RE: The Year Of Being Reborn

Matt and I are always humbled in responses we receive to our posts.  As I said before, putting our hearts out there on display is quite a theraputic thing for us.  We hope that in our sharing, we can expose you to Father’s heart and encourage you with experiences and life examples.  We feel that once you are FREE and you are RESTING in Father’s love, you will be better prepared to run a business and be ready for the fire that throws at you.

Many of you responded to my series of articles on “The Year Of Being Reborn“.  I had great comments via email and on Facebook.  Thank you!

But one person in particular had a really heartfelt response. He wrote to tell me about it, I responded, and then he had an amazing transformational moment Father.  I’ve asked for his permission to share it with you.  His name is Greg Mann, and I think you’ll love this exchange…

Bob,

My name is Greg Mann. I live in Newark Ohio. I’m 52 years
old. I read with great interests your blog posts on “The
Year Of Being Born”. I just felt impressed to write you
and let you know how much I appreciated you sharing your
heart.

Over the past couple of years I’ve found myself going
through some major transformations and looking back now, a
large part of it is the “burning off” of religious ideals
and ideologies that had permeated my “life view”. Also in
just the normal day to day stuff, I find Papa gently (and
sometimes not so gently) restructuring the way I look at
things such as finances, family etc.

I’ve been “self-employed” so to speak, but the truth is
I’ve given Papa the reigns of my business/life, the
responsible thing to do! I’m involved mostly in Web work,
seo, marketing etc. Over the past year, I’ve utilized much
of the Lance Walnau material and really let God begin to
speak to me concerning callings and vocations etc, and
help me to discover who I am, why I’m here, how I’m wired.
I’ve been a musician most of my life but not much beyond
the “hobby” stage, though I gig regularly and have for
decades, I’ve never really viewed it as a sustainable
revenue source to support/raise a family of 8, although
the last year some incredible things have come together
that I had nothing to do with. Complete autonomous moves
of God. I got hooked up with some major music industry
people in Nashville, got hooked up with a business dynamo
here where I live (I really question my business acumen,
and had asked God for good people around me, and was hired
by a very long-lived regional musical group without them
ever even hearing me play.

Today I again found myself in a place where it seems I’ve
been frequently for the past 2 years. hitting a financial
brick wall, bills all due and overdue, phone ringing with
folks looking for money, business not sustaining us, and
me going to God with the same old question “What am
*”I”*going to do?”

This morning I read your blog posts “the year of being
reborn” and our Papa spoke to me through those. I guess I
just needed reminded of some of those things. He’s right
in the midst of my situations, He’s got my best interests
at heart, (as opposed to comfortability, ease of life,
etc), He’s in control, and of course.. He loves and cares
for me so far beyond my human comprehension.

In the hitting of the very familiar “brick wall” , and
going to Papa completely broken, dazed and confused, after
reading your posts, this is what come away with: He’ll
part the red sea, he’ll probably insure that the
“stonings” don’t kill me, he’ll send angels into prison
and unlock my shackles, and it might be today, and it
might not, but at the perfect time good things will happen.
And in the midst of all the pressures and turmoil, I
believe I hear that still small voice saying “make music!”
It doesn’t make much sense but I suppose it didn’t make
much sense either when Jesus told an experienced second or
third generation fisherman to let down his nets on the
other side.

Thank you for your heart, for in the pouring out of it,
our Papa spoke to me!

Greg Mann

Hi Greg. Thank you for writing.

This life is a mystery. We’re so swayed by circumstances aren’t we? Even as
I sit here today, I’m up one minute and down the next. I don’t know what to
work on next. I want to get things done, but I want to just rest. It’s
maddening sometimes. Part of this roller coaster is me getting unplugged
from religion. I’ve got a solid 35 years invested if you count the teaching
I got in Sunday School and Christian School until 1987. My wife and I
resigned membership from the only church we’ve ever belonged to just last
week. We know there’s more to Father than attendance, leading, and being
busy in the Kingdom. So yeah, I’m still out there with you going, “Ok, Papa,
what’s next?”. It’s not a great place for a Type A, leader, planner,
entrepreneur to be, but I’m learning.

Your story is great, Greg. And I’m hearing variations of it more and more.
Either we’re special, or Father is shaking up everything. It makes no sense,
does it? You’re heart is music. I know that Father put it there. But you
can’t possibly see how this can provide the means to feed your family. One
time, someone prayed with me, and she received a word from Father. It was,
“What you are doing is enough”.

Another time, I was praying with a guy and Father told him to tell me,
“Don’t worry about what you will eat. That’s my job”. As the provider of my
family and my business, that was hard to hear, because I thought it was my
God-given responsibility to feed these people. Papa’s been showing me that’s
not my job. My job is to love them and nurture them, he’ll take care of the
feeding part. Wow.

The posture to take is to let him sort out the details, and when you see the
waves part, take a step of faith. It’s not what we’re taught, but I’m seeing
that what we’ve been taught ain’t necessarily right. He has an amazing way
of sorting out the mistakes and struggles in our lives into something great
if we let him.

Keep me updated, bro. I’d love to hear what happens next for you.

Bob,

Just wanted to touch base with you this morning.

For me, yesterday was a “line in the sand” day as far as some very important
dollars were concerned. Over the past several days, leading up to yesterday,
I did all of the things that “church” had taught me… I bound, I loosed, I
proclaimed, etc etc etc. Yet yesterday came and went and the money didn’t
come in. For the last few days I had sort of a low grade headache (I NEVER
get headaches) and the pain at the top of my neck and shoulder blade had
become very intrusive, I’m sure all stress related.

This morning I had to get up around 4:45am and take my son to work as his
car wasn’t running. My mind was just swimming with all kinds of thoughts, so
when I got back home, I thought it a good time to spend some time with Papa.
I had a lot to say to him, the kind of things you preface with: ” I’m not
complaining but..” I remember these words coming out of my mouth.. “You said
to be a seeker of your kingdom first, and I have been”… and then it hit me
that it goes on to say “and of His righteousness”. At that point I began to
see something. His righteousness is all about His love and passion and grace
for ME, basically all of things a father is to his child. I’m not sure that
I’m getting into writing the scope of all this but, all of this “father-son”
stuff just started to bubble up in me, and I realized it was Him holding me
in his arms comforting and caressing me.

In my efforts leading up to yesterday, I realized that I resorted to
“religion”. I hate it. It has robbed me of years with my Papa.
This is all about a Papa being crazy about his son, and his son (me) being
crazy about his Papa. We “talked” for probably an hour, and I don’t mean I
heard an audible voice (except for mine). There was a lot more to our time,
but what came out was this and I realized that this is where HE has been
trying to get me to go: There is no higher joy for a father, than to give
his child the freedoms, the disciplines and the wisdom necessary to live out
of, and pursue his inner passions and dreams, and until the Body of Christ
gets this, we limit the expression and manifestation of HIS being in our
world. “Religion” had taught me otherwise. We HAVE to be true to our
unique-ness.

Papa used a very hard time for me, to expose his “fatherhood” to me, and my
sonship to him.

Out of it, I penned the following:

You peel back the layers of our onion-skinned lives
Exposing fortified walls standing guard in the night

A treasure chest lies at the heart of this scene
With a padlock of steel, bursting it’s seams
Filled with feeling and emotions, though valid, but old
Once vital and living now hardened and cold

And under those treasures lie the dreams of our youth
Like a heart pumping blood down into its roots
Never to die, only lived or denied
A seed in the soil longing to rise

So rain rain rain

A few minutes later I left to go on my daily 5 mile walk. The headache and
the neck pain were gone. The concerns and thoughts of the finances had
melted away replaced by a confidence that can only come from a trusted
friend, and the only English words that I could get out of my mouth were
“Papa, oh Papa, thank you.”

Before I arrived home, it started to rain

Greg

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The Year Of Being Reborn Part 1

Today is September 27, and tomorrow is September 28.  This day is probably like any other day to you, unless you have a birthday or some other day of remembrance.

For me, September 28, 2009 started off like any other day, certainly remembering the birthdays of a sister-in-law and a friend, but a simple old Monday where normal business would be transacted.  What I didn’t realize is that on this day, about 2:30pm, my life would start over…

As many of you follow this blog to peek into the lives of Matt and I, you know that this past year was an adventure for both of us (for Matt, 3 years).    On this blog, we’ve written more about life – the trials, the joys, the questions – than about business.  We thought this blog was going to be all about business and running it for the Kingdom.  Tools, tips, strategies, plans – all meant to take territory for the King and conquer the world of business.

Alas, twas not meant to be.  Instead, we’ve been led through a wilderness of discovery and life-changing revelation that we’ve openly shared with you.  As much as we want to open your eyes, truth be told, much of what we write is therapy for us.  It just helps us process everything to talk about it on the radio show or write about it on our blog. We hope that in sharing this, it’s helped you as much as it’s helped us.

