Mahatma Gandhi said “you must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Nowhere is this clearer than in non-profit organizations. For a non-profit, in order to bring vision into reality, its staff, volunteers and donors, must take action first and lead by example, demonstrating their own commitment.

This commitment is the basis for a culture of philanthropy. It is the platform from which a non-profit can ask the rest of the world to join them in their efforts. In essence, it all begins inside.

So, how, exactly, can a culture of philanthropy be nurtured and take hold in an organization? Following are 10 time-tested tips:

1. Define a Culture of Philanthropy.

A formal definition of the term says it is a culture that synergistically motivates a giving response and investment from those who can relate the organization’s mission and worthiness. The word “philanthropy” comes from the Greek words philos meaning loving, and anthropus meaning human kind, combining to convey “love of humanity”. The word culture means simply a collection of an organization’s core values, beliefs and behavior norms. So, a culture of philanthropy promotes the love of mankind…caring for others.

A philanthropic culture says to the rest of the world “we exist to fulfill a gap or need that is significant to advance a cause that is critical – will you join us?

2. Understand the characteristics of a philanthropic culture.

Organizations that have embraced a philanthropic culture see philanthropy as an opportunity to advance their very worthy mission, and they’re excited about presenting this opportunity to the world. Following are characteristics to look for:

• Everyone behaves as an ambassador, helping to identify new friends and partners.
• The organization operates in a donor-centric fashion, making it easy and comfortable for donors and creating a dialogue.
• Everyone can articulate a case for giving and describe how contributions are used.
• Beneficiaries are viewed as the focus of the organization and invited to share their stories.
• The leadership of the organization is visibly involved in leading fund raising efforts.
• Board members are personally invested and contribute financially.

Ask yourself this important question: does fund raising permeate all levels of my organization? Successful fund development starts on the inside with the people who care most about the organization.

3. Educate the organization about their role in Development.

Ninety percent of the work that is done in Development is preparation, and only ten percent is actually asking. The truth is, no organization could ever hire enough development staff to adequately develop all the potential donors in the donor universe, and yield maximum fund raising results. Organizations need an army of people involved in that ninety percent work to ensure that asks will produce positive results. That is where the culture of philanthropy plays such a crucial role…it is where the army is built.

4. Give joyously!

Staff, volunteers and others closest to the organization must give first. And it should be a stretch gift. The idea here is to demonstrate that your organization merits philanthropic support. Challenge staff, volunteers and others to make your organization one of their top three philanthropic investments.

5. Share your stories.

Encourage supporters to speak from the heart and know the facts about why supporting your organization is an investment worth thoughtful consideration.

6. Connect others.

The Donor Development Cycle takes a donor from discovery to having a philanthropic profile. This is done primarily through conversations with the prospective donor about values, interests, and motivations. It’s done in exchanges that focus on the prospective donor and not on the organization and its objectives. Fund development requires everyone’s involvement. Relationship building takes a long time.

7. Show gratitude.

With frequent, authentic, personal acknowledgment!

8. Increase engagement to increase investment.

Our constituents are those closest to us…they are familiar with our mission…they may have heard our story. So, constituents make up the best of our universe of potential donors. But how do we move them from simply knowing us to supporting us?

The answer is this: the more we engage them, the more likely they are to make a gift.

9. Prepare your ambassadors.

Help staff, volunteers and donor advocates feel prepared for conversations by arming them with the case for support or “elevator speech” about your organization. If you have an annual report, it’s another excellent reference tool for discussions with prospective supporters.

10. Apply the rules of fund raising.

A review of the basic rules of fund raising is always helpful in guiding our work as fund raiders. Here are my favorite three go-to rules:

• If you don’t ask, you won’t receive.
• People give to people.
• It’s easier to renew support than acquire new support.

As we’ve established, a strong culture of philanthropy will support an organization’s fund raising efforts becauseeveryone is involved in fund development.

In non-profit organizations, a philanthropic culture has an attitude that champions relationship building, which is the very essence and foundation of successful fund raising. In this culture, you’ll see an inclusive approach to fund raising that emanates from the heart of the organization and is embraced by every person in the organization. There is a clear understanding and respect for the way in which philanthropy helps an organization advance its mission.

Creating a culture of philanthropy begins with those closest to your organization, and it is truly the first step toward building a strong fund development program.

Although teacher leadership is an established feature of educational reform, it was only 30 years ago that most literature on school improvement focused on principals and superintendents. Though the idea of teacher leadership is not new, the conception of this role has evolved considerably. The teacher has been considered an organizational leader since the one-room schoolhouse of the 19th century. With the advent of professional school administration in the 21th century, teacher leadership became an issue of workplace democracy. Critics of professional administration argued that schools could not teach democratic principles without functioning democratically. Teacher participation in policymaking was thought to be an important part of democratic school leadership.

Efforts to promote teacher leadership were renewed in response to regulatory reforms. These initiatives viewed teacher leadership as an instrument of school improvement that would facilitate problem solving by involving the people closest to the problems. The initiatives were also considered a means of empowering individual teachers. It was assumed that variation and expansion of teachers’ responsibilities, including increased leadership with commensurate recognition and compensation, would increase motivation, satisfaction, and performance. Thinking about teacher leadership has shifted from this approach based on individual, role-based empowerment, partly because evidence on the effectiveness of such empowerment initiatives was equivocal. It was not always clear how teachers were to perform in new leadership roles or how these roles related to student learning. The roles did little to improve schools, while they caused stress and role conflict for many teachers. Moreover, lessons learned from recent school improvement efforts have shown that improvement depends less on structural changes than on the development of teachers’ knowledge, abilities, and commitment, which are more likely to change the social organization and culture of schools.

