Friday, October 19, 2007

Don’t disagree with the 1st man in front of others

Occasionally the Jefe says something in front of all the students that at first I disagree with. There are some times in front of others he tells me what I am doing is wrong and what I need to do to fix it. There have been a couple of those times I didn't agree with them or when I was not wanting to be corrected, and I thundered my disapproval in front of everyone. After a short time I realized the terrible mistake of arguing with him in front of others.

As a 2nd man I have to show people my total loyalty to the Jefe at all times. When I step out of my place and argue with him in front of others I am not showing a lot of loyalty.

If you are going to be a 2nd man, the one thing you have to learn to do is keep you mouth shut. You don’t have to shut it forever, but you have to learn when to talk.
There isn’t anything I can’t talk to Jefe about. His door is open to me 24/7 for anything I need. If I disagree with him he has provided plenty of time for me to talk to him without doing it in front on others.

When I am in front of others I want them to know I am behind everything he says or does. We can argue behind closed doors but when the doors open I want them to know that I stand behind his decisions and ideas 100%.

I never want someone to think there is a possibility of me siding with them against the 1st man.

Make sure you have the same attitude or leave.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Figure out the areas you need to dedicate your time

Right now I am at one of my favor places in the world, Arequip, Peru. I had the opportunity to travel with Jefe and Ms. Betty and also John and Sandy Pearson for the Pastor’s Conference.

I like these times when we are able to get away and see how the Lord is working in the lives of our missionaries.

Trips like these are also good training times. Jefe has the opportunity to be around a few younger missionaries, and they are always asking him questions about how to do the ministry better.

I have worked with Jefe for around 12 years now so there isn’t much of his training I haven’t heard. But as I have the opportunity to hear him again teach on things I have heard before I am convicted by my lack of work to put some of his key ideas into action. I have really felt like a great waster of time this week seeing a lot of things we planned years ago never to be accomplished.

As a 2nd man you must keep on track with the important things. You can’t let time pass without carryout the priorities that have been set in the ministry.

Just to keep you up to date, starting now I will be making sure I help Jefe put together training material and books we have talked about producing. I am rearranging my schedule to make sure those things are taken care of.

We don’t have much time. Make sure you are using your time wisely.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Looking Past What They are Now

Jefe preached a great message last night about Mark, Barnabas’ nephew. You really need to get the cd. He went over how Mark, because of the excitement left with Paul and Barnabas to do great things for God but quickly fell away. Later on Barnabas wanted to restore Mark, but Paul didn’t want anything to do with it. Well in the long run we see that Mark did become useful and Paul was 100% behind him.

The lesson learned here is that we never need to give up on people.

I can remember when I just started turning my life over to the Lord there were a few critics. They didn’t have a lot of good things to say about me. Now, instead of trying to help me and bring me along, they only liked telling other people how I wasn’t a good candidate for the ministry. Instead of helping they just cast their ballots that I wouldn’t make it.

I am thankful that Jefe didn’t listen to them. I am thankful he saw past what I was and saw what I could become. Now some of those men or men like them look at me now and say, “Hey I wish I had a guy like that working for me.” But you know what, they never will because they are not willing to look past what someone is to what they can become. They only want the finished product. They will never have a band of men to follow after them because they were not willing to put their pharisee spirit aside to invest their life into someone.

If you’re looking to work with ready made Christians you really need to look for another profession. We need more men that will look past the insufficiencies of people and see what they can become. It is amazing what someone can become when they know they have someone that believes in them.

Jefe has a lot of guys that look to him for guidance and council because he at one time believed in them when no one else would. There are missionaries all over the world working now that others didn’t have a lot of confidence in.

We have students in our training center now that no one else believes in, but they came to the right man for second chances.

Might we have more 1st men that have the courage to invest time into people that love God and have a desire to become more than what they are now.