Category: Helpful Resources

Gladys Aylward

by Janet Benge

 

– She was 27 years old and was studying in China Inland Mission to be a missionary. She was not doing well in her grades so they dismissed. She wanted to be a missionary to China but now there was no chance.

– She went to the shipyard and asked how much it would cost to go to China. She only had three shillings and they laughed at her. She began working to save up when someone told her that there was a retired missionary couple from China looking for a maid. She went to work for the couple and asked them to tell her stories of China and would borrow books about China. Finally the lady she worked for told her that there was a missionary widow that would not return from China even after she lost her husband. Gladys ask them to contact her and left for China to work for her. She traveled through Russia and treacherously was taken as a slave but she was saved in the nick of time. She literally jumped on a ship headed to Japan and acted as a British prisoner with the Japanese. When she arrived, they let her go and she headed to China.

– She finally arrived in China after many travel problems. Mrs. Lawson, the widow lady she went to work for, had been in China for 53 years. They worked together forming a hotel for travelers. After a while Mrs. Lawson unexpectedly died. Gladys did not know what to do but wanted to stay in China. How could she maintain and finance the hotel that her and Mrs. Lawson worked so well? She did not have the money and was scared.

– One day out of nowhere, the Mandarin, leader in charge of the whole area that had ultimate power, came by and visited Gladys. She was scared and did not know what was going on. The Mandarin told Gladys that laws had changed and every woman in the entire province was to quit binding their feet, a tradition used all over China for many many years. He said that men could not look at women’s feet, so he needed a woman to travel all over as a foot doctor and make sure that people quit binding women’s feet. He said the only woman in that area that could walk and did not have bound feet was Gladys, so she would work for him. He told her that she would travel all over with the guards from the Mandarin and speak on his behalf. She told him she was a Christian and would tell the women about God. He replied that she could do so if she wanted, and he would take care of all of the travels (expenses, guards and open doors). God had just opened the door, provided the protection, the provision and the authority. What an amazing God!

– At one time there was a riot in the prison and the prisoners were killing each other. The Mandarin asked Gladys if she would help. She did not understand how she could help, she was a woman, she knew nothing about prisons and she was scared. But she said she would, prayed and marched into the prison. Blood was everywhere and dead bodies were laying all over. Men were killing each other, but God gave her a boldness and she screamed “stop it”. The men all stopped and looked at her. She demanded that they come form a line. Ultimately, God used her to stop the prison riot. She later demanded that they get the prisoners jobs so they could have food and better clothing. Once again she saw God do miraculous things.

– She adopted orphan children. She stopped counting at 150 they still kept coming in.

– The Mandarin asked her to tear down a building that everybody was afraid to touch. They believed that a giant scorpion used to kill people and was trapped inside of that building so everyone was afraid to touch the building. Gladys gathered the Christians in the town to tear the building down. The Mandarin then asked Gladys to come to the palace for a feast. She went and there were a lot of people gathered there. At the end of the dinner, the Mandarin began to speak about all the things that Gladys had done for him and for the city. He then looked at her and said that he wanted to become a Christian. Once again, God performed another miracle in her life.

Found: God’s Will

By John MacArthur Salvation

 

— God’s will begins at salvation.

– God’s will is that men be saved and we are the vehicles to share that with the world. Spirit Filled — Christians being filled with His Spirit is His Will

– When you are saved, you receive the Holy Spirit but to what degree that God is active in your life depends on you as an individual. You must yield your life to the Holy Spirit.

– When you’re close to Jesus you can do so much more and go so much further.

– The Spirit filled life is nothing more than living in the conscious presence of Christ.

– Ephesians 5:18 – we are to be controlled by an under the influence of the Spirit instead of controlled by an under the influence of wine.

– The more you read the Bible, the more you will know the Bible. The only way you can be Spirit minded is to saturate yourself in the Word. Sanctification – being pure – 1 Thessalonians 4:3

– Sex is a good thing. You are not to avoid sex, you are to avoid sexual sins. Sex is a beautiful thing from God, but only with your spouse.

– Control your body — I Thes 4:4 – A holy man is an awesome weapon in the hands of God Submit – I Peter 2:15-18

– Submit to the authorities God has given you.

– I Peter 2:15 — submit and live in a way that will not bring reproach on name of Christ.

– Don’t hide your maliciousness under the cloak of your liberty — I Peter 2:17

– Submit to your boss at work, government and every authority God has placed in your life.

