Feb

It feels like it's been a while since I've written these notes. February was a long month I guess (even though it wasn't). We moved and that is an all-encompassing feat. Our new place has a garage though, and my friend David came over and we shot this little video of a song he wrote. I'm hoping to do more of these, so look for it...


And here are my notes for the month:

BUILDING IN A DISCIPLE'S LIFE by Gene Warr
(I think this is from here, Becoming a Disciplemaker.)
  •  You won't know if you've built into a life until he is away on his own
  • Discipleship is a daily decision ("take up your cross daily")
  • You can sometimes make a permanent impact with a life-changing statement at a life-changing moment
  • You have to first clear away debris to build - Jeremiah 1:10
  • Circumstances don't make a man, they reveal him
  • If you see a guy straying and don't rebuke him, you will be held responsible - Ezekiel 3:20
    • Rebuke is only viable in strong relationship - Proverbs 28:23
    • Rebuke, reprove, exhort - using scripture
    • Always rebuke on impression, not on accusation (this is super important!)
  • Planting
    • What does he need? how is he going to get it? How do we know he's got it?
    • Who is he and where is he - 1 Thessalonians 5:14
  • A man who doesn't stand for something will fall for anything
  • Most men struggle with indecisiveness
    • Fear
    • Lack of faith ("what is not faith is sin")
    • Lack of information
    • Lack of convictions
  • Overcoming indecisiveness
    • God wants me to know His will
    • Do I know it? If so, act.
    • If I don't know, find it out
    • Doing nothing has consequences, just like doing something
  • 6 insights towards decisiveness
  • "What action am I going to take" instead of "what's going to happen to me?"
  • Desiring something is more than just receiving it
  • Teach perserverance
  • Teach him to relate tot he church
    • The church will always be there
  • Your own life is your greatest tool
  • A spiritual man...
    • Desires holiness over happiness
    • More concerned with God's glory, even if it hurts him
    • Takes up his cross willingly
    • Sees from God's point-of-view
    • Would rather die right than live wrong
    • Wiling to see others succeed at his expense
    • Makes judgement based on eternity instead of just time
    • Would rather b useful than famous
  • Possible problems
    • Never letting the guy go
    • Never trusting God or God in him
    • Trying to help too many guys at once
    • Impatience
    • Copying others
    • Being hard-nosed
    • Operating on past experience and training instead of praying and the word
    • Trying to put men in the same mold
AMBITION AND SUCCESS by Gene Warr 
I think this is particularly relevant to Christian guys pursuing a career in the arts or media
  •  Success is being the person God wants you to be & achieving the goals God wants me to achieve
  • It's not the nature of what we're doing that determines its spiritual content, but the origin (John 3:6)
    • A ditch-digger can be more spiritual than a pastor if God called him and not the other
  • Success if measured by what we are, compared to what we could be
  • Finish! (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
  • Money (Proverbs 30:8-9)
  • Anyone can make a living, the goal is to make a life!
  • Fear is the antithesis to faith
  • Hindrances or Help - up to you:
    • Suffering
    • Defeat/ failure
    • Tears/ Brokenness
  • Whatever you believe God will do through you will happen (you have a blank check - what will you write on it?)
  • God sets us up & motivates men - but we have to work!
  • The best motivation is from within
  • Don't use true statements ("who I am is more important than stuff") as an excuse to not work hard or be less than God intended me to be!
  • Faith = visualizing what God will do before He does it
  • Ambition can be misdirected (just like anything)
  • Contentment = limiting my desires to what God wants me to have or be
  • What we think today, we will be tomorrow
  • God does not generally lead from something to nothing
  • You need:
    • Corect mindset
    • Proper motivations (spiritual motivation comes from within)
    • Excitement ("enthusiasm" means "God in you" & it's contagious)
    • 6 sources
      • Needed
      • Useable
      • Winning team
      • Greater than (God over me)
      • Expectation
      • Goal setting/ reaching
  • Being needed: if someone needs help, I'm needed (which means you are always needed)
    • Just need to be one step ahead
    • God wants you here or you would have been dead by now
    • Matthew 9:37-38
  • No one who gets equipped with the word of God doesn't get used
  • Being usable:
    • One purpose in life
    • Has removed every hindrance
    • Placed himself at God's disposal
    • Learned how to prevail in prayer
    • Student of the Bible
    • Has vital message to a lost world
    • Man of faith, expects results
    • Works under the Holy Spirit
  • Write a life goal, then specific goals
    • Life, long range, personal, family, ministry, career
    • Learn to say "no" & prioritize
    • Pray over goals
  • Worth ambitions:
    • Desire to be a witness
    • Desire to influence society
    • esire to be used by God
    • Desire to lead spiritually
    • Desire to make best use of gifts
  • Success is not self-confidence
    • Everything is from God
    • A person who is good at something should be better at it because he has Jesus!
  • Strong men have goals, weak men have wishes!
HERE IS MORE FROM THIS GENE WARR
  •  Revival takes:
    • Honest confession
    • Genuine repentance (see below for a Jewish explanation of repentance)
    • Silence
  • Strong drive
    • Clear objective
    • Faith in the face of difficulty
    • Enthusiasm
  • Part of persistence is seeing the invisible, believing the incredible, attempting the impossible, patience
  • Part of our goal is a "true heart and skillful hands"
    • Here is a great wheel illustration that goes with this:
  • Spiritual Maturity:
    • Reliability
    • Ability to think through
    • Self-control
    • Decisiveness (see above)
    • Servant attitude
    • Stability
    • Gets along with others
      • Team man, teachable, peacemaker, submissing
 
 HE WENT TO THE SYNAGOGUE by Ray Vander Laan
A two-part series from this website, which has TONS of good material on it.
  • "Synangogue" was originally not a building, but a group of people
  • Synagogue is sunonymous with community
    • Fun, study, social - everything
  • God-fearing gentiles could go to the synagogue, but not the temple
  • Synagogue is a community of people, not an organization of professionals
  • Repentance happens in 3 steps in the Jewish mind:
    • Sudden realization of my sin/ walking away from God
    • Turning to face God
    • Deliberate plan to begin walking towards God
  • When the bible speaks about the "temple of the Holy Spirit," it is always plural
    • "You" (plural) are a "temple" (singular)
BEING A DISCIPLE by Ray Vander Laan

  • You cannot be a disciple alone!
    • Find others who are passionate about being like Jesus
  • You will be asked to make other disciples (Jesus' 12 had 3 years before doing this)
  • It's all about scripture (the text)
I also started listening to this, which was recommended by a friend:
  • Most marital problems are because the guy's character isn't great and his lady isn't attracted to it
  • Your wife must be your standard of beauty.


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