This morning during my devotion time (I set aside time each day to devote to hearing God’s voice, praying, reading the Word of God) I was listening to You Are Still Holy by Rita Springer and one of the lines in the song says,

During this song, the Lord was speaking to me from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” God was reminding me that all that is in my past: my mistakes, my sins, my failures, my disappointments… all of the stuff that I want to leave behind me but always tries to creep back into my life… God wants to take it all.

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. God does not want you and me to carry around stuff that he has paid for.  He wants all of us.  God doesn’t just want the good in you; He doesn’t want just your potential.  He wants all of you including the stuff that you don’t want.  He is speaking to us today about trusting Him with the stuff that weighs you down.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 encourages us that God wants to take all of the stuff from our lives that holds us back from the potential that He has for each of us.

Will you trust Him today? Will you run to Him WITH all of your garbage and let Him take it all?  All that has been in my life up until now… IT ALL BELONGS TO YOU.

Public ministry requires an audience.  What we do in public ministry is for the benefit of others.

First, your audience may be only one.  In fact, that is enough.  God has called us to look for “the one” and share His love and life with them.  Look for an audience today and begin to do ministry.

Secondly, your audience may be a small group or a large group of hundreds or even thousands.  But whether it is one or 10,000, ministry is not ministry if you are just doing something – preaching a message, leading a bible discussion, singing a song, or just talking to the crowd.  Ministry is only ministry when you connect with someone.

I saw someone recently “leading worship”.  Their intentions were right, and I’m sure their motives were pure, but they weren’t effectively doing ministry.  They were playing an instrument and singing a song, but there was no connection with their audience.  Even though worship ministry must be focused on the ONE we worship, if you are leading others to Him, you must first connect with your audience and take them there.  You can’t lead someone anywhere if they are not WITH you.

Think about this: Simply doing something in front an audience is not ministry.  Whether it is many or a few, make a prayerful and intentional effort to connect with them through prayer, verbal communication, eye contact, body language, emotions, and facial expression.  Help them to know and feel you’re in this together.  Ministry is not ministry if you’re just doing something.  Make sure you are connecting with your audience.

Often people like to disguise gossip as a concern.  Let’s expose this idea because God sees gossip as a very serious offense.  Look at Romans 1:29-30.

²⁹They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.

God places gossip right there with envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and God-haters.

Yet gossip has many participants.  Why?  Because gossip is simply “casual or unrestrained conversation or reports about other people, typically containing reports that are not confirmed as true.”   Yet even truth (concerns) being reported by the wrong people to the wrong people becomes gossip.

Sharing concerns with people who cannot “fix the problem” becomes an act of gossip.   When you have a concern, find the person who can help you, and can solve the problem.  Don’t let your concerns become gossip.

As a servant leader, remember that problems (concerns) go up, and praise goes down.  Bring your concerns to the person above you.  Take your praise to the people under you.

Be careful!  Sharing your concern to the wrong people may be … gossip in disguise.

There is one thing that I know about people: they remember the bad stuff that others do to them and tend to forget everything else that others may do.  God is unlike men in this respect.  In fact, He is exactly the opposite.

Genesis 40:23 –  The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

I want to encourage you today with this truth: Even though men may have forgotten you, God hasn’t forgotten you! I have found that God will actually forget my sin, my wrongdoing, and He will remember the promises that He has made to me.  God really has a very unusual memory.  When is the last time you had someone treat you with grace?  The Bible repeats over and over that God is a God of grace.  That he gives us what we do not deserve.  My sin is forgotten by God as soon as I confess it and the promises that God has made to me He will always remember.

Please do not put the characteristics of men on God because it will limit your ability to trust God.  Remember that God’s ways are not the ways of men and that God will fulfill every promise that he makes to you in His Word!

Leave a comment: Do you ever feel like you can’t trust God?  Why?

Revelation 21:23 (NIV) The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

Light is so powerful.  The sun generates light and warmth to our entire planet and because of that it brings great benefit too mankind.  Although the sun brings countless blessing to creation, it is important that we never forget the powerful capability of the sun.  The sun’s light can cause blindness if stared at too long.  Man can only endure the sun for so long before he receives the repercussions of over exposure.  Light from a strong source is a powerful thing.

Some people fear darkness and its capability, but darkness has nothing on light.  Darkness can never drown out light, but light can diminish darkness.  As a child of God, there is no reason to fear darkness.

One day when the New Heavens and the New Earth is restored, God will be our light.  Since God is the Creator of the sun, it only makes sense that He outshines the sun.  Maybe that is why God said to Moses, “…no one may see me and live.”  (Ex 33:20).

Since our Father is a Father of light, let us live as children of light.  May our lives benefit others and at the same time expose the darkness around us.

Our mission is Worship the Lord…Reach all People…Equip to Serve.  We must keep the main thing the main thing.

I took my wife to a restaurant last night that seemed to be stuck in 1963.  They did not accept credit cards – the sign read “Cash Only”.  They were very friendly and made us feel like we were locals.  A sign on the wall read “If you made a reservation, you’re at the wrong place.” The food portions were huge but the price was very reasonable.  The waitress (no servers) turned in our order on that green pad of “Guest Checks”. Remember those?  And, when we paid for our meal, we walked up to the register – none of this paying the server business.

And this place was packed on a Wednesday night.  Why?  They were focused on the main thing.  The food was GREAT (lots of fried food – nothing healthy).  The service was GREAT.  The price was GREAT.  They simply focused on the main thing.

What is the main thing for the church?  Worship, Reaching, and Equipping. We can have all the newest technology and our methods can be on the cutting edge, but we must always… keep the main thing the main thing.

I am connected.  Everywhere I go, I can get online, check email, send tweets/texts and make phone calls.  Modern technology has made me über-connected to the world around me.

I am connected.  I find myself surrounded by opportunities to network, make friends and fill my time with relational opportunities.  It seems like I get a dozen new friend requests on Facebook every week.  This number grows exponentially month to month.  The more connected I get, the more opportunities to connect to more people.  This is a salesperson’s dream.

But am I connected?  Both of these previously mentioned things can be very helpful, but also very distracting as I try to quiet myself and get alone with God.  I find the words of Jesus in John 15 echoing in my overly-connected consciousness:

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:4-5 NIV)

Even though we live in a connected society, let’s be careful today that we don’t lose the most important connection in this life.

Leave your response: What is the biggest distraction from your ability to stay connected to Jesus?

Ephesians 3:20-21

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Scripture says that God is able to do more than we all we ask or imagine.  What a mind-blowing thought and promise!  Many times as believers, we fall short of first doing our part.  The questions we need to be asking are, Am I asking?  Am I imagining?

Do I believe that God is able to do more than I ask?  Am I taking time to imagine the mighty things He can do in my life?  When I asked myself these questions, I began to pray audacious prayers, prayers that are impossible to man.  I began to imagine what life would be like when my loved ones got saved.  I began to imagine in detail how my family would be transformed and the testimonies they would share.  I truly believe God is able to do more than I ask or imagine.

Just imagine what God is going to do when we begin to ask and imagine according to His will!

Friday night, The Church at Chapel Hill will be presenting the 2010 Servant Leader of the Year Awards (The S.L.Y. Awards).  We have literally hundreds of people serving Christ at Chapel Hill and we’re going to celebrate these faithful leaders.

In reality, every Christ follower can be serving in the local church.  There’s so much to do.  Some people might say, “I’m not qualified.” Or, “I can’t speak well.” Or, “I don’t have anything to give.”

Moses gave God those same excuses, and in Exodus 4:2 God simply replied, “What is that in your hand?”  And, Moses said, “A staff.”  The Lord replied, “Throw it on the ground.”

All over Chapel Hill, people have looked in their hand and found time, abilities, energy, and maybe just a willingness to serve…and God is using them.   God can take a simple staff in your hand to deliver people from bondage.  He did it once, and He can do it again!  What’s in YOUR hand?

If you are unable to attend The S.L.Y. Awards on Friday, January 29, tune in LIVE on-line at 7:30PM EDT at churchatchapelhill.com.

From time to time I will review a book that I have recently read and share it with you.  The following is my official review of Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity.

I love the books that Mark Batterson writes.  He is a brilliant author that will captivate your attention and imagination.  Primal is no different; it is a great book.

The book is very simply laid out with an introduction and four main divisions that correlate directly with the “greatest commandment” found in Mark 12:30.  He challenges us to love God will all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Could there every be a more rewarding way to spend our lives?

Here are some of the highlights of the book for me:

pg. 17 – “When you give your heart to Christ, Christ gives His heart to you.”

pg. 35 – Concerning personal finances: “Establish an income ceiling.  Enough will never be enough unless you determine how much is enough.”

pg. 80 – “Obedience will open the eyes of your understanding far more than any commentary or concordance could.”

pg. 83 – “The goal of knowing the Bible is knowing God.  Anything less is bibliolatry.”

pg. 113 – “Creativity breeds change.  And change threatens the status quo.  It’s far easier to find something wrong with something new than to admit something is wrong with the old way of doing things.”

In closing, you will enjoy reading Primal.  Batterson has a way of taking you to another place and time with his writing.  He will transport you from your ordinary life and lift you up to the stars with inspiration, then leave you will the ability to make your ordinary life, extraordinary.