Book Review: God is my Coach

The author of “God is my CEO,” Larry Julian, is out with another, practical guide for everyday living.

While I think the titles of both books are poor, overly simplified descriptions of the Holy Father, there is plenty of good advice in “God is My Coach.”

There is a tendency to reduce the Everlasting, Holy God to a ‘personal Jesus.’ Why stop at God being a coach or a CEO? Let’s make him our bowling partner or mechanic or interior designer. God has His role, His place in the world and if He is who He says He is, then I should not try to ‘stretch’ his definition to something that is practical.

Once you get past the title, you’ll find the book to be a practicum for an ordered way to a more effective life. God’s ‘coaching” abilities, according to Julian, include “finding your creativity,” “nurturing your passion,” “giving you a calling” and “blessing you with relationships.”

Julian makes his living as a corporate management consultant, and the book reflects that. He is incredibly organized in his thoughts, as each chapter reads like a flowchart in novel form. He interviews a number of business leaders who are living out the God model of “coaching” including an executive at General Mills, a management consultant,

His most effective interviews are with Os Guiness.

I love the chapters devoted to Monty Sholund, a lifetime mentor of men who has 100’s of relationships to his credit. As a ‘coach’, he lived out Christ in others, guiding, cajoling, instructing others. A true coach. The book was worth it just to read about Monty.

The first five to respond by email, will get a free copy of “God is My Coach”

Got a faith in the workplace question?

We are soliciting your questions for Randy Kilgore, author of Made to Matter, Devotions for Working Christians.

Randy understands the modern workplace and the difficulties that are before Christians who want to make a difference.

Got a question? Email us and if we use your question, you'll get a free copy of his book.

When Christian coworkers act like unbelievers

We are soliciting your questions for Randy Kilgore, author of Made to Matter, Devotions for Working Christians. Randy understands the modern workplace and the difficulties that are before Christians who want to make a difference. Got a question? Email us and if we use your question, you'll get a free copy of his book.

This week's question comes from Cathie, who blogs at Carelines.

She asks, "How can I work with Christians who claim to be more mature in their faith, yet act as unbelievers with co-workers?"

Randy Kilgore: Great question! First of all, guard your own heart; don't let how others choose to live their faith (or not) cause you to be angry or bitter, including, especially, towards them. When Paul gives us his long list of things we should think on in Philippians 4:8, there's a reason there are no negatives in it.

Second, it's been my experience that people who behave as you've described were never properly discipled; so they often don't know how to live faithfully among unbelieving coworkers. Or they tried and failed, either being criticized by unbelievers; or worse, being criticized by other believers--the most disabling thing we Christians do to each other.

Third, you must pray for them, asking God to teach you how to love them, and asking Him to help you avoid doing or saying anything that makes it harder for them to change. This includes NOT "calling them out" on their behavior in the presence of others. Remember, God ONLY grants us permission to correct those whom we care so much about that our motivation in doing so is love. We are not permitted to judge or correct casual acquaintances; the risks of inappropriate motivation are too great, and the potential for harm is staggering.

Finally, you should live your life around them in a way that honors God, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to teach them through your example. Words aren't necessary for this kind of teaching, as the work is the Holy Spirit's and not yours.

The secret of work

"In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed:

They must be fit for it.
They must not do too much of it.
And they must have a sense of success in it."

-- John Ruskin, Pre-Raphaelitism, 1850


What do you think? Is this true in your job? Leave a comment here.

Turbulence

“This is your captain in the flight deck and we’ve just reached our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet. We have some rough air up ahead so I’m going to keep the fasten seat belt light on until we get through this little bit of turbulence.”

I check my seat belt and it’s fastened – not pulled in too tight, though. I look left and right, eyeing my fellow passengers, looking to spot the white-knuckled rookie travelers as we approach the coming bumpy air. But everyone looks ahead, stone faced and nonchalant, as if they fly through the rough stuff all the time.

I mimic that same look. "No Big Deal."

The first bump hits. "Not too bad."
Then a second bump, a third, and then a fourth – they’re coming together faster. The plane hits some kind of air pocket and dips a few hundred feet and I feel weightless. We’re being tossed around like a cheap toy, shimmying and buckling with each hard bounce.

