mentor and be mentored

I have been attending church at lifechurch.tv, a great church is anyone is looking for one. Craig, the pastor of the church, has a been preaching a message series titled "I Believe in You." Think about it. From a personal standpoint, it's nice to remember that Christ believes in us. After he gave His life on the cross and ascended into heaven, he gave us the mission on of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and showing people the power of Christ. Plus, he calls us to raise up a generation to do the same. Moses had a person that he mentored, Joshua. Joshua, on the other hand, made the mistake of not being a mentor to anyone. So, when he dies, the first things you find is that the people of God forget all of the great things that the Lord and Joshua have brought them through, and the separate themselves from God.

Therefore, think. It is important to have a mentor, but it is equally important to mentor someone. Think about the Joseph, who saved the nation of Egypt from a serious famine. You read in the next book of the Bible that, "A new king came to power that knew nothing of the works of Joseph." From that point, because there were so many Israelites, Pharaoh grew concerned and oppressed them. The nation that was saved by a group of people forgot the things that the group of people had done and made them their slaves.

Really, when we choose to ignore our responsibility of mentor-ship, we set up the next generation to become slaves. In both Biblical instances, Judges and Exodus, the Israelite nation found themselves in constant bondage.

That all sounds a little serious. Just take this with you. It is one of the greatest things in this world to mentor the next generation. Fathers, mentor your children. Be great fathers. Mothers, mentor your children. be great mothers. Someone poured themselves into you. Do the same for someone else. They'll appreciate you for it.

Set Some Goals

I would not consider myself to be a goal setter. In the past couple of weeks, however, I felt it important to set some goals. You see, I am currently working at an apartment complex as an assistant manager. At the property that I work at, they hire assistant managers with the sole purpose of making them management. There is no "maybe." I will definitely become a manager. All I have to do is stick with it, and I will make it there.

That said, the manager is training me to become a manager. So, I have set some goals for myself. This is what they are:

1.) Get the managers to 0-0: That means, every apartment must be filled, (the easy part) and all of the maintenance must be done for the month (surprisingly the hard part)

2.) Remember things that the manager might forget about: I want to exceed his expectations. I want to do things that he hasn't thought of doing to better the company and the property.

3.) Help get our managers to become managers of the year: There are a number of criteria for them to get this. It's difficult.

4.) Get to management: That's the reason I am at this company. I want to manage my own property.

5.) Leave no vacancies. I want every apartment to be full.

6.) Get 0-0: No vacancies. No incomplete maintenance.

7.) Become manager of the year.

8.) Receive manager of the year on a consistent basis.

9.) Regularly train new managers.

10.) Become Supervisor.

What goals have you set for yourself?
I encourage you to make some.
These are just business goals that I have for myself. I would eventually like to adopt, start a church, have my own child, and a number of other things that come along with family. Still, think about your goals. Write them down. Stretch yourself.

Passionate???

I know everyone remembers the question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I'm sure we have all heard that question. Truth be told, I don't remember when I was asked that question. Still, there was a time in my life that I had made up my mind that I wanted to be a meteorologist. I didn't like weather, tornadoes, or storms, but I loved the fact that I could potentially be on TV. That was all that I needed. I wanted to make my mark on the airwaves.

After I got some things figured out, I decided to go into ministry. First, I wanted to be a youth pastor, but I'm really bad with that group of individuals. I can plan events. I can hang out, but there is a disconnect.

I'm really not good with that group of persons.

I am good with mid-age adults. I am good with young children. So, it would make sense that I would pursue one of those two areas. Right now, I am an assistant apartment manager, and I am working towards management.

Are you surprised?

I have heard this said, "just because you have made a wrong turn doesn't mean you have lost your way." I fully believe I will not be a meteorologist. I know I will not be a fire fighter. But, there is a dream that God has put in my heart. He told me, "this is what you will be when you grow up." I am going to hang on to that. For whatever reason, I have made a wrong turn, but I have not lost my way. There is a goal that I am heading towards.

Maybe you look at your life and you think you have "missed it." Maybe there was a business that you wanted to start, and it didn't happen. Maybe there was a song you were going to write, but you never learned how to play guitar.

Make today be the day that you get up and head towards your goal. You may think it is too late. I don't think so. You may have to reevaluate how things may get done, but there is a goal that you were meant to reach. There is a thing you are supposed to do. You are still going to be something when you grow up. GET IT DONE. figure out how to do it, and make it happen. Ray Charles was blind, and he still made music. GET IT DONE!!!

