Word of the Week - Pace

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths and keep them straight”

Proverbs 3:5-6                                                                                    

I am just returning from a vacation/extended sabbath with my entire family.  Amy and I spent a week down in Dauphin Island enjoying a slower pace with our kids, grandkids, and some friends.  The days were very long as I would get up at 4:30am every day to head out for some early morning fishing (I have loved fishing for specks and redfish on the coast since I was a young boy) and end the day with a sunset cruise and maybe a few more casts to try catch one more fish 😊!  It took me a few days to wind down, but towards the end of the trip I had entered a different mode and pace.  It is refreshing for me to get to that place so I can recalibrate to find a more-healthy baseline, which is what I am planning to do coming off of this trip.  I was reminded of the importance of our pace of life and decided to share a “WOW” from about February of 2023 – see below.  It was helpful for me, and I am hoping it will help you as you begin the summer.  I love summer because it is a time when it seems like the pace of things slow down a bit and we have permission to adjust our pace and take sabbath/vacation.  God created sabbath for us because He knows how important it is for us to live at a healthy and sustainable pace of life.  What an amazing God we love and serve.

Pace defined – The speed at which someone or something moves, or with which something happens or changes: Rate of movement or rate of progress.

Personal Experience – I learned early in life that being efficient and productive was valuable.  So much so, that in my formidable years, being productive became one of my top goals and values.  Early in my career, I worked around people and leaders that could get a lot done.  I saw them work at an amazingly fast and intense pace, many times literally running through the day to get things done.  There was something exhilarating about a fast and intense pace that I gravitated towards. Through this process, I started to associate a fast pace with being more efficient and productive.  Over time my mode of operating became fast paced, especially as I took on more responsibility in life and business.  As I have aged and matured in my walk of faith, I realize the importance of a healthy and sustainable pace.  It is not healthy or desirable to sprint through life.  If you have ever run a marathon or a long-distance race, you quickly realize the importance of setting the right pace if you want to stay healthy, perform well and finish the race. 

Just a little over 10 years ago, I was close to burning out.  I was living life at an unsustainable pace and realized I needed to adjust my pace, or I might end up in a bad place.  I was encouraged to take a 6-week Sabbatical to reset my pace and it was very helpful.  Over the past 10 years, I have worked intentionally to live my life at a more healthy and sustainable pace seeking the Lord to find my divine pace.  I have come a long way, but I am still not where I want to be.  I have learned a lot about pace and wanted to share a few things that may be helpful to my friends and family on this topic, especially for type A personalities.

Hurry: the great enemy of divine pace – I recently read a book titled “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Ortberg.  How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.  His thesis is that hurry (fast pace) and love are not compatible.  I could really relate to this in my own life as most of our worst moments as a husband, father, friend and leader, even as a human being, are when I am in a hurry – late for an appointment, behind on my unrealistic to-do list, trying to cram too much into my day.  In my fast pace, I carry anger, tension and frustration with me, which is the antithesis of love.  Hurry and love are oil and water, they simply do not mix.  In fact, in 1 Corinthians 13, the verse that defines love, it starts with “Love is patient, Love is kind”.  It is nearly impossible to be patient and kind when you are in a hurry.  The scripture refers to walking with God and not running with Him, because God is love and He wants to walk with us.  God walks slowly because He is love.  Like most things of God our value system is turned on its head.  The world says slower paced is bad and faster paced is good.  But in God’s value system slowing down is better because Jesus is what love looks like in the flesh and blood.  Jesus was never in a hurry but he was always on pace with His God ordained purpose. 

God’s answer is Sabbath – This is where we find room to adjust our pace to a healthy and holy level.  Sabbath is simply a discipline of us trusting God “with all of our heart, mind and strength” to be God and provide us with what we need.  It is a discipline of starting our week with faith, trust and resting in God.  We all need space between us and our work or else we run the risk of burnout, not to mention the fact that we are more productive and creative when we take time away to recreate and recharge. This is the principal and gift of Sabbath.  To cease from our work to simply rest in knowing God.  To honor God by putting our faith in action by demonstrating we trust God and desire to set apart one day a week, typically the first day, to refocus your energy and attention on Him and those closest to us. “And He said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. Mark 2:27 

Pruning is one way that God helps us adjust our pace - As a type A goal-oriented achiever, I am always striving to do more and accomplish more.  This makes it challenging for me to stay in a divine pace.  God recently took me through a season of pruning.  In this season I was forced to slow down and evaluate all the things in my life to determine what things in my life needed to be pruned away to give me more room in my life to live a more healthy pace and focus on the things that matter most.  As life goes on, I have tended to take on more and more until I find myself in an unhealthy place running at an unsustainable pace.  This typically impacts those around me more than anything, especially those closest to me.  God loves us so much that He will do whatever is necessary to get our attention.  If we are abiding in Christ He will take us through the process of pruning, which is painful but necessary.  It is not about doing more it is about doing the things that really matter most, especially eternal things.  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:1-2

Challenge Questions:  Is your pace healthy and sustainable?  Are you living at a pace that allows you to be the best version of you, especially with those closest to you.  Do you find yourself frustrated or impatient with people?  If so, you may want to look at adjustments to your life to find a more divine pace. 

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4

Sincerely,

Duane

Word of the Week - Spiritual Gifts

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelist, the pastors and the teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” Ephesians 4:11-13                                                                                      

Spiritual Gifts – God created us all with unique giftings that are aligned with His purpose and plan for humanity.  As followers of Christ, each of us has been given a God given gift that He is calling us to use for His glory and our maturity.  We only begin to experience the abundant life that Jesus calls us to, when we are connected with Him and living in our spiritual gifts and God purpose.  This was one of the most amazing and powerful discoveries in my journey of faith.  The best day of my life was when I surrendered my heart to Jesus and my spirit we enlivened, which opened my heart and soul to the second-best day of my life; when I realized I have a spiritual gifts and a unique God given purpose and co-mission with Jesus, and I started living in relationship with Him and discovering spiritual gifts and understanding my God purpose.  I came alive in a way like never before.  It was only then that I understood the “abundant life” in Christ!  Pastor Chris shared a message on this a few weeks ago in our Disciple Series Spiritual Gifts and it really stirred me to share this “Word of the Week”.  

The Cross gave us direct access to God through Jesus – Through the Cross we have gained access to God through Jesus our Savior and mediator.  This relationship is where we find power and purpose by the Holy Spirit.  The bible makes not distinction between clergy and laity.  As believers, we are all baptized and ordained in Christ to be priests and ministers of the gospel of Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit.  We are God’s chosen people and the hands an feet of Christ and His church.  We simply have different gifts, roles and positions within the body of believers.  “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people.  You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.  As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His light” 1 Peter 2:9    

3 Truths we have access to:

God has called each person to be minister to those around us – We all have a place in God’s plan and a sphere of influence.  God is calling us to minister those in our sphere of influence (family, friends, colleagues etc.) through the gifts He has given us. “Now to each one the spirit is given for the common good.” 1 Corinthians 12:7

Every gift God has given us is unique and important – We all have different and unique gifts and they are all useful and meaningful to fulfilling God’s plan.  Our tendency is to think that others gifts are more impactful than ours, but this is not true.  God created each of us in His perfect image and equipped us with the perfect gift for His purpose.  “To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith, to another healing….All of these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:8-11

Our God given gifts show us who we are in Christ – Our design reveals our destiny in Christ.  As we live life and grow in our walk of faith, we begin to discover our God given gifts and talents.  As we step into these gifts and see God use us it increases our faith and encourages us to step out further.  We begin to live and walk by faith and see God do amazing things.  This is the supernatural abundant life of Christ.  “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-24   

How to maximize our Spiritual Gifts: 

Discover my spiritual gifts – We were all created by our Creator (God) with unique gifts.  As we grow and experience life, we start to understand how God wired us and our areas of giftings.  We are typically gifted in areas that we have natural abilities and passions in.  God calls us to discover our gifts and help others in the process, especially our kids.  By the way, there are great tools available like Disc, Enneagram, Myers/Briggs etc. to help us in the process.  One of the greatest blessings of my life was when I realized that I had God given gifts and God was calling me to be on His team for a divine purpose.  This is when I began to truly live the “life that is truly life”.  “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.  Long before we first heard of Christ and go our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.” Ephesians 1:11-12 

Develop my spiritual gifts  – Once we discover and begin to understand our strengths, giftings and passions we can then step into our God given purpose and calling by honing our gifts.  The way we develop anything is through pursuit and practice.  We step out in faith and simply start using the gifts that God has given us.  We can also learn from others by being taught, mentored, and coached.  This is the unique thing about the body of Christ, as a community of believers we are called to mentor and model for others on the journey. Church of the Highlands has a 3-step growth track that helps our members through this process.  The key is to step forward by faith and allow God to begin to use you.  “All of you together are the one body of Christ, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27 

Use my spiritual gifts  – I have found the greatest sustained joy in my life is using my spiritual gifts and knowing I am part of God’s eternal plan.  Living each day with a God purpose.  I believe that God created everyone on earth for this purpose (Ephesians 2:10), and until we connect with Him and discover our purpose, we cannot find true joy.  For the first 33 years of my life, I was in pursuit of accomplishing what I thought to be my life goals, objectives and purposes by using my gifts to serve me and my family.  This came up empty!  Over the past 23 years, since surrendering my life to Jesus and discovering my spiritual gifts and purpose, I have lived my life with a focus on something much greater, God’s plan.  I now get to use my God given gifts and blessings to love and serve God and others in my own unique way, leadership/admin (initiating, organizing and helping others in the process), (hospitality (hosting groups/events/parties, cooking good food!!!!), generosity (giving my time, money, resources, adding value to others etc.).  It is truly fulfilling, meaningful and exciting in a way I could have never understood before.  This is the abundant life that Jesus desires for all of us in Him.  “God has given gifts to each of you from His great variety of spiritual gifts.  Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.” 1 peter 4:10

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

So, let’s discover, develop, and deploy our Spiritual Gifts and live the “Life that is Truly Life”!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely,

Duane

Word of the Week - Memorial Day - Remember

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 13:12-13                                                                                                

Memorial Day weekend we celebrate something that I think is sometimes hard for us to comprehend:  the ultimate act of love – to lay down one’s life down for others.  This sacrifice of our fallen service men and women who paid this ultimate sacrifice for the sake of our freedom. In recent years I've heard many conflicted views on this matter. I think it would be a mistake to see these brave men and women as merely victims. While each fallen soldier has a unique story, each soldier is a hero who gave their lives for a greater cause.  I think part of our struggle to understand the fallen soldier comes with our difficulty in accepting sacrifice, especially when a sacrifice seems so final and appears to hold no obvious reward. The idea that someone could give up everything - for people they don’t even know - is hard to process. We spend so much of life trying to gain, to acquire, to win. Our country is home to the American Dream, the land of opportunity. So remembering the fallen solider can feel uncomfortable, but it is most important to remember the Sacrifice.  This is the only way we will be willing to do what is necessary to protect our freedom as a nation.  May we never forget!!!!

