Don Finto - The Quintessential Encourager

Don Finto - The Quintessential Encourager
 

On April 18, Don Finto just unfolded Chapter 75 in his walk here on earth.

Don was my first pastor of 18 years at Belmont Church in Nashville, TN. He is my mentor. Under his pastorate, I learned nothing but Jesus – no legalism, rules or religion – just a relationship full of grace and mercy. He has had the biggest impact on my life other than my biological father and we are still connected.

I have never met a man that loved God’s Word more than Don. He exuded encouragement in its purest and most concentrated form. Webster’s Dictionary would define Don as a Quintessential Encourager.

I remember with great fondness twenty five years ago (1980) an encounter with Don while attending a memorial service for a friend’s brother who passed away from Aids. Becky and I just got out of our car and were preparing to cross the street, when a Honda Accord pulls up. Don Finto rolls down his window and yells out, “Hey Kerry Woo, man of God!” At that precise moment in East Nashville, as a very young in the faith Christian, I stood silent – this wave of affirmation swept over me as my heart was touched; I knew then that my destiny was affirmed and sealed. Don always encouraged everyone through the integrity of God’s Word. Roman 8:29 states “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Don just believes in the goodness of God’s grace and mercy in everyone’s life; and he was quick to remind us of our destiny!

In March of 1996, I accepted a leadership position with a Christian men’s ministry, Promise Keepers. At that time, there was quite a movement of God in men’s hearts sweeping the country with stadiums full of men desirous of embracing Christ-centered godliness and personal holiness to subsequently impact families and communities. Pastor Don Finto’s charge to me when I was sent out, akin to a missionary (to men) in front of the congregation at Belmont Church was again from God’s Word – “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Life giving words – and accountability that served me well.

Don and his son David were guests of mine at the Promise Keepers conference at the SuperDome in New Orleans. I’m told by others that when he met Coach Bill McCartney (founder of Promise Keepers), Don proudly introduced himself as “Kerry’s Pastor!” rather than a pastor of a large and influential church in Nashville. Don always took great pride in others and deflected any praise toward himself to the Lord. That’s Don – just a humble servant.

And to this day, if you’re ever around him, Don is either praying Ephesians 3 over you – “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Or, he is encouraging you to live out the reality of this passage.

I’ve got a 100 more stories, but others can tell their own as well. I’m honored to be one of his spiritual sons. So Poppa Don, thanks for the listening ear, prayers, the way you honor your precious bride Martha, the many sermons, road trips, changing my spiritual diapers (often) and always pushing me to be a leader.

Happy 75th Birthday Poppa Don! You are esteemed and well loved by all.

To learn about Don’s Ministry – The Caleb Company and his profound book, “Your People Shall Be My People”, click here.


Don Finto - Your People Shall be My People 

COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING

Hymns - I love them! The richness of the words and the theology of the lyrics resonate with me.

As churches get more "modern" for lack of a better word, the hymns in my opinion get shoved out for songs of rousing, foot stomping, hand clapping choruses, let's party type of worship songs. I can appreciate being celebrative mind you, but it is kind of odd to rouse up enthusiam - sort of like a lead singer in a hair band urging the audience to clap (and flick a Bic, if you approve!). Worship to me flows out of heart of gratitude, not a sonic bombastic boom.

I'm a member of newhope church here in Chapel Hill, NC and I love all of the elements of worship - the hymns (done Passion style), framed by great sermons, communion, stained glass windows and the richness of relationships born out of small groups.

When I say Passion style, the CD that is playing nonstop on my A playlist is Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern "a celebration of the centuries old confessions of the Church, rich songs of faith and tradition that have anchored believers through the ages. Though almost all over 100 years old, these classic hymns pulse with new life as lead worshippers Charlie Hall, David Crowder Band, Nathan and Christy Nockels, Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman fuse old and new in their unique styles—artistry and history wed seamless expressions of praise to the God of the ages."

Read more and Listen

Not all hymns are ancient - Graham Kendrick is writing some great modern day hymns like "Shine, Jesus Shine" and "Knowing You (All I Once Held Dear)"

One of my favorite hymns is - COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

From CyberHymnal

Words: Robert Robinson, 1758; appeared in his A Collection of Hymns used by the Church of Christ in Angel Alley, Bishopgate, 1759.
Music: “Nettleton,” Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, by John Wyeth, 1813

David Crowder Band has a version of the hymn on Passion - our love is loud CD.

What are your favorite hymns?

THE A TO Z GUIDE TO A PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE

As the bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life says, God made you for worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. Most of us feel more comfortable in one or two of God's purposes for our lives, but we're made to embrace all five! Here are 26 potential next steps for you as you try to become a more balanced and purposeful follower of Jesus written by Tobin Perry. Make a commitment to try these next steps during the weeks leading up to Easter ...

Every thing rises and falls on leadership...

