Greater:burn The Plow Series

Jesus’ words in John’s gospel during a lengthy dinner conversation have the disciples experiencing a number of incidents such as foot washing and communion first hand that become identifiers for Jesus followers. Later, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come in his absence. The presence of the Holy Spirit is one of power, counsel, comfort, conviction and advocacy. It will be the catalyst for Greater things to be done in the name of Jesus. However, what are the greater things and why do most people tend to settle for lesser things? These will be the questions we will be asking ourselves.

John 14:12 says: Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do greater things than these.

To understand how we can do greater things, we will be looking at a couple of well-known Old Testament leaders Elijah and Elisha. The relationship between these two guys gives us an example of how God empowers a leader and then transfer it to an apprentice so that they and others can follow God’s direction for their lives. Indeed, Elijah does great things for God. But, Elisha’s apprenticeship and acceptance of the leadership role is one we can study, learn and apply for ourselves as we venture out toward greater things for God.

However, before we go there I want to tell you a story of a want to be professional tennis player by the name of

TOMS humble beginnings happened unintentionally.

Blake Mycoskie was born in Arlington, Texas to Mike Mycoskie, an orthopedic surgeon, and Pam Mycoskie, an author. After first attending Arlington Martin High School, he graduated from St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin in 1994. Mycoskie, who began playing tennis when he was 10, attended Southern Methodist University on a partial tennis scholarship in 1995, and elected a dual major in philosophy and business.[2] After an Achilles tendon injury he sustained as a sophomore, which effectively ended his tennis career, Mycoskie left SMU and launched his first business, EZ Laundry.[3] Originally focused on SMU, which had no on-campus dry cleaning service, EZ Laundry expanded, ultimately employing more than 40 people, servicing three universities, and generating close to $1 million in sales.[4] Mycoskie sold the company to his partner in 1999.

Blake Mycoskie, who first visited Argentina while competing on the Amazing Race, returned to the country on vacation in 2006. While there, he met an American woman who was part of a volunteer organization which provided shoes for children in need. Mycoskie spent several days traveling from village to village with the group, as well as on his own. "(I witnessed) the intense pockets of poverty just outside the bustling capital," he wrote in a 2011 article for The Business Insider. "It dramatically heightened my awareness. Yes, I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that poor children around the world often went barefoot, but now, for the first time, I saw the real effects of being shoeless: the blisters, the sores, the infections."

Inspired, Mycoskie returned to the United States and founded Shoes for Better Tomorrows. Designed as a for-profit business which could continually give new shoes to disadvantaged children, he created the "One for One" business model: the company would donate a new pair of shoes for every pair of shoes sold. An early example of social entrepreneurship, the shoes, similar to the Argentinian Alpargata, were created to appeal to a worldwide audience, which would both sustain the company's mission and generate profit. Shoes For A Better Tomorrow, later shortened to TOMS, was started in 2006; by 2013, the company had donated more than 10,000,000 pairs of shoes to people in need.The shoes are sold globally in more than 1000 stores.

In 2011, Toms expanded to include eyeglasses in its "One for One" offering -- for every pair of sunglasses purchased, sight-saving medical treatment, prescription glasses or surgery is donated to a person in need.[18] While Mycoskie conceived the idea, a "Sight Giving Partner," the Seva Foundation, was contracted to administer the actual program, which launched in Nepal, Tibet, and Cambodia. In a 2012 interview with Fast Company, Mycoskie said it was helpful for him to work with Seva. "I've been there when (people have had) surgery... and I've handed out the glasses. But as Toms grows, it has to be less about 'What's Blake's most intimate, joyful experience?' and more about 'What's the great need?'"

Mycoskie published the book Start Something That Matters in 2011. In it, he wrote about the virtues of social entrepreneurship and the concept of businesses using their profits and company assets to make charitable donations or engage in other charitable efforts, using his experience with Toms to demonstrate both the intangible and real returns. For every copy of Start Something That Matters sold, Mycoskie promised to give a children's book to a child in need. Fifty percent of royalties from the book were then used to provide grants to up-and-coming entrepreneurs, and Mycoskie increased this to 100% in late 2012. The book became a New York Times best-selling business book,[25] and a number one New York Times best-seller in the advice category. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Mycoskie