tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32573075977652872172023-11-16T04:58:53.616-06:00TestimoniesRead what Faithwalking alumni have to say...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-31149095283938268532011-06-15T15:21:00.001-05:002011-06-15T15:55:30.084-05:00Missional Marriage Testimonies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiCbRz4SSJO_MqMHTsFUZNyL1Y3yRTp9jy9lDiGvW7KH49xetTqtPRVUD1sTdFoxBv0zf2ZTTN4qpvGCkey7jNOGd8vnp5ZacWL6HBE0ZTkPQW7_2rGrS27GRE77YNBs6bhSPt-yfcQQo//" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiCbRz4SSJO_MqMHTsFUZNyL1Y3yRTp9jy9lDiGvW7KH49xetTqtPRVUD1sTdFoxBv0zf2ZTTN4qpvGCkey7jNOGd8vnp5ZacWL6HBE0ZTkPQW7_2rGrS27GRE77YNBs6bhSPt-yfcQQo//" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<i>Our experience in Missional Marriage was a milestone event in our 35 years of marriage. The retreat provided the environment and space for us to honestly communicate with each other. We were able to jointly recommit to each other and to God. We are now working as a team on mission for God's kingdom. Even though the retreat was a couple of days in length, it had a long term positive influence in our lives. ~ Mario and Linda Ramos.<br />
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<i>Missional Marriage created a space where healing, dreaming, and action could be present in a way it had never been before. It was a weekend that we walked away from knowing that we had forever altered the course of our marriage in the best ways possible. - Danny and Trisha Kennedy.</i><br />
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<center>For more information or to register in Missional Marriage <a href="http://www.faithwalkingonline.com/missionalmarriag.html">click here</a>.</center><br><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-33387853745997957042011-02-01T22:19:00.000-06:002011-02-01T22:19:30.354-06:00Faithwalking Testimony - Pat Reed<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18773371?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Pat Reed</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-29651435926401428392011-02-01T22:17:00.003-06:002011-02-01T22:18:07.768-06:00Faithwalking Testimony - Marcia Bauggue<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18774516?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Marcia Bauggue</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-83776918651219209012011-02-01T22:16:00.000-06:002011-02-01T22:16:18.726-06:00Faithwalking Testimony - Julie Taylor<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18782371?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Julie Taylor</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-9590667053390216562011-02-01T22:10:00.001-06:002011-02-01T22:14:29.537-06:00Faithwalking Testimony - Gabriel Chapa<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18783402?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe><br />
<br />
Gabriel Chapa<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-52757905410361696462011-01-11T12:18:00.000-06:002011-01-11T12:18:36.251-06:00Judy Newey on Coaching<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18641461?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Judy Newey</div><div style="text-align: center;">To Become a Coach <a href="http://www.faithwalkingonline.com/201coachestraini.html">click here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-76644944654551072752011-01-11T12:11:00.000-06:002011-01-11T12:11:44.127-06:00Bob & Judy Newey - Faithwalkers<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/18083819?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Bob & Judy Newey</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-68193764071997525052010-12-09T13:08:00.006-06:002010-12-10T12:35:45.291-06:00Testimonies Faithwalking 101 Retreat October 2010These are some of the testimonies of the alumni of the Faithwalking 101 Retreat in October 2010:<br />
<blockquote><i>I experienced God's power through personal transformation during and after the 101 retreat. The solitude and reflection "being still" was something I desperately needed. Perhaps the most helpful part was the personal prayer with a member of the Faithwalking team as well as the small group sessions. Also helpful were the personal stories of the presenters. The hosts were extremely hospitable!</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>In the solitude session on vows, the Lord exposed an area I did not want in the light - it was a vow about staying hidden so people wouldn't know me. Being encouraged to share this with the big group terrified me. During big group time, I knew in my heart that if I did not share this openly, a freedom that the Lord had for me could be missed. So with the promise to be all in and a push inside me by the Lord, I shared. I will not say it was easy, but since the FW 101 weekend, the Lord has been showing me things in my life that have paralyzed me and how they had so much power over me because they were affirming, in my mind, the vow I had taken. In one area in particular, which for three years has knocked me off course, the Lord has begun to bring insight and freedom that I have longed for.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>It opened some closed doors for me and I learned lots about my habitual disobedience as well as destructive vows I made as a young child. It will take more work but it was a very important step.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>God used this retreat in my life to wake me up from just being satisfied with the lousy status quo. I had resigned myself to believing that things just weren't going to get better. The retreat helped me face the areas where I'd given up.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>The integrity presentation was really eye opening for me. The understanding of a vow we may have made as a child in response to a traumatic event explained a lot about sins I committed in my life. Nothing was more powerful than renouncing that vow and making new vows w/the help of prayer from a team member and talks w/my small group.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>God has used Faithwalking to renew and awakened my dry and parched land. I have a renewed relationship with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. I learned that transformation is a journey, a process that we embark on with others and it is not a means to an end. Thank you to the coaches and team leaders for your sensitivity to the work of God in and through us and encouraging us to move out to build missional communities in Houston together.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>FW was one of the most challenging things I have done in a while. It was emotionally exhausting in a very good way. I didn't leave with that "retreat high" but rather a resolve to become the kind of person I want to be and lead the kind of missional life I want to live.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Faithwalking 101 was instrumental to my realization that I still have unresolved issues from my childhood that need attention so that I can be more authentic and well-connected to those God has placed in my life. Personal transformation is hugely important - I now see that more clearly</i></blockquote>If you are interested in know more about the retreat, please contact us! To see next available dates for the retreat, please see our <a href="http://www.faithwalkingonline.com/calendar.html">calendar</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-86142733046517804632010-09-01T22:21:00.004-05:002010-12-09T12:56:20.088-06:00Yes, I was an OK Christian...by Jim Teall, Open Doors USA.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs219.snc3/22675_347028582525_723207525_4830804_6616509_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs219.snc3/22675_347028582525_723207525_4830804_6616509_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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I have been a Christian for most of my life. I have been on many “retreats” in the past so why would I want to pay to go on another one? Wasn’t I doing okay at the Christian life? I thought so and others around me seemed to agree. But then I happened to be at a luncheon where I heard a speaker who was involved in Faithwalking. Now I have been to hundreds of Bible studies and I have heard hundreds of people speak about the Christian life before so how would this be any different than the rest? And yet it was.<br />
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I did not hear a tinge of arrogance from the speaker about how to have a successful walk with Jesus. Instead, I heard tons of authenticity about how to have a transparent, missional community that walks with Jesus together and who together were being transformed while seeking to transform society. An authentic and transformational relationship with Christ and with His people. My soul cried out inside me, "Yes, this is what I want, this is what I need."<br />
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It was so impactful that I signed up to participate in a <a href="http://www.faithwalkingonline.com/background.html">Faithwalking 101 Retreat</a>. Yet inside I still kind of expected the typical sing a few songs, pray a few prayers, read a few verses, and listen to some good talks kind of retreat. It wasn't that we did not do any of these things but it was what else we did. We got real, or should I say, in a loving and gentle way we were forced to get real with ourselves, others and God.<br />
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Yes, I was an OK Christian doing pretty good in the Christian club, but was I an authentic, committed follower of Jesus Christ who lived his life on mission with a passionate purpose? Jesus is very clear: "If you love me you will obey my commands." I knew that I was not obeying all of Jesus' commands, and that hurt. I realized I had become resigned and cynical to real transformation in my personal life and of there being any real hope for genuine societal change. <br />
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Faithwalking 101 and 201 have now put me on a path where I no longer feel resigned and isolated to live out a quasi-comfortable Christian life. My spirit and heart have been renewed to live passionately for Christ with a community of other followers of Jesus that are committed to personal and societal change. I wish I could tell you that Faithwalking is easy. It is not. It is hard. But I am learning more and more each day how to surrender my life to Jesus, making it possible for Him to change me. God is conforming me into the image of His son so that I might live in loving obedience to Him. Well this is what my wife is telling me at least.<br />
