I have a friend who is successful and influential in his field. He owns a growing company, but he never seems that stressed out about it. I have seen him walk through some serious trials with it all, and he still remains rather calm. In other words he is driven but calm. I get the driven part, but not always the calm. I asked him how he stays laid back in the midst of it all. His answer, “I read Ecclesiastes at least once month.”
So this morning, outside of my normal personal worship routine (which of course is examen.me) I read the whole book of Ecclesiastes in one setting. It was very refreshing. It puts the pursuits in this life into perspective.
In life there is vanity, wisdom, folly, toil, hard work, fleeting joys, and a time for everything. But even through the writer of Ecclesiastes seems to ask many more questions that he answers, I love how the book is ended.
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. Eccl 12:13-14
This is not a new song, but it has ministered to me like crazy this morning. I played it over and over again to remind my heart and my mind that God alone is the source of my rest.
Tomorrow, the Renovare Interanational Conference is kicking off in San Antonio, and I will be there. For those of you that are not familiar with Renovare, they are an organization, started by Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline), that focuses on Spiritual formation. In other words, they help believers grow in their pursuit of Christ, especially in prayer, meditation of the Scripture, and other spiritual disciplines. These guys have had a huge impact on me in the last year. In fact, the things I learned at the last Renovare Conference were foundational for the starting of EXAMEN.me.
The keynotes of the conference are Eugene Peterson, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, John Ortberg and many others. I am excited to see what God does in my heart.
I will try to update the blog as we move though the conference, but I am assuming I will have limited access to the interwebs. So, make sure you follow me on twitter to catch the updates.
If you are going, I would love to connect. You can contact me through the contact page or through twitter.
When my kids go crazy and decide to challenge everything I say, throw fits, and do things their own way, here is the process I go through.
Oh no you didn’t.
Frustration
Develop a plan to eliminate the negative behavior – still very frustrated.
Realize that I rebel against God just as much or more than they rebel against me. I challenge everything he says, throw fits, and do things my own way.
Humbled and regain patience.
My kids and my wife are gifts from God that constantly reveal that I am broke and in desperate need of a saviour.
There are two areas of my life God has been working on. The constant message over both of these areas is “Be strong and courageous.”(Joshua 1:9)
I am usually a confident person, but in these two areas of my life, I have been scared like a boy at a middle school dance. The problem is my fear is starting to hinder my obedience to what I KNOW God has called me to do.
Over the last two days, God has given me the grace to step out with courage and faith in both of these areas. I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that even though I have not arrived, or conquered my fears, I have trusted God and stepped when he said to step.
I am thankful for baby steps, and asking for grace to keep going.
Do you take Jesus literally when he says “Give to everyone who begs from you…” (Luke 6:30)?
What is your approach when you are sitting at a stop light and someone is begging with a cardboard sign? What do you you when you are walking downtown and get hit up for some change?
Just Curious of your approach, and how you justify your approach.
EXAMEN.me is a simple-to-use web site, provided by Worshiply, that fosters your personal interaction with God.
EXAMEN.me lets you choose how you want to interact with God by providing guided experiences that will lead you through scripture, prayers, and let you journal your experience.
What are you waiting for? Go create your account today and revolutionize how you interact with God.
About Me
My name is Brent Minter. I am a follower of Christ, husband, father, and a Worship Pastor. My life’s pursuit is to lead others in worship, not just from the stage, but in their personal lives as well. This starts with my smoking-hot wife Kari, and our 3 kids. Then it moves to NorthWood Church in Keller, TX, a truly remarkable place, where I design and lead worship services/experiences. I love the interwebs, any music that has soul, theology, hunting, learning, being the only worship pastor in America who still uses a PC I gave in, and scooters. Those who ...
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