Christian Men at Work Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dave Hilgendorf
Dave Hilgendorf from DaveHilgendorf.com interviews men from all walks of life who are choosing daily to be led by the Holy Spirit and live out their Christian faith at their work and because of that they are leading, prospering, glorifying God, and experiencing joy and purpose in their work, and you can too. Have you bought into the lie that your work has no real significance or meaning beyond a paycheck? How about the lie that the time you spend working is not kingdom work and not part of God's plan unless you're a full-time pastor or missionary or you're volunteering at your local church? The Devil is thrilled when you spend your work day feeling like the work you do is somehow second class spiritually. In this podcast I interview Christian men who have made a simple choice, regardless of what particular denomination their church is a part of and regardless of their job title. That simple choice is to invite the Holy Spirit to lead them at their job and in so doing to surrender their work, the biggest part of their life in terms of time, to God. The various reasons why they've made that choice may be different for every man but I believe there are two primary common reasons. The first is they know both from scripture and from a feeling deep down inside that this is God's will for them. The second reason is they know that this is the only chance they have of having a job and a career that really means something beyond simply earning money. This is the one and only way to have a sense of joy and purpose in the work they do. What kind of work they do and whether their work lines up well with their desires, talents, and strengths are both important, but they pale in comparison to whether or not God is in their work. God must be at the center of your work or your work truly will be the necessary evil the world and the Devil wants you to believe it is. The men I interview don't have it all figured out (none of us do!) and I encourage them to be real and transparent about both the victories and struggles of their journey of being Spirit led at their work. Hopefully, in this way, you'll find someone and something in every episode that you can relate to and through which God can help guide you to be closer to Him and more fulfilled and joyful in your daily worklife. Your work can truly be marketplace ministry and much more.
Tom Petersen After a brief and ill-fated start as a daily newspaper reporter, Tom C. Petersen spent decades in the corporate world as a utility communications professional. He started out writing news
releases and employee newsletters before transitioning to writing strategic business objec- tives and annual performance reviews. He ultimately was primarily responsible for attending
meetings and deleting emails. He left the corporate world in 2023 to focus on writing about the intersection of faith and work, and mostly how poorly he had navigated it over the years. He is intrigued by the challenge of living out our faith with integrity in a workplace that usually doesn't play by those rules. He finds the conflict between the two downright funny. He hopes his struggles serve to encourage others who try to navigate the same path. He's been gratified to have his musings reprinted in outlets like CBN.com, The High Calling site of the Theology of Work Project, and, most recently, WorkLight. He is the author of a new book of humorous essays of how badly he struggles in this area: Thank God It’s Monday(?): Balancing Work and Faith While Keeping Your Sense of Humor. Tom is a husband, father, and native Midwesterner with two master's degrees (one of which is still accredited).
We aren't always honest about how difficult normal human life is. In this 2nd part of a 2 part interview, we discuss that for the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make—like the daily choice to get out of bed. In this deeply personal essay, Alan Noble considers the unique burden of everyday life in the modern world. Sometimes, he writes, the choice to carry on amid great suffering—to simply get out of bed—is itself a powerful witness to the goodness of life, and of God.
Tips on Providing Help for Those Struggling with either Mental Health Challenges or Mental Health Disorders
We aren't always honest about how difficult normal human life is. In this interview, based on Alan Noble's book we discuss that for the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make—like the daily choice to get out of bed. In this deeply personal essay, Alan Noble considers the unique burden of everyday life in the modern world. Sometimes, he writes, the choice to carry on amid great suffering—to simply get out of bed—is itself a powerful witness to the goodness of life, and of God. For the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make—like the daily choice to get out of bed. In this deeply personal essay, Alan Noble considers the unique burden of everyday life in the modern world. Sometimes, he writes, the choice to carry on amid great suffering—to simply get out of bed—is itself a powerful witness to the goodness of life, and of God.
Look for the positive message not hung up on something's that makes you said. Honor your parents-friend shared how he and his wife were caring for his father who was in the early stages of dementia, his only wish not to go in a nursing home “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exod.20.12&version=NIV Stop worrying (verses) "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day its own trouble. Matt.6.34 NKJV Pursue your dreams (don’t stay stuck and feel like a victim, blaming others, make a choice and take complete ownership for that choice) Remember to always seek Gods will and not just ask him to bless your plans. We have a part and he has a part. That gets tricky when we're not hearing an audible voice. "“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’” James 4:13-15 Noteworthy this is from James who also said faith without works is dead, and emphasized our actions not just our beliefs as critical part of faith. Praise: "In the multitude of my anxieties within me,Your comforts delight my soul." Ps.94.19 NKJV
j316173@hotmail.com For professional management: jrpierc2@uncg.edu You teach classes on having a vision for your life and it struck both of us as we were talking recently that you don’t hear this message about casting a vision for your life, often if ever in the Christian church. Why do you think that is? What are the consequences of this, I.e. how is this lack of direction from church messaging on vision affecting the way we “do” Church as well as the way we as believers live our lives outside the church? How might Christianity be different if this dynamic were to change? Is this Biblical? If not, what does the Bible say about how we should incorporate our faith, into our daily lives ? If a change is needed, what’s the best way to affect that change?
I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. Psalm 3:5 Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. Psalm 5:1-3 With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early… Isaiah 26:9 After this I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me. Jeremiah 31:26 As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
Blessings when arising in the morning and relieving yourself, and putting on the Tallit Katan
https://torahresource.com/product/brachot-bkol-yom-daily-blessings-pocket-size/
Why did you write this book? The subtitle is “The Divine Gateway to Lecto Divina and Contemplative Prayer”. What is Lecto Divina? What is contemplative prayer? I’d like to drill down a bit into the 4 parts of Lecto Divina clarity The first is Lecto which means reading. What’s going on here? The second is Meditetio, meaning meditation or reflection. This is narrowing in a portion of the passage correct? You caution against private revelation, why is that ? Third is oratio, where reading becomes praying, where you make the words your own. Tell us more about this step Fourth is contemplation. You say this is complicated, more difficult than what it may seem at first and something you grow into. What about contemplating is so difficult? In the section on how to use this book, you rely on teachings from the church fathers. Tell us a bit about who you’re referring to when you say that and why you feel we should look to their advice? You talk about the difference between praise and worship vs prayer. What is the difference? Your book is a portion of the Psalms that are found in the Bible. What did you leave out and why? You made a new translation of the excerpts using the Hebrew, Greek (Septuagint), and Latin. First, why did you feel the need for a new translation rather than just using an existing one? Since the Psalms were originally written in Hebrew, explain what the Greek Septuagint is and why you took that into account. I don’t know much about Latin, other than it used a lot in the Catholic Faith and I know you are catholic. What’s unique about Latin, why has the Catholic Church used it and why did you consider it in your translation? You talk about how we should properly think about two references we see in the Psalms. One is our enemies, the other is images of fortifications like fortress, refuge and rock. Let’s take one a time, first how should we think about our enemies when praying? Next how should we think about images of fortifications? You chose to use the word “Father” when the name of God, or tetragramtron is used. For clarification, what is the tetragramatron, how has it been translated and spoken historically by Jewish believers as well as in modern Christian Bibles? Why did you decide to use the word “father” here. There’s a lot debate among the Messianic faith, which is what I practice, on whether we can and should pronounce the name of God. What is the position of the Catholic faith and you personally on this issue? We consider the Psalms as literary poetry, but you said you intentionally chose in your translation to focus on the meaning and less on the poetry. Am I correct in stating that and why did you take that approach? You suggest changing the tenses when reading the Psalms as well as inserting personal names where there are general references. Why ? I’d like to read a quote from John Cassian on pg 23 of the intro and get your thoughts on it With the breathing prayers and mediation you caution against Eastern or modern forms of meditation. What’s the difference between good and bad meditation? I do my quiet time in the morning and when I tried the breathing prayers I found myself falling asleep a couple times. How can I avoid this other than getting a good nights rest? Finally in your intro you had some thoughts on journaling and provided blank pages in your book for journaling, specifically that it can be beneficial but you had some cautions as well. What’s the best way to incorporate journaling into our prayers? At the end of your book you have a mood index where you have categorized the Psalm excerpts from the book based on feelings. I’ve heard a variety of opinions on how we as believers should think about and respond to our feelings, whether we should embrace them and be in touch with them, or alternatively redirect what we consider negative feelings and focus on being positive. This is particularly relevant when we’re going through difficult circumstances and trying to heal through those circumstances. For me personally my wife separated from me and has stated her intent to divorce me and I’ve experienced deep sadness both during this time as well as in the past, so this issue of our feelings is one I’m very interested in. How do you think we should think about our feelings? The bulk of your book is in fact the Psalms themselves and not your thoughts about praying them. Would you mind walking us through the process we’ve discussed by selecting one of them Psalms and demonstrating how you might pray with that Psalm. How can others get your book and contact you? Any final thoughts?
Today I started over a cycle of reading the Bible in a year.
https://hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/read-bible-in-a-year-2024-2025.pdf
Wikipedia on Rosh Hashanah https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah
In the first reading of the yearly Bible reading in Genesis it’s shows how God seems to have built this concept of cycles into the fabric of His creation.
Day
Week
Month
Year - disputes around the proper calendar - 12 months
Shmita - 7 years - let land rest
Jubilee - 50 years
From Revival Ministries International
Publish date: 03/30/2003
The Lord began dealing with me recently about the Year of Jubilee. I believe that this is our Year of Jubilee! In Nazareth, at His local Synagogue, Jesus was handed the book of Isaiah and He read from chapter 61:
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed one, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.] Luke 4:18-19 AMP
Jesus preached that the acceptable year of the Lord was here—the Year of Jubilee, which took place every 50th year—the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound (Leviticus 25). What Jesus was really saying was, "I am your Year of Jubilee!"
THE LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 Say to the Israelites, When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits. 4 But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap and the grapes on your uncultivated vine you shall not gather, for it is a year of rest to the land. 6 And the sabbath rest of the [untilled] land shall [in its increase] furnish food for you, for your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the temporary resident who lives with you, 7 For your domestic animals also and for the [wild] beasts in your land; all its yield shall be for food.8 And you shall number seven sabbaths or weeks of years for you, seven times seven years, so the total time of the seven weeks of years shall be forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month [almost October]; on the Day of Atonement blow the trumpet in all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his ancestral possession [which through poverty he was compelled to sell], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated in bond service]. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall not sow, or reap and store what grows of itself, or gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat the [sufficient] increase of it out of the field. 13 In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property. 14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. Leviticus 25:1-14 AMP
Under the Old Covenant every seventh year was a time to let the ground rest so that it could recover and come back stronger, producing a stronger, healthier, more abundant harvest. But the fiftieth year—Jubilee—was an extra special year. It was a Holy year. In the last year, before the year of rest, God caused the ground to produce three times as much fruit so that His people could eat and be satisfied whilst the ground rested and whilst they rested in His goodness.
Jubilee is a year of faith—where you rest from your own labors and your own efforts—allowing God's goodness to lead you and feed you. God wants us to remember that it is He Who watches over us, feeding us, guiding us, and providing for us. If we forget this, we will wear ourselves out with our own efforts, but if we remember that He is the source of our life and every good thing in our life, then we can relax in Him and focus on worshipping Him and yielding to Him.
Jubilee is a time to let slaves go free, to redeem what has been lost and to reach out and help both family and neighbors and those who cannot help themselves. In the year of Jubilee, even though you do not plow or prune or sow, you are still able to eat of the fruit that the ground produces.
You cannot reap from a field that you have never sown, but when you have faithfully sown and sown and sown and then God calls a Jubilee year for you, then you know that it is a year of rest for you, a year of extra blessings, a year of eating from the abundance of the provision that your Father has provided for you as you rest in Him.
When Jesus said, "Today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," the people of Nazareth were very angry with Him and did not receive Him, but I declare to you today that Jesus is YOUR Jubilee—if you receive Him you will go free! Jesus has come to restore your joy, your family, your property and your inheritance. Every promise that God has made you in His Word is yours.
So receive Him as your Jubilee—rest in Him and enjoy His blessings.
https://www.revival.com/a/287-jesus-our-jubilee#:~:text=Jesus%20preached%20that%20the%20acceptable,profusely%20abound%20(Leviticus%2025).
Continuing on with cycles:
Beyond Jubilee?
1 day is as a thousand years.
Plan for His creation built into the first week of Creation
Why the Jubilee? Freedom, pointing to Yeshua
Messiah 2030
https://youtu.be/4AG_nJNcTjM?si=4ONS-wbC3oOqQM3A
Uses many prophesies and the concept of the Jubilee
Entering into year 5785
What is purpose of cycles?
Virtuous vs vicious cycles
Do not just a mindless pattern but an opportunity to repeat and through our choices either improve or get worse, evolve or devolve, become more like God or less like God, more holy or more wicked, more wise or more foolish
How does our culture generally and Christianity specifically treat cycles
Main difference is degree to which they are specifically tied to God and His ways as defined by God Himself
With time, our week begins on Monday and ends on Friday defined by our work, followed by a 2-day weekend, defined by our priorities (fun or home projects), if you’re church goer that weekend also includes church on Sunday. What do we ask Monday morning and how do we answer?
Our months vary in length of days, are named after Greek Gods. The year is mostly defined by a mix of civil and religious holidays, none if which were prescribed in the Bible and none of which significantly improve our understanding of God, His ways, and His grand plan for all time including His future plans, second coming of Christ and how we will spend eternity. Some other ways, depending on our interests, our cycles are defined are by sports or politics.
There is no concept or even awareness of a Shmita or Jubilee year and there is no recognition of the moedim or appointed times throughout the year, namely the Lords Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. One exception is the Christian church celebrates Pentecost or Shavuot but because there is no attempt to understand how it was originally practiced much of its richness and meaning is lost.
Why is this important?
Virtuous cycle. By our definition? Improving financially? More educated (know more of what we think is important to know)? More loving?
Love is the common agreed upon worthy goal, but how should love be defined, by us? By the creation or the Creator?
One of Gods desires for us, as stated by Yeshua, is for us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.
The New Covenant as described in prophesies like Jeremiah as well as by Yeshua and writers of the New Testament is for the law to be written on our hearts.
My limited understanding of this is that God wants us to love Him and others, and to do it in the way He wants us to do it.
I’ve only been participating in and practicing the Lord’s Feasts and observing His Sabbath on day 7 for a handful of years. I’m certainly no expert.
But with my limited exposure and understanding I can see how following His law and His cycles of life, to the extent that I’m doing so, puts me into a virtuous cycle. Each day, week, month, year I’m learning more about the Fathers ways and how wonderful, and simultaneously complex and simple they are. I also am learning more about His great plan for all time including what to expect in the future. This is incredibly important at a time when the future of our nation and the world, as well as the future of our own personal lives, can seem on the surface to be so uncertain.
We may at times feel like we’ve made no “progress” in our lives, especially if we’re going a difficult season. With the proper perspective, though, we can see how God works what appear to us to be tragedies and “bad” events for our good, helping shape us to be more like Him, understand His character better, and be more dependent on Him.
Praise:
Malachi 3:6 "I am the LORD, I change not"
James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
Thank You Abba that You do not change. We're not trying to figure out how You changed, but rather than how WE need to change to be more like You, and more like the person You made us to become.
Help us to understand how Your cycles which You built into the fabric of Creation are important, and why You asked us to follow them as You have commanded. And when we don't understand the why, Father help us to obey even without the full understanding and trust You that Your ways are best, best for us individually as well as best for all of mankind.
- Psalm 110:4: "The LORD has s
There is another New Testament writer of just one book, who sometimes seems to counter Paul’s arguments relating to the law. I’m talking, of course, about the book of James, written by the brother of the Master, though I understand his real name was Jacob or in Hebrew Ja’akov. You make the point that many of James arguments mirror those of the Master, and that James did not have a pharasaical background as Paul did. Why is this important and what can we learn from James about our understanding of the law? Your chapter titled “The Sacred Law” begins perhaps ironically with a quote from Paul, Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good”. You then devote about 11 pages to just a portion of the many scriptures that describe the law as good, holy and something we should try to keep. Not to bore our listeners who don’t get excited about arguments based on the original Greek and Hebrew meanings, but you make a fascinating point about the use of the Greek words nomos and entole referring to the law and the commandments. Walk us through this observation and it’s implications for our understanding. You are intellectually honest, as they say, in your book, and note that modern Christianity’s understanding of the law is not without reason. You list several verses commonly used to support a certain viewpoint. I’d like to read these verses and then ask you to respond. The first verse is 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” The next verse is Hebrews 8:13 “In that He says a New Covenant, he has the made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” And third is John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”. What is your response to these verses? When asked for the greatest commandment, Christ said basically to love God and love others. Why is it a mistake to think of this love as an emotional love? No debate on this topic is complete without a reference to Acts 15. Talk to us about what happened in Acts 15 and what we should learn from it as it relates to our relationship with the law? Another phrase used in this debate is the New Covenant. Now, I realize we could devote multiple podcast episodes just talking about the concept of a covenant and all its uses in the Bible, but to cut to the chase what is your understanding of what the New Covenant is and how it should impact our faith and our understanding of the law? You use an interesting analogy of a Rubik’s cube to describe the puzzle of understanding what Christ described as weightier matters of the law, those of justice, faith and mercy. What is the relationship of these three concepts to each other?
Q&A: Before we start, I want to say that full disclosure is that I consider you a friend and we attend the same congregation. I also wanted to say up front that we’re going to talk about a book You wrote called “Apologia for thee Law and the Sabbath”. And in that book you often refer to Christ as the Master. One advantage of this is that we avoid turning off one group or another by referring to Him as either Jesus or Yeshua, so if it’s alright I’ll try to refer to Him during our interview in a similar way, either as the Master or as simply Christ. You begin that book by stating that the book is not for someone who has already made up their mind that the law has been done away with. I guess we could say the same thing to our listeners, that if they’ve already up their mind on this topic this interview is not for them. Why do you say that and how would you describe the mindset of the listener who is well suited to hear our discussion today? You use an analogy of 3 TV sets for sale to describe the acceptable doctrine of Christianity today. Share that analog with us to help set the table, so to speak, for our talk today. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on your testimony in this discussion in order to save time for all the arguments from your book, but you talk about how your faith journey included a time spent with what you call other’s centered legalism. Since legalism is often a knee-jerk reaction or description to what we’re going to talk about today, define for us others-centered legalism as you experienced it and how it differs from the inner cultivation of the spirit. You start out by asking a question, can we sin without the law, and to make your point you enlist a stop sign analogy. So what is the answer to this question and explain it to us using that stop sign analogy. There are many scriptures that challenge us “not to sin” or to be righteous, and yet as Christians we believe Christ’s sacrifice was needed. How do we rectify these two seemingly incongruous ideas? Your chapter titled “dead to the law” starts out with a quote from Peter where he states that Paul’s writings are hard to understand, to which I think we can all say “Amen”. This a big deal since 2/3 of the NT was written by Paul, and many Christian doctrines are based wholly or at least in part on his writings. So let’s address this concept of being dead to the law and what seem to be contradictions in Paul’s writings. You make the point that when there are apparent contradictions with Paul or anywhere in scripture we need to look beyond the superficial meaning. So let me ask you the question, did Christ cancel or nullify the law, and how does the Sermon on the Mount help answer this question? You state that the law is not an obstacle for salvation but its indispensable platform. What do you mean by that? Another twist on this same argument is that Christ gave us a new law and it’s called love. Is this true? Let’s talk about he concept of a bond servant as described in both the OT and in the NT most notably in an often ignored short book called Philemon. What can this tell us about our relationship to the law? So the concept of a bond servant can help us better understand our relationship to the law, but you say that the concept of a school master can help us understand the reverse, the relationship of the law to us. Talk to us about this. Now with the concepts of bondservant and schoolmaster as a background, how can we better understand what Paul means when he talks about the law of liberty?
This is the second Welcome Episode for this podcast and along with it I'm officially changing the name of this podcast from Christian Men at Work to Jacobs Ladder and along with the name change I'm changing the focus and purpose of the podcast.
The purpose of the Christian Men at Work podcast, since it first started in October of 2016, has been to inspire you to have joy and purpose in your work. I've attempted to do that in two ways. First, I've interviewed men from all walks of life, with varying job titles, who have had one thing in common, they've all chosen daily to live out their Christian faith through their work, and because of that they've been leading, prospering, glorifying God, and finding joy and purpose in their work.
The second way I've tried to achieve this goal is through short messages called Selah episodes where I've shared my thoughts, usually pretty closely related to the topic of faith at work.
The last episode, which was #220, was Feb 5, 2024, where I interviewed Jason Pierce talking about a Vision for Life. Up to that point, I had conducted 110 interview style episodes with the other half being Selah episodes.
If you've been a listener over the years, you may have noticed a trend in recent years toward more Selah episodes as well as a departure at times from the faith at work focus.
I've never gone this long, about 8 months, without producing an episode. Before I resumed the podcast again, I wanted to be sure I was both mentally and emotionally ready to do so, and I wanted to clarify the focus and purpose for the podcast before moving forward. I felt I needed to do that first so that I could be passionate about it again, so that I would be motivated to pour myself into it, and so that I could be consistent with it.
During the last few years I've had two primary changes in my life. One has been a gut-wrenching, life changing personal challenge which has driven me closer to my Creator and closer to other men in friendship, particularly men that are going through similar personal challenges.
The other big change in my life has been that I've changed some of my beliefs and practices which are best described as more Messianic than Christian. To quickly address that issue, I share the belief with Christians that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the long promised Messiah, and that my salvation comes from faith in Him and His righteousness alone and not my work or good deeds.
Where I defer from most Christians is that I believe it's God's will for us to follow His law, including the Torah or first 5 books of the Bible, as well as the Prophets and Writings (i.e. Old Testament) out of love towards Him and not out of obligation or to earn salvation. In practical terms that means I observe the 7 Feasts rather than Christmas and Easter, I follow the dietary laws, I observe Sabbath on day 7 and not day 1 and other things that are usually practiced by observant Jews.
You could say that I differ from Christians by following the the Law and I differ from Jews by following Jesus and I believe we should do both.
If you've been listening in recent years you've probably noted those two changes in my life through the messages I've been sharing.
When I started this Podcast I had just gone through a major challenge in my life where I had gone bankrupt from chasing get-rich-quick schemes and not having a biblical approach towards work and finances. I had, at the same time, gone through some other personal challenges but I felt led to write a book called Jesus is at Work dealing with the faith at work issue, and write a blog on the same topic. Soon after that, I switched from blogging to podcasting.
I still feel passionate about incorporating my faith into my work. I love my job more than ever, and I am very thankful for it. I believe my work at my job is part of my purpose here on earth.
I want to continue to weave into this podcast the faith at work theme and I want to continue to focus primarily on men. However, moving forward I will be broadening the focus. What is the new focus?
Well, you could summarize it by a Beatles song "All you need is love", but seriously, love is the simplest way for me to summarize where I want the focus to be. Specifically, I want to talk about loving God, loving others and loving ourselves, at work and at home. Without love, having faith at work or in our personal lives doesn't mean anything, in my opinion.
It's no coincidence that this is basically what Jesus, who I normally call Yeshua, said summarizes the two greatest commandments, upon which hang all the law and the prophets. It's also a paraphrase of the Sh'ma, which Jewish people in their synagogues and Messianics in their congregations recite every Shabbat.
I chose as the new title for this podcast Jacobs Ladder, which was recommended by a dear friend. The intent of that title is to provide an image of an intimate connection between God and man, without which we have no hope of connecting with or loving others or ourselves.
Here are a few other changes I'd like to implement moving forward.
I want to continue the practice of having both interviews as well as my own personal musings.
For interviews, the format will be very similar to what it's been in the past, though the topics will of course be more in line with the new focus of the podcast.
For my personal musing episodes, I'm going to call them PPP episodes, which stands for purposeful pondering with praise. I became increasingly uncomfortable over time with my use of the term Selah in the past. The original intent was to invite the listener to ponder on the thoughts I was sharing. However, the musings are just one man's opinions which may or may not be prompted by the Holy Spirit and certainly not inspired in the sense that scripture is breathed from God. Therefore, I no longer want to use that term Selah and to leave that for its hallowed used within the Psalms.
Through the new acronym PPP, I want to remind myself to keep my ponderings purposeful, in other words I want them to help you to make a change in your life, if you feel it applies to you, either in your thoughts or your actions. I don't want to just talk for talking's sake. The third P is a reminder to incorporate some form of praise into every pondering and to always try to make it about our Creator and not about me or you.
I'm not making any promises at this time as to how often I'll be releasing episodes or how the mix will be between interviews and ponderings. I'd like to commit to both of those so you know what to expect, but at this time I prefer to keep my options open. Wondering about that question has been one of the reasons I've waited so long to bring this podcast back to life and so I don't want that to prevent me from doing so any longer.
Whether you're a long time or first time listener, whether you're more focused on work or personal, and whether you consider yourself Christian, Messianic, Jewish or something else, I welcome you to the Jacobs Ladder podcast.
I'm excited about this new beginning and I'm looking forward to the adventure we'll be going on together.
Contact Jason at j316173@hotmail.com
Videos:
The Why of It All
Alan Watts What do you desire?
For more info contact luke@gravityjack.com Luke Richey began coding software at the age of 14, a foundation upon which he has built a life dedicated to businesses that bring society and technology into the future. His broad understanding of the industry, paired with a passion for both integrity and optimization within the business domain, led him to create many successful startups. In 2009, after selling his business to a gaming company, he co-founded Gravity Jack with a vision to advance mobile-based augmented reality. With a strong patent portfolio, dedicated research team and a top-tier client roster, Gravity Jack was quickly established as a leader in the industry. On March 16, 2019, following multiple supernatural encounters with the Lord, Luke surrendered his heart to Jesus Christ. Transformed and fully submitted to his Savior, Luke saw God work many miracles in his life, including the restoration of his health, his marriage, his family and his finances. The impact of his spiritual transformation and new reliance on Christ was so evident to those around him that revival broke out throughout his extended family. The founders of Gravity Jack, Luke and Jen Richey, are passionate followers of Jesus who are on a mission to help spread the gospel to the 50% of the population that does not have the Bible translated in their heart language by using AI and an AR game. Automatic translation engines like Google Translate only support the top 100 languages (ChatGPT supports 95) and the likelihood of these tech giants supporting any more languages is close to none. This is due to smaller linguistic communities lacking the critical mass of users needed to justify a profitable investment, and they often lack the necessary large datasets for effective AI training. Consequently, corporations claiming to be global connectors are disregarding the economic, intellectual and social potential of half the world's population. Gravity Jack is aiming to leverage the appeal of the gaming industry and the dedication of its market to bring the other 50% of the world onto the international economic stage that otherwise would never see, hear or read much of anything in their native language. Gravity Jack has a unique opportunity to do something that has not been done before. The company is currently developing an original augmented reality video game, WarTribe of Binyamin, which creates a multi-world war game with active and passive multiplayer role-playing, featuring revolutionary and patented augmented reality elements and geo ownership while simultaneously economically uplifting people in poverty. The video game bundles AR, AI and play-to-earn into one dynamic mobile app – all while generating what is poised to be the most robust translation service available on the marketplace. Ken Barun, Senior Vice President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was recently announced as one of the newest members to the Board of Directors at Gravity Jack. Ken is a distinguished leader with extensive corporate and philanthropic experience, including his role as President/CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Worldwide and Director of Projects and Policy on the White House staff to First Lady, Nancy Reagan. His commitment to making a positive impact is evident in his founding of the charity, and his dedication to charitable work and corporate social responsibility reflects his passion for making a difference in the world.
Get and Give Feedback Surveys from Lowe’s to just about everywhere online Why? Because it’s so important to not just work efficiently but to make sure you’re pursuing the right objective and in the right manner I manage projects and critical aspect of my job is defining early and accurately what my customer or stakeholder needs and wants as project deliverables Making assumptions or rushing to the execution phase are two big errors which lead to poor results and damaged business relationships On this topic I recommend recent episode of the Emotionally Healthy Podcast called The Life Changing Skill of Clarifying expectations” This is what emotionally mature individuals do, and one of the axioms on that podcast is that you can’t be spiritually mature unless you’re emotionally mature Asking for feedback Talking too loud Too harsh in a meeting Give feedback (solicited and unsolicited) I've worked where we receive emails from managers asking me to give feedback to their direct reports soon after working with them. I try to always give that feedback and to make it meaningful not just vanilla and predictable How is very important " Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." - James 4:10 "Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid." - Proverbs 12:1 So provide feedback through surveys when you can as a gift to others, but also seek feedback about yourself and never be afraid to face the music of truth when it comes to our behavior and how our behavior is received by others.
An overused phrase is to give 110% effort. What does that mean when we think of living out our faith through our work Well, I can't spell that out in a cookie cutter fashion that applies to everyone in all circumstances, but I know it when I see it This morning I saw it. I’ll use a different name, Bob. Bob took my biometrics, all good except high blood pressure . I told him I had a lot of stress. He went on for about 10 minutes sharing with me his philosophy. Like extending your arm holding glass of water. Water is like stress. Talk to yourself, love yourself, if you hold Onto feelings and tell yourself you’re feeling something like sadness it helps no one. It certainly doesn’t help you and it also doesn’t affect the person who you’re thinking about. I thanked him and gave him a hug when I left. On my way back to my desk I was light in my feet. When I grabbed my coffee I saw someone who asked me how My morning was. I said I had gotten the biometrics and he asked what they did . I told him that the worker had given me some great tips on managing stress. My friend asked me what they were so I shared and he then told me a story about a 90 Yr old woman who was his neighbor across the street. She used to say to him if something isn’t going to matter in 100 years Then don’t worry about it. I share this story with you for two reasons. One is I hope you benefit front the advice related to worry and stress because at some level I know we all need that advice. Specifically I want to talk about the advice to love yourself. There was a time when I would have embraced that advice without a faith or biblical context, ie I was all about myself and my goals and was not humbly seeking Gods will. There was also a time in my life when I would reacted To that advice in knee jerk, holier than though fashion, ie I would have said “that’s wrong I should not love myself, I should be humble and repentant”. I believe I’m at a place now where I’m closer to the truth than either of those previous versions of myself. Loving yourself is a command found in both the Old Testament and New Testament, the Torah and the Apostolic Scriptures. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord" - Lev 19:18 Jesus quoted this in 3 of the 4 Gospels, saying this was the 2nd greatest commandment. Paul quoted this in the book of Galatians and Romans, and James quoted it as well.; In fact, I don't know this for sure, but this could be the most quoted command in the Bible. This command shows that God wants us to love our neighbor, but it also shows He wants us to love ourselves, and you can argue, it shows that we cannot love our neighbor if we don't first love ourselves. My second reason for sharing this story is to provide an example of what giving 110% might look like in your work, though at the same time I think it would be better to think of this as 110% relative to what is the norm, but should be the normal behavior for those of us who are believers My third reason is to encourage you to pass along something good that you year, as I did with my friend when I was getting coffee, and be ready to shut up and let the person share their thoughts once you've brought up something of moral significance.
Phil 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things" During my self-help days, I often heard "You are what you think about all day long" or as it says in proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" What should we think about, or focus on, in this life? Our highest priority should be the unseen holy, set apart things, namely God and the things of God. The word for holy spirit or set apart in Hebrew is Kadosh Col 3:2 says "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Joshua 1:8 says "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night" Psalm 119:97 "Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day" I used to think that when the Bible talked about meditating, or thinking, about His Word all day long, it didn’t literally mean all day, but now I’m not so sure. I’m finding the more I focus on God the more I’m truly living. In the Torah it encourages us to think about His word throughout our day In Deut 6:6-9 says "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Number 15:39-41says "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.” Lesser in value than the set apart kadosh things that are unseen but still having great value are those things that are seen but also set apart. What we experience with our 5 senses. You could say our natural reality. Traditions in Judaism include saying prayers the moment you wake, when you walk to the bathroom, etc By doing so we are making our natural world set apart or kadosh, not totally of course, since we are in a fallen world. Gnosticism was a set of beliefs focused on knowledge and considered things natural to be avoided. I believe by coming to earth and taking on flesh, in addition to the important work of providing the necessary sinless sacrifice, Jesus also demonstrated the importance of us living in our natural reality. Also God wanted the tabernacle and then the temple to be made by human hands, and for us to it holy, even though they were types of the temple in the unseen realm. There a number of Songs with the theme “this is not my home” or "this world is not my home" which capture this idea. I've also heard of the hotel analogy. Our life here is like staying in a hotel room but our true home will come after our death. That hotel room still has a purpose for us and is to be used and appreciated. If you want to go deeper on the concept of the unseen realm check out the book "The unseen realm" by Michael Heiser who died last last year. Also the Naked Truth podcast. So what are lesser thoughts or things we should avoid focusing on? Things of this world that do not honor God, that Satan has twisted and perverted. This can include things we might consider wholesome and good and G rated, but if focus on them too much, relying on them or making an idol of them, they become unholy and forbidden. There is another category of things to avoid, in my opinion even worse than the things of this world. Those are the unseen things that are not holy, set apart, that do not glorify God. This of course includes overtly evil practices like witchcraft, divination, going to a palm reader, playing with a ouige board, but it also includes things that most believers dont' think are a big deal but are also wicked and to avoided strongly. I’m talking about using your imagination to take you to a place that does not glorify God. This can include pornography as well as imagining images and activities that do not glorify God. Jesus raised the bar when it came to what is considered sin when he said that looking with lust and hating someone was the same as committing adultery and murdering someone. God cares about what we do but He seems to really care about what we think about or more specifically what is in our heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” If you have taken solace with your hands being clean but your mind being dirty, you are at risk of being hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees who in Matt 23:27 Jesus said were "like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness." The line can blur between the seen and unseen both with things that are holy and things that are unholy. Just take this one verse as an example So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 1Pet.2.1ESV In that one sentence is a mixture of unholy things that are tangible actions as well as our thoughts. I used to freak out over this idea of controlling my thoughts, thinking I could not control them. I now know enough about God to know He would not ask me to do something I could not do, and in His love gives me the Holy Spirit to help me. 2 Cor 10:5 says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," 1 Cor 10:13 says "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" John 14:16 Jesus says "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever" Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” I think of my thoughts as I do all of the commandments, they are ways for me to show my love for my heavenly Father, not a bunch of don’t’s I have to avoid out of fear. On the other side of obedience is a closer relationship with my Crestor and a life of joy and shalom. So to summarize, two things to focus on are both holy, one is unseen and perfectly holy, the other is seen and a type or foreshadow of holiness, or you could say a little slice of heaven. This is similar to the two commandments which is a summary of the law and prophets, to love God (unseen) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (seen). Note the second one has two parts to love our neighbor and ourselves. The two things to avoid, or to put more strongly to rebuke, hate and reject, are the unholy things, both seen and unseen. Another verse which captures this is Rom 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This is part of our human existence and Gods plan for us, at least as I’m beginning to understand and appreciate though will never fully comprehend since His ways are greater than my ways if you're looking for an application for your work, remember that you spend so much of your waking hours at your job, if you're going to focus on holy things all the day, you have to do so at work. Your work is a great example of where the unseen and seen come together in a beautiful way.
52 minutes. One measure of a man and his life. Red was the name he went by, from the color of his hair, but his name was Roger. I met Red early on in my current job. Our paths crossed due to our work, but we connected and enjoyed our time together based on our common love for God, for family, and for conservative politics. While my shift away from focusing on politics change in recent years and I haven't been assigned jobs that had me working with Red as often, we still had a bond and I always enjoyed seeing him and even more so talking with him. Red worked for a contracting firm that did work at the factory where I work. Because of the constant need for repairs, maintenance and new equipments installations, Red was what was considered a resident contractor, meaning he wasn't an employee of the company but was there every day just as if he was one. Just about everyone who knew him at work though of him as not just an employee but as family to some degree. That's partly because of what he did, but more because of who he was. What he did was do mechanical work at a level of excellence I haven't seen with anyone else I've worked with. Red combined a high work ethic with skill, dedication, patience and a gentle spirit. He never blamed anyone. He took responsibility and he focused on what needed to get done not who got the credit. He worked for his company for over 50 years and worked at our plant for over 20 years. He was committed to his wife for life and to his kids and grandkids. Red was a constant in a changing world. He was often being assigned a partner with much less experience than him. With each one, I saw him intentionally try to pass along his knowledge to the less skilled person, along with patience and kindness. Red recently died tragically. The visitation and funeral were not far from the plant where I work so I decided to at least attend the funeral and pay my respects. As I entered the funeral home I instantly heard the quiet buzz of chatter and hushed tones. Then I saw the line. I stretched throughout multiple hallways and was the path to meet and greet Red's family. While in line I enjoyed sharing stories with others who appreciated Red. No-one was there out of obligation. They were there because they loved, at some level, the man everyone knew as Red. 52 minutes I waited in line to share with Red's wife, brother and children how much Red meant to me. Red more than anyone else exemplified glorifying God through his work, while also cherishing his family. He also demonstrated having convictions while not being divisive more than perhaps anyone I know. The world and my workplace is not the same, and won't be the same, without Red. I look forward to being with him in the glory that is to come, and cant' wait to see the great work the Father has in store for Him there.
And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 If we recognize the Father is the filter between us and any blessings in our lives, whether material or otherwise, we will have the proper perspective. In Ecc Solomon talks about how our material things will pass on to others and not go with us when we die. We are truly stewards not owners of the things in our lives. As my Pastor says if we think we own our house and there’s no mortgage try not paying your taxes and see how long you own that house. I’m going through a separation process with the potential for a divorce and one of the many lessons I’ve learned through that process is how quickly material things can change and be taken from us as well as how unimportant they are compared to our relationships. Recognizing our Father as a filter between us and the material things in our lives will help us have a better perspective on these things and prevent us from making idols of them or seeking our security in them. If we’re feeling thankful for our job, direct that thanks to Him. If we have a complaint about our job, complain to Him and ask Him to show You how you should properly think about that issue and how He may be working things for good through that issue.
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Luke 4:8 Yeshua says to Satan here that we should only serve Yah, and yet Yeshua demonstrated serving others and called us to do the same. Friend when serving wife says it’s for Him not her Don’t have to keep score who’s giving more if we’re filtering our service through the Father, if we’re considering all of our service being for Him not others, though others may benefit from that service My challenge for you in your work this week is to check in with yourself at lunchtime each day and think about the ways you served over the last 24 hours through your work, think about who you served. Was it an individual, your employer? If you can't honestly say you were primarily serving your Father, think about how your heart would have been different and how your service might have been different if you had. Commit to Father Filtering over the next 24 hours.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit “ Prov 18:21 “a fool’s voice is known by his many words.” Ecclesiastes 5:3 “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise” - Prov 10:19 James 1:19 says " let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;" In corporate prayer my Pastor Julio Calderon challenged us to make sure that anything we say that day be more beautiful than silence I've talked in the past many times about the power of our speech, particularly in our work. One thing I don't I have discussed, however, is the power of the Father Filter in reverse. Not only should we filter what we are about to say, we should also filter what we hear. If someone speaks something to you and your instinct, your fleshly response, it to be offended by it, try to instead filter what they've said through Your Father and His Word. If what someone is saying is true based on what God has to say about, even if it's paintful your correct response very well may be to say "I'm sorry, please forgive me, please pray for me, I'll try not to do that again". if what someone has said is NOT true, or only half a truth, filter out the portion that is not true and, if possibly try not to let it bother. Don't defend yourself or react negatively, just let it roll off your back. I realize that it's easier said than done especially when you've conditioned to react to certain negative things spoke over you, but I believe this is so important that it's worth us trying to intentionally change the way we filter what we hear about ourselves and others.
Here are my three challenges I have for you this week in your work to apply Father Filtering with your speech, and if you want you can simplify by just picking one of the 3 to make it easier to apply: 1. Try to apply active listening technique with at least one person, specifically do not interrupt the person who's talking, and if you do, only repeat back to them what you think you heard they just said to you and them to confirm it's correct. Resist the urge to share your wisdom, limit your speech to questions 2. Check in with your self lunch time every day and ask your self, did I speak more life or death with my words that morning? Was what I said more beautiful than silence? 3. Next time someone says something to you at work our outside of work that is painful and that you want to react to defending yourself, ask the Father to show you what is true and what is not true. If it's true, apologize, if it's not true don't react and let it go. You may need some time in-between when you hear these words and your response and that may be best.
Father Filter 4 parts: Sight, Speech, Service, Being Content Each will be brief but felt best to split them up so you could focus on each specific topic and make an application in your life rather than taking them all on at once. Term I heard from Dr Joe Martin Beyond “what would Jesus do” and trying to be like Him, but rather about literally partnering with Him in our walk here in the flesh as justified but ongoing sanctified children of Yah Josh 1:9 says "do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”" As believers, we all recognize that God exists and that He's always with us, but since most of us are not hearing an audible voice from Him, we may wonder sometimes what His constant presence in our lives means and looks like. One way I've begun to understand His presence is through this concept of Father Filtering. It recognizes God's presence while also recognizing our free will and the role we play in how God is part of our daily journey.
God is the perfect filter. He is holy. He is perfect. Jer 29:13 says "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." What I'm going to be talking about with Father Filtering is not a passive activity. We have to recognize God's presence in our lives and intentionally seek His will, or you could say His filter for every part of our lives, what we consider the big stuff and the little stuff. It's interesting when I did a search to look up this chapter and verse to quote since I remembered the verse but not the location, a 2nd verse also showed up from Ecc 2:3 "I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly". What an interesting contrast between how Solomon search in his own heart how to gratify his flesh, vs what we're going to talk about which is seeking our Father's heart instead of our own. Jer 17:9 says "“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" We can't trust our heart, we can completely trust the heart of our Father. Sight “Not Even a Hint” by Joshua Harris based on Eph 5:3 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people". He defines lust as craving sexually what God has forbidden, or to want what you don't have and weren't meant to have. God's standard with regard to lust is spelled out clearly in Eph 3, He desires that we no lust whatsoever, not even a hint. Though lust is a heart issue, our eyes or sight, particularly with men, are often a part of it. As Joshua Harris says in his book "Lust tells you lies, the truth sets you free" Song by Leland says “what are you doing when nobody’s watching”. With Father filtering it’s more than just knowing our Father sees all that we do and look at with our eyes, as a Father who is outside of us (which He is), but rather recognizing His Holy Spirit is inside of us as well and inviting Him to filter what we see. This can lead us to make different choices like not looking with lust at women, can also help us see others with more compassion, empathy and kindness. To see others and circumstances with His eyes. Work application - women at work your tempted to look at with lust? Are there co-workers tend to look own upon or with judgment, seeing their flaws and not their pain? Start Father Filtering what you see at your job this week and see how it changes your heart.
NPR Hidden brain Interview lady Erica Boothby social illusions, liking gap, invisibility cloak illusion In conversation we overestimate negative thoughts toward us, observing we understanding how much they’re noticing us Good to ask questions Think less of us and more of them Giving compliments help dismantle liking gap for other person Just listened to a fascinating interview on NPR and thought that you would have appreciated it. The show was “Hidden Brain” and he interviewed Erica Boothby, psychologist who has identified what she called social illusions, specifically the liking gap where people tend to overestimate in conversations negative impressions they’ve made and when not in conversation underestimating how much others notice us vs us noticing them. They noted we can reduce the liking gap for others by complimenting them and for ourselves by asking others questions about thi ngs we’re worried about. Also should focus less on ourselves and more on the other person to reduce our liking gap. Speaks to power of being others focused as Bible says Phil 2:4 "Let each of you look not only his own interests, but also to the interests of others" Phil 2:3 "do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" Rom 12:10 "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor" 1 Cor 12:24 "Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor" Rom 12:16 "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight" What didn’t address is importance of caring more what God thinks than others If we could truly care only what thinks and not other fallen humans, imagine how many of our challenges and worries and sadness, discontent would be gone
"Psalm 56:11 "In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Work Tips from Genesis 33 1. Glorify God and esteem Him for all the people and things with which He has blessed me 2. Consider others with the goals I pursue and the pace with which I pursue them 3. Keep in my mind always the end goal to arrive safely in the place God has intended for me as well as those with whom He has entrusted me with. 4. Along the journey, have a giving heart and esteem others above myself. Follow up to prevent a dreaded meeting outcome Avoid the worst: Holding a meeting to ensure a previous meeting met its purpose! You planned the meeting well. You had all the right people there. You controlled it with the precision of a brain surgeon. So that’s that, right? Not quite. Now comes the time to focus on what to do after the meeting ends. Taking on more work after a meeting might seem to betray the goal of unlocking more time to focus on the right projects. But in the long run, good meeting follow-through will save time for everyone involved. A recap supports good outcomes — and prevents redundancy Many people will agree this is one of the worst meeting outcomes: scheduling a meeting-after-the-meeting to ensure the original meeting served its purpose. Good planning and follow-up can make this a thing of the past. Some meetings are succinct enough to be self-contained, but most benefit from a recap to ensure everyone is on the same page. Here are just a few of the reasons for a written recap: * In meetings with virtual participants, it can be hard for everyone to hear everything. * If the host or note-taker can’t verbally recap the meeting at the end, a written recap makes sure everyone took away the same conclusions. * A recap for meetings with multiple action items creates an extra layer of accountability. * If someone doesn’t need to be in a meeting but does need to know the outcome, a recap or summary can reduce the number of meeting attendees.
If the meeting generates actions, be clear on what they are and who needs to carry them out. And make sure to send out a recap within 48 hours so items are fresh in everyone’s mind. Recap structure matters Following a standard format will help readers quickly identify the main points and know what’s expected. * Start the subject line with the word RECAP to make it identifiable. * Structure the recap in sections: decision, actions, key takeaways and additional information. * Bold or “@” the names of people with action items so they can easily spot their name. * List major conclusions and lessons learned. * Provide links to recordings and presentations.
Gather feedback How did your meeting go? Feedback is important, and there are various methods to seek it. Use polling tools to solicit feedback or follow up with a few participants to gauge their opinions. For larger meetings, plan to save a few minutes at the end for live feedback.
S God's voice stills you, Satan's voice rushes you God's voice leads you, Satan's voice pushes you God's voice reassures you, Satan's voice frightens you God's voice enlightens you, Satan's voice confuses you God's voice encourages you, Satan's voice discourages you God's voice comforts you, Satan's voice worries you God's voice calms you, Satan's voice obsesses you God's voice convicts you, Satan's voice condemns you From Greg Pruett's interview: Confusion-Me Condemning, Divisive-Demonic Bears fruit-from God also-Human Expectations Dr Joe If self serving-from Me if selfish-from Satan if selfless-from God E-example Nikola Jokic vs Ray Kroc Nikola defers to his teamates when interviewed, rather than taking credit he always says "It's a team effort" and when he was asked about the MVP trophy for the Western Conference Finals he said "this means nothing". I also noticed the way he engages with others, there seems to be a genuine playful friendship and mutual respect with those he works with. Watched Founders about McDonalds "founder" Ray Kroc. He divorced his wife to marry someone more ambitious, he treated the McDonalds brothers poorly and went back on his word about paying them royalties, and he was an alcoholic and very self centered and selfish and prideful. Unfortunately, I recognized some of Ray Kroc in my earlier life, and I have to be careful to check some of these traits now. I used to be very into self-help and Ray would listen to speakers talk about the power of persistence but they weren't talking about doing things in a Biblical way. Ray was a Billionaire and successful by the world's standards, but if his legacy is accurately depicted by this movie, he's not someone I want to emulate. leader at work about making sure we all go home safe, and added "in the end that is all that really matters" H-Handy Better meetings · Purpose — The “why” behind the meeting. Start with a verb. · Participants — Who should be there? If a person won’t have an active role, don’t invite them. · Agenda & Approach — The format and order of discussion. If a topic doesn’t contribute to the meeting results, leave it out. · Results / Outcomes — What should be different when you are done?
Greg Pruett has served as president of Pioneer Bible Translators, based in Dallas, Texas, since January 2007. Before that, Greg, along with his wife, Rebecca, and their three children, lived in West Africa for more than 12 years, where they completed a translation of the entire Bible into the Yalunka language and shared Christ’s love with people who traditionally follow the Quran. He has a degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M and both a master’s degree and a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary.
You may have wondered when you saw the title what principles and whistles have to do with faith at work Perhaps you thought I would talk about living out your faith as a principal of a school, or since we’re in the middle of the NBA playoffs I might talk sharing Christ while blowing a whistle as a basketball referee. Well, neither would be correct. First of all the principles I’m talking about are spelled with an les on the end not an al. I heard a message recently from a friend and teacher Roger Hadad including a portion on principles. Values are very personal and temporary Our society is driven by values, which are not attached to principles Principles are impersonal, objective and eternal Values are temporary, based on culture and subjective Yeshua or Jesus showed how to take principles out of commandments, eg looking with lust is adultery The principle behind the commandment is fidelity which can be applied to anything (faithfulness) Turn the other cheek-teaching something higher than the commandment of an eye for eye which is love Values can become something negative if not rooted in principles We find principles in the word by asking what’s behind the statement we’re reading So I’d like to challenge you be in the word regularly and devote some of your time while in the word asking yourself what is the principle behind what you’re reading. Specifically as it relates to your work, what principles can you apply to your work life. Another question you might ask while at work is whether your employer is encouraging you to adopt certain beliefs or you might say values or principles. If they are, see if you can find in the Bible verses which support what your employer is encouraging. If you can then celebrate that your employer is encouraging biblical principles even if they aren’t quoting Bible verses. If there is a conflict, you now have a filter through which you can receive and interpret these messaging you receive at work and hopefully you can start to have a conviction about what your work principles are and actively live Out those principles So what does this have to do with whistles? Well, nothing actually but I wanted to share an ah-hah moment I had at work recently. I was walking around my workplace and noticed a fellow employee was whistling. I let him know I thought it was great he was whistling and to keep it up. In the past I’ve talked about simple things you can do to live out your faith at work. One of them has been to smile while at work. Another is to be encouraging to others while at work. While I’d like to add to that list whistling. First of all, it’s hard to have a bad mood when you’re whistling. Second of all, there’s a good chance you could lift the spirits of a coworker without saying but rather by puckering your lips and blowing some air.
Want to be distressed, look within myself, at my own power. Want to be defeated, look behind me, at my past. The enemy is happy to remind me of all my sin and mistakes. Want to be dismayed, look ahead, to the future. No one but God knows what will be. Want to be distracted, look around. There are plenty of things to keep our focus. Want to be delivered, sanctified, and transformed, then look up. Keep my eyes on Jesus. Article on better meetings called "Don’t let the ‘Dominator,’ ‘Downer,’ ‘Derailer’ or other derailing behaviors hijack your meeting!" Every train needs an engineer to keep it on track, and you can apply that principle to meetings, too. When you hold a meeting, consider yourself the engineer — the person who keeps the meeting moving forward and the purpose from being derailed. You may even have to deal with the “Dominator,” “Downer” or “Derailer,” but not to worry. We address that and more later in this story. Almost everyone has organized or attended a meeting that was derailed, and those off-track meetings can quickly become a costly time suck. Preparing for various scenarios and knowing the tools you can use will keep things on track.
Manage for impact You don’t want everyone pitching in at once, but it’s valuable to encourage full participation from those attending so you can get to the outcomes of the meeting, and everyone feels fully engaged and their ideas heard. Use polls, hand-raising and breakout groups to ensure everyone is heard. If a group is particularly large, establish some rules to promote interaction. Call out quiet attendees so their perspectives are heard and seek out new perspectives that people may hesitate to share. Plainly tell people you want more guidance or feedback on certain subjects.
Don’t be afraid of quiet — meeting silence can be your friend! It may feel awkward, especially for virtual participants, but pause for eight or more seconds after certain questions. That will tend to prompt people to speak, even if only to fill the void. It can also break the tendency for one person to do all the talking.
Managing derailing behaviors in your meetings You want everyone in the discussion but watch out for attendees who can reduce meeting effectiveness. Use these tactics to keep things moving in the right direction.
The Derailer goes off on tangents and introduces new ideas without making a connection to the purpose.
Tactics: Offer separate times to talk about issues that aren’t the point of the meeting. Interrupt if you have to. Offer to set up a post-meeting talk.
The Dominator interrupts, dominates the conversation and never asks anyone else questions.
Tactics: Politely remind interrupters that everyone has to be heard for a broad discussion. Don’t be afraid to jump in and tell Dominator that you want to hear the rest of what an interrupted person has to say.
The Downer shuts down new ideas and exclusively points out what can go wrong.
Tactics: Ask downer to suggest improvements rather than just saying something won’t work.
If you recognize any of these meeting derailing behaviors, you may also be familiar with the Distractor (Arrives late, has side conversations, multitasks), the Disappearing Act (Did they accept or decline the invite? Who knows?) and the Determined (Fixed on their view and is sure everyone should hear it).
Wrapping it all up
All good things must end and so must your meeting. If you’ve kept it on track, you should be able to wrap it up while offering some buffer time (close at 11:20, for example, rather than the stated 11:30). For any actions that need to take place afterward, clarity will go a long way.
Don’t say, “Someone should look into this.” Do say, “Richard, make sure this is done by 10 a.m. tomorrow.”
Don’t say, “We will keep this in mind.” Do say, “I will email everyone and give a decision on this within 24 hours.”
If time has run out, still end the meeting. You can send a wrap-up afterward but say before shutting down the meeting – in-person, Teams or hybrid – that you expect everyone to acknowledge they got the message and understand what’s next.
