Are You Investing Your Life or Spending It?
BY INEZ KIRCHNER
WRITER
Are you experiencing
the greater meaning and
purpose in your work that
God intends for you? If not,
Biblical Leadership for
Excellence can help.
Approximately a million people
head to work each morning in San
Antonio, and it’s the mission of Biblical
Leadership for Excellence marketplace
ministry (BLE) to bring Christ to their
workplaces. BLE provides faith-based
curriculum teaching anyone, from car
“Kingdom Connection” breakfast every
second Wednesday of the month,
which provides fellowship, and
features real stories and testimonies of “ BLE sincerely appreciates and
values all the workplace
partners, individuals and volunteers
mechanics to
CEOs, how to
integrate faith
into their
work. “For
most people,
work is the
place where we
spend most of
our time, and
it’s also the
most disconnected
from
the Gospel,” explained BLE Executive
Director Joe Carroll. “We want to help
people find integration.”
In 1985, the ministry’s founders
formed BLE to establish a structured
way to unite faith with work, and make
their jobs mean more than just a
paycheck. “We as Christians should be
setting the tone for others in all areas
of our lives,” said Carroll. “But, when it
comes to work and faith, people feel
lost.” The group found most people’s
experiences of workplace ministry
have been legalistic, awkward, or
inauthentic. As a result, work and faith
almost becomes synonymous with
‘separation of church and state,’ or a
compartmentalized life.
Work and family are the two largest
areas of success or failure in one’s life.
While there are countless resources for
growing in faith as a family, BLE saw a
need to extend that support to the
workplace. “We want people to know
they can have a dynamic, spiritual
experience with God at their work,”
said Carroll. BLE focuses on instilling a
sense of security and identity in
Christians at work, so they feel
empowered and encouraged to be fully
alive for Christ in their work. “Working
Christians can have just as much
authority and conviction going into
work as their pastor does at the pulpit.”
The BLE curriculum has 7 core
courses studies covering a variety of
topics including redefining success,
contentment, retirement and legacy.
With followers as far-reaching as New
Zealand, anyone interested in the BLE
curriculum can download materials
from www.BLEonline.org, at no charge.
Participants can join BLE-led groups,
host groups at their work with training
support from BLE, or request personal
mentoring. The F.O.R.G.E., Full of
Reverence Grace and Evangelism,
group is also available for business
owners, executives and CEOs.
The ministry also holds a monthly
who have partnered with
us and allowed us to serve
thousands of
people for
more than
30 years.“
Joe Carroll
Executive Director
Biblical Leadership for Excellence
Steve Stoner encouraging and praying for another
person in the workplace
10 www.saBeacon.com November 2018
/www.BLEonline.org
/www.saBeacon.com