– I Timothy 3:10 — the preacher should be a man under submission.

– Only exception of not obeying law of the land is when it goes against what God commands.

Suffering

– Some came to Jesus saying they wanted to follow Christ (Luke 9:57-58) but He wanted them to know that suffering is part of the Christian life… not all easy.

– I Peter 5:10 – All will have to take up their cross.

– I Peter 3:17 — but suffer not because of our attitude or own fault but for Christ’s sake.

– I Peter 4:14-15 — don’t suffer as a bad doer but as a Christian

– II Timothy 3:12 – Evangelism is not just the preacher’s job, it is your job. Not passing out a tract but living and talking about the Lord.

– Colossians 1:24

– Galatians 6:17

– Willing to confront the world and stand for what is right.

Do whatever you Want

– If you are living for the Lord and walking with Him as previously mentioned, than do whatever you want because your desires are coming from the Lord.

– Psalm 37:4

– Once you are the right person, you will do the right thing. God gives you desires when you are obeying Him.

– God’s Will is not a place but you as a person being who God wants you to be.

Developing The Leaders Around You

by John Maxwell

 

– Are you raising up leaders around you? Great leaders not only lead well, they also raise up other leaders.

– Great leaders reproduce other leaders.

– Are you growing the people that are around you?

– Grow the leader and you will grow the organization.

– The strength of an organization will be determined by its leader. Weak leaders have weak organizations and strong leaders have strong organizations.

– Have strong people around you that will help you. Those around you will determine your strength or weakness.

– It takes a leader to know a leader, grow a leader and show a leader, but also to attract another leader.

– Don’t just add on other leaders, multiply leaders.

– The more people you lead, the more people you will need.

– Be smart enough to bring strong men alongside you.

– A leader must create a climate in which other leaders can grow and come on board.

– A leader must be a thermostat and not simply a thermometer.

– There’s a difference between managers and leaders. Managers maintain and control while leaders innovates vision.

– A leader must know where he is going to be able to show others the way.

– To nurture other leaders you have, use the BEST formula: Believe in them. Encourage them. Share with them. Trust them. – When you believe in people, they will know it and you will be able to motivate them.

– You can hire someone to work for you, but you must believe in them for them to work with you.

– It is the leader’s job to add significance to those that he leads.

– People usually rise to the expectation. If you want something accomplished, you must expect and reward what you want accomplished.

– When you nurture leaders around you, everyone wins.

– In order to get something done, you must give your leaders: Responsibility. Authority. Accountability. – Nurture and help all of your people, but develop only a few.

– Set aside time daily for personal growth. If you’re going to help others, you must grow yourself. Guard that time because you need it.

– Choosing those who will be on your team is vital to having a good team.

– Take time to be together make a game plan with those you choose for your team.

– Leaders who have the attitude of “I must do it myself” will get very little accomplished and help very few people.

– Model what you want in order to add value to other people – not only will they know what you expect, but they will see what you expect.

– People become empowered when you offer them opportunity, freedom and security.

– When you give of yourself and add value to other people, you will always receive the following in return: loyalty, encouragement, counsel and support, problem solving, time, balance of gifts, people development and increase of influence.

– True success comes when one generation prepares the next generation for success.

– To be a leader, we must: Have desire. Have relationship skills.

– When you see someone with potential, give them opportunities, a growth plan and your time to help them.

– Make that developing of other leaders your lifestyle. By doing so, you will multiply your influence and efforts.

Courageous Leadership

by Bill Hybels

 

– The local church is the hope in this world and it primarily lies upon the leadership of its leaders.

 

– One of the most powerful weapons a leader has is his vision

• Pray God gives you a vision – it may come from reading Scripture, it may come from seeing something or hear something, etc.

• Have you fasted, prayed and asked to hear from God? Have you traveled and seen the need? Have you visited other ministries to be open and able to think? Have you closed out the noise of every day sounds and busyness so that you can better receive what God wants to give you? You must internally prepare your heart for God to speak to you and you must externally prepare yourself by visiting and seeing the need and what is going on.

• We must embody the vision and live it out passionately so others know we believe it.

• We must learn how to communicate the vision. Talk about it collectively and individually.

• Vision creates ownership. • Vision provides focus

 

– Build a dream team

• A team of people that has Character (someone who lives right), Confidence (someone who knows how to do it) and Chemistry (someone that can get along with me and others).

