Information May Not Be Power Enough

Information is power…but information alone often does not bring deep enough change. That is why James challenges us to be doers of the word and not just those who hear it. That is why discipleship is more than knowledge. Even Paul acknowledged that knowledge can lead to a big head and not necessarily a big heart!

Paul and Barnabas

Even Christian leaders differ. Paul and Barnabas had a major difference in Acts and went different directions. I wonder if one of them thought the other was less spiritual? That is often the tag we place on differences, that one side is more spiritual than the other.

Differences are often a result of more style than obedience! Some football and basketball coaches are in the face of their athletes. Others are not. Who is better? Which one is coaching? Who would you prefer to play for? Caution here, both styles are winners!

Deeper still is the difference between Greek and Hebrew thought. Greeks were logical in their thinking, thus the logical letters of Paul as is Romans. But Jesus taught in stories, the Prodigal son, the wheat and the tares, the Good Samaritan. Who was more spiritually mature, Jesus or Paul? Jesus was straight and in the face of some… the Pharisees who claimed spirituality but weren't. To the woman caught in adultery he was forgiving and instructed her to go and sin no more. Truth with forgiveness!

We skew differences when we use tags like "spiritual" or "mature" when they may very well be stylistic differences. The beauty of the Lord of history is that He has intentionally included all types of writing styles in the scripture. And all of the Bible is scripture, the prose and the line by line.

You will have differences with others who follow Jesus. But the caution is to not place a tag of spirituality when the difference may be a preference!

Leave Tension On The Table

Human nature is to remove tension in relationships. And leaders are human… But tension is a friend! Tension can surface deeper differences, unsaid and even unknown perspectives. Tension keeps issues on the table. To remove the tension does not remove the issues but mostly shoots them underground to surface at a more damaging time and often incognito.

Tension removed is not tension resolved. Leaders have to learn to live with the dissonance and to use it as a conveyer to the future. Leaders have to learn how to stay in the moment, not lose their cool, stay passionate and focused and resist the human nature to remove the tension but to keep it on the table until it is resolved. That is a challenging skill to learn but essential for leaders, especially spiritual leaders!

God of Heaven?

In the Old Testament the people (Israelites and the world) often understood the gods to have jurisdiction, god of the mountains or god of the valleys. From that the reasoning would be to try to fight a battle in the locale where their gods reigned. And if you left that place… you would be beyond the scope of your god.

Wonder if I live that, we live that now millennia later? Is God the God of heaven? The God of eternal life but not the God of heaven and earth? If God is the God of heaven and earth wouldn't that mean I could trust him with the earthy stuff like money, relationships, jobs, disease, et? When I am unwilling to go out on a limb and give I am living the limitation "God of heaven". When I face my stress and go through it alone, mostly without really getting with the Father, listening and obeying I am living "God of heaven". When my mountain seems so far out of my ability I am living "God of heaven". But the Word declares it differently, God of heaven and earth, God of life and death, God of resources (my provider), God of health (my healer)!

Today I want to live in my stress a bit differently, God of heaven and earth! God of my earthy portion, my world and the whole world. Today I live the joy of the omnipotent, omnipresence of the real God, God of heaven and earth!!!

Highlights

I have many highlights of my work week. One is the group of guys who meet on Saturday to learn leadership. Our study of the leadership of Jesus moves us all to be men of faith and obedience. We are afraid to miss, afraid of what we will miss. It is amazing an amazing word with amazing guys.

Another is our small group that meets on Tuesdays. We laugh and love and learn from the Master. We are a community of faith reminding each other of the love and ways of the Father and of the covering of Jesus blood. They stir my faith and cause me to worship. I suppose we have at times those who cause us to curse (smile here) with their harsh treatment, critical spirit, rudeness. These people lead me to worship. I lead the group but the group moves me back to my God.

These two groups are essential to my life, my faith, my joy and my awareness of God. I am thankful for them and the others in my life who do the same. Yes, thankful to be sure!!

Limiting our Leaders

I was in a recent leaders gathering when one leader spoke of being in a season of heightened criticism. Another leader brought up the scripture of Jesus in Mark 6, how Jesus was not able to do miracles because of the people's lack of faith. The connection stunned me! I had always read this as my faith and Jesus. This leader was pointing to the power of faith or criticism in human leaders. When we believe in our leaders we encourage them and they fly higher. When we are discouraging they do less! And the bad word is they do less because of my criticism! Maybe the gift of encouragement is a big deal after all. Maybe our faith in the spiritual leaders we have been given opens or closes the future for many others. When you are in a culture of faith, of those who see God moving in you and believe in you it is easier to believe in yourself. On the other hand, in a culture of criticism you will likely (at least eventually) believe the critic and begin to doubt yourself and the God who lives within you.