On this Memorial Day we remember the 1.2 million men and women who made the ultimate Sacrifice by giving their lives in service of our Country, I am reminded of the sobering reality of the true price of freedom, and how fortunate we are to live in the United States of America, “the land of the free” because of the price others paid for our freedom.  I am very grateful and humbled by this amazing reality.  Click the following link to watch a short 5-minute video “Path of the Warrior” tribute to remembering the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for me and you Memorial Day Tribute .  

In a similar frame, I am even more grateful for the fact that God freely chose to come down to earth in the flesh as Jesus our Messiah and was crucified for our sins, so we can have eternal freedom (salvation) and live with God forever.  “For it is for Freedom that Christ set us free” Galatians 5:1.  “You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” Galatians 5:13.  Let us remember who God is and what He has done for us through the Cross and let this be our motivation to live the great commandment to “Love God and Love others” by serving God and others in Love.  Lord, I pray that we would remember and understand the reality of what others have done for us as Americans and even more amazingly what you have done for us as Christians and never forget the suffering you endured for our benefit.  Let us receive the fullness of your love and Sacrifice.

Sincerely,

Duane

Jesus our Messiah who died to give us life and freedom, both now and for eternity—the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you, Jesus.

Word of the Week - Family Relationship

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.  Psalm 133:1                                                                                                       

Our family had a special day today at Highlands College (HC) celebrating what God has and is doing!  I serve on the board of HC and our family has had the privilege to come alongside Pastor Chris, Pastor Mark, Kay Hargrave, and the team at HC over the past ten plus years and watch God do a miracle.  Today we had a special and intimate family ceremony with some of the HC Leadership team and a few students to rejoice and worship God for what He has done, see pics attached.  I was overwhelmed with joy and emotion having our family (children and grandchildren) there to experience this special time together that included a time of worship and prayer along with a word from PC, Pastor Mark and Kay sharing the vision from the beginning, and what God has done.  It is truly Ephesians 3:20 “Immeasurably more than we could have ever asked or imagined”.  I believe we are just getting started and the best is yet to come!  This prompted me to reflect on the blessing of family, so I decided to share a past “Word of the Week” on family relationship.

Family Relationships  - God created the family as the primary unit for procreation, support and development for all mankind.  When you think about it, our family of origin is the likely the most important influence on our lives and who we become.  Thus, our family is a big deal!  None of us get to choose our family.  Since we live in a fallen world, this can make family relationships complicated and not always ideal.  The good news is that we have a heavenly Father that loves us and desires the best for each of us and our family.  When it comes to our relationship with God, we do have a choice.  We can choose to accept Him as our heavenly Father and trust in Him to bring healing and harmony to our family relationships.  Or we can try to go it alone and do it our way.  Of course, there are all types of families, great ones, more normal ones and terribly broken ones.  Whether you come from a great family or a broken family, all families have some degree of dysfunction and need God’s healing hand upon them.  This is part of the sanctification process, that despite our issues and dysfunction, we learn to live together in unity and harmony through the power of God working in us and through us.  I am convinced that the only way our families can live in peace and harmony is by the power of the Holy Spirit working in each family member.  “Bear with each other and forgive one another, if any of you has grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13

Characteristics of a healthy family – The following is a list of some of what I believe to be the characteristics of a healthy and functional family:

• Caring deeply for each family member – unconditional love

• Providing support and encouragement

• Providing security and a sense of belonging

• Having a deep commitment to one another and making time together a top priority

• Making each person within the family feel important, valued, respected and esteemed

• Looking out for one another and covering each back   

• Resolving conflict quickly and promptly

• Having fun and enjoying time together

• Sharing values and beliefs

Divine order fosters blessing in our families.  I am convinced that order is one of the most important principles of life, especially when it comes to God’s economy and family relationships.  Even with the best of intentions it is easy to get things out of order since our family is always in transition.  We start life as a child within our family then transition to adulthood and ultimately to building our own families.  If we are not clear on our role and responsibilities within these different phases of life, we can easily get things out of order and create dysfunction, disharmony and relational damage. 

• God first - When it comes to proper order of relationships, as believers I think we would all agree that our relationship with God should be our highest priority.  If we are not connected and secure in our relationship with God, it is very difficult to have healthy and harmonistic relationship with others, especially family members.  Knowing who we are in Christ allows us to love, forgive and accept others even when they hurt us, which will happen in family relationships.  Connecting and Abiding in Jesus daily gives us what we need to bring health and life to our families at every level.

• Self - I would suggest that the next most important relationship is our relationship with self.  If we don’t have a healthy view or ourselves it is very difficult to love and accept others in their humanity, especially those closest to us in our family.  God tells us in His great commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:39 This means that if we are to love others unconditionally, we will need to love ourselves that way too!”  This is one that is easy to overlook because it is counter to our belief that being a Christ follower means we are selfless.  The truth is that to be selfless, we must have a healthy view of ourselves, so we can be less focused on our own needs and insecurities.

• Spouse – The husband/wife relationship is the core of the family.  Thus, for the family to flourish and realize its full potential, the marriage relationship should be the priority.  This can really be challenging at different stages of life when kids are demanding so much attention and it is easy to prioritize the kids above the marriage relationship.  Later in life as our parents and relatives age it can also be easy to get things out of order. There are many studies that confirm that in families where the parents have a healthy and prioritized relationship the family flourishes.  Make your spouse the top priority.  For more insight, see message below on Marriage from March 2023.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

• Children / Grandchildren – Of course as parents it is our responsibility to “Raise up your children in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 There are many things that our kids need at different stages of their development through life, and it is not always easy to discern.  See word of week message below from 2018 on Children and attached “Journey of Transition” for more details on parenting through transition from toddler to teen.  Our children don’t come with an instruction manual, but we do know that unconditional love trumps everything and they surely need to be loved unconditionally.  As far as grandchildren, they are an amazing blessing!  We have the opportunity to enjoy them and influence them in a huge way without the day-to-day responsibility.  Lord, thank you for the gift of grandchildren.  “Children’s children are a crown of the aged, and parents are the pride of their children” Proverbs 17:6

• Extended Family – This includes parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and beyond.  If healthy this can be an amazing gift to have the love and support of our extended family.  Often, there is brokenness and strained relationships withing extended family.  If this is the case, I would like to emphasize the importance of reconciliation and healing.  If there is brokenness and lack of relationship whether a parent, sibling or distant cousin, we should pray for our relatives and do whatever we can to restore the relationship while maintaining healthy order and boundaries with our immediate family.  “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen”.  1 John 4:20  We serve a God of healing and restoration, and He desires to heal our family. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2-3

“And He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” Malachi 4:5-6

Lord, thank you for the gift of family.  I pray your Holy Spirit will lead us as we love and lead our families.

Sincerely,

Duane

Word of the Week - Mothers

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem”.  Isaiah 66:13

Love of a mother – Have you ever contemplated the amazing innate love of a mother?  How a mother’s love is so natural and pure that it is hard to put into words.  There is something so very special about the love of a mother.  There is no doubt that God designed woman with an amazing motherly instinct.  It has been scientifically proven that a woman’s body and brain change when they get pregnant and become mothers.  There is no love greater than a mother’s love except the love of God.  A mother’s “Love is patient and kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres” 1 Corinthians 13:4&7

Motherly love is yet Another way God shows His love for us – I think God’s design for life and family is so amazing and perfect.  There are so many different ways He could have brought human beings into this world and developed them into adults, but He chose to deliver us into the world through our mothers.  As we all know, life is formed as a man and woman come together to sow the seed of life through a pretty amazing process, which is made holy and sacred through the sacrament of marriage.  The process of a mom getting pregnant, and a baby being formed inside a mother is really a miracle in and of itself.  Then the mother has a 9 month period of pregnancy where she carries the baby in her womb until the baby is born.  I have 3 daughters and witnessed all of them being born and it was definitely the most special experiences of my life, a true miracle.  I can only imagine what it must feel like to carry and birth the baby, but as am man I will never know. What an amazing privilege and sacrifice for moms.  After going through such an intense process, it is no-wonder why they are so attached and connected to their babies/children.  I think we would all agree that a mother’s love for her children is an amazing godly blessing that is yet another way that God shows His unconditional love for us.  He is the One who designed this perfect process. “For You formed my innermost parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13-14

Unconditional and all-consuming love  – It is apparent to me that most mothers possess deep unconditional love for their children no matter the circumstances.  Children don’t have to earn maternal love it just comes naturally and it is always there.  As the number of children increases, a mother has amazing ability to show and give love to all of her children and make them all feel uniquely loved.  There is a special feeling of love and security that comes from a mother that we can only get from mothers and God.  Motherly instinct is so critical as it is what is needed to give a baby what it needs to survive and thrive as it comes into this big world needy and defenseless. Maternal love is of divine nature and something we should deeply cherish and all value.  Only God’s love emulates this special dimension of love.  I have personally experienced this with my own mother Lillie who was always there for me, even when I was being an unkind and disrespectful know it all teenage boy.  I lost my mom just over 20 years ago and there are very few days that go by that I don’t think about her and how much I love and miss her, see picture of my mom below with my eldest daughter Mary Kathryn from over 30 years ago.  I am so grateful for my mom who loved me so well, she had an amazing influence on me becoming the person I am today.  I have also witnessed my wife Amy’s unconditional and all-consuming love for our 3 daughters over the years and have always been amazed at the depth of her love and connection with all 3 of our daughters.  It is truly a beautiful thing that I deeply value but don’t fully understand as a man.  Now I am watching my two eldest daughters Mary Kathryn and Saige birth, raise and mother our 7 grandkids 😊, and it is truly amazing to see the depth of their love and sacrifice towards their children, our amazing grandchildren.  This is a view from another angle that helps me see an appreciate the love and significance of mothers and their roles in our lives.