• Don’t overlook the people that are currently with you. Some of the greatest leaders that can for part of your team are already working amongst you as volunteers and church members.

• Make sure the right people are in the right position.

• Raise the level of communication within your team.

• Award team members for a job well done. Paul mentioned names at the end of his books of the people that had worked and helped in ministry.

• As spiritual leaders, you have the greatest blessing to get to work in ministry, but we can do it with a team of people and enjoy every step of the way.

 

– Teach on giving in the church.

• God can supply much more than anyone else and he places people in our churches to help and give… but we have to teach them and make them aware.

• Most spiritual leaders believe that everyone understands what giving is and the needs of a church are, but most people do not understand how to give, why to give and what the giving is for.

• A spiritual leader should give a yearly series on financial administration of a Christian’s money.

• Where does the money go? People want to know, need to know and have a right to know. Who makes the decisions? What are the needs? Finances should be explained and there should be an open book policy about the finances.

 

– Leadership at its core is influence, so keep your eyes open for people who can influence others.

• Pray for those leaders you’re going to have on your team and then intrust them with responsibilities.

• If you find someone who is an influencer, then check to see if they have strong character.

• Next see if that person has people skills, can they listen and get along with people. Does that person have a concern and compassion for others? Can they relate to other people?

• Next, see if they have drive. You want people who have drive on your team. People who have enough energy to energize others.

• Finally, look for people who have intelligence. We’re not talking about someone with a good SAT score, we are talking about street-smart, someone who understands things.

 

– While we can differ on how to teach someone, we can definitely agree that it takes a leader to train another leader.

– What will energize you to keep going as a leader is to see other leaders that you have help along the way now succeeding.

– Morale is super important. When a leader sees that morale is sagging, it is his job to raise it up. There are too many people that can attest that they have never received a note of encouragement or boost of morale from their leader. Your staff, paid or unpaid, should receive encouragement from you as the leader.

– Effective leaders have to lead in each direction – north, south, east and west. Those above them, below them and around them.

– One of the hardest people to lead is yourself.

– We as leaders must grow ourselves.

• May God give us a heart of optimism like David.

• May God give us a heart of love like Jonathan. Love is better than vision.

• May God give us a heart of integrity like Joseph. Power tends to corrupt, but Joseph did not let power corrupt him. Joseph saw his leadership as an administration for and from God.

• May God give us a heart of decisiveness like Joshua. Joshua stood up and said, “choose you this day whom you will serve but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (24:15). Joshua made a decision and stood by it. We must be leaders who can make decisions and help other people make decisions, we cannot cowered away from this. • May God give us courage like that of Esther. She was willing to do what’s right no matter if it cost her position, status or even her own life. We must lead our ministries with courage.

• May God give us wisdom like that of Solomon. We need wisdom to discern what to do how to do things. • May God give us confidence in him like that of Jeremiah. Yet moments of discouragement, crying and disappointments, but he still trusted and confided in the Lord.

• May God give us victory to celebrate like that up Nehemiah. At times of building, stopped to celebrate and share the victory with others.

• May God make us like Peter, willing to step out and take action. Peter messed up multiple times, but he was still not afraid to step out and take action. Although he sank in the water, he was the only want to get out of the boat. Although he said sometimes more than he could do, he was the only one who would make commitments many times.

– Leaders need different activities to help not let stress build up.

– Leaders need safe people in whom they can share and be accountable to in many areas.

– Leaders need the right perspective to get through problems and every day life. We need an internal perspective, remembering that these things are temporal and remember why we are doing what we are doing.

Career, Find your True Gift

by Anthony Robbins

 

– When you enjoy your work, it’s like a miracle.

– Fulfillment in life is growing and giving. When you work, and do what you like, you’re giving meaning to your life. People that do not have fulfillment in life, lose excitement in life.

– The secret of really being fulfilled is to know what your gift is and do that.

– Many people are successful but they are not happy because they are not doing what fulfills their life’s gift.

– All of us have an in-born talent but finding it and using it is the beauty.

– No one ever on their deathbed wished that they would’ve spent more time in the office.

– Learn to understand people so that you can enter into the world. By doing this, you can eliminate so much stress people carry.

– There is power in concentration, when you concentrate your focus.

– Figure out what you want and what skills you need to get it and then find someone or something to help you get the skills and achieve your goal.

