Destroy Excuses !!!!!

I was walking through Myer the other day and a t shirt caught my eye.... I purchased it ...for what it said on the front is what I want for my life. And it challenged me in that instant moment.

 

There aren't many people these days who are prepared to go the second mile. I wonder at times why our world has become the way it has. Selfish people who only care about their own and spare little for others who struggle so desperatly. I was looking at a clip on Facebook( you can see it on my FB profile) of a homeless guy that gave another homeless guy his jacket on a very cold day in New York, while hundreds, if not thousands of people just passed by not even glancing at the homeless young man, nearly freezing. I wondered what I would have done in that situation. Would I give up my jacket for another person who was cold ? Would you ?

...it got me thinking this morning ....

Why would I ?

Why wouldn't I ?

What would be my excuse ? What would be yours ?

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The true champions of the world are the one's that live beyond themselves and their own little world, the people who see beyond their own family, see beyond their own bank account, see beyond their own Jacket so to speak... Most of us have more than one jacket in our wardrobes, and yet there are some who only have a t shirt and are freezing ....we can do something about that, the true champions of this world... Do.

They understand their "why". And they know that the why is bigger than the "What".

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Here's something else that lines up with this... And kind of fit's where I am heading this year, we are selfish in the church as well. We sit in our pews and demand that the preacher speaks the kind of words that make us feel good. That the worship is done in a way that satisfy's my own feelings, is my kind of music... That thinsg are done the way we like it and have always done it. We all do this, and don't kid yourself if you don't, we all do... That's why many of us are stuck in the churches we attend, for they make us feel OK about ourselves each Sunday morning.

In some churches a challenge may come and we shuffle in our seats hoping that the Pastor/Officer will shut up so we can relax and be spiritually fed and go home to watch the footy or cricket. We don't really want to be challenged out of our comfort zones, we want a comfortable religion and one that doesn't push us out of our likes and preferences.

A very wise Christian leader once said, that it isn't about preference, but it is about purpose ....and we need to live out our lives and build churches that are based on purpose not preference.

But if I should call you and invite/challenge/ask you to join our team in planting a church that is not your personal preference, ....in other words, maybe it won't look like you think it should look.... Many of us would throw our hands up in the air and dismiss the whole idea and settle back into our comfort.

We know there surely must be more than what we experience week in and week out, but mostly we are not willing to get out of the boat and start walking on water to get to where Jesus might have us be.

There are not many Christians around that I have observed over the last 20 years or so who are willing to take the risk of getting out of the "norm" and moving onto the edge of something radical and new and brave and scary.

And the ones that I have seen in the past 20 years(some who helped us plant and were involved in Craigieburn) literally changed the world where we lived. They are brilliant people in my mind, risk takers, courageous Christians, amazing people... Giving everything away to follow Jesus and do His work on the earth. As a result of these kinds of people..6 people are Officers today..influenced somewhat by Salvos3064 ministry in those days. These people are legends ... (Jordan & Sarah, Dave & Claire, Karen, Dave M) you guys are legends. So in 15 years of Ministry of a brand new Corps/church...6 people became officers. They got out of their boat and destroyed the excuses in their lives.

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Here's what I actually think...deep down....

Inside us, most of us, we secretly want the risky faith stuff, deep down in our spirit we know that something needs to be done, we know that things as they are will lead us to boredom and powerlessness, maybe even the death of the church we attend..... And we don't want that, but we don't know really how to change that.... we want the power of God to be demonstrated in our lives and in our churches and we want it to be authentic not fake, we want that God would be seen and heard and felt and peoples lives will be changed as result of that.

So deep down inside us, we just want a "real" spiritual experience that changes things.

Changes us.

Changes those around us.

The kind of change that impacts a world.

One jacket at a time.

A real thing...Not stuck in the traditions of man, but in the freedom and power of Jesus.

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So for that to happen, we all will need to destroy excuses and move out of the boat and start walking on the water and head to where Jesus beckons us to be.

We will need to change a few things about our thinking. Stop thinking just about our own likes and dislikes or preferences.. And move into Gods purpose. It may not be comfortable ...but it's not meant to be. It may even be costly in terms of travel and our normal weekly routine, but if God beckons you then you can be certain it will be so deeply satisfying.

On the edge ...ministry...is risky faith and to live there requires something deep within us to rise up and be counted and change the status quo. To destroy the excuses that stop us and keep us "comfortable and safe" , "powerless and weak " - in church.

What is your Why ?

 

 

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