Topic of laughter, I want to talk about two steps that are essential to experiencing laughter. Neither of these two steps are to hear or experience something funny, though that certainly often helps us to laugh. The great thing about these two things are that unlike hearing something funny, these two things are under our own control. The first thing is to think positively. It sounds simple and it is. It also sounds secular, something you can read about in any self help book, but it’s definitely biblical 2 Cor 10:5 says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," Philippians 4:8 says " Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." , I received this verse in a text from my friend Marco. It's from the well-known love passage in 1 Cor 13, but this AMPC, or amplified classic translation, really hit home to me. "Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]". It’s all about love. God is love. We are made in His image. We are made to love and to receive His love. This verse shows that part of love is believing the best in others, which is another way thinking positively. I was visiting a friend recently and he had a sign in his home that said “Family means you love and will be loved now and for the rest of your life”. At the moment I read this I felt some sadness because of what’s going on in my marriage and the threat to our earthly family. In my quiet time with God as I’m writing this, though, I’m thinking about our most important family and that is the body of Christ. That is the family we will spend eternity with and the family that matters most, with the head of that family, Christ, being the one whom should receive our greatest devotion and love and commitment. Matt 12:46-50 says " Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him.
47 [u]Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.
48 But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?
49 And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] [v]His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers.
50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!"
Jer 29:11-13 shows how God feels about His family, which includes You if You have Christ as your Savior and been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. Even though God's people had just been exiled to Babylon for their sins and grieving God's heart, Yah still oved them and as evidenced by this passage "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" To bring this back to thinking positive, it won't happen unless you choose to think positive, but it also won't happen unless you have the love of God in your heart. To muscle through being positive in your own strength is destined to failure. if you're forcing a positive attitude on the outside but it doesn't come from within, it takes the form of a mask and often negative emotions and actions erupt when that mask is disrupted. The second thing needed to laugh, in addition to thinking positively, is to smile. I’ve talked about the power of a smile, particularly in our workplace but in every part of our lives. I’m reminded about this again these days and realizing how my default facial expression is not to smile, it’s more of a frown or neutral. I can look in the mirror and force a smile, but if I first have a positive attitude the smile tends to occur naturally.
I have a gift for you today, something that will provide you peace in a way that few things can. That gift is the awareness of the power of forgiveness Forgiveness from AJ Boncore interview on RealMenConnect podcast, he said there are 3 levels of forgiveness Upward, Inward, Outward Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill someone else My thoughts Need the first two to get to the outward Ideally we’d get the first two as done deal, and focus on outward the rest of our lives, but reality is we need to continue to experience the first two daily to get to the third. We need to ask for forgiveness from God and repent of our sins, and we need to regularly forgive ourselves. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " so in that verse we are told of the importance of confessing our sins and it also assures us that we will be forgiven. This was made possible by the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I don't believe our salvation is dependent on repeatedly asking for and receiving forgiveness. Yet it's clear confession and repentance is a part of the daily Christian walk that we should all be living out. On the outward journey, forgiving others, another tip I got from the AJ interview was the power of writing a letter. I also learned this through some counseling I had the last few months. I was challenged to write a letter to someone in my life, my father, that I needed to forgive. My father is no longer alive, so I didn’t actually deliver or read that letter to him, I read it to my counselor as if he was that person. It was very powerful to write down what I needed to forgive including how that person’s actions and lack of action impacted me. To dig deeper on this topic of forgiveness I encourage you to read the books Total forgiveness and forgiving yourself by RT Kindell. I will probably expand on this topic of forgiveness drawing from those two books in the future. Currently I have in my pile of books I want to read Forgiving Forward, a gift from my friend Allen. I’ll let you know after I read it my thoughts on that. I also encourage you to listen to the AJ Boncore interview in its entirety. Link in the show notes. So, in your quiet time with God, be sure to confess your sin that the Holy Spirit is convicting you of. At the same time, be sure to forgive yourself and especially let go of your sins from the distant past that are haunting you. If you continue to beat yourself up over sins you've already been forgiven, the Devil is winning and you are arguably making the statement that you don't believe Christ sacrifice was good enough and you therefore have to finish the job by punishing yourself. Stop doing that. As Paul says in Phillippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Your Two Testimonies Your past and your present First your past The first you can’t change what happened but you can change how you think about it Do you look back with regret and sadness and feel sorry for yourself and self condemned? Or instead do you see Gods hand through it all, His faithful presence, and His plan to change you and shape you through and because of your past experiences, leading you to be the man He wants you to be. Your second testimony is your present. Story of man at work saying he was fantastic and that he decided long ago he would be fantastic just for today, not worrying about tomorrow. I don’t know if he’s a believer. I hope to find out soon. So I don’t know the source of his philosophy on being fantastic, but I agree with the sentiment. Yeshua on do not worry about tomorrow. "Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matt 6:31-34 "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." - Ps 118:24 We cannot change the past, we can only change or affect how we think and talk today about our past. Will we focus on ourselves or on God. Will we see God in our past? If we do, it may be the only way we can be fantastic today which will allow us to have a powerful testimony today, which is our second testimony. Here’s another thought. Every day we contribute to our first testimony, our past, i.e. today's present becomes tomorrow's past. So as we make positive changes in our daily testimony we make positive changes in our past testimony as well. Over time these seeds were sowing will reap a harvest so that over time we’ll have a better outlook on our past testimony. "11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." - Rev 12:11
We want God to Be in our lives because He is the source of all blessings Like Israel we gather and do certain things looking for the blessing of God We worship, we keep the commandments Blessings are complicated, sometimes the prosperity we seek doesn’t come We often associate blessings with material vs spiritual growth Building a Life Which God Can Bless Not a believer in the law of attraction Think positive thoughts and work hard and you attract good things magically God is not obligated to respond to what we do He doesn’t owe us anything, we owe Him everything We can create in our lives the right circumstances so that if God chooses to bless us, then He can The proper conditions are there for blessings Blessing is favor from God that brings happiness, joy, and or fulfillment. It can manifest as material wealth, good health, success, happiness, peace and spiritual growth. 6 types of blessings 1. Generic or double blind blessing-see Matt 5:45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (common grace), this blessing doesn’t care who it goes to, it doesn’t discriminate, available for everyone, double blind because we don’t recognize it, story of man who complained “if I were only rich”, God disguised as business man offering $5M but must be blind, or $10M for arms, $15M for ears, he said no, Lord said “you are so rich already you just don’t know it” 2. Potential or latent blessing-clearly in King David, David looked beyond his blessings and sinned with Basheba, 2 Samuel 12:8 “I would have given you much more”. This is heartbreaking. We pursue what WE think will make us happy. 3 things that make blessings latent (sin, we don’t ask (James 4:2-3) or have wrong intentions) 3. Mirage or hamster wheel blessing-Ecc 6:2 "A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil [a]affliction", we don’t have the capacity to enjoy because always wanting more 4. Fruitless blessing-a man had a great harvest, Luke 12:19-21 " And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”", he only cared about himself, 5. Vanishing blessing-Ecc 5:13-14 "There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. 14 But those riches perish through [a]misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand." 6. Blessed blessings-blessing falls on the right place at the right time and we are ready for it, Ecc 5:19-20 "As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his [a]heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.", this is where we all want to be, but we have to be ready, we have to grow spiritually so we can handle it. This is true of every type of blessing including financial and relationships.
Riches Luke 16:20-blessed are you poor Fame and Popularity Luke 16:22-blessed if people hate you Joy and Happiness Matt 5:4-blessed who mourn Power and Influence Matt 5:5-blessed are the meek If we want the blessings of God, we have to align with who he is Luke 12:30 and Matt 6:33, seek first the Kingdom of God It’s not a sin to be rich, famous, popular It’s wrong when we make those our priorities So if we want to receive and be blessed by God's blessings, we need to be ready. We need to prepare our hearts. And if we find an area in our lives where we are not experiencing blessings, it may be that we are not ready to receive them, and our question with the answers found in his Word are what do we need to do to be ready?
S Change Share about separation In a spiritual war for the last 6 months Denial, negotiating attempts with God and others, counseling Come to a few conclusions It doesn’t matter what portion of this situation is from my actions vs someone else, in fact it’s futile and you could say to devote any energy to something you cannot control other than turning it over to Yah in prayer is foolish Where my primary focus should be is to change what I can change, ie what I actually have the ability to change, and that is pretty much limited to my own personal thoughts, words and actions But if I stopped there I would be only in the realm of the world, of Babylon, the world of self-help, self-improvement or taken to the extreme the goal of self-actualization, which is right in the devil’s playground. An earlier low point in my life, I responded that way-self-help the worlds's way-13 traits from Benjamin Franklin-put up post-it notes and repeat each trait for a week. Exhausting Looking back to that season in my life, the true lasting positive changes I made was limited to the following: 1. I married a woman who was much farther along in her faith journey and in her commitment to her faith than me 2. I got plugged into a vibrant church and men's ministry as well as an evangelical mindset with a lot of discipleship opportunities and started a journey of sanctification which resulted in a number of positive changes: the removal of the majority of really stupid, really obviously bad outward sins of the flesh. Also I started thinking about what I could do to share with others what little I had learned in my journey. Some results of that included me writing a book about faith at work as well as starting this podcast. What I’m partially realizing now that I did not change was what Yeshua said was the most important thing to change and that was my heart, and that I may have short-circuited my heart change by launching into sharing with and helping others, not to mention my motivation for writing the book and doing the podcast had a large element of pride which only hindered the heart change I needed. Back to the point of surrendering, if I do what I did nearly 20 years ago and just try to do a Christian version of self-help, I will still be self focused and my efforts will be in vain and will fail. This is true regardless how great those efforts of mine are (and trust me I can put out some great effort when I put my mind toward a goal). The only true path to change is to surrender to the most High and let His Holy Spirit change me from the inside out. Now don’t get me wrong I believe it’s important to identify what needs to change and to be purposeful toward that specific area of change, and to be mindful and aware of when we are not living our lives in line with that desired change. But the way to change is not through us but through Yah. To be specific and personal with you, My 3 areas of change I need most are to be: 1. Be positive not negative 2. Be encouraging not critical 3. Be content not discontent What does this mean with regard to this podcast I'm not sure. I know I really enjoy doing these episodes and I'm praying they are some benefit to those of you listening to these. I believe I can continue to do these while still focusing on the personal growth that is most important. I plan to be more selective in the interviews I do, focusing on issues that I think are most critical to me and to other men, issues that men don't talk about much but are very important. That will likely mean I deal with topics that aren't necessarily just about faith and work, but we'll see. I also continue to feel led to talk about things I've learned on Messianic/Hebrew roots side of things but haven't decided if I will incorporate that into this podcast or do a separate podcast. That's it for now on what's on my heart. E Coworker said in the Maint shop he was over 3 important machines, someone joked that he keeps those Machines going so he can bring home a paycheck and he responded that actually by running those 3 machines he was allowing us all to bring home a paycheck Reminder of Value of our work, not just as a good witness to others by doing good and living a life that is respected by others But by doing good work in a very practical way we are blessing others. By being effective our organization we are a part of are better able to succeed in their goals which results in everyone in the organization prospering. This time of here my employer gives out bonuses based on individual performance as well as performance as larger organization. This year much lower than in past and than expected primarily due to factors outside of the organization, issues with the economy including inflation. This was a reminder to me that there are some things in our lives and our work lives that are outside of our control, but just as bonuses are calculated by both individual and corporate performance, there are some things that are in our control. Past retreat talked about “focus on your zone” meaning your area of influence. L Appreciate different laughs. I’ve noticed how different are the sounds of people’s Laughs, more so maybe even than the sound of their voice when speaking. Just another aspect of diversity and how God us all unique and special in so many ways. This also reminds me that in the past I have made judgements about people’s Laughs. Some I like to hear and some are annoying to me. I’m not OK work that about me. I should not be annoyed by someone’s laugh any more than I should dislike looking at the color of their skin. I’m quite sure that God is pleased with the sound of each one of our laughs and so should I. My final thought on this that we won’t know how unique each of our laughs are unless we actually laugh, so I encourage you not to just appreciate the uniqueness of the laughs of your coworkers, be someone who laughs and also someone who through their actions and words encourages and leads others in your workplace to laugh as well. A But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 1 Peter 5:10 - NKJV H Week 11 Day 4
S Lessons from Rocky 2 E Lessons from Rocky 2. Work Pray before work-Prayer from priest before going to fight, prayed that if he gets beat up it won't be too bad Have a sense of humor Be humble Don't see anyone's work as beneath you (carrying spit pails at gym) Don't put your work before your family Relationships Always built up Adrian and spoke well towards her and about her (heard this is important to always live by) Put his marriage before his work Arguing playfully over who they want their kid to be like (each other) Self-depricating Have a sense of humor L From Rocky 2 - Why do cows wear bells, because their horns don't work A For adversity, which fits in well with the Rocky 2 theme, I have a passage from 2 Cor 4:8-18
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Seeing the Invisible 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
A few observations - if you feel crushed, in despair, forsaken, or destroyed, remember this passage which says we are none of those things, but rather we may be hard-pressed, preplexed, persecuted, and struck down. I guess the point is not exagerate what's going on in your life and choose your descriptive words with care. Second, even though our outward man is perishing, our inward man is being renewed day by day. Third, the things which are seen are temporary and those unseen are eternal. Whis is more important? Of course, the things which are eternal. The Bible says to set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth. H Week 17 Day 3 from Proverbs for Business by Steve Marr
S For the last 5 months I have been challenged through the RealMen300 group I'm a part of to have a consistent quiet time with God I wanted to share a few things I have learned and offer some ideas for why you should consider adding or increasing your quiet time and some ways to go about doing it. Specifically, I'd like to talk about they Why, the What, and the How of Quiet times. Let's start with the Why. As Christians, I think we can all agree our most important relationship should be with our Creator. The question is, how do we actually make it our most important relationship. As with any relationship, it's not enough just to say it's important or that it's our most important relationship. What are we actually DOING to show that. As with any relationship, an important measure of the value we place on our relationship with God is how much time do we devote with HIm and to what degree to we do what pleases Him. I'll save the discussion of what it mean to do what please Him for another episode, but how do we measure both the quality and quantity of time we spend with Him. One measure is how much we talk with Him in prayer, both in terms of quantity, i.e. total time spent in prayer, frequency i.e. how often we pray, and quality, i.e. how genuine and heartfelt is our prayer vs. just being a check-the-box repetition. So to summarize, the Why we should want to do a Quiet time is because God is our most important relationship and spending time with Him is an important way to demonstrate it's our most important relationship. Now let's talk about the WHAT. What a quiet time means to me is devoting a specific time every day to do 3 things, pray to God, read the Bible, and journal which is basically asking God questions and writing down what You believe He is saying to you in response, i.e. having a 2-way conversation. Let's talk about each of those points. First, devoting a specific time. With most habits, I've found if you're going to be consistent, you have to schedule it rather than just hoping it happens. If you can get to bed early enough, I suggest you schedule your quiet time for the first thing in the morning. For me, it's kind of like tithing. If you prioritize tithing, then it's the first line item in your monthly budget and everything else comes after it. In the same way, you make sure the most important activitiy of your day is done first so you make sure it happens. So the first step in devoting a specific time is schedule it, and if you decide to do it first thing in the morning, then the next step is to plan your evening so that you get to bed early enough so you get a good night's rest and still get up early enough for a quiet time. Now let's talk about the 3 parts to a quiet time. The first part, prayer, is actually 2 parts. I suggest you pray when you begin your quiet time as well as when you end your quiet time. You're kind of sandwiching your bible reading and journaling with prayer. We could multiple episodes just talking about prayer but I'll just briefly suggest here that you be real with God. Be honest with Him about where you are and what you're thinking and feeling at that time. I've heard a couple acronyms you might find useful. One is the word WAR, W-A-R, where you first worship God, then ask him for forgiveness, then make requests. Another acronym is ACTS, like the books of ACTS, A-C-T-S. The A is for adoration or worship, the C is for confesion, the T is for thanksgiving, and the S is for supplication which is a fancy word for making requests. And of course you can use what we call the Lord's prayer as a guide for your prayer as well. So the second part is to read the Bible. I suggest you read one chapter. You may have a Bible reading plan, for example a schedule for reading the Bible in a year. I would suggest your quiet time should be different and separate from your Bible reading plan. One suggestion for what chapter is to "read for the need" and use a topical bible search on a topic yo'ure dealing with like https://www.openbible.info/topics/, or just Google "Bible verse for blank". If you read a chapter and don't feel God is speaking to you, I suggest you pick another chapter or read the next chatpter. The third part is the journaling. One decision is whether to go old school and paper and pen or digital. I use the Evernote app to journaling and just about everything else but whatever works for you. The technique I've learned from the REalMen300 and applied is the SPACE method. The S stands for SIN, what sin is God telling you that you need to confess. The P is Promise, what promise is God giving you. A is for attitud or application. what change in you attitude is God asking you to make or how do feel God is asking you to apply the reading to your life. THe C is command. WHat is God commanding you to do? The E is for Example What example is being offered for you to follow. Of course Jesus or Yeshua is our perfect example. but there ar emany men and women in the Bible that we can look to as both positive and negative examples, or perhaps the reading makes you think of someone in your life that God wants to use as an example for you. I use the Bible Gateway app for reading which makes it very easy to copy and paste into Evernote the specfiic verse that is jumping out at me for each of the letters in SPACE. So those are the highlights of what I've learned so far. The last thing I would add is the importance of finding a way to be accountable for doing this. I'm in an accountability group with RealMen300 where we report out to our group how many days in the previous week we read the Bible and journaled. This can be very motivating. E Encouragement Prayer using Amen Awake Mid-day Evening Night L Laughter "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." - Proverbs 17:22 A For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:6-8,11 - NKJV Listen to ReMan podcast by Joe Bailey, about Sonship https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-re-man-initiative/id1616739991?i=1000596042335 H See Proverbs for business by Steve Marr Week 25 Day 2
S A couple follow-up thoughts from the last Selah Episode #90, CMAW191. In that episode I talked about God's Master Plan that including 4 steps: 1. Redemption 2. Baptism 3. Tutoring, Sanctification 4. With Freedom, choosing to whom we will be slave In Luke 3:7-14, I read this week an interesting passage about the 3rd step of sanctification. This passage takes us to John the Baptist, where he's preaching the multitudes a message of repentance. 7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood[b] of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
Before I go on I just wanted to point out that these people were coming to be baptized. And just like all the people who had lived before them, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, had not yet died on the cross and paid the penalty for their sins, but like so many before them including Abraham, Moses, David they were believing in the one true God, humbling themselves, and looking for the Messiah. Because God is eternal and perfect, the penalty Jesus paid was an eternal payment and therefore served as redemption for all those in history, past, present and future. And like those before them and like you and I today, they were asking, "OK, we believe, we repent, we choose YHVH the one and only God" and we are following His commandments, but what specifically does that mean for me uniquely, how should I change my life, in other words how do I now walk out this life, how do I do this sanctification process. How does the spirit of Law apply to my individual life?
11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not [c]intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
So a few lessons we can perhaps take from this. We all should be more giving and think of others more than ourselves. Second, we don't necessarily have to change our occupation to walk out this journey, but how we conduct ourselves in our occupation should change to align with God's will. I challenge us all to think about what might need to change in how we conduct ourselves within our current occupation. Another follow up from the last Selah episode. I'm reading the book "Boundaries" by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Tensend. In the book they list 10 laws of boundaries and Law 7 is the Law of Proactivity. One section says the following "..." This made me think about our discussion last time where we talked about true freedom was not about fighting for our rights but rather choosing our freedom to submit to our Master, Jesus Christ, and taking up our cross, following Him and living out His ways. E Encouragement 2 verses about fear. 2 Tim 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" Romans 8:15 "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”" So if you're feeling fear this week, remember that fear does not come from God, but rather you have power, love, a sound mind and you have a perfect Daddy who has adopted You and loves you. Sunrise over factory parking lot L Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He's not breathing, so his friend calls 911. 'My friend is dead! What should I do?" The operator replies, "Calm down, sir, first make sure that he's really dead." There's a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, "Ok, now what?" A “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and sees such as have a contrite spirit “-Ps 34:18 Going by David H Handy tip on How to do work Gods way Isaiah 43:18-19
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Based on the weekly Parashat Torah reading called Shemot, which includes Ex 1-6 I'll be borowing several ideas for this Selah from a teaching on this week's Parshat reading by Roger Hadad from the Mikdash Congregation in High Point, NC. The title of Roger's teaching was Slave or Slave, You Choose, which is a great title, but I'm titling this Selah episode False Freedom. In America we're all about Freedom and our individual rights, and while there's some truth and good in that, there's also some real danger and false thinking associated with that, especially when we merge and equate those American ideals with freedom that's described in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament. In Exodus 1-6 we learn that Israel has been slaves for a long time (400 years), slaves You start thinking that way, slave mentality Reactive-your freedom to choose is taken away, you start thinking that way, limited Pessimistic-everything is bad and you have no control Lacks spiritual discernment- while you’re working you stop thinking about spiritual things and focus on natural needs Ex 14:11-12 - Israelites complain, this becomes a pattern in scripture again and again Reactive, pessimistic and lack of spiritual discernment Numbers 14:1-4 Ex 16:2-3 In ancient history if one country conquers a land, you can kill them, tax them or enslave them We often think of the story of the Exodus all about God's people becoming free from slavery in Egypt. Interesting that Lev 25:55 "For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." THis seems to go against the idea that God's goal was just to set the Israelites free. A little side note here I used to be a big collector of Christian t-shirts and one of them had a picture of a the Liberty Bell and it said "Let Freedom Ring" then quoted Gal 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" Rom 6:18 "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." 1 Peter 2:15-16 "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. " What follows the Ten Commandments in Ex 20 is very interesting, a command on servitude Ex 21:2-6 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever 6 years slave, then free 7th year Spiritually 7 is a number of completion, like the 7th day of creation Gods Master Plan (4 steps) Redemption (Passover a type of Yeshua's blood sacrifice to pay for our sins) Baptism - outward expression of our acceptance of that redemption Tutor - sometimes referred to as sanctification, walking out this new life ____ Law is tutor Prov 16:3 "Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established" Prov 16:9 "A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps" This is new thinking Prov 4:23 Prov 3:6-7 "In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil."
This is not slave thinking, it’s free thinking, it’s what Torah gives you to understand Yeshua fed the 5000 with a miracle Then He speaks hard truths (eat flesh, drink blood), people started leaving Prov 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;" John 6:68 "But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." Graduation moment, He set them free, like year 7 Once they are complete set them free Ex 21:5 " But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," Crucial moment in the Gospel I love my master I will not go Ex 21:6 "then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever" Doorpost bc of commandments Deut 11:20, part of the Shma says we are to write his law on the doorposts and on our gates. THis action of driving the awl through your ear on the doorpost seems to indicate You become one with the law Jer 31:33, also quoted twice in Hebrews "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" John 14:15 " “If you love Me, keep My commandments" John 15:14-15 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" In Christianity, it's often said we now only have 2 commandments, to love God and to love others. But what does that mean? Do we answer that question with our own ideas and or with what God has told us. It's said there are 613 commandments in the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible, and there are over 1,000 commandments in the New Testament. Jesus, Yeshua actually raised the bar on many of the commandments in the Old Testament saying that not only should we not physically commit adultery but that we should not lust in our hearts. So the choice we have, in my opinion, is not slavery or freedom. The choice is to whom will you be a slave, to sin or to righteousness. To Pharoah or God. In our day, you might say to Babylon or to Israel. So the 4th step in God's master plan is to voluntarily be a slave to Yah the one and only God. How does this look? Trust the Lord and He will direct Your steps Process is messy, when we get off track we get right back Plan your life so don’t fall into the ways of the world Or as my friend and mentor Filip says when you fall, fall towards the cross not away from the cross. One of my favorite songs I used to listen to on a contemporary CHristian compilation, I think it was called WOW hits from Lifeway, was a song "I am free" by Newsboys. THe chorus has 3 lines: And I am free to run (I am free to run) And I am free to dance (I am free to dance) And I am free to live for You (I am free to live for You) Now there's nothing wrong with running and dancing, and I'm glad they included the line that I'm free to live for you, but I was personally always a little confused by these lyrics, and wondered to myself what is freedom in CHrist really all about? I'm definitely still trying to figure this question out, but this 4-step master plan Roger talked about is getting a lot closer to the truth, I believe, than what I've thought of as freedom in the past. Application at work, when we go to work do we demand our rights and our freedoms? Well, if we do we probably will be looking for another job. I understand the government has established rights for workers including minimum pay, a safe workplace and other rules that are good, but should be our heart at work be about demanding our rights? How about our personal relationships, should our focus be on our individual rights and getting what's best for us? Trust me, I've been there and found out how foolish and wrong that attitude is. I recently learned what's called the Humility Prayer from Dr. Joe Martin who leads the RealMenConnect Podcast and the RealMen300 group I'm a part of. It goes like this: "I can only make requests, I have no rights, I walk by faith, not by sight. And If my requests are denied, I endure by seeking Your face. And anything I receive is by your grace". E Encouragement Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" L Laugh from REaders's Digest "A little boy, whenever he visited his friend's house the boy's grandmother was engrossed in the Bible. He asked his friend why she was always reading the Bible and the boy replied " I don't know but I think she's cramming for the finals". A Adversity and affliction Psalm 119:67 "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word" There can be many benefits of afflication and adversity. As they see in my RealMen300 group, Tribulation brings revelation. H Judges 17:6 - "In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what we right in his own eyes" Reminder to make sure you staff at work is well trained and know what they need to do and how to do it.
Q&A When and how did you come to faith in Christ? I’ve heard so much about Wheaton over the years. Tell us a little about the college as well as why you chose to go there for your Masters and about your experience there? When did you decide to be a teacher and why? Did you intentionally choose to teach in public schools vs private education? When did you decide to start writing stories about your teaching experience? What do you like most about sharing your stories? Can you share one of them with us now? I understand you’re writing a book about God the author of our stories. This has actually been on my mind a lot lately as I have reflected on some poor choices I’ve made in the past but how God works all things for good as described in Romans 8:28. As you think about God shaping our stories, how do you reckon the two truths of God’s sovereignty with His gift and commitment to us of our free will? How can listeners learn more about you or contact you? Any final thoughts?
S Second chances Work and home In the area of work, I've shared with you all how I spent this past year in receiving correction at work and how I received a second chance. Fortunately God worked through me to humble myself, receive the correction, make improvements, and I've ended up a better worker and better at what I do than before, and that has been validated by the same people who were earlier being critical of me. At the same time I've been appreciating my job more than ever before. Here are some random thoughts I have on this topic. It's easy to look back on past events and have a good perspective on this issue of receiving correction and having second chances, it's harder when you're in the middle of it, but that is when your attitude matters the most since it impacts the choices you make in response. How to respond: gratitude and make the most of it Pay it forward by giving others second chances. This reminds me of what we have called the parable of the unforgiving servant which is found in the 18th chapter of Matthew. Peter asks Jesus, or Yeshua, how often he should forgive his brother who sins against him, up to 7 times? Yeshua replies that he should forgive seventy times seven, which I've heard taught means an unlimited number of times, though I recently heard an alternate explanation of the significance of the seventy times seven, but I'll leave that for another discussion. Yeshua then goes on to tell a parable about the Kingdom of heaven where a king wants to settle accounts with his servants. After one servant who owed a huge amount begs for mercy the king forgives his debt. The king later finds out that the same servant was unmerciful to someone who owed him a relatively small amount and the king then delivered the servant to the torturers until his large debt was paid. As believers and followers of Yeshua, we know that his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection paid for the infinitely great debt of our sin, and that among other responses ours should be gratitude and to show great mercy to those in our lives, regardless of their sin toward us, owe us a relatively minor debt. Regardless what specific second chances you've received in your life, if you're a believer in Yeshua, you have received the ultimate forgiveness of debt and as such we should show the greatest possible mercy to others in our lives. While it's easy to focus on a particular, significant event in our lives, I believe this concept of second chances is more appropriately thought about as a journey than a one-time event. While we are alive, we will always have challenges, we'll always have sin in our lives that we need to confess and repent of, we'll always need forgiveness and we'll always need to forgive others. Learn from it - don’t forget!!! This is different than dwelling on the past, but rather in a positive way take the lessons from the past mistakes and apply them to your current and future choices. Avoiding second chances is better. Recently, when I was talking to another brother about something in my life I had said sorry for and it wasn't the first time. He asked me how many times I had said sorry, and I replied more than I could count. While it's good to be genuinely sorry and to say so, it's much better to avoid the need to say you're sorry and thus avoiding the need to get a second chance, or in reality we're talking here not about second but third, fourth, and fifth chances. If you're into golf, you might like this analogy. A mulligan is different than a handicap, it’s not a pass it’s another chance and requires effort, more effort or a better effort than what was made the first time. Even if at your work or in your personal you're forgiven, or given a pass (kind of like being given a handicap or an automatic reduction in your golf score), you should treat it as if it’s a mulligan and needs to be corrected either to prevent it from happening again or out of sense of integrity, love, or justice (whichever applies). This may sound a bit like the difference between law and grace. I don’t believe grace has been properly defined and understood in the church but I’ll save that for another discussion since I’m still working through that theological concept, but I believe John 14:15 applies well here "If you love me keep my commandments". If if we're saved and forgiven for our sins, out of our love for our Savior we should treat it like a mulligan not a handicap, and choose to obey and correct what we've done wrong, and do things His way as He has told us is His preference. Just watched a movie on Amazon Prime called The Vow and here's a spoiler alert. A couple gets married and is very happy. The wife gets in an accident and as a result loses all her memory of the period of time during which her husband and her met, fell in love, and married. The husband struggles with the loss of his wife's love for her and tries his best to recreate her love for him. In her mind, she is not the same person she was when they first met and they ultimately divorce. Over time, though, she comes to love him and they end up together though in a different way and a different love than they had before. THis makes me think that when we're given a second chance at work or at home, the correct response may not be just to recreate what we think worked in the past, but we may need to assess what is true about our current reality and what changes do we need to make in our way of thinking and our actions to meet the need that is present. It may be that our poor choices created a different dynamic that requires us to get out of our comfort zone and change and adapt. I know that may sound a bit abstract but I'm praying this thought I had may be what you need and that God speaks to you in how you need to apply it to your situation. This whole idea of getting a second chance makes me think of the larger concept of free will vs. God's sovereignty. I heard a great message from Pastor Julio Calderon from the Mikdash Congregation this past Shabbat on that topic and here are some of his thoughts on this issue, paraphrased by me: "As with Joseph in prison, the best of us will come from difficult situations, God does not enjoy taking us into bad situations, but we sometimes make bad decisions which He does not approve of (e.g. the brothers decision to throw Joseph in a hole and them sell him as a slave), but Yah will use these bad decisions for good. If not He is not sovereign. This frustrates Satan. "Story of woman praying for food and witch giving bread and saying it was from Satan, woman thanking the LORD that even the evil one obeys Him". Big question: how much free will do we have? How do we believe both in divine intervention and free will? No perfect answer but imperfect answers are that only God knows how they mesh together, and that God only sometimes intervenes to accomplish his purposes, both are common explanations and both are imperfect. In the end God always wins, and if He wins, we win Goliath made David great, he made the best that was in David come out The movie of our life is not over yet but it has a happy ending. Perhaps the most relevant scripture for this is one we probably are all familiar with, Romans 8:28-29"28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" L From Patrick Morley video 4 in man in the mirror dealt with the issue of purpose which all of us men struggle with at some level He asked "If who I am is what I do, what will I be when I don’t do what I do?" Who am I? A disciple in Christ Why do I exist? To abide, love and serve John 8:31 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed" John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 15:5-"“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" A For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 1 Peter 2:19-20 https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Dad jokes from Country Living website: + "How does a taco say grace?" "Lettuce pray."
S Groundhog Day Recently watched spent 4 hours watching TV and gained some great spiritual lessons. I've been purposing to keep my screen time at a lower level to allow for other more important activities, but these were four hours well spent. The first two hours were spent watching the first two episodes of season 3 of The Chosen. I'm not going to talk about those episodes other than to say that I highly recommend watching every episode that's been made of this series, if you haven't do so already. Look up the Chosen app as the easiest way find and watch it. What I do want to talk about is one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, which I recently watched again. I'll give you a spoiler alert up front if you haven't seen this movie yet I'll be sharing some key plot points. You know how you can read a portion of scripture and get a new insight and understanding that you never did when reading it before? I think that is mainly because the word is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edge sword, as it says in Hebrews 4:12. Though it's not the same effect outside of scripture, I believe God can and does speak to us any way He chooses. I received spiritual lessons from this movie that I never would have in the past and I believe it's because of where I'm at in this season. Let's start by giving a brief overview of the movie. Bill Murray plays a weatherman in Pittsburgh who is proud, cynical, and self-centered. He's forced to make the annual trip to Punxsutawney, to cover the revealing of the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil to see if he sees his shadow to determine if spring will come early. Due to a winter storm Phil the weatherman is forced to stay an extra night in this small town. In the morning, he wakes up to Groundhog day again, and soon finds out that he is repeating this day over and over. The movie is very funny, but I also found it to be very deep with some spiritual lessons. Though there were several colorful characters, the film is primarily a personal journey for Phil as he determines how to spend his time each day and how his choices are shaped by the change in his character. Initially, Phil is in denial that this repeat is actually happening. Once reality sets in, he starts out appealing to his selfish nature. First, he uses the repeated days to get information he then uses to satisfy his fleshly desires, both with women and living lavishly. Then he shifts to a reckless lifestyle since there are seemingly no consequences to his actions, including breaking the law and committing suicide. All through the movie, Phil is traveling on this business trip with his producer Rita, played by Andie McDowell, and cameraman Larry, played by Chris Elliott. Rita is a woman with high integrity and a big heart, who is also very beautiful. Phil initially tries to woo her and sleep with her by using every day to learn enough about her to manipulate her into thinking he's someone he is not. Ultimately, he runs up against the reality that he cannot fake his way to Rita's heart, no matter how much of an unfair advantage he has. Though it doesn't seem like it along the way, during his time spent with Rita, her character begins to affect Phil and he starts to see just what a louse he really is. He then makes a shift and begins to use each repeated day to improve himself as a person and to help others. The movie climaxes when all the ways he has improved himself, helped others, and become a better person touches Rita's heart and she falls in love with him as he has fallen in love with her. As you might guess, this change results in the end of the repeat of Groundhog Day, and the couple lives happily ever after. So, I'm going to ignore the false eastern/Hindu spiritual concept of reincarnation as an application of this movie and share what jumped out to me. This movie made me think of my own life as well as God's mercy as illustrated by the parable of laborers in the Vineyard found in Matthew 20. In that parable, the owner of a vineyard hires laborers throughout the day and agrees to pay them the same pay, whether they ended up working all day or only worked one hour at the end of the day. This has been interpreted to mean that those who come to a saving belief in Jesus Christ toward the end of life receiving the same gift as those who did so in the beginning of their life. While the Bible also talks about rewards in the afterlife for our good deeds and Jesus told us if we love Him to keep His commandments, the Bible describes a God who is merciful and long suffering, you might say a God of second chances. The Bible also tells us that there are consequences for our choices, both in this life and what comes after we die. Phil the weatherman was destined to a life of misery if he continued with his selfish, cynical ways. You could say that Rita represented Yahweh whose high character and big heart helped Phil to see his sinful ways, cause him to repent, and change his heart to become more like Rita. How about you, are you more like Phil in the beginning of the movie or the end of the movie? Do you have a Rita-like God who has shown you a better way to live and be? When it comes to your romantic relationships, whether you're married or single, are you thinking primarily about what you are or can get out of the relationship, or what you can give? Similarly, when it comes to your work and career, do you approach your job each day thinking about what you can get out of your job in terms of satisfaction, pay, or retirement, or are you thinking who you can minister to and how God can use you in your job to further his purposes? No matter what you've done or how selfish and wicked you may have been, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, Yah is waiting to run out and meet you when you humble yourself, repent, and bend your knee to your Creator and His ways. Make your relationship with Yah your highest priority. Devote time to spend with Him each day including reading His word, praying and journaling as you hear from Him. Let Him be Lord of every part of your life, and your days won't seem like a repeat of Groundhog Day and will go from meaningless and sad to purposeful and joyful. E My example of faith at work is Phil the weatherman. L Logos James 4:13-16 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow [h]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. A H What did the lemon when he answered the phone? "Yellow"
Steven Snook is an author, entrepreneur, inspirational and educational speaker. He served 19 years in federal prison for nonviolent drug crimes. During his incarceration he was born again and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, becoming a minister of the gospel of Jesus to society's worst. Upon his release from prison in February, 2022, he has been a guest lecturer at colleges, including Bradley University. He started a company, based off of a dream he received from The Lord, that makes digital scripture frames. He is in the process of editing the book he wrote while serving 377 days in solitary confinement. He is also very active in continuing to take the gospel and The Holy Spirit to the addicted and abused.
S Prov 18:24 "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" Prov 27:7 "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Luke 8:21 "But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”" Levels of relationships video https://youtu.be/hsYL1X9IUQ4 E L And they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly. 2 Kings 12:15 - ESV A H "How do you make 7 even?" "Take away the s."
S Unity John 17:20-26 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who j]">[j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”"
Eph 4 I, therefore, the prisoner a]">[a]of the Lord, b]">[b]beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in c]">[c]you all.
Spiritual Gifts 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also d]">[d]first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the e]">[e]edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
The New Man 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as f]">[f]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Do Not Grieve the Spirit 25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give g]">[g]place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary h]">[h]edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, i]">[i]clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Both Jesus, Yeshua, and Paul are speaking to and about fellow believers in Yeshua. This is not talking about the woke idea that everyone needs to tolerate every idea as equally valid and moral, and it's certainly not talking about the coming push for a One World Religion. This is talking about unity within the body of The Way, the body of our Messiah Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach. This issue of unity has been on my heart for many reasons. One is because of recent conflict with a close family member relating to my Messianic beliefs and practices, but also a teaching I've been following from a Messianic teacher from a Youtube channel and ministry called MTOI, Messianic Torah Observant Israel called "Unity and Division in the Body of Messiah". He makes several points in that teaching that I want to pass along. We can and should pursue truth in various areas of our faith, but we can practice and believe in our convictions without feeling the need to push those on others. Our goal should be to be selfless, where our focus is on our Creator and not on ourselves, and by doing so we'll be operating in the spirit and not in the flesh. If we are selfless, we cannot be offended and we will not feel the need to be right, or for others to acknowledge that we're right. Note that I'm talking about behavior within the body of believers. We are told to make disciples and to share the good news of the Gospel, but these lessons also can inform how we go about talking to and dealing with unbelievers. Remember we're told to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us the reason for the hope that we have. That's different than sharing something with someone who didn't ask for the information. This teacher also talked about a mental exercise that's helpful for us to make. Our Heavenly Father wants to spend eternity with us, but though He wants all to come to be saved, we know that not all will be saved. He has given us free will and He has told us how He wants us to think and how to live. To me , it's clear that it matters to Him the condition of our hearts and who He is going to spending eternity with. What if you were able to choose who you were going to spend eternity with. Who would it be and what would be your criteria? A more eye opening is what is others were able to choose who they were going to spend eternity with, on whose list would you be included and would you be included on anyone's list? This exercise got me thinking about my impact on others in general, as well as in the workplace. When God created Adam and Eve and He told them to be fruitful and multiply, and that same command applies to us. That can mean we should bear children, but it can also refer to the fruits of the spirit described in Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 a]">[a]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." Are you bearing this kidn of spiritual fruit at work, as well as at home, and within the larger body of Christ? E Fred Abakah, Merchant Marine in Ep. 4. Some of you may be in the military, or in jobs where you spend time with your co-workers for long periods of time away from home. If so, you may benefit from listenig to that episode. L 18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. - Deuteronomy 8:18 NKJV A H Dad Joke "Why can't a nose be 12 in long?" - then it would be a foot MTOI Teaching (7) Covenant Community 101 | Unity & Division in the Body of Messiah | Part 3 - YouTube
Deut 4:27-31 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in i]">[i]distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice 31 (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. E L In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. Proverbs 15:6 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2015:6&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Dad jokes from Country Living website: * "If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?" "Pilgrims."
S Dream job - in my recent interveiw with Ron Johnson, he said that early in his career, he concluded that his job as a customer service rep wasn't the perfect job, but it was the perfect job for him to practice imitating Christ. I'm very thankful for my job right now for many reasons, some are natural and some are spiritual. I feel that God has gifted me with my job. I'm also at an age where I think about when I'll retire, if Yeshua tarries and we don't enter fairly soon into the tribulation. When I think about retirement, I think about how I'll spend my time but I also think about what I won't have anymore. One thing I wont' have is the opportunity to be around and interact with dozens of different people everyday. That is both a natural and a spritiual benefit of my job. If you question whether you're in the right job, or career, and feel discontent at times and a lack of purpose, I challenge you to think of all the natural things to be thankful for about your job, which can certainly include but not be limited to your paycheck, but to also think about your job in spirtual terms. What is God doing with you in your job, and here's another cool question Ron raised in our interview, and that is what is God doing with everyone else in your workplace. That really hit me because it made me realize I am often selfish in this regard and just thinking about myself and how I'm impacted by events at my job, whether it's on a natural or a spiritual level. The reality is that everyone I work with is a part of God's amazing plan, and I want to be more aware of that bigger picture and I am and can better fit into that larger plan. E For an example of faith at work, I want to hearken back to episode 3 where i interviewed Chris Patton. He ran a car dealership and described several ways that his faith changed their mission and how they ran their dealership. Check it out, it's a very cool interview. L 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow h]">[h]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16 A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Dad jokes from Country Living website: * "What do a tick and the Eiffel Tower have in common?" "They're both Paris sites."
S HSE, ESG, and YHWH We're told, either directly or indirectly, that there's no place for religion or faith in the workplace, or another way of saying this is that we should be focused on our company's goals and not our own religion when we're working. I actually heard an executive say in a Town Hall meeting with employees once "leave your religion at home." I don't know if you've noticed, but there's an increasing focus in the workplace, particularly among larger corporations, on goals that seem to be outside of their primary mission or purpose, goals that seem to be about issues that are larger in scope and impact than simply the product or service that the company produces. I'm thinking specifically in terms of the acronyms HSE and ESG. HSE stands for Health, Safety and Environment. I work on a lot of projects related to safety and I actually sat in on a 10 hr OSHA training this past week, but this topic has been on my mind for a while. Safety is a huge deal in the manufacturing industry. While you can argue there's a profit motive behind spending time and money toward a safe work environment as well as protecting the environment, I think the motive goes beyond profit in most cases and is about "doing the right thing". ESG is a more recently used acronym and stands for Environmental, Social, Governance. You'll hear different opinions on what ESG is about depending on the person's point of view or worldview. Let me start with a definition from Wikipedia, which says that ESG is an approach to evaluating the extent to which a corporation works on behalf of social goals that go beyond the role of a corporation to maximize profits on behalf of the corporation's shareholders. You may wonder, sometimes, why the company you work for devotes so much of their intracompany messaging towards issues like Climate Change and advocating for the LGBTQ community. In a nutshell, it's because of ESG. There are advocacy groups which pressure corporations to take a stand on these issues, but more and more stock market investment decisions are being based on what kind of ESG score a company has. While one issue worth considering is why companies are so focused on these issues, as well as whether they should be, I think the more important question to ask is what positions they are taking on these issues and how are they trying to influence how their employees think about these issues. While we could talk about the more controversial issues like how more and more companies throw their weight behind Pride Month and advocate for LGBTQ rights through the year, I think it's interesting to think about what seems to be a less controversial subject which is safety. We can all agree it's important to be safe at work and that we want everyone to go home the same way they came to work, correct? On the one hand, I would agree that safety is important. As believers, is safety our most important goal when we go to work? I like the quote from C.S. Lewis's book the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. When someone asks at the end of the book if Aslan, who represents Jesus or Yeshua, is safe, someone responds that no, He's not safe, but He's good. As a Torah observant believer in Yeshua, I would say that my #1 goal at work is to be obedient to Torah, which can be summarized, as Yeshua did, to love God and to love others. My main point here is not to debate whether or not we should focus on safety in the workplace. I think we should focus on safety. My main point is that the workplace is a place where people gather with a variety of goals and beliefs, some are held by each of us individually, and some are held, or at least advocated by, leaders or our employers. To say there's no place for religion in the workplace is disengenious, because I see forms of religion, or you might say beliefs and values, expressed more and more in the workplace. We can honor and support various causes emphasized by our employers provided they do not go against what God has said in His Word. Sometimes that line is blurred and hard to define. I would encourage you take your religion to work, be close to God throughout your workday, honor God as you feel led to do so while at work. We are under our employer's authority and should not take that lightly, but we are also under a higher authority as believers. When we signed those papers our first day at work, we entered into a form of covenant, but we have a greater and an eternal covenant with our Creator. E Examples of humbling statements: I don’t know what I’m doing can you help me?-BM I got All kinds of excuses why I Didn’t return your call but none of them are any good-JT Can use past interviews L 1 Thess 4:10a-11a "But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands" A Torah Talk on 7/30, good discussion on how to know when you're being led by God, and various aspects of getting good counsel https://youtu.be/P_1wQ50i5R4 https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Dad jokes from the Country Living website: * "Why do fathers take an extra pair of socks when they go golfing?" "In case they get a hole in one!"
By day, Ron Johnson works in a customer service call center soothing angry customers and helping them resolve issues with their accounts; by night, he teaches philosophy at a local college and writes books and articles inviting readers to consider their place in the Big Picture. Q&A: 1. Give us a brief overview of your relationship with Christ from childhood until now. 2. You start the book acknowledging that many people think of CSR’s as the bad guys. Why does that stereotype exist and what advice can you give to our listeners who likewise are in a job that has a negative label attached to it? 3. Being a CSR was not your original career of choice. What was your original training and desired career 4. You describe a moment early on where you saw your role as a holy calling rather than just a job and that while it wasn’t the perfect job it was the perfect job to practice imitating Christ. Tell us about that moment and all the factors that brought you to that place 5. How did Christ show the difference between serving and wanting to serve and how important is that distinction in our jobs? 6. “People ask me to perform customer service miracles every day. When that happens I can’t just shrug and say “I’m not a miracle worker. “ As a follower of Jesus I don’t have that luxury. I may not be out to save this world but Jesus is and His plan includes me.” You say that believing in and relying on miracles is the next step after wanting to help but this may sound like a huge leap of faith for those of us used to thinking of our work as just a job. How do we start with this big step of being in the miracle business (3 way conversation and having good relationships with those you need). 7. Why is it so important that we stay out of the judges seat when we are at work, and what tips can you offer on how to avoid this? 8. As a CSR you’re trained on how to deal with irate customers or you could call them “the customer from Hell”. I like the technique about pumpkins. Tell us about that technique and how as Christians we have better tools at our disposal. 9. What should do when we disagree with our employee’s policy on a matter and we are asked to go against what we believe is right? 10. It sounds kind the evaluation process for CSR’s is particularly brutal, it this aspect of our jobs is often one of the most stressful. What encouragement can you give our listeners for how to think about and respond to the employee evaluation process? 11. Walk us through how we can apply Matthew 11:28-30 in our jobs 12. If someone wants to buy your book or learn more about your other books or even reach out to you directly, how would they do that? 13. Any final thoughts?
