What Have You Created Lately?

What have you created lately? Creating something doesn’t just have to come from making something, drawing something, building something, or writing something. Creativity can come in many shapes and in many forms. It is one of the things that truly separates us from the rest of creation. We have the ability to create unlike any other part of creation. We were made in the image of God who is the epitome of creating. We fulfill a portion of our purpose and we glorify our own creator when we are creating.

Unfortunately the world has done a pretty good job of stepping in and fulfilling the role we as Christians should be filling. As Christians…connected with the power of God and blessed with the mind of Christ…we should be creating more than any other group on the face this earth. We should be the ones setting the standard for which the rest of the world is left wondering, “How do they do that?”

We share an advantage that just cannot be overcome. It cannot be competed with. It is impossible to best. We have within us the mind of Christ…

Be creative today and don’t limit your understanding of what creativity is.

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 – “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.”

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved

What A Ride

I’m not totally sure why I like to ride roller coasters. Perhaps it is the thrill of free falling for a certain amount of time, but still being strapped into the safety of a seat. Perhaps it is the exhilaration of doing loops, where for a moment you are held upside down…but you are still in the safety of a seat. Perhaps it is the anticipation of what is to come as you wait in line…and then before you know it the moment is there and you are climbing in with the knowledge that in just seconds you are going to be on a ride that is a bit beyond your control…but your faith is the in equipment…the proven mechanics of a system perfected by its maker. Each year hundreds of thousands of people put their faith and literally their life in the hands of a mechanical system that takes them on a thrill ride.

My thoughts today turn towards the search for excitement and adventure. The desire to be in a situation that is just a bit beyond our control. We desire to place our faith in something that is seemingly stronger than us.

This is the very place that God desires to take us. He desires that we live our life in such a way that we have to put our faith and trust in him. He has created us with an inborn craving for adventure, for what may be perceived by some as a bit of recklessness. But what we know to be simply living by faith.

As much as I enjoy roller coasters I really don’t have as great of a need for them anymore. I have my fill of excitement just living my life day to day. And believe me it is much greater than any ride an amusement park has to offer. But…this will not prevent me from partaking in a little roller coaster riding...given the opportunity!

2 Corinthians 11:21-29 – “What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?”

I don’t think Paul needed a theme park for excitement!!

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved

Dream Bigger - Reach Higher

To be sure…challenging moments are a part of life. And persevering through these challenging moments is certainly what we have to do. But I don’t think we should make the mistake of lumping challenging moments into the same category as trials and tests.

What am I saying? I am saying this, that challenging moments come from taking on a dream…a vision…that is bigger than ourselves. When we take on something like this we have to know that it isn’t going to just be handed over on a silver platter. We are going to have to fight for it, we will have to take ownership of it and claim it. This doesn’t just happen. It is challenging. And it is through these moments of stretching ourselves and willfully putting ourselves in a position that forces us to grow is where we will experience the newfound strength and endurance that will allow us to dream bigger and reach higher than we had ever thought possible.

So what about trials and tests? These are attacks that are brought on by the enemy. They are put in our path to cause us to stumble. Trials and tests do not cause growth in our life. If they did we would all be spiritual giants. Think of this…how many Christians would tell you that they have never experienced a trial or a test. We all have. And many of us have experienced more than what we feel is our fair share. Yet how many of these people would be classified as spiritual giants? Not many. Trials and tests do not cause the growth in our life. We can learn from them. We can learn the patterns of the enemy and this can help us. But in the end, once we realize our position in Christ and we learn to recognize the attacks of the enemy we simply have to take authority over them and learn that we can tell the enemy where to go.

What I am saying today is that if you truly want to grow you have to step out dream bigger and reach higher than what you have previously. Open yourself up to new possibilities. Allow yourself to believe for more than what you have previously thought possible.

Dream higher today. Reach higher today. Today is the day to believe!

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved

My Goals...or Yours?

While serving on the staff of a church, I had the awesome opportunity to sit in many different conferences. One of the nice things about this opportunity was the fact that they were often planned in great locations, which was especially nice when they fell during the winter months of Wisconsin. It wasn’t too hard to coax me away in January to go to a conference in Orange County California, or Clearwater Florida, or Dallas Texas.