The result is the culture of criticism can ruin the move of God through a leader to bless the very people who are criticizing! The people criticized Jesus, "Just a carpenter's son! We know too much about this guy to believe in him." And as a result, their friends and family were left in their diseases, the people could not open their ears to the Kingdom of God, and they were stuck. Makes me wonder how powerful criticism really can be… not just limiting the life of the leader but the lives of those who do criticize!

Fitting in or Standing Out?

Isaiah 6 shakes me to the bone. Isaiah sees the holiness of God,
something we want people at our church to experience and from that
senses his own unholiness. Isaiah was already a prophet, likely one
who had a desire for the heart of God. But when he sees the Lord he
sees himself. That is the only way we really see ourselves is when we
see the Lord. Seeing the Lord gives us perspective about our sin but
also about our calling.

Isaiah was a man of God. But then he confesses his sin, a man of
unclean lips. Makes me wonder if he was fitting in to the culture,
using language others used, making decisions others made, fitting in.
The culture is powerful in that it shapes how we perceive right and
wrong. Erosion happens slowly, nearly unnoticed. How do I fit in?
The Lord calls me to stand out but do I? Really? Some of us try to
fit in too much. We go to the same places and do the same things all
in an attempt to relate. But is it really that motive? What is the
line of language that the scripture would warn us against? What is
the line of alcohol or other cultural acceptable behaviors?

Isaiah 6 shakes me to the bone, shakes the foundations of life. The
Lord is holy. Am I?

Where to Find Nourishment and Rest

Leaders do get tired. Especially in stressful times when they see the
need to extend and stretch beyond their normal capacity, exhaustion
follows. From the patterns of Jesus it is obvious that we must take
responsibility for our own rest. The tasks and the people will come,
endlessly. It's up to the leader to choose to live in the calling and
understand when the Father is calling him or her away for a season of
rest. Things like rest, food, prayer and the Word are essentials for
the journey into a destiny.

John 4 Jesus points to another place of nourishment. It is a bit
surprising, really, when we are exhausted. Serving and giving!
Really? John 4 Jesus is tired. Tired physically and likely
emotionally. But a woman comes to the well and he engages her. The
conversation is intriguing to her and he leads her to a moment of
faith and decision. And here, when he is worn out he comes alive. I
know, to speak of Jesus coming alive is a bit odd. His heart and soul
come alive in the ministry of the moment. The Spirit flows and the
Father is engaged and the Son of God is alive with vision and hope. A
whole town is about to come to eternal life and he is pumped!
Imagine, Jesus pumped!!! How cool is that! When the disciples return
they urge him to eat but he is fired up, maybe too fired up to eat.
His words, "I have food to eat you no nothing about." Then he
explains. Fulfilling the mission of the Father energizes him. The
flow of the Spirit, the impact of the ministry fuels his heart and
nourishes him. If you have ever been used by the Lord significantly
you will know this experience. Just when you are worn out the
Spirit's filling moves in you and you are far from tired. You are
pumped!

The other factors are critical to long term ministry, proper rest,
study, prayer, people (community) and vision. But when those converge
in a moment and we are used by the Father, tired is far from our
hearts and minds. Amazing, really, that serving others can bring us
back to life, fill our hearts with hope and vision as we are filled by
the Father for His use. But then again that is when we are most alive!

Leadership of Jesus

I meet with few guys to study the leadership of Jesus and it is
fascinating. This past week we looked at how Jesus led under stress.
Leaders all always leading even when they are lost in their own
stuff. This session was power packed and I think altered the way we
will lead through stress and how we will prepare for it. One of the
key factors for leaders is to make sure the patterns of holiness are
established before the hot moment, patterns of community, prayer,
scripture, worship, giving, serving. As Jesus was about to have the
worst day of his life the scripture says he went to the Mount of
Olives as was his custom. His custom, connecting with the God of the
universe, experiencing the Father's love and re-entering the mission
are key factors for any leader. Stressful times are going to come but
our customs, our patterns can be the source of nourishment in the
middle of "it". Thanks to the guys who are taking this journey with
me, paying the price and developing the heart of a lion, after the
Lion of Judah!!!