"Okay, now it’s no fun."

I start praying to God in a stream-of-consciousness-please-save-me-forgive-me-for-my-sins-take-care-of-my-family-don't-let-me-suffer-kind of style.

And then just like that, it stops. Smooth air.

Isn’t life just like this? We know turbulence is in our future, just ahead of us somewhere on the path, and even when we see it coming, even when we know it’s going to hit and we think we’re sufficiently prepared, we find out it is still scary and unnerving. We lose our sense of control. We become powerless.

In today’s chaotic times, we face turbulence like we’ve never seen in our lifetimes and most of us recognize that this uncertainty will continue into the future. So, now, more than ever, we need to reach out for God’s steady grip and limitless love for He will not forsake us.

He's got it under control.

An Inauguration Day Attitude Check

No matter how you voted, this message is for you.

As followers of Christ, we offer prayers of blessing upon our new government and our new leaders. As Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." And Paul said to submit to our authorities.

So we pray. And we submit.

But may we never forget where our trust lies. It does not lie in government. It does not lie in any political power or institution or personality. Our trust lies in God alone. Our government will not save us.

Here’s a timely quote from David Jeremiah, found in his book, the “What in the World is Going On.”

“Our trust has never been in governments, civilizations or cultures. By the standards of eternity, these institutions last but a moment, crumbling into dust to be swept away by the winds of history. They are helpful while they are here, but they have never been worthy of our trust. We have always put our trust in the One who stands above institutions, above history and even above time itself ­­ the One by whose power and permission these things exitst, and who knows their times an the ends of their days. Only He is worthy of our ultimate allegiance.”

What do you think the response of the Red Letter Believer, the person who follows and lives out the words of Christ, should be? Leave your comment here.

Read a similar post-election commentary here. “No Government Will Save Us”

What we can learn from a paperboy

We generally associate "holy professions" as pastors, priest, missionaries and evangelists. But there is much to learn from a simple paperboy.

Sam over at New Breed of Advertisers posted this poem last week:

Sodden

soaked to the skin

our paperboy protects

his precious parcels

neglecting himself

Sam says that the paperboy displays a holy attitude, because "his work energizes...it produces value....and is an act of service."

He summarizes, "At the heart of work - done in a Christ-like manner - is service and sacrifice for the sake of others."

This got us to thinking about what drives most people to work at a particular job-- the paycheck. They often choose a job based on the compensation package, the benefits and the wages. And in the end, they are left wanting because they aren't fulfilled.

We are most fulfilled when we work for the right reasons. We place too much emphasis on both the pay and duties of the job instead of the attitude. The employer doesn't have to be a charity or a church or a people-oriented organization. It doesn't have to save animals or the environment or souls to be deemed righteous.

Arguably, there is no employer that a Christian could not work for and make a difference.

The paperboy delivers a paper full of bad news, ads promoting crass commercialism, stories of selfish ambitions and self-promoting leaders. But God says, "do it with all your heart."

Beyond the paycheck. Beyond the organization's mission. Beyond the superficial. We are called to serve God in whatever we do.

Read Sam's full post here and make sure you leave a comment.

We're interested. Have you ever worked at a job for the wrong reasons? Leave a comment here.

How can I change my attitude toward work?

Do you work with twits, nits or nasties? Are you asked to the impossible -- or the immoral? Is your work drudgery and you don't know how to turn it around?

You want to live out the High Calling to be a Red Letter Believer in your workplace, but you just don't know how.

Do you have a question on how to make a difference in your workplace? Now you have a chance to ask a real expert, Randy Kilgore, who heads the workplace faith empowerment ministry, Made to Matter.

Send an email here with your question. If we use it, you'll get a free copy of "Made to Matter -- Devotions for Workplace Christians."

Or you can leave your question in the comment box below.

How should we act in the workplace? P. 3 of Randy Kilgore interview.

Over the next three days, we have been privileged to interview Randy Kilgore, the author of Made to Matter, Devotions for Working Christians. (part 3 of 3)

How should Christians act in the workplace?

We Christians should live lives that bring honor to the name of Christ. How?

First, we must practice the kind of humility that comes from a constant awareness we don't deserve to be in relationship with God. We stop being humble the moment we forget how stained we are by sin. The moment we congratulate ourselves on how closely we're obeying God is the moment we've started believing we've got a part in our own salvation.

That's why the idea that people are basically good is such a terrible thing to believe. Our default, Scripture says, is to rebel against God. None of us are worthy of His presence, and we're only made worthy because we've been granted the opportunity to become one with Christ. That way, when God sees us, He sees us adorned in the robe of Christ's righteousness, not the self-mended robe of our own best efforts. This kind of humility reminds us we're fellow travelers in this journey to eternity, even with the most distressing of overt sinners, and it can give us a heart for seeing them meet Jesus.

Second, we must accept the idea we won't be perfect this side of heaven, and that we need help learning to love God, need help learning to love others, and most of all, need help learning to love ourselves. That help comes in the form of reading God's word, and in fellowshipping with others who've also met Jesus. Every person in Christian history who sought to live a life of faith in isolation always ended up also being heretical; we need each other not only for moral support, but to test our learning of what we've read, and to hone the rough edges off the things sin lets creep into that thinking.

Third, we must understand that until we get to heaven, we're to live lives of service and sacrifice; that this life is no longer our own. Romans 12:1-2 and Galatians 2:20 speak to this magnificently. In return for an eternity without pain and sorrow, where work has meaning, joy and fulfillment without any of its drudgery or inequity, and where we get to walk in the garden with God, literally; in return for that eternal joy, God asks of us a life of surrender to service while we're on this Earth. Then, to spice the deal, He offers us contentment as we offer that service, and makes it productive, sometimes even supernaturally so, just so we know the relationship part of eternity has already begun.

Then, just when we start to congratulate ourselves for how well we've appropriated these lessons, and how much we've surrendered to God, we must remind ourselves of just how stained by sin we truly are, so we can start the cycle again by practicing the kind of humility it brings.

Scripture is right when it teaches us God loves the humble, but it's also right when it teaches us that other humans love us when we're humble, too. Only people abandoned to evil don't admire humility.

Read the book review here.
Next week we’ll pose your questions to Randy.
E-mail your question, “How can I make a difference….”. If we use your question, you’ll get a free copy of the Made to Matter book.

How can I make a difference?

P. 2 of Randy Kilgore interview

Over the next three days, we are privileged to interview Randy Kilgore, the author of Made to Matter, Devotions for Working Christians. (Part 2 of 3)

Not all of us are gifted with words or theological knowledge. How can we practically live out the words of Jesus in our everyday existence?

Maybe not, but the Bible teaches us that the Nebraska wheat farmer can know how to please God just as certainly as a pastor with a seminary degree.

First of all, it's important to point out Jesus Himself stresses we can't pay attention only to His words. He never came to replace the rest of God's words to us, merely to breathe new life into them, to make them clearer to us.

There's a wonderful moment after the Resurrection, when Jesus is with His disciples and Luke tells us Jesus "opened their eyes" to the meaning of the Scriptures. THAT'S what we mean when we say a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the only magic decoder ring any Christian needs to live practically in the world God created.

Without that personal relationship with Christ, a person cannot understand any of the Bible's wisdom; it's just pithy prose that's sporadically useful. WITH the "magic decoder ring", WITH a personal relationship with Christ, all of Scripture's truths are opened up to us. That's why the disciples could be so dense about the things Jesus was saying even though they were living with Him: They had not yet understood and accepted Him as their Messiah, so they could not yet put the pieces together.

That truth is the chief reason I went back to seminary after years as a human resource manager. First, I wanted to get the pastor's degree (M.Div.) so I could write to them in their language about the issues their working congregants face; and second, I wanted to teach workers that God expects them to have a DIRECT working knowledge of His Word, not one passed on by a pastor or filtered through a book. Any worker who isn't engaged in a close reading of Scripture has no idea whether or not they're pleasing God; any worker who is engaged in a close reading of Scripture knows with certainty what God wants of them and which paths to follow even when the decisions are complex and challenging.

