MIKE TYSON or IRON MIKE was a very brutal boxer with a dangerous mix of speed and scary power. Mike came from a poor family, never had much growing up, but like so many inner-city children at that time, he found a positive output in boxing, he became good very fast. When he became the heavy weight champion of the world he was only 20 years of age beating the former champion Trevor Berbick by KNOCKOUT in the second round with that win Tyson became the youngest champion in history. Tyson was the undisputed champion of heavy weight boxing, making him a huge cultural icon. it wasn’t until he went to prison for rape, he didn’t box again for five years. After that he never was the Iron mike everyone knew him as, he lost 7 more fights, and disqualified for biting off apart of Evander Holyfield’s ear. he became more of a punch line for acting crazy, getting tattoos on his face and going berserk on live TV shouting racial slurs at reporters. Even though he went crazy he had some wisdom, Tyson had a very good saying, “Everyone has a plan, until you get punched in the face” it was almost a prophetic word from Tyson, his plan crumbled after he got “punched in the face” and was never the same.
As Christians, especially those of us in the west, we have plans, in fact I would say we have more in common with the secular work place view of making plans then of biblical view, in my 17 years on ministry experience I see more minsters moving up the spiritual corporate ladder, from having to get seminary training to youth pastor, to pastor of small church to a larger church until they have reached optimal status, sound familiar? Rarely have I seen pastors leave bigger churches to seek out smaller ministries, if we are honest it isn’t the norm. There is a saying I have heard “If you want to make God laugh just tell him your plans” Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts human beings plan their lives. But the Lord decides where their steps will take them. Jesus taught us to trust in him with all our hearts and mind, not to lean on our own understanding. 1 Cor 1:27 “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might shame the strong;” But we don’t, we make decisions on what makes sense, if a better opportunity arises we take it, if our situation isn’t going well so we jump ship or maybe we don’t like being in a place to long so you move places every few years. The most notorious is moving close to family, as if scripture says follow me unless you are close to your family then stay close, then I remembered, it doesn’t say that. . When we exalted ourselves with our accomplishments, our many degrees and books we have written, have you ever read a book authored by a minister that didn’t say all his great accomplishments or how successful their church is? I had 3 ministers tell me they made a choice about where to go be leaders, teachers without even praying about it. I call that train of thought baptizing your wants in Jesus name. our plan was set in motion before we even asked Jesus. Romans 12:3 “God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you” it is so dangerous when we display our own greatness, we lose take control from Jesus and that means we start making our own plans and not Christs that will breed competition toward others, we become jealous and envius of other accomplishments. Galatians 6:4-5 “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take joy in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load You see when we make our own plans in place of GODS plan for us, we set ourselves up to “get punched in the mouth” and when that happens, we become humbled, like where we were supposed to be originally.
As Christians, especially those of us in the west, we have plans, in fact I would say we have more in common with the secular work place view of making plans then of biblical view, in my 17 years on ministry experience I see more minsters moving up the spiritual corporate ladder, from having to get seminary training to youth pastor, to pastor of small church to a larger church until they have reached optimal status, sound familiar? Rarely have I seen pastors leave bigger churches to seek out smaller ministries, if we are honest it isn’t the norm. There is a saying I have heard “If you want to make God laugh just tell him your plans” Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts human beings plan their lives. But the Lord decides where their steps will take them. Jesus taught us to trust in him with all our hearts and mind, not to lean on our own understanding. 1 Cor 1:27 “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might shame the strong;” But we don’t, we make decisions on what makes sense, if a better opportunity arises we take it, if our situation isn’t going well so we jump ship or maybe we don’t like being in a place to long so you move places every few years. The most notorious is moving close to family, as if scripture says follow me unless you are close to your family then stay close, then I remembered, it doesn’t say that. . When we exalted ourselves with our accomplishments, our many degrees and books we have written, have you ever read a book authored by a minister that didn’t say all his great accomplishments or how successful their church is? I had 3 ministers tell me they made a choice about where to go be leaders, teachers without even praying about it. I call that train of thought baptizing your wants in Jesus name. our plan was set in motion before we even asked Jesus. Romans 12:3 “God’s grace has been given to me. So here is what I say to every one of you. Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be reasonable when you think about yourself. Keep in mind the faith God has given to each of you” it is so dangerous when we display our own greatness, we lose take control from Jesus and that means we start making our own plans and not Christs that will breed competition toward others, we become jealous and envius of other accomplishments. Galatians 6:4-5 “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take joy in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load You see when we make our own plans in place of GODS plan for us, we set ourselves up to “get punched in the mouth” and when that happens, we become humbled, like where we were supposed to be originally.