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What is truly wonderful about this Faithwalking process is knowing that I am not alone on this journey. God has placed a community of believers in my life that not only want to see personal transformation but societal transformation as well. If the world is to change then I must first be changed, and then I need others around me with a common vision to work together to restore humanity to God's intended purpose. I have found all of this in Faithwalking and I am truly thankful to God to be walking with Him and His people by faith so that real change and transformation can and will happen in our lives and in our communities.<br />
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Register to<a href="http://www.faithwalkingonline.com/registrationform.html"> Faithwalking 101 retreat</a>.<br />
Register for <a href="http://www.faithwalkingonline.com/missionalmarriag.html">Faithwalking Missional Marriage</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-46070564291163217112010-08-23T11:11:00.001-05:002010-08-23T11:13:33.621-05:00Dealing against the "boomerang"...by Melanie Ayers, Sterling Wood Church<br /><br />At Sterling Wood, we used to laugh at what we called the "Boomerang" effect of our change process. We would launch a change and everything would seem fine, then a few months later... BAM! The full weight of the change would hit us in the back of the head. Relationships would be strained, even broken, and we, the staff, battered and bruised from the process would work hard to pick up the pieces. Since we have launched Faithwalking at our church, we are seeing things differently now. We now see our own defensive routines and the ways in which our behavior contributes to the dis-ease and conflict that occurs when trying to implement change, and we are working hard to "try on" new ways of relating to each other. We are also seeing old wounds healed, and a renewed sense of faith and hope emerge. The process hasn't been easy, (looking at yourself rather than blame others rarely is), but the outcome is both humbling and extremely rewarding.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-683498640318887142010-08-03T14:59:00.000-05:002010-08-03T15:00:05.882-05:00Up and Running, by Melanye Wrightonby Melanye Wrighton, Lebanon, Indiana <br /><br /><br />“My experience of Faithwalking 201 has been superb. It kept my momentum "up and running" and deepened my knowledge and practice of the process I learned in 101. And the launch of my <missional> community is a reality. Faithwalking actually gave me a new perspective, propelling me forward into "being" the very thing I wanted to see happen in this closed and unchanging place, instead of grumbling and complaining and trying to make demands of the reluctant people around me. As you well know, I lean into personal transformation or I die. My longing to inspire others to see the whole of their stories as a vital part of God's story, for His sake, keeps my passion for my own heart's ongoing transformation ignited.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-90249660466284151372010-02-07T19:34:00.000-06:002010-04-20T08:42:13.674-05:00Faithwalking Comments Jan 2010<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Times, serif;color:#26546B;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family:Times;font-size:medium;"><div class="style_4" style="overflow-x: visible; overflow-y: visible; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 4px; "><p class="paragraph_style_6" face="Calibri" size="13px" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">Brief video of comments and testimonies of Faithwalkers, retreat of January 2010</p><p class="paragraph_style_6" face="Calibri" size="13px" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p></div></span><br /><center><object width="444" height="250"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9247997&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9247997&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="444" height="250"></embed></object></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-22314076776357917042009-11-19T19:32:00.000-06:002010-04-20T09:44:49.493-05:00Faithwalking & Russell Price<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family:Times;font-size:medium;"><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0pt; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">Russell Price is one of Faithwalking’s most recent graduates. Here’s what he said about his experience.<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">The combination of the material, the personal reflection time, and small group encouragement and prayer offered in the Faith Walking retreat made it a life changing experience for me.<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">Russell is the Marketing Solutions Systems Manager for Texas Instruments and an active member of Sugar Creek Baptist Church. He and his wife, Stephanie, are parents to a nine-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter. He is one in a long list of folks who have described Faithwalking as a life changing experience.<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">What is it about Faithwalking that makes it life changing? Here are some answers given by other Faithwalkers:<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">There’s a safe place to talk about the areas of my life that are not working, areas where I’ve become resigned and cynical about things ever changing;<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">The leaders are authentic about their wounding and the journey to obedience that they are on;<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">There’s a lot of solitude time where I went deep with God; I had deep encounters with Him;<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">Though the retreat is powerful, there is a follow up process that holds me accountable for putting in practice the things I learned;<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">I got breakthrough tools that impacted my marriage and family in ways that nothing else has;<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">It’s not about me being a better person; it’s about me having more tangible impact for God’s Kingdom in my home, neighborhood and workplace;<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">Mission is described as a team sport; that was both threatening and empowering for me.<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">Here’s the rest of Russell’s testimony.<br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_6" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; "><br /></p><p class="paragraph_style_7" style="color: rgb(38, 84, 107); font-family: Calibri-BoldItalic, Calibri; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 36px; margin-top: 0px; opacity: 1; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; ">I learned that Christian relationships are for more than just accountability around sin management but are the basis for sharing a common mission. The Lord also used Faith Walking to reveal personal emotional wounds that were holding me back from being radically obedient to Christ. Now I understand myself better and how to be a disciple of Jesus who is on mission in the world. </p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-73439971337212959302009-05-03T19:29:00.000-05:002010-04-22T02:38:49.893-05:00One person’s perspective... by Kent Major<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.missionhouston.org/Mission_Houston/FWTestimonies/Entries/2009/5/3_Kent_Major_Testimony_files/shapeimage_5.png"><br /></a><br /><p color="#225469" style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Calibri;">Kent Major is the President of Alpheus Communications, a telecom and data center company with about 100 employees. He and his wife, Caroline, are a part of Grace Family Baptist Church and together they attended the most recent Faithwalking retreat. Here is his testimony about his experience.</p><p color="#225469" style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Calibri;"><br /></p><p color="#225469" style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Calibri;">The Faithwalking retreat was an amazing experience. I’ve been blessed to attend numerous Christian conferences and be exposed to much good, biblical teaching over the years, but never have I been part of a group that was invited to look so deeply into the condition of our own hearts and to consider -- in an intimate setting -- what might be holding us back from becoming more radically obedient disciples of Jesus.</p><p color="#225469" style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Calibri;"><br /></p><p color="#225469" style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Calibri;">It will be some time before I can evaluate the long-term fruit of the retreat, but I have high hopes. With the concepts, tools, and follow-up that Faithwalking provides, I’m left with no excuse for not engaging in the “heart” work that will result in a greater capacity to love and serve both God and my fellow man. The facilitators are not just good at running retreats but are top-notch folks who are committed to living out what they’re teaching; I was challenged by the radical decisions they’ve made in their own personal lives.</p><div><br /></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-3616402331765202782009-02-15T00:42:00.000-06:002010-04-09T18:23:40.196-05:00My Faithwalking Experience by Shawn McGlothlin<span id="fullpost"><div>Shawn participated in the most recent Faithwalking. He is 38, married and father to three young children. He is employed at Texas Instruments and is a member at Grace Community Bible Church in the Richmond area. </div><div><br /></div><div>Faithwalking was a significant event for me. This was the best conference/retreat that I have ever attended. Organized, engaging, personal, Biblically-based, challenging, full. My brain was so tired when I left Sunday afternoon that I think my neck is sore from the extra weight of information shoved into it. Interestingly though, while my brain was tired, my heart is still overflowing from the same overload – it doesn't feel tired, but more like finding a room full of treasure and not sure where to start cataloging and organizing. I got two powerful things from the retreat.