Church.  It’s complicated.

This is the title of the series I’m learning about at church.  At the same time, ‘Ministry mind shifts’ is what I have just begun reading about from the book The Trellis And The Vine, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.  These two lessons in parallel are very intriguing.

Church: The messages about church created a paradigm shift in my mind.  When I belonged to a church, or was visiting a church my mindset was slightly wrong!  For some reason, majority of the time I was self seeking.  By that I mean I was asking the questions, “Am I growing here?”, “Is my pastor eager to have a relationship with me?”, “Are there people my age here?”, “Are there ministries that I like that I can plug in to?”.  All of these questions are highly self seeking.  The big kicker in the pants for me is “I am made to serve the church, the church is not made to serve me”.  If a church doesn’t have a certain ministry that you need, ask yourself, what is church to you?  Is church a place that is created to server you and help you?  Or, is church a part of God’s huge plan for his Kingdom?  Do you want to be a part of that plan?  God calls you to, and he has given you gifts specifically for the church.

Ministry Mind Shifts: From running programs to building people.  A beautiful thing about the above paragraph is that the leaders of the church are called away from growing and maintaining events and structures, and called towards growing people who are disciple-making disciples of Christ.

Both sides are to be selfless in their duties, they give to each other, and they put the other as priority.  A giving spirit towards one another in the direction and glory of God’s kingdom.  One side says “Where can I help?”, the other side says “What are your gifts?” and “How we build you into a disciple with your gifts?”.

How can I change the focus of an event, like a Friday Night Worship, from an event of worship, to a disciple-making disciples of Christ event of Worship?

A life with Christ isn’t always all rainbows.

Psalm 80 is a brutally honest prayer.  ”O God, How long will you be angry Against the prayer of Your people?  You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in great measure.  You have made us a strife to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves.” (Psalm 80:4-6)

Tell God how you really feel.  But do note how the prayer started and ended.  The beginning is full of praises of God’s sovereignty and of His name.  He ends his prayer admitting that he needs God, and that only God alone can help him, “Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!”

Be real with God, he desires to hear all of your troubles and is only waiting for you to ask him to move into your life and work in a huge way through it.

“I am ready to hear [your] prayers for those blessings, and I am ready to grant [you] [your] requests.” Ezekiel 36:37

Develop deeper relationships with people who you can grow with and can stand up to the hard rocks of life.  Talk about bigger things than football, music or movies, those things aren’t bad, interests are great things and are great to talk about and have in common with our friends.  But…

What about asking questions like:  What are you dreams?  What are your life goals? How have you grown as a believer this week?  How can I pray for you?

And then you can follow up with them on those things:  How are you doing with that dream of yours?  I read this verse and I thought of you.  Pray for them, with them, not just when you leave their presence.  Let’s grow as a church, as a body of Christ.

The Bible is a story about Love, not rules.

The post leading to this is the book of Ezekiel chapter 36 without any narrative contexts, leaving only what God called Ezekiel to deliver to the people of Israel.

You may read it here.  Read it a couple times and then come back to this.

There are so many points in this chapter that God is speaking to us, right now, no matter where you are in your walk, I can only hope to cover a smidgen of what is there.

The relationship I found while reading throughout this chapter is that Israel, aka the mountains of Israel, and the people, are all relating to me. When God is speaking about the valleys, hills, ravines, mountains or land of Israel, He is speaking to my very being, my essence, who He created me to be, what He has called me to be.  When he is speaking is speaking to the people of Israel, he is speaking to who I am now, a man who is or was living my life as my own, full of sin, separation from God, independent isolation, slave to evil.

In verses 1 through 5, God says:

Your enemies have taunted you… attacked you from all directions, and now you are possessed by many nations.  You are objects of much mocking and slander.  I speak to the hills and mountains… ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by foreign nations everywhere.  My jealous anger is on fire against these nations… because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.

