I spent the weekend cleaning house. In the process, I cleaned up and out my entire garage so we can drive our vehicles into the garage for the first time since last winter. My wife helped me clean out my office at work, and I brought home 13 boxes of files from college, graduate school, seminary, church, and professional workshops that I have accumulated over the past 30+ years doing people-ministry. As I started going through all of my “old stuff”, I recognized how many people have influenced my personal and professional development throughout my life. How I thank God for the people and processes that have deeply impacted my life.
I also reviewed and made final revisions for my NTD 1 Discipleship Matters muscle-building gospel of John course before it goes to the publisher. In the process, I realized how many authors that God has used over the years to shape my spiritual development and my convictions. The words of Jesus and my own writing were so incredibly convicting that I was repeatedly taking a close-up look at my own life and comparing it to the words and ways of Jesus. I wondered how many people have never been discipled and taught how to study God’s Word and become self-feeding Christians. The Holy Spirit convicted me of how valuable this discipleship course is to the formation of seekers and Christians and that I must get my tools into the hands of disciple-makers.
Part of housecleaning involves taking inventory. What should I keep and what should I give away or throw away? I stumbled across something that I used to have hanging over my desk when I was a young pastor in Indiana.
GOOD CARE-TAKING BOUNDARY QUESTIONS
WHOSE ISSUE IS IT?
WHOSE UPSET IS IT?
WHOSE CHOICES LED TO THE SITUATION?
IF THE ANSWER IS…
NOT ME
NOT ME
NOT ME
THEN WHY AM I TRYING SO HARD TO FIX IT?
ASSESS MY ISSUES
OWN THEM
ENLIST MY SPOUSE’S HELP
CONSEQUENCES OF NOT OWNING MY ISSUES:
TAKING THEM OUT ON MY SPOUSE
AND THIS IS NOT AN OPTION
If you’ve been following my blogs over the past two years, you’ve probably laughed and cried with me as we’ve journeyed together through life. My favorite artist, Matt Potosky, handed me his latest Bushy sketch of our invader eating our cookies while sitting on top of my wife’s picnic basket. This picture has disturbed me all week long. I hate to admit when I am “bushying” myself! Sometimes I’m the one sitting on my own lid preventing all of the good stuff inside from being released. I’ve let fear of rejection and fear of failure and fear of the unknown and lots of other self-defeating lies hold me back from lifting the lid off of my God-given potential. I’ve kept my tools to myself, afraid that no one would like them or use them.
How foolish I can be sometimes. God’s anointing and blessing and favor have been upon the tools that He’s inspired me to create that cut right to the heart of people’s needs and lives and relationships.
Today’s blog is full of conviction and confessions from my own housecleaning. People tease me because I live outside-the-box. But every “outside-the-boxer” still has a box. Now I need to lift the lid of my leadership and kick out the sides of my box that have bound my freedom. I must leave my comfort zone and the familiar and take the tools and processes that God has developed in and through my life and share them with others who are ready to go deeper with God and with people. I believe there’s a world full of hurting and lonely people searching for meaning and deeper connections. I’m ready for the new adventures that God is orchestrating, and I’m not going to hide myself or my cutting-edge tools any longer.
As we come to the close of a challenging year, I believe now more than ever that people are dying for connection. So many people have lost their sense of connection to God, to themselves, and with people. The tools that I’ve developed help people to connect on a deeper level. They cut right to the heart and engage people in a process of heartfelt transformation.
As you decide what you’re getting your loved ones for Christmas, I want to invite you to go to our www.spiritdriven.org website. I want to encourage you to make an end-of-the-season donation to our Spirit-Driven nonprofit ministry as we’ve committed this year both to journeying with people to freedom and also to developing and completing high-impact tools that God has used to help people to connect, heal, and grow. When you go to the donate/shop tab, you’ll also find our store where you can order any of our easy-to-use cutting-edge tools to help equip you with props and tools as you’re reaching out to help people that you care about.
Are you doing end-of-the-year housecleaning?
Are you taking inventory of your life?
What needs to go?
What’s holding you back from being free to pursue all that God wants to do in and through you?
What gifts has God given you that must be developed and shared with others?
Let’s throw off restraint and follow Jesus together.
Let’s go all in with God!