Going for Distance or going for Depth

The more I think about where we are going with this sermon series the more convinced I am that I have much to learn about looking more like Jesus. There is no doubt about my desire! There is no question about my willingness to be molded and shaped. But I can't escape the passage that Paul talks about in finding himself doing the things he doesn't want to do and not doing the things he really wants to do. I can totally relate when he says is there any hope? I am so thankful that it doesn't end with that question...but rather that he goes on to answer his own question by stating that his hope is not in the flesh. His hope is found only in Christ Himself. I need to constantly remind myself that my hope is not in this flesh but rather in the one whom I want more than anything to reflect...Jesus Christ.

I am so tired of trying harder to reflect the image of Christ. The harder I try the louder Satan laughs when I fail. It is not until I really get Romans 12:1-2 and allow my mind to become transformed that I am going to have any semblance of Jesus in my life. I can do it on my own for a short period of time. I start to feel pretty confident when I go for any great length of time feeling like I have arrived. When I start to feel like I have finally reached that pinnacle of perfection I stop feeling like I need to lean so heavily on the Lord. And as you can imagine, at that point, my humanity shines through more so than Jesus shining through. Oh what a wretched man I am.

So I am learning along the way that it is not so much about how long I can go (distance) but rather how far I am willing to allow my mind to be transformed (depth) by giving to God daily my ordinary, everyday life. My get up and go to work life. My life as a husband, father, and pastor. Allowing God to constantly reshape me so I reflect more of Him and less of me. What a journey this is turning out to be! The good thing is there is much JOY along the way!

Becoming less Religious and more like Christ in 2007

I have been thinking a lot lately about how easy it is for us to simply try harder to be religious without really giving any thought at all to being more like Jesus. I am more and more convinced that it is possible to be extremely religious without really looking like Jesus at all. As we look at Saul we see a man who was religious to the extreme. He believed passionately about what he was doing as he went about persecuting the church. He kept all the laws and was a well trained philosopher. He knew what scriptures said and felt like he was protecting the integrity by persecuting the church. But then he had an encounter with God that showed him his religion was worth nothing without a relationship with Christ. Once he had an encounter with God it changed everything. He was still passionate but the emphasis of his passion changed. Thats what I desire for 2007. I desire a fresh encounter with God that will make me less religious for religions sake and make me more liek Jesus in all that I do. May my attitude reflect more the attitude of Jesus. May my heart be filled with a stronger desire to be more like Him and less like me. May we, a s Christians decide on purpose that 2007 we are going to be less religious and more like Jesus in all things!

Friend Day

We are fast approaching Friend Day 2006. Why do we do this? It gives us an excuse to invite our friends to come and worship with us. I look forward to friend days because they give us a list of potential people to become a part of our church. As a pastor my ability to interact with folks outside the church becomes limited. I have to look on purpose for people to establish a relationship with. I am beginning to develop the kind of relationship with one of my tellers at the bank I go to. I look forward to the time that I can invite her to come and be a part of one of our worship services. I want to be more intentional about seeing those kinds of opportunities. I never want to ask my church family to do anything that I am not willing to do! I am really putting a lot of stock in Friend Day this year for some reason. I feel like it is a real crossroads for us as a church. I am determined to pray for the success of this day not simply in numerical terms but more importantly in how it impacts the Kingdom! So if you want to join me in praying remember the day is October 29th!

Sunday's Coming

It is Friday morning and I am sitting in my office. I have been working on the message for Sunday morning and I am really looking forward to the service. This will be the first time that we are all together in this kind of setting since we went to double services. I really want to take advantage of this time together to make sure that we are challenged to work on meeting our core values and mission statement to make passionate followers of Jesus Christ of all people. It is so easy for us to sit back and enjoy what God has given us and I want to do that but I also want us to understand that we still have much work to do as we labor together to make passionate followers for Jesus! I commit to my church and my God to do all that I can for as long as I can to help fulfill that mission!