Do What You Love!

     What does it look like to have a child like faith? It’s a simple enough question isn’t it. I believe that it is having to do with having an awe and wonder about things. This is how we are supposed to approach God right with a child like faith. Why is it so hard to do that? It has to be because we have lost that sense of awe and wonder. 

How do we regain that sense? To be honest with you I don’t know. What I do know is that in the Bible in the book of Revelation when Jesus is talking to one of the seven churches he told them go to back to their first love and do the things they did at first. Go back to what you first loved doing, whether that was writing, drawing, or some other activity. GO BACK!

Start over because you love it, not because someone else is making you do it. I love to write and had forgotten how much I enjoyed the process until this last month. Start to do something because it is what you want to do, and amazing things will begin to happen.

You'll feel alive again. You begin to think I can do this. Most of all you feel like you are doing the thing you were created to do. Jeff Goins says that if you do it for yourself then it will resonate with other people. When it resonates with other people you are finding your “tribe.” 

We all have one it is just a matter of finding it. I am in the process of finding mine. I am finding out who I am and who I am not. It is a hard road to hoe. In the end it will be worth it. People believed enough in me to help me get to this point I don’t want to let them down. I also don’t want to lose myself either. 

I Don’t Care What You Think…Or Do I?

     This is hard for anyone to tackle but is it true? Do I really care what you think yes I do. As my reader/audience I care about what you think (for the most part). Like anybody I want you to like me and what I am producing, but I have come to grips with I love to write even if nobody else loves it. I still love the act of putting words to screen (instead of pen to paper). There is just something cathartic about it. Does that mean I just write for the sake of writing? NO! I write because I feel compelled to get what is inside of me out. If my math is write this post should becoming out on Christmas Eve, which means I should be more gentle and less forceful in what I say right. Sorry not for this post. 

     If you have stuck with me this far thank you. I want to grow and be more like Jesus and that is who ultimately matters when I think about what does someone think about me. Jesus was not always well received while he walked on the earth. He was questioned at almost every turn by the pharisees. It didn’t matter if he was eating food or talking with a  woman they always had something to say about him. I have realized that if I want to be like Jesus, people are going to talk about me. It is not always going to be good. I am going to offend some people and that is okay. Who doesn’t want to be liked? I haven’t found a person yet that doesn’t long for some sort of validation. Except for Jesus of course. 

     Now, the way I do care about what you think is by interacting with you, through comments, G+, Facebook, Twitter, and even the occasional email. I want to hear from you and start building community. Because this thing cannot work without your voice as well. If there is a topic you would like me to consider than drop me a line and let me know, I will do my best to cover it. But understand there are going to be times I might say somethings that step on some toes. I will still try and be the same insightful and loving Paul, but there are just going to be those times I cannot be. In order to protect the sheep I have to beat the wolves. 

What can I do to better server you? What do you enjoy about this blog?

New Home

To all of my dedicated followers I will be writing from a new web address and making some more changes over the next few months and hope you would follow me as I make these changes. I value all of your support and look forward to serving you from my new home.

I will continue to share to the G+ communities. Along with twitter and the new Facebook page.

I look forward to continue serving you with daily inspiration. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

God Bless,

Paul

Fighting Boredom

How do we fight boredom in life? We fill our time with things that are entertaining.

     That sometime is easier said than done. I have two boys, one is ten the other six. One of them also has Aspergers and both are ADHD. Which means our house is always a buzz with something going on. It may be the boys playing on their Kindles, playing a board game, or something else to try and consume some time. It is hard to keep these boys entertained all day everyday, and we have just started a 16 day stretch of them being home from school for Christmas break. They normally have cub scouts on Tuesday nights but that is on hold until the new year. 

     Why am I telling you all of this because as adults we can get bored easily too. Especially when it comes to reading the Bible. You know those genealogies where so and so begat so and so. Those are hard things to make it through and it is rather boring. It is not until we realize they are important to the plan of God then they can become interesting. I was reading 1Kings 7 the other day in my devotions and started to dose off because it was speaking on all the different things being built toward the temple. It was a hard section to get through with all the measurements being foreign to us. 

     I want to offer you this encouragement while these sections are hard to get through they are inspired and good for us (2 Tim 3:16). I understand your struggle and maybe reading those challenging sections in a different version of the Bible like the Message or the NLT or a paraphrase like those would be easier to read. Do what ever it take for you to help those boring sections come to life. Like with my boys it takes time and planing to do things well. So be prepared when you hit a bumpy section to go with your back up plan, what ever it is. Maybe using a good commentary and reading less than you normally would. I usually try and read from the OT history, Psalms, a Prophet and the NT. But when things are getting heavy I may cut out one or two sections in place of reading supplemental material. 

What suggestions do you have for when things get boring? How do you handle the difficult parts of Scripture?

Challenges

   

 How do you respond to challenges you face? Some people say you can tell a lot about a person based on this one act. I know for me it depends on the challenge. Is it something mental or physical? Is it something I have been able to train for does it appear out of the blue? These are factors I have to take into consideration. But what about challenges mad against your character, how does one respond to that type of attack? I say we take our cue from our Chief shepherd. He was brought before the chief priest at the time and said nothing as  a sheep being lead to slaughter. Is is going to be easy to sit back and let someone attack your character? NO it’s not! But do it anyway. 

