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A Walk Around the Lake

It was a great week writing! Thanks for the prayers. I was able to finish my first draft of my book on Thursday. Eleven chapters written, and now the editing process begins. I was surprised that I was able to finish it, but once I started the words and structure came together. It helps that I have written in my journal almost daily for the past six years. It was very helpful to read back and remind myself of past experiences and thoughts.

One of the things I realized as I went back and looked at my past was how much my life was a non-stop race. I worked too many hours and was constantly striving to move to the next challenge in my life. While we have been intentional at taking vacations and traveling to many fabulous destinations around the world, we also missed slowing down during our normal weeks and enjoying life around us.

Today we took a walk around Como Lake. Even though it is so close to where we live, we had never taken the time to just enjoy it and walk around it. I am learning that my pace of life with work over the past 30 years has kept me from enjoying what is around me as much as I could. We have lived in a beautiful state and city for over 30 years, but there are so many things that we have not taken the time to experience and enjoy.

Life is too short to miss out on enjoying the beauty that God created and has given us to enjoy. I am going to make a commitment to try something new every week. Expand my sense of normal and push myself out of my comfort zone.

What do you need to do this week to slow down and enjoy life to its fullest? What is something you have thought about doing and just never got around to doing it? Make it happen this week! You will never regret creating a memory, but you can never create a memory without taking a step out of your routines.

Next week we plan to announce our next step in life! I hope you will look for our blog and see what journey God is taking us on!

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What is your Goliath?

Last week I finished a devotional series by Louie Giglio titled: “Goliath Must Fall: Winning The Battle Against Your Giants”. Goliath was a giant that taunted and threatened the army of Israel in the Old Testament. The army was afraid of Goliath and did not want to fight him. But David came to the battle and proclaimed that with the power of God on his side, he would fight and defeat Goliath. And he did with the aid of a slingshot.

It made me think about what giants are in my life that I am afraid of or try to avoid? I can think of many! Over the years, I have had many giants that have taunted me. For example, I have struggled with a giant called public speaking, a giant called shyness and introverted and one of my biggest giants called worry. I have battled these giants and chased them away, but I am never sure that they have been killed. I often wonder when one of these giants will come back out of the cave to attack me, but I pray that with God’s help they are gone forever.

This Saturday, I am attacking a giant that has taunted me for the past five years called writing my book. I have sensed that God has been leading me me to write a book, but I keep putting it off. I think I am afraid that it won’t be any good, that it won’t get published or if published, no one will want to read it. Exposing yourself through the written word is hard. It opens you up to criticism and rejection. But on Saturday, I am going to battle against this giant. I am isolating myself for a week to focus on getting the words in my head down on paper. I don’t know how the battle will turn out, but it is time to stop avoiding the battle.

So I leave you with three thoughts:

What are the giants in your life that have held you back and kept you from doing what God wants you to do?
What can you do in the next week to go to battle against this giant?
How can you help someone else in their battle against their giant?

Lastly, if you think of it, lift me up in prayer this next week. Pray that God will to allow the words to flow from my mind to paper and that I can defeat this giant with my laptop!

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What’s “Soul” got to do with it?

Post author By Rick Post
Post date May 12, 2017
No Comments on What’s “Soul” got to do with it?

One of the blessings of having a season of transition is that it allows you time to do things that sometimes get put on the back burner when you are working full time, raising a family and trying to serve at your church or in the community. I think of it as margin. I know for me, when I am working a job full time, it is really hard for me to find margin to pour into myself. What generally suffers the most is I neglect my soul. I find myself running on an empty spiritual fuel tank.

When I worked at Target, I definitely ran with an empty spiritual fuel tank. Working for a church the last five years my fuel tank has been filled more often, still there were many times where the demands of the job and responsibilities that came with it, left me in a state of exhaustion and running on empty. I had more time to spend reading God’s word and praying. I also had worship experiences that I was able to participate in to fill my tank, but it is often hard to turn off the job and truly allow yourself to worship and take in a holy moment.

