Ron Harris

I got to thinking about my heritage the other day. Like we often do, my brother and sister and our spouses gathered together for fellowship, food, and fun stories of our past…our heritage. We call ourselves the Super Six, mostly because of that heritage. Part of the evidence is faithfulness in marriage. We pointed out to our waiter where we dined together recently that among our three couples are 164 years of faithful marriage to our original spouses. Most are amazed. There aren’t too many examples like that. That was part of what we learned from our parents and grandparents. Our folks and ancestors before them left quite a legacy of faith and faithfulness. Not perfect…but seeking to please God.

What is a heritage? One group explained it this way:

Heritage is a person’s unique, inherited sense of family identity: the values, traditions, culture, and artifacts handed down by previous generations.

We are a product of those who have come before us. I see that in our family. My parents were both musical. And we kids were given lots of opportunity to develop in that area of life. Mom and Dad both loved the Lord and were faithful to serve Him through the church. All three of us have been active in church and ministry in various ways. It’s part of our heritage.

Dr. Henry Blackaby says a godly heritage is a gift from the Lord.

As Christians, we ought never to overlook our heritage. An awareness of our Christian heritage helps us to understand our identity, and it gives us a sense of where God is leading us.

It doesn’t take much reading of the Bible to see that not every saint in God’s service had a sterling heritage. I’m sure that if I dug back into our ancestors, I would find some bad folks. But somewhere along the way there was a change. Someone made the decision to follow the Lord’s ways and not simply repeat the lifestyles or values of their parents. Someone changed the heritage of those who would follow after them by going God’s way and not man’s.

Blackaby talked about the value of that heritage…and the purpose the Lord has for us because of His gift.

Do you see the full picture of God’s redemptive work? God’s plan involves you, just as it has included each Christian throughout the centuries. God wants you to participate in His continuing work to redeem a lost world. Your obedience today will provide a legacy of faithfulness to the generations that follow.

God’s Word talks of the importance of recognizing our foundation in life. Isaiah passed that godly wisdom on to the people of his generation.

Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—

all who seek the Lord!

Consider the rock from which you were cut,

the quarry from which you were mined.

Isaiah 51:1 NLT

So… what if you don’t have a godly heritage? What if those who came before you in your family did not live lives pleasing to the Lord? You can be the one who changes that for all who follow…your children, and others who see your life. You can redeem the past and present a God-honoring heritage for those who follow you.

I’m reminded of the words to that song by Steve Green.

“Let all who come behind us find us faithful.”

God’s best…

I shouldn’t be surprised…but I always am. I’m reading a familiar verse in Scripture and… boom…the Holy Spirit hits me with something I hadn’t seen before. We often talk about the Bible being a living, breathing message from the Lord to us. So, you see, we shouldn’t be so surprised.

A couple of Sundays ago I was reading Acts 3 and the very familiar story of Peter and John healing the lame man on the way to the temple. The man had been at the entrance each day for probably 40 years. He was begging for a little money to help him in his pitiful life. No doubt he looked at Peter and John expectantly. Peter knew exactly what he wanted…but also knew what the man really needed.

Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” And grasping him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.

Acts 3:6-7 NASB

Here is where I had a bit of an epiphany. Peter didn’t just say, “Get up and walk,” and then go on his way. Peter reached out, grabbed the man’s hand, and raised him up. And in reading the passage more closely, it was after Peter lifted the man up that the healing miracle happened.

So… what does this have to do with you and me, with media and leadership? I believe that God wants us to expect great things that will serve His purpose and give Him glory. But the Lord wants us to not just speak truth…but to act on that truth. Peter was involved. He was committed. It was not only the Lord’s reputation at stake, but it was also Peter’s reputation as well. What if the man was still lame? What if he got up, but his feet and ankles still wouldn’t work? How would that advance the cause of Christ? Peter was willing to put himself out on a limb for the Lord.

