Do you ever wonder if what you’re doing is really important or significant? Do you ever doubt if you’re being effective? I’ll be honest and admit I ask these questions all the time. If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, then you’re in good company. It just means you’re human!

If you’ve ever put together a jigsaw puzzle you’ll know that every piece has it’s own place and if you’re missing a piece, then the puzzle is incomplete. Without one single piece the puzzle is incomplete and has a hole in it. There are a lot of churches and organizations like this. They’re incomplete and have holes in them because someone decided their work wasn’t significant.

I think too many times we sell ourselves short and think that we’re not doing anything significant.

The problem is that we often compare our significance to someone else’s. It’s too easy to look at those around you and compare what you’re doing to them. The problem with this is that we can never measure up because there will always be someone better and more gifted than we are.

How can we avoid this trap? I think there are several things to keep in mind and give us perspective:

1. Without you doing your part the body of Christ has a hole in it.
2. Someone out there needs what you have in your life.
3. When everyone is present there is “wholeness” in the church.
4. Like a puzzle piece, you are uniquely shaped, designed and gifted.
5. There is a place that is waiting for you to contribute your part.

Question: What are you uniquely gifted to do and how can you help others?

Growing up my father often told me I was “hard headed.” He said this because I didn’t always listen. Actually, it’s not that I didn’t listen, it’s that I didn’t want to listen. This got me in trouble on more than one occasion!

While reading the Bible in Luke 9:51-56 I discovered I was in good company with the likes of Jesus. Continue Reading…

The Lord loves a good day’s work. We know this because Adam had a job before he had a wife. Genesis 1:15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Adam didn’t get a wife until he had a job. That’s good advice if you’re raising children to be responsible adults.

Picture by Chianti Salvadonica

Later, the Lord promised the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 28:8, “The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.” For some reason the Lord takes our work seriously.

Continue Reading…

Pain can be a hard taskmaster, but it can also be a great teacher. Pain usually has a way of getting our attention. Why is it that it often takes pain in our lives to make us slow down or change directions?

Picture by carlos.a.martinez

I think God allows pain to come into our lives because sometimes that’s the only way He can get our attention. It doesn’t sound good, but I suspect there’s more truth to it than we want to admit.

Continue Reading…

Have you ever thought about your routine for getting ready to go to church? I suspect probably not because we do it all the time. In fact, it’s probably a similar routine as getting ready for work every day.

Your routine probably consists of hitting the snooze button a few times, finally getting up, heading to the bathroom to get ready, get dressed, fix coffee, get your kids up, yell at your kids and rushing out the door to be late for church.  Continue Reading…