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Trusting God or Man

Brent Minter — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:10:37 +0000

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes. – Psalm 118: 8-9

I cannot tell you how many times I have been let down when I put my trust in others.

I cannot tell you how many times I have let others down who put their trust in me.

God alone can handle the details, circumstances, and direction of your life.

Being Driven and Calm

Brent Minter — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:17:49 +0000

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

May that be true with my life.

Image [damianromero]

Pinball and Leadership

Brent Minter — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:41:47 +0000

A few weeks ago I downloaded a new pinball app for my iPhone. As I started playing, here is what happened…

Hit the pinball as hard as I could when it came to near the flappers and happened to luck into a really high score.
After getting a low score the next go, I realized that hitting certain spots in a certain sequence increased your score dramatically.
Started trying to strategically hit the pinball in the exact right spots to obtain the high score.
Failed miserably. I realized that I was no pinball wizard.
I quit playing pinball.

I can’t tell you how many times I have experienced this exact same sequence with new ministries, ventures, or projects. I luck into a little success, only to realize it was just a buzz of excitement, realize it is going to be hard, identify the strategy to success, realize executing the strategy is difficult, and I am tempted to quit.

As a believer, i must remember that Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Job, Paul, and Jesus did not quit. Jesus was the center of a large buzz of excitement at the start of his ministry. He was alone on the cross at the end of it.

If God has called you to do something. Don’t quit. Beg for grace to keep going.