Tag: challenge

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Ever Think You’d Be a Teenaged Millionaire?

I’d guess I was somewhere in the range of 12-14 years old for this one. Out of the blue, I got a letter in the mail from Publisher’s Clearing House or something similar. Whoever it was, it was a sweepstakes business, and the letter implied that I’d be winning a million dollars!

Of course I know years later that this was too good to be true, but back then, in the 1990s when things were simple and I was young (and a million dollars went a lot further than it does in the 2020s), I was completely taken captive by the idea. I set about planning what to do with all that money.

I decided my largest purchase was going to be a house that was for sale in the neighborhood where we lived. It might have even been right next door, I’m not sure. Once I figured that out, I broke out the JC Penney catalogue that came in the mail every year. Remember those? They were bigger than a phone book (hopefully you remember those, too). The catalogue had all kinds of home furnishings. I picked out a living room set with black leather couches, I think. I remember I also wanted to pick up a hot tub for the back yard. I dog-eared a whole lot of that catalogue’s pages. I don’t remember how I mentally got past the problem of being too young to make legal transactions like buying a house, or figuring out taxes, or being too young to even be able to drive a car. All that little stuff would surely get taken care of for someone with money!

I got pretty deep into this whole thing. Eventually my parents had to break it to me: “you’re not winning this money.” I think they showed me the original letter I received, and pointed out the fine print or the way the words for the announcement were chosen very carefully to make me believe I’d already won. Looks like I was going to have to figure out some other way to pay for the latest Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman albums.

Hopefully reading from the Bible is a regular occurrence for you. If it’s not, try to make that a habit starting this year. Here’s something to watch out for though. English is not the language the Bible was originally written in. As you can imagine, not every word in the original languages directly translate to English. There’s a reason “lost in translation” is a common saying. Folks have been translating the Bible for quite a long time and they’ve put a lot of thought into this, but sometimes the reasons translators chose particular English words or phrases aren’t evident or explained. That’s where a study Bible can really come in handy. It explains some of those word choices, along with the context of why actions were so meaningful in light of the days’ traditions, and it often links related passages.

While a scripture-only Bible is wonderful, a study Bible typically brings much more understanding and context. In much the same way that I needed to have someone who understood the reality of “you’ve won a million dollars*” explain the asterisk to me, I find it to be enormously helpful to have a study Bible that breaks things down for me or explains it to me in an understandable way so I don’t make my own erroneous assumptions and accidentally sink my beliefs into something that’s simply not true.

Lord, thank You for giving us the written word. Help me find the right translation of the Bible I can readily understand, and the right tools to grasp the significance of what I’m reading. In Your name, Amen.

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A Little Tweak in the Right Spot can Have an Outsized Impact

Have you ever come across someone who was already very talented at something, but needed a little extra guidance to make them unstoppable?

In the book of Acts (chapter 18, verses 24-28) we encounter a Jewish fellow with an odd combination of knowledge. He had extensively studied the Old Testament and was very familiar with what it prophesied about the coming Messiah, but he was also a follower of John the Baptist’s teachings. That might not seem so strange, but the teachings of John the Baptist were the limit of this guy’s New Testament experience. He lacked a complete understanding of the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the Church as God’s new witness people.

His name was Apollos.

Apollos was unusually skilled in debate and public speaking. He arrived in the city of Ephesus and started accurately teaching in the synagogue what he knew about the Messiah. He eventually attracted the attention of two well-known followers of Christ, Aquila and Priscilla. This pair recognized that Apollos’ understanding of the situation was incomplete, so they pulled him aside and brought him up to speed, giving him a more full understanding of Jesus and His role in God’s plan.

Armed with a more robust understanding of “The Way,” Apollos then went on to “vigorously refute the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 18:28). Apollos went on to become a very prominent teacher in the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:12), and his knowledge and skills were so great, Paul wanted him to use him in different cities (1 Corinthians 16:12).