</div><div><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">First</span>, I uncovered a deep vow that stands in the way of me being what God designed me for. Somewhere along the way I decided that I will not be messy with people because being messy hurts and is bad. This was a big surprise for me but I was able to see how it has been rooted and reinforced in multiple events over my entire life. Its like I am ok knowing people at the surface, but if going below the surface means tension, conflict, or seeing my flaws, then my vow rears up and asserts itself.<br /><br />Here is one example of how this vow torpedoes God working in and through me. Several years ago at my church someone said, "You are the glue that helps us stay connected." As I interacted with people I was seen as bringing people together. And I was. It was good and I liked it. But as soon as that was said, my vibrations started. All of a sudden, what I had done so freely was now a burden and anxiety-producing. I heard in that phrase (the glue) that I was being asked to commit to be there for people. Well, my self-talk started – "people are messy and I can't commit to being messy. I'm just glue now because everything is smooth and easy. Wait until someone has a real problem and then they will be looking to me. I can't handle that kind of pressure." So I backed off and stopped being what was so beneficial up to that moment – it conflicted with my vow. So where do I go from here? I think that one thing is just realizing that I have this vow and it must die for me to be all that God wants. I'm starting there, but I know that killing it won't just happen by verbal rejection, I will have to obey God against my vow in order to truly put it to death.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Second</span>, God birthed in me a desire be a catalyst for mobilizing the Body of Christ at Texas Instruments. I have no idea how to do that. And I absolutely know that it will be messy (even writing it creates butterflies/vibrations in my stomach). But what choice do I have? I can serve my vows, money, comfort, convenience, independence – and continue in mediocrity and worldly thinking. Or I can take off the blinders, take off the masks, and follow the LORD of All who has never let me down and who promises to meet all my needs. Sounds so logical on paper. Now if I could just find the easy button. Oh wait, that would mean I was going back to comfort, convenience, independence… So that's why the Way is hard. Its not because He's mean, its because it's the only way to truly be free.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-42989308665375882432008-05-05T17:25:00.000-05:002008-05-07T01:42:17.168-05:00What God is Doing Where I Work...The Kirby Experience<div><!--StartFragment--> <h4 style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All the glory to God for what we have to share with you here!</span></span></span></strong><span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The following is the view of a journey involving God's use of many people from the viewpoint of only one. Clearly, God has been doing all the work and all the leading at Kirby!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h4> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">What is Kirby Corporation and what is God doing there?</span></span></span></strong><span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Kirby Corporation's predecessor company, Kirby Petroleum Co., was founded in 1921 by John Henry Kirby, after whom Houston's Kirby Drive and other landmarks are named. Today Kirby Corporation is a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, focused on marine transportation. The inland tank barge operation of Kirby's principal operating subsidiary, Kirby Inland Marine, LP, is the world's largest, with some 1,300 vessels moving oil and petrochemical products throughout the inland waterways of the United States. </span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><span id="fullpost"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><!--StartFragment--> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">How God got things started at Kirby</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">?</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Some of the believers at Kirby are convinced that God laid claim to our workplace on a Friday evening over a decade ago at a Promise Keepers conference in the Houston Astrodome. As a marine transporter of oil and petrochemicals, Kirby maintains a Strike Team of professionals trained to respond to emergencies, to protect life, property and the environment, on short notice. Several members of that team were in the Astrodome that night, some with church groups, some with family members, some with friends. God's instrument that evening was the wife of one of those believers, who used the Kirby Strike Team's emergency pager system to direct those men to meet at a certain location in the Dome. While the details of that meeting are a faded memory, the commitment made by those men that evening is not - to work together, with God's help, to make the place we spend most of our waking hours a </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">better</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> place.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We started humbly, with a small Bible study group, three or four men, sometimes only two, using Promise Keepers workplace study materials as a guide. We met weekly at a nearby restaurant or at another company's cafeteria down the street. God grew the first group slowly, by invitation, by inquiry, by chance meeting in elevator. The group's focus was simple and inward, humbly seeking daily His strength and guidance. We prayed for each other and for God to fill the "empty chair" that we kept at the table.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">How God shaped things at Kirby</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">?</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Although the group's expectations were limited, God, as He always does, had much bigger plans. The Promise Keepers materials we used emphasized our roles as "salt and light" in workplace. He changed our focus to a more outward one, and we prayed for the Holy Spirit to make us just that, salt and light, in everyday interactions with our co-workers. An epiphany, a real turning point, for this writer came when a new member joined the group, transferred from a subsidiary company office in another city. I provided services to him in his new job, and he was profuse in his gratitude for those services and his praise of the quality of my work. Through his words, God made it unmistakable: This is how He wanted us ALL to treat our co-workers. God used this brother as a bold example to us of how, as our working witness, we must always be "building others up." At about the same time, a colleague shared the lesson plan she had prepared for her Sunday School class, focused on Colossians 3:23-24:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">God used this sister to bring us this command of the Lord. We prayerfully embraced it as a watch word, and soon, more and more folks were attracted by this "fragrance," including the group's first corporate officer, a sales vice president. Some brothers were transferred to other sites and started new groups of believers there. The Lord expanded the scope of our concerns and prayers to focus on more than our immediate friends/families. He cast our net to cover our co-workers, our supervisors, our company leaders.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">How God challenged us for growth?</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We thought our horizons had broadened, but, as always, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Isaiah 55:8-9 </span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The master vinedresser had bigger plans, plans to "prune" us to bear more fruit.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In 1999, Kirby merged with its largest local competitor, Hollywood Marine, Inc. At the time, it was the merger of No.1 and No.3 in the inland tank barge industry, a major event in the evolution of the company. The merger brought about a clash of cultures - that of an old public company with that of a strong private company. This was no "Pac-Man" acquisition, this was a true integration at all levels of the corporation. As a consequence, for a while, there were two ways of doing everything, and, of course, each way was "the right way," according to half of those involved. At an individual level, fears of job loss or demotion abounded. Clashes of wills were everywhere. Competition among factions and individuals, jockeying for position and precedence, dominated the internal interactions. In the minds of many, there was uncertainty, conflict, even chaos, everywhere. This turmoil had a profound effect on our budding groups of believers. The fears and uncertainty affected many of them directly. We prayed for His peace and strength to continue "working as for the Lord." Simply put, He did </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">not</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> disappoint:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Instead, He attracted and steered many believers to us, literally doubling our number in six months after the merger, including the addition of three more vice presidents from both "sides" of the merger. New groups of believers formed independently and linked together. He shifted our focus more and more outward. We prayed for wisdom and compassion for our corporate leaders. We prayed for patience and understanding for our co-workers. We fervently prayed that He would </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">really</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> make us salt and light - models for </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">all</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> our co-workers, from the coffee girl to the CEO. His response was simply </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">amazing</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In just a few short months, He took the "starch" out of </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">everything</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Adversarial became collegial;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Competitive became cooperative;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Self-preservation became teamwork;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Officers at different company sites made meeting rooms available for bible study, prayer, discussion;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Believers and seekers came out of the woodwork;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Daily circulation of praise reports and prayer requests became routine throughout the company - lifting up friends, family, co-workers - even our customers and government regulators;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Unofficial, but company sponsored, outreach to co-workers suffering loss - death in the family, fire, accident - became a regular thing;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Company sponsored charitable and community service and outreach programs erupted; and</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Company-wide praise, worship and discussion sessions began to happen.