When I listen to the stories of successful people’s lives, there is usually one person who stands above the rest. This individual may have been a parent, a teacher, a coach or someone with a position of some authority. This one singular voice saw the good in them and encouraged them to become something more significant than they ever imagined.

When I talk to young people who are doing great things in this world, frequently there is one person who motived them to pursue their dreams. One caring person looked them in the eye and told them of all the good they could do. They showed care and concern and pointed them in the right direction, and it changed their actions.

When I hear the stories of dedicated volunteers, at least in Church, I find they were usually influenced by one person who saw their potential. That leader took this young Christian under their wing and helped them develop their gifts until they could soar on their own.

At Christmas, our temptation is to try to make an impact on the world through our gifts. We think that if we give enough money or just the right gift, then we will change the world for the better. I just do not believe that is true. People don’t need more stuff, and they are probably not overly interested in your money. What holds the highest potential for an impact is when we believe in someone else.

I believe we all want someone to see past our fake smiles and routine answers. We want another individual to look deep inside of us and see all the good we possess. They may have to see past my bad behavior that was desperate pleas for attention. They may have to listen past my foul language that attempts to make me feel strong. People are longing for a connection with another human who thinks we have value and worth.

So this December, instead of rushing to the store to purchase items to bring joy to the world, what if you expressed a genuine interest in someone? What would happen if you told them of all the good you saw in their life? What if you decided to invest in the life of a younger person for the coming year?

Real and lasting transformation of people will not come with a purchase at the store. Lasting change for good in the life of someone will only happen when we truly believe in them and work to develop them. Yes, it will require a personal investment and probably more time, but the result will far outlast this Christmas.

Sunday is the first day of my week, and it is the biggest. Yesterday I preached in two worship programs, gave a devotional to the Church leadership and then led our monthly meeting. Last night I taught at youth group and prepared snacks while other people connected in small groups. In the gaps yesterday, I uploaded the sermon to the website and closed all the books on all the day’s events. Every Sunday is a long day of work that usually ends with me working while lying in bed until I fall asleep.

Then comes Monday. I know many people hate Mondays, but for a preacher, it is a unique day in my week. Here are some of the parts of my day.

1. Thanksgiving. I am so glad about some of the things that happened yesterday. The sermon in the first program went great. I have a young girl who arranged a baptism for this coming Saturday. Numerous people stepped up to help all around the Church. Our two programs are starting to level off more equally. New people are coming and starting to get connected. 20 kids stayed to practice for Christmas. Our leadership meeting is actually fun and uplifting. We had one of my favorite nights of youth group in a long time, as it was filled with laughter and learning. There are numerous reasons to be thankful.

2. Second Guessing. Every week is also filled with its share of mistakes. There were glitches in each program. The sound system has a buzz that won’t go away. The sermon in the second program just did not seem to get going, and there were distractions. Some leadership decisions are complicated, and I pray we are doing the right thing. Youth group was small, and several people were gone, and I always wonder how we get more teens to attend. There is always room for improvement.

3. Prayer. Each week brings a new list of prayer needs. Yesterday we did not add a lot, but there are several people sick and others with loved ones struggling. I pray for our staff and leadership and the future of our Church along with my family.

4. Planning. Monday morning I lead a staff meeting. We review the events of Sunday and then plan out the rest of the week. What opportunities lie ahead? What challenges are coming? Each Monday starts a new week of preparing for the next Sunday.

5. Grind it Out. While my creativity level is low on Monday, there is still plenty of work to do. I start preparing for small groups, I work an hour or two on my sermon, and I will have several pages of material to get the week rolling. Usually, nothing gets finished on Monday or even Tuesday for the matter. Work just gets started knowing that Sunday is always coming.

Lastly, I will think of you. My mind will roll over dozens of dozens of people who are a part of the world I pastor. I wonder, how can I reach them for God. How can I help them grow? What can I do differently or possibly better to reach more people for Jesus? Is there anything I can do this week that will lead people to take a new and deeper step of faith?

Today I will start a new fresh week of work that I pray will bring Godly fruit in the future. Honestly, I hope that is everyone’s view of today, whether you are in the ministry or not. Each week is a chance to bless the world for God; I pray this is another good week.