Each of these approaches moves past the idea of individual leadership in formal positions to more dynamic, organizational views of leadership. Initial evidence indicates that these modes of teacher leadership are more conducive to school improvement than earlier ones. The approaches are also consistent with recent literature defining leadership as a social process aimed at a collective end. The first approach sees leadership in teachers’ efforts to develop new knowledge from inquiry in their schools and classrooms. Teacher research encompasses all forms of teacher inquiry that involve the systematic, intentional, and self-critical study of teaching. Advocates contend that teacher research provides useful knowledge for the larger educational community and challenges the predominance of university research. Moreover, teacher researchers tend to increase their sense of promoting change and become more reflective, critical, and analytical about their own teaching and the schooling practices around them. The literature examining teacher research reports positive outcomes. Collaborations among teachers to identify, research, and address school problems have been effective. Teacher research groups have developed school programs and policies. According to teachers, their research experience enhances their ability to promote school change, though they do not necessarily see themselves as leaders as they perform leadership tasks. Studies of teacher research indicate that collaboration between administrators and teachers on inquiry related to school improvement promotes a sense of individual and collective efficacy.

In the second approach, distributing leadership across roles influences school improvement. Attention in this approach shifts from individual roles to organizational tasks. Three related models of distributive leadership have recently emerged in the literature.

One model views leadership as the performance of key functions (for example, providing vision and encouragement, obtaining resources, monitoring improvement, and handling internal and external disturbances) rather than the fulfillment of formal roles. In this view, it is more important that work be done well than that a particular individual perform it. A study of elementary schools that introduced a new curriculum found that key functions were performed by numerous people, including administrators, teachers, and outside consultants. When people in different roles performed similar functions, the resulting complementary redundancy enhanced the effectiveness of the functions.

A second model describes leadership as an organization-wide resource of power and influence that occurs through interaction. One study found that individuals in different roles influenced different organizational outcomes. For example, principals and teachers influenced organizational commitment, while parent leadership affected student attendance and achievement. Another study concluded that total leadership influence, as an indicator of the distribution of influence across roles, was related positively to the effectiveness of school organization.

A third, task-oriented model sees leadership as the interaction of school leaders, followers, and situations. Leadership encompasses the practice of two or more leaders in their interactions with followers. Followers not only have an influence on leaders’ actions but also are an essential constituting element of the social interaction that is leadership activity. Moreover, situation both determines and is determined by leadership. Case studies show that leaders who work interdependently on tasks can contribute to effective performance more than any one leader can. School leadership is enhanced by the knowledge, skills, and commitment that teachers contribute. Teacher leadership adds value to administrative leadership in terms of influence on school improvement and student outcomes. Whether or not they occupy formal leadership positions, teachers can exert influence simply by participating in the social relationships that constitute school organizations.

The third approach stresses self-managed teams for promoting teacher collaboration, learning, and problem solving. These teams are commonly small task groups in which members have a common purpose, interdependent roles, and complementary skills. Schools may create teams to increase the responsibilities of teachers and to expand opportunities for self-direction. Teams of teachers may lead by promoting school improvement and by exerting normative influence over members who shape each other’s ideas and actions. This leadership can reduce the need for administrative control.

Research indicates that effective teams require contexts that support them through rewards, training, clear requirements, and lack of constraints. Teams also require strong internal leadership from teachers who are experienced with teams and strong external leadership from administrators who enhance team members’ sense of efficacy and autonomy. Thus supported, teams can accomplish particular tasks while they increase work motivation and job satisfaction. Teaming can reduce isolation and focus teachers’ work on student learning. Teachers in teams tend to address student problems earlier and be more proactive in changing classroom practice than colleagues not in teams. However, research has found the effects of teams on whole school improvement less encouraging, partly because teams can experience serious problems coordinating activities and reaching agreement on strategic issues at the organizational level. Though teams can promote rethinking and experimentation that can change practice, strong external leadership is needed to coordinate team work at the school level and to avoid organizational fragmentation.

These three approaches emphasize the importance of collective leadership aimed at developing school organization, curriculum, and instruction. School leadership should center on important functions, not simply people and positions, as a primary means of promoting school improvement. While we should develop collective leadership capacity, principals remain crucial to teacher leadership, since they know best how to support and manage new forms of leadership. These new forms are likely to be effective only if supported in their broader organizational contexts. School contexts that resist teacher leadership by allowing little time for its realization must be changed.

To be productive and effective, you must have an organized office space. It makes no difference whether you are working remotely or working from home, as the way you approach your organization dictates your productivity, your frame of mind and your job success.

Top of the list of tasks when it comes to office organization should be the removal of clutter. Piles of folders and desk drawers stuffed with papers improperly filed — these are a signal that you are going to be wasting a lot of time looking for stuff. Make sure that essential items are within your grasp and that important documents are filed safely and properly.

Your office should be organized in a way that enables you to approach each task with confidence and ease. Make use of storage space and properly label file boxes and cabinets for easy reference. Your desk should only have on it the important items, like the phone, card file, desk calendar, in and out trays, and your computer if you don’t have a separate computer workstation.

Filing is an important component of all workplaces and there are office organization tips to make it more manageable. The key to a successful filing system is making it simple to use and maintain. Using tab hanging file folders for each subject and having specific categories of color coded files within the main topic will help in locating the information faster.

