But I'm Just a Bag Boy!

"The greatest among you will be your servant" (Matt 23:11).

Ken Blanchard, the author of the One Minute Manager, once shared a story about what can happen when individuals in a company model servant leadership, no matter where they are on the totem pole.

A business consultant was training more than 3000 employees of a mid-western grocery chain to approach their jobs with a goal of creating a memory for their customers. She stated that "this is what will distinguish your store from all others."

Johnny was a 19-year old bag boy that had down-syndrome. His first response to the consultant's suggestion was "I'm just a 'bag boy.'" Nevertheless, he went home and shared what the consultant said with his mother. They began to ponder the consultant's words about how he could create a memory for his customers. Johnny had a habit of collecting inspirational thoughts that he would often read. He decided he would begin printing these sayings and place one in each of the bags of his customers. When customers came through the line he would place the sayings in their bag and say, "I've included some of my favorite sayings in your bag in hopes it will encourage you today. Thanks for shopping with us."

After just a few weeks, an amazing thing began to happen. One day the store manager noticed that all the customers were lined up at only one cashier station when there were other stations open. He began to panic, thinking the other stations were broken. After further investigation he found this was not the case. Actually, customers wanted to come through Johnny's line in order to get his saying of the day.

One woman came up to the manager and said, "I used to come to the store only once a week, but now I come everyday!" Johnny's example spread to other departments in the store. The florist began giving a flower to each florist customer. The meat department put Snoopy stickers on each meat order with a special greeting. This one act by a bag boy changed the entire climate of the store.*

How can you create a memory for someone in your workplace today? Jesus was all about creating memories. 

From: TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2 by Os Hillman; Saturday, January 31 2009

It's a Super Party!

Mark your calendars for a Super Duper (Super Bowl) party.

Where: The REFUGE

When: Sunday, Feb. 1 at 6:15 p.m (following Life U. and SHARE)

What: Pizza, hot wings, and drinks will be provided. Bring a favorite dessert or appetitizer (your family PLUS one!).

Admission: A can of soup or other canned goods to donate to Open Door Ministries.

Lydia - the First European Convert

Here is what tradition teaches that Lydia looked like.  

The Place of Lydia's Baptism

Here is the spot where Paul baptized Lydia, the first European convert.

A Simple Fool's Prayer

Lord, let me be a simple fool, not a hardened fool. Though I make many mistakes in life, I want to learn from those mistakes. I want to improve; to do what is right. As the Bible says, to be a "simple fool." Please never let me become a hardened fool who does not listen or learn from mistakes. I pray for your guidance, direction, and wisdom each and every day. Thank you for hearing me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

A Goal-Oriented Spiritual Life

Paul concludes his spiritual exhortation in 1 Corinthians 9 with a challenge to Christians to have a goal-oriented spiritual life (see verses 24-27). It is pretty evident that Paul is advocating a purposeful, goal-oriented spiritual life. He focuses on this quality of the athletes of the Ithsmian Games. He says this is the way he lives his life - doing the things calculated to win (disciplined training schedule; efficiency in effort)- but for different goals and for a different prize. And he directly calls on the Corinthian Christians (and us) to imitate him in this area.

Yet, like the Corinthians, many of us struggle in this area. Most of us have goals for other areas of our lives (economic; educational; family; recreational), but it is relatively rare to meet Christians who can articulate clear spiritual goals. Some even protest that it is unspiritual to be goal-oriented in your walk with Christ, as though the Spirit-led life is completely spontaneous. This is an important area which we need to explore in depth.

But is this an isolated passage that can be written off as a neurotic fit by Paul? When we survey the Bible on this subject, we find an amazing amount of material. We can distill this material into the following theses:

1. God is goal-oriented. (Jn. 5:17; Eph. 1:10)
2. Goal-orientation is part of being made in God's image. (Gen 2:15)
3. Eternal life will include goal-oriented activity. (Lk. 19:17)
4. Jesus and other biblical models were spiritually goal-oriented. (Lk. 13:32; Jn. 17:4; 1 Cor. 9:26,27; Phil. 3:13,14; 2 Tim. 4:7,8)
5. God exhorts all Christians to be spiritually goal-oriented. (1 Cor. 9:24,25; 2 Pet. 1:5-8; 1 Pet. 3:15; Heb. 10:24,25)

Thus, all Christians should have clear spiritual goals, and these goals should be the most important goals in our lives! This is a non-optional component of a spiritually healthy life. You can see from many of these passages that there is a close connection between spiritual goal-orientation and motivation and fulfillment in your Christian life. This is a big reason why so many Christians are unmotivated in their walks. If you want your relationship with God to be motivating, it has to be making progress, accomplishing something.

But how do I do this? I plan to teach this Sunday on the topic of Christian Goal Setting. Come and be with us as we explore this timely topic.