Christ-Centered Leaders

Tanya Tenica

Activating the dually anointed for business and ministry to get out of the weeds and into what multiplies and is sustainable tanyatenica.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    Which System Do You Operate From

    Episode overview: Dr. CJ and I on Babylon, Kingdom, and the discipleship the Lord is calling us back to. Replay linked below. Okay, y’all. Dr. CJ and I went live again, and we did what we always do. One question, no notes, and then we just went. The question I brought was this. Which system are you actually operating in? Because I hear it all the time. One comes to me, loves the Lord, building a business, serving faithfully in church. And she or he starts telling me about the funnel they're running, or the strategy they bought, or how they're supposed to grind through this season. And I’m sitting there like, yikes, that’s pretty Babylonian. Not because they are bad. Because nobody ever presented that there was another system. We say “Kingdom” like it’s a word. Like it’s the next wave, the apostolic movement, the prophetic movement, whatever we’re naming this year, right? But Kingdom isn’t a movement that comes and goes. It’s a government. God is a God of order. It’s not a movement. It’s a government. Dr. CJ framed it prophetically, and I want you to hear this part. There’s a shaking happening in the body right now. Hebrews 12:26-27 tells us God will shake what can be shaken so that what cannot be shaken remains. And so many of us are rebuking the enemy over the shaking in our marriages, our businesses, our churches, our jobs. But what if it’s not the enemy? What if it’s the Lord? I’ve been saying this for nine months now. It’s alignment. It’s like a chiropractic adjustment for the whole body, and adjustments don’t always feel good. So how do you tell the difference? You test the spirit against the Word (1 John 4:1). Dr. CJ walked us through the fruit of the Babylonian system: confusion, deception, pride, idolatry (Revelation 18:2). And we know God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). So if your business, your ministry, or even your Sunday is running on confusion and control, that’s information, okay? Now let me get real with you for a second. I’ve been in ministry over 28 years. And there were so many Sundays I sat in service thinking, I really don’t want to be here. I don’t like the taste of this. I don’t like the structure. And I thought something was wrong with me. Like, am I crazy? Am I backslidden? Am I rebellious? And the Lord said to me, it’s because I didn’t create this model. This is not what I intended it to be. That sent me into years of study, way before my doctorate. And I found out I wasn’t crazy. Maybe that’s you. You’ve got the clients, the team, the vision, the wisdom. Then you sit in the pew and feel like you’re not really doing ministry unless you’re behind a pulpit. So you start thinking, maybe I’m supposed to build a church. Maybe I need to be ordained. Maybe the restlessness means I’m not submitted enough. Hold on. Wait. Because what Dr. CJ laid out next explains a lot. Around AD 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, making Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. By AD 380, under Theodosius, it became the official religion of the empire. Church and state became one thing. Being against the church meant being an enemy of the state. And Constantine brought everybody in, every religion, every practice, because he wanted to know what was going on and he wanted control. That’s a mixture, y’all. And a lot of how we still do church- the hierarchy, the building as the center, the platform, the performance- carries that DNA. Not the ecclesia. Not the body of 1 Corinthians 12. The empire. So that tightness you feel in the four walls? That pull toward the marketplace that you were told was the flesh? It might not be rebellion. It might be discernment. You might be one of the dually anointed, built to carry the Kingdom into business and ministry at the same time, and nobody ever told you the model you were trying to fit into was never His. It might not be rebellion. It might be discernment. So let’s talk about what this asks