Kenneth Olson.org

Under The Influence

I was thinking recently about how to live an effective life, one that fully expresses God's character and steadily accomplishes His purposes. The more I thought  about it, the more I realized it wasn't a matter of working harder or becoming more diligent - although, without a doubt, those are important attributes.  

What occurred to me, is there's a way to do life smarter, a lifestyle that leads to a more consistent, fruitful and effective life experience. It's interesting, just before the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, He said, "it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but If I depart, I will send Him to you." 

He was saying there was something better than Him being here in the flesh, something more beneficial for us personally, that being, of course, God the Holy Spirit. God in Spirit form, called inside us to give us a personal and distinct advantage in life!

In the process of designing our lives God never intended for us to live a single day apart from being Spirit-led and Spirit-empowered. His plan was for us to perpetually live under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Not some chemical substance, possession or relationship, but the Spirit of Jesus.

It's essential to live conscious of the indwelling Spirit, to recognize His mission is to super-empower you with wisdom and ability equal to, and greater than anything you might face in life!

Minutes, Hours, Days

Through the years I've noticed that I go through seasons where I reflect on my life and ask myself questions like, "am I living an effective life, am I true to my convictions, am I fulfilling my God-ordained purpose?" I guess it helps me to periodically be introspective about how I'm living, it gives me a reference point to re-calibrate not only my thinking, but my priorities also.

One thing I've learned, life is nothing more than how you invest your time. How you spend the minutes, hours and days gifted to you by God. It's vital to periodically take a break in the action of life and assess how you're using this most precious commodity. One of the most powerful things you can do is to daily take responsibility for the 24 hours you receive each day.

I love what Ephesians 5:15-16 says, Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposely, and worthily, and accurately...as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time. - AMP

I've noticed that when I talk to God about a miracle in my life, He talks to me about the stewardship of my time. It doesn't seem very exciting or look flashy, but what you give yourself to daily, determines your status in life. Do you ever wonder what your future will hold? Well, your future is created and predicable based on what you do today...and every day.

There are some things in life and the plan of God that can only be obtained or realized by what you do daily. No amount of praying or convincing God will get it done, only intentional, disciplined and focused use of time.

Time At the Lake

After a week of vacation it's good to be back. We experienced more than our share of cool and cloudy weather, but it was great for our family to spend time together. Really loved seeing my kids interact and have so much fun! They made memories that will last them a lifetime. 

Below is a picture of the beach in front of our cabin which happens to be my favorite place to read, think and pray. If I've learned anything about how to successfully do life, it's that I need to spend more time reading, thinking (dreaming) and praying. With so many things in life competing for our time and attention, it's essential to unhook and get away. 

change of place + change of pace = change of perspective

Bring Into Focus

I don't know if it's a factor of age or what, but I've been in a season lately of re-thinking and redefining my life. Not only the "what", but also the "how" of my life. 

It's important to me that I be blindingly clear regarding my mission, sharply focused and undeniably effective at living and fulfilling my God-ordained mission.

So I love the quote I came across a great quote today by motivational speaker Anthony Robbins who once said One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.

The more you focus your life, the clearer you'll be regarding God's will, the more you'll enjoy life's journey and the more effective/productive you'll be.

Like focusing your camera before every shot, what area of your life do you need to frame and bring into focus?

America The Harvest Field

I’ve been so inconsistent with blog writing over the past weeks, but not for the lack of a good reason. I’ve been laser focused on much planning and preparation as we gear up to take the next step for Authentic Life Church.

For some time now, I’ve been excited to dream of ways God is going to bless and move through our efforts to promote the message of Jesus.

 

I recently heard a statistic that less than 7% of those who live in the Twin Cities attend a Bible believing church. That’s a remarkable number to me! That means if we planted 50, 5,000 member churches tomorrow we would still only barely be reaching 10% of the Twin Cities population.

 

It’s easy to be blind to the fact that  America is one of the biggest harvest fields of our time. There are vast numbers of people who don’t recognize the Bible as a source of truth or Christianity as a relevant lifestyle.

If we are who we say we are, God’s people, our hearts should beat with a fierce desire to see people spiritually awakened. For people to come to know the timeless truth of His Son’s offering for sin and offer for a new life.

 

It’s time for us to be moved with a sense of urgency and compassion to do everything within our power short of sin to influence, compel and inspire people everywhere to live for God.

 

I’m beyond convinced that Jesus is already making preparation to gather the whitened the fields into His heavenly storehouse. Don’t forget, our ultimate mission is to serve in our Father’s field, to fervently laboring while there is still time.

 

For these reasons and more, I’m wildly passionate about the local church, about finding relevant ways to bring the message of Jesus in contact with people searching for true meaning, life-transforming power and unconditional love!

God-Ordained Opportunity

I've been thinking much lately about how God empowers us to advance in His plan for our lives. What we can do daily, weekly, monthly that will propel us to a whole nother level. What immediately comes to mind for me is the need to understand we're constantly surrounded by opportunities. 

In fact, your ability to stay on course and keep pace with God's plan for your life directly relates to your ability to see and seize opportunity. Someone once said, you pursue your God-ordained destiny by seizing God-ordained opportunities.

Sound easy, right? We'll, not always because opportunity seldom shows up on a silver platter with a self-help guide outlining five how-to steps to taking advantage of your opportunity. 

In my experience, God-ordained opportunity most often comes in the form of serving, giving, doing the right thing (especially when no one is looking), being diligent, being faithful, facing the tough issues of our lives, tackling the most difficult problem, overcoming our worst failure and never giving up.

But it's these daily and unlikely opportunities God uses to prepare and qualify us for promotion, increase and a whole nother level of His plan and blessing for our lives. 

