When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
By nature, I’m a very impatient man. Invariably, I dream today and want to do tomorrow. In my mind, I know change can be slow, progress takes time and that you can’t force growth.
There are times when we hear God’s voice, we see the obvious path to success and, yet, we’re still forced down the longer, harder road.
It’s easy to rebel because we can’t see the pain right around the corner of the short path.
It’s easy to grumble because we don’t recognize the hidden flaw in our plan.
It’s hard to trust your direction when everything on the map you’re holding says you’re going the wrong way.
It’s hard to remember that God’s vision stretches infinitely farther than ours.
And it’s moments like those when we have to remind ourselves… God’s most foolish idea is wiser than my most brilliant one.
He has a plan to bring us to the end of the race. He will protect us when we need protecting and steer us when we need steering. He will guide us when we need guiding and rescue us when we need rescuing. He will send us down the long road…but it will be the right road.
Next time you feel worry creeping in, remember this… Worry is a waste of your imagination.
Your imagination can fuel dreams, spark creativity and inspire vision. Or… It can create potential versions of the future that you can waste hours, days and years worrying about.
Today was a HUGE morning at Reset! We sang our hearts out to some great songs… ”You Deserve,” “Your Grace Is Enough,” “Search My Heart” and “Saviour King.” We got to see Michele Schmidt share her story of moving from “fan” to “follower” and we were challenged to “come to Jesus with everything we’ve got.”
All in all, a great morning… But the absolute high point of my day was sharing some of the future direction for our community! From our beginning 5 years ago right up till today, God’s been moving and growing people while stretching our whole “family.” But I believe the next 5 years have even greater potential than we’ve ever imagined!
Much like a snake shedding its skin to grow and mature, Reset is about to undergo a “shedding of our skin.”Beginning in 2012, our community will get a new name – SOMA. Soma is the Greek word for “body.” It’s what Paul used over and over when talking about the body growing up and maturing under the head that is Christ.
“Reset” has laid a tremendous foundation for the Kingdom in Brown County and now we want to take the next step forward… While Reset has primarily focused on providing a worship experience for teens and young adults, Soma will have a much more holistic approach…
Worship – Provide a quality worship experience that will draw people – ALL PEOPLE…children, teens and adults – toward the heart of God.
Community – Create communities who have a mission to carry the name of Jesus to their culture.
Mission – Actively be WITH people with the intentional goal of being ONE OF people so that God can be IN people. (click the links to find out more about each word)
I can’t wait to see how God moves through our planning and preparation as we step into a new season of ministry. Reset has been an awesome journey and I’m confident Soma will continue to grow the Kingdom in ways we haven’t even considered yet!
I’ll be sharing more about Soma over the next few weeks and months. Please pray for our new endeavor and consider connecting with us as we reach a culture that desperately needs Jesus. Together, we will be SOMA.
You DO NOT want to miss this weekend at Reset! I love Reset so stinkin’ much and I get so excited that I know I over-hype everything. But you can take this one to the bank…
There will be an announcement this weekend that you definitely want to experience first-hand. It’s a game-changing moment in the way we do “church” and it has the potential to propel us forward with greater momentum than we’ve ever experienced before. And the best way to be a part of it is to show up this weekend!
We’ll be in week 4 of our “Not A Fan” series, the band will be rockin’ and we’ll come expecting God to show up in a big way through His Word. And in the middle of it, we’ll be laying out some tremendous vision for the future. It’s safe to say, I’m more excited about this than I’ve ever been about anything else Reset’s ever been a part of. And I can’t wait to share it with you this Sunday!
Hope to see you this Sunday morning in the GCC gym at 10:35 am!
I’m sitting here in the middle of ‘free time’ this afternoon amazed once again at the energy these young guys have.
They were up till close to midnight last night and got up at 6 am to run a little (although I’m not sure I consider 7 miles to be a ‘little’). They spent the morning in sessions and small groups and now they’re off to play soccer, swim and maybe run some more. They’re excited about the couple hours we’ll spend in sessions tonight and told me they can’t wait to play cards again tonight.
Imagine the potential they have to influence the Kingdom if they were to harness the full power of that energy… Imagine what could happen if our church would release and empower these guys to lead the charge in Brown County… Imagine the churches that would be planted and the people who would be fed and the lives that would be forever changed… Imagine THAT and you’ll see the reason that I’m sitting here half exhausted in Knoxville, TN.
That’s the vision of the future that I’m investing to help create.
That’s the vision of the future that our church so desperately wants and our world so desperately needs.
Successful leadership completely depends on what you’re seeing and hearing.
If you look around and see only obstacles, you’ll always hesitate and be a step behind where you could be. But if you look and see endless opportunities, you’ll be able to leap and innovate and lead.
If you listen to God’s vision for your life, you’ll be free to take risks and chase your calling. But listen to rumors, doubts and fears and you’ll freeze and shrink back into the comfort of where you’ve already been.
Watch for opportunities, listen for vision and ignore the rest.
Dreams are great. They are necessary for forward motion to take place. They are inevitable if you’re chasing God’s Will. Dreams show us what could be. They inspire us to achieve our potential and embrace our circumstances.
But no matter how great your dreams are… Sooner or later, you always have to wake up.
No matter how perfect the dream is, it’ll never satisfy you on its own. It’ll never fulfill you on its own. It’ll never be enough on its own.
God has given you a dream. But He’s called you to a reality. What are you doing to see your dream realized? God gets the glory. God remains the center. God brings the power. But you supply the legwork. You put in the hours. You deliver the effort.
Your dream inspires your reality. But it’s your choices coupled with God’s power that define your reality.
So… What are you doing to see your dream realized?
Stop living in a dream and start letting God create a new reality through you.
[God] said [to Ezekiel]: ”Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
THE #1 ROLE OF THE CHURCH is this… Be the voice of God.
Along the way, as we worship together and study together, other very cool things happen… A family grows. Forgiveness is given and accepted. Healing begins.
But the #1 reason the Church exists is to speak God’s Word into an unbelieving culture.
The minute you forget that is the minute Satan begins winning a battle in your community. The Church is not intended to please everyone - regardless of how long they’ve been a member or how much money they give. It is not designed to look like a democracy where everyone gets to vote on everything. It is not supposed to distrust its leaders or fight over trivial matters. The Church spends far too much time worrying about personal happiness and far too little time considering eternal souls.
If you’re a Christian, God has sent you to an unbelieving culture to speak His Words. He’s given you the Church so you have a family to support you. YOU are His prophet. YOU are His plan.
Take a moment to consider what your attitude toward the Church has been. If it’s been anything other than “I am all-in, with my leaders heart and soul,” then it’s been wrong.
If that’s you… Repent. Then reassure your leaders that you’re with them heart and soul and begin pouring your energy into your mission. Stop worrying about how you feel and start thinking about how you live.
And listen to what God says to Ezekiel next… (Ezekiel 2:7-8)
“You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house…”
Make a choice… Join with your Church to be the voice of God.
A consistent issue in my life is the struggle between contentment in what God is doing and frustration with what I ‘think’ God should be doing.
I have an inner drive to be successful at what I do. It pushes me to drive ideas, concepts and change too fast at times, with little regard to others around me. So I am working to learn that what ‘might’ happen tomorrow is NOT innately better than what is happening today.
Here’s the truth I want my heart to fully grasp… God doesn’t expect me to be successful, He expects me to be faithful.
And, then, through my faithfulness, He will bring about HIS success, whether the world around me deems it ‘success’ or not.
