You’ve probably seen it before.

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

I’ve been struggling with this concept since at least January 2007.

I wanted to track down this quote and see where it came from. In doing so, I ran across a blog by Joya Martin who recently wrote a post called “What Dreams Will Die With you.” There I found an even more painful quote from Dr. Thurman:

The ideal situation for a man or woman to die is to have family members standing with them as they cross over. But imagine, if you will, being on your death-bed and standing around your bed are the ghosts of the ideas, the abilities, the talents, the gifts, the dreams  given to you by life that you, for whatever reason, you never pursued those dreams. You never did anything with those ideas. You never used those talents. You never used those gifts. You never took advantage of those opportunities. And there they are, standing around your bed, looking at you before you take your last dying breath. Looking at you with angry eyes saying, “We came to you, and only you could have given us life and now we must die with you forever.”

It’s said that you leave everything behind when you die. It’s true. But I also see that you take something with you into death, and this quote speaks of just that.

This is what is haunting me, more and more as I grow older. There is something inside that is telling me that I’m not doing what God has designed and gifted me with. My biggest fear right now is dying tomorrow and when I stand in front of my Lord, He asks me: “What have you done with what I gave you?” (Matthew 25:14-30).

In some ways, I’m sensing God pushing me into new directions. Okay, maybe even forcing me to get off my duff, so to speak. I just pray that my second half of life finds me doing the work He has for me and that I’m about my Father’s business!

How do Dr. Thurman’s quotes strike you?

May He Increase!

HT: Click

You see this guy? This is me. Okay, not literally, but this image captures how I’ve been feeling for months.

I’ve been working so hard at my tent-making trade that I feel like I’ve had little time for anything else. I’ve woken up with my job on my mind first thing and often-times, I’ve gone to bed worrying about tasks and projects that I’m behind on.

Don’t misunderstand me. I enjoy my job, my bosses, and the fact that I work from home. I just have a lot of work to do (but I guess in these days, that’s a good thing) and I’m not feeling like I’m on top of it all.

Changes

Then, last month, literally over-night, I was handed the leadership role of the Knott Avenue Christian Church Media team. Lest I sound like I’m complaining about that, I’m not. It’s a tremendous blessing and I’m amazed and what God has led me to and through in the past two years that I’ve been a part of that team. Still, the day I found out that I was probably going to be leading it, I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders, right at a time when I couldn’t take any additional burdens. I had to learn things that I hadn’t done before (like all the post-production work and video editing of the church’s Sunday morning webcast) with no training. But to God be the glory: things have gone much smoother than I ever would have thought.

Reminders

Still, since that time, I’ve had daily bouts of anxiety and stress and worry. Sometimes to the point of tears. But thanks be to God for the gift of my wife who is always ready to encourage me and remind me that I’m not alone in any of it.

I notice a huge difference, though, when I wrestle against my flesh and, instead of getting up early and sitting down at my laptop, I instead pull out the Word of God. Today was no exception and I was reminded of the story of Mary and Martha.

When Jesus was on His was to Jerusalem to go to the cross, He stopped at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

39 [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 42 but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” –Luke 10:39-42.

Oh how long to be Mary, but feeling so much like Martha! No, there is nothing wrong with being conscious of doing Martha-type of work, but it cannot take the place of sitting at the feet of the King.

We cannot be so busy about doing work for the King that we forget about the King and neglect Him!

What about you? Have you ever found yourself in a season of being so busy and worried about things that you realized you became disconnected from your fellowship with God?

May He Increase!

Such a basic illustration but it goes hand-in-hand with the Radical series. I have to admit, it made me question my outlook on my life right now.

May He Increase!

I’m a little behind in my reading of Radical. As a result, I thought I’d change up the series a little and let David Platt do some of the talking.

Thoughts on the video?

[This is part of the Radical Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

If you really want to get “Radical,” you can click below:

I have to confess: when I’m watching TV and one of those commercials come on about starving kids somewhere in the world, I don’t give it a second thought; I turn the channel. I don’t view these commercials any differently than I would a breakfast cereal commercial.

Then I read this from David Platt’s Radical:

Today more than a billion people in the world live and die in desperate poverty. They attempt to survive on less than a dollar per day. Close to two billion others live on less than two dollars per day. That’s nearly half the world struggling today to find food, water, and shelter with the same amount of money I spend on french fries for lunch. More than twenty-six thousand children today will breathe their last breath due to starvation or a preventable disease.”

The UNICEF website has a plethora of stats on the state of the world’s children. Check it out.

In looking for a graphic to include with this post, I ran across this one.

This picture haunts me for a few reasons. First, the child looks terrified or at least worried. But most of all, he looks like my own son, Nicholas.

There have been times in his first three and-a-half years where due to miscommunication between my wife and I, Nick has gone without really eating a full meal for an extended period of time. When I’ve realized this, it makes me feel like a failure as a parent and it breaks my heart.

Now magnify that feeling by Platt’s twenty-six thousand children figure!

We don’t let our own children starve unless it’s out of sheer neglect. What about the innocents in the rest of the world who are truly going hungry? What will future generations say of us who are letting generations of children starve?

What will Jesus say!

In chapter six of Radical, Platt hammers home this point. It’s caused me to look at my situation and realize that this is a huge “blind spot” for me. My family and I really need to deeply and prayerfully look at our role in this and what we can do to play a part in making a difference in people’s lives.

It’s been many years since I’ve been to places where there is extreme poverty. The last time–shamefully, I admit–was when I was a pre-teen and visited an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico.

Have you been convicted of this in the past? Have you been to areas of extreme poverty and were profoundly changed? What was your experience?

[This is part of the Radical Series. Have you seen the other posts yet?]

May He Increase!

If you really want to get “Radical,” you can click below: