Category Archives: vision

You Should Work Construction

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The love of God is a relentless fire.

The love of God is a powerful wind.

The love of God is ever-victorious.

It never fails.  It never runs out.  It is always enough.

It touches broken hearts, afflicted bodies, logical minds, possessed spirits, lost souls.

It is both gentle and furious, soft and loud, gradual and immediate, forgiving and just.

And it is US whom God has chosen to carry it into the world.

This is a call that is far greater than only praying prayers for hurting people.  It goes well beyond simply being voices.  The call is not to tell a message, it is to be a message.  Christianity is about more than making a declaration; it is about being an example.  We cannot rely solely on God’s love alone to change the world…for He has chosen us to be a part of His plan.  It will not go where we will not go, or do what we are unwilling to do.  And though the power by no stretch of the imagination comes from us, it does, because of the Father’s great love for us, come through us (Eph 3:20).  He desires us to be ambassadors; mediators; people who are not so concerned with being heard that they forget to be seen.  The call still rings true: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!“  God will break every strategy, weapon, and force of darkness by any means possible…but first, we must pave the way.  Our call is not that of contractors, but of construction workers, toiling with every ounce of life we have to pave and prepare the way for the fullness of God to break forth.  Whether it is by means that we understand, or by means that we do not—the love of God will be rarely seen where there are no children who would give themselves to reveal it.

May God have patience with a people who have been deceived by a culture of immediacy, and have lost the understanding of perseverance.

May God pour grace on a people who have been misled by a world of individualism, and no longer know how to bear one another’s burdens.

May God have mercy on a people who have been captured by a society led by pleasure and entertainment, and seek experience over purpose.

May God’s love reach us again as we pave the way for it to reach others.

Manifesto

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I will not live by feelings; I will live by faith.

I will not live by what I see; I will live by what I know.

I will not live for safety; I will live for significance.

I will not live to be right; I will live to be light.

I will not live in fear; I will live in freedom.

I will not live for my legacy; I will live for His majesty.

I will not live by my goodness; I will live by His grace.

I will not live for my story; I will live for His glory.

May we answer the call of Jesus and become a people set apart for the glory of God.

Why Are You Thinking These Things?

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“Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’”
-Mark 2:8

Jesus knows what you are thinking in your heart—and that inspires me to have better motivation for doing things.  It is far too easy to allow ourselves to be deceived by our own actions into thinking that we are living the Way of Jesus while our motives are infecting all those actions with impurity.  Motive can be redemption for poor results, and condemnation for good results.  So I’m praying that the people of God would live by hearts that have been sanctified, and not simply disguised.  My dream of that kind of people looks something like this:

  • People laboring for God because they want to make Him happy, and not because they want to make other Christians happy.
  • People praying because they want to know God, and not because they want to use Him.
  • People trusting God with their money because they want more of Him in their life, and not because they want more money in their life.
  • People seeking miracles so that God will be glorified, and not so that they will be satisfied.
  • People who serve “the least of these” because they see opportunity, and not because they feel guilty.
  • People who give things up because God is enough, and not because they want better replacements.
  • People who love because He first loved us, and not because they’re trying to earn the love of others.
  • People who are at peace because they know God’s in control, and not because they’ve created control for themselves and are camped in comfort.
  • People who share the gospel because they want the world to know Jesus, and not because they want the world to know them.
  • People who forgive because they want to free others with grace and mercy, and not because they want to imprison others with guilt and debt.

Would Jesus ask you, “why are you thinking these things?” even though you were there with Him, hearing all He was saying and seeing all He was doing? You have to let God mold your motive before you’ll be able to act with integrity and produce fruit that’s healthy and nourishing instead of rotten on the inside!

Six Questions for the Ministerial-Minded

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I recently asked the small group leaders at 24-7 to ask six questions during their planning, and I thought I would share them with the internet world and expand on them a little bit… (almost all of them can be applied in some way to any area of ministry, so this may be applicable to everyone who is not a small group leader too!)