Apollos was a man that became a powerful tool of God’s Church, but before all that, when he first arrived on the scene, he wasn’t yet ready to be the full version of what he would later become. It took the husband/wife team of Aquila and Priscilla, a faithful Christian couple, to mentor and disciple him. This was an ordinary, faithful couple who saw a need and filled it. As a result of their faithful behavior, they helped enable Apollos’ ministry for years to come.

Faithful service to the Lord doesn’t always involve flashy events. More often than not, it’s quiet, unseen efforts with lasting effects. In what ways can you use your gifts to enable someone else for greater success in the Kingdom of God? Is there someone you know who could benefit from your Christian mentorship?

Lord, people have been following Your teachings for just about two thousand years now. So much of that has come from the passing of knowledge and teachings from one Christian generation to another. Please help me/us as we look to be taught by, as well as mentor, other Christians. Praise You for helping Your followers thrive even in the unlikeliest places. Amen.

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RSVPing in the Negative

When my two oldest kids were little, I’d often come home from work and be greeted by two little balls of energy. Mommy stayed home with them, so when I came home I’d try to give her at least some kind of break by taking them off her hands even if it was for just a few minutes. One particular day was very pleasant outside, so I went into the house intending to come back outside with one or both kids in tow shortly thereafter.

I walked in and got some big hugs from everybody. My little guy looked like he was up for a walk, so I said “Hey Buddy, I need to go get the mail. Would you like to go to the mailbox with me?”

In about as sweet a tone as you can imagine, he said “Umm, I don’t, but I wish I did.”

That little memory makes me think of some people’s walk with God. Some of them honestly and earnestly seek to do God’s will for their life. Others know they should pursue that goal, but for whatever reason, it takes a back seat to other priorities. They wish they had the time or the drive, but they don’t really have their hearts set on it. Others don’t even aspire to that much.

My little guy didn’t want to go, but he didn’t want to disappoint Daddy, either. I wasn’t mad or disappointed in him; I knew he might very well turn me down. God knows before we do how we’ll arrange our priorities. He’s not surprised when we choose not to prioritize the things He offers us.

Although it’s super easy to be distracted by the urgency of the things we encounter in this life, the Christian life is about living your life according to how God wants you to. Give it a try. I think you’ll be blessed in ways you didn’t expect.

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Be Very Aware of the Power of Your Words

Did you know your words can have an impact that lasts for years, or even decades?

I used to work with a dude I’ll call Marcus. This was a guy who used to be a Green Beret in the Army. When he was growing up in the Midwest, still a young teenager, Marcus had a cousin who was some kind of all-star football player at the state level. I guess this cousin was also a beast in the weight room, because he could bench press, like, 400+ pounds, while he was still in high school.

I guess he started making a name for himself, and the cousin got to be something of a local celebrity athlete. As you can imagine, it lit a fire under his younger cousin, Marcus, to start hitting the weights. He began visiting the weight room pretty regularly, and started making some significant gains. He was excited when he finally put up 225 pounds. Now, you’re not going to win any competitions by benching 225 a single time, but it is a substantial milestone. This is kind of when you graduate to being able to lift some serious weight. Up until now, putting weights on the bar consists of a large iron plate on either side, accompanied by a smattering of smaller weights. Once you hit 225, you get to put two of the largest plates on each side, and this much cleaner appearance makes it easy for everybody to know exactly how much you’re doing.

Proud of his accomplishment, Marcus informed his grandpa of his progress. “Grandpa! I bench pressed 225!” The response wasn’t what Marcus was looking for. Instead of an “atta boy!” or “great job, Son!,” he got a different answer. “Oh, looks like you’ve got a ways to go!”

Much later in his life, when I worked with him, Marcus was 41 years old and had just benched 345 pounds in his basement gym. Twenty-five or so years after they were uttered, Grandpa’s words were still echoing in Marcus’ mind, taunting him.

Be careful with your words. The positive ones are nice, and are often encouraging, but they get drowned out pretty easily by all the noise out there. The negative ones stick around longer and have a lot more staying power. While it’s true that negative criticism can drive people to do things they might not otherwise be able to do, is it your place to offer that kind of “help?” Not everybody is able to turn those hurtful or thoughtless words into motivation and drive. Of those who can, many of them carry around needless stress because of it. Consider offering encouragement, and if that’s coming up short, only then consider alternative ways of helping them move toward their goal.

