“God is drawing a line in the sand. I want to be on your side, Lord, holding your hand” is a lyric that was song in tonight’s worship. Then the challenge went out. Are we going to be on the side of complacency focusing on our own worlds? Or are we going to be on the other side of the line holding God’s hand being and doing something significant for the Kingdom of Heaven. God is calling each of us to be used in a mighty way for the Master, are we going to bow down in obedience, or live our lives on the other side of the line empty and wishing we would follow the Lord?
I do not know about you, but I know what side of the line I desire to be on…
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Montana Chronicles Part 3
Chap Clark always “brings it.” There is not one time when I have heard this man speak that the Lord did not move in my heart. The second season was no different. Chap built on what was said in our first session. He took the 4 P’s and boiled them down to three; Possessions, Identity, and Conformity. Possessions have the same meaning as above, identity was the same as personal appearance, and then he combined performance and popularity into conformity. Chap took this one step further to explain that not only do we desire to be popular and that we are on a performance treadmill; but we are forced to live up to other’s expectations even when they are not realistic. A major symptom of these three is that we build walls around our lives and do not let other in.
The challenge for me is when Chap asked this very simple question, “What does God think of me?” In John 4, Jesus has an encounter with the Samaritan women at the well. Jesus invaded her life knowing exactly where to go. Knowing exactly what walls to tear down in this woman’s life, and He does the same to us too. I know I have walls in my life, and if I do not deal with them, Jesus will! In fact Jesus is already dealing with them. The great things is when Jesus invades our stories and deals with our walls, we are not rejected, punished, or even shunned. We have the same reaction as the woman – she goes and tells the whole town about Jesus because she is excited that she does not have to live with those walls in her life anymore.
I am learning that when Jesus invades my life and tears these walls down, I am free to hope again because I do not need to live up to other peoples expectations of me and I do not have to run on the performance treadmill. I can live for Jesus without any hindrances, with a reckless abandon. I am free to hope in a future that He has laid out for me. I am free to love my Savior again without any guilt. I am free.
The challenge for me is when Chap asked this very simple question, “What does God think of me?” In John 4, Jesus has an encounter with the Samaritan women at the well. Jesus invaded her life knowing exactly where to go. Knowing exactly what walls to tear down in this woman’s life, and He does the same to us too. I know I have walls in my life, and if I do not deal with them, Jesus will! In fact Jesus is already dealing with them. The great things is when Jesus invades our stories and deals with our walls, we are not rejected, punished, or even shunned. We have the same reaction as the woman – she goes and tells the whole town about Jesus because she is excited that she does not have to live with those walls in her life anymore.
I am learning that when Jesus invades my life and tears these walls down, I am free to hope again because I do not need to live up to other peoples expectations of me and I do not have to run on the performance treadmill. I can live for Jesus without any hindrances, with a reckless abandon. I am free to hope in a future that He has laid out for me. I am free to love my Savior again without any guilt. I am free.
Montana Chronicles Part 2
Right the Wrong is the theme for this years Convention. Our first speaker, Tiger McLuen, started the Convention on the right note. “Every person doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons” was his theme for the night. He went on to challenge us to not give into the 4 P’s; Personal appearance, Popularity, Performance, and Possessions. These 4 are seen everywhere – including the church. The only difference is that we in the church spiritualize them. I would also add that students are not the only ones who struggle with these. We adults also have to look good, hang in the right crowd at church, boil our walk with Jesus to a performance and even go as far as a competition with other adults (I am more mature than so and so because I do such and such or am in church more often or am in a certain small group), and have the possessions I life (cars, boats, and other toys).
The challenging thing for me was when he said that it is not too late to right the wrongs in life. That you can be the right person doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons with the Lord at the center. Jesus invited the Disciples to have breakfast with Him on the beach after His resurrection. His command was simple – Follow Me! This is true for us today, we just allow these 4 P’s get in the way of following Jesus – I allow these to get in the way.
I also got an implied message as well – I can right the wrong if my walk was not the way it should be. I can forget the past and start to be the right person doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons. It is not too late to make course corrections in my life and to follow Jesus so that I can have life and have it more abundantly.
The challenging thing for me was when he said that it is not too late to right the wrongs in life. That you can be the right person doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons with the Lord at the center. Jesus invited the Disciples to have breakfast with Him on the beach after His resurrection. His command was simple – Follow Me! This is true for us today, we just allow these 4 P’s get in the way of following Jesus – I allow these to get in the way.
I also got an implied message as well – I can right the wrong if my walk was not the way it should be. I can forget the past and start to be the right person doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons. It is not too late to make course corrections in my life and to follow Jesus so that I can have life and have it more abundantly.
Montana Chronicles Part 1
Have you ever entered into a season where you just want to hear God so loudly in your life that you will almost do anything for that to happen? Or you desire the same thing when you have a chance to go on a trip? Well, that is me. I am currently on a Youth Convention trip in Montana right now. We are on the campus of Montana State University. Yesterday when we landed in Billings, we took a day to go to Yellowstone national Park. Now I have been there before and know it is an amazing and beautiful place, so I was somewhat expecting to hear the Lord through His creation.
As we entered the mountains, I sat in my seat waiting for a sing, a voice, something. My prayer was that the Lord guide me, direct me, speak to me, show me something. What I got was something totally different. The Lord did speak to me, but it was not what I was expecting.
