Wise King Solomon:
Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15)
Futurist Alvin Toffler:
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot unlearn, learn, and relearn.”
Questions:
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
Are You Obstinate?
The difference between an obstinate man and a strong-minded man lies just here: an obstinate man refuses to use his intelligence when a matter is in dispute, while a strong-minded man makes his decision after having deliberately looked at it from all standpoints, and when opposed, he is willing to give reasons for his decision.
From Baffled To Fight Better
So are you obstinate or strong-minded?
Consider what Henry Ward Beecher wrote:
“The difference between perseverance [strong-mindedness] and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.”
So are you obstinate or strong-minded?
The Apostle Paul knew something about being strong-minded:
“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NLT)
So are you obstinate or strong-minded?
It’s a good question to both ask and answer. I would hope that I’m strong-minded, never obstinate.
I thoroughly enjoy John Maxwell’s books, as they have opened my eyes to leadership principles more than any other author. And the “duet” of Leadership Gold and Go For Gold easily fit into the category of extremely helpful.
As I pondered it, I think what I appreciate most about Dr. Maxwell’s books is his level of affirmation. He challenges me to get better as a leader by showing me how I can do it. He encourages me to build on what I already know, and keep on growing. He helps me see what I can become and can accomplish as a God-fearing leader.
Leadership Gold is made up of 26 leadership lessons that Dr. Maxwell has learned over decades of leading. Each lesson comes with his personal example — sometimes failures, sometimes successes — along with actionable steps the reader can take. At the end of each lesson there are both application and mentoring exercises. To dig deeper into each lesson, the companion Go For Gold is a short reading for each day of the week that corresponds with the lesson in Leadership Gold. Combined, these books are a powerful one-two punch!
If you are in a leadership position, or if you aspire to be an effective leader, I can highly recommend these two books to you.
Hello, my name is Craig Owens and I’m a pastor. I wasn’t a PK (pastor’s kid). This isn’t the profession I chose for myself. I envisioned myself doing other things, but God had different plans for me.
He called, and I said “yes.” He called me to be a pastor and so He equipped me for the pastorate. I can relate to what the Apostle Paul wrote—
By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News. (Ephesians 3:7)
Paul, too, didn’t choose be a minister telling people about Jesus Christ. But God had different plans for him.
And so, since God has called me to do this, I must do it to the best of my ability. I don’t have the natural ability for it, I simply have God’s grace and mighty power. And to that grace and power I must add my best effort—
Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. (2 Timothy 2:15, AMP)
I like the counsel of Charles Spurgeon:
“Again, the theme of a minister should be Christ Jesus in opposition to mere doctrine. Some of my good brothers are always preaching doctrine. Well, they are right in so doing, but I would not care myself to have as the characteristic of my preaching doctrine only. I would rather have it said, ‘He dwelled much upon the person of Christ and seemed best pleased when he began to tell about the atonement and sacrifice. He was not ashamed of the doctrines; he was not afraid of threatening. But he seemed as if he preached the threatening with tears in his eyes, and the doctrine solemnly as God’s own Word. But when he preached of Jesus, his tongue was loosened, and his heart was at liberty.’”
I didn’t choose this, but God chose me. And for that I am extremely humbled and grateful.
Our society is bombarded by so many flat-out-wrong messages about boys and girls, and how to parent them. In Secure Daughters, Confident Sons, Glenn T. Stanton helps set the record straight.
Right out of the gate, Glenn makes an important statement about the need for a book such as this:
“If the rhetoric of political correctness keeps us from exploring the issue of gender differences, we lose something valuable to our humanity. Amazing scientific evidences of essential sex differences in the fields of anthropology, psychology, endocrinology, and neurology in the last few decades strongly disprove nearly all the thinking that drove the misunderstanding about gender in the first place. In fact, the more sophisticated this scientific research gets, the more it deepens our insight into the importance of male and female differences and how profoundly they exist within us.” (emphasis mine)
With a no-holds-barred approach, Glenn dismantles the politically-correct falsehoods like:
The first few chapters alternate between information specifically for raising boys, and information specifically for raising girls. Then the later chapters zero in on the roles both Dads and Moms play in developing healthy, well-rounded, confident, secure children. Who (no surprise here) develop into healthy, well-rounded, confident, secure adults and future parents.
In one of the concluding chapters Glenn writes—
“Boys who grow up with warm and close connections with their fathers are more likely to develop a healthy masculine sense of self. …Boys who grow up with close, affectionate, and affirming relationships with their mothers have a better sensitivity to and understanding of women. …Girls who grow up close to affirming, warm, loving, and confident moms are more likely to be secure and healthy in their womanhood. Girls who grow up close to their fathers in loving and affirming relationships are more likely to be confident around boys and men as they grow.”
I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is for parents and soon-to-be parents to READ THIS BOOK! Raising children is an awesome responsibility, and we need all the help we can get!
I am a Multnomah book reviewer.
Along time ago I was studying the virtues that the Greek philosophers taught. To the Greeks, the virtue was considered the “golden mean” between two opposite extremes. It was the ability to balance the tensions that produced the virtue.
In areas where I have leadership responsibilities, I try to find the virtue of leadership as the balance between these two tensions:
On the one side: desire leadership. On the other side: don’t desire leadership. Do your best at it, but be ready to give it up.
I love this statement on leadership from John Maxwell—
Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk. Leadership is the passion to make a difference with others. Leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality. Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses. Leadership is seeing the possibilities while others are seeing the limitations. Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd. Leadership is an open mind and an open heart. Leadership is the ability to submerge your ego for the sake of what is best. Leadership is evoking in other the capacity to dream. Leadership is inspiring others with a vision of what they can contribute. Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many. Leadership is your heart speaking to the hearts of others. Leadership is the integration of heart, head, and soul. Leadership is the capacity to care, and in caring, to liberate the ideas, energy and capacity of others. Leadership is the dream made reality. Leadership is, above all, courageous.I am trying to balance the pulls of leadership, but while I do I’m loving the leadership tension!
UPDATE: This idea of leadership tension became one of the key seed thoughts for my book Shepherd Leadership: The Metrics That Really Matter.
When was the last time you experienced a dimension of God’s love for the first time?
The Apostle Paul suggested that God’s love went beyond our 3-dimensional world—
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)
God’s love is WIDER than we can cross in a lifetime…
…LONGER than we can see with natural eyes…
…HIGHER than we can scale on our own…
…DEEPER than we can comprehend.
I love the last verse of Frederick M. Lehman’s hymn The Love Of God—
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
I am no long my own, but Thine,
Put me to what Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by Thee or laid aside for Thee,
Exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
To Thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am Thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen. (John Wesley’s covenant prayer, 1780)
Wow, that’s a gutsy prayer to pray! I would like to think I can pray this and truly mean it. What about you? Could you really pray this?
These pictures from NASA (and video compliments of Chris Abbas) show the majesty of our Creator…
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display His craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make Him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who HOPE in Me will not be disappointed. (Isaiah 49:23)
HOPE = to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.
Where can you find “reasonable confidence”?
God says, “If you place your HOPE in Me [your reasonable confidence], you will never be disappointed.”
My HOPE is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my HOPE and Stay.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Craig T. Owens 