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I’m thrilled that you’re checking me out. Maybe know each other. In case we haven’t met, here’s what I hope you’ll discover:

So Larry, What Are You About?

This community revolves around three eternal truths”-

1.) We have a God we need to deal with,

2.) we each have a God-given purpose regarding how we need to live our lives, and

3.) That your very humble blog moderator (that would be me) has have some very unique tools to help you live according to those purposes. I’d like to offer those to you.

Let’s unpack these:

There is a God. He really, truly exists.

No, Lisa Simpson is not God.

But I have her pic here because, in one early episode, she told this to her brother Bart:: “Hey, I’m no theologian... All I know is he’s a force more powerful than Mom and Dad put together. And you owe him big time." :)

This has grave implications for all of us. Acts Chapter 2 tells the story of a Christian named Peter confronting a crowd with this reality. The response of the audience, told in Chapter 2, verse 37, is one we should all be wise to ask ourselves:

“When they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Seriously, folks. Isn’t that a fantastic question?

There is a whole gospel message worth sharing if you haven’t heard it. Let me say that He existed before time began and created each of us and loves us dearly. But he will be glorified in all things, whether we are in connection with Him or not.

Trust me- it’s best to be connected. Eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong!

You Have a Purpose

If you’ve truly made the decision to let the Lord lead you, how seriously have you asked yourself the following question:

“Why on Earth am I still here?”

Yep. For those who caught it, that was a shameless copy from Rick Warren’s classic, The Purpose-Driven Life. It’s my observation that most professing Christians don’t grapple with this question nearly enough.

If we’re safely delivered into the hands of God, wouldn’t it make sense for Him to immediately whisk us away into Glory, sparing us all of the trials which this world gives us, never mind the risk we incur in falling away, for some selfish reason?

But we’re still here. And God has His reasons why.

We’re here to glorify Him, being His servant, being His reflective light in this world. You have a purpose- a mission, if you will. Most of this forum aims to get the particulars of your purpose more sharply defined.

God’s scripture is replete with examples of people who are led to do various things, the stories differ in their detail, the skill-set of the people called, and even the degree of their success. But the consistent strands of each of these is that God called them to the particular mission involved, and that their final, personal reward eventually outlasts “their time on this sod.” Hebrews chapter 11, a rather famous passage among believers as being a “Hall of Faith” of sorts, rund through several of people who stepped up to the plate and connected with the particular mission God called them to do.

One final observation on this point. Jesus tells a parable in the gospel from Matthew which best describes the command that we leverage the resources God gives us, and that God uses that leverage with an increase which blesses Him. Two servants, given different asset totals to manage, increase the amount they were given- and are complimented and given additional responsibilities in their doing so. The final servant, conducting the “safe play” many today do in preserving it and not risking it, is condemned by the master, with the resources entrusted to him taken away and given to one of the others. May we never be like that last servant!

Which leads to the last point. I believe you have more assets at your disposal than even you think you have!

I Can Help Clear a Few Obstacles to that Purpose of Yours

What is "Collaborative Commerce"?

I have been particularly blessed to be endowed with a few resources which greatly minimize many common reasons we often don’t pursue our calling and mission.

Usually, when I get into conversations with people regarding where they are versus what they feel God has called them to do, the holdup is usually some combination of “I don’t have the money,” “I don’t have the time,” or “I don’t have the influence”:

I don’t have the money: I have a good guess that, whatever calling God has in your life requires far more financial resources than what you have to withdraw, raise, or borrow from.

I don’t have the time: And your mission requires more than the 168 hours you have in a week. And heaven forbid that you have other obligations in your life! Is it taking 40 hours or more just to meet those financial commitments? Do you have a spouse and/or children you’re commanded to invest time in to love and cherish? What about other interests you’ve committed to?

I don’t have the influence: Did you know that, in the biblical story of Moses, before we get to the burning bushes or plagues, Moses is a young man who takes it upon himself to murder an Eqyptian taskmaster? Not a good idea! Moses took on a legitimate mission without having the tools to lead. And when he was equipped, he lacked the levers of prestige which he carried with him before. How many times have you felt that way about your calling?

Which one of these resonates the most with you? A couple of them? All of them?

Here’s where I get to brag a little about my skill-set. I live in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area now, but I moved down here from Kansas about a decade or so ago. A while back, a friend from my Kansas days called me up and told me about a project that combines the e-commerce benefits of Amazon, the “gig-economy” appeal of an Uber or Etsy, while also shoring up all of that capital we give to the social media wizards each time we kill ttime on one of their sites…

Here is the concept. We decided to call it “Collaborative Commerce, ” or C-Commerce, described in the 4-minute video below:

I’d like help you. Let’s talk. ‘God bless.

What Is "Collaborative Commerce"?