I learned something new about my friend Dr. Jerry Clevenger when we were together over the weekend. He took a .380 hollow-point bullet to his chest. Predictably, it changed his life! Jerry was on the only path he knew to prosperity—climbing the corporate ladder while working for a major Wall Street investment bank. While taking pictures of a new acquisition in a not-so-nice area of town, he heard a loud bang and soon realized he was on the wrong end of a gang-initiation drive-by shooting.
A close look at these pictures (above and below) reveals the bullet hole through Jerry’s book, Paths to Prosperity. On that impactful life-changing day, Jerry was standing — holding his leather-covered writing notepad portfolio with his published book in front of his chest (bottom left) when the shooting happened. The bullet carved its path through the front cover of the portfolio, the book, the yellow writing pad, and then exiting out through the back of the portfolio, through a rib and into his chest.
After being treated at the hospital, an ER nurse placed the extracted bullet fragments in a specimen jar and wrote “RO 12” on the outside, told him, “God has a purpose for you to be alive,” and then sent Jerry home. Later he discovered the meaning of the code on the souvenir jar and read Romans 12 in the Bible with his eyes and heart locked on phrases like, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us…use them diligently…never lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:3-11).
For the last several years, Jerry has discovered a whole new path to a different kind of prosperity. He has moved from success to significance. He coaches high-capacity leaders to leverage their time, talent and treasure for substantial and eternal purposes through the Halftime organization. Jerry is a part of a movement that guides marketplace leaders to transform first half success into second half significance on a journey of impact and adventure.
These are the kind of questions Jerry began asking himself when he had a rib-shattering encounter with a bullet:
What do I want to be remembered for?
What can I do with my life that excites me and could make a difference in people’s lives?
What gifts has God given me that I’m not currently using?
Which of my dreams have not been fulfilled?
What gives life meaning?
You don’t need to encounter a .380 hollow-point to ask these questions. But I can guarantee, they will be life-changing and put you on a path to a fulfilling and prosperous life if you take the time to come up with your own authentic answers.
QUESTION: How are you doing in answering these questions? Share your comments below.
What are the common benchmarks of success in America? Bank accounts, material accumulations, achievements, attaining career goals, level of influence – these are just a sampling of the benchmarks, aren’t they? So how does God define success? Is it the same measurement?
As I’ve observed people in the Bible whom God calls successful, it’s notable that He is not at all against wealthy, influential, achieving, goal-reaching individuals. However, accomplishments alone aren’t the scale of measurement. Those who earned the success sticker from God primarily focused on God and consistently obeyed Him.
In Genesis, we read (in Chapter 39) that God considered it a sign of success when young Joseph attained great favor and powerful influence in Egypt. Joseph enjoyed success because he followed God’s direction for his life, lived with integrity and walked in humility.
In the book of Joshua, the Bible tells us that the underlying foundation of success is following God’s instructions. Joshua told his followers, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).
The point is, it seems clear that God doesn’t automatically stamp “Successful” on someone due to the same measurements we use in American culture. God looks through the lens of an eternal perspective. The Bible dares us to redefine success in higher terms than wealth, favor, and prominence. We are to pursue God’s favor and His eternal reward by leveraging our time, talent and treasure in everlasting investments.
As for me, I want my life to be measured by God’s ruler. What about you?
QUESTION: What additional measurements do you think are important to God? Share in the comment section below.
Everyone’s life is driven by something. Some are driven by guilt. Many people are driven by resentment and anger. I know people who are driven by fear. Others are driven by the desire to acquire. And, quite a few are driven by the need for approval. What drives your life?
Rick Warren’s best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, has some of the best material written anywhere on the topic of purpose. In chapter 7, he shares the five great benefits of living a purpose driven life.
Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. All of us were made to have meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope. Hope is essential to your life as air and water. Warren says, “You need hope to cope.” Hope comes from having purpose. Purpose and hope are found in God himself. This scripture is a favorite of mine when God says, “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Knowing your purpose simplifies your life. I’ve learned that my purpose becomes the standard by which I evaluate my life. I have a filter question that I ask often, “Does this activity help me fulfill one of God’s purposes for my life?” It’s impossible for me to do everything people want me to do. But I do have enough time to do what God wants me to do.
Knowing your purpose focuses your life. You become effective by being selective. Without a clear purpose, we will have a tendency to keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches or other externals. One of the benefits of getting older is that you’ve had lots of experience doing things you don’t want to or don’t like to do. Make sure you are focused at this stage of life. There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life.
Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Purpose produces passion. If you have no purpose, just getting out of bed becomes a major chore. Meaningless work, not overwork, saps our strength and robs our joy. Clear purpose energizes.
Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. Some spend their lives trying to create a lasting legacy on earth. Yet, achievements are eventually surpassed, records are broken, trophies get rusty, reputations fade and tributes are forgotten. Building an eternal legacy is much more important.
One day I will stand before God and he will do an audit of my life, a final exam, before I enter eternity. As I understand the Bible, it will be a two-question test: 1) What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ? 2) What did you do with what I gave you?
My two answers to the final exam will be: 1) I accepted what Jesus did for me and loved him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. 2) I invested my time, talent and treasure for the purpose God made me for.
Take an inventory today: What’s driving you? What would your family and friends say is the driving force of your life? What do I want it to be? And finally, what will your final exam answers be to God’s two questions?
QUESTION: What have you learned about purposeful living? Thanks for sharing your thoughts in the comment section below.
As a 58 year old Baby Boomer, I am so inspired by people in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that are engaged in life with a purpose! Last Thursday night, I was privileged to have dinner with 91 year-old Dois Rosser. He started International Cooperating Ministries (www.icm.org) when he was 65 years old.
ICM, the organization Dois launched, has helped to build over 4,200 churches in 63 countries in the last 26 years. An additional 20,000 daughter churches have been planted. And they are mobilizing business leaders and churches to build and plant several thousand more churches in the next year. Remember, this has all been done AFTER he turned 65!
Think what could happen if millions of Baby Boomers had the mindset of businessman Dois Rosser who went on a mission trip to India at age 65 and then came home, inspired and passionate about making sure growing churches could construct a building that would be the thriving center of community life in villages all around the world. John Maxwell, author and speaker, describes Mr. Rosser to a tee when he writes, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
Anything can happen when people have two things—passion and purpose. Author Steve Pavlina said, “Passion and purpose go hand in hand. When you discover your purpose, you will normally find it’s something you’re tremendously passionate about.” Do you know your purpose?
Most experts agree that someone who is 65 today is effectively more productive than a 65-year-old might have been 20 years ago. Yet, why is it that so many get to their 60’s and they just lift their foot off the accelerator and coast the rest of their lives? What if every Baby Boomer would press the accelerator and move full speed ahead toward discovering their purpose and living it out with passion?
Let’s make it more personal. What are you doing to discover and clarify your purpose? Is there anything that’s putting on the brakes to you knowing and fulfilling your purpose? Let’s talk about that more this week, okay?
QUESTION: What is one resource that helped you to discover or clarify your purpose? Please share it with us in the Comment area below.
Do you have any idea what Ronald Regan, Colonel Sanders, Grandma Moses, Jack Cover, Tony Hostetler and Laura Ingalls Wilder all have in common? It could be that they all eat chicken. But, that’s not what I’m talking about. The common link of these people is that they all made their biggest impact after age 50.
The down economy of recent years has put a lot of workers over age 50 in the unenviable position of needing to find a new career. Don’t believe that old cliché about middle-aged dogs and new tricks. Lots of wildly successful people have made big achievements after their fiftieth birthdays.
Ronald Regan was a successful actor. But he made his biggest impact after being elected to his first public office at age 55. After a landslide victory to become Governor of California, Regan went on to become one of the most popular two-term Presidents in recent years.
Colonel Sanders was no slouch as Harland Sanders, the guy who owned a restaurant and motel in Corbin, KY. But “The Colonel” didn’t become the Kentucky Fried Chicken mogul we know and love until he was 65.
Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson Moses) is one of the biggest names in American folk art. Grandma Moses was originally a big fan of embroidery, but once her arthritis grew too painful for her to hold a needle, she decided to give painting a try at 76. She painted for 25 years and eventually fetched more than $10,000 per canvas.
Jack Cover is a name you may not know. But everyone has heard of his invention – the Taser. He worked as a nuclear physicist for many years. He received a patent for his invention at age 54 and when he died at age 88, his device was being used in 45 countries around the world.
Tony Hostetler was a pastor in seven different small churches over a period of 35 years. In his mid 60’s, he joined a team of three couples who started Cape Christian Fellowship. In the last 26 years of his life, his influence helped to build a congregation of over 1500 worshippers.
Laura Ingalls Wilder is known for her beloved children’s book – Little House on the Prairie. Her first book wasn’t published until Laura was 65. She still managed to crank out 12 books in the series.
I’m convinced that some of our very best years are ahead of us once we pass age 50—if we live with intentionality, allow God’s transforming power to shape the mission he has called us to, and make a decision we aren’t going to coast into the grave.
