Can you drink the cup…?

This morning, I turned on Facebook, and read a quote from my friend, and native pastor, Kennie Blacksmith, that got me to thinking.

Am I prepared to have great success, and not get credit for it?

In a previous note, I spoke about how Jesus died to the idol of reputation.

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

How He was so committed to the will of the Father, that He obeyed unto death.

This was played out in Jerusalem, when He entered in what historians call, the triumphal entry, where the whole city came out to see him, crying ‘Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord’, people laying clothing and palm branches before Him, as He entered as a conquering king would.

Yet, only days later, that same crowd is crying ‘Crucify, crucify!’.

As a leader, we must accurately hear and obey the voice of our Father, no matter what the crowds are saying or doing. Seems the people least like this world, have the greatest power to affect it for good.

I read a great book by Tony Dungy, called ‘The Mentor Leader’, where he talks about how greatly effective leadership doesn’t need the limelight on them to validate their success. I’ll pick it up on p 26

“Sure, if your business, your team, or your family does well, people will take notice – and they will notice who the leader is. And you may be accorded some of the credit you feel you deserve. But if you do it right-if you really mentor others-more often than not, people will notice what a remarkably talented team, staff, or child you have, rather than what a great coach, employer, or parent you are. They will all assume that anyone could win with your team or family, and they’ll say things like, “Just look at how well they work together. If I had selfless people like that, I could meet my quarterly goals as well.”

I saw this very thing happen with Chuck Noll and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Noll was an extraordinary leader, and catalyst of a team that won four Super Bowls in six years, but he was never voted Coach of the Year. Instead, people always pointed to the number of Hall of Fame-caliber players the Steelers had. But that is just the way Coach Noll wanted it-never having anyone guess that he might have been responsible for developing that talent.

If you do it right, as a mentor leader, you may make it all but impossible for other people to give you credit.

For years, I have attended Victory Christian Center, here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Over the years, as I have been developing as a leader, I look back, and see how at many, many crucial ‘valleys of decision’ in my life, my pastor Billy Joe Daugherty, would magically appear in my world, and in his soft spoken way, say, “Hey Chris, what’s going on?”

Sometimes I would tell him my struggles or crisis of decisions, as a business owner committed to integrity of conduct in every area, in a fallen world, where sometimes it appeared that if there had been a forgiveness meter on my heart, it had been hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer, by the treachery and betrayals of others. Yet, forgive I have, and pain has been a wonderful instructor, as has been Billy Joe, who, by the Holy Spirit, has spoken pearls of wisdom into my life at times when I either did not know what to do, or felt like quitting.

Another man like him in my life has been Kenneth E Hagin, the pioneer and head of Rhema Bible Training Center. As one of our Instructors, he, in humility, was able to impart incredible spiritual truth, and the team of instructors and leaders around him, in the final years of his life, are still some of the most incredibly gifted ministers I have ever seen in the earth.

The inscription on the Bible that Kenneth E. Hagin and Miss Oretha gave Karen and I for a wedding gift.

This morning, I read a quote by my native pastor, Kennie Blacksmith, that bears witness to these thoughts:

Can you drink the cup…?

 

I acknowledge ruin is a gift.

For when you accept this, ruin will open the road to your restoration.

Restoration will lead to your transformation.

Your transformation will lead to your freedom and release from a negative past!

In acknowledging your own inability to forgive, ask the Lord to help you. In so doing, in your weakness you will become strong!

“You will indeed drink the cup!”

So, it is my time to take my place among them…As I step out again into the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus, I see footsteps before me, made by shoes that I honestly do not feel big enough to fit into yet, yet the path is clear, and follow I will, unto death if necessary….

How about you? Are there any incredible examples of leadership that you have had impact your life?

Let’s Pray:

‘Father God, help me to die to the idol of reputation, and to walk forward in your high calling, obeying you, and spending my life empowering, training, equipping, and encouraging others, to excellence, never seeking my own glory, but always seeking to glorify You Lord Jesus, Amen’

Can you drink the cup…?

This morning, I turned on Facebook, and read a quote from my friend, and native pastor, that got me to thinking.

Am I prepared to have great success, and not get credit for it?

In a previous note, I spoke about how Jesus died to the idol of reputation.

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

How He was so committed to the will of the Father, that He obeyed unto death.

This was played out in Jerusalem, when He entered in what historians call, the triumphal entry, where the whole city came out to see him, crying ‘Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord’, people laying clothing and palm branches before Him, as He entered as a conquering king would.

Yet, only days later, that same crowd is crying ‘Crucify, crucify!’.

As a leader, we must accurately hear and obey the voice of our Father, no matter what the crowds are saying or doing. Seems the people least like this world, have the greatest power to affect it for good.

I read a great book by Tony Dungy, called ‘The Mentor Leader’, where he talks about how greatly effective leadership doesn’t need the limelight on them to validate their success. I’ll pick it up on p 26

“Sure, if your business, your team, or your family does well, people will take notice – and they will notice who the leader is. And you may be accorded some of the credit you feel you deserve. But if you do it right-if you really mentor others-more often than not, people will notice what a remarkably talented team, staff, or child you have, rather than what a great coach, employer, or parent you are. They will all assume that anyone could win with your team or family, and they’ll say things like, “Just look at how well they work together. If I had selfless people like that, I could meet my quarterly goals as well.”

I saw this very thing happen with Chuck Noll and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Noll was an extraordinary leader, and catalyst of a team that won four Super Bowls in six years, but he was never voted Coach of the Year. Instead, people always pointed to the number of Hall of Fame-caliber players the Steelers had. But that is just the way Coach Noll wanted it-never having anyone guess that he might have been responsible for developing that talent.

