What's Your Hope Built On?

Proverbs 30:5-6 (NLV) Every word of God has been proven true. He is a safe-covering to those who trust in Him. Do not add to His words, or He will speak strong words to you and prove you to be a liar.

• (DARBY) "Every word of God is pure..."


• Psalm 12:6 (NIV) And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times


• Psalm 119:140 (NIV) Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.


• Romans 15:4 (MSG) Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.


• 1 Peter 3:15 (NLT) Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. Be gentle as you speak and show respect.

Biblical hope is not based on some outlandish wish or desire for something that has no basis in reality. Recently, in our nation, there is a group "hoping" that the course of nature will "somehow" be overturned so that a person might continue to live. Others are hoping that this path (living without food or water) will take it course and she will die. This is not the kind of hope spoken of in these verses.

We hope in the reality of the Word of God. That it is true. Protected by Him. Pure in its original autographs. Its promises fulfilled.

We hope in what we know can be, has been, and will be. What God has said is "pure" - i.e. full of integrity - whole and complete and proven true. Something that is pure needs nothing added to it: in fact, whatever is added renders it to be no long pure.

Because His Word can be relied upon, I can have hope and expectation that He will come again. Those Jews, who trusted the Word, recognized the Messiah as the fulfiller of their Hope. And He, today, fulfills our hope. We can have faith in what is unseen because what has been proves that His word always yields what was predicted. It is truth, even if it is yet not seen. Many today, however, want to shape His Word and Him according to their image and hopes. They want a God to fulfill their needs, not His glory. If we are going to offer authentic hope to a dying world, it must be based upon God who does not change - who is love, justice and righteousness. Hope that because His Son who suffered for us, He understands our pain. Like Him, we can be alive with hope that is being purified in the furnace of life.

Ahhh...there's the rub. Our culture demands "tolerance" for behaviors that God called sin,. Tolerance for life-styles that do not please Him. Tolerance for visual stimulation in music videos and movies that only appeal to our prurient natures. Tolerance to accept many ways to God when our hope is in one-way, one truth and one life. To be really Christ-like in this environment takes both faith and hope.


Our hope is not only in His return again, but also in His promise that in our daily living, He is our shield - our protector. He is our hope for a reason: we must not only live in hope - our life must also reflect that hope within us.

Our hope has meaning. So should our lives. Does your life offer hope?

"Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure." I John 3:3


Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell

Being Thankful for Who, not what.

• Proverbs 24:17-18  (NASB) Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.

There is in business an interesting metaphor about competition. One of the prevailing views vibrates with military images - the competition is somehow the enemy. Jim Collins discovered that Nike's values at one time included "crushing" the enemy - the competition. Sure does not line up with Biblical principles. Some have even asked if a committed Believer can be a good marketing person. There is this paradigm that all business people are about winning no matter what or who is crushed in the process. Might be true for some but it certainly is not true for all.

Marketing is not about crushing the competition:  it is about differentiation:  about distinguishing your offering and its compelling benefits to the user. No crushing needed. Targeted messages produce positive results. Good business is what's called for.

This verse has it genesis in Exodus 22:21 "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him." I don't know about you, but for me that is rather jarring and hard to fathom. Solomon also directed in Pr 25: 21 and the Apostle Paul reiterated: "If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals on their heads, and the LORD will reward you."  

Now the Apostle had enemies. The early Christians misunderstood him after his conversion (after all, he was about the killing of followers of Christ!). The Jewish leadership lied about him; he shook up the ruling classes.

Unlike me, and probably you, enemies surrounded him and he spent much of his ministry in prison, leading his jailors to the Lord, writing praise letters (Philippians) and generally being content in his captivity. How could he do this? He practiced Jesus' teaching in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:44) "But I tell you:  Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Paul got it. We are called to be different.

It was Paul who told us when to rejoice: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" This attitude about rejoicing did not begin with Paul. Hab 3:17-18 (MSG) Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen, though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, though the sheep pens are sheep-less and the cattle barns empty, I'm singing joyful praise to GOD. I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God". That verse sets a standard. It's not about rejoicing in circumstances: it is always about God - he alone is worthy of our trust.

It was Job that observed that the "mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment." (Job 20:5) Our joy comes not from what happens, but our relationship with the Lord. Our joy comes from doing business to build the Kingdom and to please God - especially in how we treat the competition. The ethical issues, which grow from hearts that treat competitors as war-like enemies, would dissolve. This is the story of Thanksgiving.

