From the Editor
by Bill Gaffney

Welcome to the November edition of the CBN-USA national newsletter. We want to thank all of you who have sent in your comments. You will see as you read on we have a newsletter filled with articles from 1st time contributors. So don’t be hesitant to submit articles, suggestions, etc. We want to make this the best newsletter in marketplace ministry. Please e-mail us at newsletter@cbn-usa.org.

Bill

Editor’s Note: This month we will start a series of collaborative articles from leaders in other marketplace ministries. We start off with Chuck Proudfit of At Work On Purpose with an article, interestingly enough called, “Common Cause: A Call To Collaboration”.

COMMON CAUSE: A CALL TO COLLABORATION
By Chuck Proudfit

In Ephesians 4:15-16, Paul reminds us that we are to grow into maturity as one body of believers, united in the common cause of Christ: “We will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

The last part of this scripture has always been an admonishment, and an encouragement to me. It tells us that the body of Christ should be whole, joined and held together. It tells us that the body of Christ should become stronger through loving interaction. It tells us that we should all play our unique role in the collective efforts of the body of Christ.

How sad it is that our overall behavior as Christians can be so off the mark. Far too often, we Christians describe ourselves as the united Body of Christ, but behave as the divided Body of Christ. We are divided by denomination, by church home, by region. Sometimes we view each other more as competitors than collaborators. We are even prone to forgetting the importance of communicating with each other on spiritual topics!

Does it sound like I’m exaggerating? Think about it for a minute. How effective are the churches in your community at coming together for common projects? How many ministries do you know that look for ways to share resources between each other rather than insisting on independent initiative? Do you check into the spiritual orientations of your colleagues on the job, and seek out ways to team up for workplace ministry?

In my role as a marketplace minister, I have become convicted to go out of my way to help make these things happen. I think of myself as a “bridge builder” between Christians, and Christian communities, that might normally remain disconnected. Are there ways you can help different church communities work on ministry projects together? Are there ways you can help Christian charities share resources? Are there ways you can connect the community of Christians in your workplace?

As you consider all this, be encouraged by Paul’s words in Ephesians. Remember that as we labor to do more together than we could ever do apart, we grow in spiritual relationship, spiritual maturity, and spiritual impact. In all things, we truly do “grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

Chuck Proudfit is founder and president of Skillsource and founder of At Work On Purpose (a marketplace ministry and CBN-USA partner), both based in Cincinnati. Chuck and AWOP have been featured in a number of nationwide articles on marketplace ministry.

ROCKS IN A TUMBLER
By Keith Center

Many years ago I was asked by friends of mine to take them to someone’s house that was a long distance away.

The women were friends, but the husband of the host was not thought of too highly. He was an alcoholic. Recently, I flashed back to that visit and realized that he had laid the groundwork for a profound lesson in the Christian life.

He had a hobby of collecting rocks. Nothing that appeared fancy to me, just mundane, dirty rocks. He washed them off, and, to no one’s surprise, they still looked like dirty rocks.

He placed them in a tumbler. It looked like a miniature version of a barrel used for lottery drawings. Then he added some kind of liquid. Over several days, or weeks, these rocks banged against each other. Chafing, scratching, breaking pieces off each other. Just imagine if you were one of these rocks. A frightful conflagration was taking place where they appeared to inflict great damage on each other. But they were buffered by the liquid slurry, and this was the difference maker.

After several days, or weeks, of this violent activity and aided by this slurry, they were transformed from dirty rocks to beautifully polished semi precious stones. Tiger Eye, polished quartz, etc. They were astoundingly beautiful compared to their past state. The abrasion on each other had a positive effect. But without the slurry they would have been scarred. The transformation was truly astonishing!

We in the church are like those rocks in a tumbler, and the Holy Spirit acts like the slurry. At times we are abrasive, we cut each other, and without the Holy Spirit we may even be scarred, but aided by the Holy Spirit, we knock the rough edges off each other.

Like Cat Stevens wrote

“I bruise you, you bruise me.
We two bruise too easily.
Too easily, but we can’t let go.
And I love you, that’s all I know.”

To the Christian, unlike other similar “tumblers of life” (career, etc.) we have the “slurry” of the Holy Spirit that facilitates what could otherwise be very negative activity into a positive result. Beautiful precious “stones” for His pleasure. Remember this in our conflicts as Christians.

And also, no matter how low you may perceive a person, God may use them for teaching you a lesson for life.