Getting Ready

I was about 10 years old and we were at a professional baseball game!
Life was good. My dad told me to wear my ball glove (we were in the
foul ball section) and be ready. Inning after inning passed and
nothing close. I took it off. As you guessed, the next inning the
foul ball came whizzing by my seat... and went on. I wasn't ready. I
missed the chance. Jesus warns us to be ready for his coming.
Abraham Lincoln said when he lost an election, "I'll go ahead and get
ready and maybe my time will come."

When I survey the people who are most used by the Lord the pattern is
always there. They go ahead and get ready, under the radar, when no
one cares to look. Timothy becomes a key player in the New Testament,
as does Barnabas. Both have a history of getting ready. Of Timothy
the Bible says he was a disciple before Paul came to town. He was
getting ready for the ride of his life but didn't know it. Barnabas
first appears on the scene not with Paul but back among the disciples
when he sells and gives property. Back then the disciples renamed
him, son of encouragement! He was getting ready for a world wide
ministry back when he was expressing encouragement, sacrificing for
others.

Getting ready is a belief in the Lord's destiny. Getting ready is
working when it seems to be beyond possibility. Getting ready is
conducting our lives in a pattern that unknowingly opens the future.
We are all getting ready for something. At 10 I was ready to learn a
lesson, the ball only comes this way once in a while, be ready. So,
at my age I am still getting ready for a cool future in the Lord.

Comfort and Commiserating

Those two are different. In seasons of stress and pain we do need
comfort. What we don't need is commiserating. Comfort is God's care
for me. That can be expressed by Him in prayer or through another
person. Comfort is healing and says I am valuable and have worth
(often opposite of what we experienced in the pain). Commiserating
can different... and often multiplies our anguish. Although the
definitions are mostly synonymous how we understand commiserating can
exasperate the problem is the hurt is relational. Comfort is about
me. Commiserating, as I have experienced it and viewed it, is often
about the ones who did the hurt. Comfort is God's salve to move me
out of being stuck. Commiserating is often us ragging on others and
in that we stay stuck. As long as the problem, hurt, etc is about
another I am not responsible nor am I moving forward. As it has been
said, we cannot control what is done to us only our response. When I
am being comforted or comforting another the focus is on the person
and their hurt, not the ones who caused the hurt. That subtle shift
in focus is the difference in moving forward and staying stuck, in
responding to pain in holiness and ending up in gossip. Commiserating
may feel powerful but in the end it keeps us stuck. Comfort is the
path to the future.

The People You Will Need

Someone has said to pay attention to the people God brings across your
path, they are important to your future. As I look back I can see
several moments when a person intersected my life and eventually
became a key to my future in ways I could never have imagined. In the
in's and out's of life, the daily moves and travels the Lord is at
work and is forming our future. Acts 15 Silas is sent back with Paul
and Barnabas to answer a key question for the early church. Silas was
to bear witness to the word. But... eventually Silas becomes a team
member of Paul. What appears to be a momentary accompaniment (and
Paul could have questioned if that was necessary) opens the future for
both of them. Could it be that the very people who appear to be just
along for the ride hold our future? How would we respond to those God
is using to open the future for us if we realized today they would be
significant tomorrow? And on the other side, who is Lord intersecting
our lives with for their benefit? Eyes wide open my friends, the Lord
is at work!!!

The Word of Others or the Word of God?

Last night the Lord came to me in some of my concerns and anxiety. It
was not the biggest word, more like the quiet voice. Today as I
prayed the Lord told me to "give that word weight." We all get to
choose whom to listen to. We need to hear others for sure, and often
the Lord comes through them to us. The word last night was more of a
whisper and I wondered today if even it was a word until... until the
Lord confirmed it by telling me to give it weight. What does that
look like, to give the word of the Lord weight? This is what He said
to me, "Think about it more than the words of others or the worries
you have. Focus on it, bring it back to mind, mull it over. Don't
allow the enemy to steal it (Jesus words in Mark 4 of the Bible) nor
allow it to get choked by your concerns. Take it deep into your
consciousness and allow it to have power and to create in you a new
world. The word of God speaks and worlds are created, chaos is made
into something beautiful.

It is amazing when the Lord speaks. Now it is up to me to give it
weight.

Community

In a series on Paul's life at GraceRiver. This Sunday we look at two
essential relationships Paul has, Ananias and Barnabas, acceptance and
encouragement. Acceptance is more difficult than acknowledged. It is
about choosing not to focus on a person's past but on their
possibilities in Christ. That is easy when we have had no engagement
with them. But when we "have heard about them" or have had bad
experiences with them acceptance is the last thing we want to offer.
Acceptance can begin simply with a greeting, a handshake, eye
contact. It is amazing how deeply that opens the hearts of others,
how that communicates their value and importance in the eyes of the
Lord. I'm hoping to give a lot of acceptance today and be an
extension of grace!

