It's been a while since my last blog but the Christmas time seems appropriate enough to do it. Honestly, I feel less like Christmas and more like Thanksgiving at the moment. Maybe it was the huge turkey diner I just had, or the fact that God has been humbling me in a most unique way lately, but I feel extremely grateful right now and I'm not sure why. I am sure though, that I dig it and I hope and pray that God keeps humbling me in the same manner.
On a side note, my life feels so scattered right now. Maybe it's because I am spending the holidays all over the place, and seeing friends and family that I'm not use to. It is possible it's just because I'm physically out of my element. Then again, it's possible that my life truly is being scattered about right now. Some things I feel are good to be scattered around, others I am desperate to hold onto.
Finally, I see the stage being set in so many areas in my life at the moment. I really feel like things are about to either blow my mind or blow up in my face. I'm not sure how I feel about it all to be honest with you.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
What's it all for?
This is an expansion on a previous post about vision.
Proverbs 29:18a
Where there is no vision, the people perish...
Deep deep down I think the most important thing I can have as a Christian is perspective. A strong sense of perspective is both powerful and laughable at the same time. Ultimately, when compared to God our, sense of perspective is indeed laughable and it's important to realize that no matter how much we think we can see, God sees abundantly more. However, perspective is incredibly important.
Our sense of perspective dictates everything about our ministry and our lives as Christians. A narrow view will result in a very narrow response. A broad view will result in a much more open response. Which is right? It depends on the situation. If your voice reaches a narrow audience, the more targeted your perspective and view, the more directly you can speak into them. If your audience is diverse, a broad perspective will lead to an impact in a majority, but may only get you so deep before you lose your influence with individuals that have a different vision than yourself.
Put it another way. Lets pretend that everyone is represented by colors and shades. If I think red, and everyone around me thinks in reds, pinks, and burgundies, than I have a great chance to impact them, and yet we all miss out completely on everything from orange to purple.
If the people around me are completely mixed up, and I think in "rainbow", then I will have the chance to speak into many lives. But when my blue friend starts to hear about yellow and red, he will probably turn away. Likewise with all my single colored friends. Now, if I can find a few that also have similar thoughts (perspectives, visions, etc), than we can take it much much deeper.
So what the heck does any of this mean? Simply that perspective is vital to vision. When we cast vision to our team, what we are really doing is putting our ministry (or mission) into perspective. We seek to show our place in the grand picture. How big our picture is dictates how deep we can take our areas. If the "big picture" is focused (IE reach a city) than bringing in a bigger picture is counter productive. It prevents us from deepening our influence. If the picture is broad (reach the world) than a smaller perspective can choke.
Anyway, my ADD has completely taken over this blog and I have no idea where all this rainbow and vision/perspective stuff came from. The original point was that perspective is vital and at the root of all we must do. It dictates our response to vision, ministry, people, life, you name it. As such, we all should really spend time thinking about our perspective and ask God if he needs to expand or focus us.
Proverbs 29:18a
Where there is no vision, the people perish...
Deep deep down I think the most important thing I can have as a Christian is perspective. A strong sense of perspective is both powerful and laughable at the same time. Ultimately, when compared to God our, sense of perspective is indeed laughable and it's important to realize that no matter how much we think we can see, God sees abundantly more. However, perspective is incredibly important.
Our sense of perspective dictates everything about our ministry and our lives as Christians. A narrow view will result in a very narrow response. A broad view will result in a much more open response. Which is right? It depends on the situation. If your voice reaches a narrow audience, the more targeted your perspective and view, the more directly you can speak into them. If your audience is diverse, a broad perspective will lead to an impact in a majority, but may only get you so deep before you lose your influence with individuals that have a different vision than yourself.
Put it another way. Lets pretend that everyone is represented by colors and shades. If I think red, and everyone around me thinks in reds, pinks, and burgundies, than I have a great chance to impact them, and yet we all miss out completely on everything from orange to purple.