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Is our God amazing or what?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A watershed event in the course of these developments occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001, less than 2 years after a contentious merger, when Kirby's President and CEO called together all of the employees at our corporate headquarters and asked each of us to go home and pray.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Fruit from Faithfulness</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - there are some obvious "pieces of fruit" that the Lord has brought forth in our workplace:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Intercessory Prayer Team</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: Some time ago, God put it on the hearts of a couple of our number to be more intentional about our "corporate" prayer life. We began to see even more clearly that </span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">everything</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> hinges on prayer. The health and well-being of our co-workers, families, friends, vendors, customers, regulators, and corporate leaders, our ability to be what he calls us to be in our workplace and world, even our company's success....</span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">hinges on prayer</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So, these folks obediently put together a company-wide intercessory prayer team - with a weekly conference prayer call that anyone in the company can call into to lift up everything to the Lord. Even crewmembers on our vessels call in! One wonderful woman keeps track of prayer requests and praise reports on a spreadsheet that is distributed by e-mail each week. We are </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">not</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> surprised that Kirby had record earnings in the past two years!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Mission Trips</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - In the Fall of 2004, the brutal impact of Hurricane Ivan was felt on the Alabama/Florida coast. As it happens, that area of the country is home to many of Kirby's vessel crew members, and many suffered great loss from the storm. Before the hurricane warnings were even lifted from the area, a small group of Kirby believers were praying for their brothers and sisters in that area and had an idea (any guesses where the idea came from?): they should go on a mission trip - to the Alabama coast and Florida panhandle! So, in a matter of hours, with authorization from our Operations Vice President, they recruited other volunteers, hired some motor homes for lodging, assembled the company's emergency response trucks, complete with magnetic signs reading "KIRBY DISASTER RELIEF"; and headed East from Houston with a convoy. When they got to Alabama, two guys with GPS units located the homes of our fellow employees (some in very remote areas) and triaged their damages and needs, relaying the information back to the main body by radio. For the next week, they labored, cutting up fallen trees, patching roofs, hauling drinking water and food, and ministering to their co-workers and their families. It's difficult for me to adequately describe this outreach, but the slide show that they shared with us all at the very next company-wide praise and worship service spoke volumes in pictures of satisfied exhaustion and joyful gratitude. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">3.</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hurricanes Katrina and Rita</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - Little did we know that the mission trip experience with Hurricane Ivan was a mere dress rehearsal for what God had in store in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast in August and September 2005. He had prepared both hearts and hands well. Some 700 Kirby families were in the direct path of each of these storms. As hordes of evacuees fled the ravages of first Katrina and then Rita toward Houston, scores of Kirby volunteers were heading in the opposite direction, into the devastated areas. Ten teams of missionaries spread out across the Gulf Coast from Port Arthur to Mobile, slogging from town to town, road to road, house to house, searching for their co-workers, rendering whatever assistance was needed as they went. Their efforts continued around the clock for many weeks until every co-worker and his or her family was accounted for. Hundreds of volunteers gladly sacrificed for the opportunity to give of themselves in this mission. As always, to God be the glory!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Is there a living Body of Christ at KC?</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Absolutely, and we thank God for it! It is imperfect, as we all are, and it's not totally organized or coordinated, but it is made up of disciples who humbly trust His leading. He has created an atmosphere, a culture, where faith can grow AND work. It's not a "company-sanctioned" thing, it's a God-sanctioned thing! It's not orchestrated by men and women but by the Lord himself!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We only hope that some of the salt and light at work at Kirby can serve as an example, as a catalyst, for your workplace. We'd be honored to share and help you in any way we can. PRAISE BE TO GOD!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A Few Final Thoughts</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> -When it first became clear what God was doing at Kirby, others in our city's marketplace asked, "Is there a starter kit for this kind of "church"? If what we have shared here touches you, encourages you or reinforces something the Lord has already stirred up in you, you're probably wondering how you can make this happen where you work. Well, </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">you</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> can't; only the Lord can. Besides, every workplace is different, with different circumstances and different people. There isn't "one way" or "one method" that we can share with you. But, reflecting on our experience at Kirby, there are three keys, three truths that He has convinced us of that fit every workplace situation. In fact, they fit every situation, period:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Prayer</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - It all begins and ends with prayer. Without our connection to the Lord and His will, we cannot be who He wants us to be. This is just as true in the workplace as it is anywhere else.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Obedience</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - This is all He asks of us:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo2;tab-stops:list 1.0in"><span style="Courier New""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">o</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Obedience to His Word in our words and actions;</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo2;tab-stops:list 1.0in"><span style="Courier New""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">o</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Obedience to His will...learned through prayer; and</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:1.0in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level2 lfo2;tab-stops:list 1.0in"><span style="Courier New""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">o</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Obedience to His model...Jesus Christ.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;tab-stops:list .5in"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">·</span></span><span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></span><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Relationships</span></span></span></strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> - It's all about relationships - with Him and with others. Just like in your faith walk outside the workplace, your relationship with Him comes through the study of His Word and through prayer - this is your foundation. So, we encourage you to focus on developing and deepening relationships with other believers where you work. This comes from spending time together, getting to know each other, especially through Bible study and prayer. You need each other for support and encouragement and for accountability. We have seen this blossom in our company, with believers openly expressing to co-workers that they have been covered with prayer in their day-to-day work.</span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Your relationships with others in your workplace, especially non-believers and seekers, are the key to your influence on them for the Kingdom. Jesus told us, "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">."</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (Matthew 5:16)</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pastor Rick Warren wrote "The Great Commission is all about making friends. Now I know Jesus said, "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Therefore, go and make disciples..."