I don’t want to be un grateful, but as my sister asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I could not think of much. Now want I don’t want for Christmas, that list is pretty long, here are some things that came to mind:
- I love Baptisms.
- Worship team Rocked
- Big weekend crowd again
- Kids production was a lot of fun
- Met some cool new people
- I am thankful that the staff team is coming together in a big way
- I am every excited about this next phase of ministry at Timberlake.
On December 5th/6th I am starting a new Christmas series that will focus on the gift of forgiveness. We are going to try to move past simplistic sayings and platitudes and into God’s practical (yet profound) plan for us to both receive and give this gift.
This weekend we are going to look at healing family rifts. Interestingly enough, God’s plan in healing family relationships is linked to the birth of Jesus in the Bible. In the last prophecy in the Old Testament foretelling the birth of Christ we find this promise, “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” Malachi 4;6 (NIV)
My hope is that is part of what God will be doing this weekend at Timberlake. Church
“Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor – and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.” Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…”
~ President George Washington – Thanksgiving Day 1789
1. Dangerous Church was a transformational series. There is a great and increasing sense of commitment to Christ and the church. I have never received more stories of changed lives.
2. Second weekend in a row at 1600 people or more in worship – Pretty cool to see so many people showing up.
3. Initial Go Forward offering encouraging. It is amazing to see people giving sacrificially, (in a down economy), to Impact the world.
4. Music Rocked! Jillian, Collin and Mike are doing a great job with worship.
5. I have never been more encouraged since I became Pastor of Timberlake Church 15 months ago.
This weekend I am going to finish up our Dangerous Church series at Timberlake with the message, Dangerous Dreams. This has truly been a an amazing time for us as a church in terms of both spiritual and numerical growth. I hope you will join us as we close out this series.
In the past month or so, God has been doing something in my heart and at Timberlake Church. I am almost afraid to write this because it could come across in the wrong way, but there is a tangible sense that God is moving in a profound way in the church I lead and part of this is because He is doing so in my life. I am thankful and am in awe of what God is doing.
A big part of this is that God is moving in my heart. Honestly, I can not tell you what has happened or how it happened, but I know something has happened. I have been filled with a passion to serve God more boldly and with a greater sense of abandon. In this midst of this there has been an over riding sense of Joy.
I also feel like I have been led by God to call others to do the same. The result, it has had a big impact at Timberlake Church. We are not only growing larger in numbers, but deeper in passion.
The call that I have been giving has been quite simple, “Say Yes to God before you know the question.” Say yes without preconditions, say yes without evaluating God, say yes because He is Lord. The challenge given has been to say to God, “God if I know it is from you, and I know you are asking me to do something….You have my yes.”
During this period of time I have received more e-mails and stories of God working with great power than I ever have as a pastor. There is power in that unconditional yes, there is power when we go from watching others give God their Yes, to saying God, you have mine as well. It is the kind of power that is available when we are available to Him.
The three other ways I keep learning are not earth shattering in concept, but they have been life shaping for me.
4. Best Practices
I find it important to follow the best practices of other churches as a pastor. Still as a Christian, I find it essential. If I see someone who is at a place where I want to be, I take note of how they live. It is what you might call Holy Imitation, and in fact this is encouraged in the Bible. The Apostle Paul says, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” I Cor 4:16 (NIV)
5. Continuing Education
I am an education addict. I love school and would go back to get a second masters or second doctorate if my wife would let me. (Which she is not inclined to do.) Still I love to go to conferences for both professional and personal growth. I also love to take the opportunity to teach, because as I do I find my students challenge me and stretch me when I engage with them.
6. Evaluating My Mistakes
I learn some from my successes, but it seems that God shouts to me in my mistakes. I find, that if I humble myself , God will use that special attention he gets from me in failure to shape me into the pastor, husband, father and man he wants me to be in Him.
3. My Critics. I know it may be hard for you to believe, but I get criticism now and then. I am committed to learning from my critics. I am not talking about the constructive criticism of my friends, Wounds from a friend can be trusted Proverbs 27:6 (NIV), but those whose motives are less helpful.
One of realities I have come to grips with is that God can use people with bad motives to say something that could be true. I always try to be open. “Fools think they need no advice, but the wise listen to others. Proverbs 12:15 (NLT) My one exception is unsigned notes, I pretty much figure they are from the devil, so I throw them out.
I also look for “Opposition Validation.” What I mean here is that sometimes critics let you are know that you are doing the right thing. Jesus was constantly criticized by those who considered themselves highly religious. If I don’t get that criticism, that is a caution for me.
Sometimes criticism helps me correct my path or to let me know that I am on the right one. Jesus said, Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. Luke 6:26 (NIV)
Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance- Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)
“….fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
In the past few weeks at Timberlake we have gained wisdom as we have looked at the book of Proverbs. This has me thinking about the ways I learn. I am going to be exploring these in my blog in the next several posts. Here are a couple to start.
1. Daily Time with God - It says in Psalm 119 ‘ Your Word is a lamp and a light.” I find that in my daily time of bible reading and prayer that God will often speak to me about issues in my life and ministry. Sometimes this is a word of encouragement and sometimes it is a word of challenge. If you need resources to help energize your time of daily devotion send me an e-mail or leave a post and I will send you some great resources.
2. Wisdom from Mentors - I always have people in my life who help me grow. I spent some time with one of them this last weekend, Kip Jacob from Southlake Church. Some of these are older mentors, some are peer mentors, and some are specific skill mentors, (for example parenting or finance). I also have mentors from afar through, blogs and books.
3. To be continued next blog post