TIME “STEWARDSHIP”…. 

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In the Christian world, we often talk about “stewardship” in terms of money. 

However, from God’s perspective, stewardship is about so much more than money! 

Being a good “steward” is about being a good MANAGER of all that God has entrusted to us. 

That includes how we spend our time! 

In fact, I would even be so bold to suggest that TIME management is more important than MONEY management, because how we spend our TIME greatly affects how we spend our money! 

Currently, through a Re-Read of Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald, I was reminded once again that for me to be everything that God wants me to be, I must think of my time just like my money: 

I must track where I’m spending it. 

I must separate, not just in my mind, but on paper, fixed expenditures, from variable expenditures. 

I must plan ahead.
I must think in terms of budget categories.
I must reserve some on myself, for my own personal health and vitality. 

If I don’t decide where to spend it, other people will decide it for me! 

I must say “No” to the good things to say “Yes” to the best things. 

It all belongs to God, so I must ask myself daily: “Is God happy with the way I managed it today?” 

Final note: I learned early in my ministry that there are three things you can do with your time: Waste it, spend it, or invest it. I am now, in the wisdom of many years of experience, learning how to invest it. 

Evolve…

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To evolve means to change. Darwin didn’t invent evolution God did. God is all about change. He really changed things up when, after eons of dark and silence, He created the universe, then you and me. While He was creating it all He created our world to be full of change: Wet places and dry places; the day and the night; Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Flying animals and swimming animals; Male and Female (talk about change!). God loves changing it up! God is not a monotonous God! 

To change, then, is to live out part of what it means to be created in the image of God! God created us to be people who are constantly changing; constantly growing; constantly becoming. So from time to time, I think we ought to be asking ourselves: 

How am I changing? 

What about me has changed lately? 

What have I been part of changing around me? 

How can I shake things up to break the monotony: At work? At school? At church? At home?

What is my plan for personal change as I move into 2022? 

In my life and in my ministry I am constantly shaking things up and changing things. Change cultivates passion. 

I stopped buying Starbucks coffee beans after 5 years.  Now buying and drinking Kicking Horse Coffee (a Canadian brand).

I moved my key study time from early mornings to later evenings (10:00p to midnight).

I am implementing a three hour time frame each morning – currently six days a week – when my focus is research and writing – not sermons but several books and numerous articles I am working on publishing.

I have decided after many years of giving away my “day off” tßåo no longer work on that day each week. In fact, no work, no messages, no shopping, no emails, no texts, no phone calls, no laundry. It will be a true “day off”.

So go for it! Change something! Shake things up! Will it be uncomfortable? Yes. Will people resist? Yes. But it is better than dying a slow death of boredom and inactivity.

Change. It will cultivate passion: in you, and those around you. 

Ask The Right Questions

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Here are some great questions to ask as you wrap up the year 2021 and begin to set your goals and plans for 2022. 

1> What are the 2-3 themes that personally defined 2021 for you? What was your main focus and what were the key achievements in your life during the year?

2> What people, books, accomplishments, or special moments created highlights for you  in 2021? 

3> Give yourself a grade in the following areas of focus as you look back at 2021: vocationally, spiritually, family, relationally, emotionally, financially, physically, recreationally 

4> What am I working on that is BIG and that will certainly carry over into 2022? 

5> As I move into 2022, does it appear that a majority of my energy bis going to be spent on things that drain me or things that energize me? If it is ‘draining’ then how can you change things so this will not be your reality in 2022?

6> How am I preparing for 20 years from now? How will my plans for 2022 contribute to those plans?

Hopefully as 2022 approaches you will be asking yourself these questions. I am sure there are other questions you could and should be asking yourself, but these few questions are a good place to start.

It may be good to involve a close friend whom you trust in this process. They can be much more objective while you are, naturally, subjective. 

Remember, if you don’t plan — you really are planning, just planning to fail and not move forward personally in the many areas that could use improvement. 

The Single Most Important Key to Achieving Your Goals (Dreams)

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I am working on writing out a list of the “100 Things I Want to Do Before I Die.” It’s becoming a really amazing, audacious list. Whenever I work on it, I am both inspired and stunned by the fact that I have already accomplished a fair number of the things on the list. And yet, there is so much more. The list keeps growing. And as I move forward into 2022 I am adding to the list a number of new items, new dreams, new desires.

