Author: Jeffrey Bush

               Redefining Anxiety

               By John Delony

– Your anxiety is not just burning you up, it is also burning up your relationship with  your spouse, your kids, and your friends. 

– Anxiety is not the problem, it is just a symptom. 

– Myth One: anxiety is a disease or genetic condition 

– Myth two: anxiety is a medical problem that can only be fixed by a pill. 

• All that anxiety medicines can do is soften the alarms your body is sending  out, it cannot solve them. 

– Myth three: anxiety is your identity or destiny.  

• Anxiety is not something that you are, it is something that you are going  through. 
• You are more than your mistakes and failures.  
• You must decide to work through things instead of dwell on them. 

– Myth four: you can have all you want right now. 

• You cannot do everything and be everything for everyone all the time. 

– Slow down and listen to the alarms. When your heart is racing and you’re feeling  anxious, slow down to find out why. What is your body telling you?  

– Start a gratitude journal and begin to pray. Gratitude will change your life.  

– Prayer reminds us that we are small and God is big. We can only handle what is in  front of us. 

– We are not alone, and we need each other. 

– Learn to control our thoughts and our actions. Our thoughts will dictate our actions. 

– You can’t control what thoughts enter your mind, but you can control the thought  you are going to dwell on. 

– Anxiety many times stems from things that you cannot control. 

– Process your past hurts and trauma. 

– Don’t give your emotions the steering wheel. 

– Let your emotions speak to you, but not dictate your life. 

– Breathe, eat, exercise, and sleep.  

– Learn how to grieve properly. 

– Understand the value of the right relationships. You need other people. Loneliness is  will kill you.  

Foreign to Familiar 

by Sarah A. Lanier

Once a young man asked me, “But what do we do if we don’t like the food?” 

I said, “You eat it. It’s about the relationship with your hosts. Eating the food is an  acceptance of their hospitality, and this has a higher value than the taste of the  food.”  

The individualist is accustomed to deciding what he or she likes or dislikes. In  group-oriented cultures, this is not a priority. In many cases, the people do not  even ask themselves the question, “Do I like this particular dish?” They just eat  it, enjoying it because it is filling them up, or because of the hospitality. (Page 47) 

Effective Parenting in a Defective World

By Chip Ingram

– You’ve hit your target when your children have transferred their love, submission, and  dependence from you to Jesus.  

– The test is not how many Bible verses they memorize or what grades they make,  rather their dependence on God. 

– Teach your children how to obey you, so they will later learn how to obey the Lord. 

          Discovering Missions  

By Charles R. Gailey & Howard Culbertson

 

– Do we claim to believe in God? He’s a missionary God. You tell me you’re committed  to Christ? He’s a missionary Christ. Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? He’s a  missionary Spirit. Do you belong to the church? It’s a missionary society. And do you  hope to go to heaven when you die? It’s a heaven into which the fruits of world  missions have been and will be gathered. – John R. Stott 

– The church exists by missions as a fire exists by burning. – Emil Brunner 

– To continue with the seedbed metaphor, missions is more than a few plants – even  robust ones – scattered among other good things in Scripture. Missions is the soil of  Scripture in which everything else is rooted. The inescapable conclusion is that if  Christians are going to call themselves “people of the Book,” they must be gripped  by that Book’s passion for global mission. — Discovering Missions by Charles R.  Gaily & Howard Culbertson pg. 13 

– I believe that in each generation God has called enough men and women to  evangelize all the yet unreached peoples of the earth… everywhere I go, I constantly  meet with men and women who say to me, “When I was young, I wanted to be a  missionary, but I got married instead” or “My parents dissuaded me” or some such  thing. No, it is not God who does not call. It is persons who will not respond. –  Isabell Kuhn, missionary to the Lisu of Thailand and China 

– The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible. – Ralph  Winter 

– If you take missions out of the Bible, there’s little left but the covers. – Nina Gunter 1

– To most of us the number of “a hundred and fifty-three,” which was the number of  fish caught in the net along the shores of Galilee after the resurrection (John  21:4-14), seems incredibly trifling. We might be inclined to wonder why the writer had  any interest in giving the number. When, however, we realize that in ancient times the  number 153 was given as the total number of all the tribes and nations of the earth, it  is no wonder that the earthly church interpreted this passage as the assurance of  success in fulfilling the Great Commission to bear the Good News to all men  everywhere. – Eugene Nida, linguist and Bible translator.

