Dan O’Deens Blogspot

STAY THE COURSE – For the long haul

What a journey the apostle Paul had.   Always zealous about anything and everything he did.   I love this guy…TOTAL COMMITMENT.  He was “ALL IN”.    The great thing:  Once Jesus got a hold of his life, he gave himself to the ONE PURPOSE of proclaiming the kingdom of God and went to everyone, everywhere to tell people the Good News about Jesus.

I am hoping the same will be said of me.    Stay the course…for the long haul.

Act 28:31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Living Life in the ZONE

A 40 day game plan for men.   Having authored ABS of Faith  www.absoffaith.com a book on Spiritual fitness I am excited to see a book specifically for men.   Equally great is that is written by Kyle Rote Jr. a soccer star and ABC Superstar Champion.  If you don’t know what that is, then you are either young or a non sports fan!

It is written with great thought, precision and from a Coaches heart.   No athlete or team wins by chance over the long haul.   There is a discipline and a regimentation and progression to follow.

This book is comprehensive and also very practical with great resources and thought provoking discussion questions.

A great read for any man who is serious about Spiritual Fitness.

Resisting God’s Voice

Does God still speak today?  Does he speak through teachers, pastors, evangelists, parents…?

I clearly understand His Word is final in its Revelation.  We have 66 Books, 39 in the OT and 27 in the NT.  I get that.   That is His written WORD.

But what about the “Living Word” that God through His Spirit lives in us.  That God has appointed spiritual leaders to lead.  Let’s assume that those leaders are in fact listening to God’s Spirit for leading and direction.  ( I hope that is the case).  Then why are we resistant to listen and follow them?   Answer:  We are like sheep, all of us and we wander and go astray.  We want to go our own way.   IF there is a word from the Lord through one of God’s servant leaders you would do well to pay attention.    I love the words of Paul, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.”

No one wants to hear their leader or parent say, “I told you so” but that is what Paul said to 276 shipmates before they wrecked.   This wreck could have been spared if you would have listened to me the first time….but “NOOOOOOOO” we want to follow a different path.   God spared them and gave them a second chance.   This time, they listen to Paul, which was the same as listening to God.  God spoke through Paul.

Acts 27:25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.

SERVANT LEADERSHIP

The highest calling that we can accept is that of a servant leader.   To stand as a witness of what God has done and is doing in our lives as well as throughout history.   The King of the Universe has commissioned me and sent me into the world to rescue people from darkness and to offer them the light of the Good News.   He will open their eyes, but He has chosen to use me (and you) as his conduit to take the Good News to everyone, everywhere!  My new title:  Servant Leader

Acts 26: 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them  18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Love this POST! How To Pray for Your Pastor

14 Things I Pray for Pastors

Vague and Unfounded Charges

We as a people can be quite selfish.   We don’t even see it as selfish.   We have come to think that my way or my belief or my preference is better than someone else’s way, belief or preference.  Usually this is handled in a way that is presented in dogma.   Thoughts and perceptions are stated as facts, accusations are generally subjective and vague, and the charges are unfounded.

Every leader has experienced this.   Paul was no exception.   He states, I don’t think I have done anything wrong to God, to the people or to my community.   Several trials to different courts and nothing sticks.

Finally one of the Judges who hears Paul’s case says, it is unreasonable to keep passing him on to other judges without some specific evidence.

It’s obvious that people were offended by Paul and that the people had some issues with Paul’s style and beliefs but the were not objective violations with Scripture.  People have preferences.  We have differences.  Differences are not always matters of ‘right versus wrong.’  Let’s learn to love one another in spite of our differences.

Acts 25:27 For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”

Calm in the Face of False Accusation

Paul is flat out an amazing leader!  Calm and Cool is his MO.  Even in the face of false accusation Paul stands up to those who falsely accuse him and welcome any ‘objective’ evidence and also stands his ground for the calling on his life.

There will always be accusers of your ministry and style…stay the course and strive to keep your conscience clear before God and all people.   PRESS ON!

Acts 24:16 So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and all people.

Resourceful

Sometimes leaders who use information to their advantage are looked at as being “shady.”  This is not always the case.   Some say information is ‘power’.    I am not sure of that one, but it cannot be denied that information is powerful at times.

Every good leader leans on the use of ‘carefully chosen information’ to leak out to accomplish what needs to be done in that given situation.  Paul a student of the Word and Culture, realizes he knows something that he ‘resourcefully’ uses to his advantage.   That may be an understatement considering it saved his life.

Be careful, however, information can be used for good or for evil.   Use discretion when using information as a leader to move your agenda forward.

Acts 23: 6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”

I Saw the LIGHT

We often pray and seek the face of the Lord, sometimes He ‘seeks’ us and when He seeks, He finds.    Now the question will I ‘SEE’ what He wants me to see.   That has been the story of my past year.   God has been finding me out.   Searching my heart, even blinding my whole being, for the sole purpose of getting me to STOP so that I might See Him.   OK, LORD, I see you clearly.   I will turn and follow in the direction you are leading.

The other part of the verse is a bit interesting and also throws a unique wrench into the mix.  The people I choose to do life with…the people I travel with…my companions…my peeps, can and might see the same light, but they might not understand the voice of the Lord.  The reason is that sometimes Jesus speaks to the soul of the one He is trying to reach out to in order to see if our commitment to follow Him is stronger than our allegience to our companionship.   We truly do follow an audience of ONE.

Acts 22:9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

MENTAL BLOCKS

So…I have been reading through the book of Acts.   Each morning thus far, something has jumped off the page.  This morning…NOTHING?   Why is that?   Certainly there is something there for me?   Any body have a word from the Lord?   I hit a mental block.

Does brain damage occur as one approaches the “50″ mark?

So..on this day….the word of the day will come from your comments:  What say you?

ACTS  CHAPTER 21…