I listened to some of the greatest leaders in the church world speak on leadership in the church. People like Rick Warren, Ed Young, Jr., T.D. Jakes, Bill Hybels, Erwin McManus, amongst others. This was very uplifting and encouraging and these men were perhaps more down-to-earth than what we would tend to think. But as much as this inspired me…it really doesn’t mean much until I personalize it and incorporate it into my life.

And…many times when I came back from a conference like this, myself and the others that I traveled with would implement parts of what we learned. If it were a leadership conference we would talk about having a mission statement, a clear goal of where we wanted to go, and we would put these practices into place. Sometimes they would make a difference…sometimes they would not.

What I was thinking about today as it relates to these inspirational moments we have in our lives is the practice of setting goals…and then comparing those goals against our daily schedule.

If you are having financial difficulties and you talk to a financial planner one of the first things they will have you do is write down every penny you spend for two-weeks or a month. This tells them where and what you are spending your money on.

The same can hold true for leadership. If a leader is having difficulties attaining his goals we really need to take a look at his schedule. If a leaders goals are clearly marked out then it should be pretty easy for him to make the daily decisions we all face as to what he should be spending his time doing. The majority of his time should be spent on his top goals, because just as the person with a financial challenge needs to take an inventory of where that commodity is going…the leader with a leadership challenge must take an inventory of the commodity that they are dealing with…and that is time.

Today I would challenge you to take a look at your goals. What are the things most important to you? What are the items that you know beyond a doubt that you need to achieve? What are the things that if they somehow passed you by you would know that you made a huge mistake in not pursuing?

These are the items that should be consuming most of your time. Way too often we allow our time to be consumed by the cares of other people. We allow our time to be taken up by the needs of others. And I have seen people waste away their own talents by allowing their time to be consumed putting band-aids on the problems of other people. And now you have two people that are handicapped. One person because they have received a band-aid where they needed an opportunity to grow and learn. And another person handicapped by the illusion that they have done something good but in reality they have allowed themselves to be sidetracked on their journey to achieve the goals that God has laid out for them.

And before you think I am totally uncaring, I do realize that we are called to minister to others, but I do believe that very often the situation being called ministry fits into what I described above more closely than true ministry.

Take a look today. Where is your time being spent? What are you doing with your only non-renewable commodity…time?

Acts 14:3-7 – “So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the good news.”

Take a note here today in the scripture. Paul and Barnabas remained in Iconium as long as their ministry was effective. But as soon as they realized that there was an uprising against them they left for other towns where they could continue to preach.

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 --- Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved

I Know That You're Alive

There is a great church in South Carolina called New Spring Church. I don’t personally know anybody there but I have watched several of their services online and have read a bit of their Senior Pastors Blog. Can’t be too bad of a guy. He is a runner and I read that he attempted his first marathon this past year. Didn’t quite make it but made a declaration that he was going to try again. I love that in a person. Somebody who is willing to attempt something that may be a bit bigger than them…and even though they might not make it they immediately are willing to declare that they will go out and tackle it again.

Anyways…while watching one of the services online…I was listening to their praise and worship and they did a song that had the words in the chorus… “I know that you’re alive…you came to fix my broken life.” Seemingly good words but…I have learned to analyze all that I speak. And maybe I am being a little over-analytical…but my thoughts went to this; is our life really ever broken? Is this how we know that Jesus is alive?

I haven’t studied this completely but I am just kind of wondering aloud here. Is our life ever really broken? Our God is the giver of our life. He creates us with a purpose. He also gives us the option of following that purpose or the option to not follow that purpose. I don’t think our life is ever really broken. But rather we make a decision to follow that purpose or to pursue our own purpose and desires. And it isn’t just a decision to follow a purpose but rather to also accept our position in Christ. We are given a position of dominion over the Earth. A position that allows us to call the shots…to write our future…to be in control…second only to God Himself. The only time we should find ourselves in trouble is when we decide to act and move outside the will of God for our lives. All of the other problems and stress that exists in our lives is because we have either decided to pursue our own purpose instead of God’s or to follow our own desires rather than accept the inheritance we have in Christ Jesus. Our life is never really broken. So to speak out loud that we have a broken life really is a knock against what God created.

