The Biblical Leadership Show
Inspiration. Wisdom. Leadership from a Higher Perspective.
Welcome to The Biblical Leadership Show, your go-to resource for discovering timeless truths from Scripture that empower leaders to inspire, influence, and impact their world. Hosted by Tim Lansford and Dr. Dean Posey, this podcast takes a deep dive into the Bible’s profound lessons on leadership, bringing fresh perspectives to timeless principles that resonate in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world.
Each episode is packed with:
- Powerful Biblical Insights: We explore the leadership styles of biblical figures like Moses, Esther, David, and Jesus, extracting practical strategies for overcoming challenges, building trust, and creating lasting impact.
- Real-World Applications: Learn how to integrate biblical leadership principles into your workplace, team, or organization while navigating the complexities of modern leadership.
- Inspiration for Growth: Whether you’re a seasoned leader or just stepping into a leadership role, our content is designed to motivate and equip you to lead with integrity, compassion, and vision.
- Stories and Wisdom: Hear personal stories and guest interviews that highlight how biblical leadership transforms lives and businesses.
Leadership isn’t just about titles or power—it’s about serving others, making wise decisions, and leaving a legacy of faith and purpose. Through relatable discussions, actionable takeaways, and encouragement rooted in Scripture, The Biblical Leadership Show provides the tools and insights you need to lead boldly and faithfully in every sphere of life.
Whether you’re leading in the boardroom, the church, your community, or your home, this podcast is for you. Together, we’ll navigate the intersection of faith and leadership, bridging ancient wisdom with modern relevance.
New episodes drop every Tuesday. Subscribe now and lead with purpose, faith, and courage!
The Biblical Leadership Show
The Joy of Generosity: Infusing Life with Dad Jokes, Compassion, and Community Connection
Get ready for a laughter-filled journey through the art of giving with your favorite dynamic duo, Tim Lansford and Dr. Dean Posey! We're sprinkling this episode with dad jokes that'll have you chuckling and diving into the heart of what it truly means to be generous. It's not just about reaching for your wallet; it's about sharing your time, talents, and lending a shoulder when it's needed most. We weave together our own experiences and the warm fuzzies you get from selflessly supporting those around you, showing you that there's more to generosity than just a dollar sign.
As we wade through the various types of generosity, from the financial backbone that sustains church operations to the invaluable contributions of service, expertise, and empathy, we shed light on the immense satisfaction these acts bring. Join us as we discuss the challenges of discussing money matters within the congregation, and celebrate the unsung heroes whose generosity moves in quieter, but no less impactful, ways. Whether it's mentoring a newcomer, helping a neighbor, or simply listening, we reveal how these moments forge stronger communities and enrich our own lives.
In wrapping up, we reflect on the powerful teachings of the Christian faith and how the scripture guides us in giving with a joyful heart. We draw parallels between these principles and their applications in leadership and business, cultivating environments of compassion and transparency. As our podcast family continues to grow, we cherish each new listener and extend our heartfelt gratitude for joining us on this uplifting journey. Remember to visit us at Biblicalleadershipshow.com, and let's keep spreading joy—one smile, one act of kindness at a time.
ah, welcome to another exciting episode.
Speaker 2:Hey Tim.
Speaker 1:See, I changed it up one time. I just can't do it.
Speaker 2:You just can't do it.
Speaker 1:I just got to go back to the normal Biblicalleadershipshowcom Well, actually Biblical leadership show, but you can find us at biblicalleadershipshowcom. How are you doing, dr Dean? I'm good Tim. How are you doing today? Oh, my gosh, just hanging in there living the dream.
Speaker 2:That's it. That's what we do right, and what a great topic we have for today.
Speaker 1:You know generosity.
Speaker 2:Generosity, so I just want to. I said this before the show started, but I'm going to say it again. Last week, you know we were talking about gratitude and if you didn't pick that, you know, catch that one up. I encourage you to go back and download it and listen. I think there was some good insight on that that we shared with you. But today's on generosity and I was noticing, tim, that as we're looking back on our podcast from last week, that we didn't have one dad joke for the first 30 minutes of our podcast, and so today were we in serious mode or what we were so serious I mean, it was very serious we were talking about rain, we were talking about stuff, but no dad jokes.
Speaker 2:And the stockyards and everything else.
