Category Archives: Training

Encouragement, Leadership, Small Groups, Training

God Has a Recession Proof Kingdom

Gravity is for real, no question, no argument.  I am always happy when my plane lands after a flight at 37,000 feet.  There is another fact that is just as real found in Galatians chapter six that says what we sow we reap.  It is as true as gravity.  In fact, that same scripture says that if we don’t believe this truth we “mock God.”  I’m pretty sure we do not want to be found doing that.  Recession makes one take a really close look at income and outgoing.  It calls for certain decisions of cut back for sure.  But does that mean we cut back in our tithe or our giving/sowing?  Only if we desire to stop reaping.  There is not a farmer on this earth that does not expect a crop from seed sown.  Should we expect any less as believers?

In my lifetime, I have discovered a direct connection between giving and sowing and my ability to trust God.  The more I trust Him, the more freedom I experience in giving.  And, the closer I come to the Source through trust, the greater the potential.  If you can be trusted with little, Luke 16: 10-12 says, then you can also be trusted with much more.  Be faithful with what God has given you to give away and watch as He then trusts you with more.  The problem comes in when we pull back, take our eyes off of His unseen world and prepare for the worst.  If we focus on fear and what we believe God hasn’t done, then we will live in discontent and thanklessness.  But, if we focus on what God has done and is doing, we will walk in contentment and thankfulness.  (Not sure who I first heard that from, but it is truth.)

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Leadership, NASCAR, Small Groups, Training

Satisfaction

Relax. Take it easy.  Consider all you have accomplished.  Take pride as you survey your surroundings of comfort.

I have been reading through the book of Deuteronomy of late and am seriously finding it full of life.  Yes, that same book of Deuteronomy found in the Old Testament, the fifth book of the law.  In chapter 8 there is this solemn warning  of having eaten and feeling satisfied.  It feels like Sunday afternoon after chowing down on a wonderful lunch and then lying on the couch preparing for the big game, or better yet, a NASCAR race.  It’s almost heavenly.  Somewhere in the back of your mind you’re thankful for it all, that is to say, your house, your food, your family, your job, your car, your…  Moses warns us as we consider all this (actually he says things like our flocks increasing along with our gold and silver) to be careful that we do not become proud and forget where we came from and Who it is that blesses us with these things.

I like the feeling of “satisfaction” as much as anyone.  It feels like we have accomplished something.  But, when pride becomes part of the equation it’s dangerous.  When we become proud we forget God.  Our focus creeps back to us.  I heard someone say this past week that, in a sense, that’s why we’re made to worship God.  If we do not worship Him, we will worship ourselves and our accomplishments and take satisfaction in what we have built.    There is no greater depth of satisfaction than to follow and obey God.  He keeps life exciting.

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Small Groups, Training

Dys ease

Have you ever suffered from dys ease?  Today we spell this word disease and use it for almost any malady of sickness.  The original prefix of “dys,”  meaning “not,” simply meant “not at ease.”  Ever been not at ease?  Perhaps daily we encounter situations that bring us to this place we are all too often acquainted with.  Our bodies are like shock absorbers on a car.  Without them, we would feel each and every bump, but with them the ride is smooth.  Long-term stress will actually begin to break down the body, inhibit its ability to absorb the ongoing shocks.  My wife is a nurse and she reveals to me that most of her patients are experiencing some form of major stress in their life, consequently they manifest physical abnormalities with their bodies like migraines, digestive problems, muscle problems and of course nervous conditions.

The Bible agrees with this when it says, “An anxious heart weighs a man down.” Proverbs 12:25.  The Law of Attribution teaches that if we believe something to be stressful, it will be stressful.  How are you handling stress each day?  What do you practice so that your body does not break down under stress?  Have you ever stopped to listen to your self-talk in order to discover what you are thinking prior to feeling stress?  To feel stressed, we must be thinking stressful thoughts.  To think stressful thoughts we must believe that the situation is stress producing.  But Isaiah 26 verse 3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”  Peace of mind through trust, now there’s a thought worth looking into next week.

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Prayer, Small Groups, Training

Distance II

But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.  (Luke 23:49)

I am finally getting back to a blog I started several weeks ago.  Below you will find ten final areas of knowing you are standing at a distance from your Lord as expressed in the scripture.  I hope these observations are helpful to you as you encounter a distance in your life and/or in others you love and work with.  Prayerfully take the time to look up the scriptures listed and ask the Holy Spirit to check your heart.

  1. “Being” has become more important to you than “doing.”  (II Corinthians 4:13,14,18; James 2:14,17,24)
  2. You’re not sowing into the lives of others or investing in anyone else’s spiritual growth (Matthew 28: 19,20; I Corinthians
    10: 32,33; II Corinthians 3:4-6; Philippians 2: 1-5; I Thessalonians 5:14,15; II Peter 1:5-10)
  3. You have not heard His voice speaking to you since, well…you can’t remember when (John 10:3-16; Romans 10:17)
  4. Your free time is filled with nothingness, non-productivity and a loss of focus or it’s filled with all the stuff of this
    world without eternal perspective (Proverbs 16:3; I Corinthians 10:31; James 1:27; I John 2:15-17)
  5. Most of your thoughts  are self-centered, filled with what God has not done or are simply unholy and ungodly – failing to thank Him for what He has done (Proverbs 3: 5-8; Proverbs 21:2; Romans 12:1-3; 14:7,8; Philippians 2:3,4; Colossians 2:6,7; Hebrews 3:1; 12:28; I Peter 1:15,16)
  6. You’re questioning the very power and the sovereignty of God (Romans 1:16; I Corinthians 1:18; II Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews
    2:3,4; 4:15; I John 4:4)
  7. Your faith has decreased for prayer to be answered (Mark 9:23; John 14:12-14; Ephesians 3:20; James 5:16)
  8. Your tongue is less guarded in its use of words and expressions (Proverbs 10:20,31; 13:3; 15:1,23; 18:21; 22:11; James 1:26; 3:9,10; 4:11)
  9. Your money is more yours than His; you have forgotten how or have quit giving Him your first fruits (Proverbs 10:22;
    11:24,25; 13:22; 18:16; 22:9; 28:22,27; II Corinthians 9:6-11; I Timothy 6:6-10)
  10. You begin to justify borderline sinful character traits (due to the direct influence of unbelievers or “liberated” believers)
    because, in your mind, God doesn’t really care about miniscule details and neither does He sweat the small stuff (Proverbs
    10: 9; 11:3; I Corinthians 5:9-11; 6:9-11, 18-20; 8:9-13; 15:33;  I Timothy 5:1,2; Titus 2:11,12; II Peter 2; I John 3:6-10)

Luke 24:31 – Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  Open your eyes so you can recognize Him.  V.38 – Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?   v. 45– Then he opened their minds so they
could understand the Scriptures.

II Timothy 4:7 – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.

II Corinthians 13:5 – Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.  Do you realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?  And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.

Grace to you!

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Leadership, Small Groups, Training

Have I Been in the Habit of Doing this to You?

Balaam was an interesting Old Testament character and even more interesting was his donkey.  Balaam heard from God, but he didn’t always see God when He showed up.  Balaam was on his way to see the princes of Moab recorded in Numbers 22.  He would saddle his long-time transportation for the trip, his donkey.  While on the road the donkey sees an angel blocking their way, not once but three times.  Three times Balaam becomes angry at his donkey for trying to avoid something he could not see and three times he beats his faithful beast.  Balaam becomes so angry he tells the donkey that if he had a sword he would have killed her immediately.

Then the donkey does something donkeys are not accustomed to doing, she speaks to her master, “Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”  Paraphrased she was saying, “Look you moron human, as long as you have owned me, have I ever acted this way before?”  In other words, there is something else going on here and you’re not seeing it.  She was acting out of character and Balaam was not getting the message.  When I read this the other day I had to think about the fact that so often we (I) react to what we think we see, when we are not really “seeing” at all.  God is trying to get our attention and we want to thrust a sword into the roadblock when the roadblock actually has a divine purpose.  If something is out of the norm for you today or this week, could it be a divine roadblock?  Stop and ask the Father if there is a message in this abnormality for you.

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Leadership, Prayer, Small Groups, Training

Distance

But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.  (Luke 23:49)

If we know Him, could we be standing at a distance?  If we’ve accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, God’s amazing love will allow us to totally walk away from Him, stand at a distance and look from afar or be right up front waiting on His next command.

How would you know if you’re at a distance?  The following are ten areas to consider with appropriate scriptures following.  We will look at ten more areas next week.  Prayerfully look over the areas and scriptures listed, perhaps in your devotional time.

