Personal Growth

Don’t Let Satan Give You a Time-Out!

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Many children are familiar with a “time out” This is used as a punishment to remove the person from something they would like to do and, help them see the behavior results in negative consequences such as missing out.

As a follower of Jesus, I want to do what is right and good. I read the Bible and talk with God. I make decisions to do right and work at being self-disciplined. I work at training myself to be whom God wants me to be. But like you, and everyone else around us, I sin. There are times when I allow the sinful nature in me to take over, where I do something that is clearly against God’s best for us.

Spring brings us to the holiday of Easter. This is much more than bunnies and eggs. This is the annual celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection for all people. Because of our sin, we deserved to die. That was how God created things. And then He arranged for a way out. God sent His own son to die in our place – to take our penalty for us. Good Friday is the reminder that Jesus, the only perfect human, died in our place. Easter is the celebration that when His friends went to the tomb, Jesus wasn’t there. He was alive! This resurrection gave Him the right to offer forgiveness and new life to all who believe in Him.

When we put our faith in Jesus, when we acknowledge our sin and repent of it, confessing it to God, Jesus forgives us. And we enter into a relationship with God! God now sees Jesus’ righteousness in us!

So, yes, we sin from time to time. Now what?

Often, we have this feeling that we need to put ourselves in a time-out. We feel need to wallow in our guilt for awhile before we can be in right relationship with God again. I don’t think I’m the only one who has felt this way. We think that to be sorry for our sin means we have to show it by spending time in our sorrowful guilt-ridden state.

But that is straight from the devil!

God does not want us to live in a state of guilt. Jesus has paid for our sin. God arranged this plan because He did not want us to live in guilt but to live in the joy of freedom. If Jesus already died on the cross, He already paid for that sin. The sin you are wallowing in is already paid for, already forgiven!

When we sin, we can immediately come to Jesus with it. As soon as the Holy Spirit reminds you that what you did was wrong, you can use that conviction to repent. The Holy Spirit is not pointing out your sin in order for you to feel bad, but in order for you to repent. So confess your sin, stop doing it, and get back on your feet.

Some of you might remember that old commercial that had this one iconic line: “Help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Well we may have fallen, but the Holy Spirit is already showing us we can get back up. Jesus is already reaching out a hand to lift us to our feet.

1 John 1: 9 tells us, “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins an to cleanse us from all wickedness”.

This does not tell us we have to take a time-out. It says, confess and receive forgiveness. Receive the cleansing from Jesus, and get back on your feet. Serve Jesus again!

Yes, we sin, but we can confess and receive forgiveness immediately. We are then cleansed and ready to be of use to God again. This is the only way that I, and any other pastor, can stand up every Sunday and preach a sermon. It is because Jesus forgives all my sin of that week and that morning. He cleanses immediately so I can preach with confidence.

Do not allow Satan to put you in a time-out. Receive Christ Jesus’ cleansing forgiveness and get on your feet immediately, serving God again.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

The Natural Hamartiologist

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The hunter reaches back with quiet well-practiced motion to locate an arrow in his quiver. He selects one and brings it forward as his other hand raises his bow. He nocks his arrow on the bow and pulls back the full reach of his arm. His eyes look down the arrow and focus in on the deer in the open field ahead of him. As soon as he feels his aim is true, he pauses his breath, and lets the arrow fly. If the hunter is well practiced, and maybe a bit lucky, the arrow will pierce his prey and provide him with his supper.

There is a word used in the New Testament that describes an arrow missing its mark. The word “hamartano,” is translated as “sin.” So the word for “sin” comes from a word “regularly used in ancient times of an archer missing the target.” (Strong’s Concordance) We all regularly “miss the mark”. We sin. I heard one person recently say, “we regularly hurt the ones we love.” Often we miss the mark with the people we care about the most.

Hamartiology is the study of how we miss the mark. Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

I am adapting the word to suit my own purposes here: the Natural Hamartiologist is the one who naturally misses the mark. The one who regularly and often misses the mark is a Natural Hamartiologist. I would suggest that this is really a description of all humans.

