Tag: Vision

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As long as you are proud you cannot...

(Photo is random from Photo.net)

"In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself.  Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all.  As long as you are proud you cannot know God.  A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you."

This is one of my favorite quotes in the whole book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

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My urgency

As I'm in the final stages of preparing for camp (staff & counselors head down today at 2:00) I can't help but think about the challenge Mark Beeson laid out to all who attended the GCC Men's Retreat '08 last fall.  He was speaking out of John 1:41-42 where Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus.  He challenged us to "bring a brother to Jesus...because we never know what that person could be or what they could do for the Kingdom."  This came after a weekend of talking about how Jesus is the one who transforms our lives and if we can get people to Jesus their lives would never be the same. In all of his messages that weekend there was a sense of urgency about bringing people to Jesus and I too (NOW ESPECIALLY) feel this urgency to bring our students to Jesus.   As I've been dreaming about our students preferred future, the revolving preface is this:  If we can just get them to JESUS.... My heart for both weeks of Camp, and the week that I'm speaking for Pinelake Church's Camp, is that I can do whatever it takes (with the strength I have and the power of the Holy Spirit) to bring these students to a place where they can encounter Jesus. It's not about my message, it's not about my ability to say the right things, it's not about how good our band sounds, it's not whether or not the facilities great, what the food tastes like, what the elements of fun are.....it's about trying to get them to Jesus and sincerely asking Jesus Christ the Lord of All to touch the lives of each and every person there.  IT MATTERS!  HE MATTERS.  

As teachers, pastors, preachers, etc. it's easy to get lost in our own creative ability to communicate on behalf of Jesus but shame on us if we put more emphasis on our ability to speak for Jesus and completely miss that it's HIS transforming love that does any and everything in the hearts of those listening!!!!

I believe God's been with me in my message prep time, he's laid on my heart what he wants me to say, but now it's GAMETIME and I feel this strong urgency to bring these students to Jesus!  Almost to the point of nervousness.  I've been trained (by playing sports) to be poised, but let me tell you, what I believe God is going to do this summer is SO BIG that if i didn't get nervous, I would questions whether i really even believe God is capable of fulfilling this dream.  So I'm actually pretty nervous...not timid, not scared, not frightened, not afriad....but nervous! I am aware of a fraction of how big our God is and THAT brings me to a deeper sense of awe, wonder, and amazement!

Mark finished the Mens' retreat with this challenge: "In the next 4 years can you bring 1 person to Jesus."

Well this sumer, between our camp and 1 other camp, I will have the task and burden of humbly attempting to bring over 600 students & counselors to an encounter with Jesus...God I need you, help me to hear your voice and obey, thank you that I am yours and you've given me everything I need to share your Word this summer.

If you'd be praying that Jesus Christ would intersect our space and dwell with us at camp and do His work in our lives, I'd greatly appreciate it!

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Life isn't about waiting...

My dad sent me this quote sometime last week and it fit in perfect the other day as I was sitting on my back porch listening to the rain.

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." - Unknown.

Ephesians 5:15 encourages us to 'be very careful how you live, making the most of your time.' God knows we've had a lot of "storms" in my family as I was growing up and I got to personally watch my parents "dance in the rain".   My parents are two of the greatest inspirations in my life!  They make my life so much better and make me better.  Thanks for all you've done for me mom and dad! I love you!

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If you haven't read this, you should.

This post was right on the money.  This topic has been on my mind for a LOOOONG time and Tony did a great job of throwing some obvious truth into the mix of things to think about.

Here's a glimpse:

"While the church still leans on a mix of rock and pop music as the preferred worship genre, our culture has shifted once again. Now, according to iTunes, 1 in 3 of the top 100 songs in the country is either hip-hop/rap or R&B/soul. My guess, though, is that you can’t name a church in the country that’s using these genres of music for worship. Why is that? Now, before you let your “it’s-not-our-culture” bias set in, consider this. Most of the hip-hop and R&B music has been recorded by black artists. 14% of the U.S. population is black. But, remember, nearly one-third of the music purchased on iTunes is one of these two genres. You do the math. White people like hip-hop."

Later in the post he wrote...

