Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
I Wouldn't Stop Believing God!
Recently, after completing a Life Coaching Seminar on Procrastination, I was challenged in more ways than one. After the
seminar, I set my bag down on a bench to assist my sound guy outside the Communications Building where the seminar was facilitated. He was struggling carrying some equipment, and rather than take the chance on it being damaged, I assisted him. When I posed the question, "Who is gonna watch my bag?", the response was, "I gotcha Pastor!" The sound guy inferred that he was watching the bag. I assumed he was getting the bag. You see where this is going right?
After taking him home and going on with the rest of my day, I assumed the bag was in the trunk of my car with some other items that are often placed there after I minister. THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. However, I did not even realize that the bag wasn't in there until the next morning on the way to church. This bag contained my laptop, calendar, Bluetooth device, sermons, billing statements, books, CD's and DVD's of some messages of mine, and so on. You can understand the seriousness of this loss.
I had to make a choice, right then and there. Would I get upset and bent out of shape? Or, would I just go on with the rest of my day in the joy of the Lord? I mean, even my printed sermon notes were in the bag. A copy was on my computer at home, but I didn't have that with me. I chose to be glad and not mad. I chose to preach without the notes. (It was a good one too!) I went on with my day. Then I went on with my week. And then I went on the next Sunday, without my laptop and bag. And then the following week.
Here's the issue. I REFUSED to buy another laptop. I refused to buy another calendar. I refused to replace anything in that bag. I refused to speak negative. I refused to even talk about to many people, because I believed that God was doing something.
When you have lost something, whether big or small, important or insignificant, a relationship or a friendship, what choices do you make? How do you respond to the loss? Do you freak out? Do you automatically concede to defeat and hopelessness? Do you have faith? Do you dispatch the angels of the Lord to find the loss item on your behalf?
The divine providence of God is so awesome that since He created the heavens and the earth, and can part the Red Sea and can go into a sick body that a doctor has said is sick unto death and literally cause the cells and body to become healed instantaneously, He can surely dispatch His angels to find and a stolen or lost bag, or whatever your loss or stolen thing is. As people of God, we must get back to believing God for miracles so we can be a demonstration of God in the earth. If God did it, back in the day, he can do it now!
What are those things that you believed God for but then stopped? What are the things in your life that have been stolen? What about the things that were lost? What about the things that you never even gave God a chance to prove himself and His goodness to you? Go back and capture those things. Go back and and begin to believe God for them that they will return or be returned. Let God exceed your expectations. God already knows the deal anyway. I guarantee you, He will blow your mind!
By the way, the bag was returned to my doorstep and placed in my hand by the person who had it with all of its contents two weeks later.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
I'm NOT Looking For Love
As many of you know, in addition to being a Senior Pastor, I am also a Web/Media Consultant, Motivational Speaker, and Coach. I LOVE what I do. I love meeting people. I love helping people. When you really think about it, all of what I do is ministry. Ministry means to serve. A minister is a servant. I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and I wake up EVERY morning ready to serve Him and people. There is nothing like knowing what your calling in life is. Finding your calling in is causitive...it causes you to become fulfilled in life. Finding your calling is also creative..it creates revenue for you. But what is so wonderful is that, when you are living what you were created to do, you would do it whether you make an income or not!
Now, that we have that out of the way. One of the ways I do what I do is through the internet. In addition to pastoring a "traditional brick and mortar" church, I also am an Online Pastor. Now that term somewhat evolved ove the last 14 years of being online. YES, fourteen years. I have been online back in the days of Prodigy and America Online dial-up where it literally took almost five minutes to logon. Every since then people from all over the globe have reached out to me for prayer and advice spiritually. Even to this day, bewteen my personal website and my social networking profiles, I have, at any given time, as many as 10,000 friends that have access to me. Trust me, sometimes it seems as if they all are emailing me at the same time. But, it's not a problem. i answer ALL my emails personally. Sometimes it takes awhile, but I get through them!
Throughout the last fourteen years off "online ministry" I have met some awesome people. I have met people of all races, nationalities and religious beliefs. There are some sincerely wonderful people in the world! I cannot begin to tell you how fulfilling it is just meet many of you. To some I hvae become an online pastor. To some I have become a friend; a coach; a counselor; and a mentor.
However, there are some that would like to become their boyfriend...husband...lover...baby daddy...or a combination of all of the above. Yes, it is true. I'm not exactly sure why, but that's besides the point.
Let me be clear, I am NOT online looking for love. I am on here to provide my personal and ministry resources to you that are reading this. If I want to look for love I would put a profile on match.com or faithmate.com. (Both of which I have had a profile on. OK, shoot the preacher for being real! They both are really great sites for meeting people.)
So, to all the single ladies out there...I don't mind you emailing me. I don't mind you reaching out to me. But if you are reaching out to me because you want me to be your man...WRONG ANSWER! If you want to be friends, with no motives, WONDERFUL! If you try to run me down, you are gonna run me over because I'm not moving. The buck stops here!
The Bible says, "He that finds a wife, finds a good thing and obtains FAVOR from the Lord." A few years ago, I went through a divorce. It was a horrible experience. And, I messed up. It was primarily MY FAULT. (There I go being real again!) I am not going to make the same mistakes again. So I am going to make sure that whenever the Lord allows me to find HER...and she already knows who she is, I will obtain the favor of the Lord again in my life. Until such time that God does whatever He is going to do, stop trying to run me down ladies. It's a turn off! Chivalry is not dead. Ladies, stop telling me that God said I am to be your husband. If that is true, don't you think that God, in His omnicience and omnipotence, would whisper that to me as well? Hmmm. If you have to tell me I'm your husband...something is eerily wrong.
Now, I will probably lose many friends on my social networking sites. I will probably get many emails in response to this. I will probably have just as many questions too. Whatever. I've gotten it off my chest now. Like the old song says, "I feel better, so much better, since I laid my burdens down! Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, since I laid my burdens down!"
One more thing...
I am not referring to any one person in particular. But if you are offended and this "hits" you, I declare I didn't mean to miss you!
Have a wonderful day.
Pastor Robert L. Carpenter, II
YOUR Online Pastor & Personal Motivator
www.robertcarpenter.org
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