Your Destiny

Arthur Burk of Plumbline Ministries wrote a great article about your destiny.

Here is his take:

1. Set aside some time to assess your calling.

2. Assess your timeline in light of your destiny.

3. Reconcile your feelings with God's reality.

MASH

Does anyone remember the M*A*S*H finale? Charles is attempting to conduct an *orchestra* of Korean to play a noncturne throughout the episode, and, on the surface, they're sounding like a hopeless bunch. Farmers with wood flutes, homemade cymbals, wood drums, and one violin...and they're driving Charles crazy because they just don't seem to 'get it'. They can't get in tune; in fact they never do. And Charles, in his own snobbish highbrow way, berates them for their lack of 'vision'. But toward the end of the episode, the villagers get carted away from the camp, as the war is over. Charles has become quite attached to his little band of 'talentless' men, and then a wonderful thing happens. As they are driving away, the villagers start to play, one last time, in honor of their conductor, whom they love and respect in spite of his animosity towards them for most of the film. And wonder of wonders, it sounds like music. It still isn't going to win any awards, it's still awkward and out of tune, but Charles is awestruck, and moved to tears. It sounds absolutely beautiful to him. The 'snob' who only listens to Boston Pops is enraptured by the 'beauty' of this little talentless band.

It reminds me of the story of the Widow's Mite. Here, Christ and the disciples are watching people enter the temple and give their offerings at the door. No doubt, the disciples were impressed and awed at the wealth of one man who dumps a large amount of coins into the coffer. The pinging of the coins as they fall into the box tell them this is an important man, one who must command great respect, because he commands such great wealth! But then, an old, bent over lady whose clothes are poor, who's countenance is poor, and who's pocketbook is poor, plinks a couple of coins worth less than a penny into the coffer. By temple standards, they are less than a drop in a bucket. If the coins were lost from the treasury, no one would likely notice. Some may have looked on in scorn at the paltry *gift* this old woman dared to bring. Surely, it would be better, some may think, if she simply didn't give anything at all, if that is all she is going to give.

But Christ is moved. Tremendously. Not by the handsome gift of the wealthy, but by the paltry gift of the old lady. Why? She has given all she has. It isn't much, and it surely isn't much to talk about, but Jesus sees it for what it is. An absolutely beautiful thing. Not on the surface, but then, the surface hardly matters to Him. He has already been telling the religious leaders as much. The beauty rests in this woman's heart for her God, and in Christ's eyes, it is far more beautiful than the big showing of 'talents' by the rich in 'talents', for "they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on."

Beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. Don't be too quick to heap scorn or assign motive based upon what someone gives...it may seem paltry to some, but God may see something very different. And so might someone else. People who give out of their abundance are not to be scorned-they have been well blessed, and the gifts they bring come from an overflow of God's blessings upon them. But neither are those whose passion outweighs their talent.

Jason Teal

Strength Finder

We're using a great tool here at Compass that helps you unpack where your strengths are. I'm a fan of the movement that encourages people to focus on their giftedness instead of trying to spend a lot of time shoring up their weaknessess.

This was developed by the Gallup organization. They identified 34 strength areas from years of research. You buy the book (at any local bookstore or online retailer) and take an online test. The test identifies your top 5 strength areas and then offers some suggestions as to how you can develop these.

We're going to use this to help us understand our team better and assist them in focusing on their core strength areas in conjunction with their job assignment. I enjoy this because it helps you understand not only yourself but others better. Our belief is that this will strengthen our team and enable us to be better performers.

Happy Birthday Greg!

Wanted to wish one of my best friends in the world a Happy Birthday:


Check out Greg's page on Squidoo

Reflections

Reflecting over the events of our Calling Weekend continues to bring an inspiration which still amazes me. Like Bagger spoke to Hardy in answering his question of Juna remembering and regaining his glory or his authentic swing, we too must take that guided expedition into our own hearts to see that glory or authentic swing awakened. And what an initiation this weekend was for propelling each of us deeper into our God-given & glorious splendor.

There were so many moments of inspiration helping us all to regain focus and launch deeper into the regions of our hearts for our own personal journeys. But in this moment there is one passage of God’s revelation that embodies each inspirational moment collectively experienced by every man. It is embedded in Romans 8:19—“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”

You are probably saying, “Wait just a minute! Go back & read those verses once again!”

I know, like so many things from the weekend, it sounds & feels so unfamiliar and foreign, yet so haunting to hear such expressions! Like Théoden, King of Rohan from Lord of the Rings and the pall of darkness that cloaked his perspectives of himself and Gandalf awakening him with the light of who he really is, initially it appears awkward to the eyes of our hearts. Let the weightiness of God’s words from Romans 8:19 grip our spirits & then our souls like they did the first day we knew what it was to walk with God through Christ as our Savior into this new found glorious life. The thought of God choosing us & calling us from this tomb of darkness that held us bound and captive, now His Light possessing the deepest parts of us is unbelievable. The awakening that occurred inside of us through the burst of His Light is stunning. Jesus, Light of the world, now has become the Light of my life dispelling the darkness and awakening our glory. Oh, so similar to Lazarus being called forth from his tomb, untangled from those old grave clothes, and the more glorious man emerging.

