God, you owe me
- This is how you do me!!!
Buffalo Bills wide receiver, Steve Johnson, dropped a game-winning pass a couple Sundays ago when playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. After the game, the upset football player tweeted this to God:
I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO...
Apparently, God owed Johnson the touchdown catch because Johnson praises God all the time. It seems comical at first, but Johnson's tweet does reflect a common belief about man's relationship to God. It's a belief that if I do good things then God owes me a good life. In Johnson's case, he says he praises God "24/7" (a good thing) and in return God should have helped him catch the pass (a good life).
The problem with this belief is we put God into our debt; that is, God owes us a good life if we do the appropriate good thing. The truth is, because of sin we are the debtors. Scripture tells us that the payment for sin is death, and that there is no way we could ever repay what we owe. Sure, we try to repay our debt. We try to love people, live good lives, recycle our bottles, vote, and use our blinkers on the freeway, but in the end, our good works can never pay off our debt.
This is why we need a Savior, one who was willing to pay our debt for us with his life. Jesus paid our debt by going to the cross and dying for our sins; not because we deserved it, but because of his grace. Our debt has been paid in full, the collectors don't call anymore, our account has been replenished, we are "whole" and in right standing.
Our response to this incredible gift is to put faith in Christ and to praise him for his generosity and grace. Let's remember, we praise him because of what he did for us, and because we want Him, not because we want something from Him.
3 purgings
Nehemiah 13 - Three Purgings
1. The temple: the body, what you put into yourself through the eyes, the ears, and the mouth (food).
2. The Sabbath: rest, abstain from work. Trust in God for provision. Keeps perspective on life and what's important.
3. Relationships: do my relationships detract from my relationship with God? what do I need to fix? Purge anger, jealousy, offense.
Reflections from EN 2010 world conference
I spent last week in Manila at the Every Nation 2010 world conference that hosted 18,000+ delegates from 50 countries. (Every Nation is the family of churches and ministries that GBCK belongs to.)
Here are some reflections in no particular order:
• The Gospel is growing and bearing fruit around the world, especially in closed countries where Christianity is illegal.
• Our #1 mission is to make disciples whether you are in the U.S., Asia, Europe, Africa, or wherever; this is our mandate.
• God uses the ordinary person to do the extra-ordinary work of the Gospel. All it takes is humility and reliance on God.
• We must learn how to put down and let go of offenses if we are to pick up and carry the cross of Jesus and fulfill His mission.
• Every Nation, Every Campus: Reaching the next generation is imperative.
• The Philippines is hot!
• The Gospel shows us what's broken, and shows us the solution to our brokenness. We must never stop preaching the Gospel.
• Each one reach one: who am I reaching and believing to come to faith in Jesus?
• The local church is God's chosen tool for reaching the world with the Gospel; it's through disciples not organizations that people are reached for Jesus.
• Put away my excuses, my pettiness, and my hang ups, and get about the Kingdom business of making disciples by leading them to develop their faith, deepen their connections, and to devote their lives to God's mission.
Thoughts on leadership and ministry…
Yesterday we had a great "round table" meeting of the Hawaii Every Nation pastors. We meet almost every month and it's such a valuable time of sharing, inspiration, and fellowship.
Here are some takeaways from our discussion:
• Get people in their right lanes so they can function and serve effectively.
• You need people who can get things done, but you also need leaders. (For me, you need people who not only can do stuff, but who can think things through.)
• It's necessary to move people through their seasons of life, especially in a leadership context.
• Choose relationships over methods.
• Just because there's a lot of activity doesn't mean there's fruitfulness.
• Patience, it's God's church and he's working at his pace not mine.
• What I do now will shape my ministry 40 years from now.
• Leaders impart values. You can never let up on imparting the value of reaching others for Jesus.
• God is always working on the man of God. (As I grow the church grows.)
• People want to hear your heart
• Embrace the process of developing my philosophy and theology of ministry. (What do I believe?)
Asking people to leave church
Donald Miller has an interesting blog post about asking people to leave church. He writes:
"A couple times at a church I’m familiar with, here in Portland, the lead pastor, has very kindly asked people to leave. I remember a specific time he just stood up and asked how many people had been coming to church for a year or more but hadn’t found a way to plug into the community. He then invited them to plug in, (which at this church means to serve or find a home group or work in a ministry) and then asked them if they hadn’t found a place that fit them, it might be time to try another church." You can read the rest of the article here... http://bit.ly/dyHkHg
Some thoughts on the article:
- You have to be very secure as a pastor to ask people to leave, especially if you pastor a smaller church. Are you willing to risk lower attendance, or are your emotions and identity too knitted to good attendance? When just two families leave in a smaller church you feel it big time.
- I think asking people to leave is giving permission for people to leave. Some might feel it's wrong to leave so they need "permission" to leave.
- Asking them to leave is pruning by values and leadership. As the article says, it's an act of leadership (and love, I believe) to lead people to better pastures even if that means going to another church.
- On the other hand, so what if someone is attending church and the person is not serving, reaching, giving, worshiping, small grouping, joining, etc.? Could it be that God has them there for a reason? Could it be that part of their conversion/sanctification is to sit there? Could it be that there is something happening in their lives but it's just not visible yet? Could it be that pastors get nervous when we don't see activity and "doing", and assume the person hasn't "bought our values"? Could it be that God, in his sovereignty, has chosen your church as the environment for the invisible to happen?
- I believe it's fine to ask people to leave your church, but if they decide to stay, then so be it.
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