You are standing at a distance if:

  1. You’re not reading the Bible daily or at least committed to do so.  (Proverbs 4: 20-22; Romans 10:17; II Timothy 2:15; 3:16,17; Hebrews 2:1; 4:12)
  2. Your prayer life consists of praying on the run or when someone else is praying around you.  (Mark 1:35; Luke 18:1; Romans 8:26,27; Colossians 4:2)
  3. You are not committed to the vision of and to relationships within a local church.  (I Corinthians 14:26; Hebrews 10:25; I John 1:7)
  4. You rarely tell anyone your testimony or share about Jesus and His love, hope and salvation.  ( Romans 10: 14,15; Colossians 3:17; II Timothy 1:7,8; 4:5;  James 5:19,20)
  5. Your friends and family are more important than Jesus is.  (Mark 3:31-35; 10:29,30; 12;30,31)
  6. You’re more concerned about what those around you think of you than you are about what Jesus thinks or says about you.  (Proverbs 29:25; Matthew 23:5-7,12; Luke 9:26; I Corinthians 1:26-31; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:10; 2:20; 4:19; Colossians 1:28; I Thessalonians 2:4-6; I Peter 2:9,10)
  7. Obeying Him has become less and less of a priority and His words have become “hard” to hear as you live your daily life.  (Proverbs 14:12; John 6: 60,66-71; 14:15,21; I Peter 2:11,12; I John 2:3-6)
  8. Your view of God has evolved to His living at a distance, and that being the case, unable to be reached consistently.  (II Timothy 1:14; Hebrews 3:6; 11:6)
  9. You’re not reading or listening to something that challenges your spiritual growth on any kind of consistent basis.  (Proverbs 3:1,2; Isaiah 26:3; I Corinthians 2:16; Colossians 3:2)
  10. “Rational thinking” from the wisdom of this world has taken precedence over the truths of God’s word.  (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10; 21:30; Mark 7:8; Romans 8:5-9; I Corinthians 1:18-21; Colossians 2:8; I Timothy 6:20,21; II Timothy 3:1-5; II Peter 1:3,4)
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Leadership, Marriage, Prayer, Small Groups, Training

“God Told Me…”

“But I know I heard God on this.”  “The Holy Spirit revealed to me…”  “God spoke to me.”  You and I have heard those words many times and perhaps said them ourselves.  But what happens when the person saying them is going directly against the word of God or you know their “hearing” is based more upon emotional desire than true insight from God?  Stay with me here.  I am not saying God does not speak today because I know He does.  It is just that we find difficulty in refuting the phrases listed above.  I mean, how do you come against or in direct conflict with the words, “I know I heard God on this?”  It would seem impossible, but then the person could be left with some disastrous outcomes.

Let me give you a few pointers to offer such persons speaking so matter of fact.  First, have they ever been wrong?  I mean, have they ever missed God or have they been 100% correct all the time in hearing from God?  Second, what are their overseers saying on the subject?  Have they found any wisdom in a multitude of counselors?  Are these counselors cautioning them and are they listening to those cautions?  And third, could God change it up even if they did hear Him correctly and they are in the midst of obeying that voice?  Abraham is an example of what I am referring to.  In Genesis 22, Abraham heard the voice of God instruct him to take his son, Isaac, up the mountain to sacrifice him.  Abraham gathers his supplies the next morning along with his son and set out to the place God told him to go.  He bound his son, took out his knife, raised his arms and all of a sudden heard a voice from heaven saying, “Abraham, Abraham…do not lay a hand on the boy.”  What if Abraham insisted on following God’s voice from the first command and resisted the second voice?

Don’t get stuck, cornered, or manipulated by others even when they are confident in their hearing.  We can bring an appropriate challenge to those who use these phrases.  In the end, they are responsible to properly discern in their hearing, but we do not have to always agree.  When we use these phrases, let’s be sure it is God and continue listening because He may change it up.

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Leadership, Small Groups, Training

If You Have Time…

 How many times have we been asked the question, “What time is it?”  How many times in the course of the day do you look at your watch, wall clock or cell phone to see what time it is?   We live by time; we work by time; we set meetings by time; we measure life by time.  We go to bed and wake up to a new day by the passing of time.  Every year we celebrate another birthday because twelve months of time have escaped us.  “Where did the time go?” we often hear.  “It’s about time,” is another often repeated expression.  Time is on our mind constantly when we find ourselves thinking, “I just don’t have enough time” or “I’m running out of time.”

 Our life on earth is governed by time, but eternity is not. We as human beings are governed by time, but God is not.  Actually, God and eternity may be partially defined by the lack of time consciousness.  Once in heaven for all eternity, who would possibly care about time?  Galatians 4:4 says that when the time had come God sent His Son.  God came from no time to experience time, to be limited to 33 years of time and then experience death.  God for the first time experienced getting older with the passing of time.  And then Matthew 24:36 says there is a time coming when Jesus will return.  We look forward to His coming, this God appointed time.

