Tag Archives: opportunities

Posted on

Are You Facing Giants?

by

Have you ever watched a football game and wondered why none of the players on the offensive team’s sidelines appear worried about getting hit by one of the giants that are playing for the defensive team? In many cases, they are talking, laughing, even have their backs turned to the game on the field. Why are they not thinking about the possibility of getting hit at any given moment?

giants

No Danger On The Sidelines

Well, if you think about it, I am not asking a difficult question. The reason they are not worried or thinking about it is that they are not IN the game. When on the sidelines, they are not an active threat to the game that is being played out on the field. They are, at that point, harmless to the cause and efforts of the defensive team.

Recent Devotion

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been reading from Streams in the Desert lately and it has been good for me. While this is not replacing my time in the Bible, I am really getting some good insights from these short devotions. Here is a recent quote from this book:

We encounter giants only when we are serving God and following Him. It was when Israel was going forward that the giants appeared, for when they turned back into the wilderness, they found none (Numbers 13-14).

Many people believe that the power of God in a person’s life should keep him from all trials and conflicts. However, the power of God actually brings conflict and struggles.

Giants On The Battle Field

Just like the football players on the sidelines, we Christians are not in any danger of facing giants (trials, conflicts, etc.) when we are sitting on the sidelines of the spiritual war going on around us. When in this position, we simply are not a threat to the opposition.

However, if we step out onto the field of battle and begin fighting for God’s glory and the eternal salvation of those around us, we should expect to face giants! We become a threat to the enemy and he will react accordingly.

The Enemy Is Real

I am not one of those people who run around all the time blaming satan for everything happening to me. I do not give him credit (or blame) for my sins and I recognize that many of the situations I face are simply consequences of my prior poor decisions or misdirected desires.

At the same time, I AM one of those people that believes the Bible. I do believe it is God’s Word of instruction AND WARNING to us. I take what it says to be the truth and I try to live accordingly.

Scriptures To Heed

The following verses paint a picture that I believe we need to recognize as being real:

After they (Paul and Barnabas) had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch, strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.”
Acts 14:22-23

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:22

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
Matthew 24:9

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
John 15:18-21

Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:13

Is that enough Scripture to give you a clear picture? If not, then let me add one more…

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8

Are You Facing Giants?

Hopefully, this makes it very clear that there are giants for us to face if we are out on the field of battle. The Bible is very clear about this and we should not ignore what is said about these giants.

So now the question is this – are you facing giants?

Are you seeing the opposition of the enemy as you go about trying to do business from an eternal perspective? Are you seeing evidence of the spiritual battle going on around you?

Confused?

Or does this post confuse you? Instead, do you feel everything is going along pretty easily? Has it been awhile since you last faced giants opposing you in your efforts at Christian ministry?

I certainly cannot (nor intend to) judge your circumstances or your own situation. All I want to do is raise the questions and let you prayerfully seek God’s face on this issue.

If you are not seeing giants coming at you in opposition to your Christian ministry efforts, then you at least need to consider that you are not on the battlefield. It is at least a possibility that you are instead on the sidelines, no longer a threat to the enemy.

Don’t Lose Heart

If you ARE facing giants on a daily basis, do not lose heart! You are not on the wrong path simply because it is so hard. The opposite may very well be true.

You also need to prayerfully seek God to make sure you are still headed in the right direction, but you do need to know that the giants you face are to be expected if you are out on the battlefield! I leave you with this encouragement:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

What do your giants look like?

How do you maintain your faith in the shadow of the giants?

If you are not facing giants, why do you think that is?

Posted on

3 Keys To Eliminate Sorrow

by

Business is hard. Christian business is at least as hard, maybe even harder. I don’t know about you, but I find myself riding a roller coaster of emotions as we attempt to run our family business with an eternal perspective. Of course, it is only when I am down or depressed that I need help dealing. The highs usually take care of themselves. We need to be more intentional with the sorrow.

sorrow

Multiple Causes Of Sorrow

If you are anything like me, you face times when you feel a loss of hope. Maybe it is frustration at decisions we have made in the past. It could happen when we are not seeing the results we think we should be seeing from the work we are doing. There are also those times we think there is no hope of breakthrough in the future.

A good friend of mine referred me to a great daily devotional book (Streams in the Desert) that I have been using more and more lately. It was a simple quote from this book that gives us the three keys to eliminating this sorrow we experience:

I suspect that the source of every bit of sorrow in my life can be traced to simple unbelief. If I truly believe the past is totally forgiven, the present is supplied with power, and the future is bright with hope, how could I be anything but completely happy?

Three Keys To Eliminate Sorrow

When we break this quote down into its three parts, and combine it with Scripture, we truly have three keys that will help us minimize the sorrow that we can experience while trying to run our businesses as platforms for Christian ministry.

Let’s take a look at each key:

Key #1: Past Is Totally Forgiven!

This is the first step we must take to eliminate the sorrow that can plague us. We must truly believe that our past is totally and completely forgiven. I think my favorite verse that communicates this idea is the following:

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12

Folks, once we have repented and asked forgiveness for our sins, it is not God who continues to throw them back in our face or whisper them in our ear. It is our enemy that attempts to incapacitate us with guilt. God forgives and forgets. The enemy is called the accuser (Revelation 12:10).

Once we accept this truth and continue to remember it, we eliminate a huge source of our sorrow. Without this reappearing guilt, our lives could be so much more peaceful and stress-free!

Key #2: Present Is Supplied With Power!

The second step we must take is to recognize that our present is supplied with power. While many of us do not always operate in or with this power, it is there and waiting for us to step up and use it!

Here are a couple of verses that I think do the best job of communicating this:

For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7

But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me.
2 Corinthians 12:9

When we stop trying to strive in our own power and instead allow His power to operate in and through us, then we will have gone far to eliminate another significant source of sorrow in our lives.

When we repeatedly ignore what the Scripture says about the power of Christ in us, we are saying we think we can do all of what is expected of us – on our own! This is madness. Jesus say we can do nothing apart from Him (John 15:5). We need to accept this and embrace His power IN us!

Key #3: Future Is Bright With Hope!

Finally, the third step we need to take is to see the future filled with hope. Rather than staring into the darkness that is a symptom of our temporal perspectives, we must embrace the hope that Christ gives us when we maintain our eternal perspective.

The following verses serve as examples of this hope for the future:

For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

Sure, there will be times that we fail to see this bright future. There will be times we feel there is nothing but sorrow ahead. But if we can recall these promises from the Scripture, and hide them in our heart, the hope we need will come back into view.

In doing so, we are eliminating the remaining traces of the sorrow surrounding us.

Summary

The bottom line is this – you will experience sorrow as you attempt to run you business from an eternal perspective. That is inevitable. At the same time, if you will follow the three simple keys outlined above, you can eliminate this sorrow before it goes too far.

Posted on

3 Lessons From “Follow Me!”

by

As I described in my last post, Jesus has just told Peter that it was not really his business what John was going to be doing. Jesus made it clear that Peter had his own, unique call on his life. Jesus restated His call to Peter in this way, “If I want him (John) to remain until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow Me!”

Follow Me

Attitude Adjustment Needed!

When I heard this recently in a sermon, it stopped me in my tracks because I had been asking questions similar to those of Peter’s. I had been asking God why others were getting to experience the ministry opportunities I thought He had called me to perform. I wanted to know why my call appeared to have stalled while their’s was running at high speed!

The more I thought about Jesus’ words to Peter, the more I realized several ways I needed an attitude adjustment. The more I realized this, the more embarrassed I was at my behavior. I had been acting like a child.

Imagined Promises

First…sure, I had acknowledged His ownership of our business and began to try to use it to impact others for eternity. That’s great! I still believe that is what I am supposed to do. However, no where in that call was there a promise of the business prospering or succeeding beyond those around us.

