Interview Questions

I have been out of the loop for a while on my blog. For that, I apologize. I caught up on some reading material today which includes Craig Groeschel's blog "Swerve" (http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/). I had the pleasure of reading his responses to the "One Prayer Inteview" of selected guests for his blogs a few weeks back. I am inspired to answer these questions on my own for my followers, so here goes....

1. What is the biggest leadership lesson you have learned in the past year?
In the corporate world there is a top-down approach to setting a tone or a culture in the organization. In the ministry role world (which I think would also work in the corporate world as well) there is a bottom-up approach. I believe that with authority comes responsiblilty and a successful leader will understand that in order for the mission to be accomplished, they must oversee that the morale of the team and each of there subordinates is focused on the vision. To ensure an "of one mind" mentality in a team, it is important to relay the vision of where the ship is going, continuously to the team. Also, it is important to teach the principles of generosity and selflessness to the team.
This was especially evident on the New Orleans trip. Day in day out of being in the trenches, working on the front lines of rebuilding peoples' lives, it was important that I, as a leader, worked as hard as I could to display the attitude of a servant, serving my team and the community.

2. What is God showing you personally?
I think it is important to approach each opportunity with an attitude of appreaciation. Each time that I feel called to a specific role, something about the opportunity ignites a passion inside. If I am excited about it on day 1, then I should be excited about it on day 300, and day 3,000. In order to keep the "fire burning" I must stay in a place of humility and reverence before the Lord. He has chosen me and it is not something that I have achieved through works.

3. What is the top ministry challenge you are facing?
Where to go next. Jen and I are getting married in 3 weeks. We are seeking God in His direction for our lives as a family. We both feel blessed by God with having a local church with many different minstry opportunities, and are waiting on His divine call for our direction in ministry.
Also - Balance.

4.What do you do for fun?
Spend time with Jen. Family. Golf. Run. Work out. (Haven't been surfing yet this summer...bummer)


5. What are you currently reading?
Proverbs - 1 per day correlating with the day of July. Great wisdom! I am loving it!
Ephesians
Just finished "For Men Only" Jeff Feldhahn

The R's

This morning I was astonished when I stumbled upon a word that most completely describes the nature of how I approach my faith. Evangelical Christians often times view the word Religion as having negative connotations because in truth we are seeking a Relationship with Jesus Christ. We like to say that we have spiritual experiences through God's Holy Spirit rather than think that we gather for Religious services.
Well...if I may be honest, there is no doubt that I try to live my life on a Routine. I do things regularly like work out in the mornings. I eat 3 meals every day. I take the same route to work every day. I regularly set certain times of the week aside for serving, worshipping and fellowship. I even weekly fast and pray. Some say this may be Religious. Some may say this is Christianity which is defined by the Relationship.
To me, my life is my RHYTHM. This word is defined as: movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, or the like. All of the activities that I do are just that....a part of what I do. They are what make me tick. I approach everything that I do with an attitude of worship. Whether it be serving, working, praying, spending time with others or resting and relaxing. It's all a part of the Rhythm in which I live my life.
Music is a beautiful expression of Rhythm. This word reminds me of Jason Morant's, Love Song to You. My life is an Rhythmic expression of love of God, to God and to the people of God.

Character Molding Through Time

These are just some of my personal expressions...
I have just finished the most difficult season of my year in the work aspect of life. Tax season is a grueling period of time that strains my time, energy and focus. There are many trials and rewards along the way which make it worthwhile. Each year adds more experience to my life and God is constantly refining my character. Like a tree adds rings for each year of growth (lnk), another year of growth has been added to me.
I feel like I have learned to be a humble servant to an audience of One. I have worked as though I am working for Christ himself. Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" Sometimes, life is difficult and the good deeds and attitude that you keep go unnoticed. Our flesh and culture seeks acknowledgment for our accomplishments. What I am learning is that God places tasks/chores/work/opportunities in our lives for 2 reasons. The first is that God wants to use us to serve others in the needs of His kingdom that He will be glorified. It is often easy to see how He uses us to help others. As Christians we say "God is moving in this or that."
Second is that God wants to change and mold us. Nothing that you do in life goes unnoticed by God. He sees and works in every single moment. I think it is much harder to notice how much God is really moving and doing a work in our personal character. Over time as we allow God to mold us, we become exactly what He designed us to be.
I challenge all who read this to really take a time of reflection to look back over a recent period of time and allow God to show you how He is molding you into His perfectly designed creation. Your character is becoming more like that of Christ.

Faith and Righteousness

This morning, I did the old flip open your bible and read whatever it lands on...

Psalm 85:11 (New International Version)
11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.

This verse simply speaks to me that our role is to be faithful and God can shower us with righteousness. Sometimes we get it twisted backwards and we think that because we live righteously that God will be faithful.

Philippians 4:8

This week has been a fantastic journey through some of my favorite scripture in Philippians. I feel like this has been a great reflection time on where I have come in my faith and where I still have to go. The fact that I still struggle with anxiety at times shows me that I need to do more to seek God's peace in times of uncertainty. I need to try harder to allow God to take my thoughts captive. God says our attitude towards others should not change depending on the situation in our lives. God is near.

