Bloggers Beware!

As many of you may know or may have been able to tell, I have not blogged in some time. I’ve never been one to write a journal or write my feeling down on a page but there’s something about blogging that just intrigues me. I think its amazing that people can write about their personal life, their struggle and the stories of overcoming and others can read it and be inspired and changed. I think that sharing personal testimonies is not something people should do but something that people MUST do. Not only because it’s a part of the vision of my life and church but because by the word of our testimony others are saved.

Now comes the sticky part; over the past year or so after beginning to blog and follow other peoples blogs I have seen some things and been convicted of some things that I have to be careful of as well as other bloggers.

One thing about blogging is that the interpretation of writing of any sort is up to the reader and their imagination. Some people can write a blog, note, email, etc. and right away people can tell their emotions and meaning behind it. Others, are not quite so blessed. There are many times when what we write is interpreted in a way that we in no manner, shape or fashion meant for it to. This is something we must always be aware of and work to get rid of. One way that I have learned to help that is to have others proof things before you send them or post them. By doing this you can see someone else’s interpretation of what you’ve written. This is ESPECIALLY good for business but can be used the same for personal things as well.

Secondly, there are a lot of people in the world whose hobby is arguing. It’s very obvious when you look at how they interact with other people and how they carry themselves through life. The thing you really have to know about these people is although some don’t most of them KNOW what their arguing about and it is not worth trying to argue back. Persistent people back down when they have no one pushing back. They absolutely HATE winning without getting bloody, if they don’t have a fight it’s not worth winning. These people sometimes want to debate an issue in your blog with either you or someone else who has commented on your blog. This can kill a persons blog because there is nothing more frustrating than seeing people fight through typing. If it doesn’t make you as the blogger not want to blog anymore it will make people not want to read your blog anymore. The best way that I have found to keep this from happening or to get rid of it is to allow people to express their non-combative comments but do not approve comments that would offend others or start an argument. Be careful, your reputation is on the line simply because its your blog.

And the last thing and something I have definitely had to check myself on is that what you put on your blog you will be held accountable to by those who read it. It kind of goes a long with the do as I say not as I do thing. Most of the time things you blog about are things that you are dealing with in your own life. Whether you’re struggling with it or have just overcome it you will still be accountable to it. Now no one is perfect but we must strive for the excellence I mentioned in my last blog. Work towards mastering the things you blog about and others will see that as an example and light that can help those who may be struggling with the same thing.

Now these are just a few of the things you must watch out for when blogging. There are many more and I may soon blog on a few of these.

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

Passion NOT Perfection

You know there are so many times when we go through life (especially those who are from perfect country) and strive for perfection in everything we do no matter what. We may hurt people with out words or actions and even worse we can create negative thought processes towards people because they do not “meet” our expectations. We can work all our lives to achieve perfection and will never fully achieve it. Now I’m not saying striving for perfection is bad or that we shouldn’t strive for it, but there is HUGE difference in perfection and excellence. Excellence is doing the best with what you have. When we strive for excellence and not for perfection we set ourselves up for success because our goal is attainable. One of the things people look for to feel good about themselves is attaining a goal. One of the biggest things we have to look for when we are people who strive for excellence is loosing passion. Someone can make a considerable mistake when ministering but if he or she had passion the thing people remember when they leave is the passion not the mistake. Sometimes we get so focused on making sure things are perfect we forget to have passion. Passion is contagious. If you choose not to care what others think of you or what people say about you and have passion, it begins to rub off on people like a disease. Passion can change peoples lives without saying a single word to them. Passion is like a wildfire raging out of control. Not only is it extremely powerful but it engulfs everything that’s in its path. When you decide that you are going to be passionate about something and not do it solely for the purpose of it looking/sounding/feeling/being good than you will find out you’ll end up turning out a better product. Whether that product is worship, a graphic, a video, a sermon, a business proposal or maybe its just your own personality, it will be contagious and people will notice an edge that others don’t have. Now having passion does not give you an excuse not to strive for excellence. It does however mean that the excellence you strive for is not hollow and soulless when you reach it. And most importantly, when you have passion and make a mistake(which we all will at sometime or another) people don’t notice the mistake, they realize the passion and purpose of what your doing. Passion outlives the person it dwells in. When your time is over in this life, people won’t remember the awesome multimedia presentation they’ll remember the passion you had and feeling they had when they left your presence.

