Where You Are Going Matters

In august of 2010, Rebecca and I committed to be part of a vision God had for the Colonial Heights, Tri-cities area and it left us wondering many things, but in a lot of ways, fulfilled a huge dream of ours that we had been simmering on over the last couple of years.

This dream and vision is: Destination Church. There are many churches in our area and many well meaning people, but when looking at statistics of Chesterfield County and surrounding areas, it appears there are more people than ever, wandering about spiritually, unsure of their final Destination.

The launch date for this new church is February 20th and the date is approaching quickly. When a dream is far off, it is often easy to forget or sit back and wait. After all, in a lot of ways, you are merely saving the date. When the new year hit, it became incredibly obvious, we have a lot of work to do. From raising up leaders, to finding the perfect coffee and donut vendors, to equalizing the perfect sound system that the gospel will be proclaimed through time and time again, many man hours are put into this dream with one assumption in mind.

This is not just my dream. Or yours. Or even Bryan Briggs, lead pastor of Destination Church. This is God's vision for our area. His vision to see countless people to come to know Christ in a real and personal way. This is God's vision for soldiers and college students and 20-somethings to not just acquire a little fire insurance but to become fully devoted followers of Christ. After all, the great commission had one specific goal in mind. Make disciples.

Like a newborn baby, we are all anxious to see it. The birth of a new church. With a new church, fresh bopes, fresh dreams. It will be tons of work, no question, but the eternal dividends it will pay off will be far worth the investments made. And like a baby, it's worth losing a little sleep over. If you have a moment, as you read this, just stop and say a prayer for us, as we are taking back some of the enemies' stomping grounds.

We believe that where you are going matters. How you get there will be determined by what direction you are headed now.

I just don't have enough to give

Within the last week, for some reason, my reading of God's word has drawn me to Matthew and I had the opportunity to read the account of the feeding of 5,000 plus people by Jesus and his 12 disciples. It's simply baffling that this was an actual event in history, but this is reported to be the only miracle that is recorded in all 4 gospels and it made a mark on the disciples that I believe had to be shared.

As I read the account this time, I could not help but be drawn to feelings I often have when doing ministry. Jesus asked his disciples to feed the people. He didn't want them to go to other sources or towns or restaurants, even though it was getting late, he wanted them to feed his sheep. There have been many times when I have felt like I haven't had enough to give and felt inadequate to feed or counsel or minister to a friend or stranger or situation and said the same to Jesus. I only have 5 loaves and 2 fish. I don't just have 5 pieces of bread, they are barley at that!

But in these moments, at it gets me every time I listen to God's Spirit whispering, I'm reminded that it is not my position to multiply the bread. That's Jesus' job. He knows it. I need to remember it. What he does ask me to do is to bring what little I have to the table as a sacrifice for the purpose of influencing people from him.

After the breaking of the bread, Jesus commands his disciples to give the bread to the crowds. This is yours and my task, to then spread the words of God's love and healing and mercy. There is no question in my mind that there were more than 5,000 present if you add women and children into the mix of this account. This was still, even though Christ multiplied the bread, an exhausting task. They had to walk from group to group and hand out a lot of stinking food. As the account closes, Jesus has a promise that he wants to remind his disciples. There are leftovers.

As exhausting as it is to pour your lives into people, Jesus asks us to do it every day without regard to whether or not we will see an outcome to the ministry. His promise, I believe in this account is that there will always be left overs for us. There will always be enough grace to go around and come back to you.

I'm sure the disciples towards the end were wondering if there would be enough after all this work for them, but sure enough as they gathered what was left over, 12 baskets, full. You know Peter was thinking, "Sweet! I get to eat now!" But it is important for those who want to invest in others, you need to know that your live of give, give, give is worth every minute and that God wants to always make sure you have enough for you as well.

A word of encouragement. Make your lives about people. It will hurt and it will leave a mark (aka. there will be scars). Don't focus on your inadequecies, but focus on your savior who pours into your life time and time again without regard to your past failures.

