What do you value?
A train of thought has sent me down this road. When thinking about what I value, here are some of the things on that list.
1) Of course, at the top of my list are my relationship with God, my wife, my kids, and my extended family... in that order. This would especially include time to be with my family. However, beyond that, in no particular order (because it was too much work to try and think of them all, then rank them):
2) Worship where I can truly praise God, not just sing songs. This would include different styles of musical worship, as well as different types of worship outside of singing. This would also include times to worshiping God with shouting and with silence, with people (doing any and/or all of this) and alone, and organized time (saying/singing the same things with people) and unorganized time (primarily talking about saying/singing praises to God as I want, even as those around me to the same as they want). I also value my children learning how to worship freely like this.
3) Strong pastoral leadership that models a healthy pursuit of God through prayer, listening, scripture reading, worshiping, and being fed by other Godly men.
4) Church leadership that has a healthy balance between holding the pastor(s) accountable and following him and the vision God gives him as he shepherds the church. These would also be men who follow the pastor's example of Godliness and pursuit of Him.
5) A sabbath day of rest (of which I haven't been very good about taking lately.). This is a day to actually rest, play with my family, do things that feed my soul, and/or do things that rejuvenate me in general (which, granted, can sometimes be physical labor, but, for me with my job, that's often rejuvenating). While I firmly believe this should be a day that tends to not only bring glory to God, but make us focus on Him to some degree, I continue to work on making that a reality for me and my family. Something about crucifying the flesh... A day off to catch up on work around the house is not a sabbath day of rest, despite some folks assessment. It's a work day I don't get paid for.
6) Friends who know me, trust me, think the best of me even when I blow it, believe in me, and generally love me for who I am. If I can have a friend like that married to a woman who is a friend like that to my wife, so much the better.
7) Mentors - Godly men who will not only pray for me, but listen to what I have to say, asking more questions than they offer answers, allowing me to feel one thing that's not necessarily Godly, even as I (hopefully) choose to do the other because it's the right thing to do. While a mentor will prayerfully offer me Godly counsel, they don't necessarily push it, nor do they condemn me when I reject it. Thankfully, a Godly mentor is also a great example of forgiveness.
8) Youth ministry, first to my own, then to those outside my family.
9) Mentoring - making disciples like Jesus did, by spending time with a person (or two or three), not just having a Bible study with them once a week. I don't have this down yet, but I'm working on it.
10) Evangelism - sharing God's love with those who haven't experienced it. This includes going to where those people are, not just expecting them to come to my church, office, home, etc. I certainly will invite them to those places, but that's not the primary way I hope to communicate the Gospel to them. I want them to see Jesus - I want to be Jesus to them - where they are, in the midst of their problems, pain, good times, great experiences, etc.
I don't know if those are the top 10 things I value. Probably not, but they're what are on my mind right now. I may post more later. Maybe not. I wanted to get those off my mind for now.
1) Of course, at the top of my list are my relationship with God, my wife, my kids, and my extended family... in that order. This would especially include time to be with my family. However, beyond that, in no particular order (because it was too much work to try and think of them all, then rank them):
2) Worship where I can truly praise God, not just sing songs. This would include different styles of musical worship, as well as different types of worship outside of singing. This would also include times to worshiping God with shouting and with silence, with people (doing any and/or all of this) and alone, and organized time (saying/singing the same things with people) and unorganized time (primarily talking about saying/singing praises to God as I want, even as those around me to the same as they want). I also value my children learning how to worship freely like this.
3) Strong pastoral leadership that models a healthy pursuit of God through prayer, listening, scripture reading, worshiping, and being fed by other Godly men.
4) Church leadership that has a healthy balance between holding the pastor(s) accountable and following him and the vision God gives him as he shepherds the church. These would also be men who follow the pastor's example of Godliness and pursuit of Him.
5) A sabbath day of rest (of which I haven't been very good about taking lately.). This is a day to actually rest, play with my family, do things that feed my soul, and/or do things that rejuvenate me in general (which, granted, can sometimes be physical labor, but, for me with my job, that's often rejuvenating). While I firmly believe this should be a day that tends to not only bring glory to God, but make us focus on Him to some degree, I continue to work on making that a reality for me and my family. Something about crucifying the flesh... A day off to catch up on work around the house is not a sabbath day of rest, despite some folks assessment. It's a work day I don't get paid for.
6) Friends who know me, trust me, think the best of me even when I blow it, believe in me, and generally love me for who I am. If I can have a friend like that married to a woman who is a friend like that to my wife, so much the better.
7) Mentors - Godly men who will not only pray for me, but listen to what I have to say, asking more questions than they offer answers, allowing me to feel one thing that's not necessarily Godly, even as I (hopefully) choose to do the other because it's the right thing to do. While a mentor will prayerfully offer me Godly counsel, they don't necessarily push it, nor do they condemn me when I reject it. Thankfully, a Godly mentor is also a great example of forgiveness.
8) Youth ministry, first to my own, then to those outside my family.
9) Mentoring - making disciples like Jesus did, by spending time with a person (or two or three), not just having a Bible study with them once a week. I don't have this down yet, but I'm working on it.
10) Evangelism - sharing God's love with those who haven't experienced it. This includes going to where those people are, not just expecting them to come to my church, office, home, etc. I certainly will invite them to those places, but that's not the primary way I hope to communicate the Gospel to them. I want them to see Jesus - I want to be Jesus to them - where they are, in the midst of their problems, pain, good times, great experiences, etc.
I don't know if those are the top 10 things I value. Probably not, but they're what are on my mind right now. I may post more later. Maybe not. I wanted to get those off my mind for now.
Labels: Family, Friendship, Personal, Theology, Youth Ministry
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