Efficient storage forms a major part of any office organization protocol. When you have files that are barely used, make sure that they are kept stored in boxes or scanned and put on a backup drive if you need to keep them. Sometimes bulky magazines, other large items or catalogs are required to be kept, so they should be stored neatly in categorized boxes, by issue, title and date.

Utilizing organizers in many areas as you can is among the key office organization tips. Use organizing trays to sort the mail that needs to be filed, acted upon, or for follow-up. Have plenty of pens, paper clips, and other office items you use frequently at your fingertips in containers on your desk.

Pay attention to some office organization fundamentals and you will have a much more efficient day. Use desktop files to manage the array of documents and memos that will come your way and make sure to clear your desk of all your work at the end of the day. Whilst you are at it, prepare a to-do list so you’re focused and ready first thing in the morning.

Internal organization is a problem, no how big or small your business is. The problem is particularly acute for those people who are self-employed and have to handle all elements of their business themselves. However, by implementing strict organizational measures, the office will definitely run more smoothly and you will have a more pleasant time at work.

Chef Gordon’s TV show Kitchen Nightmares could describe a lot of American homes. Even though the number of cabinets in a kitchen are at historic highs, they are overwhelmed by the sheer number of gadgets, accessories, cookware and foodstuffs that leave them bulging at the seams.

Who hasn’t been unable to open a drawer in the kitchen because something has become jammed in it. Or open a cabinet, only to have pots, pans and lids coming spilling out.

The good news is you can easily improve kitchen organization with a bakers rack. These lovely pieces of furniture may hark back to the days of pioneers who used them to cool pies, but they are still a fantastic item to add to your kitchen or dining area, no matter how much space you used to have there.

The reason why you can improve kitchen organization with a bakers rack is pretty straightforward. It can give you a lot of extra storage for little extra square footage, certainly no more space than a large service cart. Bakers racks are tall and narrow in most cases, allowing you to improve kitchen organization with a bakers rack by going up, not out. This uses a lot of space that often just goes to waste above a lower piece of furniture, such as a chest or buffet.

When considering a bakers rack to give you more storage, you want to first find a style that compliments your décor. Let’s face it, the most awesome rack in the world will look out of place if its style runs counter to your existing interior décor scheme. Fortunately, there are hundreds of models out there to choose from, from very traditional bakers racks that aren’t much different than the ones our ancestors had to very modern designs with equally modern features.

If you have a bulky appliance that needs a new home to free up your counters, a bakers rack can do the trick. Usually, these racks have a large countertop in the center, perfect for an espresso maker or even a microwave. You can further improve kitchen organization with a bakers rack by locating accessory items on the rack, such as hanging your espresso cups off the rack and storing your coffees down below in a doored hutch.

This is one of the great things about a bakers rack. By considering the type of needs you have, you can get a rack that fills the bill perfectly. For instance, if you’re a wine lover, you can get a baker’s rack with wine bottle storage and a drawer for openers and foil cutters. On the counter, you can add cheese service utensils and a small marble slab for serving.

You can also improve kitchen organization with a bakers rack by moving your cookbooks to the rack. The space above, racks that once held cooling pies, is a great place to store your favorite cookbooks. You can also add canisters of baking goods there, such as flower or sugar.

Improve kitchen organization with a bakers rack further by using the space down below. You can get racks with a doored cabinet below which is perfect for hiding those more unsightly things you need when you cook, such as scales, baking pans or a rolling pin. If there are shelves below you can increase your storage capabilities even more by using the space for books, appliances and other items you use more frequently but won’t make the kitchen look even messier.

Finally, you can get all the stuff out of those other drawers so you can open them easily by getting a bakers rack with a center drawer. This also makes a great junk drawer, which every family seems to have.

Part One: A series on the church

What does the Word of God teach regarding the church in its form, function and expression? Anyone who ponders this issue begins at the point of asking the question from one, if not all three of these areas. This question surfaced many years ago in my life because of the struggles I was having in applying Biblical rational to a career in full time ministry.

Coming from the perspective as a professional pastor I had to wonder why church leadership was so difficult to implement and maintain. Ministry was rewarding at times yet filled with many complications that had no biblical explanation or justification. One day those irreconcilable differences piled so high I decided to start from scratch and revisit the meaning of the church. The physical church, of which I was a part and the professional job I sought so diligently to acquire, wasn’t representing what I would see from New Covenant thought and early church activity. I continued to wrestle through this period of confusion, having the Lord point out many areas within the church that had become important frameworks for business maneuvering, yet made no sense biblically. So I set out to find answers to my questions.

To begin answering these questions I looked around at what the church had become in the 21st Century and contrasted it with the days of the Apostles and their first Century writings. The dissimilarities were obviously shocking. I noted how our contemporary church had incorporated a business style or institutional structure within its daily existence. Amazingly this strategy has permeated the church in almost every area of form, function and expression. Today’s “ministry box” is well defined and almost unquestionably accepted as a legitimate role model. As I spoke to others about my doubts and discoveries, I found the majority of people uninterested in the topic of “Do we need another Reformation?” To have someone question the current model and suggest we might be out of step biblically was usually looked upon with suspicion. My prayer for those who read this article is to eliminate cultural suspicion and rediscover the core values and simple patterns of ministry that made the early church a life changing force twenty-one centuries ago. My hope is that you are enlightened from scripture and not from years of unsupportable Christian tradition.

