02/16/2022
Gentlemen,
If you’ve been around for any length of time you’re probably aware Acts 13:36 is essentially a mission statement for this ministry. For anyone not privy to what Acts 13:36 says, here goes: “When David had completed all the Lord purposed for him to do in his generation, he slept (died) with his fathers.”
Legendary author Mark Twain said, “The two most important days of your life are the day you were born, and the day you discover why you were born.” Aside from believing on Jesus for your salvation, seeking His purpose for your life is the most consequential journey of your life.
Sadly, though, it is a journey very few men actually endeavor to start, let alone walk out with diligence day after day as they discover a pearl here and a nugget there. Men, we cannot allow the urgent to distract us from the important. We cannot allow where we are today with all its burdens, stressors, and pseudo-emergencies to hold us here rather than looking upward and outward to the purpose the Life-giver put you in this place at this time in history.
If you are unsure, as we all are, what your purpose is there are tools available to you to help you gain discernment. The first discipline that must be undertaken is to deepen your relationship with God and with yourself. There are three people you should never stop seeking to know more completely: God, yourself, & your spouse. If you’ve become lax in any of those, or all of them, move forward. You cannot change the past. Don’t allow it to become a club you use to beat yourself over the head with. Get up. Dust yourself off. Move forward. Read your Bible. Pray! Surprise your wife with a date night, or date day while the kids are at school. Journal. Find a good Christian counselor you’re compatible with.
The important thing is to recognize you have tools at your disposal that can help you glean direction regarding your purpose. Some specific tools we advocate for everyone to use here at Dark Horse Ministries are as follows:
1. Birkman Personality Assessment – The Birkman Personality Assessment is a great way to discover more about yourself. There are no wrong answers on the assessment. It’s strictly just asking how you relate to the questions to determine your usual behaviors, stress behaviors, and your needs from your relationships and the environment around you. One of the great tools available through Birkman is their career exploration which tells you what job fields are the most complimentary for you based on your personality type and interests. Knowing these things about yourself is priceless! You can pay to take the assessment and receive your career exploration report at www.birkman.com.
2. Spiritual Gifts Tests – Along with your personality, God has given you specific gifts for the advancement of His kingdom here on the earth. You need to know what they are! Gifts are given at the moment of conception, but it is your responsibility to discover what they are, develop them, and steward them well. We see in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 that not only are we given gifts (in the parable the talents are a means of monetary exchange, but the principle applies with every gift God gives), but we are also responsible and accountable for managing them well. Spiritual gifts is another one of those topics the Bible teaches on numerous times in the New Testament, but that the American church widely ignores to our detriment. There are several places online you can quickly take a spiritual gifts test. We point people to the one offered on www.lifeway.com. The report tells you what your gifts are, as well as, provides you with a description of each gift to give you a better understanding of your gifts.
3. Strengths Finder 2.0 – The CliftonStrengths assessment is excellent! Comprised of 34 different strength themes, Gallup describes these themes as your talent DNA. “They explain the ways you most naturally think, feel, and behave.” To take the Strengths Finder 2.0 assessment go to www.gallup.com.
In our experience taking these three assessments typically results in discovering some highly defined themes that bring a great deal of clarity about the direction in which your God-given purpose lies.
As always, if you have questions, concerns, need somebody to talk to or pray with you, do NOT hesitate to reach out!
Blessings,
Ryan
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