The Presbyter's Page
Electronic Edition – October 2002
Original articles published September 2002
Section 12 - LA
District UPCI
Donald Bryan - Presbyter
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Sermon Thought: "Marching Until"
Tips For
More Effective Personal Time Management
What Is
Needed To Encourage Growth
Communicating
With Secular People
Sermon Thought:
“Marching
Until”
Joshua 6:1
"Now Jericho was straitly shut up because
of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in." -- Joshua
6:1 (KJV)
The spies have returned from Jericho, the Israelites have crossed the Jordan River and have eaten their first meal in the Promised Land. The manna will fall no more, water will not flow from the rock, and their clothes and shoes will soon show signs of deterioration. They have finally set foot in the Promised Land, which flowed with milk and honey. Life would not be handed to them on a silver platter any more. They will have to put forth effort now.
Jericho is the very first conquest for the children of Israel in the Promised Land. How would the victory be won? How many Israelites would loose their life in battle? What would Joshua’s war strategy for victory be? How well would the army follow the leader of their host? I’m sure these and other questions were on the lips of the Israelites. What a surprise they had when they found out how victory over this large city would be won.
The manna may have stopped, the water may have stopped, but the miracles didn’t, and haven’t stopped. These people would continue to see the hand of God working among them. The opening of Jordan River wasn’t the last thing that they would see God perform. These people would go from one miracle to another. And, as long as they would serve God, God would supernaturally work among them. The Israelites were not a fighting people. They were not trained for battle. It seems that God liked it best that way. The first conquest that Israel faced was not the walls of Jericho. The city was “straitly shut up because of the children of Israel.” The people of Jericho were afraid of the Israelites because their fame had preceded them. They had heard what Israel’s God had done for them. Let me tell you now, your enemy knows what God has done for His people. Satan knows what God has already done in your life. Some of you have experienced miracles in your walk with God. The walls of Jericho looked formidable to these people in this new land. Is there anyone who ever came upon walls in your life that were formidable? Walls that were impregnable? High walls that came across menacing? Maybe they were overpowering, or overwhelming. Let’s face it, some of life’s walls are stubborn. Not every wall falls down the first time you march around it. Some of Israel quit too soon. Two and one half tribes quit before they ever crossed over Jordan. They said, “This is good enough for us.” There are many saints of God that say the same thing today. They are satisfied with a half victory. To win the victories you need to win will take more than sporadic spiritual living. The work of God is not the work of a day, a month, or a year, but a lifetime. Sometimes we have more “quitters” than we have “plodders” (one who proceeds slowly, working patiently with effort). How determined are you? Something has got to give if you stay at it long enough. Christian character is developed by degrees. We do not serve God because it’s easy, but because it’s right. Is there anyone who will say, “I’m gonna keep marching around my walls until!” March until victory!
Tips For More Effective Personal Time Management
1.
Spend time planning and organizing.
Using
time to think and plan is time well spent.
If you fail to take time for planning, you are, in effect, planning to
fail.
2.
Set goals. Goals give your life, and the
way you spend your time, direction.
3.
Prioritize. Use the 80-20 rule originally
stated by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto who noted that 80 percent of
the reward comes from 20 percent of the effort. The trick to prioritizing is to isolate and identify that
valuable 20 percent. Once identified,
prioritize time to concentrate your work on those items with the greatest
reward.
4.
Use a to do list. Some people thrive using a
daily to do list which they construct either the last thing the previous day or
first thing in the morning. Such people
may combine a to do list with a calendar or schedule.
5.
Be flexible. Allow time for interruptions
and distractions. Time management
experts often suggest planning for just 50 percent or less of one’s time. With only 50 percent of your time planned,
you will have the flexibility to handle interruptions and the unplanned “emergency.”
6.
Consider your biological prime time. That’s
the time of day when you are at your best.
Are you a “morning person,” or “night owl” or “late afternoon whiz?” Knowing when your best time is and planning
to use that time of day for your priorities (if possible) is effective time
management.
7.
Do the right thing right. Noted
management expert, Peter Drucker, says “doing the right thing is more important
than doing things right.” Doing the
right ting is effectiveness; doing things right is efficiency.
8.
Eliminate the urgent. Urgent
tasks have short-term consequences while important tasks are those with
long-term, goal related implications.
Work toward reducing the urgent things you must do so you’ll have time
for your important priorities.
9.
Practice the art of intelligent neglect. Eliminate from your life trivial tasks or those tasks which do
not have long-term consequences for you.
Can you delegate or eliminate any of your to do list? Work on those tasks which you alone can do.
10. Avoid being a perfectionist. Some things need to be closer to perfect than others, but
perfectionism, paying unnecessary attention to detail, can be a form of
procrastination.
11. Conquer procrastination. One technique to try is the “Swiss Cheese” method. When you are avoiding something, break it
into smaller tasks and do just one of the smaller tasks or set a timer and work
on the big task for just 15 minutes. By
doing a little at a time, eventually you’ll reach a point where you’ll want to
finish.
12. Learn to say “NO.” Such a small word – and so hard to say. Focusing on your golas may help.
Blocking time for important, but often not scheduled, priorities such as
family and friends can also help. But
first you must be convinced that you and your priorities are important – that seems
to be the hardest part in learning to say “no”. Once convinced of their importance, saying “no” to the unimportant
in life gets easier.
13. Reward yourself. Even for small successes, celebrate achievement of goals. Promise yourself a reward for completing
each task, or finishing the total job.
What Is Needed To Encourage Growth
1.
Growth
expectations and earnest prayer by Pastor and Congregation.
2.
Aliveness,
good music, solid Biblical preaching, ministry or prayer, the leading of the
Holy Ghost and a friendly atmosphere in the worship gatherings.
3.
Each
person feeling loved, cared for, and needed.
4.
Development
of leadership; both spiritual and organizational.
5.
Opportunities,
encouragement, and direction for every-member-involvement according to his or
her gifts.
6.
Adequate
fellowship. Friendships need to develop
outside the gathering times with people of the church as well as those who are
not yet Christians.
7.
Space
that is a little larger (and more flexible), but not too large.
8.
Parking
that is convenient, and a building that is accessible.
9.
Ways
to easily get acquainted with new people and make them feel at home.
10.
An
on-going new believer’s class.
11.
A
willingness to let go of ineffective programs, and develop new ministries that
are called for by present need and provided for by available personnel.
12.
The
church building becoming the center of a hub of ministry. (More happening in the building than at
other locations.)
13.
A
climate of spiritual need felt in the community, and a means of being in touch
with those people who are becoming aware of their need.
14.
Firm
but loving leadership by the Pastor and program leaders.
Communicating With Secular People
Listed are principles for communicating the Gospel to secular people:
·
Begin with active listening. Many secular people do not
feel that the church understands them, much less empathizes with them.
·
Begin where they are. Discuss their questions,
their needs, their doubts, and their struggles. Then you correlate the relevant facet of the gospel to their
question.
·
Explain basic Christianity. Use language they
understand. Do not use theological
language or ecclesiastical language.
·
Begin with the Gospels and the book of Acts. Some
parts of the Bible are not immediately useful with many unchurched people. But many secular people are attracted to
Jesus and what He said.
·
Count on cumulative effect. As our society becomes more
secular, people need more learning and relational experiences before becoming
believers.
·
Use creative redundancy. Effective churches say
essentially the same thing over and over again in many different ways.
·
Christianity is more caught than taught. That
is why we want to bring people into fellowship and community.
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