It's just my junk

We all have junk in our heads. This is mine.

Archive for the month “September, 2015”

21 Sep 2015

Discernment.. an interesting word

Discernment is a word we hear a lot .. You need to use good discernment while making that choice. Did you use good discernment during that blah blah blah… It made me think about it for a bit and then I blew it off.. “Hey, I am a busy person!”

Until last night, I was participating in my Adult small group and the lesson was from The Truth Project. The main teacher dude said look up Proverbs 5:2.. Yeah you guessed it…. discernment. It reads as follows: “Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned.”

Which got me thinking, so I dictionary.com the word discernment and of course it says to act with discern or distinguish. I get so frustrated when they use a shorter version of the word to describe the word. That should be against the law.

But in the word distinguish it adds a great deal of depth to discernment. I am one who is naturally analytical, by that I mean I over think and process almost every decision or thought or action I make, it is a gift but also a real pain since I don’t have time to micro manage my thoughts all the time. In the word distinguish, it lends me to believe I have a part to play in the process of making a choice or in the situation I am facing. I can distinguish what would be the best, right or correct thing for me to do in the given situation.
I often think if the person who said that would have discerned the outcome, or distinguished what would occur, they might have avoided unnecessary trouble.

I wonder what our world would be like if more people who discern things over making excuses for things.
I wonder what our relationships would be like if we simply took the time to process how each step in the relationship will forever impact all of our relationships.
I wonder what our personal life would be like if we discerned our actions when no one is looking.
I wonder what our marriages would be like if we spent some extra time thinking about the relationship and other person prior to acting out our emotions.
I wonder what our churches would be like if we truly discerned what God is calling us to be and do. How would that shape our influence in the world.
I wonder what our teams would be like if we discerned, distinguished our roles on said team. There would be no I in team, it would be all about the team.

You get the point. I think we could use a prescription of discernment in our lives and relationships.

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14 Sep 2015

Lesson Learned… Don’t Forget them

“My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands (teachings) in your heart (and Mind).”
Proverbs 3:1

This is a biblical principle but also a worldly one not to miss…
I know some people rule out the Bible as a source of education but I would challenge the thought for a minute.

  1. How do we learn math? By repetition.
  2. How do we learn to drive? By repetition.
  3. How do we learn to walk? By repetition.
  4. How do we learn sports plays? By repetition.
  5. How do we learn most things? By repetition.

I know throwing me into an algebra class makes me shutter inside but I would freak out if the first day of first grade the teacher sent me to algebra. I hope you would too but if not you are an incredible math wiz.

Ok, back to never forgetting the lessons we learn…

God is instructing us through the greatest mind of all time Solomon, who also made mistakes but one thing he knew is to learn from your experiences. I would be wise to take this instructing into practice. We watch other people making simple mistakes and think to ourselves.. dude come on get with it… learn to not do that again.. but when we are dealing with problems or mistakes we tend to put our head down and keep looking down not thinking about learning or applying lessons to the situation.

Well this is a wake up call… Learn to learn and remember your lessons…. life lessons, math lessons, financing lessons and driving lessons but also remember to practice your people lessons like generosity, grace, giving and grounding to a set of beliefs.

I am confident if we apply Proverbs 3:1 into our lives we will be happier people who will continue to change lives, including our own.

God Bless and keep learning

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07 Sep 2015

There is no I in team…

think bulb

If you are like me, you have heard this phrase being used from time to time in various settings. There is no I in team!.. I have heard it in the work place, sports field, once in the classroom (admittedly that one confused me), and even in the house. We are better than just one. I am sure you could add some unique places or settings you have heard the term but what about the church?

I was reading out of my new “Jesus Centered Bible” brought to you by Group Publishing. The New Testament book of John Chapter 17 verse23. Jesus was talking to people. He said in short.. If you want them to know me, they need to know you, by how you treat one another. Those words simply stung tonight as I read them, in fact the reading caused me to draft this blog.

