Words, words, and more words
Our ever growing English langauge has produced at least 3000 new words worthy of being added to the Oxford English Dictionary. I am inflated with excitement to find out that
blog made this year's list. Thanks to
Destiny's Child, we also got
bootylicious (Hmmm, I wonder if Wade could work that into a sermon.) For a sampling of other new dictionary words go
here.
My Wife's Wisdom
Lately, my beautiful partner in life has shown herself to be very smart. Last week she shared with me what I consider to be some incredible insight regarding full-time ministry. She said that what seperates us from others is that we
always have to take the "high road." We always have to be the ones to give, give in and give up. We are the ones who have to show up early and stay late; put our needs and interests aside for the sake of others; and sacrifice limiltlessly without reward. That's what we do. We are the ministers. And God calls us to set the example for others. We have to take the HIGH ROAD. And if we don't like that, then maybe we don't need to be in ministry. Her thoughts and suggestions bothered me, challenged me and reminded me a lot of Christ.
"He, who in very nature was God, did not consider equally with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a human servant, humbled himself, and was obedient, even to the ultimate end."
Phillipians 2 (translation mine.)
THE minister always took the "high road" - "the sacrificial path", and if we have any hope of ministering like Him, we must do the same. Lord, help us.
Interesting Article
I recently came across the following article from
GQ Magazine. If you choose to read it (it is rather long), it will probably offend you, challenge you, and hopefully make you think about how many non-Christians view people of faith. It certainly did that for me. Thanks
Mark for the link.
Check it out-
What Would Jesus Do?
A Spiritual Gifts Reminder
"The Gifts of The Spirit which are things from and for God which He gives to believers to help minister and equip others, should always be accompanied by the fruits of the Spirit. This may seem obvious to many, but it needs restating. It is great to move powerfully in one or more of the gifts of the Spirit. I personally move in prophecy, and have developed this gift by using it over time. But if my life is not bearing the fruits of the Spirit as well, I am imbalanced and not maturing in Him. He wants us to reflect His attributes as well as use His Gifts."
-from the website,
Tribal Generation (Thanks, Shannon R. for the link)
My Spiritual Gifts -Part II
After completing the workbook by
Christian Schwartz on the 3 Colors of Ministry, I was a little surprised. I had originally predicted my spiritual gifts to be leadership, teaching and evangelism. Well.....I got one out of three. Only leadership was identified as one of my gifts according to this assessment. The other four gifts that round out my top 5 are apostle, music, wisdom and faith. This workbook also pinpointed missionary, artistic creativity and knowledge as latent gifts- those gifts that I may have, but am not currently using. Overall this was a good and helpful excercise. The question now is will I develop and use these gifts to the glory of God. I'm gonna try.
Loving Jacob (and everyone else)
I have a difficult time getting along with some people. I guess honestly I have a hard time even loving some people. As a youth minister, I long to exemplify grace and joy and peace and kindness and goodness and love to the students in my group, yet so many times I fall short. Instead, presenting a tired, stressed-out, ungracious follower of Christ. The story of Jacob in the book of Genesis has challenged me this week to step it up a notch and love/serve those folks that aren't easy. God chose/blessed/loved Jacob despite his mistakes and weaknesses. God chooses/blesses/loves me despite a number of flaws and shortcomings. My only faithful option is to do the same.
My good friend and co-worker in the faith,
Wade Hodges, crafted a wonderful sermon last week about Jacob. It has helped me a great deal; maybe it can help you as well. You can find it
here.
Regular Life
My family and I are back at home and trying get back to our normal schedule and our "regular life." -Whatever that means?!?
My Spiritual Gifts
I am working though a book by Christian Schwartz designed to help one discover there spiritual gifts. Right now, I think my spiritual gifts are leadership, teaching and evangelism. After I work through all the worksheets and stuff, I'll see if Mr. Schwartz agrees with my prediction.
I am still helping my wife and her family work through the details of losing her grandmother. We just seem to be moving so slow from day to day. It is really so hard to move on.
Sad News
Unfortunately, my wife's grandmother passed away this week. She was a wonderful woman who cared very much for everyone she knew. We will be in Newton, TX this week for her funeral. I am sure there will be a large turn-out of friends and family to remember the life of Abbie Nell Stark. I know I will miss her very much.