I have often heard it said that a mother has one of the most significant jobs on earth and I think we would all agree that there are few roles more important than that of a mother.  Billy Graham once said “Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in molding of character in her children”

Happy Mother’s Day to you mom, Mamie, Amy, Mary Kathryn and Saige and to all you mother’s.  We are so thankful for you and all you do!!!!!

Blessings on Mother’s Day,

Duane

Word of the Week - Good Soil

“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty and some a hundred times” -Mark 4:8. 

The principal of Sowing and Reaping is one of key truths of life both on earth from a practical sense and in heaven from a spiritual sense.  Whether we like it or not, over the course of time, we will Reap what we Sow.  Just like many of God’s principals within His economy, this is a wonderful truth that can really be a blessing if we understand it and align our lives accordingly. 

Are we Sowing Good Seed into Good Soil - If you have lived any amount of life, you have a general understanding of how this works.  If we Sow good seeds that are life giving, we will generally Reap good fruit, like for like.  Of course life is not perfect and there are times when we may be Sowing good seed into bad soil or Sowing during seasons of drought that prevent the seed from sprouting and taking root.  We cannot control the outcome, but we surely can resolve to continually be Sowing good seeds and look for good soil to Sow into.  Since we only are given a limited amount of seed (time, resources, wisdom, influence, etc.), we need to make it our goal to find good fertile soil to sow our seed into.  This is the opportunity we have each day, and over time, the sum of our Sowing is what results in the fruit of our lives. 

3 Attributes of Good Soil:

Tender Heart – A softened heart is a key to receiving what God has for us.  If our hearts are hard, it is very challenging to receive what God has for us. A tender heart is fertile for impartation and growth.  Sometimes it takes pain to break through the shell of a hard heart to get to this place. “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” Ephesians 4:18

Teachable Spirit – No matter how old, experienced, or seasoned we are, we are all in the process of growth and sanctification.  God has something new for everyone one of us to learn.  Having a humble, hungry, and teachable spirit is key to being fertile soil.  We must remain teachable and willing if we want the best God has for us and be 100x people.  “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12

Faith & Trust – In order for God to do His good work in us and through us, we must have faith in God and take Him at His word.  The things of the spirit are born by us stepping out in faith and believing in something we cannot see.  “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen” Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the main ingredient for spiritual growth.  It is the fertilizer that makes the soil most fertile.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” Hebews 11:6

Let’s be good soil and look for good soil to sow into – Its starts with us becoming good soil that God can use to reproduce.  Do we have these attributes present in our own lives.  Do we have pure and tender hearts that are open to receive what God has for us?  Are we humble, hungry and teachable?  Are we willing to listen and learn, or do we think we know everything?  Finally, are we full of faith (God’s kryptonite for His sons and daughters), and willing to trust God with all of our heart and not lean on our own understanding? The greatest opportunity we all have every day is to sow into others by using what God has sown into us to be a blessing to others.  I think this is called ministry and living the abundant life, the life that is truly life!!!

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life”. 1 Timothy 6:19

Remember this:  Whoever sows spraining will also reap sparingly, and whoever Sows generously will also Reap generously. 2 Corinthians 9:6 

So, let’s be Good Soil, identify Good Soil, and Sow seed generously!!!!!!!!!!
Duane

Heritage Forum - Spring 2024

Founders recently hosted its spring Heritage Forum at the beautiful Pursell Farms in Sylacauga, Alabama. The 48-hour retreat is a unique opportunity for high-capacity leaders to engage in teaching sessions, small group discussions, fireside chats, recreation (golf and shooting), and 5-star meals all centered around the theme of: living a purposeful life of significance to build an intentional Heritage that produces a godly legacy.

At our recent forum, we hosted a group of 25 high-capacity leaders who were equipped and challenged to develop a Heritage Vision©. The Heritage Vision includes assessing major aspects of one’s personal and professional life related to their purpose and legacy. Interactive sessions were facilitated by a team of experienced leaders who specialize in their respective areas of expertise including topics such as “Beginning with the End in Mind”, “Life Purpose”, “Family Vision, Mission and Values”, “Unity and Harmony with your Spouse”, “Living Generously” and “Family meetings”. The forum culminated with a trip up to the mountain to “the secret place” for a word from David Pursell, Founder and CEO of Pursell Farms, along with a time for reflection.

The Heritage Forum is an invite only event designed for high-capacity leaders who desire to live to their full potential and lead their families toward an intentional godly Heritage and Legacy.  “You only live once, but if you do it right (intentionally), once is enough” Mae West 

If you would like to learn more or are interested in attending our next Heritage Forum, visit Heritage Forum and/or contact Duane Donner for more information.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  – Jeremiah 17:7-8

Word of the Week - Family, Heritage, Legacy

“One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.”  —Psalm 145:4

I am returning from a trip to my hometown of Lafayette, LA where I spent the last 3 days enjoying time with family to include my 84-year old dad, my two siblings and their families, and 2 of my 3 daughters along with all 7 of our grandkids (see picture attached).  It was a special time together with 4 generations of our family present.  We did what most good Cajuns do when they get together, we cooked and ate to the “full”.  Of course the menu included boiled crawfish and crabs.  Like my grandpa Lee would say, “we passed a good time” and even told a few Boudreaux jokes.  I was reminded of the blessing of family and how God in His goodness created the institution of family for each of us to belong to.  As we all know, family is a blessing, but it can also be challenging.  The following are some insights and learnings about family, Heritage and Legacy I wanted to share.

Definition and purpose of family: Family is the first institution God created for instilling values for the purpose of preserving culture to impact the world generationally.  As outlined in the verse above, God desires for every person to have a spiritual heritage.  The reality is that God instituted family so we can train and equip our children with godly values so they live to their full God potential and pass godly values on to their children, live multi-generationally. “Train them up in the way he/she should go, And when they are older they will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6   God imparted into all humans a innate desire to be part of something that will last.  “He has set eternity in the human heart” Ecclesiastes 3:11

Building healthy family communication and identity:  We serve a God of order, peace and continuity.  “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace”. 1 Corinthians 14:33 To understand how to build healthy families we must first become healthier people, especially in our family relationships.   It starts with us as leaders of our families having a personal intimate abiding relationship with Christ, so He can impart His wisdom into our hearts and minds.  We do live in a broken world and without God’s covering in our lives our families will be susceptible to the reality of generational curse with the sins of the fathers flowing down to the next generation.  This is the way of the world and our culture at large.  So how do we break this cycle?  First and foremost, we submit ourselves and our families to God and put our faith and trust in Him.  I believe the Lord is the only one who can set us free from these generational curses. 

Practically I am learning from my wife Amy and my adult children that we should work towards building an environment within our families that allows our family to feel safe enough to communicate wounds and issues.  The things of the past and present that create angst, especially associated with the dysfunction that has been passed down from our families of origin.  Many of these dysfunctions/curses are subconscious blind spots that we can’t even see, which is why we need others to help us.  This includes in-laws and outside advisors like counselors and family coaches who can bring a fresh and less biased perspective.  I believe it is critical to our family’s health to work in identifying wounds and curses of our past that are influencing our thinking, behaviors, and relationships and work to have our minds renewed in God’s truth, His Word, so we can be healed and transformed.  There are times in our journey of life when we need outside advisors both professional (therapist, counselors, coaches) and non-professional (friends, family, pastors etc.) to help us navigate through this process. 

Family values, vision and purpose:  I believe family identity is key to building a godly family Heritage.  Our families must have a strong understanding of who we are and what makes us the Donner’s or Smiths etc.  Family values define the moral and ethical principles of behavior for a family.  Values are passed down from one generation to the next and this is the most important Heritage we can give our kids and descendants.  Many of our values are apparent from our families of origin, but some need to be discovered and can often times be revealed as we think about our past and some of the defining stories/events in our lives.  Our family went through a values exercise about 8-9 years ago and since then we have taken time out, from time to time, to talk about our values and assess how we are living out these values.  Asking questions to determine if we are intentionally sharing and communicating these values with our kids and grandkids. Our families stated values include: Faith, Family/Heritage, Perseverance, Health and Generosity. 

Legacy - Adult Children and the next Generation:  One of the main things I have learned is that we need to be careful in our efforts to share our Vision, Mission and Values that we don’t impose them on our married adult children and their families but should use the process to help them develop their own family vision, mission and values.  If we have done a good job of communicating and living out our values, they will be reflected in the values of our children and grandchildren.  A second lesson learned related to family meetings is that it is best to use 3rd party facilitators to help plan and host these meetings.  Based on family history and dynamics, it is too difficult for a family member to be the primary facilitator and communicator.  It is much more effective to have outside advisors (financial advisors, family coaches, legal advisors etc.) who are familiar and have relationship with the family to facilitate key components of the meetings especially when it comes to more challenging and sensitive topics like money and family values.  If we are truly about godly Heritage and Legacy, we must understand that our role is to help equip the next generations to grow and mature into what God has for their family unit and Heritage.  Our goal and role should be to ensure that they have a meaningful voice and seat at the table so they can be heard. 

God promises us that if we live our lives with God’s values, He will bless our descendants up to a thousand generations.  “Know therefore that the Lord God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” Deuteronomy 7:9 What an amazing and powerful promise of God.  I hope this encourages you toward living on purpose with intentionality to plant seeds for Generational Blessing in your family.  The is the opportunity we have as followers of Christ.

It is surely not easy, but it is worth it!!!

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Abiding (First Fruits)

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” -John 15: 3-5

Second only to knowing Jesus through a personal relationship (Salvation), I believe “Abiding (remaining)” in Christ, is the most important and fruitful aspect of the Christian life.  Over the past few weeks, God has again shown afresh how powerful and fruitful this truth has been in my own life.  I attended an abiding retreat with some of our Heritage Forum leadership team a few weeks ago at my good friend Ed Kobel’s plantation in South Georgia.  You can learn more about their abiding ministry by visiting Abide Now.  During this abiding retreat, our team was convicted to refocus the Heritage Forum on this key teaching.  God showed me clearly that if the only Heritage I built, and legacy I left was a life-long abiding relationship with Jesus, transferring this deep conviction/value would be the greatest gift for my kids, grandkids, and future generations. 

