Deposits and Withdrawals

Financial smarts would tell you that keeping a tight track on your finances is both wise, and also necessary to maintain a sound banking account. Basically, all you have to do is watch what's going in and then closely monitor what goes out. If we do a good job of depositing more into our accounts than we withdraw, we achieve financial stability, if the converse is the case then we run the risk of bankrupting our account. There you go, my money matters expertise has reached its peak! Fortunately, our topic today is more centered around our faith-based accounts. Unlike our bank accounts we can never overdraw our relationship with God, He is always open for business and ever eager to meet our needs. 

When you open a new bank account there has to be a deposit made to get the process started. When we accept God as our Lord and Savior, that is our initial spiritual deposit. From that point forward, my guess is your account may look a little similar to mine. In our prayer life, in our daily walk, we are pretty notorious for making a vastly unbalanced spreadsheet of withdraws to deposits. Try this as you meet with God in your prayers, make a little tally sheet and see how many things we ask God to intervene and "fix" as opposed to the number of offers we make to serve Him today. Honestly, when I gave it a whirl I stopped pretty early into the count because pretty much everything I prayed was asking God to take care of it. Watch over my family, guide my steps, focus my attention on Your purpose for my life, forgive me my sins, and heal the illnesses of friends and family, those were just a sliver of the laundry list of needs and requests I was withdrawing from my relationship with God. On the flip side my deposits were few. Even when I offered to do whatever God wanted me to do, I was asking Him to show me what to do. Fortunately, we can never drain our account with God. Matthew 7:7 encourages us to, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." You cannot out give or out serve our God, that is our faith account promise!

We bring our trials, tribulations, and tragedies to God without much hesitation, even people that don't necessarily have a relationship with God readily come to Him for a withdrawal when they need a miracle to occur. That is what we have been instructed to do. Ask, seek, knock bring your situations and circumstances to the Father and He is faithful to respond. But what about when we do have a personal relationship with the Creator of all mankind and we start balancing the equation by depositing more frequently and more purposefully? Share more, sacrifice from time to time, and submitting more to the call of the Holy Spirit are all ways we make deposits that equal out the withdrawals to deposits ratio.

Jesus modeled giving more than you get, and then He taught that lesson to the men that would carry it on forward. "Give, and it will be given to you. You will have more than enough. It can be pushed down and shaken together and it will still run over as it is given to you. The way you give to others is the way you will receive in return.” Luke 6:38. Depositing is like giving or placing something in safe keeping until it is the right time to get it back out. 

The next time you enter the God of All Creations realm, when you go to Him in your quiet time to hear from God directly, don't forget to thank Him for all you have been given, thank Him for His constant blessings because they are boundless. Seek His will for your life, and then go out and serve.

“Lord help us to be all that you have purposed us to be. I ask you, Lord balance out the spreadsheet of our lives. We will never out give you, but Father if we are given the opportunity to make a deposit rather than another withdrawal may we do so willingly and eagerly! Amen” 

 Coach Carter 

Filtered Reality

The world is definitely a different place than the one I grew up in back in the 1960's-1970's. The only way we had to share memories about family gatherings, awards in school, or vacations was to take 12, 24, or 36 pictures on a roll of Kodak film, and then drop them off to be developed. A week or so later, you picked up your pictures and then after going through them to weed out the ones you accidently took of your foot or an upside-down landscape shot, you had a set of memories ready to be shared. To share them meant you most likely had additional copies made to mail to family or friends. Note, I said mail not email. The mail would take a good 3 to 5 days to reach its destination, where after taking in the captured moment of joy to share, the recipient would most likely pick up the rotary dial corded phone and ask their questions about how much you enjoyed the trip, or inquiries about the award, party, vacation, etc... That was definitely then, this is now. 

Today, if we don't immediately post a snap or upload photos onto our social media pages, it feels like we are sharing outdated info that happened like earlier that day. Really?? Not only are we sharing pretty much every smile, step, and meal that we are a part of, we are altering those pictures to remove blemishes, distractions, and even others we don't want to spotlight in our altered reality. Is it not bad enough that most pictures coming from an event are staged to assure the hair looks perfect, the background is stunning, and the event is beaming with happy faces and fun times. The only problem with this type of altered reality is it isn't real! 

