Retooled & Thriving
Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order.
Beware of being so obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God.
Click on the link below for Oswald Chamber’s Nov 14 Discovering Divine Design
Blessings >>>>> merlin
“But if I obey Jesus Christ in the the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover the that through my obedience thousands were blessed.” Utmost for His Highest Nov 2. Click below.
Sharon Hodde Miller
“borrowed & slightly edited” from Christianity Today’s CT Pastors Special Edition Fall 2022
“No amount of information can persuade the closed-minded. It’s a lesson I’m still learning.”
“In 2020, as church leaders faced the triple whammy of the pandemic, nationwide racial tension, and a polarizing presidential election, the climate inside our churches changed with it. Our sanctuaries‘ air became polluted by deep partisanship, which meant every decision, every statement, every sermon, and every social media post coming from pastors was interpreted through a political filter.
In A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, author and family therapist Edwin Friedman, described our limited influence this way: “The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change.”
As much as we wish it were otherwise, information has far less influence than we give it credit for: Downloading the “facts” into others’ brains is not going to magically change their minds, but I will be first to admit this hasn’t stopped me from trying. God is showing me that I’m not merely attempting to guide them – I’m actually trying to control them. I am relying on knowledge, information, and the truth of God’s Word to function like reins on a horse, instantly directing others in the direction I want them to go.
But time and experience are teaching me that I am severely overestimating my own power to convince. Jesus himself hinted at the limited power of our arguments by concluding some of his hardest teachings with the statement “Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matt 11:15). The implication is that some will not hear. They will not understand – not because they cannot but because they will not. No amount of convincing, no matter how compelling the evidence or airtight the logic, will move them. Not if they do not wish to be moved.
Research has shown this to be true. When we use information to change someone’s opinion, it can, in some instances, have the reverse outcome. The backfire effect is a term used in psychology to describe the doubling down that occurs when people are presented with information that contradicts their own beliefs. Further studies have shown that this phenomenon is especially likely to occur when belief is tied to identity. When new information feels like a threat to one’s identity or way of life, one is much more motivated to reject it.
Fortunately, I have learned to discern those persons who are receptive from those who are not. Bad faith assumptions about our motives, or a lack of genuine curiosity about our decisions are both sure-fire signs that our explanations will be wasted.
Identifying this struggle with control has helped me greatly in two specific ways. The first is captured well by the phrase “When you name it, you tame it.” Tension in my neck, back, jaw; the spiraling of my anxious thoughts; and insomnia that follows are telltale signs that I’m trying to control something God has not given me to control. Naming this temptation helps me reframe what is really happening: I am not trying to shepherd (disciple) my people; I am trying to control them.
Second, this realization about control has emphasized the priority of listening as key to pastoral ministry. When we try to control one another with arguments or attempts at persuasion, we often push our dissenters even farther away. In a loud environment like this one, the practice of being “quick to listen, slow to speak” is not just biblically faithful (James 1:19) but also a missional imperative.
Consequently, in both structured and spontaneous ways, we are seeking to intentionally listen to our congregants – especially to those who may be disgruntled or angry. Understand these times of focused listening serve as a countercultural witness in an ever-darkening society fractured by its issues with control.
Facing off with the ongoing temptation to controlling vs listening is crucial for everyone’s spiritual health, regardless of position. We cannot control our people – and attempting to do so will only do more damage. When we encounter the limits of our influence, we can either resist, OR, recognize this as an opportunity to lay down the burden we were never meant to bear. Perhaps the limits of our persuasion are not always a sign of the Fall, but rather a sign of the right order of things. May they remind us that it is time to take up the lighter yoke and to fully trust the Spirit – the one true mover of hearts and enlightener or minds – to do the heavy lifting for us.
