“Before the first note is ever played for our first-time guest (let’s call him Will), production volunteers have been up for hours, transforming the rented high school auditorium where we meet into a habitation for the presence of God.  The guy who pulled the trailer at 4:30 a.m. and the girl who set up the cameras–they are connectors to the current of the power of Christ.

By the time I open my mouth to start the sermon, Christ has already been preached.  When Will raises his hand to receive Christ after attending for three months, he may say the inspiring songs and my brilliant sermons changed his life.  But, the real miracle happened outside the service, with hundreds of ordinary people doing ordinary things with extraordinary passion for the glory of God.

No act of service is insignificant when done for the most significant purpose in the universe: proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When you see yourself as a connector to the current of the power of Christ, everything you do takes on meaning.  You’re not just a normal Christian.  You’re not just a volunteer.  You’re not just a church member or just an employee.  Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you’re a connector to the current of the power of Christ.  You’re a servant of the most high God.”

- Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick

Our lives are an offering before God.  Romans 12:1, urges each of us “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”  Sadly, in the typical local church approximately 20% of any given congregation actually serve and give regularly.  Right now, ACC falls in line with such statistics.  What this says is that our church falls in line with the average church in America.  Average?  Is that really okay?  We do not serve an average God, who calls us to live average lives.  We serve a big, awesome, amazing, all-powerful God, who has called us to an extraordinary purpose…to “make disciples” (Matt. 28:19).  In light of this, I want you to ask yourself a serious question… “What am I offering as an act of worship before God?”  Can you honestly say that your life is a living sacrifice?  Worship is not just a Sunday thing to attend.  Worship is a 24/7/365 offering that we give.  It is a lifestyle that we live.

Therefore, let me urge you as well, in view of the mercy of God, do not simply sit back as a common spectator, but offer yourselves fully to God.  Choose to live a lifestyle of worship that is holy and pleasing to Him.

“And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him, said, “Lord have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly.  For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.  And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.”  And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you?  How long am I to bear with you?  Bring him here to me.”  And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.  The disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?“  He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”          – Matthew 17: 14-20

As a pastor and a church planter, I have certainly suffered my share of defeats, as I am sure that we all have.  This can often leave us confused, because as followers of Christ we are to be “more than conquerers,” right?  The truth is, that we can be servants of God and yet will suffer a defeat every now and then.  In Matthew 17, we see the disciples attempt to cast a demon out of a boy, but were unable to do so.  This left them looking a little bush league, so the father of the boy had to take his son to the big guns, Jesus, to heal him.  After Jesus casts the demon out of the boy, the disciples come to him…defeated, embarrassed (notice they came to Him in private) and seeking answers.  “Why could we not cast out?” the disciples probe.  And Jesus replies with a gentle rebuke, “Because of your little faith.”

There is a key word that sticks out to me as I read the disciples question.  “Why couldn’t WE cast it out?”  WE?  If they weren’t placing their faith in Christ, who were they relying on to heal the boy?  Answer: themselves.  You see, they had mistaken their own abilities for God’s power.  However, before you get to down on the boys for such a bonehead move, ask yourself whether or not you often do the same.  For example, there are times as a pastor that I get discouraged (as the disciples did) because attendance is low on a Sunday, or people aren’t very responsive.  My immediate response is to think, “was it something I said?”  Without fail I think, “am I not a very good leader?”