Is The Church an Organism or an Organization?

One day I had a break-through in trying to understand the nature of the church by asking myself this fundamental question, “Is the church an organism or is it an organization?” If you answered “organism,” your home-study doctrinal certificate is ready to be mailed out. We hear it regularly taught that it is indeed an “organism,” but which is it really today, an organism or an organization? Truthfully, I believe God designed it to be an organism, but man in his limited wisdom redesigned God’s original intent and converted it into an organization. I had to be honest with myself and admit I had been part of the problem. Not knowing it, my years in professional ministry were spent giving lip service to the expression “organism,” but living out my Christian life in the “organization.” Every question and every problem I was having with the church found its way back to the fact that I was trying to benefit from the best of both worlds. Like most, I had fallen into the trap of thinking “organized religion” was a good thing.

Oddly, many of us have the assumption that organized religion is a positive addition to society. The word “religion,” as defined in Webster’s Dictionary, means “that which binds.” If it consistently binds people together and compliments people’s beliefs we deem it as a positive quality. But, let me ask you this question. What if it doesn’t bind people together, but separates people into their protected religious worlds? If so, is “organized religion” a good thing then? Perhaps a better interpretation for “that which binds” would be “that which binds people up.” Like a lawn mower bound-up and stalled from trying to cut tall grass, organized religion serves to restrict people into religious sub cultures, defending religious laws and mandates while trying to protect religious organizations. If one willingly enters the “binding category” you are gladly received as an accepted member. But what if others look upon all of this as foolishness, because the end result produces a collective of “bound-up” and stall-out assemblies of world religions and fractured denominational Christian groups? Is organized religion then perceived as a meaningful addition to society? I would answer “no” to that question since the “big picture” belief of Jesus’ mission was to eliminate organized religion by taking on the most bound-up and rule based religion of the day, the Jewish faith. No world religion could hold a candle to the legalism and religious expectations Judaism offered. Is it any wonder the Jewish religious leaders regularly confronted Jesus on the reasons for “why” or “when” He healed, taught or served others? Every time He was directed by the Father to do something supernatural it resulted in a direct violation of religious law or tradition.

In addition, have you ever thought about and concluded that Christianity is the only faith birthed on the planet with no sacred rules and traditions, no sacred individuals and no sacred spaces besides God Himself? Given this premise, Christianity isn’t a religion or a system but is the only offer to mankind to form a simple and personal relationship with God through Christ free from the interference of “organized religion” and powered by an inward Life-the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.This intentional vision by God, designed within the framework of the New Covenant, came about so that homes, courtyards, market places, privately owned public buildings, schools and roadsides would become fluid meeting places for an organic movement that would surpass the influence of the Roman Empire and sweep around the world. So how does God implement His plan?

You Are the Church

The term (ekklesia-translated church in English) was never applied to a building or hand-built temple, but instead it was an expressive title given by the grace of God to describe His holy people. Take note on how Paul drives this point home to the Corinthian church as they were struggling to realize God’s new plans. For we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field, God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:9). There are three points he is making that he hopes they will understand. If you are of the institutional mindset then you are probably thinking of three points that would be opposites of Paul’s. Your thoughts might fall along these lines; the first is hire staff, the second is purchase property, and the third would be to construct a building.

Take careful observation of how God’s plans differed under the New Covenant. The first point is that there is no staff. Paul and everyone else were fellow workers. They were all spiritually and equally employed in God’s kingdom with gifts, talents and time. The second point is that no one needed to go out with a realtor to purchase land. He makes it clear that they were now the field. Every world religion sought property to own, but the early church was going to stand out from the rest as ambassadors of a heavenly kingdom. And the third point is that they were to resist the temptation of hiring an architect and raising money for the purpose of constructing a building. God’s ideas for the church were much simpler-they, as believers, were the building! In just a few more sentences Paul finishes his radical presentation by saying, “do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?” (1 Cor 3:16) Surprisingly Paul’s question, “do you not know?” applied to me! For years I did not know. When God revealed these concepts to my mind and heart they shattered the roadblock that hindered me from understanding the true nature of the church. In simple to understand terms, every believer in Christ became the church!

I believe a key reason the church is less effective today than in those early years is that we have taken a very important spiritual identity, “the church”and for the most part, misnamed it and misrepresented it as a building with nicely designed church signs facing the street. Place a cross near the top of the building and you have a legitimate church structure. To reassure this Old Covenant concept we hear people everyday calling the building “the house of God, the Lord’s place, or the sanctuary,” Given this, we now have created the artificial need for everyone to incessantly, “get to church.” Unlike Jewish believers, the first and second century converts never asked the question “Where do you go to church?” That would have been a ridiculous question in those days. They were aware of the fact that you couldn’t attempt to go to a place when you were that place (the church).

In today’s culture, Christian reaction to the knowledge that we are the church is not necessarily liberating and life changing information. Most believers have the impression and the experience of being the church only when they are in a marked church building and actively participating in an officially prescribed church service. Upon departing that experience, most disconnect themselves from their true “identity in Christ” as people who are the church and they slide comfortably into more understandable roles as husband or wives, fathers or mothers, employers or employees and relatives and friends. “Worldly boxes” for daily living become just as rotational as “spiritual boxes” for supernatural living. So a cultural tradition has come about where we believe we are only the church when we are in a “big box” called the church building. Since we are in the mega church era, the bigger the box the more successful that church looks to the rest of the world.

