I recently read a tweet that read, “Those who forever seek the will of God are overrun by those who do the will of God.”  I thought about how simple, but yet how profound this statement really is. If you were to walk up to most people in the Christian church and ask, “What is God’s will for your life?” Many would respond with a simple, “I am still seeking His will.” This is a big problem because this line of thinking keeps us from being doers for God.

When most people respond to this question they are thinking of in terms of career. That is what we have been conditioned to do, we think to ourselves, “OK God what is my career?” Now I can say with almost all certainty God is not really focusing so much on your career as He is what He designed you to do for the Kingdom.

The answer to this question is quite simple. We are to love God and love people! We are to serve God and serve people! All of which brings glory to God! When we focus our “what am I here to do energy” on the basics, God will expand the finite points of your life and reveal where and how He designed for you to carry out your purpose.

When I think back to the various jobs in several industries I have had over the years the one constant I know I was purposed to do in each one was to glorify God by loving and serving Him and then doing the same for those around me. How else can those see the need for God if they do not see it through us?

In Christ,

Randy Hollingsworth
http://randyhollingsworth.com

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The A.C.T.S. of Marriage
 
Not long ago as I sat in prayer for an upcoming sermon titled Prayer 101, I was moved to thoughts of my marriage. My wife and I recently celebrated our eighth year together, and I was struggling to show her on a consistent basis just how much she means to me and how proud I am to be her husband. Deep down I knew God had blessed me beyond measure with this amazing woman, friend and mother to our beautiful children. How could I take what should be a simple act of love and live it daily?

It turns out the answer was in my upcoming sermon which included the often used A.C.T.S. acronym for simplifying prayer. The sermon was not intended to be a deep theological discussion on the depths of prayer, but on the simplicity of prayer. Often times in life we take what should be a simple process and complicate it. The truth is, in the same way many Christians struggle with prayer, I found myself struggling to show my wife how much I
value her.

The “A” in A.C.T.S stands for adoration. I absolutely adore my wife, yet it saddened me to think how rarely I expressed my feelings to her. Jesus said in Matthew 6:9, “Pray then like this: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” How often do we fail to show reverence for the holiness, mercy, and splendor of God? I began to realize all the things I adored about my wife: her strength, her wisdom, her love for our children and her ability to find balance in life. The challenge was taking these feelings from my heart, moving them to my lips and on
to her ears.

I moved on to “C” which stands for confess.  The problem with confessing is our pride
often gets in the way and hinders our ability or willingness to admit our faults. One thing we must remember is nothing is hidden from God. Hebrews 4:13(a) teaches,“And no creature is hidden from His sight.” It was apparent to me all the things I needed to confess to my wife. The list ranged from taking her for granted down to spending money on foolish things. 
In order to be genuine, I would need to remove selfish pride and pray for humility. 

The “T” in the acronym is for thanksgiving. In our society we tend to dwell on the things (usually materialistic) we think our life is missing without regard for all that we have been blessed with from God.  1 Thessalonians 5:18(a), “Give thanks in all circumstances.” I realized “thank you” was a phrase seldom used for everything my wife does on a daily basis. My heart was broken as I realized it only takes a moment to offer a genuine “thank you”.

Finally, the “S” is for supplication, praying for needs in your life and the needs of others. Philippians 4:19 promises that God will meet all of our needs according to His will. I realized there are some needs that I was failing to meet in my wife’s life. One was her need for alone time with God. Another was the opportunity to be pampered after a hard week.  I knew I would never meet her needs the way God could, but there were needs I could meet as a Christ-like husband should. 
 
Since implementing these A.C.T.S. of marriage we have had a renewal in our love for one another, a deepening in our commitment to God and to raise our children in a Christ centered loving home.            


To A Holy Marriage,

Randy Hollingsworth
http://randyhollingsworth.com
 

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I wanted to take just a moment today and encourage everyone to take time to reflect on this year. Think back to any New Year Resolutions you might have made, have you been successful keeping them? 

When you look back and reflect on this year take time to analyze goals for your life this year that came up a little short. Ask these questions as you review your list:

· Was this something I wanted, but God didn’t? In other words did you realize at some
point that this goal or life improvement really was more for your desires and not God?

· Was it something that I realized just wasn’t that important?

· Was there a key moment that occurred that moved me off track? If so, what have I
learned from this experience? What can I do differently going into the New Year?

· Write out what you discover and game plan how to win in 2012

One thing I did years ago when I realized that when I made a list of resolutions I often fell short of my goals. I took my list realizing I needed to take the most important life changing resolution and make it my only resolution. That year it was to start reading through the bible yearly. Guess what? I did it!

In fact, going in to 2012 I have only one resolution, to regain control of my health. Using this simple strategy of one and done I have achieved more than I thought possible. YOU CAN DO IT TOO! Philippians 4:13 says YOU can.



To Your Success,

Randy Hollingsworth
 http://randyhollingsworth.com
  

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Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that keeps the law, happy is he.”I should note I paraphrased this passage of scripture from the (ESV) version of the Holy Bible. Who said this? Not some get-rich-quick guru or success coach/motivational speaker, but God Himself!

So what does that mean? It means it is very important that we not only understand this verse, but that we live it as well. Let’s look at two main words in the first part of the verse of scripture. First, we see the word vision. Vision can be defined many different ways, but for this writing I will define it as an ability to see in our minds God’s destination for our lives, our church, our homes or any
place where change is needed. Then we take this vision and use it to light an
inward fire that causes us to take steps to achieve our vision and it also gives
us the ability to share the vision with others.

Secondly, we see the word perish. This is not talking about dying in the physical sense, but more about becoming useless in fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. Nobody really wants to die and deep down nobody has a desire to be useless in life. I lost many of you right there because many people do appear like they are very happy being useless. However, deep down they don’t want to be viewed as useless. They just need some help creating a vision and a mindset that they can
accomplish their vision.

Listen do not confuse vision with goals. Vision is the end result and goals are your roadmap. For example, one vision you may have is seeing yourself 79 pounds lighter. In order to do that you need to set daily goals that lead to weekly goals, which results in yearly goals.

In closing, do you have a vision for your life? Have you laid out your success plan
to get to your vision? Here are a few examples where you may need to define your vision:

* Family Life
* Education
* Health
* Career
* Spiritual

This list could go on for some time, but typically these are the most often areas of life mentioned to us.


Yours in Success,

Randy Hollingsworth
http://randyhollingsworth.com

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I was recently asked how I manage to do all that is required of me on a daily basis. The only response I can give is God. I remind myself daily of the verse from Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

In fact, I seldom find myself looking at all that I am responsible to do on a weekly basis. I would love to be able to say that it all gets done perfectly, but it doesn't. I know that I will not always be this busy, but I am thankful to God for all the opportunities He has provided for me.

Here are some of the items on my daily list:
· Husband
· Father of Two Amazing Sons
· QA Software 40+ Hours Each Week
· Bi-Vocational Pastor
· Prepare Sermons for Sunday Morning, Sunday Night & Wednesdays
· Teach Sunday School & Sunday Night Discipleship Class
· Teach A Discipleship Class On Tuesday Nights
· Seminary Student

There are a few more things and yes at times I feel overwhelmed, but I know God will not place more on me than He will be faithful to carry me through. Besides sacrifices have to be made in order to get where God wants you  to be and I know life will slow down at some point!


In Christ,

Randy Hollingsworth

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