The bottom line is, we often put faith in our own abilities and call it faith in God.  No doubt, the disciples thought they were doing the right thing…the godly thing.  The problem was that they were trying to do a God sized task…independent of God.  How many times do we do the same thing?  God desires to use each and every one of us to be agents of redemption, to be proof of Him to a broken world.  God calls us to do big things.  However, it is impossible to do those things apart from Him and independent of His power.  If we are to tackle such God-sized tasks, we have to go to Jesus before and not after.  True faith seeks Him first, apart from whom we can do nothing.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

2 Corinthians 9:8-12 (ESV)

The primary reason for which God blesses us is so that we may be a blessing to others.  However, in tough economic times we are generally prone to hoard what we have.  We get nervous and hold onto “things” because we fear they may be taken from us.  We are reluctant to give and help others, because we are afraid that in doing so, we will go without.  This is a serious crisis of faith.  We worship that to which we hold tightest.  Many of us have forgotten that it all belongs to God and we are merely managers or stewards of his blessing.  Thus, we begin to worship those created things over the creator of all things.  Luke 12:48 warns “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Let’s be clear…God is not nervous about our current economic struggles.  So what is it that God expects?  Simply put, He promises to provide for all of our needs (Matt.6:25-34) and expects us to be a blessing to those around us.  This is a constant theme throughout scripture.  Jesus taught, “You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And the second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40).  In other words, everything we know of God hinges on us loving Him with everything we are, and in turn, being an expression of His love to others.

Please do not misunderstand.  This is not the prosperity gospel that instructs us to give selfishly so that we may receive more.  This is God entrusting us with His blessings, because he actually trusts us to be a blessing.  So often,  we express our wants and desires out of selfish motive.  We want more, simply because we want more.  However, we would be amazed how much God would bless us if we would simply become the conduit of His blessings to those around us.  The question then becomes not how much do I have, but how am I helping others. When we experience such blessing,  it’s amazing how content and thankful we become with what we do have…and are even able to find contentment in times in which we are without.

It’s time for God’s people to stop freaking out over the current economic state and place their chips on the table of God’s economy.  An economy in which trusting God isn’t merely printed on our currency, but tattooed in the very depths of our heart.  An economy where His blessing and His provision abound.

What I’m Reading – Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick

Based on Joshua’s “impossible” request that the sun would stand still until God’s enemies had been destroyed, Sun Stand Still is a challenge to ordinary individuals to embrace a life of audacious faith and to pray and believe God for the impossible.  When we begin to live a life of audacious and bold faith, we connect to our God-sized potential and purpose.  Be sure to check out Sun Stand Still when it is released in late September.

What I’m Listening To – Story Time by Zach Williams

Zach Williams is a true storyteller and his metaphors are soul deep.  The style seems to be influenced by everything from folk to blues to rock.  The sound is truly an aromatic blend of raw beauty and honest passion.  If you like music with depth, you will enjoy Story Time.

Check out his website here

What I’m Working On – Habakkuk

What do we do with injustice?  Suffering?  War?  Poverty?  Everywhere we look it seems as though good people are struggling through life.  Do you ever feel like God is unfair?  Habakkuk deals with such questions and inspires ordinary individuals to live lives of faith, cast there cares upon God and trust in his promises.

Read Habakkuk here

Many of you who really know me, know that I can be a little OCD. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, not necessarily when it comes to other people, but definitely when it comes to me. I don’t like the feeling that I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m definitely not keen on making a fool out of myself.

Several years ago, Pam made me go through a book with her about relationships. YUCK…says the He-man woman hater in me (for those of you who get Little Rascals references). The book was this somewhat touchy feely study by Gary Chapman called “The Five Languages of Love” and I kind of half-heartedly went through it. However, while going through the book, Pam determined that my love language was “words of affirmation.” My macho nature thought, “whatever Chapman! My love language is not reading a book about love languages.”

Anyway, as I have been rehearsing for ‘Joseph,’ I have realized more than ever that Pam…and Chapman…were right. Not only am I energized and motivated by positive words of encouragement, but I really need them to function properly. On the other hand, I’m devastated and defeated by words of criticism, and they often leave me feeling like quitting.

Right now, some of you are probably playing the world’s smallest violin and I get that. However, here is the point. As followers of Christ, who are called to love others, we really need to be sensitive to the hearts of those we encounter on a daily basis. We should really go to great lengths to speak encouragement to the hearts of others. Hebrews 3:13 says, “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today…” The truth is that everyone loves a word of encouragement. Therefore, my challenge to each of you is to strive to be a blessing to those with whom you speak, make a genuine effort to build them up, so that they may be inspired by the very love of Christ that fills you.

