BlindSpots – Check The Rear View Mirror
Blindspots are the areas of the road that cannot be seen while looking forward or through either the rear-view or side mirrors in an automobile. As much as you check the mirrors there are still areas that are out of your sightlines. Just a couple of months ago I was backing out of a parking spot at the WAWA and ven though I checked all my mirrors, I backed into a lady. SHE PULLED INTO ONE OF MY BLINDSPOTS.
We all have blindspots. They are those areas of our lives that we totally ignore. As a matter of fact, we can see everyone elses blindspots very easily. But when it comes to our own we turn a “blind eye”. Ultimately we crash and burn because we don’t take the time to compltely examine our lives from the inside out. Let me ask you a question, What are some of the BlindSpots that we all have? What are those things that we overlook? I would love to hear your feedback as we will be looking at this Issue in our next series starting in January.
The Betrayer’s Kiss
It made me think about when Judas went to the garden to sell out Jesus. He had just kissed the world and struck a deal with the devil and now he is in the garden leaning in to kiss the Lord. And here is what stikes me to the “core”, Jesus let him. WOW!!! He didn’t back away but he let him kiss him, even though it was the kiss of a betrayer. How much must God love us, when He sends His Son into this world to receive the betrayer’s kiss (from us) time and time again, and yet He still goes to the cross and pays the ultimate price for our sins so we can have a right relatonship with Him again.
So, before you slap one on the world again, think long and hard about God’s Love.
What Teaching Has Taught Me
Someone asked me last night when was the first time I knew I was called to “teach”. I had to think for a minute because even when I first started to teach the word of God, I wasn’t sure anyone would ever listen. I knew that to communicate to people God would have to step in and lead the way. It wasn’t long before I began to realize how much I enjoyed sharing the word and how God had made me passionate about teaching. Add some years and a little bit of creativity and many years later people actually show up to hear the word taught and applied to their lives.
Several years ago God shook my world upside down when I attended Rick Warren’s, “Preaching For A Life Change” Conference. It was there after 15 years of teaching that God challenged me to take the Gift that He had given me to a whole nother level. Here are some things that I have learned in the last 7 years.
- teaching is not about information, it’s about transformation. I used to be worried about getting all my information done in the alloted amount of time. Now I ask, “Is this going to transform lives”? I hear how people all the time leave churches because they want to “GO DEEPER”. They want more info. But information without transformation is an abomination. It’s just data. The question we all should ask is, “How wide am I reaching with the transformational gospel of Jesus Christ”? So teaching should take us “deep and wide”.
- When you speak you are in relationship. At the very core of every good relationship is communication. When you teach it is all about relationship. The better you learn to relate the better communicator you will become.
- If your not passionate about it, your hearers won’t be either. Andy Stanley says that he finds one thing that he is passionate about in his message and that is what he focuses on. He then says all he does is find a way in to that thought and then a way out. Simple but profound.
- Make sure that you answer questions that people are asking about the bible. They want to know what the bible says about the End of the World, and How to Connectand Relate, and Love & Sex, and Purpose. Does our teaching address the issues our culture is facing?
- There is a Gift of Teaching and you either have it or you don’t. It is a gift from God.
I am so thankful for the priviledge to use my gifts for the Lord to build His Kingdom. What have you learned about teaching?
