At the end of worship this morning, one of our ladies spontaneously shared a dream she had last night with the congregation.
In her dream, she saw the altar area of our church full of fire... The fire of God. (For those of you who may not be familiar with that expression, it does NOT mean that we are a group of arsonists! Fire is a Biblical metaphor for purity, zeal, & the holiness of God.)
She shared that God wanted to encounter people in the service that morning & challenged us not to miss out by thinking something like, "Well, I can have Jesus right here where I'm sitting."
That's true, of course, but she made it clear that God was calling us to take a step of faith!
When I finished the message, I gave people an opportunity to respond & reminded everyone of her dream & exhortation... People responded & the altar was packed!!
God kept His word, & it was awesome to see!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The 1st Church of Disney: An EXCELLENT Adventure
One of the first lessons I learned about church from our Disney trip was this: Excellence is everywhere!
Everywhere you look at Disney, it's excellent! The staff, the decor, the rides, the food... If they do it, they do it with excellence. If they can't do it with excellence, they don't do it.
Somewhere along the line, the Disney team has figured out that people will not drop thousands of dollars per family for mediocrity. Apparently, they recognize that there's more than enough mediocrity to go around!
The excellence of Disney is so far-reaching that they absolutely dominate their market! For example: ask the kids in your life what their favorite princess is... Betcha they answer with the name of a Disney enterprise. (I'm having a hard time thinking of a princess who's NOT a Disney character even sitting here.)
I don't have any idea what led them to make this discovery about the power of excellence, but it's obvious they're fully committed to it!
I wonder what kind of effect we could have in the Church of Jesus Christ if we could get a grasp on this principle. (Insert "Ouch!" here.)
I have seen so many times when we try to do something just to say we're doing it, but then give only minimal effort & the result is completely sub-par! Then, when it fails (& mediocrity just always does!), we blame it on anything (& everything) but our mediocrity.
This MUST grieve the heart of God... We've got the greatest message ever & the only one that gives hope! But we treat it like some fly-by-night, one-hit-wonder, low-budget, B-movie.
What if we committed to do everything we do with excellence, or not at all? What if we committed to treat the Gospel like it actually is the Greatest Story Ever Told?
What if we began treating a relationship with Jesus Christ like an Excellent Adventure?
Everywhere you look at Disney, it's excellent! The staff, the decor, the rides, the food... If they do it, they do it with excellence. If they can't do it with excellence, they don't do it.
Somewhere along the line, the Disney team has figured out that people will not drop thousands of dollars per family for mediocrity. Apparently, they recognize that there's more than enough mediocrity to go around!
The excellence of Disney is so far-reaching that they absolutely dominate their market! For example: ask the kids in your life what their favorite princess is... Betcha they answer with the name of a Disney enterprise. (I'm having a hard time thinking of a princess who's NOT a Disney character even sitting here.)
I don't have any idea what led them to make this discovery about the power of excellence, but it's obvious they're fully committed to it!
I wonder what kind of effect we could have in the Church of Jesus Christ if we could get a grasp on this principle. (Insert "Ouch!" here.)
I have seen so many times when we try to do something just to say we're doing it, but then give only minimal effort & the result is completely sub-par! Then, when it fails (& mediocrity just always does!), we blame it on anything (& everything) but our mediocrity.
This MUST grieve the heart of God... We've got the greatest message ever & the only one that gives hope! But we treat it like some fly-by-night, one-hit-wonder, low-budget, B-movie.
What if we committed to do everything we do with excellence, or not at all? What if we committed to treat the Gospel like it actually is the Greatest Story Ever Told?
What if we began treating a relationship with Jesus Christ like an Excellent Adventure?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Ahh... It's Good to Be Home!
We just got back home tonight after a WILD last few weeks!!
It all started when we evacuated to Pensacola for Hurricane Gustav... The 3-hour trip took us 9 1/2 hours through the night (the traffic was unreal!!). We stayed with some friends in Pensacola until our local-government's website said our subdivision had power.
We got home at midnight to find out that we did NOT have power, so we stayed with Jen's folks for 3 nights until we did get power.
We got to sleep in our own bed for ONE night, then left for an already-scheduled trip to Disney World with the kids. We left not knowing if we'd even have a New Orleans to return to because Hurricane Ike supposedly had us in his sights.
Well... Ike didn't hit us & Disney was amazing!! I look forward to sharing some lessons-learned (for the church) from our trip... Stay tuned: some of these may surprise you!
Tonight we'll sleep in our bed for the 2nd time since August 30th (4 weeks ago today)... Jen & I are SO glad to be home!!
It all started when we evacuated to Pensacola for Hurricane Gustav... The 3-hour trip took us 9 1/2 hours through the night (the traffic was unreal!!). We stayed with some friends in Pensacola until our local-government's website said our subdivision had power.
We got home at midnight to find out that we did NOT have power, so we stayed with Jen's folks for 3 nights until we did get power.
We got to sleep in our own bed for ONE night, then left for an already-scheduled trip to Disney World with the kids. We left not knowing if we'd even have a New Orleans to return to because Hurricane Ike supposedly had us in his sights.
