How do you feel when God calls you to a whole new adventure?…especially if and when that adventure means upending your family and walking in faith that God will provide? Do you get excited? Scared?
I think my wife and I have felt every emotion possible over the last couple of months as we’ve done our best to sort out what we feel is our next step in this journey that God is taking us on. Sometimes excited…sometimes scared…always doing our best to be faithful to him and his calling. At the end of the day, we know that God calls us to be obedient, not comfortable and so it is with great anticipation that we are moving back to Portland, Oregon in May to start a church called Freedom.
I wish I could say that I have no fear…but that’s simply not true; fear nags at me constantly. What if no one supports us financially? What if no one wants to plant the church with us? What if no one comes? What if…what if…what if…what if…
Can someone please tell me why people are condemned for “church shopping”? I simply am amazed every time I hear someone condemn another person for trying to go to a church where they get something out of the message. The statement is typically that “people shouldn’t go to a church so they can get something out of it.” Can we just put an end to that now?
One of the privileges I’ve had in ministry is to work for a dying church and one that has been thriving and effectively reaching those far from Jesus. This puts me in a great vantage point to compare and contrast and see some of the things that differentiate those churches that are dying and those that are thriving. One of the stark differences that is immediately clear is training.
Over the course of the 4 1/2 years I spent as a youth pastor at the first church I worked at, I never once was specifically trained in any area. I never went through a book with a lead pastor or ever went to any sort of leadership or ministry conference. For a young person with no experience and no education in ministry, this was a problem.
Sometimes you and I get so busy “doing church” that we simply fail to step back and examine the overall health and vitality of our churches. Sometimes we get so busy with the week to week tasks that we fail to check the long term health of our organizations. Unfortunately we cannot afford to loose site of our direction. We must do anything and everything to make sure that our churches will be reaching the lost and discipling believers for years to come.
“Choose now to be the one who is so passionate about seeing results in your area of holy discontent that you literally catapult people to a new level of thinking, a new level of learning, and a new level of living.”
In one of his most challenging and inspiring books yet, Bill Hybels brings the heat in Holy Discontent! In this book, Bill masterfully reminds us that each of us has a calling, each of us has a purpose, and each of us need to quit wasting time and start giving everything towards making a difference in the areas that God has put on our hearts.
I recently re-read this book and it renewed my passion and got me moving in areas where I had relaxed and let go of some things that God has called me to do (not the least of which was to start Dead Church Rising). In Holy Discontent, Bill lays out how to discover your area of “holy discontent”, how to fuel it, and how to be the kind of person to take it from your mind to the pavement.
I highly recommend this book specifically for those you know who need to begin using their gifts to make a difference and those who are not sure what God is calling them to do.
I believe in dead churches. I want to get that out on the table right now. In fact, not only do I believe in dead churches but my heart breaks for dead churches! When I see a dead church, I see potential for life change, I see the potential for major community impact, and I see the potential for revival!
Can you believe it’s Christmas again?! Really?! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time flies…and it never fails to frighten me how easy it is to forget the important things during the Christmas season. I want to encourage you…take a moment…pause…and lets reflect on the important things for just a couple of minutes…
I think I might be one of those weirdos in the near future. You know…the ones who seem to over evaluate everything and refuse to participate in normal societal traditions because of some issue they just won’t get over.
Over the last year or so I’ve really begun to have a hard time with the idea that families and Christians get together every year on Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Jesus but instead of giving anything to Jesus we exchange gifts with each other. Odd isn’t it? I mean, what would you think if you had a birthday party and instead of giving you cards or gifts, your friends handed them to each other?
In one of his most challenging and inspiring books yet, Bill Hybels brings the heat in Holy Discontent! In this book, Bill masterfully reminds us that each of us has a calling, each of us has a purpose, and each of us need to quit wasting time and start giving everything towards making a difference in the areas that God has put on our hearts.