A Great Man Passes

The Wisest Long Term Investments of

Carl H. Lindner, Jr. By Paula Bussard

The news first reported Carl Lindner was rushed to the hospital on October 17, with labored breathing caused by ‘heart problems’. All of the tributes documenting his passing from this life to the next have revealed the media was incorrect. The heart and life of this Christian, husband, father, and businessman were sharply aligned with eternal priorities and principled living resulting in open hands offering generosity beyond measure.

We’ve heard much about what our city has gained through the generosity of Mr. Lindner, but the Church of Cincinnati, the combined ministries and local churches, has gained even more. And God has kept a running tab in the heavenlies tracking the vast investment Carl Lindner made in that which has eternal value.

The church of 65 we pastor in Colerain Township received an unexpected gift of $15,000 in 2006 from Mr. Lindner. He had heard of our vision to reach and help the homeless and less fortunate. That timely gift gave us the hope to carry on…and touch….and hug many more hearts.

As expressed by his own sons, Mr. Lindner was totally devoted to his wife, sons, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I served on the Grand Opening committee for Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and watched as he beamed with a grandfather’s pride at the dedication ceremonies. I’m convinced his keen interest in building a top-rated, blue ribbon school nestled in Cincinnati’s seven hills was so his family, and scores of others, could benefit from the outstanding education.

His business acumen put him heads above most others his heart for blessing others had an even greater impact. I had the honor of living in Norwood during my junior and senior high school years. We were required to live within the city limits because my mother was one of the two public health nurses. As part of her job, she visited the UDF dairy farms and stores. She would often talk about them on evenings after a visit and always expressed such a deep respect for the family. Mr. Lindner, well known for honoring his employees, treated us and the other health department staff to a boat ride on his personal craft each summer. As a young girl, I remember that special “Princess For A Day” feeling.

Based on my mother’s wise counsel, I applied for my first job at UDF. As a senior in high school, I worked at the UDF Plant Store across the street from the main offices. This opportunity provided for me many life long lessons in the practice of fair and ethical business principles. Bob Lindner would come in from time to time and was always so friendly and unassuming. So much so, it took several of his visits for me to figure out that the kind gentleman with the warm smile was THE Mr. Lindner.

Now, the Carl H. Lindner, Jr. baton is passed to us, the recipients of all he taught by his example. What is the return on his investment in our lives? May each individual, business, and organization that received the benefits of his work, understand that God used Carl to set up a ‘trust fund’ in our lives. May we continue to be wise with our use and distribution of those funds, and grow that seed money into a forest of testimonies that will multiply those investments in our community.

Clearly, Carl Lindner learned and practiced the verse found in Matthew 6:19, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Now, may the media stand corrected. His heart caused him no trouble at all. It was his greatest asset. If we think he was wealthy while here in Cincinnati, just imagine his net worth now!

Paula Bussard
President
Open Door International Schools

513.604.0075

Billionaires Pass

Two Billionaires Die; Which Impacted Us More?

One of the billionaires had a deep father wound and rejected his dad by refusing to even acknowledge his existence.

The other honored his father and did everything he could to affirm his parents.

One of them rebelled against his heavenly father and turned to a belief in karma, salvation by self-effort; the other honored God and served Him faithfully and gladly with hope and understanding of His grace.

One Man lived to less than 60 years while the other lived to age 92

One man fought against medical care and held on stubbornly to the notion he could heal himself the other not only sought medical assistance but funded hospitals and clinics for everyone’s benefit and whose name is on numerous buildings, parks and good works.

One man rarely supported charities with his time, money and name but the other is famous for funding and supporting charities large and small of all religious and ethnic backgrounds.

One man was hard to deal with or work for and aggressively attacked people he disliked and disagreed with religiously while the other was a hard headed business man that eagerly sought cooperation with people of all religions and treated employees as members of the family.

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Can you think of other major differences between these two men?

Great Christian Leaders

How would you describe a successful Christian leader? Take a look a the list below and choose the ones you think are indicative of a successful Minister.

Number of people he/she won to Christ
Number of people in his/her following/church
Size of his/her ban account
Popularity of hits on Google
Number of persons trained to minister
Knowledge of the scripture
Speaking ability
Recognition by secular media

Read these and rank them according to their Spiritual Success before you read the enclosed story.


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The most powerful preacher in the 1800’s had a voice strong enough for 20,000 people to hear without amplification. He was heard by almost one third of the total population of the United States during the time of the Founding Fathers. Yet, few now know his name and his current influence is negligible. One of the great preacher’s contemporaries was a man whose legacy is well known worldwide. His preaching was good but not great and he felt like a failure after hearing the great preacher speak. What was the difference?

The man who changed Christianity did more than preach. He also built systems or wine skins that included personal skills, mutual confession, accountable and supportive. They had relationships that were Transformational. The groups were not dependent upon one gifted “personality” but a team of lay leaders. The classes, groups and structure influenced every dimension of a person’s being; mind, will, emotions, relationships and spirit. They built resiliency, maturity and healthy lifestyles.

