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Have you ever thought about how great things used to be? You know, back when you weighed less, or your joints didn’t ache or when you had more hair or when all there was in life was school and socializing? Boy, I know I have! Making money and having the world at my feet created a very easy existence for me. Sure, I was a slave to my job for many years, but the nice house and new cars every year and dinners out all the time sure seemed to make it all worthwhile. Now after serving in ministry for over 3 years with full-time hours, but no pay and often-times no reimbursement for expenses, is it right for me to ask why things used to seem so easy when I was an atheist compared to now as a Christian in ministry?

Ecclesiastes 7:10 reads: Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Why is it not wise? Because it’s the wrong question! The right question would be why am I here in this moment going through what I’m going through and how can it be used to glorify God? Also, what can I take away from the old days that will help me get through today or avoid making the same mistakes? We go through experiences and seasons of life for reasons. Sometimes they aren’t known to us until after we go through them; other times we may never understand why we go through them.

God has placed us on a journey with a beginning and an end. We didn’t have a choice as to when our life began and we won’t have a choice as to when it will end. God will be God. Therefore, why not just embrace the blessings we have today. We all know that no matter what we are going through, there is always going to be someone somewhere that is suffering even more than we are. It’s not a competition!

Let’s not look to our past to see how good things used to be and how bad they are today and cause ourselves to lose heart or become depressed. Our past shapes who we are, but we have a legacy that we will leave behind and it will end on a positive note if we just keep our eyes focused ahead of us and do our best to learn from our past so that we may have a better tomorrow. God’s gonna get you through everything if you’ll just trust in him and be at peace with all you are facing right now.

Just found a great post on Matt Sweetman’s blog. This was another find through twitter (you can follow matt here). Matt interviewed fellow church planter Rick Kuhr. Rick planted as a bi-vocational pastor in Chicago that started in 2007 and they are seeing around 15-30 in attendance at their services. After reading the interview it’s obvious numbers don’t matter–Pastor Rick is a success story!

The last question Matt asked Rick had a surprise answer, but one that resonates loud & clear with me. It’s been kind of a mantra of sorts:

Matt: I am doing a church planting internship, in St. Louis. You are already doing the stuff, out in the field. What would be your advice for me?

Rick: I would encourage and challenge you to have a team. The research that has been done shows that if you don’t have a team you are setting yourself up for disaster. So, I would challenge you to bring a team, people that will help you along the way. Make sure you love God and loving Jesus and loving people as the main thing. Also, maintain that balance. We are useless as followers of God if we forget that we are following God. It may sound obvious, but if we are not receiving, others can’t receive from us as easy. We need to be able to have a balance with our family, our wives. There is a huge witness in loving our wives and loving our families. That responsibility in the community needs accountability. You need an established overseer. Those would be my advices. Go with where you are strong. My most recent blog is about we as individuals are meant to live in co-dependence with God and others to advance the kingdom.

It’s all about teamwork, baby! …But *every* piece of advice from Rick is mandatory wisdom for a planter. I am very encouraged by the work God is doing through Pastor Kuhr and Near West Vineyard Church in Chicago.

Found what seems to be a huge blessing via twitter today. I’m now following @jasonsalamun and linked through to his blog about an awesome ministry: projectchurch.net. Just as Tony Morgan posts about Perryisms, I’m totally digging on some Jasonisms. Jason Salamun posted a list titled “101 Nuggets for Church Planters” and it’s very awesome! All 101 are necessary, but here are some that really made me say “Ah ha! Someone else gets church planting!” or “Wow! I definitely need to work on this!” I’ll let you decide which is which for me

2. If you are called, you have permission.

4. Don’t just plant a church; start a movement.

6. Don’t make the church your idol.  It’s easier than you think.

14. There’s a lot of wisdom in the words of dead guys.

22. Don’t talk about church all the time to your wife.  Pace yourself.

26. You should be able to explain the vision on the back of a napkin.

29. You’ll get criticized for things you never even said or implied. Get used to it.

40. Start a church where it’s okay to be a dude.

66. Typical is boring.

74. Be intentional.

77. Prepare- but understand that you’ll never been prepared enough.

79. Stand up for the ones who can’t stand up at all.

80. Time alone with a notebook, a pen, and a Bible often lead to something special.

81. Authentic people are led by authentic leaders.

87. It will be messy.

88. When was the last time you went to a bar or sat in the smoking section of a restaurant?

92. Repeat after me, “I heart simplicity.”

100. Church all boils down to relationships.

Rock on Jason! Praise God for putting the desire to be passionate for the Lord and minister to people and open enough to help other ministers stay on-track and to share in your victories!

Saw a rude awakening over at Tony Morgan’s blog. He commented that in books his wife is reading regarding raising teens, that the standard advice is to get counsel from a friend, counselor, or pastor. Tony then goes on to say,

“Being a pastor, let me just say that’s about the stupidest advice a book could provide. Good counsel doesn’t come with position. Good counsel comes with experience. And, frankly, I know very few pastors that have successfully raised teenagers.”

Ouchie mama! That hurts. However, it seems to be true from my perspective too. For whatever reason it seems that a lot of pastor’s kids in their teens seem to be less-than-model teenagers. Some pastors that are parents may do the right thing yet find that kids will be kids and I am sure some pastors have raised perfect teens. However, I agree wholeheartedly that “good counsel doesn’t come with position.” This is one of the things that allows me to be me because I have lived most of my life outside of faith and outside of the church. Trust me, I’ve been through a lot can probably relate to at least 90% of the things people will come talk to me about. By no means am I an expert, but I may have been where you’re at and know what you’re going through and am committed to try and help you get through it, even if my best advice is to direct you to someone better-equipped to counsel you. Remember, just because I may know your struggle and have walked in your shoes, it may not mean I overcame it in the best of ways. In his blog post, Tony also comments:

“If you need advice, first ask the question who has walked through this same situation and come out the other side in a healthy position? Personally, I try to find coaching/counsel that’s coming out of a person’s success rather than a title behind their name.”

Again, I couldn’t agree more. Also, keep in mind that what works for some may not work for you. This is where having some good, objective counsel from people that know you well will come in handy.

Seek counsel from someone you can trust and be discerning and wise. Look to the successes others have had to give you hope and inspiration. Always remember that God provided the ultimate Counselor in Christ who is by your side and you should seek and trust His wisdom first in all things.

Are there truly any of us that have obtained more wisdom than we know what to do with? Have any of us learned all that we need to know in order to handle the situations we’ll face in the future?

Knowing the answer to that question is obviously “no,” I wonder why it is that so many of us believe that we don’t need to read God’s Word daily or be in fellowship and counsel with other people so that we may be edified and learn? Why do so many of us hear a word from God through a preacher and then go on with their lives without seeking to dig deeper into the personal meaning of the scripture for our lives?

Proverbs 9:9 from the New Living Translation-

Instruct the wise,
and they will be even wiser.
Teach the righteous,
and they will learn even more.

Why are we so wise that we don’t seek to be wiser? Why are we so righteous that we get offended at the offer to help us learn how to live even more righteously?

Is there anything that you could use some help with that God could provide through his wisdom and instruction? Won’t you humble yourself and ask God to impart the necessary wisdom in you so that you can overcome what is before you? Speak in faith that He that is in you will see you through anything. Isn’t it time you allowed God to be God and for you to be a disciple of the Lord that saves us instead of being the expert that acts as if he doesn’t need God?

