S.H.A.P.E. Assessment Results

Thank you Jim Powers for taking the SHAPE Assessment. We encourage you to meet with a Church Leader that you respect, to go over your results, so that they can help you discover a place to serve in the church and/or community, and also to help you fine-tune your 5 Main Focuses/Priorities listed at the bottom of this email under the ‘Wrapping it up’ section. May God Bless You!

[S]piritual Gifts

Here is how your spiritual gifts scored:

93%

81%

56%

90%

50%

78%

56%

56%

75%

To see descriptions on the Spiritual Gifts and how you can use them to further Christ’s Kingdom on earth, visit this link.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I always want to know the details and the “whys” of any situation. I am pretty high-control, and I don’t like surprises.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I am a firm believer that giving is a process of receiving…so you can give again. I’ve seen this principle work over and over in my life. God seems to have given me the ability to make money and I feel His pleasure when I give it as He leads.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
As a young believer, I did evangelism a lot, and I saw God use me to lead others to Christ. It always thrilled my heart to get to be part of this. But truthfully, though I still want this, I have not practiced it as I really should.

[H]eart

1. leading/motivating a group of people…to reach a goal, effect a change, etc.

2. Being in charge of events…then delegating responsibilities to others to accomplish it.

3. Charging a Hill…setting and working toward a personal goal…I love a challenge!
But…I have to be convinced it’s a hill worth charging before I go for it.

Men, particularly men in business, who are roughly my same age

Moving forward without marginalizing the older members of the congregation, not forgetting our history and recognizing that, although change is inevitable, some of the old ways may still be best practice.

Marriage/family issues
Financial stewardship
Policy/politics

[A]bilities

In 2007 I started a consulting practice to help connect my clients with those in cities and counties with whom they would like to secure business. Today, it has grown to include 32 additional consultants.

I served on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for 4 years…worked with the Family Ministry marketing their Weekend to Remember
I ran a 501-c3 organization for 12 years
I owned a chain of Popeyes restaurants and 3 grocery stores
I was elected as Hays County Judge in 1998…served 8 years in that position
I have served on the Board of Directors for Greater Blanco River Authority and (currently) am elected to the Board for the Pedernales Electric Co-Op.

Public Speaking
I’m good at “reading people”…just get a sense about people that usually turns out to be right
Mentoring young men in business
I can often see through the “smoke” to the heart of an issue

Family and Marriage issues
Financial Freedom
I regularly teach our new consultants how to get started building their business…where to focus their time and energy, how to effectively help their clients

The ability to see the big picture…the 30 thousand feet perspective

[P]ersonality

50-50 Extrovert/Reserved

Low Risk

Peace Maker

50-50 People/Project Driven

Leader

Team

Routine

Your Primary was ‘The Lion’, with your Secondary coming in as ‘The Beaver’, and here are the descriptions of your Personalities, and how they can be used for God

Lion- This personality likes to lead. The lion is good at making decisions and is very goal-oriented. They enjoy challenges, difficult assignments, and opportunity for advancement. Because lions are thinking of the goal, they can step on people to reach it. Lions can be very aggressive and competitive. Lions must learn not to be too bossy or to take charge in other’s affairs.

Strength: Goal-oriented, strong, direct
Weakness: Argumentative, too dictatorial
Limitation: Doesn’t understand that directness can hurt others, hard time expressing grace

Beaver- Organized. Beavers think that there is a right way to do everything and they want to do it exactly that way. Beaver personalities are very creative. They desire to solve everything. Desire to take their time and do it right. Beavers do not like sudden changes. They need reassurance.

Strength: High standards, order, respect
Weakness: Unrealistic expectations of self & others, too perfect.
Limitation: Seeing the optimistic side of things, expressing flexibility

[E]xperience

I grew up in a home that was pretty dysfunctional. My dad was an alcoholic and it always felt like things could come unhinged in a moment. Then a girl I liked took me to a Youth for Christ meeting where the preacher talked about how Jesus could give me a home filled with love. I heard the gospel from that perspective, knew I needed and wanted Christ in my life, and gave my heart to Him.

While at school in Missouri, I served as a Youth Pastor in a small church and did weekend revival teams across the state. I still have a copy of the brochure I printed up…”Outreach for the Unreached”.
Entrepreneurial Evangelism! Paid my way through school with that!

4.5 years on staff with The Family Ministry…worked to promote their Weekend to Remember (marriage weekend conferences) and then started a 501-c3 organization called Family and Marriage Resources, teaching those same principles to businessmen and women across the nation.

have served as a deacon in almost every church we’ve attended

There have always been men in my life to whom I have “attached” myself to…men that were examples of success to me and whom I wanted to learn from. Some were coaches, others were my bosses, others just men who took an interest in a young man hungry for good role models to follow.

The decision to go to Arrowhead Springs in San Bernardino CA for the summer with a bunch of Christian college students to study the Word (Institute for Biblical Studies). There I met my future wife and also learned about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life and how I could walk in victory on a regular basis.

Meeting Art Williams, who believed in me and taught me that it was ok to dream big…and to trust God with those huge dreams.

Growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father…one of the books we offered once through FMR was about dealing with the ravages of alcoholism in the family. We were astounded at the number of people who identified with my story and wanted that book.

Being told by my wife’s mother that she wasn’t sure I was “the one” for her daughter. Because we wanted her approval, we waited three years before getting married. It was hard, but it also made the transition to married life less rocky. By the way, she loves me now!

I had a business partner who sued me because I had allowed our CFO to talk me into doing some things that, in practice were ok, but which I was not really comfortable with. Then a lawyer convinced us to counter-sue, and everything blew up. I lost a good friend (my partner) and ended up selling what remained of the business. From that I learned to stick with my convictions and commitments, regardless of the cost. It was a painful lesson.

Wrapping It Up

The Challenge: Based upon your S.H.A.P.E. Assessment above (the way God wired you), If you knew you couldn’t fail … and ‘lack of money, or time’ was not an obstacle… list your Top 3 Things you would ‘Focus’ your Life on, next to #1 Loving God & #2 Loving Your Neighbor (these would be your ‘3 God-Sized Dreams’ for your life)?

1. My Relationship with GOD

2. My Relationship with Others

• Putting Your Spouse First
• Your Kids Second
• Everyone Else After those

3. Have a ministry that focuses on business and finances. I’m convinced that financial issues are the Number 1 struggle with lots of families, and learning to apply biblical principles to finances can literally save a marriage or a business.

4. My wife and I re-united a few years back with a group of friends who were there “in the trenches” with us when we were making the choices as to how we would spend our lives as Believers. We had the most amazing time of catching up with each other, marveling over God’s faithfulness in ALL our lives, as we have experienced all the ups and downs of life in a broken world. We decided that day to make this happen regularly, and planned our first “This Side of Heaven” weekend retreat for a year later. If I could, I would start a movement to encourage that kind of “re-connection” in groups of Christians all over the country.

5.