Dear Friends,
We just finished our second Summer Series on priorities. We had around 90 men at 6:30 in the morning to hear three businessmen from different walks of life share how they try to live out their biblical priorities. It was an awesome morning, with great interaction and thought provoking questions.
Why is this significant? One reason is the fact that Jesus lived by priorities. In John 17:4 He said, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” He did that in 33 years with only 3 years of that time devoted to His ministry.
Secondly, our productivity matters. In the book What’s Best Next Matt Perman states that the correct motivation that drives us to use our priorities well is to serve others to the glory of God. This motivation not only leads to the greatest possible meaning in your work, but also it is the path of greatest effectiveness.
God desires for us to do things with excellence. He says in Ephesians 5 to make the most of your time because the days of evil. He says in that same chapter that we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. We know that Christ was guarded with His time. He did not operate on His brothers’ or His disciples’ timetable. He healed many, but did not heal everyone. He did everything with one purpose in mind, that was to please the Father.
We are involved in Kingdom work every day as we do our jobs to glorify God. We please the Father by loving others and accomplishing the work he has called us to do. His calling for us is to bloom where He has planted us today. Perman states, “Even small actions, done consistently over a period of time, will make a difference …”
Our desire in YBL is to see Christ permeate every area of our life. Living out our priorities will help us reclaim our community for Christ with our work and even outside of our work. Our families, our churches, our ball fields, our communities and our world should feel the impact. Listen to the words of Jonathan Edwards: “Christians love … disposes a new person to be public spirited. A man of right spirit is not a man of narrow and private views, but is greatly interested and concerned for the good of the community to which he belongs, and particularly of the city or village in which he resides, and for the true welfare of society of which he is a member.” And to quote Perman again, “The aim needs to be not simply to get our tasks done, but to build people up in the accomplishing of our tasks.”
Thank you for being so supportive and involved in this ministry. Sometimes our priorities get shuffled like a Fall speaker. We are still looking, but thankfully we have some good leads. We have one more Summer Series to go and we are excited about that event.
We have hired a new City Director for Birmingham. Praise the Lord! This will give me more time to develop all our cities, look for expansion opportunities, give greater input into our new women’s ministry and work with men I have had relationships with for over 30 years. Thank you for the impact you’re making on our city. We are all in this together.
Living by God’s priorities,
Phil