Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Building of A Church

Think what a local church would be like if its people were radically devoted to Christ, irrevocably committed to each other, and relentlessly dedicated to reaching those outside God’s family with the gospel of Christ. It would be a church against which the gates of hell could not prevail! It would be an unstoppable force for good in the community, an inspiration to other churches and a testimony to God’s unfailing grace.

The question is - is that church that I just described possible? And then, a little closer to home - Is it feasible to believe that I could unite with a group of other believers and see God use me to build that kind of a church?

As the pastor of Family Life Christian Fellowship, I had to ask myself those questions. Because, those answers determine how far I will be willing to go to see it happen. The answers show the level of my trust in God and the intensity of my faith in the calling that God has placed on my life.

Jim Cymbala makes a statement in his book "Fresh Wind Fresh Fire" that I think about whenever I sense myself settling for an average church or becoming content with good enough. He said this: "I despaired at the thought that my life might pass me by without God moving greatly on my behalf."

Good enough is not good enough when you add God into the mix. Good enough is what I can accomplish with all my talents and abilities and charisma. Why would anyone settle for that when there is a God that is waiting to include them in His eternal building plans? Why would anyone waste their life building a man-made church when God has offered us the opportunity to sacrifice our lives in the building of a God-made church?

The answer is - The God-made church, many times, takes longer. And, maybe the hardest part, the God-made church building plan always starts with the re-making and re-building and transformation of me.

One guy said: "oftentimes between a promise from God and the payoff of that promise, there's a painful process". As a church planter, I can say amen to that! But, I can also say if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change anything. Because God's way of building a church always makes the builders better not just what they are building. God builds His church by building men not buildings. And it is in that building of better men that better churches emerge.

The church God is wanting to build through me is in me. And the more I become a reflection of God in my own life the more God is reflected in the life of the church. So let the building begin and let it begin with me!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

You're a Hero!

If you read the article on my blog entitled "Heroes", which is right under this one, you'll see that Heroes play an important role in all of our lives. My prayer for everyone is that God would grant us the blessing of being touched and influenced by many heroes. Men and women who live their lives heroically around us and in front of us. But let me shift the focus in this article. Not only do you need heroes in your life, some people are probably going to need you to be a hero in theirs. Too Many times we forget to play our heroic roles in the lives of people that look up to us. We miss the opportunities God brings our way to impact and influence people we know and love. And that is just not right. You and I have what it takes to be a hero in someone's life.

So who is it in your sphere of influence that is needing you to stand up or show up right now? Who needs you to rise to the challenge, to sacrifice your time and money or to make that call? Who are the people around you that God is asking you to take a risk on? Who are the people that God wants you to care for or speak a word to? Who needs you to influence them?

I mean think about it. Every child needs a hero. Every wife is looking for a hero. Every husband wants to be married to a wife that plays her heroic role. The opportunities to be a hero are all around us. The disconnect is we don’t view ourselves as heroes. And the reason is, we don't really know what a hero looks like. We think heroes are people that have no fears or have no failure in their life. We think heroes are perfect people who have all the answers and possess all kinds of super human strength. And most of us know that's not us. So we play average roles in the lives of those around us. And because of that, we miss heroic opportunities and we fail to hear God's nudge to be play our heroic parts.

Look at this story from the Bible and notice what heroes really look like:

Eccl 9:13-18 (NLT)
13 Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. 14 There was a small town with only a few people living in it, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. 15 There was a poor, wise man living there who knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought any more about him.


The hero in this story had one ingredient that made him a hero - He knew what to do and he just simply got up and did it.

So what are the attributes and Characteristics of a HERO? Really there are just two things that that make someone a hero. (1) Clarity and (2) the irresistible urge to act.

A hero is a person who walks into a circumstance as big as war or as small as a relationship and they are able to see the situation for what it is. They see what others miss and they sense what needs to be done. And in that moment of clarity they act. They find the strength and courage to respond to the sense of urgency they feel.

Heroes are not people who have no fear. They are not always famous or popular. They are not always the strongest or outwardly the ones who seem to be the most confident. Heroes are people - who have clarity about who they are and what needs to be done. And out of that clarity they are compelled to act. Heroes are people who, like the story from the Bible, see with CLARITY what needs to be done. And they do it.

I think there are a lot of Heroes out there that will read this article and be challenged. Challenged enough, I hope, to realize that they know what needs to be done. They just need to get up and go do it.

May God give all of us the courage to be the heroes He is wanting us to be. Now get up and go be a Hero!