S Faithfulness- admin 49 yes message spoke about not just time but how well she did her job. I had 5yr anniversary, longest since first full-time job with General Mills and Real estate investor, each about 7 years. Celebrate value of sticking with someone or some organization. Also celebrated 16 yr anniversary big deal for me given had trouble committing in early years. Reminder of how faithful God is, covenants and promises (see MTOI teaching on the difference), https://youtu.be/FRrHDnC8AsA Hebrews 12:2 "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" So, celebrate your faithfullness, but most importantly realize that our Creator, YHVH, is the perfect example of faithfulness E Chett Levering from Episode 2. Would always lose a small screw and he would say "well that's gonna be a God thing to find it" - and he always found it L Do not trust in oppression,
Nor vainly hope in robbery;
If riches increase,
Do not set your heart on them. Psalm 62:10 - NKJV A And Damon’s evangelism teaching on 7th commandment https://youtu.be/s25GckbH28g https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Why does the Eskimo clean their clothes in Tide? - Because it’s cold out-tide
S 1-29-train, 30-50-serve, 51+ teach E Walmart eruption, co-worker said to me that one was employee not supposed to be o cuss while wearing the blue vest Who do we represent, as an employee (as to the Lord), also thought about Proverbs 29:11 "A fool vents all his feelings, But a wise man holds them back." Fireproof scene, doesn’t just happen out of nothing whether marriage or any other relationship L “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.” Nehemiah 4:6 A Latest Torah Talk https://youtu.be/AJy0s-7Ik_c includes talk about rebellion https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Why didn't the lifeguard save the hippie? - He was too far out, man
S Church sign Duct tape works great but 3 nails fixed everything Bumper sticker phrases or nowadays could say Meme phrases have their place, capturing deeper meaning in simple phrase could say that about parables though that’s not truly accurate, Yahusha said was to hide a meaning Engineering Sign can be modified Deeper than it seems He fixed everything, He is fixing everything and He will fix everything Same yesterday, today and tomorrow Never changes Outside time He made everything perfect and will make everything perfect Let's talk about work, creation work was perfect, after the Fall there was toil, then Yeshua died and redeemed us, what does than mean for our work, I don't know the complete answer to that, but I know that my work is different since I became a child of God, Our world is broken which means it needs fixing, and as part of the Kingdom of YHVW we are part of this restoration process, not with WD40, not with duct tape, not even with our strength, but by the power of the Ruach Hochodesh, the Holy Spirit Followup to last week: Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2017:9&version=ESV The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. Proverbs 17:14 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2017:14&version=ESV E Maybe Juan Carlos Can use past interviews L “After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his own house.” - Nehemiah 3:29 A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Why did the little boy cross the playground? - To get to the other slide
S Some random unrelated thoughts today. Links to last Torah Talk https://youtu.be/BFcQiehLYwU Dress well, Goodwill Treasure your wife, greatest asset next to your Heavenly Father, much more important than your work and your career. Don't treat her the same way you do your co-workers. What do I mean by that? Well, I'm not saying you should treat your co-workers badly, of course. As we've often said on this podcast, a huge part of our calling in the workplace is simply to love our co-workers. I'm talking more about the common mission. At work, you all share a common mission which is dictated by your employer, unless you run your own small business, but even then you should be setting a mission for your business. There's an expectation for performance and mutual contribution in the workplace. Marriage is a very different relationship and we need to learn to transition well between the two. Our wife is not a partner in getting things done. She's a treasure for us to love and support unconditionally. As I've mentioned in the past, one of my favorite Youtube Channels is TruthUnedited, run by Ron Charles. They're always good. They come out every Friday night around 8pm and my wife and I look forward to them. Two weeks ago he had a message about how more and more we are dividing up in our society into 2 groups and in greater and greater conflict with each other. We should not participate in these conflicts or choose one of these 2 groups. A big part of that is stepping out of the political debates. There was a time not too long ago, as recent as 2 years ago, when I would not have been open to that message. Now I realize that what he's saying is true and that jumping into one of these sides and engaging in these arguments and conflicts is a distraction and giving into the Devil's schemes. We instead need to be focused on our heavenly Father, spending time with Him and in His word, and loving the people in our lives well, and as much as possible being at peace with everyone. This does NOT mean compromising our beliefs. It does mean stepping out the judge's seat and trusting God with changing the hearts of others. https://youtu.be/jATg-6ev7ig This past Friday's message was about the seven letters to the churches in Revelation and the lessons for the church today, which is all of us who claim to be believers in Yahusha, or Jesus. It's important to assess where we are at and whether we are compromising, lost our love for Yahuah, luke-warm, or even dead, and if so to make it a priority to make changes in our lives. https://youtu.be/-HDJre4ssvU E Started going to Rec center Joe took time to show me new set of exercises, no pay L As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:10-11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Peter%204:10-11&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H What 10 letter word starts with G A S? - Automobile
S Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:" I heard my pastor Cam Huxford about 17 years ago at Savannah Christian church now Compassion Church preach a series on the Paradox of the Kingdom of God, of how in so many ways the Kingdom is the opposite of what we would think on our own. For example you must die in order to live and if you give you will receive. There is much more to this than what I just shared and I probably need to try and find the sermon again and listen, but the reason it has stuck with me is that time and again it rings true for me. I used to really enjoy the Seinfeld Show and one of my favorite episodes was when George and Jerry came to the conclusion that George’s instincts were always wrong and so George began doing the opposite of what he thought he should do. In some way I think that applies to the Christian walk. Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” I know that we have the gift of the Holy Spirit but I can only speak for myself that I do not trust my own instincts on many matters and need to seek God and ask him to guide me all the time. This creates tension but I think it’s a good tension. There’s another aspect to the Kingdom journey and walk I want to talk about that is similar to that Paradoxical aspect and that is the tension of knowing when to be humble and when to be bold, specifically in the workplace. I believe I shared about 6 months ago that I received some correction at work. It was hard to take and it was humbling. Things have gone much better since then. I've received a lot of positive feedback, both in terms of WHAT I've been doing, meeting work metrics, and HOW I've been doing it, specifically that I had shown kindness to fellow workers. I've heard it said that the Christian walk is a tension between grace and law, between humility and boldness, between strength and weakness, and our response and focus should vary depending on where we are at in our circumstances. When we're at a low point in our circumstances at work, we should focus on God's grace, on His Promises, and on our inheritance and status as children of the living God. Some verse that express that come to mind include: Eph 6;10 "be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might", Hebrews 4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.", Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", and Romans 8:37 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." There was a season where my wife and I were very much following what is called "Word of Faith" doctrine, and attending a word of faith church. Some of the preachers known for this are Kenneth Copeland, Andrew Womack, and Charles Capps among others. This is often referred to as the Prosperity Gospel. I agree there are errors in this part of the body. I have not thrown the baby out with the bath water and I believe God wants us to speak his word with power and confidence, particularly when we have been humbled and beaten down, whether it was a self-inflicted wound or not. When we are at a high point at work, we just got a promotion or an attaboy, we're feeling like we're providing value to others and have refined our skillset, those are the times, I believe, when we need to focus on our weakness and be humble. That doesn't mean we should not celebrate our blessings and good times, but we should give glory to God and not to ourselves. We don't want to be like King Nebuchadnezzar who in Daniel 4:30 " was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” Immediately God made him to be like a wild beast eating grass in the wilderness for 7 years. James 4:10 says " Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." As believers we are children of the most High God, but we are NOT God. Like the old saying, we need to believe that there is a God and we are not Him. We are never as bad as we think we are at work in our lowest moments, nor are we as great as we might think we are at our greatest moments. E For an example of Faith at Work, I want to use an example the very first person I interviewed on this Podcast, Dave Brown. Similar to the story of Chuck Colson, Dave humbled himself and dedicated himself to God through in the middle of his long career in government. He later went to Seminary and became a pastor and has lead a ministry to men. For more on Dave, check out episode 1 as well as Episode 140 where Dave and I talked about Isolation, Passivity, and Political Idolatry. L As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Timothy%206:17-19&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H What did the ocean say to the shore? - Nothing, he just waved
S Update on Podcast. I apologize for not consistently publishing weekly. Don't like to use the excuse of being busy because I believe everyone's busy and we make time for what's important to us. I think the biggest reason is I've been struggling a bit with the vision for the podcast. I love doing interviews and I love the topic of faith at work, but haven't felt like the interview possibilities that have come my way were a good fit, and I personally have been spending my own learning time digging into topics related to my Messianic beliefs, end times prophecy as it relates to current events, and God's calendar, specifically learning about the Zadoc calendar. I feel like I owe to you, my listeners, however, to be consistent with the content you've come to expect, and I know recently I've veared off topic from the faith at work topics and delved into some of these topics I'm personally passionate about. I don't want to turn this podcast into whatever is on my mind and want to stay consistent to the theme. I've thought about starting a 2nd podcast or maybe a Youtube channel to dig into some of these other topics I'm interested, but I'm don't have the time to do that right now. My intent is to get back on track to publishing regularly and try to begin doing interviews again. Been lavishly giving out CMAD cards. Received a form of that from one manager who complimented me while copying on the email my boss. Thought about the importance 1 Corinthians 13:7, talking about agape or God type of love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” It’s easy to find fault in others at work, and sometimes corrections are needed though if you’re an individual contributor like me and don’t have direct reports you probably don’t need to be correcting anybody. When someone gives me an attaboy I find it very motivating and inspiring and helps me to enjoy my day and be more thankful. It just so happens that a video popped up in my Youtube feed by John Gottman called Making Marriage Work. He listed 4 what he called the 4 horseman of the Apocalypse when it comes to marriage, i.e. 4 behaviors that were strong predictors of divorce. #3 on his list, which he said was the greatest predictor of divorce, was Feeling and showing disrespect and contempt for your spouse. He said this was different than just being critical and involved feeling superior to your spouse. The opposite of that, the behavior of people he called the Masters, who had successful marriages, had respect and were proud of the people they loved, creating a culture of appreciation, catching your partner doing something right, it was a reminder to me that while marriage may be our most important relationship on earth, because we spend of our time at work and because we can potentially interact with so many people at work, our work relationships are very important as well, and the lessons that we can learn from the Bible and good teachers about these relationships will often apply to both our family relationships and our work relationships. Jesus is all about relationships. It's why He created us and why He died for us. If you want to be reminded about the heart of your Savior for You, read John 17 sometime. What He called the 2 greatest commandments are to Love God and Love Others and the 10 commandments and all the laws in the Torah can be tied to those 2 commandments, which are both all about relationships. E Decided against the essentials primarily because I didn’t have peace about the idea of selecting a few verses as being more important than others. I feel like as Christians we already do enough of what done have called Bible nuggets where we focus on a single verse and miss out on the context. So I’m going back to using this “E” section for what is intended originally to give an example of faith at work, though with a twist. If I don’t feel like I have a good positive example, but have a negative example, I’ll share that. This week my family and I were on a mini-vacation and out to a restaurant. The owner was making his rounds and talking to each table out on the deck. There was a couple next to us. I overheard the owner talking to a man from the couple, I noticed he kind of ignored the man’s wife, and he was telling a fairly long story then said goodbye. I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping but since I was playing with my baby granddaughter I overheard the man say to his wife “he absolutely didn’t want to hear anything I had to say, when I talked he said “well anyways” and went on talking. It occurred to me that from a business standpoint the owner would have been better off not talking to his customers because he made such a bad impression. It reminded how important it is for all of us in our work, whether we deal in customer service or just deal with fellow employees, to listen intently to others and focus on them and not on getting our point across. L But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:9-11 - NKJV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes Why do watermelons get married? - Because they Cantaloupe
S I want to talk about Safety in the workplace-I work in manufacturing and it’s good to think about tactics and tools but it’s also good to think about the Why behind safety. I work in manufacturing and I’ve seen this Why of safety addressed in different ways and usually is a tug in our heart strings or playing in our sense of guilt but talking about how your family needs you to come home safe. I’d like to address the Why of Safety at a higher level, that safety is about maintaining and fostering Shalom which is the way God intended things to be in a fallen world. God doesn’t wants us injured. We can and should pray for supernatural intervention to keep us safe but we have a role play in this area of life as with all areas of life. So I try to think of acting safely similar to how I think of Gods law, not as something we have to do but something we want to do in order show our love to God and preserve Shalom. I also wanted to share that today is what is called Resurrection Sunday. While I join all Christians who celebrate the resurrection, I don't agree with the use of the name Easter, the dating system that's used to select the date each year, or many of the traditions that are a part of the average Easter celebration. The reason I don't agree and why I think this issue is important is that the name, the date and the traditions are all rooted in Pagan religions which are the same religions that God was so angry with in the Old Testament. These pagan religions are ultimately worshipping Satan. Rome merged aspects of the Christian beliefs with pagan beliefs and practices when they formed what became known as the Roman Catholic Church, and this included changing God's appointed Sabbath to day 1, Sunday, instead of day 7, abandoning most of the commandments and appointed times given by God, and creating man-made religious holidays rooted in paganism. If you'd like more information on the history of Easter, please check out the link in the show notes for a message from Ron at TruthUnedited.com Our church celebrated Passover this past Friday, April 15, which is Nissan 14 on the Hebrew Calendar. Today, April 17th, which is the morrow after the Sabbath we will begin counting the omer and will do so for 50 days leading up to Shavuot also known as Pentecost. We also began celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread on Nissan 15 beginning at Sunset this past Friday evening. We got red of leavened products in our house and will be eating leavened bread for the next 7 days. We do this because God told us to do this, and didn't tell us to stop doing this. There are commandments in the Torah which cannot be followed since there is no longer a temple, including the sacrificial system. Jesus was the fulfillment of that sacrificial system since he was the perfect sinless lamb that was sacrificed for us. However, I don't see a justification in the scripture for abandoning everything else God told us to do, his expectations for how we are to live and interact with Him, how we are to show that we love Him. I don't have all this figured out, but I'm trying to simply follow the Bible and not traditions of men, both of which we were told to do by Jesus. https://youtu.be/tKyDhv7U8Dc E But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Galatians%205:22-24&version=ESV L Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. Titus 2:9-10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Titus%202:9-10&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes Finland is closing its border, no one gets across the Finnish line
| S I recently gave a talk at my church and I really enjoyed preparing for that and giving the talk and thought the topic would be a good one for us to discuss on this podcast. I'll provide a link to the entire talk which was streamed on Youtube and lasts over an hour. I encourage you to check it out since there's a lot more discussion in that than we'll have time for you on this podcast. My intent with this Selah episode is to hit the main points from that talk, and to make some application to the workplace. So let me start by giving some context on this talk. In our Messianic congregation, we have worship and teaching similar to most churches. A few things that are different than what I was used to before attending this church include that we publically read a couple chapters before the Pastor gives his teaching, then we have what we call Oneg, which is basically a potluck meal, and then we have what we call Torah Talk, which is another teaching that normally involves a lot of participation from those attending and often allows to go a little deeper into certain topics from the reading that there wasn't time for in the main teaching. We call the readings the parashat. Wikipedia's definition of a parashat is "a section of the Torah (Five Books of Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 parshas, or parashiyot in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year." So we follow that Jewish tradition. Every parashat has a traditional name which is normally a Hebrew word found in the parashat that kind of sums up the overall message from that Parashat. My talk was based on Lev 14-15 and the Parashat was called "T'zria". These passages are primarily about T'zaraat which is often translated as leprosy but really refers to a skin disease. This lesson had both physical and spiritual lessons. The first lesson was that Disease is usually contagious and therefore for the good of the whole, the infected person is quarantined. The scriptures talk a lot about keeping ourselves unspotted from the world. Ps 1:1 says "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;”: |
In 1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV Paul says “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
James 1:27 NKJV says “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
There was a lot of discussion during this talk about how we should apply these in our lives. It reminded me of how so often the Christian walk is filled with tension, in a good way. In this case, we should not mingle and be spotted by unbelievers, but at the same time we are to be like Jesus and love on unbelievers and those who are entrapped by sinful lifestyles that we're not currently struggling with.
I think the key in working this out is to know where we are in our walk. If we're spiritually weak, we need to be very guarded not to let the world impact us. If we're spiritually strong, relatively speaking, we need to be salt and light and be about the Father's business while there is light during the day, sharing the Gospel, and blessing others.
This is certainly true in the workplace. There can be a lot of temptations in the workplace and opportunities to sort of blend in and be worldly and sinful. Our job is to be set apart, but to also always be ready give an answer to everyone who asks us the reason for the hope that we have.
In John 17:15 NKJV Jesus said “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”
One of the great things about working in the marketplace and not in "full-time" ministry is that it's so easy to live out this prayer from our Savior. Going to work each day, we are in the world, but our job is to keep ourselves from the evil one while at work.
That's just the first lesson I discussed and there were 6 lessons, but I'm going to keep this short so I can get to other parts I usually cover in my Selah episode, especially I didn't do that in the last episode.
Again, if you want to hear more check out the full teaching at the link in the shownotes.
https://youtu.be/ySVAHjI-hLI
E I want to use E portion of the Selah episode to stat a new series calling Essentials, scriptures we can all look to when we’re frustrated, confused in our world, asking ourselves “what do I do?” These essentials will not be specific to the workplace, I’ll try to continue to reference those work specific passages in the L or Logos section. I guess you could say what's special about the passages I've selected is that they help us narrow in on what should our Christian walk look like, to serve as a guidepost for us to reflect, assess, and adjust as needed. I’m not going to teach or comment on these scriptures but will try to let them speak for themselves and ask you to spend time meditating on these each week and ask God to show you how He wants you to apply them to your life now. I also ask you to look into the context for these passages, what comes before and after them and the mindset the original writer had. I will intentionally keep these brief and leave it up to you to pursue and investigate the context of each. Titus 1 For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:7-9 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Titus%201:7-9&version=ESV L Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." You often this passage used at weddings, but I'd like to talk about teamwork in the workplace. Do you value the members of your team at your work? Are you a good team member? You may be thinking, "I'm not part of a team" and my response to that is that you may be part of a team but aren't thinking about it and trying to do things on your own. I had the priviledge to attend my 2nd Nascar race yesterday with one of my daughters and her fiance at the Martinsville Speedway, sometimes referred to as the paperclip since it's one of the short tracks still regularly used. It was a lot of fun overall. It rained a little when we got there but it stopped quickly and didn't delay the race very long. One comment I have to make is that just about everyone there seemed like they were at some level of drunkeness. The first time I went to a Nascar race I went with some people that chose to get drunk. At the time I was still a tee-toteler and had been for a number of years, so that was awkward. I now drink in moderation but I guess my comment was that for the most part the people I saw didn't seem very happy, and I was driving to the event and chose not to drink and it was a joy to not feel the need to include that in the event. Just something I was thankful for in addition to having a good time with daughter. But the main reason I bring up the race was to make an application from the verse today from Ecclesiastes. I was rooting for Chase Elliott. He was leading after the first 2 stages of the race, which made up over half the race. Then in the beginning of the third stage, Chase's pit crew had a slower pit time than William Byron, #24 and so coming out of the pit William Byron took the lead and he never let it go and went on to win the race. Unfortunately Chase Elliott got kind of lost in the pack and ended up, I believe in 10th place. This reminded me how important teamwork is. Whether it's with our wife, or at our job, or other parts of our life, we should resist the temptation to be the Lone Ranger and take the time and effort to work well with others, which may include giving them credit or helping them to develop their skills.
It will pay off for them and for us, and it's biblical, meaning it's God's way. A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes My friend told me he couldn't afford his water bill - I sent him a get well card
Diff between precision and accuracy, precision is hitting the target every time and accuracy is hitting the right target. Both important, but precision w'o accuracy is foolish and arguably legalism, diligently following a checklist or set of rules but following the wrong rules. God made the world based on laws and His way of doing things. If you don't know His way of doing things, i.e. accuracy, you can be as precise as you want but what's the point if you're not following His rules. If you think you're not following rules, I would ask you if you put on a mask against your better judgment at some point over the last 2 years. Where there's a vacuum of rules, someone will fill that vacuum. The Devil will gives us all sorts of rules if we don't follow God's rules, or he will tell us that we should make our own rules. I'm concerned about the talk among conservative Christians who are still talking about Donald Trump like he's our savior and that there's going to be a great awakening around what? Freedom? Is that our ultimate goal, freedom? It depends on what your definition is of freedom. Romans 6:16 NKJV says "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" Romans 2:20 NKJV says "I have been crucified with Christ; " is that freedom, being crucified? it is if you understand the meaning of true freedom. We talk about slavery as the ultimate evil or thing to avoid, but we should strive to be slave to Christ. To me that's a big part of what being Torah observant is all about. Being obedient to our Creator. Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments in John 14:15. 1 John 3:4 says "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." What law is that talking about? It's certainly not talking about man-made laws but God's law. The word Torah means "the law".
| When we read about slaves in the Old Testament, it was a different situation than what we saw with African-Americans in the earlier part of the U.S. history. People often became slaves, or what was called bondservants by choice, or sometimes because they needed to pay a debt. Ex 21:2-6 says "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever." To me that picture of a man choosing to have an awl driven through his ear to declare being a slave to someone forever, is similar to our choice to be a slave to Christ forever, and give up the world's version of freedom, which can be summed up by the phrase do what you want. You may have heard the phrase "Do what thou wilt" which was a book written by occultist Alister Crowley. That's always been the message of Satan, along with the questioning of what's God wants us to do. Satan said to Eve "Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree in the garden" and he says similar things to us in various ways, questioning God's law. Well, we should never be OK with not knowing what God expects from us. What does this look like if we pursue what God's will is for us through His Word. Well, for me one of the first implications of this was that me and my family could no longer justify doing celebrating a pagan holiday we call Christmas that God never told us to do. and in fact He said very clearly we should He did not want his people to worship as the pagans did but told us how He wanted us to worship him and gave us specific appointed times when he wanted to meet with us, in Hebrew these are called Moedim. So we stopped participating in Christmas and then Easter and then realized were not obeying the 4th commandment, which in Ex 20:8-11 says "“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Here are some quotes from the Catholic church about this issue: from the Catholic Record, Sept 1, 1923 ". The Bible still teaches that the Sabbath or Saturday should be kept holy. There is no authority in the New Testament for the substitution of Sunday for Saturday. Surely it is an important matter. It stands there in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments of God. There is no authority in the Bible for abrogating this Commandment, or for transferring its observance to another day of the week.” “For Catholics it is not the slightest difficulty.”…“The Church is above the Bible; and this transference of Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday is proof positive of that fact. " Chancellor Albert Smith for Cardinal of Baltimore Archdiocese, letter dated February 10, 1920: "If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath day [which] by God is Saturday. In keeping the Sunday, they are following a law of the Catholic Church." Our Sunday Visitor (February 5, 1950): "Practically everything Protestants regard as essential or important they have received from the Catholic Church... The Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible and observing the Sunday, in keeping Christmas and Easter, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope." Catholic Priest T. Enright, CSSR, lecture at Hartford, KS, Feb 18, 1884: "I have repeatedly offered $1000 to any one who can furnish any proof from the Bible that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep...The Bible says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” but the Catholic Church says, “No, keep the first day of the week,” and the whole world bows in obedience." So if you consider yourself a Protestant and not a Catholic, I would encourage to ask yourself why you're worshipping on Sunday? The reformation corrected many wrong doctrines of the Catholic church but left many unchanged and this is one of them. And that's just one of the 10 commandments, which are just 10 among all of the Torah. You may have heard phrases like "Jesus nailed the law to the cross" or that "Jesus did away with the law". I won't take the time to counter those arguments here, but I will say that if you are hungry to know the truth about these matters you can start with a few of these youtube channels: The Parable of the Vineyard, ShemaYisrael, Zach Bauer at An American Homestead, or TruthUnedited. But I'll leave you with this. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said "“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." I've heard many quote this verse to suggest that when Jesus said fulfill He meant to do away with or destroy. If that were true, Jesus would have been saying "I did not come to destroy but to destroy" which obviously makes no sense. In John 14:15 Jesus said "“If you love Me, keep My commandments." Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." 2 Kings 17:37 says "And the statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever; " Another thing you may have heard is that Jesus blasted the Pharisees because they were following the law. That's the opposite of the truth. The Pharisees had made up all sorts of rules that they considered to be fences, extra rules to make sure that you never broke the Torah, which may have been well intentioned, but they got to a point where they weren't following the Torah they were just following their man-made rules and in so doing they missed the spirit of the law and they were out of relationship with their Creator, so much so that they didn't even recognize the prophesied messiah when He arrived. In the same manner, if we don't follow God's law and meet Him in His appointed times, will we recognize Jesus when He returns? So before I wrap this up let me make an application to our work so this isn't a total departure of the content you're used to receiving. So I want to bring us back to this idea of precision and accuracy. I recently received some correction at my work. It wasn't because I wasn't working hard, but rather I wasn't working entirely on the right things. I was busy being precise, but my accuracy was off, and ultimately I was doing things as I thought they should be done but not as my boss wanted them done, and that is not a sustainable situation because my boss ultimately has a say about whether I continue to work with him or not, and I do not. It's the same with our heavenly father. He gives us freedom to choose, but if we choose not to follow Him and His ways, and not to meet Him when He wants to meet with us, we will not end up spending eternity with Him. |
S Speak less and speak more On phone saw ad for an app that gives you daily quotes and it said “how beautiful it is to be silent when you’re expected to be enraged “ Scriptures Went On in my morning time to listen to Luke 23 where Jesus answered Pilate's question "Are you the King of the Jews?" with more of a statement than an answer. Then when Jesus was sent to Herod He didn't respond to Herod's questions at all. According to Martin B. Copenhaver, author of the book "Jesus is the Question", Jesus asked 307 recorded questions during His ministry, and yet only answered 3 of questions made to Him. So you could say that for every question He answered, He asked 100 questions. I have regrets over things I’ve said but very little regrets over things I didn’t say On the other hand, I have more regrets over things I didn’t do vs things I did Proverbs 17:28 NKJV says "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." I’ve seen first hand where men I believe to be foolish based on what they've said, actually seem wise when they are in a situation with an opportunity to speak but choose to be silent A friend of mine once told me of the change he had made in conversing with his wife. When she was upset and would say things that were intended to provoke a tit-for-tat, argumentative reaction from him, he instead chose to just be silent. If she didn't specifically ask him a question, he figured he didnt' need to say anything. Of course, Jesus took it further and more often than not would not even respond to a question. Hollywood often romanticizes the bold spoken word usually at the end of a movie, at the climax, with bold music soaring, but I hope you agree we shouldn’t model our behavior after what we see in movies How does this apply at work … Why do we speak at work? To impress or share knowledge. Phrase “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care” So without caring and love your words are not accomplishing their 2 primary objectives Interesting how Jesus asked people several times not to tell about being healed, example of speaking when He tells you to and not speaking when He tells you not to. And when it matters most, we've been assured that we don't have to come up with the words. Luke 12:11-12 says "“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. 12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”" Speak more-I'm referring to three things: One is that we should be speaking more with God our Father through prayer. 1 Thess 5:16-18 says "Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Second is that we should be liberally speaking words of life and encouragement to others, especially to those we are closest to. Third, is we should be sharing the Gospel more with others.
E New series calling Essentials, scriptures we can all look to when we’re frustrated, confused in our world, asking ourselves “what do I do?” These essentials will not be specific to the workplace, I’ll try to continue to reference those in the L or Logos section. I’m not going to teach or comment on these scriptures but to let them speak for themselves and ask you to spend time meditating on these and each week and asking God to show you how He wants you to apply them to your life now. I also ask you to look into the context for these passages, what comes before and after them and the mindset the original writer had. I will intentionally keep these brief and leave it up to you to pursue and investigate the context of each. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Timothy%206:11&version=ESV L Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. 1 Timothy 6:1-2 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Timothy%206:1-2&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes Which of King Arthur's knights invented the round table? - Sir Cumference
| S Got an email from OnePathPublishing with clarification on an issue I raised last week which is that Jesus, or Yahusha, will return on on 1st of Tishri and when He said that we would not know the day or the hour He was referring to the fact that the Feast of Trumpets is on the 1st day of the month, which is defined by when the moon first appears, to be confirmed by 2 priests and so it's impossible to predict on which day that will be, let alone the hour. Luke 7:37-38 "37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”" Teacher on the radio said we often use this verse about giving to talk about finances, but it's context is right after telling us not to judge and to forgive. Jesus was providing a foundation for all our relationships and ministries, if we want to experience gods kingdom and see our circumstances really change, we must change and forgive, world teaches we must wait for others to change but if we follow that advice we may remain in bondage forever, we can become a blocked channel or vessel unable to receive the love and mercy God has for us, forgiveness is a gift we give to others and ourselves and we will receive God's best as a result. I've seen conflict in many parts of my world. At the macro level, we see nations in conflict, Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan, Israel and Iran and many other countries. In our country it's right vs left, vaccine mandates vs freedom of choice. But at the micro level I see conflict within the church even in my own church, within families, I see pretty major conflicts not within my immediate family but in my extended family in a big way. In all of these instances, I can see how forgiveness is the solution. We cant' control others. We can only control ourselves and one of the best choices we can make is to forgive others. FM 92.1 on 2/20/22
| Self Help in 2 Chapters Ps 1 and Prov 3 Today I'd like to read Psalm 1 and next time I'll read Proverbs 3. IT's a reminder to me that I don't need self-help books, even if they're called Christian. I need the Bible. |
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E L Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. Proverbs 23:4-5 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2023:4-5&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes I have a chocolate bar joke I could tell, but it will probably only get a snicker
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| S Today I want to read 2 articles I received this past week. In different ways, they hopefully give you reasons to pause and think even more about the fact that we are not living in a normal, business as usual world. This is certainly intended to make you worry but rather to shock you a bit into a greater sense of urgency of where you are in your walk with God and with living out His plan for your life, both inside your job and outside your job. Surprisingly, these articles have nothing to do with the jab, masks, Biden, Putin, Klaus Schwab, high gas prices, or empty shelves. I figured you already knew about those things. The first article is from ProphecyNewsWatch.com and was originally written by T.W. Tramm from The Season of Return Ministries. If you're not normally particularly interested in prophecy and have a general bias against what you consider "date setters", you may be tempted to tune out during this article. I would ask you not to do so, both for the content of this article as well as for the rest of what we're talking about during this episode. You may justify wanting to tune out because of a verse where Jesus said we won't know the day or the hour. I say that because I used to use that verse to dismiss those who would talk about prophecy and condemn them as date setters. Let's read the context of that passage, Matthew 25:1-13 "“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom [a]is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour [b]in which the Son of Man is coming."
| So Jesus warned us NOT to be like the 5 foolish virgins who did not bring extra oil and were told by the bridegroom that he didn't know them. Oil typically represents the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to place our relationship with our Heavenly Father above everything else in this world. Notice what Jesus said right after that parable, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour [b]in which the Son of Man is coming". What that tells me is that I need to be ready by being in relationship with Him AND I need to be watching. Notice he didn't say we should be in relationship and NOT watch. He told us to watch. God gave us appointments to meet with Him, once a week, once a month, and throughout the year on His 7 Feasts, for us to be in relationship with Him and as dress rehearsals for His coming. The Spring Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits, and Pentecost all pointed to His first coming. The Fall Feasts of Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Feast of Tabernacles all point to His second coming. With that as some background here's the article from T.W. Tramm: https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5200 The next article is about the rise in persecution of Christians around the world. It's called " The Ignored Pandemic: 360 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide " written by Raymond Ibrahim and it was published on Feb. 13th at gatewoodinstitute.org https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18226/christians-persecuted-worldwide Of course, here in the U.S. we've seen an increase in censorship and unfair treatment of Christians, but we are not persecuted...not yet. You won't hear about what's going on around the world to Christians in the mainstream media, probably no matter how bad it gets, so I think it's good for us to be aware of this so we can pray for other believers and as a sign to us of where we are on the Biblical calendar. |
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E L Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24 - ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes What did the pizza parlour owner say to his employee during their performance review? - You have mushroom for improv
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| Israel Bible Center article “What is "holiness" in Hebrew?” by Nicholas Schaser, part of a series called Israel Bible Weekly. You can find this article through my link as well as by going to IsraelBibleCenter.com and while you're there you can sign up for their emails and maybe sign up for their school they offer. I've been getting emails from them for about 2 months and find them to be excellent. In today’s terminology, “holiness” has become an ethical category. Those who act “holier than thou,” for instance, behave as though they are morally superior to others. Yet, this understanding of holiness in terms of morality is a modern shift from the ancient Hebrew definition. Rather than expressing ethics, the biblical meaning of “holy” (קדושׁ; qadosh) is set apart or separated. Related concepts like “clean” (טהור; tahor) and “unclean” (טמא; tame) have also undergone a modern moralization, but these ideas have more to do with separation than with either sin or salvation. In using these sorts of terms, the authors of Israel’s Scriptures specified the contours of cleanliness and contamination that allowed for the closest possible bond between God and humanity. In the middle of the Torah, God tells the Israelites through Moses, “You shall be holy (קדושׁים; qedoshim), for I the Lord your God am holy (קדושׁ; qadosh)” (Leviticus 19:2). What does this phrase mean? The command can hardly mean that Israel must be as morally upright or righteous as God in heaven. Shortly before this divine declaration, the Lord establishes the sacrificial system to make atonement for “all the iniquities of the children of Israel” (16:21). God offers Israel a divine safety-net because Heaven knows that humanity will tend to transgress the commandments. Therefore, to be “holy” does not mean to be perfect or sinless like God. Instead, “holy” means “separate” from others: Israel was to be “set apart” from the nations around them. The words that follow God’s call to holiness are instructive for understanding how the notion of “separation” functioned in ancient Israel. Moses is told to inform the people, “You shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves and gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God” (Lev 19:3-4). The nations other than Israel did not keep Sabbath, and they fashioned metal idols to represent their various gods in worship. Therefore, observing the Sabbath and refraining from idol-making would help to set apart Israel from their national neighbors; they would be a holy people to the Lord their God—and to that God alone. Indeed, the invocation of Sabbath is itself a nod to holiness since “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (קדושׁ)” at creation (Genesis 2:3) — that is, “separate” from the other six days of the week. Understanding the separateness of Israel’s God can also help to clarify what the Bible means by “holy.” When God commands Israel to be holy because “I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 19:2) this assertion underscores the fact that the God of Israel was “set apart” from the gods of other nations. At the outset of the so-called Ten Commandments — actually, in Hebrew they’re called the “Ten Words” (עשרת הדברים; aseret hadevarim; cf. Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4) – God commands Israel, “You shall have no other gods (אלהים; elohim) besides me” (Exodus 20:3; cf. Deuteronomy 5:7). Literally, the Hebrew says that the Israelites should have no other gods before my face (על-פני; al-panai),” meaning that God’s people should not worship any other deities alongside their own. While many modern readers have understood these words to mean that no other gods exist apart from the God of Israel, the verse asserts the exact opposite: precisely because other options for worship exist, God commands Israel to keep their eyes only on the Lord’s face. Israel’s God was “holy” or “set apart” from other gods; thus, the Lord’s chosen people were to be “holy” just like their God. Yet, Israel’s collective holiness does not denote any inherent righteousness or ethical superiority, despite modern misunderstandings to the contrary. Soon after Deuteronomy describes Israel as “a people holy (קדושׁ) to the Lord” (7:6), the very same book details the people’s lack of moral preeminence among their peers. Moses tells his people, “Do not say to yourselves… ‘It is because of my righteousness (צדקה; tsedakah) that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land.’ Rather, it is because of the wickedness of these [other] nations that the Lord is driving them out before you, not because of your righteousness or the uprightness (ישׁר; yosher) of your heart” (9:4-5). Thus, the original Hebrew meaning of “holy” has little to do with the kind of “holier than thou” attitude the word conjures in contemporary conversation. A similar point holds for the Hebrew references to being clean (טהור; tahor) or unclean (טמא; tame). In the Torah, the state of being “unclean” described ritual impurity rather than moral transgression. For instance, Leviticus advises that if a person develops a skin ailment in ancient Israel “the priest shall pronounce him unclean (טמא)” (Lev 13:11). This status of uncleanness does not denote any impropriety on the part of the patient. Instead, to be unclean in this context means to be ritually impure. However, such cultic contamination was not the end of the world; once an afflicted person recovered and underwent priestly inspection, one could simply “wash his clothes, and be clean (טהר; taher)” (Lev 13:6). Thus, cleanliness was a return to a state of external purity, not an internal eradication of sin. Leviticus itself clarifies this definitional difference when it describes the oil for the tabernacle’s lamps being “pure” (טהורה; tehorah) — the same word for the “clean” person free from skin problems. The categories of “clean” and “unclean” appear in tandem with “holiness” in the Torah. God tells Aaron the priest, “You are to distinguish between the holy (קדושׁ) and the common (חל; hol), and between the unclean (טמא) and the clean (טהור)” (Lev 10:10). The parallel Hebrew terms in this verse suggest that “holy” is conceptually similar to “clean.” Neither of these terms denotes behavioral decency or ethical advantage. Instead, what is “clean” is kept separate from what is ritually “unclean,” just as what is “holy” is set apart from the “common.” The biblical meaning of “holy” was very different from the way it functions in popular parlance. In the original Hebrew, holiness is a defining element of the divine-human relationship that sets one’s life apart for God. So that's the end of that article and I want to share a few thoughts as this relates to our work. You may get frustrated as I do sometimes when you're at work, trying to live out your faith, and feeling like you're not different than anyone else. Or worse, on days when you don't feel so "good" you may think about others at work that are not believers who are better at what they do than you, have a better reputation than you, and seem to be overall nicer than you are. My advise is to stop thinking about your righteousness or even how well you do your job, and focus primarily on your holiness. In light of this article, your holiness is the degree to which you are set apart in the way God has asked you to be set apart. As you read through the Bible and come across a commandment, make a note that, that is God speaking to you about how He wants you to be set apart. This applies to every aspect of our lives, but I'm talking specifically about our work. You may be thinking, well it's true that Jesus told us that we love Him we should keep His commandments, but Jesus also told us we only need to follow 2 commandments, love God and love others. Let's look at one of the passages that speaks to this: Matthew 22:35-39 says " 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus did not do away with all the commandments He had given us throughout the Bible, but rather showed us how to live them out perfectly. You cannot love God and love others without knowing how God wants you to love Him and love others. Without His specific direction, you can make up whatever you want as what this loving God and loving others mean, or follow what the current culture is telling you it means. If you're smart, you'll love your wife as she wants you to love her, and the same is true with our Creator. So focus on being holy at work, but with a new understanding that this means you are going to forget about how the world does work, and instead do work the specific ways that God says to do work. If you're wondering how to do this, I have 3 suggestions: 1. First and most important and truly all you need is to regularly read the Bible 2. Second, listen to past episodes of this podcast 3. Third, get my book "Jesus is at Work" having joy and purpose at your current job. You can now purchase an audio version through Audible and an ebook through Amazon and I'm in the process of getting hard copies available through Amazon, but if you want a hard copy you can email me support@christianmenatwork.com . |
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E * Imitate Messiah - as Paul said “Imitate me as I imitate Messiah”
L Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 1 Samuel 13:19-22 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Samuel%2013:19-22&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes Where do Generals hide their armies? - In their sleevies
S I’d like to challenge and hopefully inspire you to be a creator in your work. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Genesis%201:1&version=ESV Last week we talked about how God seemed to have something special in mind with the number 22, assigning the numbers of letters in His language, the # of chromosomes in our DNA and the number of His works of creation. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Genesis%201:26-28&version=ESV When we are acting like our Father, from whom we were made, we are creators. Creating is kind of like giving, because the that which we create can be a blessing to others. Acts 20:35 "...And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”" We live in a society run by Satan, where we are encouraged to take and not to give, to consume and not to produce. In the workplace, this issue is front and center. We have a choice each day we work whether we will be part of the problem or part of the solution, whether we will give more than we get. Are we focused more on being mentored or mentoring others, on being helped or helping others? Are we more upset when others don't show up at meetings we schedule than we are with ourselves when we're late for someone else's meeting? When it comes to discipleship and spiritual growth, are we primarily focused on being fed by other teachers, or feeding others, i.e. sharing with others the truths you've already learned. Luke 6:38 says "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Matt 6:33 says "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." God's economy says give first and trust you'll receive later. His greatest commandments are to love God and love others. Satan's goal is to look out for #1 and if we live in our flesh and not in the spirit, we will constantly be looking out for ourselves and our best interests, whether it's in the workplace, in our marriage, or any other part of our lives. So coming back to the issue of creation, I challenge you and myself to look for ways to be a giver, but more specifically to be a creator. Find ways in your work to create something new rather than just benefitting from the creation of others. What does that mean exactly? That truly will vary depending on your type of work, but I suggest you start thinking about the people with whom you work and who are affected by your work. What can you do, through your work, to bless others? In my life outside of my full-time job, I'm looking for ways to create through writing, since I've always liked to write. When I was young I wanted to be a journalist. I had a blog before I started producing this podcast. I wrote the book "Jesus is at Work" but have wanted for a while to write some type of fiction. I recently found out that Amazon Kindle launched a service last year called Kindle Vella, where authors can write episodes of a longer story as a way of providing content a little at a time. I've been looking for ways for my 13 year old daughter to use her creative skills instead of just consuming playing video games and shared this with her and she's pretty excited about writing stories on this service and so that's got me excited as well. So I guess I would ask you to think outside of the box of your 9-5 job about how you can create something this week. Maybe you write a little poem for your wife. Maybe there's a creative project you've put off for a long time that you just need to take that first step. Pray about it and then take action. E * Deepens our prayer life
L Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. Proverbs 24:27 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2024:27&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes Knock knock: little old lady....I didn't know you could yodel
Work I want to share with you the significance of the #22, and how God considered work to be significant enough to be included in this interesting story of the #22. This was brought to my attention by Isaac from The Assembly of Called Out Believers, from a video called "The HIdden Beauty of Biblical Hebrew - Beginner Intro Class" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u480f0vEbaQ Hebrew is the language God used to give the Torah to Moses and it's believed Hebrew is the actual language of God and the language He used to speak the universe into existence. We are made up of the dust of the ground and the breath, or you could say the DNA of God. In the video Isaac pointed out from the book of Jubilees that there are 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet, 22 works of creation, and 22 generations from Adam to Israel. Isaac went on to show that mysteries in our genetics DNA. Our DNA chromosome looks like the Aleph, the first letter in the Hebrew language. In the DNA, there are 22 building blocks called Amino Acids. In the cell there are 22 chromosomes if you don't count the sex chromosome. There are 22 bones in our skull protecting our mind. Psalm 33:6-8 says "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him."
Isaac went on to point out there are 2 universal languages, music and math.
Mathematics is derived from the numerical values assigned to the 22 letters in the Hebrew Alphabet. The first 10 letters are assigned #1-10, the next 9 letters #20-#100 (by 10's), then #200, #300, and #400
Music comes from singing God's praises, the Torah was originally sung.
In music, there are 3 notes that make a unique sound together to make a chord. In Hebrew there are considered to be 3 mother letters: Aleph, Mem, and Shin, from which all other letters come from.
In music, there are 7 notes to form an octave and in Hebrew there are 7 what are called double letters because they each can form two different sounds.
In music, there are are 12 notes in an octave when you count the major and minor notes, on the piano that would be the white and black keys from one lettered note to the same lettered note an octave higher. And these relationships continue as you look at the electromagnetic spectrum
You might wonder why I'm talking about this number 22. Well, I'm learning Hebrew and found this fascinating, but I chose to share it with you because in the analysis the concept of work is right in the middle of this, which I hope reminds you that work matters to God.
The JewishEncyclopedia https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8944-jubilees-book-of lists these 22 works of creation from the book of Jubilees: "On the first day—heaven, earth, water, the spirits, the abyss, darkness, and light; on the second—the firmament; on the third—the land, the seas, vegetation, and paradise; on the fourth—sun, moon, and stars; on the fifth—the sea-monsters (Behemoth and Leviathan, "the first things of flesh created by His hands"), the fish, and the birds; on the sixth—the wild and the tame animals, the creeping things, and man"
E * Deepens our gratitude for the cross
L The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want. Proverbs 13:25 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2013:25&version=ESV Tomorrow War - daughter told how he left them and was never satisfied Also note the Saabath keeping A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes What's the most remarkable invention of the last century - dry eraser board
S See OnePath email on gifts Subject: What is YOUR service of Calling? The Day You Met the Lord! The Apostle Paul met the Lord while on the road to Damascus with a blinding light and a voice from heaven. Our Lord Called Paul to serve Him and gave him a Service of Calling. Paul knew his Service of Calling the day of his conversion as he was told directly by the Lord what he had to do. Paul accepted his service readily, knowing that he would have to suffer many horrible persecutions and sacrifice his very life in the end for God’s Kingdom. Most Christians vividly recall the day their eyes were opened and the day they accepted the Holy Spirit into their hearts, but polls show that many don’t realize that they personally also have been given a specific “Service of Calling” as a member of the Body of Christ. Most newly “born from above” Christians realize that they must follow Christ and His leading, but they understand this in a generic sense as they now study the scriptures and drink from the “Milk of the Word.” Eventually, as with children growing up, they will ultimately need solid food, but unfortunately, many Christians never grow up. Even Paul had the same problem with some Christians over 1,900 years ago (1 Cor 3:2). As with Paul, we are also given a specific “Service of Calling” by our Lord. Your Service of Calling is what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has called you individually to do to serve Him while we are still sojourners here in this world. It is true that as followers of Christ we all have a common purpose to walk in Him and be a witness to the world through the leading of the Holy Spirit but that is not your specific Service of Calling. After being Born from Above, we are a new “creature” “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor 5:17). For true Christians, our prior life serving ourselves and what we desire has died and was buried in Christ, and we are now part of our Lord’s Kingdom instead of the kingdom of darkness in which we were originally a part. As a new citizen of our Lord’s Kingdom, we are instructed to grow in the knowledge of our Lord. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom 12:2) As we grow in the Lord, we naturally follow the pattern described in 2 Peter 1:2‐8: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According to his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue … And beside this, giving all diligence, (1) add to your faith virtue (2) and to virtue knowledge (3) and to knowledge temperance (self‐control) (4) and to temperance patience (endurance) (5) and to patience godliness (6) and to godliness brotherly kindness (7) and to brotherly kindness charity (God Love) For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacks these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Look closely at that sequence of seven items above. Is your walk with our Lord following that sequence? Where would you say you are in that sequence? Peter says anyone who lacks these things is “blind”. There are some who never proceed beyond the first step of “virtue” and think they are a “good person.” How many times have you heard in your life that this person or that person is a “good person”. The scriptures tell us that there is not a single person on earth that is a good person (Rom 3:10). Those never proceed to study God’s Word as required to obtain knowledge and hence are “blind”. We are told that God’s people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7). We are also told that God gives knowledge liberally to all that ask: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:5‐6) Notice that Peter emphasizes that it is our “minds” that are to be renewed (turned from our own desires to what Christ desires), and we should grow in the “knowledge” of our Lord and Savior. We are commanded to study the scriptures (2 Tim 2:15). Many make the grave mistake of reading and studying mans’ works exclusively which include daily devotionals, commentaries, sermons, and a variety of books written by a man. Many spend an hour or more the first things every morning studying man’s writings instead of following God’s instructions in studying His Word. If we truly study God’s Word and not man’s writings, our minds are naturally renewed, and we grow in the knowledge of our Lord otherwise, we open ourselves up to the possibility of being deceived even by well‐meaning pastors and theologians. After Paul’s conversion, he learned only from the Holy Spirit for around three years in the wilderness, not wishing to be deceived by listening to any man’s teachings or thoughts. We likewise should learn from the Scriptures and be led by the Holy Spirit and not man’s teaching. We are to be Bereans and test everything we hear against the Scriptures ONLY (Acts 17:11; 1 Thess 5:21). What is Your Service of Calling? As a new child in the Kingdom of Heaven, we start by drinking the milk of the word and many will drink the same milk over and over again for the rest of their life instead of growing in the knowledge of our Lord and partaking of the meat of the Word. The primary reason for this is that they are following man’s words, sermons, and theology instead of studying God’s Word for themselves and praying without ceasing (1 Thess 5:16‐18). We are to have a personal relationship with the Lord and not a theoretical one. How can you have a personal relationship with the Lord if you’re only listening to other people talk about it? Believe it or not, God knew you before you were born and knew precisely when your eyes would be open and whether you would follow Him or not. He has also prepared you throughout your life with everything you need in preparation to serve Him after your conversion. Your education, friends, family, job, and even your bad experiences in the past have all been permitted by our Lord to prepare you for your specific Service of Calling. God had already placed you exactly where he wants you to be to serve him after you put off the old man (Eph 4:22‐24). Some think that they need to change their life after their conversion by doing something different such as going on a mission or changing their job. God has already placed you where you need to be, and your first calling is to witness to those around you. First with your family, friends, associates, and then with all you meet. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 5:16) God has also given you gifts as the Holy Spirit chooses Paul states the way we should all walk in a concise, beautifully worded summary: “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Eph 4:1‐7) What are these gifts? In addition to preparing our lives prior to us serving the Lord where we are and to our family, friends, and co‐workers, the Holy Spirit has further provided us with at least one gift to use to edify the body of Christ. It is your responsibility to use the gift(s) that the Holy Spirit has given you. I encourage everyone to read 1 Corinthians chapter 12, where the gifts of the Spirit are covered, and we are told that we each have different tasks assigned by the Lord. The Lord never gives us a task without also providing us the means or gift to accomplish the task. We are to determine that Service of Calling and serve the Lord with those Gifts; but above all, we are to have charity or Love for one another (1 Cor 13), including our enemies as we desire that they all should find Christ as we have, and it is our duty to witness to them. Paul (1 Cor 13) concurs with Peter (2 Peter 1:8) that having Love (God‐Love, or perfect Love) is the final goal we should all obtain. Have you started your Service of Calling? The first step is to be serious about following the Lord (Matt 5:48). This is not a half‐hearted task but one which requires all your heart, soul, and might. You must study God’s Word and not be persuaded by listening to man’s flowery sermons or books that might mislead you. Most importantly, in these end times, determine your Service of Calling, and witness to your family, neighbors, co‐workers, and all you meet and be a light to the world. In these special last days in which the Lord has chosen to have you live, we are required to put on the “Whole Armor of God” as there will be a significant deception that will fall over the entire earth, and many Christians will be deceived. [The “Whole Armor of God” topic was covered in a prior email. If you wish a copy, please send a request to support@onepathpublishing.com] The next more important thing you can do is pray and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and study God’s Word. The end times are upon us, and we must work while it is still day because when the night comes, no one can work. (Paraphrasing John 9:4). May God Bless and Protect you, Brent Miller, Sr. One Path Publishing www.ThePureWord.com E * Causes you to search the scriptures
L The ransom of a man's life is his wealth, but a poor man hears no threat. Proverbs 13:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2013:8&version=ESV See also Mark 10 A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork Check out FollowerofOne.org and click on courses and look for Mission Trip beginning Jan. 23rd H Jokes What's green and rides a horse - The Lone Pickle Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:3-14 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Ephesians%201:3-14&version=ESV
S The Road to Freedom. I want to discuss a video I saw this past week called the Road to Freedom, which I hope will help you get free from what's been holding you back, and give you some insights into finding your calling and your purpose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8LJaVGe5JM I believe God was speaking to me when I watched this because it seemed to make my last podcast episode make sense. That episode was called visualizing priorities and talking about God being at the center of our lives and every part of our lives being the spokes protruding form that center. In retrospect, the concept of God being at the center of our lives and visualizing it is helpful but still doesn't address the difference between priorities and aspects of our lives. This was one of the last times Rob Skiba gave a public presentation, given this past summer at the Take on the World Conference. I'm going to briefly summarize a very long message so if you'd like to fill in the gaps please click on the link to this video in the shownotes. First, he shared a story about a Pac-man and a wedge. The Pac-man was always needing something and the wedge filled the void but later got spit out. The wedge met a Big-O which was round all the way around. Big-O said he used to be a wedge and he rolled around until all the sharp edges broke of until he was round or whole. At the same time Rob asked everyone fill out the wheel of life which looked a lot like the visualizing I talked about in the podcast last week. He asked everyone to rate how well the different parts of their life are doing form 1-10, with 10 being on the outside of the circle and 1 being at the center. Well, since parts of our life are not 10's, we end up looking like a wedge or pac-man, not a Big-O. The Pac-man and wedge represent co-dependent relationships. We can become whole on our own rather than trying to find someone to make us whole. Pain in our lives are rooted in 3 dominant emotions, anger fear and sadness and is the result of the difference between our expectations and reality. The key is to process anger is to forgive. Forgiveness is for the offended not the offender and results in peace. God is the ultimate offended person since all of humanity has offended Him with sin. Isaiah 43:25 says "“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake;
And I will not remember your sins." So God forgives us for His sake, and we should do the same and forgive everyone in our lives. Fear is caused by rejection. God will never mess with free will, so we should not blame God for rejection in our lives and realize He's with us through everything. The opposite of love is not hate, it's fear. Write down everything that's causing fear in your life, and these days for most of us we're fearful of uncertainty in our world with Covid and what governments are doing around the world. The only way to make it through this is to trust God. Sadness is caused by a loss. 5 stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Most people get stuck in depression. It's sound simplistic, but the way to get to acceptance is to have an attitude of gratitude. The end result is joy. So the processes for anger, fear and sadness are forgiveness, acceptance and grief and the three end results are peace, love and joy. Doing this can also move the dial on the different areas of your life to become a Big-O, a whole person. Rob then finished his talk talking about finding our purpose with a focus on our gifts. The Bible talks about 3 categories of gifts, motivational gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8, ministry gifts described in Ephesians 4:11, and manifestation gifts found in 1 Cor 12:7-11. For motivational gifts, he goes through a series of simple questions to help you identify your motivational gifts beginning around the 59min mark. The gifts are Mercy, Teacher, Server, Giver, Prophecy, Exortation, Administration. He then went through common attributes, good and bad, of each of these gifts at the 1:01:30 mark that I found really helpful. Rob also pointed out that the 7 spiritual gifts line up with the 7 mountains of cultural influence. Mercy lines up with family, teacher lines up with education, server with arts and entertainment, giver with business, prophecy with media, exhortation with religion, and administration with government. Rob then finished up by talking about making a contract with yourself asking the following questions: Who are you? What do you want? How does YHWH see you? What is YHWY calling you to do? How can you use your healing and spiritual gifts to help others? This contact is kind of different spin on setting goals for yourself. I haven't been into goal setting much in recent years, but I'm excited about this process Rob went through, so I plan to go through this process and end up with a contract for myself, and I hope you do the same. E * Evangelism deepens our walk with God and with other believers
L And they glorified God because of me. Galatians 1:24 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Galatians%201:24&version=ESV A https://www.patreon.com/christianmenatwork https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/christianmenatwork H Jokes What's green and sings - Elvis Parsley Last week I suggested you listen to a song by Kutless. This week I want to suggest you look on Youtube or Spotify however you listen to music the song "I Still Believe" by Jeremy Camp.
S I'd like to talk about priorities. At the beginning of a calendar year we often think about goals and a big part of goals is priorities. I like visual aids. We all learn differently and some of us, many of us, are primarily visual learners, I guess that’s why the phrase a picture is worth a thousand words is so well known and why YouTube is the worlds largest search engine I know this is an audio podcast and I'm going to talk about visualizing our life priorities, but stick with me. 3 ways to visualize priorities, specifically desired priorities for the listeners of this podcast as we strive to live out our faith through our work #1-numbered List from top to bottom Just like when we were kids in Sunday school the right Christian answer was “Jesus” to almost every question We’ll here’s the Sunday school Jesus answer to this question of how we should prioritize our life God, wife, kids, job, church, ministry, friendships, evangelism Problem is it doesn’t deal with reality By that I mean 2 things First, it doesn’t reflect where we are at now Here are 2 charts that reflect most people today Work, Netflix, misc Netflix, work, misc Because that well Intentioned goal is so far from our reality we can feel condemned and don’t bother to even think any further about and just accept that we’re in a fallen world and we’ll get it right in heaven But Jesus prayed that Gods will be done on earth as it is in heaven and I think we all want to live out God's will now including at our work God told Adam and us to take dominion over the earth and our lives and that command from God didn’t change just because of the fall Other thing I mean by that list not reflecting reality is that it doesn’t define what priority means or provide a way to measure this. For example, is priority from this list measured by time? If it’s time we’ve got a problem because We spend more time at work than anything else but most of us would not consider putting work at the top of our priority list to be the correct Christian answer We do have some control over how much of our time is spent on work, e.g. work locally not traveling sales, don’t bring your work laptop home, but you still have roughly a minimum 8 hour work day which means you’re spending half of your waking hours or arguably half of your life at work If this prioritized list is not a reflection of time, what does it reflect or measure? intensity of feelings? you see the problem #2-Word clouds or tag clouds are graphical representations of word frequency that give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in a source text -better, but still only represents either desired state or current state not both #3-TWC-God at center with spokes going out Shows how God is not a part of our lives but ruling every aspect of our lives In Deut 6:9-10, after reviewing the 10 commandments Moses said " 4 “Hear, O Israel: [b]The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
This is recited by Jewish believers regularly and in our Messianic congregation every week and is referred to as the Shema. Among other things, the Shema reminds me that God wants us to live our whole lives dedicated to Him, not just from birth to death but from sunrise to sunset, every activity, every relationship, every thought. He's a jealous God. He doesn't want robots but He also doesn't want us living our lives on our own. He wants to be a part of every part of our lives and that absolutely includes our work. And just a part of our lives, but ruling ov
Here are few other verses that touch on the type of life we're talking about:
John 17:20-23, Jesus prayed “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."
I can't completely get my head around what Jesus is saying there but I know it's awesome. I also see in that a reminder that we are made in God's image and when we’re born again we are a new creation as Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:17. A few verses later, in 2 Cor:20, Paul says "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God". Do you think of yourself as an ambassador at your work in the same way an ambassador represent the United States when in another country? Galations 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Do these verses sound like we're just a bunch of sinners saved by grace waiting to go to heaven, living mundane and purposeless lives, thinking of our work as a necessary evil to pay the bills but otherwise are working for the weekend or waiting for retirement? No we are children of the living God, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So, to finish my thoughts, a picture of wheel with God at the center and the spokes jutting out representing all the different aspects of our lives including our work may not be the perfect picture of how we are to prioritize our lives in general and this year in 2022, but I think it's a useful one and I hope it's helpful to you. E * To remain in silence is sin - James 4:7-10 * Also notes from our Men's Breakfast this past Saturday, where Damon Hinkle spoke about evangelizing based on the 2nd commandment. I'll have a link to the video of that teaching in the shownotes. https://youtu.be/C86hcVx2cyU * Something they would carry around They give the image the power in their mind idolatry found throughout scripture God doesn’t share his glory except with the Son If someone says god of Islam is same god, bring up your own experiences making stuff If you make something you want to take credit for it If someone says “to me” focus on what they’re about to say, some type of truth claim My goal is not to defeat what they’re saying but to get them to defend it, ask them what does the Word say about that? We want to intrigue them to dig into it the truth, not upset them Trying to love God and love your neighbor at the same time, also called friendship evangelism If they’re very hostile then shut it down They may try to trip you up and ask some detail about the Bible Challenge on them and ask them why they’re asking that If I ask all your questions will you repent? At work, listen to what people say so you’re ready when you’re talking to them. Springboard questions include “what kind of upbringing did you have?” Your goal is for them to examine themselves not beat them up, get them to true repentance Ask a question to prove you’re listening By asking they’re connecting with you and you’re growing in love toward them Prayer is key, have a prayer list
L Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense. Proverbs 12:11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2012:11&version=ESV A To support this podcast check out https://www.patreon.com/davehilgendorf H Jokes I didn’t used to be a fan of facial hair, but it’s starting to grow on me (good one to throw in their stealth like you’re just making a comment then zing) Want to finish up this episode with some encouragement. I suspect many of you listen on your way to work. Whether you work in a large city or in an office with a lot of people, or stop At Walmart on your way home it’s easy to feel like we’re just a number going through this life in a sea of faces. Please click the link in the show notes for what I consider a classic song by Kutless that speaks to this issue to help you start your day. If you’re not familiar with Kutless and want to hear more check out Live From Portland which is one of my all time favorite CD’s where I first heard this song https://youtu.be/jLHE4P-B2FA
S The power of a name God gives people names in the Bible very intentionally The first man was named Adam, which means from the earth one of the first tasks God gave to Adam was to name the animals God sometimes changes names intentionally Abram to Abraham In the original Hebrew language of the Torah, which is the first five books of our Old Testament, the name Abram literally means “exalted father.” The name Abraham, however, contains another unused root word, which roughly means “multitude.” Abraham translated literally, then, means “father of a multitude.” Most modern Bibles that contain footnotes will annotate this literal meaning of the Hebrew in the margin.
