Sum Matters Most

Have you ever placed too much emphasis on one outcome? For example – having a significant other; getting a promotion; passing a professional exam; gaining acceptance to a particular school; making an athletic team; being selected for a competitive award; receiving recognition from your peer group, etc. The danger is you might thwart your potential; or maybe never realize your greatest outcomes.

As I watched my oldest son jump into the deep end of the pool determined to pass his swim test by swimming the length of the pool, I wanted badly for him to succeed because he had talked about this moment for weeks and weeks. However, I didn't want the result of this one test to define his ability to swim. “Kick, Scoop, Breathe!” I chanted. ”Kick, Scoop, Breathe – You can do it!” Half way there he's still swimming strong; with three quarters complete he's winded and struggling...”Kick, Scoop, Breathe – Come on, You can do it!” He had swam his farthest distance ever to date, only a few more kicks, scoops and breaths and he would have passed the test.

But I stepped in. Why? Clearly, he didn't have enough breath or strength to complete the remaining distance. He needed a little more time, more practice. So, I celebrated his accomplishment believing he would better achieve his goal during another visit to the pool. This decision became a teachable moment. Certainly, he had not failed on this first attempt. Its possible continued urging of more kicks, scoops and breaths would have helped him attain his swim badge (of honor).  Conversely, pushing too hard he may have swallowed some water, or begun going under and loss confidence in his ability to swim.

Sometimes we place too much emphasis on one moment; one opportunity; or one event defining ourselves by that solitary outcome. In doing so we fail to realize that our greatest victories lie before us. Along the way, sometimes we will fail and sometimes we will succeed.

Hence, we must recognize it’s the sum of our efforts that matters most.

Jesus, the greatest and most prolific leader and preacher ever – wasn't well received after preaching his first sermon. In fact, he faced a hostile audience ready to harm him because of his daring pronouncements. Jesus could have just accepted this as a success or failure but well aware of his future opportunities, he makes an interesting decision. Does he kick, scoop or breathe? None of these are his choice.

Jesus understood this wasn't the defining moment of his ministry. He realized preaching more sermons was in his future and concluded that the analysis of the sum of his ministry matters most - more than this one moment; this one opportunity; or this one event. Notice Jesus' choice:

"When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way." 

Luke 4:28-30

Sometimes our best action or choice is recognition, 

the sum of our efforts matters most!

_____________________________________________ 

Sum questions for your thoughts:

1. Do you know when it's best for you to continue to kick, scoop and breathe?

2. Is your solitary focus on one moment; one event; or one opportunity?

3. Do you need to take some time to celebrate your present accomplishments?

4. Do you know the sum of your efforts is more important than one success or one failure?

-- 

Inspired By Love,

Marcus J. Singleton
Lead Pastor
Living Faith Community

Hoover, AL

Our Vision: "A diverse community of faith; inspired by the love of Jesus, committed to becoming and making disciples".

Father's Day - IXNAY (Nix) on the Ties!

Father’s Day is nigh, it’s neither too early nor too late to choose the perfect gift. For some strange reason, ties have been designated as the ideal gift for dads. Hint, unless he loves ties AND you have some fashion sense – Please IXNAY on the ties this year!

Here’s an idea that won’t get buried in the closet and has the potential to be life changing...Extend the gift of forgiveness to him and love him unconditionally!

Whether your dad was absent and awful; present and perfect; unknown and unwanted – deceased or alive.  .  .the truth is he fathers/fathered as he is/was capable. He may have blessed you or cursed you.

Today let the healing begin, free him and yourself. Lay to rest now the strongholds of anger even hatred that hinders you from loving and receiving love from him and others. Through forgiveness plant the seed of holiness, of hope and of wholeness, and pray that you remain rooted in this rich soil that produces new life and new relationships.

Forgiveness is a tried and true remedy often even more redemptive to the one who extends it. My Brother, Jesus the Christ, demonstrates the necessity of forgiveness – amid his own anguish and suffering on the cross – saying:

“Father, forgive them they don’t know what they are doing...”.