Sharon Hodde Miller co-leads Bright Church in Durham NC with her husband, Ike. Her latest book is The Cost of Control (Baker Books 2022)
FYI:
Dr Henry Cloud in Necessary Endings (book reviewed on Oct 27 blog), identifies a person’s utmost hopelessness (hitting rock bottom) is often the precursor to opening minds and meaningful conversation leading to effective necessary endings, and promising beginnings. In chapter Seven, The Wise, the Foolish, and the Evil details the Biblical basis for these categories and why they are pertinent for Christ-Followers today, and especially so as both church and society trends toward deconstruction, and hopefully, the future awakening. merlin
by Dr. Henry Cloud
Great is the art of the beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Today may be the enemy of your tomorrow.
Regardless your season of life, the tomorrow that you desire and envision may never come to pass if you do not end some things that you are doing today. For some people, that is clear and easy to execute. They end the things that are holding them back. For others, it may be much more difficult.
Endings are a natural part of the universe, and your life and business must face them, stagnate or die. They are an inherent reality. You will also see that there are different kinds of endings and that learning how to tell one from the other, will ensure some success and prevent many failures and much misery, ending substantial pain and turmoil that you or business may now be encountering.
There are reasons why you may not see the endings that are right in front of you, and reasons why you are unable to execute the ones you do see but feel paralyzed to deal with. But more than learning to see them, there are successful strategies for dealing with them.
There is hope for some people and some business problems that seem hopeless to you now, but the problem has been in the misdiagnosing what there’s hope for, and where there’s none, and in mistaking which tactics will not help you realize that hope and which ones will.
The Universality of Endings:
Why endings? Whether we like it or not, endings are part of life. They are woven into the fabric of life itself, both when it goes well, and also when it doesn’t. On the good side of life, for us to ever get to a new level, a new tomorrow, or the next step, something has to end. Life has its seasons, stages, and phases. Without the ability to end things, people stay stuck, never becoming who they are meant to be, never accomplishing all their talents and abilities should afford them. There are relationships that should go away, practices and phases that must be relinquished, and life stages that should come to an end to open the space for the next one. A breakup, and ending of some friendships or activities, or an unplugging from some commitments often signals the beginning of a whole new life. We call it pruning.
Some endings are not a next natural step but are just as necessary. We wish they weren’t, but they are. They come about not in pursuit of growth to the next level, but because something has gone wrong. It’s been said some things die and some things need to be killed. Refraining, giving up, throwing away, tearing down, hating what we once cherished – all are necessary. Endings are the reason you’re not married to your prom date nor still working in your first job. But without the ability to do endings well, we flounder, stay stuck, and fail to reach our goals and dreams. Or worse, we remain in painful and sometimes destructive situations. Endings are crucial, and, we rarely like them. Hence the problem.
Why We Avoid Endings
No doubt, we all identify with more of these above points than we prefer.
Dr. Cloud’s classic ten methods to combat our “ending afflictions” in this book are summarized below.
At least now, you know where to begin your battle to achieve your necessary endings. As it has been said, the ball is now in your court. Execute well. Isn’t it fun to get unstuck – regardless it be in snow or mud; BUT ESPECIALLY SO, in real time life? merlin
I found this interesting article, The War on Work, from the Politics & Ideas section of the November issue of the Commentary on my desk this morning, sent me again by my friend Chuck. Written by Barbara Swaim, an editorial-page writer to the Wall Street Journal, she presents a historical sketch of work’s evolvement up to the current mass exodus from the working world, dubbed as the “Great Resignation” by economists.
Swaim mentions Nicholas Eberstadt’s 2016 book “Men Without Work” and it’s post-pandemic reissue of the book. She limits her broad comments to four sectors: government, higher education, consultancy, and nonprofit. Earthy in her perspective, she offers her father’s 25 years of operating a small ocean front SC lodge as an example of the core of dignified work: It blesses someone else. In fact, the first to work with a meaning and an end was God Himself.