Sometimes in our prayers, we want the Lord to answer a specific way, and that is how I entered into my plea. Boy was I wrong. We drove around this bend; there was nothing unusual about it, just a slow mountainous curve in the road. At the time I was getting a little anxious because I didn’t hear God as quickly as I wanted (that is a whole different topic that I need to write about soon). All of a sudden I came to the realization that the Lord has been speaking to me, He has been guiding me, He has been directing me, He has been showing me the way. I didn’t need to be at a specific time and a specific place to Hear the Lord in my life. In that moment, I felt the Peace of God. As I looked out at the mountains, I started to reflect on my relation to the creation of the Universe. I am so small, and He is so majestic. It is a good place to be in when you realize your position as it is compared to the Lord!
Just then, I saw a Bald Eagle perched in a tree looking out over the river, probably looking for lunch. I could not help but remember one of my favorite scripture passages:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. 29 He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. 30 Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, 31 but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40: 28-31
WOW! Did the Lord ever speak to me. I enter this Youth trip resting in my position to the Master knowing that He is guiding me in the right direction and that He is speaking to me. What a comfort.
As we entered the mountains, I sat in my seat waiting for a sing, a voice, something. My prayer was that the Lord guide me, direct me, speak to me, show me something. What I got was something totally different. The Lord did speak to me, but it was not what I was expecting.
Sometimes in our prayers, we want the Lord to answer a specific way, and that is how I entered into my plea. Boy was I wrong. We drove around this bend; there was nothing unusual about it, just a slow mountainous curve in the road. At the time I was getting a little anxious because I didn’t hear God as quickly as I wanted (that is a whole different topic that I need to write about soon). All of a sudden I came to the realization that the Lord has been speaking to me, He has been guiding me, He has been directing me, He has been showing me the way. I didn’t need to be at a specific time and a specific place to Hear the Lord in my life. In that moment, I felt the Peace of God. As I looked out at the mountains, I started to reflect on my relation to the creation of the Universe. I am so small, and He is so majestic. It is a good place to be in when you realize your position as it is compared to the Lord!
Just then, I saw a Bald Eagle perched in a tree looking out over the river, probably looking for lunch. I could not help but remember one of my favorite scripture passages:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding. 29 He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. 30 Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, 31 but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40: 28-31
WOW! Did the Lord ever speak to me. I enter this Youth trip resting in my position to the Master knowing that He is guiding me in the right direction and that He is speaking to me. What a comfort.
Monday, July 21, 2008
A First
Well, I am entering a first in ministry. My current Senior Pastor has announced that he has accepted a call and will be leaving before October 1, 2008. Right now I have a sea of emotions; excited to see a brother in Christ to follow the Lord at all costs, fear of the unknown for the church I now serve at, excitement for the opportunity the Lord has placed before me, and other emotions that I will not mention here.
My biggest question is – what is God up to? At the very least He will use this to sharpen me as a leader and a learner, which is not all bad. He will also use this to continue to sharpen a pastor who’s sole goal in life is to please the Lord at all costs. I do take refuge in this fact – no matter what happens the Lord has a far greater love for me, this church, and the former pastor that far exceeds the Love I have. That is comforting because He is the one that holds this whole situation in His hands only as a loving father can.
God called each of us on a journey – this is definitely exciting all the way around. What a journey!
My biggest question is – what is God up to? At the very least He will use this to sharpen me as a leader and a learner, which is not all bad. He will also use this to continue to sharpen a pastor who’s sole goal in life is to please the Lord at all costs. I do take refuge in this fact – no matter what happens the Lord has a far greater love for me, this church, and the former pastor that far exceeds the Love I have. That is comforting because He is the one that holds this whole situation in His hands only as a loving father can.
God called each of us on a journey – this is definitely exciting all the way around. What a journey!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Crowd
Last week I had the opportunity to go to a Detroit Tigers baseball game. This was me second game since they opened their new stadium a while back. The last game I went to, there was only about 3000 people in attendance. Needless to say, the Tigers were not doing so well. Last week, there were over 40,000 people at the game. As I watched people (one of my favorite things to do), a though came crashing down on me – Jesus came for all these people, every last one of them. How many know this? How many do not? How many have had bad experiences with churches trying to “convert” them? It was pretty overwhelming to me. Then I asked myself, what is God calling me to do and become? How is he going to use little me? How can I be a representative of God without being over zealous and annoying to people who are far away form God?
As I pondered these questions I kept watching people. My heart enlargened and a deeper burden was developed as people who were in my line of sight were entering into a Christless eternity. Then my thoughts switched to the church. We get so wrapped up with internal affairs, we bicker, complain, and show anything by love and respect to others that we give these same people the best excuse not to join us on the most exciting journey in all of eternity – being a Christ Follower!
Am I still a work in progress – absolutely! My prayer is that I will be a vessel to share the same Love of God that has been shown to me. So, the next time you are in a crowd; whether it be at a sporting event, concert, mall, or even traffic remember and be encouraged;
“The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” – Jesus in Matthew 10: 37-38
As I pondered these questions I kept watching people. My heart enlargened and a deeper burden was developed as people who were in my line of sight were entering into a Christless eternity. Then my thoughts switched to the church. We get so wrapped up with internal affairs, we bicker, complain, and show anything by love and respect to others that we give these same people the best excuse not to join us on the most exciting journey in all of eternity – being a Christ Follower!
Am I still a work in progress – absolutely! My prayer is that I will be a vessel to share the same Love of God that has been shown to me. So, the next time you are in a crowd; whether it be at a sporting event, concert, mall, or even traffic remember and be encouraged;
“The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” – Jesus in Matthew 10: 37-38
Monday, July 14, 2008
Awhile
Well, it has been awhile since I have posted. Life has been busy, very busy. Through the business, I have been learning some really cool stuff; about myself, life, ministry, and mission. My prayer is that in the Weeks that follow, I carve out the time to share them here. I look forward to the journey with you...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)