I was thinking about this yesterday…there have been three questions that I can think of (probably a lot more if I thought about it) that God has used to MESS me up…and I wanted to share them with you.
#1 - “So Perry, what drives you?” Mike Foster
I don’t know if you’ve ever met Mike Foster…I have and
liked the guy until he asked me this!!! Because…I didn’t have an answer…
I remember when he asked me this…I was sitting at a table with ‘Cretia, Mike & Judd Wilhite and talking about leadership challenges when he just blurted this out…it messed me up!
I’ve literally thought about it for the past year or so and have prayed through my motives. One of the things I will stand before God one day and be held accountable for are my motives…why I did what I did! AND I want to do so with a pure heart.
I’m still wrestling with this question. I believe with all my heart the thing that drives me is JESUS…but there are times when I MUST wrestle selfishness and pride to the ground and not let them impact my motivations.
So…what drives you? (And I really do like Mike…he’s a Ninja for Jesus!)
#2 - “Why are you yelling at your whole church when it’s only three or four people who are making you angry?” Craig Groeschel
Craig BOTHERS me a lot because, well, God’s used him to smack me around in lots of ways! (And I’m better for it.)
He asked me this one time (in a loving way) after listening to a couple of my talks. He pointed out to me that I seemed to overreact when it came to criticism and that the MAJORITY of the people in the church were on board!!!
As pastors we have the tendency to think when a critic comes after us…everyone is on their side…and so we will dog out our church because of a few idiots.
Not good! God used Craig to get me to stop yelling at the many because of the few!
#3 - “When are you going to put me first in your finances?” GOD
I talked about this on Sunday…but this was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made! I SAID I trusted Jesus with my eternity, but I didn’t trust Him with my wallet…which made me a hypocrite and a God robber!
I’ve blogged about this before…and so here are some links if you want to read what I personally had to wrestle through with these issues.
- “Is God first in your finances?”
- “Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made” Part One
- “Top Seven Stupid Financial Mistakes I’ve Made” Part Two
I’ve made a lot of stupid decisions in my life, but placing God first in this area in my life was NOT one of them!!!
Just wanted to share a few things God has used to shape me!