Martha Syndrome

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have a hard time slowing down to listen to the Lord. Life gets so busy with so many different commitments. Leading a church plant, raising a family and trying to affirm precious friendships all press for my time. Yet I know deep in my heart that spending time to reflect and wait on God is of central importance. I am a doer and troubleshooter at heart and it is difficult to shift gears some times. Even reading the scriptures can become an exercise in gleaning information verses listening for God to speak. Luke in chapter 10 of his gospel records the events at a dinner gathering. Martha invited Jesus and His followers into her home, and proceeded to prepare a meal for the whole company. Mary her sister sat in rapt attention listening to Jesus as he taught. Of course Martha felt slighted and went to Jesus to complain about Mary’s unwillingness to help her. Jesus knowing what is in her heart, tells her not to let worry and distraction cause her to miss what was important. How easy it is to be overly occupied and too busy to sit at Jesus feet. It is interaction with Jesus that fuels passion and mission. Duty can only take us so far. How different life is when we are hearing God clearly and revelation is flowing to us! Springs of living water become a reality!

Faith and Grace

I have been thinking a lot about grace and faith. As a young Christian I was taught that faith was a means to move God. We were taught that there are principles of faith that God would not ignore. If we only believed, confessed and acted we could get what ever we had set our faith toward. As I have walked with God I find that I don't believe that God is so easily manipulated. Don't misunderstand me, faith sits central to our life in God. I do believe that we are to confess God's Word and put into practice, but in a response to a relationship and revelation from God. My view of 'faith principles' has been shaped by the message of grace. Grace in the Greek carries the idea of God's influence on our hearts. God speaks to us by His Spirit; we are designed to be a people of revelation. Faith is the response to an encounter with God. Consider Gideon, frightened, hiding in a wine press. An angel appears and makes a declaration that Gideon is a mighty man of God. It was that revelation that propels him into the destiny that God had for him. To some Gideon’s ongoing conversation and request for confirmation was a lack of faith on Gideon’s part. Yet it speaks to a remarkable act of grace and revelation. It was in that encounter that dynamic faith is fostered and released. As a Bible teacher it is easier to contextualize Gideon’s request as unbelief and to discourage people to look to an encounter with God, than to set them up to the possibility of God not responding to their request. We some times dumb down the mystic nature of Christianity to avoid any need to wrestle with God. Jacob wrestled with God and carried the reminder for the rest of his life. We need more divine encounters. Another truth that has come as I consider grace is that life is more about God and less about us. We were created for His pleasure, yet some how we can lose that perspective and shift to ‘my happiness, my dreams, and my fulfillment’. In all the heroes of faith we see recorded in the book of Hebrews, it was more about how they responded to God and His purposes for their life. Life is complex; God’s ways are far above our own, He moves according to His own sovereignty. We are called to a living and dynamic relationship with God let us seek him and avoid resorting to formulas to find our way. When we “hear” God, then let us believe, confess and act with confidence.

Simple Expressions of Love

A group from Journey and the Year Team from Silver Creek Fellowship met and provided lunch to approximately 70 homeless man and women beneath the Center Street Bridge. It has been rewarding to see building friendships with these folks and to see a growing sense of community among them. A couple from YWAM came out and played music while our team set up tables and chairs and then served as waiters and waitress to the folks. Piping hot spaghetti and fresh hot coffee hit the spot. One fellow said "We were treated with dignity and respect, thank you", and he went on to say how he appreciated how people served him and his friends. When it was time to pack and clean up it was wonderful to see so many pitch in to help. After it was all done we realized that this would be the last time the Year Team would serve with us as their terms are ending and they will be returning home, home to England, France and Missouri. We all gathered for a group picture and then everyone was on his or her way. It was a great day to show the love of Jesus in a practical way.

Foundations of Leadership

The question of identity is huge, who am I in God? I'm I important? Does God accept me? What is the proof of that? I think every leader must go through this struggle. Through the years I have watched young men who believed that if they were an elder or a teacher then God must be pleased with them. They would sacrifice time, energy to pursue the gold ring of position only to find that it does not meet the need in their heart. It is through our personal relationship with God that we see our value. It is not based on what we have done or what we bring to the relationship but on His generosity toward us. Moses went through 40 years of obscurity to discover that God was for him. It prepared im to stand firm in the face of tremendous difficulty. Think of Joseph, Elijah or David, or even Paul. They all had a great sense of call and promise, but needed to see deeply that God's call was not a sign of affirmation but all call to sacrifice. Consider John the Baptist; he was called to lead a nation to repentance. He had a huge following, both religious and secular. Crowds would search him out in droves, kings took note, and he was center stage. Then the cumulating event of his life call took place, Jesus came. Even though John knew in his heart this day would come he was deeply distressed when he was thrown in prison. Shaken he saw his disciples leaving to follow Christ. As he sat in prison he sent a delegation to Jesus to ask if He truly was the one that was sent. Jesus asked John not to lose faith, to remember the call, to remember that it was not about ‘John’s ministry’ but the purposes of God. God was pleased with him; he had fulfilled his mission. The circumstances of His surroundings had nothing to do with God’s perception of him; he still was God’s man.

