Blah... a learning day "The Entrepreneur Imperative with Bill Bolton"

I was invited to this by my Vicar, Warner. It looked interesting, I was curious. Entrepreneurs in the church? - Well, it's one of the questions that has also come out of the "Reaching Men" course that I've run for the church as part of my training. I'd also hoped it might start to clear up the "Where next?" question that the course has left me with. Bill is a good presenter and has some interesting material to present. An Entrepreneur is someone who make things happen and gets rich on the proceeds. I expect you would think of (say) Richard Branson, or perhaps Anita Rodick, or perhaps Bill Gates. All people mentioned today. Most of them however don't do it for the money, but for the freedom to do what they want. I'll do a fuller review of the day on the other blog.
I didn't score very highly on the "Are you an Entrepreneur?" quiz. 58%, just about enough to allow me to be part of a team.
There are some things I'm beginning to think God is leading me too, so for the last session, I followed the advice of both of the people I went with and attended "Potential projects" session. It didn't throw up any obvious ideas - well not yet anyway. They are planning some follow up.

Whatever happens (probably shouldn't say that with God around!) I want to finish my training, and that means I'm going to be busy for the next three months on various assignments. There's lots of 'stuff' floating around in my head, and in my heart too, about what I can do with the things I have learnt. None of it in the least concrete.

I get home and I read this:
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. - Jeremiah 17:7" Have you ever considered at what point a test becomes so difficult that you decide you can no longer trust in God and you must take over to solve the problem?

hmm... The whole passage is 17:5-8.

Now the Entrepreneur things I have been reading about, and to some extent this day also would put the question the other way: -

Have you ever considered at what point a test becomes so difficult that you decide you can no longer trust in yourself, but God must take over to solve the problem?

Men like a challenge. Especially when it's SO BIG that only God can deliver the goods. Something like that, anyway - comes out of the "Why men hate going to church" book. In other words, it's easy to not trust God for something you think you can do.

At home group yesterday we were looking at the Israelites at the 'gateway' to the promised land, and the stories of giants, and a wish to go back to Egypt and be slaves again. Their problem was perceived as so big that following God was no longer an option, and they paid the price - 40 years in the wilderness. So their view was that God had taken them too far.

So I will have to trust God for the ideas, the way forward, the skills, talents and temperament required to deliver. Few of which I have in any great quantity - as the quiz proved.

No pressure then! No - just trust - perhaps the hardest part?