At some point, in our own anguish and frustration we too must realize and accept that there is but One Father that is Always capable of providing us the love, attention, and guidance we need and desire. If a tie is a must, let us tie our hearts and minds with forgiveness enabling us to sing and live:

“Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.”

IXNAY on the ties – Extend the gift of forgiveness. Let this truly be a Happy Father’s Day, where Fathers, Daughters and Sons tie their hearts in Christian Love (Forgiveness)!! Even if Dad is no longer living or is unknown – Forgive Him!

-- 

Inspired By Love,

Marcus J. Singleton
Lead Pastor

Living Faith Community

Hoover, AL

Our Vision: "A diverse community of faith; inspired by the love of Jesus, committed to becoming and making disciples".

Residue. . .

Residue
Today, as I look out my window and see residue in the pond below,
I remember that we had a major thunder storm last night.
There was a lot of noise and flashes of light,
as several inches of rain fell.
Today there is calm and
the retention pond is filled with residue
of seemingly unknown origin.
You can't tell where it started and yet it's there.

You know there are times when our lives are like that.
There is so much going on, a lot of noise and flashes of light.
It just seems to keep coming with no end in sight.
Then from the heavens comes a cleansing rain -
While we may get immediate relief, there are still pockets of residue.

You don't have to know the origin and you need not be part of the cleanup.
Just recognize that there is help out there and not from men (women) in white suits.
First, there is the power of God to assist you in recognizing
that the residue are reflections of your past and need not be hurdles you need to cross.
Then from those who love you, truly love you - the ones that come over and sit with you
when you have nothing to say.
The ones that offer prayers for you because of whose you are, not where you are.

Today, I thank you and my God for helping me deal with my residue.
Even though I know it's there, I recognize that it is my past and
I don't need to deal with it anymore.

I am in the safety of the Ark.

Nedra Faye Scoggins
Over 50 Don't Mean You're Dead: My Spiritual Journey

"Moving From Problem to Hope!"

Below is an excerpt from Marianne Williamson's Everyday Grace:  Having Hope, Finding Forgiveness, and Making Miracles

"Our problems in this world can surely be huge, but they are never as huge as God. The issue is never how bad things are, but how good God is. Hope lies in having more faith in the power of God to heal us than in the power of anything to hurt or destroy us.  

In realizing that as children of God we are bigger than our problems, we have the power at last to confront them. For all manifestations of fear is a reflection of the fact that humanity has forgotten its spiritual identity.  In beginning to remember it, we put fear on notice that its days are numbered.

Where the ego analyzes a problem, the spirit accepts that there is an ultimate answer that is the Answer to every problem. And that is why we place what we hope for in the hands of God. Our hope is that He will illuminate our hearts – that we will become the people He would have us be – for in the presence of an awakened spirit, all problems fall away.

We are the children of a loving God for whom nothing is impossible. As we remember that, we become as powerful as we are meant to be.  We are not meant to cower before the darkness of the world; let it cower before us. Every problem is merely another opportunity to use the miraculous powers we've been given."

---

According to Marianne Williamson, problems aren’t our issue (“for in the presence of an awakened spirit, all problems fall away”); our problem is we are asleep. When we are awakened to and led by the power of God, problems no longer have control over us.

Our challenge is to have an undeterred hope in a loving God for whom nothing is impossible.

My prayer for each of us is: in every circumstance we allow our hope in God to become greater than our perceived problem. 

As we put this into practice let's share with others instances when we shifted from problem to hope and what was different. Looking forward to hearing how hope in our loving God changes our circumstances.

Inspired By Love,

Marcus J. Singleton
Lead Pastor
Living Faith Community

Hoover, AL

Our Vision: "A diverse community of faith; inspired by the love of Jesus, committed to becoming and making disciples".

“It is not the critic who counts:
not the man (or woman) who points out how the strong man stumbles
or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man (or woman) who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,
who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again,
because there is no effort without error or shortcoming,
but who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions,
who spends himself for a worthy cause;
who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement,
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt, from “Citizenship in a Republic,”

a speech delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910.

Haves and Have Nots

Eliminating poverty requires a willingness from each of us to recognize the worth of every human being. No matter the industry in which one engages or if one is currently disengaged – opportunities must be extended to ALL.  When we embrace the adage “I am my sisters and brothers keeper” we realize our every action and inaction contributes to the well-being or the demise of human life. 

