What comes to mind…

Some comments given to High School students:

Any successful sports team has these characteristics:

Well organized: Disciplined, everyone knows their role, work together in harmony (teamwork). You can learn some organization from home. When I was your age, we had to take our own dishes to the sink after we ate, we participated in cleaning our home and fixed our beds. I discovered that these exercises helped me understand the importance of being organized, even though, at the time, they felt like punishment! I discovered they taught me self respect and self dignity, to keep my home clean and take pride of how nice it looks! As a family, you are a team that works together to have a healthy and strong relationship with each other, and everyone in the family has a role.
Well trained: A well trained team, requires a good leader and a good self leader.
The coach is the leader: Your leader will guide you and mentor you. He/she will lift you up and encourage you when you’re down. They will teach you new ideas, they will challenge you in your thinking, they will show you how to train your mind. Examples of the coaches in your life are: your parents and your teachers here in school.
Self leadership: You will learn so much from your leaders, but you have to make choices all the time throughout your lives: do I do my homework or not, do I make my bed or not, do I make my family relationships a priority or not? Making a good choice, requires the exercise of self leadership. When nobody is looking! You will have the discipline and self-control to make a good decision. The more you train your mind, the better you’ll get at making good decisions. Just like exercise, it’s hard in the beginning, but it gets easier with practice! I know a little bit about exercising, it’s hard! I don’t like it sometimes! But I have to do it, because of that the choice I made.
Accountability: You will not make the good decision every time in your life, so take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Your coach (parents and teachers) can help you. They can hold you accountable. I’ve learned that trusting my coaches is very important, because I learned that they care about me and love me, even if it doesn’t look like that sometimes. Love brings trust.

So talking about exercising! I have some exercises for you to start out with:

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always, protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Matthew 5:44
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Ephesians 4:1-3
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Remember, the more you exercise, the more you’ll learn new things. Just like your muscles, they grow stronger each time. And remember exercising is very hard!!! But it always feels good at the end of each session of exercise. And, in time, you’ll extend your exercise to stretch yourself even more. Just like when you’re able to do 20 sit-ups, you start a new goal of 30 or 40!

The children of God and children of you father in heaven: just like when an elder looks at you and says, you act just like your father or mother! It’s the same way here, if you make peace, love your enemy, and keep the unity, you do just like God, the ultimate leader of your life!

Love your enemy! Make peace! Keep the unity! Become a child of God!

أي فريق رياضي ناجح عنده هڈه التخصصات

منظم: منضبط، و كل شخص بالفريق يعرف دوره، و بالتالى الفريق يعمل مع بعض فى وئام. يمكنك أن تتعلم عن النظام من خلال بيتك و أسرتك. لما كنت بسنكم، كان لازماً علينا أن نأخذ صحوننا للحوض كل مرة بعد الطعام. كنا نساعد فى تنظيف البيت و نرتب السرير. اكتشفت ان هذه التمارين ساعدتنى على التعرف بأهمية النظام، حتى و أنهم فى ذلك الوقت كانوا فى نظرى كالعقاب، اكتشفت انهم علموننى احترام النفس و كرامة النفس. ليكون بيتى نظيف … كعائلة أنتم فريق يعمل معا لغرض علاقات صحية و قوية مع بعضكم لبعض و كل عضو بالعائلة له ضوره

مدرب جيدا: الفريق المدرب جيدا يحتاج الى مدرب جيد و أيضا كل عضو يحتاج أن يدرب نفسه

الكوتش (المدرب) للفريق هو القائد. القائد يدللك فى الطريق و ايضا يشير الى نقات مهمة فى مسيرتك. القائد سيرفعك و يشجعك عندما تكون محبط. هو أو هى سيعلمك أفكار جديدة. سَيَتَحَداك تستعمل طرق جديدة للتفكير. سيعلمك كيف تدرب زهنك و مخك. أمثال للمدربين فى حياتك هم أبك و أمك و معلمين المدرسة

قيادة النفس: ستتعلم الكثير من قادتك، لكن يجب عليك أنت وحدك أن تختار أولوياتك فى الحياة. (أعمل واجب المدرسة ولا لأ، أوضب السرير ولا لأ، أهتم بعلاقتى مع أسرتى ولا لأ؟ الإختيار الجيد يحتاج للتدريب على قيادة النفس. لما ما يكون أحد ينظرك ! سيكون لديك الإنضباط و ضبط النفس لتختار الطريق الصحيح. كلما دربت زهنك، كلما بقيت أحسن فى إتخاذ القرار الجيد. مثل التدريب الجسدى، التدريب الذهنى صعب فى البداية، لكنه يبقه أسهل مع التديب المستمر ! فى بعض الأيام لا أحب التدريب لكنى يجب على أن أدرب نفسى لأتمم الإختيار الذى قررته

تحمل المسؤلية: فى بعض الأوقات لن تختار الطريق الصحيح، فانتهذ الفرصة لتتعلم من أخطاءك. قائدك (أباك و أمك و معلمينك) يمكنهم أن يساعدوك فى الطريق. يكمنهم أن يساعدوك فى تحمل المسؤلية الذى أخذتها. تعلمت أن الثقة بقادتى مهمة جدا لأنهم يهتموا بى و يحبوننى، حتى و ان كان هذا لا يرى فى بعض الاوقات. المحبة للآخر تنمى ثقتهم فيك.