I’ll bet you have a list, too. Perhaps you’ve written it down; perhaps not. Regardless, you doubtless want to accomplish things—probably a lot of things. Really important things. Unfortunately, life is short. Its seems that I still have more that I want to accomplish than I could probably do in seven lifetimes. 

So how do you actually make significant progress on your goals? How can you get more things done and squeeze as much juice out of life as possible? How do you work towards fulfilling what some call their “Bucket List” because its contains the things they want to do before they “kick the bucket. In other words, before they die.  

One of the most important things you can do, of course, is to write down your goals. Things become much cleared and more concrete when we are forced to write down our thoughts and dreams. So, assuming you have done that, what’s next? 

I’m going to tell you the single most important thing you can do to make your dreams become reality. I have done this over and over again in my life. To the extent I have achieved any level of success, I believe this is the secret: 

Enlist the help of the best coaches and instructors you can afford. As a Christian I would call this person or persons a mentor. The current word being used in the world is “coach.” Regardless of what you call this person, we all need the input and wisdom of those who are smarter and more experienced than we are. Someone who has gone where you are wanting to go. In other words, someone who has been there and done that.

My assumption is that someone, somewhere has already done what you are attempting to do— and done it well. If you can tap into their experience and learn from it, you can get to where you want to go faster and with fewer missteps along the journey. 

With a number of items on my Bucket List I have already located someone who can help me to move forward in the right direction and in the right way during 2022. And, I continue to look for other mentors for the yet to be planned out items from my Bucket List. 

Biblically Paul had several mentors. Before his experience on the road to Damascus and salvation his mentor was Gamaliel. After his born again experience Barnabas came along side of him as his mentor. 

Paul also discipled and mentored young men such as Timothy and Titus. 

So, each of us need a mentor or a coach – a spiritual father. But each one of us also needs to be mentoring and coaching someone as well; a spiritual father for someone younger in the Lord than we are. 

Don’t Leave God Out Of Your Plans

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It is December and that is the time that I set goals and plan for the coming year … I have, over  the years, read a lot about planning and goal setting. And, I realize each year at this time that it would be easy to get the idea that if you just plan well enough or persist long enough you will succeed. But, again, over the years I have learned that this is seldom enough. 

I was reminded again this morning of a Bible verse… “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain”  (Psalm 127:1)

Ultimately, we cannot do anything of lasting value unless God blesses our work. The Apostle Paul reminds the believers at Corinth: 

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6)

This statement doesn’t diminish the work of Paul or of Apollos. If you have read anything about either of their lives, you know that both men possessed incredible faith and courage. They worked hard. They endured setbacks without losing heart. But, at the end of the day, they also knew that it was all in vain unless God “gave the increase.” 

No one knows this better than a farmer. The farmer can till and fertilize the soil. He can plant the seed. He can chase off varmints. He can spray for bugs. He can even irrigate his fields. But he can’t make it rain. Nor can he restrain the winds, the lightening, or the hail. At the end of the day, whether he acknowledges it or not, he is dependent on God for a successful harvest. 

This is true in any endeavour. This has at least three implications for today’s disciples and followers of Jesus…

1. Stay humble. The Bible says “pride goes before a fall” (see Proverbs 16:18). Just when you think you have it figured out, things change. To remain effective, you have to keep adopting the posture of a beginner. I like the prayer, “Lord, forgive me, a beginner.”

2. Trust God. If you don’t need God to pull off what you are planning, you are not dreaming big enough. In case you are wondering, no, you are not smart enough. No, you don’t have enough experience. and, no, you don’t have enough resources. But with God, all things are possible (see Mark 10:27). 

3. Work hard. Too often, people want to exercise faith in lieu of real work. But these should never be pitted against one another (see James 2:14–18). They go hand in hand. Trust God and then work your buns off. 

This sounds pretty simple, right? The problem is in living it out. 

Many people do #1 and #3 pretty well. But it is #2 that we can forget if we are not careful. I believe that man was created to be in a relationship with God. This is the real purpose of life. If what you are doing serves that purpose, great. But if it causes us to forget God and act as if he doesn’t exist, then, in His love for us, He is quick to remind us how finite our own resources are and how much we need Him.