I love what Colossians 4:5 says, making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity. - AMP

Relevance Church Conference

I consider myself a fully committed life-time learner, so every opportunity I get to read, listen to CD's, podcasts and attend conferences, I do. I especially love to listen and learn from people who are veterans of their respective business field, ministry, leadership or life. 

So, I'm there whenever I get a chance to hear someone like Bill Hybels. He is no doubt one of the most influential leaders in the church today and leads one of the most influential churches in America. He is a compelling voice of wisdom, experience and balance to the generation that follows him.

Here are a few take home nuggets from his talk today at the Relevance Conference:

• Never get to the place where you are dangerously depleted spirit, soul and body. Do everything with your power to stay at a replenished level; it will cause you to make good decisions. Bad decisions are made in a depleted state.
• Take personal responsibility for your own replenishment levels.  
• Possess a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly strategy to replenish and re-charge yourself. John 15 - strive to live in the "abiding state"
• Know your own tell-tale signs that you are sinking into depletion (irritability, lack of laughter, see life as a grind, lack of creativity, tired....).
• Identify what inordinately depletes you. 
• Leaders clarify expectations
• The greatest leaders call something out of people, they inspire people to go beyond what they ordinarily would do without your leadership. 
• Leadership is getting the job done - moving people toward Christ-centered lives. 
• Questions a leader must ask him or herself often:  is my calling clear? is my passion hot? am I replenished? am I reading? am I meeting with the right people?am I hearing from God everyday? - that's leadership!

Random Thoughts on Being Focused

I'm convinced that everyday distractions are the greatest obstacles to fulfilling a dream, accomplishing a God-given mission or living a remarkable life. 

I've said before, we live in an age of distraction, a time when everyone including our kids suffer from the relentless barrage of information, activities, technology and culture. Much of it is good, yet it relentlessly competes for our time, energy and attention. 

It helps me to be reminded what I intentionally need to do to stay focused. Here are a few random thoughts/quotes on that issue. 

• Any person who has reach their potential in life and/or in God, has lived a focused life.  
• Don't mistake activity with productivity or accomplishment 
• It will take focus to become what God wants you to be.  
• You must become selective to be effective 
• Nothing is more potent than a focused life 
• Clear focus increases energy 
• Focused Christ-followers put God and His purposes first 
• Focused people make commitments, not excuses 
• Focused people don't meditate on difficulty, but the rewards 
• Focused people consider their strengths, not their weaknesses  

Mother's Day Reflection

This past Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day, yet I don't think a day or all the words in the world can adequately express the importance of a mom. If it wasn't for my mom's unconditional love, patience and example of faith, I honestly don't know where I would be today.

Thinking about the impact of her faith on my life stirs a holy determination in me. A determination to live my life for God in a way that inspires and challenges my children and sows a seed of faith in their lives that will propagate and grow long after I'm gone!

This reminds me of what's recorded in 2 Timothy, I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. - 2 Timothy 1:5

Here's a quick picture of the moms in my life.

 

Stricken Series

I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching on the subject of redemption over the past five weeks. It's amazing to me the scope of what was paid for and provided through the selfless offering of our Lord's life. Without much thought, redemption seems pretty black and white, yet every time I study it I'm awed by the unending dimensions of God's love for us.

I'm sure it's like astronomers peering into the cosmos, each time using more powerful and sophisticated telescopes permitting them to see new galaxies and nebula. Yet they never fully able to comprehend the true magnitude of God's creation. 

I suppose that's the reason for eternity? No amount of finite time or human effort will ever enable us to grasp the breadth, width and height of our creator. He just goes on and on and on and on. 

Although disconcerting to my mind because I can't understand it, it's comforting to my spirit to know God is, and always will be greater than anything I'll ever face.

Activating Hidden Power

A couple weeks ago I came across a new word that I was intrigued by. It's the word nutrigenomics, a mouthful for sure. Nutrigenomics is a relatively new field of study in science where researchers are uncovering evidence that all human beings possess dormant genes. Genes that can be activated by the food we eat.

Scientists have recently discovered that eating the right foods enables the expression of certain genes in our body. Interesting huh? Spiritually speaking, there are things such as hidden potential and a greater dimension of God's power, that will remain dormant in our lives unless we do what is necessary to unlock them.

I believe the first thing necessary to activate these spiritual genes is to understand the power of God is available to us right now. The writer of Ephesians expressed that an unlimited and immeasurable supply of resurrection power would be available to and for those who believe.

Secondly, trade religion for relationship. Many people sacrifice God's greater potential and power simply because they're going through the motions. They are living out of ritual and past experience and never consistently connecting with the heart and Person of their heavenly Father. It's so important we seek intimacy and true heart connection with God.

Learn to die to yourself. Not a popular message, especially in America, but honestly, I think it's one of those missing ingredients to revival in the Church today. As long as we're comfortable and satiated with the carnal and material aspects of life, we'll not experience God's power. 

Sacrificing any craving or interest in your life that conflicts with the purpose of God seems counter-intuitive to the human intellect, but trust me, it's one of those higher thoughts and ways in the mind of God that's undeniably effective at releasing power in your life.

In the Kingdom of God, death always precedes life and an increase of power.

Lastly, prioritize God's purposes. Someone once said, God's power is never independent of His purposes. When we look beyond the temporal realm and base our decisions and choices on what matters eternally, we're prioritizing what's important to God. Said another way, when God's "A" issues become our "A" issues, His power will be available to get the job done!

I love what a minster who inspired D. L. Moody once said, the world has yet to see what God will do with, and for, and through, and in, and by the man who is fully consecrated to Him.