by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 3, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Empowerment, Family, Mars Hill Baptist Church, Prayer, Spiritual Growth
Welcome to Day 2 of our #PrayFirst Campaign!
For One Week, we will pray for One Minute every hour about One Topic as One Church to One God! Pray for the first 60 seconds of every hour and watch God bless the other 59 minutes! There is power when God’s people pray in unity. Join us as we answer Jesus’ prayer “May they be ONE” (John 17:21).
If you’d like to know more about our #PrayFirst Campaign, you can click HERE. Also, you can read our Day One Devotional on Faith HERE.
God is the Foundation of Your Family
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1 (ESV)
Solomon the Psalmist said that it is vain to attempt things without the Lord. The point is that trying to lead your family independently of God is futile. However, a person who trusts in the Lord and include Him in their family’s plan will find rest. Without the Lord, all work is in vain.
The family is not an institution designed by man. It was created by God for the benefit of man, and man has been given stewardship over it. Christian family is one that lines up with biblical principles and one in which each member understands and fulfills his or her God-given role. The basic biblical family unit is comprised of one man, one woman—his spouse—and their offspring or adopted children.
When a husband, wife, and children all fulfill their God-appointed roles, then peace and harmony reign in the home (Psalm 127:2). But, if we try to have a Christian family without Christ as Head or without adhering to the biblical principles the Lord has lovingly provided for us, the home will suffer.
- The members of a family can teach each other about God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
- Do not let sin affect your family life (Psalm 101:2)
- Do not bring trouble to a family (Proverbs 11:29)
- Husbands and wives should love each other (Ephesians 5:21-33)
- Children should obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1)
- Church leaders must have a good family life (1 Timothy 3:4-5)
- Families should take care of each other (1 Timothy 5:3-5)
Pray for Your Family
Heavenly Father, Please shine your light upon my family. Give us strength to overcome all of the difficulties that we are dealing with now and protect us against any and all problems we may encounter in the future. O Lord, please bring us together as we are meant to be. May the love that binds us only grow stronger as we fulfill the destiny you have laid out for us. Grant my family forgiveness for any sins we have committed. May we also forgive one another Lord, as it is sometimes difficult to do. In your name I pray, Amen
by Clarence E. Stowers | Oct 15, 2015 | Empowerment, Leadership, Self-Leadership
I recently discovered why I’m feeling flu-like symptoms…It’s because the election season is almost in full swing.
Soon we will be inundated with endless commercials persuading us to vote for a particular candidate. Honestly, I am not interested in hearing another narcissistic self-serving pitch.
I’m more interested in hearing how they’ll get back to serving the people. The world doesn’t need new leaders cut from the same self-serving cloth. We need to help them discover the best kept leadership secret in plain sight – Servant Leadership.
The Best Kept Leadership Secret Hidden In Plain Sight – Be a Servant
Being a servant is often frowned upon. Instead life is all about being successful and that doesn’t quite equate to being a servant. The world tells you to have ambition and drive so you can one day lead as CEO. But self promotion seldom results in effective leadership.
If you are only focused on what you want, if you rise up through manipulation and power play, only you benefit. As a result, that leadership is seldom influential. A truly effective leader is defined by a different heart attitude.
It reflects in the success of the people that they work with and manage. It is evidenced in the organizations they lead, and it impacts dramatically on a business’ bottom line. Their secret is simply that they lead people by being a servant to them.
[shareable cite=”CE Stowers”]The Best Kept Leadership Secret Hidden In Plain Sight – Be a Servant[/shareable]
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Oct 5, 2015 | Empowerment, Leadership, Motivation, Networking, Self-Leadership, Servant Leadership, Social Media, Success, Vision
I love adding value to church leaders, pastors, and marketplace leaders.
In an effort to add value to their lives, I decided to attend Pastor E. Dewey Smith’s One Day Leadership Summit in Atlanta, GA.
It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of John Maxwell. In fact, his 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, along with Bill Hybels’ Leadership Axioms travel with me everywhere I go. Attending conferences that equip me to influence the influencer fulfills John Maxwell’s 15th Law – The Law of Contribution – Growing Yourself Enables You to Grow Others.
I must confess that in the beginning, my motivation for personal growth was selfish. I wanted to grow, so I could be successful. There were goals I wanted to accomplish and milestones I wanted to achieve. But along the way, I made a life-changing discovery. My progress in personal growth also opened the doors for others.
Therefore, I’d like to share the top leadership lessons from one of the greatest leadership minds in Christianity, Dr. E. Dewey Smith, Jr. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Sep 16, 2015 | Decisions, Empowerment, Encouragement, Motivation, Self-Leadership, Spiritual Growth
People who live in Chicago know this: Our seasons are uncontrollable and unpredictable.
The same is true about life. It’s unpredictable and include good times and bad times. There are four weather seasons, but there are many seasons in the seasons of life, especially the Season of Loneliness.
Some of you are thinking, “I can stop reading now because I’m not lonely.” Keep reading because one day you’re going to need this message. Loneliness in an inevitable season of life. You will go through it many, many times.
What Causes Loneliness
It is not good for man to be alone. Gen. 2:18
Genesis 2:18 says God made us to need each other, that we are made for relationships. When God put Adam in the Garden of Eden, He had every single thing he could want. There were no stress or problems. God looked at Adam and said, “It’s not good for man to be alone.” The very first thing that God said is not right about the earth is loneliness. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Sep 9, 2015 | Decisions, Empowerment, Encouragement, Motivation, Self-Leadership, Success, Tools, Vision
Time is an unrenewable commodity. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.
The real question is what are you doing with your time?
Each day the average American spends between one and two hours driving to and from work. Yearly we spend well over 300 hours of our lives in our car. It’s the equivalent of 38 work days of driving. Another way to look at it is 13 straight 24 hour days.
[shareable]Time is an unrenewable commodity. Once it’s gone, you can never replace it.[/shareable]
We Spend a Lot of Time Commuting
The average commute in the U.S is 45 minutes, with New Yorkers having the longest trek to work with an average 73-minute commute. Chicagoans came in second spending 64 minutes a day commuting, followed by San Francisco residents with 56 minutes, while those in Los Angeles have an average 55-minute commute, according to CNN Money. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Sep 2, 2015 | Decisions, Empowerment, Self-Leadership, Success
In Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace study, 70 percent of those who participated described themselves as “disengaged” from their work.
Translation: 70 percent of Americans don’t like their jobs. Yikes!
There’s a reason King Solomon is considered one of the wisest men who ever lived. Thousands of years ago, he posed a question that’s even more relevant today. He wrote:
What do people really get for all their hard work? Ecclesiastes 3:9
King Solomon is asking, “Why do you work?”
Do you work to pay your bills? Do you work to get rich? Do you work so that you can retire? Since studies show you’ll spend 40% of your life working, maybe it’s time to think about the real reason you work.
Let me put it another way: If you’re an average American, you’ll spend about 150,000 hours of your life at work. That’s a long time considering how many people don’t like their jobs. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time understanding why people spend their lives doing something they don’t like.
Again I ask, “Why do you work?” (more…)