During this season I am in now, I have had time to do things that really fill my soul. I have had time to spend mornings reading God’s word and talking to Him. I have had time to listen. (That is one of the biggest things you sacrifice when you are busy and lack margin.) I have been able to take long walks and chat with God as I enjoy the beauty of His creation. I have been able to read some great books to learn from and challenge me. As a family we have been able to spend more time together since I am no longer working weekends. Beth and I have been able to have people over to our house to experience community and build relationships. I have had time to meet people for coffee and just linger since there is not another meeting I have to get to.

And what I have found, is that the things above fill my soul. I find greater peace in daily life. I have more contentment and more time to listen to God and others. I find greater joy no matter what I am doing.

While I have more free time to spend with God now, what I am learning from my studies of the Bible is that God wants me to have a filled soul all of the time, not just when I have free time. God wants me to spend time with Him. Time worshiping, time listening, time talking – a relationship. Relationships take time and I think I have often been far too busy to invest in the relationship with God that He wants from me. When I am busy and running fast, it is often more what I want from God, than me focusing on what God wants for and from me! This is something I have to continue to remember and focus on when my schedule does get busier.

Most of you are not in a place where I am today, but let me give you three things to think about:

How is your relationship with God? Are you taking the time to talk with Him and to listen?
How filled is your soul? If you want to learn more about this I suggest reading John Ortberg’s “Soul Keeping” or Judah Smith’s “How’s Your Soul?”.
What is one thing you could change in your daily life to give you more margin?

For me, too much of my life has been spent chasing success, accomplishments and status. What I am learning is that in a moment, all of that can be gone. I am learning that what really matters in life is who I am becoming in my relationship with God and the impact that I can make in the lives of others.

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Do you TRUST me?

Those are the words I keep hearing from God. Do you trust Me? Do you believe that I have a plan for you? Do you have the faith to take one day at a time and allow Me to provide? Those are hard questions to process and navigate.

Five and half years ago I was thrown from my boat and asked to walk on water. That led me to five years on staff at Eagle Brook Church as a pastor and campus leader. Now I have been thrown from my boat again and God is once again asking me to Trust Him. The following story from Matthhew about Jesus and Peter walking on water came to my mind:

“About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here! ” Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14:25-31‬ ‭NLT‬

Walking on water is scary, wet and risky, but it is also where you can experience God in His greatest glory. Walking on water is a step of faith and as Peter learned, when you take your eyes off of Jesus, you just might sink and need to be rescued.

This is where Beth and I are at. God has showed us that He wants us to take a step of faith. Over the past five weeks, God has given us a dream that we believe is God’s guiding in our lives. This is going to be doing what we have never done and trusting that God will guide and provide. We are not ready to announce what we will be doing yet but we great potential in our futuyre. We are in the process of starting a non-profit. We have registered our business name, secured a domain name and are now in the process of building a web-site and registering with the IRS to be 501c3 eligible.

We have many fears and we are being asked to do things we have never done before. But we keep hearing God say “Trust Me”.

We have never run a business before – God says “Trust Me”
We have never had to rely on the gifts of others for our financial needs – God says “Trust Me”
We have never had to “sell ourselves” to find work – God says “Trust Me”

We have found the following verses strength for our journey:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Romans 8:28 NLT

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT

“And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.”

2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT

We do not have it all figured out, but we believe that God will provide if we trust Him and take a step of faith. Buckle up and prepare to join us on the journey of our lifetime!

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WHAT DO YOU DO?

Over the past six weeks this has been the question that I have been wrestling with the most. It is not until I was unemployed that I realized that one of the questions that new people ask you after your name is what do you do? That was a really hard question for me to answer. Saying I was unemployed, while true, made me feel inadequate or lacking, and that was not what I wanted to feel like.

Why was this such a hard question for me? Why am I so concerned about what I do? Does my job or title truly reflect who I am? This hit me really hard when I went to Ukraine a couple of weeks ago. When the trip was booked I was the Exec Director at Eagle Brook Church. When I arrived in Ukraine I was unemployed. I worried about how I would be accepted and whether or not what I had to share was valued based on my old job/position or on who I was!

