Category: Success Tips

I began the process of working on my next book yesterday by putting together a first draft for the introduction and first chapter. I also mapped out the video elements that will be added to those sections. As I was also working on preparations for Sunday’s sermon and service, I felt good about the progress that was made.

While I was working on this project I realized I had the material for another book already in place and just need to plug it into the schedule once the current one is finished. I still have a couple more videos to be completed for insertion in the book I am working on. I really appreciate the training I have received from my mentor, Joel Bauer, who counsels to use your preparation of your puzzle pieces in a way that makes your book easy to bring into reality.

Have you ever considered the importance of the concept, “Who do you listen to?” You are being bombarded every day by thoughts, words and intentions from a variety of sources. The news you watch, the movies you view, the music you listen to, the radio you stations you preset on our system, where you go and give attention to on the internet and so much more play a role in defining who you are becoming. The sources you chose to allow into your life will have an energetic influence on your life?

This is true also with regards to others you associate with in terms of your “spiritual tribe” in your journey of grace. Are you being challenged to grow in grace and the knowledge of God’s Word, or are you settling for an “emotional fix,” which produces a warm fuzzy feeling? Are you being equipped to live a victorious life, or fed a great motivational pep talk? Who you listen to is an important concept to figure out. What we put into our life is what we will get out of our life. Who you listen to determines the outcomes in your life!

I remember a statement I heard for the first time in the spring of 2010 which has echoed down into today, “You only have to be right once for your life to change.” How often have you heard someone in self-criticism speak about never doing anything right, or always messing up? Realize those are self-fulfilling statements and will continue to impact and influence your current and future reality.

Opportunities will come your way and your yes or no response will have an impact on what is yet to be. Regardless of what has happened in the past, you are still only one correct response from transformation in your life. This is true in every area of your life.

One very important area relates to whether you will say YES to the relationship with God through His Son, Jesus, as He extends grace to you. Another is when you are faced with the decision whether to say YES to an “all in” commitment to that relationship. In fact there is a sense in which we must decide each day how we will respond.

As I watched the movie, No Greater Love again the other day, one of the questions that came to my mind was how does a couple who had been best friends from the time they were eight years old get to the place where in their mid twenties they are so combative their marriage literally falls apart? It seemed to me it didn’t happen in a day, but as the result of what appeared to be little choices over many days. It was in the journey of grace that the Holy Spirit was working in their lives so they would come to a place where a YES to God would bring transformation and reconciliation in their lives.

I have to say there have been times in my life when I have said no to financial opportunities that would have made a huge transformational difference in our life and in our ability to have the resources to help others. You cannot go back and change those decisions, but you can be ready and willing to set aside a no and declare a yes when God provides you another chance. You might not know how you could ever find a way for the yes, but remember if God is the One opening that door, He will make a way, even if there seems to be no way.

Our family made a specific financial choice more than two years ago with an outcome five years down the line that would make a difference in our life. As we reach the half way point we are beginning to see the potential of what will be over the next couple of years. Right now, we live like the majority of people, day to day. In our case however, we live with an excitement that the present is under the Christmas tree and we are simply waiting for the day to arrive when we can open it.

You only have to be right once and your life can change!

Yesterday I shared with you a little about your life being a journey of grace. This was a topic at the training event I recently attended. On February 28^th I wrote about my favourite movie and how I planned to watch it last weekend. That did not happen as expected, but I did just watch it. What I found interesting was the degree to which this viewing was entirely different from the many other times I watched this story.

If I had watched this movie on the weekend, I would likely have missed what it was revealed this time through. My training suggests the importance of reading a book more than once, because you are not the same person you were when you read it before. The same is true with movies that have a message to deliver.

When God, through His Holy Spirit, is involved and recognized in the timing of situations in you life, change and transformation are possible. That is one of the messages of the movie, No Greater Love. In the revealing of our life being a journey of grace, during the training event I attended, the importance of God’s grace in our life prior to our acknowledging His existence, or saying YES to the relationship with Him was expressed. I have known and understood the value and importance of this aspect of grace, called prevenient grace for many decades. No matter how much you know about something, what you don’t know, you don’t know, will continue to be just that, until you do know it.

