This quote was heard on the most recent edition of the All About Worship Podcast:
"Sometimes we can allow pastors, Christian leaders and even our own ministries to become a substitute with our own relationship with the Lord." Glenn Packiam, author of "Second Hand Jesus"
Check out these great posts on Glenn's blog:
How Mercy Triumphed Over Judgement
As I'm sitting in my recliner enjoying a day off, my youngest daughter walks to me with her thumb stuck deeply in her mouth. She looks at me while her other hand was rubbing her chest. I asked her what was wrong and she pulled out her thumb, and said one of the most profound things I've ever heard a 3 year old say.
Wow. In that one sentence a person could preach an entire message. After I helped my daughter understand how much God cares for her heart and only desires to help her heart become stronger (I didn't want her thinking God goes around punching our guts out for the heck of it) I began internalizing what she just said to me. I think at times I need a good punch in the heart from God. What was probably a simple case of trapped air in my 3 year old daughter's diaphragm, became a message from God that spoke to my heart about the need to receive God's correction with joy.
Has God "punched" your heart lately?
Today the U.S. media lost a great news person in Tony Snow. He was one of my favorites...an awesome communicator, a heart for people and his family. Here's one of my favorite quotes from Tony Snow:
To have faith is to believe in truth, believe that
truth confers special power on those lucky enough to get a little
insight, and to know in our hearts that all these things come from God,
which is why we should never get too cocky about our successes. - Tony Snow
"Friendships are like speedbumps...just little bumps in the road causing you to slow down while getting to your intended destination."
There are things I regret doing and saying in my life...this is one of them.
In our lives we experience many friendships that come and go. Some of us build walls to keep our distances from those we actually care about. Why do we do this? For me, I came to a realization in my life that I have a fear of being let down. I've been let down in my childhood by friendships. Wounded by people I've let into my world only to have them disappoint me. The result was a person who always remains guarded, always avoids dealing with conflicts and dismisses friendships easily when they move along. This isn't healthy.
As I've grown in my personal relationship with God, I've learned that friendships in the Body of Christ are essential to the Christian walk. We were never meant to walk alone, we were never meant to deal with trials on our own and we were never meant to abandon those who God put in our paths. People are NOT speedbumps.
Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Just a thought to chew on this Wednesday. Do you need to rethink your view on friendships?
"You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you."
- George Lucas, creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones
I love this quote.
"When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I'll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own." - General Colin Powell
For me as a leader, it's comforting to know that when a decision is finally made based on the input from others, there will be no team members scoffing or balking at the final decision. To know the team makes it their own is a comfort.
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