Monday, May 27, 2013

Spice Up Your Networking


Colossians 4
5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
  
As I was reading in Colossians 4, I was pondering verses five and six.  "Conduct yourself with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity."  This is great networking tip!  When I was a State Farm agent, many asked me how I would have time to run a business, sell insurance and financial services, and be a single mom to three in a town I wasn't familiar with.  I said, simple, it's about just living life and sharing what you do with those you  meet, listening for the needs they have, and trying to offer a product or service during those moments.  

While that was insurance, it was work for the Kingdom.  I didn't realize it.  But helping people recover from unexpected loss or from what Satan is continually trying to destroy;  that is Kingdom work.  It's about restoration.  Now with a larger understanding of how Kingdom work translates to the workplace, it is so exciting to see how God uses our businesses to do the work of the Kingdom.  

There is also another opportunity that the Scripture points to.  That is our opportunity to share what God has done for us.  The next verse, "Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person."  I hung on this phrase "with grace", while some translations interpret that to mean gracious, I think it is bigger.  It's communicating what God has done through Jesus through His finished work on the cross.  That is where the salt comes in.  His sacrifice, his labor of love, has so many features and benefits (still speaking sales), that's what we need to share.  The finished work of the cross brings freedom, it brings salvation, it brings purpose, it brings joy, it brings peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and love.  Our speech regardless of what are calling is should be seasoned with all these amazing things.  It should be so attractive that it draws people in to want to know more.

Life is so busy, how do I do this?  The scripture did not leave us hanging, but we have to back up to see it.

Colossians 4

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

It's the same as how I answered my critics when it came to being a State Farm agent.  You do life and you be watchful for every interaction, every opportunity.  We pray and we stay focused on what God is doing around us. We get to know the Father so well, we see His work, He will be faithful to prompt us, and He will provide for us as we make the most of every opportunity Those opportunities may look like sharing how your business or work can help (remember bringing solutions to life's problems is how God shows love to His people), it might be what God is doing or has done in your family, and it may be what God is or has done in your personal life.  Being present or in the moment of what God is doing is good for business and it's good for Kingdom.

For more on MERGE - visit www.MERGEBusiness.com
Like us on Facebook - MERGE Community
Follow us on twitter @MERGEmyLife  


Sunday, May 19, 2013

Feast of the Harvest in the Workplace

This weekend is Pentecost - Feast of the Weeks.  Pentecost was a celebration of the Law coming down from Mt. Sinai and then in the New Testament, the coming down of the Holy Spirit to begin the New Testament church.  What does this have to do with the workplace?  A lot.

Let me back-up.  Our understanding of the church varies and mostly we think of the organizational church that we go to on the weekends.  It was about 5 years ago, that my family and I took a trip to Greece and Turkey.  We were on a tour in Turkey of the seven churches in Revelation.  It wasn't until a few months ago that I realized all these places we visited, I only went through one church in Smyrna.  In New Testament days, the church was a group of believers in town.  They met in homes.  They worked in the marketplace.  Don't get me wrong, I love the organizational church and all they contribute, however the walls of the church sometimes become a barrier for our doing the work of the Father in our workplace setting.  It creates a physical dualistic mindset that what is preached on Sunday morning only impacts my time away from the workplace.

God's plan for our life includes all things.  We don't need to compartmentalize, we need to learn to integrate, to merge our lives.  Our work becomes another place to do the will of the Father, for God to be glorified in my work.  Not to mention the amazing harvest of reconciliation in our workplace settings.

John 4:34-35
Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.  You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

Is your work the work of the Father, does it provide nourishment?  I'm sure for many of us it doesn't feel nourishing at all.  But Jesus came to reconcile all things and that includes our work.  So it can provide physical nourishment to you and your family, it can provide spiritual and emotional nourishment because we are partnered with the King, and it can bring nourishment to our soul because we have true eternal meaning and purpose in our work.

Yesterday I was talking with my son and asking him about his work.  He said he loved it but was concerned about his promotion coming up.  Would it represent all the work that he has put in over the last year?  And let me tell you, he's not exaggerating, it was a lot.  I know for me financial increases at work rarely measured up to my expectation.  Even when they did, they felt hollow.  That comes from a lack of understanding of my identity as a daughter of the King and my eternal destiny of bringing heaven to earth, right where I'm working.  When we understand the influence of the Kingdom than we don't depend on the things of this world that have not been reconciled. 

Finally, the power of the Holy Spirit that fell on that day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the power that was central to Jesus ministry as well as the New Testament churches, is available to us in our workplace.  Jesus came to reconcile all things and He left that we might have all the benefits of Heaven through the Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit doesn't just operate in the confines of the church or in the confines of church activities.  He is available to us in everything, in our workplace.