A Christian business leader handles ill-gotten competitive information differently. We are not to rejoice in the receipt of information we should not possess (see Ex 22), but rejoice in the Lord who rewards the faithful and return what is not ours.

Are you solely rejoicing in Him? No matter the circumstances? Be thankful for Him.

Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell     

This Little Light of Mine

• Proverbs 21:4 NLV Eyes lifted high and a proud heart is sin and is the lamp of the sinful.      

The lamp theme that we explored in Proverbs 20:27 is contrasted here in today's verse. It's the natural inverse of the Heavenly lamps that sheds light on our conscience: this lamp is the lack of humility and darkness of pride that is only focused on preening pride.

In John Kotter's 1990 article What Leaders Really Do he observed that:  "Well-led businesses tend to recognize and reward people who successfully develop leaders." I would posit that developing leaders is not the result of "proud hearts" and "haughty eyes" (the NIV rendering of the first phrase). Developing and nurturing others to lead takes, at least, an attitude that they can have something to offer, too.

The burning question is, "Why would anyone want to be led by you?" That question and "What business are you really in? have fueled the longest, deepest and hardest discussions in my consulting career.

In fact, I discovered that Goffee and Jones had asked this very question in a ten-year study and the results published in the Sept-Oct 2000 HBR,
“Why Should Anyone Be Lead by You?” They discovered four "unexpected" traits of "inspirational" leaders and the first is that these kinds of leaders "reveal their weaknesses." Proud people would shun away from that kind of leading. Their only "light" for their path is themselves. No one else can do it better, think in through better or explain it better. It is all about them. As Coffee and Jones point out, people who try to communicate that "there will be no need for anyone to help them with anything.... signal that they can do it themselves." That is not leading: preening, maybe. Leading no! Vision is needed. Sense of command is important. Passion. Strategic thinking vital. But as important as these traits are to leaders, they will fail to lead if they try to from a position of pride.

No matter where we are and no matter what we do, we lead. As parents, as team members, as friends, each offers an opportunity to lead. Leading -or just plain living - can best be accomplished with a light that clearly illuminates the path. Those who choose self are limited in their light. Those who chose God, as revealed in Christ, have the "light of the world." A light that shines so brightly that man, in his natural state cannot look at it. This light attracts. This light divides. This light, when shining through us, illuminates all you fall under its beams.

What is your light source?


Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell     

To Plan or to Pray?

• Proverbs 16:9,25,33 (NLT) We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. [25] There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. [33] We may throw the dice, but the LORD determines how they fall.

• Psalm 37:23 (NIV) If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm...


• Jer. 10:23(NIV) I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps

Planning is important. Sometimes, even after all the careful plans, one "throws the dice" to determine a decision since one course of action cannot be weighed effectively against another--the correct one cannot be determined. Mintzberg & Quinn have observed that the planning process plays a key role in strategy formation and a well-structured process will provide a framework for change management. Good planning is vital to an organization's health and growth.

One quote from their work strikes me as important in the context of the verses above:  "Strategy deals with the unknowable, not the uncertain." Business leaders work hard at looking at patterns, factors, trends, research, known and unknown needs - elements, among others that go into plans; but they do not know the future. God does. When success comes from great strategy formulation AND implementation, man often takes the credit - robbing God of his Holiness.

Self-propelled plans produce death. If it is about me or us (as a firm) and not about God, it is worth nothing. Eternity matters, now. Even with planning, nothing happens anywhere without God's involvement - either as a sovereign directed authority of sovereign permission, His sovereignty is so majestic that we don't understand how our freedom, even to commit sin, can be used by Him for His glory. Although He does not author sin, His purposes are so powerful that He allows man's rebellion to achieve His eternal paradigm.

The Christian business leader should use good planning and management techniques to control the business: but s/he does this with the absolute certainty that the LORD determines the outcome. Because God does that, this in no way excuses people from planning, thinking, strategizing. In fact, His Word has much to say about that strength of counselors when formulating plans. The formula is this:  Plan. Pray. Practice Perform. Pray. Ponder (what is God saying is this performance about Himself and about my role in His kingdom?) Pray. Perform. There is a constant here: our Creator cares and His care calms our concerns when we practice prayer.

It is Jeremiah's assertion that strikes me as a life-changing realization. His life was by no means, from the Worlds' point of view, enviable. But he understood what God called him to do - and he did it, sometimes kicking and screaming, but always with the resolute understanding that God is sovereign and loving and caring and Holy.