(Matthew 28:19)</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, but Jesus himself showed that you can't make a disciple until you first make a friend. "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me." (John 15:15)</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So why is it so hard for some to be Salt and Light in their workplaces? Perhaps it is because we tend to compartmentalize our faith, living it out on Sunday and Wednesday night, but putting it on the shelf Monday through Friday! None of those three keys mentioned above - Prayer, Obedience and Relationships - is unique to </span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">just one</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> part of your life...your walk. Living out your faith </span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">every day</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> in all that you do </span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">at work</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> is what you're </span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">commanded </span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">to do, in your attitude - cheerful and humble, in your words - spoken as if Christ were present (He is, you know.), in how you treat your co-workers (your boss, your peers, those in other departments or outside the company, the folks in the lowest positions in the company... as Paul counseled the Philippians: "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."</span></span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Philippians 2:3)</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><strong><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">His fragrance will follow you around...</span></span></span></strong><span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ ...."</span></span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(2 Corinthians 2:14-15)</span></span></span></p><p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">By Jerry Gallion </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span><br /><!--EndFragment--> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-45656906006958212742008-05-05T17:18:00.003-05:002010-10-19T22:27:23.790-05:00The Church in the Mobile Home Park<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="250" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/15645015?byline=0&portrait=0&color=ff9933" width="444"></iframe></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Prelude<br />
<br />
Since 1994, we have lived on a 10 acre property in rural Harris County, Texas near the town of Tomball about 30 miles northwest of Houston. I (Bob) was working for Enron and we were returning to Houston from a 5-year assignment in London. When we moved to the area, it was rural and mostly undeveloped. The property we found was perfect to support Cathie’s interest in horses. There was no zoning. Immediately to our north was a 60 acre Christmas farm. We knew the owners who also lived on the property well—even attended the same church (which they invited us to when we moved in). We were good friends also with our neighbors to the west who lived and ran a business on about 7 acres. We knew a few other people in the area casually.<br />
<br />
About a half mile to our west, a ten-acre mobile home park had been operating with about 40 mobile homes since at least the early 1980’s. It was not a very nice place, but we ignored it even as we drove by on our way to town. It didn’t occur to me that residents of the park were be my ‘neighbors,’ probably because virtually all of the residents were Hispanic immigrants.</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span id="fullpost"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span id="fullpost"><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The park’s sewage system failed in the late 1990’s and after complaints from the neighborhood, the state authorities shut it down.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were happy about the loss of our poor neighbors. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were living the good life in the ‘exurbs.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, in 2001, the park opened up again, having repaired its sewage and water systems.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To our relief, its new waste treatment system required a lot of land to dispose of the treated effluent so only 20 mobile homes could be accommodated.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That wasn’t good, but it could have been worse. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In 2002, the owner of the park applied for a state permit to discharge his treated waste water into the state’s water system.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With the permit, he would be able to put up to 55 mobile homes on the site.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The news flashed around community.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Soon our neighbors were enlisting our assistance in contesting the application legally.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We hired a top environmental law firm and went to battle.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">No one talked to the park owner and he never approached us about his plans.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, while all of us ‘organized neighbors’ were Christian church members, none of thought to ask whether the park owner might be a Christian brother.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were waging war the way the world does.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">During 2003, we attended hearings, made and wrote statements and conferred with our lawyers.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, we never talked to our neighbor the park owner.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then the judge said he wanted us all to visit the park to walk the grounds.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We had never been into the park in the nearly 10 years it had been just a few hundred yards away.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As I was walking along, a very definitive thought came into my mind: “</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you don’t like the way this park is being run, why don’t you run it?</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had only been a follower of Jesus since January of 2000, but I’d experienced God’s ‘talking to me’ this way before.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, my reaction to God was “Wait a minute, God.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Remember me?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’m Bob.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A corporate suit type of guy.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Certainly not someone who would run a mobile home park.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I tried to put the idea out of my mind as too disruptive of my personal peace and risky to my reputation.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The judge made his recommendations to the state soon after and they denied the owner’s permit. That was the good news.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The bad news was that, in the last half of 2003, a disagreement over church policy and a failure on our part to control a wayward dog we had adopted resulted in a sharp deterioration in the relationship with our Christmas tree farm neighbors to the north.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We felt we should no longer freely walk and ride on their land and our monthly dinners out stopped.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It was not real ugly, but the break was surely characterized by pride and failures to apologize and forgive.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, we were members of the same church.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our Christmas tree farm neighbors were aging and we knew at some point they would sell the farm.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We dreamed of buying it and building a larger horse community encompassing our own.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, we never wanted to say much about plans like that to our neighbors; they might think we were in a hurry for them to sell.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, there things sat in 2004.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our relations with our neighbors to the north were now more distant, but at least we did not have to worry about the mobile home park expanding.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">During 2004, the mobile home park owner, unable to expand himself, put the property up for sale.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He knew too the state authorities would give the permit to another operator whose past record was unblemished.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our ‘victory’ over him was starting to look a bit shaky.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I still had not been able to put the thought of buying and running the park myself out of mind.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now, the prospect of someone we didn’t know coming in to more than double its size put us in the same place we had been.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, I was thinking maybe we should buy the park for the common good of the neighbors—and then shut it down.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, it was clear if we wanted to do that, we would be on our own.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">About that time, Bob met Brian Schaffer, a Nazarene pastor and former missionary in Latin America.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Brian had formed a non-profit to facilitate compassion ministry by linking needs in the city with resources in the suburbs.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We drove past the park and talked a little about it and agreed to stay in touch.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We didn’t recognize God’s hand in this meeting, but clearly He was at work.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, I was still trying to avoid listening to His call.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A few months later, we began attending a congregation where the elders were considering some new ways of being the Church.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A colleague and I (who were writing a book about the mission of the Church) joined this congregation to teach about planting the Church in the family, in the workplace, the school and, of course, in the local neighborhood.