Before heading off into your weekend, here are three things that I have read and been thinking about. Hope they are as helpful and challenging to you as they have been for me.
Have a great weekend raking leaves and enjoying your iced pumpkin spice lattes!
#1
We must not think ourselves summoned to clean up the places within the world before we can decide to live in them.
Karl Barth
Jesus would not have needed to leave heaven if sin, evil, and death were already defeated. He entered our space/time in order to do that for us as he works through us. Firefighters run into the fire to make things better. Great example for those of us who follow Christ because it is exactly his way of doing things.
#2
A core belief of missional churches is that God’s missional imagination is among the people of God. That means that, as stated by Roxburgh and Romanuk, “God’s future is among the regular, ordinary people of God.”” The Holy Spirit resides in churches, in the midst of those, young and old, who have entered a covenant with God.
Churches, Cultures and Leadership by Mark Lau Branson, Juan F. Martinez
A quick note for us pastors. We, and I dare say all leaders, are not tasked with coming up with the vision of the congregation we serve. It already exists in the people in and around the community who have been planted there by God. [The previous sentence is a test of our faith. Isn’t that exactly what we ask the congregation to do on a regular basis. Shouldn’t we eat our own cooking by taking our own advice?] It is our job, however, to discover and communicate the vision; to equip and encourage the people to carry it out; and to stay out of the way and not make ourselves the central point.
#3
We assess our consolation and determine if our peace is from God by reflecting on our motives, three in particular: the desire for honor, the desire for wealth and the desire for security. Each of these can cloud the issues we face and disable us in the task of discernment –
Listening to God in Times of Choice by Gordon T. Smith
The above is my hands down favorite book on discerning God’s will. Are you discerning whether to make a change in your life? It is important to examine the motives along with the long list of pros and cons. Smith says there are three motives that need to bring caution to our soul: the desire for honor, wealth or security. The key is to be objective and truthful enough with ourselves to know if any of these motives are our driving factor in a desire for change.
Quick note of clarification…by security, he doesn’t mean physical security such as abuse or health. It has more to do with personal comfort.
todd nelson 