Relative Truths

Ok, so I will not be posting on God’s timing today.  I know you all are sick of that.  Anyway, today is February 29^th.  I was thinking about that this morning.  We only get February 29^th every four years (if today is your birthday, you deserve 4 times the celebration).  Today is special.  I heard a guy on the radio (Colin Cowherd of ESPNRADIO fame) say today is like when you order a 10 pack of nuggets and McDonalds gives you 11. 

 

It made me think, “Will I do anything today to make it worthy of a once-in-four-years day?”  Will I look for a way to serve so that God is glorified especially on this occasion?  My brother in law Will is working right now at The Lawrenceville Co’op, which is a ministry that gives food and money assistance to people in need.  He is making today special for several people. 

 

We often call February 29^th something like leap day because it happens during a leap year.  We usually just glaze over it in our pursuit for March.  Don’t leap over today.  It is a free day.  Make it special.

Ok, so I had a meeting this morning lined up at 8, and then a meeting lined up at 12.  Both of these were away from Lawrenceville, and fairly near each other, so between the two I just went to a coffee house, opened up my laptop, and did some work there (side note: I love working in coffee houses.  I can be so productive in that environment and I love to hear bits of people's conversations.  If you have the ability, try working from a coffee house like Starbucks, Panera, or whatever is local every now and then). 

Wow, sorry that was a way longer side note than I intednded.  Anyway, while I was working, I overheard (i.e. eavesdropped) on the conversation next to me.  After the conversation, I introduced myself to the man, apologized for eavesdropping, and talked with him for about 10 minutes.  It was a great conversation, and a great connection was made.  I really don't think I should get in the specifics, but it was pretty awesome. 

What made it even better was that as we finished our conversation, around 11:45, I received a phone call and found out that the guy I was meeting at 12 was sick and couldn't make it.  The reason I think that is cool is because if I had gotten that call 10 minutes earlier, I would have left the coffee shop and never met the guy I made the conneciton with.  That is God's timing.

I have been talking about that a lot I know.  But it really is the truth that God has a perfect timing for everything.  When we are truly willing to go with His flow, then awesome things can happen.  I am so excited about what God is doing in my life and in His kingdom.  I wake up looking forward to seeing His timing played out.  I hope and pray that God's timing is revealed to you in a powerful way.  Has it?  Please share.  God bless. 

Ok, so it’s Tuesday morning, and I am about to go to staff meeting.  I have already had to deal with one change-of-plan mini-crisis this morning.  Not that big of a deal, but as I am listening to the rain and lightening, and going through my routine, it has caused me to be a bit reflective.

 

Plans change.   My last post was about timing.  Sometimes we need to change midstream.  Sometimes we are totally in God’s timing, and God changes how things need to proceed.  That might mean we need to hurray up or slow down.  When we can learn to go with the flow, things are so much better.  Remember, we are not in control.  I dealt with a change of plan issue this morning.  I have two options.  One, be in a bad mood over something I can’t change.  Two, learn to accept it and do the best I can.  It will be ok, and I am pretty certain God can still be glorified.

 

I read blogs in the morning.  It is how I get started.  One that I subscribe to is Perry Noble.  He is the lead and founding pastor of Newspring Church in Anderson, SC.   I am so pumped about going to their leadership conference, Unleash, in 15 days.  Anyway, he had a great post today reflecting on leadership lessons from C3 conference.  Check it out here.  Just remember, God calls all of us into ministry.  Thus, in some ways, we will always be called to lead at times.  You can do it.  God created you for it and trust me, He is pretty good at what He does.

 

That’s all; I just wanted to throw a couple of quick things out this morning.  Hope all is well and if you are in the major Lawrenceville area, be safe driving in the rain.

Ok, so I have been thinking about today's sermon all day (good job Davis because that is supposed to be the result). Anyway, as I mentioned last week, we are in the 8th week of a 13 week series on the Spiritual Disciplines. For more information on the series, you can read this previous post. Anyway, today's discipline was submission. Davis mentioned that we are always fighting a battle between submission and self-control. As I have been reflecting on the notion of submission, I have been thinking about my own struggle with submission.

Ok, so I am ripping this idea off of several bloggers.  However, I really don’t care.  I was encouraged by some guys in my accountability group (thanks David and Ben) to read Acts, Nehemiah and then 1 & 2 Samuel for this season of my life.  Thus, that is what I am going to do.  Today I started with Acts 1-2.  I have read these two chapters as much as I have read any other passage in the Bible (preached on it as much as well).  However, I want to do this with fresh eyes, so I am going to share some truths that stood out to me for the first time.  I won't be doing this every day, but probably once or twice a week (I will be reading the Bible everyday however).

