Becoming a Christian entrepreneur

I've just finished up Brennan Manning's A Glimpse of Jesus: The Stranger to Self-Hatred. What a great read. In the chapter on "Integrity and Self-Acceptance" comes this quote:

"Risktakers [are] ready to chance something... Writing the gospel afresh for one's own generation, and imaginative response to the needs of the church. Their dream... is contagious for some and delusional for the vociferous, lockstepping Majority." [p. 117]

and...

"Scriptures testify that the innovator invites trouble. Guilt-tripping is a cruel and powerful weapon, especially in the hands of others." [p. 188]

Oh man! Does this ever resonate with me! After years of being stifled in the "lockstepping majority" I am finding a freshness in my spiritual Walk these days. Daring to dream that a woman could offer something to the Church beyond childcare or the occasional solo... Believing that the 'itch' to be God's woman in the world is not anathema... Letting others' judgmental attitudes wash by me and not let their "stuff" get mixed up with mine... Listening only to the Holy Spirit as I go...

I am in the midst of taking that risky step of daring to go back to school... after all these years! The prospect of papers and assignments and memorizing miniscule facts is a little daunting. Will my half-a-century old grey matter be able to accept anything else inside it? Dunno... but I'm sure going to try!

All entrepreneurs take risks... Church planter or franchise starter. But it's not a matter of copying a successful business model. It's a process of seeing what it is that needs to be expressed, used, sold or provided, and designing something that is unique to the need. I won't be a Bill Hybels or a Beth Moore. I never could sing like Jennifer Knapp or Twila Paris. I'm Deb. Simply and fully Deb. And how God wants to take that, shape it and sand it into what He wants is what I'm praying and studying towards...


From our home to yours...

Deb