Remember these are just my thoughts as I sit on my front porch on Sunday afternoon enjoying an incredibly beautiful summer afternoon in Wisconsin. Believe me…I totally understand the premise of the song. I get what it is saying. But like I have said before…the enemy does not hear our thoughts…he hears what we speak and what we say aloud and when we say that we have a broken life he hears that, and he will use those words…those thoughts and that type of thinking against us. Because when we speak it…it becomes real to us. And if we are thinking that we have this broken life that we somehow have to fix and we are praying that God fixes it for us…the enemy realizes this and he will bring thoughts and things to us that plays into that thinking.

But…if we come from the point of view that we are created perfect in Him…and that our heritage is a life of prosperity and a life with a hope and a future…then what does the enemy have to work with?

We must approach all we do and all we say with the approach of what is in the spirit realm. This is what the Bible tells us. When we sign along with a worship song simply because that is what is being sung and that is what is on the screens…even though we don’t agree with what it says….then we aren’t worshipping our Lord, instead we are singing along to please the worship leader and those around us. In other words we are worshipping those around us and singing to please the worship leaders. That changes things doesn’t it? But that is what it is.

Worship songs are great…as long as they are correct. But we must realize they are still just songs written by men or women. And they are made popular not by what they say…but rather by their appeal to the masses and by their melodic interpretation, the chord changes, and the chorus and the bridges. Basically by how they sound. I am fairly certain that there isn’t a department that approves worship songs by their theological correctness. Oh, they will give a brief overview of it to make sure it isn’t total blasphemy…but as long as it basically appears theologically sound it will pass.

This isn’t a knock on the Christian music industry, but what I am saying is that we are the ones who must take responsibility for what we say and what we sing. We are the ones who must guard our mouths.

Watch every word that comes out of your mouth. Everything you say.

Matthew 12:34 – “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved

Is It What You Have or What You've Earned?

"I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of. Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in." Henry David Thoreau

It isn’t the things that you get handed to you that determine who you are. It is the things that you work for, the things that you struggle to get, that help define the person that you are.

Why is that? Does just being given something allow you to really own it? Simple things like being given a piece of gum. Yeah…it doesn’t take much to take ownership of a piece of gum does it? But let’s look a little further. Does being given a bike make you cyclist? Not really…not until you begin to ride it and put in the miles in the saddle. When you can get on the bike and know how it responds, know how it handles, know that you can push those pedals and it will carry you for as long as you can continue to push it.

What about running shoes or a wetsuit? Does being given either of those make you a runner or a swimmer? Not at all…not until you begin to use them. Until then it is almost as though they own you. Receive a pair of running shoes and set them by your back door. Every time you walk by them it will be as though they are telling you what to do until you take ownership of them. I never feel guilt in looking at my running shoes…as though they are telling me that I need to go out and run…because I have taken ownership of them. I know my schedule…I know when I need to run and when I need to rest and I have no guilt in my rest times because I have put in my miles.

Our salvation is a gift…God gives it to us freely…but simply accepting the gift isn’t enough. Oh…it is initially. Just like when you get a pair of running shoes. You may have never run a mile in your life…but as long as you head out the door that first day and run your first 100-feet you are a runner. The next day may be 200-feet. And then eventually you run your first mile…it isn’t until you decide to stop running that you stop being a runner.

When you accept God’s gift of salvation you become a Christian. But simply accepting and doing nothing more will not allow you to hold onto that gift. And some would say that you never really accepted it if you don’t do something more. Just like the gift of the running shoes. You may accept them but unless you actually use them, you have to ask yourself if you truly accepted ownership of them. I would say not. You may as well give them away to a runner because at least then you will not experience the guilt of seeing that unused gift sitting at your back door. The unused gift that you never took ownership of.