of you. Because I don’t want you walking away from this thinking the answer is to leave church and go do your own thing. That’s not what we said. Dr. CJ landed this so well. We never want to be in a place where we forsake the assembly (Hebrews 10:25). And we never want to be in a place where the Lord says, I never knew you (Matthew 7:23). Both. Not either. The way out of Babylon isn’t a new building. It’s discipleship. And here’s the difference, because we mix these up. Bible study, honestly, you can do that on your own. That’s independent study. Discipleship is doing life. Jesus didn’t hold a Wednesday class. His disciples ate with Him, traveled with Him, slept where He slept. They watched Him. And Dr. CJ pointed out something I love. Jesus made fewer statements and asked more questions. He let people arrive at the answer through what they were living. That’s discipleship. Even Paul got frustrated with the status quo. In Acts 19, he left the synagogue, took the disciples with him, and taught daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for two years (Acts 19:9-10). Out of that one room, the Word went through the whole region. That’s what mega actually looks like. Not one big room. Multiplication. You disciple, you release, they run their own, and the model stays biblically sound. So why don’t more leaders disciple? Matthew 23:4. They tie up heavy loads and put them on people’s shoulders, but won’t lift a finger to move them. Discipleship lets you get close. Close enough to see whether the leader is actually walking what they preach. And a lot of leaders don’t want you that close. But, and this is the part that hit me, Dr. CJ took us to Matthew 23:15. It’s not only the leader who carries responsibility. The one sitting under that teaching carries it too. Jesus says they make their convert twice as fit for hell as themselves. That’s a different kind of double portion, y’all. Not the one we’re asking for. So you have a responsibility. You can’t be a baby bird anymore, waiting for somebody to drop it in your mouth Sunday and Wednesday. Those days are over. Be like the Bereans, who received the Word eagerly and then searched the Scriptures daily to see if it was so (Acts 17:11). Test the spirit. Test the word. Walk with it. And how do you test a spirit? It’s the weight. I had this conversation the same morning we went live. Somebody can say a thing with all the conviction in the world, and there’s no weight on it. It’s not how you say it. It’s who’s in you when you say it. Now let me get practical for a second, because I want this in your week, not just your notes. First, look at your decisions. Before you sign up for the next program, take the next speaking slot, or say yes to the next ministry ask, ask yourself which system it was born in. Was it born in control, comparison, and pressure? Or in order, peace, and the Spirit? You already know the fruit of each one. Babylon builds with heavy loads. The Kingdom builds with people you actually walk with. Second, and this is the one I want you to sit with, Dr. CJ said something about readiness versus preparedness. So many of us are trying to be prepared. Prepared is striving. Prepared is your body running hot at 3 am, rehearsing, bracing, trying to get ahead of God. Wait, let me say that better. Prepared is trying to be ready for something you can’t see. Ready is already standing in Him. Readiness lives in rest, because you’re not performing for a deadline you don’t know. Nobody knows the day or the hour. So you can stop bracing. He gave us this picture of a popsicle. Time is the popsicle, and it’s melting whether you enjoy it or not. Some of us are standing there holding it, watching and waiting for the next thing, and when it’s all gone we’re just holding the stick. Don’t miss your popsicle, y’all. The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Right now. Not when the next strategy works. One more thing, because it came up at the end and people will take it left if I don’t say it. Dr. CJ reminded us that Joanna, one of the women who funded Jesus’ ministry out of her own means, was married to Chu… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanyatenica.substack.com/subscribe

