The Foolishness of God

It's a beautiful day in the Rockies today. As I woke this morning and looked out at the sunrise, the light pushing through the changing Aspen leaves, the wonder of the day soon turned to all I had to do this week; not to mention this month. I quickly remembered that I am not sufficient in and of myself to accomplish everything I am called to do in this world. I don't have enough time, energy, money, wisdom, knowledge, or persistence on my own.
Fortunately for me and for you we don't have to accomplish everything on our own. We have the Holy Spirit here with us to give us what we need. I never cease to be amazed by the fact that God equips those He calls! If He asks us to do a task, He gives us the tools. If He asks us to love someone, He gives us the ability to love. If He asks us to understand His Scriptures, He gives us the wisdom to do so. But...we have to ask. "The Holy Spirit is a gentleman." He will not force His guidance or gifts upon us. We need to get in the habit of asking him for what we need instead of trying to make it happen on our own. He has what we need if we will simply ask. "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

Dehydration

I'm excited about moving to the Middle School next month. It has reminded me that we are still a church plant and there is still work to do. I was reminded tonight, however, that there is more to the process than strategy and planning. We need to find out who we are, what the needs of our community are, and how we are going to meet them and fulfill his mission of making disciples. All that is true. However the most important thing as always is our relationship to Him. We are, first and foremost, Christians! We build churches because we are Christians. We share our faith because we are Christians. We give time, energy, wisdom, money, possessions, love, etc. because we are Christians. But if we loose connection to Christ because we are too busy doing everything else, we have not succeeded. We have to ask ourselves ( as a church planter said tonight) what we are hungry for. If the answer is not God then we might need to take a look at why we are doing what we are doing. I want to be hungry and thirsty for God more than a big church. more than being successful. More than having everything I need in this world. because if I am hungry and thirsty for God everything else will come! "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you."

Long Distance Race

My uncle Bob dropped in on us the other day. He called to see of he could leave his truck at our house while he took some time to ride his bike through the mountains; three weeks! There's no way I could ask my body to meet that challenge. what it must take for a body to endure all of the up and down, the altitude changes, the cold nights on the ground and the sitting on that little seat for so long. But, Bob has done it for so long that his body responds.

I believe the Christian walk is the same with the mind. We have to train ourselves to act and react the way Christ would ask us to. We also have to learn when to give ourselves a break. It's not all about how we behave, sometimes it's about how we allow God to give us grace. Grace, remember, is not just about forgiveness. Grace helps us live the life God called us to. When we can't answer the call to all those mountains and pressure on the mind, that's when we call on God to give us the grace and strength we need. But that takes training too.

This life we are called to is all about endurance. But we cannot built up endurance over night! Give yourself time to get used to answering the right way. Cut yourself a break when you don't. Get back on the bike and go again. Eventually it will come more naturally and you will learn to call on God quicker. Learn the life of a long distance racer and learn to endure.

The Main Thing

As we spend time looking for a meeting place for NPCC many things go through my mind. Of course the obvious would be things like accessibility, visibility, affordability, or dependability. But the other day, as I was reading a book by Ed Stetzer, I was reminded that a building is most of all about a place to connect to God and people; a place to make, build, and cultivate our relationships. Churches (and pastors) have a tendency to get caught up in the hype of materialism just like every other organization. To have the newest and nicest accommodations for your members is a huge draw. But to get back to the purpose of meeting is the most important thing on my mind today.

The first church didn't meet in the largest, newest, most auspicious building in Jerusalem. They would not have been allowed to most likely. They met in the largest empty room they could find at first. Then, they met in the largest home they could find. When those options became too small, they met in multiple large homes or where ever they could. Church was about connecting and building relationships, not about the building.

Where ever you meet for church, focus on the reason for being there more than you do the shell around you!

Tursting, not Testing

Part of my duty to my family requires that I work a second job in addition to my work as a pastor. I chose (with the help of the Holy Spirit) to work as a substitute teacher in the Woodland Park Schools. After much preparation and paperwork, I finally had a class yesterday. It was better than I thought because I got to watch a young student teacher teach some of his first classes. The first class was a senior honors English class. They were discussing the creation stories of Greek mythology. The second class was a freshman English class. Wow! What a difference in the two! I could tell the teacher was having fun and enjoying the first class; it seemed to be what he signed up for. The second class was a little different. They were your typical freshmen on the first full week of school after a long day of sitting and listening. I was proud of the teacher though. He kept his cool and was learning to be patient with their attitudes; they were testing his integrity!

I thought this morning how God must feel when we test His integrity. When we see how far we can push His grace and mercy. When we see how far we can push His sense of right and wrong. We we look Him right in the eye while we are rebelling against the classroom rules.

Thankfully God is a patient God. He is a jealous God, but a patient God as well! Thanks to Christ's sacrifice we get to see more of His patience than His wrath. We get to enjoy the forgiveness in life before the judgment in death. Let's just be careful not to test that patience too much!