This HOLY week; my un-whole life...

Last night was the commemoration of the Passover at Cornerstone. It was a beautiful, moving, thought-provoking service, remembering that night some 2000 years ago when Jesus willingly took on the sins of the world. The whole service grabbed my heart, but my heart nearly stood still as three actors told "their stories", explaining how life would be "were it not for Him."

My heart and mind took a significant detour. Where would I be, were it not for Jesus?

That thought humbles me and brings me to my knees this Good Friday morning.

His sinless HOLY life exchanged for my sinful UNHOLY Life.

His wholeness laid down for my brokenness.

It is staggering, and life-changing.

"Jesus Messiah, Name above All names, Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel.
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from heaven...Jesus Messiah.
Lord of All...all our hope is in you,,,the Light of the World."

I put all my hope in this Rescue 40 years ago. Where would I be without Him? Thank God, I will never know.

BECOMING A GREAT LEADER

My son JL pointed out in his blog(THE LINCOLN LETTERS)that the BIBLE is a great handbook on leadership, as well as the subjects for which we commonly count on it. He picked a few of the areas where the Book gives great leadership principles. One of my favorites was the word on wise networking.

You may not think so, but the people you surround yourself with say all there is to know about yourself. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, “A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses." To be a successful leader, you have to surround yourself with like minded, solid people. Jesus was a perfect example of this. He had tons of people who wanted to be close to him, but he made sure that only a select few had access to influence him. Of the thousands that followed him, he had only 12 disciples, and from the he had 3 who were in his inner circle – James, Peter, and John. Jesus made sure he was surrounded by people who would be a benefit to him, not a drag on him.

I am so grateful for the wonderful people who influence my life. Any good I have done or impact I have made is due to the wise people who have surrounded my life. I have made it a life principle to have a "wisdom council" that remains steady throughout my life---it's a small group of people with great wisdom in life and ministry, have experienced the kind of success I want to experience, and know me VERY well...well enough to know when I am skating, skimming, or shying away from something I need to face. They are people with enough courage to tell me the truth, even when they know I won't like it. They are people who love ME and my future with Jesus MORE than they love our friendship, so they are willing to risk our relationship in order to tell me the helpful truth I need to know. I owe them everything.

Watch who you hang with. Your associations can help you or hang you. :-)