Well... Ike didn't hit us & Disney was amazing!! I look forward to sharing some lessons-learned (for the church) from our trip... Stay tuned: some of these may surprise you!
Tonight we'll sleep in our bed for the 2nd time since August 30th (4 weeks ago today)... Jen & I are SO glad to be home!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Not-So-Magical Kingdom of Jesus Christ
Jen & I are at Walt Disney World for our girls' first-ever visit... You know: The "Magic Kingdom."
We got here this afternoon & went over to the Animal Kingdom in time to catch the last showing of the Lion King musical, and... Wow! It was awesome!!
I sat there watching and wondering in amazement at how good the production was: excellent music, excellent singers, excellent dancers, excellent gymnasts, excellent choreography, excellent costumes, excellent props... Excellent through & through! In fact I was moved to tears!
No, seriously... I caught myself tearing up several times. But not so much because I was touched by the performance... But because I was embarrassed by mine.
Why do they do what they do at Disney? It's certainly NOT for the glory of God (although I have to be honest: I couldn't help but worship Him for the amazing gifts & talents He has given His creation!).
If anything, it's for money. (I don't know if you noticed or not, but Disney is HUGE business!!)
Why do we do what we do at church? It's certainly SUPPOSED to be for the glory of God! But why is it that the Disney "cast members" can give their all with excellence for their "god", but we seem to throw chump change with mediocrity of ours?
I'm sorry if I seem cynical, but this really bothers me. And it really challenges me!
Do I give MY best?
Do I give MY all?
What if I gave as much to my God as they do to theirs?
What if I demanded excellence in everything I did for Jesus?
What if we who love Jesus & His Church felt as passionate about our "customers" as Disney does about theirs?
Maybe we could describe the church as something other than the Not-So-Magical Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
We got here this afternoon & went over to the Animal Kingdom in time to catch the last showing of the Lion King musical, and... Wow! It was awesome!!
I sat there watching and wondering in amazement at how good the production was: excellent music, excellent singers, excellent dancers, excellent gymnasts, excellent choreography, excellent costumes, excellent props... Excellent through & through! In fact I was moved to tears!
No, seriously... I caught myself tearing up several times. But not so much because I was touched by the performance... But because I was embarrassed by mine.
Why do they do what they do at Disney? It's certainly NOT for the glory of God (although I have to be honest: I couldn't help but worship Him for the amazing gifts & talents He has given His creation!).
If anything, it's for money. (I don't know if you noticed or not, but Disney is HUGE business!!)
Why do we do what we do at church? It's certainly SUPPOSED to be for the glory of God! But why is it that the Disney "cast members" can give their all with excellence for their "god", but we seem to throw chump change with mediocrity of ours?
I'm sorry if I seem cynical, but this really bothers me. And it really challenges me!
Do I give MY best?
Do I give MY all?
What if I gave as much to my God as they do to theirs?
What if I demanded excellence in everything I did for Jesus?
What if we who love Jesus & His Church felt as passionate about our "customers" as Disney does about theirs?
Maybe we could describe the church as something other than the Not-So-Magical Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Sittin' on the dock of the bay... Wastin' time!
Well, maybe not on a dock... Certainly not at a bay... But DEFINITELY wasting time!
We're still in Pensacola hoping to return home tomorrow to power. Our house still has no power... We kinda need that.
Our hosts have been great: warm, welcoming, & gracious... But we're ready to go home.
Add this to the mix: we're supposed to take the kids to Disney Sunday after church... & now Ike is lurking out there like monster from an '80s slasher flick. Ugh!
So... We're just sitting here, wastin' time... Until further notice.
We're still in Pensacola hoping to return home tomorrow to power. Our house still has no power... We kinda need that.
Our hosts have been great: warm, welcoming, & gracious... But we're ready to go home.
Add this to the mix: we're supposed to take the kids to Disney Sunday after church... & now Ike is lurking out there like monster from an '80s slasher flick. Ugh!
So... We're just sitting here, wastin' time... Until further notice.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Whew... That was close!
Like millions of other coastal-Louisiana residents, we evacuated New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Gustav... The mass exodus was truly a sight to behold!
My family & I came to Pensacola to watch (& hold our breath!). This morning when I got up, I went right to my computer & started pulling up every weather & news website I could find.
As the morning wore on, I felt a tremendous sense of relief as I watched the storm pass by New Orleans with no catastrophic effect. Gustav's bark has--so far--been much worse than his bite...
Thank you, Jesus!
Finally, at 3:30 in the afternoon, I feel like I can let go of my held breath: Whew... That was close!
My family & I came to Pensacola to watch (& hold our breath!). This morning when I got up, I went right to my computer & started pulling up every weather & news website I could find.
As the morning wore on, I felt a tremendous sense of relief as I watched the storm pass by New Orleans with no catastrophic effect. Gustav's bark has--so far--been much worse than his bite...
Thank you, Jesus!
Finally, at 3:30 in the afternoon, I feel like I can let go of my held breath: Whew... That was close!
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