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The Familiar Road

I went through a situation the other day. All the sudden about half way through, I happened to make the decision to retreat back to the place that I knew was familiar to me. It was way to easy to go back to that place. I knew how to get there, and fast, in fact, I think I took a rocket back to that place!

There have been times in all of our lives, when we see a goal clearly, know we want to be there, but maybe we don’t see the roads or paths to get us there.  

I have found for myself that many times, I continue to take the comfortable roads I have used and driven down so many times in the past. I know them by heart and could drive them with my eyes closed. The only problem is those same old roads, take me to the same old place. You all know the place that I am talking about. When you catch your breath and ask yourself, ‘how in the world did I get here? I did not want to take this road, I should have exited 10 minutes ago.’ 

The twist and turns on the new roads may be unfamiliar, and we may have to slow down a bit to navigate this new territory. In fact, we might even need to ask for directions, and pray it’s the right road. 

The journey to arrive in a new place in our lives, our relationships, or our achievements is well worth the time. When you see your goal, don't just keep on doing things as normal. Make a road map for yourself, make new decisions, use new attitudes to arrive at your goal. The road well traveled may be familiar, but will just take you to where you have already been.

I encourage you to be deliberate in your decisions. Let God use those closest to you to speak into your lives. The ones that love us the most, know us the best! Don’t be so prideful that you think God won’t or can’t use so and so or such and such.

As a husband or wife or leader, we must be open to this. I got to say this here: In the past week, on 2 different occasions, God has used my oldest son and my wife, both separately, to speak into my life. Did I like it at the moment? No. Was the conversations easy? No. Did I listen? Yes. Was it humbling? Yes. Did I thank them? Yes. Did I fall on my knees and thank God for putting them in my life? Yes. Will it make me a better person in the long run? Yes.

Check your spiritual tires, and fill your biblical tank, and hit the road. There is no end to where God can lead you, when you are willing!

Peace†

 www.ryancook.net

Seared Conscience

Dave Roever was our guest this past Sunday  He taught a good relevant message.

Here are some notes from it:

Key verse 1 Tim. 4:1- w/ emphasis on the latter part of vs. 2. (1)The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (2)Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

• What took their pains away?
• Pain- no body wants it, no body likes it.
• Pain is a gift from God.
• Deal w/ the issue or it will eat you up and kill you.
• Pain is a warning that something isn’t right.
• Frog ex of cold/hot water: they adjust to the temperature and adjust their sensitivity- start in lukewarm water then turn to hot- doesn’t feel heat anymore- boils to death.
• Famous sailor- after started sailing ended up on the ‘outer banks’ right next to the shore- “my God, how did we get here.”
• His compass was only off by 1 degree.
• Over many miles, starting off by 1 degree will land you off by many degrees.
• Listened to the wrong voices, when he shouldn’t have set sail.
• Ex: on leprosy- rats nibble on fingers because of numbness on hands.
• Numbness causes things to fall off.
• Sin is to the soul as leprosy is to the hand.
• Sin eats away at the conscience until it is seared.

 

Questions to ask ourselves and think on-

What have you grown numb too?

Is your conscience sensitive to your surroundings?

Are you dealing w/ your pains or pushing them down until they are eating you alive?

www.ryancook.net

 

Everybody's A Consultant

I have been thinking, pondering and learning from some of these thoughts I read from a blog of Steven Furtiks. Some of this could radically impact our interactions with others. It requires a good dose of humility and teachability. But once you get the hang of it, it will feel second nature. Learning everyday how to be a better leader!

Give everybody in your life the opportunity to be your consultant once in a while.

You’d be surprised how much the people in your life could help you with your situations and dilemmas.  But you’ve got to invite the feedback.

Some of the most helpful leadership insights I’ve ever received didn’t come from books or conferences.  They materialized when I asked one of these questions to someone close to me:
What do you think I should do in this situation?
Am I missing something here?
How do you see it?
What would you do if you were me?

• People don’t want to hear all your aches and pains, so make sure to keep it positive and solution oriented when you involve others in your situations.

• If you ask someone to speak into your life, do your best to shut up and say thank you when they’re done.  Thank you, and that’s it.  Whether you agree or not.  Whether you intend to follow the advice or not.  If you launch into a 3 minute defense or rebuttal regarding their opinion, why would they open up to you next time you ask?  My guess is they won’t.

• Weigh the words of those who advise you according to their character and competency.  Don’t give equal access to everyone.  Be smart about it.

Liabilities aside, almost everyone you interact with has something to teach you.  Even when their motives are wrong, or their worldview is different, there’s something to glean.

You can’t trust everyone as a confidant.  But you can utilize everyone as a consultant at some level.  Ask.  Listen.  Learn.  Implement.

You can learn something from everybody, if you cant, you should question your role as a leader.

www.ryancook.net

Freeloading Letter

I came across this today. There are some things I really like about this letter and the heart of it, but also some things that rub me the wrong way and seem a little harsh.

Ok, I really want some feedback on this and to know what you think.  Read this letter in it's entirety before you comment. Log onto www.ryancook.net and click on the comment tab or if you are on fb, you can do it from the comment tab there. 