Our Creator God created us to have someone to have a relationship with. He created us with free will, hoping we would choose to love and serve and honor Him. The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible. Only 3 chapters in you will find the first people – Adam and Eve – choosing to disobey and miss God’s mark for them. From then on all humans have this tendency to miss the mark – not all the time – but regularly. Some of us have no interest in pleasing God, so missing the mark in measuring up to His standards is not relevant. For the rest of us, those who have surrendered our lives to God, we desire to hit the mark more often than not.

God chose to send His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place, taking our death penalty that missing the mark requires of us. When Jesus rose from the dead, He was victorious over death, over the devil, and over sin. He never missed the mark when it came to obeying God. He gives us his Spirit to remind us when we do miss the mark. And every time the Spirit reminds us, we can go back to Jesus, ask him to forgive us, and he does. God sees us as the forgiven ones, because he sees us through Jesus who never missed the mark.

As Christians with our faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection for us, we can be forgiven. We can have a relationship with God, as He desired in the first place, as people who are not seen as Hamartiologists but as “dikaios” – Righteous Ones.

We fall short of God’s ideal very often, but we also have One who by his death and resurrection has paid for our sin and made us righteous before God.

Are you a practicing Hamartiologist or are you an aspiring Dikaios? What we think of ourselves as influences how we live our life. If we think we are ones who regularly miss the mark, then we are not surprised when we do. If we view ourselves as ones who are righteous, then we focus more on living out that righteousness. It may seem like a small thing, but I believe how you view yourself affects how you live. Paul regularly addressed his New Testament letters “to God’s holy people” in Ephesus, or Philippi. We are righteous ones pursuing The Righteous One. We want to pursue the God-given ideal and can rejoice that God has provided a way for us to become righteous when we miss the mark again.

Keep coming back to Jesus,

Andy Wiebe

Always Become Better!

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Our education system helps us to figure out if we are continuing to learn and develop. If you are faithfully doing your homework and finishing your assignments, you should be learning what the curriculum has laid out for you in each grade in school, or each year of college or university. Every year you should ideally pass a level and move up to the next grade. When you enter college, there are a number of classes you must take as prerequisites to classes offered in the next year or two. You can track how well you are doing by what grade you are in, or what courses you have completed toward the degree you are pursuing. When we leave school, it is not as easy to see if we are still learning.

When you complete your degree, you hope to step into a career that uses your training. As you begin at a new place of employment, you are taught what is expected of you at that job. Sometimes there are opportunities to advance in your career so you feel like you are continuing to grow and develop.

Eventually even in your job, there are not more steps to advance to. You may not even be expected to do any further learning. You know what the job is, and have proven you are capable of doing it. You do not need to keep learning.

This is where some people become stagnant. They have reached a certain level in their job or their career and they are content. The problem is, no one plateaus in their life for long. Either you keep learning and growing and making yourself better in some way, or you start to fall off, and fall behind as the world keeps on changing and developing.

I have been a pastor most of my life. While I have done a few other things for an income, this has been what I have given my life to. And I have chosen to keep on growing. I love to read. If you have noticed my book reviews on this blog you will know that is true. I like to read a variety of things. Sometimes I focus on a certain subject for a while, but I love to learn and to grow and develop. As a pastor, I need to learn how to use technology.  I started out by writing my sermons by hand, no I always use my computer. Along the way I learned how to use PowerPoint to add slides to my sermons. I spent a number of years pursuing a Masters (It took a period of over 20 years from the first course I took towards my Masters degree until I completed the last one and graduated!) I was not as concerned about accomplishing the degree as I was about continuing to regularly keep on learning. I enjoyed taking time to implement what I was learning.

We should want to always become better. Whatever skill or ability or gift you may have, keep learning how to develop it further. If you are a good preacher, continue to learn from others who are better, or who may do it slightly differently. If you are good at leading meetings, keep reading new books or go to seminars on how to lead them even better. If you are a good counselor, continue to learn and find new techniques to try out.

It may be that you realize you are about average in a number of areas in what you are skilled at. You might want to choose one or two to become good at, or even one area where you excel.

I have found one of the ways of continuing to get better is to teach others. If you think you are pretty good at something, then see if there are opportunities for you to teach others. When you teach, you have to figure out what you actually do, how you do it, and why what you do or the way you do it is the best way. This forces you to not just do something you are naturally good at, but evaluate it and figure out what valuable lessons you can pass on to others.