It’s why God spends so much time telling us our primary duty to our children ISN'T provision, it's teaching them about God. How many times does Scripture tell us providing for our families is important? Roughly four times if you stretch as hard as you can. How many times does Scripture tell us to teach our children about Him? More than sixty times even without stretching to look real hard. So what do you think is highest on God's agenda for a working parent? (That's not to say we shouldn't work or shouldn't provide for our families! We MUST do so, biblically speaking. But any time work, and even provision, trumps our spiritual training, we've lost God's expectations of balance, and His approval.)

There's that wonderful verse in Isaiah where God promises His word will not return without accomplishing its purpose. As we go about our daily lives the Holy Spirit "googles" the word of God we've stored in our brains by reading it, and calls it forward to impact our choices. However, the Holy Spirit will not "google" what isn't there. Every worker who has cut themselves off from Bible reading has cut themselves off from God's wisdom and truth, and they're left to do "what's best in their own eyes" and that phrase is always spit out in disdainful tones when its used in Scripture.

And here's a troubling point: Surveyors, both secular and Christian, all point to their results, which show that they higher a person is in an organization or career, the less likely they are to read the Bible (or engage in other spiritual activities). Similarly, the higher the income or educational levels, the lower the likelihood of regular interaction with Scripture. This means our "leaders" are relying on their own wisdom instead of God's.


Part 2 of 3.

Read the book review here.
Next week we’ll pose your questions to Kilgore. E-mail your question, “How can I make a difference….”. If we use your question, you’ll get a free copy of the Made to Matter book.

How are we Made to Matter? Randy Kilgore Interview part 1

Over the next three days, we are priviledged to interview Randy Kilgore, the author of Made to Matter, Devotions for Working Christians.

The title of both your book and your organization is “Made to Matter.” What does this mean to the average Christian in the workplace?

That's the question I wish every interviewer would start with, because I think it raises the issues that are closest to the heart of nearly every effective workplace ministry. Plus, it crosses the age or generational barriers.

For example, Made to Matter for workers in their fifties and older strikes a "did I pick the wrong path" chord. Almost every group we speak to in this age category wrestles with some form of angst around the belief they've not been useful to God or to others.

Scripture counters this angst with freedom: For most of us, there isn't just "one perfect calling" we can miss. That means we have the freedom to serve God almost anywhere, in any career, and still "matter" in the way God envision and our soul yearns for in our later years. Even when God does have a "one perfect calling", He always makes sure we know it; so if we missed it, it's not some deep secret that just pops up late in life. God doesn't play those kinds of head games.

At Made to Matter, we show workers, using God's own words instead of our own, they can matter regardless of the place they serve, and even if they did have a "one perfect calling" and missed it; because God is able to redeem even wrong choices. There's never a time when God can't redeem our paths, and even our errors, when we surrender to His will.

What's surprised us, though, is how Made to Matter is received by younger workers. While post-fifty-year-old workers are only now considering God in their daily lives, many of today's younger workers are wondering about such things at the start of their careers. Older workers started their careers without the timesavers and technology of today, and as such, busied themselves with the details of life in a way that pulled them away from deeper thinking and into their present responsibilities. Younger workers, while often imprisoned by these timesaving technological devices, seem drawn to questions of the future by those ever-changing features, and thus, are more willing to explore God and the supernatural at an earlier age than those of us born in the fifties and earlier.

So, the same questions an older worker asks in retrospect are being asked by younger workers in anticipation. That surprised me very much, and made it easier to sort out what questions to answer first.

For example, whenever I teach workers about the role faith has in their jobs and careers, I always start by showing them they were made to be in relationship with God, they were NOT made to do things. Doing things is merely one of the ways we engage in that relationship with God. In other words, the reason God made us is because He wants to fellowship with us.

Workers have trouble with that concept because they place their value--and draw their identity--from their work, but that's wrong. What happens when you're not able to work? Are you suddenly no longer valuable? Does God discard you because you can't do things? Of course not. We were made to be in relationship with God, and in relationship with others, and our actions, including our jobs, are to serve that primary purpose. Our actions, including our jobs, must never become our primary purpose or we've lost the view God intends.

