Jon Stolpe
Jon Stolpe
Mission Mindset – You Are Authorized
When we read the Great Commission, we typically hear this, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey…” Am I right?
There’s a key part of this we typically overlook. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Why is this important?
When we hear the Great Commission, we think of saving “the lost.” This is great, but it might be off base. We are supposed to have this mission mindset, because Jesus told us to. And He’s the boss – the authority. We have been authorized to be on a mission.
In order for us to serve effectively, we must come under Christ’s authority.
Do you have a problem with authority?
How does your mindset change knowing you have been commissioned to go on a mission?
Permanent
There is nothing permanent except change.
Heraclitus
What is permanent in your life?
I remember when I was a kid. It was a big deal to lose my baby teeth in exchange for my permanent teeth. I was told these new teeth would last forever. I had my first root canal last year. This tooth isn’t completely gone, but most of it has been replaced by other material. One of the managers in my office is getting to new front teeth which will replace his “permanent” front teeth. What happened to permanent?
When I was a kid, I was threatened by adults by the addition of something to my permanent record. Nobody wants something on their permanent record. When I was twenty, I was caught speeding. I hired a lawyer, and the charges were reduced. My permanent record was safe.
The other day, I used a permanent marker to write something down. This should last forever, right? Did you know, you can undo a permanent marker by writing over it again with another marker? Look it up. So much for the marker being permanent.
People get permanent tattoos. They last forever. Unless, you want to go through the painful process of removing them. Then I guess tattoos aren’t so permanent after all.
Women get permanent to straighten or curl their hair. You would think it would last forever, but it doesn’t. They have to go back again to keep their hair straight or curly. A permanent isn’t all that permanent.
Today, we make decisions. We think they are permanent, but I’m not so sure. When I was in college, I worked for a medical billing company. One of our clients was in Schwenksville. I used to tell people, “Who in the world would ever live in a town called Schwenksville?” With this, I was making a permanent decision not to ever, ever live in Schwenksville. Now, I live in Schwenksville. I guess my decision wasn’t so permanent.
People say the only thing really permanent (or certain) is death and taxes. This may seem true to most of us. What if we could find permanence somewhere else?
There is part of us that longs for the permanent. Sure, we make embrace change as necessary, but I think there is something in all of us that longs for some type of permanence in our lives.
The Bible tells us that God’s love never changes – it endures forever. Psalm 136 repeatedly reminds readers “His love endures forever.”
God’s love for us is permanent!
In a world where change seems inevitable – where permanence seems to be a thing of the past, I know where to look to find something that will last forever.
What is something in your life that didn’t last as long as you expected it to last?
Ice Breaker – Ask Me Anything
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Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.
(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas. If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com. If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)
I’m leading the discussion for a men’s small group this morning. An ice breaker is always a good way to start these types of discussions. One of the things I like to do in small groups is an activity called The Hot Seat. I’m not sure I’ll use it today, since the group is still very new. I like using The Hot Seat to take groups to a whole new level of intimacy and transparency. For this activity, one person is put on “the hot seat” for a set period of time. While they are on “the hot seat”, anyone can ask them anything. I always have a rule that the person on “the hot seat” can plead the fifth to avoid answering a question that goes too far beyond their comfort zone. This activity has led to some amazing disclosures and tremendous connections in the groups I’ve led. For today’s Ice Breaker, I’m putting myself on “the hot seat.” I’ll do my best to answer the questions in the comments or in a separate post. Here goes….
Question: What do you want to ask me?
My Answer: Are you ready for this type of challenge? I mean, your readers could ask you anything.
Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!
Mission Mindset – From The Mind To The Hands And Feet
Is a faith without action a sincere faith?
Jean Racine
Faith is nothing without action. I can believe until I’m blue in the face, but it’s nothing if I don’t follow through on it.
All talk and no action is like listening to the teacher in a Charlie Brown comic, “Blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.”
I don’t want to be like this. I want my belief to be coupled with action. I want my life to be more than just words – “Blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.”
A mission mindset can’t stay only in the mind. At some point, it has to move into our hands and feet.