 Well, we hosted our 13th Heritage Forum this week and our team used it as an opportunity to share this conviction through personal testimonies from our leadership team of the fruit God has and is producing through our abiding connection to the vine of Christ.  At the end of the Heritage Forum, we challenged all of our participants to take a 6-week abiding challenge, so they can personally experience the power of an ongoing connection with Jesus, especially if we make Him the priority in our daily lives by giving Him our First Fruits.  If you are currently not abiding daily (spending focused time with God in His word, praying and worshipping Him), I would challenge you to the 6-week challenge.  Get an accountability partner and get started and watch what God does in your life.

 The great paradox – I think this is one of the biggest deceptions of religion and the wisdom of the world, doing more is better.  As a type A personality who grew up under the ideal of the “American Dream”, I learned that success is about being proactive to do and achieve more.  This is somewhat the definition of success in our culture and it is typically very useful in producing worldly success.  I personally find great satisfaction in producing and achieving, this is how God wired me.  I don’t think it is a bad or negative thing to be driven to produce, unless it is “the thing” that drives us and defines our identity.  The truth is that no matter how much I produce in my own strength, if it is not “fruit of God’s spirit” then it will not be lasting and it will not bring true fulfillment, especially as a follower of Christ who desires to grow in Christ.  In our walk with God as followers of Christ, we must realize that it is God who produces His fruit through us as a bi-product of our connection to Him – through the vine of Christ.  We cannot produce this in our own strength and efforts because it is of divine nature not of mere human efforts.  So God doesn’t want us to do more for Him.  He wants us to do more with Him. In this context our works are simply an outflow of our abiding love for Christ.  We are not working to earn His love and approval but working out of a heart of gratitude in response to His love for us.   

 Abiding  – “If you remain in me (Abide) and I in you, you will bear much fruit:” John 15:5  Abiding is an imperative from Jesus with a promise.  He makes it very clear to us that in the case of Abiding that He wants us to be the pursuer and initiate.  To abide, we must act, it is not a passive concept.  So even though abiding is not about doing more for God, it is about actively pursuing Him-and typically this does not come naturally or easily.  We have an enemy of our soul that is working 24/7 to keep us from this very powerful connection with Christ.  We have the opportunity to make God our daily priority.  Any of us who are married can probably relate to this concept in relationship with our spouses.  My wife Amy appreciates me doing things for her and our family but what she desires most is connection and me pursuing connection with her.  When I get too focused on doing and producing (performance), which is my nature, then our relationship suffers and is not most fruitful, but when I simply focus my energy on connecting with her by pursuing deeper and more intimate relationship, this is where the stars align and abundant fruit is produced.  In the same way but at a much greater scale, this is how our relationship with God flourishes, the fruit is a bi-product of the abiding connection with the Lord Jesus.  The power is from Him and thus apart from Him we can “do nothing” of eternal significance.

 Priority “First Fruits” – If we understand and believe what Jesus is saying in John 15:1-5 about the importance and power of Abiding in Christ, then we should recognize that this is the most important thing; it trumps everything else.  If it is the most important thing in our walk with Christ then we should make it the highest priority.  If it is the highest priority then it should be the “first” priority that we focus on each and every day.  This is the principle of “First Fruits”, making the Lord and our relationship with Him the “First” and highest priority.  God tells us through scripture that He wants to be first.  The first of the ten commandments tells us that “He wants us to make Him the priority and not put anything before Him” in our lives.  In Matthew 6:33 He tells us to “Seek first the Kingdom (God) and His righteousness, and then all things will be added unto you”.  In other words, Boudreaux translation of the scripture “Put God first and He will take care of da rest”.  Over the last 20 plus years since surrendering my heart to Jesus, I have made this my highest daily priority and goal and I can honesty say that God has done “Immeasurably more than I could have ever asked or imagined by His power at work in me” Ephesians 3:20.  I have a long way to go and will never achieve complete sanctification this side of heaven, but I can honestly say that God has done an amazing work in me and through me as a result (biproduct) of my relentless and at times vigilant pursuit of connecting with Him and making Him a priority in my life.  He is clear when He tells us that “If we seek Him first and make God our priority then we will find Him and live fruitful lives”.

 We are born of the spirit of God by accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior, this is salvation.  We only become fruitful and fulfilled followers of Christ by making our relationship with Him a daily priority through Abiding in Christ.  I believe this to be the most important pursuit of a follower of Christ that will lead to the abundant life that Jesus talked about, the life that is truly life. 

 As another confirmation to my recent conviction to share on this topic; my pastor shared an excellent message on abiding last Sunday titled Daily Time with God . You can click the link to watch the message, I highly recommend it.

 Have a great week abiding in Christ!!!!!!!

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Self-Control

“For the Spirit God Gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and Self-control”  -2 Timothy 1:7

Self-Control defined by Merrian-Webster as:  restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions, or desires;  the ability to manage your actions and feelings.  Self-control is one factor that separates humans from animals, although there seems to be a growing idea in our culture today towards the idea that we should pursue whatever makes us feel good and the idea of self-control limits us from being happy.    

 In last week’s “WOW” (see below) I shared on our multi-dimensional complexity as human beings. That God created humanity in His image as Triune beings comprised of a Body, Soul, and Spirit.  From this reality/perspective it is very challenging to have Self-control over our soul and flesh if our Spirit is not connected to God.

 The challenge: “I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:15-20.  As Paul shares in this scripture, there seems to be something at work within us that is contrary to the concept of Self-control.  Paul identifies this as our sinful nature.  There are lots of references to the idea of Self-control in God’s word.  In fact most of the old testament is basically the story of man’s inability to have enough Self-control to meet God’s standard of perfect holiness.  The idea of Self-control is very interesting because it implies that we as humans have the ability to control ourselves and our environment, which as Paul shares in the above scripture does not seem to be achievable, at least in our own strength.

 The consequences: “There is a way that seems right to a man that leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12  Don’t get me wrong, I believe whole heartedly that we are responsible for our actions and we will be held accountable for the consequences of poor decisions and sin; what we do and how we live during our short journey on early really matters for eternity.  The truth is that our sin nature combined with the fallen nature of this world draws us down a path of death.   “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” Romans 3:23 

 The Hope and Good News: “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten son Jesus so that we may have eternal life” John 3;16 Even the strongest willed among us remain humanly imperfect and lack Self-control over the soul and flesh, which leads to sin and death.  This is the reason that God sent His son Jesus to establish a new covenant whereby we overcome sin and judgement through the power of the blood of the lamb that was slain to cover our sins and give us access to overcoming power through Christ. “The spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you”. Romans 8:11

We are made holy and righteous by what He did and not through our ability to achieve perfection.  Therefore, by surrendering our lives fully to Christ we receive His power to overcome the soul and flesh and gain Self-Control by His Spirit being alive within us.  Through our daily surrender of self and connection to the vine of Christ, we receive the gift of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and Self-control.  These are the fruits of God’s spirit that are only produced in us as a biproduct of our abiding connection with Christ John 15:5. We cannot sufficiently produce these things in our own strength no matter how hard we try but must depend on the Lord to give us what we need to overcome the enemy of our soul and our self.  This is the life that is truly life, in Christ alone.

Have a great week.

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Triune Being

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Thes 5:23

God created humanity in His image as a Triune being comprised of a Body, Soul, and Spirit.  This makes us eternal beings unlike animals and other living things.  God also gave us free will, which allows us to choose whether we want to walk with God in spirit and live in connection with Him or simply follow our soulful and fleshly instincts in the carnal ways of our world.  Left up to ourselves, without a connection to God through our spirit, we are destined toward flesh, which leads to death in the spirt.  “For there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end leads to death” Proverbs 14:12 So why did God create us with these 3 dimensions and what does that mean for us in our walk of faith?

Body/Flesh, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” Romans 8:5 God made us with a physical body that houses our soul and spirit man.  Our body is comprised of our 5 senses to include smell, touch, hearing, seeing, and tasting.  Our bodies are made by God to have natural needs, wants and desires very similar to animals.  In fact, our fleshly desires are very instinctual and animalistic and thus if not restrained by our soul and spirit can run ramped and create much chaos in our lives.  We have probably all experienced this at some level.  We all have many fleshly needs and desires. If we allow our flesh to dominate our being, our flesh will be calling the shots, which typically leads to a less than optimal outcome.  If allowed to go unchecked our fleshly desires will typically lead us to a place of self-destruction.  The enemy of our soul, the great deceiver, operates very effectively in the realm of the flesh and is characterized as the “god of the earth”.  Some godly practices in keeping our flesh in order include fasting, exercising, and spending time in healthy and life-giving environments that encourage healthy living.

Soul/Mind, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that is by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is the good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 Our soul is comprised of our mind, will and emotions. This gives us the ability to think and feel and have relationship.  This dimension of our being allows us to experience life and interact with the world, it goes beyond our bodily senses to our inner thoughts, desires, dreams, and emotions.  As we all have experienced, this is what drives most of us day to day and gets us out of bed to do whatever we do.  We don’t necessarily control our thoughts and emotions, but we surely have tremendous influence over these things and must recognize that what we feed our minds and emotions is directly correlated to what we think, feel, and do, who we really are as a person.  The principal of garbage in equals garbage out applies as does the principal of life and growth.  This is why it is most important to feed our minds and souls things that are good, healthy and life giving.  We should be very aware of what we are feeding our souls in terms of what consume through books and media along with the people we spend time with and the environments we spend time in.  Godly practices in keeping our soul/mind healthy include being intentional about how we choose our friends and community, who we spend our time with, the content we feed our mind and soul, and being intentional about our thought life.  “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 We must be wise about what we feed our soul and guard our hearts and minds in Christ.

