I need a bigger shoe horn!!

If you were to start a business selling swimming pools, how successful would you be in Nova Scotia? Or maybe your greatest idea is to market wood burning fireplaces in Panama. How long till you began turning a profit?
I used to work for a farm and home retailer that was always looking to increase market share. The CEO would commonly ask questions like, "When you came to a new market, were there cows on the loose? Were there a lot of skinny animals? Were the people of the town naked?" His point was this, someone in this new market was taking care of our customers needs. "How are we going to convince them they need to buy from us? What can we do that will set us apart from our competition?"
These were great questions that begged for more research. Anybody can set up a new business and start selling, but if your business is not relevant to the surrounding market, you may as well stop before you start.
Take the time to learn the people you are trying to reach. What's important to them? How will my product or service be of any use to the customer? How much can the market afford? Lastly, which is probably the hardest question; is my product or service only important to me?
If you answered yes to the last question, be careful. You may be teetering on the edge of arrogant irrelevance.
Sometimes, we have these brilliant ideas that could really affect the culture that we live in, but we end in failure because we try to use a giant shoe horn to persuade people to our point of view. Sure you may gain a few followers or patrons, but are you really making an impact? In most cases, we influence people to take a hard stance against our ideas, which in turn hardens the way for others with similar thoughts and aspirations.
In order to make the biggest impact or gain the biggest market share, you have to dissect your idea down to one question. Do I want to be relevant to the community or do I want the community to recognize my idea as relevant? One question looks to serve and the other looks to be served. This is where many businesses reach a stalemate in their path to success.
Why am I discussing business development principles? I believe many Christians take this same thought process when trying to make inroads for the Gospel with the people they encounter. We often fail to ask the right questions and we forge ahead with idealism and passion toward creating a real difference. However, we most often become as irrelevant as a rain drop to a bonfire.
I am concerned about the lack of compassion to the present surroundings. In Luke 17:20-21(a), Jesus was asked by a Pharisee(or religious authority) "When will the Kingdom of God come?" It took me a long time to realize this next bit, but Jesus says "Stop looking for signs and signals, the Kingdom of God is among you."
Many have read this passage and assumed Jesus was referring to himself, since the Pharisees were still anticipating a conquering hero, but I believe Jesus was also referring to the outcast, the poor, the widows, the helpless.
A friend of mine tells a story when he was summoned to speak at a conference on eradicating poverty. Dressed in his white pastor collar and sport coat, he had just phoned his friend for directions to the meeting and began to walk in that direction. He had noticed a man who was, as he put it "worse for wear", and tried to figure out how to move quickly as to avoid any conversation. Just then the man hollered, "Oy, mate!!" Next thing, my friend was trying to think about how much money he had to give or whether he was going to offer this man a meal or maybe both, but didn't have enough time since he was already running late. After stammering around the subject with the gentleman, the man said to my friend, "I don't want your f***in' money, I want to know your Jesus!" At that moment, my friend had realized "I've just professionalized my calling."
Does this sound like you? Have you been so focused on your idea or passion that you were too busy to notice what God had placed right in front of you?
We fall into such traps and deceptive lies. Somehow we began to believe we deserved our life, our dreams, our successes. God was here for us, right? He loved us so much, He sent His Son to save us, right? Why wouldn't He want ME to be happy?
Once you enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, you have to begin to recognize the sacrifice God gave because He loves you. Here's the part that stings; He didn't crucify His one and only Son just for only you......We were created for a purpose far greater than our own ideas or abilities. We were created to reflect the love of Christ and His redemptive story to a lost and dying world. There is nothing in comparison you can fully commit your life to apart from the instruction and leadings of Jesus Christ. If you even take one step in the direction of your own strength, you have disrespected the authority of God and His sovereignty over ALL things.
If you want to change the world, great!! Start with you. Surrender to the author and perfecter of our faith(b) Jesus Christ. Allow Christ to tear off the scales from your eyes and begin to allow Him to show you the world as He sees it. We are all God's children, and in regards to those it is our job and only job as Christ followers to love them as ourselves.(c)
I met a missionary recently on a vision trip to Iowa and we were talking about this subject. He told me this story:
 He and his family went to serve in a village in Africa and many of the women did not wear shirts. As a man this proved a great temptation, so next time they came he brought them all t-shirts. The women loved them and put them on immediately. Disaster averted, right? Well, the next time the family returned to this village, all of the ladies had cut holes out in the shirts, so their breasts wouldn't feel so constricted while they were working. Needless to say, He learned a valuable lesson towards understanding what's important to the people he was serving.
This poses and interesting question. If we perceive a sinful lifestyle being lived, shouldn't we help them understand their sin? If we allow it to be normal, does it mean we are then condoning and enabling them to sin?
I will finish with one more story of how sometimes we think our godliness is right for everyone.
I have a friend who opened a coffee shop in East London to reach the people of the area for the Gospel. This is a very immigrant area, and several refugees live there as well. This is also the former industrial area of London. Buildings are rundown and graffiti litters their walls. Crime and nefarious things lurk among those less fortunate. One thing he noticed was that several prostitutes worked in that area, and this grieved his heart. He prayed about a way to help and God told him to start a bakery that would provide for the coffee shop. The way this was going to eradicate prostitution was to provide jobs. His reasoning was, "You can't tell someone their career is a sin, if don't provide an alternative for them to meet their needs." Most of these women didn't choose this life, but for various circumstances, it chose them. You cant tell a poor person to "Go get a job" if no one will hire them. Just as you can't convince people the product your selling is for them, if they have no use for it.
So what do we do?