Walk across the street. Shake hands with a stranger. Spend time with a neighbor in need. Reach out to widows and orphans near home and abroad. Don’t just sit on the couch. Decide today to take action on your faith.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:14-26
What action can you take today to put hands and feet on your faith?
Burden
Sometimes feeling overwhelmed is part of what it means to be a Christian. You can’t bear somebody else’s burden unless you are taking something of their load and it’s weighing you down a little bit.
Kevin DeYoung
My heart is heavy. I carry a load. I feel the weight on my shoulders.
I so desire the hope, the health, the success, and the well-being of those around me. But it is not mine to provide.
I am but a vessel and perhaps a reflection of the hope, the love, and the healing of our God.
I want to fix things. I want to throw a bandage on the wounds that others carry. And yet I know it’s not up to me to ultimately bring restoration.
My hope comes from God alone. He carries my burden. He lightens my load. I can face the future knowing He wants what is best for me.
Meanwhile, I cry out to God, “Use me and my brokenness to point others to You.”
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22
What is weighing you down these days?
Christmas for 7000!
Have you started making plans for Christmas?
Have you started putting your Christmas list together?
My wife is getting our Christmas list together. In fact, she has already started listening to Christmas music. It seems a bit early to me, but I was reminded by a recent correspondence that it is time to get ready for the Christmas season.
This brings me to today’s post. I suppose it is more of a challenge.
My friend, Dave Sgro, has been working and serving in the village of Santo Domingo Xenacoj in Guatemala for the past several years. Each year, he has been conducting a Christmas giveaway for the children in the village. It started out small, and it has grown to a few thousand. This year, GO Ministries (Dave’s mission organization) has expanded into a nearby village. They plan to giveaway Christmas gifts to 7,000 children. This is a major endeavor with tremendous opportunities to touch the lives of children and their families.
Your help is important to make this happen. And you’ll need to act fast in order to pull this off for a late December giveaway. Check out Dave’s video and instructions below for more details.
These gifts will go to kids I have played with and served the past three years in Guatemala. You will make a difference if you decide to help out.
Post by David Sgro.
Here’s a list of the items Dave is looking for in each shoe box:
CHRISTMAS ITEMS (Remove packaging as possible)
1. Tooth Brushes
2. Tooth Paste
3. Combs
4. Brushes
5. Marbles
6. Stickers
7. Jump Ropes
8. Plastic Animals
9. Playing Cards
10. Nail Polish
11. Pens
12. Pencils
13. Erasers
14. Rulers
15. Matchbox Cars
16. Crayons
17. Travel Shampoo
18. Travel Soap
19. Hair Things
20. Lip Gloss
To help you see the impact of past Christmas giveaways, check out this video:
What’s on your Christmas list?
October 2014 – Tops Posts and Commenters PLUS BOOK GIVEAWAY
Here are the highlights from October 2014. Thanks to everyone who read along and commented. Your readership and participation in the daily discussions are what make The Stretched Community. Thank you!
It was a record-breaking month!
Overall, traffic was way up from September (125.24%). Traffic was up 123.77% compared to a year ago. The top 10 posts included posts from 2014. Most of the posts were from late September and early October. There was one post from February. If you missed any of these posts, I hope you’ll go and check them out now by clicking below. The posts with the most engagement were two which made the top 10 list below – The Platform Problem – More Of You And Less Of Me.
Top 10 Posts:
- Experience The Supernatural September 29, 2014 (1260)
- 3 Steps To Take Before You Can Serve Effectively September 30, 2014 (281)
- Redefine Rich September 29, 2014 (263)
- Ice Breaker – Homecoming October 3, 2014 (253)
- 5 Things To Remember When We Say Or Do Something Stupid February 12, 2014 (245)
- September 2014 – Top Posts and Commenters PLUS BOOK GIVEAWAY October 1, 2014 (244)
- No Excuses! October 2, 2014 (241)
- A Tribute To Grandma October 8, 2014 (217)
- From The Mountain To The Valley – Life After Short-Term Missions October 7, 2014 (196)
- Knowing God So We Can Make Him Known October 9, 2014 (195)
Top 10 Commenters:
- Steve Y (23)
- David Stolpe (21)
- Larry Carter (17)
- Jon Stallings (7)
- Lulu (7)
- Carol Peterson (5)
- Leah Adams (4)
- Heidi Bender (3)
- Jim Woods (3)
- Bill (cycleguy) (2)
As promised at the beginning of the month, I have randomly chosen someone from the top commenters list to receive a copy of 
For the month of November, I’ll be giving away another copy of On Track: Life Lessons from the Track & Field
Thanks to each and everyone for reading and for commenting. I’m looking forward to November with The Stretched Community! The month of November will include more STRETCHING posts. More than likely, I will continue to focus on having a mission mindset in many of the upcoming posts. I’ll also take some time to reflect on thankfulness.
If you’re interested in guest posting here, leave a comment to connect with me.
How was your month? If you’re a blogger share a link to your top post in the comments? What was your favorite Stretched post this month? How were you STRETCHED in October?
In case you’re interested, here are a few other interesting stats about October (based on Google Analytics):
- Users – Increased 3.95%
- Sessions – Increased 167.30%
- Pageviews – Increased 165.99%
- Pages Per Session – Decreased 0.46%
- Average Session Duration – Increased 3.39%
- Bounce Rate –Decreased 14.54%
- New Sessions – Decreased 36.08%
On Track – Life Lessons from the Track & Field is now available on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle. Click the link below to get your copy today.
As a reminder, I am offering a FREE pdf copy of the interior of the book to subscribers of The Stretched Newsletter. Head over to the main page of the blog and sign up on the right hand menu bar to get your copy today for FREE!
Ice Breaker – Trick or Treat
Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.
(I’m always looking for Ice Breaker question ideas. If you have an idea, send me an email at jon@jonstolpe.com. If I use your question, I’ll give you credit and share your links.)
Question: Trick or treat? Why?
My Answer: I don’t like when people play fast ones on me, so I will have to go with treat.
Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep Stretching!
Home
We have a chain in our backyard. We use it to keep our dog from running away when he is outside. One end of the chain is attached to a stake in the ground, and the other end is attached to a metal loop on his collar.
The other night, I put Iso (our forever dog) on the chain. He likes to go out in the backyard to take care of his business and to sniff around for a while. I came back in the house for a few minutes while Iso was doing his thing.
When I went outside to bring Iso back in the house, he was gone. The chain broke, and Iso was wandering in the dark of the night.
My heart sunk as I feared I would struggle finding him in the dark. I quickly ran inside the house view the back patio door, and I quickly ran to the garage to get my shoes, a flashlight, and the box of Milk-bones. These are the tools necessary to go on a hunt for your runaway dog. Before I opened the garage door, I quickly looked out the mud room door. As I turned on the light, I was relieved to see our black dog standing at the side door steps with the other half of the chain following behind him.
I can remember panicking as a child whenever our family dog, Snickers ran away. She was a beagle, and her instinct to chase rabbits made it challenging for my parents to contain her even when she was tied to a stake in the middle of a fenced in backyard.
It’s amazing how dogs can capture our hearts.
I’m thankful Iso knew to come to the side door. He knew where is home was. He could have run around the neighborhood or even run away, but he desired the safety and comfort of home.
We all have a yearning for home.
Sometimes we don’t realize it. We run away. We chase after things that lead us temporarily away from home. But after our running and chasing, our instincts call us home. And when we get there, our loving Father is standing at the door waiting to welcome us home.
Are you wandering? Are you running away? Are you chasing after things that lead us away from home?
Turn back now. Your Father can’t wait to welcome you home!
Where is your home?
Help Wanted: Track & Field Coaches and Cross-Country Coaches
I have a crazy idea, and I need your help.
I am in search of track & field coaches and cross-country coaches who would be (or might be) interested in reading my book. On Track: Life Lessons from the Track & Field
I believe this book could be valuable for anyone, but I especially think the message will resonate with those close to the track and field. I would love to send a copy of my book to coaches. I’m targeting coaches at Christian high schools and colleges, but I would happily send it to any interested coaches – for FREE!
If you a coach any you are interested in reading my book, leave a message in the comments, so we can connect. If you are not a coach, but you know a coach who would benefit from my book, send me a comment, so we can make it happen. I’d love to send my book to 50 coaches before the end of the year. I’m hoping you can help make this happen.