"True leadership means to receive power from God and to use it under God's rule to serve people in God's way." Leighton Ford

"First pride, then the crash. The bigger the ego, the harder the fall." Proverbs 16.18 (The Message)

When I converse with others on leadership, invariably Donald Trump's reality series The Apprentice comes up as the best show on marketing and leadership. I totally disagree – I see bickering, lack of teamwork, absence of servant leadership, and our sin nature in humankind rears its ugly head. Just as God was calling out to Adam in the Garden, when he "messed up" in disobedience, The Apprentice confrontation takes place in the Boardroom before the Donald - displayed for us to see Thursday night - The "team" members, just as Adam did, cover their sin, hide, affix blame and justify their actions for self preservation (at the expense of others).

Thank God for His grace, mercy and kindness that leads to repentance!

Greg Morris of Leadership Dynamics writes, “True leadership is not about impressing people, but about serving others. It is not about manipulating those around you but about motivating them. Authentic leadership is not about controlling those under your supervision but about communicating to them a vision for God-designed excellence.”

“To be a Christian leader means you operate under the guidance and control of the Savior. We need to ask ourselves often, "Am I building people or am I building my own dreams and using people?" For the Christian leader, people must come first. People aren't the means to an end; they are the end!”

So what about the Donald? I wouldn’t want to work for him! Kris Laroche explains it better in his essay -
Donald Trump's Leadership Lessons: The Great Man Myth Lives On
By Kris Laroche
Originally published in the August 2004 Issue of Link & Learn.

What explains the shocking popularity of the Donald Trump's reality series The Apprentice? There are a number of possible reasons. It certainly could be our endless curiosity about the lives of the rich and famous. It may also be explained by our current interest in staring into the fishbowl drama watching real life struggles, humiliations and victories. Perhaps it's the chance to witness, from a safe distance, the scary and possibly all-to-familiar horror of being fired from a desirable position. These are reasonable answers however, there seems to be much more to it than this. The wildly successful show, The Apprentice, has hit on something big. It responds to an ongoing and unresolved fascination with the mysterious, complex and universally meaningful phenomena called LEADERSHIP.

Kris goes on to write about:
Seven Leadership Lessons Courtesy of THE DONALD: A How Not-To Guide of Great Leadership

LESSON #1
The leader is in complete control, taking charge of everything, and holding the key to success.

According to Donald Trump, leadership is all about control and power. Trump's words, as well as his actions, throughout the series indicate that he lives what we call, "The Great Man theory" of leadership. He interrupts, commands, directs, instills fear, controls, and makes all the decisions. He has "advisors" who play the role and he allows them a brief opportunity to speak, yet rarely do they disagree. We saw this with both of his weekly side-kicks. Self-important is a defining trait. Trump never allows others to interrupt or talk over him. When one contestant said, "let me finish", early on in the series Trump pounced, making it clear that he is boss which means he speaks first, foremost and loudest. Most of his behavior and words ("I'm not going to be happy if you're late") reinforce the notion that everything that everyone does within the organization is about pleasing him. You could see the results of this as contestants focused all of their efforts during each week's task towards guessing what Trump would like and how he would handle a situation.

Read on for more:

In closing, here’s a simple prayer:

“God, give me something that I can give others.”
John C. Maxwell’s prayer

12 Rules of Life really are:

1. Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.

2. You need only two tools: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the tape.

3. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship are "I apologize" and "you are right."

4. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. (love this one!)

5. Never pass up an opportunity to pee.

6. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her - believe them.

7. Learn to pick your battles; ask yourself, "Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day?"

8. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.

9. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!

10. Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.

11. Work is good, but it's not that important. Money is nice, but you can't take it with you. Statistics show most people don't live to spend all they saved; some die even before they retire. Anything we have isn't really ours; it was given to us by God; He just letting us borrow it while we're here...even our kids. So enjoy it while you have it.

12. And finally.. Be really good to your family and/or friends. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.

contributed by Scott Deeke

FINDING A MENTOR TO HELP YOU GROW

"Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." PROVERBS 9:9

I always been fascinated with mentoring; for someone who grew up in public school - lets say not compelled by academics, but rather the arts - music on the radio, drawing and painting in art classes, day dreaming in class and certainly bored with history and lets not even talk about science in high school - just me a "F" and spare me the pain! I was a football jock who not only wanted to play for the Dallas Cowboys, but desired to be a sucessful commercial artist as well.

One day in 12th grade, my substitute history teacher, as best I remember a very grandfatherly African American man, looked out the very same window I was day dreaming in and talked about how he was growing up in Richmond, Virginia recalling changes in the city in his lifetime. My ears perked up as I was capitivated by what he was sharing. Back in 1970, I was part of the court ordered busing initiative in Richmond; the motive was to have balanced racial diversity in all of the schools - all I remember was my friends fled to the suburbs and the school I went to - Maggie L. Walker High School - instead of being 100% African American was now 98%; a far cry from the 50 - 50 court mandated diversity desired - The experience was a great one for me as it planted seeds that twenty five years later help me to speak about racial reconciliation, but I digress...