When I arrived, our friends in Ukraine taught me that it is NOT WHAT I DO that matters, it is WHO I AM! I was accepted as a follower of Christ, a person with experience and knowledge to share that loved them and cared for them. They did not care that position had changed. They loved and accepted me for who I am. What a lesson for me!

This reminded me of a season when my wife Beth left her last job over 6 years ago. For several years she wrestled with her identity and JUST being a mom and wife did not seem like it was enough. How many times have you heard someone limit themselves by adding the word JUST. Beth wasn’t just a mom and wife, she was a nurturer, an encourager, a supporter, a volunteer, a care giver. A person who gave so much more to others than any title could explain. That is who she is.

As I have reflected on this, I have found that who I am is made up of three things:

Who I am in Christ – I am a Christ follower who was saved by grace.
What is my purpose – To Love God and Love Others and help others to find a relationship with God.
What are my skills – I am a problem solver who loves to help others reach their full potential.

So let me challenge you in the following ways:

Don’t let yourself be limited by your job title or position.
Never use the word JUST … to describe yourself. You are more than that limitation!
Spend time getting to know who people are and less about what they do
Next time you meet someone new, ask them WHO ARE YOU? and see how they respond. They will probably be shocked and at a loss for words, but that is a good place to start.

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A New Adventure

Have you ever experienced a week that has been full of surprises and emotional swings? Have you ever felt like you were where God wanted you only to find out that God has other plans for you?

It has been that kind of week for me! Last week my position at Eagle Brook Church came to an end. It was a surprise and not what I was expecting, but it was a reality! This past week has been a week filled with emotional swings – its as if I was on a roller coaster! I was dealing with feelings of loss, rejection, disappointment and questions of why, but I was also feeling a sense of excitement, relief, freedom and optimism.

This past week Beth and I have started each day with a prayer asking God to show himself to us in unexpected and powerful ways and at the end of the day we have talked about what we experienced that day and how God showed up. It has been truly an amazing time of experiencing God’s presence and closeness in our lives!

On Monday we went to see The Shack. What a powerful presentation of what God’s love is like! No matter what you feel about the theology of the movie, we walked out of the showing with tears running down our faces as we felt through the movie that this is how God has been showering His love on us this past week. God wants us to let go of our hurts, anger, disappointment and free us to be loved by Him and to love others. As shown in the movie, Jesus wants us to get out of our boats and walk and water with Him!

I don’t know what my future holds or what I will be doing professionally tomorrow, next week or next month, but I know that God loves me and that He has a plan for my life. He wants a relationship with me and wants me to live fully in that relationship. I am going to take this new found freedom to search for what God wants me to do with my life. I am going to spend a couple of weeks in Ukraine with our friends there and then I am going to spend some time writing a book that has been on my mind for several years and begin to blog my journey. I want to spend some time listening to God and allow Him to direct me in how I spend my time and energy professionally for the next season of my life.

Is it a little scary? You bet! But this is where God wants all of us. He wants us to let go of control and TRUST Him. His plans are better than mine and they are exactly what is right for me. This is hard to do for me as I am a control freak who likes to have everything figured out, but there is something very freeing and liberating to let go and shoot for the stars!

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Becoming an Empty Nester!

It has been over four years since I have written in my blog. I have written in my journal almost daily but I have kept my writing to myself the past four years. I feel like it is time to share a little about what has been going on the past four years!

Today was one of those milestone days. My youngest son moved out of the house into his new home and Beth and I are now empty nesters. While that sounds like it is great and that you finally after 26 years have the house to yourselves, it also means that you have completed a stage of your life and you are moving on to the next one.