– If you do not feed your mind with good stuff, other things will end up growing there. Just like a garden, when you don’t plant or take care of it, weeds just show up.

livC. H. Spurgeon, The People’s Preacher

by Peter Morden

 

– He wrote four books a year.

– Started many chapels (churches, bible studies and preaching points all over)

– He supported many of the ministries he started by his book royalties.

– Had 2 secretaries that helped specifically with all of the letters he received.

– He had a 12,000 volume library.

– Many pastor said he was vulgar in the pulpit and did not like his way of preaching.

– Wrote a magazine called the sword and the trowel and had it sent out everywhere.

– Started of the pastors college because young men wanted to learn about ministry.

– He held classes every Friday and would teach.

– Worked on messages and although he wrote many messages, he threw away several while looking for what to preach. He would thumb through the Bible until a passage gripped him so much that he knew that’s what he was supposed to preach.

– He wanted to make the church larger but the deacons would not let him so one day while he was preaching he turned around and said, “like the walls of Jericho fell, by faith may this wall will come down.”

Boundaries in Marriage

by Henry Cloud & John Townsend

 

– Boundaries help us determine where something begins or something ends. Boundaries also help us determine ownership as well as responsibilities. Boundaries also Provide protection (to keep the bad out and the good in).

 

– 10 laws of boundaries:

1. The law of Sowing and Reaping.

– Our actions have consequences.

– The old saying that you hurt most the ones you love most is very true.

2. The law of Responsibility.

– The spouse has to feel responsible for the feelings of the other spouse.

– We are responsible to each other but not for each other. – Gal 6:2,5

3. Law of Power.

– You have the power to change yourself.

– Many times we do that which we do not want to, but we do have the power to change it.

– We have to take the beam out of our own eye first – Matthew 7:1–5

– We cannot change others, but we can influence them for the good.

4. Law of Respect.

– If we wish for others to respect our boundaries, we have to respect their’s.

– Dying to your wishes and seeing things their way.

5. Law of Motivation.

6. Law of Evaluation.

– Sometimes we need to go through pain or rough times to learn a lesson.

– You must decipher if the pain leads to injury or it leads to growth… if to injury, than change, but if it leads to growth than bear the pain and learn.

7. Law of Proactivity.

– Proactive boundaries keep freedom.

– Proactive people deal with or face problems all the time, but they hold onto the love they have.

8. Law of Envy.

– Envy is focusing on what others have instead of what we have. Always comparing and looking at others.

– Adam and Eve felt envy in the garden of Eden when they had everything that they could want except for one thing… and they wanted that.

– Envy is miserable.

9. Law of Activity.

– This law states that we should take action and fix our problems instead of staying passive.

– It is taking initiative.

– Active people make many steaks and wise people learn from those mistakes.

– All that evil needs to abound is for people to do nothing.

10. Law of Exposure.

– Law of exposure states that we must be clear and talk about what our boundaries are. Your spouse should know where lines are drawn, but cannot know unless you talk about them.

– Problems can be resolved and even avoided when boundaries are exposed. When things are talked about, they can be agreed-upon.

– We must take responsibility for our own lives, we cannot shift the responsibility to others.

– Boundaries with ourselves are much more important than boundaries in our marriage.

– Anytime we put our eyes on our own good, we are taking our eyes off of our own need for love and forgiveness.

– You cannot make your spouse grow up, but you can’t let their immaturity avoid some of the consequences it brings.

– Our highest calling to our spouses is to love them, just like our highest calling as a Christian is to love God.

– We should not try to play God in our marriage – when we try to act like God, we fail to love our spouse because we are trying to fix them.

– We could not live in denial. We cannot say that we are without sin or problems – 1 John 1:8. The opposite of denial is confession.

– Thinking that the sun rises and sets on us is damaging and destructive to our marriage. We must give more of ourselves than we might be comfortable with.

– Marriage exposes our weaknesses and failures to our spouse.

– Love cannot grow in an environment of fear.

– We must respect our spouses “no”.

– Do not punish a bad decision.

– We should not use guilt to con or get our own way.

– The golden rule, Jesus’ words on treating others like we would want to be treated, is the answer to how the marriage should be ran.

– Spouses should complete and complement each other, making them better

– Mature spouses always think of the needs and feelings of the other person.