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

Lessons from a run with the dog!

So I know its been FOREVER since I blogged but this was just too good to pass up. Today was an absolutely beautiful day and its been a while since I’ve had time to go on a nice run. I got home from work and decided that I would take my dog for a run at Durant Nature Park. Like I said its been a while since I went running with my dog so I was suprised to realize that they were enforcing the leash law pretty heavily up at the park. Luckily my dog is pretty good with keeping up with me and so it wasn’t that bad; however, as I was running I got some VERY valuable incite into leadership and into life in general.
To begin, my dad usually is the one that takes my dog for a run so I didn’t know excactly how much he could handle. We began the run and like any dog he wanted to sniff and “mark his territory” on just about everything. After stretching out a bit and letting him get his business situated we started our run. Like I said its been a while since I’ve been able to run so I wasn’t even sure how much I could handle. At about our 2nd or so mile we came to a point in the trail where I decided we were going to forge a new path….in other words I got a little lost in all the different trail crossings…and we had to go through the non cleared brush a little bit to get back on the right trail. As we were doing this I realized that when I’m connected to my dog and he cant get through something lower to the ground that I can than I can’t get through it. How many times do we focus on the path in front of us and clearing the way for us to get through not realizing that us clearing the path may be putting stuff in the way of people following us? How many times do we just need to be the one who is not necessarily leading by being in the front, but be the leader by getting the obstacles (thorns, branches, etc.) out of the way for the people we’re leading and directing them through the obstacles that we have a better view of than they do?
So we finally emerged from the brush and got back on the trail, only soon to be faced with the obstacle of an open field. Now, to most this would seem to be far from an obstacle but after my dog had been following me on a narrow path that I was leading him down and we came to an open field with no set path or way to go it was very confusing to him. How many times do we as leaders and humans get to a time when things seem to be running smooth, a slow time in business or the ministry (an open field) and the people we are leading seem to start straying all different directions and seem to be confused? Sometimes the down time is the time when people need the most direction because its the time when there’s “nothing really to do,” and direction is hard to see without guidance. I realized that when I was running in the open field that my dog needed me to guide him in which way we were going because I could see the narrow path ahead and I had to keep him running at it or we would have missed it completely.
Lastly, when we finished the 5 or so miles and we got back to my car I had to get the key off of my shoe to get in the car and I let the leash out so my dog could deal with some more of his business. When I got up I realized he had gotten wrapped around my tire, a tree AND another persons tire. This was just icing on the cake for all of the great things that God was revealing to me about leadership and etc., because I realized that so many times we know that we have to get something done and we go to do it but forget to pay attention to the ones around us even though we are still connected to them, so if they go wondering around they could and often do get tangled up in things that we have to get them out of, which ends up taking up more time than if we would have given them something to do or kept them close by to begin with.

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

Seasons of Life?

We hear a lot that we go throw seasons in our life and God takes us through different seasons throughout our life. I can definitely attest to this and I agree that there are different seasons of life where certain things make different impacts on our life. You can see this most vaguely by studying the fact that our taste buds change from when we are a baby to our adolescence and so on, because you definitely don’t like the taste of baby food when your a teenager… unless maybe its the bananas or something. It’s also seen by people who go back to college or graduate school to get a different degree because they have a “change of heart” and want to pursue a new future. I fully believe that God will change our sensual desires as well as the desires of our heart. What I do not agree with is that people go through seasons every week, or every month; constantly changing jobs, lifestyles, CHURCHES and the most disturbing is spouses or boyfriends and girlfriends. The thing that really gets me is when people use God or the church as an excuse or as a way out of something that they are unnerved about and don’t feel like actually working through it. Some psychologists say that a constant change of Job or lifestyle is a sign of mature schizophrenia. Honestly I wonder if that would be something that God would put in your heart, a desire to show the signs of schizophrenia? I pray and urge you that if you have experienced seasons in your life to continue seeking God and follow the desires that He gives you; but, if you can’t figure out what God wants you to do and you constantly follow desires that end up at dead ends, take time to seek God and slow down in your life and don’t go after every opportunity that comes up. Though God puts opportunities in our lives daily, so does the enemy. Don’t be fooled by the enemy, stay strong in the word and make sure that the oppurtunities are legitimized by the Word of God.

