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 i...
That’s sad and at the same time it’s a relatively
small number compared to the 37 million people who had Ashley Madison accounts. Still, even
one church leader is too many.
"Life
is short. Have an affair." It's the slogan of Ashley Madison, the site that reportedly has more than 124 million visits per month, and is ranked number 18 among adult sites on the web. Their 37 million
users had an expectation of privacy, but this hack is just one more
example of the fact that nothing is
absolutely airtight.
The church has yet to realize how damaging secrets are. We need to deal with sin, and we also need to address the issue of secrets. There are those who believe they can actually get away with sinful behavior. And then there are others who believe secrets are warranted at times.
Unfortunately I run into a lot of the latter, even among Christians.
What purpose do secrets serve at all? No good one.
The church has yet to realize how damaging secrets are. We need to deal with sin, and we also need to address the issue of secrets. There are those who believe they can actually get away with sinful behavior. And then there are others who believe secrets are warranted at times.
Unfortunately I run into a lot of the latter, even among Christians.
What purpose do secrets serve at all? No good one.
One of the best pieces of wisdom I ever received was from a Christian counselor who said that family secrets are among the most damaging things ever. "Avoid them at all cost," he said. I'm sensitive to secrets for many reasons, two of the
biggest being that both of my families, [natural and adoptive] were destroyed by
secrets. Yes, there were other issues, but secrets were a big part of it -- and unfortunately, continue to be.
One of my personal core values is to live without secrets. No matter what comes up, I want to be transparent about it. Admittedly this personal core value makes me stop and think very hard before I do things. With my wins and losses, successes and failures, good choices or sinful ones -- I'm determined to own up to it and live transparently. And I've noticed that people who also live transparently don't mind a bit that I do. [Side note: When someone gets angry that you choose to live transparently, that should be an alarm bell. Just saying.]
One of my personal core values is to live without secrets. No matter what comes up, I want to be transparent about it. Admittedly this personal core value makes me stop and think very hard before I do things. With my wins and losses, successes and failures, good choices or sinful ones -- I'm determined to own up to it and live transparently. And I've noticed that people who also live transparently don't mind a bit that I do. [Side note: When someone gets angry that you choose to live transparently, that should be an alarm bell. Just saying.]
Secrets lose their power when brought to the light. A person once said to me, "But Deanna, we all have skeletons in our closet." No. No we don't. Some people do. Okay, many people do. But there are those who choose to live transparently. It's a wise choice. It's said, "You're only as sick as your secrets." The Bible says those who conceal or cover their sins do not prosper. I’m a
firm believer in a skeleton-free closet. We need all the
room we can get for shoes and purses.
The Bible says that everything hidden will be brought to light eventually. Why not be honest about it now, before it is exposed?
It’s all going to be shouted from the rooftops eventually. That’s what God says. It WILL come out. If you live a transparent life you don’t have to worry about anything
coming to light or being shouted from a rooftop.
If it's not something you want everybody finding out, don’t do it. And if you did it –come clean about it – sooner rather than later.
If it's not something you want everybody finding out, don’t do it. And if you did it –come clean about it – sooner rather than later.
There’s so much to be said for living in the light, openly and real.
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