As a Christian, I can’t tell you how many discussions I’ve had about whether Christians should dress up and go trick or treating on Halloween. One side will bring up the pagan roots, and all the evil that this day represents. Another side will say, “Dude! Free candy!”
A friend once asked me if I was concerned that I would somehow be honoring or worshiping Satan if I were to celebrate Halloween. Continue reading “The Kingdom of God is not a diet”
The people of Israel went 400 years without a new message from God. During that time their entire culture became engulfed in the Roman world. They longed for God to do something. Doesn’t God see? Doesn’t God care? Why was God silent?
Continue reading “When will God answer?”
Do you have children? How about teenagers? Have your children ever disobeyed? Have you? I know that I have.
My wife and I have three amazing kids. I look back over the 18 years of parenting and I can see things I wish I would have done differently. There are also a few things we did with all of our children that I would do again. Here is one of them, and it relates to God’s Kingdom. Continue reading “It is not too much for a King”
“What do you think of when you hear the word ‘Kingdom’?” was a question at one of our recent family discussions. The answers were intriguing.
Castles; King and Queen; Royalty; Army; Moat; Dragons; were a few of the answers. My favorite answer: “People”. I like this answer because it gets right to the heart of everything. The Kingdom is about people. What I love even more is that the Kingdom of God is available to ALL people.
One of the most popular sections of the “Sermon on the Mount” is at the beginning, known as the beatitudes. This is where Jesus identifies different people who are blessed. Two of the beatitudes specifically identify people in seemingly undesirable situations and calls these people blessed because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Continue reading “The Kingdom is yours!”
It always seems the holidays bring on a new level of stress and worry. Afterwards, many experience a different kind of stress as they decide if this year will be the year they finally make “the change”. Some go back to work and it seems everyone waited until after the holidays to bring the problems in. Either way, if you are human, you know some level of stress, worry, or anxiety.
The most famous sermon ever, the “Sermon on the Mount”, is captured in Matthew chapters 5-7. It takes about 15 minutes to read and is filled with simple and deep truths for all people. The Kingdom of God is mentioned eight times in this relatively short sermon. The famous book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Cost of Discipleship” (Nachfolge), is an excellent exposition of the Sermon on the Mount.
In each of our 2017 family meetings we would read Psalm 27. The core of this Psalm is to have a singular focus on seeking God.
For 2018 we will continue our practice of turning to the Bible and seeking God during our family meetings. Our primary focus will be to “seek first the kingdom” from Matthew 6:33. Since this will be the focus for my home, my posts through 2018 will align with this as well. Continue reading “2018 Focus – Seek First the Kingdom”
This week I want to share a personal practice that I believe has helped keep my behavior in check, and my mind more focused on the most important things. I have not been perfect at doing this, and I have seen the opposite results at the times I have strayed.
Many years ago I was challenged to read one chapter from the book of Proverbs from the Bible each day. It doesn’t take long…usually less than 5 minutes. It was easy to determine the chapter to read because it was the “proverb of the day”.
See, the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters. This means there is basically a chapter of Proverbs for each day of the month. After a month you have read the book, and can simply start over.
After doing this off and on for several years, it has become a practice I really enjoy. Each time I read a chapter there seems to be a verse or principle I can apply to my life in a very practical way as a husband, father, son, employee, leader, friend or disciple. Somehow, at the right time there is a verse or passage that stands out for me. Sometimes it is right after a situation where I realize I should have handled something differently. Other times it is right before a situation and the verse provided the much needed preparation for the moment.
Here are a few “stand out” verses from yesterdays reading of Proverbs 15 (one of my personal favorite chapters):
While each passage has much to ponder, I tend to take one verse or so that stands out that day and focus on that for a while.
I encourage you to try this for one month and see how it helps you. Let me know how it goes!
“Burger Boy” is what they called me. My job was to make sure the meat was ready when the customers ordered sandwiches. I didn’t even make sandwiches for the first several weeks of my new job.
In high school I worked fast food. I still say this was the most fun job I ever had, and the most stressful. I worked at a particular restaurant for five years. In those 5 years I went from “Burger Boy” to the assistant store manager, where the store manager was the only person in the store above me. Most importantly in those five years, I met the girl of my dreams.
I was still working there when I had less than 12 months until our wedding. And I had a problem.
I had to make more money.
I set my eye on getting into the Human Resources (HR) field and the opportunities in fast food at that time were pretty limited. I had no degree, and honestly did not know very much about HR. I was earning an annual salary of $19,500 plus benefits. I also had the pleasure of working at least 50 hours a week closing the store most nights.
A friend worked at one of the large corporations in the area and she helped me get an interview in the accounting department for an entry level position. Interview went well and the offer came in…$19,000 (~3% reduction). To me, it was a no-brainer. Absolutely!
Later in my career I found myself working a job in HR. I was again working well over 50 hours a week. My ability to have successful relationships with family, friends, church, myself, and even my hobbies was diminishing. If I wanted to be a successful dad, husband, or even friend, then I would have to make a decision.
I had to decide what was more important – Success at Work or Success at Home
I chose home! After some soul searching and preparation, I began looking for new opportunities. Similarly, the solution came through a friend. The interview went well, and the offer came back lower than what I was currently making. To me, it was a no-brainer. Absolutely!
In both cases the opportunities outweighed the risk. And both cases turned out great!
Getting to the decision to make a change was not as easy. I needed to be sensitive to whatever that new opportunity would be.
Five key considerations before quitting your current job to go to a new one…especially if you are going to make less money:
Obviously, I didn’t seek a new job to make less money. And I would not encourage you to do that either. But, I would encourage you to look at your situation and determine if the money you are making is worth the sacrifices it takes. Tough times will come and go, so you want to be sure that in the long run you’re able to focus on the most meaningful things of life.
“So, what do you do?”, she asked me.
“I am a Business Analyst”, I replied.
“Oh, so you work with IT?”
“Um, no. I am in Compensation.”
“Oh, so you do payroll.”
“Um, no. I do market pricing.”
This conversation went on for a bit until she walked away, still having no idea what I did for a living.
I needed to change the way I answered this question.
So, what do you do?
The next time I was asked “So, what do you do?” the answer sounded more like this:
“I help companies meet their business objectives by designing and implementing competitive pay structures, benefits packages, and career opportunities for employees in every country. Today I am doing that for X Company.”
The Process – five steps I took to change my answer to this question:
Going through these steps helped me see my work as a key part of a bigger picture. It actually showed me where I had more influence than I realized, and, to be honest, where I had less influence than I should have.
Changing my perspective changed my trajectory!
COMMENT BELOW: So, what do you do?