I remember picking up a set of pictures after returning from a vacation once when I was in my 20's and almost every picture in the pack was of an upside-down view of the street I was walking down, and some were of a blackish gray view of the backpack I was carrying my camera in. You know what? Those messed up photos of what appeared to be nothing but wasted print and money revived some of the best smiles and laughs from what I remembered was going on at the times those photos were being snapped, or maybe I should say clicked. 

Point is, too often today people only want to share the glamorous moments that have been basically manufactured to appear perfect before they are sent out around the world in an instant snap or post. If everything needs to appear perfect does it truly reflect reality? When was the last perfect vacation you experienced? Aren't the hiccups that happen what we laugh about later as we reflect on the trip? I've cooked up some pretty good meals, but I'm not so sure I've ever organized my plate to take a picture of it so it is absolutely appealing to everyone who sees what I'm having for dinner tonight. Start factoring in the ability to soften your hair, remove a facial scar, lighten the color of your eyes, thin out your waist, and elongate your body and you can create a masterpiece! Never mind the surrounding that can be manipulated and the staging of people that takes place or the outcome of multiple retakes until we get the right one where everyone is smiling on the outside regardless of what is happening on the inside. Is this the new reality? Is reality destined to be filtered before it is shared? If so is it even really reality?

I would encourage us all to stop and take an inventory of what we share on social media and what the intent of what we share is. We can spend a great deal of time shaping a reality that we want everyone to see, but at the end of the day, who are we trying to impress and why are we trying to impress them in the first place? Regardless of what we share with the world and no matter how we shape our lives to be the reality we want others to see, we will never escape the view that our God has of our life and how we are living it out.  I Corinthians 13:12 states that, “Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" In other words, what we see now is like a shallow reflection of what the true reality is, but in time we will be known fully because God sees us completely nothing hidden. 

Just a suggestion, the next time you go out with the intent of posting some pictures from a gathering, event, or maybe even from the dinner table snap a few that are really real. Nothing altered, nothing left out and then maybe you will be sharing a true reflection of you, your family, or those involved in your pictures. Say Cheese!

Coach Carter

Busyness Is Not Good Business

 

Today's Flat Tire Ministry Thought is one I have to own. I started this blog back in 2016 with the purpose in mind of spreading hope and inspiring positive growth. I'm not sure if I realized back then that the posts I was writing were actually like a peck on my own shoulder for my personal journey with the God that created me, saved me, forgave me, and guides me each day that I roll out of bed. Over the past six years there is always an application in the week's message that I believe God is asking me if I actually read what I just wrote, and I do believe today's FTM would be more comparable to an uppercut to the chin instead of a peck on the shoulder! Yet as is the case in all situations, the benefit of realizing you have a problem is only beneficial to the point that you make changes in your life that foster real life growth. In my case, we shall see, and for you I pray that God is using me to share messages that can promote positive growth in your life as well. That is my introduction to today's Flat Tire Ministry Thought for the Week, "Busyness Is Not Good Business".

I'd say it would be a safe bet that most of us would acknowledge we are, on an average daily basis, busy. Work schedules, extracurricular activities such as sports, church life, committees, shopping, school programs and activities, and please don't forget just spending time with your spouse, children, grandchildren, friends, or other family members. Add to that social media time and screen time, TV time, reading, exercising, laundry, cooking, cleaning, eating, and completing those project lists. I imagine that the majority of our schedules would appear more similar than not. The difference in one person's schedule to the next would not be found in the list itself, but the amount of time dedicated to one particular area over another. For example: For most people’s work or school takes up 8-10 hours of your day. From there the extracurricular activities section eats up 2-4 hours, and if we follow the guidelines of the health and medical world each of us would get somewhere between 7-8 hours of sleep. On the low side that adds up to seventeen hours of your day, and for the high end of the above averages your day is about shot totaling 22 of the 24 hours available in a day. So how does "busyness" figure into the equation of how we spend our time. 

