COMMUNITY

I remember when I first felt the urge to spread the Gospel to Africa.  There was a burning desire deep inside my heart to reach the people in huts and dirt floors.   In 2007 I actually went to South Africa with a group of seventeen people who planned on making a difference on the continent half way around the world.   The sad truth about all of this was I did not have a desire to reach the people in my own community.  The people I ran into at Wal-Mart, McDonalds, or even the gas station were not even a thought in my mind.  Now hear me out, I am not saying there is anything wrong with going to another country to reach the lost.  But if you cannot reach the people in your own community, the people you see everyday then how are you going to reach someone half way around the world?  Lets face it, most of us would rather go through the trouble of raising the money for a plane ticket rather than facing the rejection we may experience when we reach out to the people around us.   Our community is our mission, you don’t have to be a missionary to fulfill what God has called you to do!  God placed in your city for a reason, there is no mistake with where you are on the map.  Seize the opportunities you have everyday to reach the people around you and the impact will be greater than you ever could imagine.  Be willing to embrace a little bit of rejection or persecution  so that you can reach your community.  If you get the chance read Acts 9 and you will see how one man reached another in his community and took a big risk, but in turn ended up changing the world.

BE CREATIVE

Be creative and it may save you from burn out.  Here’s a thought….instead of just copying what everyone else does think of a way to reinvent.  There is nothing wrong with taking an old idea and making it your own.  I have heard this said before, “God gave me eyes so i am gonna plagiarize.”  Great statement but it can be disastrous if all you do is take someone else’s  hard work and simply just do what they did.  Take there idea but make it better! When all you do is copy off of someone else there is no passion or vision behind what you are doing.  I write sermons all the time and probably 60 percent of them are original ideas and the other 40 percent are sermons that i felt would speak to our teens.  When i speak someone else’s sermon I must always take the time to make it my own and adapt it to my audience, if not it is absolute failure.  I know it is much easier to take a concept that has already been established but what works for Coke most likely does not work for Pepsi even though there taste is similar. (Coke is much better tasting for the record)  So for goodness sake do your self a favor and tap into those creative juices.  BE CREATIVE!!

Screaming because He left

Recently my six month old son has decided to get up before the sun even rises, which means I don’t even set my alarm anymore.  As a result my wife has been extremely exhausted, so I have been trying to let her sleep in by doing the ever so pleasant task of getting up earlier than early.  To be quite honest even though the initial task of crawling out of bed that early is challenging I have thoroughly enjoyed the time with my son.  Although regular morning routines become more challenging.  For example: I take a shower he screams because Im not flying him around like superman anymore.  I get dressed, he knocks his head on the mirror in the bathroom.  I read the bible, he eats the bible.  (Im not joking he ate a piece of Mark:9 this morning.)  Needless to say through these challenging mornings I believe there is a simple truth behind it all.  Whenever I left my son to accomplish the tasks that i needed to get done he screamed because i was not with him anymore.  I believe the same principle applies in everyday life.  When ever we take our focus and shift it towards our agenda we find ourselves miserable because Jesus is no longer the main thing.  With my son he only screamed when his daddy was gone but was at peace when i dropped the things i was doing to pursue his needs.  What are some things you need to drop?  Remember we only kick and scream when we leave the room without Jesus.  When we find our lives so busy that we can only accomplish things for ourselves we are in big trouble.

A bird, A cow, and some manure.

I heard a story this week by Pastor “Craig Groshel” that I thought was hilarious and felt like i had to share it with you guys.  So here it goes…

There once was a little bird that was flying south for the winter and got caught in a snowstorm.  As snow landed on his tiny wings, it melted slightly, then quickly froze, causing the bird to fall to the ground.  As he sat helpless and shivering, encased in ice, the bird thought to himself (to be spoken in a little bird voice), This is the end.  To make matters worse, a cow wandered toward the freezing bird and—wouldn’t you know it?—deposited a stinking pile of manure on top of the bird. (I know this is gross, but there is a point to it.  Hang with me).  The bird panicked, horrified at the thought that he was going to freeze to death, covered in manure. But slowly, the warmth of the manure caused the bird to thaw out.  He fluttered his newly freed wings and began to chirp with joy!  “Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” he sang.  That’s when a cat, drawn by the chirping, ran over, dug out the bird…and ate him.  The End.  but wait there are three morals to this story.  Check them out.

1.      Not everyone who drops manure on you is your enemy.

2.      Not everyone who digs you out of manure is your friend.

3.      When you are in manure, keep your mouth shut.