Kind Under Pressure by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

June 19, 2021 No comments Article

This week I was having a phone conversation with someone I had encountered at previous National Religious Broadcasters Conventions (NRB). She said, “I just want to thank you, Lisa, for always being so kind to me.” I was happy to hear that because NRB can be a pressure cooker. In the past we recorded multiple radio shows, and this week at the 2021 NRB Convention in Grapevine, Texas, we are taping four television and six radio programs. Combine that with other meetings and interviews, and it’s a packed schedule and a formula for edginess.

What about you? Do you have a tendency to be a little gruff when you’re sleep deprived, too busy, or a combination of both?

My attitude goal for this week can be found in Colossians 3: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another” (Colossians 3:12–13 NKJV).”

I’ve been worried about what to wear each day at the convention. What outfit makes me look the thinnest? But as I put a wardrobe together, I believe the most important garment to put on is kindness.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says that we are Christ’s ambassadors, his representatives on earth. Over the years I have met many nationally known people in ministry who I would describe as “aloof.” I know they have scores of people stopping them as they walk through a building, and maybe it does get old, but what if that person trying to connect with them is a non-believer who recognized them? One humble, kind word from a leader of the faith might be enough to draw them to Jesus.

While I am not in that category of influencers, I will still meet many new people and desire to be kind—even under pressure. This week, I pray that I will greet everyone with a warm smile, that I will have opportunities to encourage others and won’t be so hurried that I miss opportunities to display the LORD’s love to his sons and daughters. I can only do this through daily prayer, and with Christ at work in and through me.

Thank you so much for being a faithful reader of the Pearls of Promise blog. Because of our involvement in the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, we will be taking a week off from the POP Blog. We ask that you pray for us as we interview some of the leading evangelicals in our country. We want to use those interviews to reach the world with truth. We’ll be back on Tuesday, June 29^th and I’m sure we’ll have many stories to share from NRB!

Infinitely More by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

June 15, 2021 No comments Article

My study is a mess.

It’s the staging area for all of the stuff we have to take to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention (NRB) next week—books, pens, flyers, our Level Up Conference marketing cards, more books and some décor for our POP Talk television/radio exhibit booth at the NRB expo.

Our NRB schedule is packed. I have a tendency to squeeze in as much as possible because I am people person who wants to learn from, and interact with many, whether it’s through our POP Talk interviews or meetings.

Some things don’t change. As a sportscaster, I also loved covering the big events like the Super Bowl or the Olympics. I probably did my best work at those premiere sporting events, and I consider NRB the crème de la crème of broadcasting conventions because scores of Christian broadcasters and authors who make a difference for the Lord will come together in one place. It’s exciting.

But it can also be stressful, as there’s still more to prepare. However, I was reminded this morning that I cannot proceed in my own strength. My prayer is the Apostle Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14: “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.”

I may not have unlimited resources, energy, or strength, but God does, and now is the time to tap into that reservoir.

Paul closes out Ephesians 3 by giving glory to God for this mighty power at work within us because we are able to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. The definition of infinite is: “limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate. ‘the infinite mercy of God.'”

I am wondering. Do you need a vat of God’s limitless power right now?

It’s available. Just ask Him for it. He’ll give you infinitely more than you imagined.

How to Embrace Change by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

June 12, 2021 No comments Article

Was it supposed to rain today?

As I watch the skies light up outside and listen to the rain pound my back patio, I realize there was a change in the forecast and this definitely jeopardizes my plans to do a little work in the backyard today.

How do you handle change?

Change can be annoying.

It can be intimidating.

Change can be overwhelming.

But if you like adventure, it can also be exciting.

I’m having to think seriously about a possible radical change in my life. When worry tries to set in, I attempt to push back the thoughts. When I can’t sleep, I attempt to drift back into slumber. Most of the time that doesn’t work.

But I’ve found that when change knocks on my door, the best place to take it is to Jesus.

Colossians 2:3 says, “In Christ lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Even though we don’t know how to proceed, Jesus will give us clarity concerning His will for our lives. I have received dreams, have obtained needed information through a non-fiction book I happen to be reading at this time, and counsel from my husband and friends. I feel I am being prepared for something new, but now I have to wait and see if I am correct about this particular change. I have prayed a bold prayer that if this is God’s will, then it will happen, and that will be my green light to proceed.