Swaim draws from such as Tocqueville, Marx, the 1991 film “Slacker;” even Jonathan Swift’s memorable parodies of Lemuel Gulliver vain delusions while visiting the Academy of Lagado. She identifies that much of the confusion today in the four sectors she examines, arise from a misunderstanding of what their markets are. Markets are the oldest and commonest way to distinguish between things that have value and things that don’t.
Unquestionably, this article is way beyond my norm, and I think that is good. I need to mentally stretch daily. Neither do I recall a sermon recently on the attributes of work, though many imply attachments. Hence, I’ll open this can of worms. Understand though, these worms have no nutritional value, if that thought even crossed your mind!
Click on the link below to open the article. Be warned the article though long, is easily and effectively skimmed.
David asked Ahimelek, “Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my swords or any other weapons, because the king’s mission was urgent.” I Samuel 21:8 (NIV)
In no way today, am I advocating securing physical weapons to combat the offensive evil in our culture. I employed this verse because it implies urgency, in fact, David evidently was separated from his weapons when he got the urgent message necessitating his request of Ahimelek. So we today, are being lulled into complacency not realizing the approaching hour, and even though we Christ Follower’s (CF’s) are continually Spirit empowered and embolden as detailed in Ephesians 6:10-18 and always ready to be engaged, or to give an account…. Perhaps our non resistant culture has been so effectively euthanized by the both church and secular media we’ve become clueless of our 1.) spiritual reality, 2.) resources (remember people + prayer + His Presence = POWER), 3.) its transforming results, and 4.) then experiencing the restoration.
The question today is not merely “fight or flight” as with David’s request for weapons, but pushes us out much further far beyond fight or flight, to effectively encountering differing opinions, a lost art today. Perhaps the clip below serves as another example of our rich cultural legacy loosing its luster, and now, more or less, relegated to an enduring confining complacency.
Somewhere as a child or a teen, I read accounts that the underground CF’s, long before the anabaptists emerged, being frequently skilled artisans and educated, having fled the persecution in the cities and villages, taking refuge in the desolate areas of Europe becoming simple peasant farmers who in time, were credited with playing a major role in eroding the continuation of the Dark Ages because these observant focused scientific agriculturists flourished sufficiently providing sustenance to free others from food production to begin the innovative steps needed to birth the Industrial Revolution. They were the leaders in improving the breeds of milk and meat animals, but only by simple selection. They advocated crop rotation and the use of legumes, all of which is still being practiced on the Amos Miller’s farm.
Therefore, I read with interest the clip below also listening to the Tucker Carlson interview realizing now that both the church and our culture is in the process of reverting to the Dark Ages under the guise of a “Reset.” And yes, isn’t it interesting that agriculture and the church are both still the key components? To either flourish, as Christ established His church, or to “control” food production, just to eliminate billions of us. Even Communist China understands food production better than we Americans. Look at the stats on their stockpiling of commodities vs ours, and their refusal to practice the globalist insanity as did NA and Europe; but their absolute delight that we have so embraced this “Reset,” fueling their desire to “rent” our exquisite cropland ASAP.
John Kotter of the Harvard Business School, author of 21 books, in his 1996 book”Leading Change,” and his 2002 book “The Heart of Change,” describes his eight stage model developing urgency as an essential element for those wanting to be successful, for most people are more complacent than they realize. “Insufficient urgency,” he writes, “with all its consequences, can be found in winners and losers, businesses and governments. It can undermine a plant, an office, or a whole country. Conversely, in all of these situations, a high sense of urgency can help produce results, and a whole way of life.”
Need I say more? Just my two cents folks! I rest my case. Enjoy the clip. FYI, I’m planning to open the blog this week for your comments. It is time we burst the imposed bubble we’re in and begin actually communicating. However, please do so only in complete “wholeness!” Listen to Pastor Craig’s message from today on “Differing Opinions” on the Kidron Mennonite website for such “wholeness” details.
Blessings on your journey this week!
