Tag: Priorities

The Urgency of God's Purpose

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Here’s a great verse… Time after time I sent you prophets, who told you, “Turn from your wicked ways, and start doing things right. Stop worshiping other gods so that you might live in peace here in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you would not listen to me or obey me. – Jeremiah 35:15.

 

I remember an illustration from back in college, which came from a little booklet called, Tyranny of the Urgent. The point was that in life there are many urgent things that come up. We can spend our entire lives stamping out fires, dealing with those things that are most urgent. Then at the end of the day we wonder what we have done with our time. We must look at the important items in life and take care of those things, because no one else will do it for us. Spirital growth is just one of those important things. God will wrestle with us because it’s important. Part of spiritual growth is getting rid of sin that has enslaved us.

 

There is urgency in God’s call for us to repent of our sin and to return to Him, as well as persistence when God wrestles with us. Other people will tell us what they think, but they will eventually abandon us. God doesn’t give up. He wrestles with us until the end and isn’t distracted from His purpose.

 

I wonder if there is an appointed time for each of us, where the wrestling match in life would finally come to an end. God wrestled with Jacob “until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24). God wrestled with urgency, with insistency, with greater and greater strength. He knew that if Jacob didn’t confront who he was in that night, he was going to miss the prime opportunity to become who he was created to be. Each of us may be running out of time, too.

 

God’s urgency must not be ignored. He knows something about our lives that we don’t know. He knows when the enemy is coming after us. He knows our areas of weakness. He knows when Jesus is coming again, and when it will be too late.

 

Return to Him …

 

  • Before you lose your life …
  • Before you lose your integrity …
  • Before you lose your wife …
  • Before you lose your son or daughter …
  • Before you lose what God has given to you …

 

God’s urgency is for a purpose. Don’t ignore Him.

 

  • We don’t have time to fool around.
  • We don’t have time for detours.
  • We don’t have time for childish things.
  • We don’t have time for rebellion.
  • We don’t have time to play games.
  • We don’t have time for an affair.
  • We don’t have time for meetings and committees that really aren’t important.

 

Look at your watch right now and say to yourself, “NOW is the appointed time for me to serve God so that I might live in peace here in the land He have given to me!”

 

I hope to see you all at the Welcome Center on Saturday, April 25.

 

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The Value of Listening

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According to John Maxwell, these are the benefits of listening to others:

  1. Listening shows respect: It’s a mistake to try to impress others, trying to appear smart, witty or entertaining to the other person. If you want to impress others, focus on what they have to offer! Be impressed and interested rather than impressive and interesting.
  2. Listening builds relationships: Dale Carnegie wrote that you can make more friends in two weeks by listening to people than you can in two years trying to get people interested in you (in How to Win Friends and Influence People). David Schwartz, in the Magic of Thinking Big, wrote that big people monopolize the listening while small people monopolize the talking.
  3. Listening increases knowledge: It’s amazing how much you can learn by listening to others. Beware of thinking you have all the answers and being the expert. Continue growing and learning. None of us has arrived. Many people in authority begin to listen less and less.
  4. Listening generates ideas: people love to contribute to the process, and have their leaders share the credit for ideas. Even if an idea doesn’t work, it might encourage other brainstorming ideas that will work.
  5. Listening builds loyalty: if you don’t make it a practice to listen to people, they will find someone else who will: employees, spouses, children, friends, colleagues. Good listening will draw people toward you.

How to develop good listening habits:

  1. Look at the speaker: you know how it works, undivided attention; don’t shuffle papers, type on the computer, watch TV, do the dishes, focus on the person.
  2. Don’t interrupt: interruption shows disrespect. People generally interrupt because, 1) they don’t place value on what the other person has to say, 2) they want to impress others by showing how smart they are, or 3) they are too excited about the conversation to allow the other person to finish talking. Check your motives.
  3. Focus on understanding: universities have studied information retention and we tend to forget 50% of what we hear, and retain only 25% the next day. Increase in understanding helps retention. It’s more than just hearing the words.
  4. Determine the need at the moment: men want to fix things, so the need at the moment is resolution. Women tend to want to share information and discuss things.
  5. Check your emotions: don’t make the unsuspecting person a recipient of your unvented emotions.
  6. Suspend your judgment: you can’t jump to conclusions and be a good listener at the same time. Wait to hear the whole story.
  7. Sum up at major intervals: comment on what you hear by summing up what you have heard. If you truly understand the situation, the person will let you know. If you don’t understand, this allows opportunity to get it right. Summarize one idea before going on to the next.
  8. Ask questions for clarity: top reporters are great at asking questions to get to the bottom of the story. They focus on understanding, suspend judgment and sum up what the person has to say.
  9. Make listening your priority: no matter how busy you are, this practice of listening is essential.