What this substitute history teacher did for me was share his life experiences, painted a picture of what it meant to be a young kid (like I was in 1972) growing up in the depression, in a city that celebrates the Civil War, the Confederacy and other stuff that I don't recall. What I came away that day, was the power of sharing one's life - which was so much better than a history book.

So my point is find a mentor to help you grow!

I for one have been extremely blessed with mentors who have shaped my life, especially after I became a Christian. Keep in mind the Holy Spirit guides us in all wisdom through the Word with Jesus as the Model. With great fondness, my mentors included Don, my pastor of twenty years who taught me nothing but Christ and whom I consider my spiritual father; Don and Ralph, two Christian businessmen who ran their business by the Book; Bill, a football coach who modeled how to be a Godly man and love your wife 24/7 despite a flawed past (like all of us); Charlie - a wise man who help me understand ministry in the marketplace; Larry - a man despite great physical obstacles taught on finances and humbleness and Jim, a Navy guy and professor who spent every Monday with me at lunch fleshing out leadership questions against the Word of God.
- Reminder to myself to get permission to write about these Mighty Men of God in more detail -

Here's a great PDF by Della Aynsley on FINDING A MENTOR TO HELP YOU GROW

She writes: If you received help from someone to learn, to sort out a problem or to devise a plan you have probably already had a mentor. It may have happened spontaneously and the word ‘mentor’ may never have been used. The term ‘mentoring’ is being used more widely now in our society and people are often encouraged to seek out a mentor. So what is mentoring and how do you go about finding a mentor?

Definitions

Mentor: “A wise and trusted guide”

The Macquarie Concise Dictionary (2nd Edition)

“Mentors are helpers. Their style ranges from that of a persistent encourager who helps us build self-confidence, to that of a stern taskmaster who teaches us to appreciate excellence in performance. Whatever their style, they care about us and what we are trying to do.”

Shea, Gordon (1992) Mentoring – a practical guide Crisp Publications

“Mentoring is a relationship which gives people the opportunity to share their professional skills and experiences, and to grow and develop in the process. Typically, mentoring takes place between a more experienced and a less experienced employee.”

Office of the Director of Equal Opportunity in Public Employment
Mentoring Made Easy, a practical guide for managers

Who is mentoring you? And are you mentoring others? Read on!

THE ONE-ANOTHERS

The "one-anothers" in Scripture hold a wealth of guidance on how to deal with co-workers and colleagues in a Christ-like manner. If we all practiced them, we'd have far fewer problems in the area of relationships.

"Be at peace with each other." Mark 9:50
"Love one another." John 13:34
"Be devoted to one another." Romans 12:10
"Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10
"Stop passing judgment on one another." Romans 14:13
"Accept one another." Romans 15:7
"Instruct one another." Romans 15:14
"Greet one another." Romans 16:16
"Serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13
"Carry each other's burdens." Galatians 6:2
"Be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2
"Be kind and compassionate to one another." Ephesians 4:32
"Forgive each other." Ephesians 4:32
"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." Ephesians 5:19
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Ephesians 5:21
"In humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:3
"Teach and admonish one another with all wisdom." Colossians 3:16
"Encourage each other." I Thessalonians 4:18
"Build each other up." I Thessalonians 5:11
"Spur one another on toward love and good deeds." Hebrews 10:24
"Do not slander one another." James 4:11
"Don't grumble against each other." James 5:9
"Confess your sins to each other." James 5:16
"Pray for each other." James 5:16
"Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another." 1Peter 5:5

Words mean what you want them to mean

I am a lover of quotations and quips. I file them them away like crazy... there are great respositories on the web or even a classic hardback collection such as John Barlett's Familiar Quotations.
But I found the following from an article that I clipped out twenty years ago from a "filler" service that a business can use in a mailer to stay in touch with customers. Anyway, for your enjoyment...

Words mean what you want them to mean. But sometimes it's helpful if we agree on our definitions. Here is a list of the real meanings behind some of the words you thought you knew, by people you thought knew better...

Acquaintance: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from but not enough to lend to. -- Ambrose Bierce

Baby: A loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. -- Father Ronald Knox

Celebrity: A person who works hard all his life to become known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized. -- Fred Allen

Conscience: The inner voice which warns us that someone might be looking. -- H.L. Mencken

Egotist: A person more interested in himself than in me. -- Ambrose Bierce

Friends: People who borrow books and set wet glasses on them. -- Edwin Arlington Robinson

Genius: One who can do anything except make a living. -- Joey Adams

Originality: Remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it. -- Laurence Peter

Professor: One who talks in someone else's sleep. -- W.H. Auden

Television: A medium. So called because it is neither rare or well done. -- Ernie Kovacs