Now What?

The next leg of our Journey begins today.  God has given us an amazing new meeting facility in one of Spartanburg’s darkest communities.  Alcohol and drugs, crime, violence, homelessness, and hopelessness are the words often used when the name of our new community is mentioned.  Maybe…just maybe…that will change.  Where there is great darkness, there is great opportunity.  A single light in a well-lit room seems to make little difference.  The smallest flicker in a dark place, however, cannot go unnoticed.

Our first lease payment was made today.  Now what?  Simple…we shine.

Stepping Out of the Boat

I like the comfort of my boat.  In fact, I am rather attached to it.  There is a part of me that likes to feign agorraphobia so that I never have to leave.  Unfortunately, I seldom encounter God in the most powerful and meaningful ways while hanging out in my boat.  He seems to usually be out in the deep water, walking on the new shore, or deep sea diving for treasure.  I never cared much for getting wet or for getting dirty, so you can see my dilemma.

I find that it takes a conscious, deliberate, and sometimes fearful effort on my part to get to Jesus.  It requires taking chances, risking failure, and experiencing hardships.  I suppose that is where the “take up your cross and follow” stuff comes in to play.  So be it.  Jesus is where it’s at.  This week, stepping out has meant knocking on doors, meeting new people, and battling temptations to doubt.  As a result, I have spent much of the week scared and on edge.   Oh, and by the way…I love it.

Life in a Nutshell

Whenever my wife hears the phrase, “in a nutshell,” she assumes a fetal position and claws to get out while yelling out, “This is me in a nutshell!”  That has nothing to do with what I am about to share, but it makes me laugh.

Life is simple.  God made it that way.  Jesus’ final instruction to his followers before he left Earth was to be disciples who make disciples.  That is our mission.  Our responsibility is to adjust our lives to his simple instruction.  When we focus our personal lives and our churches on being disciples who make disciples, everything else will take care of itself.

There is one catch – we have to share the hope of life in Christ with unbelievers constantly so that they may choose to become disciples.   Jesus commanded us to teach those who had chosen to follow him to obey everything he commanded.  The day we begin to put as much emphasis on and money into the making of disciples (converts) as we do the care and teaching of them, then our personal lives and our churches will be transformed.

The Secret to Leadership

One of the great ironies of life is that only great followers make great leaders.  The truth is that there are few original ideas floating around these days.  Philosophies may have a different name or appearance to casual observers, but most of our perspectives on life have at one time or another belonged also to someone else.  The question is “Who will we follow?”  I choose to follow Christ.  In following Christ, we are guaranteed that his perspective is perfect, his philosophy is accurate, his methods are proven, and his outcomes are secure.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I prefer to be right about things.  Following Christ faithfully greatly increases the odds of that happening!  People place the burden of expectation on their leaders.  People hold their leaders accountable whenever possible for their decisions, especially the wrong ones.  If you want to lead correctly, then follow Christ.  People may not always agree and they will doubt your direction at times, but in the end, Christ is always proven right.

Get Out of the Boat

“What are you doing today that you could not do apart from the power of God working in your life?”  That is the question posed by John Ortberg in his book entitled, “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat.”  What a great question to ask ourselves on a daily basis.  Is there anything sadder than a Christian living within the limits of mere human ability?  May we never settle for living a spiritual life powered by our own will.  Instead, may we live out the bold statement made by Paul who proclaimed, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  Let’s see what you can do.

Who Is Waiting on Who?

In hindsight, most of the time I have spent waiting on God was in reality, time that God spent waiting on me.  In many situations, all that was required for me to see God move was an act of faith on my part.  We often look for signs, wonders, and specific callings instead of boldly moving forward to fulfill the commands Christ has already given us.  There is no need to wait to share the gospel with anyone because we have been told to go into all the world and make disciples.  There is no need to wait on a call to meet the needs of a specific people because we have already been commanded to love our neighbor.  My best advice, born of painful experience, is to stop waiting to do those things God has already commanded you to do.  Simply obey.  There is a time for seeking out God’s will, but not when his will has already been revealed.  Move forward with confidence.

The Real God

Spiritual growth is a process of adjusting our beliefs to accept God as he is.  We all have a set of beliefs formed from our experiences, our upbringing, our philosophy of life, and our self-centeredness that threatens to undermine our faith.  The image of God we have created must be replaced with truth if we are to fully mature in our spiritual walk.

The Spirit of God, the Word of God, and the people of God can help us clarify our beliefs and sharpen our faith.  We must be willing to listen to God speak about himself through these means with an open mind, separating the truth from our preconceived notions.  Remember, if God’s message contradicts your beliefs, it is not God that is wrong.

Oh, by the way…the real God is much better than the ones we make up!

EXTREME MAKEOVER; Church Edition

What would God say about our church?  Have you ever been at a church where a Pastor expressed his passionate desire to know what God would say about the quality of his church’s faithfulness?  You ought to be.  In Revelation, we get to read exactly what God’s thoughts were toward 7 different churches.  From those letters, we can clearly see what things matter to God.  God is concerned with a church’s faithfulness to his truth, its refusal to accept and tolerate evil, its passionate love for God and his people, and its spiritual endurance.  Do you want to set some goals for you, your family, and your church, how is that for a starter list!  I believe God desires an extreme makeover for most of our churches.  Will you let him work on yours?

The Time is Now

Every moment we fail to invest in the next generation is a moment that someone else does.  Our young people are constantly connected to sources of influence.  The internet, cell phones, interactive games, MySpace, Facebook, text messaging, and chatrooms are just some of the ways young people stay connected to their peers and other influences moment by moment.  Don’t be fooled.  If you don’t have their attention, someone else does.  They are not spending quiet time alone.  We are told to “be still and know that I am God.”  Guess what happens when they are never still.  We are told that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”  Guess what happens when they are not hearing the Word of God.  It’s not rocket science.  Either we invest time in sharing about God with the next generation, or we will watch a generation grow up without him.  Will you help them be still and hear from God?

 

Taking advantage of the time,

Pastor Chris

Stepping Out…

There are times in life when God reveals his will and asks us to follow.  There are also times when he asks us to follow and only then does he reveal his will.  Finally, there are times when he expects us to step out in faith in order for us to see where he is and what he is doing.  These are the times when we must test the waters to see where our Lord is waiting.

Jonathan chose to attack his enemies based on whether they addressed him in a specific way.  That was his test to determine if God had delivered his enemies into his hands.  The disciples chose Judas’ replacement with the casting of lots.  That was their signal of divine providence at work.  When there are multiple possibilities and we don’t know how to proceed, testing the waters is sometimes our required act of faith.

Will you trust in God’s providence enough to follow through on the outcome?  Will you trust that God answers your prayers and either wait or proceed accordingly?  It takes great faith to believe God will answer you.   Believe him enough to  test the waters.   Believe he loves you enough to answer your prayer.  Believe him enough to follow the answer he gives.  Step out in faith.  The Lord is waiting.

Pastor Chris