Of Vision… and Outhouses
(This week’s Touching Base was written by Jamie Stinson, Bethel’s new Director of Family Ministries)
Early Monday morning I headed out with my new team to the “Kotch-a-Pad”, a beautiful cottage in Kaladar owned by our fearless leader, Pastor Mark. Having only been on staff at Bethel as the Family Ministries Director for a grand total of 10 days, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
After arriving and unpacking, followed by a quick tour that highlighted the outhouse, we wasted no time diving into the task at hand. Over the course of the two days, we wrestled through many topics, including a discussion on the importance of emotionally healthy leaders, our shared vision for Bethel, and a variety of ministry action plans.
We challenged each other, prayed for each other, served meals to each other, watched leadership videos and cleared our heads by taking short walks. We laughed together after supper as we watched a Christian comedian. We lived in community for 30 hours, shared our hearts and committed to support each other in ministry. Although there are some things that happened at the cottage that will stay at the cottage, like Mark’s bad outhouse jokes, there are some insights I’d like you to know about this team of which I have become a part.
First of all, I have quickly realized that I am on a team that bleeds “vision”. Bill Hybels defines vision as “a picture of a preferred future that produces passion.”
We are all becoming very familiar with our purpose statement here at Bethel, which is to ‘love God passionately, and serve others significantly.” To accomplish this we are committed to:
Growing in intimacy with God
Growing in intimacy with others
Growing in acts of service
As a team we are committed to this kingdom vision. We feel it deeply and we are dedicated to making sure that everything we do at Bethel revolves around it. Why? Because we recognize that life change can and will continue to happen in transformational ways if we remain faithful to this simple yet strategic vision.
Second, I believe I am on a team that is on the ground level with the potential of becoming an unstoppable “God movement”… but this leadership team has no hope of fulfilling this mandate alone.
As we embrace and model this preferred future, it is our prayer that the wonderful people at Bethel will ignite with passion as well! We are going to need everything you have to give…
your talents and creativity…
your prayers….
your money,
and most of all, your time.
Then together, as we invite God to come into our midst and ask for His heart for the lost, I am confident that God will use us to transform Bethel into a place where all generations are empowered to radically transform their culture for Christ.
So thank you for allowing me to join the Bethel team. I’m excited to become a part of what God is doing in your midst.
And when you are this excited, you can put up with a lot… even Mark’s bad jokes.
Jamie
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Touching Base! Part 37
One Service Is A Breeze
So how did you like going back to one service last Sunday? I can hear some saying, “It was great to see people that I didn’t even know came to Bethel. It is so much easier doing ministry or organizing ministry for just one service…”, “I feel like Bethel is a much warmer, friendlier church, easier to get to know people with one service…”, “It feels like the good old days...” However, I can hear others saying “I like the 11a.m. slot a lot better…”, or “I like the 9 a.m. slot a lot better…”
If we are honest, our likes and dislikes for the one-service format often comes back to what suits us best. Agree? We analyze and evaluate based on what it did for me, or how it fit or how didn’t fit into my expectations. I can say from personal experience it is so easy to solely base the perceived success of an event based on how I feel. However, I think you would agree with me that this kind of thinking is dangerous. It results in the world evolving around me. The results are very “I”-centered, “me”-focused, “you”-fixated.
The next several months of single services will represent relative ease to what we are used to. However, as September approaches we will once again rally up our energies and jump back into the world of two services. What is our motive for doing so? To accommodate the returning students and vacationers? To frustrate those that think Jesus attended a single-service church and thus we should maintain what Jesus did? To burn out our workers and spread our people-power thin?
Our motivation must not root itself in comfort or some kind of misguided bent. It shouldn’t even find its source in wanting to be the biggest and the best. Our motivation must be primarily focused on honouring what Jesus said about making disciples. We must be willing to stretch, sacrifice, work hard, be challenged, get out of bed a little earlier, dig deeper for more people resources because making disciples matters more than our comfort or our preference. We believe that Sunday morning services represent a great starting point for aiding us in making disciples. That’s what it’s about, that’s what we need to be about!
Single services a breeze? You betcha, in comparison to two. However, it’s not always about what’s easier or what is more comfortable. Jesus said “make disciples”… and we agree.
How about you?
