Your Weakest Link

Discerning our unique calling is not always a simple thing. We need to be quiet enough to hear God's still, small voice. We must also faithfully read the Scriptures, pray diligently, follow the Lord's teachings, listen to wise friends who know us, and consistently make ourselves available to serve. Finally, we have to remain open to God's possibilities, always willing to take the outrageous risk and do the unpredictable thing. (Stearns, Richard. The Hole in Our Gospel. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009)

Read through the above quote again. There are seven elements listed as essential to discerning your unique calling. Which ones are you missing? Maybe that's why you're frustrated. I know why I'm frustrated - #5 and #6 are my weak links.

Why are there weak links? For me, it is an issue of trusting others. It's hard to "listen to wise friends" if I don't let friends really get to know me. People get to know me more than I like when I "serve." And why is it hard for me to let people get to know me? Satan has fed me a little lie that I've eaten up for most of my life... no one is interested in what I have to say or what I think.

Ironic, isn't it? Satan uses lies that relate directly to what God is calling us to do. That sly devil.

What is your weak link? What lie is Satan using to keep you weak?

What is a Leader?

"Great leaders do not presume that God is on their side. Rather, they humbly try to discern whether God may be judging both them and their enemies."

Rich Nathan, What is a Leader? Congregational Letter July 2009

How's your heart for others?

"...Mr. Fogg stopped him, and, turning to Sir Francis Cromarty, said, 'Suppose we save this woman.'

'Save the woman, Mr. Fogg!'

'I have yet twelve hours to spare; I can devote them to that.'

'Why, you are a man of heart!'

'Sometimes,' replied Phileas Fogg, quietly; 'when I have the time.'"

Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days
(Ann Arbor, MI: Borders Group, 2007), 54.

N.T. Wright

"And the problem is not that people disagree with me. That is what one expects and wants. Let’s have the discussion! The point of discourse is to learn with and from one another.... We need other minds on the job, to challenge us, to come back at us, to engage with our arguments and analyses. That is how the world goes round." (N.T. Wright, Justification, IVPress, 2009)

Ah, this is why I love to read N.T. Wright.

Check out the video clip and excerpts from his new book Justification at ivpress.com.

What I'm Reading...

I've posted quotes from the books I'm currently reading on my website. Lord willing, I'll update these quotes as I read. Check out today's quotes on What I'm Reading at the Grow2Sow Consulting website.

Spiritual Warfare

“Jesus has called us into the army

but most western Christians

are trying to figure out how to remain civilians.”

~Steve Robbins, Vineyard Church of Columbus, Spiritual Warfare Seminar, June 2008

A touch of humor for today's struggles

Below is an excerpt from Glen Schneiders’ Fax of Life/LIFemail - A Monday Morning Service to the Business Community for October 8, 2007. Schneiders is Lead Pastor of Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington, KY (http://www.xroadschurch.org/).

“At a conference last week, Francis Chan described a critical person as an appendix in the body. The Bible compares the church to a body, with every member functioning in their created role within the body. Done well – everyone functioning as they are wired - the church (body) is highly effective.

"Chan noted, ‘Some people are an appendix … They don’t really do anything, but they could explode and kill us!’ Any appendixes where you work?”