Speaker 1:So people probably listened to our show. We started the dad jokes. They probably logged off and said we're out. We're out, I'll catch you next week, right? So Dr Dean said that ain't happened in this week. No, because we're generous.
Speaker 2:Let's focus on generosity today. So we're going to be very generous with our dad jokes at the beginning. And so if you can make it through the next few minutes, then when we get to the actual topic, I hope you will enjoy it. So give us your best dad. Well, just give us a dad joke.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to be your best one. No, let's see I was. I was waiting for there. Why don't eggs tell jokes?
Speaker 2:Because they crack each other up.
Speaker 1:How about this one?
Speaker 2:Did you hear about the guy who invented lifesavers?
Speaker 1:You know, I have that one on my list somewhere I read that one a little bit ago, but go ahead they say he made a mint. He made a mint.
Speaker 2:He made a mint.
Speaker 1:See, we dug into the same little dad jokes of the week, I guess.
Speaker 2:So here's another one why did the coffee file a police report?
Speaker 1:Oh, why is that?
Speaker 2:Because it got mugged. Nice, I told you it was going to be bad. Oh, here's one more.
Speaker 1:Here's one more.
Speaker 2:And then we'll get to the topic. Did you hear the rumor about butter?
Speaker 1:I actually have not heard this one.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm not going to spread it.
Speaker 1:Well, there you go.
Speaker 2:There you go, I don't even have my butter.
Speaker 1:Speaking of, butter.
Speaker 2:If you've ever been to the Texas State Fair which is coming, it always comes up the end of September, 1st of October. It is unlike any fair in the United States. It is by far the best state fair in the country and if you go into I can't remember the building. But there is a life-size butter sculpture every year and it is fascinating to see what an artist can do with a ton of butter. I'm not joking, I mean it is incredible. I don't know how cold this walk-in refrigerator is. There's a glass so you can see it and they have some life-size sculpture. One time there was a horse and a cowboy and it was phenomenal. I mean, the detail in that butter was so amazing. But as far as rumors, I'm not going to spread them.
Speaker 1:I wonder what they do to the butter, the things after the show.
Speaker 2:That's a great question, do they?
Speaker 1:have a party.
Speaker 2:They might have a party with the breadmakers. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Is there some rich guy that has all these butter sculptures in his house? A number of refrigerated walk-in cooler. People collect rooming tins and things.
Speaker 2:Maybe someone collects butter sculptures.
Speaker 1:I don't really know, I don't know, I just hadn't thought about it. We'll have to go down that path. We're going to have to go investigate. You have to get the fine listeners the updates of that next week. What do they do with the butter?
Speaker 2:What do they do with the butter sculpture? Maybe they just I would think they want to dispose it before they let the thing cool the room temperature.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I don't know, that's a great thought. I don't know that Melt Melt and I don't know.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Well, there's your homework for the week. I'm not going to accept that the answer is not in the back of the book.
Speaker 2:So I'm not going to take that one.
Speaker 1:I understand. So let's talk about this generosity, yeah.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about generosity. So let's just kind of lay out a definition. So, generosity there's lots of thinking about generosity. So many times when we think about generosity we think about only money.
Speaker 2:We're going to get to different types of generosity in just a minute, but let's just talk about basic definition of generosity and that is a willingness to be liberal in giving your time or your money or your talent or those kind of things. So are you willing to be liberal or just giving it away and here's an important thing without expecting anything in return? Yeah, that would be such a crucial part of the definition, because if we're willing to give but we have an expectation that we're going to give to get, then that's really not being generous. And so I think a biblical definition of generosity would be willing to give without an expectation of return Well, at least not material. There would be a return of satisfaction, a return of a good feeling that you help somebody, but not necessarily. Well, I'm going to give this so I'll get praise, or I'll get that. That's not the reason you give. So that would be reason to be generous or a definition of generosity.
Speaker 1:Right. So you mentioned a couple of different levels, different types of generosity there. So, and I think one of the biggest things we think from the church is the ability to give money Right, and I think that that's what a lot of times when we're talking the church, we're talking about that. I think that's what people and we always have those, I'm sure you know where they're in me is the raise the money weeks right, where all the pastors, the preachers, they have to go out and but I mean it has to do, we have to ask for that. But I mean I know that that's probably for me, if I was the person had to be up there, that would be a very awkward thing for me to do.
Speaker 1:It's always challenging and I've always wanted to ask you about that because I mean it has to be done, it's part of any business. And then church is a business. You have to be able to keep the lights on the doors and all that stuff. But I always wanted to ask you because I mean I know that for me I would be like tongue tied, twisted and but you always did great job, you know you up there, and but you'd done it for so many years, you know of doing that. So I always wanted to, you know, do it and not to go off side subject. But that's what we do around here, you know, and I think about it until you know we're talking about it.
Speaker 1:But that's what usually, a lot of times, people are asking. You know, generosity, and a lot of people think that involves the church, but it's much more too. But they answer the question. I want to ask you about that first right, how did you feel those weeks? You know?
Speaker 2:It was always a challenge. Now, the people who were generous, you know, in the 45 years of being a pastor, the people who are generous never minded me talking about money.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Because they knew the importance of that and it wasn't just to keep the lights on or to pay the insurance bill, the staff, even though those were all important. And believe me that there is a very serious business side to a church of any size. I mean, you could have a church of 12 people. But the question is, if you're meeting in a place, then how are you paying for the place that you're meeting Could be a home. Well then, my question would be what mission are you supporting Financially? Do you have a missionary? Are you supporting meals on wheels? Are you supporting the Tenerife Food Bank, or what are you supporting as a church?
Speaker 2:And so, talking about money and the generosity, jesus talked about money so much because he knew it's a trap that so many times we live in a fear of not having enough and so we hold on to that because we don't trust God that he's going to take care of us. And so it was a challenge because some people were not generous, and you always heard comments from the people who were not generous. The people who were generous, I don't think ever heard anything but compliments about the topic, because they knew how important it was. But let's talk about different types of generosity, different, let's just say categories of generosity, because so many times when we think about being generous, we think about it only in terms of financial generosity, and that is a very important topic. So many nonprofits could not exist without the generosity of their supporters.
Speaker 2:And there are thousands of good nonprofits in this country and around the world that do incredible work, just incredible work, but they are so dependent upon the generosity of their donors, and rightly so. But one of the things that's important when you're if you're a person that raises money, people want to know where their money is going, and so, yes, they know you have to pay the light bill, you have to pay the insurance bill, you have to pay. You know whether the person to mow the grass or whatever, but it's like, okay, yes, we're going to be doing this. You know we're educating our children, or we're sending two missionaries to this country this year, or we're going to go down to South America and build a house, you know. So your support helps us do those things to help change the world and make someone's life better. Those are the kind of things that really motivate people to give, and so I would say, when you're talking about that, giving materially is one important and very important aspect of that. But another type of generosity is serving, and so one of the calls I believe, when Jesus called us to be a Christ follower, he called us to serve, and so the question is, where are we serving? Not getting paid for it. I mean, if you're a teacher, that's not your service. The question would be what are you doing to help someone else, to give your time or talent to someone else that you're not getting paid for? You might be a scout leader, you might be a soccer coach, you know. You might volunteer at the food bank or meals on wheels or Habitat for Humanity or some other, but and you might not do it like every week, you might do it once a month or something, but you're generous with your time. The other thing would be you're generous with your expertise. So maybe you're mentoring somebody, maybe you are teaching someone because they're not doing well in math or they're not doing well in science, or they're not doing well in English or whatever it may be, and you're generous with your expertise, and that's another aspect of generosity. And so maybe you're thinking how can I help somebody? Well, maybe you were really good at business and you want to go to the school and you want to mentor some of the students that want to focus on business. Maybe you're good welder, or maybe you're good at dealing with horses and you want to teach people how to do that. So you're using your expertise in a generous way to teach another person that doesn't know how to do that.
Speaker 2:And the last topic would be generous with your affection. So emotional generosity when and I know COVID did put a lot of dampering on physical touch between people Sometimes we still are hesitant to reach out. Some people are afraid now to, because of COVID, still to reach out and hug somebody or shake hands or whatever. Okay, but what about complimenting them with generous words, showing kindness, those kinds of things is another aspect of generosity. So the question would be how are we doing in each one of those four areas of generosity? We might not be an expert in a field, so we can't give advice, but maybe we can give some money or maybe we can serve somewhere and we can learn to be more generous with our physical touch or with our words or with our actions.
Speaker 1:And I'm gonna add one more to that Sure, because I think there's another one that's so important in today's world and its attention.
Speaker 2:Oh, that would be good, yes.
Speaker 1:You know so how many times you know electronics. We don't give attention to the other party you know, how many times at dinner you know people are sitting there texting and not talking. And are you, you know kids, you know, are they playing games or you on their phone at the night, you know, and you're not having those talks and sitting at the table eating dinner and whatever it might be. So I think attention's a big one in the world that we really need to talk about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think everybody at some level has a desire for attention, for recognition, think that they are a person of value, and so that's a really good addition to that list.
Speaker 1:I think it's almost one of the rarest ones at this point. You know, and it's sort of like the basic needs, you know, the Maslow's hierarchy of you know the basic needs of stuff, and to that one I think we actually need to add and I've done it a lot in my slides Wi-Fi, because that's almost a basic need to us. Right, you know how come my phone isn't working?
Speaker 2:How come I?
Speaker 1:can't get on the internet, you know, and it's the same with attention, you know, it's that generous. If you can be generous with your time and your attention and to be able to open up to somebody, it's man. You just never know what the other person's going through. I know scenarios I just went through yesterday that it was just like a scenario where how's everything going and it was like just a gusher, you know of things that this person wanted to talk to and confide with me about. But it was if I wouldn't have gave them my attention and been genuine of going, hey, what's going on in your life, what's going down? And it was this open to floodgates of you know discussions, and so I was very attentive the whole time and you know, sometimes you gotta be a good listener.
Speaker 1:And there was a study that came out. You know, for me in my world it's all studies. They studied babies, where they studied male babies and female babies and stuff. And the male babies, they would have them crawling from point A to point B and then they put a obstacle in front of them and the boy babies would stop and they would try to move the obstacle, push it out of the way and figure out how to go around it or move it, you know, crawl over it or whatever, and the girl babies would just get up to it and then they would start crying because they didn't do it. And that's one of those things that they were going on this study.
Speaker 1:And it wasn't the difference between the men's brains and the women's brains, it was the men are problem solvers, we're the ladies. So a lot of times, what the story was for the men to say don't be the problem solver. Sometimes, when your wife is coming to talk to you, they just need to express their vocalness, they don't need the problem solver. And I know I've been guilty of that so many times. You know it comes up and blah, blah, blah, blah and I'm coming, I'm fixing it, trying to fix it.
Speaker 1:That ain't what it wants, and that's the wrong you learn that over the course of being married and I know you've been married a few years longer than me, but you know it's one of those things. But attention is one of the big things and how you use that generosity and be there for people.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about some practical ways that people can do that very thing about sharing attention. So let's just say you work in an office building and you work in a floor that everybody has a cubicle, so you're in a big office complex. I know that's rare anymore because so many people work from home it is sort of rare.
Speaker 2:It is more and more rare, but let's just say you still do that. So the question would be when you get out of your car and you get to whatever floor you're on, do you just walk to your cubicle? Or maybe because you're like, whoa, I want to pay attention to somebody today, do you just take some time? It could take literally one minute out of your day and just go and just see how.
Speaker 2:Just say hi to somebody. It'd be amazing if you started doing that to a different person every day. Or maybe just you see somebody on your street and you just walk up and just say hi. It could be someone at church. I know it's normal for people who go to church, which, if you're not a church person, I would encourage you to find a church home. If you need any help with that, give us a ring at biblicalleadershipshowcom. But it's very normal for people to go to church to just talk to the same people that they already know. And so maybe this Sunday it is coming up on the Easter, so it's like, okay, coming up, maybe there's going to be a person I've never met. I don't know if they've been in church. Maybe they're new, maybe they're not new, maybe they sit always behind me and I never have seen them. Just go up and talk to them. Just give them a little bit of attention. It will make their day and it'll make you feel good too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was a thing I used to teach back in the day. I still teach. I taught it here a couple weeks ago in the sales thing is a lot of times people in sales you get into that introvert and extrovert thing. You can be 100% extrovert but you go through COVID and even my channel may enter introvert. It was hiding in there, I didn't know it. But then when you got back out and you had to talk to people, it's like I'm good, right. So I did this way back when in the 90s I actually long story but got into designing websites and stuff. I had a website design company.
Speaker 1:So I've been held up in my house for 30 days at a time, sometimes working days, nights and all that stuff, get everything done and no one has time to go out and sell. I've sort of become a little bit more introverted. So I used to go. I made it a point that I got to get out of this, I got to get back into it and I would go out to Target or Walmart and I had to have a conversation with three people for at least five to 10 minutes before I could go home. So some days I was in and out in five minutes and I mean in 20 minutes, and then some days I was there for an hour just wandering around.
Speaker 1:But I learned a lot. And it ties into exactly what you said is just sometimes people need somebody to talk to them, they need an outlet. So I would just go in. I was doing it for my reasons of just starting conversations, trying to make myself more extroverted because I just wasn't in the talking mood and I would just strike up conversations with random people and put a couple of things in my cart, push it around, and I mean there's some conversations we sit there and talk for 45 minutes and it was literally just they needed somebody to talk to and it was just that divine intervention that I was there at the right point and the right time and it made a world of difference as far as in their life how you go with it. So sometimes it is just giving a little time asking somebody, meeting somebody new then and getting out of your comfort zone sometimes, and you never know what might happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and part of the issue is that and I don't remember the author, but they explained this very well Sometimes we don't have any. We live so close to the boundaries I mean we don't have any flex time at all. We are so scheduled every minute of our day, almost every second of our day. We're so scheduled that if anything disrupts that like we get too many red lights or you know we have this it just turns our whole day upside down, and so one of the things that we can do to practice being more generous is scheduling in some boundaries, maybe not put our schedule so full.
Speaker 2:No, I know sometimes, you know, if we're working in an office, we have clients. You know we're a physician or a CPA or an attorney. We might not have control of that because someone else does our schedule, but maybe during lunch or before or after work, you know we can begin to be a little bit more flexible if we go to the gym. Instead of just going into the gym, maybe we just need to spend some time and talk to the person at the front desk, just seeing how they're doing. Or, you know, strike up a conversation with someone who you're sharing the weight machine with, just to focus on someone else, and I think that's part of the issue, the really one of the bottom foundational issues of generosity, and that is what is our focus.
Speaker 1:Is it?
Speaker 2:going to be on us. Do we want the whole world to focus on us in our agenda, in our timeline, in our priorities or do we have a space in our life to focus on someone else? And the more we focus on someone else, then the more generous we will be. And we talked about gratitude in last week's podcast. I think the two of them are so close together. So the more we're thankful, the more we live a life of gratitude, then it's easier for us to be generous with our money, with our time, with our advice, with our attention to other people, with our affection. It's just easier to do that.
Speaker 1:And generosity. You know, one of the things that people don't know is when you're in the state of giving. It actually is good for you.
Speaker 1:You know it releases the endorphins and the dopamine and stuff in your body and it gives you a feeling that it actually it's a healthy thing right when you lower your blood pressure and everything there's. I've one of the things that we talked about and it was one of the things I was going to mention when we talked about gratitude, and we talked about there's that short term when we're you know you get that present, and I know we've talked about it before is like I, if I can avoid giving a present and I can give an experience, that experience is going to last a lot longer.
Speaker 1:I'm going to have that, that, that, that feeling. That person's going to have that feeling other than, oh, I'm going to get this toy and go throw it in the playroom, right, it's. Oh, we went to Disneyland, oh, that's going to. That's memories going to be forever. It's sort of like you and I know you're big on the national parks and running around. I mean you're, you're getting those experiences. It'd be one thing to sit down and go get a postcard from every park or something like that, but I mean you're experiencing it. You know I was like, oh, I bought a series of 50 postcards, you know. And oh, look at my postcards, right? No, you've went down, you've went through 50 parks and and had those experiences.
Speaker 2:And those are memories, that that you're going to take and you've had them for many years and you'll have them for many years coming up you know, yeah, but the reason that is is because they said it, we said it as a priority, yeah, and, and we chose not to do certain things in order to do that, and I think that's what generosity is all about. Are we going to lay aside certain things to do something else? I mean, most of us only have a limited supply of money. All of us have the same number of hours in a day, and, and so the question is how are we going to spend that time? Is it all about us, is it all about our agenda and what's good for us, or is there some time during the day when we lay our agenda aside and we say you know what? I'm going to go help that person. It could be mowing the grass of the neighbor next door, right? It could be taking someone for shopping, it could be going to see someone in the hospital or the nursing home, or shut in, or you know something like that.
Speaker 2:If you're involved in a church, I can guarantee you that every church has people in their congregation that are homebound and Visiting them once a month. If that's all you do, which would be a phenomenal thing for them, they will hold on to that hour or 30 minutes, whatever it is, they will hold on to it as one of the highlights of the day. It's amazing how many older people Really don't have anybody to come see them. Their family lives in another part of the country. Maybe they don't have any family anymore.
Speaker 2:So if you would say you know what, sunday after church, maybe after lunch, I'm gonna go visit, you know, betty Smith at the nursing home and we're gonna, I'm just gonna stay 30 minutes and and and and then go home, it will make their day and it will be a phenomenal experience, and and so I would say, just be thinking about how can I think less of myself and more of someone else? And Jesus said that. Well, john the Baptist said that when he Was, you know, in the beginning of Jesus ministry. John the Baptist said he must, I must, decrease, but he must increase, and I think that's part of the generosity mindset is how we have to decrease in our importance, or we have to Think of our agenda less in order to put someone else's agenda in front of ours, and and the more we do that, then the more generosity is just a natural part of our life.
Speaker 1:So you got me and you know all these shows I think of things. Oh yeah, I meant to put that on my list. I used to do that and and I used to go go do some some stuff. And I hadn't done it and and Cove it came and I I'm a mace and a Shriners stuff, and I used to go over the Masonic. We have a big Masonic Community, retirement community and I used to go over there and talk to people. Every week I would just go over. I had a few people that had no family. I asked you know in front who has no family that ever comes visit them.
Speaker 1:And we would just go out and sit in the front on the park bench and just talk for 30, 40 minutes Best thing ever as far as feeling. And I and I was gonna start it right before COVID and then COVID hit and that sort of dampened it. But I just put it on my list of I'm gonna check to see if they Will allow it. I mean times have changed.
Speaker 2:You know, I don't even know if they'll let me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think they'll let me because I'm Mason and you know a Shriners and you know part of the organization. But but yeah, that used to give me that, that that feeling of just. It was good for them and good for me the benefit I got out of that. So let's talk about a little bit about the, the Bible. I bet you it might mention a generosity in the Bible a few times maybe probably more than any of us realize.
Speaker 2:And so Jesus did talk about money, just about more than any other topic. And it wasn't just about money, it was about this whole thing of are we thinking about just ourselves? Are we thinking about others and expanding the kingdom of God? But if we look at the Bible with the filter of generosity, we will see hundreds and hundreds of examples of People being generous, of the challenge to be generous, the rewards of generosity, and they're not always physical rewards. There's a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that we helped someone else In in a specific way. But here let's just start out with something from the Old Testament, and in Proverbs 11 24, we read these words one gives freely, yet grows all the richer. Another with holes what he should give and only suffers want that. That is really a Powerful verse. And then we can skip to the New Testament.
Speaker 2:Some people might be familiar with this one. 2nd Corinthians 9 7 says this each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful Giver. And it's not just the giving, it's the motivation behind it. And do we give reluctantly? It's like, oh gosh, I just do not want to give any money to the church, or you know, here comes the offering plate again. Or you know, I, just, I, just why do they always talk about money? You know, every time I walk into the bank, they talk about money. You know, every time I walk into a grocery store, they want my money. But we go into a church and that's like I don't talk about money.
Speaker 1:I have the, the funny, the meme and everything is. He keeps hitting my facebook where it's like. You know, I was in church the other day. I was praying that I needed money and then all of a sudden this guy hands me the big basket of money. I didn't know what to do.
Speaker 2:I was praying there, it is right in front of me, basket of money, I didn't know what to do next.
Speaker 2:But I think the lesson in that for all of us is we want to be giving, um, whether materially, giving our expertise, giving attention, serving effect, whatever it may be, but we we want it to be A joyful thing that we do. We want to grow in our generosity To the point where we look forward to those things that they're not a burden to us, um, and so we can. We can look at our growth, um Maturity in this era of generosity by Is it a burden to us? Do we doing it Because we feel we have to? Well, maybe we just need to keep doing it to the point where we don't feel we have to. We get to the point where we want to and that is a huge step in maturity, especially for a Christian, and I believe that's where God wants all of us to be is to the point where we want to do those things just to be a blessing to others.
Speaker 2:A lot of people are familiar with the story in Luke 21 about the woman who's a widow, who there was lots of people giving money and she came and gave two copper coins or two mites, and Jesus said she gave more than all of the others because everyone else gave out of abundance and she gave all that she had, and we might not ever get to the point where we're giving all that we had, but it showed the willing of sacrifice that that one was willing to make for the kingdom of God.