     I say that because the Lord will vindicate you there are several different places in the Bible in the Psalms especially where writers like David are crying out because people are coming after him. Take Psalm 3 as an example. David is being chased by his own son Absalom. David says in Psalm 3:4, that he cried out and God heard. In this Psalm David is resting in the Lord, not on his own ability to take care of any given circumstance. Why should you be any different, I know I’m not. I want to rely on God more like David did. Do I? No, not as often as I would like. I tend to take things into my own hands and seek God when the going gets too tough. When I should have started by seeking God and seen how much smoother things would have turned out. 

     There is a situation right now I thought was going to work out one way and I did seek the Lord over it, and it looks as though it may not work out; or it is going to work out in a way I never imagined. That doesn’t make it any less difficult to deal with because if it doesn’t work out I will have to do some scrambling to find  another class to fill its place. And find the money for those books. So I am being stretched in my faith right now. But like I have been saying all I can do is rely upon God to take care of the situation. He is opening doors that I hadn’t even thought of a month or two ago. 

So what challenges are you facing, that you need to trust God to intervene for?

A Review of You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One) by Jeff Goins

      This is not a book written for just anybody that has a dream of accomplishing something it was written to a particular “Tribe” as Jeff calls it. It was written to people who want to be writers and need that extra incentive to do it. Originally written in 2012 it has been revamped a little bit and had some edits made, Jeff tells us that in the introduction to this edition I have read. Jeff is a man who took a while to find all the things he is telling us about in this book. Such as finding his voice, building a platform and making relationships. You are a writer is not a super long book, it is actually 134 pages long. I am usually a slow reader, however with Jeff’s conversational style I read the book in about 3 hours give or take an hour. I read his work in the kinde edition so excuse me for not having page numbers.

    

     The very first thing I highlighted in the book was “Believe you already are what you want to be. And start acting like it.” (location 74). I think even though Jeff is writing to a specific audience this could bode well for any thing. I am working on becoming a pastor and this made me feel that I need to act like a pastor would now. And that ties into the next quote where Jeff says, “Before others will believe what is true about you, you’ll have to believe it yourself.”(location 165) What he is trying to say here and throughout the book is that you have to have a confidence in yourself even when no one else does. That is going to help you make it in what ever it is you are trying to accomplish. I love all of the positive affirmation that Jeff gives throughout the book. “You have to be yourself, to speak in a way that is true to you.  This is the next step to claiming your life as a writer— taking yourself seriously so your audience will too.” (location 252) Jeff continues to inspire throughout this work. He dispels the myth of good writing and eggs you on to become and effective writer. 

        If I can take away more than one thing from this book, I hope to remember “If you are going to succeed as a writer, you are going to have to learn to be smart. To have thick skin. To be more than talented.”(location 420) I think if you are going to succeed at anything you have to be thick skinned because there are always going to be critics. While this work is written primarily for writers I would recommend it to anyone who has a dream to become more than what they are. Stop saying tomorrow or in the future and start now. While I cannot call my self Reverend I can call myself an evangelist. 

What do you need to start calling yourself? How can I help you reach your goals? 

Something for the Last Sunday of Advent

   

 Okay so here it is the Last Sunday of Advent and i hadn’t dedicated any post to the coming of our Lord and Savior. To some people that may not be a big deal, but in our house we enjoy using our advent calendar. Actually my oldest son who wakes up before anyone rushes into the living room to be the one to move the mouse. This calendar is something we use to countdown to Christmas, but why are we really excited to count to the day our Lord was supposedly born? Or are we just excited because we are going to be getting stuff? I think for most of us if we are honest it is the second option. I have done a post before about Christ’s birth and his death. 

     Why is this important? Because it gives us something to celebrate with the giving of gifts. NO THAT IS NOT THE REASON. The reason it is important is because it is to be a reminder of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. While I know that this is the season to celebrate his birth I feel we should take a closer look at his death. I know someone is going to say it’s not Easter why is this guy worried about his death? I want to talk about his death because that was the reason he was born. Christ was born to die for our sins. That was his sole mission here on Earth. While he did many great things during his time on the planet the greatest thing he did was die and rise again so that we would never have to fully taste death. Even though we imagine this sweet baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, I want you to never forget the blood stained cross. That is the greatest gift that anyone could give. Jesus said "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 That my friends is the best reason for this season. 

     Don’t get me wrong I love the holiday season and the spirit that it brings with it. But I think we can give the gospel to people and see them changed for more than six weeks out of the year. We can see effectual life change. We could not have had the cross without the manger, we could not have the resurrection without the birth. As I once heard Pastor Ruffin Alphin say, “Christ is the only man who ever got to choose to die.” That quote has stuck with me for close to eight years. 

Tweet: We could not have had the cross without the manger, we could not have the resurrection without the birth.

Do you have any special things you do for Advent? Do you agree or disagree with this post?