Good suggestions for effective leadership at home and the office!

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What if Jesus Took Your Place for a Year?

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Talk about making a difference… Os Hillman wrote an interesting list of changes that might happen if Jesus took your place in the office this year. We might imagine: 

 

  • He would do His work with excellence. He would be known around the office for the great work He did (Exodus 31:2-3).
  • He would develop new ideas for doing things better (Ephesians 3:20).
  • He would hang out with sinners in order to develop a relationship with them in order to speak to them about the Father (Matthew 9:12).
  • He would strategically pray for each worker about their concerns and their needs. He would pray for those who even disliked Him (Matthew 5:44).
  • He would rally the office to support a needy family perhaps during Thanksgiving or Christmas (Jeremiah 22:16).
  • He would offer to pray for those who were sick in the office and see them get healed (Matthew 14:14).
  • He would honor the boss and respect him/her (Titus 2:9).
  • He would consider the boss as His authority in His workplace (Romans 13:1).
  • He would be truthful in all his dealings and never exaggerate for the sake of advancement (Psalm 15:2).
  • He would be concerned about His city (Luke 19:41).
  • He would always have a motive to help others become successful, even at his own expense (Proverbs 16:2).

 

Sounds like some good ideas we could each model, at work and .

 

Men, how can you really make a difference in the office knowing these details listed above? Can we commit to praying diligently for personal boldness…

 

  • To live our lives in a manner worthy of a follower of Jesus?
  • To emphasize the nature of community in our personal faith?
  • To implement our marching orders called the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20)?
  • To put into practice the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40)?
  • To endure the hardships of living out our faith in a practical fashion?

 

You know, we are not promised that the Christian life would be easy! I’m fascinated by the story of the early church in Acts 4. Peter and John have been jailed, flogged, warned not to speak about Jesus or the resurrection, and then released. Following all the threats and persecution of believers, the early church prays. What I find fascinating is that in their prayer, during this threat of persecution, was not a word about God ending the persecution, but that they might boldly speak the Word of God in confidence (Acts 4:29).

 

How can we match there tenacity, confidence and boldness in living out what we say we believe? While the Christian life may not be easy, we are promised that we do not go through this life alone!

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Heisman Winner Has Priorities in Order

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I found a great article about this year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Tim Tebow, having his priorities in order. He’s an MK (missionary kid), a committed follower of Jesus and a faithful member of First Baptist Church Jacksonville, Florida.

In a profile aired on ESPN during the Heisman award ceremony, Tebow said his priorities are: “number one, my faith in God; number two, my family and my relationships with my family; number three, academics; and number four is football.”

His mother, Pam Tebow, in the profile, said she declined the advice of a doctor to get an abortion after she became seriously ill and dehydrated when pregnant with Tim, her fifth child while living overseas. Bob Tebow said his son is a “miracle baby and so we have reminded him that hundreds of times.” He was homeschooled but allowed to play high school football thanks to a Florida law.

There are several quotes from his pastor, Mac Brunson, about the entire family’s commitment to Christ. 

“I think who he is is a great tribute to his mom and his dad, in fact the whole family,” Brunson said. “It’s a family that’s incredibly dedicated to the Lord, dedicated to missions. They walk the walk. They just don’t talk about it; they really walk the walk. It’s a close family, and you have to admire the family, not just Tim, but the entire family as well for their commitment to the Lord and the Lord’s work.

“They are really an example of what a family can be under Christ because all of them are so gifted in so many different ways,” Brunson continued. “He’s got a brother who is an incredible athlete. He has a sister who is an incredible teacher. His mother speaks, his dad preaches and has this mission effort in the Philippines. They’re all just talented, gifted. They’re close. They’re a great example of what a family can be when Christ is Lord of everyone’s life.”

Mac Brunson was a Tidewater area pastor several years ago, serving at South Norfolk Baptist Church.

I liked this article because Tebow sets an example for students today, standing up for what he believes in, as well as excelling in academics and athletics; a real role model. Not just a guy who crosses himself after a great play, but a young man who can be at the top of his game and still be faithful in his relationship with Christ. The world has plenty of people who talk a good game. Living it out can communicate to others that what we believe really is something significant.

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