Relative Truths

Ok, so I had an interesting surprise this afternoon.  My brother called to see if I had lunch plans.  I had already eaten a lean cuisine pizza (it is cheap and low-cal), but I told him I would come and hang out with him.  So, we met at Hometown.  As we were walking in, Andrew and Kristen got there.  We got to hang out with them for awhile.  We had some great discussion on discernment, church methodology, calling, motivation, etc.  It was awesome.  One blessing is a truth that I stumbled on thanks to David.  A lot of times, when we pray for others, we pray that God would make them who we think they should be instead of who God designed them to be.  Just remember that when you pray for someone, ask that God would mold them into His servant, and then support them as much as you can in that. 

One other thought: Tony Morgan had a great post today on vision.  You can go to his blog by clicking on the link under my “blog roll.”  He talked about some observations he has on vision and its use.  I think the term vision is often one of the most overused and misunderstood words in the church vocabulary.  So many people throw that word around without understanding what the vision of the church is or even what vision is.  When people faithfully seek God’s face, and strive to walk in His will, then vision is revealed.  Once you know the vision that God has for your life, church, career, etc, don’t ever compromise on that.  If you want to read what Tony wrote, here is the link:

http://www.tonymorganlive.com/tony_morgan_one_of_the_si/2007/08/vision.html

Ok, so this will be a short post.  I had a mini-victory yesterday.  I was able to get our sermons loaded on itunes!  Now, you can hear all the wisdom of the preachers at FUMC Lawrenceville.  Just go to itunes, open the store, search for FUMC Lawrenceville, and you will be able to subscribe.  By the way, it is free (can you believe we would give this away!?!).  In all seriousness, I am happy to be able to offer this to people that miss our service, or do not have the option of listening to an entire sermon on the computer with our web audio or video player.  Hopefully, video podcasts are coming soon as well.  Anyway, not really a truth, but an announcement.  I will have another post later today.

Ok, so it is Wednesday. That is the point of the week where you either can’t believe it is already half-over, you are counting the seconds to Friday afternoon, or both. Either way, it is Wednesday, and I can’t wait for the weekend. Not because it has been a bad week (it hasn’t), or because I have anything spectacular going on Friday, but because I get to go on vacation next weekend, and the sooner that comes, the better. I haven’t had time away in awhile, and it has been a long summer. I don’t mean to complain, but I am ready to get away, read, relax, hang out on the beach, and not have to be on call for a few days. It has been a good summer. I plan to write on that this week, but I just wanted to pass along a few reflections I have on this week:

Some people are never pleased. I tried to help someone today. No matter what, it wasn’t enough. The truth is that as a pastor, I often have a desire to please people, and when they are not happy with me, I struggle. However, I have learned that you just do what you can, be faithful in your resources, and trust that God is in control. Sometimes staff, lay people, people seeking help, etc will not like you. That is ok. Our only concern is pleasing God and trusting in His guidance.

I love my accountability group. I was awful at basketball today. I couldn’t hit a shot, and as a result it cost my team. However, when we finished playing and started confessing and supporting each other, none of that mattered. Those guys are really helping me deal with some frustrations and are an inspiration to me. Thanks.

Never complain too much about your situation. All I have heard around here is “why won’t it rain.” In Ohio, they are probably begging for it to stop. Our situations are never perfect; we live in a broken and imperfect world. Just trust in what and where God has you, and allow Him to be in charge.

I don’t know what truths I had in that post. In fact, I don’t know if I had anything worth reading. I just wanted to share a few thoughts on some stuff. Anything you want to share?

