The Three R's

When I was a student in Jr High and High School, I remember hearing that the foundation for a solid education was the Three R’s – Reading, ‘Riting’, and ‘Rithmatic’.

Obviously meaning the ability to read, the ability to write, and the ability to do math.

Things have gotten far more complicated now and that is a discussion worth having at another time.

As I was praying about this Newsletter/Blog there was a moment when three words came to my mind in a matter of 15 seconds.

I was thinking through what we as Leaders (of our families, our teams, and our churches) are experiencing in this ‘post Covid’ season, as well as the Truth that our stories are not defined by the story of the culture, but by ‘The Story’ that God has written, and we are seeing play out more and more clearly, intensely, and rapidly today.

I realize that to make that claim, is risky, because there is a very strong ‘drive’ within our souls and our culture, to just get back to ‘normal’. I get that, it’s rooted in our deep desire to return to Eden. A desire that has never left the soul of man. But getting back to pre-Covid ‘normal’ falls immensely short of what Jesus is preparing for us and will never satisfy the deep desires of our soul.

So, to address the current conditions we’re living in as well as to prepare our hearts and minds for the near future and beyond, I believe we need to come to grips with three foundational dynamics.

I want to be clear that I’m not saying we’re supposed to stop what we’re doing as responsible men and women, but to adjust our perspective to align more with the heart of God and the Truth of His Story. He is on the move and His Story is moving forward at an ever-increasing rate and that should be exciting and comforting. The culture and our government are incapable of satisfying the anxiety of our souls no matter what happens in November of ’22 and ’24.

Into the Word

We’ll examine what the scripture teaches about being in the world, but not part of it and how that carries over into a positive Kingdom Perspective as we go about doing what God has called us to do in the best way we can.

So, I see three things that we need to be intentional about as we moved forward. These are not in any specific order but are all critical as we engage the coming changes.

The three are Resistance, Reliance, and Resilience.

Resistance implies that there is something pressing in on us that is designed to steal our peace, kill our joy, and destroy or distract our hope.

We need to be aware of the Truth that we have an enemy – a very real enemy – who is hell bent on our destruction or at least our distraction. As believers he can’t destroy us, but he sure can distract us – and it’s usually with ‘good stuff’. The last thing he wants is for us to be ready for what’s coming ‘down the pike’.

Eldredge puts it this way, “Our longing for life to be good again will be the battleground for our heart” . . . he goes on to say “This is playing out in the ‘post- pandemic’ world. We only sort of want God; what we really want is for life to be good again.”

We must learn to discern and resist!

The Second intentionality must be Reliance.

Jesus Himself is the source for preparing for and confronting the future. Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Nothing else can compare. The scriptures are the source for all wisdom and good choices. 2 Tim 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man or woman of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”.

You can’t get any more equipped than that no matter what your work or relationships bring your way.

The key to the ability to use the word is the Holy Spirit who has been given to us by the Father and Jesus to bring to remembrance all that scripture has to say about life.

The Third intentionality is Resilience.

Strength, toughness, flexibility, and a positive spirit are all part of resilience. It’s really the ‘conditioning of our souls’ to be in the world, but not part of it. This is a

focus on the ‘recovery of our soul’, not just the recovery of the ‘same ol’, ‘same ol’ – there’s no true satisfaction or resilience there.

Bottom line is that the enemy has taken advantage of what’s been going on and what is going on in the world. We must be aware and prepared to live with a kingdom perspective of the future, not a – ‘the way it was perspective’ of the past.

Into the Marketplace

We’ll look at how we can take a Kingdom Perspective into the marketplace and the positive impact it can have as well as the risks.