Mark
So how did you like going back to one service last Sunday? I can hear some saying, “It was great to see people that I didn’t even know came to Bethel. It is so much easier doing ministry or organizing ministry for just one service…”, “I feel like Bethel is a much warmer, friendlier church, easier to get to know people with one service…”, “It feels like the good old days...” However, I can hear others saying “I like the 11a.m. slot a lot better…”, or “I like the 9 a.m. slot a lot better…”
If we are honest, our likes and dislikes for the one-service format often comes back to what suits us best. Agree? We analyze and evaluate based on what it did for me, or how it fit or how didn’t fit into my expectations. I can say from personal experience it is so easy to solely base the perceived success of an event based on how I feel. However, I think you would agree with me that this kind of thinking is dangerous. It results in the world evolving around me. The results are very “I”-centered, “me”-focused, “you”-fixated.
The next several months of single services will represent relative ease to what we are used to. However, as September approaches we will once again rally up our energies and jump back into the world of two services. What is our motive for doing so? To accommodate the returning students and vacationers? To frustrate those that think Jesus attended a single-service church and thus we should maintain what Jesus did? To burn out our workers and spread our people-power thin?
Our motivation must not root itself in comfort or some kind of misguided bent. It shouldn’t even find its source in wanting to be the biggest and the best. Our motivation must be primarily focused on honouring what Jesus said about making disciples. We must be willing to stretch, sacrifice, work hard, be challenged, get out of bed a little earlier, dig deeper for more people resources because making disciples matters more than our comfort or our preference. We believe that Sunday morning services represent a great starting point for aiding us in making disciples. That’s what it’s about, that’s what we need to be about!
Single services a breeze? You betcha, in comparison to two. However, it’s not always about what’s easier or what is more comfortable. Jesus said “make disciples”… and we agree.
How about you?
Mark
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Touching Base! Part 35
Raising The Bar On The Dialogue
Ever notice how our dialogue often reflects the current events of the day? Now that we are into the hockey playoffs, you can hear people talking about who won last nights game, who played well or who stunk the joint out. And no doubt, much dialogue has occurred over the recent global financial crisis. We all have been singed or burned by this global reality.
Our dialogue often reflects what is going on around us and reveals what we are passionate about. For example, the Canadian Opera could play at the K Rock Centre Friday nite but you can be guaranteed that I won’t be initiating too much talk about that. It is just not my passion area. However, hockey and the financial crisis are worth the verbal exchange.
When Jesus departed and was about to send the Holy Spirit, He said to the disciples one word in the Greek language which is two words in the English language which was to shape, prioritize and direct their ministry. It was a powerful statement that was to become their passion and occupy their dialogue as they stood around the water cooler at work. Do you know what that was? “Make disciples” (a “disciple” is a life-long learner who is walking in step with Christ). Clear, easily understood and spoken by the one who modeled that command during His public ministry.
At Bethel, there are many good things we can talk about. It is great that as we build community, and the trust that goes along with it, that we can open up our hearts on a number of issues. However, one of the most important dialogues we can have as a growing community of faith is the “discipleship dialogue”. The big news is that Christ has left us with an incredible challenge and given us the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and the lives of those around us.
So, who are you talking about discipleship with these days? Are you at all concerned with how Bethel is doing in this area? Are lives being transformed at Bethel or do we have a static church of calcified saints? What of Bethel’s ministries do you see as doing a great job in this area? On a personal note, how is your spiritual growth progressing these days? What are the challenge areas? Who is challenging you and causing you to growing?
The dialogue is important because the topic is essential to the vitality and the health of Bethel. I would encourage you to use the tool below to help you personally asses your own growth these days. Use the tool to discuss with someone their growth. Also, what would you add to this tool? What’s missing? If you are in a small group, why not discuss this tool with your group and identify how your group helps or hinders transformation in your own life. Let me know your thoughts.
Mark
• Are you building a redemptive relationship with at least one other person who
does not know Christ?
• Are you engaged with the poor?
• Are you using your workplace as a platform for ministry? If so, how?
• How often do you interact with people of other ethnic groups?
• Do you steward your resources?
• How often in the week do you sit down and read God’s word?
• Describe your prayer life…
• Are you part of a smaller community of believers that you pray with, serve with,
study God’s word- basically doing “journey” together.