New Years Resolution

So it has been too long. Last year I had made 2 actual resolutions but carried out only one. My resolution to begin blogging ended with 7 total blog entries for the entire year. Of course tons has happened that I have to talk about, but gotta get this one out of the way first. The second resolution to read 12 total books, 1 book a month did very well and I ended up reading a total of 24 books. Crazy!

This next years resolution since I obiously cannot multitask. I want to commit to 1 blog a week and we'll see how it goes. I will begin the first week of January.

In general, we all miss the mark. Whether it's with goals, or direction, it's important to set the bar high because we rise and fall to meet expectations. The higher the expectations, the higher the actual performance or something like that.

Good Friday

good friday
such a strange name for such a dark day
unusual, yes
cruel, yes
good, hardly
and yet there is something so disturbingly kind.

for through his act
we see he has made his mercy his crown
not merely his justice.

very rarely has anyone truly sacrificed for us.
what he did for me
more often than not
we have bailed
as other have on us.

yet he drank deeply
the cup of suffering
for you
for me

and this is very good news
his victory we'd experience later
but for now
his atonement is more than enough.

You Are Worth It

I was laying in bed last night saying goodnight to my girl when it struck me. No, I don't think it was the audible voice of God, but sometimes a word from God comes and it's for someone. It's as if you are the post office or UPS and your "soul" purpose is to deliver the message. So in the dark, I told Rebecca that this might sound a little crazy, but that I thought she needed to hear it.

God wants you to know that you are worth it.
You are worth the nights and days he has spent dreaming about you.
You are worth the time and energy he has invested in you.
You are worth the hopes and dreams he has for you.

He is anxious to see you discover his hopes and dreams for you.

You are worth it Rebecca. God wants you to know it.

They seem like simple words, and each word is like a seed, either having an opportunity to grow or not. One thing is for sure, If I had held those little seeds of truth in, I would have done a terrible service to my God and to my wife who deserves reminders like that.

Christ has not called off the Rescue Mission

It has been 4 weeks from the day that Haiti had one of it's worst days in history. Thousands of people lost their lives and still thousands are still wondering how their lives will have been changed forever.

I'm not actually even sure when they did this, but rescue efforts were called off formally. This was at least a couple of weeks ago. Then this story shows up. Miracle Survivor. February 10th. Hard to imagine the thoughts and feelings going through this man's head right now, but 4 weeks after, he is rescued and efforts were made to ensure his survival. I don't even know his name. Yet I am drawn to hear more about a man who spent 4 weeks beneath steel and concrete and is now breathing clean air again. Someone wanted this man alive.

Here's my conviction. Millions of people live in the eternal emergency state of "LoST". I don't think anyone called off a rescue but we live as if the search and rescue has been called off. We live as if our every day sort of living is all that matters to us while the very air we breathe is the strength and life God gives. Yes, some of the people we run into have chosen to be lost. They choose to not read the signs. They breathe the same air God has given as an everyday grace while scoffing in his face.

Here's the deal. Our commander and savior is Jesus Christ. He is the one in charge of the rescue mission. You may be tired. You may have been injured. But our commander has not called off the mission. Search. Speak. Live as a Rescuer. Because as I was reminded this week, it is never too late to pull someone from the rubble of their life and allow them to see the sunlight of another day...this time in gratitude to their savior and new commander: Jesus Christ.

Reading List for 2010

I am a firm believer in reading books for the purpose of personal growth. I enjoy reading books on leadership and spirtuality and find that keeping up with new books is a great way of stretching your perspective on not just how to manage and lead employees but also how to live life and of course look for more illustrations on how to express God's truths. I certainly hope to read more this year than the 13 I've listed, but these are the books I'm hoping to finish by the end of 2010.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Life Together by Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzler
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
Primal by Mark Batterson
Defying Gravity by Daniel Henderson
Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels
No Compromise by Melody Green
Why We Aren't Emergent by Kevin DeYoung
A Million Miles in One Thousand Miles by Donald Miller
Master Planning by Bobb Biehl
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
Six Sigma for Dummies by Craig Gygi

There have been a number of books recommended to me and I would love to hear about what you are reading, but this is my current list. I'm looking forward to the new year and I hope you are as excited as I am about what God has planned for this one.