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Have you noticed in the accounts of Paul in the New Testament, that whenever he entered a new town, he first went to their synagogue and the very next place to visit was their marketplace. Why do you suppose that is?

Paul knew that was where the activity of the town took place and where he would find key people in the community. He wanted to reach the business people, the ones in the community that made things happen, those that fed and clothed the families, supported the families and the people as a whole. He wanted to reach the decision makers, the influencers of the community and those who could support and encourage a new ministry being developed in that area. Paul wasn’t fussed about who those business people were. He spoke to both men and women in the marketplace and introduced the Christian faith to them all.

Who do you know in the marketplace that you can introduce Christ to?  Who do you know that needs a friend or just someone to listen to them?

In the business world we are often so wrapped up in what we’re doing on a daily basis, and meeting deadlines, that often friendships, or the potential for friendships, are shoved aside. But don’t forget we are on show always, and that we have the light of Christ to shine. How will people see that if we don’t do something about it?

One way we can touch others is to spend time getting to know them. That could mean at networking events, over lunch or a cuppa, at a staff meeting or in an elevator. It means making use of our ears, our hearts and our minds and really listening to what others are saying and picking up on the unspoken word, the body language, the ‘attitude’ or something that demonstrates they have a need or that something is missing.  Often this will take place over several occasions and not just one meeting, but sometimes you might just strike them when the need is urgent. Seek God and listen and He will point you to those who need to hear from you.  KMT

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13

Recently I’ve attended a business breakfast, a sponsor lunch and participated in a forum at TV show website, all of which have been discussing the topic of Ethics in Business. And then just this week a presentation at the OIVAC about Business Ethics.

The fact that this topic is being discussed in many places recently indicates to me it is something that is at the top of people’s minds of late. It is probably always there but so many things have been raising their heads globally that it’s got people thinking. Not just in business but in politics, in churches, in social networks, on websites. There seems to be so many ’shades of grey’ today that people are lulled into thinking that whatever it is they are doing, or thinking, is ok - because ‘times have changed’ and so many others are doing it. Are ethics really to be considered as ‘old fashioned’? I hope not!

When does it get down to what is right within? Do people truly not have a conscience anymore? Is it more a collective conscience that rules rather than an individual one?

As business operators there are two things we need to have in mind - what is right for our clients and what is right for us as individuals. Sometimes those two things appear to clash. What we do in business reflects on us as a person and that might mean we have to say ‘no’ to a client sometimes, even at the risk of losing their business. I’ve been in that position and I know that others have too and it can go both ways. I heard this morning at a presentation about business ethics of someone, a client, who did the wrong thing by the person providing them a service and moved to a competitor who poached them when actually acting on behalf of the service provider. The competitor also did the wrong thing but the client showed their lack of loyalty and their desire for opportunism. To me it showed they really both deserved each other and the other service provider was better off without this client, but it still leaves bad feeling all round.

There are some decisions that are tough calls and if you cannot make a decision that sits right within then perhaps you need to seek someone to whom you look up to for advice. This could be someone who’s been in business longer, or perhaps a colleague, a mentor, a teacher, a parent, someone in your church, or perhaps even the person who leads the business network of which you are a member. Don’t let it get to the point where it stresses you severely and you get sick as a result. You then stand to lose your health, lose business and not be there for your family as they have need. Your health is important, and dare I say as well, the ‘health of your ethics’. But more importantly you should be looking to God’s Word and find out what He says in the Bible. Because, as it says in Job as listed at the top of this post, ‘To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his’. Holding fast to your ethics and not letting a client waiver them, even if it means you might lose business, in the end is what will help you stay in business and maintain integrity. People do notice, even when you think they are not watching. KMT

business ethics, ethics in business, guidance, seeking counsel, integrity

You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.” Psalm 40:17 NIV

The above verse is in my perpetual calendar today. For the past 3 or 4 days I’ve been a bit down in the dumps. That’s not normal for me and on the outside I’ve been normal to almost everyone I’ve chatted to - face-to-face, on the phone and via email. But someone said something to me a few days ago that upset me, and try as I might, I couldn’t get myself out of that sense of discouragement. Something I’d been doing to help others has been misread or taken out of context and that is upsetting at any time.

Add to that the disappointment of a weekend planned - my husband and I were going away for the weekend and really looking forward to it. But a chance phone call on Friday afternoon to advise the venue we’d be running late revealed they didn’t have our booking. The owner couldn’t explain it - she remembered our phone conversation and discussing the dates, she even received my email of confirmation, but for some reason it never went into her system and just this past week she booked the cottage to someone else.

I guess what made it worse was that it was a gift from our children last Christmas - we were cashing in a gift voucher for the B&B and so we’d not paid any money - it had been paid before Christmas. So that means she didn’t have our payment or a receipt there to prompt her about the booking. A new date has now been set but that’s two months away and we’ll have to wait.

The perpetual calendar with this reading goes on to say ‘Discouragement, depression, personal loss, a sense of hopelessness - they’re the universal experience of people. Take time today to call up a friend you sense may be ‘in the pits’ and share David’s testimony from Psalm 40.