بما أننا نتكلم عن التدريب ! عندى بعض التدريبات لكى تبدئون بها، تدريبات من الإنجيل

غلاطية ٥: ٢٢

وَأَمَّا ثَمَرُ الرُّوحِ فَهُوَ: الْمَحَبَّةُ وَالْفَرَحُ وَالسَّلامُ، وَطُولُ الْبَالِ وَاللُّطْفُ وَالصَّلاَحُ، وَالأَمَانَةُ وَالْوَدَاعَةُ وَضَبْطُ النَّفْسِ. وَلَيْسَ مِنْ قَانُونٍ يَمْنَعُ مِثْلَ هَذِهِ الْفَضَائِلِ.

١ كورونثوس ١٣: ٤-٨

الْمَحَبَّةُ تَصْبِرُ طَوِيلاً؛ وَهِيَ لَطِيفَةٌ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَحْسُدُ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَتَفَاخَرُ وَلاَ تَتَكَبَّرُ.  الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَتَصَرَّفُ بِغَيْرِ لِيَاقَةٍ، وَلاَ تَسْعَى إِلَى مَصْلَحَتِهَا الْخَاصَّةِ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تُسْتَفَزُّ سَرِيعاً، وَلاَ تَنْسُبُ الشَّرَّ لأَحَدٍ.الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَفْرَحُ بِالظُّلْمِ، بَلْ تَفْرَحُ بِالْحَقِّ. إِنَّهَا تَسْتُرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ، وَتُصَدِّقُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ، وَتَرْجُو كُلَّ شَيْءٍ، وَتَتَحَمَّلُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تسقُط أَبَداً.

متى ٥: ٤٤

أَحِبُّوا أَعْدَاءَكُمْ، وَبَارِكُوا لاَعِنِيكُمْ، وَأَحْسِنُوا مُعَامَلَةَ الَّذِينَ يُبْغِضُونَكُمْ، وَصَلُّوا لأَجْلِ الَّذِينَ يُسِيئُونَ إِلَيْكُمْ وَيَضْطَهِدُونَكُمْ، فَتَكُونُوا أَبْنَاءَ أَبِيكُمُ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ

متى ٥: ٩

طُوبَى لِصَانِعِي السَّلاَمِ، فَإِنَّهُمْ سَيُدْعَوْنَ أَبْنَاءَ اللهِ

أفسس ٤: ١-٣

أُنَاشِدُكُمْ أَنْ تَسْلُكُوا سُلُوكاً يَلِيقُ بِالدَّعْوَةِ الَّتِي إِلَيْهَا دُعِيتُمْ، بِكُلِّ تَوَاضُعٍ وَوَدَاعَةٍ وَطُولِ بَالٍ، مُحْتَمِلِينَ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاً فِي الْمَحَبَّةِ، مُجْتَهِدِينَ أَنْ تُحَافِظُوا عَلَى وَحْدَةِ الرُّوحِ بِرَابِطَةِ الْوِفَاقِ.

إفتكر! كلما تدربت كلما تعلمت أشياء جديدة. مثل عضلاتك، يبقون أقوى كل مرة. و إفتكر ! أن التدريب صعب جداً! لكنك دائما فى نهايه كل تدريب ترضى بنفسك ! و بعد عدة مرات ستتعلم أشياء جديدة و سيعوزك أنن تتعلم أكثر و أكثر ! كما فى التدريبات الجسدية ستبدأ بخمسمئة أمتار و بعد ذلك كيلو و اثنين و اربعة !

أَبْنَاءَ أَبِيكُمُ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ و سَيُدْعَوْنَ أَبْنَاءَ اللهِ: كما يراك الناس و يقولون أنك تشبه أباك أو أمك، ستشبه الله حينما تصنع السلام أو تحب أعدائك. الله عنده هذه الصفات

أحبوا أعدائكم ! إصنعوا السلام ! حافظوا على الوحدة ! تبقى ابنا لله

²⁹Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:29-32

Leaders who are passionate about their people will work hard to follow this teaching.  I realize that, as people, we cannot do much of that by ourselves, but with the Holy Spirit in us, the passage says that we need to listen to Him.  ”Do not grieve the Holy Spirit” means to me that I should listen to Him and follow His prompting.  Trust me, I don’t do that all the time either!

Reconciliation is a grace gift that God has given us.  It comes from Christ’s redemption to us.  He has reconciled us first, and that’s the grace He’s given us.  I can’t imagine that God, who’s alive and loves us, who created us, reconciled to us.  But then, I think the reason is just that!  He’s alive, He created us, He loves us.

If I make a computer program, or setup a network, I want it to be alive and working!  I don’t want viruses all over it and see it crawling to death.  I will do everything to get it back to the vibrant life it was, when it was born.  I think God has reason to bring us back to life.  Why?  Because He’s alive and wants the relationship.  We always want our loved ones around us, especially when we’re sick or have problems.  We want the relationship, we don’t want to be alone.  God wants us to hang out with Him!

Finding common ground among Christ’s body is an important task we MUST work on.  We can’t go around spreading rumors about each other, or work independently of each other.  Leaders need to wake up and realize that time is not on their side.  Life is short, people die everyday and leaders must hold each others’ hands and work together for the common ground, taking care of people and growing the Church.  The more leaders connect on the common ground, the less rumors will be out there.  People will be together on the same team, which will make community grow and trust will be born out of that.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

I heard today that our church in Alexandria gathered some of its leaders and went on a retreat! They played the Team Edition videos of Bill Hybels, TD Jakes and Patrick Lencioni’s talks. They had a great time discussing what they learned from the sessions and talked about what they can do with what they learned!

I’m still excited!!!! This is actually happening! It’s great when leaders share with other leaders what they learn and dialogue on how to make ‘The Hope of the World’ bring real hope!