I haven’t posted any articles I have read in the last few months. Today I thought I would give you a couple of things to read this holiday season. I hope you enjoy and have a blessed weekend.

What Weight Watchers Taught Me About Church – good stuff.

3 Questions for Parents to ask before you say “YES” to another activity – very important questions.

Five Parenting Myths I Used to Believe

The Pastoral Duty of Letting People Down

Why I Don’t Want You to Attend Church Anymore

Do I Have to Agree With My Pastors? – I thought the article would just say “yes” 🙂

I’m a Pastor, and I Think Pastor Appreciation Month Is a Bad Idea – my feelings exactly.

Ten Questions to Ask at the End of this Week

One instrument can make good music. A guitar or a piano in the hands of a gifted musician can do amazing things. I once watched a man with a guitar play it and then use the body like a drum, and he made sounds I didn’t think were possible.

Typically, the addition of other instruments creates greater possibilities of entertainment. A simple four-piece band can play a variety of sounds and styles of music. Adding more pieces can give us unlimited musical achievements.

This idea recently came to attention as I was watching our worship band. My son was playing the bass guitar, and he was only playing a handful of chords. It wasn’t anything moving and seemed insignificant. Then the drum added a separate beat. Add in an acoustic guitar, and a keyboard and those pieces started to work together. Each person playing their instrument in harmony with the other musicians created a sound that blessed my soul.

I think each Christian is given one instrument in their life. Some people are loud like a drum. Others are quiet and sound more like a flute. Some have the sense of a rhythm guitar while others are an unleashed lead guitar. Each one with a giftedness that gives them their unique sound.

We can make music on our own. Given enough time and experience and we can use our instrument to amaze people with our skills. But even then, we are limited in the amount we can do on our own.

When we take our abilities and connect them with other believers, the possibilities are unlimited. Together we can make sounds that we would not be able to perform on our own. We have the potential to bless people as we work together making the music of faith.

Each weekend we come together as a group of believers. It is not a time to focus on one master musician on the stage. It is an opportunity for us to get the band together with each person filling a role. Some who come will teach children, and others will lead adults. There will be people who sing and speak the word of the Lord. People will be working out front and behind the scenes. Together we will make the music of God for everyone who attends to hear. The sound waves will reverberate through the week and into our community. What we do here will bring beautiful music to our community and our world.

I am tuning up my instrument and getting ready for Sunday. I hope you will come prepared to play some too. I would sure hate to try to play alone. Together is better.

We have just come through the season of Thanksgiving and are headed quickly to Christmas which has been dubbed, “the most wonderful time of the year.” Unfortunately for some people, there has been little to be thankful for right now and the holidays don’t seem so wonderful.

Why does God allow bad things to happen? How do we understand pain and difficulty in the life of people, especially believers? Today, I would like to point you toward four truths about the struggles of this life and the suffering we endure.

1. Sin Exists … and people choose it. The Bible is built on a story that humans are given a choice to follow God or reject him. The first couple decided to reject him, and we continue to do so up through today. Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are people who chose to hurt other people, they lie, they cheat, they steal, they do drugs, they break the law, and they chose to reject what is right. As a result, we are affected by their decisions.

2. Evil Exist … and work against us. I return to the Biblical story of Job. In the early chapters, we have Satan wishing to test Job. He wants to see if his faith is focused on God or just his blessings. Evil wants God to allow him to test Job’s character. I believe that evil still exists, and he is still working against us, testing our integrity, our faith, and our endurance. When you couple our willingness to sin with the opportunity that evil presents, then bad things happen.

3. Pain Exists … and we feel it. Unfortunately, our bodies are not indestructible. Pain makes us cry out for a doctor, or surgery or pills or anything to take the pain away. The harsh reality is that all of us are mortal and these mortal bodies are given to decay. We are all going to die. The flip side of that coin is that emotional and spiritual pain also exists. We feel the pain in our souls as much as the physical pain in our flesh and all of it hurts.

