Dealing With Difficult People

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Many years ago before I entered the ministry I worked with someone that was quite difficult. I just didn’t understand them; they didn’t always do the job properly, not a a lot of work ethic, they just drove me crazy.

But yet, they were a believer. They loved Jesus. They really did have a great faith. And yet they were so difficult to work work with.

What could I do? What was I do to? I’ll tell you what I did to make it better. I wrote this passage out and stuck in on my computer Philippians 2: 2-4:

complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

My job was to, as best I could, humble myself and serve them. That’s crazy. I didn’t need to serve them. They needed to do their job better. That’s what I told myself.

But here was the reality. I didn’t hire them; I couldn’t fire them. And all I could do was do the best that I could to work with them.

And the only way that I could get my job done to the best of my ability was change my attitude. And they only way I could change my attitude was to look at Jesus.

Who served. Who was humble. Who cared. Even through He didn’t have to. He chose to. Because He loved.

And when love someone we serve them.

But sometimes, when serve someone, we grow to love them. Sometimes we have to serve someone before we actually grow into that. Serving others changes us.

Now, I’d like to say that it all worked out and he changed his attitude and became a better worker. He didn’t. He was eventually let go. But I’ll tell you what. Working through that made me a better Christian.

And for that, I’m thankful.

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The Fields are Ready

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Yesterday we talked about how part of what we are called to do it to join into what God is doing. There are opportunities; there are so many things that God is doing!

He is at work in ways that we can’t even think about or realize. He is doing things that our brains can’t fathom. He is at work in different ways and places that are literally too much for us to handle.

And, to restate. He wants to us me and you to accomplish His goal and purpose. Listen today to what it says in Matthew 9: 35-38:

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

The harvest is plentiful. As a Christian, everywhere you look, you will see someone.

Someone broken.

Someone in need.

In need of Jesus. In need of hope. In need of someone to care. In need of just a chance today.

They are there. They are. They are waiting. They are. They are needful. They are.

And God will bring them into your path today. He will. God will bring someone into your path today that only you can influence. Only you can speak to. Only you can effect.

Only you.

God will bring them to you today.

The fields are ready. There are needs all around us. What will we do? We will meet them; we will see them.

What will we do. Today, may we work in the fields that God has placed us in.

Not For You to Worry

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

There are so many questions that we would like for God to answers, wouldn’t we?

We’ve probably got a long list of things we can’t wait to ask Him when we get to heaven, huh? Some of them are probably personal, why did this happen? What were you doing in this? Probably the kind of thing I talked about yesterday.

Some will be about passages of the Bible that we don’t understand or theologically questions. We’ve all got questions that we wonder about.

We aren’t the first The folks that walked daily with Jesus were the same way. Look what happens in Acts 1: 6-8:

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The disciples are asking a question that so many folks have asked. When is the Lord coming back? When will it be? What is the date? What is the time?

That’s a question that so many of us would like to know.

And look at what Jesus said. I’m going paraphrase. Don’t worry about it.

He says it is not for you to know the times or places. Don’t worry about it.

But you know what you can do? Instead of spending time worrying about this, spend time being busy for the gospel. Spend time taking the good news to the world. Spend time living, loving, preaching, serving.

There are a lot of things that we don’t know and may never know. But we know this. There are folks that need to know Jesus, folks that need grace.

And we can use our time worrying about things that we will never know, or we can spend out time, taking the good news of Jesus to a world that needs to know.

There are things we will never know. But we know this. WE are loved by an amazing God. And we need to take that love with us everywhere that we God.

Work to Do

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Andy Stoddard

I love the Gospel of Mark. All the Gospels are great, but I really enjoy Mark’s Gospel.

Each Gospel has a different viewpoint or appeal. Matthew is written to Jewish audience, so there are a ton of Old Testament quotes and references. Luke is written to a non-Jewish (Gentile) audience so there are lots of first hand accounts from witnesses to what happened. John is a book of theology, seeking to answer not who, what, when, and where, but why.

But I like Mark maybe the most. In Mark, probably written to a Roman audience, Jesus is always on the move. He’s always on the go. He’s always doing something.The word immediately is mentioned over and over and over again throughout this Gospel.

You can almost see Jesus getting a cup of coffee and taking off, ready to defeat the powers of evil that day. For some reason, that appeals to me 🙂

But, listen to what Jesus did first. This is from Mark 1:

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus knew what He was called to do. That is why He came. He had a calling, to reconcile the word to God, to call each of us into a relationship through Him with God the Father by the power of Holy Spirit. He knew His purpose and His calling upon the earth.

