The Calm After The Storm

"Where is your faith?" He asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." - Luke 8:25

This is the last verse of the story where Jesus calms the storm.  Brad Thomas of ARBC told this story today in church and he told it in a way that gave me what I call a "'hmm'... moment". Here is my take on the sermon... If you are not familiar with this story, then I recommend that you stop now read Luke Chapter 8 then come back.

We get so wrapped up in our day to day lives that we forget who is in control of each second of our day. We are so full of our selves that we truly think that our own skills and talents can get us through the smallest of troubles. I know that I am guilty of this, every time that a deadline or a closing is approaching I start stressing out and even lose sleep over. You would think that with the business that I am in, I would have more trust in God on a daily basis because let's be honest he is my primary source of income.

Can you imagine what it would be like if we as Christians trusted in God every second of the day? Can you imagine how much stress would be lifted off of our shoulders? Can you imagine how much more business sales people would have if they would have if they didn't have to worry about stress of deals getting closed on time?

I had the pleasure of closing a file for one of the top realtors in Austin. Long story short, 3 days before closing we had a slight hiccup and closing the deal on time was in jeopardy. She had a great head on her shoulders and reassured me that it'll close when it'll close and that stressing about the closing can sometimes have a negative affect on the deal.

With all of this being said... My question to you is..."How much stress do you want off of your shoulders?"

P.S. It closed on time.

Your Son For A Quarter

Many of you might have seen this email and if so I encourage you to read it again. Below is a chain email and story that I recieved from Amy last week. She told me that I might enjoy it and could use it in one of my post. After much thought and prayer, God helped me realize that this email is this week's post because this is a great follow up story to The Real Every Day Christian post. 

Enjoy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.' Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.'

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, 'Here, you gave me too much change ..'

The driver, with a smile, replied, 'Aren't you the new preacher in town?'  
 

'Yes' he replied.

'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.'

When the preacher stepped off of  the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.'

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test!  Always be on guard -- and remember -- You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself  'Christian.'

Watch your thoughts ; they become words.Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch  your actions; they become habits..
Watch your habits; they  become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your  destiny. 

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So my question this week to you is:

What is your quarter?

The Chain

"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." - Hebrews 10:24-25

"They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved."

- Acts 2:46-47

  

Since the beginning of time we as Humans have desired one thing more than anything else: Community and being around others. It is written in Genesis 2:18-22  "Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone... God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man."  If you read Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:18-22 you will notice that everything that God does in creating the Earth he says that "It is good" but if you look closely he does not say that when he creates Adam, because it is not good for Adam to be alone and to not have a partner to live life with.

In the first two passages at the top of this blog, you will notice that Paul is telling us that we need to be in a community of people that can invest in each other lives. He is commanding us to meet with our communities regularly not just on a periodic basis or whenever we feel like it.

The year after I graduated from High School I started living life with some guys, that were not just friends or best friends but brothers. We lived every possible moment of everyday with one another, some even worked with me. Early on we realized that being in a community it not just about "hanging out" its about investing in each other lives and keeping each other accountable.  These guys have been next to me through every major moment in my life and that is why they were standing next to me at my wedding. Now that I am married, Amy and I are in a community of married couples, we been there when they get married, announced they are pregnant or that they are getting a puppy. We have also been there during their not so good times.

"Community is as important as prayer, going to church and reading the Bible"

 - Matt Carter of Austin Stone Community Church

I have been asked to describe what my community looks like and after some thinking this is how I view it: Imagine a ship being anchored to the sea floor. The chain and anchor is what keeps the ship in place where it needs to be, even though the chains and the anchor look rusted, nothing can break it loose. Without the anchor and chain, the ship can stay in one place for some time, but sooner or later a wave is going to come by and move it.

My Community helps keep me grounded in the Word, God, and Christ.

Looking back at a story that Matt Carter of Austin Stone Community Church shared on 10/7/06: He was told that one of the main reasons why Starbucks has become so successful is because they have created a false sense of community. Starbucks realized the one thing that people crave more than anything else is being around other people. That is why the employees are friendly, the chairs are comfortable and you don't mind drinking coffee and having a casual conversation with a complete stranger.

So my question to you today is:

Who are you living life with?

God is the Driver

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9

Here Solomon is telling us that no matter how much control we think we have over our lives, God is in the driver seat and has the ultimate control.

Every time I read this it reminds me of a story between a man and his Pastor…

The man said: "Pastor, I am getting frustrated with God because I don't know what He wants me to do with my life… I feel there is so much that I could be doing but I just don't know what it is!" When the Pastor heard this he became angry with the man and said to him, "The plan that God has for your life is none of your business... When it is time for Him to reveal it to you, it will be on His time frame not yours!" He continues on to say "You are so worried about the 'next' in your future that you are forgetting what God has put in your present."

How powerful and true is that? We as Christians are so overwhelmed with what God’s plan for our life is that we forget to look at the present, we forget that what we are doing now is part of God’s plan for us. What if we stopped to ask "What can I do today to make a difference for the people around me?" Focusing on that question would allow us to live in the present, while letting God handle our futures. We as Christians need to stop thinking 'outside the box' and start thinking 'inside the box'.