Even though we were determined to use profits for eternal purposes, He never promised that the business would run smoothly and produce profits like we had experienced in the past. Nor did He promise that we would become a large-scale model for other businesses to follow. That may happen, but it was not promised.

Actual Promises

In fact, the only thing that He did promise was that He would be with us. He did not promise a lack of opposition (in fact, He promised the opposite), but He did promise that He would never leave us or forsake us.

As I thought about these things, I realized I had been following something similar to the prosperity Gospel. I was so frustrated at this because I KNOW better. Yet, that does not seem to stop me from making this same mistake over and over again.

I Can Be Blind

The second lesson I gleaned from this experience is that I can be pretty blind at times! Maybe you do not have this problem, but I have it in spades.

As I began to look around at the ministry God is already doing through His business, I quickly recognized that I was being greedy. While I wanted so much more to happen in that area, much already was.

Ministry Happening!

Our chaplain program is awesome and impacting 100 employees every week. We are sending out roughly 200 Bibles every month in the glove boxes of the vehicles we are selling. Employees are studying the Bible together before work and at lunch, learning how to have an eternal impact themselves!

As for a global impact on thousands, maybe not. However, God has used this blog to reach into India and impacted people there. People are learning more about how to (and how NOT to) do ministry in the marketplace! Maybe we cannot give as much as we want, but we are seeing a lot happen with what we do have!

Delayed Lesson

The third lesson from this experience came a week later, after my last post. In fact, exactly one week from the last sermon that hit me between the eyes, another one hit home.

The Scripture is found in Romans 12:15. Here it is:

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

We are often good about weeping with those who weep. We come by their side and bring comfort food! We cry with them and pray for them as they go through tough times.

Rejoicing Or Jealousy?

Unfortunately, the opposite is often true about rejoicing with those who rejoice. Too often, we look at others who are celebrating something – even in ministry – and we get jealous. Rather than celebrating with them, we pitch a fit and wonder why God gave THEM the success when WE should have received it!

As ridiculous as this is when I see it in someone else, I hate it even more when I see it in me. I should have been celebrating with those other business owners at the recent conference. Instead, I was questioning why God had not done the same for our business.

Don’t Follow Me!

Even putting this in black and white right now is painful. Obviously, I have not been the example I want to be. However, if it will help someone out there avoid this pitfall (and not follow me!), then I am happy (well, at least willing) to do it.

Can you think of another lesson I should be learning here?

Since Jesus said to you, “Follow Me!”, have you questioned Him?

What have you learned from that?

Posted on

Jesus Said, “Follow Me!”

by

For the past 9+ years, I have been trying to run our family’s business as a platform for ministry. I jumped when I heard Jesus say,”Follow me!” To be honest, it has been much more difficult than I thought it would be. In fact, there have been times I have seriously questioned Him about the difficulties.

follow me

Path Is Not Easy

If you have ever tried to do work for Jesus – whether in the church, in the community, in the business world, or in the foreign mission field – you have met challenges and difficulties. This path is not an easy one and in many ways, we understand that going in.

At the same time, I often find myself questioning this path. While I know there will be trouble, I still have this picture of what I think the results will look like. I still have a sort of “end of the rainbow” mentality that says if I will just persevere, all will end up like a fairy tale!

Worth It?

What I often allow to drive me is the belief that all the trouble is worth it as long as I end up at the picture I have imagined is the end of the path. Does this ever happen to you? Do you ever have these feelings?

One problem with this line of thinking is that the picture I have imagined is hardly ever the picture that God has in mind. I think the results will look one way and He has something totally different in mind. My frustration begins when the path I am on begins to veer away from the path I had pictured.

“Wait God! Aren’t we supposed to be heading that way over there?” I imagine He smiles and then continues leading me away from my picture and toward His. When I am close to Him in relationship, I can handle this. When I have strayed a little, this part is really tough.

Tougher Problem!

However, I will tell you that I have a much easier time in handling a different picture than I do with another problem that crops up. This other problem is all about timing.