I have seen so many that have washed out of ministry. The rigors of ministry life are difficult. People question your motives; friends get offended and leave. What looks from the outside, as a life of honor and appreciation, is really a life of sacrifice. Many come to the conclusion that it is just not worth it. They become embittered, as they feel unappreciated. The bitterness descends into anger toward God. The seeds of pride come to full fruit.

Jesus said that the greatest would be the servant of all. It is not a means to greatness, but the fruit of a soul who knows their God and senses His approval. To young leaders, get the foundations right, check your hearts often. To seasoned leaders, remember that your position is temporal; things can change in a minute. The real pay off is in eternity.

Church Built on Grace

I have been pondering why so many are discouraged regarding church life. A friend of mine once said “the answer to bad leadership is good leadership, not no leadership”. I believe the same can be said of church life. I believe church can be a place where we celebrate the grace of God in our daily lives and in our corporate life together. Individuals recognizing that we have nothing to offer God except our hearts. Our serving God springs from the well- spring of thankfulness for what he has done for us. We love Him because He first loved us. We were God’s enemy, yet He searched for us and made a way for us. Everything we do should be springing from this root of right relationship with God. Grace sits central in our relationship with God. In the Greek the word translated as grace carries the idea of God’s influence on the human heart and its reflection in the life; including gratitude (Strongs) A grace based people hear God and at its root is a charismatic people, we hear His voice, He speaks to us, and we follow Him not from the root of trying to earn God’s favor, we have that, but over flowing with gratitude that we have been drawn into right relationship with Christ. When we have been captured by His love and grace, church can be a people united by mission, committed to loving God, to be known by our love for others, and to be a voice of hope. These are values that endure the test of time and lead to a productive life and productive church. These values are overarching themes of the New Testament. These values are inferred as well as plainly taught. I believe that becoming a Christian is not the end of the story but the beginning of a whole new life with a new set of challenges and victories to be had. At the church I am a part of we have a saying, “Christianity is a journey not a destination.” I believe that Christianity is about loving Christ and learning to be like him and to love his church. Grace leads me to the conclusion that I am to glorify God, to bring him joy and pleasure. As I look in the New Testament God reveals three great themes of what it means to journey with God. I am to be like Christ, to take on His character and to reflect His nature. I am called to community and to give myself to building up of the church. All the exhortations to godly character are worked out in the context of a local church. Unity is held up as the sure mark of Christian maturity. As believers we are called to live a missional life, Jesus has called us to co-labor with him in reaching every tribe and tongue. These are the things the Apostles believed and gave their lives for. This is foundation that the Church is to be built on. After 32 years of serving God these values still stir my soul, they still capture my imagination. I am thrilled to be in the game.

Death, Faith and Hope

It has been a very busy time and I have been under the weather so to speak. This last week I officiated two funerals and was struck how life is so short. One was for a 27 year old lady who lost her battle with diabetes and a 39 year old man whose heart just quit. I understand why the scripture describes death as an adversary. I sat with the extended family of the 39 year old for 12 hours in the ICU waiting room as events marched to the finial decision to end life support. It was clear that some had a quite confidence of faith and others could only see loss. The parents who have now seen the early death of two of their children sat in shock and quiet strength. There is a real and tangible pain in these moments. It is where the reality of faith is demonstrated. As I preformed the first service it was clear that some of the family had faith in Christ and that tempered their sorrow with very real hope. Their conversations were not filled with platitudes but with a strong conviction that the grace of God would prevail in the deceased life. Others struggled with the reality of death and the finality of it all. The same was true of the second funeral, the family took great comfort in the diaries of their daughter where she wrote of facing death with a brutal honesty and some times dark humor, but in it all there was a deep conviction that she would see Christ her savior. Through all of this the apostle Paul’s writing took on greater significance. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
(Rom 5:1-5 from New International Version)

Birds and Vision

I have been connecting with some old friends lately. I am so thankful for the foundations that many sowed in my life. It is a little disconcerting to see so many lose their sense of mission and love for the Church. When I am in the presence of God I sense His heart and love for the Church. It is like I can hear all of heaven cheering for God's people. When I study God's Word, I see the passion and commitment of the early church to planting and reaching out. How is it that so many become so discouraged and disconnected? The platitudes we so often use don't answer the question for me. These are good people who love Jesus, yet seem to be defined by disillusionment versus vision. I am more convinced of the call to build up the Church now than I have ever been. I remember Jim Durkin Sr. who in my opinion was a great man of God to restore and energize a generation told a story. He said, "if you want to grow in the purpose and vision of God then you must feed it. It is like a bird that sits on your front porch. You feed it when you go out and come in, day after day, week after week, year after year. One day you go out on your porch and the bird has grown large and swallows you." That is the story of my life. My early years in ministry were always viewed through the lens of how I personally felt about MY ministry. As I have served Christ these last 30 years I see that most of the disillusionment that I have experienced is because of a wrong focus. I remember a quote from a dear friend, Rob Barnes, "the answer to bad leadership, is good leadership, not no leadership." The failures of the Church or leaders are just that, failures of people, me included. I'm convinced that it is the Lord's heart for us to be part of the solution. It takes no skill or commitment to identify problems, but it takes great faith to love God's people who gather together in what is called the church. It is my conviction that God loves the Church in all its local expressions. It is an over arching theme of the Scripture. I can only hope that many who have become discouraged will find a renewed love for the purposes of God and shed the bonds of personal discouragement.