I love how Paul writes in such a way that you can tell that he has been through such grief in his time. He went through such grueling torture such as being chained up on the bottom of a dark ship that was lost in the Mediterranean sea. He was a prisoner. Only through the Holy Spirit could he have found a way to teach fellow believers to brush things off and keep an eternal perspective. Not to be worried about uncontrollable circumstances.

The last verse that I want to focus on is Philippians 4:8 -Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I feel like each day this week God has given me a new dose of the prescription that we need to deal with worry and anxiety in times of uncertainty. This week has been about overcoming certain mental and spiritual battles. Monday was about taking a step back from all the things that God has done and brought me to and just rejoicing because He is God. Tuesday brought a dose of allowing the gentleness to flow from my spirit no matter what the circumstances are, always keeping in mind that the Lord is near. Wednesday, showed me how to really uncover the deep mysteries and what it means to really present requests to God. Thursday, I felt like I was plugged into an IV full of peace. With Jesus comes peace and we need to allow God to guard our hearts and minds rather than our situations. If we can do that, then we will be content in every situation. On Friday, God capped the week off with showing us what to turn our attention to. He wants to engulf our thoughts with the wonderful qualities that define Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:7

After suggesting that we should be seeking God for revelations about what our deeply rooted core concerns are, Paul writes in Philippians 4:7 to tell about the effect prayer and presenting our requests to God will have on us.
Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God's peace - The gospel of John demonstrates several instances where Jesus showed back up to the disciples after the resurrection. Verse 19 says the disciples were gathered together with the doors locks and Jesus appeared to them and said, "Peace be with you!" Again, in verse 21, His message was "Peace be with you!" His words were straight and to the point. It reminds me of a state of mind I was in after my favorite sports team won a championship. In January of 2007, I was down in Gainesville to experience the Gators' National Championship win over the Buckeyes. After the game my friends and I joined the entire city in the main streets of the town to rejoice in the fact that our team had done it! We were singing and dancing through the streets. It was a moment of awe. Everyone was short for words, but jubilant. It was wonderful. The anxiety of a season where teams were constantly trying to knock the Gators off had finally been released. We experienced peace in our minds. Jesus' message was PEACE BE WITH YOU!! He was talking to a group of disciples who were under serious emotional turmoil to the point where they locked themselves together in a room for fear of the Jews. Jesus brings peace.
Let God guard your heart - the deep rooted concerns that we have are in our hearts and minds. This gets back to the point I made yesterday about anxiety being the sum of all of the distractions away from God. What are we truly worried about? What are we asking God. This verse says to ask God to stand guard over our hearts and minds. Not to stand guard over our jobs, relationships, family, cars, health, etc. Sure it is important to ask God for every specific request, but we should be more focused on trusting that God has the Kingdom's best interest at hand and that we should be calm and comforatable in whatever His plan is. We should ask God to ease our hearts and minds so that we do not get hurt by the circumstances around us. We just need to know that God will not forsake us. He will never leave us. AMEN!
I'll end with this promise that God gives His beloved children: Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
Have a peaceful day!

Philippians 4:6

Phil 4:6 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Quick story as to why...It was a little over a year ago (Jan 2008) that I hit my all-time low. My breaking point. I didn't know what was going on anymore. My emotions were all over the place. I was confused as to what was really going on in my life. Up to that point everything seemed to be going better-than-average in the life of Jonathan Bajalia. No one knew the true pain and stuggles that I was dealing with deep down within. It was about this time that I really started coming to church putting God first in my life. On the days that I really struggled getting over the past, I would meditate on Phil 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. It was like God was always speaking straight to me. For the first time I really heard his voice. This verse brought the peace that I needed in the times of anxiety. I will forever treasure this verse close to my heart for helping me through one of the most difficult times of my life.
In Pastor Andy Stanely's message, he referred to this scripture as a perscription for the anxiety brought on during turbulent times in our lives. He focused on the word "present" as it's true meaning is to reveal, uncover the mysteries to God. Uncertainty surfaces our deepest concerns. It is when we are faced with uncertainty that we begin to realize our true insecurities. You see, it's not about us losing our jobs, or having relationship difficulties that cause anxiety. When we hit rocky times we discover our true insecurities in the situation are that we have not fully put our trust in God over our finances, or that we'll look like a failure if our relationship is not reconciled. Maybe it's the fear of living life alone. Day after day we are able to cover over these deep rooted issues, never wanting to deal with them. Never wanting to allow them to surface and perhaps ask others to pray with us. Deep down inside we are dying. God is instructing us that it is as easy as prayer and presenting our requests to Him.
I hope this message has given you the desire to press into God and ask Him to reveal to you any deep rooted concerns. Have you ever felt like you were in the perfect storm with waves crashing over the bow of the ship. How are you holding up during the recession? Just remember that God still has the whole world in His hands. He's allowing you an opportunity to be changed by Him in the midst of all of the circumstances around you. You will come out tested and true, refined forever.