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of the problems we had in teaching what we saw in Scripture was that there were no examples we could point to of the missional gathering of Christians across congregational lines to be the Church in their neighborhood, or in their workplace or school.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One Sunday, I looked over to see our enemy-neighbor the mobile home park owner worshipping along side us.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had successfully ignored Brian Schaffer’s interest in working with us.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, now I was having trouble ignoring God’s hand in bringing our adversary-neighbor to our church!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was getting the idea that God was serious about our buying and running the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I came under conviction that he needed to go speak to my enemy-neighbor and to reconcile.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It took me a few Sunday’s to obey God’s call to reconcile with him.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He did not seem bitter about my part in his economic misfortune.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We met for lunch to talk about his desire to sell the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, I was certainly not at the point where we were about to actually buy it.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, soon, God would move again.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He allowed the sins we had sown in the past with our Christmas tree farm neighbors to deliver their harvest.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the summer of 2005, our Christmas tree farm neighbors signed a contract to sell their property to a subdivision developer.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The land was never offered for public sale so we never had the opportunity to buy it.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I recognized the bitter fruit of my failure to be a good neighbor.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cathie was beside herself—she wanted to move somewhere where this would never happen again.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, what should we do?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From my continuing study of the mission of the Church, I knew we were called to build up the body of Christ where we lived.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Given all the time and money we spend in our neighborhood, we are going to give an account for how we spent those.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So far, we’d blown it with our neighbors to the north and were going to reap the consequences of another new subdivision in our back yard.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was also thinking that the flight to the suburbs in America was a systemic sin: we move for a better life for ourselves and the place we leave be damned.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now, we felt the desire to do exactly that.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, I knew we couldn’t go.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were exiled to Tomball, Texas—and we were called to seek its prosperity (Jeremiah 29:7).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At this time, my colleagues and I were reading Robert Quinn’s </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Building the Bridge as You Walk on It</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was cut to the heart by Quinn’s observation (stated in secular terms) that in our flesh, we are ‘comfort-centered and self-focused’ while in the Spirit, we are ‘purpose-centered and other-focused.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I saw myself as a ‘comfort worshipping idolator.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I did those things, even things for God, that kept or made him comfortable.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My false gods were comfort and personal peace.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Like Isaiah in the presence of God, I felt ruined.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had ignored God’s gentler prodding up until now.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, the shock of suburbanization of our neighborhood and Quinn’s insights were too much.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God had finally gotten to me.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I saw I was useless to God in my comfort zone.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Mobile Home Community and North Stuebner Airline Project</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In October 2005, Brian Schaffer, a Nazarene pastor and former missionary to Latin America, and I began to seriously discuss a neighborhood ministry in the mobile home community located one-half mile from our home in Tomball.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Brian was committed to compassion ministry to the less fortunate and I was convicted that the residents of the mobile home community were ‘my neighbors.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I had been ‘driving by them on the other side’ for more than ten years.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, now I felt moved to buy the mobile home community and run it as a business ‘embassy of the Kingdom of God.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Brian and his wife Deborah (who have 4 children ages 16 to 2) wanted to sell their home and move from the Cypress area into Tomball. They felt the calling to move into the manager’s house in the mobile home park to provide the on-site supervision. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since 2003, my study of the mission and purpose of the Church convinced me that it was to be the ‘sign, foretaste, instrument and agent of God’s reign in Christ.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That is, the Church was to demonstrate in the midst of real life and within the ‘people group nations’ of our communities what life is like under the Lordship of Christ.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman takes and works through a whole batch of dough. (Matthew 13:33)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When God brought Brian and Deborah into our lives, that yeast became our model for the Church in the mobile home park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Brian, his wife Deborah and my wife Cathie and I were to be the Church in the mobile home park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We relied on Jesus’ promise that ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there’ and that ‘ my Father will grant whatever you ask in my name.’ (Matthew 18:19-20)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At this point, the Kingdom of God in our neighborhood was certainly like a mustard seed!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The 20 families living in the mobile home park were 95% Hispanic; many were undocumented.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Most were young families with quite a few kids.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How were we to be the Church to these people?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When Jesus sent 72 disciples out two by two he told them “</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Heal the sick you find and tell them the Kingdom of God is near.</span></span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">” (Luke 10:9)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, our concept was to meet the practical needs of our residents without expectation of anything for ourselves (that is, in agape love).</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The plan was to begin by upgrading the physical condition of the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">About 40% of the land area in the park was used to dispose of the treated effluent from the park’s waste water treatment plant.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spray heads protruded up from very badly maintained areas of land that we useless for play or for any other purpose.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We proposed first to get the grassy areas under control and keep them mowed.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We enlisted Brian’s teenage sons in the effort.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We moved the mobile homes that were located 10 feet off Stuebner Airline Road back further into the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we relocated families within the park, we made sure their installations were better than they had been.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We trimmed the trees.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, we gave notice that we did not want to continue providing spaces to two resident groups of young undocumented males without adult supervision.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They were sources of noise and behavior that we did not want to facilitate and the mobile homes were in very bad condition—beyond their useful lives. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then, we initiated the effort to get the state permit required to pipe our treated effluent offsite so the spray field areas would be available for a soccer field, community garden or just play.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, we proceeded to contract for a new waste treatment plant that would be contained in a building and be much quieter than the old unit that was currently doing the job.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We installed street lights.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, we paved the streets and driveways which had been in very bad condition.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We paid for the painting of two mobile homes (we do not own any of the homes; we provide space and utilities only) that were in bad condition.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A third mobile home that was in the worst condition was a particular challenge.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We attempted to help the husband obtain a new trailer, taking him to dealers and sitting with him to understand what they were telling him.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We helped him get his employer to pay him fully by check so his pay would register as large as it actually was.