One more thing struck me. Peter and John were on their way to the temple. I’m guessing they had been that way many, many times before. And I’m certain they were focused on God’s mission for their life in those early days of the church. After all, things were just getting started. Thousands had been added to the kingdom in recent days. Those folks needed leadership. What’s one more day for this crippled man? Aren’t the thousands more important than the one?

Except…

Except this man cried out, and God’s Spirit spoke to Peter’s heart. This man. This one. This time. Right now.

Henry Blackaby says, “It’s easy to become so busy that you are oblivious to those in need. Your schedule can become so full of accomplishing good things that you are of no help to the people around you.”

I have to examine myself on that one. Ministry can be consuming. Most leaders are focused. And most Christian leaders are focused on building up the Lord’s ministries and the Lord’s work. Guess what? That may not be our most important assignment. The most important thing we can do for the Lord Jesus is to be obedient. Right then…when God speaks.

What if Peter had said, “Hang on, I’ll come back this way after I have ‘served the Lord?’” Wouldn’t that have been okay? Except. If we know what the Lord wants us to do…and we say “wait,” then we are not being obedient.

Again, Henry Blackaby: “Delayed obedience…is disobedience.” Ouch!

When God’s Spirit speaks to us, that is not an interruption. It is the Lord Jesus giving us orders. Orders to follow. Right then. Your cry to God is not an interruption for God. Don’t let His voice in your heart seem like an interruption to you.

God’s best…

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the job you are called to do? Ministry or not, it can sometimes be exhausting. We know the scripture about not getting tired…growing weary.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

Sometimes that just sounds like “gutting it out.” Staying with the job until it finally gets done, no matter how tired, exhausted, or overwhelmed you feel. I don’t think that is what God means.

Fred Smith, in his book Leading with Integrity shed some light on this. He tells the story of arriving at a three-day men’s retreat where he was to speak only to learn he was the only speaker. That was a much larger assignment than he had expected. After the retreat was over and Smith was flying home, he realized he wasn’t exhausted, even after a much more strenuous weekend than he had anticipated. He came to an interesting conclusion.

Fred Smith said that God’s presence permeated that retreat, and he realized that the Lord was the source of all he presented. His conclusion? God is the pump…I am only the pipe. Smith shared his revelation.

“The pipe never gets tired. When I attempt to be the pump as well as the pipe, that takes more than I have. When I try to substitute my power for God’s, I become powerless, dissatisfied, even frantic and defeated.”

Does that sound familiar? Most of us in leadership come to a place where we are depleted. We have given all we have to give, done all we know to do, and feel we come up short. Maybe we are trying to be the pump.

I often told our radio station staff that at our best, the radio ministry was just a big plastic pipe. You can buy pipe like that at a hardware store for very little money. There is not much value in the pipe…until you consider what that pipe delivers. Yet the pipe isn’t the pump. The pipe in our situation, is simply delivering to the recipients…listeners, viewers, or readers…God’s Truth and insight.

Peter and John were called before the religious leaders to answer to them. That would have been a time of great stress. But the accounts in Acts 4 indicate the religious leaders of the day were amazed at the confidence and boldness they showed. These two disciples had an explanation.

We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.

Acts 4:20 NLT

They were saying, “We are just pipes, not the pump. We are just sharing what the Lord has shown us and told us. Pipes…not the pump.”

We often get caught up in working for God…and not letting Him work through us. Working for God is in our own strength and wisdom. Letting God work through us gives us all the resources needed to accomplish what He would have us do.

If you think about it, God doesn’t need us to think up things for Him…and then ask Him to bless these human ideas. God has a plan. As Henry Blackaby has taught us, the greatest thing is to see where God is at work, and then join Him there. And when you are following His path and His plan, you are energized for all He wants to accomplish through you.

The key is to be sensitive to the Lord’s Holy Spirit. To work in the light of what the Spirit is showing us and to move in the way God is leading us. And the way to find that path…is to ask…and then listen to the Lord’s response.