    Which System Do You Operate From
  2. Oct 27

    Handling Dangers without Discernment… Leads to Downfall

    Every Open Door Doesn’t Deserve Your Entrance Okay y’all, Dr. CJ and I went live this week, and we talked about discernment in business. I want to give you the overview here, because my phone overheated halfway through (yes, I ended up propping it by the air conditioner with the wind blowing in my face like I was shooting a music video) and some of you missed pieces of it. So let me start where we started. Somebody asked me recently, how do you even know what discernment is? Where does it start? Is it in your gut? Is it in your head? And then he said something I thought was so good. He said, " What I notice is that women just know. They just know. This person is not who he says he is. This deal is off. Something’s not right here. And Dr. CJ came right in with Proverbs. Wisdom has built her house (Proverbs 9:1). Wisdom is a she. God is not joking about that, y’all. He shared that in over thirty years of business, his strongest strategic alliances have been with women, because women bring a dynamic men tend to have blind spots to. And then he said he functions like scaffolding. When you’re scaffolding, you bring somebody in, and you push them up over your head. And in the Kingdom, when you push somebody up over your head, that means you’re next. That means you’re next. I just want you to sit with that for a second. Here’s the real problem we were talking about. You can be anointed for the assignment and still suffer in the areas where you lack discernment. You can carry the gift and still walk right into the thing that was set up around your destiny to take you out. Right? And this is not only a believer thing. I said it on the live and I’ll say it again. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance (Romans 11:29). I’ve watched atheists build real wealth because they knew they were good at business. They could look at a deal and say, nope, that’s not it. Everybody has some level of hearing. Some unction, some gut feeling, some resistance where you go, I don’t know what it is, but something doesn’t feel right. As believers, we get to go deeper. We bring it under the Word and the Holy Spirit. But the hearing is there either way. Now let me add this, because this is where science and Scripture sit at the same table. Your nervous system is part of your discernment. How you eat. How you sleep. My husband knows when I get a certain kind of quiet. He’ll say, are you hungry? You just came from the gym? Call me when you’ve eaten. And he’s right! If I haven’t eaten and I haven’t slept, I don’t trust me right then either. Because your body can also tell you something’s wrong when really it’s replaying something old. We run most of our day, over 90% of it, out of the subconscious. So that resistance you feel? Sometimes that’s the Spirit. Sometimes that’s a past experience on replay. Discernment is learning the difference. I actually looked the word up while we were live, because we use it so much in Christ-centered spaces that we forget what it means. To discern is to distinguish. To tell the difference between things. That’s it. That’s the whole word. So here’s the reality check, and Dr. CJ said it so plainly I want you to write it down. Every opportunity that looks like a blessing is not necessarily from God. And every open door doesn’t deserve your entrance. Every open door doesn’t deserve your entrance. Because once people start seeing you, the opportunities come. Collaborations, speaking, curriculum requests, programs, partnerships. Dr. CJ and I are both getting asked by colleges and ministries to put our hands on all kinds of things right now. And a lot of us say yes because it looks good, it feels like favor, and the money is coming in so we assume we’re healthy. Revenue is not proof of business health. Dr. CJ has sat with clients who told him, I don’t need help in these areas; I’m making money. And then he asks to see the metrics, and the story changes. Sales are not profit. If you can’t explain where your money is going, you’re not managing your business. You’re gambling with your future. Luke 14:28 tells us to count the cost before we build, so we can actually finish. And Habakkuk 2:2, write the vision and make it plain. He also said something about competition that I loved. These platforms are built with a ranking system, so the competitive thing is kind of baked in whether we like it or not. But the only real competition is you. And you don’t get discernment by going it alone. You find your people, and you go together. And then the grocery store. Don’t go to the grocery store hungry, okay? You’ll come home with a cart full of stuff you didn’t need. Same thing with all the courses and templates and programs out here. Without discernment, you start spending money on things that were never your answer in the first place. So what do I actually do? Let me walk you through it. I take inventory. I shut off all the noise and sit in silence with a notebook, sometimes for a whole week. Where has something run its course? What needs to shift? Where is the industry going, and is that something I’m supposed to yield to or not? When Substack came up for me (I honestly don’t even remember how I found it) I knew right away this was the platform. And then I had to discern. If I’m going all in here, what goes? Do I drop certain email platforms? Do I stop Instagram? Facebook? What am I supposed to finish from last season, and what needs my hands on it now? Then I don’t just do that once a year. I do it every 30 days. At the end of every month, I look at the impact and the transformation my clients are getting, and the actual numbers. I look at the spiritual, mental, and emotional growth I need, because I might not be the person who can run that organization next quarter yet. I might not be qualified in my thinking. I look at my partnerships. I partner with my husband only (and the Lord, wait, the Lord first) but I connect and collaborate with many, so I look at what needs to be reallocated there. I look at my next 90 days and my three- to five-year vision and whether I’m still reverse-engineering toward it. I look at my systems, my software, my CRM. I look at people, because we manage processes and people, and we forget about the people. I look at what tools I’m still paying for and not using. Trim the fat, y’all. Trim the fat. And as a believer, I’m looking at my boundaries, my rhythms, my prayer and fasting. And I look at my family, because I never want to give my family the rest of me and give everybody else the best of me. What I’ve noticed is when I give my family and myself the best (sleep, food, working out, all of it), everything else just gets added on. Then I take it to counsel. In the multitude of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14). I have specific people who speak into my life, and Dr. CJ is one of them. We check the temperature with each other all the time. Where am I at? What do you see that I need to grow in? Where’s my blind spot? We also got into debt, and I know that word makes some of y’all tense up. But this is a mindset conversation before it’s a money conversation. A lot of people get their first big month and immediately pay off everything. And I’m like, hold on. Is that wisdom? Because if your metrics show that was a spike and not something repeatable yet, three or four months from now you’re back at zero with nothing invested and nothing sustaining you. Dr. CJ said the best time to borrow money is when you don’t need it, because when you need it, it’s already too late. He’s invested well over $150,000 in his own continuing education, with two doctorates already, because growth costs something, and he’s not pulling all of that straight out of operating revenue. And I’ll be honest about my piece of this. I could make multiple six figures and not question it. But underneath, my mindset was my mother’s. What I saw growing up was that if you make a lot of money as a woman, it’s going to cost you your marriage. So money looked different to me. Debt looked di… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanyatenica.substack.com/subscribe

