A Challenging Thought

I was reading a blog the other day by Mark Batterson and there was a quote that I read that challenged me and I wanted to share the quote with you. R. T. Kendall said, " The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."

This quote challenges the assumption that we can contain what God is doing. It is human nature to try to do what the disciples did at the Transfiguration. To erect a tabernacle and try to make permanent what was meant to be temporary. In Joshua 3:3 the scripture tells us that Joshua instructed the children of Israel to watch the ark of the covenant, which represented the presence of the Lord, and everywhere the ark went they were to remove themselves from the place where they were and go after it. One of the worst things that we can do as a people is try to contain His presence. We are not called to contain His Presence, but we are called to pursue His presence. We need fewer people trying to be trendy and cutting edge and more people trying to listen to the voice of the Spirit and pursue what God is doing today.

I believe that the church should be relevant, but the only way to be relevant is to follow after what God is doing. God's Word is a living book that has instruction for today! We can't live on past experience, but we must press forward for direction today!

What About Values?

I wanted to take today to speak about a topic that I feel is extremely important in the life of a leader, values. It is in the genetics of a leader to want to conquest and set out on a journey of exploration. I myself have the personality that is filled with energy when I think about new possibilities and ideas that can be explored. Exploration, conquest, passion are all wonderful qualities in a leader, but we must be careful that before we set off on any great conquest we must be willing to identify some bedrock things that we will not compromise in our life.

Life is ever evolving and ever changing and it would appear to be a difficult process to identify some things that will never change in your life, but I believe that a little bit of work on the front end will help us determine the course of action we take in the midst of a crises. One lesson that I have learned is to identify your values over the course of time, and not in a speedy matter. If we are to hasty in our choice of values then we will choose things based upon our current circumstances. It is far better to have a short list of values, and stick to them as opposed to creating a long list of desires, yet not fulfilling them.

Values will help you identify what is at the core of who you want to be. They become the road map and the guide to decisions in life. We live in a day of relativity. I believe the reason for this moral relativity is because we tend to stay on the surface because we have not identified what is core to who we are.

Although defining values may be a daunting task, it saves time and emotional stress. For example, if staying out of debt is a value of mine, then when it comes to purchases and opportunities that come my way I can clearly determine whether or not those are choices I can make based upon it lining up with my value.

When we leave ourselves open to having to cut through the fog of decisions on the spur of the moment we will never have a clearly defined path to get us to our destination. Values are the road map to get us to our destination. We would never consider going on a long journey without a road map, yet many of us live our lives without the road map of values clearly defined in our lives. Let me encourage you to take this year to define some core values in your life. Then when difficult times come, live out of values and not out of emotions.

Exercising Your Right

I was watching some election news yesterday and the prevailing thought in my mind was simply, I can't wait until this election is over. As much as I would like to think that after the presidential election in a few more days everything would be quiet on the political front for 4 more years, I am not naive enough to believe that. Regardless of who becomes president in this election, there will be a movement to begin a campaign for the election of 2012. One of the things that has puzzled me over the years about America is how many people have never voted in a national election.

When you study history you will find that there have been many people that have given everything that they possess as well as going as far as spilling their own blood and giving their lives for the reason of being able to exercise their right to vote. Their have been strong movements in America to ensure that anybody that wants to vote can, yet their are some that will still not participate in the electoral process. Their have been many that have payed a very high price, yet it appears that their are some of us that feel inconvenienced to find a polling place to go and spend 5 minutes casting a vote. How could one person be willing to die for the right to vote and someone else be so detached to the point that they really do not care? I believe one of the reasons is what value they place in the process. Those that are willing to die for the right feel that the act of them exercising their right will make a difference whereas those that do not exercise their right have bought into the the thinking that their vote does not matter.