Speaker 2:And that is a real challenge. Do we give out of our abundance or do we give sacrificially? And that is a great question for all of us. Anytime we give let's just say our time, we're deciding not to do something with that hour or two hours or half hour, whatever, in order to do something else. Anytime we give money to whatever cause it could be a church, it could be a nonprofit, whatever we're deciding to give that money to that particular cause instead of giving it to another cause or putting it in the bank and using it for ourselves going out to dinner or whatever it is. And so it's really an issue of priorities how much of a priority is generosity in our life? And I think that is the challenge throughout the entire Bible. There's so many passages on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and tie it back into the leadership and the business is. The more generous it goes back to the gratitude, the more that you can give thanks, the more generous you are with transparency, with your time, with your mentoring. It's just going to work out better Corporate in a corporate environment. You're going to be perceived as a stronger leader. You're going to be perceived as a more open leader and generosity and tied into last week's gratitude man, it goes a long ways in corporate. It goes a long ways in the biblical, the church. It's just how you look at it. And to open up that mindset and just redo the train We've talked a lot about last week about redoing the training in your brain and I think that was a really good one. And when you talk about, do you give out a scarcity or give out abundance?
Speaker 2:Because I know I've struggled over that over the years and because I mean in business for myself, I've had abundance and then I've had that scarcity and it's an interesting thought and a lot of people said I'm sure, so let me just I know we need to wrap it up, but let me just say one thing If you're in charge, or if you're working with a nonprofit, or even in a business, but more so in a nonprofit it would be a crucial thing if you're not doing it to somehow recognize all your volunteers, not just the one that give the money, but the ones who come in maybe one hour a month just to say thank you.
Speaker 2:Now I don't know how you're going to do that. You might not have the money to do a banquet you know awards ceremony, like some people do, just write them a thank you note. Yeah, just a handwritten note is now so rare that they will hold on to that. But figure a way to be generous with your time to tell other people thank you. It will go a long way to strengthen the fabric of your organization.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you want a good case study. Doug Conant from Campbell's Soup, he said over the course of his career he probably wrote over 30,000 thank you notes, and they weren't just to write them, he was based on something he saw and noticed work ethic or something was told and all that stuff. So he's a great case study to look on that. He's a big employee engagement person. So there you go. So you know, I'm just looking forward to you know, being generous and going out to the golf course.
Speaker 1:I'm going to bring my two pairs of pants.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly. Okay, so let me ask you this If two vegetarians get in an argument, is it still called a beef?
Speaker 1:I'm sure they would come up with a different name. Maybe, so I don't know. Oh tofu fight.
Speaker 2:You know, I told you this one before and this is a groaner, so I just want y'all to be it, get ready. This is definitely a groaner, but I'm thinking. All of you listening have experienced this. Okay, how many telemarketers does it take to change a light bulb?
Speaker 1:I do not know, Mr Dr D.
Speaker 2:Only one, but they have to do it during dinner time.
Speaker 1:All right, I like that one. I told you I like that one. So, all right, if you'd like to figure out and talk to us and find us, go out to biblicalleadershipshowcom. Biblicalleadershipshowcom. Send us a prayer request, send us a message, send us a dad joke.
Speaker 2:Yes, and share our podcast with someone else. We'd love to just spread the.
Speaker 1:We'd love to get our listeners up to above 10. Yeah, Well.
Speaker 2:I think, what is this? This is this is this is 27?
Speaker 1:27.
Speaker 2:Wow, we are, yeah, we're doing good Over half a year that we're doing and we're up to nine listeners now. Is that it?
Speaker 1:Well, maybe I don't know, we're at last week. So I haven't checked see if we got up to nine.
Speaker 2:So we got a few out there. We got a few Very loyal listeners. Yes, we got some very loyal listeners. All our families and friends.
Speaker 1:That's probably accurate. Now we might have a few more than that, but we enjoy you. Hopefully you guys enjoy this show. We try to have some fun. So, my friend, we do have some fun Again. We'll get out of here and let you get on with your day. You'll be having a good workout, good drive in your car. Wherever you might be doing this, check us out Biblicalleadershipshowcom. I'm Tim Lansford and Dr Dean Posey and make it a great day. Have a great one. Bye.
