A New Look

Sometimes a new look can help us out, I have a saying; "predictability breeds boredom". I get bored pretty easily so it helps to change things up every once in awhile. Karyn and I often change the furniture in a room, we just changed what was a spare bedroom into a family room and Karyn just changed her hair style a bunch. I can get bored going on the same running routes, the way I drive to work, my workouts, etc. Rarely do people take the time to get perspective to see where change might be good, do you? I am going to switch gears to our spiritual lives (I am a Pastor after all). Are you stuck in a rut spiritually? Do you read from the same Bible, write about the same things in your journal, pray the same way day after day? It's good to change things up to keep our relationship with God fresh. I encourage people to read a different version of the Bible every so often, read books on spiritual disciplines to get new ideas, listen to the Bible instead of reading it only. Sometimes a new look is a great idea!

It is Well with My Soul - or Not!

I grew up in the Midwest in the 60-70's and my family attended a Main line Denominational church where we sang hymns Sunday after Sunday. Most of them I didn't understand or even question, I just sang along like everyone else. I became a born again believer right before graduating from High School and headed off to one of the Best Christian Universities in the United States,(www.taylor.edu) and we had Chapel Monday, Wednesday and Friday's at 10:05 in the morning. This was long before the Modern Praise music era we have now, and so we sang more hymns, accompanied by either the piano, the huge Pipe Organ or both. Sometimes for a special treat, the brass ensemble would join in giving the hymn a sort of regality about it. One of the many hymns I remember singing was "It is Well with My Soul". As I said I was a new believer, and I hadn't yet learned to stuff down or hide my duplicity when I came across a hymn that wasn't true of my life, (that would come later). I remember a specific chapel one morning and singing the chorus "It is well, it is well with my soul" when I stopped singing, I stopped because it wasn't true. I couldn't sing the words because my soul was in anguish over many things, instead I pushed the huge lump in my throat down as far as it would go, fought tears but finally gave in. I didn't wail but my face had a slow stream of water streaming a straight line under both eyes, down each cheek and dripping off of my jaw. I hoped no one saw me, I was a college wrestler after all, and a guy. Never mind that last sentence. I knew I had to do something about this and not singing this hymn in the future was not the answer. I needed wellness of soul. I wasn't sure how to get it, was there an Rx for that? Yep, come to find out there is. 1. Be open, honest, transparent and admit it to yourself, God and a trusted friend. Psalm 32, 51 and James 5:16. 2. Figure out how you got there in the first place. 3. Remove the source of angst, lack of peace - Get right/nearer with God! 4. Do your best not to repeat it again, and choose to live under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit and by living out the Bible. Now on Sunday mornings at church and whenever I listen to praise/worship music I occasionally come to songs I know are not completely true of my heart/soul/life. Rather than continue singing them, it's best for me to address the issue. I don't want to live with a lack of peace when I do not have to. Proverbs 4:23 says to

" guard your heart/soul above everything for it is the well-spring of life."

The important thing for me was and is to be honest and get to the heart of the matter and never give the enemies a foothold by waiting until later. It is also important to be well in my soul because I need peace and it's available. Living with peace also allows me to show those I come in contact with what it looks like to be at peace for others lacking peace. And today there is a lot of robbing, killing and destroying of the peace God desires for us. (see John 10:10).

How to Take Daily Vacations For Free!