See, in this other situation, the path does not necessarily head off in a different direction than I had originally imagined. The problem instead is that it appears to go nowhere at all! That is because, with this problem, it appears that I am supposed to wait on Him.

I cannot tell if I am on the path headed to where I imagined or somewhere else that He has in mind. I cannot tell because I AM NOT MOVING! I feel like I am smack in the middle of Groundhog Day, the movie, and every day is the same as the one before.

Stuck?

I feel like I am stuck and cannot seem to catch a break to move forward at all. This problem seems to plague me more than any other. Maybe it is because I am impatient. Maybe it is a control thing. Maybe it is a combination of these and other issues God is trying to force me to deal with.

Whatever it is, I really have a hard time with this one.

I like progress. I like to be moving forward and seeing forward motion. I do not like to be stuck, sitting still, apparently going nowhere. I KNOW the Scripture that I SHOULD be reciting, but it is still difficult for me to handle. I know that God’s timing is not mine, but I still struggle!

I Finally Broke!

I recently had an “episode” or “tantrum” when I was away at a meeting. I was surrounded by a huge group of like-minded businessmen that were doing incredible things with their businesses to impact people for eternity. I am not talking about 5 or 10 people. I am not talking about just in their community.

No, these Christian business leaders are having an impact on thousands all over the globe – the very things that I have imagined God would be using ME to do as well! [Note: I recognize some of this IS happening in our business, but you have to bear with me…I am having an immature moment here! Likely, you’ve never done this!]

I listened and listened, but I finally broke. I finally got off by myself and questioned God directly. I asked why things were so hard in our business. I asked why we were not seeing the progress we wanted to see. I wanted to know why these other businesses were put in a position to impact so many and we were stuck. I asked over and over, “WHY?”

No answer. Nothing.

At least not right then.

As is common with Him, He just listened.

And waited.

He Finally Answered!

It was not until almost a week later when I was sitting in church that He gave me the answer to my questions. When He gave it to me, it was one of those moments that sticks with you. It was one of those moments that you just cannot get out of your mind.

I will not go into the detail of the whole message, but I will describe the setting of the Scripture He used to get my attention.

Follow Me!

Jesus has just asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Each time, Peter tells Jesus that he loves Him! Each time, Jesus then says for Peter to feed his sheep. Then Jesus foretells the manner in which Peter will die. He ends by telling Peter, “Follow Me!”

Jesus has basically given Peter his marching orders and Peter is trying to understand exactly what it means. Maybe he is even asking himself what it will cost him. I don’t know.

Whatever the case, Peter’s next question resembles the questions I was asking God earlier. He points to John and asks Jesus, “What about him?” Essentially, He basically wanted to know what Jesus was going to have John doing while all of this was happening to Peter.

My Answer

It was Jesus’ response to Peter that made my hair stand on end. It caught in my throat and took my breath. As I heard the pastor read it and followed along with him, I instantly knew God was using this passage to answer my earlier questions.

“If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.”

To Be Continued…

When Jesus said, “Follow Me!” to you, what did you think it would look like?

Has His call to “Follow Me!” turned out the way you expected?

How do you react when His “Follow Me!” takes you where you do not want to be?

Posted on

My Life Purpose Is Multiplying Silhouettes!

by

Add Silhouettes

What is your life purpose? What actually motivates you to fulfill that life purpose? When the going gets really tough and you are tempted to give in, what thought do you cling to for the strength to keep pressing forward? While you think about the answers to those questions, I am going to share my answers to those same questions. Maybe my answers will help you think through yours!

Posted on

Lessons Learned From An Onion

by

As I have said many times before, we can learn a lot from life if we will simply pay attention to what is going on around us. Last week, God showed me a great lesson about those little sins that we often overlook or brush off as inconsequential. I learned that we are to take these sins more seriously if we want to avoid the consequences. I learned this from an onion!

little sins

Lessons On Little Sins

In my last post, I described how I had inadvertently dropped a small piece of onion from my burger in my truck while traveling out of town. Unfortunately, I did not immediately retrieve the onion, leaving it to stink up my whole truck! If you have not read the whole story, you really need to do that now so you can understand the lessons on little sins that I will describe in today’s post.