– I never made a sacrifice. We are not to talk of “sacrifice” when we remember the  great sacrifice that He made, who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for  us. – David Livingstone 

– William Carey, trying to persuade his colleagues about the need for world  evangelism, said, “See what the Moravians have done! Can we not follow their  example, and in obedience to our heavenly Master, go out into the world and preach  the Gospel to the heathen?” — Discovering Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard  Culbertson pg. 47 

– One of the British missionaries following William Carry’s example was Robert  Morrison, who in 1807 went to China as the country’s first Protestant missionary.  When an owner of the ship on which Morrison was traveling found out why Morrison  was going to China, he asked, “Now, Mr. Morrison, do you really expect that you will  make an impression on the idolatry of the Chinese Empire?” “No, sir,” replied  Morrison, “but I expect God will.” — Discovering Missions by Charles R. Gaily &  Howard Culbertson pg. 48 

– Stories of African-American missionaries do not get told very often. Adoniram and  Ann Judson, who went to India in 1812, are often credited with being the first  American Protestant missionaries. In reality, the title of “First Protestant missionary  from the New World” may belong to John Marrant, a “free black” from New York City  who in 1770 began preaching to Native Americans in Canada. Marrant went on to  take the gospel to four tribal groups: Cherokee, Creek, Catawar, and Housaw. Or, if  the title of “first American missionary” needs to be reserved for someone who  actually boarded a ship, then it might be claimed by George Liele, a freed slave who  went to Jamaica in 1783 to start a Baptist church. In 1790, former slave Prince  Williams went from the U.S. to the Bahamas to plant Baptist churches. That work  has borne so much long-term fruit that today the Baptist are the largest  denominational group in the Bahamas. All three of these —Liele, Marrant, and  Williams – were planting churches cross-culturally before the Judsons ever left New  England. — Discovering Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard Culbertson pg. 82 

– Culture is what makes people think of us as us and them as them. – Bob Sjogren 

– Samuel Zwemer, missionary to the Muslim world, spoke approvingly of missionaries  who had so “wedded their hearts” to the places where they served that when they  returned to their countries of origin, they felt homesick for the mission field they  served in. That feeling, said Zwemer, was inverted homesickness. — Discovering  Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard Culbertson pg. 102 

– There’s nothing I would not do, there’s no place I would not go for the sake of Christ.  – Esther Winans 

– Let my heart get broken with the things that break God‘s heart. – Bob Pierce 

– If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small. – Pat  Morley 

– People who feel they are already committed to enough things around a church will  tune out appeals to become burdened for world evangelism. Congregations full of  this kind of people will likely not be zealous for world evangelism until believers shed  the notion that the church is a salad bar of activities and emphases in which  involvement in global mission outreach is just one more option like singing in the  Christmas musical or helping with a weekly children’s ministry. — Discovering  Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard Culbertson 

– The church must send or the church will end. – Mendell Taylor, church historian – God cannot lead you on the basis of facts that you do not know. – Ralph winter 

– Promote world evangelism in the following four ways: 

1. By educating people about what is happening in missions, about God‘s heart  for all peoples, and about the task yet to be done.  
2. By mobilizing prayer support for world evangelization.  
3. By challenging children, youth, and adults to learn about and embrace the  global mission of the church to the point of offering themselves for missionary  service.  
4. By raising funds for the world mission enterprise.  

— Discovering Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard Culbertson pg. 180  

– The real problem of foreign missions, then, is the home churches, and without the  pastor it cannot be solved…. The multitudes of the distant nations cannot come to  speak for themselves, even were they’re conscious of their needs. Nor can the  missionary do so. The missionary visitor may arouse temporary interest. But it is the  missionary pastor who makes church a missionary power the year through. – John R.  Mott — Discovering Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard Culbertson pg. 187 

– Because the essence of the gospel – the Good News – is such that it must be shared  with all people everywhere, missions cannot be left to a few missionary-minded  people. Because global missions is on the heart of the triune God, it must be on the  heart of the local church. — Discovering Missions by Charles R. Gaily & Howard  Culbertson pg. 191 

 