    Handling Dangers without Discernment… Leads to Downfall
  3. Oct 8

    Jesus Had a Brand. Here's What It Cost Him.

    Point 1: His brand was an identity declared before he did anything * Matthew 3:17. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Said before a single miracle, sermon, or follower. * Matthew 4:1-3. Right after, the enemy says “If you are the Son of God...” The first attack on a brand is always on the identity. * The cost: forty days of hunger, and the pressure to prove what had already been said over him. * Tie-in: Whose armor are you wearing? Are you proving something God already declared? Point 2: His brand was a fragrance, and fragrance costs something to release * John 12:3. Mary breaks the jar, a pound of nard, and the whole house fills with it. Nothing is released until something is broken. * 2 Corinthians 2:14-16. We are the aroma of Christ, to some a fragrance of life, to others a smell of death. Same scent, different response. * The cost: not everyone likes it. Luke 4:28-29, his own hometown tries to throw him off a cliff. Mark 6:4, a prophet is not honored in his own town. * Tie-in to the challenge: the scent is what gets you recognized and what gets you rejected. You can’t have one without the other. Point 3: His brand cost him his reputation * Philippians 2:7. He “made himself of no reputation” (KJV). The one with the most reputation to protect laid it down. * Isaiah 53:2-3. No beauty that we should desire him, despised and rejected. * Hebrews 12:2. “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame.” * John 12:7. The nard was for his burial. The most costly fragrance was poured out on the way to the cross. * The cost: the approval of the people who wanted what he carried but not who he was. (Good bridge to the second house and being wanted for the gift, not for yourself.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanyatenica.substack.com/subscribe

    Jesus Had a Brand. Here's What It Cost Him.
  4. Oct 5

    Embracing Transition Without Burnout

    Navigating transitions with courage and clarity in ministry and life. This was given at the School of Activation last month. In today’s clarity session, Tanya Tenica opens up about the challenges and growth that come with stepping into new phases of life and ministry. She emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency, especially for leaders, reminding us that vulnerability can strengthen our connections and enrich our journeys. The Path of Transition Tanya encourages us to embrace the transitions we face, even when the path ahead seems unclear. “Whenever you’re listening to this, this can always be relevant,” she states, highlighting that growth is a universal experience. She shares her personal moments of uncertainty, when she moved forward on faith rather than with a complete understanding of what lay ahead. “I didn’t know everything that was gonna happen... but I was just obedient.” Her journey, filled with ups and downs, showcases the necessity of trusting the process and being open to the lessons it brings. The Cost of Overextension One poignant point Tanya makes is the danger of overextending ourselves without recognizing the toll it takes. She recalls times when she worked tirelessly, pouring out her energy and resources, only to struggle with her own basic needs. Tanya urges us to set boundaries and to be mindful of how much we give, especially in ministry roles where burnout is common. “Be careful what you’re doing, how much you’re pouring out, and where your boundaries and your standards are.” She stresses the importance of valuing our time and energy, reminding us that self-care is not selfish but essential for sustaining our ability to help others. Valuing Yourself In a world where the spirit of giving can sometimes overshadow self-preservation, Tanya reminds us to prioritize our own health and well-being. She encourages listeners to engage in activities that ignite their passion, whether it’s reading, walking, or simply relaxing. “Please don’t forget that in the excitement of doing ministry and helping people.” This reminder is crucial, as it relates not only to physical health but also to maintaining a vibrant spirit. A Call to Action Towards the end of the session, Tanya shares a powerful scripture from First Timothy that resonates deeply with her message. It reminds us not to neglect the gifts within us, as our commitment to our calling can have profound impacts on both ourselves and others. “Pay close attention to your life and your teaching... for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” Tanya’s insights serve as a call to action for all of us to reflect on where we invest our time and energy, urging us to focus on what truly moves the needle in our lives and ministries. Reflecting on her journey, Tanya encourages us to shift our focus and pour our hearts into the areas where we can make the most significant impact. As you navigate your own path, remember to take care of yourself first so you can better serve those around you. Until next time, may you find clarity in your journey and embrace the growth that comes with it. Tanya Tenica Your Activator This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanyatenica.substack.com/subscribe