Work in a proper perspective is fulfilling and meaningful, even when its difficult and performed under less-than-ideal circumstances. Whenever work trumps relationship as the most important part of life, though, it guarantees an out-of-focus experience that ultimately drains us, and is always, always, always, viewed eternally as failure.

Part 1 of 3.

Read the book review here.
Next week we’ll pose your questions to Kilgore. E-mail your question, “How can I make a difference….”. If we use your question, you’ll get a free copy of the Made to Matter book.

Made to Matter: Book Review

No one likes to waste time. We have planners on our desks, calanders in prominent places and clocks in every room to keep us on track.

Even worse than missed time, are missed opportunities.

Randy Kilgore is on a mission to help Christians make the most of their unique opportunity in the marketplace. “Did we miss the chance,”he asks in his poignant new release, “Made to Matter: Devotions for working Chrisitans."

The book is a collection of 53 weekly lessons to help us make a difference in the workplace. Kilgore’s approach goes far beyond hanging a fish on the back of your computer monitor or putting a “Not Perfect, Just Forgiven” bumper sticker on the work truck. He espouses the whole Christian, the same Red Letter Believer concept we preach, of allowing the teachings of Christ to infuse the entire person.

He gives practical advice for living out your faith – from excellence in your duties to honesty in your dealings to sensitivity to coworkers.

Kilgore has an international workplace ministry, primarily driven by his weekly newsletter, “Made to Matter.” If you are one of his 50,000 subscribers, you'll be familiar with Kilgore's style. Find a real-life story from history or modern times, and apply timeless God-truths to the story. Someone else took the same approach 2,000 years ago, using parables to connect men and women to another Kingdom.

I didn’t follow the one-message-a-week layout in the book. I covered all 53 chapters in just a few days and you might just do the same. The writing is engaging. The message is powerful. And the applications are timeless.

Over the next three days we'll interview Randy and he'll help us all begin to matter in this world around us. Next week, we'll pose specific questions from you for Randy on "how can I make a difference." If we use your question, you'll get a complimentary copy of "Made to Matter." Email your question here.

Group Writing Results: Reflections of 2008

A number of bloggers responded to our Group Writing Project, “Reflections of 2008.”

Andy, over at the Narrow Road, reflects on this past year as he left the corporate world and is engaged in full-time studies. He says his vision is much clearer now “By clearing some of the trash off the path so I could more easily follow His Son.” Read his full post here.

Jennifer, who posts regularly at “Getting Down with Jesus,” is one of the High Calling Networks most insightful writers. Her year was one of anticipation for the future. She encourages us to reflect on Philippians 1, “I want to dwell on things that are true and honest, just and pure, lovely and of good report.” She writes a beautiful poem, “Whatsoever things,” that you can read here.

Jesse and Sarah, over at “God’s Not Finished With Us Yet” reflect on a year of challenge, starting college, family and trying to find meaning in a mixed up world. Read their post here.

Bradley Moore, at Shrinking the Camel, looks at 2008 as the year he found his writing voice. It started out with doubt. "I wanted to shock God by hurling doubt and sarcasm. But God wasn’t shocked. God handled it just fine. I think He actually liked the fact that I was talking to Him in a more intimate way, being brutally honest." Read his post here.

Girl for God has had a year of termination from a job, the death of someone near to her, and frustration. She writes, “This year I have really learned what it means to be broken, and out of that I have longed and thirsted for God more.” This year, she longs to be a God-chaser, to be desperate for Him. Read her post here.

Kay Martin at Thrive Christian lost her her husband of 40 years, but has learned how to thrive in life nonetheless. Read her post..and the rest of her wonderful blog here.

Peter at Rediscovering the Church says his year has been mainly about "God dragging him back." Read it here.

Also, look at Experiencing Grace and Peace at click here. Remote Tree Changer also has her reflections here. My good friend Philip has a post here.

And don't miss Billy Coffeys great post on resolutions.

Thanks to all who commented and posted..

So, how about you? What do you long for this year? Leave a comment here.

(Thanks to Marcy Earley for the cool photo)