Saturday, March 16, 2013

Trust, Delight, Commit

Let me start off with a disclaimer – the original thoughts below were shared by a traveling pastor who stayed in our home many years ago.  It’s also probably one of the most popular passages in the Psalms.  I've expanded a bit on his original words.

For his text that night, he chose Ps. 37:3-5.  The verses say (emphases added by me):

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.

A Testimony of Excellence

A few years ago, I heard a youth speaker, Linson Daniel (www.linsondaniel.com), speak about his journey of going into full-time ministry.  He talked about the challenges of leaving his stable, well-paying career and plunging into student ministry, raising financial support, etc.  I’ve heard these stories from endless pastors and Christian leaders over the years.  Every story is inspirational, but this one stood out.

Thoughts on Preparation

What is preparation?  According to Merriam-Webster, preparation is “the act or process of making something ready for use or service or of getting ready for some occasion, test, or duty.”

We can gather a couple of key elements from this definition.  For one, preparation is not necessarily a single act.  Although many situations in life can be prepared for with a single effort, most don’t come so easy (even if we try to make them work with one try – aka exams).  Second, preparation can consist of either action or a process.  Basically, becoming prepared for something can involve specific deeds on our part and/or allowing ourselves to be changed by external people or circumstances.  

Friday, March 15, 2013

Hidden no more

For many of us, it seems like life consists of a hidden journey shared only with a privileged few.  On the other hand, those addicted to social media platforms tend to overexpose their journeys to the detriment of themselves and the annoyance of others.  I've been in the former category for most of my life.  This is an attempt to start writing down some of the thoughts along the way.

Will it ever turn into something more (book, etc.)?  Not sure.  For now, it's just a start. :-) Entries will be approached more as an exercise of verbalizing thoughts, lessons, concepts, etc. rather than purposely trying to "reach" others.  However, if anyone happens to receive any benefits from the entries herein, all the better!