In order for something to have power over us and generate passion within us we have to care about that something.
Growing up I knew a kid whose last name was the same as an infamous mob family. Jimmy's ambition, it seemed to his peers, was being a poor student and quitting school at age 16 to drive a tow truck. He drove the teachers absolutely insane because his response to every warning or threat was simply, "I don't care".
Teacher: "Jimmy, if you don't do your homework you will fail."
Jimmy: "I don't care."
Teacher: "Jimmy, if you fail you will have to repeat 6th grade."
Jimmy: "I don't care."
Teacher: "All your friends will go to Jr. High and you will be left behind."
Jimmy: "I don't care."
Teacher: "I will send you to the principal's office and he will punish you."
Jimmy: "I don't care."
Teacher: "We are going to call your mother."
Jimmy: "I don't care."
Teacher: "If you don't adjust your attitude you will end up in prison."
Jimmy: "I don't care."
There was a certain James Dean kind of intrigue with the situation, and, I must admit, it was entertaining watching the teacher's face progress to brighter shades of red.
When you don't care about something, that something has no power over your life. Yes, I am going to spiritualize now...
Jesus threw the opportunists out of the temple because he cared about his Father's house (John 2). Later(v.23) people were enamored with the miracles he performed, but Jesus "would not entrust himself to them" because he did not need their testimony. He cared about his Father's house, but he really did not care about the approval of people. What he cared about shaped his actions.
Jesus willing laid his life down (I John 3:16). He didn't care about himself, he cared about us. What he cared about shaped his actions.
I don't care about power. If God wants to grant power to me to do something for him that is fine. What I care about is his Presence.
I don't care about position or authority (I used to, though I didn't think I did). If God wants to grant it because he wants me to do something for him that is fine, but I don't care. What I care about is humility so I can get quiet before God so I can hear him speak.
I don't care to have an agenda of my own. I don't want one. What I care about is obedience to God's agenda. May his agenda be my agenda.
I don't care about doing great things (I used to). What I care about is seeing people become great disciples of Jesus.
I still care a little too much about perception of others and reputation, but I am growing to not care. This will take more crucifixion of self than I have currently embraced. What I do care about is the reality of the unseen things (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
The things we care about have power over us. I will make great sacrifices for the things I care about. The things I don't care about, well, I don't care about them.
I must consider how the things I care about have and are shaping my life. I must consider what I don't care about that I should care about, and I must consider the things that I do care about that I shouldn't. I hope that I can come to care about what God cares about and not care about what he does not.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
What's the plan for my life
I read this statement penned by a man named Jim Rohn, "If you don't have a plan for your life you will fall into someone else's plan for your life, and guess what they have planned for you -- not much." It sounds cynical, but it is true. I have it on a card under the glass of my desk and I've given it to my daughters to remind them that what they do with their lives is their responsibility, not someone else's responsibility.
Fact is, there are a lot of good people who have helped me and spoken into my life throughout the years. I am very appreciative. Reality is that everyone of those people, while many would do anything they could to help me if I asked, have their own lives, their own families, their own ministries, their own relationships, their own budgets, their own challenges, their own callings, their own values, their own mission, their own vision, and their own set of priorities. They are just as challenged and tired as I am.
It is up to us to have a plan for our own lives. A plan that comes from time spent in the Presence of God. I can call mentors and coaches and spill my guts in the hopes they will tell me what to do, but ultimately, with the help of the Holy Spirit I have to decide. Holy Spirit and I are responsible for my success, no one else.
Sometimes we are frustrated, hurt, and disappointed that someone did not help us sufficiently to achieve our goals. There's the church planter who is skinned up because neighboring churches didn't send them people, struggling pastors hurt because no one sent them money when times were tough, and others who are disappointed that no one saw their hurt and pain and rallied around them (even though Wal-mart was out of crystal balls, figuratively speaking of course).
Here's the point of this post. I have to take responsibility for the plan of my life. I have to hear from God. I have to pray through. I have to understand my gifts and calling and operate within their parameters. If I don't have a plan for my life it is for sure ... no one else is going to come up with one for me -- they cannot. I have to cast the vision and believe God to raise up the resources. I have to inspire others to see what I see in the Spirit and trust God to bear witness and prompt them to join me on the journey.
I can't just sit around hoping that one day a ship will cruise by and throw off a manual of what I'm supposed to do with my life with a check attached to pay for it.
I am so thankful for my mentors, coaches, partners, and supporters. They have blessed me greatly, but they've never been able to tell me what I'm supposed to do with my life. They've never been able to give me the vision for my life. That is something God and I have to work out in the secret place.
Fact is, there are a lot of good people who have helped me and spoken into my life throughout the years. I am very appreciative. Reality is that everyone of those people, while many would do anything they could to help me if I asked, have their own lives, their own families, their own ministries, their own relationships, their own budgets, their own challenges, their own callings, their own values, their own mission, their own vision, and their own set of priorities. They are just as challenged and tired as I am.
