The MITs, 11/20/11

Priorities: what comes before what? This question can refer to the quantity of time we're willing to expend on an activity, the sequence in which we're willing to perform actions, or the rank we assign to them.

Priorities are similar to values, which are an important component of mission. But mission determines goals, which determine priorities. Since one is continually informing the other, begin the process and spend time praying and thinking so that your accuracy will gradually improve.

A time log reveals what your priorities are. For some people, their highest priority is to do as they please, like a pet dog wandering around in its back yard.

To rank a list, ask "If I could do only one of these things, what would it be?" That becomes item one on a new list. Then look at the remaining items and ask the same question. That becomes item two on the new list. And so on.

Urgency means that an item is "pressing," but we usually define that by how we feel, when a better rule would be to define it by results: does it involve the possibility of significant material loss? Does it involve the trust of others? Dependability (faithfulness) is a feature of God most emphasized in scripture, and it is therefore a most important character trait for a godly person. (Deu.7:6-9; Prov. 20:6).

When you agree to do something, write it down and review it regularly lest you become undependable. If you run into problems, renegotiate the agreement but never just let the task fall. If you have a complete inventory of the things you've agreed to do, you may in good conscience decline someone's new request. But if you don't know what you've agreed to already, you may feel obligated to accede to someone's new request -- further encumbering yourself with more responsibilities than you can fulfil, resulting in failure and disappointment to others.

The MITS, 11/06/11

Your mission in life is who you are and who you're meant to be, the summation of your values, priorities, and roles. Writing it out would be a good exercise that would probably take days or weeks as the ideas became clearer. One method to get the process going is to imagine what you'd want people to say at your funeral. This is analogous to the judgment seat of Christ.

Your present priorities are revealed by how you spend your time, not by what you say or what you believe. Keeping a time log for a week can be startling, especially when compared to the imaginary funeral orations.

Thinking about mission and priorities helps to discern a vision of what God is willing to do through you. Nehemiah's goal was something that God had put in his heart (Neh. 2:12). Heb. 11:13 tells of those who had faith and saw things (a visual term) and embraced them before they actually received them. Their lives were dominated by a vision.

When you can visualize the end, it becomes possible to identify the necessary steps to get there.

The MITs, 10/30/11

In Ro. 12:1-2, Paul does not tell the Roman Christians what the will of God is. Instead, he tells them to prove it, which means to learn it by testing, that is, living. In order to learn and do the perfect will of God, they were to consecrate themselves, renew their minds, and become transformed inwardly.

The will of God might also be called your mission in life. It is unique to you. Nobody is going to fulfill it for you. Your life cannot be repeated. You get one chance to live it.

Your mission is discovered rather than developed. As it is discovered it gives meaning and purpose to daily decisions and enables you to discern the MITs.

Your mission is something that should be true right now, but goals are statements about the future. "I am a teacher; I intend to be hired at some college within eighteen months."

College Students and Smartphones

An interesting article, but it doesn't describe anybody in CBCC&C Class, does it?