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the end, he did not have the financial strength to buy a new home.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, he did initiate re-siding of the home and we paid for paint.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the summer, we arranged for a visiting youth group mission to work on the home.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">They built a new front deck and steps to replace the dangerous, rotten steps that were in place and did some painting.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These ‘healing’ efforts were our effort to raise the level of our service to the residents.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We did not want the neighbors and other passers-by to look into the park and think badly of Hispanic immigrants for things that were beyond their control.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As owners and managers, we could do a lot to improve the way the park appeared outwardly.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, we knew the real mission was to call our residents to a higher way of life—to Kingdom living.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we first demonstrated how a Kingdom landlord and manager treat their residents, we planned to call them to raise the level of their lives as neighbors.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hispanic culture often includes loud music that is not of benefit to the whole community.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Early on, we had lots of opportunity to teach that ‘loving one’s neighbor’ means doing no harm to him.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In this area, we worked on keeping individual family yards mowed and getting junk and non-operational vehicles out of the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Basically, we started to teach what it means to be a ‘good neighbor’ at the very basic level of doing no harm.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, we knew ‘healing’ meant much more than improving physical surroundings, as important a symbol of God’s love and provision as they may be.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We wanted to call our residents to become Kingdom citizens of America or, if they were not to remain here, to their home countries.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, we installed a community center in the park where we could engage residents in groups for learning or just fellowship.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The community center was simply a double-wide mobile home we purchased and gutted completely to create a classroom or fellowship area and two smaller work rooms with a bathroom.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As soon as we installed it, we began to get requests from residents to use it for birthday parties, wedding and baby showers and other gatherings.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were even invited to some of these gatherings.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At one of them, we learned that a number of our residents were involved in a Roman Catholic equipping system called the Christian Family Movement.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We learned that its purpose was closely aligned to our own—to help families help each other live more closely to God’s design.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, we could see that the Church in the mobile home park had some other body parts to whom we were not yet connected. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our main purpose for the community center was to be a place where we could teach English and computer skills and mentor the school age kids.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This was our first effort to really engage residents personally.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We saw English not only as very important to our residents individually and to their witness to their American neighbors more generally. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We believed that offering English in love would be the best way to know and engage our residents personally and to show them more directly what life was like in God’s Kingdom.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We felt we would have many opportunities to share the reason for the hope that we have and to invite our residents into God’s Kingdom (i.e. life on God’s design) right here in the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For me personally, this was the most difficult.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A lot of the initial healing work required just contractors, physical effort and money.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It involved things I could do in my own strength.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Though I knew we could not build up the body of Christ in the mobile home park without God’s power flowing through us, I gravitated to those tasks that I could do without His help.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">During the first year of our ministry, our little Church was pretty moribund.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We started out meeting weekly to share what was going on and to pray for the park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But, that got difficult with schedules and other activities.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, as things moved slowly week to week, it didn’t seem to be necessary to gather that often.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Soon, the Schaffers and Baldwins weren’t gathering much at all.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were just doing our work in our fleshly strength.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In Faith-Walking 101 in September 2007, I had my ‘failure of integrity’ unmasked—that is, my failure to keep the word I had spoken of my intention to build the Church in the mobile home park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My most flagrant ‘habitual disobedience’ was revealed to be self-reliance—the failure to trust and rely upon my vision community—the Church in the mobile home park.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As I left FW 101, I renewed my vow to act in faith on my word.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(We should note that we never conceived of starting a ‘congregation’ in the park that would gather to ‘worship’ on Sunday.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rather, our ‘worship’ was to be the offering of our lives as living sacrifices all week long.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our purpose was to demonstrate God’s plan for human community—Galatians 5:13.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We believed God would use those offerings to do His work in the lives of our residents.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That was our Church work—to be the sign, foretaste, agent and instrument of God’s reign in Christ in the park.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How to actually present ESL in our community center was a stumbling block that delayed this critical component for months.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">None of us except Brian was competent in Spanish. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, he had a day job! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, we needed a bi-lingual person who could bridge the language gap for us as we presented English and make our residents comfortable to come to class.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally, the wife of an Hispanic landscaping contractor came into our lives—a real act of God’s provision.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">She was not a believer herself, but we very soon had opportunities to share with her why we were doing what we were doing—and for the hope we had!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Actually, our conception of the Church in our neighborhood went beyond the mobile home park to the square mile area centered on Stuebner Airline Road and bounded on the north by Hufsmith Road and on the south by Hufsmith-Kuykendahl Road.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We started calling this area “North Stuebner Airline” or “NSA.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It was a suburban geographic area within which we felt residents should be able to know one another well enough to recognize not only one another, but their children.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, it had physical characteristics that could make for a relatively safe area over which kids could roam—as they had done in their neighborhoods up until this present generation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Directly across the street from the mobile home park and immediately to the north of our ten acre property, a new subdivision was being built on the site of a former Christmas tree farm.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We could see from the plans it was to be a gated community with no common space provided.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Experience in Harris County was already showing that this kind of living was not turning out to be ‘abundant’ as Jesus promised it could be. (John 10:10)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In fact, it is quite far off God’s design for human life.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Haggai 1:5-8 and Revelation 3:14-17 seemed to be good descriptions of life in America’s middle class—people like us who’d be our new neighbors.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God was ‘blowing away all we bring home’ because we are ‘all busy with our own houses while His house remains a ruin.’</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We recognized that, in our time, God’s house is the unified Body of Christ.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, we began to see that, beyond the mobile home park project, we had a ‘community Church planting’ opportunity in the whole NSA.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We saw we had the potential to influence the culture of the area as God’s Kingdom ‘yeast’ among the ‘bread loaf’ of 75 new families moving into the gated community on our northern boundary.