opportunity

Leave a comment Posted on Faith Journeys, RBTC

RBTC at Power & Love Conference

Last weekend the student ambassadors had the opportunity to set up a booth during the Power & Love conference. 

Pastor Craig Hagin was invited to speak by his good friend and evangelist Todd White. Of course, RBTC had to be represented! A student event was moved to a different date, BUT it was worth the change of plans.

rbtc-power-and-loveThe response by the conference goers was phenomenal!

Most of the attendees were from different states–many had never heard of Rhema, so our ambassadors were able to introduce them to our college and ministry.

Todd White invited us back on Saturday night when he was sharing.

When the ambassadors arrived, our table was almost empty of materials! It was set up on Saturday morning and people were stopping by all day.

Being flexible gave our Admissions Office an unexpected open door for recruiting. Can you imagine if we’d said no to eat chili and watch a movie? (Note: There’s nothing wrong with fellowship, but it’s important to know when to disappoint the right people.)

Now we have a TON of perspective students out there with our material–and I guarantee they will do some recruiting for us just by telling others within their sphere of influence. 

I wanted to share the success from the conference because I want to ask for your help.

Is your church/ministry having a conference in 2017 RBTC should know about? Please let the Admissions Office know! We are always looking for opportunities to share Rhema with others! 

Contact the Recruiting Department by phone at 918-258-1588 ext 2379or by email at cwicks@rhema.org

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

Getting rid of locusts

It’s easy to get sucked into time wasting activities. 

For example, I have to be careful to not let YouTube videos suck me into spending hours doing nothing productive.The struggle is real…

Paul told the Christians at Ephesus to “[Be]careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Matthew Henry’s commentary on verse 17 says:

Good Christians must be good husbands of their time, and take care to improve it to the best of purposes, by watching against temptations, by doing good while it is in the power of their hands, and by filling it up with proper employment.

Joel 2:25 is a verse Christians love to quote:

The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
    to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.”

I’ve seen grown people cry over this verse…

And it’s truly an awesome verse because God is merciful when we completely miss it.

Most of us, like the children of Israel, waste our time on things that eat up our fields and take away opportunities.

My encouragement to us all is to not wait until the locusts, i.e the time wasters, strip our fields before we start getting serious about managing our time. 

If you see a locust, squash it!

Ask the Lord to help you stay on track. 

This is not about legalism, either.

Don’t get busy doing a bunch of stuff out of obligation, thinking that religious activity is like a can of locust repellent.

When I talk about asking the Lord for help, I mean to ask Him to open your eyes to the people who could benefit from you making the most of every opportunity.

 

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Business Sense, Character Corner, Daily Blogs

The opportunities in your reality

Did you ever watch The Brady Bunch movie?

It was a spoof from the ’90s that was not that great, but made me laugh nonetheless. In it, Mike Brady gave Bobby some great advice:

“Wherever you go, there you are.”

I’ve seen this “advice” plastered all over novelty items. (I also googled the saying and found out it’s the title of a meditation book. Go figure.) What a goofy thing to say, right? We all know that…..or do we?

Recently, I was part of a conversation where a friend said, “Do you know what I could be doing?” and then went on for about 10 minutes about a job he could have.

I told this friend,  “You’re right and I agree. But here you are, so what are you going to do?”

There’s nothing wrong with dreaming or wanting to better yourself. Just remember that improvement starts right where you are. The weaknesses we possess do not magically disappear with a new opportunity.

The more I listened to my friend, the more I understood that the root of the problem was not feeling appreciated. Maybe an elevated position, a better job would do the trick. These people would appreciate me. These people see my true potential.

Once again, there’s truth in these thoughts. There’s nothing wrong with getting praised and honored for good work. Just be careful that praise and accolades aren’t the primary motivators. Applause is momentary–and it’s fickle too.

Motivation really is everything.

What are you looking to gain from an opportunity?

Be honest.

Answering this one question will show you the motivations of your heart.

Like I said earlier, the messy parts of ourselves–the things we want to leave behind–won’t disappear. You can’t just move on and not leave the new address.

Look around. There’s a lot to learn, a lot to do right, where you are now. Don’t be afraid to dream, but don’t ignore the opportunities in your current reality either.

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

The voice that leads you

Praying with strangers can be scary. 

“Lord, are you sure about this?”

The prompting of the Holy Spirit, though, is strong. 

“Okay, here I go…”

At least, that’s how it’s always been with me. And it happened again today. 

I stopped and helped a lady put her car tag on in the Taco Bell parking lot. 

Nothing really special about that deed. It took less than 2 minutes. She was excited because it was a new car. I listened to her tale and met her grandkids. 

Then it happened. 

“Pray with her and bless her new car.” I heard the Holy Spirit loud and clear. 

So I did. 

Velma (the lady) was very thankful for my prayer. I found out she was a pastor who had a lot of car trouble last year. This car was provision from God. 

Wow. God used me to confirm His blessing in her life. 

And all because I was willing to get over my nervousness. 

I think we need to pray more for people when we’re with them. Writing down there requests and praying later is awesome and necessary. 

However, there’s something special that happens when we pray together for that need. 

I know that it’s weird,  especially if they’re strangers.

We have a great helper in the Holy Spirit. He won’t let you down. If he leads you to do something, listen. 

There are many miracles and blessings that are missed when you don’t trust the Holy Spirit’s prompting. 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss an opportunity to serve God and help others see him more clearly. 

Be bold, my friends, in following the Holy Spirit’s prompting and mighty things will happen. 

Leave a comment Posted on Character Corner

Kiss the Fish!

  Side note: I haven’t forgotten about the Note to Self series. It just needs a little more attention than I’ve had to dedicate to the topic over the course of Memorial Day weekend. Bear with me, okay? 

I want to throw a quick thought out for your consideration. 

What is one thing you’re afraid of trying? 

Others have told you to give it a go. The passion to work hard on this activity, project, etc. is there. You just can’t do it. Or even worse: You won’t try it. 

Let me give you an example. 

This past weekend I was fishing with friends. My first fish was caught on their pier, which I soon found out involved a tradition. 

They wanted me to kiss the fish…

My answer was a hearty no. I don’t kiss frogs or fish or any other animal. 

My friends begged me and I continued to refuse. The moment passed and we all moved on.  

Later that afternoon, I felt really bad for not playing along.

  What harm could come from kissing a fish?
 I missed an opportunity to joke around with my friends and share a fun moment. 

Sure, that situation is not a big deal, but how many chances zoom by because I won’t be brave in the little things?

 Being the resident stick in the mud is the best way to miss out on life.  

A small act can lead to big things. And in my case? Maybe a bigger fish. Who knows?