Ever notice how our dialogue often reflects the current events of the day? Now that we are into the hockey playoffs, you can hear people talking about who won last nights game, who played well or who stunk the joint out. And no doubt, much dialogue has occurred over the recent global financial crisis. We all have been singed or burned by this global reality.
Our dialogue often reflects what is going on around us and reveals what we are passionate about. For example, the Canadian Opera could play at the K Rock Centre Friday nite but you can be guaranteed that I won’t be initiating too much talk about that. It is just not my passion area. However, hockey and the financial crisis are worth the verbal exchange.
When Jesus departed and was about to send the Holy Spirit, He said to the disciples one word in the Greek language which is two words in the English language which was to shape, prioritize and direct their ministry. It was a powerful statement that was to become their passion and occupy their dialogue as they stood around the water cooler at work. Do you know what that was? “Make disciples” (a “disciple” is a life-long learner who is walking in step with Christ). Clear, easily understood and spoken by the one who modeled that command during His public ministry.
At Bethel, there are many good things we can talk about. It is great that as we build community, and the trust that goes along with it, that we can open up our hearts on a number of issues. However, one of the most important dialogues we can have as a growing community of faith is the “discipleship dialogue”. The big news is that Christ has left us with an incredible challenge and given us the Holy Spirit to transform our lives and the lives of those around us.
So, who are you talking about discipleship with these days? Are you at all concerned with how Bethel is doing in this area? Are lives being transformed at Bethel or do we have a static church of calcified saints? What of Bethel’s ministries do you see as doing a great job in this area? On a personal note, how is your spiritual growth progressing these days? What are the challenge areas? Who is challenging you and causing you to growing?
The dialogue is important because the topic is essential to the vitality and the health of Bethel. I would encourage you to use the tool below to help you personally asses your own growth these days. Use the tool to discuss with someone their growth. Also, what would you add to this tool? What’s missing? If you are in a small group, why not discuss this tool with your group and identify how your group helps or hinders transformation in your own life. Let me know your thoughts.
Mark
• Are you building a redemptive relationship with at least one other person who
does not know Christ?
• Are you engaged with the poor?
• Are you using your workplace as a platform for ministry? If so, how?
• How often do you interact with people of other ethnic groups?
• Do you steward your resources?
• How often in the week do you sit down and read God’s word?
• Describe your prayer life…
• Are you part of a smaller community of believers that you pray with, serve with,
study God’s word- basically doing “journey” together.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Touching Base! Part 36
The Need To Know
We all have experienced various levels of difficulty in accomplishing a task. For example, there are days when getting out of bed is a breeze - it’s bright, warm, and the feel and sense of spring leading to summer is in the air. However, getting up at the same time in the winter month of January - when it is dark and cold - is a completely different story. Those mornings require a little more discipline and octane in the tank. Cold mornings may mean we hit the snooze button a few more times.
Based on my observations and interactions with people at Bethel, the “level of difficulty” when it comes to following Christ is becoming more and more challenging. With the plethora of books, websites, and other forms of media that attack the validity of the Christian faith, there is a tremendous need to know what one truly believes. We are living in a day and age where everything is coming into question. It is an understatement to say that the truth claims of Scripture are under attack. Followers of Christ are being accused of being somewhat naïve, shallow, vulnerable and simple. There is a tremendous need for followers of Christ to dig deep and truly understand what they believe and why they believe it. If a follower of Christ does not make this commitment, then many will be blown away by the torrid gusts of opposition that are becoming increasingly frequent.
In USA Today, a person being interviewed said, "None of my friends believe in God. When the subject of religion comes up around the table, we all just mock it. It's a source of ridicule." 27 percent of Americans do not even expect a religious funeral at their death. The survey doesn't indicate how many are hoping to skip death altogether.
What are some of those issues that we need to understand about our faith?
• Biblical Origins - How did we get the Bible? Does it stand the test of academia?
• What do we mean by “inspired” and “inerrant”?
• Intelligent Design versus Evolution - is it reasonable to believe in a God who created the heavens and the earth?
• What about hell in this age when everyone can believe what they want and be right?
• How do we explain some of the horrific texts of the Old Testament?
• Is Jesus the only way or might there be others? To say there is only one way seems rather arrogant of Christians.
