Wilson Running With Turtles

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9969601-3-7
Verlag: Metro World Child
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

Running with Turtles details the stories of many biblical characters who were placed on a fence post and demonstrated that they belonged there - above the other turtles that walked below. Their prominence was made possible by their commitment to a higher purpose that was motivated by a higher law - the law of love. You were born to be a leader, but your effectiveness lies in direct proportion to: Your Passion, Your Commitment, You Gifting, Your Motivation, Your Experiences, Your Perseverance. A leader is not born in a day but in the fire tried in the battle and proven in the tests of life. Along the way, there are always those who will be there to enable and encourage you on the finish line.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wilson, Bill

Leseproben

Chapter 2 STAND FOR SOMETHING: EVERYBODY LEFT BUT ONE Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for—because unless we stand for something we shall fall for anything.1 If there was a Mount Rushmore of the great leaders of the Bible, the Apostle Paul’s image would certainly be one of the more prominent faces engraved into that mountain. The transition from Saul the persecutor to Paul the apostle was a journey peppered with pain and salted with success. His conversion became one of the more important chapters in the history of the Church. More than any other character in the New Testament, Paul was responsible for the spread of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church throughout the Roman Empire. For the first time, we meet his spiritual son, Timothy, in Acts 16. At the beginning of his second missionary journey, Paul arrived in Lystra and Derbe. While in that area, he was introduced to Timothy, whose father was a Greek and mother was a Jew. Timothy had been greatly influenced by the faith of his mother and grandmother. He came to the faith at an early age and was eager to serve God. In the meeting with Paul, a friendship was formed, one that would last for a lifetime. Paul made the decision, one that was received with great joy, that Timothy would join this missionary band. Throughout his life, Paul was clear in his intentions toward Timothy. He found in Timothy a young man who could carry the dreams of Paul into the next generation. Paul had reached the end of his life and was now ready to pen his final words to his beloved son. We read those words in the two letters he wrote to Timothy. The letters are Paul’s final instructions to his faithful friend. After Paul’s first release from prison in Rome, he wrote his first letter to Timothy and another to Titus. After those letters he was imprisoned again under the reign of Nero. It was during this timeframe that he crafted his second letter to Timothy. His second incarceration was much different than the first. He was not under house arrest, as in his first stay in prison. This time he was thrown into a cold dungeon and chained like a common criminal. His friends had forsaken him. Most everyone in Asia, including Demas, had abandoned him. Only Luke remained with him. Paul was eager for Timothy to join him, but I suspect that he knew that he would die before Timothy could make the trip. Timothy, without a doubt, was his favorite son. He had been faithful to him and loved him deeply. In Philippians 2:20 Paul declared that he had no one else like Timothy. Respect for the Teacher A lot of sermons and books have been written about discipleship. In these days, one of the most commonly used buzz words is mentoring. Whether you want to call it discipleship or mentoring, one thing is true. You cannot disciple/mentor one who does not respect you. Before the training/equipping process can begin there must be a respect of the student for the teacher. That respect cannot be forced, manipulated or contrived. It can only be attained through a natural process. It is the mentor’s life and words that command that respect. Mentoring in and of itself will not work. Without respect, you will not be open to receive direction, instruction or reproof from someone no matter how good the advice is, no matter how good the mentoring is, and no matter how much sense someone’s advice will make. That’s why it’s very important to be careful who is speaking into your life. You have to be very, very careful who you take advice from. I’ve watched many people take advice from folks they shouldn’t have, spending time around people, even in the ministry, that they should have avoided. Why? Because it’s not just about mentoring! It’s not just about someone giving advice. Information is not enough, especially if it’s coming from someone for whom it has not worked. There are a lot of people out there selling books, giving information, doing seminars, but at the end of the day, you need to ask yourself, “Has their knowledge been proven in their life?” Does their life market their message? When David rejected Saul’s weapons he did so, not because he had not proved them, but because he really didn’t respect Saul. I would find it nearly impossible to take something—help—from someone that I didn’t respect. If someone gives you a weapon to use, you had better have respect for the weapon and you need to respect the one who’s giving it. Respect is not given, it is earned. Back to the relationship between Paul and Timothy, we see a bond built upon respect. Timothy would have no problem receiving input in his life from Paul because Paul was a proven warrior. His life was consistent with his words. I approach mentoring today differently than I did twenty years ago because I am not the same person I was then. I look at things differently. I am not impressed with great sermons that are dramatically presented. I look at the person behind the words. Philosophies and priorities change over the years as we grow and mature. Things that were important to us when we were young do change. The depth of our message and the breadth of our experiences grow through the trials and hardships we walk through. Knowledge and education can make you smart, but not mature. Mature leaders draw from the content gained from their experiences and personal revelations, not from the content of a book. The Urgency of the Moment This was a critical time in Paul’s life. He was in a prison cell and he knew that his life was about to come to an end. There was urgency in the moment. Looking backward, he reflected on the price he had paid to further the message of Christ and to build His Church: stoned, beaten, imprisoned, abandoned for dead, shipwrecked, betrayed, ostracized, criticized, and rejected. The acclaimed poet, Robert Browning, penned a poignant poem, entitled, A Death in the Desert. The poem is a fictional piece that reflects the final thoughts of the Apostle John. One of the verses, I am sure, reflected a thought that would be similar to Paul’s thinking at this final stage of his life. The thought centers on the question of what would happen to the Church when there were none left whose eyes had seen the Lord and felt the power of His words. The question haunted him. What would happen when no one was alive who knew Him? “If I live yet, it is for good, more love ‘Through me to men: be nought but ashes here “That keep awhile my semblance, who was John,— “Still, when they scatter, there is left on earth “No one alive who knew (consider this!) “—Saw with his eyes and handled with his hands “That which was from the first, the Word of Life. “How will it be when none more saith ‘I saw’”?2 Though there were those who rejected him. There were those who respected and loved him. But, here is the truth of this matter. He was more admired after his death than during his life. I have often said, “You will always be more popular in death.” When you die, they name parks after you. They name streets after you. They write about you in textbooks. Depending on the number of people you have influenced, your funeral will be better attended than your birthday party. After I was shot in New York, I received emails from people I had not heard from for twenty years. In his letter to Timothy, Paul was trying to set things in order before his departure. He had invested much into Timothy’s life and knew that he would become a successor to Paul. In his mind, he was constrained by the thoughts of a future without him and pressed in to write what would be his final words to his spiritual son. Facing death’s door, he was still teaching and exhorting Timothy. He knew that the time of his departure was at hand. He had fought the fight. He had finished his course. Now, this was the time for Timothy to take the baton and carry the battle into the next generation. Everyone Left But One For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen —2 Timothy 4:10–18 emphasis added At some point, every person’s hour will come. Much of the final days of a person’s life are spent in reflection and setting his life in order. After he had given his final words of counsel to Timothy, he was ready to pen the final words. Even up to his final days,...