Heroes

We as a culture are amazingly enamored with our heroes. We have sports heroes, action heroes, super heroes, fictional book heroes, war heroes, movie heroes and Bible heroes. There's even a chapter in the Bible we have affectionately named the "Heroes of Faith" chapter - Hebrews 11. Heroes are just a natural part of our lives. We look for them and try to be like them and we love to talk about them. Really though, this infatuation we all have with heroes is not a new phenomenon. Regardless of your background, culture or religion every generation and nationality and organization has had a propensity towards finding and emulating and looking up to heroes. Every discovered culture is filled with writings and drawings and stories of Heroes. Heroes are as old and common as time itself. It's almost as if God himself designed us with a desire to look up to, and want to be influenced by, others - Heroes


Basically heroes are people who did the right thing at the right time. They are people who responded and or reacted correctly in the midst of a crisis. They are people who did something courageous. They stepped up in a hard situation. They intervened when circumstances seemed hopeless. They are people who metaphorically – snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat.


Now Some of those heroes and their stories we can all recall. like the firefighters on 9/11. General George Washington and the war for Independence. President Lincoln and the war to end slavery or Martin Luther King Jr and his non-violent protests for equality. Others are not so famous – nationally - but personally they are hero’s just the same. Like a dad or a mom that sacrificed to make our lives better. A teacher or a friend that just understood what to say and when to say it. Some single mom that raised you or a boss at work that helped lead you. Hopefully, in all of our personal lives there has been someone who stepped in and showed care and concern when we needed it. Someone who helped, who gave a hand or met a need. Someone who in our lives has lived their lives, heroically.


For me this thought came clear again when I heard about the tragic death of my friend Tim Foster, this past week. Tim wasn't perfect and for sure he had his weaknesses. But, for me he was a hero. When I was completing my Bible college degree and praying and really seeking to discover what and where God was going to lead me next. It was Tim that stepped in and really opened a door that launched my ministry. Tim found me in the prayer room one morning and asked me if I would like to speak at his singles retreat. Now, at that point in my life I was not a good speaker nor was I a guy that had much experience working with single adults. But Tim said he just sensed that I had "IT". He wasn't concerned about all the other stuff. He felt confident that God had a call on my life and that I was the guy. That singles retreat and Tim's belief in me led to a discussion about my future which caused Tim to call, on my behalf, his father, "The Doctor", who pastored a church in West Monroe, his sister Debbie who was a youth pastor and his brother Tom who pastored a church in Dallas. They all, because of Tim's recommendation, invited me to come and preach for them. And that began my ministry.


The point is Tim was the guy who stepped up and stepped in to my life and became a hero to me. He let God use him to say some simple words and do a simple thing like call his family on my behalf. And in the end, those words and those calls changed everything for me. They gave me confidence and a direction. They introduced me to people that were ready to take me from where I was to the next level. And to think it all started because Tim saw in me something that made him move in my direction. Tim sensed something that made him take a risk on me and because of that risk he opened a door that has forever changed my life. Tim that morning in 1992 became my hero.


So who is your hero? Who do you look up to? Who has played a heroic role in your life? I encourage you to sit down and write a note to them - TODAY. Don't wait, like I did, until they are gone. take the time to say thank-you and let that person know they are a hero in your eyes.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Read this article - Modesty Revisited

Check out this article entitled "Modesty Revisited" - simply awesome
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001513.cfm

Clarity

As a result of me messing around with my boys with my glasses on, they were damaged. The good news is, I shop at Costco, which means every thing's covered. Took them in, the Costco guy repaired them, and I'm back in business just like that. What struck me about this whole experience was this though. When the man took my glasses to repair them for me, I was without them for about 20 minutes. I never knew I was so blind, or to think about it another way, I never realized how much clarity I had thanks to my glasses.

Don't we all do this in our lives as well. We never consider how much clarity we do have. Clarity that has been gained through all the lessons we've learned and experiences we've endured and principles we've picked up along the way. We never consider how much God's grace and love and Spirit is doing for us. That is, until it's gone or we fail to use what we have.

As I walked around Costco, I was reminded what a horrible life it would be if I was really that blind all the time. I mean I couldn't make out the writing or faces any further away than 15 feet. I felt very limited and weak. It made me become very narrow in my focus. I only looked at or tried to view things that were right in front of me. There was no point in lifting my eyes up to see the whole store or even the whole isle I was in. I couldn't see. I had become very limited in my vision. What a weird felling that was.

I was so happy to get my glasses back, and thankful for the Costco policy that just repairs and replaces things without any questions. And when I put them on - hallelujah, just like that, I could see the store and the people and the all the stuff I wanted to buy. (that last part is not good, I have to fight the urge to splurge when I'm at Costco, anyone know what I'm talking about?) The point is - I have something that provides me an incredible amount of clarity, and I am thankful for them. How they look on me is secondary to what they do for me.

So what is it in your life that, you have right now, that is providing clarity for you. let's not talk about the area's that you are unclear in. let's stay focus on what you do have, what you have learned, and what God has provided. I think all of us have a lot more clarity than we realize. we just need to recognize it, value it, and use it.