• What about all those “contradictions” in the Bible?
Pray this week for Bethel and the many that attend the various ministries of this church. Pray that followers of Christ would dig deep, study hard, and be able to articulate their faith in a world that questions almost everything. Pray that we might be able to graciously, lovingly and intelligently engage with people who are seeking truth. The need to know is now, the need to go and reach a lost world hasn’t changed since Jesus said the fields were white unto harvest!
Mark
We all have experienced various levels of difficulty in accomplishing a task. For example, there are days when getting out of bed is a breeze - it’s bright, warm, and the feel and sense of spring leading to summer is in the air. However, getting up at the same time in the winter month of January - when it is dark and cold - is a completely different story. Those mornings require a little more discipline and octane in the tank. Cold mornings may mean we hit the snooze button a few more times.
Based on my observations and interactions with people at Bethel, the “level of difficulty” when it comes to following Christ is becoming more and more challenging. With the plethora of books, websites, and other forms of media that attack the validity of the Christian faith, there is a tremendous need to know what one truly believes. We are living in a day and age where everything is coming into question. It is an understatement to say that the truth claims of Scripture are under attack. Followers of Christ are being accused of being somewhat naïve, shallow, vulnerable and simple. There is a tremendous need for followers of Christ to dig deep and truly understand what they believe and why they believe it. If a follower of Christ does not make this commitment, then many will be blown away by the torrid gusts of opposition that are becoming increasingly frequent.
In USA Today, a person being interviewed said, "None of my friends believe in God. When the subject of religion comes up around the table, we all just mock it. It's a source of ridicule." 27 percent of Americans do not even expect a religious funeral at their death. The survey doesn't indicate how many are hoping to skip death altogether.
What are some of those issues that we need to understand about our faith?
• Biblical Origins - How did we get the Bible? Does it stand the test of academia?
• What do we mean by “inspired” and “inerrant”?
• Intelligent Design versus Evolution - is it reasonable to believe in a God who created the heavens and the earth?
• What about hell in this age when everyone can believe what they want and be right?
• How do we explain some of the horrific texts of the Old Testament?
• Is Jesus the only way or might there be others? To say there is only one way seems rather arrogant of Christians.
• What about all those “contradictions” in the Bible?
Pray this week for Bethel and the many that attend the various ministries of this church. Pray that followers of Christ would dig deep, study hard, and be able to articulate their faith in a world that questions almost everything. Pray that we might be able to graciously, lovingly and intelligently engage with people who are seeking truth. The need to know is now, the need to go and reach a lost world hasn’t changed since Jesus said the fields were white unto harvest!
Mark
Friday, April 17, 2009
Touching Base! Part 34
A Sea Of Faces
“They” is a plural pronoun that refers to people in general. When we read in Acts 2:42 that “They devoted themselves....”, we really have very little idea who “they” are. Yet to the original audience you can be assured that “they” had faces and stories and that this group developed pockets of smaller community in that large group so that stories could be told and lives connected.
The challenge at Bethel is to encourage people to Pursue, Include and Engage (PIE) a few faces. The Church was never established to be a place of “people in general” but a place of “people specific”.
This week, I want to encourage you to use the following tool to PIE a few faces. Take time to sit down and reflect on some of the suggested questions the various decades ask. Identify the decades present in your group, add to the questions, and use them to PIE the faces in your group.
Mark
Questions of the Decades
(Resource: Gordon Macdonald, A Resilient Life)
20’s – Identity questions
• What kind of man or woman am I becoming?
• How am I different from my parents?
• Can I love and am I lovable?
• Who will offer me the family like connections that I need or never had?
• What do I want to do with my life?
• Around what person or conviction will I organize my life?
30’s – Responsibilities of life begin to emerge
• How do I prioritize the demands being made of me?
• How far can I go in fulfilling my sense of purpose?
• What does my spiritual life look like? Do I even have time for one?
• Why am I not a better person?
40’s – The complexities of life accelerate
• Who was I as a child and what powers back then influenced the kind of person I am today?
• Why do some people seem to do better than me?
• Why am I often disappointed with myself and others?
• Why are limitations beginning to outnumber options?
• What would it take to pick up a whole new calling in life and do the thing I have always wanted to do?
• How do I take care of my aging parents?
50’s – They have moved across life’s middle
• How many years are left?
• Why is time moving so fast?
• Why is my body becoming unreliable?
• How can my spouse and I reinvigorate our marriage now that the kids are gone?
• Who are these young people that want to replace me?
• What do I do with my doubts and my fears?
• Will we have enough money for the retirement years?
60’s
• When do I stop doing the things that have always defined me?
• Who will be around when I die?
• Why am I curious about who is listed in the obituary column of the papers; how they lived and why they died?
• If married – which one of us will go first, and what is it like to say good-bye to someone with whom you have shared so many years of life with?
• What do I regret?
• Are the things I have believed in capable of taking me to the end?
70’s and 80’s
• Does anyone realize or even care who I once was?
• Is anyone aware that I once owned (or managed) a business, threw a mean curveball, taught school, possessed a beautiful solo voice? Is my story important to anyone?
• How much of life can I still control?
• Is there anything I can still contribute?
• Am I ready to face death?
• When I die will I be missed or will news of my death bring relief?
“They” is a plural pronoun that refers to people in general. When we read in Acts 2:42 that “They devoted themselves....”, we really have very little idea who “they” are. Yet to the original audience you can be assured that “they” had faces and stories and that this group developed pockets of smaller community in that large group so that stories could be told and lives connected.
The challenge at Bethel is to encourage people to Pursue, Include and Engage (PIE) a few faces. The Church was never established to be a place of “people in general” but a place of “people specific”.
This week, I want to encourage you to use the following tool to PIE a few faces. Take time to sit down and reflect on some of the suggested questions the various decades ask. Identify the decades present in your group, add to the questions, and use them to PIE the faces in your group.
Mark
Questions of the Decades
(Resource: Gordon Macdonald, A Resilient Life)
20’s – Identity questions
• What kind of man or woman am I becoming?
• How am I different from my parents?
• Can I love and am I lovable?
• Who will offer me the family like connections that I need or never had?
• What do I want to do with my life?
• Around what person or conviction will I organize my life?
30’s – Responsibilities of life begin to emerge
• How do I prioritize the demands being made of me?
• How far can I go in fulfilling my sense of purpose?
• What does my spiritual life look like? Do I even have time for one?
• Why am I not a better person?
40’s – The complexities of life accelerate
• Who was I as a child and what powers back then influenced the kind of person I am today?
• Why do some people seem to do better than me?
• Why am I often disappointed with myself and others?
• Why are limitations beginning to outnumber options?
• What would it take to pick up a whole new calling in life and do the thing I have always wanted to do?
• How do I take care of my aging parents?
50’s – They have moved across life’s middle
• How many years are left?
• Why is time moving so fast?
• Why is my body becoming unreliable?
• How can my spouse and I reinvigorate our marriage now that the kids are gone?
• Who are these young people that want to replace me?
• What do I do with my doubts and my fears?
• Will we have enough money for the retirement years?
60’s
• When do I stop doing the things that have always defined me?
• Who will be around when I die?
• Why am I curious about who is listed in the obituary column of the papers; how they lived and why they died?
• If married – which one of us will go first, and what is it like to say good-bye to someone with whom you have shared so many years of life with?
• What do I regret?
• Are the things I have believed in capable of taking me to the end?
70’s and 80’s
• Does anyone realize or even care who I once was?
• Is anyone aware that I once owned (or managed) a business, threw a mean curveball, taught school, possessed a beautiful solo voice? Is my story important to anyone?
• How much of life can I still control?
• Is there anything I can still contribute?
• Am I ready to face death?
• When I die will I be missed or will news of my death bring relief?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Touching Base! Part 33
Story
Without disclosing confidences, this past week I sat and listened to several people tell me their story. No, not a story they made up, or were hoping to publish, just their story- raw, unedited, real. Their story of:
• experiencing God, sensing God stirring their hearts, drawing them to Himself
• wrestling with the mystery of following God
• dealing with personal issues that they felt were holding them hostage and not allowing them to move ahead
• dealing with doubt and uncertainty on the journey
• finally letting God have His way and setting aside their stubbornness
• brokenness, shame and despair
• wonder as they reflect back and see how God has orchestrated all the pieces fitting together
• seeking, pursuing and discovering God yet still filled with questions and a deep sense that the journey ahead is long and windy
• deep disappointment and learning to hear the voice of God in the charred remains
• salvation
One truth about every person that walks the planet is that we all have a story. “Story” has been defined as “A narration or recital of that which has occurred; a description of past events; a history; a statement; a record.” If someone said to you “Tell me your story.” Where would you start? What might you focus in on? What might you be tempted to leave out, embellish, or tone down? Where in your story might the pain be the greatest, the joy the fullest, the growth the deepest?