Your History or Our History?

We are so amazingly made (fearfully and wonderfully the scripture
says). One of the choices we have to make is to not take the past
into the future lest we recreate the past all over again. Here's a
for instance. One person says to another, "My history reminds me
to... tells me that... etc. Did you catch it? That was their history,
personal history not a shared history. Shared history treats me with
a new beginning and doesn't carry the old story over to a new
relationship. And if we want a new shared history we make that
together and that requires both of us working to not allow the past to
have power over the present and the future. We've all been hurt, all
been in situations we were disappointed in. But is that the story we
want now? Really? Wondering if we could find a way to form a shared
history based on trust and giving the benefit of the doubt so that
your history and my history doesn't shape the future. Learn from the
history yes. Recreate it? I'll pass.

Joy!

Interesting word in Acts 14:17 Paul says that God has left us
witnesses, indications of His presence and love written into the world
as we know it that call us to a world beyond. Rain, food in the
seasons... and joy. JOY! Joy is a gift from the Lord and a calling
to another world where the Lord is real and reigns and where what
happens to us is not as powerful as what happens inside of us. How
amazing is that? It would seem joy is an after thought, a result of
rain and crops (good food). But... joy is a gift in and of itself.

Whenever we experience joy we taste again the Kingdom of God.
Creating joy moments for others does give them a glimpse of what it
might be like for them to have a real relationship with the God of
heaven and earth, the God who gives the food that is a part of our
joy. Anytime we experience joy it is a gift of heaven to us. So
maybe when I eat that food that is bad for me I now have something
else to say about it. It gives me joy and brings my heart back to
God. In truth every meal is like that, a moment to get ahold again of
God's gift and provision. But today when I eat the bad stuff I will
be joyful... to my Lord!

Impending Death

Lost a college friend Sunday. Steve was one of the kindest people
I've ever met. Haven't seen he or Bobbi since college but I can't
imagine the loss and pain she has now.

Seasons of life keep moving. I've watched myself and those who are in
the same age/ stage speak a lot about getting older. We look older,
feel older, make decisions like older people. But the new reality is
death. More of us are moving off the face of the earth.

More than ever I am aware of my death. One day the doctor will
pronounce the "C" word or somehow the day will appear on the horizon.
Getting older is one thing. Facing death is another. Facing death is
about eternity, facing the Lord. Getting older shapes decisions but
facing death goes deeper. Facing death is about wondering if my
family will be okay? Facing death stirs me to think about how I am
using my time and money and energy. Facing death I realize what I
thought was so important may not have been. Guess that's what Tim
Mcgraw reflected on in the song "Live Like You Were Dying".

I don't hear many talk about impending death. And only Jesus has come
back. But that is the hope, Jesus, forgiveness, eternity. Everyone
knows they are going to die but at least for me, for the first time, I
know it is true, sad but true. Eternity awaits, opened by the blood
of the savior and for that I am thankful. So my heart feels weird but
my mind reaches for scripture and the promises of God. The Lord lives!

Respect

Respect may be the first key to open the eyes of those far from God to
the wonder of the Lord. Respect comes as we live rightly, care about
others, make decisions in the way of the Lord. Disrespect distances
others from the God I serve. Small things like tipping the wait
staff, kindness in opening a door, choosing to be pleasant paves the
way for further questions and allows the Spirit to invoke questions in
the heart of others, questions like, "Why would that person do that
for me? What makes them different?"

2 of the most challenging places to earn respect are the home and
work. No wonder, the people in those places see us more often and
less guarded. They see what gets to us, what drives us, what we will
or will not engage in, talk about, etc. They see how we make choices
and why. They listen to how we talk about others.

Without respect the bridge to God is a bridge too far. Respect is
hard earned and quickly lost. I hope to do better here.

Sensitive Leadership

Sensitivity is a key factor in leadership. Spiritual leadership would
have a clear call to be sensitive to the Spirit. But, every leader
needs to be sensitive to the moment, sensitive to the movements,
sensitive to the goings on in the lives of the people. This is a part
of EQ (EQ 2.0 is a great book here).

