Good morning Nostriches! Sometimes reading scripture you are like “oh that was cool” or “I’ve read this 50 times before but never caught that nugget…” Then other times you are “🤯 whoa!!! You mean to tell me…” This morning was one of those days as I studied Jesus ordaining Peter to build His church (the body of Christ, not a building, institution, or legal entity). “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭HCSB‬‬ What grabbed me was the concept of “bind and loose”. TIL this is heavenly authority and was common rabbinic language. • Bind = to forbid or prohibit (declare something off-limits according to God’s Word). • Loose = to permit or allow (declare something permitted according to God’s Word). The Greek tense is important: “whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven.” This means you are not creating new spiritual realities — you are declaring and enforcing on earth what God has already established in heaven. Practical meaning for believers today: As the church (the people of God), we have been given authority in Jesus’ name to: • Declare what is forbidden by God (bind). • Declare what is permitted and released by God (loose). What this means is this: The church is not just a group of nice people meeting on Sundays. We are an advancing army that the gates of hell cannot stop. This passage directly connects us (the church) to the spiritual battle we are in. We have been given real authority (keys + binding/loosing) to push back darkness, proclaim the gospel, and enforce heaven’s will on earth through prayer and the Word. Man…Amen!

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Matthew 16:18-19 (HCSB) - And I also say to you that you are | YouVersion

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you t...

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I’ll add to this… Think of documenting your business in two fashions: 1. Like an operating system that will require or otherwise benefit from updates and upgrades. Your computer, phone, and tech devices don’t sit stagnant month after month or year after year. Neither should how you do what you do in your organization. 2. Your business is a living, breathing, organism. The old adage, “when is the best time to plant a tree? 100 years ago…when is the next best time? Today!” The same goes for your business, life, and impact. As Stacey Ansley says, start now and start small. You don’t have to plant the entire forest, blocking off your schedule and taking a month off to execute this project…no…find one high leverage repeatable thing that is required for your business to thrive; and document that. Soon you’ll discover you have a handful of steps that can be handed off to a team member or that you will have simply offloaded from your brain, freeing up mental power to focus on your business rather than purely in it!

I survived another interrogation that was supposed to be dinner with the in-laws. 🙃

Good Morning Nostriches! A Son’s Journey With His Father. Most of us have seen this timeline before. It shows how a son’s view of his dad changes over the years — from hero at age 5 to “I wish I could sit with Dad one more time” at age 50. The final lesson hits hard: One day you realize he wasn’t being tough on you. He was shaping you into a man strong enough for the world. Here’s what’s different for me right now: My teen son is already living in the “age 30” part of that chart and we’ve thankfully been able to skip the messy bits. He’s telling me, “Dad, you were right about a lot of things,” even at age 14! Whether you had a great earthly dad, a broken one, or none at all — here’s the truth: Our Heavenly Father wants to be that primary Dad in our lives. He’s shaping us — pruning, guiding, strengthening — so we can become the men and women He created us to be. Where are you on that timeline with your Heavenly Father right now? #GM #PV

In John 15:1-2 Jesus is clearly talking about our relationship with Him — not human relationships. But as leaders, this verse still gives us something powerful to reflect on. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.” ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭(HCSB) Pruning isn’t punishment. It’s care. The Father cuts away what isn’t producing so the branch can become more fruitful. In leadership, we face a similar reality. We don’t ruthlessly cut people off. We don’t discard team members the moment they struggle. But we do have to be honest about the relationships we’re stewarding. Some relationships are fruitful and worth investing in deeply. Others, despite our best efforts, remain un-coachable, un-reconcilable, or consistently drain more than they give. In those cases, wise leaders learn when to prune — not out of anger or haste, but out of stewardship for the health of the team and the mission. This is one of the hardest parts of leadership: knowing when to invest more and when to let go with grace. It’s rarely easy. But it’s necessary if we want to lead well and produce lasting fruit. What’s one relationship in your leadership right now that you sense may need pruning — or deeper investment?

Good Morning Nostriches! Tis the “Summer Storm” season and last night was one of the first overnight thunderstorms of the season and thus our newest family member; Miku the stubborn Shih-Tzu has experienced. She doesn’t shake like crazy and try to hide like her fur sister, but she doesn’t like to wake you twice in the night to vomit on the bed 🤷‍♂️ Think I’d rather have the shaking, hiding dog than the one who is puking… But alas, when you love them you put up with them…or at least that’s what you are supposed to to do 🤪 Late morning here in the home, dogs already onto their naps and other humans still asleep. I’ll let them all sleep a bit longer before it’s proof of work time! Enjoy your day! #GM #pow #PV #coffeechain #teachain