Applying this to myself:

My enemies have taunted me, attacked me from all directions with evil, lies and sin and now I am possessed by many different thoughts, beliefs, actions.  I am an object of much mocking and slander.  God speaks to who he created me to be, the ‘me’ that is now tainted and destroyed with sin and evil.  God is jealous and angry against these evils and sins because it has caused me to run from God, taking my life as my own, making my own path with my own truths.

If you apply this way of thinking throughout the entire chapter you will be amazed, yet again, by the Glory of God, his sovereignty and his desire for me to become the purpose for what he created me to be.  The only way for me to become that, is through only Him.  And the reason for me to become that is ONLY for the Glory of God, so that all who see me, will see God.

I cannot help but notice how many times God mentions what he originally created me to be.  It is very clear that God has a purpose for me, he very much so desires that purpose to be fulfilled in me, that he can make that happen, by fulfilling that purpose people will come to God.

The last few verses God says that he is ready to hear my prayers for the blessings he will give me, and he is ready to grant me my requests, he will multiply them and fill my life with fruit and people on fire for God.

It absolutely boggles my mind how this chapter, yet directed so clearly to Israel and the people of Israel, is actually a very complex and simple calling to my life.

I ask you this, are you relying on yourself and your own understanding to find and create your purpose?  Or are you allowing God to reveal what he has truly created you to be?  The question is not “What is my purpose?”, the question is “Am I living a self driven life, or am I living a God driven life?”.

God be in you.

I often think about my life in the past in awe and wonder, how blessed I have been and how amazing God truly is.  I live my life in the now, which I think is very important

Matthew 6:30-34

³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

However we must dream and we must set goals in our lives, dreams and goals help us grow and feel fulfilled in God’s glory and creation.  If we don’t dream or don’t set life goals it makes life very easy to become a cyclic redundancy where you go to work, you come home and watch tv, you eat dinner, you watch more tv, you go to sleep, wake up, go to work and the day starts all over again.  I think dreams and goals are very important, for most of us it’s what drives the very nature of our minds; sets up the stage to accomplish amazing things.  Having dreams and setting goals is important but why not take it a step further, what if we had dreams and set goals and involved God into those things.  What if we prayed about them and asked God to help those dreams and goals become a reality.  And furthermore, what if we ask God to help us create new goals and dreams, involve God in them.

God, show me your creation and power, give me the desire to do things that are unimaginable and only possible through you, I know not where to start but I know you can show me the way, I ask this of you please, show me the way and help me see what you have meant for me to see.

Ask yourself this: When was the last time I asked someone, a good friend, family member or fresh acquaintance, “What are some of your dreams or life goals?”.  Before this last week I don’t remember the last time I asked someone that, and why not!?  In prioritizing relationships and loving all I think we have an obligation, not only that, but we should desire to help others achieve those dreams and goals.  By talking about them is one step in helping them become real.

I hope you will not only think about what your dreams and life goals are and even write them down, blog them, journal them, sticky note them, whatever, but knowing your dreams and goals are very important in achieving dreams and goals, wouldn’t you say?  I also hope you will ask others what their dreams and goals are, help make them more tangible and non theoretical, let’s make our dreams and goals a reality and let’s involve others in them.

Planning allows a destination.  There are many many many roads to walk on and many diversions to take so how do you know where to go?  The way I view planning is: How can you plan a trip or a destination accurately without planning either in the beginning of the trip or along the way?  If you drive through the country with no plan you drive aimlessly with no direction, goal and quite honestly a feeling of empty accomplishment – but that’s an accomplishment right!?!?  It is the same with your very own life!

One thing I’ve been questioning and churning in my head lately is when to plan and when to let God direct me.  I’ve always been a planner, however I have learned to leave space open for spontaneity, otherwise I will grow frustrated and disappointed that I am not able to be involved with certain things.  Also having space for spontaneous events allows time to reflect and experiment with things that are new to you in the now and weren’t ever considered for planning in the past.

All that wasn’t new for me but the big question on my mind was “Is it healthy, spiritually, for me to plan my life with such hope, desire and aspirations?”, because from talking with others I will mention I plan on – and later have the feeling that I NEED to say, “if it’s God’s will”, or “if God directs me to follow that plan”, etc.  When I get that feeling to say that I begin questioning why, naturally.  The question to answer the why is “What kind of planning is healthy?  Can I be at peace of mind and feel like I am allowing God to direct my life if I continue to plan?”.