Take note of this: the changing of Abraham’s name is a sign from God. By changing his name, the Lord not only confirmed that he would fully carry out the promise that he made to Abraham. He, as well, made Abraham the typological father of faith for all the saints (Jude 3). From the flesh of Abraham, a multitude did come, the Jewish people.
But Abraham is not only the father of a single ethnic nation, he is the spiritual “father of a multitude.” And this faithful multitude, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, is too large to number (Rev 7:9). Through him, all the nations of the world are blessed (Gen 22:18).
from Jeremy Breland in an article called Abram to Abraham? Why did He do it? | Faith | Walterboro Live Jesus, in Messianic Judaism often referred to as Yeshua or as I'm learning more and more I believe the correct name is Yahusha the Lion of Judah and the spotless Lamb, who will crush the head of the serpent and will be a light to the nations. (Isa 42:6) He is the one who, though the builders rejected him, is called the Cornerstone. (Rom 9:30ff; Eph 2:20) He is the one who, though the Father has given him the name above all names, does not seek his own advantage but seeks and saves that which is lost. (Isa 9:6; Phil 2:6; Luke 19:10) His name is forever the Word of God. (John 1:1ff; Rev 19:13) And in the last, all will bend their knee and know him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. (Rev 19:16) - from Jeremy Breland in an article called Abram to Abraham? Why did He do it? | Faith | Walterboro Live Name vs title In Bible, when you see God is comes from the Hebrew word Elohim, which is a generic term and can refer to any god, it's not a personal name YHVH is God's name, translated as LORD with all cap's or Lord Almighty. Jewish People would not speak that name out of fear they would say it incorrectly, original Hebrew did not have vowel points, just consenants, instead they would use Adonai which means Lord , it's a title not a name, or they woudl say Hashem which simply means the name I've recently came a Youtube channel called The God Culture that has a series on the Name of God, and he makes a very compelling case that the correct pronunciation is Yahuwa and that the correct name for our Savior is Yahusha The Name of God - Part 1: How To Pronounce YHWH May Surprise You - YouTube and THE NAME OF GOD Series Part 3: The Name of Messiah: How to Pronounce Jesus, Yeshua, Yahusha, Joshua? - YouTube Recently at my job I've been working with a lot of coworkers I haven't met before and it's remind me how important it is to remember people's names and what a poor job I do at this, so while I've been thinking a lot about names from the Bible, my work application from this is that names are important, and part of loving others at work is learning and remembering the name of your co-workers My name, David, means Beloved. Do you know the meaning of your name? If you want to go the extra mile and make a connection with others, you can look up the meaning of someone's name and ask them if they know it, and if they don't share it with them. Did you know that one day, as a believer, you will receive from God a special hidden name? Rev. 2:17 says "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”" While you're talking with someone at work about the meaning of their name, you might want to ask them if they are familiar with this verse in Revelation. E James 2:15-17 says "15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." Me buying pizza for co-workers staying late Top Ten Reasons We Should Evangelize * We strive to love our neighbor as ourselves
L From "Proverbs for Business" by Steve Marr, Week 4 Day 2, Ecc 10:10 A H Jokes or Riddles for Work What’s the difference between Dubai and Abudabi? - people from Dubai don’t like the Flintstones but the people from Abudabi do
Q&A: When did you become a Christian? What led you to write this book? In your book, you picked out four characteristics of tough guys, which we're going to talk about today, you gave examples of those traits from men in the Bible, lesser known men from present day, as well as from Jesus, and you give tips on how men can apply this trait to their lives. I like this format since it's similar to what we do on this podcast. I love that you used examples from the Old Testament since that the OT is often ignored today. I also like that you took time in the beginning to give some historical context for when these men lived. So let's start with trait #1-Took risks-give us examples of some tough guys in the Bible who took risks How did Jesus take risks? You said that God often choose unlikely men to serve. I thought this was encouraging especially for those of us who aren't in traditional leadership/management roles at work. Why do you think God operates this way? In business we often associate risk with reward. Should we expect a reward for taking a risk in the name of the Kingdom of God? 2-Spoke the truth directly-I think it's pretty easy for us to think of how Jesus spoke the truth directly, can you give us examples of some other tough guys in the Bible who spoke the truth directly? You say that we need a perspective change when it comes to this of speaking truth directly, tell us about that (what will happen if I DON'T speak up vs if I DO speak up). When it comes to politics, you point out that Atheists and Secular Humanists have their own religion but are actually less ashamed of their religion than most politicians today. You also point out that there are justice issues that the church often supports that are popular with the general public, but that in order to change the culture we need to talk about justice issues that are less popular that the Bible talks about. Can you expand on that? What are some excuses Christians use for not speaking up? 3-Excelled at what they did This trait is near and dear to the heart of this podcast. Give us an example of someone in the Bible who excelled at what He did. Can men count on having worldly success as a result of working with excellence? You say that tough guys didn't just work hard they were shrewd. When I heard that I thought of a phrase a contractor said to me recently named Brandon, that it's easy to work hard, but it's hard to work easy. Can you give us some examples of what it looks like to be shrewd? When it comes to working with excellence you mentioned the importance of having goals. Why is it important for men to have goals when it comes to their spiritual life, not just things of this world? 4-Feared God more than men - you said this is the toughest trait for men, and you said that men are often courageous but hold back something from God. Why is this trait so hard for men? I made a note of this scripture in your book, not sure if it was in your book or something I came across in the Bible after reading your book, but it's from Prov. 23:17 ESV "Let not your heart envy sinners but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day". Do you see envy as being a trap for men when it comes this issue of fearing men? How can men contact you, get your book and learn more about you? Any final thoughts?
S Sandwich work prayer Before work begins, at the moment of a need, after work is done What to pray: Pray things go well, no matter what happens that you would be glorified both by how things go and how I respond (what and how like with performance evaluation) This past week-project-when problems occur: stay positive, take responsibility
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| E Our work is generally a performance based culture, and everyone knows that at some level they are being evaluated for their performance. one way we can live out our faith through our work is with encouraging words to others regarding them doing well or when something has not gone well that the person is probably feeling bad about. , everyone knows when they mess up you don’t need to add to it or let them soak in it My co-worker Steve this past week said with a smile that "things don’t always go as planned, I know you beat yourself up, nobody’s perfect except Jesus" Proverbs talks often about value of an encouraging word John 7:1 jesus said "“Judge not, that you be not judged." Eph 4:32 "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." * #2-Hell exists * Quote from Atheist Penn from magician duo Penn and Teller " “I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me along and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? “I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”"
Many verses about Hell, but I'll leave with this one: Matthew 10:28, Jesus says "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. L Gen 28:16 ESV -"Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”"-we need to find Him in the middle Of our own reality (work), He's everywhere, so we know He's there at our work, we just have to have eyes to see Hebrew shows it says I, I did not know it- not a mistake, one Rabbi indicates that when we don’t see God it’s because we are too focused on ourselves A H
| * Kiss the Toad is about doing something you don't want to do but needs to be done, just do it first thing and the rest of your day will be great. |
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S I want to encourage you today to remember to look beyond the struggle, frustration, and sadness of a particular moment by praying and having a long term vision. In Selah episode 58, I shared about a difficult day I had at my job where I got some negative feedback. Whether it's at work, at home, in our marriage, with our kids, at church, or another area of our lives, we all have these moments. Some us have these moments more often than others. Some of us experience more intense emotions in these moments either because of how we respond to the situation or because of how serious the situation is. For some of us, and think this may be the hardest circumstance of all, we experience anxiety over the same issue repeatedly. That's frustrating because we can feel like we're in a trap of sorts, not knowing what to do differently to get a different result. A repeat feeling can also cause us to beat ourselves up, think that even if there are circumstances at some level out of our control, we can still control how we respond and so when we're experiencing deja vu with a negative emotion we take on the burden of being responsible for not "fixing" it. We also may like there's not a logical reason for why we feel the way do, that on the surface the situation is not that bad, or maybe we here in America, we think that we really don't have anything to complain about since we have such high standard of living and comfort, as well as freedom from religious persecution compared to most believers in the world. In the Torah portion this past week, Gen 25:22 NKJV says " But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord." This comes from the story of Rebekah after she and Isaac have conceived twins. I was told that the Hebrew from this passage indicates a bit of an incomplete sentence from Rebekkah, as if she's saying why am I uggh?? out of frustration. Her response is the best answer I can give to myself and to you in these situations. It says "So she went to inquire of the Lord". Even if you don't know what to say to God about your situation or your feelings, you are better off talking to God about your struggles than you are talking to yourself. I have learned over the years that while self-help books will talk about the importance of positive self-talk, I have found that talking to God is much better than and more fruitful than anything I can say to myself. The problem with talking to yourself is that the Devil has a way of working his way into that conversation, and we know that His primary mission is to steal, kill and detsroy. If you want, you can use the Bible to help you with your prayers, and when you're struggling the Psalms is a great resource. See in particular Psalm 127, 56, and 51 I mentioned earlier two ways you can deal with these difficult moments. The first is prayer, and the second is to have a long-term vision. Long term is relative and can mean something different for each situation. I personally struggle with feelings of frustration the worst in the mornings, and if you can relate to that, this can be the worst time of year when the days get shorter and it's darker in the mornings. For you, a long term vision may be as simple as getting beyond those early morning hours, and reminding yourself that this too shall pass. Lamentations 3:22-23 says "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness." Maybe you've had a fight with your wife. For you in that moment, your long-term vision may be to think of you in later years looking back to the big picture of your marriage and the benefits of being faithful, self-less and patient. In this bizzare time of Covid-19 that has stretched out so long, along with so many wicked trends in our world that seem to be getting worse with no apparent fix in sight, especially if we've been holding onto politics or some other earthly solution that seems less and less likely, it can be hard to have a long term vision. With these issues and really with all of these issues, the ultimate long-term vision that we need to have is beyond this earthly life. In 1Cor 3:11-15 NKJV, Paul says "11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." Sometimes we are frustrated with not getting the results WE want in this life, but God is looking for our obedience not our results. If we continue to focus on being obedient even when we're frustrated and feeling down, we are living our lives based on the ultimate long-term vision. Hebrews 12:1-2 says "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." I believe God can work on our hearts through Worship music. 2 songs that come to mind are Waymaker, originally written by Sinach and covered by Leeland among others. One line is that song "Even when I don't feel it, You're working
You never stop, You never stop working" Another great song is "Light at the end of this tunnel" by Third Day. God gives us many promises, but those promises do not include a life without trouble, in fact Jesus promised the opposite. In In John 16:33, Jesus says "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”" Two great promises for us as believers are that God will be always be with us and that we will live for all eternity with Him. Maybe those 2 promises are what we need to focus on in those dark moments more than anything else. E Want to start sharing a top 10 list from my friend Damon Hinkle. It's the top 10 reasons Christians should evanglize. 1. We’ve been commanded to
Matthew 28:18-19 "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go [c]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [d]Amen" Mark 16:15-16 "And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. " L Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. Psalm 128:1-4 - ESV A H Imagine you're leaving tomorrow for a month long trip to raft the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. Today you're only going to do the things that absolutely need to get done
S Rob Skiba died on Oct. 15 The report is that he died from Covid-19. I won't say much about that other than I'm suspicious of foul play because there was so much that he challenged, but I don't have any evidence of that so I'm not claiming that's the case just Made a big impact on me My wife has been searching for truth and challenging the traditions of men in our Christian practices before I did, and Rob opened her eyes first and then me to a number of things that are in the Bible but are ignored by most Christians. There are 4 main issues for which Rob really impacted me One of those issues is the Nephilim talked about in Genesis 6 and other places in the Bible, as well as in extra biblical texts Another issue is being Torah observant Another is the Flat Earth movement Finally, Rob believed that we need to share the truth from the Bible in a way that competes with Hollywood, and one of his passions was to produce a TV Series called The Seed. I don't know what will happen to that vision, but I was very excited about seeing that come out In addition to learning about each of these issues, I learned several lessons from Rob about how to live out our Christian walk. First of all, he showed me courage in the face of ridicule and adversity. He cared what people thought, as all of us do, but he didn't let his fear of man prevent him from pursuing truth. Rob also showed me the value of a sense of humor. He was very funny and that humor was woven into all of his teaching. Finally Rob showed me the importance of research. There are very few people I can think of that did a better job of researching the theories that he considered. He didn't just say what he believed and expected us to believe. He backed it up with scripture, and he tested his theory in a very rigorous fashion. Tribute from Adam Fink with ParableofTheVineyard.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo51XjikkgI Righteous people die He's in a better place - details about what happens when we die from 2 Esdras, an extra-biblical text With tough times on the way, it could be that God removed Rob out of mercy Genuine behind the scenes, asked about him limping (only one at conference) and offered to pray right there (lesson) Sang a song about how our walk as believers can be lonely
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| E Dr. Peter McCullough. There are many people who are losing a lot because they hold a position that goes against the government position on Covid-19 and the Vaccine. I'm guessing that some of you listening have lost your job and certainly have lost relationships. I want to highlight Dr. McCullough because I think he has shown tremendous courage and has lost so much as a result. https://www.wnd.com/2021/10/4951272/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=wnd-breaking&utm_campaign=breaking&utm_content=breaking&ats_es=77701ab797104cd021b0e7b6cd1b0fd6 https://www.fulcrum7.com/blog/2021/8/13/a-closer-look-at-dr-peter-mccullough L "For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life," Proverbs 6:23 "He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, But he who refuses correction goes astray." Proverbs 10:17 "Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid." Proverbs 12:1 "Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored." Proverbs 13:18 "The ear that hears the rebukes of life Will abide among the wise. He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding." Proverb 15:31-32 Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Proverbs 19:20 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2019:20&version=ESV "Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed." Proverbs 27:5 A H
| * Get things out of your head so your mind can be creative, this is called psychic bandwidth. Make lists and carry a pencil and pen to jot down an idea. Empty your inboxes regularly |
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S I want to share something that happened to me at my job in the hope that you can learn from and benefit from it. I won't say exactly when this happened, but at some point during my career, I was asked by my boss for a meeting after a contractor I worked with had asked for a meeting with him. For some context I had not had this boss for very long, less than year, and actually had not gone through my first year-end evaluation with him, and he was new to our facility so he didn't know me or my work. Well the contractor who asked for a meeting with him basically told him I was not doing a good job working with him and that my peers did a much better job. He gave a lot of specifics but that was more or less the bottom line. I was nervous about my meeting with my boss since there had been tension between me and this contractor and I knew things were not good between us, but I tried not to stress about it too much leading up to the meeting. Unfortunately what I heard was worse than I had thought and I basically was told that in this particular area I was not doing well at all. My contractor 2 days earlier had told him all the things I was doing wrong in my working relationship wit him, and pointed out how my colleagues were doing a much better job than I was when it came to working with him. My meeting was early in the day so I had a full day ahead of me before I could come home and share this all with my wife. She was a great consoler encourager, and listener. I shed a few tears. I prayed to God that night for a good nights rest and He answered my prayer. I woke the next morning and had a more meaningful, heart to heart, conversation with God than I had had in a long time. After that and some time in the Word, I called my friend. He was the perfect person to call for several reasons. First he was a friend and cared enough to take the time to listen to me and offer me the truth. Second, he knew my situation on many levels because, though was retired, he used to do the same job I did, and because he worked for the same employer he knew the people I was talking about. Third, and most important he had a strong faith in Christ. He had several suggestions for me which I wrote down. Some had to do with how I handled myself in my job. He also suggested a few key individuals I should talk to for additional advise. Rather than continuing on with this story, I wanted to stop and share with you some of my key learnings from this episode which I hope you can apply to your situation. First, I learned that as painful as it is, correction has the benefit of humbling us. It's a reminder that there is a God and He's not me. The Bible says humility is good James 4:10 says "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." In Matthew 5:5 Jesus said "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Humility is a great way to prevent pride, something the Bible speaks strongly against. I would say humility is good whether it's forced on you or something you choose willingly, though of course it's much better if you choose it. Look for pride in yourself and practice humility BEFORE it's forced upon you. When it comes to your work, remember that God is your provider. Not you. Not your employer. Even your abilities and your discipline and hard work ethic are gifts from your Creator. Let me point us that correction doesn't automatically humble us. I would say it automatically embarasses us, but we must choose to be humbled by it. If we do NOT choose humility, we are at a high risk of one or both of two very undesirable responses. One is to be angry and the other is to feel sorry for ourselves. In this particular situation, I felt a strong temptation toward both of these emotions, and I did experience both of those to some degree. I would say that talking with God and my wife about it were the best ways I found to avoid sinking deep into those emotions. A second lesson I learned is the importance of friends, and that those friendships are not a given. It meant so much to me to reach out to my friend for his opinion. Though I had not been in touch with him for a while due to him moving and retiring, we had built a foundation of friendship that made that phone call possible. It's kind of like preparing for a storm. You can't wait for the storm to prepare, you need to have the foresight and discipline to invest in valuable friendships. A third lesson I learned is that integrity can be independent of skills. One comment that was made to me that everyone who was voicing complaints about certain things I was not doing well in my work also said that they respected me as a person. That meant a lot to me. It didn't change the need to change things, but it reminded me what was most important, and that's integrity. You can have high integrity and lack skills. You can have low integrity, and a lack of respect from others, and be highly skilled and "successful" in worldly terms. A fourth lesson I learned was the importance of periodic self assessment, which includes input from others affected by you. I've talked in the past about the importance of applying the prayer found in Psalm 139:22-24, which says "Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting." While we're listening to that still, small voice of God in response to this prayer, we should be lining up our behaviors as WE see them against scripture, AND we should asking for the opinions of others. We should check in with Christian men we respect, who know us well, for their honest opinion about how we're doing. When it comes to our job, we should also check in with those who are directly impacted on how we're doing in our job. Don't wait for your mid-year and end of year review with your boss to find out out how you're doing. Ask the people you work with every day. One of my response to this event was I immediately started asking those I worked with for their input. If you want honest input, you need to have some basic trust in place. If that is lacking then that is your first issue you need to address. A fifth lesson I learned is to remember the sting. Do whatever you need to do to bring to your remembrance your feelings immediately after being corrected, so that you don't fall back into complacency and old habits. If positive change is needed, it also needs to be maintained. This is especially important if the consequences from your correction are not highly impactful in the long term. A sixth lesson I learned is the importance of identity. If the sting of correction you receive from man, in whatever form that takes, is too great, this may be an indication you are not sufficiently grounded in your identity as a son or daughter of God. If the sting is real but not earth shattering due to your true identity being in Christ, celebrate that fact and appreciate that the same correction earlier in life would have been much more devistating. That was true for me in this case. It stung. More than it should have, but less than it would have in the past. I still had to check myself and remember that while I knew I needed to make some changes, at the end of the day, I was more than a conqueror because of what Christ had done in my life, and that I was to cast my cares on Him and to be anxious for nothing. I also reminded myself that this was a small issue in the big picture of God's Kingdom and his plan. My final comment on this experience is that you feel you have been knocked down a notch or two by an event like this, but as a result you grow closer to God, you have ended up farther ahead than before it happened.
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| E https://www.christianpost.com/news/viola-brown-credits-faith-for-helping-her-through-wars-pandemics.html L But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.” Ezekiel 3:21 - ESV A Prepping resource coming H * Make an appointment with yourself and block that time out on your calendar
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S From Sep 27
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| Emerging from Isolation |
| [ 1 min read ★ ] |
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| For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them—Matthew 18:20 |
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| Imagine, for a moment, a man ever isolated, living alone in the mountains, perhaps. Imagine him living a vigorous, adventurous, spiritual life, but lacking community. The knowledge this man would have of God, the knowledge he’d have of himself, would be modest compared to the knowledge he’d have of both, were he to have full access to relationships, friendships, brotherhood. You see, the isolated man may know aboutGod. But, no matter how much he might read and study, he cannot know God. That takes community. We get to know God by seeing his Holy Spirit moving in others. We encounter God, we experience him, we understand him when he works through the love and sacrifice of other people. In brotherhood, we get to show God to one another. And, the more we’re in community with brothers, the deeper our understanding becomes. The isolated man may also know abouthimself—his talents, his likes, his dislikes. But, he cannot know himself. He cannot know the man God intends him to become. That too takes community. It takes others around him, who know his story, who spend time with him, who watch him, to discern and affirm and call forth things true and eternal in him, things God longs for to emerge. It takes brotherhood to call forth the true man. |
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| Okay, so what do we do? Though we live in cities and towns, many of us are yet like the man isolated in the mountains. We know about God, but we don’t know him. We know the men we’dlike to be, but we don’t know the men he created us to be. This message, right now, is another call for brotherhood. It’s a call for you, brother, to get into community with other men. Find some brothers; find your place. |
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| E A.w.Tozer “It is not what a man does that that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it” L You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:34-35 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Acts%2020:34-35&version=ESV A H * Be more time focused rather than task focused. Carve out times to do certain things.
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What You'll Hear: 1. Know Your Motivation - saw Rusty Thomas preach on the doctrine of blood guiltiness at Herald Society which was included in the video Babies are Murdered Here https://youtu.be/dxDyfSHEq5g, it revealed that many there didn't have the right motivations, are you there just to be seen or make Youtube videos? 2. Study and Be Ready - watch YouTube videos, know 3 verses from different locations (Old and New Testament) on each point, know the Gospel, start with sin and judgment. You can take things going on around you and use that, e.g. and the statue of the unknown god or ambulance driving by. If you record your own talks you can use this to study from. Watch body language. You can simply read scripture. 3. Good locations vs bad locations - you need crowds of people, like an event or large gathering in your town. A baseball stadium outside. Best to have a partner to intervene or hand out tracts or bibles. Bad is where it's too noisy or where there's a lot of drinking and intoxication or protesting. Know how the sound is. 4. If possible use amplification - you want to be heard not be yelling, you want a tone of compassion. Use a 24Watt Aker amp. You can train your voice to be louder. 5. Learn and know the law - your rights of free speech, sound ordinances. If Police are called out you need to know where the easements are. Police are trying to diffuse the situation. Stand your ground, but be respectful and don't be confrontational. 6. Use a step to elevate yourself 7. Record yourself - get a Gopro camera (or Copcam). People will be more reserved. You can watch it later and learn from it. 8. If possible don't go alone - having a partner is motivating and safer. You can rotate between preaching and handing out tracts. 9. Think about what to give away - homeless people will come up to you, so you may want to have snacks, or gift cards to give away. Have tracts and Bibles. 10. Think about the weather 11. Watch out for friendly fire - often it's a false convert who challenges you and claims to be a believer. They may be a drive-by. Ask them how long they've been there. 12. Hecklers - they can draw a crowd. People like commotion. This allows you to exercise patience and to reach more people. 13. Apologetics - do your studying. Learn how to debate others and use logic and reasoning. See the book Tactics by Greg Koukl. See list of top ten Logical Fallacies 14. Don't Interrupt your partner - it appears you're ganging up on someone See Ray Comfort's Way of the Master course and his books and videos You can order Bibles with blank pages with your notes, have tabs ready A growing area of preaching it outside of abortion clinics. Don't start out there. See Jeff Durbin with Apologia https://apologiachurch.com/meet-the-team/ Evangelism is a different bond because you're in the battle together It brings together different denominations
Who's Watching You at work https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=4956 "Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." God's gift of free will is amazing Difficult as a parent, or a boss Temptation to mandate or force your will is great Reminds me of the grace I've been shown E L The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his imagination. Proverbs 18:10-11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2018:10-11&version=ESV A Fall Feasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXZiQ10VHNI&t=15s Feast of Tabernacles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SNoS2Qw8wA Coming soon me and Damon Hinkle sharing our testimonies on coming to be Torah Observant and celebrating God's appointed Feasts The Name of God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIgdziZYLxk&list=PLru2qbCMGOi4xaPtUfKykVU0HbOZK-LeJ Pretrib and the Rapture 119 Ministries The Error of Dispensationalism youtube.com/watch?v=5RL2hZSpKEE&t=2567s 7 Pretrib problems https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwXoMNpOhos&t=459s H - John Shirey * Consider only handling emails once or twice a day.
Link to Article: https://fallacyinlogic.com/10-logical-fallacies/
L Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. Proverbs 24:11 - ESV
Sorry for being late in this episode release Lot I could talk about. Let me provide a few updates since our last Selah episode. I gave my testimony at church. It was not recorded otherwise I might upload it as an episode. i'm praying I'll have an opportunity to present it again someday and have it recorded and hopefully more polished and with fewer tears. I continue to learn a lot from the Youtube Channels Parable of the Vineyard, TruthUnedited, and Nelson Walters, but I'm also trying to spend less time listening to others talk about the Bible and more time actually in the Bible, but that's a work in progress. As you know, I've been spending a lot of time with my new friend Damon Hinkle, who was the subject of the last 3 interview episodes. I jokingly tell him I'm his mini-me since I've been soaking up so much from him. He and i spent an afternoon distributing gospel tracts. We've decided to start-up and run a Men's Ministry at our church where we will focus on 3 key areas: Family, Work, and Evangelism. We're launching it in November and I'll have more to share on that in the future. I've made up a physical cross taller than myself that I intend to use for street preaching. On one side is painted "Are You Ready?", on the other side "John 14:6" which if you don't know it is "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Here are a few resources Damon has turned me onto that I'd like to share with you. Ray Comfort and LivingWaters.com. I'm been watching his Youtube Channel a lot. He shares the Gospel, often at Huntington Beach in LA, and you can get great tips on evangelizing watching that channel. Also he has several documentaries there including God vs Evolution and The Atheists' Delusion. FreetheStates.com (Liberator Podcast). I'm quickly becoming an Abolitionist and waking up to the failure of the so-called Pro-Life movement. Matt Trewhella, pastor in Milwaukee, with sermons available on Youtube and SermonAudio.com. He preaches on current issues and has a great sermon called The Shot and the Tyranny of Man about the jab. My friend Damon first turned me on to Matt when he shared a sermon Matt gave back in 1998 called The Theology of Guerilla Warfare. This was so inspiring for me that I'd like to use the rest of my time on this episode replaying that message. Listen sometime after the 30 minute mark where he talks about the mushy middle. I don't want to be in the mushy middle. This is a departure from my normal Selah Episode format so I won't have an Example of faith at work, a Logo passage, an announcement or Handy Tip, just the replay of this Matt Trewhella message. Enjoy
What You'll Hear: * Damon got saved in 2009 which led to him evangelizing. He met another evangelist in 2012 who invited him and his friend to an abortion clinic. It was very dark. * He continued visiting the clinic in 2013 more and more frequently. * He met Rusty Thomas who was in the video "Babies are murdered here" * He then went to the Herald Society and read the book "Abortion Violation" * The Abolitionists in the 1800's were primarily Christians and were working to abolish slavery * One of their slogans was "Every age has its evils, and every age has its abolitionists" * Abolitionists today are involved in trying to abolish abortion and sex trafficking * It's confronting sin and it's bold * It's a paradigm shift that's taking place * There are 5 tenents for an abolitionist, 1) Biblical 2) Body driven 3) Gospel centered 4) Providential 5) Immediate and uncompromising * An Abolitionist Bill includes 1) Protecting the unborn from the moment of conception 2) No exceptions 3) Equal protection for pre-born children 4) It defies Roe 5) Abolitionist bills repeal or supercede all statutes that allow for abortion. * Go to www.FreeTheStates.com * Go to the Abolitionist Society of Thomasville on Facebook
S Alone at Work? Whoever isolates himself . . . breaks out against all sound judgment—Proverbs 18:1
| Work is a place where we men are apt to live, not as our true selves, but rather as carefully crafted and false versions of ourselves. Work is a “compartment” where we try to be, not who God created us to be, but images we create all by ourselves. Why? What makes work different? Well, at work, the prevailing culture is too often (and too much) self-focused: outperform, get promoted, achieve, get ahead. It is too often permeated by greed, pride, and narcissism. When we live according to the prevailing culture of work, we hide our true selves, for exposing ourselves would upset our plans to build our images (and our careers). So, we protect our images by cutting ourselves off. We don’t let anyone in on our fears, struggles, pain, excitement, victories, joy. This is foolish, given that many of us spend more of our waking hours at work, with work colleagues, than we do away from work, with loved ones and close friends. Living according to the prevailing culture of work can transform our workplaces into dismal, desolate places of adversaries and mere acquaintances. Workplace relationships become characterized by superficiality and materiality. Spending years under such conditions leads to cynicism and apathy, burnout and bad choices. Purpose and meaning fade. We protect our images, but we lose ourselves. Okay, so what do we do? Betray the prevailing culture, brother (Philippians 2:3-4). But don’t do it alone. Track down at least a couple trusted friends at your workplace and begin to fight for one another, keep each other accountable, keep each other humble, be transparent with one another, confess and repent to one another, pray together, laugh and lament together. Set up regular lunches. Grab coffee together, weekly. Start a regular prayer group or a company Bible study. |
E L And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Nehemiah 4:18 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Nehemiah%204:18&version=ESV A
| * Messianic Movement-Parable of the Vineyard-Torah Movement and 119 Ministries-The Error of Dispensationalism
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John Shirey * A 5 second interruption can cost you a minute
What You'll Hear: * After getting saved, Damon prayed and wanted to evangelize the way the Bible says to * Gifted evangelists naturally without any training go out and evangelize and develop over time their techniques * Most people who say this is not their gift, it's an excuse not to go out and share the Gospel * Tracts is one of the easier ways to evangelize because you're giving them the Gospel in a written form in a smaller form. * A tract can get somewhere we cannot. * Whenever I receive a no-postage required envelope I throw in a gospel tract and send it. * Tracts are great if you're shy and introverted, or if you're in a hurry * Most people who are against tracts aren't evangelizing in other ways besides their lifestyle * It's the Gospel message that separates from other religions * We're supposed to be faithful and God brings the increase * We should be nice as well as share the good news, in some circumstances we can't do both * Be mindful who you're talking with, don't give a money tract to someone who's homeless or in a restaurant * Today we have a tendency to assume things without asking questions, but we should ask a lot of questions * You don't have to build a friendship with a person to evangelize. His goal is not to fellowship or get them to church but to share the Gospel, what if they die while you're waiting to fellowship? * See www.tractplanet.com or www.livingwaters.com (Ray Comfort) * Relationships take time, you can get overwhelmed just thinking about that * If he senses that it's not going anywhere, he takes people to the law and leaves them there. For example, he uses springboards or questions, like "what do you think happens when we die?". It exposes their worldview. * If they're hostile to God in response, he doesn't give them the Gospel because Jesus said not to cast pearls before swine. * Without God we don't have a standard for morality * We are made in the image of God. * You're trying to put the battery back in the smoke detector to wake them up with the alarm, awakening their conscience * If we just tell them that God loves them, why should they make a change and come to repentance? By saying that, we're only focusing on one attribute of God * Just like a painting bears witness to a painter, creation bears witness to a Creator * At work, you have to be mindful that you are being paid for your time, but also note that people are talking about all sorts of things in the workplace * Since we're commanded to share the Gospel, we don't have to wait for the Holy Spirit to convict us * Questions are not offensive, because it leads to the other person to feeling like they're in control of the conversation, you'll feel like you're developing a relationship with them * A question pulls out their worldview and it causes them to reflect on their on views * See book called "Tactics", if someone makes a truth claim they have a responsibility to defend that claim * contact Damon through the Abolitionist Society of Thomasville and an email tasot.inc@gmail.com * Be faithful and do what God has called us to do.
S Dave Brown: men struggled with this from the very beginning with the first Adam in Genesis, sat by as Eve ate the fruit a life of passivity is void of courageous decisions The life of Jesus was an engaged, active life, marked by obedience, obedience to His father We know how Jesus turned over the money changer tables in the Temple and challenged the pharisees by healing and other activities He did on the Sabaath. We also see in Matt 10:34-35 "34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;", but he wasn't a macho man or tough guy the way think of today and the way we glorify tough guys in the movies, like Rambo and John Wayne. Jesus was a servant. He washed His disciples feet. He told His disciples to turn the other cheek if someone struck them. "Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God." - Matt 5:9 "18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." - James 3:18 Matthew 11:29 was the only time when Jesus talks about His heart, and He said His heart is gentle and meek So we don't fight against passivity by being violent but rather by being obedient, which means following God's Word, being Torah observant. But we also should be ready to take a stand when necessary to stand for God and His Word and against the traditions of men which I would say is when Jesus showed the most passion How many of you have gone tubing, where you just float down a river That's a fun thing to do on a relaxing summer day but it's a poor model for living the Christian life More than ever we need to be intentional if we're going to be obedient and be ready for the return of Yeshua. That's true of our personal relationship with our Father, and it's also true of our responsibilities He has entrusted with. As a husband, we are to follow Ephesians 5:25-28 "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. " As a father, we should follow Ephesians 6:4 "4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." A couple resources I'd like to mention are podcasts "Parenting Today's Teens" and "The Dad Whisperer" Our work, Ephesians 6:5-8 "5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free." and Colossians 3:23 "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men," In all these roles and responsibilities we should be checking ourselves in several ways. One way is demonstrated in Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting." Another is Galatians 5:22 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." Final thought on all this is that often we're passive not out of laziness but out of a sense or unworthiness. To respond to that I want to first share a couple verses and a brief devotional. The verses are familiar to all of us but we need to reminded of them and not become too familiar with them. Romans 8:1 says "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:37 says "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me." The devotion is called First Light, put out by Pastor Brian Biggers from The Lamb's Chapel in Burlington, this particular one was sent out on July 12th and was called "Rich in Poverty" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:3
Hettie Green is listed in the Guinness record book as the world's greatest miser. She lived in a one room rundown apartment in New York. She turned the radiator heat up just enough to stay alive. She ate cold oatmeal at every meal. She owned one black dress that she would take off and wash every few nights. Don't pity Ms. Green. She had millions of dollars on deposit with the Chase Manhattan bank. She chose to live in poverty although she certainly didn't have to. If this verse in Ephesians is true, then Hettie's life is a picture of the life of God's children. Living in poverty although Jesus has purchased for us "every spiritual blessing". What is included in this "Divine deposit" the lover of our soul has made for us? His Word is the catalog of all that is ours in Him. Our peace, contentment, love, joy, purpose and prosperity are just a few of the treasures He records in His Book. We will spend a lifetime and all of eternity discovering all that is ours in Him. The tragedy would be to live in any need if it was already mine. Let’s get in His Word and find our inheritance and then lay hold of it by faith. If there is one moment of regret in heaven it will be to arrive poverty stricken and find that it wasn't necessary. Let Hettie scrape by if she wants to. I don't want Jesus sacrifice to go to waste.
Thank you for being a good Father. Open my eyes to the "riches of my inheritance in Christ Jesus". I pray for grace not to waste your sacrifice for my blessing.
E L So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4:6 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Nehemiah%204:6&version=ESV A
| Ben LaCorte * To be prepared, know good Theology. They started a podcast "Word on the Street", geared toward someone who doesn't know a lot of Theology already. Some future topics include critical race theory, why is there human suffering in the world, what is the Christian's right role in politics, what does God say about social justice,
I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist with Frank Turek (after checking it out) H |
John Shirey * To be set free you need to limit the distractions. Don't let your phone create any sounds. When at home don't have it with you every second.
What You'll Hear: * Damon became a believer in 2009 after being a false convert earlier * As a young boy he felt like he wasn't able to do what he wanted and he had a problem with authority. He had a false conversion including a confession in church and baptism. Soon after that He saw his first horror movie and got hooked * Looking back, he sees that this was something he loved that no-one that could take away from him and he wanted an identity from things in the world and he wanted to be accepted * He was trying to take something wicked and make it good, resulting in his interest in sculpting and make-up * His aunt encouraged him to go to a school and so he did. He excelled in school and after graduating tried to get a job somewhat applying what he had learned, working for a fiberglass company * His co-worker was an alpha-male who recommended Damon watch a video that was about Christians being persecuted. He went home and watched the video and it really convicted him and made him realize he was not ready for Jesus to return. The following Friday he went to see the remake of Friday the 13th and felt nothing after seeing the movie. * A pastor invited him to a play, Hell's Gates, and Damon got saved. * The next time he smoked a joint, he felt the peace of God leave, and he decided he had to get rid of his * old lifestyle. It took 3 bonfires to burn up all his stuff. He made a profession of faith at church and got baptized again. * He was introduced to a woman. They knew they would save sex for marriage and it was beautiful as they got to know each other and bond for years. * His job was no longer something that would define him, his job was a mission field * Contact Damon at The Abolitionist Society of Thomasville through Facebook * Parents: You've got to look at the fruit of your children even if they've made a profession of faith. A believer's lifestyle is a lifestyle of repentance, a continual coming to God's word. Test everything against scripture
S God and wife most important relationships, but God wants us to invest in other relationships as well, in particular other men. Jesus demonstrated this in how he invested in his 12 disciples but was closest to 3, Peter James and John, and you might say the closest was John. The Bible is filled with wonderful stories of how people relate to each other and how we should do the same (Elijah/Elisha, David/Jonathan)-anyone think of others? I put out a podcast called Christian Men at Work, and I'd thought I'd borrow from some of my interviews for this topic. From David Smith "Who's Got Your Back" interview (have a copy if you want to borrow it): * "Guys tend to form alliances more than friendships, it's toxic in a lot of ways"
* "There should be some people in your life that you should be close to"
* "Biblical masculinity shows a warmth and lovingness"
* "A friend is a person with whom one can be sincere" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
* "It's the individuals we're close to that make life worth living"
* "A friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be"
* "It's not about frequency"
* "The answer to 'who's got your back' is the one whose back you've got"
* "Are you a host or a guest" when you walk in a room?
* "I learn that when I listen to someone, not only am I learning, it shows respect"
* We have 4 communication skills, reading, writing, and speaking but we don't focus enough on listening
* "Women are more holistic, they look at the total person..women don't have these macho expectations, they're more attentive to the relationship...there's a covenant...that I value you and I care for you"
* Jefferson and Adams reached out to each other late in life to make amends, most guys don't do that - side note - we should take that first step for past relationships that were damaged for whatever reason (neglect, offense) "Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God." - Matt 5:9 "18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." - James 3:18
* So we should make peace, and we should forgive others (can't control if they will forgive) - Matt 6:14-15 "14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matt 18:34-35 "34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother [a]his trespasses.”" Mark 11:25-26 "25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 [a]But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”"
* "The concept of total independence leads to loneliness and sadness...and an earlier grave"
* Important elements of a friendship include listening, self-disclosure, compromise, loyalty
Dave Brown Isolation disconnects you from the family of God This has been exaggerated by Covid-19 Can lead to pornography and boredom When we're together we have a enriched and enlivened life with each other, and we're encouraged to be accountable, to be responsible, to take up our cross daily, to die to self, and follow Jesus We are called to remember what we already know, what God has done and His promises and who I am in Christ, our identity comes from Yeshua not from anyone or anywhere else I would add that another relationship in addition to friendships that should be a part of our lives as Christian men is mentorship, be a mentor and be mentored, Paul/Timothy Also, value our brothers in Christ, arguably more than relatives, Mark 3:32-34 " 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers [a]are outside seeking You.”
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!"
Prov 18:24 "A man who has friends [a]must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
Prov 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
Blood is thicker than water Matt 7:6 "“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." Mark 6:10-11 "10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And [a]whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. [b]Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”" In person vs internet Quality over quantity (social media) Believers and non (different purpose) Zones Pressure to group us and put us against each other based on race, political beliefs I’m going to suggest you forget about those man-made categories and think of these zones: Work Church Neighborhood
| E Smile and listen L Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Titus 2:9-10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Titus%202:9-10&version=NKJV A * Ben LaCorte
- If you don't know an answer, it's OK to say you don't know, but it does so much to be prepared ahead of time while the soil is tilled.
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John Shirey * Each evening plan 2 or 3 things you want to accomplish the next day
What You'll Hear: From an early age, David and his wife wanted to do missions in a low tier country They worked in Africa, Central America and then after the 2010 Earthquake they went to Haiti to help and then went on to move to Haiti full-time They have a compound with a surgical clinic, a school, a church, a maternal health program, and a childhood Christian program. They meet physical needs of people first and then minister spiritually. This is what Jesus did and something we all can learn from Not everyone is called to long term missions. We're all called to share the Gospel and to help our neighbors. It's very stressful in Haiti partly due to lack of electricity and the increase in violence. Before you become a long term missionary you need to be sharing with your neighbors first. As an organization they have continued to lean on John 10:10 and how their purpose is to give life. In Haiti the effect of Satan is prevalent. There is Voodoo and a lot of death, including the assassination of the Haitian president this past week. Jesus left the security of heaven and lived as a poor man, very simply. Yet He gave life and gave lift abundantly. Their base manager was murdered. Two of their team members were kidnapped for 5 days. David's wife was attacked physically. The gangs have taken over the country and have developed into national gangs that fight in the streets. Haiti sealed their borders after Covid-19 broke out which prevented the spread. The country hasn't had access to vaccines and as the country has opened up there has been a big increase in Covid-19 cases. They feel like the end is near and that the Lord will come back soon. They left their comfortable life because they felt God was telling them that time was short and they needed to share the Gospel. Everything they own will fit into a small car and the joy they have is unspeakable. The Bible says to number our days and be aware that time is short. Divest yourself of material things and the pursuit of money. It's a terrible burden. The journey with the Lord is absolutely phenomenal. Go to www.LiveBeyond.org or buy his book Live Beyond on Amazon
S Before I get into Something that's on my heart today, I want to share something with you. I seriously considered these past 2 weeks changing this podcast to one that you need to pay for to listen to, through Patreon or Glow which partners with Libsyn the media host I use. I've been praying for a while now that God would confirm with me that I should continue doing the podcast and that he would also show me a way I could continue to produce it in a way that it would pay for itself as well as pay me something for the time I put into it. I'm trying to be a good steward of my personal resources and make sure that the time I put into the podcast is worth, because there's an opportunity cost with every choice we make. I have a full-time job but outside that job I spend on average 10 hours per episode, or 40 hours every month, which of course takes from time I could be spending with my family and other things at home. I have very low operating expenses for this podcast, about $500 per year, for 3 reasons. The first reason is I do everything. I don't do any outsourcing of the steps needed to plan, produce, edit and release episodes. The second reason my operating expenses are low is that I don't pay myself and never have. The third reason is that I don't spend any money on promotion or really anything other than producing episodes. I'm not complaining, I love doing this podcast, but I've come to a point where I need to find a way to produce some revenue. This past week was, I believe an answer to prayer. I received an order from a man named Jeremy for my book Jesus is at Work - Having Joy and Purpose at Your Current Job. As some of you know, I wrote and published this book through Tate Publishing. I had to pay $5,000 to Tate for their publishing and for the initial purchase of books. They didn't do really anything to sell the book and then the company went bankrupt and the leaders were arrested for fraud. You can Google this to confirm what I'm saying. The result is that I have a bunch of copies of my book sitting in my closet which aren't doing anyone any good and I'd love to sell them. If you appreciate the content on this podcast and have been blessed by it and want to support what I'm doing, please buy my book Jesus is at Work. Look it up on Amazon.com and you'll see it on sale for $15 from Spirit Led Men. That's me a 3rd party seller. If you buy it, I'll mail it to you and I'll get paid. In the future, I'll have some other ways you can support this podcast, but for now if you could do that it would help me and you will be blessed by the book as well. Lay Hold! Phil 3:12-14 "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Strongs G2638 katalambano " 1. to lay hold of so as to make one's own, to obtain, attain to, to make one's own, to take into one's self, appropriate 2. to seize upon, take possession of"
Last night watched Season 2 Episode 6 of "The Chosen" where Mary Magdalene did what Baptists would call back sliding. She was redeemed by Jesus but felt unworthy and went back to her old life of sin and wickedness before being sought out by 2 disciples and brought back to Jesus. It reminded me of something I learned this past year that salvation has 3 parts 1) Redemption 2) Sanctification 3) Glorification. Redemption occurs when we're born again. Glorification won't occur until our bodies are made perfect after we die or Jesus returns. Sanctification is what you might call "the messy middle". It also reminds me of another great passage from Philippians, chapter 2:11-13 where Paul says "12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." So in this messy middle we call the life of a Christian, or more specifically for our podcast the life of a Christian man in the workplace, we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, which for me means that we should take this very seriously and realize how incredibly important it is. God's will is NOT for us to sit back with confidence that our ticket to heaven has been bought and we should just live our life as we choose knowing we'll eventually be with Jesus in Heaven. Verse 14 says " Do all things without [d]complaining and disputing,[e] 15 that you may become blameless and [f]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world," Blameless does not mean perfect but rather that we are pursuing perfect obedience to God. In John 17:3 Jesus says "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Sanctification is the adventure of a lifetime, not a holding pattern until we die. It IS eternal life, knowing God now, here, while we are on earth. Both the Phillipians passages I've ready illustrate so well the mysterious way that God is actively involved in our lives, in our sanctification, while still expecting that we play a role in the process as well. We are to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of us. We are to work out our salvation because God works in us both to will and to do for our good pleasure. Do I fully comprehend that, no. Am I blown away by how cool it is, YES. We don't do good to be saved. We do good because we are saved. And remember salvation is redemption, sanctification, and glorification. Now I'd like to read to you the First Light devotion I got from Pastor Brian Biggers this morning that inspired me to talk about this topic for this Selah Episode. By the way, if you haven't signed up for his devotion I recommend you do it right away. For one thing, he just sent out an email last week indicating the church he's pastor of, Lambs Chapel, is seeking a new senior pastor because he's retiring, so go to tlcalive.com, go to the bottom where it says connect, and click on "First Light" "I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me." How I love this verse and the truth that it conveys! The words "lay hold" are "arrested" in our modern vernacular. I have been arrested a few times (none recently) and I assure you it can be a rather forceful event! The Bible states here that Jesus "arrested" those of us that follow Him. Just as a policeman pursues a criminal to arrest him Jesus pursued us relentlessly to make us His. "Arresters" don't ask, and they don't take no for an answer. How thankful I am that He pursued me and "arrested" me for Himself! But, notice the rest. This verse states that He "arrested" me for something, and I am to "arrest" that which He "arrested" me for. What is it that He "arrested" me for? Heaven? Absolutely! But what about now? His Word reveals the treasury of what He has promised when I am in His family. Holy Spirit power to live, love, be at peace, have hope in my heart, live joyously regardless of circumstances among other great gifts. He promises a life of adventure as I experience His activity in me and around me. He has promised great relationships that He has planned for me. The catalog of faith benefits is almost endless! Obvious question? If He has promised all this great stuff as a result of my "arrest" by Him, where is it? I am willing to be blessed, but I don't see the goods! Go back and read the rest of the verse. You will see that His promised blessings are not automatic, nor do they fall like ripe cherries on me as a believer. What does it say? I must "press on" and "lay hold" of what my heart longs for. A passive religious attitude will leave you blessingless! (it’s a word) I hear aggression in this great Word! I hear a man saying, "if Christ died to bless me then I will go after it until I get it". I may not know how but He don't lie, and I am not going to give up on what He has promised. Do not settle (hate that word) for a less that abundant life when He died to give you something much better! Have you resigned to "getting by"? May I appeal to you from scripture? Do you not think that He who created everything beautiful from the sunset to the coastal plain to the bluebird to the smile of a newborn cannot create a beautiful life? Quit wishing and go fishing! Quit existing and start dreaming again! Decide to "lay hold" of what He died to purchase for you!
Father, forgive me for living so “little” after you planned so big. I want everything I was “arrested” for! Lead me as I press on to lay hold of your promises. Every single one of them! E L He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! Proverbs 28:19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2028:19&version=NKJV A Ben LaCorte * Paul in Athens started with what they believed, and then pointed out the hole in their beliefs and filled it in with the true Gospel
H John Shirey * Tips - it's like gardening and weeding, do a little bit often rather than putting it off
What You'll Hear: Dave grew up in Ohio then began a career in the Federal Government in Wash DC In 1980 God pulled out the pins from under him. He asked what his purpose was. God granted Dave repentance and faith, and Dave was born again. The only Christian Dave knew was Chuck Colson. Chuck told him that God would make it clear to him what his will was for him Later Dave went to Seminary and pastored some churches and started WACMM Not only does God save us, He continues to save us. There's nothing that we can contribute, but all of our desires change. Life verse from John 13 "apart from Me, you can do nothing" Sign up for their email by going to www.WACMM.org and signing up Genesis 3, as human beings we "messed the nest". The first Adam was passive and isolated himself by blaming others. The second Adam was the opposite of being isolated and passive. A life of passivity leads to an avoidance of courageous decisions. Both isolation and passivity has been exaggerated with Covid. The Devil draws men into pornography, idolatry, and boredom. We're in a whole dress rehearsal for heaven He's given us freedom in Christ, why would we want to go back The life of Jesus was an engaged, active life Matthew 11:29 was the only time when Jesus talks about His heart, and He said His heart is gentle and meek We are on display to the world We should all be optimistic because we know how this thing is going to end Break 1:30:28 - Next we'll talk about political idolatry We've always had this issue, it boils down to who do we trust and who do we treasure. Psalm 146:3-6 Our hope has never come and never will come on Air Force One. That doesn't mean we should drop out and be ignorant of the culture. We should be men of Issachar, who discerned the times, but our allegiance is to the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see we're spending more and more time on politics that's a warning sign. We should pray for government leaders even when there's no evidence of godly wisdom. We worry about political power, when we have access to supernatural power that transforms lives Caution: Be mindful of your witness when engaging in political conversation. Don't say things in a way that would alienate someone who is an unbeliever, as well as believers. We live in a pagan culture and the Gospel is under attack. Be encouraged. God is Sovereign. Be in prayer and be in community.
S Lessons from Rocky (spoiler alert). I was 7 years old when both Rocky and Star Wars came out. We rarely went to the theater and this had some swearing so I didn’t see this in the theater but the VCR and ability to rent movies came out soon after that so I watched this movie along with all the sequels and actually Rocky 4 was the only movie for which I stood in line at midnight to see the premier. I would say that the Rocky, Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises where the most impactful for me growing up in the 80’s and of the 3 I think the Rocky series has the most positive lessons we can glean especially as men. I recently took my youngest daughter to the biggest library in our area and while I was there I checked out the first Rocky movie. As a side note just telling my daughter about Rocky got me excited about it and After playing the main theme song “Gonna Fly Now” Which she didn’t realize was from Rocky, I decided to look up trumpets on Craigslist and went and bought a used one. I haven’t played since college and I’ll going to pick it up again starting with learning the Rocky theme song. Interesting facts about Rocky (turndowns, awards, success). 1. Put your work under Christ (2 main references, opening scene shows picture of Christ then pans down to Rocky in a boxing match, other when he makes a cross sign at the opening bell for his Championship match with Apollo Creed 2. Gentleness with your lady - Rocky and Adrian actually lived together during the latter part of the movie. We don’t know if they slept together or not. On the positive side Rocky is gentle and caring and encouraging toward Adrian, he compliments her, jokes with her but not in a sarcastic or critical way, he’s vulnerable with her sharing his feelings, and he apologized to her right away when he’s tired one evening and was a little short with her. Also at his moment of semi-victory at the end going through distance with Apollo rather than basking in the limelight he only wants to see Adrian, tell her he loves her and share the moment with her. 3. Mentoring - great scene in beginning when he sees a teenage girl hanging out with the wrong crowd and acting poorly. He walks her home and gives her some words of wisdom. She actually disrespects him after his speech and it kind of adds to the sad stage set in the beginning where Rocky is feeling rejected and like a failure, but I Like to focus on the fact that he took the time to pour into a younger person as our lesson 4. Value and Respect Authority - when Micky came to offer and ask to be a Rocky’s manager he rejected him out of spite because how Micky had rejected Rocky but within moments apologized and agreed. He was wise not to train for the fight alone, recognizing the experience Micky had, and not letting pride prevent that choice 5. Work Hard - both a negative and positive lessons. He took the easy and immoral route acting as a tough guy debt collector for a loan shark, kind of Matthew from the Bible type. On the positive side his 5 weeks of hard work and training for The fight and his no quit attitude going the full 15 rounds with the Champ pain and exhaustion is one of the most vivid and inspiring examples of persistent hard work I can think of. 6. How to Not be a Bum - toward the end of the movie he tells his girlfriend that he doesn’t think he can win but if he can just go all 15 rounds he will have proven he’s not a bum. As Christians we need to realize we’re all bums to begin, meaning sinners but that the only way to lose that title is by accepting the free gift paid for by the blood of Jesus, not by anything we accomplish.
E This week E is for end times. I want to share with you video called "100% Proof of End Times " by TruthUnedited. It's over 3 years old but everything that's happened since this video was produced only add to its arguments. 1 - Evil is now good 2 - United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3 - Bitcoin and the Mark of the Beast 4 - One World Religion 5 - The Fight for Jersusalem and the Third Temple 6 - The U.S. Economy is Collapsing 7 - The Trade War and the Collapse of the U.S. Dollar 8 - The Wealthy are All Preparing for a Global Catastrophie 9 - The World is Desperate for New Leadership 10 - World on Edge for World War 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpHViFdHTTw&t=598s L Proverbs 10:4 NKJV "He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich." A * Ben Lacorte
* Ask them "is that really what you believe?"
H - John Shirey - Time Management * The ultimate goal is to glorify God in the things we do.