The people making decisions about music choices in services don’t prefer this style of music. And, don’t we all know, preferences drive decisions in churches.

Churches are not hiring worship leaders (or raising up volunteers) who can authentically lead worship with these genres of music.

Christian artists aren’t recording music that reflects what our culture is listening to.

Churches don’t know the culture they’re trying to reach. If a third of the country is buying hip-hop or R&B music, you’d think at least one church would be trying to use that style of music to reach those people for Jesus.

  Read more: HERE

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Are you willing to stand with Him through it all?

(Photo from Daily Dose of Imagery)

John 6:66 "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."   Everyone knows the captain is supposed to go down with his ship. It is a sign of loyalty, a sign of courage. Many of Jesus' early followers later came to think that he was a sinking ship. And because Jesus challenged his followers and told them that they would face difficulties, even more of them abandoned the ship and doubted whether following him was the right thing to do. Following Jesus was not easy back then, and it hasn't gotten any easier today. Jesus challenges us and tells us that we're going to face difficult times. The question is: are we willing to stand with him through it all? The followers who left Jesus missed out on the amazing things he did while he was here on earth. But those who stayed with him had a front row seat to the greatest events in history. And they became part of the movement of Christ that literally changed the world. So when you begin to doubt whether following Jesus is the right thing to do, think back to those first followers. Look to their example and remember that even when times get tough, Jesus is there to take you to places you have never gone before and he wants to show you things you have never seen. Follow him, trust in him, and let Jesus give you a life you never dreamed possible. (I got this devo from Ed Young Minstries)

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discipleship carries an option

Brooke and I were reading our devotional this past week and this really hit me because of what we're called to do. These are two different thoughts from the devo by Oswald Chambers:

"One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God than one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit" - Oswald Chambers

"Wholly devoted" vs "simply awakened" (there's a sermon in there!)

"Unless the worker lives a life hidden with Christ in God, he is apt to become an irritating dictator instead of an indwelling disciple. Many of us are dictators, we dictate to people and to meetings. Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced it with an "IF," never with an emphatic assertion - "You must." Discipleship carries an option with it."

We have the high challenge of preaching God's word in such a way that it casts a compelling enough vision for students that they would WANT to be a disciple of Jesus.  This sobers me because just because I'm preaching doesn't mean students are being discipled. My job is not to dictate God's Word but to LIVE IT first, then preach it in such a way that provokes/prompts discipleship in our students hearts.  In my mind, that's different than telling student what they NEED to do, or what they SHOULD do.  

I believe this generation WANTS to opt-in to God's call on their life but they also don't want to be CORNERED into it.

Sometimes us preachers have a way of making God's amazing unchanging Word BORING or MUNDANE even though we know it's not.  After this devo I was challenged to work harder, longer, prayer more, study more or do whatever it takes to disciple as Jesus discipled. Are you committed to doing that for yourself...and your students?

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Best questions I've asked this year

Yesterday at SWAT (our all-staff meeting) I was so inspired by some things that Mark Beeson said that I was compelled to write this post. (None of this is stuff he said, but it's where my mind went as he was helping us understand the difference between "Purposes" and "Values".) These are some of the questions I've been asking myself over the course of this school year.  I hope they serve you well.

1. What am I truly convinced about? (Sometimes I think I know more than I do.)
2. How rigorously do I check out whatever I put my trust in, whether fact or system or teaching? (One of my biggest pet peeves is watching people put their trust in things they've never "checked out" or taking the time to see if they're even trustworthy.)
3. How openly do I base my actions on my convictions? (Do I LIVE, what I BELIEVE!)
4. How ready am I to change them if the evidence moves against me? (Do I provide space for GOD or VISION to change my mind.)

I've heard these questions in various forms throughout my life and for some reason they all popped up this semester and have been challenging me.  These questions help me stay clear on my vision, my direction, and what God's called me to.

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From one of the best

This is from one of the best vision casters I've ever heard:

“Effective visions provide context, give purpose, and establish meaning. They inspire people to mobilize, to act, to move in the same direction… Every good leader realizes that effective visions cannot be forced upon the masses. Rather they must be set in motion by means of inspiration.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

This is something I'm constantly working on but thought it might be helpful to share.