George Whitfield’s powerful voice and gifts as a speaker may have been a curse rather than a blessing. He spoke persuasively and God blessed the masses for a moment. Unfortunately, it did little to transform the churches or the nation. His legacy is negligible. Had we been alive during his time we would have probably voted him the best preacher in the English-speaking world. We do love big stars.

John Wesley, on the other hand, was convinced that he had to train and equip believers to do the work of the ministry. He wrote training manuals and he established practical training groups he called “classes”. He was a fervent preacher who spoke with fire but also designed fireplaces into which the embers were placed for ongoing usefulness. He developed workable “methods” that made a difference in people’s lives. Wesley built individuals and groups that met and practiced spiritual disciplines each week. He demanded and received practical, skill based relationships. His methods changed England and continue to change to the world. His new name: Methodist.

Whitfield has been forgotten but Wesley is famous as the founding genius of Methodists, Salvation Army, The Nazarene Church, small groups, lay education, Alcoholics Anonymous, outreach to the poor, etc. His legacy is enormous and will continue for many years. Whitfield is gone and almost forgotten for he did not write, train or build systems. Mr Wesley continues to move the world through the systems he introduced.

A transformational system must include ongoing relationships and the development of habitual healthy patterns, rituals, activities, interactions books and training materials. Go to the Sweeten Life VIP Family Care web for materials.

Who Equips in the Reveal Study

In the Reveal Study from Willow Creek, the authors emphasize the need to model and equip the people in the first four groups. However, they never mention, to my knowledge, any group of Equippers and how they got to be Equippers. How does that work?

This cartoon shows how many churches equip. No
wonder so many Pastors are burned out.

See Sweeten Life for other ways to do equipping.

Counseling Helps People

Almost every study about the effectiveness of Counseling shows that talk therapy helps clients get better. This fact may be surprising to many who read my blog but it will not surprise Counselors. A recent article indicates that even men with Erectile Dysfunction as a result of Prostate Surgery can be improved. That the biggest problem is not below the belt but above the nick: The Head!

Usually the people who talk about Counseling focus on the different types of interventions practiced and whether they work or not. In reality, the most important things that a good Counselor does is not talk but listen.

Go to Life Way Centers for help with your issues individually or in the family.

Christians Need Innovators and Communicators

Steve Jobs: Rest in Peace. Above all, he communicated his brilliant concepts to millions of people, brilliantly.

So much is now being said about Steve Jobs brilliance – and deservedly so. He was one of a kind. Here is the acknowledged leader and innovator in the world of computers, media, music and business – and yet on the side he built Pixar into the best animation studio in the world and became Disney’s largest stockholder. Amazing.

But what strikes me most about Steve Jobs is that he had no peer in inspiring and motivating others. Not just his employees, not just his customers, but the world. Because of his communicating ability he became a rock star. I remember when I got up at 5AM to go to Moscone Center in San Francisco to hear him announce the iPhone, and I was too late – the line was already three blocks long. Who could have ever predicted that an executive who really is just making a product announcement would be able to command such attention. Amazing.

He was unparalleled. We had him on our Top Ten Best Communicators list several times – and actually he could have been #1 every year but that would have been boring.

He was never boring. He brought us so much. He is a worthy model to emulate. He will be so missed.

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I want to add some things. Mr. Jobs surrounded himself with brilliant people. He was not afraid of working with men and women who were exceedingly smart and creative. He also trained great employees. IMO, these are keys to success in the Christian world. as well as the Commercial world.

Why Seasoned Believers Leave a Church

The Reveal Research done a few years ago by folks at the Willow Creek Community Church revealed some shocking information. Maybe the most disturbing insight that Bill Hybels had from the data was the fact that many of "his" people were not really "his". In fact, a lot of them did not think that he and the rest of the Willow Creek team was doing a very good job of training them to know and follow Jesus.

The survey they took cut the congregation into four groups. (My terms are used here)

1. Barely Believers
2. Believers in Jesus Christ
3. Committed to Jesus Christ
4. Sold out to Jesus Christ

That last group tended to be folks who had been with Wilow for an extended time and had experienced everything they had to offer but a large percentage was stuck or dissatisfied. Many planned to leave Willow for greener trees. Soon!

This shook up Bill and his staff. They saw that a lot of their people did not know the Bible or follow it if they did. In short, the Discipleship Process was sorely lacking.

One of the very predictable things they proceeded to do was market the Reveal process and sold it to several thousand other churches so they too could see how well or badly they were doing. The results indicate that a lot of other churches are also failing in training their people to follow Jesus.

I would enjoy hearing your response to this quick overview. Is this feedback from the people at Willow and other churches surprise you? Do you know of a church that is doing a good job of discipleship training? If so "WHO"?