After searching, I found a lot of scripture to help me figure this out, the main one I appreciated and that helped me answer this particular thought was Proverbs 16.

¹ To man belong the plans of the heart,
but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.

² All a man’s ways seem innocent to him,
but motives are weighed by the LORD.

³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.

⁴ The LORD works out everything for his own ends—
even the wicked for a day of disaster.

⁵ The LORD detests all the proud of heart.
Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

⁶ Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.

⁷ When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

⁸ Better a little with righteousness
than much gain with injustice.

⁹ In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

¹⁰ The lips of a king speak as an oracle,
and his mouth should not betray justice.

¹¹ Honest scales and balances are from the LORD;
all the weights in the bag are of his making.

¹² Kings detest wrongdoing,
for a throne is established through righteousness.

¹³ Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
they value a man who speaks the truth.

¹⁴ A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
but a wise man will appease it.

¹⁵ When a king’s face brightens, it means life;
his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold,
to choose understanding rather than silver!

¹⁷ The highway of the upright avoids evil;
he who guards his way guards his life.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹ Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed
than to share plunder with the proud.

²⁰ Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

²¹ The wise in heart are called discerning,
and pleasant words promote instruction. ^[a]

²² Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it,
but folly brings punishment to fools.

²³ A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,
and his lips promote instruction. ^[b]

²⁴ Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

²⁵ There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

²⁶ The laborer’s appetite works for him;
his hunger drives him on.

²⁷ A scoundrel plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.

²⁸ A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends.

²⁹ A violent man entices his neighbor
and leads him down a path that is not good.

³⁰ He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity;
he who purses his lips is bent on evil.

³¹ Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained by a righteous life.

³² Better a patient man than a warrior,
a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

³³ The lot is cast into the lap,
but its every decision is from the LORD.

Especially verse 9: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”  This made me see more clearly that planning IS good and healthy for you but planning doesn’t mean it’s set in stone and that’s what’s happening, there’s 2 pieces in planning in order to make it practical to your life, there’s planning and the determination of that plan.  The key is allowing God to determine your plans and have sovereignty over your plan.  The best way I understand this is, God doesn’t want to micromanage you and he is the creator of creativity, he wants you to be creative and have desires of your own and to use your creativity to plan ahead.  But just like a great father that he is, he desires to be involved in the decision of your plans, and again like a great father he is, he allows you to invite him into the decisions.  How awesome is it that he loves us so much that not only has he given us an excellent example of the relationship we have with him – father and son – but he allows US to decide.  HE hopes, desires and aspires that we love HIM so much and value HIM so much that we involve HIM.

That is simply amazing.

Ever thought how nice it would be to have a one line question to ask a close friend on a calm rainy day?  Not like we have any calm rainy days around here in saint louis -  Maybe for the fact to stimulate your mind or sounds smart or the big one – to grow in your relationship with that other person by discussing deeper topics other than how’s work?  I long for this every day and wanted to share something with you.

In the last month I’ve had numerous conversations with good friends, this time instigated by yours truly, about something that has been on my mind, a lot lately.  Let’s say it simply intrigues me to the ultimate and back.  Like a package of oreos, i can’t let a package of oreos just sit there and go untouched, and most the time, I have to eat the entire package!  So this intrigues me like a new package of oreos…

Notable: This would be most effective if you only read and processed one section at a time (they’re short and few).  I know it would be very tempting and easy to read the entire post or none of it but I challenge you to take a moment or a few moments throughout the next week and read bits of this post.  See what may happens.

I hope this post will be as intriguing to you as 20 hopeful oreos!  I would even go as far as recommend you to read the first section and walk away from this post so you can think about it and come back for the next section.

Let Us Begin! – I would really appreciate an email or text or comment if you wish about this cause I’m crazy curious about it.

Section 1

do not read section 2 until you’ve fully thought about this.  It may come as a shock to you for how short and initially comical it may seem to you:

If you were present and some random guy / girl walked up to your mother and punched her out, what would you do?

