Business Archives - Tomme Stevenson

January 7, 2020January 22, 2020

The Life of a Tent Maker

Paul was a tent-maker. That was his day job; it sustained his ministry.

Acts 18:3, “and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade, they were tent-makers . “

Paul continued to pursue his vocation as a tent-maker throughout his life. Including the time Paul was an enforcer for the Sanhedrin, and after his conversion. We can assume he was reasonably good at it. But being good at something and having a passion for something are two different issues completely.

We mistake being good at something for being passionate about that same thing. After all to be good at something you need to practice it, you need to study it, you need to stay at it for a while. Why would someone put that much effort into a dispassionate endeavor? There are a lot of reasons. You could deem that your material life would be better off if you had this particular vocation. You might feel more accepted in your social circle if you had a specific skill. For some children, their parents ingrain in them the idea that they should have a particular profession or vocation when they grow up, so they chase it to make our parents happy.

In America, what I see more often than not, is that we come out of school and need to earn a living. We don’t know what is out there, so we take the available job. We might do some high-level filtering like; I like talking to people, or I don’t like working with numbers. But for the most part, we need to pay the rent. That starts a vicious cycle of more bills, more money, more obligations, more money. We become good at something because it meets this basic need.

But the vocation that Paul was good at was not his passion. When asked who he was, he would not have answered “tent maker”.

1 Corinthians 16-17, “For when I preach the Gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.”

Paul lays out his passion for preaching the word. He was compelled to preach. Paul had a firm grasp on his calling and love, and it wasn’t tent-making.

As we look toward the future to try to understand God’s plan for our life, we need to take a lesson from Paul. Our vocation might be an essential element in God’s plan for us, as it provides sustainability in our ministry. We might not need or want to walk away from our “day job” when we transition closer to God’s plan. It may not be our passion, but it may be part of the program. It is a skill and a resource God gave to us to use for His purpose.

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for human masters.”

I need to make a point here; Paul did believe that those who share the Gospel could receive compensation. If full-time ministry is your calling, then God will find a way for you to monetize (earn a living from) it. Here is what Paul says:

1 Corinthians 9:11 “If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?”

1 Corinthians 9:14, “the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the Gospel.”

Galatians 6:6 “One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.”

Sustainability is important. If what you are chasing is truly God’s plan for you, He will provide the resources. From experience, I should remind you, the present using the past to create the future, remember that? The season of your life might change. Don’t view that as a lack of sustainability. Look at it as the cost of tuition.

December 4, 2019January 18, 2020

Surrendering Yourself to Become Greater

Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

I would like you to do something for me. I want you to ponder the great adventure that God has in store for you. It might be a conversation with an incredible individual that will change your life but never see again. Or it might be packing your bags for an improbable journey to accomplish something unimaginable. What I want you to conjure up is the impossible, that moment when God takes your breath away. A moment so big, so audacious that it could never happen. I want you to experience what it is like when you stop limiting God by your self-awareness. When you say to yourself, “it could never be,” you have arrived at the cusp of what your life was meant to be.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

I was reading today about becoming the person God made us be. The challenge was in how we can be more of ourselves by surrendering ourselves entirely to God’s will. Surrendering ourselves was to deny ourselves, so I thought. Greg Ogden, in his book “The Essential Commandment,” argues that to be the person God wants us to be, we must first include Him. Including Him is the surrendering part. God gave us all of these attributes that make us unique and special. We can not unlock our true potential without His key. He is the magic sauce that makes the flavor of who are come alive.

Paul was not a different person after his encounter with Jesus. He was a better version of himself. All the attributes God gave Paul at birth were rechannelled and made stronger. His personality did not transform; it magnified. He became a force with which to be reckoned.

We put limits on ourselves based on a lot of biased, worldly input, much of that input is well-meaning but limiting. At a very early age, we start to define ourselves based on that world perception. By the time we are in our adolescence, we have crafted a comfortable expectation. We don’t know where we are going or how to get there, but we do know our limitations. We are not consciously aware of most of these. Many of these subtly implied limitations direct our decisions.

Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

By submitting ourselves to God’s will, we negate a lot of this influence. We start to view our potential through a new set of lenses. If we are in the center of God’s plan for our lives, the improbable not only becomes possible, it becomes absolute. God will not transform you from someone who can’t carry a tune to a concert pianist. He could, but probably won’t. What He will do is magnify your talents. He will guide you in ways you had not imagined. He will stretch you, challenge you, and make you stronger. The fear of being outside the artificial fences the world has put around us will be gone.

He will take your breath away. He will show you potential you never thought you had. In all of this, He will smile. He will see you come alive.

Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

November 18, 2019January 18, 2020

A Biblical Perspective of Planning

I am a plan your work, work your plan type of guy. The value of planning was instilled into me through success and failure. Success frequently followed a well thought out plan, and failure is the natural destination of poor planning. Unmitigated disaster is the contemporary of no planning. You will find the two of them huddled together in a cardboard box under the overpass.

I start every worthwhile endeavor with a written plan. Peter Drucker was famous for saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” A well-written plan is a foundation for change management. Drucker’s statement is a well held secular view, but what about scripture? What does scripture say about planning? The Bible does talk about preparation. Proverbs, in particular, is full of advice on planning.

Proverbs 15:22, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers, they succeed.”

Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

Luke adds to this in Luke 14:28, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”

First Comes Prayer

Prayer is the first critical step in building a plan. The reason for this is because God already has a plan; we are trying to discover it. A well-known and often quoted verse from Jeremiah states (Jeremiah 29:11), “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It is there for the discovering. We need to be cautious of getting too cute with our ideas. The Bible also warns us against relying too much on our cleverness.

Proverbs 23:4, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.”

Why? Because God is the author of all things. His view of time and space is dramatically different than ours. He understands the ripple effect of our actions throughout eternity. Here is what He says about His view of the future (Isaiah 55:8), “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” What does God say about our knowledge of the future? Proverb 27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” We know nada, zip, zilch about tomorrow. We write elaborate mathematical models and consult historical trends, but in the end, forecasting the future is an educated guess at best. God has already seen the future.

A Plan is Essential but Imperfect

James 4:13-14 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”

Think of a plan as not a static document, but a journal. It demonstrates and illuminates our thinking. Demonstrates because we document why we thought what we thought. It illuminates by shining a light on both the good and bad of our logic. We start with what we believe to be accurate, and then we modify it as God enlightens us. It gives us a chance to look back at how our thinking has changed. Did we keep the ideas and insights that were good, did we discard poor or inadequate thinking?

One of my experiences is that some people take a great deal of time and effort to create a very workable plan. Then they stick it in a drawer and never look at it again. It was an intellectual exercise with no real meaning. Down the road, when they do not meet expectations, they have lost the guidepost that would have told them to make corrections.

My Conclusion

Having a plan is essential. Discovering the source of that plan is critical. Our goal is not to create a vision of our future. It is to realize the future that God has already created. The plan is the foundation of God’s will in our life. As the seasons of our life change, God will reveal more of His vision for us. As we see more, we can make adjustments to the plan. But to go through life without a plan is folly. Even a poorly written plan is better than no plan.

As we chase our purpose, we need to document our progress so that we can determine what we know and what we need to find out.

Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

November 5, 2019January 18, 2020

A Truer Version of Ourselves

I had the pleasure this last weekend to volunteer my time serving at a women’s conference put on by Deepwater Women. Deepwater Women is an impressive organization run by Donna Beverly, Patti Gordon, and Amy Consoli, covering our deeper identity with Christ, growing a deeper intimacy with Him, and creating a more profound impact because of Him. Amy made a statement that grabbed me. “We are being remade into a truer image ourselves.” That sentence screamed at me. It summed up my struggle. As I move from who I made myself into being, toward what God made me, I am transforming into the actual person that God has always wanted me to be. What an incredible thought.

Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”

We struggle for our identity, and yet it is already within us, we need to find it. Years ago, I wanted to hike the Estelle Mine Train trail in northeast Georgia. I wanted to travel it because it followed the route of an old narrow gauge mine train that when from Pigeon Mountain, through seven tunnels, to what was once Estelle Georgia. I thought it would be neat to hike the tunnels. Once on the trail, I started to realize that this “right of way” hadn’t been used since 1924. The tunnels shrouded by time had their entrances partially covered by rock slides and overgrowth. Finding the tunnels took some effort and determination. I had a map, and I had the stories from the internet of the hike. Even with all of that, some were almost impossible to find.

God gives us the map, and He gives us the stories in the Bible, but finding our true self is still hard to achieve. In my case, I try too hard. I feel that God’s actual plan for me is massive and mysterious. It is the grand puzzle that must be solved. To get the prize, I must endure, overcome, remain steadfast, all the superlatives we hear in church. Finding my one true self is the ultimate goal of being a Christian and following Christ. Without sacrifice, it has no value. That’s crazy talk.

Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

The tough part is to be calm. To be immersed in scripture and in prayer, to listen for God’s voice. It is a whisper in the night. It is the nudge that will not go away and the itch that needs to be scratched. There is a variation of a great quote from CS Lewis that I love: “give me the longing the scent of a flower I have not found, the echo of a tune I have not heard, and a grace so powerful it changes all the lives I touch” CS Lewis’ quote ended with “and news from a country I have not yet visited” in place of “and a grace so powerful it changes all the lives I touch” The quote I use here came from a Christian work of fiction that I no longer remember and can’t find a reference . I see in my mind a grace so powerful it changes all the lives I touch as supernatural radiation of pure white light that illuminates everything upon which it falls.