    Embracing Transition Without Burnout
  5. Sep 24

    Why Every Writer Needs to Hear This: LaVonne Grace on The Mind of a Scribe

    The Same 3 A.M. I want to talk to y’all about 3 a.m. Because I know some of you are up at 3 a.m. Right? Your mind is running the lesson you haven’t finished, the yes you shouldn’t have given, the text you forgot to answer. You’re lying there in the dark doing math on your whole life. My friend LaVonne Grace is up at 3 a.m. too. Same hour. Different wake-up. When the Lord wakes her, she writes. Her grandmother taught her that when she was a little girl. Keep a glass of water on your nightstand, and keep a pen and paper near you. LaVonne told us on the live that sometimes she’ll wake up in the morning, find a whole notebook full of writing, and go, wait, did I write that? And a lot of times what’s on that page is the answer. The answer to the very thing she’d been praying about. Same hour. Different wake-up. I’ve known LaVonne Grace for years, y’all. She’s been an educator for decades. She’s a scribe, and I don’t use that word loosely. Her work is called Write Within Her, and she describes it as healing on paper. So I got her on a live, and I asked her all the questions I’ve been wanting to ask, and I’m going to walk you through what she said, because I think some of you need it more than you know. Here’s where I want to start. Most of the women I walk with don’t write anymore. Not because they don’t love it. Some of y’all were the girl with the notebook. The girl with the favorite pen. Okay, don’t touch our pens. I’m serious. Don’t touch our pens. But somewhere between the ministry and the business and the house, the pen started belonging to everybody else. You write the lesson. You write the announcement. You write the text to the woman whose husband just left. You write the proposal, the caption, the prayer for somebody else’s crisis. When’s the last time you wrote something nobody was ever going to read? LaVonne Grace told a story that stopped me. She said in high school she was so quiet in class. Never said much. And her teacher would read her papers and say the writing didn’t match the person sitting in her room. The girl on the page and the girl in the chair were two different girls. I sat with that one, y’all. Because some of you are living that right now, just flipped around. The woman everybody sees doesn’t match what’s going on inside you. You’ve gotten real good at being the one in the chair. And there’s no page anywhere for the other one. So I asked LaVonne why women don’t journal. She’s actually studied this. And the first thing she said was the word. Journaling. The word alone scares people. Because we’ve made it this thing with a format. You have to be in your favorite chair, with your candle, with your worship music, with the right atmosphere. And if you can’t set all that up, well, I guess you’re not a journaler. We laughed about it, but it’s true, right? It became one more assignment. And some of you do not need one more assignment. LaVonne Grace shared that when she was little, she’d get those punishment sentences. I will stay in my seat. I will not talk. A hundred times. The teacher thought that was punishment. LaVonne was over there having the time of her life. But I’m thinking about the rest of us. The ruler. The “do it again, that’s not neat enough.” Some of us learned really young that writing was something you get graded on. And a woman who’s already being graded everywhere she goes? She’s not going to pick up one more thing she can fail at. Now listen to how LaVonne Grace talks about it instead. She said healing on paper is like scratch paper in math. You know how you’d work the problem out on the side before you had the answer? That’s it. You’re not writing the finished thing. You’re working it out. And that matters in your body. When you try to hold everything in your head, it’s like doing long division in your head at 3 a.m. Your brain keeps the whole problem running because it’s scared it’ll forget a piece. That’s the replay, y’all. That’s why you can’t sleep. Your brain is trying to be your filing cabinet. LaVonne Grace calls her journal her second memory. Her backup. Once it’s on paper, your brain can finally put it down. This