It’s pretty easy for me to start focusing on the things “not going right” instead of all the amazing things God has already done… It’s easy to mistake “drama” in our story for an unhappy ending. That is, until you consider all the “small” miracles that when “woven” together are the unmistakable fingerprint of our creator. I think I’m gonna have to make a list…how about you?
Monthly Archives: September 2007
What can't you stand???
I’ve been reading the new Bill Hybels book, Holy Discontent, and it asks one very important question. “What can’t you stand?” Bill has a theory (and I “buy into it”) that every person who “changed their world” from Moses to Mother Theresa was initially motivated by a situation that they considered intolerable. He theorizes that ordinary people can work in concert with all-powerful God, when we our view of injustice and human suffering lines up with God’s. This principle truly came into focus yesterday at church as I listened to Pastor David interview an HIV positive African woman who started an AIDS awareness and relief organization because she could not stand to see so many of her family and community die of the disease. I always walk away from a service at LCBC inspired…but I thought this week was amazing.
So what is it that you find intolerable? What can’t you stand? Moses couldn’t stand to see his people brutalized. Mother Theresa couldn’t stand to see the poor literally dying in the gutters of Calcutta. Harriet Tubman couldn’t stand the idea of her people being enslaved. What is it that moves you past tears into action?
I can’t stand the idea that hundreds of thousands of people in York County alone are missing out on a life of purpose and meaning and an eternity of reward…I truly cannot tolerate the idea that many of these people are “missing out” because the “bride” of Jesus has become so self-absorbed and “out of shape” that she (the church) is many times irrelevant and “unattractive” to our community. I want more that anything for actionchurch to be able to provide another “alternative” for the lost, letdown, and looking , the “outsiders” of our community to truly experience the love of Jesus. I “cannot stand” the thought of that not happening.
We are currently looking for others who can’t stand the idea of church being irrelevant and boring. We need people who cannot tolerate people not feeling welcomed and “invited” to church. We need people who can’t stand the Idea that children are being bored and turned off to the “greatest story ever told”. We need people who can’t stand the idea that the creator of music would not have the very best at gatherings supposing to honor him. We need people who cannot stand the idea that the church would not use the very best technology has to offer to further our cause. We need people who can’t tolerate the thought of the church thinking that it is enough to “teach” people without first meeting their physical needs. What can’t you stand?
"Corrosion"
I spent most of my Saturday putting new brake pads and rotors on the family SUV. It’s a pretty mechanically simple job and since brakes aren’t covered under warranty, and the dealership wanted eleventy billion dollars (their exact quote) for the job, I gladly took the job on. I actually was in a warped way looking forward to the job since I am usually found working on some 40+ year old rusty, crusty, VW. I actually thought working on a clean, 3 year old, vehicle would be a “piece of cake”. I was wrong…
Corrosion had already set in, even on this relatively new , pampered vehicle. Every bolt was a struggle, every possible part was “stuck”. I spent at least 2 hours of the day just beating on the brake rotors with a very large hammer to “persuade” them to come off even after all the bolts were removed.
I think our hearts are like that. I think it takes a very short time to become “corroded” and “hardened”, and a whole lot of “persuasion” by God’s Spirit to “soften” us. I think in a very short time we can become cynical. I think in a very short time we can lose hope. I think in a very short time we can lose our “childlike” faith that in “partnership with our creator” we can actually change the world. I think our lives are filled with “corrosive agents” that make it very hard for God to do his “work” in our lives… I know it’s something I have to deal with every day. How about you?
12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. Hebrews 3:12-13 nlt
Elk Creek lift off!
Please pray for Elk Creek Church in Oxford, PA. They are a great Church launching tomorrow morning at 10:30. Mike Silliman and “crew” are truly creating a “service church” and not a “serve-us” church. I am really thankful to have Mike as a friend…he has been so generous in sharing what they have learned along the road to “lift off”. Check out his blog (here) if you would like to follow along.
Godspeed Elk Creek! Oxford won’t “know what hit them”!
The "downside" of more…
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 nlt
What an amazing scripture! God wants to do “more and better” things than we can even ask for or imagine. It’s true, and it “really works”! If you’ve spent time in church you’ve probably heard a minister talk about this passage…its so inspiring! Here’s the part you have probably never heard a “preacher type” talk about: There is a period of time between not getting what you asked for and things not turning out like you thought- before God shows up with the “better” and “more”, that really really really Sucks!
That’s right! In order for God to give you something that is more than you ask for-there will first be a time when you do not get what you asked for! In order for God to make things better than you ever imagined- there will first be times when things don’t turn out the way you “thought they would”, at all! It’s painful! You can be praying with all your heart and be “certain” that you know things are going to turn out “well”, and God simply says “N0” because he has a better plan.
I am so freakin‘ thankful that God would allow me to be part of actionchurch. I am overwhelmed by the people I meet that have been “waiting” to “meet Jesus in a nightclub”. I am pumped about the great people God is sending to be on part of our “team”. It’s “way better than I could have imagined or asked for”, and I wouldn’t want to be anyplace else in the world. In order to get “here” though, I had to experience “not getting what I asked for or imagined”. A year ago I was fired from my associate minister position at a church I had poured my heart, time, and resources for nearly five years. The church had grown and I thought my focus on bringing new people into the church made me an integral part of the team. What I didn’t “imagine” or “ask for” is that our new “growth” made “outreach” unnecessary in the eyes of the church leadership. Their “classroom” was full so they could get back to “teaching the word”. No need to continue using the creative “tactics” and “methods” that had brought the new people. I disagreed of course, so I was deemed “unnecessary” and tossed. I can look back now and say that was the best thing that God has ever done for me…but it still “stung” at the time.
Right now my heart is breaking for some people I love and respect who are currently experiencing not getting what they “ask for”…and certainly things not turning out the way they thought. Maybe that’s the part of life you are in also? I wish I had better advice than this but “hang on“! Don’t let becoming bitter keep you from receiving the “better” that God has for you! But most of all…even though it seems like it now…realize it is not over! “Infinitely more” is on the way.