The Will of God

At the end of last year, I faced the most significant career transition of my career.  It was clear that I needed to move on from my role as Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer at NASA, but it was very unclear about what was next.

Last Christmas, I picked up Charles’ Stanley’s The Will of God to see what I could learn on the journey.

As Stanley puts it, “We hear repeatedly that the Lord has a plan for us and that it is good. We are instructed to seek it, embrace it, and live it.”

Dr. Charles F. Stanley is a New York Times bestselling author who has written more than 60 books, with sales of more than 10 million copies. He has been senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, since 1971, and his outreach ministry—In Touch Ministries—reaches more than 2,800 radio and television outlets in more than 50 languages. Dr. Stanley’s goal is best represented by In Touch Ministries’ mission statement: to lead people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and to strengthen the local church.

Whatever your view of it, God’s will can seem grand and unreachable, can’t it? Perhaps you’re interested in the topic of God’s will because—like me last year—you are at a crossroad.

As God promises in Jeremiah 29:11, He has plans for you and knows how to accomplish them in the best, most effective way possible for your particular personality, giftedness, and future.

Click here for a summary of Charles Stanley’s The Will of God: Understanding and Pursuing His Ultimate Plan for Your Life

Corporate Discipline #4: Celebration

Celebration is at the heart of the way of Christ. In this advent season, we consider how Jesus entered the world on a high note of jubilation.  The angel cried out, “I bring you good news of a great joy, which shall come to all the people” (Luke 2:10).

A season of Celebration started with the birth of Jesus Christ, then there was a quiet season, as He grew and matured.  More than 30 years after his birth, Jesus initiated His public ministry.  André Trocmé in Jésus-Christ et la révolution non-violente and later John Howard Yoder in The Politics of Jesus go to some length to demonstrate that Jesus began His public ministry by proclaiming the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18, 19).

In the Old Testament all the social stipulations of the year of Jubilee—canceling all debts, releasing slaves, planting no crops, returning property to the original owner—were a celebration of the gracious provision of God.

Celebration brings joy into life, and joy makes us strong. Scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). That’s an important verse to our family, as it’s reflected in our Family Mission Statement.

Click here for more from Richard Foster on the Discipline of Celebration