Ok, so I posted twice last Thursday, and now I haven’t posted since.  Sorry.  Anyway, it was a long weekend and a long Monday.  I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep this weekend, and yesterday was busy.  Another way you can tell the fall is back in the swing is that we had our district set-up meeting last night.  While our new district superintendent is cool, it is still a meeting.  I enjoyed the fellowship and being able to catch-up with some minister friends of mine.  We are able to talk about our churches, our frustrations, and our joys.  I didn’t want to go before the meeting.  I wanted to go play Wii at Allen’s house.  However, I am glad that I did.  It was good to be there and to enjoy the fellowship.  Have you ever had an experience like that?  You know, you don’t want to do something, maybe you dread it, and then you are so glad you went.  I remember 8 years ago, I was dreading a chorus trip to Disney World with my high school chorus.  It was the last thing I wanted to do 2 months before my graduation.  However, I came back interested in this girl I hung out with and 5 years later, we got married.  The truth is that God can work even when we don’t want Him to.  God can do great things at places we don’t want to be at.  Just trust in Him, and allow God to make something great happen in your day.  Any truth to that?

Ok, so I know that I already posted today, but something just struck me.  I was listening to “Leadership Moment.”  It is a one minute daily podcast by Equip (John Maxwell).  I was listening to one from last week called “Leadership takes time.”  John Hall used the analogy of a grocery worker.  The worker starts in the back and then moves out front and then manages people.  He said “Leadership takes time.  So enjoy the place where God has placed you.”  That has been a real struggle for me.  I have to confess that the hardest part of going from being the pastor of a church to being an associate is that I am not in charge (God is in control, but the pastor is the one He uses for the charge of the ministry).  That podcast hit me like a rock.  I need to be thankful for where I am now, learn what I can, and be prepared for the next place that God sends me.  I know that is easier said than done, but the truth is that we will never be happy until we are content with what God has for us.  Then He can move us to where He needs us to be.  Got a truth to share?

Ok, so I was thinking about all the people that have inspired me in my ministry (more on that later).  It made me wonder if I have inspired anyone in their ministry.  We have an impact on so many people that we will never know about.  We influence family members, co-workers, classmates, etc. in ways we will never realize.  Of course, there are some people that tell you the influence or impact you had in their lives, but there are many that do not.  Two truths on that.  One, if some has influenced you, make sure they know it.  It will encourage them as they seek to be a positive influence in this world.  Two, don’t ever feel like you are useless.  God made you, thus you are worthy and important.  God also has a great plan for you, so you are important.  When you faithfully serve in God’s plan and design for your life, you are making a difference.  Keep doing it.

Ok, so I think I am going to copy-cat Perry Noble.  He recently listed people that he wants to have lunch with.  Here are a few people that have influenced me, and don’t know it because they have no clue who I am.  I would love to have lunch with:

Rebekah (I know she knows me, but she has been a big influence in my life and ministry, and I love hanging out with her, good thing right?)

Perry Noble: I love what they are doing at Newspring, and I hope to meet him one day.

Rob Bell: Velvet Elvis helped to reshape my ministry. 

Andy Stanley: I was able to have lunch in a group with him once, but to have some one-on-one time with a great communicator would be awesome. 

Tony Dungy: I am NOT a Colts fan, but to see someone display their faith and win with class is inspiring. 

I know that only one of the people on this list read this blog, but Perry, Rob, Andy, or Tony, if you read this, lunch is on me.

Hope you are having a great day.  Keep being an inspiration to someone and let others know that they have impacted you.  Got a truth to share?

Ok, so I am sorry that I haven’t posted since last Wednesday.  I had a long weekend.  Rebekah’s father and little brother (who is 17) came to visit from Florida .  We don’t seem them that much, so we made sure to carve out time.  Thus, for the past three days, I have been working to make sure I can leave early or been spending time with them.  I have let my blogging slip and for the three of you that read this, I am sorry (j/k).  Anyway, my friend Andrew and I were running this morning (three miles for the first time since my 5K in June).  He noticed a sign that said something like, “Darkness might conceal obstacles.”  We both laughed at that.  What a “duh” statement.  Obviously darkness will conceal obstacles.  That is common sense, right?  Well, sometimes it is not so simple.  The truth that I was thinking of is that we allow darkness in our lives because we want to conceal obstacles.  Maybe we are engaging in a relationship that is wrong, but we try to hide it with rationale.  Maybe we ignore God and focus our time in other places while concealing it with excuses.  Maybe we hurt our family and conceal it with lofty goals.  The truth is that we often let darkness conceal obstacles.  When we allow Christ to provide light on our way, those obstacles become revealed and we have an easier time avoiding them.  I hope that you receive some light today and that any obstacles that come up are overcomeable (how is that for a new word).  Trust in the truth that God loves you and is with you.  Any truth you want to share?  Got an obstacle? 