isn’t just a nice idea, by the way. Dr. James Pennebaker has been researching this since the 1980s. In his early studies, people who wrote about hard experiences for just a few short sessions ended up making fewer trips to the doctor. His book with Joshua Smyth, Opening Up by Writing It Down, lays out decades of that work if you want to go there. And God said it before the researchers did. “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables” (Habakkuk 2:2). Plain. Not pretty. Plain. He told Jeremiah, “Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book” (Jeremiah 30:2). He’s been asking us to write the whole time. Not so we could perform it. So we’d remember what He said. So I asked LaVonne Grace the question I really wanted to ask. If a woman starts tonight, one page, one honest sentence, what should she write? And she said, one word. Y’all. I started laughing, because I knew she was going to say that. I’ve never met anybody who can take one word and turn it into a devotional, a product, a whole teaching, pages and pages, and never once repeat herself. She’s just like that with one word. She said take the word peace. Now imagine peace is a real person. Interview it. If peace followed you everywhere you went this week, what would it look like? What would it sound like? Where would you notice it? And, this was my favorite part, what isn’t peace? So peace knows the difference too. Write the word at the top of a piece of paper. Leave it on your kitchen table. When a thought comes, walk over and add a line. That’s it. And she said by the end of the week you’ll look down and realize you filled the whole page. End of the week. I made her say it twice on the live, because I need you to hear it. Not the end of the session. The end of the week. You do not have to sit down for twenty minutes. You don’t have to feel it. You add a sentence on Monday and walk away. That’s allowed. The second thing LaVonne Grace does, she does with her students. Her kids are learning English as a second language. So she takes pictures on her walk to work. A pile of trash. A broken door. A plant nobody watered. And she calls the activity Everything Has a Story. If this plant could talk, what would it say? And one of her kids wrote, as the plant, that Miss Weaver used to stop by and see me, and now she doesn’t see me anymore. She forgot to water me. I’m going to be gentle with this, but I want you to try it in your own house. Walk around and ask what things would say. The stack of mail. The workout shoes by the door. The Bible on your nightstand. Wait, let me say that softer. I’m not trying to guilt you with your Bible, okay? That’s not what this is. I’m saying things around you are holding stories you haven’t let yourself hear. And sometimes it’s easier to let the plant say it than to say it yourself. There are no wrong answers. LaVonne Grace says every single one of her kids’ answers is correct, because that’s how they see it. Yours too. The third thing is the one that’s closest to my heart. LaVonne writes letters to God. And then she writes down what He speaks back. I’ll tell you something. When I first started blogging, I didn’t put my name on it. Nobody knew it was me. It was just letters to God. My whole heart on paper, and I didn’t have to figure out who’d be offended or who might trace it back to the person who hurt me. I still keep a journal I write to Him. And I sign it however I’m feeling that day. Some days that’s Tanya Tenica. Some days it’s Tired. Some days it’s Your Daughter, Who Is Trying. That’s not a sermon. That’s not preparation. That’s just talking to your Father. Some of y’all have been praying for years and somewhere along the way prayer turned into getting ready for something. Ready for the lesson. Ready for the meeting. Ready for the woman who’s going to call you crying. A letter doesn’t have to be ready for anything. And listen… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanyatenica.substack.com/subscribe

    Why Every Writer Needs to Hear This: LaVonne Grace on The Mind of a Scribe

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Activating the dually anointed for business and ministry to get out of the weeds and into what multiplies and is sustainable tanyatenica.substack.com