After visiting the Billy Graham Library/Museum in North Carolina, I read 6 books to learn  more about his life. The books were the following: Billy Graham by David Frost; Billy  Graham by David Aikman; Thank You, Billy Graham by Jerusha Armfield; Billy Graham by  Janet and Geoff Benge; Billy Graham by Catherine MacKenzie; Legacy of Faith by Ruth  Graham 

• He was saved at an evangelist Crusade where Evangelist Mordecai Hamm was  preaching. 
• He went to Bob Jones University but got several demerits and didn’t like the  rules. After leaving Bob Jones, he went to Bible college in Florida and enjoyed it. • He later went to Wheaton College and that’s where he met his wife, Ruth. • Ruth was raised as a missionary kid in China with the Presbyterian Church. • He took the pastorate in Chicago area for one year and started preaching on the  radio while there. 
• He was asked to go full-time as the first evangelist for youth for Christ. • He began preaching in meetings all over with youth for Christ.
• Two men asked him if he wanted a spot on TV, but it would cost him a lot of  money. He somewhat sarcastically said he would take it as a sign from God if he  could raise $25,000 by the next day. He ended up raising it, and God used that  radio program. 

• When preaching a crusade in Los Angeles, William Randolph Hurst, a millionaire  and owner of 20 newspapers and 18 magazines, told all media to “puff Billy  Graham.” The media showed up saying he was kissed by William Randolph  Hurst,” and all kinds of media started showing up to put Billy Graham in the spot  light. This caused his name and ministry to go to a national level, and soon  international level.  

• Billy Graham’s team made movies, got on TV, in newspapers, and did anything  they could to further the gospel. 
• He said he will go anywhere, invited by anyone, as long as there were no limits  on what he preached. 
• He was criticized for going to the Soviet union and other places to preach, but  he made preaching salvation his goal.  
• His wife, Ruth, was opinionated, but a big help for him. It was her that took a  loan to buy the 150-200 acres in North Carolina to build their house. 

• At one point, he was told he should run for president. He heavily considered it,  until he got a phone call from his wife. She told him that the American people  would not vote for a divorced man, and that’s exactly what he would be if he  tried to run for president. 
• His wife taught their children to love God, love their dad, and respect what their  dad did in ministry. He was gone for long periods of time, but his children did  not become bitter largely due to their mom. 
• When asked on more than one occasion who the best Christian he knew was,  his response was that it was Ruth, his wife. 
• His daughter asked him about their marriage and he said that his wife was  married to God before married to him. 
• He frequently said that a good marriage requires three people: husband, wife,  and God. 
• His daughter said that even though her dad would travel and be gone, the kids  knew he loved them and always made time for them. 
• He was preaching on the radio and wanted to get a well known singer to help  him, so he went and found the best one he knew and got him on board. • He didn’t want to fall into sin, so he asked his friends to go off for an hour and  write down what caused godly men in the past to fall — they came up with a list  of four things and they became the guiding principles for the rest of their lives: 
• 1. Always have accountability with finances 
• 2.Not to be alone with opposite sex 
• 3.Not to talk bad about other pastors 
• 4.Not to exaggerate numbers of attendees or conversions 

• Whether in an interview on TV, speaking to news reporters, or on the road, he  turned every conversation back to the Gospel. 
• His consistent and constant message was about God’s love and man’s need for  God. 
• His family said he would try to never speak badly of others, and when he heard  someone say something bad about another, he would tell them that they didn’t  know the other person’s intentions. 

151 Quick Ideas To Manage Your Time  

By Robert E. Dittmer

– Keep a log book of your activities over a period of time. 

– Prepare your day the night before. Make your preparations the night before so you’re  ready to start in the morning. 

– Don’t procrastinate. Putting things off is terribly costly. 

– 80/20 principal. Place high on your priorities that which is going to yield the most  fruit (organizationally or personally). 

– ABC Priorities. What must be done now, be done soon, or should wait until later? 

– Write down the tasks as you receive them. Some tasks that you receive are verbal,  but however they come you should write them down to place on your to-do list. 

– Set deadlines for each of your tasks. 

– Under-commit and over-deliver. You can’t accept everything, at least not at this  moment. 

– Create a to-do list and update it daily. It will help you both prioritize your work and  keep it in front of you. 

– Organize your desk. Being organized will help you be more efficient, so start with  your desk. Organization saves time, and time is what we need more of. 