Think of the imagery: the scent of a flower I have not found… the echo of a tune I have not heard…. the struggle we feel finding our true self. The struggle is in the unquenchable desire to be that person. Every fiber of our being longs for it. It is what God made us before we existed. And yet we know it not.

Part of finding and living our purpose is quieting our minds so that we can hear God speak. He gives us all bread crumbs through passion, skills, opportunity, and resources. But to apply all of this to His kingdom takes direction. That direction comes from God through scripture, prayer, and council.

Matthew 11:30, “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

You don’t have to reinvent yourself. It is not a monumental task that takes years to achieve. God has made you to be that person. He has instilled greatness in each of us. But it must be His greatness not ours.

October 30, 2019January 18, 2020

What are the characteristics of a great purpose?

There are a few things I can think of off the top of my head that has helped me ferret through the clutter surrounding my purpose. Your list might be longer.

1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

It is an extension of my past: I keep talking about “Each current season using the last season to build toward the next season.” I believe it is the building block of everything God has in mind for us. We are never done changing. God is always stretching us in ways we sometimes don’t expect. I believe with each move, God does not discard our past experiences but uses them to create new experiences. To not leverage the past is to waste valuable knowledge. If what I want to do next does not apply at least some of my past experiences, then I need to question my decision.

I especially believe this is true with our darker experiences. It is at those times when things didn’t go as planned or even worse. These are the roots of compassion. These are the experiences that allow us to relate to others. The most influential and most relatable outreaches I have known were the result of past trauma. People who say, “God brought me through this and, God will do the same for you.”.

James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

I have the right experience: I am all for learning. Learning should be a lifelong endeavor. We should be continually evolving. I believe our purpose will dovetail nicely with the experiences and knowledge we already possess. There will be new skills and new knowledge, but they will be growth on our existing base.

If what I am thinking about doing requires me to do things that I know I don’t like or know I have trouble doing, then I won’t be happy long. Sacrifice is a good thing, but the constant sacrifice is suffocating. How can we joyfully serve others if we are struggling just doing the everyday tasks?

Romans 11:29 “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

It is the right time: There is a saying, “timing is everything.” I believe that is true with your ultimate calling. God will spend a great deal of time grooming you for what He has in store. He will help you develop new skills, meet the right people, expose you to new environments, and instill in you a longing for change. Only when the time is right will He nudge you into action. If you feel that your decision is forced or premature, it might be because it is.

A caveat to this is that you can not let fear hold you back. I believe you will know the difference between homeostasis and lousy timing. Homeostasis is a natural desire to resist change. We all deal with it. God will give us the longing for change that will help us overcome this. Bad timing is another issue. Is God giving you discomfort that says, “This is the right thing, but the wrong time.”?

I’m qualified: There is a lot to this. We typically think of hard skills when it comes to qualification. It is always preferable to have the necessary hard skills before embarking on a new direction. But it is not the highest requirement. We learn hard skills. If you do not have all of them, do you at least have most of them? Do you have both the aptitude and passion for learning what you don’t have?

Soft Skills are a different matter. Mostly these make us, us. We like numbers versus words. We prefer to be alone rather than with a group. We obsess over details, or we are comfortable with averages. We want to interact directly with others to spread the gospel, or we want to enable others to do that task. Do we prefer to lead, or do we prefer someone else takes on the burden? Your soft skills have to be in line with your calling. If you push yourself for too long outside of your natural comfort zone, you will burn out. No one can be someone else for an extended time.

1 Corinthians 12:4 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.”

It is fun and exciting: Life is too short not to have fun. God would never give us a purpose for which we do not feel a genuine passion. I should ask myself, “If I did this for the rest of my life, would it make me happy?”

It is hard to find: Let’s face it, folks, we’re looking for a Unicorn. The great news is that God created a Unicorn just for you. It’s out there. For me, the hardest part is personal honesty. I get this idea in my head of what my purpose should look like, and then I force-feed my answers to fit the concept. It is harder for me to let the answers dictate the direction. Sometimes the answers are not there. When it comes down to it, I don’t know myself well enough. That is when I have to ask others who know me well. What they see in me might not be what I see.

We all go through seasons in our lives. These seasons are both a continuation of God’s plan in our life and a preparation for the next season. Don’t look at your purpose as this static, one-time calling that should drive you for the rest of your life. There should be a consistent thread to all that God wants you to do, but there is also a variability to the tasks.

One of the seasons in my life was the prison ministry, which taught me to share the Gospel. God used that experience in other endeavors. I wasn’t changing directions; I was honing skills.