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."  

Matthew 6:33 

I'm too tired to continue.....

      In the book The Dream Giver(1) the main character Ordinary finds himself in The WasteLand. Never mind, he just stepped out of his comfort zone to follow his Big Dream, and he just made it through all of the Border Bullies who tried to stop him, he now has stumbled into the desert of The WasteLand.

      Here is where Ordinary faces the greatest difficulty of his journey. Just when he convinced himself his dream was worth it, his faith in the Dream Giver was to be tested.

      This is an all too familiar journey for me. Two years ago in 2011, I decided to stop being just a cradle Christian. I stepped onto a path God had been waiting for me to see. This was the path designed for me and only me, and it was laid out before I was even "knit in my mother's womb."(a) However, had I known the struggles I would face, I might have chosen a different route.

      That's what I've grown to love about faith. If God told us everything upfront, it would blow our minds. He desires a deep intimacy with us, and I'm not sure we would feel very intimate knowing the circumstances we were to face and how He would engineer them for His glory.

Following a dream or calling is a walk through a series of trials and persecutions, but that refining was never intended for our gain and purpose.

"If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest(Nov 5th)

When I think of persisting in difficult circumstances, I'm often reminded of a speech given by a former college basketball coach. Suffering from cancer, he was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. Here are some excerpts of his acceptance speech:

“But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.”

“…and I always have to think about what's important in life to me are these three things. Where you started, where you are and where you're going to be. Those are the three things that I try to do every day.”

“I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm," to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality. “
"Don't give up, don't ever give up."
“Cancer can take away all my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.“ - Jim Valvano 1993 at ESPY Awards(2)

 

Decision #7

The Persistent Decision*

I Will Persist Without Exception.

Knowing that I have already made changes in my life that will last forever, today I insert the final

piece of the puzzle. I possess the greatest power ever bestowed upon mankind, the power of choice.

Today, I choose to persist without exception. No longer will I live in a dimension of distraction, my

focus blown hither and yon like a leaf on a blustery day. I know the outcome I desire. I hold fast to

my dreams. I stay the course. I do not quit.

I will persist without exception. I will continue despite exhaustion. I acknowledge the fact that most

people quit when exhaustion sets in. I am not “most people.” I am stronger than most people.

Average people accept exhaustion as a matter of course. I do not. Average people compare themselves

 

with other people. That is why they are average. I compare myself to my potential. I am not average. I see

 

exhaustion as a precursor to victory.

How long must a child try to walk before he actually does so? Do I not have more strength than a

child? More understanding? More desire? How long must I work to succeed before I actually do

so? A child would never ask the question, for the answer does not matter. By persisting without

exception, my outcome—my success—is assured. I will persist without exception. I focus on results.

To achieve the results I desire, it is not even necessary that I enjoy the process. It is only important

that I continue the process with my eyes on the outcome. An athlete does not enjoy the pain of

training; an athlete enjoys the results of having trained. A young falcon is pushed from the nest,

afraid and tumbling from the cliff. The pain of learning to fly cannot be an enjoyable experience,

but the anguish of learning to fly is quickly forgotten as the falcon soars to the heavens.

A sailor who fearfully watches stormy seas lash his vessel will always steer an unproductive course.

But a wise and experienced captain keeps his eye firmly fixed upon the lighthouse. He knows that

by guiding his ship directly to a specific point, the time spent in discomfort is lessened. And by

keeping his eye on the light, there never exists one second of discouragement. My light, my harbor,

my future is within sight!

I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith. In Jeremiah, my Creator declares, “For

I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

 

future.” From this day forward, I will claim a faith in the certainty of my future. Too much of my life has

 

been spent doubting my beliefs and believing my doubts. No more! I have faith in my

future. I do not look left or right. I look forward. I can only persist.

For me, faith will always be a sounder guide than reason because reason can only go so far—faith

has no limits. I will expect miracles in my life because faith produces them every day. I will

believe in the future that I do not see. That is faith. And the reward of this faith is to see the

future that I believed.

I will continue despite exhaustion. I focus on results. I am a person of great faith.

 

I will persist without exception.

 

* The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews(3)