Spirit/God within us, “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not do whatever you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:17-18  Our Spirit man is the part of us that allows us to be in connection with God through the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).  This is the part of our being that is eternal either with God our away from Him.  This is the part of our being that is awakened when we are born of the Spirit in Christ and are saved through surrendering our hearts to God through salvation.  Interestingly, the process of being born of the Spirit typically involves us dying to our soul and flesh so that the Spirit can come alive in us and be regenerated in Christ.  Only after we are born of the Spirit do we truly begin to live as a complete being, which is why the experience is so powerful especially for people who have lived a large portion of their life without their Spirit being alive.  I know this to be true because I personally experienced this at the age of 33 and it was the most profound experience of my life to date.  When we are born of the Spirit, we then have the ability to tap into God’s supernatural power through the Holy Spirit.  This allows us to live as overcomers in Christ.  Godly disciplines for keeping our Spirit healthy and enlivened include prioritizing our relationship with God by staying connected to the vine of Christ Jesus through a daily abiding relationship.  Our dependance on God through abiding is key to living a fruitful life free from the bondage of the soul and flesh.  Jesus said “I am the vine and your are the branches, if you abide in me, I will abide in you, and you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”! John 15:5

Living in the Spirt from the Inside out, Our tendency and natural inclination is to live from the outside-in as we go through life day to day focused on our bodily senses, thoughts and feelings leaving little if any room for our Spirit to be fed and grow.  I believe the key to life in Christ, the abundant life that Jesus speaks about in John 10:10, is to live from the inside-out.  If we make it our daily pursuit and priority “First Fruit” to feed our Spirit by abiding/connecting with the Lord through praise, prayer, reading scripture, fellowship with believers and other spiritual disciplines, we will experience life and our Spirit will flourish allowing us to be Spirit led and have dominion over our soul and flesh.  The result/biproduct of living in the Spirit is that we will produce Spiritual fruit. This is the true goal of a believer and follower of Christ, that our lives would be fruitful.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

I pray we will experience the fullness of life in Spirit, Soul, and Body as you live from the Inside-out in Christ…

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Easter - Christ is Risen!!!

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Romans 8:11

The death and Resurrection of Jesus over 2000 years ago is by far the most significant event in world history.  Jesus death by crucifixion and His resurrection from the grave are historically recorded events that changed the world.  These facts are most meaningful because of their spiritual significance in that through His death on the cross Jesus bore the sin of all mankind (past, present and future) so we can be saved from the wrath of God through forgiveness of our sins and have eternal life.  16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. This is truly Good News for us to embrace by faith and celebrate on this special Easter day!!! 

By receiving this gift and placing our faith on Christ and what He did for us on the cross, we receive the full benefits of the Resurrection.  First and foremost, we receive access to forgiveness of our sins by the blood of the Jesus, the lamb of God who was slain on our behalf.  This is what allows us to be restored to fellowship with God our Father and have eternal salvation.  This is the “Good News” and truly the focus of this day, but there is much more for us to receive in Christ through what transpired on the cross at Calvary.  Through the cross we have access to the same power that allowed Jesus to rise from the dead.  God has empowered us as His sons and daughters to walk out our faith with confidence and trust in Him, which is what activates this power in our day to day lives.

The following are 5 additional benefits/opportunities for His resurrection power to come alive within us:

• Resurrect Hope – “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

• Resurrect Purpose – “ For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He prepared for us in advance” Ephesians 2:10

• Resurrect Faith –  “Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

• Resurrect Joy – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

• Resurrect Life – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 

In a world that lacks hope, purpose, faith, joy and life; Easter (Resurrection Day) is a day that reminds us that we have access to God’s power so His life can come alive in each of us.  Jesus is the source of our Resurrection power.  "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” John 11:25

 Remember that we are REDEEMED, RENEWED, RESTORED, RECONCILED, RESCUED & made RIGHTEOUS in Christ. 

Hallelujah, Christ is Risen!!!!!  Have a blessed Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Testimony (God Story) - Part 3

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Rev. 12:11

Testimony" is translated from the Greek word martyria, which means "evidence." But not just any evidence. To put it simply, your Testimony is your God story, which includes the pain you've been through on the way to where you are today.  Every believer has a Testimony and even though they can be very different from person to person, they all matter and should be used to testify to what God has done in our lives. 

My Personal Testimony – In last week’s “Word of the Week”, see below, I shared my personal testimony (our God Story).  This week I am hoping to share how my personal walk with the Lord has impacted and influenced every other area of my life for the good.  This has created chapters of my testimony related to certain areas of my life.  For example, I founded Founders Advisors, shortly after I came to faith.  The new Duane approached business in a totally different manner from the old me, which over the last 21 years has turned into something that is quite amazing from my perspective.  I wanted to share a short overview of this chapter of my God story that I hope will encourage you to invite the Lord into every area of your life, especially your vocation.  If you are in business, I would encourage you to invite God into your business and see what He will do in you and through you.

Before I knew Jesus in a personal way, I saw my vocation in business as a means to an end, to achieve and get the things I desired for me and my family.  I saw the people in business that worked for me and with me as resources to help me and the business achieve our goals.  I felt no real desire or responsibility to invest in people beyond the task and mission at hand.  I did understand that if people liked me and/or respected me they would produce more, so I worked to gain favor with others, but it was mostly out of selfish ambition.  I bought whole heartedly into the idea that the goal of a business should be to maximize profits and use whatever tactics needed, as long at legal and ethical needed to achieve this goal, even if it meant pushing myself and others to an unhealthy place.  I am not just talking about working hard or being challenged or stretched, which I still believe are important to a winning attitude and culture.  I am talking about trying to squeeze as much as I could out of myself and those around me to a point that was not healthy or sustainable.  I had a scarcity mentality, which translated into more of a lose/win zero-sum view of the world.  This drove me to operate more out of fear vs. faith.  This is the more secular worldly approach to business.  Operating in this way brought a small measure of success, but the cost and damage to me, my family and those around me was high.  This was not a life giving or sustainable path for me.  Deep down I knew there was a better way that I had seen and witnessed but I did not have a map or model to know how to change from my mode of operation that I had learned developed over the years.  The trauma and pain of my first entrepreneurial venture made me question many things about myself and life at a different level.  This put me on a path of seeking the things of God to answer these questions.

How my faith came alive in my vocation/business – As I shared last week, I had a life changing faith awakening at the age of 33 when I connected the dots of knowing my life purpose by knowing God and surrendering my life to God.  A few weeks after having this life changing experience, I had lunch with Pastor Chris and shared what God had done in my heart and my life.  He was encouraged for me and asked me where God was leading me in this new paradigm of faith.  I told him I was thinking about going into full time ministry.  He asked me why, and I said “well I thought that is what you did when you were really serious and fired up about God”.  He laughed and said not necessarily!  He asked me what I did for work, and I told him I was an investment banker who did M&A advisory.  He asked me if I enjoyed my job and if I felt like I was good at it.  I told him that I really loved my job/career and felt like I was pretty good at it and could be great at it one day.  He encouraged me to continue to work in my current job/career and suggested that I could think about my job/career as a platform for ministry.  That I could minister to others in the marketplace and possibly reach people who would never be reached by “churches or ministries”.  That doing business and making money was as holy a calling as being a pastor.  That I could love and serve God from the marketplace as well as I could working full time for a church or ministry.  This was such a gift that encouraged me and gave me tremendous energy as I began to think about how God could use me to live out my God purpose through the marketplace.  After my first entrepreneurial experience I had pretty much resolved that I would never own a business again.  My newfound faith, coupled with the perspective I gleaned from my conversation with PC, ignited a new vision within me for how I might walk out my God purpose in the marketplace and shortly thereafter Founders Advisors was birthed.

How God has impacted my vocation/business over the past 22 years – First and foremost, my new perspective on life from a lens of faith and surrender, changed how I saw my vocation/job/business.  As I began to walk out my faith day to day, it had a huge impact on my attitude and behavior.  My perspective shifted to a mindset of stewardship and understanding that God was the owner of all things, and I was being given the opportunity to manage and steward the things placed under my authority.  This changes everything, especially how we see and deal with people.  There is a much higher calling and purpose to what we are doing and God’s standard on how we deal with people is very high.  I began to have a mindset of abundance vs. scarcity and understood that in God’s economy win/win is the way.  Simply add value and there is plenty to pie to go around.  When I started Founders Advisors in 2003, I prayerfully navigated the process and felt like it was truly a divine set of circumstances that led to the opportunity.  This time around I was determined to do things differently.  I started by committing the business to the Lord and acknowledging before God and others that this was not my business, even though I had the company stock in my name, but it was God’s business, and I was simply designated as the lead steward. 

Ove the past 21 years I have held the company with a loose grip, knowing that it is not my business, and ultimately, I am not in control.  I simply get to be a steward and leader.    Since the beginning, we have framed our vision, mission, and values upon scriptural truths that we felt aligned with our faith.  I have also remained committed to a daily abiding walk with the Lord to stay dependent upon Him and made First Fruits a daily rhythm.  God has spoken to me in amazing ways over the years and directed many of our decisions over the years.  I routinely spend the first part of my day in God’s word along with prayer and praise, seeking my daily bread and fresh manna.  In the early years of Founders, my partners and team decided to start doing First Fruits to see what God would do, and we would set aside 45 minutes each morning for a time of “First Fruits”.  This was a special time that God blessed and used in amazing ways over the years.  We have always started the week with a desire to connect with God and with each other.  To this day, we encourage our team on Monday mornings to pursue First Fruits by putting on praise music throughout the office for the first 45 minutes of the day.  During this time, my partners and I connect and pray together.  We then have a time of connecting in small groups within the firm to be begin our week with a relational connection before we just get going.  We begin these meetings with prayer.  We are mostly a firm of type A go-getters, so it would be easy and natural to just get to plowing on Monday morning.  We intentionally practice the discipline of “Order”.  Put first things first, people.  This reinforces the essence of our culture and firm purpose which is Servant Leadership.  Thinking about and putting people first.  Our stated Purpose “Be Servant Leaders who value relationships and results”. Both are equally important, but people come first in God’s economy.  These are just a few examples of how we invite the Lord into our business. 

Our business has grown and realized much success over the past 21 years and that is attributed to many factors including great people.  I would not imply that our business success is solely based on God blessing because of these practices.  I would say that God has blessed me and our firm immeasurably over the past 21 years in ways well beyond business success.  We have seen young men and women come to know God in a personal way and watched endless numbers of our team members grow and flourish in life both personally and professionally.  I would say that the health of our team and business is better than it has ever been, and I do give much of the credit to God working in and through me and our leadership team.  Our focus as a leadership team is to build a healthy and sustainable business.  Profit is an important consideration but should be evaluated as a function of health and sustainability longer term. We are positioned to grow and flourish, and I do believe that this is a result of God’s hand on our business.  We have a bold Vision, Mission and Purpose that has been inspired by the Lord, that I believe will allow us to reach goals in our business that would have not been possible but for God and His leading and blessing. I believe that we are just beginning, and the best is yet to come.