To simplify these lessons, I am simply going to list them in order, with brief explanations of the parallels with little sins. Let’s jump in!

I was aware, but did not react immediately!

I mentioned that I noticed something fall from the burger into my lap. I did not know exactly what had dropped, but I had a very good idea of where it had fallen. I could have (and should have) investigated at the next opportunity. Had I done so, the onion would never have had the time to smell up the entire truck.

The same is true of little sins. If we address them immediately, the consequences are reduced. Even if we are not sure of exactly what we did (or said) that was wrong, that fact that we know SOMETHING is wrong should be enough to cause us to take action – seeking forgiveness and repentance.

I allowed my “hurry” to override my judgment!

As soon as I parked at the game, I knew I should have crawled under the seat . Instead, I allowed the fact that I was running late to take priority. I did stop long enough to get rid of the easy evidence, but that was not enough. It just eased my mind a little.

Too often, we run so fast (and so far behind) that we fail to do the right thing when the opportunity arises. We know we should deal with our little sins of saying the wrong thing or overlooking an injustice, but we are in a hurry. We assume the situation will either take care of itself or maybe disappear altogether. This is a mistake that will cost us more later.

I thought getting rid of the obvious evidence would be enough.

I thought whatever had dropped would not be enough to cause damage. As a result, I only removed the box that held the burger. As I found out later, this was not enough to prevent the smell.

When we are guilty of little sins, we usually do not recognize the huge damage they can do when left unaddressed. We simply get rid of the obvious evidence and try to move on, thinking we are clear. Unfortunately, that rarely, if ever, works.

I got used to the smell.

Maybe the fact that I had a smelly soccer player next to me helped me to forget about the onion smell. More likely, I just got used to it. I kept thinking I would deal with it later, but the longer I was around it, the less offensive the smell was to me.

Can’t you see how the same is true of sin? We slip and say or do the wrong thing. Consequences appear – like a broken relationship or cloudy conscience. At first, these consequences are very uncomfortable, but over time we find we can get used to them. This is often easier than dealing with the little sin that caused it.

Fatigue clouded my judgment.

When we got home, it was close to midnight and I was exhausted. I did not want to crawl under the seat at that point. I just wanted to go to bed! Another 12 hours won’t hurt, right?

Fatigue will do the same thing to our minds when it comes to sin as well. We simply are not thinking as clearly when we are not well rested. We tend to delay and compromise more when we are tired. We should not put ourselves into this position if we can avoid it.

I thought masking would work!

This may be the dumbest thing I did in this whole series of events. I still can’t believe it. Though my idea of using coffee grounds would eventually help, I still went out of my way to try to mask the smell rather than taking the time to address it. The crazy part was that I took longer to set up the coffee trick than it would have taken to climb under the seat!

As dumb as this sounded when you were first reading it, you have done the same thing! We have all tried to simply mask our little sins rather than addressing them. We try to spend more money on someone (without apologizing) to make up for being inconsiderate. Maybe we try to offer a customer a perk (without coming clean about our mistake) to win them over. Whatever the case, the masking is not the fix.

I am still paying the consequences.

Even with the onion finally gone, the truck still stinks. It is not nearly as bad as it was with the onion there, but it is not back to normal. While it was only there for roughly 24 hours, that was long enough.

Little sin is the same way. The longer we let it linger, the longer and more painful the consequences. Even after we finally address the issue, the consequences will likely continue for some time. We simply cannot afford to ignore even the little sins. Our awareness should initiate our immediate action.

Have you come up with lessons I may have missed?

Have you experienced something similar?

What did you learn?

Posted on

How To Be An Outrageous Leader

by

[box]This is a guest post by Dwayne Morris. Dwayne is an author, speaker, husband and father. He recently released a book called The OUTRAGEOUS Life. You can read more about Dwayne on his blog and follow him on Twitter. Read more about his book here![/box]

outrageous leader

Outrageous Leader?

What adjective would people use in front of the word, “leader” to describe you? Are you a visionary leader? A predictable leader? A boring leader?

How about an OUTRAGEOUS leader?

My glance across the leadership front often leaves me slightly perplexed. I find myself straddling the models of old-school leadership and new-school leadership. My disarray is due in part to the intersection of my leadership experiences and a shift to a very different model.

New-School Leadership

The new model of leadership asks, “How can I help you succeed in your task?” That’s a little different than, “I hired you to do a job.” The best people on your team aren’t looking for a J-O-B. They are looking to make a difference; to do something bigger than themselves; to do something outrageous.

What it Takes to be OUTRAGEOUS

Leading your team members to use their God-created gifts to accomplish things they never thought possible requires an OUTRAGEOUS leader. This breed of leader understands a few key principles that help them standout and get noticed. All four of these come from the life of Gideon (Judges 6):

    My Contribution is Critical
    When God challenged Gideon to go save the Israelites from the oppression of the Midiantes and surrounding nations, all Gideon saw was what he could NOT do before ever considering what he COULD do.

    OUTRAGEOUS leaders don’t hide behind limitations. They know how God has gifted them and how He hasn’t. They delegate their weaknesses and play to their strengths.

    Obstacles are Opportunities
    When given the challenge to deliver his nation, Gideon went straight to making excuses. This is a natural response when we are pushed outside of our Comfort Zone.

    OUTRAGEOUS leaders know the area outside their Comfort Zone is called the Growth Zone. They embrace challenge as an opportunity to grow their faith and for God to do something outrageous Himself.

    Fear is the Signature of Success
    Any time you consider attempting the OUTRAGEOUS, fear will always show up with a Sharpie, ready to autograph your task. Gideon was covered in fear. So much so that he tested God with a magic show of sorts and a fleece.

    Fear is the natural by-product of any faith-driven task. The OUTRAGEOUS leader embraces fear as part of the formula for success.

    Small Plans Can Limit Big Possibilities
    Gideon obeyed the Lord’s command and rallied his army, but he had 32,000 too many. God wanted to do something outrageous and knew He had to stack the cards against Gideon. He told Gideon to send them all home but 300.

    The same is true for OUTRAGEOUS leaders. They realize the potential for God to do something beyond their limited ability and vision and allow Him to show off in their lives.

What About You?

Are you a candidate for an OUTRAGEOUS leader? Are you in a place where the Lord feels confident that you will allow Him to challenge you to do something beyond your ability? It’s a great experience to be a part of something bigger than we can imagine and to see God do something outrageous!

Which of these four components do you need to work on first?

What success have you had with one of these components?

Do you see your potential to be an OUTRAGEOUS leader?

Posted on

3 Keys To Creating New Habits

by

In my last two posts, I went into detail about a daily game plan that I am working on in an effort to avoid spiritual drift and remain focused on my life plan. While I am certainly seeing some results that are promising, it is also a struggle for me. In comment on the last post, fellow blogger Kari Scare mentioned this same struggle in creating a new habit.

new habit

Here are her comments:

I would love to consistently use something like this. But, something inside of me…keeps it from becoming a habit. In fact, I did use something similar to this for a while but ended up going back to my list method…I still wonder at my inability to stick with that.

I’m a driven person, very productive. I stick to the focus areas that my husband and I set. Yet, I realize how something like this would amplify my life. SO, maybe you could address some of what I struggle with in another post.

New Habit Struggle?

Do you experience this kind of struggle in creating a new habit? Do you get frustrated at your inability to remain consistent with a new habit even when you know it will improve your life?

If you struggle like this, you are not alone. Just visit a fitness club or gym during the first week in January and again in mid-March. There is a huge difference in how busy it is, right? The fallout is huge!

Magic Formula?

So what we really want to know is how to overcome this struggle in creating new habits. What is the magic formula for beating this part of us that resists new habits (at least the good ones!) and keeps us from improving?

Well, to start off, there is not a magic formula. I will not even try to convince you that I have the silver bullet for this problem.