God’s best…

When the pandemic hit in 2020 most of us though it would be over in weeks…at worst, a few months. The months stretched into a year and more…and the powerful disease continues to disrupt lives and plans, not to speak of the deaths and health issues swirling around us. It is tragic, and it seems to be never ending. If the pattern of new variants continues, we could be battling Covid for quite a while.

So, in ministry, what do we do? Many questions come up these days:

1. How do we continue to minister with the new (and often changing) restrictions?
2. How do we accomplish our mission and keep our staff and volunteers safe?
3. How do we manage in times of crisis that seem to change almost daily?

Leadership expert John Maxwell reminds us:

“The place to handle a crisis is not from behind a desk but in front of the people. A leader’s visible presence during times of crisis inspires confidence and gives others a sense of security.”

It’s easy to get trapped into sitting in our office strategizing how to utilize our resources best… when your best resources are your people…and they need a visible leader. Today’s employees value open, transparent leadership. Share your plan for guiding your organization through the crisis to help decrease anxiety and give your team a sense of direction. As one management leader said, “You may not know your strategy, but you can certainly talk about your values, priorities, and observations.”

Here are some ideas to help you:

• Communicate verbally with the team.
• Send out frequent written communications, with both information and inspiration included.
• Speak personally to as many staff members as you can, even if it is a brief conversation.
• Ask their opinion on a ministry direction or procedure.

Of course, be sure to continue to show appreciation to your staff and volunteers. When you work in challenging and changing situations, it’s easy to feel lost and under-appreciated. As a leader, you need to double-down on showing how much you appreciate the team and their work in these difficult days.

Everyone likes to be appreciated. And during times of crisis, this is especially true. The team members need the reinforcement that when things are anything but normal, they are still “hitting the marks” and accomplishing the job. The leader may think his staff understands how much they are appreciated. But according to one estimate, 85 percent of employees in the U.S. report being overworked and under-appreciated.

Eighty-five percent!

Through the years I have discovered that the part about feeling overworked is made worse when the team member feels under-appreciated. Show honest appreciation, and that team member…whether an employee or volunteer…will often gladly give you that 110 percent you are hoping to see.

In Paul’s letter to the Christ-followers in Thessalonica, he gave them similar instructions of appreciation as they serve with fellow believers.

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT

Yes, these are difficult days for all of us. Yet our mission goes on. Our need to share hope increases. And the only hope of lasting value is what we have to offer…Jesus. Again, God’s Word has instructions and encouragement for us.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Galatians 6:9 NLT

With the Lord’s encouragement and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can not only just get through a crisis…we can flourish.

God’s best…

As a kid, I remember great family vacations. Dad would always drive, Mom would be in the front seat with him, and we three kids filled up the back seat of the old 1949 Chevy sedan. And yes…there were those times my mom would have to say, “Don’t make me come back there!” Or my dad would sternly say over his shoulder while zipping down the two-lane road, “Do you want me to pull this car over to the side of the road?” We never answered “yes.”

On occasion, my dad would say, “If you see a root beer stand, I’ll stop.” The prospect of getting a frosty soft drink was a delight to our ears. However, I remember thinking, “I haven’t seen a root beer stand for days. We’ll never stop.”

Guess what? It wasn’t long before we would enter a small town and one of the three of us kids would yell, “Look, Dad. A root beer stand!” Sure enough. We had found what we were searching for. As I look back, I realize we had probably passed many root beer stands. But until we were actually focused on looking…searching…for those stands did we actually find them.

I thought of those days as I read a recent devotional from Lead Like Jesus. In it, the writer talked about fulfilling God’s purpose.

“What does it mean for you to live today in light of God’s purpose? As if every person you encounter is valuable to God. As if your interaction with people holds the potential to demonstrate the reality of a living, personal God who cares about them. As if God were orchestrating events to bring about His purposes in this time and place. What difference would this make?”

