Soul Talk

Great Quote

Pleasing God brings pleasure into our soul. It's what we want to do. Pleasing others created pressure. It's what we think we have to do. And it's tiring; it wears us out.

Soul Talk, Larry Crabb ( page 108)

Waiting On God

I am on a retreat with our Community Leaders. In meditating on Psalm 25:5 it ocurred to me that while this has been a life verse for me I have not practiced it.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

That last phrase it the hook. I don't wait. Too often if I don't hear God or if I don't receive the response I want-I act. Waiting takes trust and patience and too often I have not given God that.

Lord help this verse to define me.

Anniversary

I'll begin by saying that on August 4th my wife and I will be celebrating 24 years of marriage!  But since we tend to celebrate big on the 5's and 10's I hope she'll understand my purpose in writing this blog.

It occured to me this morning that September of this year will be my thirtieth year of being in vocational ministry. Yes, I'm that old!  Wow! Thirty years!!  The first church I served was during my sophomore year of college. I was asked to be the Music/Youth Minister. I drove 50 miles each way on Sundays, Wednesdays and an occasional weekend to serve a congregation of about 100 and a youth group of about 8 (15 on a good day). I think they paid me, but I remember calculating the net loss when you included the mileage.

I've served eight churches in seven states. Churches in Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, California, Michigan, and Kansas. Churches from 100 to over 5000. I've been a preacher, teacher, worship leader, student leader, senior citizens leader, preschool teacher, engineer, custodian, administrator, problem solver, project manager, and more. I've had heart breaks and moments when my heart soard. And even today I can remember individuals in each church who blessed me in ways I will never be able to repay.

What a journey! Thank you God for the opportunity to serve your church. She is still so beautiful!

Best Practices

I've been reading "The Divine Mentor," by Wayne Cordiero. His church is hailed as one of the churches that is doing a good job of getting people to read their Bible. The approach he suggests is simple, but profound. I've adopted it myself these last few weeks and absolutely love it. He combines a suggested reading with a simple journaling of SOAP - Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. It's a great way to maintain a structure and yet allow the freedom for God to speak through your reading and prayer time.

You've probably read or at least heard about the "Reveal" study. It has been the catalyst for many of us to evaluate our practices in the church of making disciples. This has been a passion of mine for more than 20 years. I think we default to programs, classes, so easily. There is real benefit to some of this, but I fear we miss the point if we don't teach and model the spiritual disciplines. These disciples are personal, but profound.

What's your best practice, for feeding yourself spiritually?

Must Read, but not yet

I believe there are a total of four people who read my blog, but for the benefit of those who do I have a recommendation.

"Mad Church Disease," is a book being written by a friend of mine. It is in the process of being published and I want to ask each of you to put it on your "must read" list.  I've pre-ordered my copy from Amazon.com.

A Tribute to Tim

Tim has been on staff with us for almost three years now, and recently received God's call to a new ministry. I just want to say a few things about Tim as he leaves.

Tim joined our discipleship team at a time when we desperately needed to add depth to our leaders. He was the perfect man for the job and took on leadership development like a tick on a houndog (if you'll forgive the expression).

There are few people in my life whom I have enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Tim. He has a great intelect combined with awesome passion for the church, and a deep love for leaders.  He'll be deeply missed.

I want to add that I have learned a lot from Tim over the past three years. I hope I'll be a little bit like him when I grow up. Even though he's leaving our team I know our friendship will continue. He's just too great a guy to let that pass.

One more thought. I believe I called more than a dozen references for Tim before we hired him. That's a lot more than normal. I remember telling him, "Tim, your references are just too good!" and wondering if they were real, or if he had somehow arranged a "snow job" for me. I know now, they were real.

Thanks Tim for your friendship and your partnership in ministry!

Most Proud (part 2)

I've been thinking about this for some time...(strange that it stuck with me, most things don't).  As I consider the question, "What are you most proud of my thoughts go to the people I've worked with both staff and volunteers. I'll not name names, at the risk of forgetting someone, but I can think of dozens of people with whom God has allowed me to share this experience. 

I remember a young couple.  The wife called me last year with tears in her voice. She was married to a wonderful father and husband who happened to be of another faith. Together they reasoned that they would raise their children in both faiths, but now that the children were getting older she realized this would not work, because Christianity is exclusive (Christ alone). I met with them over several weeks and that was over a year ago.  I saw them Sunday in the commons with children in tow.

I remember a young single girl who joined the small group I led and showed such great promise. I invited her to share in the leading and today she and her husband have been responsibile for starting several groups and developing many leaders.

I remember a young man who made the questionable choice of asking me to meet with him as a spiritual partner. For almost three years we have met about once a month to discuss what God has placed on our hearts. I think someday he'll be in full-time ministry, but for now he is finding great joy in leading several of our groups.

If I am ever asked the question, "What are you proud of?" I'll answer without hesitation. I am proud of the people I've served, and those I've served with. What a joy to serve God with God's people.

Most Proud

A friend asked me what I was most proud of from my 7 years at Westside and I struggled for answers. I love so many things about these last 7 years. I love to teach. I love to invest in people. I love to dream of ways to accomplish new goals and work with teams to get it done. I love the feeling that comes when you sense God at work and you realize that you played a part in his work. But the question was, "what are you most proud of?" and I still struggle to find an answer. But here are a few dreams that became reality. ... Dozens of group leaders actively leading others toward Jesus. More than a thousand people experiencing life with Jesus in community. "Starting Point" groups that target new believers and seekers. A team of pastors that seek God and lead together. These are big deals to me. I didn't accomplish any of these but I had the drew and I think I led in such a way that others could get it done.