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Like it or Not, The Buck Stops With You

It’s funny how the concept of individual responsibility and discipline has faded into the background. When I was a kid, there were plenty of limits on how much junk food I ate, how much video game time I got, and what I did with my money. As you grow up, you’re less at the mercy of someone else’s limits on your choices, and you determine your own circumstances.

I don’t know if anyone’s told you this or not, but you are responsible for the choices you make. Those choices take many forms, but please don’t fall for the false narrative our culture as a whole seems to push on people: you’re not to blame for the consequences of your decisions.

While it’s true there are some things outside our control that restrict the choices we make (car accidents, inherited medical conditions, etc.), the things I’m about to cover usually aren’t the result of one or two choices, but the result of patterns of choices. Let’s start with something we can probably all relate to.

How can I say this lovingly? Gaining five pounds is not a huge deal. I’ve come out of weekends weighing about five pounds more than I did going in. Gaining 10 pounds more than where you want to be…well…that might be okay if we’re between Thanksgiving and New Years. Putting on 20 pounds more than your desired weight…please tell me you’re noticing this?

If you’re 30 or 40 pounds overweight, we’re not just talking about a couple days’ worth of bad decisions. This is a pattern. It’s a little tough to believe you didn’t see it coming. The consequences are now much more likely to negatively affect your health (and by extension, your bank account). The risk of problems with blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart disease are all now needlessly increased. Yes, you can probably take medicine for some of them, or you can bypass the need for most of those medications by addressing the problem instead of the symptoms. I have to give credit where credit’s due; the country music singer Jelly Roll hit a max weight of 540 pounds a few years ago, but has since lost about 180 pounds to drop below 360. While 360 pounds is still morbidly obese, I have to tip my cap to him; losing 180 pounds is a tremendous accomplishment. At his max weight, I wouldn’t have given him another 10 years. I’m rooting for the guy, and I hope he’s able to achieve his goal of dropping enough weight to someday go skydiving with his wife, even if it means he needs to find a new stage name. (“Pop Tart?”) If you find yourself wanting to drop some extra pounds, start with simple changes like swapping sugary drinks for water (aim to eat your calories instead of drink them). A soda or something like a lemonade every day adds up fast. (Don’t switch to the diet version, just cut it out completely.) Also, while exercise is important, diet is more important. Cardio is good for your heart and mind, while strength training builds muscle, and increased muscle mass burns more calories even while at rest. None of it makes much difference if you’re consistently taking in more calories than you burn.

Let’s talk finances. If you’re living beyond your means, that’s something to try to change right away. I’m not talking about cases where you’re temporarily between jobs, or you’re paying back a big medical bill or something like that. I’m referring to situations where you’re spending more money than you’ve got without having a better reason than “because I want it.” Yes, we all need clothing, but why does it have to be designer? If you truly need a vehicle, brand new cars are a lot more expensive to own and insure than cars a few years older. Dining out or having food delivered is convenient, but expensive, especially if it’s multiple times a week. Consumer debt is a trap you don’t want to have to deal with. If you can’t pay your credit card bills in full every month, maybe you shouldn’t use them (unless the vendor doesn’t take cash). Pay in cash when you’re out and about. Physically handing your money over to someone has a way of helping you question whether the purchase is really worth it or not. Swiping a card and using “invisible money” is so easy, you don’t even realize how much you’re pledging to pay, and the bill piles up fast. If you can’t seem to help yourself, ask your credit card company to lower your credit limit. Keep in mind that if you drastically lower your amount of available credit, your credit score will take a hit. If you’re applying for a mortgage or other loan soon, you may want to hold off on lowering the limits until after you get the lender’s decision.

Finally, are you always short on time? Why is that? If you made a pie chart of the activities you do during your free time (not when you’re sleeping and not when you’re at work or engaged in other responsibilities), which slices would be the biggest? I’m guessing a screen is involved. I don’t know if this is true or not, but the other day I heard on the radio that on average, we scroll a whopping 95 miles per year on our phones. It can’t all be worthwhile. Video games are a black hole for guys, especially. I knew guys in college who would skip classes to play video games. Too much of that and your grades suffer, and college is a pricey thing to give a half-hearted effort to. Unless you’re able to make money off your video game prowess, consider whether the time investment is worth it. I understand wanting to decompress and relax, but good grief, set a limit on how much time that takes. Other time-suck activities: binge-watching shows, watching six hours of football in a given weekend (or single day), and aimless meandering on the internet.

To sum up, you’re in charge of you. If you can’t do it on your own, ask a trusted person for help with your weak spots. When my kids were little, my wife and I were pretty careful about how many sweets we let them have. Occasionally, I’d come home from work and have some ice cream. Once in awhile, one of them would say something like “I can’t wait until I’m a daddy so I can have ice cream whenever I want.” Yeah, life as an adult comes with some privileges, but Spiderman was right: with great power comes great responsibility. Take ownership of your choices. The buck stops with you.

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A Missed Opportunity is a Lost Opportunity

Ever hear of a sloppy, unrehearsed presentation trouncing a very polished one?

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve written about the urgency of our situation as Christ-followers. We’re not recommended…we’re commanded…to go out and make disciples of all nations. That can be tough. What’s that look like?

The most important thing is that we try. Making an honest attempt equates to obedience here, and obedience is one of the things God wants from us. Although a well-rehearsed, logical presentation of the Gospel is something to work toward, lack of a prepared version is not a good excuse for skipping the attempt. No matter how prepared you are for the pitch, you’re not the one who gets to decide if it penetrates the heart:

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. –John 6:63

God can use a fumbling and bumbling version of a Gospel presentation just as much as He can use a highly stylized, well-practiced delivery. Jesus is pretty particular in reminding us about this. Later in the same chapter, Peter started speaking a little pretentiously, and implied that he and the “true disciples” had somehow acquired superior insight, and as a result of this insight, had decided to believe. Jesus was quick to correct him about who did the choosing:

Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. –John 6:69-70

God expects us to obey, but He doesn’t expect us to be rock stars at evangelism. Picture a dad playing with his young kids and a ball. “Throw Daddy the ball!” All the kiddo has to do is get it close, and Daddy will make the catch and complete the play. Same thing here. Just obey, and get it close. If it’s part of His plan, God will take it from there.

This leads to an important point. Not everyone who hears the Gospel will respond to it, especially the first time they hear it. That means there needs to be more presentations of the Gospel than there are acceptances. That’s where you come in. You don’t have to be successful, you just need to be obedient. Obedience is your responsibility; outcome is God’s responsibility. He won’t be disappointed in you for obeying what He told you to do.

I understand it’s a scary thing, and we’ve been conditioned not to talk about God in the workplace. Let’s start small and you can grow from there. If you’re not going to go out and tell people about God, use the times He brings people to you. The next time a solicitor knocks on your door, guess what? They’re not going to complain to HR about you discussing God with them. They came to you. They’re on your turf. Just because they have something to offer you doesn’t mean it’s a one-way street. I guarantee what you have to offer them is far more valuable than what they’re offering you. Don’t pretend you’re not home.

Not sure what structure to follow? There are a ton out there, and some methods lend themselves to different personalities or levels of memorization. As long as you’re covering these three areas, you’re sharing the Gospel. 1. Why we must be saved. 2. How Jesus can save us. 3. What we must do to be saved.

Try learning about some of these quick methods, with longer descriptions (and additional methods) available at https://dudedisciple.com/methods-of-evangelism/:

  1. The Pray and Say – More people than you’d think are open to having you pray for them. Try articulating the Gospel during a prayer with them.
  2. The Roman Road – Using five different verses in the book of Romans, you walk folks through the need for Jesus. Think you can memorize five verses?
  3. The 1-minute Gospel – Some people reject the Bible because it’s the Bible. No Bible verses required for this one.
  4. The Billy Graham Method – It worked for millions of people, and is pretty simple.
  5. The Five-Finger Method – Five fingers help you remember five points to make.

