Last week I came across a YouTube by a Christian preacher who seems more in line with a motivational life coach. I was listening to something else as I was working, and when it finished this sermon came on and for some reason it immediately grabbed my attention and I continued to listen.
Typically I avoid biblical messages that feel too much like positive thinking and motivational life coaching. I do listen to various self-help materials from time to time but tend to not want to mix the two things together (using the bible in a certain fashion). The reason is that there seems to be a fine line between biblically-based understandings of success, blessings and perseverance with faulty teachings/false assumptions that come with other ideologic movements in the Church.
These would include the so-called prosperity gospel, the Word-of-faith movement and the synchronistic ideas of “manifesting” which can even be based in occult-like blendings in with Christian thought these days.
I would not want to follow this particular preacher in regular, large doses, but I did find that his message was exactly what I needed to hear. And I also found that in this one sermon he seemed to handle scripture in quite a compelling way. He puts some attention on a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes which seems to be obscure and easy to bypass in seeking to understand the meaning of the proverbs.
It’s a fine line of course and what my concerns would be in such a sermon surrounds an individual’s need for personal deep connection to scripture and to God, and a sense of understanding/discernment surrounding their particulars. It might be easy for some who are not particularly grounded in various ways to assume this kind of application might be easily made to any and every situation and business endeavor.
And of course, I am also guarded to give carte blanche approval of this preacher’s overall or limited teachings since I do know (after reading more) that he is quite wealthy in his Christian-based life coaching ministry. Of course, his success and wealth in-and-of-itself does not preclude the validity of his messaging if applied correctly. Entrepreneurs do in fact sometimes needs this kind of re-affirmation/directional motivation.
The reason it resonated with me so much is that it is actually how I think about a number of things in my own art business over the years. Being in the midst of struggles and crossroads and continuing to seek God for answers, this just felt like it strengthened my resolve to keep standing strong and thinking and re-thinking how I might succeed in my own realm/context, and fulfill what I strongly perceive as God’s call upon my life and His will for me.
So I will link the sermon below, and I will also mention that I made some notes that around minute 34:00 and 36:42 (which I put a star by) I found something or another particularly helpful. I’m not sure if it was the part where he mentioned a quotation by Helen Keller or not. What struck me over and over was his understanding of the immense risks which some people make in order to pursue what they believe is God’s particular pathway for them.
I like to slowly produce art images for my Etsy Store when I hear an inspiring quotation that might resonate with others in the form of a card or print. So below, I took time today to do just that.
I would love to hear your response thoughts somehow if you end up listening to the YouTube sermon I will also link at the end here.
His statement at the get-go is what caught my attention:
If you’re gonna quit, quite when it’s going well. If you’re gonna quit, quit when it’s easy. If you’re gonna give up, give up at the TOP of the mountain. Not the bottom of the mountain, not the side of the mountain, not in the middle of the mountain…give up when you get to the TOP of the mountain. If you’re gonna quit, quite AFTER you make it work in grand fashion. Quit AFTER you build and sell a successful business. Don’t quit on the journey…
~ Myron Golden
Thank you for reading, and have a blessed day!
Eileen
(Above) “Life is a Daring Adventure” on My Etsy Store Listing
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