Misunderstood

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

This week is an exciting week for me and one of the milestones of my life at the same time. This next Sunday I will be launching a new church and church planting ministry. For me the opportunity to turn my entrepreneurial leanings towards greater purposes than simply making money is a thrill.

There is a flip side to all of this excitement though. It is the misunderstanding of others who do not see the picture as you see it. This past week I had emails that questioned the wisdom of my walking by faith in this venture and even one that accused me of starting a cult, sent by a man who has never even met me or known me.

I find it interesting that Jesus encountered the same types of issues in His own ministry.

Mark 4:21-22 (NASB)
21 And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

Misunderstandings are often not borne out of ill will or malice, but instead are birthed out of the compassion and concern of others. In Jesus’ case his family and friends were concerned because He was so busy ministering to others He was not even allowed to eat. His family and friends didn’t want to see Jesus trampled on by the demands of others.

On the other hand, the scribes wanted to discredit Jesus, because they could not explain His actions without attributing His work to God. Jesus’ “brand” of religious practice was not comfortable for them, because it challenged their methodologies and practice. In their ignorance they made false accusations towards Him.

Today you may find yourself in a place of being misunderstood. Remember God hasn’t given everyone around you the same picture that He’s given you. Be patient with those who don’t understand and answer gently those who attack out of ignorance. In the end the course God has put you on will be revealed. The picture once obscure to others will come sharply into focus. What once was viewed as foolishness, oddity or rebellion will finally be seen as it has always been….simple obedience.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

It is well

Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

This morning I woke up with a song playing over and over deep within me. The song is actually on old hymn entitled “It is Well With My Soul.” The words were written by Horatio Spafford in 1873. Spafford was a wealthy American businessman who went through a series of devastating events. In 1871 Spafford was financially ruined by the devastation of the great Chicago fire. Within a few months Spafford’s family was crossing the Atlantic when their ship collided with another vessel. Spafford’s wife survived, but his four daughters perished.

It was only a few weeks later, as Spafford’s own voyage across the Atlantic neared the spot where his daughters had died that Spafford was given these words:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

So how does a man like Horatio Spafford come away with the strength to say “it is well with my soul?” Look at the following promise from scripture:

Psalm 34:17-18 (HCSB)
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit.

You see Spafford realized that God was much bigger than fortune, life or even death. Spafford knew that his current lot in life was not the end of the story. His soul could rejoice, because eternity was before him. There would come a day when money would no longer be needed and death would no longer separate him from his loved ones. All was well with his soul, because he walked day by day with God, the one who transcends time and place.

Today, you may be facing peace like a river or perhaps it is the sea billows of life. So I ask you the question: “Is it well with your soul?”

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours today.

Carl

Throwing Out the Clutter

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

This past week I began packing up my office as I enter into the final few weeks of my current pastorate. It is interesting the things you accumulate over time. Professional journals with an article you intended to read, but never got around to. A marketing piece from a company that may have something beneficial to your work environment, but there never seemed to be an appropriate time to follow up. Memos of decisions already made and acted upon.

In time, as the seasons of life change, these items simply become clutter. They take up space, but no longer hold significant value or meaning. Our lives can also become cluttered, hindered by things we no longer need to carry. Notice the words of scripture:

Hebrews 12:1 (HCSB)
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us…

Clutter…we all have it and if we don’t do something about it, we eventually have to move it. The reason I’m cleaning out the clutter from my office is to save me the exertion of lifting unnecessary boxes. I will need my strength for greater things than moving my clutter from one location to another.

In your life you are carrying some clutter too. The memory of a conversation that didn’t go your way a few years back; the flicker of that dream you had back in high school or the resentment over the promotion that passed you by last year. Each of these things was at one time deeply personal and fresh, but now these things have cobwebs on them and haven’t been utilized in years. Every day you choose to carry them, you are working harder than you need to. The effort required to move these extra boxes prevents you from performing at your optimum level in the things that really matter.

Today, I encourage you to begin sorting through the boxes and desk drawers of your life. Keep those things that add value to your life, but commit right now to throw out the clutter. After all do you really need those old business cards anyway?

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

It's all in how you look at it

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

This week all eyes will be on the American economy, in particular the financial markets. Over the past several weeks the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen nearly 2,000 points. For many this has led to a state of panic as they are overtaken by fear, worry and host of other unpleasant emotions. Their current state of emotion is of course grounded in their choice of perspective. For many, this downturn of the market is no different than a red-tag clearance sale at the local department store…a buying opportunity.

Ephesians 5:20 (NLT)
And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A few weeks ago I attended a 3 day guided prayer retreat. One of the exercises we went through went something like this. Our leader asked us in 2 minutes to write down everything we were thankful for. The list flowed with things like friends, family, health, etc… When the 2 minutes was up, the leader asked us to go to another page and now for another 2 minutes list the things we were not thankful for. This list didn’t flow quite as readily, but there were still many things listed. When the time was up, the leader inquired why we weren’t thankful for the things we had just listed. My list of unthankfulness was marked with such things as pain, loss and circumstances that I couldn’t control.

The more I studied that list, the more I realized that there were many issues to be thankful for, but it would require a change of perspective. With God’s help, I made an adjustment to the picture in my soul. This internal cropping of the frame helped me refocus the image of the experience. For example, a time of loss is now seen as a time of knowing God’s miraculous provisions. A time of deep pain is now seen as a time of experiencing the depth of God’s love. A time of failure has now become a great teaching experience.

You get the idea. The experience itself is permanent, but the angle and perspective I view it from are fluid. Today you may find yourself flooded with a sea of emotions over the circumstances in your life and the world around you. I encourage you to step back from the canvass and readjust the frame. Once you bring the lessons, strength and presence of God back into the picture; the picture will take on a whole new appearance and meaning.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl