“For
God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the
saints.”
 
 I had to remind
myself of that today. In pursuit of God’s next step for our family, many
questions have come up. Many of those questions have not been answered, and the
process of living with unanswered questions is becoming taxing. While God will
not confuse us, his plan for us can be a winding path that takes families on a
ride where the end cannot be seen. This does not mean the end is not coming,
but that the ride is not over.
 
So is the case for us. When have come to another fork in the
road. We have prayed for closed doors throughout our journey. God has answered
that prayer; our door to Willow has closed. We have asked for other doors to be
opened for us, two more have. The first I know is not a place for our family,
the second perhaps could be.
 
Doc taught me to “keep the main thing the main thing.” The
main thing in our pursuit of God’s will we glean what he is trying to show us,
and be patient enough to “keep on keeping on.”

God's Presence

One amazing privilege I have happened tonight. There are times here at LU where the spirit of the Lord moves so strong, He changes the face of a service in a moment. It takes a open heart to understand when this happens. Tonight it did. People were saved tonight, not because of preaching, not because of performance, not because of technology, tonight people were saved because the Spirit of the Lord moved among his people.

“Forever author of salvation he rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave.”

There have been several times in my tenure here at LU where I have been in a service like this one. I praise God for these opportunities. Not everyone is able to experience the spirit in such a mighty way.

Thank you Lord.

Mid-Month Meltdown

Today, Oswald Chambers wrote:

"We are always looking for justice, yet the essence of the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is— Never look for justice, but never cease to give it."

For a long time now, I have been subconsciously keeping record of injustice. I felt as though I worked really hard and that those around me do not appreciate the work. Or suffice it to say that I don't feel the hard work reciprocated.

I have become very bitter about this.

This passage above, which is just the closing thought from Chambers. Well I don't think I need to say anymore. The passage is pretty much a direct rebuke from God for the way that I feel. The difficult part will be explaining this to anyone else.

Signs of great Leadership

"my role is all about finding high capacity people with great hearts and getting them the resources they need so together we can help people meet Jesus."

Tim Stevens- Granger Community Church

If one is a student of leadership, this man is all over what he should be doing. Let me point out a couple of things.

1. Put the right people in the right seats: "Find high capacity people with great hearts"
2. Empower the people to succeed: "getting them the resources"
3. Casting the Vision: "together we can help people meet Jesus"

These are three of the many steps that make an effective leader. So much other leadership theory goes on top of these three simple things. Is it any wonder, with this caliber of leadership, Why Granger Community Church is impacting people the way it is?

Culturally Revelevant

I was reading Mark Waltz's blog this morning and came across a post that sparked a thought pattern. Mark was sharing a word of wisdom from his pastor.

"We are not helping people convert to our culture; we are helping them convert to Christ."

This brings a major discussion point up. Please understand that my thoughts here are not an effort to shoot wholes in this profound quote. I'm just trying to unwrap the whole thing.

The Pastor here was talking about not trying to convert the lost to the culture of the church I think, but rather convert the lost to followers of Christ. However, the church has a distinct culture. So much so that the local church has to change its ways to remain relevant to the culture of the lost. The major debate right now in the creative church movement is how to remain relevant to the lost to obtain the opportunity to evangelize. But then Pastor Beeson here points out that we are not to convert the lost to the culture of the church. I guess its just a byproduct of Christian living. The same Christian Living that the lost call legalistic. Seems like a no win battle.

I think I'm missing something here...