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Again, we had no plan to build a Sunday ‘worship’ congregation, but rather a 24 x 7 Kingdom community.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In August 2007, Cathie and I purchased the 26 acre plot of raw land immediately to our south (which is to the southeast of the mobile home park).</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That prevented anything crazy from happening on that land as it can in an area with no zoning.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We now plan to move over to that plot from our current 10 acre property.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Six acres of our current 10 acres would make an excellent park and play area for the new subdivision.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While the developers showed no interest when we proposed leaving a lot open on the south boundary of the new subdivision so that it could open seamlessly out into the park, it’s something we can take up with the homeowners association as residents start to move in.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On the 26 acres, we plan to leave a lot of heavily wooded wilderness while cutting a walking and riding trail for use by residents of NSA.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our lawyers tell us we will be sued if someone gets hurt on the trail on our property.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So, part of our ‘Church work’ is to write a land use agreement that will give us the chance to talk to our neighbors about how we treat one another in God’s Kingdom.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our offer should give occasion for rethinking about making money by suing our neighbors.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That practice in our culture is inhibiting active community and care for one another.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Of course, we will still be at risk.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We will also build new horse riding and training facilities that can be shared with borders as we are currently doing.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How we share facilities is again a witness of the power of Christ to enable fallen people to love one another in day-to-day life.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All we do we must do ‘as for the Lord’ so it bears witness to His work in our lives.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How will this story end?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We don’t have a clue.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All we know is we want to cast a different vision of life together than is being experienced in today’s suburban America.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It’s a vision based on love for God and one another, well summarized by Galatians 5:13.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We have the opportunity to call believers in NSA to demonstrate together what life looks like under the Lordship of Christ.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Those who respond will become our expanding ‘vision community’ or ‘church in NSA.’ With God’s help, we hope to show there is another way to live—aligned with God’s design—that is much better than today’s suburban life.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And, that’s our ‘church in NSA’ evangelism plan—to demonstrate life in God’s Kingdom in our neighborhood and to invite those who don’t know Him to step into it too.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While we have no plans for conducting Sunday worship, our vision community (the Church in NSA) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">will have to gather to pray and study Scripture together to keep ourselves aligned with His design.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our worship focus is to be the offering of our bodies as living sacrifices in every aspect of neighborhood life.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our prayer is that “God’s kingdom will come and His will will be done in NSA as in heaven.”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bob and Cathie Baldwin</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tomball, TX</span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></div></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-28686605369090262452008-04-10T00:04:00.000-05:002008-05-07T01:33:28.876-05:00Terry Richter, CFO<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); font-family:Arial;font-size:11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A Christian business man, relatively successful by most measures, three great kids and a wonderful wife... so, why did I still "feel" like a 14 year-old inside? Everything I did to please God left me flat and kept me searching for more. Then came one of those conversations with Jim when I would later ask, "Why would God wait 40 years to speak real 'truth' into my life?"... </span><span id="fullpost"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> For the first time in my life someone listened to me... REALLY listened... long enough to see through the BS... to express REAL and GENUINE LOVE for the person God created (not the polished shell)... and in that raw conversation "authentic love" awoke issues of forgotten trauma, anger, fear, control... things I had to either face... or consciously walk away from and live a known lie. That conversation ended with the realization that the thing I wanted the most out of life, to be loved, was the very thing I could not accept... However, it began a journey of learning to accept God's love first, and how to live... REALLY LIVE! To be transformed by God where my past no longer dictates my future. Unlearning much of what I thought I knew... and learning about this thing called faithwalking...That journey continues on today.<br /><br />Terry Richter<br />CFO, Unified Resources Incorporated</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); font-family:Arial;font-size:11px;"><br /></span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-24570934784732708682008-04-09T23:50:00.000-05:002008-05-07T01:34:35.224-05:00Randy Schroeder, Managing Director<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Two years ago I completed LeadersEdge, a Christian leadership development process led by Jim Herrington and a team. The LeadersEdge process had all the right elements of a great community that facilitates real transformation. It has great leadership that is implementing the principles themselves. It is in a small enough group format to facilitate dialogue, and trained me in what that can look like. It challenged me to be honest and transparent. It stretched me to understand new concepts such as the practice of using mental models in leading teams, and the power of my role in a system. It refocused me on the importance of making disciples, and gave me a new paradigm of impacting my community. <br /><br />Randy Schroeder<br />Managing Director, Ronald Blue and Company</span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-70507427997418819962008-04-09T23:49:00.000-05:002008-05-07T01:35:03.759-05:00Nick Senofsky, Business Leader<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I am very excited about the creation of Faithwalking. I have been involved in a learning community with Jim Herrington in the past and the experience was priceless. It is hard to put into words the depth of personal transformation I underwent. What I can say is that as a result I have a better grasp on my inner world, a greater boldness with my outer world, a deeper relationship with my wife and kids, and increased intimacy with God. Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of this life-changing, life-giving journey.<br /><br />Nick Senofsky<br />Business leader</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-57848836855287964652008-04-09T23:48:00.000-05:002008-05-07T01:35:34.884-05:00Dave Gibson, Senior Pastor<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><p class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God used the pivotal principles I learned in my two years under Jim Herrington’s mentoring to keep me from bailing out of a very challenging leadership setting. Beyond that, they enabled me to thrive as a change agent. Now, in my ongoing leadership challenges, I keep using the truths that were instilled in me.</span></span></p><ul type="circle"><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You are the highest leverage change-point in your system.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One change changes everything.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Systems change to stay the same.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is no single cause to a given effect.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There are no single-stroke solutions to complex problems.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is not personal, it is a mental model disagreement.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You must build a learning community.</span></span></li><li class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Transformational goals, not incremental change.</span></span></li></ul><p class="bodyCopy" style="color: rgb(26, 66, 90); text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dave Gibson, Senior Pastor<br />Cypress Bible Church</span></span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3257307597765287217.post-89482305470223146232008-04-09T23:45:00.001-05:002010-12-17T11:40:10.214-06:00Rick Brown, Senior Pastor<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1a425a;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"One huge mistake in leading is thinking leadership is mostly about what is happening </span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">around</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> you. Through my Leaders Edge experience, Jim Herrington helped our group of leaders come to understand that leadership is more about what is happening </span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> you. Along with that new mental model, I was equipped with the skills I needed--and lacked at the time--to lead effectively in an organization that was undergoing drastic changes while seeking deep change. Faithwalking during this time--and since--with Jim helped us get to the point of vitality we are now experiencing."<br />
<br />
Rick Brown, Senior Pastor<br />
ChristBridge Fellowship</span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0