– Valuing your wife’s opinion does not mean that you cannot do it without him or her, it means you care and want to know what they think.

– Allow a person the freedom of being different

– Galatians 5:13–14

– If you try to control or restrict your spouse, your companionship is destroyed.

– We should remember that ultimately we have to respond to God for how we treat each other. Our marriage is more than just about our spouse, it is about our God as well.

– You may want to give into the temptation to ignore or not listen, snapback or not care, but remember that you must submit to God and do what he teaches and commands.

– God’s ways work and if you would just do them, your marriage will work as well.

– The Bible teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves. That means you so deeply identify the feelings of your spouse that you identify her feelings as your feelings.

– Look past your behavior to the affects of your behavior.

– See your spouse as if you were him/her – would you want to be treated like that?

– Make a commitment to your spouse, enter into a covenant. God makes a covenant with us, that he would love us and never leave us. Hebrews 13:5.

– If someone is not committed in marriage, and if leaving is an option, then why try to work it out and go through the pain, isn’t it easier just to leave? Some do not leave physically, but they do leave emotionally… taking their heart out of it.

– A runner can not see the finish line when he’s only halfway through the race, but the commitment to finish will keep him going. And so it is with marriage, the commitment to continue may take give you what you need to see it you through.

– Commitment provide security to your spouse that you are going to continue even through hard times.

– Love is the foundation for marriage, love for God and love for the other person. It is sacrificial, giving and selfless.

– Deception undermines love; lying in a marriage does harm but the lying itself does much more than what is being lied about.

– Intimacy comes from knowing the other person on a deep level.

– If you are to have a good relationship, you must commit to each other to be honest – but remember that you must show grace when your spouse is being honest.

– Many things compete for your love. A marriage does not stay strong just because you started off with a good marriage, you must work at it.

– As a bank guards it’s money, so a marriage must guard it’s most valuable thing, love.

– Here are some intruders that weakens the bond of marriage: work, kids, outside hobbies and interests, TV, in-laws, financial strains, friends, addictions, affairs, etc. Some things are not bad in themselves, but if not careful, they can be intruders in a marriage.

– Marriage is not supposed to be the end-all of fulfillment, that would be idolatry. God is the only one who could fulfill us completely. Colossians 1:17

– Date nights are a very important instrument that can prevent intruders in a marriage. Intimacy is another way to prevent intruders in a marriage. – If you have character issues, do not blame it on your spouse.

 

– You cannot fix a problem if:

1. You do not recognize it. (if you will not admit it and do not see it, nothing will get better.)

2. You will not talk about it. (you have to talk about it to fix things)

3. You will not own it. (Confess, apologize, or forgive if needed.)

 

– Remember the basic laws of communication:

1. Listen and try to understand the other person.

2. Empathize with the other person.

3. Do not devalue what the other person is saying by defending or justifying, just listen.

4. Clarify what the other person is saying by asking questions.

5. Use “I” statements letting the person know that you understand and take responsibility.

 

– Boundaries work best when both of the spouses agree. Love flourishes when both spouses respect and receive the boundaries of the other.

– Revenge is not an option for us, revenge belongs to God.

– Ignoring a problem will not make it better. Time alone does not heal things, you must face it and fix it.

– Almost never is their a problem in that one spouse is 100% wrong and the other spouse 0% wrong, almost always there is a shared blame a problem.

– Forgiveness is burning the account.

Black Like Me

By John Howard Griffin

 

True story of a man who paints his skin or dies his skin black and shaves his head to see how the racist tension is towards him as a black man. He is immediately accepted by the black people and they give him a place to stay, warn him and help him along the way. The white people discriminate by calling him names, not letting him sit down or use restrooms in certain places, and much more. He kept his name Though he keeps the same name or does not change his voice, he was not rejected by the whites but was excepted by the black just because of his skin color.

Pretty interesting that just because of the color of his skin he is totally accepted by the blacks and finds out that they are nice, cordial and protective over their “own people”. His observation is that the blacks love their kids like white people, they are moral or immoral just like white people, etc.

The missionary application reminds me of Hudson Taylor, a man who rejected the western culture to become Chinese in his dress, culture and food diet. The westerners rejected him, but the Chinese accepted him.

If a missionary keeps his “American attitude” (believing he is superior) he will be treated as an outsider, but if he will jump into the culture and become like the people, he will be accepted, loved and protected by the people he is working wit