Joy - what comes to your mind when you read that word? It's important so take your time. That word is mentioned at least 242 times in the Bible, and is one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. John 10:10 Jesus says; "The Thief comes only to rob, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life, life to the full." Satan is a joy robber! He is, just look around, even most Christians lack true joy!! Joy is a happiness that is NOT based on circumstances. That's a great thing because most of the circumstances of our world are not good. It seems like the weather is almost always extreme, so is the economy, the job market, the stock market, the daily headlines and the political arena are tragic and full of evil. The Joy Robber is nearly everywhere. But I emphatically believe that true believers in Jesus can and should be experiencing Joy everyday, in fact several times a day. Joy is not based on your personality type by the way. Those of you who know me, know that I am a glass half full kind of guy, in fact I would go as far as to say my glass isn't just half full it's over-flowing. To God be the glory on that! Joy comes from so many things!!! It's an appreciation of what God does in nature that is there all the time, yes, stopping and smelling the roses is a joyful thing. Looking at the clouds, watching a baby discover something, a ski run down a steep trail, being with friends, learning something new from the Bible that you never saw before, watching someone get baptized, a worship song, it's so many things. That's my point, JOY is nearly everywhere and we are to experience it frequently, but....the Joy Robber is doing all He can to rob, kill and destroy our joy. How's he doing with you? I mentioned in my last post the concept of daily vacations and this is what I was referring to. I practice certain disciplines that protect me from the joy robber but I also run into several opportunities everyday to be robbed of joy. People I counsel who are in really rough spots, physical pain that seems to be my constant companion, friends and family who are experiencing tough times, or finances that are not where I want them to be and could scare me when I think hard about the future. But, the abundant life Jesus talked about has so much to do with JOY. In fact check this out from Luke 10:21. 21 "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do." Do you see it? Jesus was full of joy and said we need to be child-like to experience joy. To me, joy is like a daily vacation. It's not worrying, but finding the joy in almost anything. Psychologist and Medical Doctors agree that those who laugh several times a day are healthier and live longer. I want to exhort you to live in JOY, let JOY flow out of you and you will not only experience daily vacations, your life will be so much better and full!

Daily Vacations

Some people can get down right obsessed with vacations, spending crazy amounts of money,(they probably don't have) planning and making long lists of logistics like catching planes, getting people to watch the house, stopping the mail, and putting special voice mail and e-mail messages on our phones/computers to let people know we are gone. Then there is the issue of pet care, watering plants and if that is not enough, we have to work our brains and bodies to the bone before we can go,only to have everything piled up for us when we get back. When it's all said and done, we will either come back refreshed or....needing rest from our "vacation". How can we avoid this situation?

I do my best to spend time every morning and throughout the day getting refreshed in my soul, that way I won't NEED a vacation. Don't get me wrong, getting away is a great idea, in fact Karyn and I are leaving tomorrow to stay at a cabin in the mountains at about 5,000 feet elevation, just a few hours from our home in Charlotte. Getting away gives perspective that you can't get when you are in your same environment day after day. But...when we create balance in our lives and do our best to practice important disciplines, watch out for distress, spend time with friends who energize us and not too much time with those who do the opposite, then there is a good chance we won't be in a desperate place to have get away How are you at this? Part of the reason Karyn and I are getting away is to do some goal setting for our marriage, listen to God, dial it down and get away from demands. We SHOULD come back refreshed and ready to live out the goals we set from the vision we sensed God speaking into our lives. In my next post I will share what I do daily/weekly/consistently that leads me to having lots of energy, being mostly at peace and stay focused. I would love to hear your ideas, we can help each other!

Speed Mentoring

I heard this topic years ago and thought it was a really great idea, but I haven't heard it spoken of at all in a long time. Since there are so many different ways of learning I thought about this one and just in case you are not aware of it, here goes. Speed Mentoring is basically finding people who do what you do except that they do it better than you. What you can do is approach them and ask them to show you how they do what they do. It can take a couple hours in a conversation, or you can shadow them while they perform the skill, or both. Reading books is great, and so is going to conferences and hearing speakers expound on their skill, but Speed Mentoring gets you closer to the person (networking and relationship building) and you have a chance to get better too. So whether it is in your job, in a hobby or it's a spiritual skill, consider Speed Mentoring as a great option to get better at something you truly want to. On the other side of it, perhaps you are good at something and you see someone with potential, and that you believe in, why not approach them and see if they would be interested in being mentored by you. I urge you to be cautious about this as it may be perceived as prideful, so make sure you already work closely with them and you know that they respect you and your abilities.