Posts Tagged ‘conference’

Hupomone: Overcoming the Conference Culture

Posted in Bible Study, I'm Just Sayin', Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2017| 1 Comment »

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6

I watched my Twitter Feed explode with one-liners a few months ago.  The words “Blown Away”, “Amazing” and “Life Changing” were bandied about with some regularity.  The many, many conferences held every year feature so many incredibly talented public speakers and so much good material.  I want to be clear that almost without exception I highly respect the achievements, concepts and talents of every one of them.  Why then is there not an international explosion of amazing Christian leadership throughout the world after such a life changing, mind-blowing, billion dollar events?

I grew up in the developing years of what I am going to call the “Conference Culture”. Whether it was “The One Minute Manger”, “Evangelism Explosion”, FISH (that was a fun one), Service that Sells, Promise Keepers, The OZ Principle, Who Moved My Cheese, Emotional Intelligence, 21 Irrefutable Laws…well you get the picture…I found one thing to be true:

The more “blown away”, the more “life changing”, the more “amazing” attendees found the speakers and content of any given conference, the less likely it was to have a lasting impact.  The men and women who were truly impacted by the content of any given conference were those who already had a framework that the principles and concepts could fit into.  

Hupomone living is about building that framework.  Notice the end of the last word in that sentence, work.  Paul called Timothy to exactly that kind of work.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

Paul goes on to tell Timothy:  Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” 2 Timothy 2:19

It is on this firm foundation that we can build the framework of Hupomone living.  We engage the prayer, direction, promises and thanksgiving that will remove us from the reactionary world of circumstances and place us solidly in the steadfast, persevering world of the will of God.  It is only then that those “blown away”, “life changing” sound bytes that are all too quickly lost in the clutter of life to be soon replaced by the next “blown away”, “life changing” sound bytes will no longer blow you away.  They will find that niche, being plugged into a persevering lifestyle that is about maturing and growing anchored on the firm foundation.  That sound byte is unlikely to change your life, but Jesus will.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6

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It’s a Gift

Posted in Bible Study, Life and Ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GiftFor who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?  1 Corinthians 4:7

 

I had a wonderful opportunity yesterday to share in the ordination service of a wonderful friend and ministry partner.  The day started rather inauspiciously with a flat tire repair.  However the beautiful location of the Annual Western Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church gathering more than made of for the trials experienced in the morning.  I could say that the idyllic setting of Lakeside, or the wonderful hospitality of our friend, indeed of the entire Western Ohio Conference, or event the wonderful ice cream and coffee offered by the local shops was the highlight of the day. However Bishop Gregory Palmer came to the podium and served up a message that should be listened to by every minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ everywhere.  “It’s a gift”!  I believe that I was in the majority of people who were gathered to celebrate the “accomplishment” of ordination for our friends or family members.  Bishop Palmer reminded us that it is at times like these that we tend to “smell our selves”, in my family we might have said “get too big for our britches”.  We grab onto this wonderful accomplishment that we have achieved and forget that everything we have, everything we are and everything that we do is a gift from God.  We forget that it all starts and emanates from the cross and the great gift of salvation by faith, not by any works that we could possibly conceive to “accomplish”.  Whether it is ordination, the growth of a church or the establishment of a ministry these are all gifts.  It is when we start to “smell ourselves” and rest on the great things that we have done that the trouble starts.  We stake out territories.  We begin to do things to extend our accomplishments that hurt the heart of God and create strife within the body of Christ.  We demean others as less important than ourselves, justifying our manipulation or even persecution of them, all because we lose sight of the fact that “It’s all a gift”.

What a wonderful opportunity all of us who have been entrusted with such a gift have.  Whether we are ordained, licensed or simply called the children of God we have this opportunity, this day, this moment to share all this that we have received from the hand of our gracious Lord and Savior.  “It’s all a gift!”

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