Sunday, July 18, 2010

A FB friend, and former student that I worked with in collegiate ministry, quoted Proverbs 3:5-6 the other day. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
Good advice for us. Trust in God--place your hope, your future, your plans, your life in His hands. Do it with all you are and all you have. Lean not on your own understanding--instead of trusting your own self, trust God. Realize how limited you and I are in relation to an unlimited God. God sees the big picture--I see a very small part of the puzzle. In all your ways acknowledge Him--Give God His rightful place, recognize Him in all the situations of life, and seek to 'know' Him personally. When He has His rightful place in your life, then other things will fall into place where they should be. And coming to know God better and better is a life impacting series of events. He will make your paths straight--I remember the tangled way we used to drive from my home to my grandmother's house--curves, turns, stops--no direct route. But when they put interstate 57 in, the road was very straight and the trip took considerably less time. What an easy and wonderful trip it became. God tries to make the curves and turns and twists of our life into a straight path, if we would just trust Him above our own insights and give Him His rightful place in our lives.
So which do you want--twists and getting sidetracked or the shortest and easiest path? Trust God.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

spiritual gifts

What if the church really operated from spiritual gifts? Those that do today are growing. When one is not only gifted (as every Christian is) but also using his/her gifts out of the passion that God has given them, what great things can be accomplished.

There are nights when I've used my gift of teaching or facilitating a small group, and I come home pumped. God makes it a joy to use what He has put into us for His glory and to build up the body of Christ.

Why do we settle for less? So often we don't want to serve. So often we don't know what our spiritual gift is. So often our churches have not taught about spiritual gifts because we have seen abuses, like in the Corinthian letter, and overcorrected by being in control rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to be in control. So out of our fear, we have set up nominating committees to fill slots rather than God's people coming to the forefront to use their gifts for God. When we fill slots instead of having people utilizing their spiritual gifts, we get committees and believers that are not effective nor enjoying the Christian life and service like they could and should. Hence we fight more and cause the kingdom of Christ to be hurt more than helped.

Where are believers who serve God out of not duty but out of love for Christ and God? When we see that, what a difference is made in the Kingdom of God!

Master of my fate

Watched Invictus with Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as captain of the South African rugby team. Very inspiring movie as Mandela didn't attempt retribution toward those who kept him in prison for 27 years but tried to pull his country together when he was elected president. He stood up against those black and white who felt he was leading in the wrong way, including his own wife.

Good on leadership as we see him leading by serving and being a model for others to follow. I didn't appreciate the language--either the bad language nor the fact that their South African accents were hard to understand and follow for me, at times. But the movie was worth watching because of Mandela's leadership and the inspiration he brought to others. He inspired the captain of the rugby team to get the team to excel above their expectations.

Some people demand others to respect them; others command respect by their modeling and respect and humility they show to others. It also shows the need for forgiveness and working toward reconciliation. Often what we do should be for the good of others, not just ourselves.

Another feel-good story similar to The Blind Side. Christian values are present in the movie and the value of one person working to do what he can to make things happen. God is the Master of our fate, but he wants us to allow His values to change us as we cooperate with Him in mastering the world.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Way More Like Jesus

I need to be way more like Jesus. More like Him in compassion. More like him in searching for lost. More like His gentle quiet way while at the same time standing up for what is right. There is a right way and a wrong way to do that, and I admire the way He did that. Always in control even when it looked like He was out of control (He wasn't).

I've always loved the believers in the Berean church in Acts. They "searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so." They didn't just believe because someone else believed or taught that way. But they looked for themselves, and they checked things out from the Scriptures. That is a mix of faith and thinking, and I like that. I've tried to do that.

I want the church I pastor to be that kind of church. Don't just believe everything I say (I am human). Check it out for yourself. I believe that too would be the way of Jesus, and certainly the way to be more like Jesus. I want that--do you?

Underdogs

I lose a lot! I love to watch sports, and I find myself generally being for the underdog. Because the underdog is the underdog, I lose a lot. But that's ok, because when the underdog wins, what a great thing! What a celebration! What a great feeling--it often brings tears to my eyes. (I also am very emotional at times.)
Last night, my wife and I watched the movie, "The Blind Side." Though I didn't like some of the language in the move, it was a great story of an underdog. I teared up, at times. Based on a true story, a boy from the projects in Memphis, and a rich family that took him in. He went from homelessness and little future to excelling in high school and football, to college, and eventually to pro football. Not only did the family that took him in help bring out the best in him, but a woman who tutored him did also.
There are lots of people in our world who are underdogs. They need someone--some of us with more--to tutor or disciple them--to take them under our wings and help them learn a different way of living. Unfortunately, it is far easier for me to condemn than to help!
It is great when the underdog wins, and it's great when they live life better. But it takes some caring, concerned people to do that. To me, that would be a Christian!