Checklist for Your Purpose Statement

Very few have marked my life as Tim Elmore has, and I want to introduce you to something he lives and teaches really well - living up to your potential. Tim is the long-time right arm of John Maxwell. He's also the founder of Growing Leaders (http://growingleaders.com) which is becoming the go-to organization for leadership development among high school and college students, and those who work in that arena. On top of that, he's one of the best communicators I've ever heard in my life and a humble man of God.

Last week, I carved out two full/valuable days to think and prayer real hard for the third time in four years. Along the way I filled out Tim's "Checklist for Your Purpose Statement". The first year I took up a page...the second, four pages and this time it was over ten. This is one of the most productive things I've ever done!

I highly recommend you find a way to think deeply about the calling, wiring and dreams God has made you to do, write it out and never stop working on it. I don't plan to stop, ever! Enjoy...

The Checklist for Your Purpose Statement
Now we are ready for the exercise. The following list of ten items could be called: “Life Planning in Ten Steps.” It is designed for you to respond to during an extended block of solitude time. I suggest you carve out a D.A.W.G., (Day Alone With God), and take this lesson with you, along with your Bible, a notepad and a pencil. Fasten your seatbelts, and get ready to reflect and respond…

1. BURDENS
What needs tug most at your heart? What are the things that make you cry or make you angry or cause you to become passionate?

2. HALLMARKS

What are the major hallmarks that have made up your life? List significant books, people, accomplishments, and events that have shaped you into who you are today.

3. TOOLS & RESOURCES
What specific resources or tools do you have at your side that you could employ as you fulfill your mission? These could be possessions, people, computers, skills, etc.

4. DREAMS
What are some of your aspirations or ideas which could become a God-given, clarified vision in the future? What are the things you’d love to do or be?

6. MISSION
This is it. Begin to write out your mission statement which answers the question: Why do you exist? Why did God give you to the world? Write out the central purpose of your life in one to three sentences.

5. VISION
Based on your mission, describe in detail what you see as the ultimate results of your life as if you are seeing your contribution from the other end of your life. Start the statements with the words, “I see…”

6. GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Finally, list the areas in which you will need to stay involved on a regular basis, if you are to accomplish your mission. What will you need to do on Monday morning if your life purpose is to be accomplished? What immediate steps can you take?

NOTE: You may want to write your responses down on a pad of paper so you can have unlimited space. When you’re done, don’t just set it on the shelf or in a drawer. Contemplate what you have written, pray through it, and allow God to soak your heart in the purpose He has for you.

My Soul's Dark Night

Today, I read an article in Christianity Today by Chuck Colson entitled My Soul’s Dark Night. I took away some great, deep insight, and thought you’d enjoy some of the things he said too.

We’re taught in most Christian circles to “rely on the still, small voice of God cheering us on” no matter how dark our days are. And you’re not human if you don’t experience those. But what if God seems absent? Does that mean we’ve lost faith. I don’t think so, and neither does Colson.

“I'm not sure how well the contemporary evangelical world prepares us for this struggle, which I suspect many evangelicals experience but fear to admit because of the expectations we create. At such times, we can turn for strength to older and richer theological traditions probably unfamiliar to many—writings by saints who endured agonies both physical and spiritual.”

“A prominent pastor once told me he experienced the Holy Spirit's presence every moment. Contemporary evangelicals regard this as maturity. Perhaps it is—or maybe it is a form of presumption. True faith trusts even when every outward reality tells us there is no reason to. Faith becomes strongest when we are without consolation and must walk into the darkness with complete abandon. As theologian Michael Novak explains, true faith says, "Let this be done, Lord, according to your will"—even if we don't know what "this" is.”

Can we really rely on our intimacy with God? Colson doesn’t think so.

“It struck me that I don't have to make sense of the agonies I bear or hear a clear answer. God is not a creature of my emotions or senses. God is God, the one who created me and takes responsibility for my children's destiny and mine. I can only cling to the certainty that he is and he has spoken.”

“Evangelicals must rely on more than cheerful tunes, easy answers, and happy smiles. We must dig deeply into the church's treasures to find what it is like to worship God, not because of our circumstances, but in spite of them.”

“Countless times over the years I've experienced God and his providence, but I've also known the dark night. God, I've realized, is not just the friend who takes my hand, but also the great, majestic Creator who reigns forever.”

God is God no matter what we feel, no matter what we see, no matter what circumstances we have to endure.

It’s truly refreshing when someone speaks the honest truth about something we all go through.

I learned a lot from this short piece that you can read in it’s entirety at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/012/15.80.html