4. Hope Exists … and we need to embrace it. If all of the above statements are true, then our most significant need is for hope in the darkness. I believe that faith has the answer to our pain. First, I believe God can give us forgiveness for our sins. Second, he can provide us with strength over our temptations. Third, he gives us purpose in our pain. He can take the evil and bring good out of the misery. Finally, God gives us the hope of eternal life. Heaven is a place not given to sin, where goodness reigns and where death is swallowed up in victory. There will be no more mourning or crying or pain in the eternal presence of God.

I want you to know that I write this not as a casual bystander watching the pain of the world and offering one-line suggestions for help. I write this as I stand in the middle of my own struggles. Last Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the last time I saw my father alive. He struggled to walk to the French door and wave as my boys, and I drove out of sight. He then suffered another stroke on Christmas Eve and was gone by January 8th. Every day I think of something that reminds me of the difficulties of the holidays, and it hurts.

Yet, in the darkness I find hope. I understand the nature of the world in which we live, and the hope found in my faith. If you are struggling this holiday season, I pray you find the hope that only trust in Jesus can bring.

Flipping through a photo album reveals a small mystery of life. There are pictures of people who touched my life for a season and now are gone. It seems God gives us individuals to help guide us for a short time, and then we move different directions.

Obviously social media can allow us to stay in touch longer, but even then, many of the people who have walked through my life are distant now. We no longer speak regularly or know the details of each other’s lives.

The footprints on my soul that have been left by teachers, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and Church members are deeply imprinted. They taught me something. They gave me wisdom and guidance. They saw the best in me when I couldn’t see it.

And now they are gone. Lost in a world of memories of the good times and precious connections.

I believe God brings two groups of people into each person’s life.

1. People To Help Us. I believe God can send the right person into your life to guide you in paths of righteousness if you listen. They can point you farther down the road to the life God has in store for you.

2. People We Can Help. I also believe God has brought people into your life that you can help. It may be as simple as a word of encouragement or as complex as counseling. You have people who need you for this moment on their journey.

These people may only cast a slight shadow over my walk with Jesus, but the impact can be significant.

We naturally attempt to cling to these blessings God sent us, even if our paths separate. Still, slowly God moves us both different directions. Time will inevitably leave us as strangers with a common story.

As I look at the pictures of my past, I am thankful for those strangers God brought to me that became friends. We helped each other, and then we moved on.

I hope my life has been a blessing to other people, if only for a short time.

Each day God brings people close to us, and we never know where that will lead. Every single day he does this … even today.

The American culture has given rise to naming the days immediately following Thanksgiving. We have Black Friday and Small Shop Saturday. We have Sunday set aside for worship, although our attendance shows that several people forget that day. Anyway, we then have Cyber Monday as the day people shop online unless you have a day job and responsibilities. Then in 2012, a new day was proposed, and it is starting to catch on across the country. Today is Giving Tuesday.

The concept is simple. We have spent the past five days indulging in food and spending. Why not take some of your money and give it to charity? Instead of making the holidays all about purchasing gifts that will break in the next year, why not donate to a worthy cause and allow your cash to do something positive in the world?

Just so you know this is not a selfish plea, you do not have to give to the Church I lead. You do not even need to give to a Church.

Now I would ask you to do two things. First, as a believer, I would love for you to give to cause the directly impacts the world for Christ. Our Church supports missions that I can suggest like Show Me Christian Youth Home, Rapha House, a Christian College, Christian Campus House (in Warrensburg, MO), or even a missionary on the field. Second, do a little homework on the place you give your hard-earned money. There are organizations where 80% or more of the donations go to overhead costs. There are non-profit CEO’s that make millions. On the flip side, some great groups function with little staff costs and have a high impact.

My challenge today is simple: Just give something to a worthy cause.

I honestly believe the best way to use your resources this holiday season is to give to a cause that will be about positive change in the world. It will not only impact the world, but it will shift your focus onto more significant things. Jesus makes it clear, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Returning to work after the long holiday weekend meant I was greeted with a mound of work. Combine that with the looming Christmas season, and I am overwhelmed. There is so much to do. I found myself sitting here dreaming about one day. One day I will catch up on all this work and the stress level will be reduced, and life will be good.

Then I realized how many of my dreams I am waiting to happen one day in the future. I fantasize about this one day when everything will be perfect.