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

Effective Ministering

Many times I’ve heard the phrase, “People don’t care about what you know unless they know that your care.” I really had a first hand experience on Saturday with that. I was working with a girl who I had never worked with before and didn’t know that well. Now I have to admit that most of the people that I work with are christians so I don’t struggle with my collegues. I had never worked with this girl but I had seen her before and heard her talking with her friends. I began talking to her about someone that we work with and she told me about how he always trys and push christianity on her. She said that He always came back with good answers and that she was impressed but didn’t like his approach. I began to talk to her and she asked me where I went to school, I began to tell her that I was in ministry school in wake forest and she said “Wow, all the people here really are hardcore christians.” I tried to get away from the fact that I went to ministry school and focus on her and what she wanted to talk about. She continued and I found out that she was raise jewish and chose to not believe in it and said that she didn’t really know what to believe. “I’m confused because of all the stuff I’ve heard, and I mean I want to believe when I’m struggling and I need help but how pathetic is that?” I told her that thats what we all do, we all look to something when we are in hard times because we want someone to step in and make it all better. She started telling me about how she believes in a higher power but is just confused. I continued to talk to her the whole time we worked and as we were closing the store she made the comment to me “If all christians cared and listened like you do without pushing their own agenda then more people would want to listen and believe.” I was stunned and amazed that she said that, and it really made me think about something. If we were truly living like christ and showing Jesus through our “walk” than wouldn’t we be caring about everyone, no matter their background or what they do, just as Jesus did. Shouldn’t the thing that people yern for, the love and comforting arms of God, be the thing that we shine bright and show others. I challenge you; I’m also challenging myself, to take this next week to show God’s love and that we minister to others by caring about what they say and how they feel, whether they are totally off in their thinking or not, be there to answer questions that they have about christianity or what you believe, and grow a relationship with them and be there for them if they need you.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (ESV)

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

The BIG 18!

Well wednesday was my birthday and every year when my birthday comes along I wonder what the next year may bring. I was watching part of ghost wisperer tonight, never watched it before but it had a great message. It was all about journeying into the uknown and not being afraid of whats to come. It really made me think about what is to come this year in my life. Every year I try and think about what could happen and every year its always completely wrong. This year ive decided that I am going to be completely open to any kind of unknown that comes my way. I’m not going to be afraid of change or any journey that I might have to take.

I want to thank everyone who made my birthday amazing and made my 18′th worth while

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

My how things change!

Its amazing how much things can change in a matter of weeks. I know I promised that I would continue to post and I didn’t and I truly apologize. I have taken on CRAZY amounts of work and responsibility and I find it hard to find time to post. Hopefully eventually I will find time to consistantly post and keep this thing up.

God can change so many things so quickly and you not even notice it. This past weekend Pastor Micah taught on taking time to realize the peace of God and know that He is always around you. I have found that in the one day since that I have realized soo many things. I have not only realized the peace of God on my life right now but also HOW the peace of God got there. Whether that be through things changing or leaving my life or simply God showing me little signs throughout my day to say “It’s Ok.” I love taking the time out of my day to just sit back and reflect on the great things that God has done. It is so relaxing and comforting to make everything thats blowing up around you seem like its a piece of cake.

