|
In this Issue
Is Contentment a Fruit of the Spirit?
BLE Staff Welcomes a New Member
The Challenge: A BLE Testimony
Upcoming Small Group Leader Training
Wellness: A "Healthy Company" Business Strategy
How You Can Help
|
| Small Group Studies |
|
Investing vs. Spending Your Life Marketplace Excellence Christian Work Ethic Heart and Soul of Effective Leadership God's Plan for Husbands Financial Principles Click here for more information. |
|
Shop for a Difference
What if up to 25% of each purchase you made went to your favorite worthy cause?
By shopping online with BLE's custom shopping site, you can access all your favorite online stores, at the same prices, while each of your purchases automatically donates a portion to BLE!
Click here to start shopping!
|
Search the web and save the world
Download the BLE BenefitBar and help us raise support just by searching the internet! By using the Yahoo search engine on our toolbar, you will acquire the same information you receive using your current search engine, but now every time you click on a sponsored link you are raising 10 cents per click for BLE.
To download your free BLE BenefitBar, click here.
|
Staff
Phil Tolbert
Executive Director
phil@bleonline.org
Steve Stoner
steve@bleonline.org
Suzanne Westrum
suzanne@bleonline.org
| |
Is Contentment a Fruit of the Spirit?
by Phil Tolbert
Executive Director
Contentment is defined by Webster's as being satisfied with what one has or is; not desiring something more or different. Not many if any of us can truthfully say we do not struggle with being satisfied or content. We tend to confuse contentment with the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. These fruits such as love, joy, peace, etc. are manifestations of a life controlled more by the Spirit than by the flesh. And yes, these fruits are present during periods of contentment, but contentment itself is not an automatic "gimme" when we are indwelled by the Spirit.
The degree of contentment we experience is most often affected by the circumstances we are experiencing. 1 Thes 5:18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Note that we are not instructed to give thanks "for" the circumstance even though we could, but we are to give thanks to God for who He is and for His love "in" the midst of all circumstances.
I don't know about you but I find it difficult to feel thankful during trying circumstances. But God doesn't tell us we have to "feel" like it, but just do it out of obedience. Before this adds to your discontent, let us all be encouraged by Paul. During what we all agree to be extremely difficult circumstances Paul gives us insight to his secret of contentment. In Phil 4:11-12, Paul reveals that he has learned to be content. While contentment may not be spontaneous with the coming of the Spirit, it is achievable by allowing God to teach us through tough times to be content because we now see circumstances from God's perspective, as being a gift of His love. We pray for God to continue His work in you as we learn to thank God in all circumstances and not pray for deliverance from the circumstance.
Contentment is examined in more detail as part of the BLE study series titled Investing Vs. Spending Your Life. For more information on this or any of our series, click here.
|
|
|
BLE Staff Welcomes a New Member
 Introducing Suzanne Westrum
Suzanne joined our team at the beginning of June as the Administrator for the BLE office. She will be applying for grants, updating the website, re-designing print materials, handling donor information and giving Phil and Steve a break from all their administrative tasks. Suzanne has a degree in English and Communication Arts from St. Mary's University and recently returned from a year of mission work in China. She can't wait to see how God will use her in the BLE ministry. |
|
The Challenge - A BLE Testimony
by Glenn Jones
BLE Board Member
Why did I want to start a BLE small group for the San Antonio insurance market? It was all because of a challenge that I received one Sunday morning over seven years ago from my pastor at the time, Jeff Harris. Jeff's sermon challenge was the following: "All of you business guys out there, why aren't you bringing your relationship with God into your place of work?" At that point I made a decision that I would be one of those guys that would let others know about my relationship with God, how important it was to me and that I wanted to share it.
Over the last seven years, I have been looking for ways to introduce my faith to my industry. One of the most productive ways has been through the curriculum of BLE.
Let's move to the 5 W's: Who, What, Where, Why, and When.
Who: The first invitation went to my internal office which is made up of eight employees. Of these eight co-workers, I have had several join us for various studies. But the most faithful co-worker has been the owner and managing partner, Gerry Impelman, who is in his sixties and a gentleman who is staying humble to God's teachings, opening up his conference room to the BLE studies, and attending regularly. The second invitation went to everyone I knew that worked in my industry, from carrier vendors to my industry peers. The third invitation came from group members who indentified others they knew that could benefit from our studies and invited them.
What: Our BLE study group is made up of between six and eleven individuals. Our group has completed all of the BLE curriculum, studied several books of the Bible, and read spiritual discipleship as well as workplace ministry books together. However, the best thing that our group enjoys is finishing a study and coming together for communion to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. That's right - we celebrate communion together at least four times a year right in our very own conference room, and it is the most beautiful thing one can experience in their workplace.
When and Where: We have consistently met every other Tuesday at 11:30 am until 12:30 pm in our office conference room. We have tried early morning studies but have found that the lunch hour meeting gives us the highest level of participation among our group.
Why: There are some 8,736 hours in a year. We sleep 2,900 of those hours. That leaves a total of 5,800 truly productive hours in a year. We will work over 2,000 of those hours and have 3,800 hours for personal use. That means a minimum of 34% of these productive hours are in our places of work. When I look at how many people I can impact through the workplace, I am amazed and can see so much potential. The impact can be done through creating new friendships, engaging in fellowship, participating in missions, and gathering for prayer, communion and studying.
Now go make an impact in your workplace!
|
BLE Small Group Leader Training
For Christians to impact the world, they must first impact each other. To do this, we believe in raising up leaders in the workplace to lead their own small groups. If you would like to become a small group leader, please mark your calendar to attend our next small group leader training.
Date: Saturday, August 15th
Time: 8 am - 12 noon
Place: BLE Office
For more information or to register, please call 344-4544. |
 Wellness: A "Healthy Company" Business Strategy
by Doug Heintz
OUTCOMES
www.withoutcomesinmind.com
What cost would you consider to be your company's greatest concern?
In 2007, the Business Roundtable asked 1,200 CEOs this question, and a whopping 51% said healthcare, with litigation coming in a distant second at only 17%. In fact, according to the Miliken Institute's "An Unhealthy America," research findings project that by 2023 we will see a 42% increase in cases of the seven most prevalent chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions, and mental disorders) to 230.7 million cases, resulting in $4.2 trillion in treatment costs and lost productivity. That's a pretty serious concern.
Today, in America and around the globe business owners and CEOs are realizing that in order to have a "healthy company" they need to adopt employee wellness as a business strategy. Increasingly, they are seeing a need to offer wellness programs to their employees to curb the company's ever increasing healthcare and productivity costs associated with poor employee health. The bottom line? An employee's unhealthy lifestyle increases their health risks leading to chronic diseases and an increase in annual employer costs.
Each week I get the privilege of speaking to business owners and CEOs about employee wellness programs. Thus far, in every case the driving force behind an employer's interest in their employees' wellness is the increasing cost of employee health benefits and productivity. In the BLE Book One study "Investing My Life," we learn that the Bible teaches that there are only three things which are eternal: God (John 1:14), God's Word (Isaiah 40:8) and people (Hebrews 9:27). I hope the day will come when employers - out of their love, concern and compassion for their employees' well-being - seriously consider wellness as a "healthy company" business strategy and choose to invest in each employee's total wellness (spiritual, physical and mental). |
How You
Can Help
|
Thank you to all of you who support this ministry financially and prayerfully. Your support is invaluable and through you God provides encouragement and provision for this ministry to bear fruit for the Kingdom.
If you would like to make a contribution to BLE, please mail your check or money order to:
Biblical Leadership for Excellence
P.O. Box 781148
San Antonio, TX 78278
|
All donations are tax-deductible.
| |
|
|
|