‘Sun Stand Still’ is a challenge for us to have a big audacious faith, to pray and believe God for the impossible.  The challenge is formed from the story of Joshua (Joshua 10), who boldly asks God to make the sun stand still in the sky, so that the army of Israelites will have time to finish defeating the mass of enemy ranks that it faced.  In Joshua 10:13, we see God respond as “the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.  The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”

Joshua had the audacity to ask…and God made the impossible happen.

As I read this, I became convicted over the calculated and trite nature of my own prayers.  My eyes were suddenly opened to the fact that my petitions before God were only for things that had a good shot of panning out for me.  I know…that’s a somewhat scary confession for a pastor to make.  That somehow I had limited my faith to things that were only in the realm of human possibility.  Things that I could make happen on my own with a little determination and hard work.  Perhaps in my mind, I was worried that my faith would be weakened if God didn’t come through (which by the way was a demonstration of, at the very least, a weak faith to begin with).  This absolutely floored me.  Do I really lack faith?  Do I really believe that God can do the impossible?  Do you?

This past week, I have spent a considerable amount of time on my face before God.  Not only have I repented of my lack of faith, but my prayers have been focused on the very nature and character of God.  Our God IS bigger, stronger, and more able than any of us can ever imagine.  The same God that made the sun stand still in the sky is in our corner and we CAN believe Him for the impossible.  As I have prayed this week, my prayers have been focused and inspired, extremely bold and energized by the fact that I serve an all-powerful God, who is able to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

What is it that you are asking God to do in your life and in your midst?  Are you believing Him for it?  It’s time for the people of God to once again have bold confidence in the ability of God.  To have an unrelenting, audacious faith in Him.  To walk in His promises and dare to believe that He will come through.

In Ruth 2, we find the young Moabite woman, Ruth, taking great risks in following her mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem. Ruth is a foreigner in a hostile land, she is a widow without protection, and she is facing a life of poverty.  Upon her arrival in Bethlehem, Ruth goes to glean in the fields, or gather grain leftover by the harvesters.  Gleaning was God’s providential welfare system.  Ruth gleans in the fields of a man named Boaz, who just so happens to be a relative of her late father-in-law.  Boaz, out of compassion and obedience to God’s laws, provides food for Ruth and also promises his protection.  Through Boaz, we see God’s faithfulness to Ruth and his providential hand of blessing upon her.

In v.7, Boaz takes notice of Ruth’s diligence
“She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

• God rewards those who are diligent/work hard

  The act of gleaning was God’s way of providing for the poor.  However, gleaning wasn’t simply a handout.  People had to come and work hard and collect the grain for themselves.  We live in a society that has somehow gotten the idea that the world owes them something…the church owes them…or even God owes them.  We live in a world of get rich quick schemes, people looking for the fast track to success.  They want the reward without putting in the effort.  However, God rewards those who are diligent and work hard.  Boaz first recognizes Ruth for her hard work.  The blessing followed.
  
  2 Thessalonians 3:10 – “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

In v.11, Boaz recognizes Ruth’s selflessness/generosity in her relationship with Naomi
“I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.”

• God rewards those who are generous/selfless

  We are by nature selfish people.  We rarely give unless we can be sure to get a return on our investment.  Ruth left everything.  She left her home, her family, a life of comfort.  She risked poverty and her physical well-being.  She did it all to care for Naomi.  Boaz recognized her loyalty, selflessness, and sacrifice.  He informed her that God was sheltering her and rewarding her for her acts of generosity.
  
  Proverbs 11:25 – “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

In v.10, Boaz takes note of Ruth’s humility
“she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

• God rewards those who are humble.