So how does the church do in getting along to show the world or those outside of your building who Jesus is?

  1. We disagree about worship style. Check
  2. We disagree about budgets. Check
  3. We disagree about rooms being used. Check
  4. We disagree about the right time to do communion or baptism or even who can minister those things. Check
  5. We point fingers at each other. Check
  6. We talk about our leaders behind their back. Along with not supporting them. Check
  7. We sit in our pew, comfy as they are, and think so and so should hear this sermon. Check
  8. and I could go on and on… but what good would it do?

It doesn’t do what God has called us to do or be.

Matthew talks about going out in pairs to reach others so grow them and baptize them and disciple them in the way to go..
John talks about showing your love for Jesus and reflecting that love through our actions with other believers…

What would our churches be like if we ….

  1. We worshiped in spirit and in truth, no matter what the service style or flow was… Check
  2. We worked on a balanced God focussed budget and celebrated God’s generosity… Check
  3. We shared rooms.. after all they are just bricks and drywall and will be there when we die… Check
  4. We celebrate Jesus life, death and resurrection with our hearts in appreciation.. Check
  5. We look within to grow before we offer help to others… Check
  6. We support the leaders God has put in our churches and pray for them… maybe even join them in leading.. Check
  7. We begin to apply the sermons to our lives outside of the building we call church and people see Jesus… Check
  8. and I could go on and on… What good would it do…? Well it would be a reminder of two simple things….

We are representing Jesus in all we say, do and think and we might be the ONLY Jesus the people we interact with will see.

Finally think about it… if we continue to do the first list, why would anyone in the world want to come into our church and worship, grow or serve? I know I wouldn’t want to be a part of something that is that negative especially the church.

I will spend some time this week doing a couple of things:

  1. Digging deeper into God’s word to grow my love for Jesus and His church.
  2. Trying to move from the first list of actions to the second one. Not allowing myself to complain.
  3. be a change agent for myself, family, church, community and God.

I understand from a life of serving God in different states, denominations, church sizes, styles and shapes that it can be a challenge to stay focused on the goal and to avoid Satan (the king of all lies) tempting us to look to the left or the right of the goal. I also admit to struggling from time to time with being a change agent in my own heart and life. But I am working on it.

I pray you can see through the offensive nature in the blog to the heart of the message.. God can’t use us if all we do is think of the I in team that doesn’t exist.

Faithful Journey to each of you.

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04 Sep 2015

Words Matter!

Do you see the cup half full or half empty?

My mother would always say… “you need to look at the cup differently than other people.” I am beginning to see her wisdom in those words. I have to admit she would occasionally see the cup half empty but not to often.

How do you look at life?  I once heard someone smart say you are either a part of the solution or the problem. I think that our words can show us what team we are on and what level our cup is at.

I have a tendency when I don’t feel good to have a negative outlook on life. I unfortunately think the outlook adds to the not feeling well. So, how do our words matter?

Proverbs 15:2 The Tongue (Words) of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

I often think about the way our world is so social media driven…. twitter Facebook, periscope, instagram, snapchat and how we tend to not put the wisdom to work when posting to others. We will say things that would never come out of our mouths if standing in front of the person. We would be wise to think before we speak. We would be wise to think before we respond. We would be wise if we realized words do matter and they can last a life time.

A simple you look fat… translates to some.. I am a bad person and need to lose weight to be liked.

A simple you look hot… translates to some… I am good looking and need to maintain that outward appearance to be liked.

A simply you are smart … might be translated as… the only way I can be liked is to be smart.

We all know we have heard words similar to these and maybe even said them but what lasting impact have they had on you? or the person you spoke them too?

Friends, Please consider a 15 second timeout prior to posting on social media.. ask yourself.. would I say this in person and if others read it will they think it is generated towards them? If your answers are NO… then don’t post it.. pray for them instead.

Words Matter

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