![\"Circle_of_Influence\"](\"http:\/\/192.185.166.32\/~davidfoster\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Circle_of_Influence.jpg\" "\\"Circle_of_Influence\\"")
Well these are days, when people gather and the subject that seems to dominate is either sports or the economy: not so much sports, even in these days, a lot more about the economy.<\/p>\nWell these are days, when people gather and the subject that seems to dominate is either sports or the economy: not so much sports, even in these days, a lot more about the economy.<\/p>\n
When people talk about it, they talk about sinister plots and plans of different political parties, and those who should go to jail, and historical facts and trends, the ebb and flow of world collapse; predictions and prophesies abound.<\/p>\n
When you listen to people and watch the news, you tend to almost want to throw your hands up and give up.\u00a0 The world seems to be pretty much going to hell in a hand-basket.\u00a0 What\u2019s one individual going to do in the face of so much turmoil and uncertainty?<\/span><\/p>\n As a follower of Jesus Christ I must, and I repeat must<\/em>, retain the belief that what I do with my life matters forever, that there are consequences to my choices, that I have been placed here not to own larger and larger portions of the world, but to manage as a steward, the resources, time, and opportunities that God has given me as a man of faith.\u00a0 This is a fancy way of simply saying, I\u2019ve got to believe I make a difference.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s what you need to do: recognize the two circles.\u00a0 There\u2019s a huge circle of concern<\/span> we all have.\u00a0 That includes poverty, third world debt, aids, homelessness, and a plethora of other social ills.\u00a0 Then there\u2019s the circle of influence<\/span>, which is much, much smaller.\u00a0 It\u2019s about where I live and what I can do.\u00a0 So here is what I would suggest.\u00a0 This is an incredible hour to be a follower of Jesus.\u00a0 Instead of political power and influence-peddling, we now get to influence people with the faith and hope and behaviors of those of us who believe that God in control can demonstrate.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what I mean.\u00a0 Pick out a part of the world that you can save and spend the rest of your lifetime trying to save it.<\/span> Look at your circle of influence.\u00a0 What are the things that you care about?\u00a0 Where are the places you can leverage your position, profession, or your influence?\u00a0 Is it across town, across the street, or across the nation?\u00a0 No matter how big or how small that circle is, that\u2019s the circle you can spend your life trying to save.<\/p>\n I refuse to believe as a follower of Christ and a leader that there is nothing I can do.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do everything but I can do something.\u00a0 I know the circle, the little part of the world I want to save.\u00a0 Here are my two parts: 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The second part of the world that I want to spend the rest of my life trying to save is married people.<\/span> Marriage is in trouble in America.\u00a0 And I know I can do something about it.\u00a0 You\u2019ll hear more about that later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well these are days, when people gather and the subject that seems to dominate is either sports or the economy: not so much sports, even in these days, a lot more about the economy. When people talk about it, they talk about sinister plots and plans of different political parties, and those who should go … Continue reading “Which Part of the World Are You Willing to Save?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I want to save the idea of the church.<\/span> I believe it\u2019s a good one, God-ordained.\u00a0 An institution when it works right is the hope of the world.\u00a0 I have invested and will continue to invest the rest of my life in building, growing, and influencing great local churches, including the one I have the great privilege of being a part of here in the Nashville area called The Gathering<\/a>.<\/p>\n