I would like to illustrate my observations about this cultural tradition because it is now the norm rather than the exception. Imagine if the only time men and women understood or experienced their respective genders was when they visited buildings designated as “Men’s or Women’s Restrooms.” What if Christian leaders misinformed the populace for centuries with the message that men or women, which ever the case, would only have the capacity to think, act and enjoy their masculinity or femininity after they entered and stayed for a time in the “Men’s/Women’s Restroom”? How much productive time, living as men and women apart from the “Restroom Facility,” would be lost due to a false expectation and tragic misconception of reality? Can we conclude this misunderstanding is clearly the case today as most live out their Christian lives? The majority of believers perceive of themselves as the church when they are trained to visit a building marked “The Church.” How much valuable time and quality of spiritual life is lost with that misplaced identity? Thus, many don’t authentically experience who they are on a continual basis so they remain ignorant or sheltered from the “abundant life” offered to those who know who they are in Christ as the church. Is it any wonder why frustrated pastors are passionately preaching week-after-week for their congregants to get off the sidelines as spectators and participate on the field. Either knowingly or unknowingly, professional ministers have created and defined the spectator sidelines with refreshments and comfortable benches where everyone can sit and watch power point presentations about what they could do for the Lord if they were only given the opportunity to get onto the field. If people were set free to be themselves in Christ as the church, the organized religious sidelines and power point presentations would be over and a thing of the past. There would be many unemployed professionals set free from the bondage of organized religion to be blown about by the Spirit of God to new and more purposeful endeavors.

Organized religion has always tried to justify and legitimize their belief systems with buildings. The early church lived around the religions of their day with buildings containing committed followers. With that awareness, they understood that God had decided to do something incredibly creative by discarding the template of buildings as temples and churches. His alternative plan came about by miraculously creating within each believer the knowledge and the ability to stand on their own or corporately, as “temples of God.” Jesus, the High Priest, placed His Spirit into believers twenty-four hours a day, performing His worship service within their hearts and minds. What did this do for them?

For one thing, this gave the church the needed mobility and flexibility to go anywhere and minister. Have you ever wondered how the words spoken by Jesus to Nicodemus would apply to the church? Let me remind you of part of that conversation so that you will see how it fits into this discussion. “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going: so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8). Can you see what you have been created to do? God’s people were literally designed to be blown through neighborhoods and around the world by the Holy Spirit like leaves being scattered about by the wind. They were not meant to be confined and tied down to a business model for the purpose of producing spiritual results. Instead, supernatural productivity would be the result of spiritual transformation with radically different ways of existing in the kingdom building process.

Living in Christ with a Divine Nature

Since the church is spiritual, it was designed to be organic in form, function and expression. We are told in I Corinthians 12 that God made this possible by including every believer into a supernatural body that is identified as Christ’s (I Corinthians 12:27). To make that work effectively He gave us new natures by being born again, “…putting on a new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:24). Peter says that as a result of this we are now partakers of the divine nature free to function in the world with His spiritual DNA. How is this manifested and employed?

When operating in the nature of God’s DNA, as did the early church, we see a freedom to function and display signs of spiritual life. For example, an organic church model is free from ritual, hierarchical leadership and a group dependent upon one key leader or professional staff with a building to maintain. It generates relationships of brotherly love and a commitment to one another. Those gathered together are inquisitive seekers asking questions and forming biblically based ideas that apply to individual and corporate living. It fosters mutual appreciation of each other’s contributions in an open participatory body. It believes Godly living is dependent upon Christ’s life living in and through each believer and not upon a set of moral or ethical codes or principles or rules. One will see men and women who have discovered their spiritual makeup is understood through their identity in Christ. Lastly, Biblical teaching communicates that Christians are now under the New Covenant which revoked the Old Covenant and made it obsolete.

Any form of institutional worship, service or practice can not be recognized as spiritually innate and genetically driven by God. What is seen as traditionally religious must be ignored and set aside in order to hear the word of God and trust the Holy Spirit to freely manifest Christ in our life. Religion should never be an allowable substitute for the freedom we can experience in Christ. This was why the Apostle Paul cautioned fellow believers with the following words to the Galatians. “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1). In this setting the yoke of slavery was Jewish legalism that distracted people from their freedom to live in the life of Christ and trust Him fully for godly living. Organized religion has an abundant supply of what looks good on the surface, enticing men and women into traditional, religious Christian lifestyles instead of an authentic life in Christ. Adopting such practices will always suffocate God’s expressive DNA within a person by building a trust and dependence upon man instead of God. What can we anticipate when believers gather together freely with Christ as the source of our life as the cornerstone for our uncontained living?

Gathering Together Organically

When believers “go to church” within an institutional setting are they benefitting spiritually? Are they being built up and edified as God would desire? Is there a biblical basis for what takes place so that the experience is authentic and fruitful? These are tough questions to ask any person who is attached to the organizational model, but they must be asked if one views scriptural principles as fundamental for gathering together. Where do we start if we are open to discovering answers to these questions? Let’s look at the early church model and see how close we are in following their lead.

As I stated before, the early church had an organic element to it. The gathering times were fluid as it allowed and benefitted from the expected and unexpected contributions of its participants. Jesus Christ was the focus of the meeting, as He is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23). There was an expectation and a trust that He would lead during those times of assembly. He would be the “senior pastor” organizing the fellowship and all aspects of worship, which involves all facets of our life.