I wish I could share more about what God has done and what He is doing, but hopefully this gives you a glimpse of this amazing chapter of my God story.  If you are interested, you can glean more of this story by watching some of the videos we put together for our firm’s 20th Anniversary Celebration last year.  See below:

History –  https://vimeo.com/821045048

Culture – https://vimeo.com/user17937465/ourculture

Future –  https://vimeo.com/820959786

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Testimony (God Story) - Part 2

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Rev. 12:11

Testimony" is translated from the Greek word martyria, which means "evidence." But not just any evidence. To put it simply, your Testimony is your God story, which includes the pain you've been through on the way to where you are today.  Every believer has a Testimony and even though they can be very different from person to person, they all matter and should be used to testify to what God has done in our lives. 

My Personal Testimony – In last week’s “Word of the Week”, see below, I shared a message on the power of our testimony (our God Story) and how it can and should be used to encourage others to come to faith and walk out their faith.  This past Monday I shared a very short version of my testimony with my team at Founders and encouraged them to look for opportunities to do the same.  In this spirit, I feel led to share my testimony with you.  I hope it encourages you and increases your faith and hope in Jesus!

• Before I knew Jesus in a personal way my life from the outside looked somewhat normal, and most people who knew me back then would probably say I was good.  The truth is that I was deeply struggling on the inside. I felt lost and without purpose. I lacked identity and thus I was terribly insecure. I believed in God and knew that the answer to my identity and purpose crisis had something to do with God, but I didn’t know how to resolve it and I was fearful of what that meant.  I had a religious and performance-based view of God. I lived with guilt and shame and felt like I was never good enough.  I had habitual sin in my life that I knew was not good or healthy, but I did not have the power to overcome it. My thought life was not healthy.  I would try to escape my reality by dreaming and fantasizing about things that were not healthy and at the worst of times, not pure. My key relationships (wife, children, family, friends) were ok but surely not thriving. I had several strained relationships on the verge of falling apart.  My basic view on life was how do I get through this life and my responsibilities in a way that is decent and admirable. I lived with fear and anxiety. I was chasing things and very temporal life experiences in my pursuit of happiness. I did not really understand true joy or peace and surely was not experiencing it in my life.  

In pursuit of the American Dream, I underwent many trials in my late twenties and early thirties that rocked my world. I started a business immediately following graduation from business school with lots of hope and enthusiasm.  Over a four-year period, the business nearly destroyed me and my family.  It cost me almost everything, but I was determined to succeed.  By brute force I poured everything I had and worked tirelessly to overcome the challenges I was facing.  To the world this may sound noble but in hindsight it was terribly foolish and selfish. It led to what I thought to be a near death experience.  At the ripe age of 29, I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance thinking I was having a heart attack to find out after an overnight stay and series of tests, I had an anxiety attack.  Financially, we had invested everything we had in the business and were on the verge of personal bankruptcy. I had given everything to the business and my life was a mess and empty.  It was even affecting my health in a major way. “There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end leads to death” Proverbs 14:12 Fortunately, my dear wife Amy finally said enough is enough and gave me a clear ultimatum.  “She told me that I would either get out of the business or else it is over for us!” This began a long series of terribly painful events including having to ask my father-in-law to help me out of this situation, which was terribly painful for me due to my pride, insecurity, and fear of failure. This life experience impacted me in a way that made me question everything and I started asking the deeper questions to find the answers.

• How I came to receive Christ – After selling out of the business, I began focusing on getting my life back in order and somewhat healthy.  My life stabilized and got back to a more normal and sustainable pace but I was continually plagued with discontent and lack of identity and purpose.  Not to mention my wife Amy was enduring an intense battle with depression that was really challenging for us.  I felt God was calling me to a deeper relationship with Him.  My brother-in-law Hamp Green and my sister-in-law Colette had recently come to faith.  I had heard their testimonies and seen a major shift in their lives that got my attention.  They had recently joined a new church in Bham called Church of the Highlands.  They invited us to attend, and in the first service I attended I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me toward something new, but we were not ready to make that move.  I then started attending a men’s small group at Richard and Patty Ann Randalph’s house in Crestline where Pastor Chris Hodges (PC) was leading a group of young businessmen on a study of finding our “Life Purpose”.  I was dying to know my God given purpose.  PC made it so simple and said “If you want to know your life purpose you must know the God, the one who created you for a specific purpose”.  He referred to Ephesians 2:10 and made it clear that God created every person for a specific and unique God ordained purpose.  To know our purpose, we have to know God in a personal way and surrender our lives to Him.  So that day in the fall of 2001 at the ripe age of 33, I surrendered my life to Jesus in Richard’s living room.  I have never been the same since!!!!!!  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, and the new is here.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

• After I surrendered my life to Jesus – I had always heard the term “Born again” but I never understood what that meant and was somewhat fearful of what that would mean if it happened to me.  Well, I learned what it meant to be “Born again”.  I know every salvation experience is different, but for me I experienced a miraculous and profound change in my life.  It was like I woke up the next day after surrendering my life to Jesus and my heart and brain had been reprogrammed.  I had a very new and different perspective on life, and I came alive in way I had never experienced.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again”. John 3:6-7 It was amazing and so encouraging for me.  I immediately began to know and experience my God purpose and for the first time in my 33 years of life, I felt true joy and peace.  I had true sense that God had washed away all of my sins, and I was starting a “new life” with a new identity that was grounded in Christ.  It gave me so much joy and excitement and set me on a new path that I have been walking on now for 23 years.  I have experienced lots of trials and challenges in my life over the past 23 years since giving my life to Jesus, but I have found purpose and hope in all of these trials.  I see how God is using the trials of my life to sanctify me and do something great in me and through me for His glory and purpose.  I now find purpose and joy in my trials.

I shared with my team last week how much God has blessed me and my family over the past 23 years. It is very hard to articulate the difference in my life from before and after knowing Jesus. For me it is literally like two different lives. Before Jesus, I lacked purpose and identity and lived in fear with a sort of survival got to attitude that made life difficult.  I will never know what would have been for my life and family if I would not have come to faith in Jesus, but it is likely I would not still be married and probably not leading Founders, to mention just a few. Without knowing Jesus in a personal and intimate way and experiencing the hope that comes in knowing Him, I would likely not have had the conviction and internal strength to persevere through many challenges of life. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” Romans 5:1-8

I have lived the past 23 years with a God purpose and knowing my identity in Christ.  I live my life with excitement to see what God will do.  I am blessed beyond measure in every area of my life. Starting with my marriage and family.  Amy and I have been married for 33 years and have experienced many trials in our marriage.  By the grace of God, our relationship is better than it has ever been.  I have 3 amazing and healthy daughters who love and serve Jesus, two amazing sons by marriage and 7 awesome and healthy grandkids, with number eight on the way😊!!!  Our grandkids are being raised in godly families.  We have a godly heritage that we believe will endure for generations to come.  To my knowledge, I have no broken or strained relationships in my family or amongst my friends.  I have an amazing life filled with life giving relationships.  I get to be part of an amazing church and live in a flourishing community of believers.  God is using me, our family and business for ministry in ways I could have never imagined.  I have abundance flowing in every aspect of my life, which allows me the opportunity to be generous with my time, treasure, and talents!!!  This is the abundant life that Jesus talks about that is available to all of us if we surrender our hearts and lives to Him, make Him Lord of our lives and stay connected to the vine of Christ through abiding.  The only difference between the before and after is Jesus!  Jesus said “I am the vine and you are the branch, if you abide in me (stay connected) then I will abide in you (give us His power) and you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. John 15:5

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Testimony (God Story)

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Rev. 12:11

Testimony" is translated from the Greek word martyria, which means "evidence." But not just any evidence. To put it simply, your Testimony is your God story, which includes the pain you've been through on the way to where you are today.  Every believer has a Testimony and even though they can be very different from person to person, they all matter and should be used to testify to what God has done in our lives. 

Power of our Testimony – It is quite profound what God outlines in Revelations 12:1 for victory in life, the blood of Christ through the Cross and the word of our Testimony.  I love hearing personal Testimonies/stories because it renews and reinforces my faith and allows me to get to know the person sharing their testimony at a deeper level.  Sharing a personal Testimony typically gives you a look into the heart of a person and how God is working in their lives.  No matter how dramatic or simple an authentic Testimony it is always impactful because God is the star of the story.  Of course, most of us tend to think that our Testimony/story is not as exciting or interesting as others so we shy away from sharing it; or we may be sensitive to being politically correct and concerned that we may offend others by sharing our God story. This is a lie and plays right into the enemies plan, to keep us quiet and ineffective.  The bottom line is that God has anointed every believer with a personal Testimony and we should look for every opportunity to tell people our God story. “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect.”  1 Peter 3:15

Sharing our God Story – As followers of Christ, we are called to share our Testimony with others.  We are not necessarily called to convert people, that is really left up to God and the Holy Spirit.  Our part is to simply look for opportunities to share our God story with others in a loving and respectful way as noted in 1 Peter 3:15. It important to be authentic, humble and God honoring.  I can assure you that this pleases our Father in heaven and plants seeds of faith that will be harvested at the right time.  It is not our responsibility to get people saved but it is our privilege and opportunity to share what God has done for us in our lives.

The elements of a good Testimony/God Story – The primary objective of your Testimony is a clear presentation of your faith and what led you to faith in 3 basic pieces:

1. Before I knew Christ – What my life was like before I accepted Christ.  Use an attention getting first sentence.  Describe it in a way that communicates well to non-believers (don’t use religious terminology). What did my life revolve around? What did I get my security and happiness from?  How did those things let me down and come up empty?

2. How I came to know Christ and receive faith – How and when did I realize that I had an issue of sin in my life?  How did I hear the good news in a way I could receive it?  What compelled me to faith?  What happened when I made a decision of faith?

