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| WOW! It's been a long time xanga world.
I started a new blog that I want you to check out. It's not my opinion...not a journal...just questions and discussion. So,
I'll be asking a new question every week and I'm hoping that people
like you will join the discussion. There will be questions about church
growth and leadership, war, drinking, sex, religion, current events,
social justice, the environment, the gas prices, spirituality, the
Bible, God, and everything else in between.
So, go check it out...
http://strugglingintothefuture.blogspot.com
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| Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
"Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
-Matthew 10:5-8
What is our job as Christians?
I think it all boils down to bringing heaven to earth....creating a new kind of world.
In Matthew 10:5-8 Jesus gives us the charge to go out and spread the news that a new kind of world is here. It has arrived. It has collided with this world...the reality of this world...a world of hate, war, poverty, hunger, and so on...that God's reality has arrived....
I just taught on this Tuesday night...
and then tonight while I was trying to go to sleep this question came to me...
Do we believe this new kind of world is possible?
I mean do we really believe it? We say we do? We probably believe there's a new kind of world that will happen when we all die and Jesus comes back and all that...we can believe that...but do we believe that a new kind of world is possible right here...right now?
Do we believe that Jesus can redeem us? That Jesus can deliver us? That Jesus can actually heal us? That he can heal our lustful, hateful, greedy, selfish, broken, wounded, damaged, abused hearts?
I talked with a student in our ministry that struggled with an eating disorder for many years...she would argue with herself every day....she would sit in the bathroom and pray that God would take it away...she did the counseling thing...
She told me that one night she was sitting in the bathroom praying...and she asked herself this question, "Do I believe that God will heal me?"
That night her answer was finally, "YES!" And she told me that that night God healed her...that God took it away...that God delivered her...that it felt like a cloud was lifted from her...and that she still lives free from this cloud...
Do we believe this is possible? It's hard to believe it. Our first response is, "No, she probably still needs counseling." That thought ran through my head at first and then I checked myself...Justin, do you believe in a God that can heal people in this way?
I mean we know that God could heal us...right? That God has healed people? But, do we believe that God wants to heal us? That God will heal us? That God will deliver us? That this new kind of world is possible?
Do we believe that war is a never ending reality? Do we believe that hunger can never be overcome? Do we believe that hate will prevail? Do we believe that evil will win? That this world is doomed...so we just wait...
Or...
do we believe that God wins! That God has already won! That God won today! That God will win tomorrow!
It seems to me that the Church needs to do a gut check...we need to ask ourselves what our job is...
Is it to fill our churches with thousands of butts...or is it to create a new kind of world?
And how can we do this? Right here in our neighborhood...who are the untouchables...the lost...the wounded...the abused...those who are being lied to by evil...
So, Church...my challenge for us tonight is to bring heaven to earth...be the reason why they collide...
CREATE A NEW KIND OF WORLD! | | |
| It has been a long time xanga world...
Things have been crazy busy and I'm just trying to keep up...
I had an interesting day today and I needed to write some things down so I figured I would use this site as my format...
If you are a leader...well let me re-phrase that...if you are the head man or woman of a church, ministry or organization you will probably understand this post...if not than this will hopefully help you understand the person that is above or out in front of you leading.
I now know what be describes us leaders...
We are windshields...
A transparent piece of glass that protects those in the vehicle. This piece of glass takes the brunt of the beating. There's not very many times that you see a bug fly into the back window of a car as it makes its strategic attack on the vehicle.
The side windows are mostly safe...
Think about it...have you ever had your window down when it's raining? Water starts to drip in the window...if you look that water is mostly coming from the windshield...it's the windshields fault...the windshields takes it all...it takes the punches, the attacks, the blame...
Have you ever noticed this...the leader can do something that someone else does...treats an individual the same way...maybe in a joking manner...both say the same things...both pick just as much...
but have you ever noticed that it's the leader that gets pointed out...they're always the one that people say, "you really should treat that person better."
Why is this?
Because we're the windshields...we're transparent...everyone looks at us...everyone expects us to protect them...take care of the attacks...have answers when problems come...
Maybe when the vision is a little hazy...when things aren't going as expected...where does the blame fall?
That's right...the windshield!
Am I complaining?
No! This is just the reality that leaders face. They are going to be bug splattered. They are going to be foggy at points and people will still expect them to give clear vision.
When the attacks come....when times get tough...everyone will look to that leader for protection...for answers...for vision.
That's our reality. That's what keeps us awake at night. That's what leaves us feeling empty some days. That's why we daze off sometimes. That's why we tend to pull away at points.
But, we continue on. We fight through.
That's not to say that we don't feel for the keys in our pockets and think about how long it would take us to drive to Wyoming in the middle of the mountains and buy a little cottage where we can withdraw from everything and everyone and just be.
We ask, "Why God? Why did you chose me? How did I get here?"
We want people to understand...but the reality is...they probably won't.
But, when you're young like me...you start to look at all the other leaders around you...the ones that are a little older...the ones that you've followed and wondered what their deal was some days...
And you understand. You say, "Yes, I know! I feel you! I'm there. I'm sorry I didn't understand before."
Being the windshield is tough. Spiritual warefare is fierce. There are a lot of questions and very few answers. It's very lonely. It's very scary. And some times you just wonder if you're crazy for doing it. Some days you think about running.
But God called us...God placed us here...and you can't run from what God created you to do...that's where you feel whole...that's where you find energy...it's excites you...it causes your blood to boil...it just is!
I hope there's someone out there that can relate to this...or maybe I am just crazy! | | |
| In light of Isaiah 40...
God continues to remind me of something about leadership. I ask the question, "What does it take to be a great leader?" God answers, "Get really small! Remember that I am God alone! You need to get small so I can get big!" Isaiah 40 reminds me that I am very small. That God's glory is very huge. If I want to be a great leader it requires me to get out of the way...
What am I trying to lead anyways? What am I leading people to? Is my main concern to be a great leader of a great organization? Or, is my main concern to be a voice crying out, there's Jesus, go to Jesus? Is my main concern to lead people over to Jesus? What does it mean to be a leader for Jesus? To be a leader within the Church?
I am beginning to think that what it means to be a leader within Jesus' church is...That I must decrease so that Jesus will increase! | | |
| "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"
"What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
-From Matthew 7:25-34 (NIV, The Message)
God,
You promise you will provide. You provide the things that your children need. You alone take care of every need. Oh Father, provide for me, your child. Open new doors to new supporters for this ministry. You alone will raise up the funds...in your time...You time is perfect. Never late, rarely early and always right on time. Remain faithful oh God...Help me to see things and situations the way you see them. Help me to respond to your giving with a grateful heart. And help me to remember that you give to us so that we may give to others. Transform me...transform my heart...to be more grateful and more generous. You are all I need... | | |
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