Ultimately, you’re the best judge of the method you should use…these are just some ideas to get you started and work with complete strangers. You’re welcome to use these, or any other method, on strangers, people you know casually, or people who are very important to you.

I encourage you to check out the link. We (Christians) are here for a reason, and the enemy doesn’t want you to follow through on it. Remind yourself that you don’t have to present the Gospel perfectly, you just need to present it, and it gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to do some big stuff in a person’s life.

Lord, help me remember what’s truly important in this life and to be willing to follow through with what You’ve called me to do. When the time comes, give me the words to say, and may You be glorified through me. Amen.

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Not to Alarm You, But Are You Living a Life of Disobedience?

Last week I talked about living “in the final minutes of the game.” If Satan knows he’s losing, and that the clock’s getting closer to zero, he’s going to pull out all the stops in his efforts to derail God’s plan. There are no rules of conduct he’ll voluntarily abide by.

Well God’s going to do what God’s going to do, and none of us know exactly what’s going to take place or His timeline for doing it. We know God wins, but we don’t know what the battles look like between now and then, or which of us are going to step into crucial roles in the fight.

I feel I need to drop some truth on my fellow Christ-followers here, and for some it may be uncomfortable. Here it is: If you are not living your life actively looking for ways to build God’s kingdom (either by bringing new souls to Christ or building up the faith and capabilities of those who are already His), you are living a life of disobedience.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –Matthew 28:19-20

This isn’t a verse that says “as long as you’re up for it,” or “once you get that job,” or “when life is going well for you.” This is not an optional aspect of Christianity, this is a command. Yes, if Jesus Christ is your Savior, you’ll spend eternity with Him in Heaven, but there’s a lot of joy you’re going to miss out on if you duck the Boss’s directive.

And we get to be part of countering those efforts. Thank you John MacArthur!

I recently spent most of the day accompanying someone to the hospital for a surgery. Time seems to pass slower when you’re sitting in a hospital waiting room. It gives you the opportunity to do a lot of people-watching, and if you’re paying attention, you get to see a lot. For some, this is a place of business; it’s where they earn their paycheck. For others, it’s a place to volunteer. For many others, it’s a place of uncertainty, of worry. I saw elderly couples gingerly walking around together, taking great care to navigate obstacles I think nothing about. If the Lord sees fit to allow me to live that long, that reality isn’t as far off into the future as I’d like it to be. If I want end my time on Earth having lived a life of impact for the Lord, I need to be pushing now, and the same is probably true for you.

I’ve written in the past about the parable of the talents (found in Matthew 25:14-30). A talent in this case is a measure of weight, so a talent of gold or a talent of silver is worth quite a bit. The master called three servants together and gave them different amounts of money, according to their abilities (5 talents, 2 talents, and 1 talent), and told them to grow the money while he went away on a journey. The first two servants worked hard and doubled the money they’d been entrusted with, while the third was lazy and only returned the original amount to the master.

We all have the opportunity to demonstrate growth in our Christian walks. Those who do well with 1 talent graduate to being entrusted with 2, and those who do well with 2 demonstrate their worthiness to be entrusted with more. I feel like this blog is my “2-talent act.” I’ve been reliably posting content here for over six and a half years. I feel like my “5-talent act” is the book series I’ve posted about before. That series is a little too much for me to handle right now, but I’m growing into it. Being faithful at smaller-talent acts will help prepare me for the bigger lift, and the same goes for you. It’s become glaringly apparent though, that if I want to complete that 5-talent act, it’s not something I can just wish and hope for; I’m going to have to make deliberate efforts to get it done. It’s going to cost me something…usually my time. I’m trying to build something that will still be making an impact long after I’m gone, but if I want it to really happen I have to get moving now. I’ve already been working on it for a few years, and even though I’ve started to accumulate a few sizable manuscripts, there’s still years’ worth of work to be done.