 

Acts 1:2 tells us that Jesus gives us instruction through the Holy Spirit.  Want to know God’s plan for you?  Seek out the Holy Spirit to guide you.  It is better than Tom Tom or Garmin.

 

Acts 1:5-8 shows that Jesus offers His followers assurance, not a timetable.  We shouldn’t ask God when to do it, just what to do.

 

Acts 1:21 shows that the disciples “promoted” from within.  I hear so many people say that churches shouldn’t hire from within.  Why not?  The followers are the ones who believe in the vision.  It worked in the 1^st century, it will work now (disclaimer: you can still hire from outside.  Paul was a pretty decent preacher/teacher/church planter/author/mentor, etc.).

 

Acts 2:4 shows that The Holy Spirit gives us power when God deems it appropriate, which might not when we think is best.  Trust me, God knows better.

 

Acts 2:47 shows that when a church is living true to God’s vision, He will grow them.  So, if a church isn’t growing, maybe it needs to look truthfully at how it is following God’s vision.

 

I guess that is enough for today.  I won’t be this long every time.  What do you think?  What scripture has been speaking to you lately?

Ok, so it was a good weekend, and today has been a good start to the weekend.  My last post included my day on Saturday, so I won’t include that.  I just want to give you all an update on yesterday and today.  Don’t worry, this won’t be a trend.  I just have had a few good days here that I want to share.

 

I preached at FUMC Sunday morning.  We are in the middle of a series called Simple Gifts: Grace for the Overextended.  The goal of the series is to help people simplify.  It is a thirteen week series.  Yes, I said that right; it is a thirteen week series that is supposed to be about simplicity.  Each week we look at a spiritual discipline with the hope that an increased relationship with God will lead to simplicity.  Anyway, the topic Sunday was solitude.  In my preparation I realized that many times we just need to sit with God and be quiet.  Too often we are over anxious to tell God our problems.  Then, we talk too much that we can’t hear His voice.  Well, the truth is that He knows our problems, concerns, and needs (He also knows our joys but we never feel like sharing those in prayer, do we?).  So, as I said on Sunday and am trying to apply in my life, just be quiet and be attentive to God.  Then, He can answer.

 

Sunday afternoon, I watched some movies on TV while Rebekah worked (before you think I am the worst husband ever, I offered to help and I worked Sunday morning).  It was great to relax with her.  I know I say this all the time, but find time to relax with those you love.  It is so much better than stressing out by being busy alone.

 

Today I got to see a good friend of mine who lives in North Carolina , Amy Keller.  She is pretty cool and fun to hang out with.  I pray that she moves back to Georgia because I think God can do some great things with her here (I know she is doing great things in NC, but I am selfish, ok).  No great truth in that, but hanging out with a friend and catching up is a great way to avoid a case of the Mondays. 

 

Well, that is all for now.  Hope your week is starting out well.  What do you have going on today?  Never forget the truth that God still loves you even if it is a Monday! 

Ok, so I had an amazing day today.  It was amazing for two reasons.  One, I got to spend a ton of time with Rebekah.  Things have been very hectic lately, so quality time together has suffered a little the last few weeks.  Two, I was reminded of how God is working ahead of us even when we don’t understand or realize.  I want to expand on these two things.

 

Rebekah and I ran some errands this morning.  I know that seems boring, but we had some great time talking, laughing, and reflecting on stuff that is going on with us.  We don’t do that nearly enough.  Do you feel like you need more time with any of your loved ones?  When was the last time you and your better half, best friend, whatever, just laughed at each other?  The truth is that we need that kind of thing to have a healthy relationship.  The same is true of God.  When was the last time you just spend some time talking, laughing, and reflecting with your Creator?  Trust me, He wants to hear from you and have that quality time.

 

The second reason that today was amazing is that I saw God moving in a great way.  I can’t really elaborate too much now, but trust me, God is powerful.  I am so excited about what God is doing in this world, and what God is doing in my life.  The truth is that God is always moving; sometimes we are just too busy to notice it.  When we can take some time to look for what God is doing, we will always be amazed.  Trust me.

 

Hope great things are happening for you.  I hope God is doing something amazing/moving in your life.  How was your Saturday? 