Believers rest in the promise in Psalm 37 - we must first think about what we do as "Lord-delighting-plans" - and then marshal our people to plan - developing the discipline for our managers to look ahead and to be intentional about communicating goal progress, resource allocation and the impact of short-term plans on the vision and mission (the strategy) of the organization, remembering that strategy begins in the heart.

Planning is good. Praying is essential.


Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell     

The Heart and the Tongue

The Heart and the Tongue.

• Proverbs 15:23 (NLT) Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!

• Proverbs 12:14a (NIV) A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words…

• Proverbs 24:14 (NIV) A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

• See also Proverbs 16:21,23-24

The tongue is a dangerous muscle. Powerful. Words DO hurt. Godly leaders are called to offer a distinction to the world by their words. Words that encourage and do not destroy. Insightful words. Communication that motivates and inspires followers. Words that correct without demeaning the hearer. Words appropriate to the occasion.

Saying the right thing at the right time is scripted in movies, but it is not in real life. The witting rejoinder, the pithy comment, the quick insight seem to travel so swiftly off the tongue of actors, that viewers are sometimes wishing they could be that quick. It is not real, for the Evil One even counterfeits God's way of appropriate speech - of attractive communication. Sure, non-Believers can, at times, exhibit gracious speech: but the truth emerges when life gets ugly.

How does a fitting reply, words aptly spoken become part and parcel of a Believers speech? I'm not thinking here of the witty rejoinder that flows out of a personality type. I'm thinking here about words that bear fruit. Good fruit. Both Nehemiah and Joshua are examples of "apt" speech in trying situations. Nehemiah before the king; Joshua before the people he is now leading.

In both stories, prayer preceded their proclamations. And interestingly enough, both were "afraid." But it was their relationship with God that made the difference. They communicated to Him first and then they were better able to communicate to the king (Nehemiah) and the people (Joshua). Nehemiah's words to those at Jerusalem were filled with the leader's language of intrinsic motivation. He chooses words that touched the heart that rang of truth and that were painted with the brush of authenticity. Extrinsic motivation (most generally the If...Then approach) does produce results but it is prone to pandering to the flesh. The Evil One used this approach with Eve.

Christian leaders must be different in this area of speaking to others - so different that the world would notice. Christian employees and employers must bring their heart to the workplace - a heart that is cleansed by the Holy Spirit:  a heart given over to God. The result will be "apt words" for the fruit of the Spirit would be borne in our speech.

In Ecclesiastes 10:12 Solomon observed, "Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips." Graduate school can well prepare the mind for leadership:  it is only God who can prepare the heart. We are warned that out of the mouth comes what the heart intends. Leadership is a heart thing. It begins there. It lives there.

Christian business people, who make a difference in the marketplace, have dealt with the issues of the heart. Have you?


Copyright (c) 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell     

Welcome! 

Your Life: A lesson.

• Proverbs 13: 14 (MSG) The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, so, no more drinking from death-tainted wells!
• Proverbs 14:27 (NIV) The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

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Teaching. Law. Instruction. Doctrine. Rules. All those words are captured in the phrase “the teaching of the wise.” Great for religious studies. Sunday School or maybe even a Bible Study. But for running a business? For leading a team? For managing a company? The answer depends on an understanding of the real end game.

If you believe that what you believe and do while you are on earth has value after your journey here is over, then the answers to those questions would be resounding YES!

This metaphor “fountain of life” is used at least six times in Scripture and its companion phrase “living water” which is used almost a dozen times. Something important is being said here. Part of the meaning is that as water is important for just simply living, so the counsel of the wise, the fear of the Lord is vital for living a meaningful life.

Do I see learning from the foolish as a “death-tainted well?” Frankly, I never thought of it that way. Of course, there is much that can be learned from those classified as “fools” in Scripture: I would dare say the vast majority of teachers in college and graduate school fit this classification.

As I pondered this verse, I was driving to ask: How much has my thinking been influenced by their belief system? By their world-view? By their system of morality. I’m thinking more than I would like to admit. The press of building a business too often interfered with building a life that really matters..

I see the modern evangelical church conforming to the culture of this age and if the church can, I certainly can. I have said in other places that I am intrigued with the idea that Seminaries should provide a business track and teach MBA students. I know that when I teach at the college level, I am using the text as a base point, but constantly adding a Biblical perspective – after all, much of what “works” rings with universal truth – truth that came from our Creator.

I have come to understand that a setting where Godly business people can “teach” each other and where the Word is used as the source book is a way to drink from that fountain. Those who have disciplined themselves to the process are a “fountain of life” to their employees, suppliers and customers.