New Habits Not Impossible

What I will tell you is that it is not an impossible feat to create new habits. People that are faced with decisions between exercising and facing life-threatening medical issues have proven this to be true over and over. Others have done it without the threat to life. So how do they do it?

As I said, I do not have a silver bullet, but I do have some simple insights. Take a look at the following three keys and see if they make sense to you. While this is not a guaranteed formula, I am convinced that if all three keys are present, your odds of successfully creating a new habit will increase exponentially!

#1 – It MUST Be A Priority To You

While this may sound overly simplistic, it is true. Either it IS or it IS NOT a priority for you. If you are absolutely confident that any given tool or habit will make your days better and your life more effective, then you just have to decide if that is what you want.

It cannot be a suggestion someone else is making for you. It cannot be something that would be “cool” if you did it. Nor can it be something you are guilted into doing.

You have to want it more than whatever else is currently occupying the time it takes to do it (e.g. exercise vs. 30 minutes more sleep). You have to want it more than it will cost you in time, money, effort, etc. If you want it badly enough, then you will make it work.

#2 – Enlist Accountability

Look back at Kari’s comments. What is the one thing she mentioned that she is able to stick to? Exactly, it is the focus areas that she commits to with her husband! I do not believe that is a coincidence.

Is this the only way? No. Can we develop a new habit without accountability? Sure. I did not say this is the only way. It will just increase your odds exponentially. So if that is the case, why not enlist accountability.

This step is not really that tough. The accountability partner does not necessarily have to be creating the same new habit as you are (though it would certainly be helpful if they did). You just need to have a relationship with them that would cause you to avoid having to admit failure to them.

Just explain to them what you are trying to do and how you need them to help you with it. Then set up regular intervals for follow-up conversations. Give them a list of several key questions you want them to ask you. You could even make it fun (and increase the pressure) by committing to buy their lunch (or a coffee) every time you fall short of the new habit!

#3 – Embrace Grace!

Sure, it needs to be a habit. Sure it is better if we do it EVERY day without fail. At the same time, even this habit will eventually become stale and you will risk becoming legalistic about it. Instead of feeling like a failure when we miss a day or only half-way complete it, we should just give ourselves the grace that God gives us.

Move on. Start again tomorrow. The world will not end. Your life will not suddenly become ineffective and worthless. Don’t buy into the lie that one miss means the whole effort is over!

Of course, if the missed days begin to equal or outnumber the days you complete the task, then you need to refer back to #1. IS it or is it NOT something you need to be doing?

Summary

I hope this discussion helps you as you approach a new habit. My prayer is that we all continue to look for ways we can weave new habits into our lives that will continue to help conform us to the likeness of Christ. At the same time, we cannot see ourselves as failures when we fall short. We just need to get up and try again.

Have you attempted new habits with all three of these keys in place?

What were your results?

What is your biggest struggle in attempting to create new habits?

Posted on

Correcting Spiritual Drift

by

In my last post, we talked about what spiritual drift looks like in a Christian business owner or leader. Assuming you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have most likely experienced this kind of drift. The question is how to correct it. What do we need to do to get back on the right path, drawing closer to God?

spiritual drift

Antidotes To Spiritual Drift

Well, as I stated in the last post, I was fortunate to hear from a guest speaker at my church recently. His name is Muche Ukegbu, youth pastor at Blueprint Church, and he gave us the following three antidotes to spiritual drift. Take a look at them and see if you think they will work for you!

#1 – Private disciplines

Private disciplines are those “blocking and tackling” basic habits that bring our hearts closer to God on a daily basis. Examples of these disciplines are Bible reading and study, prayer, and fasting. While these may not be the only examples, they are likely the most common.

The point here is that drift often comes as a result of either eroding consistency in these habits OR from a dry spell in the execution of these habits. A great way to begin attacking spiritual drift is to jump back into these habits.

Either start them up again if you have gotten away from them or change them up if they have become dry. Mix up your reading pattern. Find a new study that may help with the struggles you are currently facing. Dig back into prayer in a way that postures your heart for God to mold it.

