How often do I need reminders? Daily and often! There is a tendency to forget things. I am not just talking about keys and notes. Much time is spent looking for misplaced items and remembering what we promised. There are many devices and suggestions to aid us in remembering important things. Nothing is more significant than our relationship with the Lord. I came across a verse from Psalm 143. Immediately…
Read MoreLosing Control
These two stories take place on the water. Jesus and His disciples and lessons to be learned. Being a disciple of Jesus does not mean that you know all you need to know on day one. Trusting Christ and relying upon Him totally seems to be a process reinforced by the reality of life and our growing dependence on Christ. The disciples did not put their faith in Jesus all…
Read MoreDecisions and God’s Counsel
I was reading a passage from the Old Testament and I found the wording quite curious “The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” (Joshua 9:14) This verse is part of a longer story when the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites. To give the Israelites the idea that the Gibeonites lived far away they artificially aged their clothes and provisions. This way the leaders of Israel would…
Read MoreCommitment Over the last Forty Plus Years!
Nearly 42 years ago, I developed a habit of typing out Bible verses, quotes from books or thought that I wanted to read and look at daily. Fast forward to last summer when I had the painful duty of purging all of my files over the last 40 plus years. I could not take them with me, there were between 2000-3000 file folders with approximately 20 items in each folder.…
Read MoreGetting Back On Track
I have discovered that when something unusual happens it is easy to get derailed. In reality, it does not take something out of the ordinary to get any of us out of our routines. How do you get back on track when for whatever reason you find yourself sidetracked? Develop or redevelop a regular schedule. For years I was resistant to develop a template for the “normal” workweek. After all…
Read MoreIntegrity
Integrity is a much talked about topic. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who is against integrity. Like so many things today, just because truthfulness and honesty are on every list of attributes that all of us should possess and especially those in leadership, it seems the talk often time does not match behavior. Integrity seems to be so broad that you wonder if we are discussing the same…
Read MoreThe Entrepreneurial Leader
Bill Hybels lists ten manifestations of leadership. They are “visionary, directional, strategic, managerial, motivational, pastoral, team-building, reforming, entrepreneurial.” The manifestation of leadership today is entrepreneurial. The very first thing one needs to do in regard to the word entrepreneurial is to define it, here is a dictionary definition: “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative…
Read MoreTake Time to Be Holy!
What a world! Calamity and confusion seem to be the twin details of daily life. Political and cultural events seem to weigh heavily on our minds. The world, and all the news seems to bring fear. I notice that the more news I watch, the angrier and more anxious I become. The secret to peace is not the right political candidate or economic plan. For me, peace is found in the…
Read MorePulled their Boats on shore, left everything and followed Him
Today I was at one of our new start churches. They meet in a rented facility, come early to set up for church, and stay late to take things down and put everything back in its proper place ready to be used for another purpose tomorrow. Today I fulfilled the responsibility of my position, I received new members and preached and encouraged the folks to reach their community for Christ.…
Read MoreLet Down the Nets
The disciples had fished all night and came up empty. They were sitting on shore cleaning and repairing the nets in order to ready for the next night. Jesus was teaching and using one of the boats as a pulpit. When he finished preaching, he asked the fisherman to go out into the deep waters. It is in the deep water where Jesus wants to take each…
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