God does not want us to fear change. If we are full aligned with Him, then change is often used to advance us to a new level spiritually. In a devotion I read today it said our prayer should be, “God, do in me whatever you need to do so that I will exhibit your (spiritual) Fruit.”

So today, are you willing to be open to change even though it does not feel comfortable? If so, that’s part of what it looks like to fully surrender your life to God.

Would You Pass the Test? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley

June 8, 2021 1 comment Article

Sometimes God might ask you the question, “Would you give it all up for me?”

I was just asked to apply for a job with a nationally-known ministry, but it’s not based in the Dallas area where I live. If I was offered this position, I would most likely have to give up the bulk of my ministry work with Pearls of Promise and the doctoral studies that I felt called to last year.

My first thought was Absolutely not! I love my home state of Texas and I am satisfied by the media ministry work I am currently doing. I was slated to start doctoral studies in the fall. This abrupt directional change did not make sense.

But then I talked to my husband, Jeff, and I prayed. Jeff was surprisingly open to the idea of relocating to this major metropolitan area, and through prayer, verses like this one came to mind: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24–25).

Jeff said, “Maybe this is a test.” After giving the decision over to the LORD, I decided that I wanted to pass the test, so I told the executive recruiter that I was open to applying.

Realistically, while I am qualified for the position, I find it highly doubtful that I will be their candidate, for several reasons, but it is a compliment to be asked to put my name in the hat. However, this possibility made me say to God, “If you want me to go, I will. My life, and everything in it, belongs to you.”

Today, I want to ask you if God called you to leave the comfort of your home and the niche you’ve created for yourself, would you be willing? Would you pass the test?

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1).

Greater than Ourselves by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

June 1, 2021 No comments Article

“God has given us a desire to strive for something greater than ourselves.” That was the statement in the devotional I’m reading on YouVersion called “How to Plan for Success.” It struck me that in my own flesh, I could never accomplish what the LORD has put on my plate. At times, when I don’t spend enough time centering myself in the morning, feeding on the strength of God, I get overwhelmed with the task list and start to back-peddle. But then it’s time to return to the place of sustenance, the presence of God.

In a few weeks, Pearls of Promise is taking on something that, on paper, seems over the top for a small ministry. We have purchased an Exhibit booth at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention and will be taping interviews at the booth with some of the leading Christian media and writing professionals of our time like June Hunt, Joel C. Rosenberg and Richard Blackaby, son of Henry Blackaby.

Both Dr. Lynnette Simm and I will be doing book signings in the Exhibit Hall. She will be signing her book, And the Day Came, and I will be signing, and hoping for a divine appointment for my apologetics book, The Root that Never Died. I will also be speaking in the Exhibit Hall about Pearls of Promise in a message called “The Promise of the Pearl.”

All this is greater than myself!

But as I prayerfully produce eight interviews and ask the LORD how I can honor Him on the platform, I relax, knowing that it’s not about me and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). I have also realized that the LORD called us to do this because it often feels like an “out of the box” experience. When I start to think from an earthly perspective about all involved, I get a little anxious.

When we are called to do something greater than ourselves, we must submit to the one who is Greater.

I often worship in the morning to songs about God’s greatness like Great are You Lord, (the Casting Crowns version), or Greater Than by Gateway Worship. It’s my way of saying to God that I am nothing. I can only accomplish this calling if His greatness flows through me. When Jesus came on the scene, John the Baptist said, “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30).

One of the interviews we are doing is with the CEO of “Ministry Watch,” Warren Cole Smith. He wrote a book about all the religious scandals over the years called Faith Based Fraud: Learning from the Great Religious Scandals of Our Time. It occurred to me that those scandals probably happen when people are called to something greater than themselves, but they begin to rely on themselves.

Do you feel like a burden for something greater and feel ill-equipped to proceed? Then know that if it glorifies God, it’s probably from God. And you cannot proceed without Him. How great is our God!