– Label your folders (whether digital or paper folders) so that you can easily find what  you’re looking for. 

– Group tasks together to get more done. 

– Block out your most productive time of the day to do and what really needs to be  done. 

– Use electronic reminders. 

– You will minimize distractions if you set office hours. 

– Control your email by having set time do you will look at it. If you check it every time  you receive a notification, you will be distracted far too often. 

– Cell phones are needed, but you don’t have to look at them as much as you do. You  do not have to let it stop your conversation or concentration. 

– Have an agenda for a meeting. One of the greatest time wasters in a meeting is not  having a specific agenda. 

– Attend only the meetings that are needed. You cannot attend every meeting if you  are going to maximize your time. 

– Discover your boss’s work style and adjust yours to that. 

– Find a mentor or coach to help you learn more and be more efficient. – Don’t be rude or unaccommodating, but do protect your time. 

– Learn to say “no” when things are not aligned with your goals and projects. – Realize that your procrastination is costing you a lot of time. 

– Never fear what you don’t know, just learn how to do it so you will become better at  your job. 

– Interest is not needed to get the job done, determination is. So if you are not  interested, then become interested and get the job done. 

– Use travel time to catch up on work or to be prepared for when you land. Whether in  the airport, on the plane, on a shuttle, or taxi, it’s possible times that you can take  advantage and get work done. 

– Your time on TV sucks life from time with people. Use your time at home for other  things, not just disappearing alone to the television. 

8 Hours or Less

By Ryan Huguley

• Without a deadline, there’s no delivery.  
• Preparing a sermon will involve some pain, but it can be easier by planning it  out. 
• We’re not just trying to be faster making sermons but faithful making them. 
•  Faithful sermons are not just a commentary, inspirational talk, or a self help  section.  
•  The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to change the people of God.  – Confusing preaching is due to laziness. Work at making it clear.  
•  Just because something makes sense to you doesn’t mean it will make sense  to others.  
•  Involve others in your sermon prep. Whether you take someone out for coffee,  or just casually ask about a subject idea, getting feedback could help your  sermon preparation. 
• You can get the text right and still get the sermon wrong. Of course you are to  be faithful to the text, but you should be faithful to your listener as well. A  good introduction will cut through distractions until your listener why he  should pay attention. Grab their attention! 
• Many of us want a word from God but not willing to spend time with God. 
• You could say the right things from the wrong part. You can say hard things if you love people, but you should check your heart. 
•  Make sure your intro matches the tone of the text. Let your tone be set by the  text. 
• An introduction does not have to be long, but does have to grab the attention  of your listeners. 
• When you start your sermon, you should know your destination. You could  start off well and still crash the plane. Know how to conclude your sermon. 
• Close with clarity. Clarity is king in communication. This means you must not  only be true to the text, you must be clear about it. 
•  Do not wing your conclusion. Figure out ahead of time how you are going to  conclude. Are you going to use a story, summarize or review the points, ask a  question, or challenge? Whatever it is, write it down so you are prepared. 
•  Endings matter. No one enjoys reading a book or watching a movie that has a  poor ending, and no one enjoys listening to a sermon that has a poor ending.  Preach timely, and then conclude.  
• Make sure you are explaining Scripture more than you are giving your opinion. 
• Do not just explain the text, you also have to creatively illustrate it for the  listener.  
• Be careful about using pop culture as an illustration. It might hinder more than  help. You have to determine whether it’s worth the risk – it may help one  person but might offend another when it comes to pop culture. 
•  If we are going to help people be doers of the word, we have to help them  understand what to do. 
• In your sermon, unpack the what, why, and how. 
• You’re not finished preparing your sermon until after you’ve preached. 
•  Use notes. You do not have to write down everything you were going to say,  but you should have a map of where you are going so you do not get  sidetracked. 
• Using a manuscript will help you stay on topic, help you transition from point  to point, and help you keep the time. 
• There’s nothing more powerful than petitioning God for help. Prayer will make  your preaching more effective. 
•  Prayer goes with preaching preparation like peanut butter does with jelly.
•  Emergencies happen, but not as much as we think. The biggest problem in  sermon preparation is the lack of discipline to prepare. 
•  One pastor said that a good sermon might be long, but a long sermon is rarely  good.