Stepping Up part 2- Who God is matters more then who you are not

"Who God is matters more than who you’re not. Who are you? Have you ever thought about how you’d answer that question? A long time ago people were known by a label that went with their name. Alexander the Great. Richard the Lion Heart. Winnie the Pooh. So when you’re asking yourself that question— who you really are—you’re essentially asking yourself what adjective goes in your blank. Who do you think you are? Because who you think you are directly impacts everything about your attitude and performance in the face of challenge. Unfortunately for a lot of us, we tend to focus less on who we are and more on who we are not. Joshua experienced this same thing in Joshua 1" xp3 Students Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-9 NLT). Joshua finds himself unsure of who he is and needs to be reminded by the Lord that it is not so much about his identity and purpose but of God's. God says "I am with you and I am faithful." God gives Joshua a pep talk of sorts that not only helps him discover who he is but, more importantly, whose he is. Sometimes in order for us to step up in our lives we need to be reminded of whose we are and because of whose we are we can be BOLD in our life. May we live a life of BOLdness because we know whose we are.

9 traits of a church bully

Traits of Church Bullies By Thom Rainer “Church bullying is epidemic in many of our congregations.” Church bullies are common in many churches. They wreak havoc and create dissension. They typically must have an “enemy” in the church, because they aren’t happy unless they are fighting a battle. They tend to maneuver to get an official leadership position in the church, such as chairman of the elders or deacons or treasurer. But they may have bully power without any official position. Church bullies have always been around. But they seem to be doing their work more furiously today than in recent history. Perhaps this look at nine traits of church bullies can help us recognize them before they do too much damage. 1. They do not recognize themselves as bullies. To the contrary, they see themselves as necessary heroes sent to save the church from her own self. 2. They have personal and self-serving agendas. They have determined what “their” church should look like. Any person or ministry or program that is contrary to their perceived ideal church must be eliminated. 3. They seek to form power alliances with weak members in the church. They will pester and convince groups, committees and persons to be their allies in their cause. Weaker church staff members and church members will succumb to their forceful personalities. 4. They tend to have intense and emotional personalities. These bullies use the intensity of their personalities to get their way. 5. They are famous for saying “people are saying.” They love to gather tidbits of information and shape it to their own agendas. See my previous post on this one item. 6. They find their greatest opportunities in low-expectation churches. Many of the church members have an entitlement view of church membership. They seek to get their own needs and preferences fulfilled. They, therefore, won’t trouble themselves to confront and deal with church bullies. That leads to the next issue, which is a consequence of this point 7. They are allowed to bully because church members will not stand up to them. I have spoken with pastors and church staff who have been attacked by church bullies. While the bully brings them great pain, they have even greater hurt because most of the church members stood silent and let it happen. 8. They create chaos and wreak havoc. A church bully always has his next mission. While he or she may take a brief break from one bullying mission to the next, they are not content unless they are exerting the full force of their manipulative behavior. 9. They often move to other churches after they have done their damage. Whether they are forced out or simply get bored, they will move to other churches with the same bullying mission. Some bullies have wreaked havoc in three or more churches. Church bullying is epidemic in many of our congregations. They must be stopped. In my article on Wednesday, I deal with the topic of preventing church bullying. In the meantime, let me hear from you. Thom Rainer Thom S. Rainer is the president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources (LifeWay.com). Among his greatest joys are his family: his wife Nellie Jo; three sons, Sam, Art, and Jess; and six grandchildren. He was founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His many books include Surprising Insights from the Unchurched, The Unexpected Journey, and Breakout Churches. More from Thom Rainer or visit Thom at http://www.thomrainer.com

Stepping Up

Used from xp3 Students Stepping Up Stepping up = seeing God in your situation. What makes you nervous? Is it speaking in front of people? Starting on the basketball team? Asking someone on a date? Whatever it is, there’s a pretty good chance that it has to do with one thing: failure. We’re all afraid we’ll mess up, fail, and look foolish. In fact, that fear is the very reason that most of us step back from challenges in moments where we could step up. That was certainly the case for a group of guys in the Bible that were sent to check out the Promised Land. For most of them, the report was simple: don’t do it. Don’t go there. Step Back. Almost all of them agreed that the new land was too scary, too dangerous, and that failure was too much of a possibility. Along with his friend, one of the men had something different in his report. And as we follow along with how Joshua learned to step up and out of fear, we’ll see how God can help us do the same. And that is just it, when we see God in the situation with us we are able to step boldly in faith. So often though our vision is clouded and we forget that God is indeed the God who is with us and the God who is for us. In those moments we remember that we are able to do radical things for the Kingdom. May we have the faith of Joshua and step boldly knowing that God is with us.