[ truly think about what you would do]

Section 2

Now that you’ve thought about it a bit and hopefully have an answer, do you think that’s right?  Meaning do you think it’s humane or based upon social standard or is it the culturally common thing to do?

Section 3

What do you think Jesus would do?  Was your answer anywhere close to what Jesus would do?  If not then why, if so then why did you not answer with a more cultural answer and why do you think the cultural answer, or in other words, the immediate instinctive answer is so barbaric?

There are SO many things and ideas that can spawn off of where we are now, when do you think anger is an OK emotion, do you think it’s right to allow someone else to control your emotions, if God created anger for a purpose what is that purpose and how do we control ourselves to using anger for only what it is designed for?  I could write pages of things we could talk spawning from where we are on a conversation topic level!

I encourage you to bring this up to a close friend.  When discussing this, it IS very important to pause and talk about each section naturally like it’s not a process.  Reason I say close friend is because I think this is something that could open up a very deep conversation to allow quite a bit of growth between two people.  It allows a lot of inward thinking and reflection which I think is a great way to grow.  One of my deep desires is to grow in my relationships with other people through Christ and his word.  Need I say more?  I love how simple this is too!

Children’s view of beginning and end is non existent, I envy that.  I get so wrapped up on the beginning and end that I spend bulk of my time thinking about the beginning and end or what’s next? rather than living in the moment right now, to the fullest!

Too often I feel that we focus on the beginning of something only to wonder how long it will last or when it will end just so that we can think or talk about the beginning of something all over again.

This could relate to a multitude of things, a few examples? k…

“Can’t wait till 5 o’clock rolls around so I can get off work.”
“Next Friday I close on my house!”
“I’m sooo hot at Rock the River and this speaking is loud, how long should I stay?”
“Waiting is so agonizing, how long will I have to wait”
“When I get this thing I will be ready”
on and on…

Don’t get me wrong, I think looking forward to things is a great thing and it’s partly what keeps us moving on some days, like these beautiful Mondays .  But I also think there’s a lesson we can learn here from yet again, a child.

I like the verse where Jesus talks about having a childlike mind and childlike faith:

Mark 10:15

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Although this verse is in a slightly different context, I think it still serves for multiple contexts, I think there is a connection that can be made.  Think about how a child plays with their favorite toy, swings, eats, watches a movie, or plays with their celebrity (in their eyes) uncle! There is no end in their mind.  They do not think like: “I’ll probably play puzzle for the next 5 minutes and then move on to playing with my blocks” or “I need to play really hard because pretty soon we’re leaving and I won’t be able to play anymore” or “I love playing with my uncle and have to play with him and show him everything in the next hour because he’s leaving then.”… No, they are in the moment to the fullest, which is how we should be.

I was at Rock the River yesterday and caught myself thinking, “How long am I staying and should I just leave now or leave in a little bit?”.  My question to this is, and my question I am trying to ask myself frequently is, “Am I living in the moment, right now?”

It’s a very simple question and it’s very easy to remember and constantly ask yourself and I think it is going to help me enjoy the not so ecstatic events in my life and make all events fullfilling and enjoyable.  I think I will begin building deeper relationships with some other friends that I never would have opened up because I will no longer be thinking of the next ecstatic event but will be living it all in the moment right now!

idk, I know this will help me because I have a lot of really good high energy moments and I have a few low energy moments where I’m only present physically for no particular reason.  I hope this helps me be more conscience of my mood and presence wherever I may be.  How we act affects our relationships 1 of 2 ways, positive or negative, there is no neutral reaction, if you could be aware of weather you are creating a negative reaction based on your mood would you be more inspired to do something about it!?  I would.

There is no part of me that wants to create a negative vibe ever!  Yet I do, occasionally, but this should help me, maybe it’ll help you too.

Let me know what you think in the comments, on twitter (@coffeencoke).  Also you can subscribe to my posts via the rss feed, or if you create a login you can subscribe and get email notifications.  Just fyi