The harvest in the workplace is an untapped area.  And we can be on the front lines with all the Kingdom influence and all the power of the Holy Spirit to do the work of the Father.  And it's all in the midst of our workplace giftings.  God is amazing!

Romans 5:18
Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

This new life for everyone includes our workplace. 

If you want to know more about your workplace calling...

Join us for our monthly lunches in Urbana, IL
Like us on Facebook "MERGE Community
Follow us on Twitter @MergeMyLife
Invest in your calling and join the journey with us as we launch official training for your call...check it out here



 

Monday, May 13, 2013

What Are You Working For?

What are you working for?  Money.  Relationships.  Security.  Is it fulfilling?  Or are you looking for and waiting for early retirement?  Does your work satisfy?  Do you stand back when something is accomplished and find satisfaction in your work?  Or do you just run through the tasks everyday working towards a paycheck, a weekend, a vacation, or a promotion. 

I remember a time when I didn't find much satisfaction in my work and I hated getting my yearly salary increases.  Might sound funny but it reset the clock to have to wait another year for the next exciting moment in my job.  Very sad.  Once I realized that my vocation was something that God wanted to restore my job and use it for His purpose.  It changed the way I work.  I spent the last 6 days mostly away from work through a four day weekend with family, whom I love and a 2 day retreat with my fellow workers, whom I love.  During these last six days I have missed my work.  While it is unhealthy to become all about work because even God rested on the 7th day.  We also must build rest into our daily, weekly, monthly and yearly schedules to reflect with God and family all the blessings and spend time getting refueled.  However, I have missed working alongside My Father (God) and watching Him create and use my vocation for His purposes.

I'm not wanting anything..."The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want" Psalm 23:1
I'm not anxious for anything... "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."  Philippians 4:6

What if our work could be satisfying?  What if we could regain that passion that we had when we were young thinking about what we wanted to grow up to be, before we headed to college to study for our exciting new careers, before we started our jobs that held so much anticipation?  How do we get here?  It's so important to know that God loves you and made you uniquely for a purpose.  He hid an amazing treasure in you and is waiting for you to engage to unlock the treasure. 

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain" - Psalm 127:1

To find out more about your workplace calling and how to live that out, join our MERGE community.  Check out our website www.MERGEBusiness.com

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Say Yes to Give Through Your Workplace Calling

Giving and the church always seems to be an uncomfortable topic.  For those of us in the workplace sometimes we feel like a big paycheck for the church or that the church is just another one of our kids asking for their allowance.  Although the church is being more prescriptive about it, there is a 10% and above expectation.  For some we may attend churches where we aren't really sure of the budget and aren't trusting leadership.  Sometimes it feels like money is the main point of connectivity because a lot of what is preached from the pulpit, I can apply it to my life or not.  But when it comes to money, I feel like they are directly talking to me.  If you are someone who has one of these thoughts or maybe giving is just an obligation.  I would like to challenge our uncomfortability.

If we only believe that people who work in the church have God given purposes than the topic of money because of point of contention.  We are all called to the mission field and most of us are called to the workplace.  If you want to know more about this, check out the MERGE events on www.MERGEBusiness.com for more information on workplace calling.

We as leaders in the workplace have a great capacity to make and accumulate wealth.  Let's read that again, we as leaders in the workplace have a great capacity to make and accumulate wealth.

But to what end are we making money?  We have believed the lie that it is for our comfort and reward and while God wants us to prosper he also wants us to partner with Him in the Kingdom.  So we have distorted the value of money by overusing it for our own good.  And we have exchanged something that was supposed to bring life to others as well as ourselves for something we now serve.

Even money can be reconciled back to God.  We can say thank you to God through our generosity, we can show the love and generosity of the Father as we give to others, and our generosity translates into others hearing the good news and the Kingdom advancing.  Look at the following verses:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich.  II Cor. 8:9

And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work.  II Cor. 9:8

When we change our heart and our thinking about money, than we will experience great freedom in our finances.  Then I believe there is a next step that God wants us to take.  I believe He's calling us to be financial partners in the Kingdom.  In a sense, you can become a Kingdom Venture Capitalists.
We have been given the wealth of the world to finance the Kingdom.  Why wouldn't we want to be a part of this?  Do you want to be stewards of God's finances?  Then let's say yes to give.

Things we can practically do:
1)  Go to God and 'say yes' to what He has for you.
2)  Ask for creative ways to partner with Him in the Kingdom both through finances and through your workplace setting.
3)  Talk to your pastor or church leadership about how to connect at this level.
4)  Watch expectantly for God's blessing in this area.