I had a great meeting last night with our Pastoral Team. These guys amaze me constantly with their wisdom, encouragement and support. If you don’t have a group of guys to encourage you, find some!!!
One theme remained constant in all of our discussions last night: connection. It seems like every time we talk about what God is doing in someone’s life we get back to a personal connection they have with someone in the church body. This friend invited that person and God began moving in this way. Over and over again connection came to the surface.
We hit three important areas to focus our efforts in deepening people’s connection to God.
1) Personal Leadership Connection- People have to feel that they are connected with someone involved in the leadership of the church. It can’t be only me. It can’t be me primarily. I am the worst of all of our leaders at pastoral gifts. That is why the body needs every person to contribute in this way. Every leader in every area has to develop leadership connections with people.
2) Personal Ministry Connection- People need to get connected in serving. The growth we are seeing in people’s lives right now is that they are moving from consumers to contributors. People who one year ago were not connected to God are now stepping up to take some ministry responsibility. In doing this they begin to take ownership of the ministry at LifeQuest.
3) Personal Prayer Connection-We have prayer gatherings every couple of months at LifeQuest. They have not been massively attended, but those who have gotten involved are seeing awesome growth areas I their lives. This has to become a major ministry focus for us.
I believe with all my heart that if we can focus on these areas of connection in the lives of people at LifeQuest it will rub off on those not connected to Christ. It will allow us to have a deeper and more meaningful impact on the community around us for the Kingdom of God. That will lead us to help people make the greatest connection of all; fully devoted followers of Christ.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Brain Dump
Need to dump some thoughts out while they are fresh:
· I never get tired of seeing children and teenagers being discipled.
· Volunteers are the backbone of any churches existence.
· Not everyone is called to be famous; but everyone is called to make Christ famous.
· My wife is the best mentor for kids that I know.
· The couple leading our student ministry is amazing.
· I am humbled by the people I get to see up close.
· My dreams and visions need to grow deeper.
· My thoughts need to develop legs.
· I think I am ready for a creative challenge.
· I love that God isn’t done with me.
· I never get tired of seeing children and teenagers being discipled.
· Volunteers are the backbone of any churches existence.
· Not everyone is called to be famous; but everyone is called to make Christ famous.
· My wife is the best mentor for kids that I know.
· The couple leading our student ministry is amazing.
· I am humbled by the people I get to see up close.
· My dreams and visions need to grow deeper.
· My thoughts need to develop legs.
· I think I am ready for a creative challenge.
· I love that God isn’t done with me.
WOW
The word “wow” seems to be popping up in my life quite a bit lately. Since I have been working out harder the last few weeks (okay, working out at all!!) my wife says, “Wow, you have lost some “love handles.” It was a compliment. My kids says stuff like “wow, I can’t believe you can do that at your age.” It was not a compliment. Friends that I knew 20+ years ago are finding out I am a pastor and college professor and they all reply “Wow!!”
It’s the wow factor that makes life interesting. I see myself through lenses that have been with me all along. Others see things and it causes a “wow” for good or for bad. It is just the way life is. The wow factor can motivate, encourage, hurt, or cut depending on how it is used.
I have been thinking about what causes me to go “wow” these days. My kids doing amazing stuff makes me go wow. My wife loving me even when I break a lid to her favorite pan makes me go wow. The fact that God allows me to study, speak, write and counsel or a living makes me go wow. The fact that my life is half over makes me go wow. The fact that I still have half a life to live makes me go wow.
What is your “wow?” What is catching your eye, grabbing your attention, or moving you forward? What is it that makes you say, “Wow!!!”?
It’s the wow factor that makes life interesting. I see myself through lenses that have been with me all along. Others see things and it causes a “wow” for good or for bad. It is just the way life is. The wow factor can motivate, encourage, hurt, or cut depending on how it is used.
I have been thinking about what causes me to go “wow” these days. My kids doing amazing stuff makes me go wow. My wife loving me even when I break a lid to her favorite pan makes me go wow. The fact that God allows me to study, speak, write and counsel or a living makes me go wow. The fact that my life is half over makes me go wow. The fact that I still have half a life to live makes me go wow.
