One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams
We are hosting our October Master Class on the campus of Oklahoma State University this Friday, October 11th, from 12:00n-1:00pm. Our topic this month is “Women in Ministry” with Nyree Brodrick. Nyree serves as the director of the Oklahoma District of the Assemblies of God Women in Ministry Network.
God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. ”
― E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer
I like planning. I like creating projects and processes. I like creating better methods of doing things.
But ultimately, everything comes down to people.
It is about providing guidance. It is about providing direction. It is about providing opportunities.
But ultimately it is about helping people see who they are in God and his plans and purposes for them.
It seems as if at times we are looking for the method that by-passes people. Social media is one example. If we create the right profile, the right image, the right content, we can reach people without anything else. Just get them into the church.
We forget that God’s plan was for people to reach people. That was always the method.
Not better methods. Better people.
Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”
― A. W. Tozer
There was recently a story in the news about how similar all hipsters look (though I suppose the author of the story could have chosen any group and made the same claim). A man contacted the publisher of the story to complain that his photo had been used in the article without his permission. On further checking, the publisher found that it was not the same man but someone for which they had a model’s photo release.
Point proved.
According to Webster’s dictionary, average is “having qualities that are seen as typical of a particular person or thing”. Hipsters, for instance (or cowboys, or surfers, or lawyers, or teachers…).
But often when we use the word average, we don’t mean that.
We mean “mediocre; not very good”.
“The food was just average.” “The presentation was just average.” “The store was just average.” “The date was just average.”
It is as if “average” requires a sigh of disappointment after the word is uttered. We know it could have been better.
But, if we are not careful, we will settle for a lifetime of “average” because average is enough. Not good. Not bad. Average.
But who wants to live life with a sigh of disappointment.
Have an impossible dream. Set an unreachable goal. Soar high.
You may fail, sometimes, and end up for a moment in “average”. But don’t settle for the mediocre.
Soar.
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
— Henri J.M. Nouwen
I appreciate those people who seem to be happy all the time. But that is not me.
Sometimes there are things going on that make happiness feel unattainable for me. There are things I face that don’t make me happy.
But I still have joy. Even in those tough times, I keep an attitude of joy.
My joy comes from knowing who I am in God, and though the situation I face may be challenging it does not change who I am as God’s child.
So I choose joy.
Everyday.
Yes, sometimes I forget to choose joy. I can be a bit grumpy.
But I always come back to it.
Stop waiting for good things to happen and bad things to stop happening. Choose joy.
Everyday.
Kathy and I led a breakout session on Spiritual Direction and how to hear the voice of God for Oklahoma Chi Alpha’s Breakaway conference. We had some great help from Brian Abraham and Katie Deisher. Around 100 students attended our two sessions as we shared how to Sit, Walk, and Stand with God.
Every man must render an account before God of all the good things he beheld in life and did not enjoy.”
— a saying from the Jerusalem Talmud (Kiddushin)
I was at a theme park one time waiting in line for the newest, latest and greatest ride. The line for people getting off passed my line at one point, and I heard someone ask one those getting off the ride how they liked it.
The person replied, “I had the time of my life, and I didn’t enjoy a minute of it.”
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes wrote that there was nothing better for a person than to enjoy what they were doing because that was their reward.
The reward is enjoying what you are doing. The reward is not something that comes after you finish doing something. It is what you are doing that moment.
Each moment gives us a chance to enjoy the good things in front of us. It is a shame if we miss them because we are waiting for something else.
Don’t seize the day. Enjoy the moment.
“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”
— Henri J.M. Nouwen
I was reading yesterday and came across two quotes I didn’t care for.
“Embrace the fear.”
“Love the pain.”
They go against everything that is within me. I want to reject the fear and avoid the pain. It is not easier to do that, but it is a preferable price to pay.
Maybe that is why I am not always a patient person. I don’t want to embrace the fear and love the pain enough to see if there is something hidden in the moment where I find myself.
So I must learn to believe. I must stay put and live out my situation fully. I must be patient.
Embracing the pain. Loving the fear.
Finding what is hidden.
“I have rightfully no other business each day but to do God’s work as a servant, constantly regarding His pleasure. May I have grace to live above every human motive, simply with God and to God.”
― Henry Martyn
Sometimes we get confused.
We think we are the master and God is the servant.
I don’t know that we mean to think that, but that is the way it works out. We pray and ask God to meet our needs. We do it with the best of intentions because we know that he loves us and has good things for us.
Then we arise from our prayers and go live our life. OUR life.
I am the master. God is the servant.
So what if instead we begin the day by saying this prayer, “Thy will be done, Father. What does it look like through my life today?”
And then listen to the Father and go do it; a life lived “simply with God and to God”.
Just working in the family business.