The day is drawing to a close and I’ve been at my computer most of the day, reading blogs, visiting blog networks I’d not seen before, chatting with a few people via a forum and just taking the day quietly. Within the space of an hour, the last hour actually, I’d received two emails of encouragement from people I’d helped. It was around that time I realised I hadn’t yet turned the page of my calendar and here was this message.

Psalm 40:17 was in front of me and two people reached out without knowing my need but God did and He supplied. It lifts my heart, and my Spirit, to know that He cares enough to reach out to me, to time the contact from others with my reading of His Word so that I would understand what He had done for me. I fear too often we do not understand how much He does for us. How very goodHe is. KMT

discouragement, depression, hopelessness, disappointment, Psalm 40, deliverer

‘God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done’. Gen 1:31-Gen 2:2

I saw a post today on a blog, referencing another blog and book that made comment on the need for people to rest, quoting the following:

“We all must have restful periods of incubation and calm. You’re meant to enjoy this time to relax and quietly grow, or simply catch your breath a while. Inactivity helps you gather energy so that you can take yourself to a whole new level in life. You’ll need these stores of energy so that, in the right time and place, you’ll be able to take off and fly high.”
~ Christen Murphy Resmo

On reading this it immediately made me think of the bible verse I quoted at the start of this post. Have people really lost sight of the need for rest? Are we so wrapped up in life and everything that has to be done that we no longer have an understanding of why we had a rest day on a weekly basis? For those of us who have a faith and belief, that day has been put aside for us to worship our Lord. For others it means ‘family time’, a day with the family. But so much has encroached on the traditional ‘day of rest’ with sporting activities, club activities, shops and other businesses now trading 7 days a week and so on. I’ve seen parents frazzled on Sundays having to get their kids from this competition to another, or having to leave real early in the morning because of a game that is taking place a distance away.

Even for those of us who work at home, the temptation to work 7 days a week is constant, because we’re driven to deliver on time, to do a good work.

One of my clients is a business coach and she quotes a story about an axeman who works longer hours and harder and harder but cuts less trees as the days pass by and when he’s asked why doesn’t he take time out to sharpen his saw, he answers ‘I can’t, I don’t have time’. I daresay that is how most people feel today - not enough time.

Even business coaches are now urging people to take time out for themselves, to get rest, to get some exercise, to go outdoors and enjoy the fresh air and what is available to them there, without having the need to deliver or perform. It is well known that those who are fresh, rested, happy in life are more likely to deliver what’s needed and perform much better. So if we know this in our heads, why don’t we take the advice and get the much needed rest? I feel it’s because of pressure and we get caught up in the whirlwind that has captured everyone else around us.

Why not take time out today to stop and think, to plan your week, and make sure you set aside time for yourself. If Sunday can’t be your rest day because you are working on that day, then make sure you select another day to be your rest day on a weekly basis. Book it into your diary if you have to so the constant reminder is there. We all need rest. KMT

My previous post ‘Cursed is the One…’ was about how we often depend on our own strength, instead of that which is always readily available to us.

Today I want to talk about the dangers of thinking we’re the only one. The only one experiencing a situation, the only one who can do the job, the only one who can carry out a ministry for God, the only one…. How often do we think like that? Sometimes we wear it, like it’s an achievement or mantle that’s been given to us, and only us.

The reality is that if we’re going through a problem, a challenge, a difficulty, there is always someone else who has experienced it before us. Seek God for help and He’ll either answer you directly or bring someone else into your life who can assist.

If we have been given a ministry we need to act accordingly and not sit on it, but act on faith as God would have us do. There have been many stories told about God placing someone else into a ministry when the person appointed does not carry out their duty.

It is important we do not make the mistake of assuming that we’re the only one that God can use in a situation. He is not a respecter of persons and can call on any number of people and usually does. How often do we hear of ‘waves’ or ‘fads’ hitting places around the world because many people have been called to do the same thing?

You may have heard that ‘you might be the nearest person to Jesus’ that someone will ever know. That is very true - for this very moment but if you don’t follow through then someone else will follow who can take your place. However, consider this for a moment. Suppose you missed your ‘calling’ to witness to someone in the workplace - you know you should but you’ve just not summoned up the courage. And then something happens to that person as a result of a decision or action they take because they do not know Christ. And someone else steps forward and witnesses to them and brings them to Christ. How would you feel? Could you have prevented the trouble they’ve experienced through introducing them to Christ earlier? You’ll never know whilst you’re on this earth but don’t let your indecision affect someone else’s life.

For my part, a couple of years ago I had a client I knew I should be witnessing to. I tried, but shied away often whenever we got near the subject. One evening whilst at his office assisting with an important job, he seemed troubled and shaky. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes, just had to sort some things out. The prompting of the Spirit was intense for me to speak openly with Jim and I struggled with it - it was late, I wanted to get home, I could talk to him another time perhaps. The time was actually perfect but I never acted on it. Two days later I got a phone call from his wife. Jim had a heart attack that night and died the following day. I never got to tell him what I wanted to tell him and the sorrow I experienced at that was immense. I could only pray and hope that someone else got to speak to him before he passed away but I’ll never know until the time I’m called to be with the Lord. Will I see Jim there too? KMT