Tag: Challenges

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Weekly Blog

Saul to Paul…Three Things that Apply to Us

How many people do you know who are always beating themselves up, believing that they’re not worthy? Maybe you would include yourself among those you’re thinking of. Interestingly, it’s most of us…being hyper-critical of ourselves, always second guessing, thinking that the other guy or girl has it figured out.

The above was me for the longest time. Seemingly confident from the outside, I was a wreck on the inside, always beating myself up, profoundly experiencing a total lack of self-love.

I was at Saturday morning Mass on January 25, 2020, which was the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the Apostle. I love the story of Saul becoming Paul, Acts 9:1-22. Saul was a sinner among sinners. His profession, pre-conversion, was to kill Christians. He was notorious. He was evil. Yet Jesus picked him.

Painting by Valentin de Boulogne, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license.

After blinding Saul, Jesus picked Ananias to go speak to him. When Ananias questioned Jesus, given Saul’s known terror, Jesus responded in verses 9:15-16,  “Go, for this one is an instrument chosen by me to convey my name before nations and kings and the sons of Israel. I will reveal to him how much he must suffer on behalf of my name.”

Jesus isn’t just talking to Ananias and by extension Saul, but He’s speaking to you and me. It doesn’t matter what any of us have ever done. Jesus makes the same invitation to all of us.

I love the fact that Jesus picked 2 of 3 of the biggest sinners (Judas wasn’t one of them) in His world, to build the Church. After denying Jesus 3 times, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it”. In Saul, who became Paul, we have the most prolific Apostle there was, authoring over half of the New Testament.

Critical to both and critical to you and me is the following three things:

  1. Acknowledging the voice of the Lord – not just hearing His invitation (He’s inviting us all the time), but taking heed to it, seeking where that invitation takes us.
  2. Engaging in conversion – many times it doesn’t just happen. Often we need to want it…and there are things we can do to get there (page 71 of my book).
  3. Becoming convicted in pursuing our God given purpose – all designed with special and unique talents, we each have a very specific purpose. We need to recognize that purpose and pursue it with vigor.

Related to #3, you don’t have leave the secular world to follow God’s Will. You don’t have to be in ministry to do ministry. You do need (if I can be so bold) the same exchanged life as Peter and Paul.

Don’t get me wrong. Most of us aren’t going to be Peter or Paul. We won’t be speaking to the masses, nor having the impact that they did. Here’s the thing, God’s not calling you to be Peter or Paul, or Mother Theresa, Pope Saint John Paul, or Jesus Himself. God is calling you to be you.

The point of this blog is that God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done. We’ve all been at that place, believing that we’re not worthy. Here’s some news…the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for Saints.

And here’s the further point, THE ONLY WAY to live a life of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment is to answer Jesus’ call, like Paul and Peter, and do 1-3 above.

Question – what’s the thing you can’t get over? Love to hear from you. Love to help. Please contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with the answer to that question, comments, questions, or concerns.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Three Things Required to Make Change

Have you ever felt like you’re on the hamster wheel of life? You’re trying to make it go faster and faster, watching the world go by around you (outside the glass cage)…

  • You’re not sure if anyone else knows about the wheel or is on it.
  • You don’t know if anyone knows you’re on the wheel, much less if they will catch you when you fall off.

You’re exhausted, deflated, frustrated.

You’re overwhelmed.

Photo by Inzmam Khan from Pexels

That’s me of late, having an incredibly full plate…the guy who wrote the book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live. In my blog of October 16th, I state that I’m not overwhelmed because I:

  1. Know my “why”
  2. Have a commitment to peace over pace
  3. Am prayerful

Holding to the above as still true, the hours I’ve been working can’t be sustained. So the question becomes…what to do about it.

A couple weeks ago, I had a breakthrough. It occurred to me that unless I was willing to change, that things weren’t going to change. We’ve all heard “the definition of insanity”….doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s what I was practicing and didn’t even realize it. I needed to be the change. It’s me who needed to change.

In thinking about it, followed by living it over the last several weeks, I believe that change requires three things:

  1. Recognizing that there’s an issue – so often, we can’t see our own stuff. We’re blinded by our reality, needing someone else to identify what’s going on. For me, it was a light bulb going off, over a couple days, given several discussions with teammates. It was also the realization that I was the only one who could fix it. I needed to change.
  2. Making the right decision – once recognizing the problem, I had to determine the right course of action. For me, that was reducing my meeting schedule and relying more on my incredibly talented team, reminding them of the ownership they already had. For you it is probably something totally different. You need to figure it out (with others), followed by making the decision.
  3. Being committed to the change – as creatures of habit, we typically don’t like change. We don’t like it when it’s done to us. And we don’t like making change ourselves. Being committed to change can be very difficult, but typically is incredibly gratifying.

I’m just a couple weeks in…so I’ll keep you posted. Gratified to date, I hope that it’s sustained, by God’s grace.

BTW, praying through all of it is a big plus. From past blogs, “God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done”. He’s there for you. Rely on Him, God our Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit who dwells within each of us.

As always, feel free to contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, comments, or challenges.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Patrick Mahomes is a Great Quarterback (and a Committed Christian)

Patrick Mahomes is a tremendously talented quarterback and a strong Christian as well. Please indulge me for a second as I draw some comparisons and make a few observations.

When I turned my book manuscript into my editor at Our Sunday Visitor, it contained 59,000 words. She returned it to me with 26,000 words, indicating that I needed to figure out a better way to state an additional 12,000-14,000 words. It was a humbling experience.