It is up to us to have a plan for our own lives. A plan that comes from time spent in the Presence of God. I can call mentors and coaches and spill my guts in the hopes they will tell me what to do, but ultimately, with the help of the Holy Spirit I have to decide. Holy Spirit and I are responsible for my success, no one else.
Sometimes we are frustrated, hurt, and disappointed that someone did not help us sufficiently to achieve our goals. There's the church planter who is skinned up because neighboring churches didn't send them people, struggling pastors hurt because no one sent them money when times were tough, and others who are disappointed that no one saw their hurt and pain and rallied around them (even though Wal-mart was out of crystal balls, figuratively speaking of course).
Here's the point of this post. I have to take responsibility for the plan of my life. I have to hear from God. I have to pray through. I have to understand my gifts and calling and operate within their parameters. If I don't have a plan for my life it is for sure ... no one else is going to come up with one for me -- they cannot. I have to cast the vision and believe God to raise up the resources. I have to inspire others to see what I see in the Spirit and trust God to bear witness and prompt them to join me on the journey.
I can't just sit around hoping that one day a ship will cruise by and throw off a manual of what I'm supposed to do with my life with a check attached to pay for it.
I am so thankful for my mentors, coaches, partners, and supporters. They have blessed me greatly, but they've never been able to tell me what I'm supposed to do with my life. They've never been able to give me the vision for my life. That is something God and I have to work out in the secret place.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
When we fail (not if)
It is odd how when we sin our overwhelming human response is to become defensive. You would think our response would be one of brokenness and humility. After failure, brokenness sometimes comes first and our embarrassed nature leads us to defensiveness. Sometimes the defensiveness comes first and finally submits itself to brokenness and reconciliation.
I've observed a number of good men and women who have seriously failed. Every once in a while one is broken enough to seek restoration and reconciliation with humility. Sadly, too often after the initial shock wears off waves of self-justification, denial, and defensiveness lurch forward dashing the hopes of growth, redemption, and moving to the next level of understanding both the human condition and the grace of God.
There are consequences attached to our failures. Sometimes they are heavy consequences, sometimes light. It is the desire to avoid the consequences that elicits defensiveness. Accepting and even embracing the consequences of our failures is prerequisite to gaining the treasure that brokenness brings.
Apostle Paul stated, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ" (Phil. 3:7, NASB). Why do we think we have to protect our reputation or turf when Christ laid his reputation aside to demonstrate the nature of humility?
Problem is, we just have too much we are trying to protect. We are like junk yard dogs growling to protect the little scraps we cherish rather than being willing to release ownership, be crucified with Christ, and walk in humility. It would be better to submit all things to Christ and let him be Lord over all of them.
May God give me the grace, should I fail (and I have many times) that I will acknowledge who I really am so Christ may be perfected in me. May the arrogance and defensiveness of my nature yield to the humility and brokenness of the Christ life.
The truth really does set us free.
It's my blog and that's the way I see it.
(http://aGoodDeposit.com)
I've observed a number of good men and women who have seriously failed. Every once in a while one is broken enough to seek restoration and reconciliation with humility. Sadly, too often after the initial shock wears off waves of self-justification, denial, and defensiveness lurch forward dashing the hopes of growth, redemption, and moving to the next level of understanding both the human condition and the grace of God.
There are consequences attached to our failures. Sometimes they are heavy consequences, sometimes light. It is the desire to avoid the consequences that elicits defensiveness. Accepting and even embracing the consequences of our failures is prerequisite to gaining the treasure that brokenness brings.
Apostle Paul stated, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ" (Phil. 3:7, NASB). Why do we think we have to protect our reputation or turf when Christ laid his reputation aside to demonstrate the nature of humility?
Problem is, we just have too much we are trying to protect. We are like junk yard dogs growling to protect the little scraps we cherish rather than being willing to release ownership, be crucified with Christ, and walk in humility. It would be better to submit all things to Christ and let him be Lord over all of them.
May God give me the grace, should I fail (and I have many times) that I will acknowledge who I really am so Christ may be perfected in me. May the arrogance and defensiveness of my nature yield to the humility and brokenness of the Christ life.
The truth really does set us free.
It's my blog and that's the way I see it.
(http://aGoodDeposit.com)
Friday, January 21, 2011
Read this when you want to quit
My good friend David Stewart Jr. posted this poem written by the great missionary Charles Greenaway about not quitting. We all have times we want to quit. I'm not much on poems, but something tells me I will be reading this one every once in a while:
If I Should Quit
By Rev. Dr. Charles Greenaway
“If I should quit, what would the gain be?
Would the battle be lost? Would I really be free?
No, the door would not close, nor the battle cease,
Because God would have another to stand in the breach,
If I quit.
If I should quit, what would I do?
Seek shelter from the heat, forget the cry of the lost?