3. After I received Christ – What are the specific things that have changed in my life such as attitudes, actions, and relationships, since I became a Christ follower.  Try to include personal and relatable illustrations and examples such as how it impacted your marriage, family, and/or business. Share how understanding God’s grace and forgiveness impacted your perspective on your life and others.  Why I am motivated differently.  How my faith has served me in every area of my life and the encouraging journey you have been on through the ups and downs of life and why it matters.

We benefit from sharing our Testimony - Whether you are a pastor, student, business person or laborer there is tremendous power in your testimony and when you share it with others it not only blesses the Lord and others but it has many benefits to you such as: 1) Connecting you in a deeper relationship with others, 2) reminding you of your past and keeping you aware of where you came from and accountable to not falling back into the sins of the past, and 3) building our faith and giving us hope for the future.  We are reminded of how much God personally loves us and what He has done to demonstrate His love.  This is a beneficial and encouraging process. 

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” 2 Timothy 1:8-12

I plan to share my testimony next week along with how our God story can be integrated into our life story and influence every area of our lives including business.

Have a great week!!!!

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Marriage

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31

My wife Amy and I hosted our second Heritage Forum Couples event last week at Pursell Farms and it reminded me once again of the blessings of my marriage relationship with Amy.  Over the past 6 years since founding the Heritage Forum www.heritageforums.com, I have worked with a team of friends/leaders to minister to hundreds of high-capacity men in the area of building a godly Heritage to leave a lasting godly legacy.  The reality is that marriage is a holy partnership and until we have unity in our vision as a couple, we are handicapped in our God purpose as a couple and family.  The true power is released when a couple shares in their God vision, mission, and values for their marriage partnership and family.  This unlocks amazing potential for building godly Heritage and generational blessing and legacy.  We started the event with Amy sharing her perspective on the Heritage process and how it has impacted her and our family.  Her perspective is very different than mine, but this is really the blessing of the marriage partnership by God’s design.  It reminded me of the purpose and power of the sacrament of Marriage.  It also encourages me to be a better husband and partner.  We are much better when we are together and unified in Christ!!!!

The sacrament of Marriage is a beautiful gift from God; whereby one man and one woman become united as one through the sacrament of holy matrimony.  For followers of Christ, this union is the only life-long covenant relationship before God (spirit) and man (law).  God established the sacrament of marriage to mirror Christs relationship with His bride, us the Church.  “Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory!  For the wedding of the lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Revelation 19:7-8

Our most refining relationship – The marriage relationship has many benefits and has the potential to produce our greatest blessings in life such as children/family, deep companionship and unconditional love.  It also has the potential to produce the most pain and strife if not submitted to the Lordship of Christ.  Since it is a God ordained covenant relationship, when we get married we are signing up for a lifetime commitment (covenant) regardless of the circumstances that life throws at us, “until death do us part”.  This is pretty intense when you really stop to think about it.  I am not sure I really understood this on my wedding day.  There is no doubt that God knew exactly what He was doing when He instituted the sacrament of Marriage, where two people from different families of origin come together to become one, which in itself can be a major challenge.  No matter how much we love our spouse, there is always going to be friction as we die to ourselves to become one, and navigate the blessings and challenges of life.  This is truly a refining and sanctifying process that either breaks us, or if we allow the spirit of God to work in us, it helps us conform to the image of Christ.  I can honestly say that after 33 years of marriage, there is nothing on earth that has challenged and refined me as much as my marriage relationship with my wife Amy.  I know that God has used my marriage to make me a better person in every area of my life, thank you Lord Jesus!!!!  Ephesians 5 is one of the most beautiful and challenging chapters in the bible as it describes our relationship with Christ in the context of the marriage relationship; “and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2. Paul goes on in Ephesians 5 to give us instructions on our roles in the marriage, first and foremost that we die to ourselves by submitting to Christ and one another, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” Ephesians 5:21.  Specific instruction for wives “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything” Ephesians 5:24, then to husbands, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:25  I think the Lord makes it pretty straightforward for us but are we willing to trust Him by His word?

Marriage prepares us for our eternal union with Christ  - God is so good that He designed marriage for our benefit to enjoy the beautiful blessing of covenant companionship and the process of reproducing and building our families so we can have a heritage and legacy that we can pass to future generations, which is a wonderful blessing.  That being said, I think His greatest purpose in the sacrament of Marriage is to prepare us for our union with Him as the bride of Christ.  He gave us a tangible way to experience a small glimpse of what we have to look forward to for eternity and to help prepare us for our great wedding banquet with Christ.  I have found over the years of marriage that the most important key to having a good marriage is to stay connected to your spouse.  This requires intentional daily pursuit, we have to continue to put logs on the fire to keep the fire burning strong.  We must live sacrificially and cherish our wives/spouses.  In other words, we have to make our spouses a top priority to keep a healthy and growing relationship.  Our marriage begins with a great ceremony exchanging vows before God and man but only thrives if we stay connected over a lifetime, which is easier said than done.  Ask all the great people you know who’s marriages did not make it.  I believe our marriage relationship resembles our walk with God through our relationship with Jesus.  It begins with the day we surrender our hearts to Jesus and commit our lives to Christ but it only survives and thrives if we stay connected to the vine of Christ through our daily abiding walk with Him. In fact Jesus said we can do nothing of the Spirit unless we are connected to the vine of Christ.   “I am the vine and you are the branch, if you abide in me I will abide in you, and you will bare much fruit.  Apart from me you can do nothing.”  John 15:5

As we grow in marriage and unity with our spouse we must depend upon God to give us what is needed to become a godly spouse and as we abide/connect with Christ, we become more Christ like in preparation for our eternal union with Christ.  These things work together to help us become who God called us to be in Him.  What an amazing God we serve.

If you need some practical biblical insights on how to enhance your marriage especially as it relates to communicating with your spouse, I would highly suggest you watch this message from Jimmy Evans on God's Perfect Plan for Marriage_2_25_2024.  In this message Jimmy does a wonderful job of outlining what it looks like to live out Ephesians 5 in our marriage.  I was convicted and realized once again that I have a ways to go!!!!  I am nowhere near where I used to be, but I am surely not where I want to be. 

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Money

“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many greifs”. 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Last Sunday my Pastor shared a powerful message on “Money”, which is very relevant and related to the “Word of the Week” on stewardship I shared last week, see below.  It was so powerful and relevant I feel led to share an overview of his message this week.  If you have time, I encourage you to watch this message.  You can access by clicking this link Beyond the numbers - Money .  

Money (Mammon) – for many of us, this topic can be sensitive.  We may ask, what does money have to do with our faith?  Well according to Jesus it has a lot to do with our relationship with God.  Jesus talked about money twice as much as heaven.  16 of the 38 parables of Jesus had to do with money and possessions.  There are over 2000 verses about money and possessions in the bible.  This is simply stated in Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  I have heard it said that if you really want to know what someone values then just review their money ledger (check book or credit card records) and you will know.  Whether we like to admit it or not, this is truth.  The good news is that God’s word is full of instruction on how we should see and handle money and possessions, and even better news is “God’s Way works”!!!  Rev. Billy Graham said “If a person gets their attitudes toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of their life”.  I believe this and have personally experienced this in my own life.  I believe it starts with getting our heart right toward God and realizing that He is Lord and our provider.  He is the source of everything!!

God’s way vs. our way – Many of God’s principles about money are counter intuitive because they are counter to conventional wisdom.  We are trained to believe that the goal is to achieve the “American Dream” by managing our lives and money a certain way that emphasize the following: 1) Work hard and earn as much as you can, 2) Make more so you have more to spend, 3) Create margin so you can save, 4) Invest your money so you can build security for the future, and 5) Give if you have some left.  This sounds good and right but it is not aligned with God’s way; therefore, it will not result in the outcome our hearts need and yearn for.   

The real question is do we desire to grow rich in the things of this world at the expense of our soul or grow rich in the things of God and live the abundant life that Jesus promises.  The “life that is truly life” is “Godliness with contentment”, which is great gain” 1 Timothy 6:6 The truth is that if desire to live the abundant life that Jesus promised, we must get right in our relationship with money and possessions.  We cannot have both as clearly communicated in the gospel of Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.”

God’s way as it relates to money – “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” Proverbs 3:9-10 When it comes to money and possessions, we must first establish that God is the owner and our provider, see last weeks “Word of the Week” on stewardship.  The proper order is simple, God first in all things especially money and possessions.  If put God first in our relationship with money, then He will bless us and we will live in abundance and be in a position to live generously.  Secondly, we must understand our relationship with money and our heart motivations, so we can pursue God’s way as it relates to how we handle our money and possessions. “Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.  You have planted much, but have harvested little.  You eat, but you never have enough.  You drink, but never have your fill.  You put on clothes but are not warm.  You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says; “Give careful thoughts to your ways.” Haggai 1:5-7

Beyond the Numbers – God’s way:

1. Calling vs compensation – Our lives count for way more than our ability to earn money.  God created us for a unique God purpose and when we connect with our purpose, we find fulfilment and can live to our full potential.  If we are living in our purpose, we will add lots of value and be blessed financially. “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace”. Acts 20:24

1. Contentment vs Consumerism – Contentment is not the fulfillment of what I desire but the realization of what I already have.  The anecdote to discontentment is living with a grateful heart and having a God perspective.  The truth is that Jesus is enough.  If we can start from there then we will have contentment and God will bless us abundantly.  “Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have.  For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.” Luke 12:15

1. God Dependent vs. Independent – It is good to save and have margin, but we can never buy the lie that we will find security in money or possessions.  How much money would be needed to secure your future against all imaginable circumstances?  It is good to plan, but it is foolish to believe that building more net worth “bigger barns” will give us peace and security.  “Then he said, This is what I’ll do.  I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store up surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “you have plenty of grain laid up for many years.  Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” But God said to him, You fool!!!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?  This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:18-21

1. Stewardship vs. Ownership – Simply put, God owns me and all that He has given me.  The real question is how will He use me and my possessions to accomplish His objectives.  This is our God purpose!! See below “Word of the Week” from last week. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20

1. Generosity vs. Misery – The root word of misery is miser.  Misers hold things with tight hands, but godly generous people hold things with loose and open hands.  Jesus said himself “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Acts 20:35 How tight are we holding onto our stuff?  This is always a great question to ask ourselves, especially as we accumulate more stuff. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this, “says the Lord Almighty”, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates and heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe.  “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, “ says the Lord Almighty”. Malachi 3:10-12 

God’s way works!  I can personally testify to this truth. I tried the worlds way and was essentially bankrupt by the age of 30, both financially and spiritually.  By the grace of God, I surrendered my life to the Lordship of Jesus in my early 30s and changed the way I relate with money and possessions. Since then I have lived in abundance both spiritually and financially.  I am learning and growing each day, but God has opened His floodgates, and our barns are overflowing more and more. This creates an amazing opportunity and blessing to be generous with our money, time, talents, and resources to play our part in God’s awesome plan for a time such as this.  