But you know what?  We’ve also realized that more than 7 tips, 3 principles, or 5 strategies – the stuff we’re writing about is better. It’s real life.  We’re learning it’s not about principles or strategies as much as it’s resting in Father and watching him work in our business.  Everything else feels like striving, and when you strive, it’s all on your shoulders. That’s too large of a burden for most people to carry.  For me, it was.

…Rewind 2 days…on September 25, 2009, while sitting in my office pouting my heart out to Papa, he showed me a picture of a lion.  Very vivid picture.  In doing so, I asked Father why he showed me a lion.  He asked me to write down everything I knew about lions.  Here’s what I wrote:

- Lions are Proud, and the head of their Pride

- A male lion rests about 20 hours a day – they don’t strive for anything. They exist in a state of rest.

- A lion fears very little, and stays on a rock, lying down most of the day not concerned about predators.

- A lion can be fierce – there are times he needs to attack

- A lion has a marked territory

- A lion is the “king of the jungle” and packs a load roar heard for miles and commands respect from the jungle

That was a very emotional experience for me, because at the time I was praying, my spirit was in a deep, dark place. Nothing was going right in my business or my life.  But God chose September 25, 2009 to show me that I was a lion, even though I felt nothing like one at the time.  What God was doing that day was showing me a picture of my future.

You’d think an experience like that would restore a man, but I realized it didn’t.  That was a Friday, and all that night, and that whole weekend – I felt like i was in a tunnel.  I shared the experience I had with my wife and my staff, but overall I was just zoning through the weekend.

Then, on Monday, September 28, I spent the day on the phone with potential clients, and then after a call with Matt and someone I don’t recall, I hung up the phone and had what I thought was a heart attack.  Sharp pains in my chest.  I saw the room closing in on myself, dark circles narrowing down to a small dot in front of me.  Cold sweats, shaking, rapid breathing.

I fell on to the floor and cried out to God to help me, to not let me die right there on the floor, alone, and for my wife to find me when she got home from work.

It seemed like an hour, but really it was just a few minutes.  I managed to get into my chair and sat there, talking myself into staying conscious.  I breathed in and out as slowly as  I could, and slowed down my mind which was giving me all kinds of false information.

When my wife arrived home at 3:00, I calmly went downstairs and told her i needed to go to the ER.  I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it wasn’t right.

After several hours in the ER, I was told I was not having a heart attack, but because of my family history, they were going to keep me overnight and run tests the next day.

That night, at about 2am, I felt all alone, embarrassed, and angry.  Here I sat in my bed, knowing in my spirit that I did not have a heart attack – i realized it was a panic attack.  It was all in my head.  How could I ever explain this to everyone?  How could I, the all-put-together rock of a man, suffer something as weak as a panic attack?

It was then I heard him, heard him clearly as if he was leaning over my bed – “Son, you’re going to rest for awhile.”  I looked around, but didn’t see anyone.  Then I realized it was not a doc, not a nurse, but Father.  I realized then and there, my life was not going to be the same….

…To Be Continued….

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Consulting in the Light

When you work with people, are you honest and transparent? Do you give room for people to see who you really are?

Today’s businesses find all workers – from the janitor to the CEO walking around trying to hide their shame or guilt or whatever. If that prospect were to find out who you really are, he would never do business with your company. If that business partner knew about the cracks, they would choose another. And, you would be rejected.

No one wants to be rejected.

Never before have we had the opportunity to consult our clients with openness. Everyone today tries to pretend. So, those who are straight forward and honest will be seen as breath to a man trapped under water. We can bring darkness to the light and do business in transparency.

Your prospects and clients will be amazed. You will too when they choose to do business with you in spite of the cracks and breaks and because of your trustworthiness. People want to do business with people that they can trust.

Consult your heart. Do you tell the truth? Do you really tell the truth? Are you honest with yourself? Are you honest with the market?

If you can muster enough trust to be open and honest, you will be astonished at how much your business increases.

Proverbs 20:6
Many a man proclaims his own loyalty. But who can find a trustworthy man?
—-
John Stein has 23 years business experience working with companies of all sizes and industries including Arthur Andersen (way before Enron), Prentice Hall Professional Software, CPA Systems and Escape Velocity Systems. His background includes various leadership roles in sales and marketing.  Learn more about John and his company at elevate29.com

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