Thursday, September 04, 2003
Tuesday Breifing SPECIAL EDITION
AMAZING day
Yesterday, Wednesday, 9-3-03 was one of THE most amazing days of my life – not quite like first kiss, senior prom, high school graduation, etc. There are not many BIG days after your 50th birthday.
I did not expect so many things to come together on this one day.
The auto insurance was purchased yesterday and went into effect today.
Had the first meeting with a man that may have a huge impact on my life and ministry.
The auto title was transferred and the registration was done.
I got a set of new tires.
A man I never met offered to recover the data on the laptop for free.
And each of these has a small story.
AUTO INSURANCE
Shopping for insurance is perhaps the most complicated thing I have done in decades.
There are so many variables that it is hard to compare them directly. After hours on the web, I understood enough to ask good questions of agents. Then I went to call them. After going through various voice menus at three companies I was asked to leave a message with a promise of a call back within a day. I had set important appointments the next day. I was ready to buy NOW so I kept calling. On the forth one I quickly talked with a real person that was very friendly and helpful. He was not on commission so he told me how to save many dollars. I am with GEICO for the next 6 months.
FIRST MEETING
Today I personally know a few dozen people that are starting a ministry. What made this appointment different is that this man has started and led several successful ministries over the last few decades. He is in the start-up mode but he has known many of the key Christian leaders in the Dallas area in many other key players throughout the USA. He is the man that is facilitating the prayer ministry trainings on Thursday nights that I have been attending. I am not sure how God will use us. But I am sure that it will be wonderful.
TITLE AND REGISTRATION
The first time I went to transfer the title I went to the wrong building. It is not at City Hall like some one said. It is at the County Court Building on Elm at Houston. But I arrived 10 minutes late having had difficultly parking twice. FYI they close at 4:30.
The next time I learned that I needed the auto insurance before the title. It seemed logical to me that it would be the other way. While there that time I did not put money in the parking meter and got a $20 parking ticket. Not feeding the meter is an oversight that I will not do again for many years. That day I also locked my keys in the car. Fortunately I was carrying a spare.
The third time (yesterday) I fed the meter three times. It took more than two hours for the nice clerks to finish with me. Many others were in line before me at both lines. I did read many pages in the book Visioneering by Andy Stanley. God is speaking strongly to me through those pages these days.
I have been borrowing this white Ford Escort from a friend that went overseas to get his doctorate. He generously decided to give it to me. Note that he and his family face more money challenges that I do. So please pray for God to bless their incomes and vehicles.
TIRES
During the last few months the oil has been changed, new brakes installed and steering adjusted. And each time the mechanic mentioned that the tires need to be replaced.
There have been rain showers while I was driving on the freeway. And my prayer life kicked into high gear. Some folks never use their blinkers and seem unaware that there is a speed limit.
The Serenity Prayer leads me to ask for serenity to accept what I cannot change, courage to change what I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Well what I can change is the new tires. And I will spare you the details, but I could not get them before today.
Kindly pry for my safety while on the road. I am a very careful driver. But I cannot control other drivers or road hazards.
DATA RECOVERY
Many people have prayed many prayers about the hundresds of hours of work that has been in limbo since the laptop crashed a few month. That was on the back burner and moving slowly forward. Then unexpectedly on the same day as all this other I get a note from a student that works full time for a data recovery company to do it for free. What a blessing surprise. Pray for God to guide and bless him.
The provision of this vehicle is the answer to zillions of prayers. I have just learned to live with out a car but I have felt many people praying for this provision for me. I was recounting the vehicles I have owned.
1973 to1974 (20 years old)
yellow Plymouth Valiant convertible
1977 to 1979 (24 years old)
blue VW bug
2003 (50 year old)
white Ford Escort
The previous vehicles were more than a half of a life time ago. I have kept my drivers license current since I was 16. I had hoped to have a vehicle again. Like I wrote a few months ago, I could feel a vehicle coming because the NEED was about to arrive. I am only starting to appreciate what God can do with this vehicle in my life.