Think of it: people looking to you for more than just a business solution. They want a life solution. Now that is a mission field.
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Copyright © 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell

The Discipline of Learning

Proverbs 12: 1 (MSG) If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it--how shortsighted to refuse correction!

• 
  (AMP) Whoever loves instruction and correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is like a brute beast, stupid and indiscriminating.
• 
  Eccl 7:5 (NIV) It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
• 
  Matthew 7:26-27 (MSG) [Jesus speaking] But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.
• 
  John 7:7 (MSG) The world has nothing against you, but it's up in arms against me. It's against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions.
• 
  Heb 12:5 (NIV) And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you…”

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Humans are not perfect! We often require correction. But we don’t like it; so much so, we often take offence and even go so far as to “do it our way” despite advice to the contrary. And in the workplace, if the correction comes from a peer or from a subordinate, some people really respond inappropriately!

At home, as young people, most of us have grown to expect correction – even discipline. This has been part of the parenting paradigm since the first family.

It is in the workplace where we must learn to always be open to learning. We have to rely on those around us (all around – above, beside and below) to be effective and productive and achieve expected results. Positive collaboration produces those results. The problem is that many workplace cultures are more directed to catching people in a mistake instead of catching them being good. The cultural energy flows to the mistake or bad behavior – trying to fix problems, instead of understanding the issues surrounding the genesis for the mistake and redirecting the behavior toward a positive result.

Years ago, when I was a teacher, I used the

paradigm of “Catching U Being Good,” rewarding even the smallest increases in positive behavior. In my consulting work, I suggested the same principle to help clients change employee behavior and set an example of positive reinforcement. Ken Blanchard has taken that a step further in his book Whale Done, which I heartily a recommend.

A wise person’s rebuke is centered on reinforcing what is done well and redirecting what has caused the mistake or bad behavior. If this approach had been the dominant paradigm in parenting, we all would love to learn. The scripture is very clear about our attitude in learning. It must be an attitude based on humility. God rewards positive behavior and disciplines with love our pride and willful refusal to do it His way.

I’m learning as I daily write that there is much to be corrected in me. It’s often pretty clear and it is amazing how easily I rationalize my thinking or behavior.

There are times when I resist humbling myself. I don’t want the discipline – just the reward. Can you relate?

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Copyright © 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell

Wisdom and riches

Wealth is not the goal of being a wise person, but it is often a consequence. And it is this kind of wealth that one should aspire to.

Today’s verse is quite a promise when you think about it: riches with no sorrow. Wealth without anxiety. No disquieting spirit, worrying about who might take it away; or how you might loose it; or the tax burden because of it; or the misunderstandings about you because you have it.

When God blesses, it is a blessing from Heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt; where thieves cannot break-in and steal.

Blessings of God release us to give it back to Him allowing Him to use us as His straw through which His living water may flow. But you might say, wait a minute; verse 4 in this same chapter tells us “…the hand of the diligent makes rich…” it’s hard work that will make us rich! It could seem that diligence rather than laziness has a consequence and Proverbs certainly has repeated references to diligence yielding riches. But maybe there is another view.

If we make ourselves slaves to this world – slaving away at work for riches – we have missed the point; we are slaves of Jesus. Not a servant hired to work so many hours. Slaves. Owned by Him. Always working for Him. It is about Him. We rely on Him for food, clothing, and shelter. Slaves.

But here is the paradox: we can be rich and be slaves. And with no sorrow.

Blessings from the Lord do not come with continuing lust or passion for more riches. Free from the incentive for yet more and more. Blessings from the Lord are freeing, not enslaving. But we can only arrive there when we become slaves of the Lord – or as Paul said, “bondservants of Jesus Christ.” So, just whom does the Lord bless? Those who are diligent to know Him and His kingdom. Diligent to be like Him. Diligent to bless others as He did. Diligent to obey Him. Without a scent of self-centeredness; without a hint of disputing His law; obeying wholeheartedly. I think of it this way: Heaven is the ultimate blessing of the Lord. In Heaven, there is no sorrow. Sorrow here is an attitude: there it is a state of being. The promise here is that in this life if we would only just realize that “in Him we move and have our being…” that in that state of living it is the Lord, and only the Lord, who will bring a person wealth without sorrow. Wealth that frees us.

Christian business leadership should be focused on who we are, not what we are. Leadership that keeps the focus on Him – “seek you FIRST the kingdom of God.” That’s true leadership. Let the Lord determine who will receive the blessings of riches that have no sorrow. Let us determine to be faithful followers, leaving the results to Him.

Copyright © 2005 by P. Griffith Lindell