Who moved the stone?

Just got back from a week at church planting school in Sydney with about 120 keen emerging planters, what a great time. Nothing better than being in an atmosphere where people are hungry to give their lives to building the church. That thrills the hearts of us guys on the leadership team because we have given the rest of our lives to seeing the church become the relevant force that it was always destined to be. I see the biggest challenge to growing churches isn't the unchurched. They want God its the church, as they know it, that is their problem. Their lives are under incredible stress and pressure, they come looking for answers and the we fulfil their greatest suspicions....that the Church doesn't have any answers.
But this is what we have all given our lives to, to see changed.
On Monday night I shared from Luke 12 where Jesus was talking with the then leaders of the faith.

Luke 12:1 (NLT)
Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and crushing each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—beware of their hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy: an expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction
Its acting as if you are something that you are not
The church leaders of the day wanted to change the boundaries between:
· What is acceptable and what is not
· What is good and what is evil
· What is right and what is wrong.
What used to be called sexual perversion is now called ones “sexual preference”.
What once was living in sin is now an “alternate lifestyle”.

And this is the tension that as we spend longer in the leadership process the greater the temptation can be. That we start to blur the lines of our core convictions. None of us started of thinking about money, the fact that we even got paid to work at the church was overwhelming. To get asked to preach somewhere was huge in itself, but then to find out that they give you an offering as well!! Any home, hotel, caravan park was a joy to stay in you were just thrilled to be asked to preach somewhere. But now your decisions may be more about the size of the offering or the crowd or the rating of the hotel before you decide whether to go or not.

Proverbs 22:28 (NIV)
Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.

Moral authority is when we lead from who we are and not what we say. Its when our character talks more to people than our words do. Its when we lead from the integrity of our lives. Not all that our fore fathers did or said needs to be embraced but not all of it needs to be brushed aside. There are some characteristics that they had that we need...more on that tomorrow.

Love hate

I have a few love hate relationships. One is exercise, I love what it does in my body but I hate getting motivated to go. Another is hot chips, I love them early but I hate what they do to me and a third one is fasting. I love the spiritual impact that takes place in my life but I hate the process of giving up food. Our church has just begun its 12 day fast with a heart to say God let me place you first in all I do this year. Easier said than done!
I read this verse this morning and it is a beauty for someone who is fore going food to seek God.

Job 23:12 (NIV) I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

What a place to come to. When our desperation exceeds our comfort!

Secrets

Lk 12 :2 – 3
2 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

We started a series on Sunday called "Resolution - Living an intentional life" and we are taking this whole series from Luke 12. Sunday night we drilled down into the above verse and talked about how much better our life would be this year if we could live as if there were no such thing as a secret.

There are 5 miscalculations that we make when dealing with secret habits or desires;
1. I will only do it once
2. I have always been this way
3. Everybody else is doing it
4. No one will ever know
5. I can stop at any time

What a great prayer to pray for 2009, "Lord help me to live without secrets".

Resolution

The 1st of the 1st 2009 can you believe it? This last year absolutely flew by and now we line up for another. Years are like a great set of waves, they just keep coming. So what changes are we all hoping for this year? What do we desire to do differently? For me I am determined to lose 5 kg and get back to my acceptable weight division. I was listening to an interviewer asking people what their resolutions were for 2009 and I couldn't help but think that its all good to have the goal but most dreams don't die because of the lack of goals, vision statements or positive thinking, most don't come to pass because of the lack of a well thought out plan.

“MOST PEOPLE SEEM TO PLAN THEIR VACATIONS WITH BETTER CARE THAN THEY PLAN THEIR LIVES, PERHAPS THAT IS BECAUSE ESCAPE IS EASIER THAN CHANGE”.

So how will I lose my 5 kg is the better question to ask! But don't ask me today cause I am away with a car load of teenagers on a surf trip so that can be something for next week.