One day I will have less work, and I will be less stressed.

One day I will catch up on all my projects at home and have more time for my family.

One day I will not have children’s events to run to, and I can spend more time with my wife.

One day I will have enough money to pay all my bills, and I will become generous.

One day I will have extra time to develop deep relationships with people I know.

One day I will be retired and have more time for God.

One day I will …

One day I will be the kind of man I have always dreamed of becoming. One day when my schedule allows, and the work is done. One day when the children are grown, and I have less responsibility. One day when the finances are better, I will give more time and energy to a cause I believe is worthy. One day out there in the future my life will perfect, and I will be happy.

The problem is that one day never comes. There is always just today. I have been dreaming about this mystical time that will happen one day since I was a young man. Now, I find myself still dreaming about this great one day.

The truth is that we only have today. This is what we get, and we are called to make the best out of the mess. We are challenged to shape our lives in the middle of less than perfect conditions.

Great people do not just show up one day, they are formed over a lifetime of imperfect days, just like today.

Some things in life a hard to explain.

A series of good events take place that seems beyond explanation. We say, “They are lucky.”

Two people meet oddly, and they fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. Hearing their story and some people respond by calling it “destiny.”

Something good happens to a person who is typically nice, and people say, “That’s Karma.”

The storm comes, and it blows a tree over in front of your house, but nothing is harmed. Neighbors talk about the “strange power of mother nature.”

Everyone, I mean everyone, has things that happen in their life that go beyond rational explanation.

Ancient people attributed these actions to a list of gods. They created idols to explain all these incredible phenomena that they experienced. We have moved away from gods and relabeled them with things like “luck, destiny, karma” and a host of other words.

What if the unexplainable events of your life could be the mighty hand of God? What if he were quietly moving and pushing you toward a life guided by him?

A preacher I admire once said, “Trying to see the hand of God is like looking through stained glass. You can see it, but you have to look closely and carefully.”

Where has the hand of God been working in your life? I am sure it has been happening. You may have mislabeled or misunderstood it, but God is with you.

How would your perspective on life change this Thanksgiving if you looked for the hand of God in it?

Maybe the unexplainable in your life has a supernatural explanation of God working for your highest good.

My phone has hundreds of features that I do not use or understand. My DirecTV was explained to me by the installer, but I don’t use much of anything he showed me. I own a smart TV, and I have learned to use a few things. I have so many gadgets and gizmos in my life that I have purchased that I barely know more than essential functions.

Recently I ran across an article that explained this phenomenon. Each year new phones and computers are introduced with fancy features. The truth is that most people do not utilize all the special functions they already have on their current technology. The problem is an issue of minimal understanding. Once we gain enough knowledge to make something useful, we have a natural tendency to stop learning anything new.

We tell ourselves that one day we will learn more useful information about our product. We hold these dreams that there will come a day when we sit down and study the manual. Some day we will scroll through features and try things out. We might even plan to google some possible helps, and we will become a master of our technology.

Truthfully, we will never do it. There are usually only two reasons that we learn a new way to use our gadget. First, someone we know, and trust shows us a unique use and thoroughly explains it to us. Second, we are forced to learn to regain its minimal usefulness.

This realty applies to more than technology. It also applies to our spiritual life. Many people reach a turning point in their lives. A new job, marriage, childbirth, a job loss, divorce or some other issue pushes us into a new way of life. We get excited about the prospects that this new life holds when we apply Jesus to it. We listen and learn. We read and search to get a grasp on all that faith can mean. Soon we know enough that things are usable in our faith. We experience grace, we understand the cross and our guilt is removed. We reach the minimal understanding of following Jesus.

The question is, will we go beyond minimal understanding? I hope that everyone who comes to Jesus begins to use the features. Just like your fancy new phone, it has far more going for it than you understand. Will you push forward to learn all about it? I know people say they want to be more and dream of being a spiritual giant, but will they? It is possible that some believers will just live at the same level of understanding and use.

God may one day push us to grow. A friend may walk into our lives and give us a deeper level of faith. Maybe? I just hope that one day we do not think our faith is a failure and trade it in for something different because of our lack of knowledge.