Steve May, Author at Steve May

Life’s Most Persistent Question

Of the many Martin Luther King quotes that bear repeating, one of my favorites is:

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”

Service is built-in to our job description, not only as pastors and missionaries and ministry leaders, but also as believers. One’s ministry — and ultimately, one’s life — will be measured by how this question is answered.

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

As America pauses today to remember an influential leader, let’s consider this persistent and urgent question: What will I do today to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ?

This memo is taken from Steve’s book, It’s All in the Dailies.

The Power of a Clean Slate

In the movie Clean Slate, Dana Carvey plays a private detective involved in a murder investigation.

The problem is that he has anterograde amnesia and is unable to remember any details of his life from the day before. So each day, as he wakes up, he listens to a cassette tape reminding him of who he is and why he is here. This habit helps him, ultimately, to put away the bad guy and win the heart of his true love. (Oops, spoiler alert.)

Just like Carvey’s character, sometimes it’s easy to forget day-after-day just who the real “you” is.

It’s not a bad idea to pick up his habit — to begin each day with a reminder of who you are and why you are here.

It’s a reminder that you don’t get from a cassette tape machine. You get it from the Word….

Who are you, then?

• A child of God.
• A friend of Jesus.
• A new creation.
• Whole and complete.
• Forgiven.
• Accepted.
• Chosen.
• Renewed.
• Alive.

And that’s just the beginning.

Each new day is a clean slate, another chance to live the life God called you to live, to be the person he called you to be.

Forget yesterday. Remind yourself today of who you are in Christ, and who Christ is in you.

Let this be your identity. Let this determine who you are and what you do.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:23)

This memo is taken from Steve’s book, It’s All in the Dailies.

In Silence

Bernard Baruch said, “Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”

This is true not only in the workplace, it’s true in the spiritual life, too.

Many think that prayer consists only of talking to God, but there is more to it. The most transformational part of prayer is the time spent in silence, listening.

In silence, we learn. As a friend once said to me, “Silence is not empty. It’s full of answers.”

Maybe this is why King David said. “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation.” (Psalm 62:1 NASB)

The first step to take when you get in God’s presence is be still.

The second step is to be still some more.

Then you begin to listen. Then you begin to hear from him.

And then you begin to experience his powerful presence.

The best thing? You can take it with you all day.

This memo is taken from Steve’s book, It’s All in the Dailies.

If I Had It To Do All Over Again

In his book Aspire, author Kevin Hall talks about Gerald Bell, a professor at University of North Carolina who conducted a survey studying the lives of 4000 retired executives.

One of the questions he asked was: If you could live your life over again, what you do differently?

Their top response, Hall writes, ranked far ahead of all the others. It was: I should taken charge of my life and set my goals earlier.

(By the way, in case you’re interested, the other answers in the survey were:

2) Taken better care of my health.
3) Managed money better.
4) Spent more time with family.
5) Spent more time on personal development.
6) Had more fun.
7) Planned my career better.
8) Given more back.

Also by the way, Gerald Bell co-wrote the best-selling book with Dean Smith called The Carolina Way, about UNC basketball.)

Back to the survey. What can it teach us?

Maybe one of the eight most common responses resonates with you. Or maybe you’ve got your own number one answer. Either way, it’s not to late to correct your course.

You can start taking better care of your health today.

Or giving back more.

Or putting greater focus on those who are closest to you.

Or taking charge of the life in which God has made you a steward.

No point in waiting until after retirement to identify your life’s greatest should-have … unless, of course, you’re already retired — and then there’s no point in waiting one more day to begin living each day according to what matters most.

One more by-the-way: This phrase, If I Had It To Do All Over Again, is best summarized in this song by Dallas Holm.

Just Don’t Leave Me

In his teaching series on the Biblical tradition of lament, Michael Card tells a story about his friend, Alec, who was paralyzed from the neck down after a collision with a drunk driver in the 1990s.

In his quest to understand the why of it all, Alec struggled through seasons of doubt and confusion, sometimes shaking his fist in anger, other times attempting to bargain for a miracle.

He also spent much time pouring out his heart before God and praying the psalms of lament.

Later, Alec told Michael about a life-changing experience that had taken place.

One afternoon, in the midst of his prayers, he began to experience the presence of Christ in a profound and powerful way.

Of course, Alec already knew (in a theological sense) that Christ is present always in our lives, but this time he experienced Christ’s presence like never before. He could feel it. Jesus was there, in the room, by his side.

Alec said that in response to this experience of the nearness of Christ, his prayer became: “You don’t have to heal me. Just don’t leave me.”

This is the nature of lament. Sometimes circumstances don’t work out the way that we want, but we discover that God is present in the midst of our suffering… and his presence is more meaningful than any change of circumstances ever could be.

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:5)

Maybe You’re the Only One

Some time ago I was praying for someone I’ve known for many years, someone who’s going through a difficult phase these days.

His faith, if it exists, exists just barely. He hasn’t been involved in a church or Christian fellowship for years. He told me that he no longer sees the point in praying.

As I prayed for him on this day, the thought crossed my mind: I just might be the only one.

His family is not Christian; there are no prayers coming from that direction. Certainly no one in his current circle of friends would be inclined to pray for him, either.

Who else, then, is there? Maybe me, and no one else.

Needless to say, this gave my prayers a greater perspective, from a polite ritual to an urgent imperative.

Have you considered that there might be people in your life for whom no one else is praying?

If you’re not sure, here’s what you can do: Pray for each person on your list as if you’re the only one who is praying for them.

And urge those in your fellowship group to do the same.

Pray as if you’re the only person praying.

Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:18 HCSB)

The Roll Call of Responsibility

You remember the story of Nehemiah, the slave to the Babylonian king who went on to rebuild the crumbling wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah’s story is a lesson in leadership, as he recruited the help of the whole city, asking all to to do their part.

Chapter 3 is a summary of those who finished each section they were assigned: Eliashib and his fellow priests rebuilt the Sheep Gate. The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the Fish Gate. Joiada repaired the Old Gate. And so on.

You could say that if Hebrews 11 is the roll call of faith, Nehemiah 3 is the roll call of responsibility.

However, one verse in this chapter sticks out:

The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors. (Nehemiah 3:5)

I can imagine that the nobles were the type that didn’t mind helping supervise the project, but they weren’t inclined to, as Nehemiah says, “put their shoulders to the work.”

I guess we all have experience with someone like that — someone who could pinpoint the problem, but was of no real use in bringing about a solution. Someone who saw themselves as being just a little above the hands-on effort required to complete the task.

British General Alan Brooke said, “It is child’s play deciding what should be done as compared with getting it done.”

This is what many leaders look for more than anything else when hiring an employee or placing someone in a position of leadership: the ability to get things done.

It’s also a characteristic effective parents want to see instilled in their children.

And it’s a quality we should all try to build in ourselves.

The best leaders do more than diagnose the problem. They take the steps necessary to make the problem go away.

Moments of Grace

In January 2007 the Washington Post conducted an experiment: What would happen if a world class musician performed elegant classical music on a priceless instrument in the Metro station of a major American city?

The city was Washington D.C.

The musician was Joshua Bell, who can earn upwards of $50,000 for an evening’s performance.

The instrument was a 300 year-old Stradivarius valued at $3.5 million.

The music included the works of Bach and other masters.

The experiment was captured on hidden camera.

So, what happened? How did people respond?

During Mr. Bell’s 45 minute performance, 1097 people passed by. 27 dropped spare change into his open violin case, for a total of $35. And seven of them stopped what they were doing to listen for at least one minute.

The other 1070 people hurried past, oblivious, uninterested, unmoved.

This experiment might offer hope to pastors and teachers who find themselves frustrated at the lack of response their timeless message too often receives.

But we must also ask ourselves: how many times a day does we do the same thing?

How many times do we encounter truth, beauty, and excellence, without giving it a second look? How many messages of hope do we ignore? How many demonstrations of grace do we disregard? How many divine appointments do we overlook?

