i am being reminded today that God is the God of restoration and new life.
“i am making all things new” – revelation 21
“I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts” – joel 2
my heart is full of hallelujah for a God who won’t quit, is slow to anger, abounds in love, and has the power to make us new!
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
This is Norton Antivirus for your soul.
this blog is very similar to one of my recent posts, only I didn’t write it. these are mark batterson’s words and i felt like i needed to hear this again and maybe you do too.
The king struck the ground three times and then quit. The Holy Man became angry with him: “Why didn’t you hit the ground five or six times?”
II Kings 13
Dare I say it? The primary reason we don’t experience a complete breakthrough is because we quit too soon! There is a time to call it quits–if the Lord has released you from the thing he called you too. But you better not quit for any other reason!
When I get discouraged, 9 times out of 10, it’s because I’m focused on the short-term. I need to zoom out and see the big picture. Here’s some encouragement. In the words of Bill Gates: we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in 2 years and underestimate what we can accomplish in 10 years. It’s true! Don’t quit after three attempts. Keep hitting the ground. Literally and figuratively. One way we honor God is simply this: keep on keeping on.
i am a germophobe. while still a pastor at my home church, i remember shaking hands with someone after a service was over. right before i shook their hand, i looked down and noticed a wart. i’m sure it was a regular sized wart, but in my mind it was throbbing and had a little face and arms and it was shouting at me that he was coming for me next. it was all i could think about. after i finished talking with this individual i immediately went to the bathroom and scrubbed my hands thoroughly. i need help. i know.
with this crazy outbreak of h1n1 swine flu, my germophobia-ness has hit an all time high.
there is no spiritual application for this. i just want you to know that if you have swine flu, stay away from me.
the other day i was feeling discouraged. it was one of those days where you don’t feel like you’re doing enough, or that the things you are working on are a waste of time and that you should be working on something else that may be more productive. it can be frustrating to feel like you’re doing all you can but still feel that it’s not enough.
then, during one of my facebook distractions, i felt the Holy Spirit say those three words, “Just keep trying.”
three words. three words that even now as i write this bring tears to my eyes. God speaks at just the right moment…most often at a time when we didn’t even know we needed to hear it.
maybe what God has asked you to do is hard. maybe you’re working hard at it but don’t feel like it’s going anywhere. maybe you’re discouraged and exhausted and are thinking about just giving up. don’t.
just keep trying.
Once again, VERY good blog Rog. I love you
i can’t tell you how many times i have signed in to facebook with a specific mission in mind only to be sabotaged by the vast array of distractions, news feeds, friend suggestions, and “mafia wars” invites.
for instance, the other day i got on to send someone a message. as soon as i signed in, i noticed a friend’s status update. this led me to click on their name and read more of their status updates. oh! wow, that picture looks interesting but the thumbnail is too small, i’ll just click on it and make it bigger so i can see what’s going on. wow, cool pic, wonder what else they’ve got pics of. click, click, click, click. oh cool, i didn’t know they were friends with HIM. i then click on HIS name to check out his profile.
sweet, he’s in a band. and there’s the band’s website address. click. man, this music is pretty good i wonder if they’re on itunes. open itunes. oooo. top ten singles. who is this band “owl city”? looks interesting. i’ll sample their fireflies song. good stuff. i wonder what they sound like live. youtube. hmm the fireflies music video. i shall watch. the video shows a toy i used to play with as a kid. that toy was in the movie E.T. i think about ET. drew barrymore was in that movie. what other movies was she in? wedding singer. adam sandler. frank caliendo does an awesome impression of adam sandler. i wish he did an impression of christopher walken. his voice is awesome. he was in a movie with adam sandler. wait a minute! wasn’t i supposed to be doing something?
we live in an age of distractions. this morning i read the scripture in 2 Timothy that says, “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer”. it’s easy to get sucked in to answering emails, playing on facebook, harvesting crops on farmtown (or farmville, whichever you prefer) and neglect our greater calling.
i love what mark driscoll said in one of his messages:
your goal is not to stand before God and tell him what level you got to on World of Warcraft.
i read steven furtick’s blog today and thought it was pretty sweet. check it out!
If you’re going through a time of testing right now, keep this in mind:
The way you respond to this test
Determines what you get to do next.If you fail the test, you must repeat the grade level. Or, you can pick up the credit hours in summer school. Either way, wouldn’t you rather just do it right the first time around?
You can’t clep out of any of the courses in God’s divine degree program. Whatever you’re going through today is a prerequisite for the next level of His plan for your life.
Show up early. Stay late. Get a tutor. Do your homework. Sharpen your #2 pencils. And hang in there through your test.