Along with this, He has placed each of us as members of His body to function just as He has desired (1 Corinthians 12:18). There was a belief that as God brought people into His body of believers each would have a valuable role to play within the assembly. Therefore, organic church life trusted the Holy Spirit to provide the freedom to express what the Lord had taught each member through the week. Paul’s words describe the organic church movement when he says, “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has as a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.” (1 Cor 4:26). What stands out as God’s blueprint for collective worship?

First of all, if you have roots in the organized church movement then you are going to have problems trying to apply these instructions. Paul directs the church assembly to include each one who attends as a participant rather than as an observer. Everyone was a leader by the very nature of the priesthood of the believer. There were no divisions within the group in terms of clergy/laity or professional and non professional status. For example, God’s voice would not be restricted to a “worship minister” with a background choir in colorful robes and a one man bible message delivered by a “senior pastor” week after week.

The second point, if we are to apply these words then we must believe each member has learned something very important about God and the Christian life through the week. Given this, it may mean Jesus Christ might lead that person to contribute what he has learned for the benefit of all. I think we can also assume God has built within each person the desire and need to participate in a meaningful way. Within our spiritual DNA, as born again believers, we are wired for spiritual participation and a passion to build each other up. When not given this opportunity, we are left unfulfilled during the gathering times and the assembly is worst off because of it. What can we anticipate with each member being a participant?

I believe the creative and edifying energy of God’s plans for worship surpasses anything humanly structured because of its potentially rich content. The meetings might have familiar songs or new ones freshly written and taught for all to learn and sing. Visual artwork, poems and drama can also be the expressive elements in worship. Teaching, planned and unplanned (i.e. topical or expository), along with testimonies and prophetic insights (casting light upon truth and life), will be additional witnesses to the Gospel. Anything glorifying Christ is to be anticipated through the prayers, the lyrics, the teachings and the participation of those attentive to the Lord’s voice. And let me add, this comes about when young and old are blended together to share in each other’s unique gifts and contributions to the church body. Young and old need each other to grow in the Lord.

In contrast, the institutional church will seldom allow and present this type of freedom and liberty for those attending. The risks for a professionally led church, designed to run on a business model are too great if operated organically. The following are some of these risks and probable reasons for keeping tight control over what occurs during primary gathering times. Perhaps some of these observations and experiences have been yours as well.

• When there are many contributors to edify the body of Christ a very healthy spiritual atmosphere can be developed. Thus, when gifted leaders surface and mature, paid staff can be threatened by job insecurity due to the lack of being the primary visionaries for the church.

• A meeting designed and orchestrated by God can be unique and unwieldy. For example, the amount of time when people gather together may be longer than conventional church settings might allow. In addition, one never knows what to expect from those attending a fellowship which is Christ driven instead of staff driven.

• Those in attendance actively participate instead of being compliant bench-warmers waiting to be spoon-fed or entertained. Each weekly meeting is different because of the variety of those attending and contributing.

• No one can be manipulated into joining ministries that directly support the vision of a structured church environment. Out-of-the-box ministries are started and sustained amongst those who are led and indwelt by Jesus to meet the needs of those in their communities and the world.

• Financial support will be by faith (believing God sustains His work and supports His workers) instead of by sight (line item budget supported by an Old Covenant tithing system).

• When a person views the church as an organism, those attending are not members who are comfortable with attendance roles and numbers being sent to church offices and denominational headquarters for methods of evaluating a spiritually active community. Growing in the grace of God and trusting Him for all things spiritual are the practical expressions of church life. People are free to come and go as Christ leads. There is nothing employed as a way to control commitment or size within a group.

• In contrast to the organically driven church, professional pastors are faced with the daily pressure to keep what has been built sustained and to grow the base spiritually and numerically. Every paid staff person knows these two stated goals are what guarantee and safeguard their jobs. Therefore, in an institutionally driven church any number of problems can occur. Workaholic schedules, competitive atmospheres, strained relationships due to unrealistic expectations and excessive worry are just a few downsides that immediately come to mind. If the church chooses to run as an institution then the world’s standards for success will also produce problems associated with career accomplishment.

• Every institutionally minded purpose, goal and structure is at risk when an individual or a group of people decides to live their lives based on an organic church model. What has been achieved organizationally may not fit or work within an organic model. When making the shift to the organic model one must always be mindful that a foundation laid by man will usually be unharmonious with plans set by Jesus Christ. (I Cor 3:12).

The organizational church methods have had centuries to develop and regretfully most Christians do not believe or realize there is another way. There are many who proclaim the organic model will never work in today’s culture. My response is twofold. First, why go to the trouble of teaching anything in the Bible if human nature and its needs have changed from that of the first century? And secondly, if we believe our culture will not accept and flourish with an organic model, then what can we say about the success terrorist groups are having by using it? Everyone in the news media acknowledges the organic nature of terrorism and the inability to define, locate and extinguish it. Amazingly Satan saw the success of the early church and decided to use the technique for his own destructive purposes. He possibly had the following thought centuries ago. “If the church is not going to use it, then I will.”

My hope is for biblical discovery that takes the church into a modern day, second Reformation. Clearly, the first one started with high expectations but never completed the job. If given the opportunity by God, we shall all have the revelation to see ourselves as God views us. We are the church, designed to live freely in His spiritual DNA and given the tremendous ability to minister organically in an organizational world culture. My prayer is that it will happen in my lifetime and yours as God calls out more believers from organized religion into organic church.

An organic model exists to express Jesus Christ and depend upon Him as the Head of the church and the visionary and support for the rest of the Body (1 Corinthians 12). In the next part I will examine how the reverse pyramid style of leadership is demonstrated in the organic model.