Wisdom is the essence of life. Without it, we may as well be dead. We can choose to be wise by our own means or seek the wisdom God appointed for our knowledge. Every human is wise in their own respects. If anyone live life and learns from their mistakes they definitely become wiser. For example, if you ever burned your hand on a hot stovetop or under running hot water, you’ll better to be wary next time. However, the sting of the burn will always be a reminder of a time of pain in our lives. On our own, pain will hold us back and keep us down. It is something we easily dwell in. Pain in God’s ways brings forth wisdom and knowledge and allows us to process the negative aspect of the pain, yet seek a positive result from the trauma. As the phoenix rises up from the ashes, so to can we rise above the pain of mistakes if we trust in God to provide us his wisdom and if we heed that wisdom. How do we look for God’s wisdom? Proverbs 8:34 gives us a hint:

Proverbs 8:34-

Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,
awake and ready for me each morning,
alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.

If we wake up expecting to receive wisdom from on-high, our sensory perceptions will be ready to respond to it. If we start off our day feeling tired and depressed and expect nothing, then it will be easy for us to completely miss out! Just as some of us seek caffeine through a trip to Starbucks or a cup of hot tea to wake us up and get us ready for work or school, we should look to listen to God even before the jolt of caffeine to ignite our senses. How much more prepared would be for our day if we had an indwelling of God’s wisdom to prepare us for what only he knows we will be facing that day.

Wake up and put your first thought to the Lord. Invite his wisdom into your mind and soul and ask him to give you the awareness to call upon him when wisdom is required. With God we can get through the trauma and pain of our past mistakes, but wouldn’t it be so much better to be immediately aware of God’s wise ways for us so that we can avoid the mistake from ever happening?

God wants to help you get through whatever troubles you or prevents you from moving forward. Take a moment this morning to let him know you are ready for his wisdom rather than trying to rely on your own ways to get through it all.

Continuing on from Proverbs 1, chapter 2 invokes a call to seek wisdom as one would seek gold or silver. Wisdom is a precious thing and something that isn’t inherent in our nature. We must acknowledge God as our source for wisdom.

We study and work hard in school to gain knowledge, therefore why do we need God? Simply put, the wisdom we gain from school may make us more intelligent, but it doesn’t necessarily help us make the right life choices. We shouldn’t study the Bible as a textbook and seek to memorize every word so that we may show off. The Bible is a wonderful tool to give us knowledge and insight into the ways of God.

What about those that don’t seek wisdom from God as if it were gold or silver? Proverbs 2 warns us to be wary of people that delight in doing wrong and seeing us fall from righteousness:

12 Wisdom will save you from evil people,
from those whose words are twisted.
13 These men turn from the right way
to walk down dark paths.
14 They take pleasure in doing wrong,
and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
15 Their actions are crooked,
and their ways are wrong.

This was taken from the New Living Translation. It’s a stern warning that as much as we’d like to trust that everyone always has our best interest at heart, it is not the case. Let the instincts that come from having wisdom from the Lord lead you in matters with those around you. Maybe it’s a boyfriend or girlfriend that is asking you to compromise your faith and principals as a way to show that you truly love them. For others it may be a job that causes you to be away from your family for the sake of the company and you your instinct tells you that God wants you to put your family above your job. Whatever the circumstance that is bearing a burden in your heart in regards to someone else close to you, there comes a time when you have preserve your relationship with God above others and disregard the temptations and guilt that are offered by those that want you to take the darkened path of self-gratification.

If your wisdom comes from the Lord, there will be strength and peace as well. Seek God and His righteousness and invite His wisdom and discernment into your mind. Pray for strength and peace to permeate your senses and lead you to a closer relationship with God through distancing yourself from evil and darkness.

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs where churches and pastors have been studying the 31 chapters of Proverbs, one per day, in a month that has 31 days. Sounds reasonable! So, I figured I’d do the same thing in the month of July. I seem to dump a bunch of blog posts all at once rather than pace myself, so this one-a-day thing could be a blessing for me, not to mention getting some extra insight and meditation on an important aspect of the Old Testament scriptures.

For any of you that struggle with getting in some time every day with God’s word, maybe this will help  you as well. Feel free to subscribe to the feed or just check back every day