Calling – The Joyful Steward

Convenience

Dan Baker — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:36:00 +0000

Convenience
Websters Dictionary Describes It Like This..

Pronunciation: \kən-ˈvēn-yən(t)s\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : fitness or suitability for performing an action or fulfilling a requirement 2 a : something (as an appliance, device, or service) conducive to comfort or ease b chiefly British : toilet 3 3 : a suitable or convenient time 4 : freedom from discomfort : ease

At dinner last evening my friends and I had a lovely debate about today’s conveniences. We were speaking in context of serving others and how sometimes we see folks participating in acts of service only if they are “convenient”.
i.e. – only if its close to home, or at a certain time, or an assortment of other conditions.
The one thing that I can see that is a constant is this..”Need is not convenient”.
As I think back to the times of Jesus and His Disciples I see clearly that what they did was not convenient. Many left homes, families, livelihoods, and positions in order to help with something that was bigger than them.
As we serve in our communities, lets try to emulate that characteristic that made such an impact in history. Service is not about convenience. It’s about a call, a call to something higher .
May you find blessing in your serving…
Shalom

Empower People To Lead

Dan Baker — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:53:06 +0000

– Coming out of the last 18 months in the Non Profit world and returning to the Business World I have learned this one very clear lesson.
Empowering your people is vital to the success of the organization. Having worked in sales and management for over 15 years I have always built successful teams however, not until this last project did I manage with the goal of replacing myself. I have been coordinating 400 plus volunteers for a Church and our team in leadership developed and nurtured the concept of “giving ministry away”. This is done basically by growing and developing leaders from a vast pool of people by singling out their top three “gifts”, or internal personal motivators and plugging them into roles of service based fundamentally on those “gifts”. If you’ve ever heard of “working in your 10” , that is essentially what this process enables us to do for our people.
In this process you allow these folks to thrive in an area that they are perfect for , thereby creating a replacement for yourself in that area, so that you can move on and develop new ground. The end result of this style of leadership is an ever-growing and thriving enterprise in which much work gets done , due to people being equipped and empowered to thrive within their area of “10”. These valuable team players will have vision and motivation for their given area that will continually grow. As their leader all you have to do is encourage/coach them and resource them as their needs change.
Continue to manage in this manner and in short order you will have a large and very effective organization, producing huge impact on sales, influence, community, and any other area you desire to see changed.

In As Much…”A life of generosity”

Dan Baker — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:51:00 +0000

I think when we live the lifestyle of servant evangelism the model that we should always look to is Jesus himself.
He cared for the sick, the hungry, the poor, and physically touched them and ministered to their needs.
The message at church this weekend was about living a generous life. I like the following verses from the sermon notes.

Philippians 2:4-8 NIV84

4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

“go the extra MILE”