Quran Burning???

First, let me say that I have only heard about the article. I have not seen it or have had time to read it; so, I might be way off base in even talking about this. I have heard, on the other hand, that there is a pastor that plans on burning a copy of the Quran as his sort of support of the Christian faith... Oh the things that have been done for the sake of Christianity... In this article, I have heard that our president disagrees with this action. If that is the case, then good for him. I don't agree with it either. I have a friend that says that an action like this, burning the Muslim Holy book, would only spur a greater hatred of Americans, and it would further encourage Muslims to engage in extremists actions.

What ever happened to loving our neighbor? I know this may be the "Stupid Christian Answer," but we complain about illegal Mexicans stealing our jobs. We can help but look down at every olive skinned individual. In this country we have stereotyped Christianity, in most part, to being a Bible-thumping, staunch republican. Then, we look away from anything else that doesn't fit this mold. When is this all going stop? I'm sure few will read this, if any at all, but something has to change in the Christian culture. We are the examples of the love, compassion, and the grace of Christ. Sometimes, I don't think it shows. We are becoming more and more about ourselves and less and less about other people, it seems.

We complain about and avoid people that are different than us and we don't reach out with the love of Christ. Great...

Why not freakin' help someone.

There is a girl that works for Crystal and I that has just moved into her first place and has just landed her first full-time job. I was doing maintenance at her apartment today, and I saw that she had nothing. Well, let me take that back. She had a blow up mattress and a TV that my wife and I gave her.


She isn't asking for help. But why not help her? Do we have to wait.

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." ACTS 4

Our possessions have a purpose. They are to please the Lord. This is the funny thing. I'm going to post this on Facebook and noone will give a crap, but I post something stupid like, "I'm heading to the mall," people will jump all over that. Sometimes, Christians come through in a big way. Other times, Christians suck.

The "F" Bomb

My wife and I used to live and work at a church in Victoria Texas. The people out there are good people, and the church was a good church. Although, it was not the church for me. We didn't fit well together. I would have to say to all of the future ministers, take your time in picking a church, and pick one that makes sense. That, on the other hand, can wait for another post.

After a while, this church started to treat my wife and I poorly, and it became a very toxic situation. God is good, though, and I got fired from that job.

I really do praise God for that.

All of it really burned in my heart, but after a while, I put it at the back of my mind.

Recently, on the other hand, I saw a picture of the pastor of that church on facebook, and all of the hurt came flooding back. It was at that moment that God spoke to me, and he told me something that I always knew. God said, "You're going to have to give them the 'F Bomb.'" So, I did. I didn't curse at them. I forgave them. "holding on to the hurt and the anger doesn't do anything to them. It does everything to you." God was right. Pastor J is completely unaffected by the hurt that I have inside. Me on the other hand, my chest tightened, and I started to get light headed.

The truth is this: harboring unforgiveness doesn't do anything to the other person. You can get angry. You can cry. You can get red in the face. The other person is going to keep living his or her life. You forgive them, because you need to forgive them. Unforgiveness will make you physically ill. Plus, we are all screw ups who, at one point, were forgiven. Christ forgave us, and we didn't even ask for it.

... all your eggs in the church building basket?

There is a church southwest of where I live that has planned to build a multi-million dollar facility, and they have not had an actual service. They are starting their internet push, and I started asking myself questions.

Is this what Jesus had in mind when he gave his life on the cross?

Now that you have heard my question, I want to tell you something. I don't have anything against large thriving churches. I attend Lifechurch.tv, and it is the largest church in Oklahoma. Still, the question remains. Why would we spend so much on something that is so materialistic? Why can't we simply reach out with our hands, rather than pull in with a lifeless building. It is the people who are going to make the difference in reaching lives; then, it will be Christ that makes the difference in changing lives. As a matter of fact, we would not be able to reach if it weren't for the grace and life-giving power of Christ.

So, what are we building for. There are some churches that have made it their strategy to build closer to the lost. Lifechurch.tv is that way, and I think it is an excellent idea. Although, it only works because the people of the church are being the church, and they are reaching out with their hands. I occasionally attend a church that just bought an old movie theater, for cheap, and made it their church.

Why can't that happen? Why do we have to spend millions of dollars on a building that will pass away? Why can't we spend our money on people or strategies to reach people. Come on!!! There are hungry children in Africa, but we have to build the biggest stained glass window. Let's get our head in the game. Let's stop putting all of our eggs in the church building basket. There are better uses for the money, I think.