Spiritually I have to move myself to understand that my action makes a difference. I have talked to many in the church that have convinced themselves that the world is so far gone that the only thing the church should do is remove themselves from culture and try their best to stay untarnished until Jesus comes back. The problem with this is it goes against the commission in Matthew 28 to go and teach all nations. Their are rights that we have as children of God that have been given to us with a huge price being payed. The price that Jesus was willing to pay for us to exercise our rights as heirs of the promise was significant. In Acts 20:28 the scriptures tell us that Christ spilled His own blood for the church. The rights that we have as children of God were costly and are of much value. I believe that when we as children of God are not pursuing the gifts of the spirit as well as the fruits of the spirit, we are not exercising our rights as christians. When did discipleship end with faithful attendance to church? When this is what we relegate discipleship to we are minimizing the value of the rights that were purchased for us as children of God.

As children of God there is something that we can do. We are given the right to transform things through the avenue of prayer and fasting. When we employ and exercise this right something spiritual begins to transform. According to 2 Chronicles 7:14 the Word of God says If my people which are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. We have the power to turn culture around, but it will not happen without strategic intentionality. The world is relying on the church to exercise our right to open up the heavens to heal our land. We must value our right and exercise our right. I encourage you today to exercise your right as a child of God to make a difference in the world.

Just Something Small

Every church began somehow and somewhere and that somehow was probably birthed out of passion and that somewhere was probably not elaborate. As I travel the country I have found myself asking the same question, " I wonder how this church started?" It is humbling for me to realize that all churches started small at some point. It is very rare for a church to start out large. I have a question to ask, when did we start undervaluing small things? The scriptures admonish us to ...despise not the day of small things. I think that we many times forget the impact of what small things can accomplish. The scripture likens faith that moves God to faith that is the size of a mustard seed. We always seem to pray for more faith, but I believe God is wanting us to use the faith that we all ready possess. Their is a predominate feeling in us to immediately think that we are not good enough, or what we have is not elaborate enough, but we must understand that their is power in something small. A mighty oak tree begins as a tiny seed. Even human life begins when the seed of a man unites with the egg of a woman. Some of the most powerful moments in my life have not happened with the stage lights turned on, but they have happened in very intimate and humble settings when it appeared that no one would even realize what is going on. It reminds me of Jesus' birth. It started as a humble and modest beginning, but you can not underestmate something that seemed to be so insignificant to so many! When I look at the process of life transformation we tend to define ourselves by the large events in life. These large events become markers that we look either back or forward to, but I have learned that the big events do not define character nearly as much as the day to day small things do. The big moment loses it's impact if the small details are not properly put in place. If there is something that you have held off doing because you thought it was small and insignificant, I encourage you to start, because what may start out small could potentially change the course of your life forever. Young men and women, I encourage you to step out in faith and begin that bible study at the coffee shop, it may seem small, but there is no telling how God will use that to change a life. If we sit around and wait for something big, then we will miss out on the power of what is small. So, in a day when the prevailing message is to go out and do something BIG for God, let me encourage you to start today by going out and doing something small.

Organic

The term 'megachurch' has been made popular over the last 15 years as people strive to pursue reaching the masses. Now the term megachurch is not big enough to define the realms that some churches have moved into and we have moved into the age of the 'gigachurch' which means a church that is running over 10,000 people. It is interesting to see how popular the megachurch has become, you can hardly drive into a community without noticing at least 1 church that is large and prominent in a community. When you drive into metropolitan areas it has become common place for large churches to line the street corners, especially in the southern states. Yet in the midst of all of this 'growth', the question that continually plagues my mind is, How has culture changed with all of these churches progressing and expanding?'



I have discovered that all growth is not equal. The scriptures says that you will be known by your fruit. American culture has in many ways judged that scripture by one marker, which is numerical growth. Although I believe that this is a vital part of growth, it would be foolish for us to think that all growth is numerical. When my sons go to the doctor for a check up their height and weight is just one small part of the physical check up. But, to ensure that they are growing properly, the doctor will check many different markers. Which leads me to the thought that has been stirring in my mind.