Ok, so I know I sound like a broken horn, but I am sorry I haven’t posted in awhile.  I had a bit of a family situation that took me out of town, and I really wasn’t able to post.  Anyway, I do want to share a few things going on with me and see what you all think.

I realized the amazing power of prayer last week.  Without going into details, God moved in an incredible way with a perfect storm of answered prayer.  Things aren’t perfect; but they are the best they can be.  How true is that in life?  We will never live in a perfect world until we are either in heaven with God or Christ returns; however, God can still move in amazing ways.  I thank God for some great people in my life and for all of those that have prayed for the situation. 

I realized how much I love blogs.  It is a part of my routine to check several blogs everyday.  However, last week, they meant so much more.  I have a few of my favorite blogs listed under the blogroll to the right of this post.  Check those out.  They are great people who keep me encouraged without even knowing it (some encourage me by reminding me to post).  Do you have anyone that just keeps you encouraged?  We all need folks like that.  I just pray that I can be someone like that to someone else. 

The highlight of the weekend was the youth worship service at church Sunday night.  I got to see Laney, Brayden, and Carley.  I got to hear The Less play unplugged.  They are awesome.  I really hope they can be a part of my church one day.  I also got to hear my brother David speak.  As great as all of those things were, the best was seeing 6 teenagers make the decision to follow Christ!  It is a powerful moment when someone decides to turn their life over to God.  To see that many kids do it was inspiring. 

I praise God for reminding me of how awesome and in charge He is during the events of last week.  I praise God for all of you who pray for me and support me.  I also thank God for what you do in this world.  What do you thank God for?  What reminders have you had lately? 

Ok, so I was on a retreat this weekend called “Is God Calling Me?”  It is a retreat for people who are juniors in high school through college age who have felt a call into ministry.  I was there to be one of the clergy representatives.  I preached one of the services, led a small group, and spent some time answering questions about ministry.  I had a couple of great experiences to reflect on.

 

It was a great weekend, and I was very encouraged to see the younger people of the conference.  We have some truly great leadership coming in, and I know that God is going to work wonders with these young people.  I just pray that they stay true to the call.  We are imperfect people trying to serve a perfect God in a flawed system.  That can be discouraging.  I tried to remind them, and my prayer for them is that throughout any frustrations, they will continually hear the voice of God calling and directing them.  The truth is that the church will only continue if new people continually enter into Christ’s ministry.  I am blown away at the potential of this generation. 

 

We had an awesome worship service on Saturday night.  Our worship leaders were a brother and sister combination named Charles and Taylor.  We had a great sermon and then prayed and worshipped for 2 hours.  When are with people that don’t want to leave because they are in the presence of God, it is a beautiful thing.  The truth is, if we all sought to experience God like that, we really would believe that nothing can stand against us.

 

Anyway, those are my reflections and truths.  What do you have?  Have you had any great experiences with God lately? 

Ok, so here we are on Friday.  It has been an interesting week.  It was pretty long, but really interesting.  I thought I would just give some highlights and hopefully you all can comment on it.

On Monday I had a great meeting with someone.  I can't really go into details about it, but it is something to be very excited about.  God is moving in some really awesome ways.  I can't wait to see what God is going to do, and I can't wait to share it with everybody.  You know that feeling you get when you have a cool Christmas present for someone, or you know about a surprise that someone is going to receive?  That is the feeling I have right now.  Please be in prayer for me and in prayer for God's will to always be supreme.

I was sick this week and had to cancel my class Wednesday night.  I hated that.  I am teaching a class called "Get Reel."  Basically, we look at different movies and look for Biblical themes, quotes, characters, etc.  It has been fun watching people's perceptions change.  Last week we examined "The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring."  This week was set to be "The Matrix."  It is really amazing how God's story has impacted so many things.  People put Christian tones in characters, and probably never realize it.  Just imagine how transformed this world would be if directors and actors were intentionally imitating Christ.  That would be awesome.

I had two great fellowship moments this week.  I had breakfast with Andrew.  It has been awhile since we have had some good one on one time (we used to have this thing about Fridays that Kristen and Rebekah worried about...).  We were able to talk about some big God stuff.  I also had lunch yesterday with Alex, a great friend whom I don't see nearly enough.  The truth of that is that we should intentionally seek time with our friends.  Don't let things be accidental, or wait until they are convenient.  Take some time, schedule a meeting, and have fun.  It's important.  Trust me.

That's all I've got for now.  Anything to add?