Graduation day is closer than you think…
i recently had someone ask me to blog my thoughts on leadership. usually when people write about leadership it is because they are great leaders or have some golden leadership nuggets to share. i don’t know if i fall into that category but since i rarely ever have someone actually ask me to blog something specific, here i go.
here is one of the greatest ways to fail as a leader:
care too much about what people think
i have been working with students for about 8 years now. during my time in youth ministry i have seen students transform. for weeks they will come in wearing their normal every day clothes. then all of a sudden one week they come in looking all thugged out with a doo-rag and some bling they got from 5 below sporting fresh kicks saying things like,
“Yo my man, I ain’t seen you in a hot minute. did you hear about Liquesha? Boo got all jacked up off some brown frown. I was G-macin’ on that honey, but i had to pump the brakes on that biscuit for realz!” (1a)
it’s strange to see someone who was wearing abercrombie and fitch last week come in wearing fubu gear the next week…but they do it because they think it will make them look cool or make people like them. this is a real danger for those in leadership.
a leader who tries to please the every whim and desire of those he leads will be a schizophrenic leader. he will be hard to follow because he is ever changing and never constant. he will be so busy listening to the backseat drivers that he won’t hear the GPS telling him where to go. he’ll jerk the wheel from the left and to the right as the voices shout directions. this only makes all of the passengers sick and the driver frustrated.
my advice. pray. set your course. be yourself.
(1a) greetings my friend. i have not seen you in a long time. did you hear about liquesha? that sweet lady evidently smoked some bad marijuana and is very sick. i was going to try to begin the courtship process with her, however, i have decided to go in another direction. i am telling the truth.
Roger, don’t cut yourself short about your leadership abilities. A leader is one who influences others to accomplish a specific task. You are more influential than you might think. I agree with your perspective of “Chameleon Leaders.” My experience and studies in leadership understand this type of individual to be insecure and intimidated. One who “leads” to please the group technically isn’t the leader after all. They are the follower, but are afraid to admit it. They were probably placed in this position and have positional power, but no influence. I have come across many pastors with this syndrome (none from The Sound). They want to please the church they serve, instead of pleasing the God they serve. The people will murmur, leave, talk, etc, but as a leader we must one day stand before God. Just a thought!
today marks the 2 year anniversary that lisa and i began traveling full time as worship leaders/evangelist. in honor of that, i thought i would share one of my favorite moments of the last 24 months with you.
we visited a church where we were going to perform a concert for the youth group. it was a special night for the students and so the leaders had made sno cones, nachos, and all sorts of goodies. the concert was going well. the kids were talkative and distracted, a pretty rowdy bunch. lisa had been sharing her heart and where these songs came from but started feeling overwhelmed that the kids wouldn’t stop talking and weren’t really paying attention.
finally, she looked to me and said, “i can’t talk anymore”. i stepped up to the microphone and began sharing my testimony. i talked about how God has a plan for each of our lives. the room went silent. it was amazing. the students were captivated. i knew God was working.
after i finished speaking, we invited them to sing and worship with us. it was like someone had flipped a switch. hands were raised. they were singing out. God was moving. you could see they were really connecting with God…when all of a sudden, one of the youth leaders came from the back of the room and started saying, “NACHOS ARE READY. COME AND GET SOME NACHOS IF YOU WANT ‘EM”.
to this day we refer to that church as “the Nacho Lady church”.
Hilarious, I love it!
i have battled most of my life with”the other side” syndrome. the other side syndrome is where you just can’t wait to get to the other side of where you are. the grass will be greener. the air will be fresher. there will be no ticks to suck your blood. and beautiful women (for me they would all be lisa clones) in togas will feed you grapes.
i heard one pastor call it the “when then disease”.
“when i get more money, then i’ll be happy.”
“when i find a wife, then i’ll be happy.”
“when i’m discovered and touring the world, then i’ll be happy.”
“when they finally create skittle flavored doritoes, then i’ll be happy.”
we all have dreams and aspirations of who we want to be and for most of us, we don’t want to wait for it. we are so excited about what’s coming that we miss out on the joys of today.
it reminds me of kids at Christmas. so many gifts to open. you can’t wait for them to open the gift you picked out for them. they tear through the wrapping paper and discover the latest in remote controlled car technology. they smile. but immediately the smile fades as they reach for the next present and begin ripping it open. no time spent relishing the gift, it’s time for something bigger and better. i’m so glad i spent $35 for that.
today God is reminding me to be thankful for where i am in this moment. tomorrow will be great but so is today. I was reminded of what Paul wrote in Philippians:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (4:12)
I heard one Pastor say it like this: “the grass might be greener on someone else’s lawn but their water bill is much higher, too.” Thanks for the reminder to be thankful for what God’s blessed us with!
regina, and 
Momma is discussing. 
Shannon H. is discussing. 
Brian Alexander 11:48 pm on October 29, 2009 Permalink |
That sucks dude. If I ever get the swine flu I will stay away from you I promise
regina 7:41 am on October 30, 2009 Permalink |
well i guess we wont b seeing u for ur bday this weekend