For me, I'm a multi-tasker. I can throw a load in the wash, one in the dryer, have dinner on the stove, answer some emails from work, and possibly work in some time playing with my grandkids. "Winner-winner- chicken dinner", I get to check off five items from my things to do list. We have to be careful that our list doesn't become our "why", if we are doing things because we want to be productive and get things done, then we may very easily be missing the target of why we should be doing things in the first place. We all have things we were purposed to do, and then we have things that we are obligated to do, and finally we have things we just want to do. Those three categories have clear, distinct lines between each, it is our job to distinguish which ones on any of the three lists fit into what you or I were purposed for when we were born. “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 

When you and I get so busy doing things we often times shuffle the things we should be doing down the line, and keep doing the things we feel most comfortable doing. Pastor Greg Laurie puts it like this, "Sometimes ‘ Good Things’ can become Bad Things if they keep us from the Best Thing." For example, in and of itself playing golf is not a bad thing. I don't play myself, but I have many great friends who love the sport. Golf is a good thing. It can become a bad thing if, for example, we spend the majority of our extracurricular time playing golf instead of going to watch your son or daughter in the school play. Golf, good thing, watching child in play better thing, playing golf instead of going to your child's play bad thing. How about this one, if you have a report due at the end of the week and you keep procrastinating about starting by spending a couple of hours on social media each night you have just entered the good thing, bad thing, best thing scenario. You can fill in the blanks with so many things and play out the good, bad, best thing template, but let's go for one more together.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us "... I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." You have a purpose, God created you to fulfill His purpose for your life through service to others. God doesn't make you fulfill that purpose, you have free will to choose what you will do in life. In my life, I believe I was born to serve others through a leadership role. I teach, I coach, I plan, and I lead, what I have to be careful about in each of those lanes of my life is to assure that my service to God is being fulfilled rather than me just doing those things and ignoring God's purpose. Serving others could mean helping them through coaching, or it could mean speaking the truth to a friend about some type of hurtful or harmful behavior that God wants me to speak with them. If I put off speaking with that person in a loving, consulting, mentoring way then I am guilty of turning something good (speaking with the person) into something bad (procrastination) at the sacrifice of what is best (doing God's calling). 

Takeaways and action steps: Stay busy first and foremost. You were called to be busy. Make sure what you are spending your time doing is worthy of the time you are spending doing it. If you aren't sure make time for the best use of time, quiet time with God. Before I leave my house each morning, I meet with my God and listen for what He wants to tell me. Over the years I've heard people say that you will never hear someone say, "Wow, I wish I had spent more time working". On the other hand, you may not hear someone verbally admit that they wish they had spent more time with their family and friends. Yet more than that will you one day say, I wish I had spent more time meeting with God and listening to His instructions for what He wants me to accomplish in this life he gave me to live. 

Words of wisdom, you may be a hard worker, 19 hours of your day are dedicated and scheduled. My suggestion is to start each day seeking God's direction, His focus, and His plan for your life. When we go about doing His business first the rest of our day will take care of itself. Note to self: Follow my own advice!

Coach Carter

 

 

Conformed or Transformed

 

Confessional time. High school was a time of conforming. Even back before the internet and social media young people wanted to fit in and doing so many times left teens feeling like you had to conform to a group's identity or social norms. Jocks wore letter jackets all day long and then when you got a steady girlfriend you gave them your letter jacket to wear as a sign of your relationship. "Preps" wore Izod shirts with little alligators over the left chest pocket area, and those who adhered to the land and farming wore Wranglers, boots, and big, shiny belt buckles. Probably the worst example of trying to fit in with the "in" crowd was the “Members Only” jacket. I mean it said it right there on the little label over the left chest pocket area. I know in our social media driven society this quest to fit in has magnified since everyone can see you instantaneously, so your clique as it might have been referred to in latter times can actually be global. In all honesty, those tags and labels only label us on the outside, I was no more of a jock than the wrestling mat I sweat and bleed on. We are who we are on the inside, what we wear and what we purchase is our attempt to convince others that we are who we want them to think we are, the concern is do the two identities match? 

Think about it, as adults we do the same thing as most of us did just like me in high school. We buy a certain make and model of car because it shows a status, we purchase a home in a certain subdivision because that's where the cool kids’ school is zoned. Clothes, shoes, sunglasses, the list goes on and on all have a status connected to them. If you think about it we even eat certain foods from certain restaurants because that is where you go if you are cool or in the “in crowd”. Example given, Starbucks, I'm just saying. I'm not throwing an anti-commercial campaign here, but I just want us to pause and reflect a little on what message are we most interested in sending out about our lives? Should it take a label to define us? Is it more crucial that people see us and know us by a bunch of labels or would it be better if they could see us by the way our heart aligns with the example of what a true man or woman should display?

