Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 290 – Stalled hearts This may be the first devotion you have read inspired by a traffic jam. I was on the highway from Calgary to Edmonton when traffic came to a shuddering halt. What should have been free-flowing lanes turned into a parking lot. The reason? The sheer number of cars exiting toward CrossIron Mills, a large shopping centre. I felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, I was grateful,...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 289 – The Next Faithful Step We have been busy rebuilding our strategy in ReGen.Global. In business, strategy decks, roadmaps, five-year plans, and dashboards are expected and important. We are trained to distrust anything that does not show the destination. The bible often counters that logic. Scripture rarely gives the whole plan, though it does say how things will end. Instead,...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 288 – Forgiveness, Part 2 View this in your browser I love receiving comments from you, fellow pilgrims. Several thoughtful responses came in following the devotion on Forgiveness. I would like to quote one remark below and build on it. Joseph said, when addressing those that have caused him damage, “May you be judged by God’s love, and may restitution and restoration be the reflection of this...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 287 – Forgiveness We have spoken about shalom and flourishing. We have spoken about justice. I would propose the third leg of the stool of hope that allows us to sit quietly and work at our vocation with that inexplicable peace : forgiveness.  “The sins of the entire world get drowned in the sea of God’s love like a stone thrown into water. So, there can’t be any space for despondency,...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 286 – Justice and Shalom Shalom is never abstract. It never floats free from the real decisions we make. In Scripture, shalom is always braided with justice (mishpat) and righteousness (tsedaqah). You cannot have one without the other. Amos refuses to let us imagine peace without fairness, wholeness without integrity, worship without right relationships.  “Let justice roll on like a...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 285 – Shalom While cycling with Andrew today, we talked about shalom. He said it was more than peace, and paraphrased what Myron Penner had taught him. “Shalom is when everything is flourishing as God intended to be.” Myron Penner This statement resonates with me. The whole focus of Regen.Global is flourishing – a flourishing, physically and spiritually, rooted in Christ. “For God...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 284 – A kind of praying Let’s continue the theme of self-care started in Business Devotions 283 – Oxygen Mask. “Sit with a story over the winter and learn it. Be gentle with yourself for at least an hour a day. Check up on a friend. Do something humanised and human-sized in the monstrous-sized calamities we hear about daily. That’s my advice. All of that can be a kind of praying....

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 283 – Put on your own oxygen mask first  My colleague  Mike Baer recently wrote about putting team before self.  This advice needs more nuance. “Put self last and team first” is important (Philippians 2:3–4) yet it can also be dangerous if taken out of context. Building team through servant leadership is essential, but if it comes at the cost of the leader’s...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 282 – Filters In a most enjoyable call with my friend and client, Darrell, he cautioned that I know what ‘filters’ I am viewing world events through. That made me pause. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. Colossians 2:8 Scripture is...

Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 281 – Renunciation I have been reading Ron Rolheiser, a favourite teacher of mine. His thoughts apply to the sanctified (saintly) calling in your business or vocation.   Ron quotes Søren Kierkegaard,  “To be a saint is to will the one thing.” He then draws on Thomas Aquinas who said, “every choice is a renunciation.” Ron continues, “We have to make choices, accept the painful...