What holds you back?

Last night was a great small group meeting. I really enjoy breaking up into a smaller group with the men. Last night we talked about the things that hold us back like fear, guilt, worry, doubt and pride. The question was asked, “Which one of these do you think you struggle with the most?” My answer was, “It just depends on what is happening that day”. As we are finding out in our Life’s Healing Choice series, the greatest choice is to trust God. When we as humans admit that we are not God and that we need him, it removes pride. At this point we stop trying to control things that are out of our control. It’s only after this point that we can move to the next level of trusting God and that is to believe he has the power to change me and my situation. From there, we move to the next step of giving our will and life to Chris’s care and control. Here’s the bottom line that is being revealed to me… If I want to live without fear, worry, guilt and doubt I have to choose to trust God. The result of trusting God with my life is peace in my mind and heart. Someone said in my group God doesn’t want to take the steering wheel out of our hands he just wants to be the GPS that we follow.

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

better together

I have spent the last three days with six other pastors that I call my Pastors Covenant group.  This is a group that is basically a small group for pastors.  Not only do we encourage each other, but we also hold each other accountable for our continued pastoral development and personal commitment to our families.

You may not believe this but most pastors are so concerned with taking care of everyone else’s family, sometimes we can neglect our own.  When this imbalance occurs, bad things happen in a pastor’s families just like anyone else’s and the church will suffer.

Not every pastor has a great church family like me who understands the importance of family time and down time.  As I listen to those that were around me this week it just made me so thankful that I am the pastor of the greatest church on the planet. 

You hear me talk all the time about the importance of being in a small group.  I believe I it so much that I am apart of two, one with my church family and one with my pastor friends.  I always draw strength from my small group, especially my church family group that meets weekly.  I love them.

I hope you will take advantage of the strength that you can receive from joining a small group at SCC.  This Sunday we will begin our sign ups for our fall spiritual growth campaign called, “Life’s Healing Choices.”  This will be a great time for you to get to know some new friends.

We are better together!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)   
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls
down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him
up!

on purpose

I am writing this post in the afternoon.   I have just met with our staff as we talked about many things that will help us to continue being effective for God’s kingdom.  One of the things that we are doing again is reading a book by Rick Warren called, The Purpose Driven Church.  I shared something with them that I would like to share with you today about this book.  As I began to reread it I got a little emotional.

In 1999 I had been the pastor of this Church for four years and we had relocated it from Forest Park, GA to Rex, GA.  Our church in those four years had grown form 80 people to 180.  The only problem was that being the traditional church that we were, not a lot of people came to Christ.  Yet, we had a lot of people who came from other churches and brought all their options and ideas with them.  Let me tell you, you will go crazy trying to be everything to everybody.  That is exactly what I was trying to do.  I never will forget when we were trying to buy more property to build a new church and all the issues that came along with that.  Trying to keep people happy was more than I could handle. 

So, one summer Monday morning I got up to pray and to read my bible at 6 am which was the same time I always did.  Except that morning as I opened my mouth to pray I could not believe the words I was saying to God.  I said, “God today I am quitting as a pastor.  I am going to take my family back to our home town and live there and be a great church member because I am not quitting as a Christian, I am just not going to be a pastor anymore.  I don’t want to waste my life.”  Here is the option I gave God, “Unless you show me something today, I am done wrestling with church members.”

You have to get the picture.  I was weeping and not being arrogant.  At that moment of my being honest with God, I can tell you in my mind I saw the cover of the Purpose Driven Church book and heard a still small voice that said this is what I want you to do.  I want you to lead a church that will reach lost people.  The crazy thing is I had read that book in 1995 when it came out, but put it on the shelf and had not thought about again.

For the last ten years, I have tried my very best to lead our church to become a Purpose Driven Church.  Today, as I write this post and I looked at our attendance for this past Sunday, it was 457.  I say praise God.  The road to becoming what God has called our church to be has not been easy at all, but it has been very rewarding because I have seen God save so many people and connect them to this church family.  I have seen many grow in the likeness of Christ.  Many have founded their God given gifts and have begun to serve our church family.  Many are sharing their experience with Christ with others and they also have decided to follow Him.  So, when I open this book and begin to read, I realized how faithful God had been to keep his promise.

 1 Corinthians 1:9 (Msg)   God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

ministry is messy

Guest Blogger:  Ricky Mosel

Sometimes in life we sit back for a moment and analyze where we are and where we came from. If you are involved in a ministry at a church on any level, this usually means that you reflect on why you stay involved in said ministry. You can’t help it. That’s what people in ministry do. Why? Because ministry is messy! It’s difficult. It always has been and always will be.

Last week as I was riding down the highway in South Carolina I begin to ponder on this very subject. I was on vacation and enjoying the time of a long needed rest. I was enjoying it so much that I begin to wonder: “Why can’t it be this way all the time?” Ever been there before? I thought so. Anyways, like anyone in this position; I begin to think about all the things I don’t like about being involved in ministry. The problems people struggle with on a daily basis, most of which if you get involved in; you end up being the bad guy (never fun). All the deadlines, all the emotions, all the pains and hurts and struggles, all the people wanting your attention all the time; and getting very upset or angry if they don’t get it. All the times you have to sacrifice or go the extra mile, with no one to notice except you… and maybe your spouse (I said maybe). All the extra hours that you don’t get to count toward overtime at work. All the expectations people put on you, feeling like people are waiting for you to fail. The whole enchilada man! (ok, you get the picture. I’ll move on).

It can become quite overwhelming. You feel guilty because you know you shouldn’t feel this way. God’s not happy with you feeling this way about serving Him; so you should be ashamed. This was me, all in a span of about five minutes; by myself (the only one awake at least)

After returning home and getting back into routine, those thoughts dissipate and you move on. That’s when God likes to show up and blindside you. He allows you to sit in the doctor’s office with your kids and out of the blue your 10 year-old daughter says: “Daddy, camp was cool last week. I had so much fun. I went down during an altar call and ask Jesus into my heart for the first time. I’m so glad I did. It’s the best thing I ever did.” And then your 4 year-old son says: “I got saved to, at my Pepa’s. My sister talked to me about Jesus and helped me pray and ask him into my heart.”

That’s when it hits you like a ton of bricks. Ministry IS messy! And it’s supposed to be! This is why we sacrifice and go the extra mile. There are people that are moving through life lost in a routine and there life is messy. They need the life-altering power of Jesus! And being part of the process can be one of the most rewarding things we do!

Just a reminder to whoever needs reassuring, God always comes through! No matter if your issue is physical, mental, emotional, or especially spiritual. You can always count on him to deliver! Even in a messy ministry.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Easter ‘09 Reflection

 

Today I am still trying to put my mind around all that God did yesterday on Easter Sunday.  I am so proud of the people of SCC.  You were the best hosts to every person that was our guest in church yesterday.  Which the quick count was 626 people in service.  That is a record for us.

 

I say praise God. God has done a great work among us and He continues to do so.  I couldn’t help but to think back to that little house that had been turned into a church in Forest Park.  14 years ago is where it all began. That first Easter in 1995 we had maybe 120 people show up, but it began a dream inside of me that has only grown over years. 

 

I dream of a church were every member and regular attendee shares a common belief that God has placed them here on this earth to give hope to the hopeless and help through the power of God to all who are down.  It is my prayer that every person will open their heart to see how great and how good God really is. 

 

I think the people of SCC are getting very close to becoming that kind of church.  Stockbridge Community Church you are the best people I have ever had the privilege to be around.  I count it a joy to be able to be called your pastor.  Thank you for allowing me the privilege to serve with you in this great work God has given us.  Many lives have been changed because you are so selfless and compassionate.

 

If you can’t tell I am overflowing with thankfulness today for what God is doing.  I love the Church and Staff I get to serve with every day.

 

 

Sunday Reflections

   

Here are my thoughts after Sunday’s Services:

 

What a great drama team we have at Stockbridge Community Church called Center Stage drama team.  Diane Cardin is a great writer and director.  She rocks.

 

The sound and technical teams work so hard each week to make our service the best it can be.  A big thank you to Pam Salter who keeps our services flowing each week and make sure I have everything I need for the service.

 

What can I say about our band and praise team.  They lead me into worship every week and I am so thankful for them.  Rhonda and her team takes us into the presence of God so passionately.

 

Stockbridge Community Church is the most generous church.  Stacey Steen shared with me today that many people have brought clothes for a family in our community who house had burned last week. 

 

 I am still having the words, “respect and listen” go over in my mind as I think about the sermon.  I pray that Stockbridge Community Church will have the strongest marriages ever by our men listening to their wives and our ladies respecting their husbands by praising them.

 

Well, today I start the 40 day journey to be the best husband in the world to my wife by taking the love dare challenge.  It will be hard for me to be patient and only do what it says one day at a time. 

 

I know I get to pastor the best church in the world.

 

What a super bowl game!  It was great to watch with the guys and just talk football.

Sunday Night Reflections

As I write this post it is Sunday night and my mind is going one hundred miles an hour and I am trying to let it all soak in.  So much has happened today.  Here are a few things that I am thinking about:

 

 ØGod answered a specific prayer that I had been praying this week for someone.  I say praise God, He is alive

 

 

 

ØAnother thing I am thinking about is the message, that is still  in my heart and I don’t know if it came out the way God put it there.  I trust the Holy Spirit said to every heart what I could not get out of mine.

 

ØI am thinking about love. How much I love the people at SCC.  I really do love the people that I get the privilege to pastor.

 

ØI am still thinking about the statement that we said over and over again about giving.  “When I give people live.”  Today forty one people gave blood to the blood bank that serves Henry Medical Center.  The staff over at the Life South Bus shared with me for every donor, three people’s lives could be saved.  So, today SCC family literally gave life to 123 people.  The blood mobile ran out of bags because they said our church gave double the amount of blood that they would normally receive from a church our size.  That is because the people at SCC have a heart twice the size of most churches.  For that I am so thankful.

