Skip to main content

What To Do First to Make a Profit

The PF Women Team at our Annual Team Retreat  ~ 2018 Today on Seth Godin's blog, he said: It's tempting to decide to make a profit first, then invest in training, people, facilities, promotion, customer service and most of all, doing important work. In general, though, it goes the other way. Yes, it does. If you are waiting to make a profit before you do these things, in my experience you're  not going to make a profit. So many organizations, ministries and churches are struggling with financial issues. I know your pain. As anyone who follows our story knows, our ministry was in a ton of debt four years ago when I came on as director.  Since that time, we've gotten out of debt and turned a profit every year.  God has done amazing things through out team, for which we give Him the glory! I find that what Seth is saying here is absolutely true, with one disclaimer. For Christian leaders, spiritual disciplines must always be first. Before we started inve

Slam dunk!


That's what this morning was! The Holy Spirit absolutely took us into overtime. Seriously.


What a service!!! Worship was amazing. We did Freedom Reigns with a bridge that I found online that another church did (haven't heard it anywhere else) but it says, "We shout to every wall come down! We shout to every wall come down! We shout to every wall! We shout to every wall there is freedom!" It was time to declare it today...any remaining wall was coming down!

Great worship and special music time. I did a song right before Larry preached and the majority of the church jumped to their feet and were singing and dancing to it and the place just erupted. I couldn't help it -- started preaching a few minutes as the people were shouting and the song ended...just went into a powerful exhortation but it was time for Larry to take the pulpit so then when I came off the platform, Debbie handed me a paper she had written on and it said, 'WE ARE IN A BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!!!!" Yep. Yep. Yep. Tis so!

We had an auction for Speed the Light right after service and it was fun!! Then we had choir luncheon and rehearsal. All around it was an extremely blessed day. Somewhere in there Lourdes took photos of our family for me to take to Africa. The people constantly ask about my family and want me to bring them, or at least see their photo. Well it's like this -- where I go in Africa there is no screen, no powerpoint, no none of that. Just putting a picture up there and saying, "here's my family" is impossible. So I'm doing a bookmark for each woman at the conference (yep, that's a ton of bookmarks!) with my family's picture and in Swahili it will say, "Ladies of Kenya, we are praying for you and we love you! The Shrodes Family and Northside Assembly of God, Tampa, FL." Trust me this will be a big deal to these ladies and they are going to love it. We also have lots of other stuff we are taking to Africa -- scarves, jewelry, perfume, and other things. I thought I'd post the photos here for you to see. I used the one for the bookmark that I put at the top.


They announced today what they are doing for Pastor Appreciation. I'm so excited! I'm going to tell you tomorrow here on the blog so.......stay tuned!!!


In the meantime if you are reading my blog today and you are a Northsider...if you thought today was off the chain, look out! You haven't seen anything yet. We are getting ready to skip a few levels. Were there a lot of people today in the house or what? Was the presence of God just hanging over the place or what?

Let it Rain!

Comments

Melissa said…
I want some of that sweet rain up here girl! Send it on up! Hey I love the pictures! What a brilliant idea for the book mark! Awesome just awesome! I will be praying!
Thanks Melissa! It took me a while to think of that bookmark idea and it was through brainstorming as to how to share my family's picture since there are no projectors and such there. There's a printing company I use that is dirt cheap that does a fantastic job and they are doing them for me at rock bottom price and UV coating them. They'll look really sharp. A bookmark in america might not be a big deal to people but over there anything's a big deal and these ladies will treasure them.

BTW, I got your facebook IM late and you were already offline. I was giving Savanna and pedicure and came back to the computer and saw it. Sorry! Thanks for all your support for Africa. I have your name on my list of prayer warriors. It means so much.

Love you
LAURIE said…
It is just wonderful to hear of the awesome things that are happening in your church and in your life!! Praise God.

What a beautiful family - love the family photo's you posted. Have a glorious Monday. -Blessings, Laurie
I love the pitures!! Your family is so beautiful!

Popular posts from this blog

Some people will never understand this...

And that's okay. Just let us be as we lavish love upon the fur-kids of the world. It doesn't mean we don't care about people. We do care. In fact most of the people I know who are great pet lovers are also the greatest philanthropists. If you're not a dog lover, you might not understand the overwhelming intensity that many of us felt about Tank's reunion this past week. You might think we've lost our marbles. That's okay, we think you've lost your heart. ;)  Before I go on with this post, let me say that we were delighted that CBS 10 posted the video and article about Tank and his Celebration Church reunion yesterday. Click here to watch it. (But then come back!) If you haven't realized it, there is a revolution in America about dogs. Dogs have always been loved and known as the most loyal companions ~ "man's best friend". But things have gone way beyond this. Dogs aren't just dogs or friends anymore. They are family me

Fifty Shades of No Way

This weekend, the Fifty Shades of Grey movie will be released and millions of women are expected to flock to the theat er s.  I will not be one of those women.   As a leader of women , some have asked me about this movie. The following is my thoughtful response. Fifty Shades of Grey has topped best-seller lists around the world. The book series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide, and been translated into 52 languages. It set the record as the fastest-selling paperback of all time.   Is Fifty Shades of Grey just a harmless book or movie? Although n o one seems to be debating this fact, let’s first establish that it’s pornography.  And not just porn, but a genre that is even more dangerous for women. The book glorifies a female character that is controlled and abused by her partner.   Who is excited about this book and mov ie? Hmmmm….you might be surprised. Many women and girls in our churches have read it. Sadly, I am even aware of

Relevant Church doing something...

incredibly RELEVANT!

I just heard some news today that really inspired me. A church here in Tampa, Relevant Church is doing a new thing this month called the "30 Days Sex Challenge." (I've never visited the church but Pastor Trinity - our children's pastor - has visited or has met some people from this church and he was very impressed.) Realizing that this is a major element missing from some marriages (the frequency factor) their lead pastor, Paul Wirth, has issued a challenge for all the married couples to have sex for 30 days in a row. At the same time he has issued a challenge for all unmarrieds to completely abstain from sex. Of course we know the Bible says that those who are unmarried should not have sex in the first place but the point is, a lot of unmarried's aren't obeying the Lord's command to abstain and this is just one pastor's way of trying to get them to see that indeed, there is a better way! (God's way!) At the same time, many married couples are not