A Ministry of Christian Chefs International (CCI)

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Continuing the Entrepreneurial path ...


“That the most excellent method he had found of going to GOD, was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men, [Gal. 1:10; Eph. 6: 5, 6.] and (as far as we are capable) purely for the love of GOD.”
― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." 
1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT)

Hello Sistren and Brethren!  On our paths mountains suddenly come up to us...we look at it...analyse it...plan a path around or over it and then......The Holy Spirit reminds us of what Jesus said...about Faith...and mountains...and a groovy Worship song...that has a line 
"And this mountain that's in front of me will be thrown into the midst of the sea..."
So as we rightly ponder...we come to the logical and wise conclusion that...We need help!  And so we approach this next step in our walk with Christ,yoked, armoured, and Graced the fact we are co-creators with God...and each day each step gets us closer and the works we do in faith move that mountain...and as co-laborers with Jesus, the work we engage in on a daily basis ought to be done in a particular manner. and Bro Lawrence reminds me of "Excellent"! And Paul reminds me of "Enthusiastically"!  For we believe that when we put our hands to the proverbial plow, we are indeed cultivating and renewing parts of creation. We are the workforce of God’s restoration project. Thus, the work we do should be done with the utmost excellence!

In a way, Paul reminds us of this in Ephesians 2:10 when he says that, “we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” We are the First Entrepreneur’s masterpiece in the sense that we were created to reflect who He is. We are His image bearers. But when sin entered the picture, it marred His image in us. It darkened the reflection. So He sent His son Jesus to destroy sin and death and recreate us—a renewed humanity. Now, we can once again reflect and re-present His Light...His presence on earth...who He is in His creation. We do this by seeking to accomplish the good things He planned for us to do long ago in the garden. Things like ruling, creating, building, and growing. Things that are excellent. Things that rightly picture the very nature of God.

Therefore, if our work is to be a reflection of the First Entrepreneur, we must strive for excellence in everything we do. Our work is too important to be mediocre, or drab, or half-hearted. Our work is the work of royalty. Our work is a representation of the King. It is bound up in what He is doing in this world.

So, as we take to the streets, the public markets, the halls of power, or the corridors of knowledge, all of our endeavors should be oozing with excellence. We, God’s masterpieces, should be the most creative, most useful, most life-giving purveyors on the planet! Our work is for the Lord and thus, it is never useless. It is restorative, life-giving, and good.

This should motivate us to pursue excellence in all areas of our endeavors. Nothing about our work should be slighted or handled flippantly. In everything we do, everything we produce, everything we create, we should strive to make it worthy of Jesus, the King! In doing this, we properly reflect who God is to a watching world.

Martin Luther King, Jr. captured this idea well when he proclaimed, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
A couple questions to ponder...
Why should we as Christian entrepreneurs and creatives be more motivated to do excellent work than non-Christians?
How is excellence defined in your chosen work?
How, practically, can you become more aware of the areas of your endeavor that need more work to become truly excellent?  PRAY!
Ask God to help you see excellence in your work as a means to reflect Him and His excellence to the world. Pray that God would grant you motivation and strength to pursue excellence in all areas of your work...in excellence being a mountain mover...in, with, and for Him.

A groovy thing to do...to meditate on areas of responsibility in your business or life that you feel you do with excellence. Then, identify areas that you know are not done with excellence. As a relationship builder think about maybe asking a close friend for feedback on the list and work to find the resources you need to work towards excellence in the latter three areas.

Now...we have a very busy rest of the week and weekend...Working with Christian Chefs International in catering The Fish Fest Concert event in Salem this weekend...we will be catering the "Green Room" feeding of the musical guests and their bands and staff...with Friends, supporters and Alumni of CCI and CCA...and also presenting the Christian Culinary Academy at a booth there!  Sharing the Good News that God loves those who love to cook and has provided a Cooking school just for those who love Jesus and those called to a deeper relationship and purpose to seek Him first...and to cook!  Just like Jesus did...in excellence.  When I think about that  AFTER Jesus was resurrected ...he cooked for the disciples!  I bet it was Gooooooooood!
And Pray for us please! As we certainly have an opportunity to share excellence in what we teach and present.  And pray for the 7000 plus who will attend to be encouraged by excellent music and Worship!
We also will be feeding the hungry at the "Sunday Supper"  event sponsored by the community at Our Lady Of Victory church in Seaside, OR.  And other God appointments also....We are so blessed to be called to be the hands and feet, heart and Light of Our Father 

Rock and Roll!  Jesus is the Rock and we Roll!

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