As a child, growing up in a small church environment, anyone could go to the choir. With only two rows of church pews in the choir I stood in front of the first pew singing from the top of my lungs "When old age is stealing on, and my strength is almost gone, Hold to my hand, dear Lord I pray." (At the age of five I am sure I knew exactly what I was singing about.) But it was a joy to sing in the choir.
In the third grade I thought I would try out for the school choir, but failed miserably. I loved music so that I took flute, guitar, accordion (my mom's idea), and piano lessons but never seem to master any of these instruments. However, after watching some of America's reality shows recently, I may... well, just a thought.
It is true that Thomas Edison, the great inventor of 1,093 US patents in his name (as well as many in Germany, United Kingdom, and France) stated "Many of life's failures by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."
So if you come by the church where I serve as the lead pastor and I'm sitting at the piano playing and singing, don't laugh, just remember I may be close to success as a very talented singer and musician.
Don't give up; you may be close to conquering your life long dream!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
It was Esther, around 480 B.C. that Mordecai stated to her, "Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther was an ordinary woman with an extraordinary challenge. “She is a Jew in a foreign land and a woman in a male-dominated world- a minority within a minority. But God raised her up at exactly the right time.” (John Maxwell)
Later, around the years of 445 B.C. Nehemiah had a burden for the people of Jerusalem and shares his burden with King Artaxerxes. With the queen by his side, the king asked Nehemiah how long would this journey be? Nehemiah was able to give him a time it would take and also speak to him about the building materials that were needed (Nehemiah 2:6-8). The king gave him permission and provision to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.
It was Winston Churchill that states, "There comes a special moment in everyone's life, a moment for which the person is born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission-a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment he finds greatness. It is his finest hour."
For all of us there are times in our life for in which we are born. It may not mean living in the king’s palace or rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem but it does mean fulfilling a purpose in life. Sometimes it is the simple things that God places in your life to do, that make a world of difference for someone.
I use to visit a friend of mine in one of the local nursing facilities that had a room mate (Earnest) that was in his 30's and had a terminal illness. After finding out that Earnest was in the hospital I paid him a visit. To me it was an ordinary visit: conversation, prayer, and I left the room.
That's when I realize something was a little different about this visit. Outside the room door on the third floor of the Tanner Hospital stood a young nurse with tears streaming down her cheeks. With a broken heart she said to me, “thank you for visiting with Earnest today, no one has been to see Earnest since he has been in the hospital.” I must admit that I was feeling pretty good about the moment. I realized that I had not only made a difference in Earnest’s life that day, but in this young nurse as well. I told her I would be back and the next day I did, only to find out that Earnest had passed away shortly after I left the room.
I can not relate to you the number of last time opportunities that God gave me to minister to someone but I also know deep down in my heart there are many missed opportunities that God would have given me if only I had been more sensitive to his direction in my life.
My prayer is that:
“Lord, every morning you hear my voice. Every morning I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer.” Psalm 5:3 NCV
Later, around the years of 445 B.C. Nehemiah had a burden for the people of Jerusalem and shares his burden with King Artaxerxes. With the queen by his side, the king asked Nehemiah how long would this journey be? Nehemiah was able to give him a time it would take and also speak to him about the building materials that were needed (Nehemiah 2:6-8). The king gave him permission and provision to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem.
It was Winston Churchill that states, "There comes a special moment in everyone's life, a moment for which the person is born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission-a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment he finds greatness. It is his finest hour."
For all of us there are times in our life for in which we are born. It may not mean living in the king’s palace or rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem but it does mean fulfilling a purpose in life. Sometimes it is the simple things that God places in your life to do, that make a world of difference for someone.
I use to visit a friend of mine in one of the local nursing facilities that had a room mate (Earnest) that was in his 30's and had a terminal illness. After finding out that Earnest was in the hospital I paid him a visit. To me it was an ordinary visit: conversation, prayer, and I left the room.
That's when I realize something was a little different about this visit. Outside the room door on the third floor of the Tanner Hospital stood a young nurse with tears streaming down her cheeks. With a broken heart she said to me, “thank you for visiting with Earnest today, no one has been to see Earnest since he has been in the hospital.” I must admit that I was feeling pretty good about the moment. I realized that I had not only made a difference in Earnest’s life that day, but in this young nurse as well. I told her I would be back and the next day I did, only to find out that Earnest had passed away shortly after I left the room.
I can not relate to you the number of last time opportunities that God gave me to minister to someone but I also know deep down in my heart there are many missed opportunities that God would have given me if only I had been more sensitive to his direction in my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)