Let me encourage you in three ways regarding story.
1. Pursue people to understand their story. Each week at Bethel, counting both services, we have 600 “stories” walk in and out of our building. If we would only take the time to listen, there is a wealth of wisdom and perspective to gain. Why not sit down with someone this week and open up the conversation with these words, “Tell me your story.” Better than any novel or the TV screen is hearing the drama spoken from someone’s lips.
2. Sharing our story deepens our sense of connectedness. Whenever someone tells me some part of their story and I mine, there is a bond established, a bridge built.
3. Finally, what makes following Christ so exciting is to realize that our story somehow fits within the Grand Story of the ages. God in His wisdom is now dwelling among us and within us. A loving God is ushering us into the ways and wisdom of the kingdom. And He is weaving His grand purposes through the fabric of our story.
Take time to listen, take time to tell your story!
Mark
Without disclosing confidences, this past week I sat and listened to several people tell me their story. No, not a story they made up, or were hoping to publish, just their story- raw, unedited, real. Their story of:
• experiencing God, sensing God stirring their hearts, drawing them to Himself
• wrestling with the mystery of following God
• dealing with personal issues that they felt were holding them hostage and not allowing them to move ahead
• dealing with doubt and uncertainty on the journey
• finally letting God have His way and setting aside their stubbornness
• brokenness, shame and despair
• wonder as they reflect back and see how God has orchestrated all the pieces fitting together
• seeking, pursuing and discovering God yet still filled with questions and a deep sense that the journey ahead is long and windy
• deep disappointment and learning to hear the voice of God in the charred remains
• salvation
One truth about every person that walks the planet is that we all have a story. “Story” has been defined as “A narration or recital of that which has occurred; a description of past events; a history; a statement; a record.” If someone said to you “Tell me your story.” Where would you start? What might you focus in on? What might you be tempted to leave out, embellish, or tone down? Where in your story might the pain be the greatest, the joy the fullest, the growth the deepest?
Let me encourage you in three ways regarding story.
1. Pursue people to understand their story. Each week at Bethel, counting both services, we have 600 “stories” walk in and out of our building. If we would only take the time to listen, there is a wealth of wisdom and perspective to gain. Why not sit down with someone this week and open up the conversation with these words, “Tell me your story.” Better than any novel or the TV screen is hearing the drama spoken from someone’s lips.
2. Sharing our story deepens our sense of connectedness. Whenever someone tells me some part of their story and I mine, there is a bond established, a bridge built.
3. Finally, what makes following Christ so exciting is to realize that our story somehow fits within the Grand Story of the ages. God in His wisdom is now dwelling among us and within us. A loving God is ushering us into the ways and wisdom of the kingdom. And He is weaving His grand purposes through the fabric of our story.
Take time to listen, take time to tell your story!
Mark
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Touching Base! Part 32
Cheating God
God didn’t take on flesh and then die on cross and resurrect from the dead so He could finish in second place. His death and resurrection clearly declare that He alone is worthy of absolute worship, pure devotion, and supreme love. To be a Christ follower means to have Christ at the center of our lives, not in the margins or in some other place so that other things can be central, and Christ marginalized. Easter is a good reminder of not only the mind-boggling work of God on our behalf but of the incredible debt of gratitude and love that He deserves from us. Anything less than absolute surrender is cheating God of what He is worthy.
As one who desires to live a Christ-centred life, I recently sat down and listed some of the ways I and others can be tempted to “cheat” God in this area of pure devotion.
I cheat God when.....
• I do not take the time I need daily to calibrate my life with His Word. It is so easy to allow things to push aside that much-needed “God time” in my life.
• The pace of my life does not allow me to live an attentive life to the voice of God speaking, nudging, or prompting me. I find that even a 10-minute time-out during a busy day can help me reframe my day and “retune my spiritual ears” to God’s voice.
• I allow ungodly thoughts or actions to find a harbour in my life. As Paul said, I am His temple, we are His temple and thus what is allowed in and what comes out (words, behaviour) need to be in keeping with His character.
• I am too proud to talk about my “battle zones” with people. God is often most glorified when I/we are willing to talk about the issues we grapple with. God works through weakness, through stories of our lives being under construction.
• I lack the courage to speak up or take action in an area in which I know He has prompted me. How many of us have failed to walk through an open door God set up for us? How many of us have missed an opportunity because we may have been afraid of looking foolish?
• I am not thorough. God is most glorified when I do my best with whatever He has called me to do. When I cut corners, leave something to the end and thus don’t do a great job, then I think God is cheated. I know it’s true that God works in spite of us but I also think that God would appreciate a little more effort at times from our end.
How might you cheat God? Scripture says not to cheat God but to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:5)
Just after writing this, I received this poem from someone in the church. She said that God used this poem in her life when she was to busy and was not taking time for God. Thought you might appreciate this.
Mark
Crowded Out
My day was filled with many things
Some that I cared a lot about
For I had planned each moment full
But my Lord was crowded out.
I really meant to read His Word
To pray with heart devout---
But things just crowded in until
My Lord was crowded out.
For things I wanted most to do
The time I found, without a doubt
And somehow days were oft the same;
My Lord was crowded out.
My heart grew sad without His smile
The foe was hard to rout;
For He alone who's all in all
My heart had crowded out.
At last I've learned to plan 'round Him
Though friends may plead and pout;
And days are double full and rich
Since He's not crowded out.
God didn’t take on flesh and then die on cross and resurrect from the dead so He could finish in second place. His death and resurrection clearly declare that He alone is worthy of absolute worship, pure devotion, and supreme love. To be a Christ follower means to have Christ at the center of our lives, not in the margins or in some other place so that other things can be central, and Christ marginalized. Easter is a good reminder of not only the mind-boggling work of God on our behalf but of the incredible debt of gratitude and love that He deserves from us. Anything less than absolute surrender is cheating God of what He is worthy.
As one who desires to live a Christ-centred life, I recently sat down and listed some of the ways I and others can be tempted to “cheat” God in this area of pure devotion.
I cheat God when.....
• I do not take the time I need daily to calibrate my life with His Word. It is so easy to allow things to push aside that much-needed “God time” in my life.
• The pace of my life does not allow me to live an attentive life to the voice of God speaking, nudging, or prompting me. I find that even a 10-minute time-out during a busy day can help me reframe my day and “retune my spiritual ears” to God’s voice.
• I allow ungodly thoughts or actions to find a harbour in my life. As Paul said, I am His temple, we are His temple and thus what is allowed in and what comes out (words, behaviour) need to be in keeping with His character.
• I am too proud to talk about my “battle zones” with people. God is often most glorified when I/we are willing to talk about the issues we grapple with. God works through weakness, through stories of our lives being under construction.
• I lack the courage to speak up or take action in an area in which I know He has prompted me. How many of us have failed to walk through an open door God set up for us? How many of us have missed an opportunity because we may have been afraid of looking foolish?
• I am not thorough. God is most glorified when I do my best with whatever He has called me to do. When I cut corners, leave something to the end and thus don’t do a great job, then I think God is cheated. I know it’s true that God works in spite of us but I also think that God would appreciate a little more effort at times from our end.
How might you cheat God? Scripture says not to cheat God but to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:5)
Just after writing this, I received this poem from someone in the church. She said that God used this poem in her life when she was to busy and was not taking time for God. Thought you might appreciate this.
Mark
Crowded Out
My day was filled with many things
Some that I cared a lot about
For I had planned each moment full
But my Lord was crowded out.
I really meant to read His Word
To pray with heart devout---
But things just crowded in until
My Lord was crowded out.
For things I wanted most to do
The time I found, without a doubt
And somehow days were oft the same;
My Lord was crowded out.
My heart grew sad without His smile
The foe was hard to rout;
For He alone who's all in all
My heart had crowded out.
At last I've learned to plan 'round Him
Though friends may plead and pout;
And days are double full and rich
Since He's not crowded out.
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