  1. Does it bring God glory and make much of Him? If what we are doing isn’t first and foremost bringing glory to God, then it is inevitably bringing glory to something else, and is no longer leading people TO His throne, but leading them AWAY from it.  It is really easy to include God without making it about God.  Instead of looking first at our lives and then searching for how God relates to them, we ought to look at God first, and then see how our lives relate to Him.  This keeps us focused on the fact that man was made in God’s image, and not the other way around!  Too often people live lives that include God but do not require Him…the first step in changing that is to model it in our own lives, and then to make it a foundational part of our ministry!
  2. Does it help people know God in a deeper and more relevant way? If we are not helping to lead people into a deeper relationship with God, we’re probably not leading them anywhere helpful at all.  A leader’s purpose is not to do things for others, but to help others get to a place in which they can do things for themselves.  If you aren’t continually encouraging and challenging people, you are actually building up glory for yourself by keeping them reliant on you to give them what they need.  Instead, we’ve got to lead in such a way that eventually makes us unnecessary because those we’ve been leading have become self-sustaining.
  3. Does it challenge people to live in greater integrity? We’ve got to make it a point to have people seek God’s approval, rather than man’s.  Many churches have made it far too easy to look Godly without being Godly, and that may be because they’ve forgotten that people aren’t held accountable to the church—they’re held accountable to God, who sees their hearts and knows their motives.  The world can’t be changed by liars…which is what we’re letting people be when we let them come to church and get involved in ministry without challenging them to be filled with the Spirit and live as they are called.
  4. Does it inspire people to make a heavenly impact on the world? The church isn’t a social club, it’s an army!  God gave us victory over every power and principality of the world, and yet many Christians keep that victory inside the walls of a building instead of storming the gates of hell and bringing the good news to the world in both word AND power.  Christianity can’t be allowed to settle as self-help…that’s an insult to the power of God that raised Christ from the dead (which is in you, by the way!).  Tekmito Adegemo said, “We cannot preach good news and be bad news,” and it’s bad news if the people who claim to love and serve a God of life, peace, hope, joy, and justice don’t do anything to bring those things into the world in a HUGE WAY!  Jesus said that we would make a greater impact on the world than even He did…so we’ve got to lead people into that promise and do everything we can to raise up people who are relentlessly in love with Christ and obsessed with a hope for the world.
  5. Does it create opportunity for vulnerability? It was the broken, the hungry, the sick, and the rejected that Jesus went to.  And I think there’s a whole lot more people who are broken, hungry, sick, and rejected than we perceive.  But it’s sometimes hard to admit that.  There are walls that are often built really high, and really thick, in people’s hearts…and those walls keep them from moving forward.  Leaders need to create an atmosphere of forgiveness if they want others to really start growing and dealing with their issues.  Grace has got to be our greatest asset.  And we need to not only notify people of grace, but give them opportunities to experience it for themselves by encouraging honesty and openness.
  6. Is it encouraging to people? JESUS IS GOOD NEWS! There is no reason anyone should be able to be around Christians and not be encouraged.  It makes sense that if we want people to grow, we ought to always be building them up!  A leader’s encouragement can act as fuel for a person’s progress.  There is always something in a person that is worth our encouragement…if there wasn’t Jesus wouldn’t have died for them!  We have to draw the purpose out of people and help them to discover and step into their gifts and talents.  And we’ve got to do everything we can to lighten their spirits, energize their minds, and inspire their hearts every time we get a chance!

Making a Statement

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Pray that these would be true in your life and in mine every day, and strive for them with everything you have.  It is worth the risk.

How It Should Be

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Tim DeGroot knows what’s up with this blog post.  Simple and right to the point.  This is what I long for every week…if this isn’t our heart about church, we’re probably not aiming for the right things!  Jesus said to make disciples of all nations…when was the last time you envisioned an entire country being reborn in Christ and living in obedience to God?  We are called to do everything we can to make “nations of salvations.”

Dream big…because God is bigger!

Necessities

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I cannot tell you how excited I am for tonight. It’s our first 24-7 service of the new school year, and the leadership team has been praying so much for God to show up in an incredible way…I believe that God is going to answer that prayer!  When our ministry (which is EVERY effort you make to share the gospel and show the love of Christ, not just church-related jobs or groups) is supported by prayer and passion, it becomes unstoppable.

If you are involved in ministry and you are not constantly praying for God to bless what you are doing, you need to do one of two things:
1) START praying about your ministry, because you cannot do anything of significance without the Holy Spirit backing you up; and when you pray for God to move where you are investing your time, it shows Him that you really do care about it and believe that He can do anything and everything to make it succeed;
2) STOP doing it, because if God is not involved in your ministry you are wasting your time.

We have to constantly be in a place of helplessness and total reliance on God to come in power and change people’s hearts…you received the grace of God from God, not from another person—that doesn’t change with your ministry!  You never received the ability to give that…people only receive God’s grace from God.