QUESTION: What choices are you making to make sure the best is yet to come? We would love to hear from you in the comment section below.
While in college and seminary, I spent seven years in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia near Monticello, the estate of Thomas Jefferson. It’s an impressive place to visit. American history, beauty and inspiration flow from the 5,000 acre mountaintop plantation outside Charlottesville. The author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia designed and occupied this breathtaking environment of productivity and reflective renewal.
A less known part of the story — Before he reached age 50, Thomas Jefferson began to contemplate how he might make the second half of his life more significant.
Neglecting family, the passion of his heart and love for farming, Jefferson invested the first 45 years of his life in a pivotal founding role of America. Lloyd Reeb tells the story in his book, Success to Significance (p. 25-26).
When his wife Martha died, deep grief drove Jefferson to do some introspection and evaluation. He took some time away in Paris to gain new perspective and a fresh vision. Jefferson had tasted success but his soul longed for something deeper and richer – something more lasting.
Jefferson celebrated his fiftieth birthday by packing up his belongs and sending them from Philadelphia, where Congress met, back to Monticello. He was ready for a new season.
Reeb quotes Jefferson’s reflection on his first half. Jefferson described himself as “Worn down with labors from morning to night, and day to day, knowing them as fruitless to others as they are vexations to myself…cut off from my family and friends…in short giving everything I love in exchange for everything I hate.” Thomas Jefferson was wrestling with basic midlife questions.
HAVE YOU ASKED YOURSELF:
Am I doing what really matters in the big picture?
Am I energized or worn out by what I do?
Am I able to invest in my most important relationships as much as I want to?
Am I using my time, talent and treasure to make the greatest possible impact in life?
Changing the world is more about asking the right questions than it is about having all the right answers. Are you currently asking yourself the essential questions? If not, why not?
QUESTION: Which of the above questions do you need to focus on right now? I would love to know. Use the comment area below.
This time of year, college and NFL football games saturate the TV listings on the weekend. Every one of those games has a halftime—a mid-game break for the team to go to the locker room. Business leader, Bob Buford, labeled the midpoint time of life when we evaluate who we have become, our impact, our significance, our legacy as “Halftime” and wrote a book in 1994 by that name that has sold over a half million copies. I read that book before I turned 50 and it has shaped my life and decisions.
Having played and coached sports, I’ve learned that an effective halftime break in the locker room has four elements to it:
- What we did right in the first half
- What we did wrong
- What we need to change
- What we are going to do to change it
Most importantly, my friend Lloyd Reeb writes, “halftime provides an opportunity for the team to gain a new focus for the second half and the confidence and passion to go out again and give it all they have” (Success to Significance p. 24).
Often these “halftime” questions arise during a job change, a personal crisis, a health scare or when facing retirement. For me, it was none of the above but I intentionally set aside time to reflect on these questions after I read Bob Buford’s book a couple years before I turned 50.
Halftime is for people of both genders, people of all careers, all faiths, and all economic levels in our generation and culture. The generation that is now in their 50’s are the healthiest, wealthiest and best-educated generation ever to reach midlife. The great news is, some of the most productive years are yet ahead. Many who have envisioned changing the world, actually have that potential!
Throughout this week, we will look at some mid-lifers who have transformed our world. And depending on what happens in your locker-room experience, future generations will remember you as a world-changer!
QUESTION: What did you do right in the first half? Share it with others in the comment area below.
My friend Lloyd Reeb writes, “The first quarter of life shapes us more than any other period. In our first 20 years, the core values of our heart are formed, affecting every decision we make. People in our world, their goals and dreams, what they model for us, shape us in ways we do not know at the time” (p. 29 of “Success to Significance”). I know many of my own views of success were picked up early in life.
Growing up on an Oregon grass seed farm, my views of success were connected to how many acres we farmed (1200+), the newest and largest John Deere tractors and equipment, the condition of our farm buildings, the toys we enjoyed (motorcycles, four-wheelers, etc.) and the vehicles we drove. We worked hard to have more. My older brother and I both planned to follow our dad’s footsteps and buy or rent more land, make more money, accumulate more toys and we too would be successful!
Had I not experienced a “call” to pastoral ministry that started to percolate while still in high school and culminated at the opening of my freshman year of college, I may still define success by reaching financial and material goals and having more toys. However, even in ministry, the definition of success can easily be focused toward bigger and better—all the charts going up and to the right.
Bob Buford says, “Our first half is about how to make a living, and our second half has the promise of being about how to make a life” (Halftime). Somewhere along the way, most everyone realizes that climbing one more rung on the ladder, reaching another year’s quota or closing one more deal isn’t all that life offers. Yet, some never take the time to intentionally re-evaluate life in view of God’s definition of success. That’s my hope for the blog posts this week. What does success really look life from God’s point of view?