I believe that the world is full of Christians who have yet to take ownership of their gift of salvation. Oh…they accepted the gift but they haven’t really accepted ownership of it. They may have gotten up that next morning and put in their first 100-ft. run…but somewhere along the line they decided that it was too hard. They didn’t like the pain, the shortness of breath, the side-ache…all of those little pains that you experience when you are just getting started. And so they give up. They quit trying and decide that because this gift was free they really don’t need to do anything. But how untrue?

What I’ve experienced as both a Christian and as a recreational athlete is that the moment you stop experiencing a bit of discomfort is the same moment you stop growing and it is usually the same moment that you give up ownership of your gift.

I experienced a lot of discomfort when I first started running…A LOT!! And then it got easier. But then I experienced A LOT of discomfort when I trained for my first marathon…and EVEN MORE when I trained for my first triathlon and my first Ironman. It doesn’t stop…not if you want to keep growing and hold onto the ownership of that gift.

I continue to experience a certain amount of discomfort as I embrace the Word of God. As I continue to delve into the teachings and the application that God has for my life today. I want to become ALL that I can and I want to have the LARGEST impact on this world with my life that I can. And I know that isn’t going to happen just living a quite little life where I walk by that gift that God has given me…but make the decision to just leave it sitting there.

Take ownership of the gifts you’ve been given…today. Until you do…they may be owning you.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved

If you Dream it...You Must also Believe It

Few things challenge us as parents as much as our children. It can happen in many ways…but perhaps the most challenging is when you perceive a problem that you cannot fix.

Quite some time ago I wrote about our son Mike who experienced a seizure about a month after our family moved out to Utah. It was totally unexpected, he had no history of seizures and it scared my wife and I unlike anything we had ever experienced. He has had no signs of anything since then and I know he will never experience anything like it in the future. But for those moments and for the following weeks there was a helpless feeling my wife and I had. We felt powerless. And this is exactly what the enemy wants. To make us feel powerless.

We learned so much through this situation, and one of the greatest lessons I learned is that we are never powerless. And if we feel as such it is only because we have given up the power God provides us with to the enemy.

Matthew 9:23 – “’If you can?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for him who believes.’”

When Jesus spoke these words he was speaking to a father who had a son that was possessed by demons and the demons would take control of the boy and cause him to do violent things that endangered and injured the boy, to the point that the father was obviously concerned for his life. The father felt helpless…until he met Jesus.

Last week I used the quote from Walt Disney that “If you can dream it you can do it.” That is true…as long as you can also believe. There are things that I have dreamt of that I didn’t believe in and they never happened. You have to believe.

What are you believing for right now? Whatever it is that you are believing for, you must also believe in. James tells us that the person who doubts is like somebody being tossed around in the waves. He can’t really expect anything in particular to happen.

I recall as a child being with my family in our little 16-foot tri-hull boat. It was a good enough boat for the lakes in northern Wisconsin, but on this particular occasion we were in Door County and my dad took us from the Bay of Green Bay through the channel to Lake Michigan. It is here that I experienced what James was talking about. On this particular day the waves on Lake Michigan were much more than what this little boat was ever designed to handle. When you are being tossed around by the waves you really have no control what so ever. Fortunately my dad didn’t go too far out into the lake, instead he immediately did all he could to turn us around and get us back into the safety of the channel.

So many people venture out into the waves with the spirit of whatever happens – happens. And that is not the life God designed for us. He wants us to control our destiny by using the mind of Christ that he gave us. He wants us to enter situations with assurance and confidence and he desires that we be the ones calling the shots. But you can’t do it if you are full of doubt. As soon as you doubt it is as though you are jumping out into the waves in your little boat…subject to where the waves take you. You really shouldn’t expect anything because at that point there is no guarantee. It would be very much like my dad continuing out onto Lake Michigan. There would have been a chance that we would have made it to our destination okay…but we would have had no reason to expect it…we were totally subject to the waves.

Today…BELIEVE…DON”T DOUBT…and know that anything is possible!

Have a blessed day,

RodZ

© 2008 – Rodney Zimmerman – All rights reserved