If you are not passionate about your ministry, you need to do one of two things (this might sound familiar):
1) START praying for God to change your heart about what He has called and anointed you to do, and begin putting every effort you can into serving and building up the people you serve with.  God doesn’t ever want us to do things begrudgingly, but sometimes we have to press on through a lack of motivation and passion as an act of faithfulness to what God has chosen us for.  IF you are truly doing what God has called you to do, obligation will shortly become obsession when it is backed by a sincere pursuit of God’s heart.
2) STOP doing it, because the world has enough people who dirty God’s reputation by doing ministry half-heartedly and showing through their actions that the kingdom of God is not worth pursuing excellence for.  God has chosen you for a purpose, and if you are not seeking and fulfilling that purpose because you have planted yourself somewhere else, you are not only missing out on a life of meaning and fulfillment that only comes from serving God as He calls you, but you are also keeping those you are currently serving from meeting with God in the way that He desires, because He has chosen someone else to do what you’re doing with the passion that you don’t have.

Every single one of us has a purpose in the kingdom of God, and to fulfill that purpose we need to continually seek God’s blessing and direction, and constantly be evaluating where we’re at and comparing it to where God wants us to be.  When we are where God wants us and passionate about being there, miracles happen!

ONE Lesson #2: Sports and Math

Posted by Steve on

The vision that God gives us for our ministry to others is so vital to the life of that ministry.  Without God’s dream for our lives placed in our hearts, we will always burn out and lose focus.  But WITH God’s calling, we cannot STOP being on fire for it!

However…just because God gives you a vision doesn’t mean He gave everyone that same vision.  And sometimes it is really easy to try and force your vision onto others, because you think it’s right and it’s what God wants.  But you can only know what God has called YOU to do, not anyone else.  And forcing your vision onto others results in them burning out and losing focus, because you are not God, and He is the only one that can inspire people beyond their imaginations.  If you want someone else to be sold out on your vision, you’ve got to rely on the wind of the Holy Spirit to spread the fire in your heart to others – it cannot ever be forced on someone.  As Brad Cooper said, “Vision is caught, not taught.”

With that being said, every single person that is involved in one particular ministry MUST be sold on the vision.  When two people are working together but have different goals, it will cause a split.  So many different ministries fall apart because not everyone is sold on one vision, and end up trying to steer it in multiple directions.  “The vision must be identical or it’s ‘double vision,’ which is the same as ‘division,’” Perry Noble said.  When we have double vision, we can’t see straight, depth perception is gone, focus is impossible, and nothing is accomplished.  When we have division, things simply keep getting smaller and smaller, and there are remainders (that in ministry end up being people who need God to speak through you) that we push off to the side.  If we want our ministry to succeed, we have to all be clearly seeing the same goals, be in agreement on how God wants us to get there, and be absolutely zeroed in on our purpose…and when that happens, God makes things bigger and BIGGER and BIGGER and instead of leaving people behind in our hurry to accomplish our own individual passions (see 2 Samuel 4:4 for a Scriptural example) God continually brings people to us so that they can see and be a part of the unifying power of Jesus.

I’m an Opportunist

Posted by Steve on

First off, check out my friend Tim DeGroot’s new blog here. He has taught me so much and I am blessed to be able to serve with him in ministry, and I have no doubt that you will benefit from what he has to say.

Second:
I have prayed so much in my life for God to give me opportunities to serve Him, and to share the gospel, and to make a difference, etc.  I pray for God to give me opportunities a lot.  And while we do need God to provide us with opportunities (because otherwise none would come to us), we also need to remember that we cannot do anything with those opportunities unless God moves.

So I think that more often than asking God to give US opportunities, we need to do everything we can to give HIM opportunities.  Because if God doesn’t move, nothing significant will ever happen.  Ever.  And we need to continually give God room to move if we want what we’re doing to be significant.  Miracles do not happen if risk is not involved.  And while waiting for God’s direction is INCREDIBLY important, if we know what God’s heart is about something, we can’t wait for God to move before we do.  Sometimes we have to prove our faithfulness by giving the Spirit room to work, instead of making Him push you out of the way.

Note: We ALWAYS know what God’s heart is about the lost.  He wants us to be fishers of men, to go and make disciples of all nations, and to unapologetically preach the good news to all who listen.  We never have an excuse to avoid doing this!

We need to give God opportunities to move so that something eternal can happen, instead of asking Him to give us opportunities to do something that without Him is worthless anyway!