Has the church settled for growth which is not organic? Organic means that there are no synthetic materials or additives given to aid growth. Everything that Jesus did while on this earth was to promote organic or natural growth. You can not disciple in a microwave. It would do us far better to realize that we are all on a journey of exploration to reach growth in Christ. Most churches that I talk to that are growing, will not base their growth on a program or any one specific thing that they are doing. It does not surprise me to notice that most churches that are growing do not even have numerical growth as the main focal point, but rather they realize that numerical growth is a byproduct of getting the church healthy! If we numerically grow while unhealthy, we will reproduce what is unhealthy in the body. When we determine to see organic growth, we celebrate the diversity that lives within the body of Christ. One size does not fit all, but all the pieces put together make a whole body. Each individual part is significant to the success of the body. The fruit that we should be pursuing is not programmed or managed growth, but natural and organic growth. Programmed growth tends to focus on pushing people into a mold, whereas organic growth tends to work on the heart of a man to change who he is in his most natural state. If we want people to stand on their own and find their personal place in Christ, we must allow individuality in the body of Christ. God, help us pursue organic growth in your body!

An Unprecedented Oppurtunity

I have been particularly interested in all of the financial crises that is going on. Not only was I a financial representative for the company, Nationwide Insurance and Financial Services, but I also feel the pain of rising gas prices with every fill up. Living on the road in an economy such as the one in which we live is very eye opening. Questions rise on everyones minds such as, What is going to happen in the financial markets? What is going to happen with the upcoming election? How is all of this mess going to affect me individually?

We are living in some extremely serious times which has everyones attention. This crises has moved beyond the elite of Washington and it has quickly filtered from Wall Street to Main Street. I have been traveling to churches of all sizes and I have seen how this crises has affected our churches. I believe with all of my heart that it is time for the church to arise and be the voice of reason in the mess that we find ourselves in. What concerns me is that our tendancy will be to react to the crises as opposed to lead during the crises. We can spend all of our time talking about how difficult times are, or we can understand that there has never been a better day for the church. I have had a few people tell me that this must be a horrible time to be a missionary in the midst of all of these crises going on and my answer to that is that there has never been a better time to be a missionary and a church planter. People are so hungry for answers to lifes questions. For so long people have had things that have been consistent in their lives and now in just a few short months what they have relied on for years is now gone. They are looking for something constant that they can build their lives on!

A scripture comes to mind as we face unprecdented times. 2 Corinthians 8:2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.KJV We find that in a moment of crises the Macedonian church was defined. Their was hardship and deep financial issues, yet out of the crises that the Macedonian church was facing, generosity was produced. I believe that the crises that we are facing now will define the church. Their is a tendancy, because of the fear of the unknown, to hold onto our resources and cautiously go into maintenance mode, but I do not believe that is a biblical pattern. If there has ever been an hour for the church to prove their reliance upon the Word of God and on giving, then this is it. I pray that this crises finds the church on their knees in prayer more, and more willing to let go of our tendancy to control and realize that what we need is to release God's resources.

I refuse to look at this hour as a depressing moment that will bring the church's mission to a halt, but I rather believe that we are in a defining moment of unprecedented oppurtunity that will position the church for endtime harvest! God, give us passionate men and women that understand that today is the greatest hour for the church.

Connections

I have been thinking a lot recently about how interconnected people are in this world. It seems on my travels acrossed the country that although the world is large in so many ways, it is getting smaller. There is a thought that we are only a few people removed from anyone else in the world and I tend to agree with this thought. One interesting part of the human psyche is our desire to be connected in one form or another to others. Over the last few months I have become a part of the world of facebook. It is amazing how connected each of us are when we begin to use these connections to link up with others that we never dreamed possible. A prevalent thought that rings in our minds so frequently is, " If I just knew the right people, then I would get my break." I have learned the power of networking and I realize that in many aspects of life the power of who you know is vitally important to success. Something that I have asked myself while thinking about networking and connections is are we out of balance in our thinking? It seems that many of us are consumed with Who we know, rather than Who Knows us. Though this seems similar, it is drastically different. Paul proclaimed, that I may know him.... Yet in Jeremiah 1:5 God said, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. KJV I would argue that life is not as much about our pursuit of knowing others, as much as it is about our pursuit of Him who knows us! Before God formed us, He Knew Us! What a powerful thought. Therefore, it is my connection to Him that opens up the door to the nations. It is God that ordains us as a prophet to the nations, not others. Our connection to Him, is the ticket to purpose in this life.