Blog / Fear and Perspective

Jack felt sure numerous top-tier job offers would be banging on his door now that he completed his MBA. He had worked so hard packing his resume with good grades, service activities, previous jobs and internships, and of course, an all-star cast of references. He was also secretly counting on his network of fraternity brothers and his Tom Cruise good looks as “icing on the cake.” When no great offers came forth, he aggressively hit the phones and streets in pursuit of his fast track to the top. He was a tad embarrassed when he accepted a low-level sales job, […]

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Eric was at a crossroads in his life. He was a successful businessman with a growing family who had been persuaded to take a class about God’s heart for the nations called “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”…and he was deeply touched. He wrestled for months with whether the Lord was calling him into missions before discussing it with his pastor and exploring opportunities with various agencies. Eric studied the mission websites and talked with reps from different ministries. He was drawn to apply to several organizations, except for one small detail in the fine print—almost all of them required […]

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Fresh out of seminary, I found myself encircled by a distinguished board of successful doctors, lawyers, and businessmen quizzing me about my expectations for my starting salary as a new staff member at their church. Taking the “spiritual” route, I said I wasn’t there for the money—so they paid me only 60% of what my contemporaries made! Looking back, I should have said, “I’m not here for the money. Just pay me a moderate salary. Why don’t we just take the average of everyone’s salary on this committee and pay me that? Not a penny more.” I would have given […]

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Even though my existence on this planet has been relatively brief, still I have observed that many organizations seem to budget in one of two ways: 1. The Typical Way The staff of many church and para church groups will show up to the annual planning meeting with this in mind: “Well, last year I was allotted this much for my ministry budget. If I jack it up about 10% and complain about all the shortages, maybe I’ll walk away with at least a 5% increase.” Their vision and thinking is limited by how much money they think might come […]

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We conducted an informal survey of numerous mission agencies at the most recent Urbana Missions Conference in Illinois. We went from booth to booth asking, “What is the average amount of time it takes your missionaries to raise their full support?” The results? 23 months When I share that shocking figure in our Personal Support Raising Bootcamps around the country, I then ask the question: “Would you like to spend the next 23 months of your life raising support?” The answer is always a resounding NO. Who’s responsible for creating these self imposed support raising marathons? It begins when the […]

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After helping train staff from almost 120 Christian organizations I have come to a conclusion: Ministries do personal support raising just like they do their personal witnessing. Consider the necessary steps in both activities: 1. Create the need 2. Share the solution 3. Ask for a decision Even though rejection is possible, the bottom line for both endeavors is: Are you able to ask the “golden question?” After presenting the gospel to someone, the golden question is the most agonizingly difficult question in the English language to utter. Even typing it out, my hands are sweating, my heart is pounding, […]

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 I can tell a lot about an organization by when they were founded. Many of the older ones will use George Müller or Hudson Taylor (both from England) or Americas’ D.L. Moody as their role model for fundraising. Müller, former lawyer turned prolific preacher, began numerous orphanages in London, trusted God alone for finances, claiming to have never asked anyone for a single penny. The final 40 years of his life was spent telling that same story every night to overflow crowds in cities all over the world. The money was pouring in! Taylor, young missionary who struck out on […]

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