And He knew that accomplish that, prayer was essential. He knew He had to pray. He knew He must pray. He knew that His prayer life was vital to His ministry.

And He was Jesus. You know, the very Son of God. And prayer matter to Him.

How much should prayer matter to us? How vital must prayer be to us? How important should it be in our lives?

Yes, we’ve got work to do. There are things God is calling us to. There are things that God has before us today.

But, the most important work to do is prayer. Today, before we can do anything for God, we must take time to pray. To listen. To search. To seek.

Today, may we do the work set before us. Today may we pray.

Keep Moving

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Andy Stoddard

Remember back in school, after a big lunch, how hard it was to pay attention in the class that followed? In college, I tried to always have something active after lunch, a lab, a PE, something that would get me up and moving.

Because I knew, that no matter how much I loved history (and I did, I really did love history) that after a big lunch, being in a classroom sitting still listening to a lecture was just the perfect way to put me to sleep.

We all know that feeling of being tired and sluggish, don’t we? Sometimes, occasionally, but not often, we may even feel that way in church! 🙂

The author of Hebrews talks a little about this today in a reading from chapter 6. Except he’s not talking about being physically sluggish, he’s talking about being spiritual sluggish. Listen to what he says:

And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

We are reminded today to remember the hope that we’ve been called to. To remember where we are going, to remember what God has called us to. And to keep moving towards it.

God has placed a high calling and a high purpose on you and for you. You’ve got something amazing to do for Him. You are called to a high purpose in this life and your highest purpose in it all was that you were created to spend all of eternity with Him.

You are made in His image, called by His spirit, and given His grace. So. . .

Keep going. Keep walking. Keep moving. Don’t stop. Don’t get sluggish. Don’t stop chasing after Him. Don’t stop being faithful. Even if life is hard. Even if it’s not perfect. Even if it’s not what you want or what you’d do.

Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Don’t forget. You are called a high purpose in life. For God. And for eternity. Don’t quit moving. Keep going.

BaseCamp – Day One

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Andy Stoddard

Instead of daily reflection on scripture the next few days, I’m going to write a quick review of BaseCamp of the previous day. Yesterday, me and my crew of teens went out after breakfast and morning worship to work. I have a crew of kids that didn’t know each other. They were from different towns, different churches, had different personalities, they were just all different from each other.

And, at first, it was a little ackward. It’s tough not knowing folks and trying to figure out what to do.

And then, we went to work. And these four young folks went to work and worked HARD in the middle of the Mississippi summer. And I was very proud of them.

And it reminds me of something that I know to be true, but I’ve seen over and over again. When people, churches, people, families have no mission, no purpose, no vision, we will fuss. We will fight a little. We might not get along.

But, when we have a mission to be about, we focus on that, and we see great things happen. When we work together on a mission.

So, as individuals, as members of a church, what is your mission? What is the mission of your church? Where do you fit? What are you doing for that mission?

We all have a part to play, we all have something we can do for that mission.

Today, may we find out where we fit in that, and may we be about the mission God has given us.

Training

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Andy Stoddard

Hello. My name is Andy. (hello Andy). And I’ve got a problem. I really enjoy running. Now,while it is not a “problem” per sue, it can be a little crazy. I used to say the only way I’d run would be if Holly was chasing me. Now, each morning before I leave for work, I try to jog at least 5K. Yes. That’s makes me a little off.

As I was reading one of the suggested texts today, I read something out of 1 Timothy that spoke about not just about jogging or training, but about something even more important:

Train yourself in godliness, 8 for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

As a jogger, I hate to miss a day. If I don’t jog, I feel sluggish and just don’t feel right. Many of us today are starting different training routines – P90X or Couch to 5K, or whatever. These are all good, good things.

But, Paul reminds us today, that while these are good, there is something even better we should be doing. We should be training out hearts and minds for Jesus Christ. We should be training ourselves in godliness. We should do doing things that strengthen our faith, and our ability to serve.

And, here’s where it can get tough. There are some days I don’t feel like jogging. But I go and make myself. And the feeling of accomplishment I get afterwards make the “making myself” worth it.

There are going to be days when we don’t feel like reading the Word. When we don’t feel like praying. When we don’t feel like serving. When we just don’t want to.

And we have to, gasp!, make ourselves. That’s ok. That’s part of training. That’s part of growing. That’s part of being transformed. CS Lewis once said the most powerful prayers we pray are the ones we pray when we don’t feel like praying.

Today, are we training for godliness? Are we doing the things to help our faith grow? Are we being more faithful? Are we doing our part to allow God’s spirit to work on us?

We train daily for something much more important that a 5K. We train for the Kingdom. May we be faithful today!

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