Category Archives: Personal Growth

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Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone With Short Term Missions

Later this week, I am headed out with two of my kids to American Indian Christian Mission, near Show Low, Arizona. The three of us are really excited about this short term missions opportunity!

Short Term Missions

Trips like this one are always cause both excitement and some amount of trepidation for me. A short term mission trip causes you to step outside of your comfort zone and do things you may not be comfortable doing. That has the ability to make one very nervous.

But at the same time, the excitement is there, because a short term mission trip has boundless opportunities for growth. It’s pretty incredible actually.

On this particular trip to AICM, our team has an incredible project. One of the larger communities on the White Mountain Apache reservation, and yet one of the more isolated communities at the same time, has no church. AICM has been working with the tribal council to lease a property and plant a church there to help meet both the spiritual and the physical needs of the community.

AICM has had a long standing relationship with this tribe, and with this community. They have been there, working with and alongside the people there for years, and have built a solid reputation. Several of the students at the AICM boarding school have come from this community as well. So planting a church there is a natural expansion of the work that AICM has already been doing.

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Lessons From A Sick Dog

My daughter called me a couple days ago and informed me that one of our dogs was listless and wouldn’t eat, or even wag her tail. Something was obviously wrong with her.

Boxer (Not Lila)

A year and a half ago, we adopted a boxer named Lila. She’s a great dog, but being four years old at the time, we’ve had to re-train her a bit in order to fit into our household. She’s a smart dog, and she learns quick. But sometimes we still deal with old habits, like this week.

When my daughter called me, I told her to keep an eye on Lila, and if she acted sick, to take her outside. At lunch I headed home to find out that she was still miserable. I took her out for a walk, and she threw up several times while we were outside (I know, that’s gross).

I didn’t understand what was going on until that moment. Lila had just thrown up more birdseed than I could possibly imagine.

After some further searching, I discovered that Lila had somehow managed to gain access to our garage, where she had eaten a significant amount of birdseed for our outdoor feeders. I don’t know how much she ate, but it definitely wasn’t good for her. She had gotten into something that she shouldn’t have gotten into.

The truth is that I do the same thing all too often, and I’m sure you do too. We tend to get into things we shouldn’t, and they are not always healthy for us.

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The Secret To Finding Contentment

All too often, we look at what the other guy has, and compare that to what we have. And we find ourselves longing for something more.

The Secret To Finding Contentment

It’s tough to be content. We do not live in a world where this comes naturally. Rather, it seems like it is normal to want more, to desire something beyond whatever we have, to long for something new.

And sometimes, that isn’t necessarily wrong. It isn’t necessarily wrong to desire to better ourselves. It isn’t necessarily wrong to seek out more and better things and experiences.

But sometimes it is wrong.

Paul, in Philippians 4:11, states:

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

And again, in 1 Timothy 6, he says:

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

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Dealing With Spiritual Dryness

What To Do When You Feel Like You’re In A Desert

One of the more difficult times we experience in our spiritual lives are those moments when we feel spiritually dry and drained. It almost feels like we are in a desert.

Spiritual Dryness

Spiritual dryness can be overwhelming at times. It can lead to feeling down and almost feel like depression. And we all experience it. It’s a fact of our spiritual lives. We enjoy the mountaintop experiences. But what do we do when we hit the lower places, the valleys, the deserts?

Sometimes, life just throws us a curve ball, and our lives take a pretty strong hit. A couple of years ago, my wife fell and broke an ankle while pregnant. Soon after, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, followed by a diagnosis of cancer. It seemed like our world was turned upside down overnight, and we didn’t know what to do.

I felt like that time was one of the driest spiritual stretches I have ever encountered, and yet it was also a period of time where I experienced the most spiritual growth. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, I know. But looking back on that time, and the weeks and months following it, my journal is filled with ways that I can see God molding me into more of the person he wants me to be.

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One Word 365 – 2016 Edition

Forget The New Year’s Resolutions; Just Choose One Word

I have developed a habit over the past few years of selecting one single word to focus my life on for the duration of the coming twelve months. This is the word I will strive to live by for the next year.  Identifying a word to live by for the year helps me to keep my focus on a specific area of growth, and helps me become more of the person God has created me to be.

One Word 365

I’ve settled my focus on several different words over the last few years. For example, in 2011, I chose to focus on the word passion. This word underlined all I did throughout the year. It defined the year. Everything I did, I did with enthusiasm, and passion was pretty visible in most areas of my life.

In 2012, I chose the word commit. One of my biggest struggles in life has been to stick to many of the things I decide to do. Focusing on this word helped me to address that deficiency.

In 2013, I chose the word intentional. We have a large family, and as a result, we have a lot going on. I realized that I needed to be intentional, especially in my relationships with family and friends, and in my ministry.

In both 2014 and 2015, I chose the word wait. I tend to be very impatient at times, and focusing on waiting helped me see the bigger picture. And, rather than take matters into my own hands, it allowed my faith to grow by waiting on the Lord.

Each year, I choose to identify and implement a single word as a part of my Life Plan. I add this word to the beginning of my plan, and try to use it as a piece of the foundation for every portion of my plan. Some areas are more successful than others.

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Deepening Our Roots

Developing Passion In Our Spiritual Life

The more I read the New Testament, the more I find that passion is an essential element of discipleship. Without passion, our faith could be seriously questioned.

Pine Tree

Psalm 1 gives us an excellent image of what it means to be deeply rooted, to be spiritually passionate. In verse 3, the psalmist says:

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

This image of a tree is a perfect illustration of what it means to develop passion in our lives. The roots have to go deep, or there can be no production of fruit. In this psalm, the tree is planted strategically next to a stream of water, and it is rooted deeply enough to receive the nourishment it needs, and to prevent it from being easily uprooted.

This is exactly what we need to do in our lives. Passion and discipleship require us to be both strategic and solid in where we plant ourselves.

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Pursuing Passion

I have become increasingly aware of my need to be more passionate in my life. And by passion, I mean my passion for Jesus Christ.

Tree

Several years ago, I was challenged to begin journaling as a key discipline in my spiritual life. Over the years, this has taken many forms. One of the more exuberant efforts was a journal I put together with several different categories, such as Bible reading, Bible study, memorization, prayer lists and forms, and more.

Now, each of these different disciplines were crucial, and I still believe that they are. But attempting them in that fashion did nothing but discourage me, and many of them didn’t last long.

Regardless, I still felt, and still feel, the need to become more passionate in my walk with Jesus. But how do I do that?

What I didn’t understand then, and have begun to learn now, is that discipline, for discipline’s sake, will never be effective. Discipline needs to happen in order to draw nearer to God.