If the people around me are completely mixed up, and I think in "rainbow", then I will have the chance to speak into many lives. But when my blue friend starts to hear about yellow and red, he will probably turn away. Likewise with all my single colored friends. Now, if I can find a few that also have similar thoughts (perspectives, visions, etc), than we can take it much much deeper.
So what the heck does any of this mean? Simply that perspective is vital to vision. When we cast vision to our team, what we are really doing is putting our ministry (or mission) into perspective. We seek to show our place in the grand picture. How big our picture is dictates how deep we can take our areas. If the "big picture" is focused (IE reach a city) than bringing in a bigger picture is counter productive. It prevents us from deepening our influence. If the picture is broad (reach the world) than a smaller perspective can choke.
Anyway, my ADD has completely taken over this blog and I have no idea where all this rainbow and vision/perspective stuff came from. The original point was that perspective is vital and at the root of all we must do. It dictates our response to vision, ministry, people, life, you name it. As such, we all should really spend time thinking about our perspective and ask God if he needs to expand or focus us.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Psalm 46:10 (NLV)
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”
My blog life has sucked recently. Interestingly enough, where my last hiatus was simply because I wasn't spending enough time with God (therefor I fast ran out of things to talk about) my recent blog deficiencies have been a result of busing myself for the Lord.
My job situation has been both a fantastic learning experience in strengthening my faith in the Lord, and an excellent opportunity to serve in a greater roll than I have been able in the past. I've taken on some projects for the church in both the children's and student ministries, as well as been available to poor into the lives of my peers more than ever before. Aside from being broke (and yet still having plenty of money to feed myself and pay bills, go figure) it's been a pretty awesome experience.
With that said, I notice myself swinging the other way. Instead of being too far in the city to see the forest, now I'm in danger of being too close to see the forest for the trees.
So todays blog is to remind myself and the 3 people that still read this thing that we all need to take a break every now and then and chillax for the Almighty.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”
My blog life has sucked recently. Interestingly enough, where my last hiatus was simply because I wasn't spending enough time with God (therefor I fast ran out of things to talk about) my recent blog deficiencies have been a result of busing myself for the Lord.
My job situation has been both a fantastic learning experience in strengthening my faith in the Lord, and an excellent opportunity to serve in a greater roll than I have been able in the past. I've taken on some projects for the church in both the children's and student ministries, as well as been available to poor into the lives of my peers more than ever before. Aside from being broke (and yet still having plenty of money to feed myself and pay bills, go figure) it's been a pretty awesome experience.
With that said, I notice myself swinging the other way. Instead of being too far in the city to see the forest, now I'm in danger of being too close to see the forest for the trees.
So todays blog is to remind myself and the 3 people that still read this thing that we all need to take a break every now and then and chillax for the Almighty.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
If I could...
If I could, I'd invent something that instantly told me what a person was passionate about and what their strengths were. Wouldn't that make life so much easier?
Right now I'm trying to figure out how I can identify a few people to step up into leadership positions in our High School ministry with a very limited understanding of what makes them excited every morning. I wish I had something to tell me "this person is outgoing and loves pouring into the lives of people" so I could plop them into a team leadership roll. Or find another who is "super organized and wanted to work behind the scenes" so they could help with all the planning leading up to events.
The point is, I want to find people who are passionate and plug into that. I don't know much but I do know that a ministry filled with leaders who are passionate about the areas they are in charge of has enormous potential.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how I can identify a few people to step up into leadership positions in our High School ministry with a very limited understanding of what makes them excited every morning. I wish I had something to tell me "this person is outgoing and loves pouring into the lives of people" so I could plop them into a team leadership roll. Or find another who is "super organized and wanted to work behind the scenes" so they could help with all the planning leading up to events.
The point is, I want to find people who are passionate and plug into that. I don't know much but I do know that a ministry filled with leaders who are passionate about the areas they are in charge of has enormous potential.
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