If I am not careful, many days I can go along, focused on what I am doing in ministry and with family, and miss what the Lord has for me as part of His purpose…His plan. There are people whom God has placed with you in ministry. What would the Lord have you do or say that would keep them moving forward toward all that God wants them to be? Or are you more interested in what they accomplish to fulfill your plan and schedule?

Most of us as leaders in ministry sense the urgency of accomplishing things for the Lord. But in that urgency, do we overlook God’s overarching purpose and plan? Like us kids in the back of that 1949 Chevrolet sedan, we can be happily zipping down the highway and miss something.

So, what is God’s purpose and plan? The Apostle Paul passed that wisdom on to young Timothy:

He [God] is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began…

2 Timothy 1:9 NET

I don’t recall a single time when Dad mentioned getting a root beer that we kids replied, “No, thanks. There aren’t any stands here. We haven’t seen any. Let’s just go on.” No, we became focused on the thought of something exciting and refreshing…and it caused us to look intently down the road to find what we were looking for.

Do you think what the Lord has for you today is better than anything you could do for Him? Would you rather hope to please our heavenly Father, or do what He has already planned for His purpose in our lives? Which do you think would be the most satisfying…the most refreshing?

The devotional I read closed with this prayer:

“Lord, lift my eyes from the daily tasks that fill my day so that I re-focus on Your purpose and grace. Then let me look at the people with whom I interact through Your eyes and help me to accomplish Your purposes in what I do and say. May my life reveal Your life to them as I serve them in Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.”

God’s best…

A few years ago, a book came out with an intriguing title: UN-Marketing. The author, Scott Stratten, is active in digital marketing, primarily aimed at the commercial world. As I read through the book I wondered if there might be an application for us in Christian media.

Most of us have a need to “market” our ministries. Sometimes it is to raise needed funds for the work we do to spread hope to the people God has place before us and on our hearts. Other times it is to draw in the very people we want to reach so we can share God’s Good News. And even though it sounds like an “un-holy” word (like public relations!) it can be elevated to good use when we do it right.

What is marketing? The American Marketing Association says this:

“Marketing is the activity… and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

That sounds good. Creating, communicating, and delivering things that have value…for society at large. That could easily apply to ministry work. So, why un-marketing? Stratton says that instead of the traditional ways of marketing, such as direct mail or advertising, companies and organizations should focus on engaging with their audience.

We hear that in the social media world. It isn’t just about a cleverly designed Instagram post or Facebook ad. It is about soliciting a response from the reader. Engaging them in a conversation and developing a relationship with them. Then, in the context of that relationship, delivering the message…the “product.”

Want a biblical example of that? Think of Jesus as he traveled through Samaria. While the disciples went into town to buy food, Jesus lingered at the ancient water well. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, He asked her to do the same for Him. She was shocked! A Jew asking a Samaritan woman for something? That was out of the normal boundaries of the day. By that question alone Jesus had gotten her attention. He had engaged her in conversation.

It gets better. As she stood there surprised at the conversation, Jesus tells the woman, “If you knew about the gift God has for you, and who you are speaking to, you would ask, and I would give you living water.” Intrigue. What could this man possibly mean? He was building a relationship. And when she balked and offered up objections, saying, “You don’t even have anything to draw water with,” Jesus gave her an amazing offer.

Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.

John 4:13-14 NLT

Of course, the conversation went on and became very personal. And the result of the whole encounter was that revival broke out in Samaria. Amazing.

The traditional way of marketing would have been to put posters up in town advertising the fact that Jesus was coming to Samaria. Meet at the well and hear his message. Then Jesus would have started off his message with, “If anyone believes in me, he will have eternal life.”

By taking a non-traditional way to engage his audience…the Samaritan woman at the well…Jesus was able to deliver a strong message that caused the woman to go throughout the town telling others to come hear the man Jesus. (Word-of-mouth advertising is always strong.)