According to Wikipedia, "Thinking Outside The Box" means to look further and try not to think of the obvious things, but try and think beyond that. While this can sometimes be good, it can also be harmful if you set yourself up for failure with unrealistic expectations for the future, falling prone to our natural “wishful thinking”.

What would happen if we stopped looking for answers beyond the obvious and started focusing on the clear ones? What would it look like if we spent time and energy on things we can do now instead of the things we wish could happen?

So my question to you today is:

Are you in or out of the box?

This is The Day

"This is the day, This is the day, That the Lord has made, That the Lord has made.  We will rejoice, We will rejoice, And be glad in it, And be glad in it!..."

Remember singing this song as a kid in Bible School?  Remember singing it so loud and proud?  I wouldn't be surprised if kids were singing that yesterday in Church.

This very short song has so much meaning and inspiration behind it. This song comes from Psalms 118:24, where King David is telling us that God has made this day for us, because He loves us so very much! Sadly, we forget about this and take His gift for granted.

How many times have we gotten into an argument in the morning before work with our significant other and it throws off our whole day where we are grumpy and we are not pleasant people to be around?  How many times has a deal gone south, and everyone in the office knows to not talk to us? Is this a good example of being a Christ Follower? No, its not, yet so many times we let things (sometimes very small) get in the way of showing Christ's love to others.

King David also tells us in Psalms 18:31-34  "For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. He trains my hands for battle; He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow."   Here David is telling us that God will always be there for us, he is our foundation. If we will put all of our Trust in him and he will keep us strong and everything in the end will be ok.

My first year as an Account Executive I went to a Dale Carnegie class.  It was there basic 12 week class and the class instructor was a man by the name of Jim Bird and after class one day I told him that I was having some issues with sales because it is hard getting turned down some times. He told me "Austen, think about it this way, whenever someone says ‘No’ you are one step closer to someone saying ‘yes’.” That one statement drastically changed the way that I view my business. It helped me realize that hearing someone tell me "no" was not the worst thing in the world.

Alexander Graham Bell once said: "When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

So my question today to you is:

Will you rejoice and be glad in it?

Finding the Common Ground

In John 17:16-18 Christ tells us that "Christians should be in the world and not of the world" - NKJV

Have we ever thought about what this really means?

Here is how Paul is living out John 17:16-18 in 1 Corinthians 9:19  Though I am free and belong to no man, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ...When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ...Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings" - NLT

If Paul lived in modern day society, I believe that he would be a servant that worked because he knows this is where the majority of the people are. By trade Paul was a tent maker and in today's market he would be a home builder or a construction worker working to spread the Good News just like he did 2,000 years ago.

A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of working for a company that was founded on these principles. While working there, I witnessed people that did not have a relationship with Christ when they came to work and left knowing that Christ was their Lord and Savior.

Every now and then I will come across people that I worked with there, and they will tell me:  Things are different were they work now, moral can be low and it can be hard to stay positive. Every time I here this I say "Look at it this way, God has placed you at your current company for a reason, so that you can make a positive influence on the people that you work with and to serve them. In such a way that whenever people think  of ______ ________, they think "you know, there is something different about ______."

My question to you today is:

What would it look like if we worked everyday to be a servant?

Live the Calling

What is your calling? Do you know what your calling is?

This is something that I pondered and wondered for so many years, until a couple of years ago. I had been working full time for a ministry that I helped start and I was working full time at a mortgage company as a traveling account executive .

Since I was working full time for both I was getting pulled in many different directions, and it got to the point that I was running late to meetings and not meeting my deadlines on projects.  I knew that something had to change because I couldn't keep doing both.

At the time, I was thinking that I had to choose between my ministry or my employer. Ultimately I was thinking,  I had to choose either ministry or a profession, I couldn't choose both.  Long story short, I was wrong. After seeking counseling with men (Christians with more life experience and also with men who have worked for the church), they asked me "Where do you feel like you are being called?" I told them that it was with the mortgage company but I couldn't have a calling in the work place. They told me that I was wrong and pointed me towards Scripture.

I now believe that I am being called to work.

Since then I have realized that what I believe now is not very common. I have met multiple people that believe that you can not mix ministry and work, and I used to be one of them.

1 Corinthians Chapter 7, verse 17 says" But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk..." verse 19 continues on to say "...but keeping the commandments of God is what matters" -   In the Chapter 10:23-33 Paul instructs us to "Give all to the Glory of God" - NKJV

A couple of weeks ago, I met a woman who was working in the McDonald's drive through line. I knew right away that there was something different about her because she was so personal even when I was ordering my food. When I pulled around to the window, I thanked her for being so personal and having a great attitude. She responded by saying "God put me here for a reason, so I am going to make the best of it." I was astonished. I was in the car with my family and we talked about it the entire day. Just the the 30 second conversation that we had with her, made an ever lasting impression on our lives.

So my question to you today is:

Have you been the McDonald's drive through "lady" lately?