Albert Einstein
Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.
How To Stay Encouraged: Find Your Niche
Last month, I posted several articles about how to stay encouraged, especially in ministry. I had planned to finish the series before the holidays, but simply ran out of time. As a result, this last part of the series has been on my mind for quite a while.
Perhaps the most practical way to stay encouraged is to find your niche. When you know your purpose, and live accordingly, you experience much more in the area of encouragement than almost anything else can do for you.
We face a tragic crisis in America, and around the world. We are facing a crisis of identity.
Too many of our students are graduating from high school, or even college, and have no idea what they are going to do with their life. In fact, more college graduates have moved back in with their parents than ever before in our history.
These people are going through life without any idea of what their purpose is. And when that happens, it leads to discouragement, to despair, and ultimately, to depression.
But if you know what your purpose is, if you’ve found your niche, then you’ve already taken steps to avoid those downfalls. Finding your niche is one of the most critical things you can do to stay encouraged. And this is applicable at all levels; it fits your individual, personal life just as it fits into the life of a church or other organization.
In fact, I think those are the key areas that you need to look at when identifying your niche. You need to see what your purpose is as an individual, and you need to see how that fits into the greater purpose of your local church, and then into the global church as a whole.
Book Review – Five Points by John Piper
I have stated before that I’m not a big fan of John Piper. After reading another of his books, I can state with even more certainty that I’m not a big fan of John Piper.
I recently received a copy of Piper’s book, Five Points, to read and review. This is Piper’s attempt at a simple explanation of Calvinism’s five major tenets: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.
Knowing what it was, I really wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of reading it, but after some thought, I decided to look it over.
I found both pros and cons. First the positive aspects.
Piper does a good job of simplifying the five main principles of Calvinism so that most people can understand them. This would have come in handy in college, during church history. Most of the material available when I took that class didn’t do a very good job of making Calvinism understandable.
And now, the negative aspects.
I find Calvinism to be a faulty theology and do not accept it to be authoritative. While it does a masterful job of elevating the sovereignty of God, it falls short in depicting the free will of man. I am in no way suggesting that we marginalize the sovereignty of God. What I am saying is that Calvinism swings the pendulum too far in one direction, and does not take a fair and balanced approach to Scripture.
Unless you are studying the differences between Calvinistic theology and other denominations, I really don’t recommend reading Piper’s Five Points. Granted, it does explain the main premises of Calvinism succinctly. But those five premises are faulty at their foundations. You’d be better off to simply research and read what the Bible itself has to say about God’s love and grace for his creation.
You’ll grow your faith more from that endeavor than you will from reading Five Points.
What is your favorite passage on the topic of God’s grace? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
This post is simply a book review of John Piper’s book, Five Points. It is not intended to launch a debate about the merits of Calvinism, or the lack thereof. Please keep that in mind when leaving any comments. All comments will be moderated, and any remarks that are argumentative in nature will be removed. Thanks!
Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Cross Focused Media as part of their Cross Focused Reviews blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“
Coffee Break – 01.05.2014
Roast Your Own Coffee – A few years ago, I started to roast my own coffee at home. I’ve never looked back, and have found myself turning up my nose at things I once found enjoyable (Starbucks). While I don’t exist solely on my own roasts, I do use them pretty heavily. I order my beans from Sweet Maria’s, and use a Poppery II popcorn popper as described in this article.
X-Rays Of Nature – Simply stunning! Arie van’t Riet is a medical professional who takes x-rays of normal everyday things found in nature. The results are simply stunning.
Why The Amish Dress Like They Do – We live near an Amish community, about thirty minutes away. We lived in the heart of Amish communities in Indiana several years ago. But I never really understood the reasoning behind much of their lifestyle. This post helps to alleviate that a bit.
Maps Of The Seven Deadly Sins In America – This is fascinating. The means used to gain the info are a bit faulty, but it would be incredibly difficult to gauge such things with any degree of accuracy. Still, it’s an interesting look at where certain types of sin are more likely to flourish than others.
Why I Write – Someone asked me this very question just a few days ago. After realizing that I posted more than 250 times to my blog in 2013, and wrote in my journal daily, as well as other writing opportunities, I decided to examine why I write. Jeff Goins summarizes it nicely.
9 Reasons To Pray – As a minister, one of the biggest things I see in people’s lives, and in my own all too often, is the reliance upon ourself instead of on God. We talk big about prayer, but we don’t pray all that much, it seems. Here are nine good reasons to pray.
5 Ways You Can Bomb A Sermon – This article is primarily written with people who speak to youth in mind. But the principles fit to those who preach to other ages as well. Both the third one and the fifth one speak loudly to me, since I’m fairly new to preaching on a weekly basis to the congregation as a whole. And while I know the other three, it’s helpful to hear them again as a reminder. It’s not about me.
If God had granted all the silly prayers I’ve made in my life, where would I be now? – C.S. Lewis
Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-2
The message of 2 Timothy is vastly different from the message of Paul’s previous letter to Timothy. In this second letter, Paul encourages Timothy to suffer with him and endure hardship that comes when preaching the gospel.
This year, as we examine and memorize the letter of 2 Timothy, keep in mind that Paul is nearing the time of his death, and is passing on the mantle of ministry to his young colleague.
We will begin with Paul’s salutation in 2 Timothy 1:1-2:
2 Timothy is the letter that follows 1 Timothy, but not necessarily immediately in time. There is some debate as to Paul being the author, but most scholars seem to accept this as the case. Let’s take a look at some of the historical background and the salutation.
Background and Audience
2 Timothy finds Paul in a Roman prison. This is probably not the same imprisonment we see at the end of Acts, since both Timothy and Mark were with Paul at that time, when he wrote Colossians. In all likelihood, Paul was released from that imprisonment, continued in ministry, and was arrested again, possible at Troas.
Paul writes this letter to Timothy during this second jail term, anticipating his execution. Eusebius dates Paul’s execution to A.D. 67, placing this letter in either 66 or 67.
From several references in the letter, we can guess that Timothy was probably in Ephesus again, just as he was when he received 1 Timothy. And just as with the first letter, Paul writes to Timothy, but expects him to share the letter with the whole congregation.
I hold it to be a fact, that if all persons knew what each said of the other, there would not be four friends in the world.
Blaise Pascal
2013 Top Posts & Year End Review
2013 is in the books. It’s finished. And a new year has begun.
It has been the craziest year of my life, in more ways than one. But it has been a great year as well.
And, as far as my writing is concerned, it has been a very productive year here at JeffRandleman.com.
2013 was an exciting year! Here are a few of the major events that took place in our lives over the last twelve months:
- We moved back home to Missouri from Florida!
- I finished up 23 years in youth ministry!
- I began a new role as a preaching minister!
- We had our sixth child, a boy!
- I started a Master’s Degree program, studying the theology of Genesis!
- And a whole lot more!
Like I said, it has been a packed year for my family.
Several times each year, I take stock of my life, see where I am, review where I am going, and make sure I’m on the right path to get there. I use my Life Plan for this.