Making the right decision can be very difficult. It becomes increasingly difficult when you have two or three good options from which to choose. The questions that seemingly cause me the most stresses are the ones where the Bible does not specifically address: Where should I live? What should be my life’s work/career? Who should I marry? How many children should we have? Who should I hire? Should I take the job in Texas or the one in Minnesota? We have a heavenly Father who loves us, knows the future, and desires to give us the best he has for us. But, before we receive guidance from God for our lives, there are some things that should be true of us. Over the next few days, I will be posting a limited list of prerequisites in the form of questions. Here is the first question:

1. Have I chosen to follow Jesus and let him reign in my life? Matthew 6:31-33

God will guide us when we have chosen to submit to the reign and leadership of Jesus. If we have not made the decision to follow him in the most important area, that is, to love him and seek his kingdom values, then why should he give us guidance/direction in other areas in our lives?

Popularity: 12% [?]

The one thing I desire in ministry and in life is to give God the best that I’ve. I don’t always succeed, but I aspire to give him my best. How can we be sure that we are giving God the best we’ve got? Here are three very important questions that can help us to achieve maximum effectiveness in ministry and life.

Question #1: What is the motive of  your ministry? Service? Life?
Answer: Always choose the approval of God over the praise of people.

Question #2: How are you mastering your ministry? Service? Life?
Answer: Always choose excellence over mediocrity.

Question #3: What is the measure of your ministry? Service? Life?
Answer: Always choose the eternal over the temporary.

Which question(s) and answer(s) spoke to you the most? Which will you choose focus on over the next seven days?

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I am always looking for powerful questions I can use or that my closest friends can use to edit and vet my life. Though I will add to this list, here is a list of questions that I think am going to settle on for a while. These questions were produced by the Church Multiplication Association.  The ten questions are as follows:

1. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions?

2. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week?

3. Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you?

4. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week?

5. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face-to-face?

6. Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain.

7. Have you continued to remain angry toward another?

8. Have you secretly wished for another’s misfortune so that you might excel?

9. Did you finish your reading this week and hear from the Lord? What are you going to do about it?

10. Have you been completely honest with me?

What do you think about these questions? Are there others you can add to this list? Do you have someone in your life who can edit your life with these questions?

Popularity: 10% [?]

Many of you have already seen this ad that Nike and Tiger released this week. Let me say up front, I like Nike and Tiger, and I am really pulling for him to win the Master’s this weekend. If he wins, his will go down in the annuls as one of the most compelling stories in past and recent sports history. More importantly, I am pulling for him to be a better husband, father, friend and person.

Now, regarding the ad. I really didn’t know how to respond when I first saw it, and I wanted to withhold my opinion until I had time to digest its content and true meaning. As I thought more and more about the ad, it was obvious to me that Nike and Tiger weren’t selling clubs, balls, or shoes. But, they were selling something. What they were selling and how they were selling it, made me uncomfortable. They were using Tiger’s dead father’s voice, out of context mind you, to protect, re-image, and sell the Tiger brand. In my humble opinion, it seemed they were more interested in image rather character and integrity.

This ad inspired a personal question in me: As a leader and minister, how do I protect and sell the Jesus brand in my life each day? Here are some of my answers:

1. Begin each day by acknowledging my absolute need for Jesus
2. Express gratitude to Jesus every day for the gifts that he’s given me
3. Quietly transfer all glory to Him
4. Invite and pursue correction from godly men and women
5. Repent quickly and thoroughly
6. Don’t take myself too seriously (laugh at myself)
7. Model my life after the One who made himself of no reputation

What was your initial response to the Nike and Tiger ad? As a believer, what are some other ways you protect the Jesus brand each day?

Popularity: 9% [?]

I have won a lot of trophies in my lifetime. I have excelled at baseball, bowling, and martial arts. My trophies are visible exhibitions of my achievement and success. As I was de-cluttering our basement a couple of weeks ago, I saw how much dust my “precious” trophies had collected. As my ego and pride took me down memory lane of each achievement, the Spirit said to me: “Throw them away.” My first reaction was: “But, what about all the practices, sweat, injuries, the time, and the money? How will people know that I have achieved and have succeeded?” Then he reminded me, with these words from Philippians, of the one trophy I should be pursuing everyday:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith,