Burn Out – The Myth of Phil 4:13

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Philippians 4:13  – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

I’m sure that we’ve all heard that verse in relations to overcoming difficult or impossible tasks. While it is true that we can rely on Christ for our strength, there is a limit to how He will strengthen you.

Don’t go calling me a “heretic” just yet, hear me out first …

The limit is that we can do all things through Christ IF we are walking in what God wants us to be doing. If we are walking outside of God’s will for our lives then we can not rely on Him for our strength because He will not provide it where we are not walking the plan that He has for us.

I have unfortunately heard this verse thrown around to justify someone taking on more and more work and responsibility in ministry. I’ve heard it coming from the front of some meetings as a ministry does more and more, stretching it’s volunteers and students much farther than God would want them to be stretched.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that God wants us to be stepping out into new things and ideas, but they need to be the things that God Himself wants us to be walking into. He knows far better than we do, and far better than our leaders do, what we are able to take on and what we are able to cope with. God also knows the whole picture of what will be happening in our lives, and what will be changing in our lives in the future. He can tell us His plans with this knowledge that we do not posses.

I’ve seen friends burn out by trying to do too much. Everything that they took on and engaged in was “good” works, and things that brought glory to God, but it was too much for them. Sometimes I wonder how much of it was what leaders wanted them to do, how much they wanted to do and what part of it was what God wanted them to do? I don’t have the answer, but I know that God knows what we are capable of and what we can handle.

So next time you look at taking on more, and are encouraged by Philippians 4:13, stop and ask yourself, “Is what you are about to do what God has for me?”. If it is then He will give you strength, but if it is not then you will be on your own…

Photo by Magnus

An Update on the YWAM Podcast

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Back in March I announced that we were launching a weekly audio news program, the YWAM Podcast. Since the launch of the podcast we have produced 27 episodes and the program has been downloaded over 3000 times. It has been heard in 41 different countries and has covered over 400 different stories from around Youth With A Mission.

The feedback for the podcast has been great. While most of our listeners are current YWAM staff and students, there are also many non-YWAM listeners. My favourite feedback from a listener was this one written on the YWAM Facebook page:

“Praise God! This is so amazing I get chills as I hear what Our Great God is doing among the nations!”

Moving Forward

Even though each episode of the YWAM Podcast is only 12 – 17 minutes long it represents 12 – 15 hours of work. This includes collecting and curating the stories, writing the script, recording and editing the podcast, posting the audio and news articles and then promoting the podcast through our various communication channels. I enjoy doing it, but it takes a lot of time to produce a good show.

We are moving the YWAM Podcast from a weekly to a fortnightly (every two weeks) format. This will probably increase the length of each episode slightly, but it should free up about 10 – 12 hours every two weeks for me work on other projects.

As we look at future projects we are looking at a few different options for audio content as well as collecting and creating content for a new resource site for YWAM International. Stay tuned to this web-site and the YWAM Podcast to hear more about our future projects …

How Do We Pray for Our Enemies?

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A few weeks ago at church we were talking about how God wants us to deal with our “enemies”. We were talking about the Ten Commandments, specifically “Do not murder” and the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus commands us to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.

When we’re told to “Pray for your enemies” I don’t think this is what it means …

It is certainly tempting to pray that way for enemies and those who persecute us, but how does God want us to actually pray for our enemies?

The first thing that we need to do is learn how to love our enemies. God loved us before we loved Him and He wants us to love our enemies the same way He loves us. We didn’t deserve it, but He loved us before we changed, and we need to love our enemies before they change. But how do we learn to love our enemies?

5 Steps to change our attitude towards our enemies

  1. Acknowledge our feelings to God
  2. Ask God to change our feelings
  3. Choose to act differently than we “feel” like acting
  4. Pray for that person or group of people
  5. Watch for chances to show love to the person or group

Sounds pretty easy when it’s broken down like that right?

How to pray for our enemies?

Matthew 5:45 states that “For he (God) makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.”.

We should be praying for God’s blessings of the lives of all people; our family, friends and enemies. Everyone is created in God’s image, and no one on earth was a mistake or an accident.

In addition to God’s blessings we should also be praying that God’s will be done in that person’s life and that God would be revealed to them.

We should also pray, as Jesus prayed for us on the cross, for God to forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

Here they are again in list form:

  • For God to bless them and for good to come into their lives
  • For God’s will to be done in their lives
  • That Jesus and the Gospel would be revealed to them
  • Forgiveness

Why should be pray for our enemies?

I think that Luke 6 says it best:

Luke 6:32-36
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that… But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Is Facebook an Excuse to Not Make New Friends?

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This is kind of a follow up to one of my previous posts about how technology can isolate us from the world and people around us.

Someone who I follow on my Twitter account posted this update after going home from a YWAM Discipleship Training School (YWAM DTS):

I think I talk to my friends in Australia more than I talk to people in my own home church. Weird.

It’s a sad but very prevalent truth in our world today that it can be easier to connect with friends from the past, than to connect with local friends IRL (In Real Life). Not only is it easier, but it usually involves a lot less emotional involvement and can involve less openness as well. I find it a lot easier to pretend online than I do to pretend while with someone in person.

The crazy thing is that I am sure that technology like social networking and email is probably limiting missionary work! Sure, it’s great for raising awareness and support, but it is so much easier and more comfortable to engage in conversion and relationships on-line rather than in person. This can seriously limit the effectiveness of one on one / friendship evangelism and relationships as missionaries in the field don’t spend as much time and energy on the new relationships in the area / community they are called to.

How are you using social networking and email on the missions field? Do you find that you are spending more time on there than with the people God has called you to minister to?

Technology Isolates You From The World Around You

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One thing that I have noticed lately is that technology can really isolate you from the world around you…

Now I’m not talking about isolating you from the world, rather I’m talking about it isolating you from the IMMEDIATE world and people around you.

Next time you are waiting in line at the grocery store, doctor’s office or bank have a look at the other people in line with you. Chances are pretty good that you will see them listening to their mp3 player, talking on their phone or texting. They are probably not actually very aware of what’s happening around them with the people only a few metres away.

Not so long ago if you were waiting in line at the bank, grocery store or doctor’s office you might actually strike up a conversation with a person near you. This was a prime opportunity to meet new people, make new friends, find out what’s happening in the community and possibly engage in evangelism.

I know that personally I need to make sure that I don’t burry my head into Facebook, e-mail or Twitter when I am with the family. With many in the corporate world the BlackBerry can be a constant curse (it’s called a “CrackBerry” because it’s addictive nature). My parent’s were just on a holiday and I think that one of the highlights for them was that there was no mobile / cellular service for my Dad’s BlackBerry. He was actually forced to put the thing down and relax, and there was nothing that he could do about it.

Near the end of summer in August I’m thinking about going on a social media fast. I’ll leave the computer off, shut off any e-mail alerts and not check any social media sites(Twitter, Facebook, etc.). To be honest I don’t expect to miss much. I figure that if anything it should help me to connect better with the people and world immediately around me and if there is anything really important, I’m sure I’ll find out about it in other ways …