What is your “wow?” What is catching your eye, grabbing your attention, or moving you forward? What is it that makes you say, “Wow!!!”?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Humility
I love when I see some really great lessons come alive from scripture. It is amazing to me how God so understands us as human beings that he crafted His Word over 2,000 years ago so that it would make sense in our lives today. As I prepared for yesterday’s message, a theme popped into my head that may not be new to you (and in honesty is not new to me) but took on a new level of insight into my heart.
I was speaking on Mark 10:35-45, where James and John ask Jesus to sit on his right and left. Jesus makes one statement that gets passed over too quickly most of the time. “To sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.” Mark 10:40 We may not think very much about it. It is one little verse in a much larger teaching. But it tells us a ton about Jesus.
The lesson is simple: Jesus never tired to upstage God. He never demanded his rights. He never pressed his plan or his will. He never moved forward on his own. He allowed himself to be humiliated for the greater glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2)
How often do we try to take God’s position? We judge. We condemn. We criticize. We take stands. We place our will and our desire over God’s. How shameful is that!!!
This week, try to take an example from the life of Jesus. Bend your will to God’s. Trust his heart over your feelings. Allow him to direct your path and your plans.
I was speaking on Mark 10:35-45, where James and John ask Jesus to sit on his right and left. Jesus makes one statement that gets passed over too quickly most of the time. “To sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.” Mark 10:40 We may not think very much about it. It is one little verse in a much larger teaching. But it tells us a ton about Jesus.
The lesson is simple: Jesus never tired to upstage God. He never demanded his rights. He never pressed his plan or his will. He never moved forward on his own. He allowed himself to be humiliated for the greater glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2)
How often do we try to take God’s position? We judge. We condemn. We criticize. We take stands. We place our will and our desire over God’s. How shameful is that!!!
This week, try to take an example from the life of Jesus. Bend your will to God’s. Trust his heart over your feelings. Allow him to direct your path and your plans.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Church Signs
Some things just don’t make sense to me. I was driving last night when I passed a church with one of those road signs with a comment. Whenever I see a church sign with a message on it I get a little queasy. I know how they make me feel as a pastor. What must non-Christians think when they see them?Will it be one of those hokey religious puns used to attract a certain type of Christian? I once passed a church that had a sign that read “We Sing Hymns.” Who are they after? Will it be a judgmental, snide remark about how a certain group is going to hell? I love how we as Christians can blast sin in others and ignore gluttony in ourselves. Will it actually have useful information that someone may find interesting?
The sign last night read, “Don’t do anything. Sit here.” What? Seriously? Is that the best this church has to offer? Will someone please slap somebody for that!!!!??? Is the message of this church really to come and sit and do nothing?
As followers of Christ we have the greatest message in the world and we broadcast it in such stupid ways. I was disgusted, angry, and saddened all at the same time. To look at the message and what it communicates about Jesus is so lacking in any type of real meaning and purpose. Didn’t Jesus call us to follow? Doesn’t that necessarily imply getting off our ever widening behinds and doing something?
What crazy church signs have you seen? What message is your church sending?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Stuff I'm Thinking About
The Stuff I’m Thinking about Today
This morning I spent some great time in 1 Thessalonians 1. Some thoughts jumped off the page into my mind today that I want to share with you. They may not be new, deep or insightful to you, but this is what God has been speaking to me this morning.
· Paul loved the people God have given him to pastor. (1:2)
· Paul recognized that any eternal consequence of his ministry was only through the power of the Spirit of God. (1:5)
· The best example of what God can do for a human being is the changed life. (1:8-9).
It is so encouraging to me to think that God wants to use me to develop others spiritual life. He wants me to love them, pray for them and nurture them in the grace of Christ. I have to always recognize that anything that will last in ministry is the result of the power of God and not of me. The real test is if it lasts longer than I do. If the effects of my ministry continue after I am gone it was from God. If I die tomorrow and LifeQuest Church shuts down I will have completely failed to establish a ministry based on the power of God.
