Beyond the Four Walls: Lessons to Embrace.

Make a strong living. You must take care of your family first. That means, you will not be here in church 24/7–365. God gave you a specific gift. You will use that gift in your career and in your community. The leadership will partner with you, build godly character in you, and send you out. Your family is first. Not this fellowship. Do not feed other children before you feed your own. Making a strong living means that you will not suffer and stress about money. There will be many trials in life and money should not be one. Financial independence for your family is paramount and you will need to move as quickly as possible towards it. God will not be upset and we will see you on Sunday.
Build strong relationships across the cultural lines beyond the subject matters of racism and other systemic injustice issues. I know that these are important topics, but they do not get deals done for you to feed your family. Learn how to forge strong relationships. You are going to meet some beautiful people from every ethnicity and race. Imagine meeting mayors, governors, city council, senators, CEO’s, professionals, business executives, etc. This will be critical to your life. Developing soft skills will help you. Take advantage of this opportunity.
Professionalism is paramount. This has everything to do with your brand. It is very important be a true professional in order to shake hands in the marketplace. Your brand speaks volume. Stand behind it. Let it direct your course. Be kind, be professional, and be authentic. It pays dividends in the future.
Broaden your lens. A spiritual lens will hold you in captivity if you are not careful. I believe this is important, but it must be broader. You need a cultural lens that helps you see the world and not just the four walls. A lens that helps you understand people and how to work in different environments. If you view people from a spiritual lens only, then you will only see people as sinners or saints. Don’t play God’s role.
Learn to solve problems. For the rest of your life, you will be putting out fires and solving problems. I can promise you that. A few areas for starters are your careers, friendships, marriages, financial, internal, and maturity problems. Problems like these are the impetus for strong systems to be in place to course correct. If you can not solve problems, you have no chance of increasing value in the earth for others. You can end up being the President of The United States of America if you can solve problems.
Watch your language. Spiritual speech is literally for the church. It is hard for people to understand in the world. It’s not because they lack a passion or desire to know God. They just do not understand it. Learning to communicate properly in your environments will bring success to you in ways that is impossible for you understand. Don’t take a “Praise God” into a business or staff meeting. #Crazy
An Economic plan drives the train. Pay attention to the country’s economy. Set your budget based upon it’s trend. Read the financial reports. Stay ahead of the game. Partner with a CPA, Banker, Attorney, Financial Advisor, and Insurance Broker. Focus on your wills, power of attorney’s, and trust. There should be a plan in place for your death for the family. The church is not paying for your funeral cost. We assume no responsibility. That is your family, not ours. Plan accordingly.
Know that building a career & business is a way to glorify God and expand generosity. Work is beautiful and a business helps you employ others to provide for their families. Its helps you to create opportunities for others. It builds confidence in your gift. Working in a corporate structure will help you sharpen your leadership and development skills. You will manage employees as well as the profit and loss statements. You will learn merchandising, audit reports, KPI’s, success measurements. You will be entrusted with a lot of power. People will lean on your informed insight. When you learn these things, build a program to teach others in this church to help them become better.
Set your priorities and build strong systems. Once these are set, never detour. Learn about systems everywhere you go. Systems give you the “HOW TO”. They are not motivational or inspiring. They are sustaining and promote optimization.
Do a few things well. Set your target on 1–2 moves and you will hit every time.
Don’t go 90 days without contacting your leadership. Let us know what’s up with you. We are praying for you and your family. It’s ok to check in. Oh, would you please pray for us?!
In love,
Brentley
