I am blogging remotely from starbucks. Gotta tell you I love the wordpress iPhone app. Free and east to use. Anyway. I had a random thought at starbucks today. The thought was this. How did a place that was so central to my life 2 years become an after thought. I used to go to starbucks every day when I lived in Memphis. Maybe 2 times a day. I went on my first date with my wife at the starbucks on germantown parkway. So starbucks was a huge deal.
But today I am sitting in a starbucks and it feels weird. After going to local coffee shops in Nashville like the Frothy Monkey and Fido, Starbucks feels bland and clinical.
So what I am gathering from all this is twofold First, there is life after Starbucks. And second that our experiences shape our desires. After experiencing a better Coffee environment I no longer pursue the delights of Starbucks.
I hope that as I pursue God and experience him that my sanctification makes me see my sin in the same way I see Starbucks…no longer satisfying. I hope you too will find your pleasure only on the one who created you.
I know two things about struggle. 1. We all will encounter it in this life. 2. We all hate struggle.
I know that everyone of us is either going into a storm, coming out of a storm or smack dab in the middle of the biggest tempest of our lives.
The question I keep asking myself is why does God allow us to go through tough times. Why doesn’t God just take struggle away from us. Why does evil exist. Why does God allow Satan to tempt us and do terrible things. Why doesn’t God do something?
These are all really important questions. If you are interested in checking out how why God allows pain and struggle into our lives check out my message, “Struggle,” from Sunday April 19th 2009 at Green Hills Church.
So we are in an exciting time at Green Hills Church. About 6 people are going to be baptized on May 3rd. We have been showing their faith stories on Sunday mornings and I am putting their stories on here because they are so inspirational. This is Sarah’s story. You got to watch it, she is really funny.
Yes, the ministry tip is making a comeback. No, its not a monday ministry tip but an insight I received this weekend church planting.
Here is the tip and then I will tell the story.
Tip: When adversity hits, God is giving you an opportunity to develop your ministry.
The example:
This week I got a call I hate to get late Saturday night. Brad, who is my best friend and Co-Pastor at Green Hills Church called me at 9:30 on Saturday night sick as a dog. He asked if there was anyway that he could sit out set up Sunday and maybe even church. I told him of course it wouldn’t be a problem so I came over and picked up our sunday gear and trailer so that he wouldn’t have to get out. Now the problem is this. Brad is invaluable on Sunday mornings. When he said that he couldn’t be there my heart sank a little bit because Brad does so much on Sunday to help us get ready for church that I envisioned a rough Sunday morning. I was preaching and wasn’t looking forward to scrambling all morning and then getting up tired to preach. On Sunday mornings we do an extensive set up and clean up of the Bar that we meet at. But then I remembered: When adversity hits, God is giving you an opportunity to develop your ministry.
I decided that God was giving me an opportunity to get some other guys involved in ministry and some of the guys who had been serving already to step up to the next level. I texted 2 of our guys who don’t serve on Sundays on the set up team and asked them to come the next morning. I also contacted 2 of my best guys and asked them to come 30 minutes early. I shared with all of them the reason why I needed them there and to my amazement they were really excited about serving.
Sunday morning was the fastest set up we have ever had. We were done 30 minutes early and the guys were excited to be there. Our prayer time before our set up time was electric. I even had one of our leaders suggest that we figure out how to get the team stronger so that Brad and I dont have to come do set up. God was at work because of adversity.
Try it this week. Adversity makes you come up with solutions that you probably should have implemented anyway.
Have you ever noticed how Spring Fever grips us as we leave winter and approach summer? Its 73 and sunny today in Nashville to I’ve got the fever!
When I went to Northwestern College in St. Paul MN, I vividly remember how people just flooded outdoors once the snow melted. There was a contagious joy that permeated the air. There was a freedom to enjoy life after being cooped up inside for so long.
I wonder what it would take for followers of Jesus to feel that same joy? Often we put so many rules on what it means to follow Jesus that Christianity can become very binding. It is so easy to legislate morality if you are a Christian. I am theologically conservative so falling into a rut of rule keeping can comes very easily to me. But Jesus has come to set us free. Free from sin and free to be ourselves. I wonder what Jesus thinks about how we have developed Christianity. Do you think he is pleased or displeased? Have we just brought back the law or have we truly found freedom?
One of the cool things we are able to see at the Church I am a pastor at is life change. We are going to be baptizing several people on May 3rd. Baptism for us is going public with your faith. Baptism doesn’t save you, but it has a powerful role in the life of a Christ-follower. Its a powerful experience that shows the world that you love Jesus and are not afraid to let people know. As a pastor, it’s really interesting to see people really have to wrestle with their faith before they get baptized. Going through the process of getting baptized seems to make people take their faith more seriously. We have been posting the people’s stories who are getting baptized on the web and showing them at church. Their stories are unscripted and pretty raw, but Its amazing to see what God has done in their lives and how they love Jesus.
Ok I finally got all my skiing pictures. Check out these pics of our trip to Boulder. If you have never been there you will really love it. Its got a lot of interesting people there and the scenery is amazing. We got to hang out with some of our closest friends. Boulder is definitely in my top 5 coolest places to live list.
Tabitha and I are having a great time sking in Colorado. She is learning and I am blogging from my phone. It’s pretty trippy blogging from a ski slope listening to bob Marley on my iPhone. Technology rules. Pictures will be coming soon. God’s handiwork is amazing.
I get the question a lot: “How can I still call sin wrong but not judge people?” I think many Christians struggle with how to balance being accepting and tolerant but still hold on to a moral standard. How do we speak into other people’s lives graciously? How do we give grace to people who aren’t there yet. If you are interested in the answers to these questions, listen to my sermon, “Radical Forgiveness” on April 6th at Green Hills Church
