John Maxwell has written a new book called The Five Levels of Leadership.   This book is simple  yet profound. Every who attempts to lead has experienced at least the first level.  With many years of wisdom and a humility Maxwell offers his readers some insight that is crucial for moving an organization forward.   To the right is the diagram that is the foundation of the book.

We have purchased this book for our new missionaries to read this summer.   Our prayer is that God will use these teachings to move us to the next level of leadership.

One book that I have just read and am sharing with others in our association is How To Develop a Powerful Prayer Life by Greg Frizzell.  This book has been very helpful to me over the past month.  Frizzell is a former pastor in Memphis and currently works for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention.

This past Saturday we handed this book at our association’s quarterly meeting.  I believe there are some very important principles in this book that can really help us with our walk with the Lord.   One area that I would like to share with you is confession.

There are  major areas of sin we can confess:  thoughts, attitude, speech, relationships, sins of commission and sins of omission.  The author recommends that we confess specific sin so we can experience cleansing in our lives.  I have begun this practice over the last month and I can share with you that God is at work in me in new ways.

If you would like to find out more about this book or others by Greg Frizzell, you can find out more by going to http://www.masterdesign.org.

What do we need?  Apparently, we need a lot of stuff by watching all the people get up in the middle of the night or camp out for days at a time.   Deals to be had for Christmas gifts and things for themselves at bargain prices seem to be the motivation.  

Millions of us watch what seems to be extraordinary behavior.  How do people wait in these lines with patience at 5:00 a.m.?   What motivates people?    It is obvious the retail industry has it figured out.

I believe there are some valuable lessons to be learned about Black Friday.    What can we do to be motivated toward pursuing Christ in such a manner?   How can we stir the hearts of others to be motivated to go through so many different obstacles?

I don’t know all the answers but I believe we do have some important lessons to learn from merchants all across America.

This morning I just finished watching a documentary on Netflix of Martin Luther.  Luther’s passion for God and for the truth to be told to the world changed the course of human history.  Many followers of Christ have been inspired to new heights by studying Luther through the years.

I realize that many of us will never take time to sit down and read a book on Luther.  However, I can recommend that you watch Netflix and you can take it all in at a very low cost.  You can find this documentary and many others on a sample subscription at http://www.netflix.com.  

My prayer is God fills you with passion today to change the world around you.

As time has gone along for the past five years my other blog has become an update for news for the Central Baptist Association. My intention with this web site is to give some tools, truths, and ways to help us grow as followers of Christ and leaders. My prayer is that this web site will be God honoring and very practically helpful in your every day lives.