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

Thank you Richard Shepherd 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 (in alphabetical order):

93%

100%

90%

71%

87%

78%

87%

84%

100%

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 have been gifted to communicate on different levels. Whether it be a church weary person wanting to quit or cause strife…. to a person that knows nothing about God the Father. I have ministered to people caught up in adultery at work, drug users, and people struggling with sexual identity. Point them toward Christ and why God’s ways lead to real happiness and fulfillment. If someone is being harmed then more immediate appropriate action is necessary.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I have been gifted the ability of curriculum development, lesson planning and classroom strategies for presentation to both adult and minor education. A strength I have been given is to present to audience lectures including multimedia presentations, interactive activities, and demonstrations. A strength I have been given is to approach instructing with a blend of my personal ministry experiences with interests of students’ needs and appropriate curriculum methods and subject matter. Students may ask questions without the fear of being embarrassed by the teacher’s response.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
Church Administration Background: Licensed and ordained Associate Minister through RHEMA at Living Word Bible Church. Help with organization of groups, and departments.

[H]eart

1. Speak with people on a personal level concerning growth and maturity. Teaching and preaching or the same to me. Be faithful, available and trainable and God will teach us what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. I do not compete with the way others minister, I only have what God has taught me and that has been more than enough.

2. Watching my children grow on different levels of maturity with God to a place where they will have a relationship with Him.

3. Writing, I enjoy writing.

I work with all age groups, from Papa John employees to scholarly intellectuals they are all people concerned with relationships, money and promotions. Once you understand that, then you can communicate and work with anyone.

A church should be a House of Worship, a Tabernacle of spiritual power and manifestations, a Hospital for the depressed, sick and hopeless, and an Educational Institution of learning about God’s ways and In Christ realities. Any place can be filled with people like a football stadium can be filled with people screaming and shouting but what does that have to do with God? A church needs to be all things Christ. Not just successful in numbers of people and financials like a ballgame, but to be effective in working with God through the power of Christ. That excites me.

Other – Really? There is a list with a top 3?

[A]bilities

Dallas ISD Career Institute North School Teacher. Teaching Vocational skill to 9th and 10th graders.

+Business Administration Background: Branch Store Manager – Responsible to realize, establish, and communicate performance expectations for all branch team members. Supervised the counter sales staff, delivery drivers and warehouse staff. Developed relationships and rapport with customers to establish win-win partnerships and as a result I was able to ensure customers received prompt professional service and highest strategic standards for customer satisfaction. Surveyed feedback from customers and used the information to hire and train appropriate professional employees, enhance store operations, and develop sales strategies. Observed and evaluated performance of employees, applied corrective action and distributed merited rewards. Responsible for participating in the hiring and recruiting process.
+Licensed Mechanical Contractor installing, servicing, maintaining HVAC/R equipment.
+Technical College Department Head and Instructor of Adult Education.
+ High School Career Institute teacher.
+Insurance Producer and Staff Manager

Encouraging People
Making People laugh
Pointing people to selflessness and maturity without offending them.
Writing
When I receive a Word from God, I do not speak it unless I know for sure it was from God and not my own imagination. I watch what I lay at the door of the Lord with great reverence. He knows this. I do not seek to be heard in prayer unless God genuinely show me something.

I have never taught a seminar. I have only taught from a stage or classroom environments. Honestly, I do not remember them all. Psalm 62:5 is one of my favorite scriptures to teach. Doc Horton once taught for a week at my home church on that one scripture and it changed my way of thinking and then God offered me ways to experience Psalm 62:5 by walking it out through challenging situations.

The grace of God, I can do all things as He develops me. I desire to become more Christ like in wisdom, maturity, prayer and power to help others. I do not write that without great reverence to God whom gives me the ability to do them. I do not seek performance and stages with spotlights. I am comfortable ministering to a hurting co-worker that is drinking to put away the pain of living life or a person dealing with an illness that calls me. When God leads me to go on a stage and minister to 500 people…then I will do it and only make it about him. He saved me from bondage and misery. All that I have is from His grace and mercy. I never grew up in a church and I do not use church lingo and foolishness to place myself above others because I have been in a church for 28 years. Nothing is owed to me. I have been through two church splits and all the strife that caused between people and I remained loyal to my Pastors. I pray through the day talking to God on a personal level and in Spirit. God is with me, Christ dwells within me, and I am content. I understand my most valuable asset is grace.