David Sanders, a cellist in the Chicago Symphony was describing how many hours of practice it takes to get to and maintain such a high level of competency. “You cannot rest on your laurels in the Chicago Symphony, or in any world-class orchestra. You never want to let your colleagues down, yourself down, or, maybe more importantly, the music down. Now in my 42nd year, I still don’t want to let my colleagues, myself or the music down. It is a never-ending struggle to continually try to master a musical instrument, to keep improving, be it string, wind, brass, or percussion.” (A CHICAGO CELLIST EXPLAINS: WHY WE WORK ONLY 20 HOURS A WEEK)

If you want to be your best, you need to continue to work at your craft. You have to continue to learn and practice and develop. The person who is continuing to develop and grow will be sought after in their field of expertise. And I would venture to say, will be much more interesting than the person who has not learned anything new for the last couple of years. This is not necessarily about “moving up the ladder”, but about being the best you can be where you are at.

Always become better at what you are good at and what you are equipped to do. You will enjoy life more than those who have become stagnant. You won’t be left behind as those younger and more skilled start to catch up to you.

As a pastor, if you keep on learning and growing and developing, you will be more attractive to churches looking for someone relevant to the world around them who also comes with years of experience. Continue to become better, for yourself, and for long-term ongoing employment.

Always become better.

Keep looking up,

Andy

Prayer: The Gateway to Intimacy with God

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It is impossible to get close to another person if you never talk, and it is impossible to become truly intimate with another unless your share your heart. I love my wife. I enjoyed dating and getting to know her. I loved getting married and spending more and more time together. We recently took a little holiday, and loved sharing some time new experiences and time together. I have developed an intimate relationship with Lynnette through years of sharing my life with her. We have had many conversations about anything and everything. All this has brought us closer to each other. We are falling more and more in love with each other.

We can be in a close relationship with God. We can develop an intimate relationship with God. This is possible through prayer.

Unfortunately, many of us have confusing ideas about prayer. While I was a pastor at one church, I remember someone coming to me a number of times to get a “prayer” from me because I was a pastor. She didn’t want me to pray for her or with her. She wanted a specific prayer that she could take with her to use for a certain situation she wanted to deal with. She didn’t want God to do something. She thought this “prayer” would solve her problem like a lucky talisman. This type of prayer will not help us develop intimacy with God.

Some people pray before they eat, thanking God for the food. Some pray for God to do certain things in their lives. Some pray prayers like the Lord’s Prayer or others written by leaders of the past. When used only as a routine or ritual and not prayed from the heart, these are not prayers that will develop intimacy with God.

Prayer that can truly develop intimacy with God means we will spend time in prayer. We will spend time talking with God. Prayer that develops intimacy depends on us having regular conversations with God. Scripture tells us to “pray without ceasing.” I realized I was doing this the other day. I noticed a little car in the lane next to me, driven by an older gentleman. I was immediately reminded of Jerry, a man who was in one of the churches I served. He passed away a few years ago. My first thought was: “So God, how’s Jerry doing up there?” It was just automatic and so natural. I spend time with God and constantly talk with him about what is going on.

Intimacy developing prayer means we have conversations with God. For many of us, prayer is something we do when we list off a laundry list of requests. We talk to God often. We tell him all the things we need and all the problems we need help with. While we think that may be prayer, it is definitely not a conversation with God. We need to learn to have a conversation, where we may talk for a while, but then we listen for a while. We need to realize that for prayer to help us develop intimacy with God, we need to do more than just talk to him.

Intimacy-developing prayer means we expect to hear from God. We actually pause long enough to listen and expect God to speak to us. We could occasionally come to God with a question, ask it, and then just wait and listen to what God is saying. Don’t say anything else until you hear God speaking.

Prayer that helps us develop intimacy with God is also often connected to Scripture. Pray and read scripture. Ask God to speak through what you read, and then read with an expectation that God will reveal himself to you in His Word. Commit to spending time with God regularly, reading scripture and talking with Him.