#2 – Personal Ministry

We are each uniquely wired to do ministry as a part of the body of Christ. When we are fulfilling this role, we are closer to the One who created us for this role. When we are closer to Him, we are not suffering from spiritual drift.

Don’t forget that He formed us to serve AND we are formed when we serve. As we are allowing ourselves to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29), we will begin to get clarity again with our vision.

If you are not currently involved in some sort of personal ministry, then you need to jump in! If you are, maybe you need to mix that up a bit. Whatever the case, this is a key part of countering spiritual drift.

#3 – Providential relationships

During our lives, God brings people to us that add depth to our spiritual journey. Sometimes we are not even paying attention when this happens and other times we see the impact immediately.

When experiencing spiritual drift, the Christian business owner or leader needs to take an inventory of these types of relationships. Maybe one of these individuals is just the one we need to reach out to for the purpose of support, advice, accountability, or partnership. It just might be that they can tell you immediately what is causing your spiritual drift!

Along this line, we should always remain aware of those God is bringing into our paths. It is very possible that He is introducing someone to us that will play a key role in our spiritual development. Don’t forget that the fruit of the spirit is displayed in community, not in solitude!

Posted on

Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry, Part 3

by

In my last two posts, we have been looking at an example of marketplace ministry from the life of the Apostle Paul. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. I also reviewed the first two steps in Paul’s 4 step process of sharing the gospel in the marketplace. In today’s post, I want to break down the last two steps of this four-step marketplace ministry method and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.

marketplace ministry

Paul’s Marketplace Ministry In Acts

As a refresher, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. As a reminder, here are the first two steps from last post:

Step #1 – Be observant and sensitive to your surroundings.

Step #2 – Listen to what they say.

Now let’s move on to the final two steps…

Step #3 – Use their language to communicate your message.

Paul – If you remember back in Step #1, Paul had observed an altar “To An Unknown God.” While this may seem silly to us, it was obviously important to his audience. Rather than mocking them for their rampant idol worship, Paul used that very altar to lead into his discussion on the one, true God.

He went on in his message and talked about how God is not one dwells in temples built by human hands. As a society worshipping many gods, they were very familiar with temples and had many scattered around Athens. Finally, Paul even mentioned (and quoted) their own poets.

Application – We are called by God to be separate and different than the society in which we live. At the same time, we should follow Paul’s example and be familiar enough with the “language” of this society that we can carry on meaningful conversations. Too often, we act like we cannot even associate with “those people” that we see as sinners and non-believers.

If you read about Jesus’ ministry here on earth, you will quickly see that “those people” are the very ones with which he associated. We are to do the same, talking to them in ways they understand, not in “churchy” language that confuses them.

Step #4 – Tell them the simple truth.

Paul – Paul observed their surroundings, listened to what they had to say, and tailored his message to their language. What he did not do is water down the gospel message. He did not skip over the resurrection because it might “offend” or cause them to ridicule him. He did not acknowledge their beliefs as another option for salvation.

In his marketplace ministry, Paul stuck to the simple truth of the gospel message. He did not swerve from it to the right or the left. The results? Some sneered and others mocked him. But still others came to believe and followed him to learn more.

Application – There is so much pressure today to show tolerance for other religious views. Christians are ridiculed for believing that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. As a result, many Christians (even some pastors!) retreat from this message and water down the gospel. I think this is simply a tragedy.

Our responsibility is not to modify or reduce the gospel message to one that is more easily swallowed by a stiff-necked crowd. We DO need to present it in a way that is understandable by the crowd. Otherwise, we may as well leave it written in Latin. But to go beyond this and CHANGE the message itself is not acceptable.

Stick with the simple truth and God will honor your efforts. Even if you are another Jeremiah without a single convert, you cannot lose heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do the work in their hearts. Our job is to cast the seed. The rest is up to Him!

Do you see how you can engage in marketplace ministry?

What does it look like in your situation?

What obstacles are holding you back?