When we get right with God, money and possessions we actually “Enjoy” our blessings.  God is so awesome that He desires for us to enjoy the blessings He has given us as we live out our God purpose.  It really is a twofer, this is abundant living.  I love how Paul communicates this to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put heir hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life”.  

I pray we would all grow in this area and experience the “Life that is truly life” as it relates to our money and possessions.

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Stewardship - Part 2

“His master replied. Well done good and faithful servant (steward).  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness”. Matthew 25:21

Stewardship – Last week I started a “Word of the Week” on the topic of stewardship by defining what is means to be a steward, see below.  This week I am going deeper into this important aspect of our walk of faith.  I recently heard a teaching to a group of pastors and business leaders from Pastor Robert Morris on the topic of stewardship, which prompted me to reevaluate this area in my own life.  You can hear a similar version of this teaching by clicking this link on Stewardship .  

I am not the owner – “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all this is in it” Deuteronomy 10:14 Simply put, everything under heaven and on earth was created by God and thus He is the rightful owner.  He entrusts us as stewards over the things He allows us to manage and oversee. Time and again scripture reminds us that He is the owner, and we are His stewards.  We must take this seriously because we will be held accountable for our faithfulness in stewarding His resources.  This includes our time, talent, treasure, truth and relationships, which are all gifts to be stewarded for the ultimate glory of God.  Having more means more responsibility and accountability.  This is a huge opportunity for us as believers to be part of God’s master plan for the world.  He invites us into His plan to play a meaningful role in leveraging our gifts to build His Kingdom and have an eternal impact with eternal rewards. 

I am a steward – “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” 1 Peter 4:10 When we are good stewards, God protects and expands our resources He gives us.  He desires to find good stewards and when we are found to be good stewards, He increases our responsibility by entrusting us with more resources.  In the beginning of Genesis, God created everything and put Adam to work in the garden to take care of it.  Relating this to our lives, Adam’s purpose was to steward the Garden.  In the same context, we must understand that God blesses us with abundance for a God purpose.  We can enjoy the blessings, but we must understand the responsibility and purpose and ensure we are aligned with God’s plan and purpose as we stewards what He has given us.  “To whom much is given, much will be required” Luke 12:48 In the end, we will all give account to the rightful owner, the Lord, to how well we managed the things He has entrusted to us.

Am I a good steward – This is a question I am often asking myself.  How do I know if I am being a good steward of what God has entrusted to me?  I think it starts with evaluating our lives in several areas that include: 

• Fruit - Is God producing good godly fruit in us and through us?  He makes it clear that we will be known by our Fruit “By their fruit you will recognize them.  Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit”. Matthew 7:16-17 Here are some of the questions I ask myself often:  Are the things that God has entrusted with me bearing spiritual fruit and multiplying.  Is my life having an impact on others for God’s glory?  Are people coming to know Christ and growing in their relationship with Jesus through my life and ministry.  How about your family?  Is my spouse, kids and grandkids growing in their walk of faith. Business and vocation, am I using my God witness in my business or day to day vocation to share the love of God and help others grow in their walk with Jesus?  Ministry, am I intentionally and freely sharing and giving away what God has given me.  How am I investing my financial blessings to impact God’s Kingdom?  We should be asking ourselves these questions as we evaluate our stewardship.   

• Accountability – “As iron sharpens iron, so does one person sharpen another” Proverbs 27:17 As we grow in our stewardship, I think it is important that we have accountability to other godly brothers and sisters and get their input.  This is especially needed if we have been entrusted with much.  If we want to make the most of what has given us, we must bring others into our lives to help us.  We are definitely better together, and often we can be blind to our own motives.  We all need the insight of outside godly and trusted counsel to help us see things from different perspectives.

• Blessing and Increase – “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance” Matthew 25:29 This scripture from the parable of the talents is referring to the servant who invested what God gave him and realized a big return.  If we are being good stewards of what God has entrusted to us, He will bless us, and we will see increase over time.  If we are not seeing a blessing or increase over time, then we need to evaluate our stewardship.  Our God is a God of blessing and increase in all things. 

We serve a God of the more!  I have personally witnessed this in amazing ways over the past 23 years since I gave my heart to Jesus and started walking in a mindset of stewardship.  I have also seen this in a miraculous way in our church over the past 23 years.  I have lived and witnessed firsthand, Ephesians 3:20 and I know God “Can and will do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine by His power at work within us” for His glory.  If we are faithful Stewards, we will experience Ephesians 3:20 in our lives. 

I pray we can live 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and experience the fruit of godly stewardship “the life that is truly life”.  This is the abundant life we have access to through Jesus!!!

Blessings,
Duane

Word of the Week - Stewardship - Part 1

“His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:23

Stewardship – Webster defines stewardship as the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care; faithful and efficient management of property and resources belonging to another in order to achieve the owner’s objectives.  Since God is the owner of all things, the real question we should be asking is: What are God’s objectives? And, how do we manage our gifts, talents, family, and resources toward His objectives?  Therefore, biblical stewardship would imply that we are managing and investing our money, energy, and resources in a way that both glorifies God and serves Him and His creation towards fulfilling His objectives. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Collossians 3:23 

Most Christians think about stewardship as giving or tithing to the local church.  Although this is important, it is only one aspect of stewardship.  Stewardship is much more comprehensive.  It is based on the foundation that God owns it all, like 100% of our Talent, Time, and Treasure. “If I were hungry I would not tell you; for the world is mine, and all that is in it.” Psalm 50:12  He has simply entrusted us to manage these blessings on His behalf.  This is a different way of thinking that may sound a bit radical but makes perfect sense if you really believe that God is our source and provider.

As believers, God calls us all to be good stewards of all He has entrusted to us.  This is a huge part of our journey of faith in Christ.  Amy and I are stewarding four of our grandkids this weekend down in Mobile, AL as my daughter Saige and her husband Blake are attending a marriage retreat at Lake Martin.  Therefore, I have limited time today and will not be able to fully develop my thoughts on Stewardship but plan to finish this “Word of the Week” next week.

Have a great week!!  

Word of the Week - Order

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.  But all things should be done decently and in order”. 1 Corinthians 14:33,40 

What is Order – Order is the organized arrangement of things with an emphasis on prioritizing things by putting first things first.  When things are ordered there is more clarity and peace.  When things are out of order (disordered), there is typically more confusion and strife.  All aspects of life are simply better and more productive when things are in good order.  Order increases productivity and success and disorder typically causes inefficiency and hinders success and progress.  It is a very simple concept that many struggle to grasp and most struggle to live day to day.  For some reason, many of us gravitate towards disorder. 

Our God is a God of Order – Throughout the Bible, we see how much God values order.  Within the wonder and mystery of creation is order.  God has a master plan that is ordered.  Our salvation through the blood of Jesus was pre-planned by God.  1 Peter 1:20 tells us that “Jesus was chosen before creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for our sake”.  Before the prophet Jeremiah was even born, God had a plan for his life.  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 We see order throughout the scripture with Noah’s instructions to build the ark to Solomons amazing temple construction to how Jesus ordered and prioritized His days.  Our God is a God of order, and we can greatly benefit by taking notice and organizing our lives in order.

Why should we increase Order in our lives - First and foremost is the reality that we will spend our time and energy on what we prioritize.  The big rock principle is key to living a purposeful life and fulfilling our God given potential.  We must take time to determine what we believe to be the most important things in our lives and allocate the proper amount of time and energy to those things relative to other things.  If we are not intentional then we will not have order and not prioritize the big rocks.  Stephen Covey calls this “Putting First things First”.  In the digital age of smart phones if you do not have clarity on your priorities, you can easily waste your time and possibly your life on things that don’t have meaning or significance. Secondly, order brings success both personally and professionally.  Order puts things in the proper place and eliminates wasting time.  Order increases wealth, favor, success, happiness, self-esteem, self-worth, productivity and promotes excellence.  Order simply creates an environment for us to be healthy and flourish.

With Divine Order comes Diving Blessing – If we prioritize God and make Him our “First Fruit”, we will live in His blessing.  He makes it clear that He desires to be the First in every area of our lives.  The first commandment says “You shall have no other gods before me”. Exodus 20:3  And God promises us that if we make Him the priority then He will bless us.  “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 I love this principal because it is very simple and easy to understand.  I call it a “Boudreaux” principle.  God simply desires to be the first Priority in our lives.  I am fully convinced based on my life’s experience that if we put God first and make Him the highest priority, we will be blessed and enjoy the fruits of His spirit.  There is no doubt that order begets blessing both in the spiritual and in the natural. 

And there are even more benefits to living with Order – “My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands (order for living); For length of days and long life and peace will add to you” Proverbs 3:1-2

• Length of Days – Each of us have exactly the same length of a day (24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds) so why does this verse say God will increase the length of your days?  When your life is in order, you increase your efficiency and productivity, which gives you more time, margin, and better quality of life.

• Long Life – By following God’s laws, you increase your time on earth.  And orderly and disciplined approach to life and health will improve our quality and quantity of life.  Things like exercise, healthy eating, good sleep and adequate rest will typically allow us to live longer.

• Peace – An increase in order will decrease stress and increase peace, contentment, and tranquility. Life is simply better when things are in order.

• Overcoming – There are many problems and challenges in life much of what are out of our control.  Order minimizes self-imposed challenges so we can use our energy to deal with the challenges we will face in life.  This is referred to in the bible as being an overcomer.

• Financial success – An ordered life attracts and increase financial success.  We must put things in order to be good stewards and when we are, we are blessed and entrusted with more.  This typically creates an opportunity to be more generous in all areas of life, which also begets more blessing. 

• Order brings relational capacity and increases our influence.

I pray we will seek the Lord and ask Him to order our lives in a way that will make the biggest impact for His Kingdom.

Have a great week!!