What You'll Hear: Lance grew up in Sonoma County, CA, a very liberal progressive area He was in a frat house at Oregon State, then a semester later Lance got saved after hearing the Gospel and asking a lot of questions He got a full scholarship to play baseball at The Masters College in Southern CA, a very conservative school The Masters is part of John McArthur's ministry He went to the Masters Seminary and start dating his future wife Jill after praying for that in a prayer class Sonoma County is north San Francisco and is actually more progressive than San Francisco. In Trump's first election Sonoma was the only county that voted for Bernie Sanders in the primaries He became a college/career pastor at Santa Rosa Church in Sonoma County. They started a ministry at the Santa Rosa Junior College campus. Their ministry was called LOC (Life on Campus) and had to change their name because there was already an LOC (Lesbians on Campus) 95% of the people on campus didn't know the Gospel Christians there are like gnarly trees on the top of mountains, you need good roots and foundation The tribulation will come for Christians but the main thing is that we have the Lord Tim Keller is proficient in the scriptures and he studied C.S. Lewis With LGBT issues, God is a designer and there's right and wrong. Living right is doing it the way God our creator says to do it. The Gospel is like getting a ticket to a supermall with all God's blessings and goodness The Gospel is going to be an offense, so there always will be a conflict there Sometimes people are afraid to share the Gospel because they think they're going to get into an argument With Social Media, you are the market We need to have gentleness and respect and to let our speech filled with grace, and seasoned with salt It's easy to throw big grenades across the Facebook page. He tries to be gracious and witty publicly and then send them a private message to talk further Check out a Netflix movie "The Social Dilemma", good especially for young people Try to look at different new sources and listen to what people are saying Sonoma County is one of the least churched county, only 2% go to church They have a group of pastors from different denominations that meet regularly. The local government officials see them as a united group and reaches out to them Francis Chan is coming out with a book on unity and has perhaps gone too far and embracing fringe ideas You can't be faithful to Christ and have a universalist view, you're just making up your own religion at that point There are very few Jewish people and Muslims in Northern California. There are a lot of Mormons and JW's. Buddhism is the #1 religion in Sonoma County. Contact at www.FirstBaptistWindsor.org or on Social Media Pray for them and come out if you're mission oriented
S I felt like my last Selah episode 47 didn't fully address the issue of being extreme and wanted to share some additional thoughts. I'm not retracting anything I said, and hopefully I don't contradict what I said, but rather expand on the topic. Last week, I said that generally living in moderation is what we should strive for, with the only possible exception being living out our faith, and in that part or our lives we should be extreme. I'd like to start this episode by defining the term extreme, since it can mean different things to different people and with different contexts. One definition from Dictionary.com is "of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average" With that as a reference, here are some things I don't mean by being extreme about our faith. First, I don't meant that you're vomiting religion, i.e. every sentence that comes out of your mouth contains something overtly spiritual or religious, like "Praise the Lord", or "God is good" or "Amen". Second, it doesn't mean that you've accumulated more works or good deeds than the average Christian. Third, it doesn't mean that you intentionally pursue conflict with others over your faith. These 3 things could be a fruit or result of being extreme the way I'm recommending we be, but they don't inherently make us extreme, they may just make us offensive. Here are a few passages to ponder on concerning a "godly life". Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love [d]mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?" 1 Thess 4:11-12 "that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing." Prov 17:11 "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife." Isaiah 30:15 "For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”" Isaiah 32:17 "The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." That sounds like a good life, doesn't it? Matt 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [f]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." These passages all sound like a wonderful life, this Christianity, don't they? You might even be inclined they don't expect much from us, but just to believe and wait for heaven or the rapture whatever comes first. Let's look at a few more passages: But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Matt 19:29-30 "29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother [a]or wife or children or [b]lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first" Luke 14:26-27 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matt 7:13-14 "“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Here's another powerful passage from the Sermon on the Mount describing the narrow way Matt 5:38-44 "“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 [o]But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you These passages which seem to be somewhere between unreasonable and very difficult, may seem like a different life than the first batch of passages which included an easy yoke and a light burden, but I believe they are 2 sides of the same coin. In all these passages, Jesus is calling us to a life that clearly fits the definition of extreme we discussed earlier "of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average". That's because average in our world is following Satan because he is the ruler of this world. Just as God wanted Israel to be set apart, or holy, as a nation, we are to be set apart, ambassadors in a world that is not our own. You may have heard it said that following Jesus requires nothing on our part, and at the same time requires everything. I agree with that statement, even if it's not a direct quote from the Bible. Here's a passage that eludes to that, Galatians 5:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." What I believe all these passages describe is a life centered on and submitted to Christ. 1 Cor 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." I can honestly say I've loved doing every one of the interviews on this podcast. I love hearing different faith journeys and different personalities and approaches to walking out being a follower of Jesus and I continue to be humbled and inspired by the faith and commitment of everyone I've interviewed. Two of the men I've spoken with really struck me as having found peace in being totally submitted to Christ and incorporating their faith into every aspect of their lives. One is Jason Davis and the other Cam Arnett. One of my questions I had for Cam was how he split up his time between reading the Bible vs. entertainment like watching movies. His response was basically that he didn't think of life that way, and that everything he did was about loving and glorifying God. To me that is extreme in a very positive way, and while I can't honestly relate to that, I want that kind of life and that kind of faith. Before I leave this discussion, I wanted to also comment on the issue of uncovering the Mysteries of God. We had a discussion at our church recently about Kaballah and basically that it is a Jewish pursuit of mysticism and something to be avoided. It got me thinking that sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking that being a hard-core Christian is about seeking and knowing the mysteries of God. I believe God leaves plenty in His word for us to dig deep if we desire to and He is pleased by this. For those of you who have studied the teachings of the late Chuck Missler, you know he is a great example of someone with a passion for God. He is also someone who believed that studying God's word can lead to some fascinating discoveries including codes and nuggets in the Bible that leave you appreciating that the Bible is not just another book and Christianity is not just another religion. I also believe that God's will is not for us to unlock all His secrets and that just as with Eve, Satan can tempt us by a constant pursuit of knowing what God knows. God wants us to be humbled by the fact that He is God and we are not and that we will never on this earth, limited by our humanity and by the fallen nature of this world we live in, know what God knows. Deut 29:29 NKJV says "29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." I think some red flags in this area include any kind of pride we may take in knowing something spiritual that others do not and spending more time pursuing mysteries through non-Biblical sources. Now, am I saying we should not seek to know everything God wants us to know in His word and to live out what the Bible says and not traditions of men? Absolutely not. note the 2nd part of that verse "those things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law." That gets me back to my original assertion that moderation is a virtue. We can err in one direction by being spiritually lazy, thinking of our faith as a ticket to heaven and to just enjoy ourselves and our personal pursuits while on earth. And we can err in the other direction and be a prideful believer who compares ourselves with others, following the law but not the spirit of the law. Rather we are to worship in spirit and truth, and by doing so we will be radical and extreme by the world's standards. E Young man came out to inspect our house to give a quote on installing a vapor barrier in our crawl space. My wife asked "so we won't have to worry about any mold or moisture issues once this is installed". I don't remember his exact words in response, but basically he said that wouldn't promise that but rather that this would help. He and I had a brief discussion before this which convinced me he was a believer in Jesus Christ and it just struck me that this was a high integrity way of selling his product and a good example of faith at work. I wanted to also mention a resource, Follower of One. A friend shared it with me and it's a way to interact with others on the topic of faith at work. L The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their gray head. Proverbs 20:29 NKJV This is just a reminder that whether we are in the beginning of our work career, toward the end, or somewhere in-between, we all have value and something to offer in our work glorifying God. A 1. see TruthUnedited.com History of Religion Series ep#62 is about Roman Catholicism. I've got a link in the shownotes but I thought I would take a break from going through tips from Ben LaCorte
2. https://truthunedited.com/videos/history-of-religion-part-62-understanding-the-roman-catholic-church/
N Catholicism-make a list of the items he goes over from the Catechism, short list and make sure your friend realizes this
H-John Shirey-Time Management Saw a meme recently. Fit is hard, fat is hard. You choose. Self-imposed captivity can free you.
S There's been a lot of talk about extremism in our political and cultural landscape. Basically, each side (whichever side of an issue or identity we're considering) is more and more calling those who disagree with them "extreme" as a pejorative term or as a way to criticise, minimalize or belittle someone. In many ways I've been learning that a moderated approach to life is best especially when being too committed and energized by something becomes an idol for us. I believe there is one exception to this rule of moderation, and that is when it comes to our faith. We will be increasingly pressured to be more "tolerant" of other spiritual beliefs and to acknowledge and agree with the idea that all spiritual beliefs and moral ideas are equivalent. Or we'll be pressured to just lighten up and not making everything about religion, or to keep compartmentalize our lives and keep religion out of other areas of our lives including our work. I've been listening to the Screwtape Letters, a book written by C.S. Lewis in the 1940's. The book is fictional series of letters from Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood. They are demons, agents of Satan and the discussion is about how Wormwood can be more effective at drawing his human away from God and toward Satan. In Chapter 9, Screwtape says "a moderated religion is as good to us as no religion at all" So, make sure you're following the Bible and not doctrines of men, but if you are then don't listen to those who say you're too extreme about your religion. I think a recent devotion from Brian Bigger speaks to this issue so I'd like to share it with you. From 5/12
| Decisive People How long will you waffle between two choices? If the Lord is God then follow Him! 1 Kings 18:21 Indecisiveness gets people killed. Physically and spiritually. To "waffle" is to stand between two paths and struggle to make a decision firmly and then go in that direction. It killed Ahab, the king of Israel. He wanted to follow God, but he wanted to live in sexual immorality more. Caught in a tug of war he could not choose decisively and was destroyed. Ananias wanted to serve God and be a part of what He was doing in the earth, but he wanted to serve money more. His waffling killed him. John Mark wanted to be a missionary and experience the adventure of taking the gospel to people, but his fear paralyzed him. He couldn't choose between following God and trusting Him to protect him and playing it safe and protecting himself. It cost him. The landscape of history is littered with stories of missed opportunities, failed adventures, destroyed homes, churches and nations because people could not make a firm decision and stick with it. God calls His people to be decisive people. We need to make up our minds that when the choice arrives to decide between two paths, we will without hesitation choose to obey God and follow what the Bible says to do. End of discussion. If I have to choose between forgiveness and bitterness, the decision is already made. "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord". Don't need time to think about it. If I am at the crossroads of truth or lying, the decision is made. Same goes for anything else that is clearly defined as God's will in His Word. The enemy of our souls is constantly calling us to tarry between right and wrong. "Think about it", he whispers as he makes the wrong decision look so appealing. There is one response to "waffling between two opinions". "Follow me". Once I have made the ultimate decision to follow Jesus in everything, life becomes very simple. And wonderful.
Father, I have decided to follow your Son. Period. |
E See Al Mohler 5/19 L John 9:4 NKJV "4 I[a] must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work." A From Ben LaCorte * It helps to know a bit about their belief system in advance. You have to ask questions, but you can narrow down your questions with some knowledge.
H - John Shirey - Time Management * You need to set goals. This will help you realize when you're doing something unimportant. Train yourself so that you can be set free.
What You'll Hear: Tricia got saved when she was 5 after a conversation with her Mom about everyone was not going to go to heaven. This occurred after her parents rededicated their lives. In her teen years, she wondered if that decision had been sincere, she told her parents and they nailed it down at that point. First professional job was as an RN as a director of home care. She got her Masters in Nursing and taught nursing part-time while raising children. She pursued apologetics to confirm her own beliefs, then after moving to NC taught apologetics at a high school and decided to get her PhD. We need apologetics today because people don't just accept the Bible as an authority. Apologetics is pre-evangelism. You can start with the Gospel and work your way back or start with basic realities and work toward the Gospel. Apologetics is not apologizing, it means to offer a defense, reasons for why we believe what we believe. Apologetics is not the Gospel. The Gospel is the point, but apologetics is a good tool. We can't argue someone into faith, but we can break down the blocks they have keeping them from receiving the Gospel. We can have confidence because we're on the side of truth (NOT truth is on our side because we were the ones that had to move). I don't have to convert someone, that is the job of the Holy Spirit. Success is ours whenever we obey Him and obey the call. Break 16:00 - Next practical Tips for Apologetics in general and specifically at work First, check out heart and make sure we love the person, regardless what decision they make. Second, meet them at their point of need. Most people aren't even thinking about spiritual issues and are just dealing with life. What are their resources that they're using to deal with their heartache. You can just say "may I pray for you about that". Third, keep the main thing the main thing. Get back to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Fourth, be prepared and willing to no do this perfectly. Fifth, intentionally decide how we're going to get the knowledge we need to be prepared. Listen to the podcast "Cross Examined with Frank Turek" and "Standing to Reason" with Greg Koukl. For the workplace, you don't have a lot of time. What is something I could share in 1 minute, or 5 minutes, or in response to certain issues like why evil occurs. It might be our job to just put a stone in their shoe. Consider the thing you work hardest at, and be willing to work that hard. Break 2: 29:18 - Next talk about 3 questions to answer when talking to an Atheist First is the issue of Truth. To say that truth doesn't exist is self-defeating. Second is there a God and what kind of God. Why is it that contingent beings exist? We can use science. How can God exist and evil exist. Third, Jesus Christ is the remedy. God in the flesh came and stood in our place so that we could have restored relationship with God and eternal life. Why do we believe we have what the NT writers wrote? This is the classical approach to apologetics. Different people have different points of connection, so over time we may come at this different ways. Try saying "maybe I'm not explaining that very well" and then try a different approach. Stick with it. That's part of being a Christian and not giving up on people, as long as they give us permission to do so. Say "that's a good question, let's think that through" A lot of people have a smorgasbord belief, they make their own religion. You can ask them "wouldn't you like to know that's true?" Break 3: 49:11 - Next we'll ask Tricia some questions she has unique insight into, including making a big change late in life and how we as men can support our wives. If you or your spouse has dementia, remember that God is with you and for you, learn what you can moment by moment. Don't be afraid to take on a big challenge later in life, particularly learning apologetics. Leverage your wisdom and life experience. Focus on the process not the end result. The learning will keep your mind sharp. It's worth it, go out in a flame living for Christ rather than fizzling out. You don't have to go back to school but you can determine to be a life long learner. Women and men are made different. Women carry life and nurture life. They're all about relationships. Go to www.ImpactApologetics.com for the Lifegivers Apologetics book. contact triciaspeaks@yahoo.com Alicia Childers has a good podcast, also Momma Bear Apologetics As a husband, affirm what you can for your wife based on that season of life. Don't over-focus on ministry when you're younger at the expense of family. Don't expect your spouse to meet your deepest needs. They will fail us. The Lord knows our deepest needs better than we can define them. Ask for forgiveness when we're wrong.
S I have a couple devotions I want to share with you on the topic of friendship but first I want to share you some of my thoughts. I was recently contacted by David Smith who I interviewed in episode 86 about his book “Who’s Got Your Back” about the importance of friendships for men. He was very concerned as I am about the negative this pandemic has had on men due to the fact that men aren’t meeting together in friendship and are very isolated. David and I are working on scheduling a conversation on this topic for a future podcast. I’ve been working from home primarily but recently was able to catch up in person with a friend and he opened up to me and asked me to pray for something going on in his life. It occurred to me that would not have happened on the phone or on a Zoom call. I’m working with the leaders at my church to have a one day men’s retreat at my home later this summer because I know how much men need this. They need to physically get together with other men who are believers in Christ. My wife and I just heard a presentation at our church about the Alpha project. The purpose of this is to invite unbelievers to your home to go through a video series about the big questions of life and to have safe nonjudgmental conversations. We plan to lead an Alpha group and to start our invitation list with our neighbors. I believe we are in the end times and I believe all of us desperately need solid, real, meaningful relationships in a few key areas. First we need to be close to God. For those of that are married we need to be close to our wives. We need to be close to a few brothers in Christ and finally we need to have friendships with unbelievers that will lead to increasing their awareness of Christ and coming to salvation. Each of these relationships are unique but they all share at least one thing in common: none of them happen by accident. They require intentional, ongoing persistent action on our part. I want to challenge you to think about each of these critical relationships: God, your wife, your brothers in Christ and unbelievers in your life. What is the current status of these relationships for you? What is God calling you to do to improve on these? And finally, take a moment to ponder on what these could look like, how your life, the lives of these other people and those affected by your relationships would be different if each of these relationships were better, were more closely in line with Gods will. And think about how, when you see each of these people in heaven, might that meeting be different as a result of changes you make now while here on earth. Ok, now I want to share with you 2 devotions on this topic from some familiar sources. The first Is from Brian Biggers From Lambs Chapel In Burlington, NC, found at tlcalive.com. The second is from Justin Camps Wire devotional for men, found at wire for men.com The Power of Friendship As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17 There are very few things as dear as a true friend. The kind you can talk openly to, you can call at any time for help and you truly enjoy being around. Genuine friendship is one of the greatest gifts God ever gave us. However, as good as all of those benefits are, it is in this verse that we find the true God given purpose of friendship. The Divine purpose of a friend is to "sharpen us". The picture in this verse hearkens back to a day gone by when a man would use two swords to sharpen each other. He would place the blades at an appropriate angle against one another and then he would slide blade against blade to sharpen them both. They needed each other to do for each other what they could not do by themselves. A blade cannot sharpen itself. Rare is the person that can grow spiritually, relationally, mentally and morally all by themselves. Our creator so designed us that we need other people to press us on to our destiny in Him. A friend that refuses to sharpen you, one that will never confront you over issues that need to be dealt with in your life is no friend at all. If someone refuses to "do surgery" on you where it is needed, find you another friend. The Bible says that "faithful are the wounds of a friend". When Dr. Graham told me that I had cancer on my neck and that she was going to cut it out, I didn't get offended at her and distance myself from her. I knew she was going to hurt me in order to help me. That is a true friend. They love you too much to let a cancer of hatred, bitterness, selfishness, addiction or anything else destructive to go unchallenged in you. Do you have a true friend like that? It might be a spouse, a child, a coworker or a neighbor. But, blessed is one who has a true friend that cares more about you and your family's wellbeing than about never offending you. Receive their sharpening! Two swords that will never grind against one another are useless to sharpen. However, two swords that come at each other head on will not sharpen either. They will destroy each other. A true friend has only one goal in confrontation. That is the wellbeing of you and your family. There is no desire to inflict pain just to watch you suffer. Today many "friendships" are toxic. They actually leave people worse for the relationship. I would encourage you to distance yourself from people that do not "sharpen you", rather they have a detrimental effect on you. A "friend" that is not causing you to grow in grace is a poor investment of your valuable time and emotional energy. The Bible is very clear that a friend will make you a better person for being in that relationship. Have the courage to invest your life in a few close friends that are going where you want to go in life and become "iron sharpening iron" to one another. We may have many acquaintances in our journey, but we really need one or two true friends that will cause us to be much better people because our paths crossed. Pray that God will give you such a friend. Pray that God will make you such a friend.
Father, I thank you for the people that you have placed around me that have made me better by the relationship. Let me be to someone the "iron" that they need to be who you created them to be.
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| With Whom Do You Gather? |
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| For where two or three are gathered . . . there am I among them—Matthew 18:20 |
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| We men often find it hard to gather with other men in Christian community. Calendars are full: “I just don’t have time for one more thing.” Pride is high: “I’m good . . . I’m doing fine on my own.” Aversion to vulnerability is strong: “Oh, man . . . I’m just not that good at opening up.” If we are followers of our King, Jesus Christ, though, we must gather—“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:25). But . . . why? Why is community so important for men? Well, a couple reasons. “Two are better than one,” Scripture tells us—we are stronger, less vulnerable, together(Ecclesiastes 4:9). “For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:10). Even more important, though, Jesus tells us that he is uniquely present when we gather in his name (Matthew 18:20). You see, God the Holy Spirit dwells within each follower of Jesus. (John 14:17) Therefore, when we gather, the power of the Spirit flows from one to another and back. When we gather, the work of God is done: confessions are made; sins are repented; love and compassion are expressed; hearts are healed; encouragement is given; lives are transformed. Men are lifted up, up out of sin and rebellion, into life and identity and calling. Work is done that just cannot be done in isolation. |
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E Demario at Lowe’s who loaded up some topsoil in my vehicle. I was feeling kind of guilty for watching him load my car and so started thanking him and joking saying I would do the work on the other end and he said “all work is good Sir” L So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” Luke 3:10-14 A From Ben LaCorte * Ask questions. See book "Tactics" by Greg Koukl. He says to leave a stone in their shoe.
H - John Shirey - Time Management * Stephen Covey's book "First Things First" talked about everything we do is in 1 of 4 quadrants, either urgent or not urgent and important or not important. Quadrant 1, important and urgent needs to be managed. Quadrant 2, important and not urgent, is where we should spend most of our time. Quadrant 3, urgent and not important you want to avoid and learn to say no. Quadrant, not urgent and not important should be minimized.
What You'll Hear: Grew up in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere Family called themselves Christian, but they had voodoo practices and beliefs as well It is man's natural state to be supernatural His mother made it a practice to speak to him from the book of Proverbs In his late 20's, in New York, he found himself in a temptation and thought of Proverbs 5 and ran out He said to God he'd give Him 5 years to prove Himself and it didn't take 5 minutes, "it took, a change and conversion happened" In addition to redemption, sanctification, we also have restoration, we're meant to be Jesus in our skin, and then we go through glorification and are perfect in all our ways Jesus came to make an exchange, life for life. He took our sins and gave us His life. The intent of the Father is that we replicate the heaven which we're from. As Jesus walked about, whenever he saw something that didn't look like heaven, He spoke a word to it and transformed it. We are to be the same. Our surroundings should get better while the world is getting worse First job was out of high school, working as a cashier for Arby's Restaurant, where he also first experienced racism in the workplace. They gave a math test to black people, not white people. He was fired when he questioned this. When he went to school in the U.S. he first got the idea that a black man can't be president, at that time. He went to the Univ of Miami as a pre-med/pre-law student with an athletic and academic scholarship. During the summer he was looking for something fun to do and answered an ad for acting/modeling and did very well. We have a tendency to ask God "what do you want me to do?" as opposed to "who do you want me to be?" Break 24:49 - next talk about pivotal event in his career and how it led to hardship and then to unexpected blessings Cam was offered a great starring role in his own series, but he was asked to do partial body nudity. Cam said no. They offered for him to have a body double, but he realized he couldn't do that either. He lost everything, was bankrupt and by himself. He left California to Atlanta, got remarried, and went into full-time ministry. The standard when we become saved is way beyond "the line". We shouldn't be close to the line. We are saved and redeemed from the law. Jesus fulfilled this. Because we are in Him, we fulfill it out of love, respect, and honor. There are still consequences of doing the wrong thing. He had a recurring dream that led to his wife speaking to someone that resulted in Cam getting another acting role that was a fulfillment of the dream God was giving him. After success with that role, he has since been in 24+ films in 7 years and hardly ever had to even audition. He is no longer attached to acting, he's attached to Christ and whatever is in Christ for him. Break 2 - 38:39 - Next talk about powerful lessons we can learn from the movie "Overcomer" and the character Cam played You can't condemn yourself. Every passes through the same way. We are all needing a Savior. The Father sent His Son to cleanse us. You are forgiven. Throw your sin away and let God make that real to you. Don't regret, don't let regret overtake you, don't let regret overwhelm you. We don't make things happen, we receive what has happened. It is God's pleasure to give us the Kingdom. Don't try to make an impact. Be a Christ man, whatever we're doing, and the impact that God desires will be made. Life itself is orchestrated by Him. All you have to do is answer every situation like Christ would. When bad things happen, think of the Garden of Eden. We were never to eat of that tree. We end up trying to figure out whether things are good or bad but we're not meant to do that. All He wanted us to know was to know Him. Our job is to read the word, hear form the Holy Spirit and obey. The meaning of entertainment is to captivate the mind, to take over your perspective. Every film you watch should allow you to take on characteristics that would honor God as a whole. Don't watch films that agitate our inner man, that disturbs your inner core. Don't compartmentalize your life. Your leisure and entertainment as well as reading is spent in a way that pleases God. Your life is no longer your own. The One who has purchased your life is the One who dictates how you live your life. Go to www.CameronArnett.com facebook and instagram - cameronarnettactor Treasure Lies and Discarded Things Make your plan to be a son of the father, enter into His rest, find your identity in Christ, give yourselves to Him, hearing and obeying
S Don’t give up, You can Change! In past talked about Gods mercies regardless what sin we’ve committed. I've been thinking lately about God's mercies not just in terms of our sins of commission, but also of our sins of omission, the good, god-pleasing things we don't do. I was going to simply title this talk "Don't give up!", I didn't record it last night and then this morning I received a First Light devotion from Brother Brian Biggers titled "You can Change" and believed God wanted me to add Brian's thoughts to this message, so my new title is "Don't give up, you can change!" Recently we were meeting in our Messianic church to celebrate the new moon for the month Ayar. In the Torah God commanded that His people observe times and seasons, including the weekly Sabbath, the new moon, and His 7 feasts throughout the year. It seems to me this serves multiple purposes. For one thing, it reminds us we are His people and it keeps us fixed on Him, living our life connected to Him not apart from Him. In In Dueteronomy and Nehemiah God commands us to observe and keep the Sabbath, but in Exodus 20:8 He says "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy". Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV says "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." Lev 19:1-2 says "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." God wants us to be holy, because He is holy. He's promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He gave his only Son to pay the penalty for our sins and He gave us the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us in our walk of sanctification. We are not under the law in the sense that we must obey the commandments to earn salvation. Jesus took care of that once and for all. But Jesus if you love me, keep my commandments, so we show our love to God by keeping His commandments and living a life that pleases Him. So the application of this is the same for all of us in some ways, and very different in other ways. We all have the same Bible and through it can learn of God's commandments which are for all of us. Yet our journeys are unique in so many ways, and so there are so many things that God is leading us individually toward for a life of abundance as He defines abundance, a life of peace and purpose, surrendered to Him. I'm going to share how I feel this applies to me and my life in the hope that it may spark some awareness in you of what God is calling you to, or calling you to return to something you've left or stopped doing. I recently finished my class in Hebrew. Now I have to wait a while before the next class is available. But I don't have to wait. I can occasionally review what I learned to keep it fresh and so I can start to apply it now rather than waiting until I learn more. This falls under the "Use it or lose it" axiom. This certainly applies to our work. I learned the basics of AutoCAD a year or so ago, which is an amazing program that allows you to create drawings. I haven't used it in a while and so I've been thinking about how I can use that in one of my projects, even if it's not essential at this time but in order to keep my skills sharp. How about marriage and relationship skills. How many of us have read a book or heard a sermon on marriage and then forgotten it because we didn't apply it. Through Covid I've gotten away from dating my wife and am going to change that. I spoke in the last Selah episode about a talk I heard on Evangelizing and how I had gotten out of the habit or handing out tracts or really any significant evangelism. Don't give up, you can change! I used to listen a lot to Dan Mohler and hadn't done so in a quite a while, but recently listened to one of his messages. Some key messages he shared where that God doesn’t want to just save you He wants to transform you, no one owes you anything, forget about your rights, hurt for people rather than be hurt by people, pray for your boss not about your boss, wake up every day and shine, don’t try to NOT sin but rather be like Jesus. These are just life transforming ideas that I was fired up about in the past but had forgotten about. It's a reminder that life transforming ideas don't transform unless you put them into action. Another habit is memorizing scripture. I was reminded about this in a recent interview with Tom Meyer the Bible Memory Man. It reminded me how I've gotten out of the habit of memorizing scripture. A good daily habit which will also help you understand what God thinks about which habits and behaviors are good and bad is to read the book of Proverbs daily. How about parenting your kids? I recently took my youngest daughter out to pick out a purity ring and take her to dinner, a tradition I began with my first 2 daughters. With the first 2 I honestly didn’t prepare well and didn’t have anything profound to say. This time I memorized the speech from the movie Courageous since I didn’t think I could improve on it. I’ll add a link to the video clip in the show notes. I cry whenever I watch it if I haven’t seen it in a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w__jZbXYwCg OK, that's it for my thoughts on this topic, now I want to share with you this great devotion from Pastor Brian Biggers from Lamb's Chapel in Burlington, NC. To sign up for this devotion go to www.TLCAlive.com
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| You Can Change No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will be wasted and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins and both will be preserved. And no one having tasted the old immediately desires the new for he says, "the old is better". Luke 5:37-39 This passage has nothing to do with wine. It is dealing with the attitudes of people and their willingness to change for the better. Our unwillingness to change even when we know it will be for the better is portrayed as an "old wineskin". When wineskins get old, they begin to stiffen and harden. They become resistant to change. They become crotchety and stubborn. Since new wine is still expanding as it ferments, the skin must be flexible enough to change with the shape that the wine demands. I've even met some "old wineskins" that are proud of their "hardness". People that are content to stay right where they are until they croak! You may wonder what's wrong with being stuck in the fifty's? One problem. The God of heaven is always (and I mean always) wanting to do a "new thing" in you. Contrary to religious thinking in this country, the God of the Bible is always working to take you from "glory to glory". He is always orchestrating the details of your life to move you into a greater revelation of His Son in you and for you to become a greater revelation of His Son in the earth! Wine in the Bible always refers to the Holy Spirit. It is His Spirit that is always expanding His presence in my heart to change me more and more into what I was created to be which is a reflection of Christ to His world. To demand to stay like you are, where you are and always be who you are now is comfortable, easy, familiar and painless. It is also deadly! "No one puts new wine in old skins". Want to take a guess at the spiritual revelation? God stops working in lives that become stiff and set, refusing to change. He won't waste His precious Spirit on lives and churches that are stuck in the past refusing to change and grow into His likeness. High price to pay for being stiff and unbendable before His Spirit. The good news? New wine MUST be put in new wineskins! The heart that is pliable in His great hand and willing to be shaped and molded by Him will always experience God at work to bring them into His best plan for them! Change is uncomfortable. It is inconvenient. It can be humbling! But the result is wonderful! Our Father has promised to work in our lives to keep bringing us to greater levels of glory by His Spirit. New experiences of His joyous plans in us constantly. My part is to be willing to overlook the discomfort that comes with change as God keeps moving me toward His ultimate great plan for me! The slight pain is very much worth the glorious gain! Let me admonish you, especially those of you who are "well down the road" since age and stiff seem to go together, that you will always be willing to be pliable in His hand and be ready for any change He wants to make in you for the greater glory!
Father, I don't want to become an old wineskin that you have to shelve because I would not adapt to what you are doing today. I will gladly give up yesterday's good for today's greater! |
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End Times (Eschotology) Nelson Walters Youtube Channel to help give you insight into how prophecy may be playing out today. One video in particular is titled "How the 7 Feasts of the Lord will be fulfilled in the Tribulation" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1KtyFQ0V4Y L ... I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:22b - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Corinthians%209:22&version=NKJV We work with all types of people in our work place. Learn to listen to others at work, and adapt yourself to their style and what's important and interesting to them. You can do this without sinning and without compromising the Gospel A - Apologetics-Something to say if topic comes up about getting grey hair: "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness." or if you're not quite that bold maybe just the first half "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory". It will probably take them back since they probably never heard someone say that and they may wonder where you got that from, and they may ask. Proverbs 16:31 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%2016:31&version=NKJV From Ben LaCorte * No-one can refute your testimony, and you're sharing something deep-rooted in yourselves, and it's a real-life true story.
H - John Shirey - Time Management * The rule of 13 divides the week into 21 time periods and says if you're committed to more than 13 of those time periods you're too busy. That's bondage, captivity. You have no time for spontaneity, to relax, time with your family. If you don't have that bondage, you have more freedom to be creative and to respond to opportunities.
What You'll Hear: Larry was raised Catholic, but at age 13 was invited to a Protestant youth retreat where someone showed him the Gospel going through the Bible and Larry was saved Larry and his wife had their first child Linley, who as an infant had an incident while in doctoral care that resulted in her having challenges throughout her life. Larry became very angry at God but then read John 9 where Jesus says that the blind man was blind so the God's glory could be shown. Larry realized God had a different plan than he did. Larry realized he was not in control and that he had been too self reliant and self-centered. Larry's first job was working for his Dad's construction company Larry went to school for Engineering and then went to Law School and worked for Baker Hughes where he was mentored by Jim Woods Jim would ask questions in a way that would lead you to your own right answer Break around 27:38 In Matt 25:20-28, Jesus described servant leadership as opposed to the typical top-down leadership model Larry has identified 5 key characteristics of servant leadership, using the acronym CLEAN If you're not living life the way God intended you to do, you're wasting your life and your time These principles apply to every relationship C = Commitment L= Listening (key to Larry being the first boss on the Undercover Boss Reality TV Show) E = Empathy - it's the magic that changes everything, this is the opposite of the self-centered social media we live in today A = Accountability N = Notice (noticing others and noticing ourselves) Larry always viewed business as the largest untapped ministry opportunity anywhere Go to www.LarryOdonnell.com
S Damon Hinkle He’s a trained Evangelist, not a gifted evangelist 3 main ways to evangelize 1. tracts 2. 1x1 3. Open air preaching
What is not the Gospel 1. not limited by time, rev 14:6 location Mark 16:15, situation Luke 4:-7-19 2. Appealing to the flesh (God loves you and has a great plan for your life-stony ground, Do you want to go to Heaven (dying soon, Stephen, Apostles, Matt 24:9, John 16:33, Luke 12:51-53 3. St Francis, preach the gospel if necessary use words (contradiction),a more excellent way is both
James 2:14-17 (good works and words Go hand in hand) Rom 10:14-15 - how shall they hear without a preacher Give people info they don’t have Avoid being like bright light first thing in the morning, take it step by step Forget those who blast you with questions just to mess with you Doctor spends 90% time telling what’s wrong and 10% the solution Ps 19:7 law is perfect Rom 7:7 Know the Ten Commandments well 2 things he always brings up 1. Law 2. Made in the image of God
good question: what do you think happens when we die? This reveals their full worldview another good question: Tell me about your background did you have a good upbringing? As you start probing if they are blaspheming (pig) just leave them the law (no pearls) If someone says they're a good person, say "Let’s look at a standard outside of ourselves " Did you ever ... Use a springboard , zjesus "bring me a drink", Paul "unknown god", you don’t have to have permission just ask questions, everyone wants to talk about themselves if they want to blame society bring up Hitler, slavery I don’t believe in Atheists, creation and conscience works in our favor Salvation is of the Lord not us If you go in an area and its heavy and dark stop and pray, Think "If you were out hiking and found a man with a knife in his back and he had 5 min to live what would you tell him" If it says no postage required send them a gospel tract Some tracts are themed Furniture mart twice a year Stealthy things that are fun and exciting for introverts Leave them in a restaurant with a tip If they ask you something you don’t know, tell them you haven’t thought about it but if you’ll be patient with me I can follow up with you Tractplanet.com It leaves them one on one with Him If 2 come in (JW), talk to the one watching and learning, you say I’ll be anhiliated that’s not what God says Create your own tract Can add stamp with your contact info Look for big events, give then bottle of water and tract or Bible E Damon Hinckle L God told Moses to build a tabernacle for Israel to honor God, for the first time God showed man how He wanted to be worshipped, and rather than just making the Tabernacle Himself, God gave man the opportunity to build this with human hands What a tribute to the value God places on the work that man sets his hands to Ex 35:30-35 " And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.
34 “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works."
Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men. Proverbs 22:29 - NKJV And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. 2 Corinthians 8:10-11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Corinthians%208:10-11&version=NKJV A From Ben LaCorte CMAW113 * Bring the pain of living in a falling world. You can say "God is not just a crutch, but the entire hospital, not only do I need a crutch because I have a broken heart, but you do too"
H - John Shirey Time Management CMAW118
| * To say "I'm too busy" is really a mark of pride
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What You'll Hear: Rhae gave his life to Christ at age 11, learned a lot about the Old Testament in his church His first job was a paper route, he learned about the importance of customer service, he had learned about this from his grandfather who was a blacksmith He always wanted to work in HR, partly with the help of a counselor in high school He wrote a letter to Oral Roberts University when he was in 7th grade, they didn't have an HR major He played basketball and football and track in high school, but due to injuries didn't play for the teams His first job out of college was an operations supervisor for hospital services in Phoenix He's always felt that HR's job is to remove barriers so workers can do their best Break 1: 15:05 Looking to the future, critical skills will be understanding technology and communication skills Just about every type of profession will be impacted by AI, some stats say 1 out of 5 current jobs will be impacted He's lived out his faith through his work through personal prayer as well as offering to pray with others You may be the only vision of God someone will have at work He decided to start his own staffing business in Dec, 2019 and then Covid hit. They have 6 people in their office. They place people in broad areas Keep the faith, keep your eyes on Jesus If you have a difficult boss, stay in prayer. Do your part, make sure your behavior stays above board and consistent with how God would want you to honor Him in that relationship Favorite verse is Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV Contact erbisme@gmail.com This is not an easy world to live in, God can bring us through any challenge we might face
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| Ready for an Upgrade? |
| [ 1 min read ★ ] |
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| . . . the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere—James 3:17 |
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| A lot of men—not every man—but a lot of us struggle to hold back a harsh and judgmental attitude toward the world around us, sometimes even toward those we love the most. In the rush and charge of life, with the volatility of family, the pressure of work, the friction of the world, we too often give in to snap impulses to anger and criticism. They feel right in the moment, but they never are (Proverbs 14:17). More considered, gentler approaches are always better—less destructive, more effective, more powerful (Proverbs 19:11, 29:11; James 3:13-18). These impulses also reveal something deeper: our pride. If we’re honest, they come from thinking too highly of ourselves, trusting ourselves too much, trusting our wisdom, our capabilities, and our “ways” too much . . . and thinking too little of those of the people around us. But, “God opposes the proud,” as pride leads only to hurt and separation (James 4:6; Proverbs 16:18). So, we must take ground in this struggle. We mustn’t let another day, another year, another decade slip by, doing nothing. These impulses are too hard on others. We must allow our guide, God the Holy Spirit, to train us in humility, to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20). |
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| Prov 14:17 "A quick-tempered man acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated." Prov 19:11 "The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression." Prov 29:11 "A fool vents all his feelings,[a] But a wise man holds them back." James 3:13-18 "13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and [a]self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." James 4:6 "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Prov 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before [a]a fall." James 1:19-20 "]So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." |
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| Okay, so what do we do? Confess and repent to God, in prayer. Turn your back on that harsh, judgmental man. Declare that you want to be a different kind of man. Invite God’s training. That’s a bold prayer—so bring a brother (or a few) into the endeavor. Ask him/them to pray for you, speak truth to you, and keep you accountable as God begins to move in your life. |
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| L So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied. Acts 12:21-24 - NKJV Note-my pastor when told about a great sermon, says "thank the Lord" We can do that at least in our hearts
| E Brandon, contractor, "It's easy to work hard, it's hard to work easy", a variation on work smart, not hard. In this case, rather than moving pile of scrap wood to an alternate location that would later need to be loaded to my pickup to take to the dump, why not back up the pick-up and load once then take to the dump A Check out "The Chosen" - 1st season with 8 episodes, watched on Pureflix. Apologetics tip from Ben LaCorte Reasons2Believe CMAW 113: * Bringing the heart of the Gospel to a person is more than just rambling off verses and bringing logical arguments.
H - from John Shirey - Time ManagementCMAW118 * It's important to think not just about what to do but what NOT to do
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S - 6 Ways to Deal with Stress 1. Worldly Ideas (not all bad provided not in conflict with Bible). Recently read this: Stress can best be described as emotional, physical or mental tension. We feel it in our bodies and brains. Others may notice changes in how we act. Stress is a healthy part of the human experience but can get out of hand. Difficulties that overwhelm us at work, school, family life, finances, relationships, or our own health issues can trigger an unpleasant stress response. Changes related to COVID, economics, travel restrictions, increasing product demand, quarantining, friends and family being sick, school, work, routine, and health in the past year have resulted in high stress levels for many in our communities. Common signs of stress include irritability, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, fatigue, body aches, lack of goals, and poor decision making. Long term stress without adequate relief can cause health difficulties, including high blood pressure or exacerbation of preexisting concerns. Substance use and disordered eating patterns can increase during times of stress. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to help. .. * When you notice signs of stress, practice deep breathing. An easy and effective technique is 4/4/4/4- breathe in, hold with lungs full, breathe out, hold with lungs empty- do each to a count of 4. * Another technique is visualization. Visualize a calming scene. You may have a place picked out, or you can use a variety found online. Imagine as much detail as you can. * Exercise creates brain chemicals that lift our mood and lower stress levels. While a run is nice, don't forget that even a short stroll or a 3 min stretch is more helpful than nothing. * Talk with others- even if you don't want to spill the tea, simply making small talk can be soothing. Connection keeps us out of fight/flight mode. * Research has shown being outside has a positive effect on mental health. Even 5 mins is beneficial- spend as much as you can. Take a break outside.
- Honor the Sabbath Scriptures related to this Ex 16:26 "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”" Ex 20:8 "“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Ex 20:10-11 - "but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" Ex 31:16-17 NKJV - “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
Lev 16:31 "It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever." Lev 25:4 "but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard." Lev 25:8 Year or Jubilee "And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years." 155 results on search term "sabbath" in NKJV Jesus corrected some abuses by the Pharisees who had lost the spirit of the law, He said that He was lord of the Sabbath, and that it was OK to do good on the Sabbath, like healing. He also said that the Sabbath was for man, man was not for the Sabbath. In Romans Paul spoke of Gentiles being grafted in. Since God said this command to honor the sabbath was a perpetual covenant, a statute forever, and we are grafted in, I believe God is commanding us today to honor the sabbath. I personally don't agree with the change from Saturday to Sunday and don't see a justification for that in scripture, but my main point here is that one way, God's way, to handle stress and the pressures of work is to honor the Sabbath and take one day a week where you do no work. 3. Primarily think on God and His Word. Joshua 1:8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Psalm 1:1-3 "Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he [b]meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the [c]rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 - NKJV For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, Col 3:2 NKJV Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Phil 4:8 NKJV “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Meditate - I understand the meaning is similar to the action of a cow chewing the cud. a cow has 4 stomachs. They chew grass, swallow, spit it back up, chew, swallow, spit it back up, etc. 4. Trust in Him (Snuggling up to God) Matt 11:28-30 NKJV "28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am [f]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”" Prov 3:5-6 NKJV "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall [a]direct your paths." Ex 33:17 - So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.” John 10:11 "“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." John 10:2-4 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" Luke 12:6 " “Are not five sparrows sold for two [b]copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Rev 2:17 "“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” " Deut 31:8 "And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”" 1 Peter 5:7 "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 5. Do Battle with What You Don't See Eph 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting." from “Liberating the Bruised” by Dr Joe Albright Morning prayer “Lord, I submit to you my will; my rights; my life; my family; my ministry; my finances; my needs; my desires; my direction; and my flesh. ‘Lord, search me, try me, see if there be any wicked way in me.’ Remove those things that need to be removed from my life and bring into my life those things that need to be brought in. For, I confess to you that you are all I have and all I want and all I need. For men, think about idolatry and sexual sin Read about Josiah in 2 Kings, and how he cleaned the house P92-be an iconoclast "a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions"-if they don't align with God's word, not only is that displeasing to God, but it can be a huge source of stress for you that you weren't even aware of 6. Connect with friends and mentors - avoid isolation Proverbs 11;14 "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety." Prov 27:10 "Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend, Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away." Virtual "watercooler" Call someone up
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| E Steve paying a refund personally rather than wait for Onpassive L Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 A No longer a part of OnPassive or encouraging others to join H We make time for the things that are important to us |
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What You'll Hear: Brian was raised Catholic in Boston, MA. He met and married his wife who was raised Baptist. He was separated in 1998 while working too much from home. He was laid off from American Greetings because he didn't want to relocate. He got into bad activities including drinking, clubbing, and pornography. In June 1999 his divorce was final. His wife invited him to a service in TX with Bruce Wilkerson talking about 3 chairs. He got a cassette tape and didn't listen to it Later he felt led to listen to the tape and gave his life to Christ at age 52. He erased all the porn from his computer that night. Every day he had to ask God not to let his mind go to porn. At Prestonwood Church, Zig Ziglar was the leader of the Encourager's class and a Bible study You can't bring people into the Kingdom of God if you're only talking to people who are in the Kingdom of God "I'm always putting the word of God in front of people whether they're believers or not" He does workshops with Biblical principles The Citadel is a Div 1 military college in Charleston, SC founded in 1842, based on honor, duty and respect He was in a book written by Pat Conroy who was a teammate of Brian's. Break: 25:11 If we have a bad boss or coach, we can learn from them We're taught to work as if for the Lord. It's not about the guy that's telling us what to do, it's about what we can do. We're supposed to live our lives and our work is supposed to support that God is working for us 7 days a week. He doesn't change 7 days a week, why should we? Brian was in the Navy and worked in vocational rehabilitation in SC Through American's Greetings, I learned that small businesses needed processes like big businesses had The only thing God did not give us dominion over was each other, so we should treat each other with respect Contact brian@briankennedyglobal.com or call 214-906-8517, also on LinkedIn We're given a big gift, called the Bible, it's meant for history, learning vocabulary, every aspect of life, and to take us back home to our Creator through His Son
S “Essential: Finding Worth in Your Work During Uncertain Times” was released February 2 and is now available on Amazon and other sites as it gets distributed. * Here’s the announcement on ChristianPost.com * Here’s the book landing page with a link to the YouVerion/Bible.com plan and some exclusive bonus material
First Light Devotional by Pastor Brian Biggers, Lamb's Chapel, Burlington, NC Having to Have Your Way is Highly Overrated! If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live at peace with all men. Romans 12:18 Do you know what is better than always having to have your own way? Always having peace on the inside! We now live in a day when people are hell bent on being right and having their own way in everything. The prevailing attitude is that if I can't have my way, I'll burn the place to the ground! Our nation has embraced the scorched earth attitude. The Bible warned that a day like this would come when men would be "demanding and irreconcilable". The result of this attitude is the loss of peace in people's lives and the public square. Is there anybody out there like myself that would like to return to "Mayberry days" when people were willing to bend in order to enjoy a life of peace and community? Even Otis was respected and shown some mercy! Scripture tells us that this selfishness that would prevail in the latter day would create "stressful times" to live in. Is not the root of all stress people valuing "their way" above peace? What does God call us to do in these trying days of "my way or the highway"? The answer is in today's verse. We are clearly commanded to pursue peace with all people as much as is possible with us. Before you will pursue peace above being right you have to begin to value peace above being right. Question; which would you rather do, win an argument or enjoy your day? If you win the argument, congratulations! You are miserable inside, you just lost a friend, but by grannies, you won! Personally, in this ripe old age I've decided that enjoying life, being at peace inside, keeping my friends and being a living testimony to the grace of God beats being right any day! As I told a man who was arguing with his wife once and wanted me to side in with him, "you can be right or you can be warm tonight, its your choice"! Its certainly not original with me but, "if mama ain't happy..."! No doubt there are times when conflict is unavoidable and we need to confront that which is evil, dangerous or unbiblical, but most of the things that divide us and make life miserable are not in that category. In the majority of cases we can choose peace over strive if we want to. Jesus did not say "blessed are the peacekeepers", He said "blessed are the peace makers". We are called to "make" peace. Do whatever is necessary to create peace in the heart, home and land. I hear it out there somewhere, "but I am right, and they are wrong"! Even if that is true, follow the example of our Master who was right when I was wrong (want to argue?), yet He took the initiative to "create peace between man and God". Do you want to live the abundant, satisfying, enjoyable life on this earth that Jesus promises? Start choosing peace over "right".
Dear Jesus, you were right, and I was wrong. Thank you for choosing peace over judgement! Please give me grace to do the same! I totally agree with everything Pastor Brian has said and that we should be peacemakers in our families, with our friends, and at our work, and that needs to be intentional, because it goes against our flesh and sinful nature to do so. I want to add my own thoughts to this and that is that being a peacemaker doesn't mean that we should continue to invest in everyone's lives and pursue everyone's approval. Jesus clearly set priorities for who he invested in with his time and energy with his Disciples, and when he sent out the Disciples to share the Gospel, he added in Mark 6:11 NKJV "And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”" Matt 7:6 NKJV “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." I don't claim to fully understand Matthew 7:6, and I've heard it taught and interpreted in different ways. One interpretation is that we should not continue to invest ourselves and our time in those who are rejecting what we have to say. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel, but we should not assume that we're totally responsible for someone receiving it. Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 3:6 - NKJV that we don't know exactly how our actions will play a role in impacting someone but ultimately it's up to God not us. Paul says "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." After Paul preached a powerful message Acts 17:32-34 says "32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them." Paul did what he was called to do, but he could not control who received the message and who did not, but what did he do? He left them, he moved on. How do we apply this in our lives? Well, when it comes to our work, don't make someone your spiritual project. Be obedient to what you believe the Holy Spirit is leading you to do and say, and move on. Love everyone, be at peace at everyone to the extent we can, but find a core group of believers at work with whom you will invest most of your time and energy. These principles ar true of acquaintances at work, it's true of our friends outside of work, and believe it or not, it's true of family members as well. We may feel the need to be close to all our family members, our parents, our siblings, etc. and for them to agree with us or rather for us to agree with them, particularly about important matters of faith. Proverbs 27:10b NKJV says "Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away." In Mark 3:31-35 NKJV "31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers [h]are outside seeking You.” 33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
The Bible commands us to honor our father and mother, but it also says in Genesis 2:24 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." I'm not aware of any command in the Bible for us to be close to our siblings. E Harrel at Lowes. Super helpful as we were looking at replacing our wrotten door going onto our back deck. I don't know if he's a believer, but I shared with him this podcast, so if you're listening Harrel, thanks for doing such a great job. One thing I liked was how he handled interruptions. When someone came up to him for help, he immediately addressed them, which was considerate to them for not making them wait, and let them know that he would help them as soon as he was finished with my wife and I, which was considerate to us. Even if we don't work in retail, I think we can all find ways to learn from how Harrel handled this. L He who is slothful in his work Is a brother to him who is a great destroyer. Proverbs 18:9 - NKVJ A i went to tell you about something I'm really excited about that you may be interested in as well, and it's an opportunity to get involved with a company called Onpassive. I've been an engineer for the last 13 years, but as some of you may know who have heard my testimony this is not my first stint at being an engineer. I worked full-time for 7 years as an engineer working for General Mills, helped launch products like Multi-Grain Cheerios and Frosted Cheerios and share a patent for unique way to make cracked grains in cereal flakes. Well, in 2000 I quite my job as an engineer and spent the next 8 years flipping houses and buying, renting, and selling investment property. There were a lot of promise made about getting rich quick. That combined with me some poor decisions on my part resulted in that business failing. I made the right choice to go back to engineering, and I enjoy it, but I've never lost a bit entrepreneurship in my blood and I do believe in the power of passive income. This side of my personality contributed toward me starting up and running this podcast but I've also kept my eye out for the right part-time business that could provide some added income for me and my wife, especially that would leverage the power of the internet and not demand much of my time. I believe I've found just that opportunity. A friend of mine shared it with me, and I was skeptical as I always will be, both because of my experience going bankrupt as well as my nature is to be detail oriented and check things out thoroughly. A man named Ash Mufarah started this up a few years ago. His vision was to have a portfolio of software applications that would work together and be an improvement over what's currently available. He also set this up so that a maximum number of people can benefit from it without having to spend a lot of time on it. Here's what I like about this opportunity: 1. It requires only a small up front investment 2. It has a massive market - pretty much everyone needs these tools in one way or another 3. It offers an alternative to the Big Tech offerings currently available, and from what I've observed so far they are committed to not just created a me-too version but rather to have a point of difference and be significantly better than the competition 4. It gives you a chance to be a part of something before it launches. They're planning on launching like 50 products and have just started to release them for beta testing. The first one, O-Cademy is so powerful. It will allow children and adults to get the best training online and it will allow content creators and teachers to share their knowledge teaching others and make an income doing it. I could go on about this one product, but my main point is that this one product is so powerful and has huge potential and it's just one product. If you think you might be interested, click here for more info or email me to discuss further at support@christianmenatwork.com H * Starting a series of Handy Tips on Time Management, taken from my interview with John Shirey CMAW 118 * This episode, I want share that we can't really manage time, but we can manage ourselves and what we do
What You'll Hear: Brian gave his life to Christ at age 16 in church, after hearing an audible voice that said "Come" First job was delivering appliances for local appliance dealer, while still in high school, learned how to install washers and dryers, learned about how hard work, how to use his hands, and how to deal with people Went to college, part-time cutting lawns, then worked for a print shop doing deliveries, after college did graphic design and director positions, then started his own business 25 yrs ago with his wife They use story to help other businesses to invite their customers into a story Starting business wasn't a gentle transition. He was let go after 10 years when his wife was pregnant. It was scary, like bungee cord jumping but you're not sure if your cord is short enough. He does creative and front-end work, and his wife works in the back office Donald decided to start Story Brand and help people tell their story In storytelling, there can be up to 36 elements, the shortest is 3 In the story brand framework there are 7 elements The Character (hero), The problem, The guide presents a plan, a direct call to action, which results in success or ends in failure Break: 17:04 Brian created Entreworship. We're called to worship God in everything we do. If we don't, we're missing out. Christ is Lord over all of us, or He's Lord over none of us Brian has written devotionals called "Essential: Finding Worth in Your Work", for those who wonder if their work really matters We're told in the Bible that everyone in the body of Christ is essential We all face pressure in our jobs, and we all need encouragement The church hasn't equipped men to see their work as sacred, we've forgotten this idea from the Protestant Reformation We need to end our obsession with entrepreneurship We worship the things objectify, in our culture we focus on freedom and politics God's call to our lives is a call to Christ Christ didn't just save our souls, He saved everything For an entrepreneur, there's a risk of running ahead of God instead of following God may be saying "wait", but He never wants us to sit still Gal 5:16 says we'll always be in this tension Becoming a good follower is a lifetime endeavor 85% of the workforce is not engaged in their work We're called to work for the good of the communities we're in Remember who we work for. We're there to serve the people who hire us, we have to respect that. No matter what we do, we do for the glory of God. In most workplaces, the management think the workers are the problem, and the workers think the management is the problem. Favorite verse is Romans 12:1-2 and Phil 4:7-8 Go to www.Entreworship.com Social media, handles @BrianSooy The work that you do is one that God is using to do things through you “Essential: Finding Worth in Your Work During Uncertain Times” was released February 2 and is now available on Amazon and other sites as it gets distributed.
