All you need to say is simply âYesâ or âNoâ; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37 (NIV)
How to Keep Track of Your Commitments
Jul 09, 2018
Jesus commanded that our âYesâ be âYes,â but more and more frequently, a Christianâs âYesâ really means âNo.â Every time we fail to follow-through on a commitment, show up late, donât complete a project on time, or fail to keep our voicemailâs promise that we will âreturn your call as soon as possible,â we are disobeying Jesusâ command that our âYesâ be âYes.â In our fast-paced lives, we are saying âYesâ more than ever, while more and more frequently failing to keep our word. The fact that this sin seems so innocuous should set off alarms within the Church. We are images of God, representations of Jesus Christ to a lost world. To reflect our Savior well, we must be keepers of our word.
But how practically do we do this? It starts by having a system to effectively collect all of our commitments. This could be as simple as a piece o...
Setting Boundaries With Your Time
Jul 02, 2018
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16 (NIV)
Throughout the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John repeatedly note the amount of time Jesus spent in solitudeâaway from the disciples, the crowds, and the busyness of his ministry. The frequent mention of this behavior suggests that Jesus was a master at setting boundaries with His time. Likewise, if we are to effectively manage our time and make our greatest contribution to the world, we too must establish clear boundaries with our schedules.
Like Jesus, this should start by allocating regular time for prayer (Mark 1:35) and study of Godâs Word. Most of us are are used to the idea of tithing our money. But what about tithing our time? If we fill-up our schedules with demands from work and home and then try to find time to spend in prayer and study of Godâs Word, we are setting ourselves up for failure. If you havenât already, take some time this week to determine wh...
New Series: Time Management Principles from Godâs Word
Jun 25, 2018
Now listen, you who say, âToday or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.â Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14 (NIV)
I get asked for a lot of time management advice. Not because Iâve got this topic âfigured out,â but because Iâve had a tremendous amount of practice seeking to balance the many different productive activities in my life. In addition to serving as the CEO of a venture-backed technology startup (Threshold 360), I am also an author, doing my best to help my fellow Christians connect the gospel to their work. At home, I am a husband and a father to two wonderful girls under the age of three. To say my life is insane right now is a bit of an understatement. But by the grace of God alone, I am âmanagingâ it all and still somehow get 7 hours of sleep every night...
The Boldest Entrepreneurs on the Planet
Jun 18, 2018
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV)
Immediately before Jesus spent forty days in the desert resisting relentless temptation by the adversary, he was baptised in the Jordan River. The last two verses of Matthew 3 recount the event: âAs soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, âThis is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.ââ
The very next verse (Matthew 4:1) says, âThen Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.â The fact that these events are found back-to-back arenât coincidental. Before Jesus kicks-off his public ministry with what must have been an agonizing forty days alone in the wilderness with Satan, God the Father audibly...
Hope in Times of Failure
Jun 11, 2018
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)
In the booming Chicago of the 1860s, there lived a young Christian family of six whose patriarch was a prominent lawyer and investor. All was going well for the young man and his family until the Great Chicago Fire destroyed much of his real estate. The loss was significant, but it paled in comparison to the tragedy the man would experience just two years later when his wife and daughters were in a shipwreck as they sailed from New York to England. All four daughters died in the crash. Upon arriving in England, the mother telegrammed her husband in Chicago. âSaved alone,â she said.
The husband left Chicago right away, sailing off to England to meet his grieving wife. We donât know much about his journey across the Atlantic, but I have to imagine the man spent his days alone, grieving his loss and qu...
New Series: Responding to Failure
Jun 04, 2018
Carry each otherâs burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Contrary to what some âspiritual self-help gurusâ preach, the God of the Bible does not promise us success. If anything, Scripture makes clear that Christians are all-but guaranteed adversity and failure. From Paul to Peter, from Joseph to Job, the Bible is filled with stories of men and women who experienced great failures both personally and professionally. Throughout these stories, Scripture reveals a God who isnât concerned with our âsuccess,â but is very much concerned with our sanctification and how our failures can be used to mold us into His image.
Today, more and more Christians are embracing the call to create, taking risks to bring about new businesses, ministries, art, books, music, and other forms of culture as a means of serving others. Itâs never been easier to follow Godâs call to create! But we must remember that the nature...
As You Are GoingâŚMake Disciples
May 28, 2018
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, âAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 28:16-20 (NIV)
Over the past three weeks, we have been exploring the biblical truth that every Christian is a âfull-time missionaryâ and unpacking what Iâm calling the Three Myths of Missions which block us from really embracing our roles as disciple-makers. The third and final myth of missions that we will unpack this week is that in order to fulfill the Great Commission, you must âgoâ away from your current vocation and location.
A few years ago,...
The Laughable Myth of Missions
May 21, 2018
âIsnât this the carpenter? Isnât this Maryâs son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?â Mark 6:3 (NIV)
In order to embrace the idea that every Christian is a full-time missionary, thereâs a second myth of missions that we need to look to Scripture to refute. Here it is: The calling of pastors and âfull-time missionariesâ is somehow âhigherâ than the call to other vocations.
As we saw in last weekâs devotional. God called human beings to work, giving all work inherent meaning; thus, there should be no sense that one personâs vocational calling is higher, more meaningful, or more eternally significant than another.
But the fact is, there is an unspoken hierarchy of callings in the Church today that says that if you are really sold out for Jesus, you will abandon your current work and spiritually âlevel-upâ to the role of a pastor or donor-supported missionary.
This idea isnât new. Itâs a myth the Church has been fighting for ...
The Call to Cultural Creation
May 14, 2018
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1:28 (NIV)
The idea that every Christian is a full-time missionary may sound new or at least like a fresh perspective. Why is that? As we will see throughout this devotional series, Godâs Word makes crystal clear that each of us is called to make disciples of Jesus Christ no matter what job we have or where we live. So why does this concept sound new? I believe itâs because the Church has bought into three myths of missions which we will look to Scripture to refute over the next three weeks.
The first myth that the Church has subscribed to for some time now is that work is largely meaningless unless you work as a âfull-time missionary.â
Have you ever felt like your work is less important or eternally meaningful than that of a pastor...
New Series: Every Christian Is a âFull-Time Missionaryâ
May 07, 2018
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, âAll authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.â Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)
I grew up dreading sermons on the topic of missions. Itâs not because I donât love missions; in fact, I can think of nothing more exhilarating than sharing the name of Jesus with a lost world. I love as 1 Peter 2:9 says to âdeclare the excellenciesâ of our God, telling others about the miraculous work Jesus has done on my behalf. But for years, any time I heard that a pastor would be preaching on missions or that we were entering into...