NEXT
The next weeks and months are going to be FULL of exciting changes. Important projects are already in motion. I will share more as it unfolds. Like the Bible says there is seed time and harvest. Just as yesterday was a major harvest day, there will be more harvests before Christmas.
FAITH
The last time that my paycheck paid all my bills was in 1998. I stepped out on faith and God has supplied some or all my bills from unexpected sources each month for these years.
During the last few months there has been an influx of thousands of dollars more than normal. And the costs have been much more than normal. Over and over the Provision of Jesus was right on time. Often I feel like a missionary that is on the manna plan.
I was reading Rick Warrens tribute to Bill Bright, He said “Bill believed in a big God, so he had big dreams and took big risks. God honored that faith over and over again.”
In my flesh I would prefer to have all the plans completely finalized and money in the bank before taking any risk. But I have learned the hard way (during the last 26 years following Jesus) that without faith it is impossible to please God. EVERY major step of progress has followed a major step of trusting obedience.
God has been working rapidly in my relationship with Art. We are taking constructive steps of action. These will bear fruit in the coming weeks and months. That will provide the momentum and funds that can be leveraged into the manifestation of many ministry plans that have been waiting in my files for years.
I am reading the book Visioneering by Andy Stanley. God is using this to guide me in the process of articulating the vision that God has placed in my heart and mind. You can look forward to simple diagrams, Power Point slide show, promotional video and overview web site.
During the coming days I will be contacting those who have given to the ministry in th past to contribute again during these amazing days. May God prepare my heart and theirs. May God again be glorified in meeting all the needs right on time.
Picture attached
John 4:02 PM
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
TUESDAY BRIEFING
9-2-03
ALL glory to God in Jesus Name!
May you remember how far Jesus has brought you.
May you see others through the eyes of faith.
May God surprise you with revelations of His goodness.
Amen?
COMPLETED
1. TODAY finally bought auto insurance with GEICO. I had done much comparative shopping over the web.
2. Bought a new HP all-in-one printer/scanner/copier for only 100 dollars.
3. Installed Quicken on new desktop computer. Invested many hours to input my financial data and learn the ways it works.
4. Many hours last week invested in putting my financial house into order. Still have a little ways to go, but most is done.
5. Set up an automatic backup service with Quicken that keeps my financial data encrypted on their servers plus 100MB of My Document files.
6. Began to take 6 weeks of classes on Thursday nights in Theophostic a kind of prayer ministry www.theophostic.com
CURRENT
A. Now that I have begun with Quicken, I need to get into the habit of using it on a regular basis.
B. I told my coach that I need to improve goal setting for the week and month. The Franklin Covey Planner has become a very useful tool to keep order from day to day. But I need to begin to operate from the slightly longer perspective.
UPCOMING
i. On Wednesday morning I plan to get the title transferred and registration.
ii. Hope to get the tires tomorrow too. Two mechanics said that they are needed.
iii. Over the years I have attempted many times to get on a monthly budget. I never did stay on one for more then four months. This time I will share a copy with my accountability partners. I will ask them to pray for me to get into the habit of sending them a copy. And if I do not -- then to call me on it.
iv. I have not been asking for prayers for the rent each month. But I rarely knew how God would bring in all the money until the last day. That may seem crazy to many of my readers. But for a few of them that has been their reality for years. Pray for God to keep meeting the needs right on time and to lift me out of this financial pattern.
v. I was born again in 1977 and responded positively to the call of God on my life that same year. I have been seeking to go into some kind of ministry all these years. I have invested untold hours of prayer, Bible study, research, planning, networking, etc. Sometimes I come close to a set of circumstances that could lead to the launch of the ministry. Again that is just around the corner. May I make wise choices and may my faith be strong.
John 9:09 PM
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