- Here’s the announcement on ChristianPost.com
- Here’s the book landing page with a link to the YouVerion/Bible.com plan and some exclusive bonus material
S Recent election has me thinking about freedom. I have a thing where I got through the list of countries in the world and share little factoids with my Mom each day as a way to share something new. It's been really informative for me and has really made me appreciate even more how unique and special our country is and how blessed we are to have both the freedoms and the financial abundance and opportunities we have. I thank God for that specifically nearly every day. Having said that, I also believe there can be a danger of making an idol of freedom. I saw so many Christians wondering what God was up to when Trump lost this past election, based on an assumption that God's will was for Trump to win. I have to admit at some level I was in that camp. I have almost 100% tuned out of politics and news since the election, so much so that my friend told me the other day that Rush Limbaugh had died and that Trump had been adquitted in the impeachment trial, neither of which I was aware of several days after they had occurred. You know what, it's been great being unplugged in this way. I've been less angry and devoted more time to more important things. But back to earlier point, I truly believe we will suffer a big loss of freedoms with the regime change in Washington, particularly Christians. As Christians, our job and our motivations should not have changed with this election, nor should our clarity and confidence that God is in control. It makes me think that we should not have the same of freedom as the rest of the world. In Exodus 8, God releases the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th plagues on Egypt, but He also makes clear through Moses why He wants His people to come out of Egypt. The reason is so that they could sacrifice and worship God. In John 8:31-32, "31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Galations 5:1 says " Stand[a] fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" From these verses I get a picture of freedom that's not the same as the freedom we often think of in the United States. It is not a freedom to do what we want. That's the motto of Satanism, to do what you wilt. Rather freedom is to no longer be a slave to sin but rather be a slave to Christ. John 8:34 "Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." Romans 6:16 "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" Romans 6:22 "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." We may not like the term "slave of God" and it might sound a little to restrictive. When we have that thought we need to reject it in the name of Jesus, because when we boldly claim our personal freedom and exalt it above all other things ultimately is idolatry and leads to us trying to make ourselves god of our lives. Notice the reward at the end of Romans, it says "you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." Is this heaven after we die? Maybe, but don't forget John 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." For those of you can relate to me and were in bondage to sin in your past in ways that really hurt yourself and others, you can probably agree with me when I see that God's freedom rather than being "freedom for myself" is more like "freedom from myself. You might be wondering what the application of this little message is to our work. The world will tell you that work is a necessary evil, and you've got to go to work because of the golden handcuffs. They'll tell you that you're serving a 45 year sentence and you'll only be "free" when you retire, only to be let down when you retire, perhaps filled with regrets and lacking purpose. God's vision for our work is much different. He gave Adam and Even work as his first gift, and it's still a gift for us today and one for which we should thank him for daily. When we're in relationship with Jesus, work is just a part of a joy-filled life fully submitted and devoted to Him. When I got saved I went to a Promise Keeper's event and bought the CD for the music from that event and one of my favorite songs I would play over and over was "I am free". here are the lyrics. I found these being attributed to Newsboys, I don't know if they originally wrote the song or not. Through You the blind will see
Through You the mute will sing
Through You the dead will rise
Through You all hearts will praise
Through You the darkness flees
Through You my heart sings I am free
I am free
Let me hear you And I am free to run (I am free to run)
And I am free to dance (I am free to dance)
And I am free to live for You (I am free to live for You)
I am free (I am free)
Yes I am free (yes, I am free)
... Through You the kingdom comes
Through You the battle's won
Through You I'm not afraid
Through You The price is paid
Through You there's victory
Because of You my soul sings
I am free From First Light - 2020-0112 Truth and Freedom If you abide in my Word, you will truly be my disciples. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free John 8:31-32 Jesus died on a cruel cross not only to save us eternally, but also to liberate us from bondage. Any bondage. Demonic, emotional, mental, family, physical or any other type that robs us of the life He desires for us. Anything that keeps us from experiencing the Christ life that comes through His Spirit, He wants to liberate us from. "Normal" for those in Christ should be defined as a life of peace, happiness, compassion, able to hear the Shepherd's voice, able to live free from fear, anxiety and pain from our past among a host of other "benefits" that we inherited at our salvation. However, everything Jesus died to give us doesn't fall on us like ripe cherries when we are born again! That's why Jesus spoke in John about truth and freedom. Genuine freedom can only come as truth gets down inside our hearts and that can only happen when we internalize His Word into our spirits. God's Word is like no other book. Hebrews says it is "alive and active and able to go beyond our souls into our spirits". Psalms says that "the entrance of thy Word gives light". Something takes place inside me as I meditate on the wonderful truths found in the Bible such as "if anyone is in Christ, he (or she) is a brand-new creation, old things are gone forever, and all things have been made new". What actually takes place is that as I read and think deeply (meditate) on the truth found in scripture the Holy Spirit of God takes that truth to the very core of my being, which is my heart and uses it to transform me at spirit level. He uses it to destroy the lies that cause me pain or bondage and replaces those lies with the liberating, life giving, joy inspiring truth from heaven! It is a true miracle! I have to do my part, "thy Word have I hid in my heart". He won't do it for me, but when I do my part then He does His part which is to do surgery in my heart and remove the cancer and replace it with life giving truth! That's why it is life or death for believers to let the light of His Word in their hearts constantly. To "abide" in His Word s to continually receive it. If you will be faithful to "attend unto my Word", He will be faithful change you from the inside out over time. For those who are tired of the same old same old it is time to dust off that Bible and get it into the heart so freedom can break loose!
Thank you for providing a way for me to be truly free from the junk that keeps robbing me of the life you died to give me! E Taking about former site leader, who passed away, knew name of everyone in the plant, if he saw you outside the plant he treated you like you were the most important employee in the company. but don't ever let him him touch any buttons L 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little [a]sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’ Ezekiel 11:16 NKJV A Passed my Ham exams, KO4MNF Apologetics H Apologetics tip: 3 main worldviews
What You'll Hear: Ken started out mowing lawns, pruning Christmas trees and working at McDonalds Ken grew up as a Chreaster, going to church on Christmas and Easter because his Grandma said they should Ken's Dad decided to accept Christ after hearing a sermon, and everything changed for Ken and his family Soon after that, at age 16, Ken accepted Christ as his Savior, but it took a while to figure out what that meant for him Once we're made aware of the penalty of sin, sadly we often have a "not yet" faith and think of Jesus as a 911 call, as opposed to a "right now" faith. Ken's Dad had a "right now" faith, but Ken did not at first and didn't make Jesus his Lord until his '30's "I had to figure out that if it's good and not from God, it's not good at all" "When I joined the Marines everyone was surprised because I was small" We had a term in the Marines "oxygen thief", I didn't want to be that "There was a special moment in boot camp where I knew there was never going to be something to make me quit and tarnish my family name, you could say the same with living the Christian life" Ken served as a Marine Scout Sniper, he was on Presidential security duty for President Clinton and Bush, and served as a Marine Drill Instructor and Marine School Instructor In 2007 Marine Raiders were added to the special forces Break 1 - 24:42 - We've been talking about Ken's fascinating experiences in the Marine Corps. Next we're going to get into his thoughts about changing jobs and his experience in the FCA. "I'm less concerned with what I do anymore, and more concerned with why I'm doing it" Ephesians 1:9-10 The purpose is to bring everything together in Jesus "My entire heart is rooted in making sure that I am trying to draw somebody into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, because in Him is the common ground we can all exist on" Ken is an Area Director for FCA and has 4 counties in Eastern North Carolina The Vision of FCA is that Jesus Christ can transform the world through the influence of coaches and athletes "We make the mistake of compartmentalizing our faith" "Ministry is our responsibility, all of us" "Jesus pitched His tent where we are" Contact kenlovell75 all over social media or look up Coastal NC FCA
From Brian Biggers, Lambs Chapel, www.tlcalive.com First Light-1/13/21 The Miracle in the Pot Jesus said to them, "fill the waterpots with water". And they filled them up to the brim. John 2:7 It was the first miracle that Jesus worked when He walked on earth. Truth is that it seems such an odd thing for Him to do. Totally out of character with the other miracles He performed, such as healing, feeding multitudes, or raising the dead. It’s easy to understand why He did the things that met the pressing needs of suffering people, but to provide wine for a wedding? Didn't He know that the Baptist' would be offended? What is with this water to wine thing? Actually, one of the greatest revelations that we receive from God is hidden in this passage. I am convinced by the Spirit that it’s not at all about having adequate booze for a wedding. This miracle is a picture of how He works in the life of believers. The pots were actually religious vessels used in Jewish worship. Much like them we can be religious, empty, hard (stone) and not much use to anyone. The command of the Lord was not to try to be good or helpful. Rather it was a simple request to "fill the pots with water". Any Bible scholar knows that water in the scripture always represents the Word of God. Ephesians says that Jesus "washes us with the water of the Word". This is a call for us to fill our minds and hearts with God's good Word. To meditate on His truths and promises. Once they had done their part and filled the pots, Jesus did His part and turned the water into wine. Wine in the Bible is always a picture of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians also says, "be not drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit". This is where the real miracle takes place. As I humbly meditate on His Word in His presence, Jesus turns what I receive in my heart into the sweet presence of His Spirit that then flows out of me and is a blessing to people around me. Many believers attempt to be a blessing to people by their own ability or personality. That is not God's way. He said, "freely you have received, freely give". His way is to receive from Him and then pour it out on others. Don't "try" to be a Christian. "Fill your empty, hard, cold vessel with the water of His Word" at His feet and watch what comes out of you! Much like the headmaster declared "this is the best wine"! Folks around you will be refreshed and begin to talk about how much they enjoy what comes out of you!
Dear Jesus, this wondering, wandering world needs another empty, hard, religious vessel about like I need another cheeseburger. They need your Spirit. Fill me as I wait on you in your Word and then let people "taste the best wine"!
| The Search for Security I will never leave you or forsake you. Hebrews 13:5 A friend of mine confided in me about his struggle to trust God to care for him. I wondered how could you not believe He would do what He said He would do after all of the promises He has made in His Word to be a Father to us? I found the answer when my buddy told of his earthly father's irresponsibility. His parents separated when he was a baby. As does any little boy he longed to have a dad to take him fishing, biking, hiking and to enjoy spending time together. Often his dad would promise to come get him and take him to enjoy a day together, only to be a no show when the time came. Once his dad promised a trip to the coast to fish for a weekend. He told him to be packed and ready and he would pick him up after school was out and they would head off for a great time. He sat on the front porch with his little suitcase waiting for dad. The time passed for his arrival, but as usual, no dad. Finally, as the sun was setting his mom came out and told him to come on in as it appeared, he had been let down one more time. Having been programmed that he couldn't trust his earthly father to keep his promises, he had a difficult time trusting the great God we call "Father" to keep his. I assured him that although he wasn't able to depend on an earthly dad, he would always be able to count of his heavenly Dad. This earth would collapse if He were to fail in one of His promises to care for and love His children. Even when we are adults there is a child's heart inside every person that wants to have a Father that we can trust absolutely. To love unconditionally no matter what we do, to provide, to protect and to smile on us. That is why it is so important to spend time in His Word letting Him speak to our hearts as He reveals His great Father's heart toward us. Each of my three children are absolutely confident of my love for them and my willingness to care for them no matter what happens. They are that way because they have gotten to know me personally through the years. The same is true of our heavenly Father. The more you get to know Him the more you become convinced at heart level that He could never "leave you or forsake you". |
also watch "Control Freak!" from 7 months ago All worry, stress, fear comes from wanting to control what you can't control Phil 1:12 12 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, 13 so that it has become evident to the whole b]">[b]palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; 14 and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: 16 c]">[c]The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I d]">[d]cannot tell. 23 e]">[e]For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, 2 6 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. Phil 4:4-8 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your b]">[b]gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Meditate on These Things 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
1 Peter 5:7 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Luke 12:22 22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. Romans 8:28 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose
stop using words like "serious, concerned" and call it what it is, "worry"
Make a list, one column "What I can control", 2nd column what I can't control Left column only has 5 items: 1. My thoughts 2. My attitude 3. My words 4. My decisions 5. My eternal destiny Right column: 1. Other people 2. My circumstances (mostly) 3. My future 4. This society - 1 John 5:19 "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." 5. The economy 6. My family If you will surrender everything to God = You will enjoy your life E Cashiers (Walmart very upbeat, Lowes mustache on mask, Little Cesars (be blessed) L Psa 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. Psa 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves. Psa 131:1 My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. A Remember "Jesus is at Work" on Audible H Use Audible - book for learning something quickly (better than free Youtube) - Ham Radio prep - $14 every 2 months Silver Plan,ask for it as a gift apply a lump sum
What You'll Hear: * First jobs included lawn mowing and at Christmas Tree lot, and in college worked for ESPN for $11 * Got saved between 2nd and 3rd grade at VBS. Rededicated my life in Junior High and High School * Went to college at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, OK. They offer 65-70 majors. I started out Pre-Law but fell in love with Accounting * It's a great place to hear God's voice and follow in it * Recent example of hearing from God's still small voice was in when to retire * First job out of college was with a Big 8 Accounting Firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers, as an auditor * Spent time in Europe as a child and wanted to return and an opportunity came up with a Foreign Missions Organization. * Spent 4 years there and met his wife * Then took a job in Boise, Idaho with JR Simplot and worked there for 30 years in 14 different jobs. That company produced 35-40% of McDonald's French Fries worldwide, using the Russet Burbank potato * My career goal was to be in a position where my wife could work but didn't have to and I wanted to be with a family friendly company and to rise to a level where I would have the flexibility to participate in my kids events * When the Lord has asked us to do something, there's a reason for it and it will ultimately be for our benefit * Break 1: 28:19 - next talk about Christian's role should be with politics * We should be watchful and actively involved but not obsessed with politics. God sets up the leaders in our land and will judge them * The Lord is in control and our hope comes from Him * We should be open to make changes when we get negative comments in job reviews, but not try to be someone we're not * There are ways to share your faith that will cause people to come to you
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See link for article "Trust the Plan?" by Todd Bennett from ShemaYisrael.net https://cfe37ed8-7854-4a74-9ba0-067fa4cb39cb.filesusr.com/ugd/6e064f_327e8680eaf248f0b3de9b618a38fc36.pdf Also video "The Truth about Donald Trump, the Capitol Riots and His Impeachment" on the TruthUnedited Youtube Channel or on TruthUnedited.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg_jKztS-Rw E Reminder that how you do your job makes all the difference, often a bigger difference than what you do. Difference in health care workers. L Exodus 5 Pharaoh used work as a tool of punishment by taking the straw away from the Israelites without reducing their quota for making bricks in response to , God did not he gave Adam and Eve work in the garden to bless them A None H Reduce your reliance on the internet and your cell phone.
What You'll Hear: * Raised Southern Baptist, profession of faith at age 9, committed to Christ in late 20's * Worked for the Federal Government in IT. Was the Federal Manager for the first Unix systems and the founding webmaster for EPA.gov * I was the token conservative in the group, they certainly knew where I stood with regards to my faith and social issues * I looked for opportunities to put a pebble in their shoe. We would have good conversations at lunch. Don't know that anybody's lives were changed. * I treated everyone with dignity and respect, including a woman who was openly Lesbian who was mistreated by other co-workers * It's important to ask not just how we're spending time but what we're spending time on. * We can't really manage time, but we can manage ourselves and what we do * We make time for the things that are important to us * It's important to think not just about what to do but what NOT to do * Break 1 - 10:57 - next dig into the meat of his presentation on Time Management, starting with the Rule of 13 which made a big difference in my life when I first heard about it from John * To say "I'm too busy" is really a mark of pride * The rule of 13 divides the week into 21 time periods and says if you're committed to more than 13 of those time periods you're too busy. That's bondage, captivity. You have no time for spontaneity, to relax, time with your family. If you don't have that bondage, you have more freedom to be creative and to respond to opportunities. * Stephen Covey's book "First Things First" talked about everything we do is in 1 of 4 quadrants, either urgent or not urgent and important or not important. Quadrant 1, important and urgent needs to be managed. Quadrant 2, important and not urgent, is where we should spend most of our time. Quadrant 3, urgent and not important you want to avoid and learn to say no. Quadrant, not urgent and not important should be minimized. * You need to set goals. This will help you realize when you're doing something unimportant. Train yourself so that you can be set free. * Saw a meme recently. Fit is hard, fat is hard. You choose. Self-imposed captivity can free you. * The ultimate goal is to glorify God in the things we do. * Break 2 - 30:14 - next some specific tips very helpful * Tips - it's like gardening and weeding, do a little bit often rather than putting it off * Each evening plan 2 or 3 things you want to accomplish the next day * To be set free you need to limit the distractions. Don't let your phone create any sounds. When at home don't have it with you every second. * A 5 second interruption can cost you a minute * Consider only handling emails once or twice a day. * Be more time focused rather than task focused. Carve out times to do certain things. * Make an appointment with yourself and block that time out on your calendar * Get things out of your head so your mind can be creative, this is called psychic bandwidth. Make lists and carry a pencil and pen to jot down an idea. Empty your inboxes regularly * Imagine you're leaving tomorrow for a month long trip to raft the Colorado river in the Grand Canyon. Today you're only going to do the things that absolutely need to get done * Kiss the Toad is about doing something you don't want to do but needs to be done, just do it first thing and the rest of your day will be great. * Contact jksapex@gmail.com
S Is high stakes but pales in comparison to the stakes for every individual when it comes to their eternal destination. Our country seems divided right down the middle politically and it would be easy as conservative Christian to say this divide lines up with the sheep and the goats, I.e. Trump supporters are going to be saved and the rest will not , that’s not true of course and the fact that it’s not true should be a reminder that we should identify ourselves first and foremost with our allegiance to our Savior Jesus Christ and our identity as a child of the most High God and not by any earthly affiliation or group or political party. One of the truths of the Bible that I have struggled with is the fact that there is a Hell and that those who choose not to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior will spend an eternity in torment. Rather than responding to that struggle by trying to rationalize what is clearly taught in the Bible, a better response on my part Would be to have a renewed sense of urgency to share the Gospel with those I have access to in my life. We all have an area of influence in our life and a big part Of that influence is through our work. This issue of eternal salvation hit home to me this past week after spending several days with a close relative who is an avowed Atheist. We were watching a special on CNN a documentary on Linda Rondstadt. I was very intrigued by this doc because I enjoyed her music growing up but didn’t know much about her. She lived a very impressive life in terms of her music career. She was the first woman to have 5 albums in a row that went platinum. She was the first person to have a hit on the pop, R&B and country charts simultaneously. She played to large crowds. And won over many with her unique and powerful voice as well as her stage presence and physical beauty. Despite her success in rock and roll she boldly pursued other challenges including winning a Tony after singing on Broadway and producing some powerful traditional Mexican music, honoring her heritage and her Mexican father who was also a musician. At the end of the documentary they showed her in the present day. It was a bit sad because she contracted something like Parkinson’s a number of years ago and lost her ability to sing as she used to along with other physical complications. She never married but had many lovers which seemed a sad to me. It was interesting that nothing was said in the documentary about her spiritual beliefs though they made several references to her political beliefs. I did a quick search and found that though she was raised Catholic she considered herself an Atheist. It hit me that just like my relative, she is currently alive and based on her beliefs is destined for Hell. I thought about writing a letter to her to Share the Gospel. Though I may do that, realistically there are so many unbelievers as well as those whose beliefs are unknown to me with whom, unlike Linda Rondstadt, I actually have some kind of relationship and influence, and that certainly includes my relationships at work. There’s another aspect to this story I want to share. We talk about what it means to live Out our faith through our work. Through those conversations we often say that you don’t have to be a minister nor do you have to be proselitizing in order to live Out our faith through our work. So what do we do? Well, to answer that question let’s talk about LInda Rondstadt. As an atheist she has a spiritual belief and without a doubt has faith, in fact I would argue it takes more faith to be an atheist than a Christian. She clearly has shown excellence in her work as evidenced by her accomplishments. She has certainly been rewarded financially for her work. Others have enjoyed the fruits of her labor and befitted from them. despite these truths about what Linda has accomplished and despite the fact that we don’t really know if Linda has lived Out her faith through her work, Based on the Bible and Wikipedia she is destined for Hell. So what is my point? Well, for one thing, Like Linda Rondstadt we can achieve success by the worlds standards through our work but not live out our faith through our work and not go to Heaven. Also, I believe we can go to heaven and not live out our faith through our work. In other words, living out our faith through our work is not about getting to Heaven, that’s true whether we are a plumber, a doctor or a pastor. We are saved by grace through faith in the saving power Of the blood Jesus Christ. So if living out our faith through our work is not about being saved what is it about? One way to answer that question by sharing a devotional from Pastor Brian Biggers, called “As You Go”. To sign up to receive Brian’s First Light Devotionals go to tlcalive.com "As You Go" As you go, preach, saying 'the kingdom of heaven is available'! Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely you have received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8 Have you ever noticed that Jesus' ministry was an "as you go" ministry? Do you also notice that he commanded us to practice an "as you go" ministry? Through the years of church history ministry has morphed into an "organized, scheduled" ministry instead of what He said it should be. A short reading of scripture reveals that Jesus did not "plan" ministry events. He didn't "organize" healing services, evangelistic outreaches or prophesy conferences. As He moved about His daily routine, He would encounter human needs. It was then as He "ran into" people with needs that He would minister to them in whatever capacity their need called for. That is an "as you go" ministry. There is certainly nothing wrong with planned ministry events where people can come together and receive help. But, are we missing the greatest opportunities to serve and help people by not being "as you go" minded? Our current mindset is, "come to church on Sunday and find help". "I'll call my minister and set up a time for him to help you". Again, nothing wrong with these options. But, do I really need to wait until Sunday to help someone? Do you and I not have the same Holy Spirit living inside of us that Jesus had inside of Him enabling Him to bring Kingdom blessing to others "as He went"? Let’s change (love that word!) the way we think about ministry and become followers of the Man that lived His life always on the lookout for an opportunity to serve someone "Kingdom style". Why do you need to "take a mission trip" to Africa to minister to needy people when you can take one to Walmart for far less money! Why not take a mission trip to help the heathen in Gibsonville, Mebane or Ossipee? If you are feeling really spiritual, head for Saxapahaw! A great life is to head out every morning after praying, "dear Jesus, I am your ambassador today on the lookout for a need to be met. Thank you that you will 'order my steps' to just the right person and fill me with your precious Spirit to meet any need I might encounter"! Then you walk through your day with you "periscope up" looking for chances to bless "as you go"! Wonder what God would do during a day if we adopted an "as you go" mindset to minister? All you have to do to find out is look at Jesus' life.
Thank you for the call to represent you in my corner of the world today! Line me up somebody to bless "as I go" today! E Cameron Arnett - refused to do partial nudity in a big role - crushed him L Psa 104:19 The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. Psa 104:20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl. Psa 104:21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. Psa 104:22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens. Psa 104:23 Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening. Psa 104:24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Interesting how our daily work is listed among other things that are part of daily life in Gods creation, part of Gods works! Our work matters to God! A If Podcast not accessible look to website www.christianmenatwork.com H
What You'll Hear: * First job was cleaning dirt out of back hoes, then had a paper route
* Was baptized at a young age, but counts putting his faith in Christ when he was at Harvard
* He had a 22 year career at Continental Airlines including as Senior VP, then worked for the FAA for the Obama Whitehouse
* Martin Luther began formulating the Priesthood of all believers and all of life being sacred
* Thinking of my work as sacred ups my game, I behave the same in church as I do in the office
* Break 1 - 16:30 - Next Will Hear About 6 Principles that David adopted in 2015
* I read "The Road to Character" that "faith is long obedience in the same direction" and it struck me powerfully that I had lived in that manner and I realized that I had been ungrateful
* 1. View all of life through the lens of gratitude - after seeing movie "Almost Famous" from the 60's and '70's, about backup singers, of the 7, 5 tried to go out on their own because they were ungrateful and life did not turn out well for them
* 2. Practice self-imposed Godly optimism - it opens up opportunities and resources that I would have never seen otherwise
3. Recognize that everyone is so much more than I see - scene at end of Wonderman, the bad guy says "why are you saving these people?" and she replies "they are everything you say they are, and so much more". This is exactly the truth that God speaks to us, because of the blood of Jesus
4. Believe in God more than I believe in myself - this has immense practical implications. We can be foolish and arrogant when we believe in ourselves more than we believe in God. We self-edit all our beliefs and aspirations so we don't even undertake God-sized projects.
5. Pursue the path of peace - the test is are we bearing fruit in what we're saying
6. Live in the eternal present - we are citizens of heaven right now
* Go to www.DazzlePartners.com or David.Grizzle@DazzlePartners.com or his Wikipedia page
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From Justin Camp, Wire Devotional
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| The Lord is my helper; I will not fear—Hebrews 13:6 |
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| We have an enemy, brother, and he is a liar. He “fills the world with lies” (John 8:44 MSG). He doesn’t tire of his work . . . and he is clever. He reserves certain lies, holding them, waiting for the right time and for the right men. For he knows that some of his lies are more persuasive at certain times and under specific circumstances. As we stand now, looking out at the expanse of a new year, he knows it’s time to whisper fear into the minds of men. He’s whispering, to those who’ll listen, to be afraid of what trouble might be coming. He’s whispering this lie now because he understands our nature. He knows we like control. He knows we like to know what’s next. He knows it’s difficult to feel “in control” when facing the uncertainty . . . when anything, really, might happen. And so, he knows it’s time to take advantage. We confront a choice, therefore. We can accept his lie, shoulder the fear, shrink back and focus on survival by returning to things that offer us just a little comfort—work, food, alcohol, pornography, distraction, withdrawal. Or, we can reject his lie, spurn his fearmongering, hold tight to the promises of God, and move forward—trusting that no trouble will surpass God’s ability to protect us and care for us. “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’” (Romans 8:15-17 MSG) |
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First Light the bait of Satan- 12/16 The Bait of Satan Lest satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his baits. 2 Corinthians 2:11 The bait of satan is the title of a popular book written a few years ago. It is also a revelation of great truth found in God's Word. We learn from the Word that the enemy of our soul that is hell bent on our destruction uses "bait" to capture us in order to steal, kill and destroy us. Being a fisherman, I am well aware of how effective the right bait can be in capturing a fish! The bait that is spoken of here in Second Corinthians is no doubt his favorite and most effective weapon used to wound and damage people, families and churches. It is the bait of bitterness, or as it is called in the Bible; unforgiveness. Personally, in thirty-five years of ministry I can testify that this is the satanic tool that has done the most harm to people where I have pastored. It is the tool that is currently dividing our nation. No doubt it is the evil ones "go to" weapon. The Bible admonishes us not to "be ignorant" of his diabolical working in this area within our personal lives and to reject every attempt of his to inject thoughts of bitterness into our thinking. Most of his schemes would never trip up the average believer. Being tempted to steal, murder, lie, abuse drugs or steal someone's mate would be so repulsive to saints that they are useless against them. However, the bait of bitterness is justified by many believers and ensnares them. That is why we are warned to live with a constant vigilance against any attempt of the enemy to bait us into a hard heart against anyone. I have seen so much damage done with this one tool. Let’s determine we will not become prisoners of satan by receiving accusations from hell against others. Let’s refuse to justify our bitterness by calling it "hurt" or anything else that allows it to remain. Let’s call it what God calls it and be free from the bondage that it guarantees. Often, I am asked "how can I forgive them after what they did"? That's a great question. The Bible has a great answer! The living God will never ask me to forgive anyone more that He has forgiven me. I was damned in my sin against God. Guilty without excuse. But, in the greatest act of forgiveness in history He not only forgave me, but He made His Son stand in for me at my cross and accept my punishment. I can forgive because I have been forgiven! Thank you, Father, for the power of forgiveness to keep me free from the bondage of bitterness and torment that is afflicting so many today. I praise you that a forgiven man can afford to forgive! First Light 11/26/20
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| Why Pray? "Don't ever stop praying with great earnestness, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." Colossians 4:2 Does anyone struggle with prayer? Do you ever struggle with finding time to pray? Do you ever wonder if your prayers make a difference? Let’s be bold and ask the question here. Why even bother to pray? Should I pray simply because I'm expected to? Do I pray to keep God happy? The truth is that most believers give very little to prayer. Heck, the average preacher in America prays very little. What difference does it make anyway? Let me bring out a great truth from scripture regarding our praying. We are called by our Father to pray many times in the Bible. Today's scripture calls us to pray earnestly and never give up. Me praying doesn't make me a "good Christian". Its not a question of my goodness. Its a question of His goodness. In what I fear may be an oversimplification let me pose this thought; why would a good Father call me to pray of He wasn't going to do something? Would He require me to spend time in prayer knowing He was not going answer? That prayer was just some form of Christian discipline He puts me through for some unknown purpose? A thousand times no. If He is as good as His Word says He is, anything He calls me to do will certainly have a purpose and great benefit. I cannot imagine telling my children to ask me for something knowing my answer was no. That would be warped. Truth is that He says He will give you what you ask for quicker than you will feed your children when they ask for dinner. "If you being evil compared to me will give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him"? I am convinced by His Word and His Spirit that He greatly desires to answer our prayers when prayed boldly in faith. I simply cannot imagine Him commanding me to do something just so He can ignore me. He will do what He says He will do. It’s that simple. "Call on me, I will answer you, and show you great things you have never seen before". I have a feeling (actually a revelation from scripture) that our great struggle to pray comes from an unholy devil that knows what happens when God's people pray in faith and humility. He knows how good our God is. That's why he does everything in his evil power to hinder us from praying to God. Do what he may, he won't stop me from calling on the Most High. I know how Good God is. Father, knowing how you are, I declare as David did, "in the morning I will lift up soul to you in prayer". Thank you that you will hear me and answer |
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From Pastor Richard Geiger, Torah Teaching on 11/21/20 Witchcraft tries to conjure events with our words, not including God Prayer is a relationship, meditating and relating, communing with your Lord We press in to know Him better Luke 18 - unjust judge We survive in this world of deception in His presence PUSH - pray until something happens Prayer needs to flow from a life of obedience E Rita, wife of Joe Albright, who wrote book “Liberating the Bruised”. In the Preface of his book Joe talked about how he was an alcoholic in the early part of their marriage and said this about his wife Rita “When I was drinking Rita L So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, “See that you do not become troubled along the way.” Genesis 45:24 - NKJV Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.” Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.” Luke 3:12-14 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Luke%203:12-14&version=NKJV A None H |
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S First Light 12/11/20-The Order of Love The Order of Love Teacher, what is the greatest commandment? Jesus said "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. The second is, you shall love your neighbor as yourself". Matthew 22:36-37 Probably every believer knows that to "love God and love your neighbor" is the chief of all commands. Why then does it so seldom happen? I don't believe that it is because people don't want to obey Him. I believe that people sincerely wish they could. Simply put, people don't know how. Most don't understand the order that love must proceed in. So, folks try to love other people in human effort and find it more difficult than they expected! But, in order for this great command to be fulfilled in the actual everyday nitty gritty of life it must follow a Divine order. It does not start with loving God, or people. If you attempt to start there you will always fail, or you will substitute shallow human love instead of the real deal which is the "God kind of love". It all begins with His love. We must first experience His love touching our hearts by His Spirit. There is no other way to love unless it begins with His Spirit. Once I have experienced His love for me at heart level in the Spirit, then it becomes so easy and natural to love Him in return. "We love Him because He first loved us". Who according to this scripture loves first? He does. Even after I have felt His love in the Spirit and loved Him in response it is still not time to "love thy neighbor". Who is next in Biblical order? Loving myself with Divine love must come next. Notice in scripture I cannot "love my neighbor as I love myself" until I first "love myself". To many believers that have been religiously brainwashed this sounds self-centered. But I ask you, does the Bible not say that I can't love people until I have a healthy God given love for myself? Often the reason that people are so unloving is that they don't really think much of themselves. Once again, we see the Divine order of walking in love which should be the foremost goal of every child of God. First, I taste God's great love for me through His Spirit, then I begin to return that love to Him. Then after I have experienced His compassion for me, I begin to love me the way that He does. Then, and only then can I begin to "love my neighbor as myself". A person that has been baptized in Christ' love has no trouble sharing that love as an overflow of their experience. To "try" to love is always dead religion heaping an impossible task on a weary soul. To "receive" His love by His Spirit and then pour it out is another of His amazing graces that we enjoy! Jesus, lover of my soul, baptize me in your loving Spirit as I fellowship with you! Love people through me by your Spirit! E Dietrich Bonhoeffer from "The Cost of Discipleship" p 265 “The value of the secular calling for the Christian is that it provides an opportunity of living the Christian life with the support of Gods grace, and of engaging more vigorously in the assault on the world and everything that it stands for.”
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| L Matt 20:25-28 (servant leadership)-from Larry O’Donnels book Management Waste "25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” NKJV |
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H Email-another reason you pause before sending-to avoid sending multiple emails, eg you send it and then send another right away because you forgot some important detail, if you’re providing info and you state “working on getting that “ it’s a clue that you’re ready to send that email
What You'll Hear: * I became a Christian in my '40's just before 9/11. I called upon the Lord for my security * First job was for my cousin as a bus boy in a bowling alley at age 16 to help pay for tuition at a Catholic school * Raised in Rochester, NY and went to school in Buffalo, later transferring to Northern New York in Clarkson Univ and got a Civil Engineering degree * First job built highway bridges, then worked for TN Valley Authority and worked on what was to be the largest nuclear plant in the world, but then 3 Mile Island happened * Left engineering and went to business school and worked as a full-time sales person for audio-technical systems for churches, loved getting outside and meeting with people * After he became a believer, he committed to bringing up faith, since so many Christians didn't to that with him * My main spiritual heavenly job here on earth is to teach those who God puts in my path, everything He has commanded them, in season and out * 1 Peter 3:15 "Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks me to give a reason for the hope that you have" * It's possible for the believer to make the ground harder for someone to receive the Gospel. One example was when he prayed with a non-believing client over lunch * I started seminary 2 years after being a believer, about halfway through that 12 year process I took a course in Christian Apologetics. It was the sweetest thing that had come to my mind. * While I was still in sales, I got more and more involved in the Apologetics ministry, until I went full-time 3 years ago. * Some tips on if you're doing a ministry at the same time as your full-time job. Don't waste a lot of time watching TV. Carve out time to read, pray, and meet with other believers. Practice during the day. Shed time-wasting activities and be productive as God measures productivity. * Bringing the heart of the Gospel to a person is more than just rambling off verses and bringing logical arguments. * Bring the pain of living in a falling world. You can say "God is not just a crutch, but the entire hospital, not only do I need a crutch because I have a broken heart, but you do too" * No-one can refute your testimony, and you're sharing something deep-rooted in yourselves, and it's a real-life true story. * Ask questions. See book "Tactics" by Greg Koukl. He says to leave a stone in their shoe. * It helps to know a bit about their belief system in advance. You have to ask questions, but you can narrow down your questions with some knowledge. * Ask them "is that really what you believe?" * Paul in Athens started with what they believed, and then pointed out the hole in their beliefs and filled it in with the true Gospel * If you don't know an answer, it's OK to say you don't know, but it does so much to be prepared ahead of time while the soil is tilled. * To be prepared, know good Theology. They started a podcast "Word on the Street", geared toward someone who doesn't know a lot of Theology already. Some future topics include critical race theory, why is there human suffering in the world, what is the Christian's right role in politics, what does God say about social justice, * Go to www.Reasons2Believe.org, also have Heroes of the Cross, 90 second WordTrax * Or email ben@wordtrax.com
S Star Trek episode "TNG Chain of Command Part 2" Captain Picard is captured by the Cardasians and tortured physically and pyschologically. To break him the torturer tells Picard there are 5 lights in front of him even though there are 4 lights and he continually presses him to admit there are 5 lights. Picard refuses to give in despite promises of a life of ease for him if he would just admit there are 5 lights. In the end the Captain is released and he yells out "there are 4 lights!". I'll include a link to this scene in the show notes. People talk all the time about how bad, surreal and bizarre 2020 is. While I agree with those sentiments, I see this year as an extreme and somewhat predictable continuation of a pattern that's been going on for a long time which includes a coming out of lies, darkness and evil. While I've talked several times about how I should not make politics an idol and get too caught up in what's going on in politics, I feel the need to speak out about the issue of truth as it relates to the election and several other issues. I was actually planning on talking about something else with this Selah episode. I had a number of messages come to me the last couple weeks related to the importance of focusing on what's most important in every part of our lives. I think what pushed me to speak about truth vs lies instead was an email I received from Axis Ministries, something they call the Cultural Insider. In their email they criticized Eric Metaxas for stressing the need to investigate the election fraud and claiming that Trump won the election by a landslide. They cited a reason for this that AG Bill Barr said he hadn't seen evidence of fraud that would have changed the election. I read most of the emails I get from Axis because they provide good info for parents on the culture our kids are facing, but I believe they don't know what they are talking about when it comes to these elections, and citing a comment from an AG who doesn't seem interested in even investigating the election fraud is a weak argument at best. While God is in control, I believe we as Christians should stand up for truth and stand against lies. As Christians, we all hope that we will stand up for Christ if ever challenged. We picture us facing a moment like Peter faced when asked if he was with Jesus. I don't know if you or I will ever face such a clear test as Peter did, but I do know that we all are facing huge issues daily that have 2 opposing views that cannot both be correct. At a rapidly increasing rate I see more and more in our culture including those who identify as Christian accepting things as true that defy logic and facts and/or that go against clear teachings in the Bible. If we don't speak against lies about things like the election, Covid-19, abortion, LGBT and many other issues, why would we think we will stand firmly when challenged about our faith in Christ. Not only are there lies being told more often and more boldly than ever before, there's been a shocking increase in censorship of free speech on social media and elsewhere. I just want to make a few quick reflecting my opinions on several issues and offer some recommended reliable sources for more info, or at least sources that provide a viewpoint and information not available in the majority of information sources these days. The 2020 Election I believe there is a lot of evidence of fraud, more than enough to re-elect Donald Trump but more importantly the fraud is so significant that if it's not corrected in this election we will not have another free and fair election Sources to check out electionevidence.com The Eric Metaxas podcast naturalnews.com The Ben Shaprio Show podcast The Rush Limbaugh Radio Show Newsmax.com The Epoch Times Right Side Broadcasting Redstate.com Rudy Guliani's Common Sense Covid-19 I believe Covid-19 is a real disease but I believe it was created and used to overthrow Donald Trump, destroy our economy, and condition us to give up our constitutional rights in preparation for something much worse that's coming. I believe that most of the reaction to this Pandemic by the media and governments doesn't make sense medically and certainly not economically. John Hopkins came out with a report that basically said there has been no change in overall deaths between 2019 and 2020 and that there has been no increase in deaths among the elderly between 2019 and 2020. The use of masks and isolating the entire healthy population instead of isolating the sick and most vulnerable was never recommended by health officials as a way to effectively deal with a virus before Covid-19. From what I can tell including my direct experience with family and friends, most people who get tested positive for Covid-19 have no systems. This makes no sense to me and yet everyone just accepts this as normal. While the death rate earlier in the pandemic was relatively low and in line with the common flu, deaths have decreased and the current panic and justification for renewed lockdowns is based on rising positive case rates and I believe these numbers are filled with false positives. The original pitch was that we needed to take 2 weeks to flatten the curve so that hospitals would not be over-run and here we are 9 months later. It's hard to recommend specific sources for truth on Covid since the censorship on this topic is so high, but here are a few: The documentary Plandemic The Cult(ure) of Scientific Misdirection by Thomas Wood The White Coat Summit I The White Coat Summit II Truthunedited.com video on the Great Reset aminutetomidnite video Test is worthless article LGBT issues inhisimage.movie Abortion The Silent Scream Abortion Debate liveaction There are many lies being told today, with greater frequency and severity than ever before, One positive note is that I believe more than ever it's becoming more clear the distinction between truth and lies. You could say that factors like Donald Trump and Covid-19 are revealing lies like dross being revealed in silver under extreme heat. Jesus said that the truth of parables would not be recognized by unbelievers. Yet today, I'm seeing more and more differences in how Christians see truth on important issues of our day. So who is right, and will those who are being deceived be open to greater and greater deception in the future.? I'll leave this with those questions to ponder. E Eric Metaxas for standing up for truth even when attacked by other Christians L Jeremiah 23:24 NIV "Who can hide in secret places
so that I cannot see them?”
declares the Lord.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”
declares the Lord." A If interested in podcast on prepping and/or Messianic Christianity, email me support@christianmenatwork.com considering creating these to be broadcast on patreon.com H Another reason to pause before sending your email - if you intend to reply to an email which was sent to more than one person, wait to see if others reply first. This will allow you to consider their reply in your reply, and it may result in you not needing to reply at all
What You'll Hear: My mother died when I was a teenager, and I ran from God
I went to college at Texas A&M and did things I shouldn’t have done, and in my senior year met with future wife Angel
We separated, I heard a radio show about God’s grace and love called Rejection Junkies
I went to a Christian Counselor that began a journey of discovery, leading to getting back together with my wife. It’s been a great adventure with God since then
We put unrealistic expectations on those we love
Sometimes the storms we go through make sense, but then God shows how He uses everything in our life for good
First job other than mowing lawns was as an apprentice to a butcher in a meat market, learned attention to detail, at Handy Food Store in Texas
At college, I started majoring in Nuclear Engineering and knew I was in trouble, and switched to Agribusiness and thrived in it
Coming out of college worked for Fidelity Investments for 6 months, then took a sales position with General Mills for 4 years. The many careers moves put a big strain on our marriage.
I took a job with Charles Schwab and my heart came alive with what God had created me to do. Later moved to just outside of New Orleans and dealt with Hurricane Katrina.
Through a client family, God led me to do something different. They had a great estate and tax plan, but a bad family plan.
Most families have the capacity to begin giving 3-5 times more than they are without changing their lifestyle
When we get aligned with God, it’s not Return on Investment, it’s Return on Intention
Break 1 – 19:50
6 Timeless Principles of Transformation
- Your Top Asset is Your Family – everything you do should be tied back to the transformation you want to see in your family relationally. Everyone wants to leave a legacy, make an impact on your kids and be remembered. See Psalm 78:5-7. Your legacy can last for 5 generations. Think about your family above everything else. If a husband and wife can’t be in unity, it’s hard for everyone else to be in unity. If there’s not family harmony, then what’s the rest of it for anyway?
- Your Top Investment is Your Business – what you do in your career or business is your top investment in life. Our top investment in ourselves may be in the 9-5 of our every single day. People are going to church less and less, but they’re going to work every day. You may be the only missionary they’ll see.
- Your Control of Money is Finite – In the book “The Infinite Game”, it says that we can look at life as us being here to pass on a baton. In scriptures, we see that we are here for a blink of an eye. We’re to raise up leaders who will transform the world. Statistics that 90% of wealth will be gone after 3 generations, because God designed it that way. You see that in King Solomon. God is a god of relationship. We’ll most likely only have a relationship with our children and our children’s children. – Break 2 - 3724
- All of Transformation is Going to Happen in Some Form of Relationship – Ron Blue said that money will never turn into wisdom, but wisdom may turn into money. It’s so easy to be self-centered. With social media, we’re more connected and less connected at the same time. You can’t transform anything without being intentional.
- Generosity Defeats Scarcity – we live in a world that tells us that what we need is more. R.G. Laturno gave away 90% of his income and stock and he kept getting wealthier. He said “I shovel it out and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel”. When we embrace generosity, then the philosophy of scarcity goes away. It’s the only place in scripture where God challenges us to test Him (Malachi 3:10). Think of closed fist vs open hand analogy.
- Today Echoes Through Eternity – See 2 Cor 5:10. This is not about salvation, but about what we do with what we’ve been given. Every one of us will answer for this. Every day you’ll face
- Go to www.Paradiem.org, Facebook.com/EricDunavant, Instagram @IntentionalTransformation, to get free "Family Impact Kit" email eric@paradiem.org
S There's a lot of anxiety among many Christians today about the potential for a Biden/Harris administration and in particular what it will mean for social issues they care about like Abortion and the LGBT agenda, but also what it will mean for freedom of religion. So let's talk about the issue of Freedom from a Christian perspective. (First Light received 11/13) Freedom and Responsibility "Unto whom much is given, much will be required." Luke 12:48 Perhaps one of the greatest levels of freedom enjoyed is when a sixteen-year-old is finally allowed to drive by themselves. If you throw your car keys to a new teen driver and tell them to have fun, they had better have the corresponding level of maturity and responsibility required to match the newfound freedom. If they do, you have blessed them greatly. If they don't, you have killed them. Freedom either blesses or destroys depending on the responsibility level of the person. That's why the Bible says that if you are given much, much is required of you. No nation has enjoyed the liberty and freedom that America has been blessed with. Countless millions would give everything to be able to live here and enjoy what we do. Our founders believed that God raised this nation up as an experiment in freedom with a government "by the people, for the people". Our founding documents allow for the greatest possible freedom a people can enjoy. However, along with that freedom comes a responsibility to be governed at heart level by the Creator that ultimately determines the fate of nations. William Penn stated that we will be "governed by God or governed by tyrants". True freedom only exists where men will allow God to rule in their lives. John Adams said, "this constitution is made only for a moral and Christian people, it is wholly unsuitable for any other". As we watch our freedoms slowly slip away in this land it is due to the truth that we have not lived responsibly enough to deserve to be blessed with great liberty. We have elevated selfish appetites above the Bible and now instead of being "free indeed" we find ourselves enslaved to those appetites and in bondage to our carnal nature. There is no greater misery than to be free on the outside and yet in bondage on the inside. Our refusal to live responsibly before the God of heaven is robbing us of the freedom, He blessed us with. Both on the inside and also as a nation as we find our God given freedoms being encroached by a government that is now hostile to the Creator Himself. Our heavenly Father is desirous that all men live free "with unalienable rights endowed by their Creator; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Do you cherish freedom? Do you align with Patrick Henry who said, "give me liberty or give me death"? As our statue reads "those longing to breathe free". Friend, the only path to true freedom inside and out is to bow your knee before the Lord Jesus and allow Him to be Lord of all. Only then will you find that "whom the Son sets free is free indeed". I praise you that you are the God of freedom. Thank you that "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty". Jesus, I choose ultimate freedom by making you the Lord of all in this life. Victor Frankl - Austrian Holocaust Survivor "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way " " When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way " Gal 5:1 NIV "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Are we really free here in the U.S.? Set aside the Bill of Rights, we are slaves to pornagraphy and other sexual signs busyness alcohol (don't have to get drunk to be a slave to alcohol) and other drugs Success Self-reliance fame politics freedom
| movie Braveheart -Braveheart is a 1995 American epic historical fiction war film directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson, who portrays William Wallace, a late-13th-century Scottish warrior. The film depicts the life of Wallace leading the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England. - spoiler alert here for those of you haven't seen it, but in the final scene Wallace is gruesomely executed and as this is occurring he shouts loudly Freedom! I don't know exactly where are in the end times timeline, I have opinions, but I won't go into that topic right now, but I believe it's clear that persecution in many forms is ahead for those of us who are Christians, who are followers of Jesus Christ. As we prepare our hearts and minds for the uncertainties that lie ahead and as we resolve in ourselves we will stand firm for Christ, as a first step let us commit that whatever it takes we will cast away anything that is enslaving us and pursue Jesus Christ passionately. Let us turn over everything to Him. Yes, that includes our work and careers and every aspect of our work, and it includes our relationships and interests outside of work. As Hebrews 12:1 KJV says "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" E COD - Dietrich Boenhoffer Ch 30, p 264 “Let the Christian remain in the world, not because of the good gifts of creation, not because of his responsibility for the course of the world, but for the sake of the Body of the incarnate Christ. Let him remain in the world to fully engage in frontal assault on it, and let him live the life of secular calling in order to show himself as a stranger in this world all the more “ L 1 Thess 5:11-14 NKJV "Therefore [b]comfort each other and [c]edify one another, just as you also are doing. 12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and [d]admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 Now we [e]exhort you, brethren, warn those who are [f]unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. " A Censorship Interesting hypothesis by Youtuber Fisher Man of where we are in the end times calendar using the constelations as well as world events, Gen 1:14 " Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj1uhVEWz5o&t=551s H Email-change the subject line if forwarding or replying and the main point of email has changed |
What You'll Hear: * Became a Christian at a young age, and his first job was a bag boy at Tom Thumb grocery store * Went to College at Univ of Texas at Denton, studying graphic design * Considered going to Seminary but took his first job as a graphic designer at a Baptist church, he knew at that point he had the made the right career choice, worked there 2 years and started fee lancing graphic design, leaving was hardest decision , the 2nd hardest decision was hiring first employee * Rely on personality profiles, even annually * Company is AM Marketing * In the last 5 years ministry is now the foundation of my business * Starting in 2015, I started to see that the services they were providing weren't going to work for the next 15 years * At first, I split the company with one side being for ministry and the other secular, that didn't work * Joined "Kingdom Business Leaders" at my church, Gateway Church, with 10 business leaders * It started with the realization that God was going to love me no matter what * I started asking God questions I've never asked before, I had to get to where I was ready to say that it was God's business * Millennials want meaning and money and they want it now * A polarizing niche statement is powerful * Each organization has to decide how to incorporate their faith in their messaging * Purpose Discovery Process - leads to deep conversations, teeing up this faith conversation, like a covert discipleship model * People tend to go back to a rut of just showing up with a mindless approach to work, and need to be reminded about their purpose, there's laziness in everyone * Purpose is not a fuzzy thing, it's practically understanding my makeup * www.DiscoverAM.com or www.AaronMcClung.com
What You'll Hear:
S The End from the Means The Election - is Trump winning this election an end or a means, have you fallen in love with Trump and he's the end, is he a means to the end of his policies that you agree with, but are his policy preferences an end or means, if the "end" we're pursuing is God's Will and the advancement of His Kingdom, are conservative policies perfectly in line with His will?, what is God's will? We can learn from teachers whether it's your favorite pastor with a TV or Radio Ministry, a teacher of Conservative Ideas like Dennis Prager or Rush Limbaugh. But are these teachers an end in themselves or a means to the end of us learning truth, and are they best source of learning truth consuming most of our time and energy, or should we prioritizing reading God's word and spending time with Him in prayer as being a better source of the truth than any teacher we listen to, let's now talk about work - is work an ends or a means? I believe it's unique in that it's both, it is an end in that God gave us work as His first action after creating man, so that He intends work to be a part of His plan for our existence here on earth, but can also serve as an end to other means including providing for family, loving others, serving God, being healthy, my target is 160-165, was at 190, made significant changes in diet and exercise and got to target, have since fluctuated and am currently at 175 which is the result of getting sloppy in some areas and making corrections to get back to target, are my behavior changes the end or the means, they are certainly the means, is my weight the end? No, it's so that I have more energy and my body is healthier since it's not managing extra weight, glorifying God by treating my body as the temple of the Holy Spirit and I'm glorifying God, Another example - we're now in a Messianic Congregation, following the Torah, Christianity has erred by dismissing the Torah, recognizing we're not saved by following the Law and we're saved by grace, but it's still God's will for us to follow the Law, am I following the Law as an ends or means, it's a means, Jesus said "If you love me, keep my commandments" I follow the Law as a way to show God I love Him, I'm learning in a class about Jewish History, after Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Jews were expelled, there was a movement to create a new form of Judaism which rejected "The Way" or what we call "Christianity", and they started treating the Oral Torah as scripture equal to or even above the written Torah, they created the Talmud in two parts, the Mishnah is a commentary on the Torah, the other, Gemara, is a commentary on the Mishnah, or you could say a commentary on the commentary, even during the time of Jesus the Pharisees were treating their traditions of men as equal or above the written law, as I read scripture, I believe that Jesus didn't blast them for following the Law, but because they were treating their man-made rules as scripture, the Oral Torah were boundaries to give more definition to how to keep the Torah, for example the Torah says Honor the Saabath, the Oral Torah specified how to keep the Saabath, this is not bad as long as they are still treated as boundaries not the Law, we shouldn't be going right up to the line and see how close we can get to the Law without breaking it, Another illustration of this is in statistics, I've spent most of my career in manufacturing, we've statistically determined 2 levels on either side of a target, control limits and specification limits. A control limit is a point at which you make a correction, the limit farther out from the target is a specification limit, and when you get beyond that limit it is unacceptable. For example just for illustrative purposes let's say we need to cook in an oven breakfast cereal at 100deg, we know that if it gets down to 80deg we won't kill bacteria and it could hurt someone so we throw it out, if we go up to 120deg we'll burn it and it will taste horrible. 80 deg and 120 are the specification or spec limits. Based on past history and some statistic formulas we set guidelines between target and spec limit, for example if get above 100deg or below 90 deg we make an adjustment in the temp of the oven to prevent us from getting out of spec, another statistical rule says even if we don't go outside those control limits but stay too long on either side of the target, for example we have 3 data points above the target then we make a correction, ideal is to be fluctuating on either side of that target, this system was developed because it works and because it's a reflection of how God made the universe, if we apply this to the other examples I've discussed, with health I'm making a significant change when I get over 175 to keep me from getting to an unacceptable weight, just saw documentary about Karen Carpenter and how she died of a heart attack, probably related to how she had gotten to such a low weight and was dealing with anorexia but not addressing it, very sad story, she wasn't making a correction in her life, Christian Denominations - I've adjusted my negative opinion about us having so many denominations, my pastor has shown me it's not necessarily a bad thing, they are different ways of applying principles from the Bible, most differences are not salvation issues, they are a means to an end, the problem is when the differences are so far away from our target which is God's truth and God's will, in the same way Rabbinic Judaism has placed the traditions of men above the Law and they have missed Jesus as their Messiah, I would be remiss if I didn't comment on the Holidays practiced in Christianity, I believe History tells us that Christmas and Easter were created by Rome to make the new official religion of Christianity palatable to their Roman Pagan citizens, I believe by basing these holidays on Pagan Holidays they are missing the mark and God did not tell us to do these, I know many of you feel that because your intent is pure then these Holidays are just a means to an end, I respect your opinion on this but respectfully disagree and I encourage you to learn more about the history of these holidays and a good place to start is the Playlist on Pagan Holidays found on the TruthUnedited.com website, we should all be like the Bereans, as described in Acts 17:11 "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." Before I finish up, I want to revisit the issue of politics and the election. I'll just be blunt and say that I believe this election was illegally stolen and Joe Biden is not the legitimate winner of this election. That's my opinion, it's not proven fact and I don't see how it will be possible to prove it regardless what happens as we move forward with lawsuits, etc. I'm very concerned about the policy changes that will most certainly be coming as a result of Biden/Harris taking office, particularly if they end up taking the Senate as well. At the same time of all this craziness, I've been noticing a significant increase in opportunities for me to share my testimony and speak into others who are not believers. Romans 8:12 says "All things work together for good, to those who love God". If we truly believe that God's will is the end and everything else is a means, we should not assume that a more socialist leaning USA will not in fact be a primary driver toward revival and more people coming to Christ, and if that is the case we should welcome it. We should also be very careful not to make a savior out of any man including Donald Trump. As I've discussed in the past, I've been trying to lower my energy invested in politics and I'm using the current situation as an opportunity to accelerate that change in my life. I recently spoke with a man I respect who use to be a political junkie like me but now checks in with the news a couple times a month. Though that seems impossible for me now, I see the peace in his life and the wisdom from his lips, and say there has to be a connection between his change in focus to the change in his heart. I want some of that. E - James met just got out of jail, age 33, for me it took 3 years to give up on my failed business after I got saved and went back to get a job and stopped running up my debt. After a series of bad choices, James is now living with his sister and they are helping him get a job in their local area. It struck me that a job was a natural first step for him to set a new, positive, Godly path for his life. What a gift God has given us with work and our job and we should praise Him for it everyday. Please be in prayer for James.
| L - ps 37:7-9 | | A - remind you that my book "Jesus is at Work" is available on Audible. Still have it as a goal to get it published on Amazon as an ebook or hard copy. I'll let you know when that happens. H Email-declare email bankruptcy to get to 0 inbox |
What You'll Hear: * He wanted to be a writer but didn't have mentors in that area, he got a degree in Journalism from the Univ of GA and then a Masters * Became a Christian during a revival service at age 14 at their mega church in Roswell, GA * First job was mowing lawn * Go teach for a couple years, it's formative, you learn to speak * He wrote and edited for a magazine then started his own business and sold it and started writing books * He became an executive at World Magazine and the Colson Center, and now leads Ministry Watch * Entrepreneurs are heroes in our culture today * Whether it's born or learned, with entrepreneurship and leadership you can get better at it, and we're called to get better * Break 1 - 16;25 * Ministry Watch Empowers Donors to Christian Ministries, speak for victims, and do investigative journalism * They have databases including financial data on ministries going back 5 years, including ratings * The world has become very cynical and skeptical about Christian ministries * The bad guys damage their victims and the church as a whole * The secular media's goal is purely to tear down. We are interested in theological error as much as financial or sexual error * Watchdogs are needed in particular for the growth of megachurches that are not part of a denomination and therefore not accountable * Break 2 - 27:40 * Stories are powerful because that's how God made us, we're wired to respond to stories * Stories have a way of making the abstract concrete * The TV Show Will and Grace is an example of a story having a huge impact on cultural opinion * A Worldview is a way of viewing the world. Postmodernism (See book by Stanley Genz) is incredulity toward the metanarrative, an example of Postmodern storytelling is the show Seinfeld. * Christian stories are about God not about us * One method the media uses is appropriation of language, they'll use the same set of facts but define them in different ways * Get news from a variety of sources and be sure to include sources with a Christian worldview * Limit your intake of news because it's become a distraction * Read old news better known as History * Have some fasts from your smart phone * Become a creator, it makes you much alert to how the media operates * Go make something, go do something, there's never been a better time * Go to www.MinistryWatch.com or Facebook.com/WarrenColeSmith or Twitter.com/WarrenColeSmith or articles on World Magazine
What You'll Hear: S First, update on my last Selah episode briefly, then talk about Being a Man Hebrews 12:2 - "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Proverbs 24:17 "For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity." From Toby Mac "Get Back Up", "We lose our way,
We get back up again
It's never too late to get back up again,
One day you're gonna shine again,
You may be knocked down,
But not out forever" Several events contributing to me choosing the theme of "Being a Man" for this week Last week Parashah 1 - Genesis 1-6 - creation week, talking the creation of man and woman Interview with Terrance McLane last week - Delivered from Homosexuality, rasied issues of gender 2nd debate - Joe Biden asked by a woman who had 8 yr old transgender daughter, his affirming response Then got an email from AFA with a link to a free movie, documentary called "In His Image". I watched it with my wife and youngest daughter, then I posted it on Facebook and forwarded it to my pastor who suggested they show it to the youth in our church. I strongly encourage you to watch it and if you agree with me on its value then to share it with others. Highlights from the movie on the topic of manhood men were made made as men and women as women to bear witness to the story of God Rom 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made" The pinnacle of God's creation is male and female humans Human beings uniquely reflect God the Creator in the way we were made, including creativity, ability for higher order thinking, higher order emotions Gen 1:26 "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" then went on to create man as male and female, illustrates the fellowship of the Trinity 3 person nature of God created man and woman in fellowship Genesis 2 is like a slow motion description of God's creation of man and woman, I encourage you to read this Chapter 1. First Man was created first first born son in a Hebrew family had accountability and responsibility, you may have seen this play out in your family that the oldest son was responsible to look after their siblings, in same way Adam carried the responsibility for bringing whole human family into sin even though Eve actually first ate the fruit in disobedience, and Christ, the 2nd Adam, carried the responsibility for bring the whole human family back into fellowship with God' 2. Work - Gen 2:15 "Then the Lord God took [a]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [b]tend and keep it." He had responsibility to provide and protect, Men are hard wired to be providers and protectors God wants men to be the heros for their families, to man up, to take initiative The command in scripture is not for women to sit down, but for men to stand up God gave instructions for the garden to man and expected the man to pass along those instructions to woman Man is called to be a gardener not just a grass cutter - Eph 5 spiritually cultivating your wife, spending time in studying scripture and praying together Hebrew word for work in Gen 2:15, "Abad" means to work for someone. New T command for wife to submit to her husband, the greek word Huppotaso which is transliterated to submit from a compound of 2 words, sub and mittere, with mittere meaning vision, so a wife is to submit to the vision of her husband, which means it's also commanding us to have a vision for who he is personally and what God has called him to for creating a vision for his family
Woman is called to be helper, in NT Holy Spirit is called the Helper, so we as men should honor the vaulted position our wives are given to be a helper E Prayer for healing L Gen 2:15 "Then the Lord God took [d]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [e]tend and keep it." A www.InHisImage.Movie H Pretend the reply all doesn't exist, or at least should be rarely used - Stop the multi-person email train from getting off the rails - follow-up directly with individuals and then get back to everyone once you have something to say
What You'll Hear:
- Works at a University in Texas in financial education
- PhD in Adult Education
- Grew up in 2 parent household, raised in church, lot of conflicting messages,
- He wasn't macho as a child and people called him gay, the enemy was trying to implant in him at an early age
- His Dad was not horrible, but distant and worked a lot, he didn't know how to operate in love
- In Middle School Terrance was introduced to Porn. He thought it was just his personal sin and wouldn't affect others, but that was not true. It distorted his image of people and women. It's extremely harmful and further fed the lust within him.
- "Sin always takes you further than you want to go"
- "Our churches don't create a safe place to get through deliverance"
- Sharing your testimony is powerful
- At age 13 he had his first homosexual experience. He prayed every time which was helpful, but he kept it to himself which was not helpful
- Two friends he confided in had very different responses. One encouraged him in his homosexuality, the other led him toward Christ in what Terrance called "transformational inclusion"
- You should always preach the truth in love, even if the person doesn't receive it at the time
- Even though he knew he was out of the will of God, he knew from his training in church that he should be in church
- His mother's discipline created a lot of safety for him
- His church in college brought to him conviction, not shame
- The first thing God wanted Terrance to work on was his mind, and then his relationships
- He had to eliminate and replace people in his life who were not affirming him toward Christ
- He had a demon released from him in a powerful way in an out-of-body experience
- When you open yourself to sin, you leave yourself open to all sorts of demonic influences
- At one point, Terrance thought he had Herpes but found out he didn't. At scary moments like that, we should use this as a wake-up call from God
- When he went to grad school, he wanted to find and be married to a woman but had big insecurities, his church was critical for him during that time
- He didn't feel worthy to ask God for a wife but God brought him a wife
- If you take one step, God will take two
- go to www.TerranceJMcClain.com or on Facebook or Instagram for info on his book "God Brought me Through It"
S Today I'm going to challenge you to identify something that is demanding a lot of energy, time and emotion from you which is, at the same time, something you have within your power to reduce or eliminate from your life. I'm going to ask you to be honest with yourself about exactly how much this thing is demanding of you, why you're letting it take up some much of your life, what harm it's causing, whether it qualifies as an idol, and to think about what you could replace it with if it were removed from your life and the potential consequences of doing so. And along the way I'll refer to what God's word says. This is one of those topics that definitely has applications to our workplace but goes beyond the workplace. Since I can't sit down and talk one-on-one with you to hear your story, I'm going to tell you mine and go through this process of identifying and analyzing a potential idol and developing a plan to change. While I have more than one idol, the one I'm going to focus on is politics. If you listened to this podcast for a while, you've heard me bring this up before. My concern about focusing too much on politics has been on my heart for some time. Recently, several things occurred to jar me, to shake me, to the point where I'm taking a hard look at this issue. I'm hoping and praying that this episode will be something that will shake you up and lead you to take a hard look at what may be an idol for you. The first thing that shook me up was the interview I released last week with Jeff Jerina, where we talked about how to share your faith without fear. What shook me up is how little I'm sharing my faith, other than through this podcast, which is mostly likely being heard by fellow believers. That's painful to admit, because it makes me feel like a hypocrite, but it's true. Most of my closest relationships and social interactions are with believers who are very like minded. While I won't know until heaven how I may have influenced people and we can certainly plant seeds that are watered by others, I have to be honest and admit I'm not intentionally sharing the Gospel nearly as much as I should be. The next thing that shook me up was a conversation I had with my middle daughter. She watched the VP debate with my wife and I, where I was very much "animated" or to put it better "upset". Later she and I talked about several political issues along with the bigger issue of how politics should be a part of our lives as Christians. Then later in the week I talked with my Mom about the issue. Despite the difference in age and life experience, my daughter and Mom have several things in common. First, neither my daughter nor my Mom know even a fraction of what I know about the current political issues or the key players in politics, but they both have an awareness of the harm that can come from devoting too much attention to politics. They also both attract others to them and are friends with others who share different views than they do (much more than I do), and as such they both have the ability to influence those people. Finally, they are both focused pretty heavily on showing love to others. Now let's get back to the questions I mentioned earlier that I want to answer for myself. As I do this, if politics is a big part of your life, you may be able to relate specifically to what I'm going to share. If not, I invite you to follow this process and answer these questions for the thing that's taking a lot from you and your life. First, how much is this thing demanding of me. For me, politics is demanding a lot. While I have taken saabaticals from time to time, my norm is to listen to Rush Limbaugh at lunch time and to listen to political podcasts especially when I'm driving in the car and since we live in the country that means a lot of drive time. My podcasts most often listened to are Al Mohler's The Briefing and The Ben Shapiro show, both very political. I frequently check Donald Trump's Twitter Feed, and though much less than I used to I check in on the The Drudge Report, which is basically a bunch of links to other political stories. For over a year I was actively involved in the Convention of States effort which took a lot of time. In my email inbox, I get notices from the AFA, American Family Association, The Babylon Bee and others, all focused on politics. Because my wife and I are both interested in politics and like minded, we spend a decent amount of our conversational time talking about politics. I could go on, but you get the idea. The next question is why am I letting it take so much from me and my life. I think there are several reasons men have idols. One is that they are not taking seriously enough the reality that God exists and that his Word is true. The world and the natural things around them are more real to them than God and the things that are unseen. Another reason is because they place importance on that particular issue. They think it's important and worthy of spending time on. A final major reason is because the thing provides them pleasure and they are drawn to the pleasure the thing provides them. For me, I think all 3 reasons are factors for me and politics. I'm not trusting sufficiently that God is in control and what He is doing in the world and in my life. Second, I mistakenly place too much importance on politics. I think about the impact on our society of who is President, who is on the Supreme Court, and who is running the Congress and how the political events and decisions will impact all of society. This second reason is probably the biggest obstacle for me. I really do think politics is important and I believe that a functioning republic such as the U.S. demands an active and informed people so that they can self govern as the founders of our country envisioned. I also believe the United States is overall a force for good. The third major reason men have idols is because of the pleasure it provides them. There's no doubt, I truly enjoy listening to, reading about, and talking about politics, so much so it can be addictive at times. Now before I go on to the next question, I wanted to bring up a few scripture verses that may be relevant to our discussion so far. The first reason was about not believing in and trusting God with what is going on in our lives and on earth. Prov 3:5-6 NKJV says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall [a]direct your paths." Psalm 50:10 NKJV says "For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills." Proverbs 21:1 NKJV says "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." What these and other verses say to me is that God is in control and we should trust Him with our lives and with the affairs of men. If we are struggling with unbelief and doubt remember the prayer from the man in Mark 9:24, spoken in tears, " “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” The second reason for idol worship is placing too much importance on a thing, in my case politics, which includes keeping up with the news and current events. Jesus came to earth, took the form of a human body, and lived among us, experiencing our world as we do. He was aware of current events, as shown in Luke 13:4, where he made a point to his disciples referring to a tower in Siloam that had fallen and killed 18 people. In Matthew, Mark and Luke it records that Jesus was asked by the Pharisees whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. When asked whether we should pay taxes, Jesus said "“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”" What I take from these passages is that we should be engaged with our government and aware of current events at some level, but our primary focus should be on God and His Kingdom. Colossians 3:2 NKJV says " Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." The third reason for idol worship is for pleasure. Many people are turned off by the church because they think God just wants to take away their fun. The truth is that true pleasure and joy comes only from God. Proverbs 16:11 says "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." But God warns us to be balanced in our pursuit of pleasure and more importantly not to seek after pleasure outside of His will. Proverbs 21:7 NKJV says "He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich." In Luke 8:14 in the parable of the sower of the seeds, Jesus in Luke 8 says that the seeds that fell among thorns are like those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul warns that during the last days which I believe we are in right now, men will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. So the next question we're going to answer is what harm, exactly, is this thing doing in our lives. For me, it's easy. By focusing too much on politics, I get angry, irritated and anxious more often and to a greater degree. It takes joy away from me and it negatively affects my relationships. It also makes me more judgmental of others, namely those in politics I disagree with, but I've found that I inevitably think about all the people in our country who disagree with me on political issues and then I get mad at them as well. Matthew 9:36, referring to Jesus, says "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." That is the attitude I want to have towards others. Dan Mohler says that rather than being mad at people we should be mad for them. While dying on the cross, Jesus said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do". The Jewish people have throughout the centuries recited daily a prayer called the Shema. It is taken from Deut 6, Deut 11, and Numbers 15. The first part in Hebrew is She-ma yisrael, adonai eloheinu, adonai echad Baruch shem kavod malchuto l’olam va-ed. This means Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever. The prayer goes on to say "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead, inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." The prayer goes on further to describe the consequences of obeying or not obeying the Lord, and commands the wearing of a tzitzit or fringe on the garment corners to remind them of God's commandments. The Shema reminds me of how important it is to recognize God as the one and only God and to honor Him by obeying His commandments every day, all day. Jesus said in John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commandments" The next question we're going to answer is whether the thing we're considering is in fact an idol. We read about the Israelites worshiping the golden calf and other idols and think how silly that is and how we're not doing such things. When we do that, we miss that an idol is anything that competes for our attention and love toward God. Remember the command from God as recited in the Shema. So the final question I want to answer is what could we replace this thing with if we were to remove or reduce its influence on our lives. I was amazed when I went through this exercise. I thought specifically about the positive things that could come from taking politics out of my life. I thought about more important activities I could be doing. I thought about an improved, more joyful attitude. I thought about better conversations I would have with others, including sharing the Gospel using the steps described in the interview last week with Jeff Jerina. I won't go through all those details with you but will ask you to do this exercise for yourself for the thing that may be an idol in your life. E Check out Youtube Channel Assembly of Called Out Believers if want to learn more about what it means to be a Torah follower. Will include a link in show notes for a particular video called "The Final Timeline" which talks about why are in the end times and are between the 1st and 2nd seal. It's the best teaching I've seen yet about the the end times. L -1 Peter 2:17 NKJV "Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king." A email if interested in prepping course support@christianmenatwork.com H don't ask more than one question, and don't ask more than one person a question
What You'll Hear:
- We think we're no going to share our faith out of fear, but that's a symptom, the real problem is they are not learning how to sharee their faith and no-one is teaching it
- 83% of people who have come to Christ have done so through direct involvement with a friend or neighbor, not a church or pastor
- Most Christians are not sharing their faith
- What makes you successful in evangelism is not how many you lead to Christ, but being ready
- Before even beginning, you need to pray - it's not us who wins others to Christ, our job is just to be ready, the Holy Spirit leads others to Christ
- Step 1 is to share your testimony, it's the first opportunity for them to see God in you
- Step 2 is the trust statement, you ask the individual what they believe or don't believe is required to go to heaven, you need to know this before you go any further
- Step 3 is to share the Gospel, have a template, let God's word do the talking, scripture never returns back void
- Step 4 is to draw the net, ask questions to make sure they understood what you just shared
- Step 5 is to close the deal, ask "If you believe what I just said, would you like to put your faith in Christ?"
- Step 6 is the assurance of salvation, ask questions to make sure they understand what they just did
- Asking someone to church is better than nothing at all, but anyone can be successful and competent in sharing their faith
- In order to be a disciple of Christ, you have to be a follower of Christ, the first step is evangelism and the second part is discipleship
- We don't have to worry about discipleship over evangelism, God knows what they need for discipleship
- The greatest way to love somebody is to make sure they know their relationship with God is assured
- To go from small talk to a spiritual conversation, first ask them a lot of questions, then ask them if they'd like to hear how your life changed for the better
- Go to www.faithwithoutfearbook.com, there are 4 resources included with the book, can also go www.MenUnplugged.net
S
First Light sent 9/29/20-Living on Purpose
"Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." - Psalm 90:12 - No one ever raised a great family by accident. No one ever built a great contributing business by chance. No one ever became a gifted musician accidentally. Nothing great is ever accomplished by sheer luck. That is why we are taught in scripture to "apply our hearts to wisdom". You and I need to take some time and think about where we want to be ten, twenty, fifty years from now. What do I want my family to be in the future? What do I want my marriage to be like in the future? What do I want to contribute to planet earth and the people that live here for the rest of my life? That's what it means to "number our days". You will never reach a goal unless you do it on purpose. Are you one of those "see what happens" people? Let me help you; if you shoot at nothing you will hit it every time. God's Word reveals that we were created for more than eating, burping, paying bills and dying. The Creator's original commission to us is still in effect. The first thing He ever said to humanity was "be fruitful". He created us to "be fruitful". To accomplish, succeed, prosper, make a difference in the world we live in. Let me remind you that the Bible clearly details that there will be a test at the end of this course we call life! Our Father is an investment capitalist. "To each He gave a sum and said to do business until I return". (my apologies to all my socialist friends) An ad campaign of yesteryear flew under the banner of "a mind is a terrible thing to waste". I would say that a life is a terrible thing to waste. Four clear steps to "apply our hearts to wisdom". First "number" your days. Think about what you want to accomplish in the major areas of life. My relationship with God, family, friends and my contribution to the world. Define your goals clearly on paper. Second, define how you will reach the desired end. What little things will you do every day that move you toward the goal? Third, purposely set aside time to think about and review your progress. On paper. Where will I be in six months, one year, etc. Number four, flex your plan as time and prayer reveal the need to readjust your goals according to His great plans for you. Many people of faith balk at such precise planning preferring to "flow with the Spirit" as they claim. Paul was the greatest Christian that ever lived and accomplished more for the Kingdom than anyone that has ever lived. He walked in the Spirit, but he also was a precise planner. How was it that he could say at the end of his life "I have finished my course with joy" if he did not have a clearly defined course and knew where he was on it? Friend, you get one life. Make it count. Make a difference while you are on this ball! - Father, I praise you for what you have given me in talents, abilities, opportunities and potential. Please give me grace to do something meaningful with your investment in me while I still have the chance My thoughts - New years, Yom Kippur, hit the ground running
E
"Blessed by the Best" - Duane
L
“the kingdom of God is within you.”- Luke 17:21b NKJV
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If interested in cross promotion, support@christianmenatwork.com
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if your email is too long, consider drafting a memo or summary document in word or excel and including it as an attachment in the email and hit only the highlights in the email - but not with a calendar invite
What You'll Hear: * We transition to different jobs much more than in the past, this can be good or bad * It's good to be looking over your shoulder to be ready for a transition * There's a learning curve and so it's good to stay in one position long enough so that the time invested in you learning your job results in a return in terms of your performance * In "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith, he brought a Christian perspective on Capitalism and how we earn money, that we should do well in our work, satisfy the consumer, and we should expect to be compensated. * To bring joy to your life, you have to have something to do, and something to look forward to, and people we love and love us * Sometimes we plan a family weekend away more than we do the rest our lives in retirement * Break 19:43 * Create a file in your final years before retirement with crazy ideas of things you'd like to do * There's an endless list of things we can do in retirement * It shouldn't be a burden or a mid-life crisis, but something we should plan for * There is no such thing as going from work to retirement, we've got to get away from talking about what you used to do and instead have something you're doing in the present * We may be called upon to be actively involved with our grand-kids * Unfortunately we often find late in life that work has a purpose that is beyond paychecks and perks. Work adds wonderful relationships and cerebral interactions * Don't wait until there's a problem and be one of the loud voices, try to be involved with something good * Don't live in the past and think about how you used to be a FIP (Formerly Important Person) * Scriptures talks about servant leadership and that doesn't have to stop when we retire * We can retire "retire" * Go to www.FormingConnections.com and sds894@yahoo.com
2000 downloads in August first time ever, and this is the 100th episode of this Podcast, I give God all the glory and I thank each and every one you sincerely for listening to what and others I interview have to say about faith and work S Hitting Home Dr Force email 8/23/20 referring to blog article in 2015 https://hittinghomeministry.com/true-love-assumes-the-best-i-corinthians-137/ E
Mr. Rogers 143 from Mr Rogers, classic example of faith at work, ordained minister (presbyterian), check out 2018 Documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor"
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Deut 20:5-7 NKJV “Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying: ‘What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 Also what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it. 7 And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man marry her."
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"The Classic Christian Rock podcast by WildMan & Steve encompasses all a Christian Music fan would want in a podcast. They interview Christian Rock artists twice a month- those from the past and the musicians who are rocking for Christ today. On the same podcast is a weekly radio show called Metal Talk where you will here great talk about politics, current events and faith- all while listening to great Metal music. Subscribe to their podcast today where ever you get your podcasts, find out more at WildManandsteve.com"”
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Use bullet points and underline to make your email more readable, but don't use this as an excuse to have a long email and write more than what's necessary
What You'll Hear: The festivals are commonly called the Jewish Feasts but the Bible calls them the Feasts of the Lord, it means appointed times * Leviticus 23 is the source text, there generally are 7 Feasts * Quick overview: + 1. Passover, celebrated at Easter, when the Jewish people were saved with the blood of the lamb over the door posts + 2. Unleavened Bread + 3. First Fruits - first day of the week after Passover + 4. Pentecost - Shavuot -BREAK at 20:43 (Metal Talk) + 5.Feast of Trumpets - generally known as Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year + 6.Day of Atonement - Yom Kippur + 7. Feast of Booths - Sukkot * The first 4 are in the Spring, the last 3 are in the Fall * These feasts have incredible prophetic significance * When Gentile believers started in the church they started to push out the Jewish people and there was a lot of anti-semitism * They replaced them with holidays based on pagan holidays * The 25th of December was out of the Pagan calendar * Today Christians are more committed to their traditions than to the scripture when it comes to these holidays * For those believers that are convicted that you should stop doing the Christian holidays do it, but if you're not then don't, as Paul said we have freedom in Christ, it's a maturity issue, as one seeks what God wants for many people they choose to make a change * Passover + the significance is the Passover Lamb, the way we know that Jesus is the Messiah is that He has to fit the identify of the Messiah in scripture, one example is the Messiah was not to have any bones broken, as John said here is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world + It's the most important Feast and is the first, when we do communion and take bread and drink wine or grape juice it's based on the Passover meal * Unleavened Bread - leaven represents sin, everything eaten by Jewish people has no leaven in it * First Fruits - coincides with the resurrection the first day of the week * Shavuot - Feast of Weeks + after 49 days, on Mt. Sinai, Moses came down from the mountain with the 10 commandments and the people had made a golden calf, 3,000 people died + In Acts 2 when the church is born and the Spirit comes down with flames on their heads and 3000 people were saved * Feast of Trumpets - Rosh Hashannah + Related to the corronation of a King, revolves around the idea of a coming King + Jesus fulfilled the first 4 feasts in His first coming and He will fulfill the last 3 feasts in His second coming * Yom Kippur - day of repentance, Jesus will judge in His second coming * Feast of Booths + When Jesus is transfigured on the mountain and He shows them His glory, the disciples want to build 3 booths or huts, they're wondering if He's come to set up the Kingdom * Be aware of what these Feasts are and what God is teaching us through Him, all Christians should know this * The New Testament is like the roof of a house, built on the foundation of the Old Testament, * Understanding is key, practicing is a whole different question * In the last chapter of Isaiah, it talks about the new Kingdom, we find that these feasts are re-instituted, all nations will be required to practice these feasts in Jerusalem, nations that do not practice them will be punished * Jesus will have to physically rule from Jerusalem on earth for 1000 years, if that is the case there's a whole lot that has to happen, when we are resurrected we're going to be back on earth with Jesus and we'll have a job to do in that Kingdom, it's a real place where we will be doing real jobs, being ruled by a just King, we'll have resurrected bodies * Paul, who was the superJew, had a ministry to the Gentiles, Jews respond better to Gentiles with the Gospel, as the Bible says it will provoke them to jealousy * Generally, anyone who is seeking the Lord and seeking truth will be moved by this understanding, if the Jewish people are important to God, clearly this must be important to believers, if it's not then why? * A lot of anti-semitism is based on ignorance * contact dbarker72@gmail.com
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Al Mohler’s 8/27 Briefing episode on Boredom vs Depression, psychologist talking about the fact that it's being said that there's a big problem of depression resulting from the Covid-19 situation, and that perhaps what's going on is more boredom than depression. In the article they discussed the difference between boredom and depression and that boredom is a lack of excitement or pleasure vs exptectations whereas depression is a medical condiition (I'm paraphrasing). I heard this podcast after meditating two other devotions relating to this topic. I want to read both of them to you and then share my thoughts on how all three of these great pieces relate to our work. First light-7/29/20-The Go spel of Jimmy Buffet-"Where there is no ox a stall is clean, but if you ever accomplish anything it is because you had an ox." Proverbs 14:4-As much as I love the Parrot head nation I am convinced that their theology is misguided! Buffet built a rabid following around not just his music, but around a philosophy of life that basically says that the purpose of life is all about comfort. The mindset that I was created to live a life of ease has permeated our nation's soul. Anything that gets in the way of my pleasure is seen as the enemy of my happiness. Hard work, sacrifice, delayed gratification, enduring the tough times are all seen as plagues to avoid rather than the paths to true long-term satisfaction and purpose. The Bible nails it in one of my favorite verses in Proverbs 14. In the "ox" verse we find the universal truth that success and shoveling always go hand in hand. Obviously, you can only accomplish if you own an ox to plow with. But, owning an ox also means shoveling the stuff that all oxen leave laying around. Simple parable describing what the WW2 generation built a great nation on. I must be willing to endure the hard stuff to get the good stuff. If I want great kids, I must be willing to pay the price. Anybody that has raised teens knows you had better keep your shovel handy! This current fascination with a life of all ease while I waste away in Margaritaville makes for great music, but it builds a pretty pathetic life and nation. "There ain't no free lunch" is a time worn saying from days gone by that needs to be dusted off again! God created our souls to thrive on accomplishment and achievement. There are few things more gratifying than success after great sacrifice. "A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul" is another great Proverb to heed. So, rather than living to see how relaxed we can be while trying to avoid stepping on another pop top, let’s roll up our sleeves, set great big God sized goals and get to shoveling toward the finish line! Surely there has to be more to life than having nothing but an empty glass to show for my time here!
- From Wire email devotional called “Whats this margin thing?” Men are drawn toward extremes. We’re wired to want to explore the edges of things. Going to extremes can be good, of course. In most situations, though, it’s a hazardous practice. Prevailing culture tells us, “work longer hours;” “sleep less;” “spend more money and stretch to a better lifestyle.” Such messages are harmful and aren’t from God. He didn’t design us to live (for sustained periods, at least) with extreme calendars, extreme finances, extreme approaches to work or physical health, or extreme pastimes/interests. God designed us to have margin.
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- Margin is the amount of time, money, whatever, we hold back—in order to maintain productivity, stability, integrity. “Calendar margin” means reserving time for rest, for solitude, for other people. “Financial margin” means living within our means, even changing our lifestyles, if necessary. “Work margin” means focusing on what we’re made to do, and excluding the things we aren’t. - Margin is a gift. While we can convince ourselves that there are valuable things in extremes (more status, more comfort), there are things much more valuable in margin: relationships, restoration, joy, peace. These are vital inputs to healthy, productive lives, and things we must have in sufficient quantities if we’re going to overflow love and provide protection to others. We care for others by caring of ourselves. That’s true masculinity—not some put-on, fear-driven, self-centered counterfeit.
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My thoughts- Our work is truly a gift from God, and He knew exactly what He was doing when he gave us work right after He created the world, in the garden of Eden. Boredom is not a part of God's plan any more than depression is and I believe work is a big part of God's plan for us to avoid these two states of mind while we are acting as stewards, tending to and caring for His Creation, and along the way doing some mini-creating of our own with our creativity and living a life of purpose and joy working with our hands and our minds and serving others. If you doubt this, just look at the 4th commandment in Exodus 20:8-11. It's worth noting none of the other commandments have as many verses devoted to them so it says something to me about the importance of this commandment. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Note that there are actually 2 commandments within this commandment, one is to work for 6 days, the other is to rest on the 7th, by doing so we follow God's example in creation. Personally I’ve been purposing to be obedient to the 4th commandment by trying to give God my best through my work 6 days a week, and to truly set apart the 7th day to make it Holy, meaning not just ceasing work but by dedicating it to Him in my activities throughout that day. My wife and I have attempting to honor the 7th day namely Saturday as Saabath as well as honoring the Lords Feasts and following Gods calendar rather than the Pagan traditions that are part of the church today and have begun attending a messianic congregation. I realize that most, maybe all of you listening, aren't going to agree with that. I don’t bring this up to judge others but I did want to be transparent with you about aspectys of my faith journey and I didn’t want to mention the Saabath without brining that up. Back to the 3 pieces I shared earlier. We already talked about boredom not being pat of God's plan. Margaritaville, or living a life focused on our own personal pleasure, is also not part of God's plan. You can see that in the Parable of the Prodigal Son as well as many verses in the book of Proverbs. I suspect that most of you listening don't have a problem with the Margaritaville lifestyle but may share my struggle of going to the opposite extreme which is to work too hard, to work without healthy boundaries, and to do so at the expense of other people and responsibilities God wants us to priortize in our lives. I think the Wire devotional does a good job of describing the right place to be in this regard. We've addresseed this issue of Margin many times on this podcast, often in the context of finding a work-life balance. I still believe the best way to have this margin is to keep God at the center of every part of our life rather than attempting to rank or prioritize differnt part of our life, by doing so the Holy Spirit will show us whether we're putting the right amount of time and energy into different activities. E
Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis was laid to rest in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the early 1960s, Lewis became a leader in the fight to end segregation in the American South. He was a Freedom Rider, he spoke at the now famous 1963 March on Washington, and he courageously led the “Bloody Sunday” march in Alabama. But more than anything, it was Lewis’ faith in a loving God that motivated him to work for racial reconciliation. In confronting the evils of systemic racism, he once wrote, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” And though his courage and determination to end injustice led to his arrest 45 times, he was also known for his mercy as he publicly forgave and even became friends with a former KKK member who had beaten Lewis nearly to death in 1961. As former president Bill Clinton said at his funeral, “When he could have been angry and determined to cancel his adversaries, he tried to get converts instead. He thought the open hand was better than the clenched fist.” And we needn’t agree with everything Lewis stood for to appreciate his lasting legacy. Herman Cain was an American business executive, writer, and Tea Party activist. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then earned a master's degree in computer science at Purdue University, while also working full-time for the U.S. Department of the Navy. In 1977, he joined the Pillsbury Company where he later became vice president. During the 1980s, Cain's success as a business executive at Burger King prompted Pillsbury to appoint him as chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, in which capacity he served from 1986 to 1996. Cain served as an associate minister at the Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, which he joined at the age of 10 and from what I've read John Lewis was a Christian. These prominent Christian African-Americans had very different ideas about a number of issues and I think we can and should, regardless our political persuasion, honor both of them for being an example of men living out their faith through their work. L Neh 2:1b-2a "I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”-lesson for us all to be happy and joyful at our work. Nehemiah was the King's cupbearer, and if he generally had a sour attitude while at work, the King would not haven taken notice that day when he seemed sad. A "The Classic Christian Rock podcast by WildMan & Steve encompasses all a Christian Music fan would want in a podcast. They interview Christian Rock artists twice a month- those from the past and the musicians who are rocking for Christ today. On the same podcast is a weekly radio show called Metal Talk where you will here great talk about politics, current events and faith- all while listening to great Metal music. Subscribe to their podcast today where ever you get your podcasts, find out more at WildManandsteve.com"” H Be brief - state the main point you want to get across right wait and then briefly elaborate, say what's needed and no more, if your email is more than what someone can easily read in 2 minutes or less, it's too long, let it marinate (sleep on it) then chisel off what’s not needed. When a plant is pruned by getting rid of unnecessary parts the plant flourishes. I heard recently that an axioum for being conservative politically is if it’s not necessary to change it’s necessary to not change. I would draw from that quote and say that when it comes to drafting an email, if it’s not necessary to say it’s necessary to NOT say, Proverbs 17:28 NKJV says "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." I believe that applies just as well to the use of email. I have to be transparent hear and say that I'm the absolute last person to speak with authority on today's tip, this is definitely a case of do what I say and not what I do. I have struggled my whole career with being too long winded when it comes to the use of e-mail, always afraid to leave something out. I have come to the conclusion that is a cop-out for not doing the hard work being concise and honoring the time of the receiver. The effort it takes to be concise is illustrated well by a quote I've heard attributed to Abraham Lincoln which is "“If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now.”"
S = Something on My Heart
See 8/16 Pastor Adam Cook message from Union Church on the Power of saying Thanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAcuskM-0nY. I've spoken on this podcast before about the importance of being grateful to God about all of life but particularly as it relates to your heart while you're working. I've talked about how work is a gift from God, how work is so important to God that it's the first thing he did after creating Adam and Even was to give them something to do. Work is inherently good and something we should be thankful for, and not just thankful for the money that it produces, though that should be part of what we're grateful for. Pastor brought some fresh insight from his sermon that I wanted to pass along and add my own additional thoughts as well. I'll provide a link for this sermon in the show notes. First of all, Pastor Adam said that gratitude is not a one-time "Thank You" but a mindset and a way of seeing the world. Probably the most often referenced scripture about giving thanks is 1 Thess 5:16-18, in the NIV version says "Rejoice alaways, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". One thing I like about this verse is that it specifically says being thankful is God's will. I know I often struggle with wondering what God's will is for me and my life, and I think it's a good practice to particularly note verses that connect our actions to God's will. Being grateful is one of those things that you dont' just hear about in the Christian world, people with all different belief systems talk about the power of having an attitude of gratitude. You hear it in self help books, on motivational posters in the workplace, and on social media memes. If you think about it, other than thanking another person for something they've done specifically, having an overall attitude of gratitude doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you worship a God who has the abliity and has proven to have chosen to be a giver, a giver of all the good things in life. Pastor Adam suggests 2 ways we can be grateful. The first is to eliminate when/then thinking. This is all about being present and being grateful for and appreciating and enjoying where we are right now, rather than longing for something that may happen in the future, or for something we had in the past. It's easy for us to point fingers at the Children of Israel who complained about only having manna to eat int he wilderness and longing for when they were slaves in Egypt and had other food to eat. The reality is I have been guilty of this type of thinking my whole adult life to different degrees and at different times, in my personal life and my professional life. If I talked to my Mom when growing up about something that I should have done in the past or something that might have been, she would wisely respond "Oh shoulda-woulda-coulda". With my own kids, I've more often tried to pass along in a similar situation the wise advice that they should do as Boston says and "Don't Look Back". We can all think of things we don't like about our work. That's easy. What takes effort is to purposely focus on the good in our work. There's the income, of course, but there's also the feeling of satisfaction for a job well done, the opportunity to interact and collaborate with others on a common goal, the chance to sharpen our skills and get better, it provides a sense of purpose, and ig gives us unique opportunties to share our faith with others and to just love on them. Psalm 118:24, in NKJV says "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it". As my Pastor said, we should thank God not just for what He did, but for what He is doing TODAY. In John 5:17, Jesus said "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working". The 2nd suggestion Pastor Adam had for being thankful was to be the one who circles back. In Luke 17:15-18, after Jesus heals 10 lepers, "
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” I did one thing right this past year in this regard. After finishing a project, I sent out an email to each of the contractors who had done work on the project and thanked them for the work they had done. Sure, they had gotten paid for their work, and sure not everything went exactly as planned and mistakes were made, but I could not have completed the project without and I wanted to take the time to specifically thank them. Someone once said to me that it's a good idea to email a thank you after someone does something for you at work. In my Handy Tips section I've been talking about how to be more effective with the use of email, and a big part of that is not sending out too many emails. I think this is one exception, and its worth noting that you don't have to use email to say thanks you can pick up the phone. If someone regularly does helpful things for you as part of their job, you may want to occasionally thank them rather than every time they do something, and when you do so try to be specific about the work they do, noting anything that is unique about what they do and how they do it. When I sent the email to my contractors I didn't just thank them, for each of them I pointed out specific things they did that made a difference. The great thing about circling back is that it will likely make a big impact on others, because most people, like the 9 ungrateful lepers, don't do this. A few final thoughts on this issue. First, Pastor Adam said that every blessing in life that is not turned into praise is turned into pride. We could spend multiple Selah episodes talking about the danger pride and the scripture that demonstrates that Gods hates it when we're prideful. I think this point is a powerful motivator for us being thankful. Yes, being thankful is the right thing to do and will produce great fruit in our lives and the lives of others, but if we dont' do it, it can and will lead to pride will create destruction and should be avoided at all cost. Another thought I have is while we're focusing on being thankful for our work and thankful to our co-workers, remember at the end of your work day to be thankful to your wife. There's a temptation to bring our best selves to the workplace and then only bring our frustrations and judgmental attitude to our wife and kids. Whether she's out in the marketplace working or a stay-at-home Mom, our wives deserve our thanks every day and in a way that's meaningful to them. For my final thought, I heard a song by Jeremy Camp called Keep Me in the Moment on the radio today on my way home from church and I'd like to read some of the lyrics from that song.
I've been thinking 'bout time and where does it go
How can I stop my life from passing me by, I don't know
I've been thinking 'bout family and how it's going so fast
Will I wake up one morning just wishing that I could go back? I've been thinking 'bout lately, maybe
I can make a change and let you change me
So, with all of my heart this is my prayer Singing oh Lord, keep me in the moment
Help me live with my eyes wide open
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me Singing oh Lord, show me what matters
Throw away what I'm chasing after
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (what you have for me) Keep me in the moment
Oh, keep me in the moment
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (oh) When I wake up in the morning
Lord, search my heart
Don't let me stray
I just wanna stay where you are All I got is one shot, one try
One go around in this beautiful life
Nothing is wasted when everything's placed in your hands Singing oh Lord, keep me in the moment
Help me live with my eyes wide open
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (what you have for me) Singing oh Lord, show me what matters
Throw away what I'm chasing after
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (what you have for me) Keep me in the moment (keep me in the moment)
Lord keep me in the moment (keep me in the moment)
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me I've been thinking about heaven
And the promise you hold
So, it's all eyes on you
Until the day you call me home Singing oh Lord, keep me in the moment
Help me live with my eyes wide open
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me
(I don't wanna miss, I don't wanna miss) Singing oh Lord, show me what matters
Throw away what I'm chasing after (oh)
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (yeah) Keep me in the moment
Oh, keep me in the moment
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me Keep me in the moment (keep me in the moment)
Oh, keep me in the moment (keep me in the moment)
Keep me in the moment
'Cause I don't wanna miss what you have for me (what you have for me) E=Example of Faith at work 2 men From episode 096, when Leighton Ford was age 14, his mother left for a while and during that summer Leighton was lonely but went to a Bible Conference put on by a local business man. A speaker talked about praying out loud from the Psalms and this was a turning point for Leighton. He felt God knew and understood that teenage boy. When Leighton was 14 yrs old a man named Evan Hedley, came to his hometown to start "Youth for Christ" there and Leighton was appointed to be president. Evan was a business man who had been in insurance. He wasn't a preacher but he was an organizer and a mentor. Evan lived to age 90 and 60 men including Leighton who had been mentored by Evan came to his funeral. L=Logos = Work verse “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. Deuteronomy 11:18-20 - CSB A = Announcement “"The Classic Christian Rock podcast by WildMan & Steve encompasses all a Christian Music fan would want in a podcast. They interview Christian Rock artists twice a month- those from the past and the musicians who are rocking for Christ today. On the same podcast is a weekly radio show called Metal Talk where you will here great talk about politics, current events and faith- all while listening to great Metal music. Subscribe to their podcast today where ever you get your podcasts, find out more at WildManandsteve.com"” H=Handy tip to increase productivity and effectiveness Pretend CC doesn't exist, thing long and hard about who you're sending your email to. Why is each and every person on there. There should be a reason you can explain. I do use the CC but I'm trying not to use the CC. It's used to keep people informed, to cover our butt by making sure those cc'd know that we've done something, sometimes used to get someone in trouble or to point out to someone what someone is or is not doing. We can very easily damage relationships and trust using the CC the wrong way. Another danger of using CC is if the email turns into a back and forth, some higher upper people that you just wanted to keep informed end up being dragged through a bunch of back and forth emails that you may not be able to stop or control.
What You'll Hear:
- Leighton was adopted, but didn't find out about this until age 12
- His mother was a devout Christian and raised himwith a spiritual grounding
- His adoptive parents ran a jewelry store, he looks back and is thankful for the love and provision, but his parents did not have a loving marriage and fought a lot
- When he was age 14, his mother left for a while and during that summer Leighton went to a Blue Water Bible Conference put on by a local business man. A speaker talked about praying out loud from the Psalms and this was a turning point for Leighton. He felt God knew and understood that teenage boy
- That year a man named Evan Hedley, came to his hometown to start "Youth for Christ" there and Leighton was appointed to be president. Evan was a business man who had been in insurance. He wasn't a preacher but he was an organizer and a mentor. Evan lived to age 90 and 60 men including Leighton who had been mentored by Evan came to his funeral.
- At age 16, Leighton met Billy Graham through Youth for Christ. Billy was speaking and the auditorium was full, but Leighton was disappointed that no-one came up to give their life to the Lord. Billy put an arm around Leighton's shoulder and encouraged him and prayed for him.
- "Our seeming failures are not always God's failures"
- Billy Graham gave Leighton a letter of recommendation for Wheaton and Leighton didn't get it in, but he transfered later and majored in Philosophy. He met Jean, Billy Graham's sister, there. They fell in love and married. Jean had a soft voice from Polio. This soft voice was very important to Leighton, especially since it was in contrast to Leighton's mother's voice.
- "Out of the many voices we hear....as we listen for that still, small voice of the Lord, we begin to find our own voice"
- The best definition of a Christan is one who hears the voice of Jesus and follows His way
- BREAK1-17:09 “"The Classic Christian Rock podcast by WildMan & Steve encompasses all a Christian Music fan would want in a podcast. They interview Christian Rock artists twice a month- those from the past and the musicians who are rocking for Christ today. On the same podcast is a weekly radio show called Metal Talk where you will here great talk about politics, current events and faith- all while listening to great Metal music. Subscribe to their podcast today where ever you get your podcasts, find out more at WildManandsteve.com"”
- "We're in a time where people are paying continuous partial attention"
- Honor the Saabath as well as small Saabaths during the week
- Dallas Willard said "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry"
- We can be a workaholic and a thinkaholic
- Take advantage of pauses in our day and pauses in our life
- The monks have certain times durign the day when they pray. Leighton sets the alarm on his watch to go off and remind him to pause and listen.
- "99% of Christians in the world will never be in a pulpit and never be a missionary, but they will have daily work"
- Leighton's son-in-law is a doctor and prayed with a man and led him to Christ just before he died, and the family asked him to speak at his funeral.
- At age 50, Leighton stopped and took inventory and he and his wife began to say "I wonder if there's something different" and prayed for 2 years. During that time their son Sandy died from heart problems.
- They felt led to lead the next generation to be what God wants them to be. Younger people want an older person to listen to them and help them.
- To find someone to mentor, pray about it. Start a GGTW (Guys and Gals to Watch) list. Be available not to give them advice and tell them what to do but a genuine interest in them.
- "God's an artist. He doesn't do copies, He only does originals."
- Recommended prayer to start your work day "Lord, you're in my mind, think your thoughts in me. Be my wisdom, knowledge and insight. Be in my eyes, see through me. Be in my voice and speak through me with silence or whatever is needed, and let me live this day in the reality of You in me. I trust you for making it so."
- Find "A Life of Listening" on Amazon. Go to www.LeightonFordMinistries.org
S=Something on my Heart 1. Start by commenting on comments 2 weeks ago about Q and Nesare Gesara. Will say a few comments about Q Anon tonight and will say something about Nesara Gesara at a later date). I don't want to spend much time on either topic because I feel they are outside of the purpose of this podcast and you don't tune in to hear about these topics, but since I brought it up, let me finish my thought. For those of you not familar with Q....There's a movement that's very excited about Q and I feel that this movement is misguided and should avoided by Christians. Based on what I've learned about it, I believe that Satan is using Q to pretend to be the light overcoming darkness when in actually Q may make spiritual comments but it's more rooted in New Age philosophy than Christianity and I think it's from the Devil. This conclusion I've come to further strengthens my ongoing journey toward focusing more on God and His Word and less on politics. The problems of this world will not be solved by either political party. Q is not our savior. Trump is not our savior. Only Jesus Christ is our Savior and there's a big risk by focusing too much on politics that we make idols out of our government and our government leaders. Am I saying don't be aware of what's going on in the world? No. I'm saying don't be obsessed as I have in the past and don't put your trust in men, trust in Jesus. - Make It Happen and Make a Mess-I’ve tried to control circumstances , not by physical might or financial influence which is what I often think of when I think of as control, but by my words both verbally and written through emails. True personally and professionally. It hit me in a conversation with my wife where I was clearly trying to avoid responsibility for something that happened in my past that had significant negative long lasting consequences and she helped me see through the lies the devil had been feeding me so I could see how I had gone off half-cocked many times in the past at key times and situations and tried to change people’s minds toward what I thought was right and toward an action or way of thinking I thought others should have and the results were all bad, not just bad but in a long lasting way, seemingly unrestorable way. As I thought through this later and prayed about it, I realized I had make this mistake in so many critical areas of my life and the results were all bad. Relationships, sex, finances, trying to find someone to mentor, doing ministry, trying to change the minds of friends and family members around spiritual and political ideas, aspects of how I've gone about this podcast, even going back to how I went about choosing my college degree and career. I've heard the phrase that we should pray like it's all up to God, and work and act like it's all up to us. I don't like that saying. I think that it weakens the power of prayer and the trust we have in God and tends to make prayer a check the box activity but what we're really putting our trust in is ourselves. There's another old saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" which sometimes is followed by "The road to heaven is paved with good works". The second part of that is not accurate beacuse we are saved by grace and not by works, but I don't like the first part of that phrase either. It implies that we should act on doing something worthwhile and not just intend to do it. I think there's some truth in that, we shouldn't put off actions that God wants us to do, we shouldn't procastinate and by lazy. But I'm thinking of that phrase in a different light. The road to Hell, or you might say the road to death and misery, can be paved with wrong actions that had what we thought were good intentions. Pastor Adam Cook at my church had a great sermon today about the Power of Saying No. Here are a few bullet points from his sermon. Behind every wise "No" there is a much better "Yes". I bet your biggest regret is from a time when you said "yes" when you should've said "no". As your heart becomes devoted to God and His Truth, you will begin to know what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to. If you want to have a life full of Godly reward instead of regret, you must develop a heart of integrity that only comes by knowing and living in God's truth. Three areas where you must repeatedly say "No" are 1. Sexual Misconduct 2. Relational overload 3. Causes outside your calling. Now this last section about the 3 areas gets a little off track from the point I'm trying to make in this Selah episode, though I'm making a note to dig into these 3 topics in more depth in future Selah episodes because they are issues all men deal with. What I DO want to draw from Pastor Adam's message is this idea that our focus should be on devoting ourselves to God and His truth, to read the Bible and pray regularly, and by doing so, over time, we will develop a heart of integrity that will allow us to know what to say "yes" to and what to say "no" to. Back to what I started talking. Prov 3:5-6 NKJV sayd "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall [b]direct your paths."
Most of us are familiar with those verses. Lately I've been trying to read the context around famous verses like this one, and I like verse that immediately follows this, it says "7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil."
Proverbs 17:28 NKJV "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive."
Next time you catch yourself saying or thinking “Something’s got to be done about this “-red flag, press the pause button, and pray. Think about these questions often used by journalists when telling a story, sometimes referred to as the 5 W's and an H: who, what, when, where, and why and how. I think all of these are relavant except maybe "where". : 1. What is it you think needs to be changed? Does it really need to be changed? If so, Why? Also, what is the consequence you think will come from the action you're considering taking? What unintended consequence might come instead? Who should do that thing? Don’t assume it’s you. How should it be done? With an impersonal email to a group of people or should it be a 1:1 conversation in person or by phone? And finally "when"? Is this really urgent, or might it be better to wait, to allow you time to pray and hear from God and perhaps later think differently and perhaps be less emotionally driven. Think about people you know personally that you truly respect, did they do some amazing or shocking thing in a moment of time or did they live out a virtuous, humble, modest, loving life consistently A couple final thoughts on this. First, if you've already messed up, repent. Say you're sorry to the person or person you affected if appropriate, and say sorry to God, and mean it. You may have heard that repent has more to do with going another direction than it does with saying you're sorry. As my Pastor said this morning, you'll have plenty of opportunities to be tempted in the future, opportunities to get it right, so focus on those not on the past. My final thought is that there are some inherently impersonal communication tools that are commonly used that have unique hazards associated with them, most notably email, texting, and use of social media. Starting with this episode, in the H or Handy Tips section I'm going to begin sharing lessons I've learned about properly using email in the workplace that I think you'll really find helpful
* E = Example of faith at work
* He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; he brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over his people Jacob— over Israel, his inheritance. He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands.-Psalm 78:70-72-CSB
* L=Logos- Work verse
* Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and working the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin; caraway is beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it, but one does not use horses to grind grain. All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent. - Isaiah 28:23-29 - NIV -I came across this long passage this morning which I believe is saying that God does not leave us guessing as to how to go about our daily tasks and we should seek his will in everything and not do things by our own power and understanding
* A= announcements
* thinking about retreat next year at our ranch, Spring - sleep under the stars, still have comforts, email with interests Promo for Metal Talk “"The Classic Christian Rock podcast by WildMan & Steve encompasses all a Christian Music fan would want in a podcast. They interview Christian Rock artists twice a month- those from the past and the musicians who are rocking for Christ today. On the same podcast is a weekly radio show called Metal Talk where you will here great talk about politics, current events and faith- all while listening to great Metal music. Subscribe to their podcast today where ever you get your podcasts, find out more at WildManandsteve.com"”
* H = Handy tip to help to live out Gods assignment for your work
* First in a series about using email wisely. Today's tip is to use the "do not reply" option when accepting an email invite. If you use Microsoft Outlook at your work, which most of us do, did you know that when you receive an email invite to a meeting, and in the email it seemingly gives you just 3 options 1. Accept 2. Reject 3. Tentative. There are actually more options. If you select the drop down arrow on the right side of the "Accept" button (I believe true for the other 2 buttons as well), you can choose the "do not reply" option, which means that the person who sent you an invite will have it noted in their calendar meeting that you accepted the meeting, and if they select the tracking option for that meetint they'll see that you accepted, but they will NOT receive an email stating that you accepted the meeting. Just like most of us complain about paying too many taxes, most of us would also agree we get too many emails. This is one small way you reduce the number of unecessary emails in someone else's inbox.