Transformation of communities, destructive systems, political hubris, impoverished and suffering people groups, etc. occurs when we don’t abdicate our own role in said atrocities. Whether; we negligently wield the power; or are silent bystanders, as the miscreants’ (which some of us “good people” are) further disparities between the ‘haves and have nots’ – WE are responsible. Jesus said it best “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do” (Mark 2:17).

So, isn’t it incumbent upon each of us to point every effort toward wellness for those who are spiritually, physically, economically and emotionally sick? Are we to continue focusing only on compiling treasures for ourselves or are we to place our efforts to satisfying the needs of them who have not?

This poem, On Buying and Selling, by Khalil Gibran is a reminder that WE are responsible for the well-being of our sisters and brothers:

"And a merchant said, "Speak to us of Buying and Selling." 

And he answered and said: 

To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands. 

It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied. 

Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger. 

When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices, - 

Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value. 

And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour. 

To such men you should say, 

"Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net; 

For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us." 

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players, - buy of their gifts also. 

For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul. 

And before you leave the marketplace, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands. 

For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied.”

Inspired By Love,

Marcus J. Singleton
Lead Pastor
Living Faith Community

Hoover, AL

Our Vision: "A diverse community of faith; inspired by the love of Jesus, committed to becoming and making disciples".

"What Happened?: Neglect!"

Sometimes life can be complicated. At times our actions/reactions just don’t make any sense. No matter how much we contemplate some of life’s issues, there are some instances we label as open-ended conclusions. Simply put, some issues leave us wondering what happened? I imagine all of us have pondered this question.

Consider the following. It's possible you haven't had this experience but over the years I have noticed that my weight continues to rise; my waistline expands and some of my clothes fit me a lot snugger than when I originally purchased them.  Simultaneously, I eat more and either never exercise or at best rarely exercise. Yet, with each successful addition of pounds and inches to my waistline; I find myself saying I don’t understand. Often asking myself and my wife, what happened?

Similar circumstances occur in our spiritual journey. We travel through life as if we are in a high speed chase; frantically attempting to navigate lines only to move toward dead end finishes.  Zooming round and round with NASCAR precision we slowly discover our victorious less filled lapses. When we remain still long enough, we begin to feel our inner selves longing for an ignition; rather than investigate, we hurry to entertain matters which are insignificantly important. We quickly engage ourselves in distractions disguised as work with uttermost consequence. Thus, Empty in the morning, we arise. Empty in the evening, we sleep. With each addition of distractions, we multiply our inaction decreasing the possibility of the Holy Spirit’s attraction! At our unfinished line, we find ourselves asking, what happened?

As I pulled the weeds from my flower beds and trimmed the bushes, what happened was no longer the question. I realized the excess weight, the victorious less life, the weed infested flower bed and wildly grown bushes share a common foe: neglect. Webster’s dictionary defines neglect – to leave undone or unattended to, especially through carelessness. Yes, neglect is a fitting description for that unkempt flower bed. Again neglect aptly defines the expansion of my waistline. And neglect certainly characterizes an empty, powerless spiritual life.

The Good News is every circumstance of neglect can be overcome with attention. Last week my flower beds were unruly, this week they are clear and clean and the bushes neatly trimmed. With attention to what I eat and intentionally exercising, I will experience a decrease in my weight and waistline.

Attention too is the remedy for us when we fall into a spiritual malaise. If we are to be spirit-filled and led by Jesus’ teaching, we must give attention and time to studying the Bible, praying and serving. II Timothy 2:15 describes the necessity of and outcomes of attention:

“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval.

Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed

and who correctly explains the word of truth”.

Let us work and give attention to every aspect of our lives, so that we need not ask the question what happened, nor be ashamed of our health, our physical appearance, our dwelling place and most importantly with our relationship with God.

-- 

Much Love,

Marcus J. Singleton
Lead Pastor
Living Faith Community

Hoover, AL

Our Vision: "A diverse community of faith; inspired by the love of Jesus, committed to becoming and making disciples".