I think this blog is going to have several parts to it...Here goes part one.
Over the last few weeks I’ve had this question going over and over in my head. Is it LOVE? You hear the words “I love you” all the time from many different people in your life. But are the words really meant or is it just a phrase that people say to make the person hearing those words feel better? In 1987 a rock group by the name of WhiteSnake had a hit single called “Is This Love” that went to number two in the single chart making this song their second biggest U.S. hit. I guess that question is one of the biggest questions that people ask themselves. No wonder the song went to number two in the charts. People want to know “Is This Love”?
For those of you who actually know me you’ll understand the following research method. I went to Webster’s dictionary to get some clarification and Webster defines “love” as the following: 1 Strong affection or liking of someone or something: 2 A passionate affection of one person for another. If you noticed the definition there is one word that is the same in both descriptions…affection. So, I went to Webster’s again. Affection: 1 fond or tender feeling. Another word that caught my attention was the word passionate, which means having or showing strong feelings. Passion is any emotion as hate, love, fear, or intense emotional excitement, and my favorite, the object of any strong desire. The OBJECT of any strong desire…so there has to be something or someone that you SHOW your tender, fond feelings to. Not only is there a showing of this feeling but there is someone who receives it.
I’m sure that there are some of you out there that hear those words and the first thing that goes through your mind is, yeah right. I know that I’ve heard it from people and I think you don’t even know me how can you say you “love” me? People have said those words before and had no reason to say it. They just said it because it sounded right at the time. It made the person sitting across from them feel like they were important and had meaning in their life. Maybe that’s the way the people that said it to me wanted me to feel, like I was important and had meaning to them. There has to be another way to make people feel like they are important to us...but that's another blog.
I guess the best example of love we have is that of Jesus Christ. No greater love has ever been displayed. Even though he cried out to God, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless….he followed through with it. That is love! That is a true display of strong affection, passionate affection of one person to another. Isn’t the definition of “Christian” to be “Christ like”? When was the last time you actually went through a "crucifixion" for someone you allegedly “loved”? Some of you can answer that with the statement that you’ve been through hell and back for the people you love. You’re the kind of person I want in my corner. You’re not afraid to fight for what you want. You’re the kind of person that I seek out to be my friend. You're tough, determined and will not let anything stand in your way. Even if the people you're fighting for don't return the same affection, you're showing YOUR love, not theirs.
When Christ says He loves us, we know he means it because he showed how important we are to him. When you fight for your spouse, your children, your friends and you tell them you love them, they understand those words because they know what you've done for them or where you've been for them. They know the sacrifices and dedications you've made for them. There is no question when the words I love you are spoken because they know just how important they are to you. You've shown it.
So, to answer the question asked "is it love", I guess you have to ask yourself another question. Am I willing to "die" for this person? If you can answer yes to that question, then yeah, it could be love...but these are just my thoughts on a page.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The right track....You on it?
Recently I had a friend of mine comment on my face book wall and said I missed my calling. I've had a lot of time to think about that comment and maybe I didn’t miss my calling but I’m not responding to it appropriately. But then I think that maybe I am responding to it just not in the way that I originally thought I was supposed to. With that said, I think my calling hasn’t been developed as well as it could be, thus the subject of this note.
Over the last twenty four years I've felt that my calling was to be a preacher or teacher of sorts. I must say that I've grown up in church and I’ve been raised in the Pentecostal faith. But I've never had a desire to preach or teach...until February 1987. When that happened I didn't hear angels sing or a bright light shine down on me with a voice telling me to "SPREAD THE GOSPEL", but I did feel that I had a gift that God wanted to use. I went to my Pastor and he put me in a Sunday school class room teaching Middle School kids. I felt at home...I felt like I had a purpose and that Pastor understood what I was feeling. And he did know. That’s why what he did for me helped me tremendously over the next few years. I felt like he was developing me or mentoring me to face things he knew I’d face over the next few years.
I'll cut to the chase and skip the next 15 years because during that time period I know that I was being developed and trained by the best. I was given many task and responsibilities. Some I did well with and some, well, let's just say I could have done better. But I was being developed....bottom line.
So what happened? Why am I not preaching across the country or even Pastoring a church? Why am I not standing in front of a group of people every Sunday teaching, training, and developing others? Well, I really don't know, so I'll just say that some of it may be me or my fault and some of it may be the fault of others. However, that should never get in the way. If God truly called me, then I shouldn't let what others think or their ideas or opinions get in the way of what God wants, right? (that’s another issue for a later time.)
I think to many of us get to the point where we put our trust and confidence in the wrong thing. That one thing is spelled S.E.L.F. We get to a point where we think we are ready to hit the streets or the Churches and start preaching, teaching, singing, sharing, or whatever. We also get to a point where we expect MAN to use us because we KNOW we are ready when in actuality we aren't.