Today I was eating lunch at Over the Falls Deli in Wake Forest and I realized something that the world has really twisted. I was just relaxing and having a nice lunch by myself taking time to reflect on the past few months and just get a breather that I usually would not get. The waitress who served me was very nice and I had seen her there before and she was very polite and didn’t let my glass ever get below 1/2 full. I watched her as she went around and served people with a smile on her face, always being polite and giving excellent service. There was a couple next to me who came in after me and ordered, got their lunch and left before I had finished. As they were paying at the counter and leaving I noticed the guy walk back and slide a dollar under the pepper shaker as a tip. I was thinking to myself “1 dollar? theres no way the tip on their bill was 1 dollar.” I saw her walk up to the table to clean it up and thankfully picked up the dollar and went on with her job. I finished my food and set the money on the table as I went to use the restroom. When I had finished I returned to find her getting my change for me. I told her just to keep the change (which meant she got a 9 dollar tip on an 11 dollar check). Her eyes got really big and she said “WOAH are you sure.” I gladly assured her and she thanked me greatly. As I was walking out I was thinking “why in the world is it wierd to recieve a good tip for great service?” I couldn’t stop thinking about that all day, it kept coming back to me. I think that we need to change that, I think we need to continually bless people and reward people for great service. When people give a nice tip for great service it should be something that is normal, it is appreciated but its not a strange new event for them. I love to bless people and I think the church should show how much it loves to bless people as well.

Ok I’ll step off my soap box for now. Thanks for reading!

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

Continual Growth

I think we fail to realize sometimes that we are always growing in everything we do. I have grown so much in my christian walk as well as many other parts of my life in the past 3 to 4 years, yet I seem to always find things I didn’t know before or things new and exciting to try. I think sometimes in our christian walk we find ourselves hit a “mountain top” or spiritual “high” only to be followed by a fallout or a low part in life. I think the biggest thing we struggle with is that when we hit that “high” we absolutely can not stop growing and learning. The times when we think we are the most strong and mighty in our faith, are the times the enemy works against us the hardest. The past few months for me have been like that. I am at a place in my life where I find myself absolutely in love with my Father and Lord Jesus Christ and want to follow everything He has for me. Unfortunately, this causes me to picked on or beat up on by the devil the most.
I am continually learning that who we are is reflected by who we have become and who we have come from. We are taught not to dwell in our past because it allows the enemy’s to gain strongholds in our lives and pull us down; however, we must realize that without our past we would not be who we are today. We are all living testimonies to what God has done in our lives and we must make sure to not be ashamed of our past. I have learned that being ashamed of who I was has made me not completely conquer the things of my past. I think to honestly let go of our past we must accept it and realize the testimony God has given us.
The things God teaches me everyday shape me into the Man of God I know I am supposed to be. I vow to continually learn and grow from my mentors as well as from God himself.

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

Sorry for the lack of posts

So I have recieved many comments on previous posts about how I haven’t been posting very much. I have had a CRAZY summer to say the least and I think it is finally starting to slow down. Now that ministry school is starting I will have more time to post and keep up with my blog. Kind of funny how that works. Anyways, I have been going through a lot in these past months and I will soon be posting some words from my heart about that, as well as just some random hooplah that I usually would post. Thanks again to all those who read my blog and I look forward to posting and adding many new topics.

Let the Lord guide your path and show you the way.

The abundance of the Heart.

Saturday 24/7 went to Carrowinds for Sonfest and we had a great time. We didn’t get back until very early that next morning. When I arrived home I noticed graduation presents on our dining room table and that my dad had not yet gone to bed. I opened the first one and started on the second one when I realized that the second was from my Great aunt in Iowa. We had just visited her a couple of weeks ago and she said she would be sending me a gift very soon. I opened to card and read, as I read I realized that there was a check inside. When I pulled out the check I almost fainted. When I came to my senses that the check was real and that the amount on it was also VERY real I was speechless and had no idea how to feel. It took me about 2 or 3 days to realize that I was not dreaming and that I actually had received this amazing gift from a most humble person. I called her last night to thank her and to tell her how much I appreciate everything she’s done for me. She is the most humble person I know because she kept changing the subject every time I thanked her. I learned so much from listening to her last night and realizing that when we give we must give with the abundance of our heart and not even expect a thank you or want someone to praise us for being “so nice.” Something I struggle with is doing things without looking for something in return or looking for someone to say “good job” or “thank you so much.” I think that I have truly seen the heart of Humility and the willingness to give without expectance or receiving anything in return.

Let the Lord Guide your path and show you the way.