A Challenge

I've been reading a lot lately. For one of my classes I'm taking, I have to read a bunch of books on leadership and apply the knowledge to church leadership and growth. Boring! Right? Maybe to some, but I am getting really excited about this stuff. The stories of great companies like Walgreens and Gilette accompanied by the stories of great leaders like Billy Graham and Teddy Roosevelt have enormous potential for modern-church application. Words like humility, sacrifice, uncompromising excellence, and passion jump out of the pages and smack me in the face. God's mark is on all truly great things. Where there is truth, you have found God also.  I see the love and work of Christ in the story of the billionaire CEO and Co-Founder of Hewlett-Packard. Though the astounding success of his business afforded him great wealth and opportunity, he never moved out of the house he and his wife built together in 1957. Upon meeting this man, you would have no idea of the billions of dollars that were at his disposal. And after his death, he gave it all away to a charitable foundation. He did not allow his money or success to define him. How many of us follow that model? How many of us let our passion, our sacrifice, our uncompromising excellence, or, above all, our humility define us? My guess would be very few. My message for you today is to, with the help of the Holy Spirit in your life, seek after these qualities. Seek after them as if this is your last chance to leave a positive mark on this Earth. PASSION. SACRIFICE. UNCOMPROMISING EXCELLENCE. HUMILITY.