 What I find mind boggling is that God, our Father, has a plan in time for everyone of us…amazing.  This is our time and our season and what an exciting time it is.  We have been born for such a time as this.  It is our time to start a family, plant a church, work with  missions, start a business or lead a small group.  This moment you are experiencing right now reading this blog will never occur again.  It will be forever gone in time past.  You will never get this moment back.  Are you sure you want to use your valuable time reading this diatribe?  :)

 Did you ever do the right thing at the wrong time?  Or, the wrong thing at the right time?  Both can be disastrous.  God rules all time and has chosen to enter into time to work with you and me so that we can do the right thing at the right time.  A friend of mine often says that time is our friend.  That said, we do need to be conscious of the hour.  And do this, understanding the present time.  The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over, the day is almost here.”  (Romans 13: 11,12)   Time has past and our salvation is “nearer now than when we first believed.”  Let’s not stop being time conscious, but at the same time, let’s not allow time to rule us.  Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to be our time-keeper.

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Premarital, Singles, Training

Finding a Life Mate: The Character Traits Worth Looking For #9

This is the ninth in a series of what traits to look for in a life mate.  While the following sets a high standard, one that perhaps few will initially reach, each area identified is an important character trait to look for and inquire about as you consider a lifelong marriage partner.

9.  Does this person walk in accountability (continued)?  Does this person have a mentoring relationship with a pastor or other spiritual leader, someone they have given authority to speak into his/her life, to provide challenge and correction?  Is he/she mentoring others?  Is he/she committed to a local church fellowship?  Can you speak into his/her life freely and can this person receive your input?  Is this person accountable with personal possessions, finances and their spiritual disciplines?  Do you feel any ongoing resistance when it comes to the discipline of accountability or submission to spiritual authority? (Hebrews 4:13)

Humility is a sign of maturity and it takes humility to realize ones need of personal accountability and mentoring.  None of us know it all.  At this stage of life, spiritual mentoring through spiritual parents is invaluable.   Many years ago I had a spiritual father who met with me monthly, read what I was writing, asked me targeted questions and held my feet to the fire in loving God, God’s family and the family God gave me.  I knew the value of this relationship from my days of living single and needing mentors in my life.  To date, this life coaching has never stopped and I refuse to live without accountability in all I do.  There is tremendous safety in it.  It is partly why Mary and I celebrate 36 years of marriage tomorrow!  Commitment to a local church, an overseer/spiritual parent and personal accountability (through someone who is willing to ask us the hard questions), as we walk through life, keeps a spirit of resistance (to challenge and change) at bay and reinforces our walk with humility.

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Leadership, Small Groups, Training

Opinions Vs. Convictions

To all my friends who are leaders entertaining the many requests and opinions of others…a little life experience to you.

Have you ever gotten tired of the opinions of others concerning worship,  your messages, small groups,  the elders,  the chair set up and your son’s latest tattoo?  How come everyone has given themselves the job of making sure you are aware of what it is they like and do not like at your local church?  Everyone has an opinion about their brother or sister and how they make decisions for themselves.  Everyone likes to have your ear when it comes to their personal thoughts and direction for you, the elders and the church.  How do we wade through it all?  Who is right and who is wrong?  Do we just close ourselves off and not listen or become numb to it all?

 Jesus was at a Feast one day as recorded in John chapter 7.  He sent  his disciples ahead and then traveled there in secret.  People were talking about Him at the Feast and He began to teach them.  He said something that really stood out to me the other day in my devotional time.  In verse 16 He revealed that His teaching was from the Father, it was not His own.  He then said if we choose to do God’s will, we will find out if His teaching is from God (conviction) or simply from Himself (opinion).  And then verse 18…”He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself (opinion), but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him (conviction).”  It hit me that He was addressing opinions versus convictions. 

 What do I mean?  An opinion according to this verse is to preserve one’s own thoughts and ideas, to gain honor for oneself.  It is made up of this worlds wisdom.  It is spoken at times to protect the one sharing the opinion.  A conviction, however, is spoken to protect the integrity of another; to honor what another has spoken as truth.  An opinion can be offered in true humility and be very helpful, but a conviction is spoken from the spirit because of a greater truth one feels compelled to uphold.  I would not die for my opinions, but I would for my convictions deeply rooted in my faith.

 May the Author of the Holy Scriptures reveal His truth to you today, as well as, His insight and discernment to determine the difference in the many opinions that come your way versus the spoken convictions of truth.

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