Pointers from a Pastor - Top 5!
Have you ever recalled receiving advice from a caring person in your life and thought, “I should’ve really done that” or “That would’ve made things a whole lot easier”, or, “Didn't see it then, but man I that would’ve been smart!”
Well here’s a chance to adopt a practice or two, right at the time it counts the most. Today!
So, without further ado, here are my Top 5 pointers from a pastor for times like these (yes, you know what I mean, I just didn’t want to type out COVID CRISIS again!)
Consume media wisely! No, this isn’t unique as a much-needed guideline, but really though, we NEED to draw lines on news and entertainment consumption. Facebook, Netflix, WWW - won’t do it for you! Culture won’t help you here either. So you, as a follower of Christ, be picky about where and when and what you read, watch and let your kids watch. And set time limits for personal / family screen time. And while you’re figuring out your strategy with this…
Pay attention to your heart! Yes, whether you’re in front of news, Netflix or next steps in your office (or all those amazing other people in your home!) your heart is responding, reacting, moving and making, all beneath the surface. And that’s just it, it’s beneath the surface of life. So pause, linger, and pay attention and guide it in right paths…
Make careful choices. From heart choices to financial realities, we’re in complex and dynamic situations. All of society is, and no one is exempt. If you were coasting down a highway, sure, put on cruise control and relax, but in a quickly changing environment you need a different approach: CARE! Care about the small choices you make (yes, you have choices in times like these!) and care how you come across. Choose several times per day (set timers on your phone) to assess “Am I doing the best thing possible right now?” and “Am I coming across how I want to right now?” If not, make adjustments. Remember this verse over our church for 2020. Choose to create something for the other side of this crisis that you’ll be more than happy to live with…
Choose happiness. Heard this in a Dennis Prager’s “fire-side chat” (interesting resource if you haven’t heard of him) and it’s also related to a theme in my messages I’ll be hitting on starting on Sunday. It’s such a great point! Quote: “You have a moral obligation to the people around you to be in a good mood!” Think about it…
Think differently. They say everything is changing. Wait, “has” changed already. Further, one of the prophetic words over this year was “2020 is a year of reset”. This all means we to think differently, allowing for God to speak new assignments / new methods to us so we can adapt and change and move with Him. Think thru: What can I leave in the past? Let go of? Move on to do in my life? If you knew you could do anything, what would you attempt?
Take a minute and imagine applying these pointers. Today. How would they change things? Where would they lead you?
Further, based on what God’s showing you these days, what would you add? What would be your Top 5? Who could you share those with?
(For more on adopting a God-centered perspective on the COVID CRISIS (ack, typed it again!) see this post - updated list!)
Hope to see you around “online” this week, and IN PERSON really soon. Can’t wait! Thanks for reading :-)
Rowan