By Bill E. Rose

“There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren’t willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. The funny thing is, in the end, their unwillingness to sacrifice only makes individual goals more difficult to achieve. One thing I believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” Michael Jordan

What is a team? According to the Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, a team is–A number of persons associated together in work or activity.

What is teamwork? Work done by several associates with each doing a part but all subordinating personal prominence to the efficiency of the whole.

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” Unknown

Teams come in all shapes and sizes. Parents working with teachers to help students achieve their potential are an example of a team. So is the individual employed by an organization, working together with their colleagues. The coach of your favorite team working with staff members and players forms another unique team. So what makes one team more successful than another?

They have a mission: Successful organizations have a mission statement. What is a mission statement? A mission statement describes your organization/teams purpose. It captures the qualities that the team wants to develop, what the teams goals are, and how the team is going to get there. In other words, it is a road map.

Winning teams set realistic, attainable goals. Once their goals (objectives) are reached they set new goals. Winners need to be challenged. There needs to be a team awareness and communication. Team members must be aware of what is happening around them as it relates to the teams overall game plan. That awareness involves a perception of how the individual is doing. For an athlete that might be how they are doing in class, on the court, and in their dealings with other people.

Communication is a two way street. A team that communicates together is more likely to do the things necessary to be successful.

Successful teams are disciplined teams. My main rule dealing with athletes is: Be where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to be doing, when you are supposed to be doing it.

They are committed. They are willing to do Whatever It Takes, (WIT), to help the team achieve their goals. Their commitment must be legal, moral, and ethical. Their individual goals are secondary to the goals of the team.

Periodic review of team and individual performance. Athletes, as well as those who are part of a business organization need feedback. They need to be told what they are doing right, and what they need to work on to improve individual and team performance.

They have a winning attitude. They believe in themselves, their teammates, and their mission. They don’t allow negative “stinking thinking” to sidetrack them. They associate with other “winners”. And they know that success leaves clues.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Unknown

“Coming together is a beginning….keeping together is progress….working together is a success.” John C. Maxwell

More than 90% of all community fundraisers today are experiencing significant levels of frustration. Maybe you’re one of them? Most would cite the apparent apathy of the local community as the root cause of their problems.

Community organizations are a subset of nonprofits, which are geographically confined to a particular local community. Organizations such as, sports teams, school groups, church groups, youth groups and community support groups are all examples of community organizations.

The most common comments from community fundraisers are: “No-one comes forward to volunteer for our organization anymore” and “Our community is very slow to support our fundraising efforts; many just don’t bother”

It may come as a surprise to you to learn that the source of the apathy is rarely the community. In most cases the source of the apathy is the community fundraiser! That may seem like a controversial statement, but nonetheless it’s true. Understanding why, it is the key to your fundraising success.

The problem is that the fundraising landscape is vastly different for our community organizations than it is for charities and other nonprofits. Charities receive the bulk of their money from donations. Community organizations are not often afforded such luxury!

Charity fundraisers have a significant advantage in that their organization’s benefits are plain for all to see. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to figure out how your money is helping the starving children in Africa or the potential benefits when you donate to cancer research.

It’s a little harder to figure out why the local soccer club is so important. In today’s world full of noise and haste, people are bombarded with advertising messages. Many have become immune to all types of marketing and unfortunately that extends to our community organization advertising.

This is often the main reason for thinking that your community doesn’t care about your organization. That ultimately leads to a very frustrating experience as a community fundraiser. Frustration leads to apathy (if they don’t care, I don’t either). You’ve hit the wall. Now, how do you get over it? Well, it’s pretty easy, as it turns out.

In most cases the community does care. The problem is that your organization is not at the forefront of their minds, so they naturally block out your messaging. The crux of the problem is that most community fundraisers are event-focused rather than people-focused.

Believe me it’s very difficult to succeed when you’re event-focused. I know this from 5 years of bitter frustration! Sure you can experience some measure of success by working really hard at promoting your events and campaigns. As you’ve probably discovered already, that only leads to exhaustion.

In order to make your life easier you must put relationship building at the heart of your fundraising strategy. People-focus is the key to your success and that starts with your benefits message.

As a sports club, our benefits message centers around the part we play in the development of our local youth. They learn skills such as, self-confidence, coordination, teamwork, social skills and learning to cope with success and failure.

These benefits are obviously very important in the development of these young people, so why then do people simply take them for granted? The answer is because they’ve never actually given it any thought. Who would blame them?

The first time I put our benefits message in the club newsletters I was amazed by the reaction. People came up to me and said that they’d never viewed the club in that light before and as a result, I was able to convince them to become more proactive in their support.

Events such as your Open Day also play an important role in your relationship building. The theme of such events must be fun and enjoyment. That usually means, lots of kids’ activities. Where there are kids, there are parents, and that’s your queue to start your relationship building.

My community organization and many others have now benefited greatly from the switch to a people-focused strategy. Maybe it’s time for you to think about making the switch as well?

Who else gets up in the morning, gets dressed for work and then opens the door to get into the garage to get to your car that sits in the driveway?

I bet it is about 95% of the people who have garages. The reason being that most people use their garage for storing extra stuff. Most of the stuff in there will never be used.

There is a solution!

A good garage organization system can make all the difference in the world. You can save your sanity by organizing everything in this black hole so you can get your car back in there and find what you need very quickly.

