Plan and Pray

We are into our last 16 days of our preparation for our new church facility and its looking great. Cafe is in, toilets are almost there, sound and lighting in place but the biggest challege is still yet to come. To fit out all of our stadium seating, stage, kids rooms, multi media rooms in 3 days with 25o volunteers. What gives me confidence is the preparation that has gone into this.
When God instructed Joshua to lead Israel across their Jordan he first told them to prepare themselves.
Prayer has been paramount even though at times it is really hard to pray. Prayer doesnt force Gods hand but it keeps us on the look out for His intervention. But just as important is the planning process. Planning and praying are the 2 key strategies in healthy preparation.
Pray for opportunities and plan as if you expect God to answer your prayers!

The old

Read a fantastic statement today by RT Kendall, "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday".

Luke 5:37
"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

I pray we never stop allowing today people to challenge what we do and how we do it. The best ways to reach people , do church, worship God are still yet to be discovered.

I was wrong

With the help of a few friends I have finally finished putting up my garden shed only to find a couple of pieces left over. Don't you hate that? Where do they go, what do they do? By not having them in the assembly does it compromise the structure? I know hide them and no one will ever know. I have just finished reading "I was wrong" by former PTL director Jim Bakker, what a sad but necessary read it was. Talk about people hiding and pretending that some things didn't matter.
There is an old Chinese proverb that says, "The beginning of wisdom is to call things by there right name". Facing current reality isn't something we like doing or spend much time doing. Reading the fine print and pondering the assembly instructions of life are vitals if we want to maintain strong character.

Circumsition

One of the toughest jobs as a Pastor is to keep the church focused on people who don't know Christ rather than trying to keep the "saved" in church or to stop the "saved"from leaving church. So much of where our money, focus and energy is directed is at that second group.
The gravitational pull on every church is toward this.
James when faced with the dilemma of church goers wanting new believers to be circumcised, or well meaning people who had already been rescued trying to create a culture that seemed reasonable to them, responded in the following way.
Acts 15:19 (Msg)
"So here is my decision: We're not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master.
Lets make it easy for people to find their way to Christ. Lets not complicate it with religion and rules. Now there is a challenge. Are we a church (that's us as people) that makes it easy for people to come to the grace of God?

Values

I recently read this statement, "Scarcity brings Clarity". When resources are super-abundant you can proceed with flawed assumptions for a long, long time. In more pinched circumstances, you have to examine your true values." That is so true and so good.

Few things are healthier for an organization than having to slice its budget. I know that is counter-intuitive. But it forces you to evaluate your priorities. You have to drill down to your core convictions.
I love the fact that our food ministry Storehouse 1 is presently moving into its own facility. Its not the building that excites me its the extra room that we now have to make an extra difference.
"It's not about the buildings. It's about what happens inside the building."

Insiders and outsiders

With Twitter, Journaling and Skype its easy to forget about the blog. Just come back from speaking at a ladies conference for several hundred women, thats a lot of estrogen in one place. It was loads of fun being the odd one out. Off to another one this week in Victoria and In between pastoring a church. One of the pressures every church leader faces is the tension where Jesus says "Go" and yet we spend most of our time trying to get people to "stay". Stay happy in the church, stay committed to the cause, stay in love with God, stay involved, stay passionate. When you first plant a church you are focused on reaching people but as it gets older we focus on keeping people. We stop leading and we start managing.

Matthew 9:13 (Msg)
Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

Premier League

Another great Sunday with Dave Gilpin from Hope City Church in the U.K. Not only a great preacher but an awesome guy off the platform as well. He shared a amazing message about doing our Christian life in the Premier League or the top grade team. Jesus whole life message wasn't about living a life of ease or a life of choices based on preferential living. But He spoke about forsaking all to follow Him, about leaving family to pursue the call, a life that is prepared to lay it all down for a greater cause. That's premiership living! Sadly many Christians settle for the 2nd grade or the 5th division has beens. They used to dream of being first grade, they use to pray that God would use them but now disappointment, bitterness and indifference has weighed them down and relegated them to the league of the average. God help us to stay in the premiership.