What came to light as I watched this movie again was how it was connected to my own life and journey of grace. I got to know me a little better as this movie progressed. My journey has been nothing like the story I watched. What I saw though, for the first time, were puzzle pieces of my life that fit into a picture that now made sense in ways I had not known.

Things in my life’s journey where I felt God had been leading, but not knowing why, took on a whole new perspective. Maybe some day I will be in a place where I will tell you more, in terms of specifics. Right now I am still sorting out some of those new perspectives. I do thank God for them and encourage you to continue to move forward as the Holy Spirit leads you, even when you don’t understand the picture the puzzle pieces of you life are creating. The good news however is, you can discover more about the puzzle pieces identified as you if you will persevere in the process.

Yesterday I travelled over 2 hours each way to attend a denominational Clergy training event. This was the longest distance and time I have driven by myself since last spring. I heard it said many years ago if you glean one important and new thought from a book you read, it has been a worthwhile use of your time. I have carried the same concept with me when I have attended training events. Sometimes there are a lot of valuable gleanings and almost always there is something very beneficial to be found in the time spent.

Certainly there were more than one important take away from yesterday’s event. I was encouraged to hear of a number of new initiatives from leadership which align with things I have been saying for many years.

I want to share with you just one tidbit shared by Dr. Scott Rainey who is the new Global Director for what was once called Sunday School Ministries. Many areas and age groups have been rolled into the new ministry division.

Dr. Rainey was speaking on where his department will be focussing in terms of the concept of “discipleship”in the future. He described it as “A Journey of Grace.” He mentioned the need for the Church in this day to be able to communicate effectively the truth and message of God’s Word. Other speakers also spoke to this issue. Dr. Rainey suggested a starter question we can use to open up a conversation with someone to learn where they are spiritually. I share this question with you so you might consider whether it is something you might find useful. The question: “What is your spiritual journey?”

Everyone will have a story, good, bad or indifferent and because it is their journey, they will not be defensive towards you and you will gain insights into how you can help them with their journey. This is a win/win opportunity. May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire leadership to help bridge the process to a better and more effective way to make God’s Word powerful and relevant in our world today.

When I got up yesterday there were a number of items on my need to get done list for the day and I worked along completing each one. During one of the mundane tasks I started writing down some thoughts that started downloading into my brain. I don’t know about you, but when this happens I need to get the thoughts on paper, or they will disappear as quickly as they come.

I have been giving consideration to turning the series of Sunday morning messages of 2019 I have been sharing into a book. Some of the thoughts I was receiving would be valuable for an introduction. When it came time to write this article, my thoughts were largely focussed on the book creation. I went on to something totally different in an attempt to shift my thinking, so as to have a clear mind for the daily blog article. I even stood and watched the snow and blowing snow out the office window, for a while, as a mechanism to shift mental gears.

I just continued to think about goals related to the book. What results do I want people to achieve? What key principles do I want to demonstrate? What elements should be highlighted and anchored for long term benefit? What processes do I use to achieve these results from the very beginning to the final close? What would I use to create a workbook to accompany the book? How much information do I actually reveal and how much do I hold back? Most people are not willing to read and if you give too much detail, they will not move forward and gain any benefit from what is being offered.

Some of the concepts of process came immediately to mind, because of the training I have received from my mentor, Joel Bauer. I became excited about the possibilities, but then I moved into the consideration as to how to fit this book process into my schedule. For me, I also must address the question, if this is something God is calling me to do, then it must be made a scheduling priority so it gets done. What must be set aside, or delayed to complete this project?

So the point of this blog article was to provide some insight into practical tips in our thinking process we must address, as it relates not just to writing a book, but to the array of activities and decisions that are part of our daily lives.

In closing, I do want to ask you, to what extent are you open to following through on those ideas and promptings which simply arrive on your mental doorstep? Will you trash your ideas, or travel through the open door?