What You'll Hear: Wayne got into drugs in high school and ended up in the emergency room in 1978 after a bad experience His first job was at Western Steer Steakhouse He later became a shop manager at a factory in Dothan, AL In the mid 80's Wayne's pastor suggested he get involved in a ministry and to pastor in his workplace He read a book "Your Job: Survival or Satisfaction" Rather than start his own business, he decided to stay in manufacturing so he could be around more people The Parable of the Talents can be applied to those of us in our work Wayne blogged for a long time and recently started podcasting after reading a book on the topic Will be starting a new podcast called "Breaktime Apologetics with Wayne" Since his co-workers were on their phones at break time, Wayne decided to post on Facebook and friend his co-workers so they can see what he believes in there Lessons from his podcast With T-shirts, don't use secular brand logos but something more powerful and blunt Put your main graphics on the back, not the front of your T-shirt so they won't be intimidated Use the radio to share the Gospel at work Tote your Bible to work, even if you dont' have time to read it you'll have it in your presence If you're reading, be available to talk to people when they talk to you Bring up what you hear from church with someone at work Be able to answer quickly and to the point, and think about it in advance We need to be able to defend the reliability of the Bible Be ready to say "I don't know, but I will find out for you", and when you find out, quickly tell them Life verse - Galatians 5:16 "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Find at Facebook or wayneb36301@yahoo.com Podcast "From the Factory Floor" found on iTunes and other places Every Christian is in the service department
Hope - From Axis Culture Translater Premium Vol 6 issue 29 " Experts warn a second surge of COVID-19 deaths are imminent. Racial tensions continue to dominate the news cycle. Economic insecurity is trickling down into every sphere of life. It seems everything these days is up for grabs. Despair, darkness, and depression are dominating the cultural landscape and our interior lives. And yet, as followers of Christ, we are called to be people of hope in a hurting world, which, in hard times like these can only seem like “foolishness to the Greeks.” But is it? If there is one lasting legacy you can leave with your children during this kairos moment in their lives, it might be this: We are a people of hope. But hope and good old-fashioned optimism are radically different things. While optimism is focused on a good future outcome or a pleasant change in our current circumstances, hope is a quiet confidence in the present based on what God in Christ has done in the past. As long-time missionary and theologian Leslie Newbigin once wrote, “I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” Amen to that. For Newbigin and for us, hope is defiance in the face of fear. It is the often courageous task of staring reality in the face and still claiming that though evil, suffering, and death remain, they have already been defeated. Hope is standing in the valley of dry bones and daring to believe God will breathe life into them once again. Hope is mustering the courage to go to the tomb in the early hours before dawn, just in case. Hope is living as resurrection people in a dying world. Hope is joining God right here and right now in the renewal of all things. If Hell is hopelessness, then maybe a little bit of heaven is the realization that all over this tired old world, “hope springs eternal.”"
Came to Christ with the help of his Dad at age 10 Has lead "Care for Aids" for the last decade, which empowers people to have a life beyond AIDS At age 18 he attended a conference where he faced the reality of HIV and that the church was silent on this issue He went to Kenya and met 2 pastors and together they formed this organization Justin originally thought he would follow his Dad in business, but God was calling him to something different They believe the virus first jumped from monkeys to humans in the early 1900's. In the early 1980's they first saw cases present Half of the new cases come from east and south Africa, and they're not sure exactly why We still have 2MM new cases each year Our response moving forward needs to go beyond testing and treatment 80% of those infected are part of the general population, in heterosexual relationships The church is still not very involved in this issue This is one of the most vulnerable groups of people on this earth that are not being helped by the church With medication and proper nutrition, many people infected with HIV live a normal life span At any given time, there are about 5,000 people enrolled in the program which lasts about 9 months. They stay living in their homes and come to receive services 6-8x/month which includes counseling including a Biblical view of who they are and their dignity and self-worth and tools to help them take care of their families We've seen over 52,000 orphans prevented as a result of the program We've had over 4,000 make a first time profession of faith, we have over 500 Muslim clients in our program Wherever you've been placed to serve, that's an amazing mission field...you can be involved in caring for the marginalized Politics aside, it's a non-negotiable for believers to care for those who are marginalized Scritpure shows we're supposed to partner with God to bring renewal to earth We have a mandate to passionately demonstrate the Gospel as well as passionately proclaim the Gospel in word and deed We need to continually find the right balance between the spiritual space and physical space Q&A If we complain about government being too involved in social services, we have to provide ways to meet these needs If the church was the safety net, it would really transform the reality of our political landscape Favorite scripture is Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work out with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for man", as I've grown that verse is more about how we work as a way to worship Contact www.CareForAids.org or www.JustinTMiller.com, the book is "Beyond Blessed" Many in Africa cannot work. Work is an amazing opportunity to witness and to worship God
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Good News and Bad News -Start with bad news, if our heart isn't totally committed to Jesus Christ in a relationship vs. a religious spirit, we're a not a true follower of Jesus, anything less than total surrender to Jesus doesn't cut it, we understand this type of commitent is a necesary part of a marriage, God shows us how He wants our relationship to have that same, even higher commitmment, In Eph 5:25-33 he compares those 2 relationships, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might [g]sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, [h]of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband" -Eph 5:25-33, "For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" Exodus 20:5, In Revelation Jesus talks to John about 7 churches. All of these churches did good things, but Jesus rebuked or corrected all of them, except 2, Smyrna called the Persecuted Church and Philadelphia called the Spiritual alive church, The Laodicean church called the Luke Warm church Jesus said he would spit them out of His mouth, in Matthew 5:28 Jesus says "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." in this and other passages he shows that it's not enough to keep the Laws or commandments in terms of your actions you have to guard your heart and take captive all your thoughts to the obedience of Christ, the Psalmist understood this in Ps 139:22-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting." 1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Jesus blasted the Pharisees for having good outward appearance while neglecting matters of the heart, Matthew 23:27 Jesus said "“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness", Rom 8:6 "For to be [b]carnally minded is death" vs 7 says "Because the [c]carnal mind is enmity against God", notice Paul talks about our mind not what we do with our hands and mouth, my Pastor says a good way to think about our sin is 3 words: doing, thinking, saying, my pastor also spoke recently about racism that we've made great strides as a country at politically correct, i.e. we've gotten good at not doing and saying certain things when it comes to race, but being PC doesn't change the heart, I'll personally testify that doing the "right" things in marriage but having an angry, judgmental, non-loving and non-compassionate heart will lead to strife, bitterness, and pain, when it comes to our work if we do a "good job" at work but our heart is filled with discontent, envy, judgment and we're not in relationship with God while we're at work, we will be miserable in our job and will not prosper, here's another piece of bad news: good intentions are worthless, saying "I'm trying" or "I'll try to do better" if worth than doing nothing at all, let me be transparent with an example of this: I recently started carrying a small NT/Psalms Bible from the Gideons with me to work, I just realized and am ashamed to admit that I've been doing this for weeks and not once have I looked at it, are you now ready for some good news? Let me start with the First Light Devotion from Pastor Brian Biggers sent on July 9 - "I have always loved the twenty first chapter of John. It is the great story of Simon's restoration. It is also God speaking to you and me revealing what He is really like at heart. Perhaps no one in history has blown it with God like Simon. He was Jesus' dearest friend; the one Jesus took with Him everywhere. He was the one that Jesus confided in and looked to most often. As a side note, the fact that God chose a redneck, ignorant, uneducated fisherman to be His best friend brings me great hope! When told of Christ' impending arrest and murder Simon vowed that even if all abandoned Him, he would stick with Him. You know the story. In His greatest hour of need at a mockery of a trial, Simon told all present that He had never met the Man. When pressed about the issue he cursed and swore that he had no idea who Jesus was. Some friend! Far be it from me to look down my nose at the famous fisherman. My loyalty could be questioned at no few times. As often happens when a follower of Christ messes up very badly, Simon went back to his old life at sea assuming that his days in God's inner circle were over after His public failure. What a shock to look up from his nets early one morning and see Jesus standing on the shore! First time he had seen Jesus since he had cursed Him and watched as Jesus turned to gaze at him without speaking. What would He do? What does God do to people that betray Him and abandon Him? When Simon arrived at the shore Jesus invited him to eat breakfast that was prepared on a coal fire. As they sat around the fire not a word was spoken about the downfall. It was never mentioned again. Finally, after eating, Jesus looked at Simon and asked him, "do you love me"? He replied, no doubt with deep humility, "yes Lord, you know I love you". After his response Jesus simply said, "tend my sheep". This is God. This is how He treats people that mess up. Big time. No revenge. He didn't even ask him if he thought he could do better from now on. With Him the question is never "can you behave". It’s always "do you love me"? He is immediately restored in his relationship with Christ and repositioned as the chief preacher in God's great movement. Who cannot love a God that forgives that freely and never gives up on His plans for you? How about you? Have you missed it with Him? Blown it big time? Here's the message of the Bible. If you're not dead, God's not done!
Father, I would have given up on me a long time ago. Your mercy makes no sense. Thank God!
Now I want to borrow from the message I heard from Pastor Adam Cook this morning about freedom, Adam and Eve were naked, content and connected, this was God's will all of use, by comparison now all who sin are marked by shame, striving and separation. Think about that for a moment, how those 3 things describe aspects of your life, I don't have to think hard to think about how they apply to mine, think specifically about your work, shame shows up in awareness of the mistakes we make at work, not measuring up to our co-workers or to standards set by ourselves or our boss or both,, striving shows upo in feeling like we're working hard, seeing our work as boring or drudgery, being a perfectionist being prideful of of our work which only brings us misery as we judge others we see as not measuring up to our standards, separation shows up at work when when we feel lonely at work, disconnected from others and from God, waiting for church on Sunday to feel spiritual but otherwise feeling like we're just blending with the world while we're at work, working for the dollar or working for the weekend,, buy heart of Jesus in John 8:34-36 Jesus says "34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.", 1 Corinthians 32:17 NIV says "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom", Galatians 5:1 NIV says "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." We just celebrated Independence Day in the U.S., in America value highly our freedom, you could say we worship it, when it comes to politics both sides have their own version of what freedom means, I'm realizing more and more that freedom by worldly standards is not true freedom, I like the definition of spiritual freedom that my Pastor Adam gave "the unhindered experience of the presence of God". The curse that came from sin giving us shame, striving, and separation is reversed by Jesus if we walk in it. We can walk in the cool of the day with Jesus, as my Pastort said, it's like God is saying to us you can swing and miss but you can’t fail because you’re free in me, that is the abundant life that only comes from surrendering our lives to Jesus not just when we're born again but in our daily walk at work and everywhere else
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Grant Smith update
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1 Thess 4:11-12 NIV "11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."
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9) Pray (before, during and after meeting)
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3 P’s-Prepare, physically and spiritually, See end times from the Bible playing out today, you may not agree but I would encourage you to at least be familiar with some of the main portions of the Bible dealing with end times and to have some opinion of what they mean, I don't believe God gave us so many specific warnings if He didn't want us to be aware and ready, including Daniel 7, Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Tim 3, Joel 2, most of books of Revelation and Daniel, I'm not expert on interpretations and have primarly relied on others for that, and I won't even get into any of that, but I do believe that the events in our world today are not detached from Scripture and I believe things will get worse and that we should all physically prepare your home and your family, city prepping, reasoned prepping, TruthUnedited - How to Survive the end... James Wesley, Rawles, and know God, reach out to Him like you're desperate because we all are, PRIORITIZE Matt 25:11-13 NKJV "11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour [b]in which the Son of Man is coming." Make sure you dont' just know of Jesus and you aren't just religious but that you KNOW Him. Col 3:2 NKJV "2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth, PEACE, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.", Phil 4:7 NKJV "and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." , Luke 2:13-14 "
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill[e] toward men!”
", Luke 5:22-23 NKJV "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.", Rom 8:38-39 NKJV "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
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Business Owners
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1 Peter 4:7 NIV "7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray." Also Exod 14:10 NKJV "10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord."
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8) Remember, the focus is not on getting through the material
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Books recently purchased
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The Randsomed Heart Podcast with John Eldridge
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Neh 1:11 NIV "Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king."
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Paul Sohn
#7 - Try to Involve Everyone
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Think about putting all your activities in 3 categories 1) good (Kingdom stuff, family, direction from God and Bible), 2) Bad (getting drunk, breaking 10 commandments, Ex 20:3-17 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor [b]serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[c] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Prov 6:16-19 things God hates-) These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to [h]Him:
17 A[i] proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren, 3) Neutral (watching a football game, hobbies). Start with low hanging fruit (bad), then neutral (Dr. Vanderpool said we send so much time on entertain it seems like we're too busy (us or our kids),), what we think as neutral or "good" what makes life worth living may easily be breaking the 1st commandment and having a god before the one true God, then good (going to church, ministry, podcast frequency (maybe not totally eliminate but degree or emphasis), John Bevere said "just because it's good doesn't mean it's God), God knows what's best for us (not just good), we shouldn't settle for less than God's best. Time is so precious, we want to make the most of the time we have, as Chuck says "finish strong", can't change the past or control the future, only the present, so what to focus on, the big 2 Love God and Love Others, Phill 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.", time with God - Saabath, don't just know OF Him, KNOW him, think of your marriage
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The Briefing with Albert Mohler
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Neh 1:11 "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
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Paul Sohn
6) Make sure everyone understands the purpose of the group from day 1 (also good for work and meetings)
What You'll Hear: * David Smith's wife led him to the Lord after he met her in a hospital when she was a nursing student * An elderly gentleman on the North Side of Chicago got David his first job in a neighborhood feed store * "Work is so essential and it's a gift from the Lord, and has a lot more to do than not just about money" * David helps school systems find leaders and helps private institutions with their accreditations * "I learned early on that learning was a gift and work was a gift" * David was a history and social science teacher in high school in both Christian and public schools, and ended up as a public school superintendent * In retirement he has kept busy in activities related to his career * Living out his faith through work in education for David has included encouraging students * There are voices for Christians now to withdraw * "I want parents to have the resources to make the best choice for them" when it comes to educating their children * "Guys tend to form alliances more than friendships, it's toxic in a lot of ways" * "There should be some people in your life that you should be close to" * "Biblical masculinity shows a warmth and lovingness" * "You have to earn the right to be candid...if you're messing up someone who really cares about you is going to share with you" * "A friend is a person with whom one can be sincere" - Ralph Waldo Emerson * "It's the individuals we're close to that make life worth living" * "A friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be" * "It's not about frequency" * "The answer to 'who's got your back' is the one whose back you've got" * "Are you a host or a guest" when you walk in a room? * "I learn that when I listen to someone, not only am I learning, it shows respect" * We have 4 communication skills, reading, writing, and speaking but we don't focus enough on listening * "Women are more holistic, they look at the total person..women don't have these macho expectations, they're more attentive to the relationship...there's a covenant...that I value you and I care for you" * Jefferson and Adams reached out to each other late in life to make amends, most guys don't do that * "The concept of total independence leads to loneliness and sadness...and an earlier grave" * Break 2: 41:04 * Important elements of a friendship include listening, self-disclosure, compromise, loyalty * The Bible is filled with wonderful stories of how people relate to each other and how we should do the same * Male and female friendships tend to be male dominated, and often the man wants the friendship to end up in the bedroom * Most friendships are with the same gender * Get "Who's Got Your Back" on Amazon * Contact sds894@yahoo.com
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True identity is not what I do (for example, I am a writer). Nor is it how I am (for example, I am happy). True identity is who I am. In other words, identity in Christ means union with Christ.-holy sexuality. Jan Quote from Christopher Yuan “ Here’s a great passage from a book I’m reading by Christopher Yuan called “Holy Sexuality”. In this pAssage he’s speaking about his personal experience dealing with same-sex attractions but I think it is so true for all of us as we deal with temptations, hangups, and sin of all kinds: “This much I know is true: I have been changed—I’m a new creature in Christ—and that change is vital and real. I have a new heart, and my mind is renewed. Before conversion, I was indifferent toward Christ, which is equivalent to hatred. Now I love Christ, I want to please the Father, and I desire his holiness. This is real change even with the reality of my sin nature and in the midst of ongoing temptations. God has redeemed us, and he has transformed us—and as such, we have new loyalties. These new loyalties and priorities grow deeper and stronger as we mature in Christ. Christ fights our battles now—even battles with indwelling sin. As I said before, because of our union with Christ, we can hate our sin without hating ourselves. God has changed me.” E
TruthUnedited.com
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2 Samuel 5:10-12 NKJV "So David went on and became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons. And they built David a house. So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel."
A - None this week
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Paul Sohn 4) Don't Answer Your Own Questions 5) Ask Open-ended questions - e.g. what did you like about the lesson or chapter?
S-Because of your guilt for past mistakes, you may feel you deserve whatever you perceive to be the suffering in your life. That suffering may include how you perceive you work, since you may think of your work as drudgery or a necessary evil. Or your guilt may lead you to think you don't have the credibility or the right to speak truth and make a difference in the lives of your co-workers, or to pursue a dream or passion you may have either within your current work reality or something outside of your immediate work circumstances. Use Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration to apply to our work and to our own personal testimonies.
E-Paul Gautschi from backtoedenfilm.com
L-Acts 17:16-17 "While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there."
A-weekly release beginning this month
H-See PaulSohn blog post on September 25, 2015, 10 tips to be an effective small group leader 1. Don't do all the talking 2. Be comfortable with silence 3. Be a good listener
What You'll Hear: * Matt grew up in a Christian family and went to a very conservative church * At age 20 "I cried out 'I'm so lonely", that was the first honest conversation I had with God...I thought 'I love Jesus, I love God and I want more of this" * First job was pulling weeds as a gardener and the landscaper in the summer in Oregon * With YWAM, Matt did missions on a small island and in Hong Kong and Singapore * In 2005 he started a business consulting firm in Singapore that includes training and communication * "I translate the Kingdom of God into business material, into engaging people and working with them" * " I had no idea you could have such rich and meaningful conversations in the marketplace" * "My role is to figure out who they are, how they're unstuck and how to get them unstuck" * "One of the weaknesses with evangelicalism is that we don't really love people, we don't want to meet them where they are, we just want to get them saved" * "The first question people struggle with and that God asks us is 'where are you?', that's one of the most profound questions we can ask" * "Day to day, being authentic, getting to know someone is the missing piece sometimes" * "be present without being anxious or reactive, that's the discipline of maturity...that's the mastery of Jesus" * "you don't want to get into a difficult situation and not have trained...you practice your reactions with your wife and kids" * "Very few people have theology questions, what's driving those questions is a broken heart" * "The only Being in the universe who doesn't have to ask questions comes into our broken and rebellious world and the first thing He does is ask 3 questions. 'where are you?', 'who told you?', and 'have you eaten?'" * "Asking questions ought to be one of our highest priorities" and "not questions that are statements in disguise" * "When I stepped out of missions, I realized that secretly I had carried a little bit of arrogance in my heart that I was doing spiritual work by doing missions and that now that I was outside of it I wasn't doing spiritual work" * "The reason the church is in the shape it's in is because we haven't taken the full counsel of God" * "This whole idea that we're to leave God out is absurd...all they're really saying is 'just leave us alone'" * "God is interested in all areas of life and has something to say about all areas of life" * "Anytime you're fighting for control, you're not fighting for the Kingdom of God" * Contact www.brokentopleadership.com for daily devotional or go to www.MatthewRawlins.org
S = Something on My Heart
What Unites Us - heard from a manager at a safety meeting once that the great thing about safety is it's the one thing that unites us all. My first thought was one I often have when I hear an extreme statement that uses terms like "always", "never" or in this case "the one thing", and that thought was that it was hyperbole, or exaggeration and that in the natural there are always exceptions to extreme statements like this and that only God deserves language like that (for example, all powerful, all knowing, ever present),as a side note I've tried to avoid using powerful or extreme words and phrases like this for natural things, but reserve those for whom they are deserved, words like awesome, incredible, amazing, unreal. But back to the safety meeting at work. I thought about this statement some more, about safety being the one thing that unites us , I thought about it both during that meeting as well as in the weeks that followed, particularly in light of the Coronavirus. I've come to the conclusion that a better statement is that safety unites us more than most things in life, but that it is not the one thing that unites us all. In the workplace I have found that pretty much everyone agrees that safety is important, maybe even that safety should be our number one priority, but that unity ends when you go beyond the general and into the specific. For example, I've seen many examples where safety was prioritized to a level where it went beyond common sense and didn't factor in sufficiently the need for the business to be profitable nor did it factor in sufficiently the need for individuals to take responsibility for themselves. With the Coronavirus, I saw a fair amount of division initially around what our reaction should be to the threat, then a more united approach, but as we now debate how and when we should reopen our country the unity has quickly changed as there are different opinions on exactly what steps were appropriate in response to that threat as well as how we should open things up moving forward. To take this thought a bit further, what, if anything, does actually unite all of us? This is not a complete list, but here's a few things I've found to answer this question. 2 things both come from Gen 1:26. We were all made in God's image and we were all made so that we may have dominion over the earth, I believe you could substitute the phrase work for dominion. This was further clarified in Gen 2:15 "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." So 2 things that unite all of us, believers and unbelievers, are God's image and our purpose to do good work in the world. John Stonestreet and Warren Smith in their book "Restoring all things" say it like this "The absolute Ruler of everything decides to make other rulers to take care of His world...they are not puppets, nor have they been granted tourist visas to enjoy paradise. They have work to do...they too, like the One whose image they bear, are to fill and form...humans are to bring glory to God by living for the good of the world". What are some other things that unite all of us? The book of Romans is filled with them. "there is none righteous not one", "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". and also that it is clear to all that God exists, Rom 1:20 says "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [g]Godhead, so that they are without excuse," we're also united in the sense that God doesn't want any of us to perish and that He sent Jesus for all of us. John 3:16 says that "God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son". 2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." So far in our list of what unites us all is some good news and bad news. We're all made in God's image, we're all made to do good work, we're all aware of God, we're all guilty of sin, and we're all equally loved by God and have an equal opportunity to accept his gift of eternal life with him. We've been talking about all of humanity, but what about believers in Christ. What unites us? You've heard the phrase "in the essentials unity, in non-essentials, freedom, all things in love". As believers, we are all forgiven. Psalm 103:12 says "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us". We are all a new creation, 2 Cor 5:17 says "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new". So, looking again at all of humanity, what divides us? Well, in the natural that's an easy question to answer, it seems that just about everything and at an increasing level of intensity, divides us. Let's talk just about the spiritual. What divides all of humanity is our response to truth and to what God has done for us. In John 18:37b Jesus says "for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice". Pilate responds to Jesus with a question "What is truth?". In 3 of the 4 gospels Jesus asks a critical question "who do you say that I am?". How we respond to that question as well as the question "what is truth" is the primary way that all of humanity is divided. That important division in terms of both how we may respond as well as how we will respond in the future is made every more clear by Jesus when he talks about the present and the future. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it". In Matthew 25:32, Jesus says "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." Surprisingly, the Bible does not say that Jesus came to unite all of us in peace between each other but rather to unite us with Him. When the Angels announced the coming of Jesus in Luke 2:14, they said "“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”. Notice they said peace toward men, not between men, i.e. peace between God and man, not between man and man. And although Jesus told us as his disciples to love one another, he also said in Matthew 10:34-39 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set[j] a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." So, here are some takeaways for me on this question of unity. We are united with all of humanity in the sense that God made us in his image, he made us to do good work, he wants us all to choose to spend eternity with Him, and he wants us to love HIm and to love others. We are divided in how we choose to respond to God, specifically to Jesus Christ. As C.S. Lewis said in his book "Mere Christianity", " “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” E=Example of Faith at work 2 things to share. Both are innovative products that make our lives better. These may not seem to be spiritual and I have not researched to determine if the inventors are Christian, but as we've discussed on here may times and in reference to Tim Keller's book "Every Good Endeavor", all humans, believers and unbelievers, are made in God's image and we all can be tools of God's common grace, blessing all of humanity, by making the world better including in very natural, physical ways. The first product is one that teaches your cat to use the toilet so you can get rid of litter. We found two makers Litter Kwitter and City Kitty and purchased City Kitty mainly because it's less expensive, and will be trying it out soon. The second product is one that helped my mother out a lot and that is Windex all-in-one. It has a pad with soap in it and allows you to clean outside windows quickly and easily and more safely without having to get on a ladder. I challenge you all to view everyday tasks and accomplishments of your work as spiritual. I was going to quote a famous quote from Martin Luther about the value of making a good shoe until I found out that he didn't actually say that, so instead I'd like to mention an actual quote from Martin Luther I found on the reformed trombonist.com article called "On making good shoes", where Michael Everett quotes Luther as follows "The prince should think: Christ has served me and made everything to follow him; therefore, I should also serve my neighbor, protect him and everything that belongs to him. That is why God has given me this office, and I have it that I might serve him. That would be a good prince and ruler. When a prince sees his neighbor oppressed, he should think: That concerns me! I must protect and shield my neighbor….The same is true for the shoemaker, tailor, scribe, or reader. If he is a Christian tailor, he will say: I make these clothes because God has bidden me do so, so that I can earn a living, so that I can help and serve my neighbor.". In his post, Michael Everett also refers to a scirpture I often refer to which is Colossians 3:23-24 " And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ."
L=Logos = Work verse Psalm 19:7b "The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;" - I bring this up as an encouragement to other men like me that feel they are sometimes not really measuring up in their work, either in general or maybe temporarily on one of those down days. You may feel simple or not as good at what you do as the next guy. No matter who you are, or what your occupation is, or how talented or gifted you are, you have access to mind and heart of the Creator of the Universe in his word, and that word, if you read it, receive it, and live it out in your daily life, will make you wise.
A=Announcements Finished Colson Fellows, Weekly release in June
H=Handy tip to increase productivity and effectiveness If someone at work tells you about a problem they have, you can tell them you’re praying for them but I recommend instead 2 better options, one is for you to pray for them privately but don't tell them you're praying for them, Matthew 6:6 says "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." The 2nd option is to pray WITH them right there and then. Whichever way you choose to pray for them, I also recommend you back that up by doing something in the natural related to their problem. Don't just say "let me know if there's anything I can do to help", instead at that moment or soon after that, think and pray about what you could do to help them and do it. James 2:15-17 says " If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."
What You’ll Hear: * At age 40 he was on business trip on a plane, the person next to him waited until close to the end of the flight then asked him "do you mind if we talk man to man?", then asked him "are you a Christian?" * Mike soon after answered an altar call and gave his life to Christ * Sometimes Mike just leaves out his Bible at work without saying anything, and people ask him questions * Another method is to just say "Praise the Lord" at work * Mike's first job was a paper route, and his first real job at 16 was working at McDonalds * Currently Mike is a Systems Accountant for the Federal Government * After college he got his first job in NYC in Accounting Information Systems, then got his CPA and had several jobs in the private sector * He then worked as a Controller in Manufacturing for a family business for 8 years then became CFO of a small company, but suddenly was layed off in December, 2008 * Break 1: 19:43 * Ken responded by going to scripture and taking up the full armor of God * "What helps me is to stay physically active...keep moving, stay motivated" * He saw on the local news that the Federal Government was looking for people with a financial background, he got into prayer to seek God's wisdom * The other candidate got the position Ken applied for, but they lied about their salary and as a result Ken got the job instead * Ken worked in Maryland 4 days a week, then commuted to New York on the weekend * Ken asked the ethics department about him applying for a teaching position at the University of Maryland, and the person working that day helped Ken get the teaching job * Break 2 38:28 * Key Lessons * Matt 6:33 and Prov 3:5-6 and Gen 50:20 * Ken shared the Gospel during his commuting * Trust in God and put on the full armour * God works through people * "Sometimes we don't see the last chapter to the story, so we need to remain faithful" * Psalm 119:105 * Recommends Toastmasters * Ken has been done Aqua-biking, swimming 1.2 miles and biking 56 miles * On Facebook, check out "Jesus Christ is the Truth", "Kingdom Warriors of God", "Spirit Fit Warriors", "Maximized Men" and "Kingdom Men" * Contact kmatos007@gmail.com
S=Something on my Heart Dichotomy now of slowing down and sense of urgency at same time. Some of this is being forced upon us, some is our choice which is what I want to focus on, what we choose to reduce and increase during this unique time and maybe even make some paradigm shifts that will continue beyond this crisis. First, let's talk about changes that have been forced upon us. What has slowed down. The economy or more specific to this podcast..work, some of you may have an increase in work especially if you're in medical profession. Most of us have seen a slowdown, or worst case maybe even a loss of a job, and I realize some of you may have been forced to slow because you have actually contracted the coronavirus. Travel. I'm working from home and as a result I'm spending 2 hours a day at home that I would normally spend in my car, which is a cramped little Fiat, or as I jokingly call my "sports car". When you factor in errands I run between work and home that commute time can add up to 3 or even 4 hours a day. General pace of life, for most of us, has slowed down. What has increased during this time? Time at home. In some ways, fear and anxiety have increased, though I would argue that as Christians we should be experiencing the opposite emotions, we should be experiencing peace, reassurance, and purpose during this time in contrast to the world around us. It seems to me like there is more time available which is interesting. The reality is that time is constant. We have the same 24 hours given to us as a gift each day. The reality is that we are experiencing an increase in certain activities or you could say an increase in the percentage of time we spend in certain activities. Let's shift now from what is out of our control to what is in our control. Praise God that gave us free will and the freedom and ability to choose. So what are some ways we can choose to increase or decrease certain things or maybe a better way of saying it how can we make good choices to best utilize the time that we are given as well as the situation that God has placed us in right now, to make a shift in our behavior and priorities both now and moving forward in our entire lives, both in work and out of work, as well as in the lives of others we impact and interact with in our lives. I'll start with some broad, philosophical concepts and then bring it back to the practical. To make it really simple which is generally I've found the best way to be, we need to focus more on God and less on us, or you could say less on the world. Here are a number of scriptures that speak to this in different ways. Deut 30:19-20a "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days;". Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, no on things on the earth". Romans 8:5-6 "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace". John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease". 1 Cor 3:11-15 "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire". Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Now, some application. Let's get into the word and in prayer. Here are several suggestions for you to get started or to increase your immersion in the word of God. First, WHAT to read. Rayburn Hall - 2 OT, 5 Ps, 1 Prov, 2 NT, Mike Mayo - History, Poetry, Prophets, Gospel, Epistles (what I'm doing using 5 different Bible audio apps. Bobby Hall from Men's Night Out, Fall, 2019 - 8 chapters every day for 30 days (2-1/2 to 3 yrs to read NT), a way to go deep. Chronological. Where are you in life?-Psalms at night, Proverbs to make a decision, John great place to start to really learn who Jesus is as both God and man and why he came to earth. HOW - Pray for God to speak to you and not stress over quantity, if you feel led to stay in one verse or one chapter do it. Value the discipline of having a plan to follow each day but don't turn your plan into a god and fall into legalism. The point is to hear from God not to check off a task on your list. 5 Fingers from Navigators Video about ways to consume the Bible,. Pick A time (what can you stick to consistently, maybe lunch or break at work, morning, night. Ask these questions 1. Who wrote this 2. Who were they writing to 3. What is the message 4. What does this reveal about the character of God 5. How is this connected to God “-Adam Union. There's certainly more we can say about being the spirit including prayer, but let's shift now to what are things of the flesh, things we should be decreasing during this time and moving forward. 2 things to avoid, one is satisfying the lusts of our flesh. With a bit more time on our hands, we will be tempted to indulge in overeating, escaping through alcohol or drugs, or watching a lot of TV, particularly things that don't honor God like pornagraphy. Another thing to avoid is to too inwardly focused. Spending time alone in prayer and the word is good, relaxing with some TV or a good book or taking a nap is good in moderation, but don't forget to look around to see who God would have us blessing and connecting with. Play a game with your kids, have a cup of coffee and alone time with your wife, text or call your neighbors close by as well as friends, family members and acquaintences far away to see how they are doing and whether they need anything including prayer. Treat your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, eat healthy and exercise, take walks or a jog. Set healthy limits for yourself for eating and drinking. If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation. I heard on the Albert Mohler The Briefing podcast that marijuana sales have shot up during this time. 1 Cor 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." Just because Marijuana has become legal in many states doesn't mean we should consume it. Just because the Bible does not say you should not have any alcohol, doesn't mean it's OK to drink beyond moderation in fact it speaks strictly against that. When it comes to our work, just because we may have less oversight working from home, doesn't mean we should be any less productive. To the extent that we are able, if we are blessed to still be employed, as Colossians 3:23 says "whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men". Put in a full day's work as you normally would. Don't be like the servant that buried the talent but rather put your time to good use so that your employer will have a return on their investment in you. Another thought on how to use this time. Forgive everyone in your life and continue to forgive them. Here are 3 groups to focus on. First forgive yourself. During times of reflection, it's easy to think about your past and mistakes you have made. Remember that God has forgiven you and what's good enough for Him should be good enough for you. Psalm 103:12 says "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us". You're partnering with the devil and listening to his voice above the Lord's when you continue to condemn yourself and believe his accusations for past wrongs. Second, forgive individuals how have harmed you and if appropriate ask them to forgive you. This includes people who have harmed you in the past as well those harming you now. Third, forgive groups of people or organizations that have either harmed you directly or done harm or evil in general. I'm thinking personally about family members as well as about political parties and political leaders. Matthew 6:14-15, immediately after Jesus gave us what we called the Lord's Prayer, he said "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive their trespasses, either will your father forgive your trespasses". Now back from the practical to the philosophical. Here in NC, Spring has sprung and every day reveals more life as the trees are budding, the birds are chirping and the grass is growing and turning more green. Life is bursting forth and it makes me think that the paradigm shift that I want to adopt and carry forward beyond this season of the Coronavirus is to live life more abundantly, life in the spirit and not in the flesh, through my work and through my relationship with God, myself, and my family and others in my life. And when life gets back to "normal", I don't want to fall into old habits that are not God-pleasing and life giving. I want to look back at this time in my life, whether I'm looking back from this or the other side of heaven, as a time when I made a tangible and meaningful shift to be more a part of God's story and less a part of mine. E=Example of Faith at work There's been a lot of talk during this Coronavirus about what's essential. I happen to work for an industry to makes products that are considered essential or critical during this downtime. This has reminded about how so much of our life is spent on non-essential things, though we've made a habit of calling them needs when they're truly wants. As an example, in Dave Ramsey's FPU he talks about how we call things like a new car a need when it's truly a want when you have an older car that works fine. He also talks about how when you're gazelle intense and trying to pay down your debt and get ahead financially, you do things like eat rice and beans, which is a reminder to me that although food is essential to living, the type of food we eat can easily slip into the "wants" category and not the "needs" category. This also led me not to just think about the value of simplifying our lives and not living in excess, but also how each of us through our work in some way contributes toward God blessing all of humanity. I've talked in the past about Tim Keller's reference to God's Common Grace in his book "Every Good Endeavor", and how all of our work is sacred to the extent that God sends rain on the just and the unjust, as it says in Matt 5:45, we are a part of the way that God blesses all humans,. Here are some examples I recently noticed of this common grace. We just bought a Cat litter system that has separate compartmets, making it easier and cleaner when our 11 year old daughter changes the litter box. I watched a 3 part series from I believe the Discovery Channel called "Harley and the Davidsons" about how how 2 Davidson brothers and the engineering genius of Bill Harley made a motorcyle that was a step above others and one that has blessed many many people over the last half plus century., As a third example, I'm going to reflect on some of the things I've done big and small, that have contributed to God's common grace to other my work and rather than share that with you I invite you ponder on your own career, past present and future and how you are a tool of common grace and as such a great example of faith at work.
A=Announcements Will return to weekly release in June after finish with Colson Fellows H=Handy tip to increase productivity and effectiveness From a quote heard recently from Scott Peltin, Founder, Tignum, is not a faith based organization, but I thought was valuable and pertinent for this time we're in right now "During these critical times it is important to recognize that these are uncharted times and they will require epic leadership. To do this, you will need to show up every day at your best. This means preparing diligently for your day and your critical meetings, recharging your own cognitive and emotional batteries throughout the day, and strategically multiplying your energy throughout your teams. People will need additional direction, extra calmness and self-belief, and a level of humility and vulnerability from you to admit that you don't have all the answers. Great leaders get a little better every day but this doesn't happen by chance. It must be a choice."
What You'll Hear: * Saved by the blood of Christ at the age of 10 after an invitation from a neighbor * First job mowing grass, but on a regular basis was at a small "His and Hers" grocery store down the street * After high school, completed the 2 years electronics course at the Danville Community College and got a job right away at Sentry Cash Register * Community colleges are a great way to avoid a lot of debt and be close to home * Worked for the same company for 32 years and became a part owner in the business after the first 11 years * Ambition was to grow and get to the top * Don't waste your money, be cautious during times of abundance and prepare for things that might come * Treat all of your employees the way you would want to be treated * 6 years ago, the economy started to decline and there was competition from many other areas. Held on 3 years longer than should have. "I just didn't want to give up" * "As I suffered, my family suffered" * "The cycle I had set for myself was everything was going to be bigger and better * "I had not given God credit for any of my success" * "Shamefully, I realized I would take God off a shelf in times of need and despair, but I wouldn't rejoice with Him in the victories of each and every day" * Break 1: 19:33 * "In that final "I" moment, I asked God a lot of questions... I realized I had to have total surrender" * In that season his wife and Mike first visited Union church in Danville * "It's amazing how God can work in a person's life and how that things can change your perspective on what's important and what's not" * "I was pretty worried, I was 51 years old, unemployed and basically knew how to do one thing" * "I praise God in my storms...If I had continued to be successful, I would have continued to give myself the credit, and I might not even be in church" * mike.strange@dancom.us
What You'll Hear: * Grant spent 20 years as a quantity surveyor including his own consultancy * He started his charity Hand in Hand while working part-time as a quantity surveyor * 20 years ago he went into business that is completely commercial with no donor funds * This is completely sustainable as long as the business is making money * The purpose of the business was to create fairer employment and training but a business has to make money or it will go bankrupt * One of their workers started their workers 30 minutes early for prayer * The quadruple bottom line is economic, spiritual, social and environmental * "It takes a certain kind of person to be an entrepreneur...There's nothing certain about business. Business at different times can work and not work" * Break 1 * "The more people that contribute to the decision making process, the richer the decisions that are made" * "I effectively surrounded myself with really strong characters who had something to bring to the table...because I wanted strong decisions" as part of a voluntary management board * "I made myself accountable voluntarily to this board" * If someone tells you to go meet with a certain person, do it! * "I've never made promises about the rate of return that investors can receive...I've never tried to persuade anyone to invest" * "If God has called you into the ministry of business...then He's not calling you in isolation" * "We've always focused on investors investing in a particular project" * Break 2 * "One day I was in Mozambique and was asked to source a hovercraft" * "The challenge I find in life...as a Christian how do you know what God is saying when things are going wrong?" * "Too many people are inclined to give up too soon when faced with challenges" * "If you take life too seriously and all you see is the challenges, then you end up being miserable and miss the humorous side" * "We pay construction workers according to what they do" * "The whole purpose of Jubilee...we can do that here and now...in the way that we structure our businesses" * "Fairer means you don't disproportionately reward the risk takers" * "We need to look at the person God has made us...it is our fun to explore and find out why I am like I am and how does God want to use me in His Kingdom right here, right now" * Email grant@handinhandgroup.com * To purchase the book, go to https://www.kregel.com
S - Revolving doors, at work there's more turnover than ever before, less loyalty to employers (Some good and some bad), result is you don't work around the same people, also more change within the organization, most people (with a few exceptions like spouse, parents, children), come and go in our lives and likewise we come and go in others' lives, it's that time of year where I take a fresh look at life and goals, we sent off our 2nd daughter to college (close by) big change to have her sleeping elsewhere, as with 1st daughter made me think about how we have limited time with people in general and with family want to maintain a relationship but there are significant changes like this, important to make the most of the time we have with the people in our lives, I've made mistakes, it's never too late to improve/repair relationship with kids who have left home, if they are still at home appreciate the unique opportunity you have to spend a lot of time with them, wrote a blog post several years ago after I canceled my YMCA membership after having diligently going in mornings to swim, got to meet and get to know several people, we could have exchanged numbers but reality was I never saw them again, similarly with job changes even though there's social media opportunities like LinkedIn relationships changes, season of life, other examples are interactions not relationships like moments pumping gas, begs the question what does it mean to "make the most" of our time with other people, whole other discussion, love above all things and follow the great commission, you don't know how long you'll have at work with someone (they or you could die, be reassigned, change jobs)
E - Mary Jo Sharp, confidentapologetics.com, interviewed by John Stonestreet on Breakpoint, raised secular in Portland, had band teacher she respected so much she later became a band teacher, he didn't try to evangelize the whole but built the relationship and earned her respect to set up this moment but still had to have the courage to do this, it was bid risk, sharing that with her was more important than keeping his job
L - Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 NIV
A - crosspurpose.com
H - at work we're problem solvers, don't carry at home, remember to fix ourselves not others
What You'll Hear: * Steve Reynolds asked the Lord into his heart at age 10 * David's Mom was an angel and his Dad lived like the devil. David accepted Christ in his early teens after seeing a Billy Graham movie in high school with a washed up lounge singer * Steve has been a full-time pastor and has written 5 books and loves it * David got a degree in Journalism and then went to work in the procurement area in the Federal Government * David has published 5 books and contributed to different Christian organizations * "God wants us to love everyone through our jobs" * Steve's favorite work verse is Colossians 3:23 - we need to make sure our work is worship * David's favorite verse is Philippians 4:6 * Ecc 5:19 - God will bring us joy in our work if we're doing what He would have us do * Jesus is to be the CEO of our life but He gives us a lot of freedom to make choices * David was miserable in his career, and God re-guided his career in a way that perfectly fit with his personality * "If you please God, it doesn't matter who you displease, and if you displease God, it doesn't matter who you please" - author unknown * "Ultimately, work is worship", and there's a reward for working as worship * "You want to learn from everything in the workplace" * If you don't get a promotion, ask what you need to do in order to get the promotion in the future * "God wants to use everything in our lives to make us more like Jesus" * "Work is not secular, work is spiritual" * When it comes to talking about faith at work, the key word is respect * Talk about yourself, not about what the other person should do * When deciding what career or job to pursue, look up, look back, look inward, and look around * Look at what is your potential vs what you are doing * "Be careful about moving on because of relationships... a lot of times God wants to use people as heavenly sandpiper in our lives" * Go to www.TakingGodtoWork.com
What You'll Hear:
S - Don't Be Alone at Work - God didn’t mean us to be alone, Lord’s Prayer, 12 steps for Christians CBC being isolated, creation not good for man to be alone, Trinity, my prayer, 1st person vs we, Jesus got alone to pray but even then was with a God, use lunches, new friends invited me to play ping pong, tried inviting everyone on my email list (fail)
E - 2 examples don’t know if Christian not either are or are God working through common grace
L - 1 Cor 13:12 NIV "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."-God fully knows you including the # of hairs on your head, that certainly means he knows all about your work, your ups and downs, your worries, you victories,
A - new website "Christian Men at Work.com" including social media pages, email support@christianmenatwork.com
H - How to pray-Lords prayer, recite or how, both
What You'll Hear: * Raleigh felt led to get involved in fighting human trafficking after hearing a message in a conference, he realized that "If we're not paying the highest price, someone else is" * He saw there was a need to work with churches to help the vulnerable people that were being trafficked * "You take one step at a time and learn" * He read the book "Start Something that Matters" and that was very impactful * If you can start an organization and have a passion about it, that's very important * If someone's already doing it just work with them * "There's a strong 3 years of struggle when you start a non-profit...push through and keep going" * Investigate who are the stakeholders already in this space * You want to have a clean mission statement that gets right to what you want to address * At first Raleigh confused his strategy with his mission, your strategy is how do you get to the mission * You need to know the difference between your vendor and your client * You want to think of a good name * You want to hire a tax attorney or accountant, you want to appoint board members, file articles of incorporation, get an employee identification number, get a business bank account, draft by-laws, apply for a 501c3, apply for state tax exemption, have board meetings, address letters you receive immediately * "If you never feel like you want to quit, you're probably not doing it right" * If you work with your spouse, just like Chip and Joanna Gaines, each have your area of focus * "Your starting Board is going to be different than your Board in years to come" * Your Board of Advisors should be different than your Board of Directors * It's not common for Board members of non-profits to be compensated * Go to www.lmpgnetwork.org
What You'll Hear: * Grant's father was a strong Christian and he passed away when Grant was 10 years old. Through a conversation with his sister the issue of heaven and hell was discussed and Grant accepted Christ as his Savior that night * Nothing changed in Grant's life for the next 9 years, until Grant met a man who was living the reality of being a disciple so Grant committed to attempting to live his life as a disciple of Jesus Christ from that point forward * "To understand my story you need to know that I am a Christian - and that means everything. But don't misunderstand that statement: I am no 'saint" - I am imperfect and I mess up like everyone else. but to me, Christianity is a way of life, not an insurance policy for what comes next." * "When we preach the Gospel we don't always tell the whole story" * "ordinary people like you and me have been created for a purpose and have the potential to facilitate miracles. Finding that purpose will be the most fulfilling and exhausting experience of your life. And the most fun." * "Many Christians settle for 2nd or 3rd or 4th best" * "God chooses to work through people" * "I have explored a side to life which just goes way beyond what my imagination could have ever come up with, with being fulfilled and exciting" * "My first job was at age 11, I delivered newspapers" * Grant worked as a quantity surveyor in the UK, which is a financial manager in the construction industry * "We are all created of God and actually don't deserve anything we have, whether that be good or whether that be bad" * Grant started working as a volunteer for Tearfund. He met a man in Brazil who had a vision to bring Jesus into the lives of the poor children there, this motivated Grant to start Hand in Hand with 2 other men, modeled after Tearfund * They wanted to work through the local churches so that they are identified with Christianity and so they have a better idea of what the needs are * "If somebody has had the vision and the guts to start something, then we are happy to then support what they are doing" * In 2008 they got an opportunity to build 230 house in Nairobi, Kenya * A "good business" includes a quadruple bottom line (profit, social, environmental, spiritual) * "Business has so many tentacles coming out of it that can benefit so many people that you touch" * "We should be using our imagination to be profitable but to also have a far bigger ripple out benefit to society, demonstrating Kingdom values while still being commercial" * "I've now become a capitalist with a socialist mindset" * "work is good but wealth for the sake of wealth is meaningless" * What if instead of paying $30/month to sponsor a child, we invested in a company that pays their workers properly * "Once you take that first step, God then multiplies your efforts" * Get the book through Kregel Publications, email grant@handinhandgroup.com
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politics- start emailing all your leaders, 2nd pray for your leaders, 3rd vote, stay informed with mix of neutral sources, decide on how you will contribute to causes you’re passionate about, Chuck Colson in speech on Biblical Worldview in 2010 it's a reminder of the importance of a Christian worldview of work.
E
actor and Christian, Denzel Washington: "Give thanks for blessings every day. Every day. Embrace gratitude. Encourage others. It is impossible to be grateful and hateful at the same time. I pray that you put your slippers way under your bed at night, so that when you wake in the morning you have to start on your knees to find them. And while you're down there, say 'thank you.' A bad attitude is like a flat tire. Until you change it, you're not going anywhere."
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1 tim 2:1-2 NIV "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."
A
November I didn't do 2 things I normally do 1) shave 2) check to see how many downloads - first time tonight and it was the biggest download month ever, to celebrate and because to make up for being late this week, This coming Monday bonus interview because this one was late
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Be healthy - Bod4God, lost 20 lbs, on whole foods plant based diet, weights routine, if want either email me support@livinghisdream.com
What You'll Hear:
- Bert was offered the role of State Chaplain in NC starting this year after he chose not to run for re-election in the state legislature
- It's a full-time position, though there's some flexibility with it
- It's a mission position, so each chaplain needs to raise money to fund their position
- Most legislators are away from their family and lose that support system so they need chaplain support
- Most people legislators deal with are either bullying them or asking something from them
- The organization is not affiliated with any particular denomination
- Right now, 23 states have Capitol Commission State Ministers
- The two largest obstacles are to have the resources and to have the chaplain be welcome
- Bert ministers to fellow believing Christians but also is there for any non-Christians who are interested
- Some of the non-Christian legislators don't go to the Bible Studies but say they look at them
- Chaplains are non-political. They don't tell legislators how to vote, but are there to change hearts
- Capitol Commission is not active in our nation's capitol, but there are some efforts in that direction at this time
- Go to www.Pray1Tim2.org if you want to pray for legislators
- The Bible commands us to pray for our leaders, and we should pray that they are saved and transformed and to grow in the Lord
- "There's a lot of overflow of blessings that comes back to us as citizens when we are praying properly for our leaders"
- There's also an opportunity to reach lobbyists, members of the executive branch, pages, and justices on the court
- There were over 20 legislators and the Lt. Gov who were part of the National Day of Prayer in Raleigh
- Bert has had an opportunity to speak at a lot of churches
- Go to www.CapitolCom.org and email bert.jones@capitolcom.org
S - Something on My Heart
5 key relationships 1) those lower than, don't show partiality, romans 12:16 says dont' think you're better, hang out with ordinary people, from my book, if you compare yourself to others you can fall into 2 traps on opposite ends of spectrum (envy and judgment), don't look down on them, seek out those who are lower and get to know them, value them and respect them (janitors, employees of company vs. contract employees (don't get same pay and benefits), salary vs. hourly (operators), 2) above you, don't be envious, suck up to them, make it your primary goal to please/impress them, work heartily as to the Lord and not to men, be aware of what your boss wants you to do, but your heart should be toward God, don't put the rich man at the best seat and poor man on the floor,
E - Example of Faith at Work
Everyday workers helping those in need
L - Libros - Eph 6:1-9
A - Announcement - first message left on prayer line - (641) 715-3900 ext 524645#
H - Handy tip - read a larger passage every day and zero in on one verse each day
What You'll Hear: * John was raised in a big family in a Christian household, he went through confirmation class and that is when he became a Christian * 30 years later, John had a reawakening when a friend of his asked him to join him in a Bible Study called Foundations, that was the springboard for him to live out his faith on a day-to-day basis * John's first job was working on a farm with his brothers, but his first real job was pumping gas at an old fashioned gas station, he learned a lot about interaction and serving others and helping solve problems * John spent 22 yrs as a financial planner, starting out on the insurance side. He loved the ability to come alongside people and helping them explore what can be a confusing and challenging topic * "Money was really a window into people's world...often it would lead to other conversations" * "Money's that golden thread that weaves through almost every facet of our lives in one way or another" * "Most of us know what the Bible says about money...they even sort of know how to do it..." but they struggle with fear of the future, greed, and regrets of the past, as well as beliefs and behaviors * "A lot of guys have trouble letting go of past, poor choices" * "Sometimes we might make a decision on a job based on the income, rather than what we're going to be excited about when we get up every day" * John Piper said "Money is the universal barrier to God" * John wrote a book "He Spends, She Spends: Why God Wants You to Live For Free", as he says "I wrote a Why-To Book" * "The wise learn from experience, the very wise learn from the experience of others"-unknown * "I became really enamored with the idea of having a business coach" * "We're either green and growing, or we're ripe and rotting" * Charlotte Leadership Forum (CLF) is a 2 year program for couples, started by 3 businessman, about being a Christian leader in your home, in your business, and in the community * Halftime is a book Bob Buford wrote that a pastor put in John's hands and said "I read a book and it made me think of you". It's about moving from success to significance * One of John's friends asked John if he had ever thought of his occupation as a ministry * John got involved with National Christian Foundation and he closed his practice and started an NCF in Charlotte in 2012 * "Look around, see what God is doing and get on board" - Henry Blackaby * "A lot of people have financial strategies, rarely do they have giving strategies" * If you want to be a part of mentoring group or brain trust, you don't have to spend a lot of money * Find someone you respect and approach them, then form a group and go through a book * Figure out what you're looking for, pray about it, and take a step * Living out your faith through your work for John means clarity, unity, and alignment * One important verse for John is Jeremiah 33:3 * "There is so much about God and truth that is discoverable on a day-by-day basis, if we will just take the time to call, and ask and look" * Go to www.JohnPutnam.com and www.NCFGiving.com
S - Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Bod4God by Steve Reynolds
E - Ronald Reagan - "The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America - our country is in need of an ready for a spiritual renewal"
L - Philippians 3:13-14
A - Production schedule moving forward will be Selah Episode first Monday of the month and Interview episode 3rd Monday of the month
H - Rule of 13 (21 segments per week, if you are committing more than 13 of them you're too busy)
What You'll Hear: * Jeremy joined Facebook about 12 years ago and found he was spending a lot of time on it and often got into an argument about politics or college football * He ended up canceling his accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram * John McArthur said social media exists for one reason: self promotion * You can stumble onto wicked content easily on social media especially Twitter * Jeremy connects with clients and people he used to work with through LinkedIn, he find LinkedIn pretty useful * There's an undertone on LinkedIn to keep content business related and not personal * His faith related comments are less on Christian doctrine and more on Biblical worldview * You can have a company page on LinkedIn, you could use that for a ministry you're involved in * "Abraham Kuyper said that there's not one single square inch of creation that Jesus Christ doesn't look upon and say 'mine'" * Jeremy became CFO for a home builder and started doing real estate deals in the summer of 2008. * The builder could see the collapse coming and took some steps to prepare and went into a hunker down mode * "When the tide's coming in and all the boats are floating, it masks all sorts of management and accounting problems" * Real estate is difficult to predict and carries its own type of risk * "Diversification is always your friend" * "When you're young, concentration creates wealth, when you get older, diversification preserves that wealth" * Peru Mission started when a young man in Peru named Alonzo Ramirez had a sudden conversion through some Scottish missionaries * Alonzo wanted to go to Edinborough Seminary but didn't have the money, but a woman had willed the money for someone from Peru to go to seminary * Alonzo started Second Presbyterian Church in Peru which is now self-sustaining and even started other churches * Go to www.PeruMission.org * Check out the book "The Way of the Dragon and the Way of the Lamb" and "Weakness is the Way"