Authentic Voice » Messiah

Scared?

Ed Doerner — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:46:46 +0000

During these economic downturns it’s easy to be afraid. I heard yesterday that this is by far the worst economic situation our generation has ever faced and there are a lot of people scared. People are scared that they will lose their jobs, lose their homes, lose their cars or lose their lifestyle. Some of you have already lost your job and you are downright frightened. What does it mean? Why did it have to be you? You may be wondering why God allowed this to happen, or why didn’t He intervene and spare your job. You may be a single mom and wondering how God could do this to you. Now what?

I hear people angry about the exorbitant salaries or bonuses that top executives are receiving at the cost of many jobs. I hear people upset about what is happening on Wall street, the government bailout and the excessive expenditures of companies while hard working people lose their jobs. What does it all mean?

As I try to make sense of it all, I know this to be true…God is still in control and He still loves us. Why He allows people to be hurt and lose their jobs or homes I can’t answer. I don’t see God playing favorites about who keeps their job and who doesn’t. What I do know is that God has not abandoned us. He is still here, He still cares and He still loves us. I pray that in these trying times that you will turn to Him and not away from Him. I pray that you will reach out to Him and not reject Him. He is our only hope in times like these. You may be scared and even angry about your situation. Always remember, God loves you, no matter what.

Dare to Dream

Ed Doerner — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:36:23 +0000

What do you dream about? I don’t mean your goals or aspirations, I mean your dreams. The kind of dreams that say “one day…….” These are the dreams that keep you up during the middle of the night thinking about. These are the dreams that you can’t seem to get out of your mind.

The inauguration of President Obama was the most extraordinary fulfillment of a dream for millions in America. Who can forget on August 28, 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream….” And then with tears in our eyes we watched as President Obama took his oath to be the 44^th President of the United States.

The last time we saw such an extraordinary dream fulfilled was when we heard President Kennedy say on May 25, 1961 that before the decade ended we would land a man on the moon and return him safely to the earth. Then on July 21, 1969 we saw Neil Armstrong take the first step on the moon. What amazes me is that both of these men inspired our nation to dream and both lives were tragically cut short and never saw their dreams fulfilled. Their dreams became our dreams and we were privileged to see them happen. There is nothing more fulfilling in life than to see dreams fulfilled.

What do you dream about, friend? I believe that God puts dreams into each of our hearts that are in line with His dreams. God has revealed to us a number of His dreams in the Bible. He dreams that one day everyone will know Him and believe in Him. Jesus gave up His life so that every person in the world could have a relationship with God and He longs for the day when it is fulfilled. I believe God dreams about the day when we will love each other with the same love that He has for us. I can only imagine how God’s heart breaks with the way that we treat each other.

When asked, Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength.” And the second is like it, that we “Love our neighbor as ourselves.”

The challenge with dreams is that they take years to be fulfilled and we lose focus. Many times people get discouraged, don’t work towards them or think they will never happen so they abandon them. I wonder how many dreams have died.

So what do you dream about? What are you doing to fulfill those dreams? What does God want you to do to fulfill the dreams that He gave you?

Do you really want to grow?

Ed Doerner — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:00:41 +0000

How many of us really want to grow? It’s easy to say that we want to grow, but few people are willing to do what it takes to grow or welcome growth opportunities. It’s so much easier to keep things the same and to settle in to the “comfortable,” but then our growth stops. At the same time, constant growth comes with a price also. There are times when our environment and circumstances change constantly and without a time of rest the affects can be more harmful than good. During these times of constant growth the stress can take a toll on our attitude, our relationships, our faith and our body. Without a time of rest, Instead of growing, we become weaker.

If you have ever lifted weights, you may understand how growth occurs. If we lift with fewer weights and more repetition, we tone up our muscles and build up our endurance. If we want to grow, we need someone to help push us beyond our limits and lift more than we are capable of lifting. However, this is not when growth occurs. Growth occurs when the muscles are allowed to rest. During the weightlifting we are stretched, during the resting we grow.

The same is true with professional growth. When we are pushed beyond our limits; when people push us out of our comfort zone; when we have to do things we have not done before; when we have to work harder or faster to produce results than our comfort zone allows; when we are asked to do things that we know we cannot do by ourselves, then we are stretched. Without being pushed beyond our limits, we are only maintaining. Then growth occurs during the time of rest. We need to be stretched beyond our limits then rest; stretched, and then rest. Are you allowing others to push you beyond your limits? Are you taking the time to rest? Jesus said, “come to me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” May God bless you in your growth.

Growing together,

Facing the Future

Ed Doerner — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:54:33 +0000

One of the hardest parts of leading is anticipating the future. Making sure that the organization you lead is aligned to meet the changing needs of the culture is a great challenge. If only we could foresee the future it would be so much easier. As a leader, we have to read the signs and anticipate what is to come. Then the challenge is helping others see what is on the horizon, even though most people are not capable of doing this. The majority of people see what is, not what is going to be. In many cases, aligning the organization to anticipate what is to come and then retooling the leadership to buy into the futuristic picture of what is to come so that they begin to make changes accordingly results in people getting frustrated and turning against the leader.

We live in a time that we have not experienced been before. We live in a culture that seems to be changing constantly. All you have to do is go into an electronics store and see all of the new technology. I watch some people throw up their hands and don’t try to embrace any of it unless there is a good motivation to do so, like grandparents who are using the technology to stay in contact with their grandchildren. I see others make an attempt to use the new technology in a limited manner and get frustrated at what they don’t know or understand and generally have a negative attitude about it. I see others who use it quite well. And then I see others who love it, embrace it and make full use of it. I see the same thing in organizations. Some people throw their hands up and reject change. I see others try to understand it and then have a negative attitude. In both of these instances, it usually results in a rejection of the leader. I see others accept change and I see others who love it and embrace it.

So what happens in an organization that is trying to align itself for the future, while at the same time is trying to help those who are either rejecting or struggling to change? Some people embrace the change immediately while others soon after they understand it. Some people need extra time to accept change and then there are others who no matter what is done, they will never accept change. Because there are so many cultural and technological changes occurring rapidly, leading an organization feels like a rubber band that is being stretched. Some within the rubber band what to keep things the way they were, while others are out in front leading the change according to what they see on the horizon. If you are leading an organization you are probably feeling stretched like never before. The challenge for leaders is to move the organization without breaking the rubber band.

Until all have heard,
Ed Doerner