That’s why it’s important to remember, and keep in perspective, the brevity of life. It’s easy to brush aside the idea of committing to something big God’s called you to, because people of all ages can talk themselves out of it. If you’re a teenager, you figure you’ll have plenty of time for stuff like that later. In your early career you’re still focused on getting yourself established, or even just paying rent. Maybe you get in a serious relationship, maybe little footsteps follow behind not long after. Well then, since you’ve got a young family, you have other priorities. But then you get pulled into volunteering at school activities, and then you get caught up in the college search. Then all your kiddos leave the nest and it’s just you and your special someone, or maybe just you. But then you get a pink slip, or an unexpected diagnosis. You eventually make it through that, and at some point you become a grandparent. Retirement isn’t super far away, and maybe you take a big vacation once in awhile. You eventually retire, and then you have to figure out what that looks like for you. You do some fun things and spend some time with the grandkids, but before you know it you’re trying to decide if you want to retire in place, downsize, or move into a retirement community.

“Wow, that went fast.” Sometimes it seems like it’s over in a few blinks of an eye. “I guess there’s really no ‘good’ time to get to work on the stuff God assigned to me.” That’s part of the reason why He rewards the followers that make time for His work.

Not sure where to begin? Start small and grow from there. I bet your church needs help with child care (or some other ministry). Maybe you can think of a practical way to demonstrate love to someone who needs some help (both Believers and non-Believers). Is there someone you know who could use a little discipling?

It’s not too late. God has work for you to do. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” I’m sure we’ll celebrate together in Heaven, but don’t let a lifetime of disobedience pass you by.

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You Don’t HAVE A Soul, You ARE A Soul. You HAVE A Body.

I’m at the age now where I’m too old to do all the things I used to be able to do, but I’m not old enough to realize I should sometimes skip the attempt. I think it’s safe to say it’s a little late for me to start thinking about a career as a professional athlete.

The kids are getting quicker and I’m getting slower. Injuries and sore muscles take longer to overcome. I rest a little longer between sets when working out. I could push through the pain, but these days I put a lot more thought into whether or not that’s a good idea. It feels like every year gets a little shorter than the last one. In my mind I’m still in my mid-twenties, but the aches and stiffness in my joints tell a very different story. I blinked and it’s twenty years later.

I share this because I want to emphasize to you the idea that our time here is short. For our lives to have an eternal impact, we have to be doing productive things in the here and now, and the here and now is quickly passing us by. That means our time is precious and should be filled with purpose. Here on Earth, we’ve only got one lifetime to make a difference for those not currently headed to Heaven. Eternity hangs in the balance, and the stakes are the highest they could possibly be.

Got time for two and a half minutes of Christian motivation? Here’s one of my favorite quotes from this clip I hope you check out. “My life is too valuable, my calling too great, my God too good, to waste my life on things that do not last.”

Time is short. Live with a sense of urgency and intentionality. You have ONE life during which to make an eternal impact.

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Bringing up the Ones Who Come Behind You

This past weekend my family went to a Tobymac concert.

For those who don’t know, Tobymac is a Christian recording artist. At this point he’s been around for a long time; he initially gained fame as part of the Christian rock/rap group DC Talk, then began a solo career once they disbanded. He used to do a lot of high-energy songs that found their way into my workout playlist, and while he still does some of that, his style has evolved over time to include a pretty wide variety of music types.

When I was a kid I listened to a Christian singer named Steven Curtis Chapman. I wouldn’t say he was a country singer, but he definitely had a folksy twang as part of his sound. On one of his albums, he collaborated with a young Tobymac, who was part of DC Talk at the time, on a song called “Got To B Tru.” For this particular song, Steven Curtis Chapman (folksy twang) decided he was going to jump into the obnoxious rap scene popular in the early 90’s (the kind Tobymac was a part of). It was a fun crossover, and it helped raise Tobymac’s profile to have such a well-known artist as Steven Curtis Chapman work on a song with him.

I then started paying attention to Tobymac in the early 2000s when I heard a song of his make it onto some kind of rock compilation album I picked up somewhere. Then in 2007 or 2008 my young wife and I went to see him in concert for the first time as part of his “Portable Sounds” tour. As I’ve continued paying attention to his work, it’s become obvious that he was very grateful for the opportunity as a young artist to work with a headliner, and he’s done numerous collaborations with younger or less-well-known performers since gaining his own success.

