Posts Tagged: wisdom

Bible / devotion / prayer — 2 Comments
30
Apr 09

Solomon’s one prayer

If God spoke to you and promised to immediately deliver on one prayer, what would you pray? Some may pray for a job, or a house, a spouse, world peace, an end to poverty, strength to just get through the day. Once even Jesus prayed that the burden be taken from him if possible as death on the cross was going to be so painful.

After videotaping a message for LifeChurch.tv‘s One Prayer project, I have the thought of one prayer on my mind a lot. Even this weekend I’m preaching at the mother church and I had to pick some verses from the first half of 1 Kings. This is where Solomon’s one prayer takes place.

I don’t know if I could condense my prayers down to just one if given the opportunity, but let’s see how Solomon responded:

    1 Kings 3:5-12 NIV:

    5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

    6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

    7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

    10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

Solomon was so honored by God that he only wanted what God wanted. In verse 9 his prayer is that God grant him a discerning heart to govern his people and to distinguish between right and wrong. How humble and noble is that? He didn’t ask for wealth or obedience from his servants or long life or anything practical from a human perspective. He just wanted to be wise. So often, after seeking things from God, in the end, wouldn’t it have been better had we just asked for wisdom and discernment?

I have such a long list of things I’d like to have for my life, my family, my business, and the church plant. Usually at the top of that list is something that money can buy. However, today I need to re-direct those thoughts into seeking God’s wisdom and asking him to give me a discerning heart. Help me to cut through the garbage and focus on things that money can’t buy. Put my sights not on the silver and gold and things that moth and rust can destroy, but turn to heavenly things and trust that God will give me all that is needed to do his will.

In light of Solomon’s wise choice for his prayer, if God were to grant you one prayer that he would immediately deliver upon, what would you pray?

PS. In honor of Solomon’s humbleness and humility, immediately following the passage above, in verse 13 God tells Solomon: “Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”

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Bible / God / devotion / life — 3 Comments
21
Oct 08

Asking the wrong question

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.

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church planting — 1 Comment
29
Aug 08

it’s all about teamwork, baby!

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.

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church planting — 2 Comments
29
Aug 08

Jasonisms for church planting

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!

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life / ministry / people — No Comments
16
Aug 08

Need advice? Maybe a pastor isn’t the best answer

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.

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