I had a power drill with a rechargeable battery that could no longer be replaced. So, Anita got me a brand new drill for Christmas. I have a 2-inch auger that I use to drill around my trees for fertilizer spikes. I fully charged the two rechargeable batteries per instructions and went out to do my drilling.
I had a terrible time! I couldn’t get that drill to get enough power to turn the auger. I was not a happy camper. The drill Anita got me was exactly what a told her I wanted – more powerful than the first one. I thought I had a professional-quality tool that would do the job at least as good as the previous drill. I griped and whined about it for a day. The longer I worked, the faster those batteries drained and the slower the drilling went. I finally gave up and went inside to pout.
The next day I was looking at my several-years old auger and noticed the auger edges were worn flat. In fact, they had so flattened out that it couldn’t dig through the soil. The problem wasn’t my drill or the batteries. It was the worn out auger.
Could it be that the power absence in our lives isn’t God or the Spirit, but rather us? Perhaps God can’t work with a dull tool. Perhaps I’m the one draining the available power. Could it be that I’m blaming God when I need to reexamine myself? God taught me an important lesson that day.
Tags: power, Spirit, tools
Cholerics are those personalities who are very confident and know where they are going. They would prefer to make the rules rather than follow them. When given an obstacle they will find a way up, over, around, or through to get ‘er done. They are the movers and shakers you can always count on to organize and pull things off. They would prefer to plow new ground rather than maintain what is there.
Cholerics are outgoing extroverts and remain optimistic about what they are involved in. They are more task-oriented than people-oriented, so they work better alone. When there is a dispute, they tend to be in the middle of it because they are passionate about their opinions. If left unsanctified, these strong personalities tend to take authority not given to them, causing disunity. They have a powerful personality that can be intimidating to others, especially the Peaceful Phlegmatics.
Cholerics do well in front of people because of their self-confidence. They make great leaders, although they sometimes roll right over other people to get the job done. And that’s the down-side of Cholerics. Leaders don’t just get the job done, they also have to lead others along the path to the destination. Powerful Cholerics and Perfect Melancholies don’t release jobs to others easily because they know how they want it done.
Prominent Cholerics in our church are people like Pastor Randy Stine, my wife, Anita, and Stan Washler. They ooze confidence and gather a following.
How do we deal with Cholerics? Don’t be a bull-dozer, because they bull-doze back. Two tanks hammer each other until one is defeated. The best way to deal with a Choleric is to follow Paul’s advice to young Timothy: “entreat an elder as you would a father”. Cholerics sometimes don’t see details that others might see. Cholerics aren’t bullies, they just are passionate and believe they know the way. Approach them with logic and they’ll listen. They really are good people with good ends in mind. Another personality that is a natural leader is the Sanguine, which we’ll discuss tomorrow.
What have you learned about dealing with Powerful Cholerics?
Tags: personaility, power
I attended the DeKalb County Ministerial Association luncheon yesterday, a fellowship of area ministers. Sometimes we have in a speaker, such as a retired successful minister, or sometimes we just do some community-building. Yesterday we had some discussion questions. One question was: Who is the most famous person you have met.
Some of the pastors talked about meeting past Presidents or famous actors, sports pros or politicians. I suppose Bozo the clown was about the most famous person I’d met, but I shared another story. Some years back I attended a pastor’s conference when Kenneth Copeland was a featured speaker. I’m not a raving fan of Kenneth Copeland, as I think he takes some faith principles out of context. But he said some things that ministered to me, so I went forward at the altar call and he laid his hands on me. I didn’t feel anything different so I just put it out of my mind.
The following Sunday when I preached, there was a distinct difference in my preaching, like a renewed confidence. I still don’t understand the laying on of hands act, but something was surely transferred to me that night.
Have you ever seen a change in your own life after having someone lay hands on you?
Tags: Copeland, laying on of hands, power, spiritual gifts
In his book, A Treasury of Prayer – The Best of E. M. Bounds, he says this about the importance of prayer:
“The men in the pew given to praying for the pastor are like poles which hold up the wires along which the electric current runs. They are not the power, neither are they the specific agents in making the Word of God effective. But they hold up the wires upon which the divine power runs to the hearts of men. They make conditions favorable for the preaching of the Gospel.”
Well said. Would you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
Tags: power, prayer, support
The late Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch prisoner of the Nazis during World War II and wrote several Christian books about her experiences. She had a great illustration of God at work in the life of a believer. She brought to the platform a limp, worn out glove and talked about how useless it was in that condition. Then she put her hand into that same limp glove, and, abra-cadabra, strength came to the glove.
The glove looked the same and still appeared worn and faded, but the hand within gave it new life. With that hand inside, that limp glove had the power to pick up things, throw things, and accomplish great tasks.
So it is with us. Although we may be limp and powerless, worn out with life’s pressures, yet when the Spirit of God comes within us there is nothing that we cannot do. Of course, it wasn’t the glove, but the hand, that had life. And so it is with us, not me, but the Spirit within that accomplishes great things.
Tags: Corrie ten Boom, glove, life, power, Spirit
Dr. A. J. Gordon was a Baptist minister of by-gone days who founded the Boston Missionary Training School in 1889. Dr. Gordon told of passing along Washington St. in Boston and seeing stores with the card in the window, “To rent, with or without power.” Any one could rent the store, and by paying something extra could have power furnished from the engine in the rear.
Dr. Gordon thought it would be a good idea to ask men and women when they joined the church if they wanted to be a member on the “with power” or the “without power” basis, and if the latter, to tell them there were no vacancies for that kind in the church, it already had too many members without power.
Perhaps his thoughts are relevant for today. Do you want to be a Christian with or without power?
Tags: Holy Spirit, power
In response to Anita’s complaints about my “selective deafness”, I went to a hearing doctor to have my hearing checked. The test confirmed that I have significant hearing loss in my left ear. So I ordered a hearing aid. They are allowing me to wear it for three months as a test before I decide if I want to keep it.
Never having worn a hearing aid before, I didn’t know how it would help, or even if it would. So, I wore the thing for six days and really couldn’t tell a difference, at least not enough to make it worth all that money. I even turned it on and off near a sound source and couldn’t tell a difference. I had nearly decided to send it back when I decided to read the instruction book (duh!). The book said there would be an acoustical tone when it was turned on; I had never heard that.
So I put in a new battery, and presto: sound. That battery was dead from the day I got it and I never knew it. Now I can even hear the hair of my head brushing against the microphone. What a difference power makes!
What an object lesson regarding the Holy Spirit. A person who has never heard God’s voice doesn’t know what he/she should be hearing. So, silence seems normal. But when the Holy Spirit’s power comes into a life, suddenly everything becomes clear. What a difference His power makes!
Now I’ll be able to hear everything Anita says to me. Is that good or bad?
Tags: hearing, Holy Spirit, power