Un-marketing? Well, certainly un-usual. And very effective. As I think of it, the most memorable times of Jesus’ life were when He engaged people in their world and their time of need, and then shared the hope of eternal life. Nicodemus. This Samaritan woman. Zacchaeus. The thief on the cross. Building relationships by engaging them.

What can you do today to build relationships with the people you want to influence? Don’t look to clever marketing. Look to engaging with others and then delivering the only message that matters today…hope in Jesus.

God’s best…

All the restoration work on my home has reminded me of the original construction of the place some 18 years ago. I was able to watch over just about every step of the process. We had lots of skilled workers on every part of the job.

One of the teams that stands out in my mind was the one pouring the foundation. They were amazing. Along with engineers and architects, they did something that gets little attention today but is critical to the integrity of our home. Some would say, “You poured a lot of money into the ground when you built that place.” They are right. It wasn’t cheap or easy. But it was extremely important. Let me explain.

The soil in our part of Texas is known for the way it contracts and expands…and shifts. It is hard to find a house that doesn’t have cracks in the walls…or worse. To counteract that, over 60 holes were drilled 18 to 20 feet deep, filled with reinforcement iron and cement. And the full foundation was poured over those piers. The depth of the holes meant the foundation was sitting on bedrock, not just the shifting soil.

In addition, the lot we were building on slopes downward toward the back of the lot. So, part of the foundation work was the construction of a reinforced retaining wall at the front. It was one foot thick, and it was carefully designed to hold back the dirt and the water that can accumulate against it over the years. Those become subtle forces that push harder and harder, trying to destroy that wall. Careful engineering and strong reinforcement have done their job.

And then the main foundation was poured. Above that foundation, the walls to our home soar almost 30 feet high, with a stone chimney that is probably 45 feet high. Lots of weight on that foundation, for sure.

I think you may already be making a spiritual application to my construction story. Author John Maxwell has a book called The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. In it, Maxwell lists the “Law of Solid Ground.” It’s among the first in his list…and that makes sense. He says that solid ground is trust. A leader, if he or she is to be successful, must have the trust of the people around that leader. Trust is critical. Here is how I see this point as it relates to the foundation of my home.

First, a person who leads effectively must be a person of integrity. What you say is what you do. You keep your word. In other words, you have drilled deep down to bedrock…the truth of God’s Word…and made that the foundation of your life. Not shifting with the times or with the culture of the day. Rock solid in what you build your life upon.

Second, an effective leader builds strong barriers, a reinforced wall, to keep from being pushed this way and that by the pressures of the day. Sometimes those pressures are overt and obvious. Other times they are very subtle. But over time, those subtle pressures build up, and soon the foundation and the entire building can be compromised. That can happen to a leader who does not spend time setting boundaries.

Finally, if a foundation is going to hold, it needs to be reinforced. I watched as the work crew put in hundreds of feet of reinforcing steel…rebar…to hold the foundation together. The successful leader also needs to have his personal and spiritual foundation reinforced. That’s why spending time daily in God’s Word is so critical. It helps keep the foundation of your life solid and together.

Jesus talked about the importance of a solid foundation in His parable of the man who built his house on the sand versus the one who built his home on solid ground. Both were fine as long as the sun was shining, and the storms didn’t come. But when they arrived, the value of a solid foundation became obvious. Then Jesus made the application.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.

Matthew 7:24-25 NLT

If you come to my home, you probably won’t notice the foundation. I’ve never had anyone walk in and say, “Wow, what a beautiful foundation!” What you will see is the result of all the effort to build a rock-solid platform upon which to build a home that will stand the test of time.

Is it perfect? No. There are some small cracks here and there. But they can be easily repaired. However, the integrity of the home is not compromised. It is standing the test of time.

What about your life? Your leadership? Your relationships? If you have done your work in building a solid foundation, it is likely these areas will be strong. And you will be an effective leader, proclaiming God’s Truth in a way that allows others to trust…to trust you, and then to trust their lives to Christ. Then, with you as an example, they can start their own foundation work.

God’s best…