I believe that we MUST be accountable to someone. We must have someone in our life that we can trust, talk openly with, discuss the opportunities and failures we face with and above all be accountable to. We must have someone in our life that can give us direction and guide us. We need someone that can speak directly and freely to us because remember; you just received a calling, nothing extra. Your calling was a request from God to use the gift he gave you at birth and the person that you should have leading you is the person that has been where you are and understands the things you're facing. The one thing that God didn't do when he called you was develop the gift inside you, that's what this person will help you do. God opened your eyes to the gift and put a desire in you to use it, but he never developed it into what it could be. That's what we are supposed to do.
How do we develop our gifts? To answer that question I'll ask some others. How does a great violinist develop his talent to play? How does a great vocalist develop his ability to sing? How does a great actor develop a character? They practice, practice, practice! They have mentors in their life that they can call on. These mentors have been through the things that the mentee is facing and they talk with them, they share the experiences and procedures that they used to overcome. Then the discussion, the advice, the suggestions are put into practice. They don't just take the advice and go immediately into Carnegie Hall expecting to play with the orchestra. They don't go directly to the Grand Ole Opry and expect to be put on the next weekend’s bill. No! They develop the talent. They use the advice and practice in a small group or in a small venue. Then as the talent gets bigger and better, so does the venues and groups. The same can be said about developing our calling. Yes, it's been identified that there is one. Yes, it can be said that we have talents and abilities that God has given to us to use for His purpose. But we must be willing to say, I don't know how to develop this gift into what He intended for it to be and then be willing to submit to those who do know.
Who are you leaning on? Who are you allowing to be the mentor that can help you develop the gift God has given you? If the answer is no one then you’re going to be frustrated and eventually give up. Find a mentor and share your calling. When you find them….LISTEN TO THEM….and put it into practice.
Just a thought on a page…..
Over the last twenty four years I've felt that my calling was to be a preacher or teacher of sorts. I must say that I've grown up in church and I’ve been raised in the Pentecostal faith. But I've never had a desire to preach or teach...until February 1987. When that happened I didn't hear angels sing or a bright light shine down on me with a voice telling me to "SPREAD THE GOSPEL", but I did feel that I had a gift that God wanted to use. I went to my Pastor and he put me in a Sunday school class room teaching Middle School kids. I felt at home...I felt like I had a purpose and that Pastor understood what I was feeling. And he did know. That’s why what he did for me helped me tremendously over the next few years. I felt like he was developing me or mentoring me to face things he knew I’d face over the next few years.
I'll cut to the chase and skip the next 15 years because during that time period I know that I was being developed and trained by the best. I was given many task and responsibilities. Some I did well with and some, well, let's just say I could have done better. But I was being developed....bottom line.
So what happened? Why am I not preaching across the country or even Pastoring a church? Why am I not standing in front of a group of people every Sunday teaching, training, and developing others? Well, I really don't know, so I'll just say that some of it may be me or my fault and some of it may be the fault of others. However, that should never get in the way. If God truly called me, then I shouldn't let what others think or their ideas or opinions get in the way of what God wants, right? (that’s another issue for a later time.)
I think to many of us get to the point where we put our trust and confidence in the wrong thing. That one thing is spelled S.E.L.F. We get to a point where we think we are ready to hit the streets or the Churches and start preaching, teaching, singing, sharing, or whatever. We also get to a point where we expect MAN to use us because we KNOW we are ready when in actuality we aren't.
I believe that we MUST be accountable to someone. We must have someone in our life that we can trust, talk openly with, discuss the opportunities and failures we face with and above all be accountable to. We must have someone in our life that can give us direction and guide us. We need someone that can speak directly and freely to us because remember; you just received a calling, nothing extra. Your calling was a request from God to use the gift he gave you at birth and the person that you should have leading you is the person that has been where you are and understands the things you're facing. The one thing that God didn't do when he called you was develop the gift inside you, that's what this person will help you do. God opened your eyes to the gift and put a desire in you to use it, but he never developed it into what it could be. That's what we are supposed to do.
How do we develop our gifts? To answer that question I'll ask some others. How does a great violinist develop his talent to play? How does a great vocalist develop his ability to sing? How does a great actor develop a character? They practice, practice, practice! They have mentors in their life that they can call on. These mentors have been through the things that the mentee is facing and they talk with them, they share the experiences and procedures that they used to overcome. Then the discussion, the advice, the suggestions are put into practice. They don't just take the advice and go immediately into Carnegie Hall expecting to play with the orchestra. They don't go directly to the Grand Ole Opry and expect to be put on the next weekend’s bill. No! They develop the talent. They use the advice and practice in a small group or in a small venue. Then as the talent gets bigger and better, so does the venues and groups. The same can be said about developing our calling. Yes, it's been identified that there is one. Yes, it can be said that we have talents and abilities that God has given to us to use for His purpose. But we must be willing to say, I don't know how to develop this gift into what He intended for it to be and then be willing to submit to those who do know.
Who are you leaning on? Who are you allowing to be the mentor that can help you develop the gift God has given you? If the answer is no one then you’re going to be frustrated and eventually give up. Find a mentor and share your calling. When you find them….LISTEN TO THEM….and put it into practice.
Just a thought on a page…..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)