Part of what she cut out was my reference to the wildly successful NFL quarterbacks that are from the Pittsburgh area. The list includes:

  • George Blanda
  • Johnny Unitas
  • Joe Namath
  • Joe Montana
  • Dan Marino
  • Jim Kelly

All six of the above are in the NFL Hall of Fame. Add to the list Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger, current and soon-to-be Hall of Famers, together responsible for six Pittsburgh Steeler Super Bowl championships.

Image by Jasmine Goldband from Trib Total Media

My point in the book was going to be that all of these quarterbacks consistently exuded a confidence, a comfort level, irrespective of their performance on a play by play basis. Regardless of whether they may have thrown a bad pass or an interception or two, or whether they were down by three touchdowns, they’d have no hesitation or lack of confidence. They’d throw the next ball, then the next ball, followed by the next ball, often times winning the game.

Not knowing where any of these great quarterbacks were or are on their faith journeys, I drew the comparison to those who truly understand the love of Christ, surrendering all to Him, understanding in humility that it’s not us, but Him working through us…not caring what others think, using our God given gifts, with Holy Spirit boldness, being all that God calls us to be.
There’s a freedom in the surrender, in the humility. Relying on the Lord, it takes the pressure off. It’s where greatness lies.

Image by David Eulitt from Getty Images

Patrick Mahomes plays as described above from both perspectives. The Kansas City Chiefs came from behind in their final three games of the season, both playoff games and the Super Bowl. As you might imagine, Patrick was instrumental in each victory. In the Super Bowl, he had thrown 2 interceptions before rallying the team to victory and being named the MVP.

Obviously incredibly skilled, evidence of the second point above is well documented. Mahomes has said his faith is a big part of his life and keeps him grounded. Becoming committed to his Christian walk in middle school, Patrick is quoted as saying to ESPN, “My faith has always been a big part of what I do… I’ve grown up in church and faith really helps you know why you’re playing the game, and who you’re doing it for”.

In many interviews, he credits God, especially related to awards he receives or milestones he achieves. I saw an interview where Patrick talked about his weekly faith routine, namely never missing Weekly Bible Study or Team Chapel on Saturday nights. He also spoke about his pregame routine of praying while walking the field.

Patrick is obviously very talented and well prepared for each game. He’s incredibly exciting to watch play the game he loves, now a Super Bowl MVP and Champion. What’s very nice to know is what a good and humble guy he is, so committed to his Christian faith. Praise God!!!

What other public figures do you know who wear their faith on their sleeve? Feel free to shoot me a note on that or any other questions, challenges, or comments at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

New Years Resolution…The Six Primary Areas of Your Life

One year ago, on January 2, 2019, I wrote a blog titled, “Tired of Not Accomplishing Your New Years’ Resolutions – Follow these Four Steps”. You can find it here. In it, I discussed a goal setting process, suggesting the following categories:

  • Spiritual
  • Intellectual
  • Emotional
  • Physical
  • Financial
  • Professional

This year, I thought I’d suggest what you might want to consider for these categories (if I can be so bold).

Spiritual

There are so many options, like with all of these categories. Still a fan of saying my rote prayers (slowly praying through every word), I’d like to suggest 10-15 minutes a day, where you share your thoughts and feelings with our Lord. Tell Him what’s on your mind and/or heart, the good or bad, opportunities or challenges. Describe the situation and your thoughts on how to address or solve for it. Then sit in silence, allowing God to speak into the situation, speak to your heart. Try it…it works.

Intellectual

Read good books. Watch good shows. Do whatever stimulates you intellectually. My personal preference is faith-based books and movies. There are so many good ones, that feed your heart and your head. In relation to books, I’d suggest reading 15-30 minutes a night. Doing so for years, I can’t begin to quantify how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve grown as a result. I love reading right before I go to sleep. I can set my watch to it. Regardless of the specific topic (assuming it’s healthy and positive), doing the above will stimulate your mind and help you grow.

Emotional

How are your relationships, starting with “you”? How do you feel about yourself? Do you have a positive self-image or are you your own worst enemy? My experience is that the only way we can have a healthy self-love is to understand and internalize the unconditional love of God (check my website and past blogs for more on that).

Are your relationships positive or negative? Can you count on those around you or are they always tearing you down? I strongly believe in the concept of an inner-circle, whose members are only those who have a positive influence on you. Everyone else belongs in your outer-circle.

Physical

It’s all about diet and exercise. What are you putting into your body and how active are you? To be your best and live your longest, as a temple of the Holy Spirit, requires some discipline. That said, it doesn’t have to be torture. My wife and I live a very healthy life style and enjoy life very much at the same time.

Financial

Are you earning enough? Are you saving enough? What about retirement, kids’ education, houses, cars, vacations? I’ve always heard that you ought to pay your “savings account” before paying for anything else. And if you don’t have expertise in this or any of the other areas, solicit advice. Get a mentor. You can’t start planning for your finances too early in your life.

Professional

What are your goals? What are your passions? What are your talents? Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, 20 years? Start planning now. There being no reason to reinvent the wheel, get a mentor, someone whose “been there and done that”.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. I strongly believe in and have had success by doing a few things really well. The best way to fail is to try to do too much. So with all of the above, take it slowly and work on it regularly. And take it to prayer. God is on your side. Surrender all to Him and you’ll be amazed by the results.

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, comments, or challenges at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph