Bye-bye lawnmower blade

I was mowing the yard this morning and accidentally got my lawnmower blade in a fight with the metal water meter cover... ultimately the lawnmower blade won... but not without serious injury. The blade cut the grass fine and then took a 6 inch long chunk out of the water meter cover (I don't know how to explain that to the WCWSA). In the process, the end of the mower blade was bent at a 45 degree angle and after trying unsuccessfully to bend it back straight, I had to say goodbye to it.

Basically, the problem was caused by using the wrong tool to cut the grass around the water meter cover. The area is a little tight and is better suited for a weedeater than a riding lawnmower... but it's just so much quicker to use the mower. So, most of the time, I just head into that same spot with the same mower... and most of the time, it works out okay. But today, my "shortcut" cost me a cover, a blade, and a lot of aggravation.

Okay, now for the leap into the spiritual lesson... God has called every believer to be missionaries in a particular circle of influence... he has designed them perfectly for the ministry and relationships in that circle. If you don't follow through with your responsibility, I might wind up having to take the Good News into your circle of influence... that may work out fine most of the time... but, on occasion, something I say or do will create a little bit of chaos in that circle of yours... it might even have a higher cost than either of us want.

So, instead of taking the risk, let's agree as followers of Jesus that we will do everything we can within our own circles of influence. That way, we can use God's design in our lives to most effectively let the people that God has put us around know about the His love for us. And maybe in the process, we can avoid some unfortunate costs.

Are you "connected"?

Russ did a great job on Sunday with the importance of being "connected" to others. As I participated in communion, my brain was not only thinking about the people in the room, but also about the other believers I know that are scattered around the world. I've got a friend in Indonesia, two friends in Japan, and other friends in Asia that are constantly working with people that need hope. I've got friends scattered around the country that are starting churches and ministries to reach people. And there are hundreds of millions of other believers in the world that I symbolically "connect" with when I take communion... we worship, we reflect, we remember the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made... and we celebrate the incredible gift that his sacrifice gave us.

As the faces and names of my believer friends went through my head, I also thought a lot about the friends I have that are still unconvinced. Over the last couple years, I have met a ton of new friends that don't follow Christ... and I love them more than you can possibly imagine. I enjoy hanging out with them, relaxing with them and talking with them... about life, parenting, movies, vacations, and as the topic arises - spiritual things. I would love for my connections with them to eventually lead them to a point where they follow Christ, but I also understand that I have no control over those decisions. All I can do is love them, enjoy their friendship, and "be" Christ in their lives. When I do those things, my "connections" pay off... maybe I will get to see more of these friends begin to follow Christ in the years ahead... maybe not... that is between them and God. My job is to extend God's love to the people in my community so that they will have the best opportunity to explore faith at their own pace... if you're a believer, that's your job, too.

Mentally...I'm not here right now

School is back in session which means my brain is not fully engaged here at the office right now. It has been a crazy first four days of having all three of my kids in school (3rd grade, 1st grade, and Kindergarten), so I am a little tired, but that's not real reason for my mental absence.

The real reason is that I've missed the people at Youth Elementary School, and now I want to find ways to hang out with them. I look forward to running by there in the afternoons and checking on the staff and helping where I can. I look forward to spending time in the classrooms with the kids, and I especially look forward to getting to know the other parents at the after-school meetings and special events. Youth Elementary School is full of people that are disconnected from Christ and disconnected from church. It's my responsibility to help them hear about Jesus and begin to explore spiritual things again. Please pray for me and my family as we try to take every opportunity we can to build relationships and friendships with these incredible people. Our hope is that, through those relationships, we will have opportunities to develop people to follow Jesus and make disciples.

And, know that I am praying for you as well. I pray that the next several months will provide you opportunities within your own mission fields to meet people, spend time with them, build friendships with them, and help them connect with God. Have an incredible week!

"When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them because they were hurting and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus said to his followers, 'There are many people to harvest, but only a few workers to help harvest them. Pray to the Lord, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to gather his harvest.'" Matthew 9:36-38

Free! (part 1)

Russ did a great job getting our Free! series started at Church At The Grove yesterday. The entire morning was great and I hope you enjoyed it like I did (by the way, how 'bout David and the band?). Afterwards, we got into some discussions about the attitude behind what we're teaching. We don't want to be disrespectful just to be disrespectful, but we do want to stay true to the text, the culture, and the attitude behind the text. As I've been studying for this coming Sunday, I've also been reading some of Paul's other letters (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians). Russ was absolutely right to say that Paul was angry when he wrote Galatians. In fact, Paul was probably much angrier than we described. Paul wrote, "But these leaders saw that I had been given the work of telling the Good News to those who are not Jewish, just as Peter had the work of telling the Jews" (Gal 2:7). He had a mission... to tell "disconnected" people that they could be free through Christ. In the process of trying to do what God called him to do, other people were getting in the way ("They came in like spies to overturn the freedom we have in Christ Jesus" Gal 2:4). Paul was ticked off because God's grace and faith in Christ were being offered as part of a salvation package (grace of God + faith in Christ + follow Jewish law = being accepted by God).

Paul was working hard to tell people about being Free! and others were working hard to keep people contained and under control. Paul was angry and that attitude comes through in his letter. I think that attitude may have come across in Russ' message, too. Church At The Grove is designed to connect with people that live far from God. That is our mission field... God will hold us responsible for how well we do at connecting those people to him. Along the way, we wrestle with the attitude we have toward those that believe differently than us. As I said, we don't want to be disrespectful just for the sake of being disrespectful. We also want to be teachable, humble, and true to God's word. In Romans 14, we are warned about "condemning" believers that act differently than we do... and we want to be cautious about our bad attitudes toward believers that may be more "traditional" than us. On the other side, though, we are called to reach a particular group of people in this community and we are not willing to allow anything to get in the way of our mission... what do you allow to get in the way of your mission?

That's My Chair

Last night, my wife and I watched an episode of "Friends" off our Season 3 DVD. Episode #50... The One Where No One's Ready... is a true classic (in fact it's the #5 episode according to TV.com). In this episode, Chandler and Joey fight over who gets to sit in a chair in the girls' apartment. Of course, the fight escalates to the point of insanity... which is why it's so incredibly funny.



Unfortunately, it's not as funny when things like this happen in real life. In some churches, long-time members fight over "their" seats in the sanctuary, or "their" parking places, or "their" position on some committee, or "their" style of music, or "their" anything-else-that-has-no-real-eternal-significance. The natural tendency in life is take care of ourselves and put ourselves first, but all of this fighting over "my" things distracts us from what's really important. It's funny on TV, but when it happens within God's family, it's ridiculous.



Instead of worrying about "my" seat or "my" parking spot, I should be concerned about "my" mission field and the spiritual condition of "my" friends and the hopelessness of the people within "my" circle of influence. I am responsible for the people that God puts around me and it is more important that I live out Christ in front of them, then that I sit in the same spot each week. If you attend Church At The Grove, thanks for modeling this idea of missional responsibility and forgetting the arguments about "my chair." If you're not part of things here, what are you modeling in your own life? What's most important... your "chair" or your "mission field"?