The Critical First Step – Non-Negotiable!

Most Christians who struggle to have a consistent time of Bible reading, study, prayer and reflection do so because of one fatal mistake; the mistake of negotiation with the flesh! Get this! The flesh doesn’t want you to spend time with God! Neither does the world or the devil! They will never make it easy, always will oppose you in your effort to do so. When we make any profitable discipline or habit negotiable the most likely result is failure to maintain it. This is as true in exercise or diet as in any of the spiritual disciplines. The key is to not negotiate! It is infinitely easier to make one simple decision than hundreds or thousands of difficult complicated decisions. (I’ll have just a bite this time! I’ll skip running while I’m on vacation! etc.,etc.,...

Why Pray?

Do you pray? And if you do pray, what is the major emphasis or focus of your prayers? Is it to somehow persuade God to do what you want or believe that you need? Or is it to learn what God wants you to do or be? Think deeply about this question because the answer reveals much about your understanding of the relationship that you have with the Father. If the  answer is that the vast majority, as I would say it is in most cases that I have observed, the focus of our prayers is to tell God what we want Him to do  or ask Him for what we perceive we need, then our fundamental paradigm is that God exists to serve us and or please us. What percentage of your prayers are focused on asking God what He wants and then listening and watching for His direction? In reality we exist to serve and...

One Life – Mentors for Our Work/Career

The foundational qualities we identified as most important in looking for a mentor are 1) Intimacy with God 2) Commitment to a godly marriage 3) Commitment to godly parenting 4) A history of ministering Truth to others fruitfully 5) An awareness of and actively resisting excessive acquisition and materialism.6) Displays self-discipline. 7) Is a lifetime learner. Each deserves focused study and attention, and each, as you can see, is directly related to fundamental spiritual perspectives and values. There is good reason to begin with these basic Biblical characteristics. Let me give an example of where we are going with this as it applies to our work and/or career: I once had the privilege of meeting Max DePree, the retired CEO and Chairman of Herman Miller, Corp. one of America’s...

One Life – Mentoring parts 2,3 – Marriage and Family

One of the most obvious indications of an intimate relationship with God that we might observe as we evaluate potential mentors are qualities of their marriage and family lives. The family is God’s smallest church unit and individual intimacy with God developed through the disciplines of consistent time in His Word, prayer, and meditation produce and model an understanding and commitment to the application of His ways in marriage and family life. A husband who loves his wife as Christ loves His Church and sets aside his desires to serve her needs and a wife who is an equal but submitting partner, and children that are blossoming but well-behaved are the normal fruit of a godly marriage in most cases. I say in most cases because we can’t put God in a box and in some cases we...