Sensitivity can direct us in the moment when we observe the responses
of people, physical and emotional responses. The observant leader
sees the people responding and if the response is the desired one,
knows when to keep pressing and when to quit pressing. If we press to
long as leaders we de-sensitize our people for they will naturally put
up walls and self protect just when we need them to be more vulnerable.

The de-sensitized leader can be so wrapped up in the moment (as a
speaker or board leader) that they are clueless to the room and
therefore miss the moment. The question is hard but clear. Is it
more important that we feel the buzz of the moment when we have the
floor or that the person or people move in the desired direction? Is
it about me or them? When my sensitivity factor is down because the
adrenaline is flowing and the moment is happening God may be working
but I am out of touch and can actually hinder the movement of God!!

What can blind us is our thinking we know, thinking we are good at
something so we excuse our missing the moment. Developing sensitivity
is done by acknowledging every time we have not been sensitive until
our heart and mind hears our mouth say it so much it becomes a quicker
thought. Becoming a sensitive leader is about governing our own inner
world so that our inner world doesn't take hostage the outer world of
others. Becoming a sensitive leader is about Galatians 5, keeping in
step with the Spirit so that we can be used by the Lord, used beyond
our own wisdom and skills, used to do a far greater work. Sensitive
leadership is always monitoring the room, the responses, the stimuli
to know how to lead from one moment to the next.

Sensitive leadership reads the room, the emotions, the culture, the
body language and leads appropriately. De-sensitized leadership
misses the moment. Caught in their own inner excitement a desensitized
leader may control the moment but is unaware of the real thoughts,
responses, reactions of people. De-sensitized leaders may do some
monitoring of the room, but mostly only connecting to those with them
and only picking up the clues of those who are into them.

It's a battle to be sure. But are we aware of when we are captured by
our emotion so that we miss the moment for others?

Vision or Bias

Some people say they have a vision but what they really have is a
bias. Vision is more than a bias, a preferred way of worship, a
preferred way of doing church, etc. I've been thinking of some
differences:
1) Bias has more to do with MY ideas and understandings. Vision is
more about others than me
2) Bias can often be driven by MY gifts and preferences. Vision is
more about a future that can and should look different.
3) Bias is MY style of worship, what I have seen work, etc. Vision
may flow from my experiences but big vision always includes others.
4) Bias has ME as the center picture. Vision is not as concerned with
me in the picture but visions others.
5) In bias I measure how do I think "it" (the experience) went. With
vision my biggest concern is others, what they experienced or didn't
experience but should have.

Bias is something we all have, preferred styles of music, patterns of
life, etc. Vision moves us past bias to the world of others and the
possibilities for others.

Vision or bias?

Pressure and Perspective

When we are under pressure / stress one of the "loses" is our
perspective. We must have time away to think and pray to regain
perspective so that we lead well and strategically (lead our family,
lead a church, lead ourselves, etc).

Leadership Values

Every leader has values. Known or unknown, spoken or unspoken those
values are there and they are HUGE to how the leader leads. If the
value is fear the culture around that leader will be one of threats,
fear, insecurity, etc. If the value is control, the org will be micro
managed. If the value is high trust, delegation and teamwork will
expand. Leaders must think and rethink their values.

But even that is not enough. Leaders must diagnose their behaviors,
decisions, actions and non-actions to discover what might be a hidden
value and then to reflect on the implications of that value. If it is
an unwanted value the beginning step is to know that this value (as in
my insecurity and my need to always prove myself) plays big and take
steps to do deeper reflection about the decision at hand and to set up
boundaries to neutralize that value.

Leaders and Conflict

Thinking more of conflict being a door to the future. Funny, leaders
can view conflict as a wall and a person with whom they feel in
conflict as the keeper of that wall when in truth what looks like a
wall might be a door to the future. Wonder how that would alter how
we view the people with whom we are conflicted?

Jesus on Leadership

Luke 22:24-26 Jesus says leadership is a trust given for others.
Servant leadership is not the leader doing the lowest jobs but leading
for the good of the organization, serving a bigger mission, a larger
group. We are given leadership not for ourselves but for others.

Leadership

A key test of leadership is the use of power. Will we use it for
ourselves or for the good of others and the vision? Power is a trust
given to a leader and the leader must use power but the power must be
visional power, power connected to the trust of leadership.

Conflict

What if conflict was a door to the future? What if conflict was an
opening to become different, to reshape us personally or
organizationally as happened in the conflict of Acts 6? We would
never desire conflict but maybe we could welcome it a bit more easily.

I Caused the Earthquakes in Japan

The recent earthquakes in Japan create uneasiness in my life. The
world is unstable or so it seems. And upon occasion I hear others ask
why is the world out of sync? Why doesn't God do something? Why the
starving, the victims of... ?

The Bible tells a different story if we chose to hear it. It is a
story that makes sense and gives us hope but to hear it we must be
willing to lay down our limited views and narrow thinking and enter
that story. Here it is:
1) God created the world and it was good (Genesis 1).
2) God enjoyed people and people enjoyed God. We are the crowing
creation. To be human is not to err, it is to be made in the image of
God. Being human is a good thing!
3)With sin the world was put out of sync (Genesis 3). Snakes became
crawlers, marriage was messed up and weeds entered the world! I get
it! Adam messed up my lawn! It's his fault.
4)When sin entered the world (creation) got out of sync and has been
out of sync. Everything was marred. Everything! The world has been
existing out of sync since Genesis 3.
5)I may think that still God could change it and in fact He is. Just
not the way we would do it.
6)It might even occur to me that God should change it, put it back.
But the problem is that not only has Adam sinned and got everything
out of sync I have as well. So my life has contributed to this out of
sync world. One scholar responded to an editorial, What is wrong with
the world?" He wrote back, "I am!"
7)So what is wrong with the world and what happened? We did. We
happened and that messed it up.
8)God is about making it right but instead of beginning again with a
creation I could get off sync again He is beginning with me! And
you! Our sin messed it up but His righteousness in me is the critical
turn. As Romans 8:19-20 says, creation has been groaning for a new
start (our revelation as sons of God).

We caused the earthquakes. We did. But thru His grace we can be the
healers of many in crisis. Through his making us whole we can become
people who move in righteousness and move toward the broken world and
begin the restoring to wholeness.

We happened to the world. But He happened to us. And now we can
happen to the world again, only this time thru His power and wisdom.
And we can restore the world because we have been restored first. We
happened. But He happened. What a cool story!

Theology and History

I am intrigued as I read through the Bible, especially I and II Kings
(like II Kings 17:7). History seems to flow as we always have known
it. Nations fight, people are captured, and on and on. But the Bible
has a different take. History moves at the moving of the Lord.
Nations fight and people are captured. But all of this is simply
plays into the promises and warnings of the Lord. God is moving and
acting even in history.

To be living in the time of II Kings would mean I would have been
captured, deported, confused. I would have wondered where God is, why
this is happening, etc. But likely I would not have realized that my
sin brought this about, mine and many others.

History is not free flow and left to the whims of even the most
powerful. They always play to the hand of God. Always! History moves
us toward the realization of God's kingdom and in the process reveals
to us more of what that Kingdom must be like.

That doesn't mean that I can just allow everyone and anyone to condemn
me attaching a painful time to sin. It does mean that God's Kingdom
has come and all of the pieces of life that seem out of control and in
the hands of the powers that be are not. He is in control and is
working His plan. Though it may be hard to see in the moment, God is
in control and the world is not just happening. Behind history we
will find the hand of God taking even the battle over power, even
abuse, even hurtful things and working them toward an end. He is the
God of history.

One Act Of Kindness

II Kings 6 is an intriguing story. Battle lines are drawn and a
moment comes when the enemy is placed into the hands of the other
side. What to do then? Kill them? It is hard to not respond when we
have been hurt, threatened, accused, cut off, etc. Our human nature
is to strike back. But the striking back typically heightens the
battle. I am hit so I hit and they you hit and then... One act of
aggression typically leads to another. Amazing how we live out that
story.

But what if an act of aggression is met with an act of kindness? Can
it be that one act, one small act can turn a war into a season of
peace? Can one act of power bring us back to our sanity? Can one act
of kindness actually shape the lives of hundreds and thousands of
people connected to us at a distance? Could our one act turn a city?

Does here in II Kings. If your children's future was involved would
you extend kindness when you want to strike back? If your neighbor's
lives depended upon your response could you find a way to extend one
act of kindness and turn aggression into hope? Just one act. Just
one. YOURS!

How To Change the World

> We are so into finding our purpose and place in the world that we
> have missed the point!!! What if our changing the world "purpose"
> had more to do with our character than our skills or hands? What if
> it was more about who we are rather than what we do? Think about
> that! Who we are is harder than having skills and talents.
> Learning to steward those is more significant than having them!
> Your purpose is not some activities even if they are ministry
> activities. Your purpose is to be a wholly developed into the image
> of Christ. Then what you do will have world impact even if it is a
> small job in a small out of the way place.