I’m grateful that I was able to redefine success fairly early in life. Subsequently, I’ve done a lot of a whole other kind of planting and harvesting that has been a lot more significant than raising lawn seeds. But it’s really never too late to redefine success. So, will you join me for the journey?
QUESTION: How have you defined success? All of us would love to hear your comments below.
When I was an 18 year old college student, I read the book, “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. I became aware that there was tremendous power in being more positive and focused in my thinking. I began to see new possibilities and opportunities in challenging situations. I noticed new options that were right under my nose the whole time.
I took the above picture in Kathmandu, Nepal. I was intrigued by the faded multi-colored lattice covering a window that was set in an intricately carved wooden frame. When I got home and had all my images on my 24” monitor for editing, I was preparing to hit the delete button on this one. But, I noticed something. A chill came over me and I named the picture, “The Hidden Stare.”
I suddenly saw a Nepalese man with a yellow turban staring intently into my telephoto lens. I had missed seeing this man through my viewfinder when I snapped the picture and continued walking. (Maybe you missed him too when you first looked at this picture on a small screen). In retrospect, I’m guessing he may have even felt violated by this American tourist pointing a camera through his second-story window.
My main point is this—sometimes we simply miss the possibilities that are right in front of our eyes. We neglect the imaginable due to our small or cloudy view-finders. Here are a few reasons:
We live at a fast pace and we just don’t slow down enough to get a clear view.
We look through a “worst-case scenario” view-finder and we miss the good possibilities.
We allow the unpleasant experiences of our past to distort our view of the future.
We think the world revolves around us and if we can’t do it no one can.
We fail to realize that our power and resources are limited when compared to God’s.
In reflecting on the life of Tony Hostetler, my long-time spiritual mentor, friend and ministry partner, I realize what an exceptionally positive man of faith he was. Tony genuinely believed all things were possible. But it was deeper than just a positive attitude or possibility mind-games. Tony humbly trusted the Creator of the Universe with his life. He constantly looked beyond the temporary obstacles and saw the power and strength of the God of all eternity. He internalized the prayer of Apostle Paul that says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
I want to leave a legacy which others will never forget — that I saw the great possibilities in every situation. I don’t want to be remembered as someone who stared at all the obstacles and said, “I can’t.” “It won’t work” “I’m not willing to risk.” “Not possible.” “Not willing to try.” Likewise, I don’t want to run so fast that I miss seeing the soul of a person behind the faded lattice work.
I’m planning to continue believing that all things are possible with God! How about you?
QUESTION: What is one step you could take today to make sure you see the possibilities God has for you in your situation? Feel free share it in the comment section below.
Hugs and smiles are the two miracle medicines that can relieve many physical and emotional problems. Did you know researchers have discovered that hugging can help you live longer, protect against illness, cure depression and stress, strengthen family relationships and even help you sleep better? Dr. Mark Stibich says that smiling stimulates the immune system, increases positive affect, lowers stress, and lowers blood pressure.
As I’ve been reflecting the last couple weeks on my friend Tony Hostetler’s legacy, one of the nine things I learned from Tony is to smile and hug often. He always found something to smile about in every situation. He was quick to give out hugs to anyone who looked willing to receive one.
Have you hugged anyone yet today? Researchers have shown that when a person is touched, the amount of hemoglobin in their blood increases significantly. Hemoglobin is the part of the blood that carries vital supplies of oxygen to all organs of the body, including the heart and brain. An increase in hemoglobin tones up the whole body, helps prevent disease and speeds recovery from illness.
Have you smiled at anyone today? You may say, “I’m just not the hugging type.” Okay, but a genuine smile (not a feigned smile) can release endorphins in your body. Endorphins are the “big daddies of the happiness chemicals.” Endorphins increase happiness, let people push through pain, decrease hunger and increase the immune response. While there are over twenty different kinds of endorphins and some are released through other important activities like exercise, endorphins definitely help to start and keep the party going in your body.
Make a decision today. Hug your spouse, your children, friends, co-workers and relatives. Smile at your neighbor, the barista at Starbucks, the driver who cut you off in traffic, your customers or clients, or at a complete stranger. It’s a marvelous way to improve the quality of your life. And, you most likely will improve the quality of someone else’s life too! Everyone wins!
I recently read, “The best gift you can give is a hug (or a smile): one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it.”
QUESTION: Who will you give an intentional hug or smile to today? Please inspire us by sharing your response in the comment section below.