[P]ersonality

50-50 Extrovert/Reserved

Low Risk

50-50 Peace Maker/Challenger

People Driven

50-50 Follower/Leader

50-50 Routine/Variety

Your Primary was ‘The Lion’, with your Secondary coming in as ‘The Otter’, 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

Otter- Otters are very social creature. Otter personalities love people. They enjoys being popular and influencing and motivating others. Otter can sometimes be hurt when people do not like them. Otter personalities usually have lots of friends, but not deep relationships. They love to goof-off. (They are notorious for messy rooms.) Otters like to hurry and finish jobs. (Jobs are not often done well.) The otter personality is like Tigger in Winnie The Pooh.

Strength: People person, open, positive
Weakness: Talks too much, too permissive
Limitation: Remembering past commitments, follow through with discipline

[E]xperience

I was hurting because a relationship ended badly for me with betrayal and a lot of pain. I was working hard everyday and doing what the world told me to do. I was lonely, desperate, miserable and had no hope. One day I challenged God to prove to me He was real and stop being a hidden mysterious being in the clouds. By faith, I asked God to reveal Himself. From His generous heart a week later He sat me down in a RHEMA based affiliated church and started teaching me His ways. I have never spent a day since denying His presence from my darkest night to my most successful day I know He walks with me. I do not have concern where He sends me, He teaches me and blesses me and I point people toward Him and His grace. When I was first saved I asked Him to remove me from this planet of death, sickness, gut wrenching betrayal and selfishness. He told me to “occupy and show people His ways”. That is what I am doing.

Living Word Bible Church ministry work 1993 – 2013
3173 Terrace Avenue
Slidell, Louisiana

Usher, Usher Captain, Head Usher wrote usher manual.
Children’s Church helper and Director.
JV Youth Director.
Youth Department helper and Director. Youth outreaches included Million Easter Egg Hunt, Vacation Bible Week for kids during summer.
Church photographer of services, weddings, and events.
Bass guitar player 16 years with Worship Team.
Soundboard Operator during services.
Healing School minister for Monday evening services.
2013-2016 RHEMA Kids worker.
2014-2020 RHEMA School of the Bible for 2nd-5th graders leader.

Mercy and patience from my Spiritual Parents and Pastors Jim and Regina Harwell that gave me forgiveness and allowed me opportunities to grow in wisdom and maturity.

When I was given the title Associate, my Pastor told the congregation, “Richard is the most faithful man I have ever met in my life.” It was unexpected and I was stunned, to this day that encourages me in all things I do. It is a standard I desire to carry and endeavor to one day be worthy of his belief in me.

Getting married to Jennie and having her as my helpmate and person that challenges me to grow into spiritual areas I never knew existed. Her dedication and training blesses me everyday.

I am not going to bring up past negative personal experiences unless I need to help someone with a story of encouragement. These experiences are very painful and I would rather keep them to myself until God leads me to do otherwise. Obviously if you know me personally than you can ascertain for yourself what it took for God to get me to be what I am today when I help people.

NEGATIVE: I do not like POP Psychology being used to characterize Christians. God’s ways of developing people is not the world’s way. Psychology is built upon worldly philosophical traditions and beliefs. I may be a dominant personality and a test will label the weaknesses that a personality like that should encompass, however, by faith God has trained me to be flexible, agreeable, humble, and compassionate to empower me as a Christian servant. Grace working in our lives cannot be graded using man’s reasoning on a test, the tests are limited in capacity of understanding.

This NEGATIVE teaching shaped my life: I do not agree with teachings and doctrines that grace is covering all weakness of character and sinful behavior, therefore we have liberty to sin whenever we want because we are forgiven.
POSITIVE: I believe Grace and forgiveness are empowerment to strengthen character and integrity. Grace is the empowerment to overcome the bondage of addictions and sin and then experience real freedom with liberty to enjoy life the way God intended.

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. To go where God leads me and do what He tells me to do. I do not seek prominence and promotion. I will sit in the seat where God leads me and use my abilities faithfully and with integrity.

4. To spiritually advise people that are hurting from adultery, sick, addiction, financial problems and depression.

5. Educate people about a relationship with God and who they are in Christ. Teach church members how to grow in maturity and wisdom so they will not hurt others to get what they want through strife, betrayal and self-promotion.