October 15
And Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware
of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in
the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Luke 12:15
Consider people first learned about sales by word of mouth. Then newspapers became the medium for advertising bargains. Next, the postal service began filling our mailboxes with ways to save money, and now, well, bargains via email and banner ads are a constant stream tempting us to buy things we don’t need just because “it’s such a great deal!” (Luke 12:13-21)
Jesus warned us about “consumerism” – which wasn’t even a word in His day. Instead, He talked about covetousness and greed – the accumulation of “stuff” beyond what we need. But where do we draw the line? Even looking for the line dividing “need from whim” is a fallen trait, driven by our “desire” to get as close as possible to it without appearing greedy?
Consider then, rather than merely limiting our consumption, perhaps the better kingdom approach is to expand our generosity. By giving to those in need, giving more than is asked for, giving to our enemies, and perhaps even giving until it hurts, or IT IS A REAL sacrifice – are all ways to store up treasures in heaven and escape the confines of earthly “soot and clutter” (Luke 12:32-34).
I’d be remiss though if the quantum leap going far beyond our expressions of daily generosity, was not revealed here in our mandate as His Ambassadors to disciple those in our circles of influence, so they too, possess their heavenly passports, and we store up treasures in heaven…… (Matt 6:19-21)
God promises that as we open our hands to the needs of others, He will at the same time fill our hands with what we need (2 Corinthians 9:10-11).
Prompted by David Jeremiah’s Destinations: Your Journey With God
Oct 12 Reading from The One Year Bible: The Message Version.
Thessalonians 5:1-28 MSG
[1-3] I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other-“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”-suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
[4-8] But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
[9-11] God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
[12] And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!
[13-15] Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
[16-18] Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
[19-22] Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
[23-24] May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together-spirit, soul, and body-and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!
[25-27] Friends, keep up your prayers for us. Greet all the followers of Jesus there with a holy embrace. And make sure this letter gets read to all the brothers and sisters. Don’t leave anyone out.
[28] The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you!
October 10
Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress; have
mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
Psalm 4:1
It often helps to follow a pattern when we tackle a project. In approaching the Throne of Grace, our pattern is the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6. If you’d like to use the Lord’s Prayer to develop a sequence for your own prayer time, just follow the course of these six words.
Praise: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Priorities: Your kingdom come, Your will be done.
Provision: Give us this day our daily bread.
Personal Relationships: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Protection: Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Praise: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Notice that the first and last words are the same, as prayer comes full circle in worship, from praise to praise. The glory of God provides the bookends of this prayer that you can offer today.
David Jeremiah Destination: Your Journey With God
Rory Feek is a world – class storyteller, songwriter, filmmaker, and New York Times best-selling author. As a musical artist , Rory is one-half of the Gammy – award – winning duo, Joey + Rory. He and his wife toured the world and sold nearly a million records before her untimely passing in March 2016. Follow Rory’s monthly column “Roots + Wings” in each issue of Plain Values, formerly Winesburg Ohio’s best kept secret. Enjoy this 30 min interview about the evolving of the Feek homestead. Click either link at the bottom, then close the advertisement and the interview should begin.
Seriously, as I continue considering Karl’s admonition this morning about “what’s holding me back,” simplistically, Rory has prompted me to think of transitioning from referring to our ten acres, two homes, two barns, a field and woods with its meandering stream from the foreboding cold war era designation of “the compound,” to a more inviting “welcoming to the table” identity of “the homestead.”
In Rory’s October Plain Values column, he details his journey the past year to turning off his router and “snipping” the internet cable. The column begins with a quote from Henry David Thoreau “I went to woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Incidentally, Plain Value subscriptions are life enhancing Christmas gifts. 330-601-6106 www.plainvalues.com
Seriously now, what’s holding you back from moving forward? Your lack of facing Reality? Remember your Resource’s formula?(people + prayer + presence = power). Get Results! Get Transformed!
Enjoy your journey!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WLxy4zEqy2Y
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WLxy4zEqy2Y&feature=share