If you do it right, as a mentor leader, you may make it all but impossible for other people to give you credit.

For years, I have attended Victory Christian Center, here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Over the years, as I have been developing as a leader, I look back, and see how at many, many crucial ‘valleys of decision’ in my life, my pastor Billy Joe Daugherty, would magically appear in my world, and in his soft spoken way, say, “Hey Chris, what’s going on?”

Sometimes I would tell him my struggles or crisis of decisions, as a business owner committed to integrity of conduct in every area, in a fallen world, where sometimes it appeared that if there had been a forgiveness meter on my heart, it had been hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer, by the treachery and betrayals of others. Yet, forgive I have, and pain has been a wonderful instructor, as has been Billy Joe, who, by the Holy Spirit, has spoken pearls of wisdom into my life at times when I either did not know what to do, or felt like quitting.

Another man like him in my life has been Kenneth E Hagin, the pioneer and head of Rhema Bible Training Center. As one of our Instructors, he, in humility, was able to impart incredible spiritual truth, and the team of instructors and leaders around him, in the final years of his life, are still some of the most incredibly gifted ministers I have ever seen in the earth.

The inscription on the Bible that Kenneth E. Hagin and Miss Oretha gave Karen and I for a wedding gift.

This morning, I read a quote by my native pastor, Kennie Blacksmith, that bears witness to these thoughts:

Can you drink the cup…?

I acknowledge ruin is a gift.

For when you accept this, ruin will open the road to your restoration.

Restoration will lead to your transformation.

Your transformation will lead to your freedom and release from a negative past!

In acknowledging your own inability to forgive, ask the Lord to help you. In so doing, in your weakness you will become strong!

“You will indeed drink the cup!”

So, it is my time to take my place among them…As I step out again into the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus, I see footsteps before me, made by shoes that I honestly do not feel big enough to fit into yet, yet the path is clear, and follow I will, unto death if necessary….

How about you? Are there any incredible examples of leadership that you have had impact your life?

Let’s Pray:
‘Father God, help me to die to the idol of reputation, and to walk forward in your high calling, obeying you, and spending my life empowering, training, equipping, and encouraging others, to excellence, never seeking my own glory, but always seeking to glorify You Lord Jesus, Amen’

Check the facts Jack!

 ‘Gossip is the most deadly microbe. It has neither legs nor wings. It is composed entirely of tales, and most of them have stings.’

Morris Mandel in Bits & Pieces, June, 1990, p. 22

 

Recently, we went through a wonderful trial, that occurred when another person accused us of some financial mismanagement, that was totally untrue. Gossip is like a serpents venom, it poisons people against you, and may take years to rebuild trust in relationships.

Just because ‘Everyone is saying it’, does not make it true!

The Bible says we are kings and priest unto God, and we must conduct ourselves as royalty!

Proverbs 16:10

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

As leaders we hear a lot of stories, and we need to judge not only actions, but motives. Had a situation last year, where we wanted to donate to a certain ministry, and one of the businesses needed to know exactly where the building materials donated were going. So, I sent him an email with the ministers name and location of the construction project we were planning, because he grew up in that state, and knew the area. Seems another person who ‘wanted to get involved’ asked for the material list I sent my former client, so I sent it to them. They got involved alright, instead of helping, they accused me of ‘taking up offerings in the name of the other ministry’, and then spread the ‘rumor’ of this to many, many other ministries. I could not believe they had done this, so I attempted to meet with them, to discuss it, but they have not returned telephone calls nor emails since then.

As far as I’m concerned, I have forgiven them, and am aggressively using my faith to believe the best of them, and for them, declaring these two verses over their lives:

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 2:13

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Faith works by love, and so I am using my faith on purpose for their growth and instruction in the things of God.

Check the facts before you judge leader, it is for your glory and promotion.

Proverbs 25:2

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

In the midst of my particular trial, I had a good friend of mine, who is studying to be a rabbi, who lives in Jerusalem, call me. I told him what I was going through, and he said, “Interesting. Chris, did you know that here, in Israel, we take character assassination of more consequence than even murder? He then reminded me of a story I had heard before, he had heard in synagogue:

If you don’t say it, they can’t repeat it. Yiddish folklore offers a telling tale about gossip-makers. One such man had told so many malicious untruths about the local rabbi that, overcome by remorse, he begged the rabbi to forgive him. “And, Rabbi, tell me how I can make amends.” The rabbi sighed, “Take two pillows, go to the public square and there cut the pillows open. Wave them in the air. Then come back.” The rumormonger quickly went home, got two pillows and a knife, hastened to the square, cut the pillows open, waved them in the air and hastened back to the rabbi’s chambers. “I did just what you said, Rabbi!” “Good.” The rabbi smiled. “Now, to realize how much harm is done by gossip, go back to the square…” “And?” “And collect all your feathers.”

From Hooray for Yiddish.

Looks like the work of this person has blown feathers all over America. Gotta believe the blood of Jesus can wash away their mess…I need to believe what I preach!

https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/how-to-defeat-gossip/

Here are a couple of thoughts, before speaking and decision making:

I once formed a mutual encouragement fellowship at a time of stress in one of my pastorates. The members subscribed to a simple formula applied before speaking of any person or subject that was perhaps controversial.

T–Is it true? H–Is it helpful? I–Is it inspiring? N–Is it necessary? K–Is it kind?

If what I am about to say does not pass those tests, I will keep my mouth shut! And it worked!

Alan Redpath, A Passion for Preaching.

God is love, and He will work it all out, as only He can.

Let’s pray:

‘Father, I come before you, determined to walk free from offense, and in Your love. Give me grace to see correctly into situations, and before I judge, to investigate to see what is being done, and why. May I victoriously obey you, and press forward towards the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus, Amen.’