The garage organization system can consist of many parts. Some of these parts may or may not fit your needs.

what Are They?

Bins-you can store just about anything in these that will fit. the most common items are loose nails, nuts and bolts, electrical nuts and much more

Wrench hooks/hangers-These will make all your wrenches easy to find. No more rooting through a drawer in a tool box trying to find the right wrench to use for 20 minutes.

Heavy duty cord and hose hooks-These will get all your hoses and electrical cords off the floor and arranged neatly on the wall. No more need to untangle 3 different cords from each other. No more unkinking water hoses to spray the flowers in the spring. Kinking hoses will ruin them.

Heavy duty activity hangers-hang up-your kids no longer will have to throw their roller blades on the garage floor. They can hand everything on the wall on the heavy duty hooks.

Where do you get these things?

Communication plays a very important role in an organization. In fact, it is said to be the life wire of the organization. Nothing in the universe, human or otherwise, that does not communicate; though the means of communication may be very different. Communication is very crucial and unavoidable since we have intentions which we want to pass across to another person, group or even to the outside world.

Communication in an organization is inevitable. Departments communicate from time to time in respect to daily activities and the organization’s relationship with the external world. It says what it intended via written and unwritten means, either planned or impromptu. It could be hierarchical, that is, from top to bottom or vice versa. It could be formal or informal; vertical, horizontal or diagonal. Whichever means, modes or types of communication, what matters is that communication takes place.

However, what is being communicated may be well understood and thus feedback or misunderstood or insufficient and thus communication breakdown. In fact, communication within an organization could be grapevine or rumour. In all, communication in an organization is very complex and it needs to be correctly handled and monitored to avoid chaos, crisis or conflict.

The basic functions and roles of the management could not be performed without communication. Planning, organizing, coordinating, budgeting, monitoring, controlling, staffing, delegation; and including marketing, production, financing, staffing (human resource managing), research and development, purchasing, selling, etc could not be well coordinated, harnessed and their goals achieved without communication.

At meetings, annual general meeting, ordinary meeting, urgent meeting, etc, communication plays a key role. The effectiveness of an organization also depends on the success of its meetings where goals to be achieved, targets to be met, and activities to be carried out are ironed out and discussed. If the ideas are not well understood at the meeting, then one need to be sure that the workers will mess up everything. Thus, the chairman of the meeting must be an effective speaker or communication capable of ensuring that everyone got what has been discussed correctly.

This will help eradicate rumor and grapevine and likewise help achieve set standards, goals and/or objectives.

In conclusion, everyone in an organization needs to have good communication skill, not the boss only, but also the subordinates. It is what all of us (workers) need to jointly strive to achieve the set goals. Remove communication in an organization, we are going to have dead entity, good for nothing and worth been shut down. Communication is the backbone for organization’s success.

It’s not just ADHD kids who are disorganized? Kids who don’t have ADHD sometimes can’t remember to bring homework home either. Can’t remember to take the homework back to school when they did bring it home. It’s not intentional. He really means to get his homework done. He just forgets. Maybe her school materials are poorly organized. Maybe he has poor time-management skills. With all the distractions bombarding kids today, it’s not surprising that they forget so much and are so unorganized.

Without some basic organizational strategies, kids do poorly in school and their grades plummet. Some kids end up cheating or lying–whatever it takes to survive school with a minimum of criticism and punishment. Disorganization and forgetfulness get in the way of success at school.

You can teach your child how to be more organized. Maybe you’ll even find some of these tips useful around your home.

Seven Tips to Help Your Disorganized Kid

1. Color code: Help your child organize his school books and notebooks by color-coding them. Use colored book covers, stickers, labels, stars, or markers with one color for each subject. You can also color code the books by adding colored stickers.

2. Clear book covers: Consider using clear book covers to cover books so that your child can always see the covers.

3. Locker organization: Help your child organize his locker. Brainstorm with him to come up with the best solution. Often locker organizers or locker shelves help a lot. Put morning  books on one shelf  and afternoon books on another, or math and science on one shelf, language arts and social studies on another, for example. Label the shelves.

4. Extra set of books: Keep an extra set of textbooks at home. Before you buy them, ask if the school can provide them. Check the web too for companies who rent textbooks.

5. Organizer: Help your child develop daily schedules. Some schools provide daily planners. If your child’s school doesn’t give out planners, you’ll need to buy one or a PDA (personal digital assistant) from an office-supply store. While you’re there, you and your child can look around at other products that help with organizing.

6. Structure: Offer to help your child organize her homework time. As soon as she gets home, go over the list of assignments due the next day as well as any long-term assignments. If you wait until later, it may be too late to get an assignment from a friend or a book from school. Help her decide which assignment she’s going to do first. Then help her figure enough time for each assignment.

7. Home organization: You and your disorganized kid need to decide on one place to put finished homework. One place to put everything that needs to go back to school including his lunch. One hook for his jacket. And keeping his room uncluttered helps also. Have him set a weekly schedule for cleaning and organizing his room. For some kids, they’ll need to do this every day for awhile until organization becomes a habit. Just as you did for his locker, find shelves and cubes to put things in. Color coding helps here also. You may need to help them at first.

Kids will do best at this new organization routine if it’s simple, and they’ve had a say in deciding what will work and what won’t. Disorganized kids can go overboard with color coding, labels, and stickers which only leads to more disorganization because it’s too complicated. They may need help in making it easy.

Being organized gives kids a sense of power and control over school and their lives. As they begin to feel good about themselves, they’ll start doing better in school.