 

ØI am thing about how blessed I am to have the men who have worked with me on our finance team for the last five years and because of all the help they have given me we have finished 2008 in the black by $2,000.  Thank you Doug House, Andy Phillips, Allen Martin,  and Angie Benton.  I am so thankful to God for Angie Benton, Tani Keller and my wonderful wife, Rhonda.  They helped us this year get on the Dave Ramsey budget with our church budget.  Thank you ladies.

 

ØI am thinking about the funeral I will do tomorrow for Margaret Lively who is 33 years of old.  I watched this young lady grow up and have seen her ups and downs.  I watched her fight for her life several time and when doctor had counted her out she would fight through and God would bring her out.  She was something else.  She would crack you up with laughter or make you want to shut her up with some of her direct comments.  You had to love her because she knew how to say I sorry.  She is the only person I have ever baptized four times and she said the last time stuck.  I viewed her body tonight and was flooded with memories of almost 14 years of her life.   My eyes filled with tears as I said good bye and I will see you again.  I thank God that love doesn’t get buried in the grave but lives on in our hearts.

 

unchanging = jesus

 

Yesterday I was sitting in a meeting with my staff at Stockbridge Community Church and we stopped our meeting to watch the inauguration of President Obama.  While we were sitting there waiting for President elect Obama to be sworn in, our Fellowship Pastor, Ricky Mosel made a statement that inspired a thought that I want to share with you.

 

He said in the next five years the world is going to change faster and faster.  He felt things will be totally different because of the rate of speed that times are evolving.  When he said that I just automatically responded with this statement, “When things are changing this fast it makes the unchangeable more desirable.”  I believe that to be very true and that is what makes being a Christian so desirable.  We serve an unchanging God.  In the middle of a world that is changing by the minute, the human heart cry’s out for something stable.

 

It is amazing to me that real change comes by taking hold of what doesn’t change.  People change, the world changes; times change, but God and His Word never change. 

 

I can tell you the unchanging Word of God will keep me in changing times. 

 

Jesus said it this way Matthew 16:18 (KJV)  … upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

That is why I say it is our time as church to step up and lead.  The people around us are looking for something that is unchanging in this world which is ever-changing.   We have got it, Jesus Christ.   He is the same yesterday today and forever.  

 

Change = The Church

Today history will be made.  We will inaugurate the first African American president.  I may not agree with President Obama, but I can’t help but to be excited for him and his family.  This is an exciting day for our country as we watch history be made in front of our eyes.  There will be parties in the streets of Washington D.C. and all over the country in this great celebration.  People will put aside all of their political difference and show respect to the highest office in the land and a newly elected president will take office.  Then, Wednesday will come and the celebration will end and people will go back to business as usual.  But, many will be waiting for the change that President Obama promised during his campaign speeches.  Many people believe that the president can make the change our country needs over night if we have the right person in office. 

 

My friend, some people will be disappointed because they have placed all their hopes in a man, who I believe really wants to make change, but we’re in a government where things are not easy to change for anyone….. that is politics.

 

When God wanted to bring change to the world he didn’t just send his Son.  He established a group of people of faith in His Son and His Word.  That group is called, “the church.”  The church is God’s chosen instrument to bring change, not a government.  When the church is united in purpose, there is nothing it can’t accomplish.  It is not empowered by voters or influenced by big donors.  No, it is powered by God’s Spirit and His Spirit is seen in His people when love is expressed and kindness shown to all people.  The Church is a group of people who can take action in a moment’s notice.  All it takes is one person’s heart to be moved.  The act of God happens when the church sees a need and acts on that need for the glory of God.  The best gamble on change is the church.  It is where God’s grace is administered.  Remember, God’s grace is His ability to do what we can’t.  In the Bible, Peter said this about the church and God’s grace.

 

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)   Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

 

 

Naturally Good

I have been listening to a John Maxwell leadership CD and I have found some of the things he has said to be very true.  One thing that he said was that “People don’t change much.  Don’t waste your time trying to put in something that was left out.  Try to draw out what was left in.”   All I can say to that is amen, amen, amen.  I, for years have tried to help people be something they’re not.  Like, I have tried to get a person who didn’t like to be up front, to be an up front person.   I tried to get people to lead who were not leaders.  I have even tried this with my own wife.  I tried to convince Rhonda that she could be a great Sunday School teacher.  Well, she did it for a while and did a good job, but she was miserable.  I have always tried to convince people they really could do whatever even if they didn’t really like to do it.

 

Wisdom has finally shown up thanks to Chesnee Dorsey and we have a class at Stockbridge Community Church called, “The 301 class” to help people discover what they like to do and what is in their heart.  I have found that my job as a husband, parent, employer, and pastor is help people draw out of their heart what God is put in them, never try to get them to be something that they are not.

 

John Maxwell said it this way, “the single most important lesson any parent, leader, coach or friend can ever grasp: I can make you more than you are, I just can’t make you something you’re not!”

 

We are to draw of out of people what God has put in and not try to drive in to people what I think God left out.  That one statement can change your marriage and every relationship you have.  The bottom line, quit trying to change people and encourage them in areas that they are naturally good at.

 

Is there anyone else besides me guilty in this area?