One of the intimacy-developing practices I have right now is to take two mornings a week where I pray through a “One Hour Prayer Guide”. In his book, The Hour That Changes the World, Dick Eastman suggests that one divide an hour into 12 periods of 5 minutes each. Topics in the 5 minutes segments include steps including praise, thanksgiving, confession, and praying scripture. There are a few sections that focus on watching for God and listening to God. It is surprising how quickly the hour passes, and very encouraging in how it makes me feel like I am more connected to God and what He wants to do in me and through me.

The Hour That Changes the World, Dick Eastman

You can develop intimacy with God. He longs for that. In fact, He created the world so that he could have a relationship with his created people. When you desire intimacy with God, he will eagerly respond to your efforts. Conversational prayer, taking time with God, and praying as you read scripture, is the gateway to intimacy with God.

Do you want to know God intimately? Then make the effort to spend time with him, having conversations with him, and experiencing him at work in your life.

Keep looking up,

Andy Wiebe

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2022 Reading Experience

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. Hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.

SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY – by Dr. Rob Reimer

Rob Reimer has written a few books on experiencing a deeper relationship with God and seeing His power at work. He describes how God wants to partner with us in releasing the Kingdom, in helping people find freedom, especially freedom from the forces of evil. He gives some direction on how to handle different situations as you work to set people free. One of his key phrases is this: Spiritual authority is rooted in identity, expanded in intimacy, and activated by faith. He emphasizes that we can do nothing without an intimate relationship with the Father and filling of the Holy Spirit. It is only then that we can experience the power that Jesus displayed. This book encourages a deeper relationship with God and an encouragement to help others find freedom.

Know Your Yes, Know Your No

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You do not have to say “yes” to every opportunity to serve that comes your way.

When we are young, and just starting out in life, the opportunities are endless. You could go in almost any direction for a career. As you get older and get more experience you learn that there are certain things that you are good at and certain things you are not as good at. There are certain roles you take on that you love and others where you struggle to survive the day.

As we get older, and hopefully a little more experienced, we begin to narrow down the real and meaningful opportunities for us. We are not quick to jump in to jobs that will require us doing things we hate. We choose to do what we enjoy if at all possible. We prefer doing what we enjoy, and over time get a clear sense of what those things are.

Beyond that, I believe that God has certain roles for us to fulfill. He has given us gifts and abilities, and led us through circumstances that prepare us for what is next. We can ask him to clarify for us what he wants us to do with our life, and he will. I believe that God has a role for everyone, if we will only ask him to help us discover that.

Through a number of different circumstance God has brought me to the place where I believe he wants me to focus on helping churches and leaders achieve their God-given dreams. I have been a pastor for about 30 years, and generally loved the role. I had the opportunity, with a few others, to start up and establish the Rural Church Pastors Network. I loved the opportunity to equip and encourage fellow pastors. I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts with others. And God, through these experiences and some clear signs from him, called me to this role of helping leaders and churches.

God has called me to help churches and leaders discover their God-given dreams. I was recently offered a position that looked interesting. I knew I could do what was required, I might even enjoy the role, but I couldn’t say yes. As I prayed about it, God reminded me that he had called me to this role of helping leaders and churches. This new opportunity was not part of that. Saying “no” to something that I might enjoy was not easy, but I knew what God called me to do.

Knowing your “yes” helps you know your “no”. When you have a clear understanding of what God has called you to do, you can clearly say no to that which is not part of the plan. I know it is hard to say no to people. We want people to like us and so we try to please them. Knowing our specific calling from God helps us have an easier time making decisions about what we choose to agree to and what opportunities we decline. Then we can say no with a clear conscience when we know what fits in God’s plan for us and what does not.

Sometimes we are overwhelmed with all that is on our plate. I wonder how often that is a result of us not clearly understanding what we are called to do so we do everything that comes our way. We say yes to every good thing when maybe God would like us to focus in on a specific opportunity. We tell ourselves that we can’t get out of these responsibilities when maybe we just need to say no. Sometimes we get frustrated with people and all they demand of us, but the problem may be us. We haven’t set clear boundaries on what we should or should not do, what fits into the scope of who we are and what does not.

Clarifying who we are and what God is calling us to may be harder to determine when we are young and have not had time to try new things or experience various roles and opportunities. As we get involved in different jobs and serve in a variety of places, we can narrow down who we are and what we are called to do.

