Off to a Great Start

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, President's Pen
Jul 142010

We are in the leadership season of receiving the PWOC baton from the past board and running a new leg of the “race” in 2010-2011. The path before us can look much different than in seasons past, even different than the immediate past board’s path.  Because of this difference, it is important to start your leadership year off right by seeking the Lord for His direction. Whether this is your first time leading or your fiftieth time, there is always a new path for you to take.  God is moving forward with His Kingdom calendar and has a specific assignment for you and your PWOC each season of your lives.

As you seek God’s direction for your PWOC, challenge yourself in the area of leading out of the overflow that comes from spending quality time with Him.  By meeting with God daily and asking Him to reveal Himself to you, He will fill you up with His love and show you the direction you are to go.  It’s easy to jump start the race and get ahead of His plan for your PWOC.  Watch and listen and then when He gives the green light, run with confidence the path He has given you and your ministry team to complete.

Some of His plan will include looking at how you are shining and reflecting His glory.  Over the course of a year, He may reveal some “pot holes”, which will need some attention in order that you can continue growing as a leader.

It’s my desire that you continue to grow as a leader who shines in the light of God’s glory.  Below you will find a list of attributes that I think are important for every leader to move towards.  These attributes are good prayer points for yourself and others on your ministry leadership team:

  • Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength
  • Serve out of the overflow of your relationship with Him
  • Serve out of a pure heart and pure motives
  • Live your life in balance with God’s plan for your family and ministry
  • Listen for the Lord’s voice and walk in radical obedience to what He says
  • Courageously join God in His Kingdom work
  • Extend forgiveness, grace, love and mercy to others
  • Celebrate each other’s victories and growth in the Lord

There are many people praying for you.  Keep seeking the Lord and watch to see how God shows up and shows off in your life and the lives of others around you.

Wild About Jesus and You!

©Copyright 2010

Posted by Brenda Marlin at 2:00 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why I Serve in PWOC

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday
Jun 302010

Submitted by Lynn Jackson

I have been active in PWOC for 8 years and served in a variety of positions for a variety of reasons.  See if you can identify with any of my experiences below.

1. First, I take any job in PWOC because I believe it is an opportunity to be part of God’s plan. I was amazed and inspired by all that God was doing in the first PWOC I attended.  As Henry  Blackaby put it in Experiencing God: see where God is working and join Him. That’s exactly what I did when I accepted my first board position as Spiritual Life VP. I wasn’t sure what the job entailed, but the Selection Committee asked me to serve so I accepted their assignment. It was a wonderful experience. My PWOC President was very patient, and the team I served with could easily have done the job without me.

2. Second, I sometimes take a job out of what Bill Hybels calls Holy Discontent. After enduring some very boring PWOC programs, I began skipping them and only attending PWOC on regular class days.  When it came time to select officers for the following year, I put my name in for programs.  I had a blast the next year, again serving with a great team, planning Olympic competitions and Bingo parties, etc.  The Joy of the Lord is my strength!

3. Third, I serve to help others. Galatians 6:10 (The Message) puts it this way: Right now, therefore, every time we get a chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith. I resisted serving as Titus 2 advisor once, but when the second opportunity came while we were stationed overseas, I accepted. I lead a Bible study for the executive board members outside of PWOC and made “coffee dates” with individual board members. It was a great year, not without problems and challenges, but we were all blessed as we chose to “do life deeply together.”

4. Fourth I serve to use the gifts God has given me.  My primary spiritual gifts are teaching and administration.  I seldom pass by the opportunity to teach, enjoying Bible studies, W.I.L.D. training, and teacher training, so when God gave me the opportunity to use my teaching skills to write for PWOC I was ecstatic!

God in His mercy chose to use my first less-than-successful efforts and gave me a second opportunity to serve as Bible Study Resource Coordinator on the PWOC International Board. Watch for the new PWOCI study God’s Love in 3-D being published by the American Bible Society. Again, I had the opportunity to serve with a great team. I am humbled, grateful and blessed that God has given me an opportunity to serve doing what I love!

So what is hindering you from serving? If you can’t identify with one of my reasons, pray and ask God to give you his reason for you to serve.  PWOC is a safe place to grow in the Lord and be blessed!

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Living By Example

Devotions
Aug 312009

muriels-devo-picture“As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

This statement by Joshua came at the end of a long and fruitful life. Joshua was not a king, nor a judge or a prophet. He was a soldier, who gave his life to God. He was in the desert with Moses; He defeated the Amorites; He crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land; He conquered Jericho. If you went to church as a kid, those are your Sunday School lessons.

Joshua knew firsthand the power of God. He knew to obey and serve Him. When Joshua made the statement above, he was talking to all the Israelites and reminding them of who they were serving. At Shechem, he renewed the covenant.

Joshua was a leader by example. When he declared “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”, he was not only referring to his close family but also to everybody in his household and his sphere of influence. The rest of the people declared right there and then they, too, would not forsake God and that they would serve Him. They knew that Joshua meant what he said because he lived it every day.

What I find the most fascinating about this passage is how the story ends: “Israel served the Lord throughout the Lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.” Joshua 24:31. What a testimony that is to Joshua and how he lived his life.

How we live our lives will influence people in our family and our community. We do not need to preach to convert. We need to live it.

Will you stand today and say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord?”

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