  Ruth felt undeserving of such a blessing.  She took on the posture of humility…the posture of a beggar.  We need to recognize that everything that we have is a gift from God.  The home in which we live, the clothes on our back, the food on our plate all comes from Him.  He doesn’t have to give us anything.  We deserve nothing.  In her humility, Ruth found God’s favor.
  
  Psalm 147:6 – “The Lord sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.”
  

**Do you recognize God’s blessings in your life?  Take some time today and humble yourself before God and thank Him for all that he has blessed you with.  Don’t ask for anything.  We spend enough time doing that.  Instead, offer up a heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving to Him.**

**Understanding that all you have is a gift, God desires for you to live a life of generosity.  This week, be intentional in the way you go about your days.  Look for opportunities to extend blessings to those around you, expecting nothing in return.**

I got this book for free at Catalyst last year and it sat on my shelf all year.  Recently, I picked it up and was pleasantly surprised.  It’s a really good read.  “Scouting” is an investigative journey into the world of shepherding, farming, beekeeping, and winemaking.  Using rich imagery, Feinberg illuminates some of Scripture’s most prevalent metaphors, biblical stories and practices.  This book will give you a renewed sense of awe of how God works in the natural world around us.

What I’m Listening To – Josh Garrels “Lost Animals”

Absolutely love it!  Josh has a unique and refreshing sound.  His lyrics are thoughtful, deep and will leave you wanting more.  Check out his website, where you can listen for free.

www.joshgarrels.com

What I’m Working On -  Message Series on the Book of Ruth

I’ve been wanting to work through the book of Ruth for awhile.  One of the best told stories in Scripture.  Ruth takes you on an epic journey of hope, through brokenness and trial to redemption and purpose.  I’m excited about spending the next few weeks here.  If you haven’t already, or haven’t in awhile, read through the book of Ruth.  You will definitely be encouraged and inspired.

Read it here

In the last couple of weeks, it has hit me just how tired my body and spirit really are.  I know that right now some of you are thinking that it’s somehow taboo for a pastor to be weary in his spirit and some of you are even psychoanalyzing me and thinking, “Buck up!”  While it may be true that some of you are machines that run 24/7 with no need to slow down, for the majority of us oxygen breathing human-beings there comes a time when we just need to be refueled.

For me, my check engine light generally comes on in the Summer.  I feel like I’ve gone hard all year and I’m just spent.  Not to mention, a lot of people tend to check out of church during the summer (which is another post for another time), which can be discouraging for a pastor.  Even my creativity seems to take more effort.  At times, it seems as though even the tasks which are so often a blessing to me, become a chore.

However, I bet I’m not alone.  Maybe, this is why so many of us laud upcoming vacations as though they were the second coming.  The truth is…we just need a break.  We need a time of refreshing.  A time to reflect on things that are important to us.  To spend quality time with our families and visit loved ones.  Time to play and take our minds off of the pressures and burdens that we face each day.

If we’re honest, so many of us are slaves to our schedules.  We are constantly on the go and constantly doing so much, that we hardly ever slow down.  Our lives are marked by our busyness.  Some of us feel guilty for even slowing down.  So, we look forward to a time when we can disconnect from the noise of our lives.

In Mark 2:27, Jesus instructs that “the Sabbath was made for man…”  In other words, God instituted a time of rest to benefit us.  God knew we would be busy, so in Exodus 20 He commands that we should set apart a regular time of rest.  He wants us to set aside time to focus on the things that are most important.  Time to be refueled in our relationship with Him…to delight in His presence…to enjoy the fruit of our labor…and to enjoy the company of those we love.  This is God’s gift to us.

Next Week, the Adams family (I know…you are singing the song now) is disconnecting.  We are taking a sabbath “week” if you will.  We are taking time to enjoy all of God’s blessings in our life.  To enjoy time with each other and with family.  Time to play.  Time to rest and be refueled by the presence of the God who refreshes and restores.

Have you made it a point to set aside some time for refreshing?  Remember, it is a gift from God.  Don’t miss his blessing!