As sons of God we carry a deeply vast & immeasurable calling on our lives. This calling is conceived and birthed in us by Father God Himself—His thumbprint indelibly stamped upon our DNA. It is unique to how God has shaped our hearts & spirits before the very foundations of the world. Yes, it truly is fresh, new, & utterly beyond our natural abilities to set in motion or accomplish. God has certainly called us to do something we cannot possibly do on our own, but with our Father who knows no limits or impossibilities we can accomplish all things.

We could contemplate this calling & our glory from morning to midnight & do this for the rest of our lives & never comprehend it with human logic. We could configure all sorts of scenarios to no end & never begin to touch the depths of where God wants to take us with our calling and its glory. It is somewhat like reaching for the stars when we were children. God’s call is way beyond us; however he desires to give us something beyond our reach! More & more it comes into focus, this calling is a gift from the hand of God. Our inability to produce this calling is exactly why God chose us to be the container of our particular glory and our particular calling.

As rational human beings we live in a world that is bound by limits & measures. In this environment of a world bound I often find this transcendent life cutting across the grain of my natural world. This is where Satan seeks to keep me bound therefore robbing me of God’s gift. But the Apostle Paul didn’t let this happen to him. He had no trouble holding on to this truth & it captured his heart like nothing else in this world. Consider 1 Corinthian 1…

25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

We are the ones Paul was referring to. We cannot rationalize, organize, or mechanize our way into fulfilling this call of God. Or as Bagger Vance would say, “You can’t make that ball go in the hole, you gotta let it.” This is not something He has asked us to do, thank the Lord! God has this responsibility covered & we simply have to learn to trust & walk with Him, or close our eyes and swing our authentic swing & know that He is Lord of the how and will place that ball in the path of our swing! And as the ball makes it way into the hole we all will stand amazed just like Hardy at the end of that scene. This passage clearly reveals that God’s most foolish moment is much greater & grand than our most accomplished moment in life. Paul explained this in 1 Corinthians 1:25…

Human wisdom is so tiny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness” (The Message).

If we fail to embrace this great call & God’s oversight of it all what can we embrace? As sons of God, we must learn to continuously operate every part of our being in the realm of the consistent, steadfast, & unwavering nature of God. And rest assured neither His nature nor his heart toward us ever changes. Just like the father of the prodigal son [Luke 15:11-32], God wants to love His sons no matter how far we might run away or run ahead of Him. He is always anticipating our return. When we live in this realm with God we get to experience the dramatic movement of God we see in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, John, Paul, & any other Bible Patriarchs. It is then that our lives become the greatest adventure filled with courageous faith to see ‘God’s kingdom come, His will done’ in us on this earth just as it is in heaven. It is in this stream of living inside God’s steadfast and consistent nature that we experience Him doing the unique & unusual kingdom works in & through us. In the Bible people who constantly lived in this realm with God received the opportunities to walk on water, see shackles mysteriously fall off & prison doors swing open for a get out of jail free pass, see the sun stand still in the heavens, a man raised from the dead, a massive river part & turn into dry land, & a whole host of other acts of restoration & release. They were led by God to a place where even creation obeyed their words.

Allow me to share a heart-felt thought from the Holy Spirit. Our world longs to see this kind of breakthrough man, husband, father, & leader walk the face of creation once again. Nothing new, just a now thought that we need to hear again from Paul’s pen, but more importantly from God’s heart—The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed [Romans 8:19]. The masses of our world are waiting for a different kind of Christian to emerge from the comfort & security of our walled fortresses we call church. Creation waits for sons of God to be Risky-Boys with their calling & glory and not Lazy-Boys. Yes, these sons of God are needed for such a time as this. Sons of God with the power of God through the Holy Spirit dwelling in & through them are needed once again as all creation waits their arrival—yes, Sons of God bursting forth in God’s glorious splendor.

Let us emerge from the weekend as these sons of God…The Calling Weekend Expedition Guides

Maybe you can't make money doing what you love

A recent blog post by Seth Godin sparked some conversations between our team. Can you really do what you want without finances getting in the way? This seems to be a common thread among the people I talk to. It seems we all have this dream of what we want to do, but the resources are not there. Seth's point is that money can be an obstacle.

He argues that many times by monetizing your passion, you sort of pollute it. It clouds the vision and interferes with your ability to keep it true and pure.

Here's a question that I think needs an an honest answer: "Should I do what I love?". Job usually translates into doing something I hate. Need money, have to pay the bills so I get a job. That's where most people live. Duty calls so I take on a particular career, vocation or business opportunity. The primary reason most people do this has little bearing on how they are wired and what they are passionate about.

A recent article indicates that start-ups that succeed usually are powered by passion. The person starting the business is passionate about what they do and this pushes them over the normal bumps that can derail a small business. I believe this is just as true for people in their chosen career. If you plod along doing a job you hate you will either not succeed or possibly get fired.

There are practical limits to this. Many times there are circumstances beyond your control that force a certain decision. But, if you are passionate about something and you continue to fuel that desire and look for opportunities to pursue it, I believe you will ultimately find it.

We need more people who are pursuing their calling and doing what makes them come alive. It changes everything.