This past weekend while our family waited for him to take the stage, four different acts came out and performed a set list of their own. Some of these singers I’ve never heard of, but in most cases I knew at least one of the songs they performed. Truth be told, Tobymac was the guy I came to see, and I would have been fine if I only saw his act. These other performers, though, benefit from being on tour with a more seasoned veteran.

Even though few, if any, members of the audience came to see these other acts, being on a tour like this provides them with valuable learning opportunities. They gain experience learning how to work the crowd. They learn a bit about how to craft their stage presence. They might discover things they should not attempt while on stage. These four acts were in various stages of development, and a couple of them could probably soon start to go on tours of their own. It might be a little much for them to scrape together enough startup cash to plan a tour of their own right now, but being in a positions where they can borrow a piece of equipment from someone else on the tour if a speaker’s on the fritz gives them more of a cushion and some experience dealing with unanticipated problems on the road that will benefit them later in their career.

I’m not going to pretend taking four warm-up acts on the road is totally out of the goodness of Tobymac’s heart; I’m sure there’s some kind of financial benefit involved for him. Even so, he likely had to go out of his way to convince a few folks to include more than two or three opening acts on the tour. Whoever those final additions to the tour were, I’m sure they benefitted from it.

In your life, is there someone you could take under your wing and help to get started, either in their career, their ministry, or in some other aspect of their life? I’m sure you’ve gained a lot of hard-fought lessons that only come from experience. While many younger folks out there may not care to benefit from it, there are probably others who would. Even though it might add a little inconvenience, would you consider helping them out as they try to get some direction or some momentum?

Lord, thank you so much for those who’ve come before me and lent me a hand, some good advice, or some encouragement along the way. Help me use the lessons I’ve learned to help others who aren’t as far along as I am. Amen.

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When You Make the Easy Stuff Difficult

I was fortunate one summer during college to get a job working in the field of residential construction despite not having any experience. It was interesting work and taught me stuff I still use years later.

When you’re an entry-level guy on a construction crew, it’s no surprise that you get a lot of the jobs nobody else wants. Grunt work: carrying heavy stuff, doing the sweaty work out in the sun while everyone else is in the shade or air conditioning, etc. You get the idea.

One of the not-so-bad new guy chores was going on coffee runs. The first construction crew I worked on had a coffee break every morning, so whoever went on a coffee run would take coffee orders and pick up a box of donuts or something at a gas station in town.

There was only one problem. I didn’t (and still don’t) drink coffee, and it’s not a good idea to send a non-coffee drinker on coffee runs unless they know what they’re doing. And man, I did NOT know what I was doing.

The size of our crew varied, but in general there were anywhere from three to eight workers giving orders to the coffee runner. The only thing I could reliably deliver was the box of donuts.

“Yeah, get me a large coffee, light and sweet.” Okay, so that means cream and sugar. But how much cream and how much sugar? Is that like, half coffee and half milk? (That’s what “half and half” means, right?) I can get you a black coffee and grab the number of sugar packets you tell me to, but if I have to just dump in sugar, you might not like what I bring you. Powdered creamer…what the heck is that? Does that take the place of cream and sugar?

It wasn’t long before someone else started doing the coffee runs.

Admittedly, I could have done better with this task. “Hospitality” is not one of my gifts, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have tried harder. I think one thing that makes God smile is when you’re willing to take on a kingdom role totally outside your normal skillset. While it’s important to use the gifts God’s given you, it’s also important to be humble and reliant on Him. After all, successful use of your spiritual gifts could bring a degree of success that makes it easy for you to get a little too big for your britches. Floundering in something you’re a little less cut out for every now and then helps you keep some of that humility.

So use your spiritual gifts, and use them as best you can for God’s glory; just don’t limit yourself to the things you’re good at. Sometimes all God wants from you is a willing heart, regardless of how good (or bad) you might be at what He’s giving you to do.