Ezra wrote these words:

But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. (Ezra 9:8)

Let’s make an effort to recognize — and fully experience — those brief moments of grace God sends our way.

There were be at least few today. Will you see it?

When Words Are Many (Proverbs 10:19)

Solomon said, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Proverbs 10:19)

I was in a business meeting several years ago when the conversation took a rather tense turn, to the point of becoming more than a little heated.

One of the men in the meeting — the principle involved — called a time out and said, “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” He then left the room and left us there waiting.

A few minutes later he returned, saying “I didn’t like where this was going, and I didn’t want to say something I would regret. So I decided a little break might do us good.”

We were then able to continue our discussion on a softer level, ultimately coming to a resolution. The moment of silence worked wonders.

…he who holds his tongue is wise. (Proverbs 10:19)

There’s a time to talk things out; we all know that. But there’s also a time to put our words on hold and say nothing at all.

We need to recognize those moments when added words won’t bring about a solution, they’ll just cause us to dig the hole a little deeper for ourselves.

When you’re tempted to go on and on and on about something, (especially when you know you’re right) try this instead: Take a break from talking about it. Put your words on hold. See what a little silence can do.

Working With a Net

When the Golden Gate bridge was being built in San Francisco, a number of workers lost their lives by falling from precariously high positions.

As a result, the work proceeded slowly until someone hit on the idea of building a net under the construction area so that when a workman fell, he would not fall to his death but would be caught by the net.

A giant safety net was developed at a cost of $100,000 — big money back then. It was the first time something like this was used at a construction site.

With the security of the net below them, men were able to move about at a faster pace because they knew that if they fell their lives would be spared.

With the security of the net below them, they could work without the dread of uncertainty.

We may not be able to see the net below us, but it’s there.

Our security comes from a loving, all-powerful God who protects us every step of the way. David said…

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)

Where To Begin

Someone once offered this advice for those seeking to accomplish good in this life:

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

(I say ‘someone’ said it, because it’s attributed to almost everyone. Whoever deserves the credit, it’s a good quote.)

I imagine we all have a few projects on our to-do list that could be classified as impossible. Or maybe they just feel that way — requiring more energy and more resources than we can currently muster.

No matter how beyond-your-grasp the task may seem, the solution is the same: Do what must be done, then do what can be done.

Eventually, looking back, you’ll see that you’ve accomplished what “they” said (and you thought) couldn’t be done.

The process always begins with facing the most necessary task of the day.

A quote from Andy Stanley comes to mind: “We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.”

David said this about priorities:

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

He’s not talking about counting our days, as it’s been said, but making our days count.

How do we do it?

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

The Top Story of the Day

The Monday Memo usually offers an idea about how to begin the day or begin the week. Today’s memo is a suggestion for the end of the day.

In The 360° Leader, John Maxwell talks about a strategy he uses for managing his life. Each day as he looks at his schedule, he asks himself, “What is the main event of the day?”

In other words, he asks what is the one thing planned for the day that he cannot afford to give less than his best. It’s certainly a good habit.

Here’s another good habit: Late each evening, before the sandman visits, take a few moments to evaluate the most significant events of the day.

BEN FRANKLIN’S QUESTIONS. Along these lines, it was Benjamin Franklin’s habit to ask himself two questions everyday.

In the morning he would ask: “What good shall I do today?”

In the evening he would ask: “What good have I done today?”

THE TOP STORY. Imagine this: If your life was a newspaper, which of today’s events would have made the front page? And what would be the headline?

Choosing the top story of the day isn’t as easy as it sounds, because our days can be a blur, spent scrambling from one non-newsworthy event to the next.

But if you know the story will be reported at the end of the day, it just might help you stay focused on what matters most during the daylight hours.

Some days, the headline might might be that you finished a long overdue project. Or that you spent time with your family. Or you served others in a meaningful capacity.

Planning your day is a crucial step to success. Evaluating your days — looking back at what God accomplished through you today — is another crucial step.

I encourage you: get in the habit of identifying the top story of the day, every day.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 92:12)