Ok, so today has been interesting for me.  I played my last tennis match last night (second round playoff loss.  There is always next season) and came home feeling weird.  I haven’t been feeling the best anyway this week, but I had a terrible headache and my stomach was sore and I felt nauseous.  I woke up this morning feeling the same, so I didn’t go to my accountability group so I could rest a little more before coming to work.  I still felt bad when I came in, and now I feel like I really missed out on something great at accountability.  I have only been going for two weeks, but I can already tell a difference in my attitude and spiritual walk, affirming to me the importance of a group like that for everyone.  So the truth that I learned the hard way today is that we shouldn’t let our little irritations be excuses for our walk with God.  I used my discomfort to keep me from something that God has provided to help me grow.  As a result, I am sure I missed out on a blessing.  What excuses do we normally make that keep us from growth and strength in God?  If I had gone this morning, I would be tired and have a headache and all of that.  I still have those things going on, but I didn’t get the benefit of meeting with guys in ministry that help keep me accountable and on track for what God has in store for me.  Make a point to put yourself aside, and we can see what God will do.  That’s the truth.

Ok, so I didn’t want to post this until my brother had a chance, but since he hasn’t updated his blog lately, I decided to quit waiting.  I am an uncle again!  On Friday morning, Liz (my sister in law) delivered a beautiful baby girl named Carley.  She is awesome and perfect and all of that.  In fact, I was able to use her and her sister in my sermon.  As soon as I figure it out, I will post some pictures of all the nieces and nephew.  Anyway, when I saw Carley, and how our family interacted with her, I discovered some truths…

Boys and girls are so different.  Laney wanted to hold her little sister, and rub her face, and tell her it’s ok when she would start to fuss.  It was so sweet and cute.  Brayden wanted to run around, make noise, and hit stuff.  I know he is younger than Laney, and when they have their fourth, he will probably be different, but it was just curious.  God wires us differently.  Instead of fighting that, we should figure out how to best serve in that difference.

Holding a newborn never gets old.  I thought my arms would get tired, but I could have held her forever.  There is something about the sight of a newborn that reminds you of how amazing and PRESENT God is in the world.  You can’t tell me that kind of blessing is a total accident, and that a few little organisms accidentally came together to make that.  

Babies make you mushy.  This is the sappiest blog post I have ever, or hopefully will ever, written.  I just noticed a few things in the hospital room, and I wanted to share.  Anything you want to share?  I love your comments.  God bless and never forget the truth of God’s renewing grace in your life.

Ok, so it has been a long week.  Not a bad week, just long.  I had a bunch of meetings and other things going on during the days.  However, I have had a lot of really fun fellowship and gotten to see a lot of friends I normally do not get to.  I know that often we spend so much time trying to get things done that we don’t really enjoy doing them.  We get caught in getting things checked off the list that we don’t experience the things that God has for us daily.  I know that my biggest problem is trying to get done with today and always looking at tomorrow, that I lose the blessing of the moment.  John Wesley said, “Catch the golden moments as they fly.”  I guess the truth is that we have so many blessings in front of us.  Yes, you might have a lot of meetings.  However, try and enjoy the fellowship that occurs.  You may have a lot of tasks to complete, but learn all that you can in those.  There is always a blessing to find, and God will always provide them.