Notes: Power, Poetry, and Paul

One practice I began several years ago was having a legal pad handy any time I was reading or listening to a speaker of some kind so that I could collect notes. I had become quite frustrated that I seemed to gather great ideas from texts and people and be driven to deep thoughts and motivations, but days or weeks later had entirely forgotten what I had "learned." There have been times I've been spotty at my consistency with this practice, but it's a technique I've increased in frequency as of late. I've decided that occasionally, perhaps every week or so, I'll list some of the highlights from my notes here on the blog. Hopefully you'll find value in at least some of what I've collected.

Here are some of the random notes I've collected lately:

1. There is a common divine leadership pattern in accounts of successful Biblical leaders. The pattern goes as follows:

• God takes the initiative by looking for a person who will submit to Him.
• He makes that individual aware of a need.
• The need becomes a personal burden of the person God has chosen.
• The individual feels morally compelled to act on it.
• The individual calls others to join in the cause, often at great personal risk.

Ruth is one example.

(from John C. Maxwell's commentary in The Maxwell Leadership Bible)

2. "The most important single aid to my ability to use my tongue for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is allowing the word of God to dwell in me so richly that I cannot speak in any other accent."

- Sinclair Ferguson

3. "Poetry makes the half man whole by saying the things which he feels but cannot say."

- Clyde Kilby

4. "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."

- Corrie ten Boom

5. There is no way to read 2 Corinthians 10 & 11 and believe that Paul is a skilled speaker, yet he was one of the most influential men in history. God provides the necessary skills. God does big things with small people. Do not limit God.