The best way to demonstrate to others who God is and what he has done is to tell your story. If we fail to let others see Christ in us we are missing the mark of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Our lives tell more about Christ than our words.
This morning I spent some great time in 1 Thessalonians 1. Some thoughts jumped off the page into my mind today that I want to share with you. They may not be new, deep or insightful to you, but this is what God has been speaking to me this morning.
· Paul loved the people God have given him to pastor. (1:2)
· Paul recognized that any eternal consequence of his ministry was only through the power of the Spirit of God. (1:5)
· The best example of what God can do for a human being is the changed life. (1:8-9).
It is so encouraging to me to think that God wants to use me to develop others spiritual life. He wants me to love them, pray for them and nurture them in the grace of Christ. I have to always recognize that anything that will last in ministry is the result of the power of God and not of me. The real test is if it lasts longer than I do. If the effects of my ministry continue after I am gone it was from God. If I die tomorrow and LifeQuest Church shuts down I will have completely failed to establish a ministry based on the power of God.
The best way to demonstrate to others who God is and what he has done is to tell your story. If we fail to let others see Christ in us we are missing the mark of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Our lives tell more about Christ than our words.
Monday, February 2, 2009
All Things New
I’m sitting at my desk and a thousand thoughts are running through my head. I am reliving parts of the service yesterday (as I always do), I am thinking about the Super Bowl (a great game), I am planning different aspects of my week (many meetings and events) and I am thinking about some things in life that I would like to do over (better grades, practiced harder, studied more, etc.). It can be fun, frustrating and challenging all at once.
As I think about all of this stuff I am reminded that God does not view life or history as we do. In fact, God has a completely different perspective. While we view history and time as linear (a definite starting and stopping point) God views time as circular. He is above it all. It has no beginning and no end for him. He simply has always been and will always be, and our perception of him is very small in comparison.
When I think about all the stuff I would change, I must remember that the most important thing is that God has changed me. I am not who I was (thank you God!!!) and I am not all that I am to become. But God has changed me. He has allowed me to become a different person that lives in grace and freedom. He has allowed me to see life through a new lens. He has given me the ability to enjoy the presence of today and to overcome the pain from yesterday.
It is so easy to see life in a snapshot. Our memory gets frozen in time and we still view whatever or whoever we were the same as we are today. But that is not God’s design for us. God takes the old things of our lives and he gets rid of them. He restores us and he makes us new creatures in him.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
It is so easy to miss the fact that God has called us to be new in him. What makes you cringe when you think about your past? What makes you want to disappear when people start talking about certain things? We are not called to live in fear and failure of the past but as new creatures in the life of Christ.
So, let go of the past. Move forward in Christ. And allow yourself to experience the joy and the celebration of a life as a new creation in Jesus.
As I think about all of this stuff I am reminded that God does not view life or history as we do. In fact, God has a completely different perspective. While we view history and time as linear (a definite starting and stopping point) God views time as circular. He is above it all. It has no beginning and no end for him. He simply has always been and will always be, and our perception of him is very small in comparison.
When I think about all the stuff I would change, I must remember that the most important thing is that God has changed me. I am not who I was (thank you God!!!) and I am not all that I am to become. But God has changed me. He has allowed me to become a different person that lives in grace and freedom. He has allowed me to see life through a new lens. He has given me the ability to enjoy the presence of today and to overcome the pain from yesterday.
It is so easy to see life in a snapshot. Our memory gets frozen in time and we still view whatever or whoever we were the same as we are today. But that is not God’s design for us. God takes the old things of our lives and he gets rid of them. He restores us and he makes us new creatures in him.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
It is so easy to miss the fact that God has called us to be new in him. What makes you cringe when you think about your past? What makes you want to disappear when people start talking about certain things? We are not called to live in fear and failure of the past but as new creatures in the life of Christ.
So, let go of the past. Move forward in Christ. And allow yourself to experience the joy and the celebration of a life as a new creation in Jesus.
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