Would I be happy for a time, then find I was through,
And spend my time praying for something to do?
Saying, ‘Oh God, why did I quit?’
If I should quit, I would find that God had not!
The battle would still rage, the Church would march on.
The wind would keep blowing, the Spirit filling,
Only I would be farther and farther behind, unwilling,
And wondering, ‘Oh God, why did I quit?’
If I should quit, what could I say to God?
He who called me, and the people who sent me?
And the pagan who trusted me to show him the way?
And to the Spirit’s urging day after day?
‘Oh God, I can’t quit!’
If I should quit, let it be when I am dead . . . !
Not while I’m alive, nor when I’m dissatisfied!
Not when I’m criticized, or minimized, or ostracized!
But please, Oh God, let quitting time for me be-
When I am dead.”
If I Should Quit
By Rev. Dr. Charles Greenaway
“If I should quit, what would the gain be?
Would the battle be lost? Would I really be free?
No, the door would not close, nor the battle cease,
Because God would have another to stand in the breach,
If I quit.
If I should quit, what would I do?
Seek shelter from the heat, forget the cry of the lost?
Would I be happy for a time, then find I was through,
And spend my time praying for something to do?
Saying, ‘Oh God, why did I quit?’
If I should quit, I would find that God had not!
The battle would still rage, the Church would march on.
The wind would keep blowing, the Spirit filling,
Only I would be farther and farther behind, unwilling,
And wondering, ‘Oh God, why did I quit?’
If I should quit, what could I say to God?
He who called me, and the people who sent me?
And the pagan who trusted me to show him the way?
And to the Spirit’s urging day after day?
‘Oh God, I can’t quit!’
If I should quit, let it be when I am dead . . . !
Not while I’m alive, nor when I’m dissatisfied!
Not when I’m criticized, or minimized, or ostracized!
But please, Oh God, let quitting time for me be-
When I am dead.”
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Re-railers
I've always loved trains. I think there is something in the heart of every little boy that draws them to the massive size, power, and machinery of trains. When I was a kid I had several different train sets.
I love the sound of the whisper of the little metal wheels sliding along the metal track. Sometimes the wheels of one of the cars would get off track and start grinding and bouncing against the little plastic railroad ties holding the miniature rails together. It was a disruption to the smooth whir and operation of the train. If the derailment was serious enough the entire train would come off the track.
Model train aficionados know that there exists a rerailer, or a section of track with an insert tapered in such a way that it guides the wheels back onto the track if the derailment is minor.
When my train's little wheels got off track and I saw the bouncing and heard the grinding I would slow the train down and hope it made it to the rerailer track. It was a satisfying feeling when the train would jerk back on track and the whir of metal rolling on metal was restored. Sometimes the derailment was too serious and the rerailer was ineffective. The train would then have to be manually taken off the track and carefully replaced.
I need sections of rerailer track regularly placed on the track my life runs on. When the wheels get off the track it is a matter of time until the grinding and instability throws the entire thing off track. What are the rerailers that get me back on track?
These are the rerailers in my life:
1. Sabbath rest regularly spaced once every seven days
2. Vacations spaced about once a quarter
3. A weekly "think" time to strategize and plan
4. A daily visit to the secret place (my quiet and intimate time with God)
5. Occasional fun stuff -- the things that refill my tank
Sometimes we just need to reconfigure our track layout and make sure we have rerailers in place at acceptable intervals to make sure we stay on track.
David Delp
http://aGoodDeposit.com
I love the sound of the whisper of the little metal wheels sliding along the metal track. Sometimes the wheels of one of the cars would get off track and start grinding and bouncing against the little plastic railroad ties holding the miniature rails together. It was a disruption to the smooth whir and operation of the train. If the derailment was serious enough the entire train would come off the track.
Model train aficionados know that there exists a rerailer, or a section of track with an insert tapered in such a way that it guides the wheels back onto the track if the derailment is minor.
When my train's little wheels got off track and I saw the bouncing and heard the grinding I would slow the train down and hope it made it to the rerailer track. It was a satisfying feeling when the train would jerk back on track and the whir of metal rolling on metal was restored. Sometimes the derailment was too serious and the rerailer was ineffective. The train would then have to be manually taken off the track and carefully replaced.
I need sections of rerailer track regularly placed on the track my life runs on. When the wheels get off the track it is a matter of time until the grinding and instability throws the entire thing off track. What are the rerailers that get me back on track?
These are the rerailers in my life:
1. Sabbath rest regularly spaced once every seven days
2. Vacations spaced about once a quarter
3. A weekly "think" time to strategize and plan
4. A daily visit to the secret place (my quiet and intimate time with God)
5. Occasional fun stuff -- the things that refill my tank
Sometimes we just need to reconfigure our track layout and make sure we have rerailers in place at acceptable intervals to make sure we stay on track.
David Delp
http://aGoodDeposit.com
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