministry.  And since you are the leader you are, or should be, making tons of decisions.  And the harder the decisions, the more peeps will talk. The hard part is doing the right thing as much as you can, seeing the right way even when your peeps do not see the same way, and then win them to that right way. Yeah, a lot harder than it even sounds.

What are you good at?  What do you do really well?  Some of you are great up-front peeps. When it is go-time all you need is a microphone or bull horn and it's on like Tron!  Others of you are administrative and detail oriented.  You make lists of the lists you have.  Others of you are problem solvers.  Some are motivators.  Whatever it is, you know that you do it well. You staff knows that you do it well.  Now that you are all warm and fuzzy and patting yourself on the back, here is the next question.  What are you not good at?  Answer... everything else.  I mean, you might be able to do it, but you are not great at the rest of this stuff.  And a good leader will step out of the way to other peeps on their staff and help them to do what they do well.

“To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.”~B. Disraeli

John Maxwell says something that a lot of peeps do not like, but I love.  He says that you need to find out what your weaknesses are, and then then pretty much forget about them.  The stuff that you do not do well should not be give much attention.  Now, he is not referring to sin, but instead the qualities that you possess... or in this case, do not possess.  Stop worrying about the stuff you are not good at.  Find someone who is good at it, and be done with it!  Finding other leaders and helping them use their gifts will make you indispensable.

Try this.  Ask someone in your life what you are and are not good at.  They know.  If you really wanna be bold, ask your staff or volunteer team the same question.  There is a lot of lessons in humility to be learned in hearing those you lead tell you what you suck at!  Good luck.

Much love to Jann for this invitation to share,

mo

Michael-David MOrales

Mo is a gifted communicator and has served for many years as a youth pastor in Southern California. You can read more about leadership skills at his blogpoorboymo.com