Keith Center is an Accredited Associate, Institute for Independent Business with Mason International Business Group, Ltd. and a member of CBN-USA Cincinnati. Keith can be reached at keithcenter@iib.ws.

HOW SUCCESS IN RELATIONSHIPS CAN MAKE YOU A SUCCESS IN OTHER AREAS
by Steve Kroening

So often in business you hear about the guy who makes it to the top because he ran over everyone to get there. While people who use these types of win-at-all-cost tactics still find a way to succeed, more and more of these people are getting fired, moved to the sidelines, or left behind. Why? Because people have found a better way to win. And it’s a biblical tactic that can help you regardless of your occupation or calling in life.

This tactic is called “pursuing in love.” This isn't a worldly love that seeks your own good. It's a Christian love that seeks the good of the other person. And it’s something Christians should be especially good at. After all, that’s what our Heavenly Father has done with us. He gave us the perfect example by pursuing us in love. He desires to have a relationship with us. So He comes after us.

I recently heard a story about a man who ran for the Georgia state House of Representatives. To win his seat, he had to beat out seven other candidates from his own party. But the next time he ran, he ran completely unopposed. When asked what happened in the years between elections, he said, “After I was elected, I pursued all of the candidates I beat out. I got to know them, and tried to help them in any way I could. When the next election came around, they all knew me and liked me, so they didn’t want to run against me.”

He turned his enemy into a friend simply by pursuing them and serving them. He could have snubbed his nose at them instead, and said, “I won, so I’m obviously better than you.” He didn’t have to pursue them. But doing so won them over to his side.
Taking the initiative with other people is a vital part of relationships that most people miss. We’re all too busy hoping others will pursue us. And when they don’t, we complain about it. We all have a desire to be pursued. So think about how others will feel when you pursue them. You’ll make their day.

Here’s how you can get started. Make a list of 5-10 people who you would like to pursue. They might be business associates, neighbors, visitors at your church, or people you meet at a social function. Once you have the list of people, find their phone numbers and write them down beside their names. Then, schedule a time to call them and talk. Don’t call for a favor or to get something you need. Call to serve them and find out how they’re doing.
If it’s possible, stop by and see them or invite them to lunch or breakfast. Pour your life into them. As you develop these relationships, find other people to add to your list and begin to pursue them. You never know where the relationships will take you.

Steve Kroenig is editor and publisher of Wisdom’s Edge, a weekly on line magazine and resource for Christians.

Helpful Business Hints

Maybe you haven’t been looking but there is a great weekly e-newsletter published by BizJournals called Solutions. It has great columns on things like sales, marketing, management, etc. You can sign up by going to http://www.bizjournals.com/solutions/.

Have you been wondering what happened to Business Reform? It has gone through a metamorphis and is now being published as Christian Business Daily. You can find it at http://www.christianbusinessdaily.com/. Among other things it has great business articles by people like Michael Pink, Zig Ziglar, Eric Beck, John Maxwell and more.

Regional Happenings!

From Mike Howard in Pittsburgh:
The Pittsburgh Chapter of CBN-USA enjoyed its largest crowd yet…20! Held on October 20th (how ironic!), the group heard about small business supplemental insurance coverage from representatives of AFLAC (no . . . duck was NOT on the menu!).

Now discussions are being held to both find a larger facility to meet in, AND, for developing the Pittsburgh area’s second group, probably in the South Hills/Southpointe area. If you know of anyone in the Pittsburgh area that might be interested in attending, or getting involved with your group, please let Mike Howard, Membership Chairman know at mhoward@wordfm.com.

WAY TO GO PITTSBURGH!!
WHO DO YOU KNOW IN PITTSBURGH YOU CAN TELL ABOUT CBN-USA?

Are you tired of hearing about Dayton? Well then, send us something from your region. But, in the meantime, DAYTON DID IT AGAIN!!! On Wednesday, November 1st we had our first area-wide BIG BREAKFAST. This will be a twice a year event for all the chapters in Dayton to get together, network and introduce new people to CBN-USA. At our first BIG BREAKFAST Ken Blackwell, Ohio Secretary of State and Gubernatorial candidate, spoke on “Christians in the Marketplace”. This was not another campaign stop but a speech challenging us to let our light show forth in the marketplace.

We got great press coverage with an after event article in the Dayton Daily News and pictures from the AP. (Notice the strategically placed CBN-USA benefit poster. Mark, is that good branding?!)

OH….. and we had close to 200 in attendance with over a third being first time visitors! Wait for word about our next one in the Spring of ’07!

SEE YOU AT THE CHAPTERS!