Keeping Focused on What Matters.

It has been awhile since I've blogged. I'm obviously not a prolific blogger. It has been a busy summer as we have re-evaluated pretty much everything about our ministry. What we have come to is this:
1. Reaching people with the love of Christ has to be job one in all that we do.
2. Helping people realize the fullness of Kingdom life must be at the core of how we do it. We can't "event" somebody into the community of Christ. It takes effort and time and sacrifice. It takes laying down our preferences for someone else. It means we really love people. As we grow it takes a strategy of connection and communication. It takes money. And it takes people committed to transformed lives.
3. Lives, marriages, kids, whole communities and the next generations are at stake so we can't be too non-chalant about this.
4. We can't do it. We desperately need the grace and strength of Christ.

I'm so glad He is with us!

"Don't settle or stop"

"Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more." - I Thess. 4:1
"Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more." - I Thess. 4:10

"That's good enough." This is such an easy attitude to take on - to do just enough to get by, or to get on to the next thing or to satisfy some minimal requirement. The difference between being average and being good is the willingness to go beyond what is required. The difference between being good and being great is going beyond what is required even when nobody else is watching.
The Thessalonians were doing well. But Paul was encouraging them to keep going, to not stop and to continue to excel.

Why should we excel? No so that God will accept us, but because God has already accepted us! This should cause us to want to do all we can to please Him in everything we do. Do the little extras. Finish the job. Go beyond what is expected. Extend a little more kindness. Make that call to somebody who could use the encouragement today!

Lord, thank you for giving everything for me. I pray that my life today would reflect my gratitude to You. Thank you for an incredible wife and kids. Thank you for this beautiful place to live. Thank you for an amazing church and the exciting things happening there. Thank you for the sunshine today. Today I will choose to go beyond the expected, to touch another life so that You will be honored.

To Him who Gives Us Strength

It is so tempting to resort to our own strength and strategy. We examine the challenge, calculate our costs, count our resources, align skills with need and opportunity and execute the plan. It makes perfect sense. It seems to be the recipe for success. And we may find some success.

But if we leave out faith in a God who operates beyond human calculation, we have become a machine without a soul. We have lost the beauty of wonder. We have lost the terrifying exhilaration of abandon to the One who wants to carry us. And we lose opportunity to see God's strength made perfect in our weakness.

In 2 Samuel 24 David took a census to count his army. This seemed a logical enough question - "how much strength do we have", but it led to a painful judgment on David and the people. You see, David was measuring his ability without factoring the power and will of God into the equation.

Our church has entered into a new season of strength and a refocused strategy. But let us never assess our challenge without first relying on the strength of our God who loves our city and church more than we can even imagine. This way, the glory goes where it belongs - to Him who gives us strength.