ALEXANDRIA – God intends tension be a blessing and not a burden, Joe Loughlin said last week.
By Brian Blackwell
Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – God intends tension be a blessing and not a burden, Joe Loughlin said last week.
“Tension is one of those things where you’ll learn
to master it or it will master you,” he told 43 people attending
the Youth Ministers Network Friday Forum at the Louisiana Baptist
Convention Building in Alexandria.
One of three such events scheduled this year, the
forum was a day of spiritual inspiration, worship and networking among
the state’s youth ministers and lay leaders.
Loughlin, founder and president of ReKindle
Ministries in Waco, Texas, told participants five facts about tension.
They are:
• Tension is a constant reality.
“You have to make sure your life is built on a solid foundation when storms come,” he explained.
• Too much or too little tension is harmful.
“What we have to understand is tension has to serve us rather than us serve it,” Loughlin said.
• Tension validates and redifines a person’s foundation.
“If you want to see what you hold dear, be under
tension,” he said. “Then it will validate and redefine your priorities.”
• Tension does not cause a weakness but exposes it.
“One of the best thing God does is point out our
weaknesses,” Loughlin noted. “And our weaknesses will make us better
for the team, whether it’s in a marriage, youth group or work.”
• Tension, over time and in manageable amounts, maximizes a person’s strengths.
Loughlin said God allows people to experience trials
so they can maximize their spiritual muscles. As a result, people will
reach their spiritual potential.
“But God won’t give us more than we can handle,” he added.
In order to reach a person’s spiritual potential, he or she must stay in sync with God, Loughlin said.
Comparing that principle to a computer system, he
explained there are five spiritual disciplines to achieve this goal.
They are:
• Clicking “refresh” every day.
This requires a five-minute spiritual powerbreak to
touch base with God, such as between appointments or tasks, Loughlin
said.
• Rebooting the spiritual system daily.
Loughlin recommended spending 30 minutes to 1 hour each day to reconnect with God.
“Set a time that works best for you,” Loughlin
explained. “Whatever you’re doing (in your quiet time), bump it up a
step.”
• Shutting down the busyness of life, work and ministry weekly.
During a person’s day off from work, he or she
should spend that time in lengthy prayer, deeper Bible study or periods
of time in solitude.
• Unplugging and sacrificing blocks of time.
“This is a dramatic, even sacrificial withdrawal for
realigning life and seeking God at the deepest levels,” Loughlin said.
He suggested blocking off a full weekend or
three-day vacation to fast from such everyday distractions as
television, e-mail, cellular phones and the Internet.
“There are times when we need to unplug,” Loughlin
said. “And then we go without something, we’ll realize what’s
important. Then when we go back to what we were doing without, we’ll
hear the voice of God clearer.”
• Getting outside help.
“In your walk with the Lord, you may need to see a
Christian counselor,” Loughlin said. “You may be at a point where you
need to take a break from what you’re doing and get help.”
Other Youth Ministry Network Friday Forums are
scheduled for Aug. 18 and Oct. 6 at the Baptist Building in Alexandria,
said Kevin Boles, LBC youth ministry strategist. To register or for
more information, call 800-622-6549 or visit www.lbc.org/forum.