The past 26 years have been spent preparing for children, raising children, watching them move from kindergarten to grade school to middle school to high school and then move out for college to then come home as they prepare for the rest of their adult life. You spend years feeding, clothing and helping them get ready for this time in their life, but when it happens it is bittersweet. You have prepared them the best that you can for life. You tried to teach them values and integrity, a work ethic and morals, but until you release them you never really will now how you have done. As a parent, we strove to raise our children to love God and to love others and to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We wanted them to get an education, find good jobs and find a spouse to love and one day raise children of their own. When the day comes when they have all moved out of the house, you can’t help to ask yourself “where have the years gone? How did we do? What could we have done better?” But you realize that the time you had to raise them is over and now you hope they will remember what you have taught them and still want to come home for home cooked meals and maybe a little wisdom along the way.

And now the house is a little quieter and little less messy. There is less noise and questions about “what’s for dinner?” but there is also a void you feel. Your purpose in life has been to provide for your family and to be their for them for whatever they needed. But now you are not needed in the same way. You have provided for them and launched them on their own, but what does that mean for yourself? How do you find a purpose that is bigger than just doing a job and paying the bills? How do you take all the time and energy you put into raising and providing for your kids into something that adds value to your own life and the life of others?

Thankfully during the years of raising our children I never stopped dating my wife. I love to spend time with her and we have done some amazing things together. But we both have to find what is next for us. We have to identify how to spend our time and energy into what adds value and not just consume our resources on ourselves. I do not fully know what that will be for me, but I look forward to spending the next several months working to figure that out.

As I start to blog again, you are welcome to come along with me on the journey.

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Why Me?

Post author By Rick Post
Post date May 29, 2012
1 Comment on Why Me?

Why Me?

Of all the people you could have selected to work for your church, why me?
What do you see in the future that You needed me to leave my old job for?
What God sized happening do You need me for that is worth the sacrifice of what I gave up?
What did You see in me that needed to change?

Why me? I don’t have a background in ministry or training in the Bible.
Why me? I don’t have experience as a pastor or the ability to teach in front of a crowd.
What did You see that I don’t? Did you just want me for yourself?

I don’t understand what happened, I don’t understand why You wanted me, but I know that You have something big for me.
When Jesus called the disciples to follow Him, I wonder did they ask why me?
They were not the educated religious leaders or the popular people, but look what You accomplished through them!

What are you going to accomplish through me?
When so many people ask for your guidance, but you are silent, why did you speak so clearly to me?
Why me?

When you removed the golden handcuffs of my former employer was it to see how I would respond?
Would I seek Your plan for my life or look for something to replace the income that I lost?
Have I learned to trust You and rely on Your strength and guidance or do I try to accomplish things from my own strength?

As I move forward in my new job, may this be my daily prayer:

Help me to be humble and open to coaching and feedback.
Help me to not push on things that are not needed to be pushed on, while also not allowing things that are just good enough to be ignored.

May my heart be seen in all that I do and may my motives for change be pure and be led by seeking Your purpose and plan.

Help me to lead as You would lead.
Help we to coach as You would coach.
Help me to inspire and motivate as You would inspire and motivate.
Help me to serve as You would serve.
Help me to love as You would love.
Thank you for this opportunity and may I be about accomplishing Your purposes in all that I do.
Help me to be part of accomplishing things that can only be accomplished by You through me.

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Two Months In

It has been almost two months since I blogged last. I have completed my first two months at my new job. It has been an amazing start to a new phase of my life. Working for a church is very different from working at a large corporation like Target. Every day I have to remember that success in my job is much more than getting things done. It is also putting every decision through the filter of God’s purpose. Is the decision or action I am taking driven by God’s purpose and in an effort to make His church amazing, or is it driven by my own motives. It is very humbling to start each day putting your decisions and actions through the filter of being part of God’s purposes.My devotional from yesterday included the following verse: Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. —Proverbs 19:21What a great verse for me to remember and stay focused on!One of the best parts of my new job has been the time I get to spend visiting our campuses. It is amazing to meet the volunteers who give of their time to help make our church amazing. I have gotten to see servants at work and to hear their stories of how God has changed their lives or the lives of their family. It is these stories that makes it so exciting to go to work each day and look for things we do that are good, but with a little effort could be amazing. We have to never be satisfied with “Good Enough”.I feel so privileged to be able to give of my skills and abilities to serve in a way that allows me to find ways to make our church a place that is welcoming to new people, is a place where people can find community and is a place where people can serve based on their giftedness.My challenge is to always stay humble and strive to serve in such a way that God’s purposes are accomplished and that the things that are accomplished are done in a way that brings honor and glory to God. It is not about me, but rather what God can do through me.I am completing my training so that I can be a pastor. Who would have ever thought that I would one day be a pastor? See God does have a sense of humor.

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Thank You

It has been a month since I last blogged so I thought it was a time for an update. After accepting my position with Eagle Brook Church, I took the next 4 weeks to spend time reading, relaxing, preparing and spending time with family and friends. It has been nice to spend time not thinking about what I will be doing for the next phase of my life.

The last four months have been an amazing journey, and now I am coming to the end of the first step of the journey and start the next phase on Monday. It has been amazing to see how God has guided and directed me these past 4 months. Who would have ever thought that I would be going from Corporate America to working for one of the largest churches in the US in 4 months.

The last 4 months have been a great time of restoration, healing, spiritual growth and learning. God has given me the time to restore my mind, body, soul and spirit. I never realized how exhausted and controlled I was in my last job. I’m sure my family and friends saw it, but truly my job controlled my life – my time, my energy, my availability to help or minister to others. It is always hard to leave behind your comforts, but God had a bigger plan for my life.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, support and encouragement these past 4 months. These have been incredible blessings and really have helped me learn about my priorities and how to spend my time. It has also given me the opportunity to be available to pray and support others for the challenges that you are going through.

It is amazing to me to think that God wants to use me for His Kingdom. I am so humbled to think about the big challenge that lies ahead for me in my new job. It is truly something that I will not be able to do with out God’s help and guidance. It is awe inspiring to think of being in a position as a spiritual leader who will be working to develop people’s talents and develop leaders to accomplish God’s purposes by reaching lost people with God’s grace! God has given me great blessings and provided me with talents and abilities. My prayer for the next phase of my life – the next 25 – that I will use these gifts for God’s honor and glory.

Please continue to pray for me in my new ministry and pray that God will continue to do great things through me.

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Decision Made

After a three month journey and putting my future in God’s hands and trying my hardest to follow His guidance and direction, I have finally landed a new position. As my last blog said, I had hit a fork in the road and I had two outstanding opportunities in front of me.

After time in prayer, discussion with family and friends and after reading Chapter 8 of Bob Merritt’s book When Life’s Not Working, I made my decision. In Bob’s book, Chapter 8 was “Try Things You Can’t Do”. It talked about stretching yourself and doing things you couldn’t do without God’s help. There were three payoffs called out in the book:

You Experience God’s Power
You Expand Your Capacity to Tackle Greater Challenges
It Inspires Others to Try Things They Can’t Do

So I have accepted a position with Eagle Brook Church where I will be the Executive Director of Campus Development. I will start on March 26th. This position provided me the greatest opportunity to use my skills and abilities and to experience these payoffs.

I am really excited to start and feel that God has called me to this big challenge to help Him accomplish His plans for Eagle Brook and His Kingdom.

This will be a big challenge, but I feel God has been preparing me for a position like this the past 20 years and now it is time to take what I have learned and the experiences I have had to give back for eternal values.

One of my first blogs was 25/25/25. It was how I had felt when first leaving Target, that the last 25 years of my life should be focused on what I can give back for all that I have been given. It is amazing how God has been preparing and directing me over the past 6 months to be ready for this position that I had not even known existed before I left Target.

This is not the end of the journey, but in reality is just the beginning of the Journey. It is just that now I know the path that I am on, but I am excited to see what lies ahead as I get the opportunity to work with a church that is doing great things in its purpose, which is Empowered by God to Reach Others For Christ.

Now I get to put my 4P’s to work. I get to take my Passions, Principles and Practices and apply them to the Purpose of Eagle Brook Church. How exciting is it when God provides an opportunity that aligns all of these together!