Thought this was worth passing on to those who are not on Dan Betzer's mailing list.
------------------------------------------------------- "ByLine with Dan Betzer" Program # 3533 Wednesday, April 18, 2007 "Release Talented People to Change the World!" ------------------------------------------------------- Hello again, this is Dan Betzer. Deep-sea fishing is a great sport in my part of the world. Almost without exception, especially with game fish, we are "catch-and-release" anglers. Pastor Robert Lewis of Minnesota wrote, "Jesus was a catch-and-release fisherman. He would catch men and women with His gospel and spend time with them to develop, season, and ground them in God's ways. But then...He would release them!" I call it the Lazarus principle: "Loose him...and let him go!" Unfortunately, in the church world, our modus operandi is usually, "Let's try to catch 'em and get 'em on the stringer." I have preached over the past fifty years in about 1600 churches in this country. Many times I encounter church leadership with no concept of catch-and-release. It is thumbs-on control! Micro-managing! Frankly, I have never understood the concept. Talk about diminishing returns! The goal should be to surround yourself with brilliant people, much smarter than you are in their field, show them the direction you want them to go, and set them free. Free enterprise is much more profitable than slavery. The principle holds true for denominations and/or fellowships. We often want all pastors and workers to go down a very narrow channel, a ditch might be a better name for the trench. Someone has said a rut is just a grave with the ends knocked out. Hey, today's generation will simply walk away from such stringent direction. Today's leaders see limitless skies and boundless opportunities. We older folks in leadership positions need to impart the wisdom of our years to these kids, train them in biblical principles and foundational theology, undergird them with prayer, and loose them and let them go! They will impact the world! To subscribe: http://news.ag.org/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=byline To update email information or to read archived ByLines: http://news.ag.org/read/?forum=byline To unsubscribe: http://news.ag.org/subscribe/[EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://news.ag.org/subscribe/[EMAIL PROTECTED]&lists=bylin e> &lists=byline "ByLine with Dan Betzer" is a two-minute program heard weekdays on radio stations nationwide. To sponsor a broadcast in your area, call (417) 869-8829. http://www.ag.org/mediaministries/byline You may reprint this message in a non-profit publication with this credit: From ByLine Online, a free email subscription. Copyright (c) 2007 Media Ministries of the Assemblies of God. _______________________ Rev. Andrew D. Burns, Pastor Life Application Gospel Church "Reaching the Lost & Equipping the Found" <http://www.lifeapp.org> www.lifeapp.org - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________________ The Golden Rule is my daily rule. This message came through the [email protected] mailing list. You may manage your subscription at http://lists.rangernet.org/mailman/listinfo/rangernet