This allows us to  figure out how God has gifted us and what talents we have. But clarifying who we are and what we become involved in does not just depend on age and experience. I believe we need to have time with God asking him to clarify what he wants us to do with our lives. God may speak to you through your reading of scripture. He may speak to you in your prayer time. He may speak to unique ways such as dreams or visions. What I do know is this: if we ask God, he will answer. Ask him to clarify his calling on your life and then you will be able.

I hope you can clarify your “yes” so you can also know your “no.” May God show you your unique place in this world.

Keep looking up

Andy

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2022 Reading Experience

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. I hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading.

THE POWER OF WRITING IT DOWN – by Allison Fallon

Allison Fallon is a writer who helps others write. Her book walks through a number of tips on how to keep writing, whether for publishing or for personal purposes. She draws a number of parallels to life and has a number of examples of how encouraging people to write about their life has actually helped them through tough times in their life. So if you like to write, anything from journaling to writing a novel, you could benefit from this book. If you are not a writer, but would like to try something new to help you deal with circumstances in your life, this might be the book for you.

The Hard Work of Thinking

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A while back I was trying to find a church to attend. We were new to the area and had no specific ties to any church, so we tried a few. There was one church that I really liked. They had a number values and practices similar to my own. This church seemed like a great option for us, but there was one aspect of their theology in practice that I did not agree with.

So what could I do?

I decided to spend time thinking and praying about it. For the next few weeks, maybe even months, every time I prayed and every time I read the Bible, I had this one question on my mind. I needed clarity from God. I wanted to have an answer that would change my thinking so I could feel comfortable attending this church. I thought about it throughout the day. Finally, I just couldn’t find peace about attending that church, but at least I had spent some time seriously thinking through what was right for me and my wife.

Praise generally goes to the “doer,” while the “thinker” is often considered lazy. We have been taught from a young age that there is great value in getting things done. We are told, “Quit daydreaming! Get back to work.” What if thinking about something for a long time was getting things done? Is it possible that thinking about something for a long time can be beneficial?

My desire is to help people pursue their God-given dreams. Some of this involves taking time to think, to meditate or contemplate.

Most definitions for both words include something like this: “thinking seriously about something for a long time.” Whether you are meditating, or contemplating, there are times when it is of great value to slow down, and just think.

Do you know what God wants you to do with your life? Do you know what the next step of the journey is? Before you make a big decision, take some time to think. Seriously consider your situation and what God might have in mind next. Allow God to interrupt your thinking time. Read scripture. Pray. And think.

You may need to block out some time just for thinking. Maybe stay up after everyone else has gone to bed, so you can focus on your thinking, or get up before everyone else does so you can think in peace and quiet.

Have you ever read a scripture and just couldn’t get it out of your mind? I mean, it just kept ringing around in your mind. It may be that God was teaching you something, and he didn’t want you to forget what you had read. You thought about it all day. You thought about it in the shower, and when you were commuting, and when you were supposed to be working. Sure, you did your job like usual, but in the back of your mind you were still thinking about that verse.

We would all benefit from taking time to think on scripture more often. I read my Bible almost every day, but I don’t often stop to just think about what I read, or what God wanted me to hear from Him that day.

It’s too easy to see Bible Reading and Prayer as part of a to-do list to conquer and check off, rather than time to slow down and allow God to soak His words into our minds.

When is the last time you actually just stopped everything to think? To think about something for an extended period of time? Is there an issue in your life that needs to be resolved? Is there a question you would like answered? Why not book off some time, and take a mini-retreat for yourself to purposefully think? Find a place or time where you can have peace and quiet, where all distractions are removed if possible, and think on the issues facing you. You might want to begin with reading some scripture, with a time of prayer, and then just think. If you are like me, and benefit from writing thing down, then write it down. If you are someone who has to think out loud, then think out loud.

You may be meditating, or you may be contemplating, either way, take time to seriously think about something for an extended period of time. See if that doesn’t help you get some perspective on your present issue. Do the hard work of thinking.

Keep looking up

Andy

Book Reviews: Andy’s 2022 Reading Experience.

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I will be sharing a brief review of every book I read this year. I hope you enjoy and hope it encourages you to keep reading too.

ATOMIC HABITS – by James Clear

James Clear has written a well-researched and scientifically backed book on how small habits can lead to big changes. By “Atomic” he means small, like atoms. Small changes can have great affect over time. The book breaks down how habits are formed and how new ones can be created or old ones overcome. James gives a number of examples that help to make sense of what he is teaching.

I especially like how he ties our habits to our identity. Deciding it would be good if I would run occasionally is very different than calling yourself a runner. If you are a runner, then you run. If you are trying to make a habit of running because I need to lose weight you will not have the same impetus as if you were identifying as a runner in the first place.

Want to overcome bad habits? Want to start new beneficial ones? Then this book will be a great help!!

Keep reading

Andy

Who Do You Want to Become?

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Who are you? I mean, if friends were to describe you, what words and phrases would they mention?

As we transition into a new year, we are often asked about our resolutions. I prefer setting goals rather than making resolutions.

Some of us might want to rethink goals just a bit. I tend to set goals to accomplish something. For example, I want to read the whole Bible this year, using the Chronological reading plan that puts things in the order they probably happened. I also want to finish writing a book. But should I be setting some different goals?

How about goals that affect who we are? Should we be setting some goals in areas that would impact who we are, what our personality is, or how we face life?

If you want to be seen as a generous person, you could make your goal to be more generous this year. However, vague goals like that are less effective than those with more specific or concrete descriptors. Maybe we could write a list of what a “generous person” is like or what they do and how they interact with others. Perhaps you view generosity as being freer with your resources and time, for example, such as lending your tools or giving food to the food bank. Or your focus could be on buying meaningful things for people you care about or inviting more people to your home for a meal. You could do some research and find a worthwhile cause to support, financially or by volunteering, being generous with money and generous with your time. You might choose to lend your books to a friend after you read them. It’s your goal, so make it yours. You could consider reading some books or taking a course on generosity.

If being generous doesn’t resonate with you, consider a few other character goals. Think about your own life and moments of personal frustration or struggle to identify where you might want to focus your personal growth.

1. Do you want to be more forgiving? You realize you are quick to judge, quick to get angry and offended, and slow to forgive. You want to forgive more freely. Then set a character goal of becoming more forgiving.

2. You might desire to be more patient. You struggle with having to wait for anything. You could set a goal to deliberately always take the longest line in the grocery store, or when buying gas. You could find ways of thinking about other things while waiting. You could memorize scripture…so every time you wait in line you bring up the verses you are learning and go over them. Now the slow line becomes productive for you, and you are being more patient.

3. Would you like to be more creative? You could read books and take courses. You could find ways of trying new things that require creativity. Maybe you schedule in some “day-dreaming” into your day so that you can focus on your creativity.

4. Maybe you want to be more at peace and worry less. You could memorize scripture verses on not worrying. You could pray, even ask others to pray with you, that God would help you have peace in your life.

5. Maybe you want to be more considerate of other people. This is one I have to work on. I have set a goal for me to connect with at least two people who are not in my immediate family or part of the church. Personally, I want to text or visit or connect in a meaningful way with others that are outside of my immediate thought process. These are people I care about, but they may not realize it because I rarely connect with them.

I’m sure that if you ask yourself: “What is one area in my life where I would like to improve?” you will quickly come up with an answer.

Now, before we leave this, I want to suggest that some of these self-improvement goals may need some outside help. Maybe you connect with a coach, or book a few sessions with a counselor. Maybe you meet with your pastor, or a good friend. And you ask for others to speak into your life and help you think of how to improve in your area you want to grow in.

I’m thinking that a number of us probably have people in our life who are really good at the area we want to improve. At least for me, my lack shows up when I see others who are doing so well in this area. My wife is one who is great at noticing others and connecting and loving – and that is why I recognize I have some improving to do. Take time to talk with those in your life who exemplify the area you want to work on. Maybe you are doing well in an area they want to work on and you can help each other.

I encourage you to set some risk-taking goals for the year: tasks to complete as well as areas of personal character growth. Put a plan into place, to learn and grow in these areas.

I wish you all the best for 2022. May it be a life-changing year for you!!

Keep looking up!

Andy