Give this a thought for just a minute, when I described the Izod and Members Only apparel I noted that the label was sewn on the left chest pocket area remember? If you attend a conference or other meeting and name tags are provided where do most people place that sticker? Over the left chest pocket area, correct? Isn't this the same location of a critical part of our human makeup? Our heart, the blood pumping, life giving organ that makes us a living creature and is affectionately connected to our "love" factor. "I give you my heart forever" or "If you leave me, it will break my heart" should ring familiar with pretty much all of us.

So, if a label is going to define us and if we are going to wear that label over our most critical body part then why don't we take the time to assure that our label provides a true view of who we are and what we believe in? We should want our exterior labels to match our interior heart, and to do so we have to be transformed to what we were created to be instead of conforming to what this world says we should be. Paul said it best in Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." This is our goal, if our label on the outside does not align with the heart of God on the inside, we are in need of an alignment to the One that made us in His image for a purpose and with a plan. Renew your mind, be transformed, we are called to be different, but not different for the clothes we wear or the cars we drive, but by living out what God purposed us to be and do. 

Stop, slow down, and do a self-reflection, are you defined by the label that you are conforming to be, or have you been transformed by the renewing of your mind, body, and soul? If so share it, if not, maybe it is time for a label alignment. "Servant", "Reborn", "Child of God" are all worthy labels to be attached to who we are and how we serve the One that purposed your life. 

 Coach Carter

 

Identity Theft

 

Unfortunately, in our society today, we are too familiar with the term "identity theft". This crime is one where the thief doesn't even break into your house or steal directly from your property, but instead this criminal act involves someone taking over your private identity information to extrude a person's finances. When this act takes place, it can lead to weeks, months, and even years of laborious headaches trying to gain back financial security both online and in person. I'm not here to warn you of all the cons and scams that identity theft criminals use to exploit innocent victims; no today is more about the identity theft that is more generational and much more of an in-house action. This identity theft is one that can do more damage to the perpetrator than the owner if we aren't cautious and mindful that our "identity" is priceless for those we love and care about. 

So, what exactly am I referring to you ask? Well, your identity for our purposes today would be more of a character identity. You may have heard, or said it yourself, the old saying "Do what I say, not what I do" as a means of parenting without ownership of our very own hiccups and hang-ups. Good luck with that one. You can say whatever you want to say, but at the end of the day, your actions will speak much louder than your words. In other words, you can say what you want to say, but at the end of the day it's going to be more "monkey see, monkey do" than any empty directives we might spout to those we influence in our lives. In most situations this may primarily be your children, but please don't think you are off the hook after you leave the house in the morning. I often comment that we are all leaders of someone whether it is family, work, or play and whether we like it or not they are all watching us and how we handle life. From there, subtly in most cases, those we influence tend to take on our tendencies, our decision-making processes, and even our lifestyle choices to shape who they are and what is of importance to them. Your responsibility in this "identity theft" is to assure that what is being "stolen" is what you want those you love to carry on with them into life after you are not the primary influence. 

How is this accomplished? Well left to our own devices it may be pretty tough, but we are fortunate to have a model to follow. In Romans 12:2 Paul admonishes us to "... not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discover what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect. Conforming to this world is a pretty sure way to not provide a quality identity for those we influence. Better than conforming is to be transformed into a better model of what God really wants us to be. But, how does this transformation take place? I don't have all the answers for you today, but here are some good starting points to creating an identity worth being stolen, or better yet, shared. 

1. Spend time with your Creator. Before the day gets busy make it a point to spend some time with God. Read His word, do a daily devotional, worship through music, and talk to Him through prayer. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105.      

2. Don't just say you are a follower of Christ, live like you are a follower of Christ. None of us are righteous like Jesus, but we can make efforts to be more like him each day that we live and breathe.  "The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." I John 2:6

3. We all make mistakes, we all fall down, we all sin. The important thing is to not set yourself up as incapable of making mistakes. The key is to accept that you are human, thus you will mess up, but realize that you have a God that loves you in spite of your mistakes, and He will forgive us if we ask for forgiveness. "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23

4. Finally, seek Him. You don't have all the answers, I sure don't have all the answers, but He who holds all the answers to all the questions is faithful and will see us through regardless of the situation. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. " Matthew 7:7-8.

This isn't four steps to perfection, but it is a start to creating an identity that you will be proud to have stolen by those you love and for those you influence each day whether it is at home, work, or play. Let's make 2022 the year that identity theft takes on a whole new meaning. 

Coach Carter