WINSTON-SALEM — Julie and Bob Clark were stunned to receive a letter from their church in 

July asking them to "participate in the life of the church" — or worship elsewhere.
    "They basically called us freeloaders," says Julie.
    "We were freeloaders," says Bob.
    In a trend that may signal rough times for wallflower Christians, bellwether mega-church Faith Community of Winston-Salem has asked "non-participating members" to stop attending.
    "No more Mr. Nice Church," says the executive pastor, newly hired from Cingular Wireless. "Bigger is not always better. Providing free services indefinitely to complacent Christians is not our mission."
    "Freeloading" Christians were straining the church's nursery and facility resources and harming the church's ability to reach the lost, says the pastor.
    "When your bottom line is saving souls, you get impatient with people who interfere with that goal," he says.
    Faith Community sent polite but firm letters to families who attend church services and "freebie events" but never volunteer, never tithe and do not belong to a small group or other ministry. The church estimates that of its 8,000 regular attendees, only half have volunteered in the past 3 years, and a third have never given to the church.
    "Before now, we made people feel comfortable and welcome, and tried to coax them to give a little something in return," says a staff member. "That's changed. We're done being the community nanny."
    Surprisingly, the move to dis-invite people has drawn positive response from men in the community who like the idea of an in-your-face church.
    "I thought, 'A church that doesn't allow wussies — that rocks,'" says Bob Clark, who admires the church more since they told him to get lost.
    He and Julie are now tithing and volunteering. "We've taken our place in church life," he says. 

www.ryancook.net

Embrace

I came across this quote the other day and wanted to share it. I hope it challenges you as it did me≈

‘An embrace involves always a double movement of opening and closing. I open my arms to create space in myself for the other. The open arms are a sign of discontent at being myself only and of desire to include the other. They are an invitation to the others to come in and feel at home w/ me, to belong to me. In an embrace I also close my arms around the others- not tightly, so as to crush and assimilate them forcefully into myself, for that would not be an embrace but a concealed power-act of exclusion; but gently, so as to tell them that I do not want to be w/ out them in their otherness. I want them to remain independent and true to their genuine selves, to maintain their identity and as such become part of me so that they can enrich me w/ what they have and I do not.’ – Miroslav Volf

How many people that are different than us do we embrace, or better yet, do we bear the pain to love those who are not like us? Whether skin color, social, educational or economic differences?

As a people, are we changing our community toward a good change or do people perceive us different because of our actions towards others, or lack of action?

Loving one another can be messy, ugly, unnatural, and sometimes not fun, but we ALL have been called to ‘love our neighbor.’

www.ryancook.net †

 

 

What are you Doing?

Do you ever think to yourself, what am I doing here or why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing here for this 60-80 years on this earth?

I know this question haunts many people that I know and I get asked all the time about how to find ‘purpose’. Well, todays blog will not actually be about finding your purpose, but maybe rather what should you be doing in the meantime that will lead you to your purpose.

Some of my prayers over this past week have gone something like this:

God, I need you. I want you to have ALL my life. I want nothing to be between us. Stir my heart in desire and desperation for you.

God, make my heart desperate for the things you are desperate for, show me just a glimpse. Fill my soul with the love you have. Help me to love people like you do. I desperately need your love today.

God, move and shake my life anyway you want, I am yours! Open my ears so I can hear, my heart so I can feel, my mind so I can know and my eyes so I can see.

God, I allow you to blow my mind today!

(Ok, I want to stop here and dare you to say that prayer, but don’t say it if you don’t mean it or want to allow God to move in your life)

Today, I see many Christians, Leaders, Businesses, Pastors knowing what to do, but just sitting around wasting this short time we have here to make a difference, letting life go by, and just watching as it passes.

Enough talking…what are you doing about it?

You see the problem or issue or opportunity or challenge. You’ve talked about it with your friends. Perhaps, if this issue concerns what others are—or are not—doing, youve gone over the line and gossiped about it. The question is, “what are you going to do about it?” Or, if you are talking to yourself like I am right now, 'What am I going to do about it?' If the answer is 'nothing,' then why even talk about it? Why do we waste our time talking about something that we have no intention of making better when theres plenty in our lives that needs our attention? 

Why do we go sit Sunday after Sunday to a Pastor or Leader try to lead us, then we go home and do just the opposite? Or even better yet, go home and gossip about the message, what the Leader was wearing, instead of getting the point and do something about it? If you aren’t going to do something about it, why even go? Leaders spend thousands of dollars to go to conferences, go back home and do the same thing he/she was doing, why?  There are people around us who need our help and there are plenty of opportunities for us to contribute to our families, co-workers, churches, clubs, etc.

Yet, many of us, will just sit and complain about something…and never lift a finger to change it. We are all messed up, so it is no wonder we spend so much of our lives focused on things that dont amount to much at all. 

I pray that God gives me the vision to spend my time helping others meet their challenges. I pray that my focus is on things I can actually influence for good and that I DO actually influence that situation for good.

Talking is good if it pushes your life or the lives of those around you forward. But, the real question is 'what are you talking about doing?'

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-Peace