I am preparing for my trip to Nashville next week, where I will be gathering with 3 dozen Christian coaches, mentors and disciple makers who will have the great privilege of being poured into by a couple of significant fathers of the faith. I am referring to Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God) and Winkie Pratney whose impact on youth worldwide for decades has been staggering.
Dave Buehring, a long time friend and significant leader in the body of Christ (www.lionshare.org) has arranged this “by invitation only” meeting to get a sense of what God is doing in the different spheres of family, business, arts, etc. I am looking forward to sharing with you what transpires and how that may positively affect all of us. I wanted to introduce you to him so I asked him to write a couple of blogs for me.
Here is the first one… As a devoted follower of Jesus, there are certain suppositions I make about fellow-followers of Jesus. One of those is that if they are a godly man or woman – regardless of what sphere of society God has appointed them to serve within – they will live, relate to others and lead out of the ways of God.
However, I am having to come to grips with the reality that most people still separate the ‘sacred’ from the ‘secular’ as if each arena has different truths and rules to play by. In other words, when we are in an environment where we need to ‘be Christian’ we are, but when we are on ‘marketplace turf’ we often don’t reference the ways of God as revealed in Scripture.
Do you find that to be true as well? Pastor Jack Hayford recently provided me and some of my friends with some great insight on this when he said, “One of my earliest conceptions in probably the first ten years of my ministry was so locked into the separation of the sacred and the secular being two different arenas. Never in the mind of God. The division in the mind of God is not between the sacred arena and a secular arena. But the division is between the light and the dark and there’s a darkened world in the secular and in the sacred. There’s darkness across the face of the earth. And the Lord wants to seed it all with the sons and daughters of light.”
So, it’s really not about secular and sacred, but about light and darkness! Today I’d like to encourage you to join me – wherever God has uniquely set you to serve – in partnering with God to ‘sow seeds of light’ in the way you live, lead and relate to those around you.
David Buehring is a devoted follower of Jesus who serves as the Founder and Team Leader of the Lionshare Leadership Group. Over the last three decades he has served as a pastor, spearheaded local, national and international organizations and projects, and has used his communication gifts to disciple and equip thousands of people in hundreds of settings. Dave is committed to guiding ministry and marketplace leaders in the ways of God and is actively involved in developing relationships and resources for Kingdom purposes.
He is the visionary behind the DVD series Conversations with Fathers of the Faith, and the author of A Discipleship Journey. Dave and his wife, Cheryl, reside in the beautiful hills of Franklin, Tennessee where they enjoy their family and friends.
Jack Hayford was one of six “fathers of the faith” that gathered at Billy Graham’s retreat, “The Cove” for an intimate time of revealing interviews into the heart of leadership as seen by each of these men. I can’t recommend the series highly enough. The impact on churches across the nation is already being felt so I am urging you to check it out and order it for yourself or your church. We don’t make a penny on this. I just want to get this into as many hands as possible. If you choose the Leadership Kit, you can save 15% by using this Coupon Code FOF135. The website is www.FathersoftheFaith.com