Tag: Vision

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God, Hurry Up!

I loved today’s entry from Oswald Chambers. I find myself too often wanting God to hurry up and fulfill the vision he’s given me, whether it be for my family, for my church, or for myself personally. I’ve had a new hunger and longing lately, one that I’ve never had before and today, I think I see that it is God getting me into shape for the goal he has for me. I’ve heard similar things from some of our New Passion team. They are longing for God to show up in a fresh and powerful way; first personally then corporately. I’m excited that God has us on the same page and I cannot wait (although he wants me to wait) to see God continue to unfold his plan in us and through us.

Check out the devotional from today:

Visions Become Reality

The parched ground shall become a pool . . . Isaiah 35:7

We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.

Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.

The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.

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Is It Our Responsibility?

nehemiah-wallSeveral weeks ago I asked our people at New Passion, “Do you see the mission Jesus calls us to as your personal responsibility?”

I love the story of Nehemiah. One of the things that keeps sticking out to me is how everyone worked together for the common vision that God gave Nehemiah. There is no doubt that each person saw this mission from God as their personal responsibility. The Bible says that each person repaired the section of the wall in front of their own home. This mission was very personal.

I love the fact that it points out in one occasion that the people worked with enthusiasm and how Baruch zealously repaired an additional section of the wall. That means he didn’t have tunnel vision – he saw the entire project as his responsibility, not just his piece of the wall…he went above and beyond…Passion will cause you to do that. It’s kind of like the Lays potato chips challenge, “I Bet You Can’t Eat Just One” – When God puts a passion in your heart, you won’t be satisfied with a mundane approach to the mission he calls you to, you’ll want more! The Nobles  and Officials agreed to give back to the poor the interest they had charged them and to require no more payments for their debt to help relieve the financial stress and pressure on the lower class. These people were willing to sacrifice in order to unify under a common vision and a  common mission. They saw it as their responsibility!

So what about you? Do you see the mission Jesus calls His followers to as all of our personal responsibility? I believe when we get to that point, it adds a whole new dimension to the way we live out our faith. I believe it is an essential ingredient needed to change the world with the gospel.

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UNLEASH 2010: Session 2 Perry Noble

perry-noble1Unleash 2010 Main Session 2

Session Notes

Acts 14:8-

The best thing a church can do is make sure their senior pastor is healthy

Be careful for the crowd….those who deify will crucify. (My Note: Wow!!!)

The problem with a lot of pastors is that we will not admit our humanity

vs 19 – The people stoned Paul…not Barnabas or anyone else. Paul, the Leader. The main guy…that’s it.

3 Words:

1. Awareness –

Many times we make mistakes because we are unaware.

  • Some people’s thoughts is that they do as much as the Senior Pastor and they carry the same load.
    (Its not that they are trying to be mean…they are just UNAWARE)
    (When Satan wants to stop a movement he always goes after the leader)
  • 3 Rocks Pastors Need to Be Aware Of –
  1. Rock of Distractions – Distractions will come our way.
    Pastor, do not get distracted with things outside of Jesus

    • Don’t get distracted by false agendas
    • Don’t get distracted by yourself
    • Don’t get distracted by Pride

    If God is using us, its because we were barren, and God changed our lives, we did nothing ourselves.

  2. Rock of Deception –
    • The deception that the Pastor has to do everything
    • The Bible calls those who do not work, lazy; It calls the one who will not rest, disobedient
    • Pastor – Do you have a date night with your wife? Without the kids? Without the cell phone?
    • Pastor, if this world can’t live without you for an hour…it’s in trouble!
    • Pastor, your kids need you!
    • Pastor, your marriage is the most important marriage in the church. It’s got to remain strong.
  3. The Rock of Discouragement –

    • Listen to your coaches, not your critics

2. Unity –

  • Pastor – Be a man worth rallying around
    How to be a man worth rallying around:

    • Lead with Integrity (Be real – Be Sexually Pure – ETC.)
    • Get Big Vision from God (You want great leaders? Have a great vision)
    • Listen to your staff (Ask your staff: What do you think?)
      Your leaders will have a solution, your robots will wait until they are told what to do.
      Pastor, make sure your leaders are resourced, and get out of their way.
    • Keep short accounts – Don’t be bitter at people.
    • Make expectations clear – You can’t keep people accountable to an unspoken rule or expectation.
    • Honor your leader’s time

3. Passion –

  • The average pastor is the SBC is 22 months.
  • Churches are unhealthy because there are men of God who are unwilling to stand when the rocks are thrown.
  • If you can’t support the vision of the pastor, get off his team. If he is disobeying God…God will cut him down, not you.
  • When a man of God has a supportive team or staff gathered around him, he can get back up when the stones are thrown.
  • If a staff will rally around the pastor, no rock thrower is a match for them.
  • Pastor, who do you have standing around you?

…updating

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Contrasting Visions

glasses

Last night at our launch team meeting we looked at two contrasting visions in the book of Acts. One is found in Acts 19 and the other in Acts 17.  Here are a few of my follow up thoughts and main points to the devotion:

About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. 24 It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy. 25 He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:

“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. 26 But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! 27 Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis-this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world-will be robbed of her great prestige!”

28 At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” – – – 40 I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.” 41 Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.

Demetrius had a vision. His vision was for his own personal gain. He had an agenda to have a successful business and to make a lot of money. The worship of the false goddess, Artemis, is what fueled Demetrius’ towards achieving his vision of a successful business. Demetrius was smart because he played on the emotions of his employees. He understood that a man will do whatever he has to do to provide for his family, so Demetrius painted a picture that Paul was taking there ability to provide for their family and to make money by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus. Two things stick out about Demetrius and I believe we can say the same thing for anyone who pursues their own agenda over God’s vision:

  1. They are not Willing to Sacrifice – (Vs. 23-26, 28) For Demetrius to abandon the vision he had for his business to embrace the vision of God as carried out by Paul and the other Apostles, it would have cost Demetrius a ton of money (Reminds me of the rich young ruler in Luke 18). His businesses relied on the worship of the false goddess, Artemis, and if lives were being changed, there would be less people worshiping Artemis, and therefore less demand for handcrafted idols.
  2. They are not Willing to Suffer – (Vs. 27, 40-41) People who follow their own agenda over God’s vision, try to control their lives and every situation around them to forcibly make what they desire to come to pass. They absolutely have to maintain some level of control, because their vision has no power. In this scripture, God’s movement was prevailing, and Demetrius and the city council tried their hardest to stop it, but it couldn’t be done. Demetrius and the city council were more worried about losing respect and facing trouble by the Romans, so they backed away from their uprising at the movement of God. When there is no power in what you are trying to do, it won’t be long, when trouble arises, that you’ll be jumping ship!

In Acts 17:3-9, there is an opposing reaction to God’s vision and movement. Check it out…

He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. 7 And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

8 The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. 9 So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.

Christ’s movement was increasing through the influence of Paul and Silas. Many people  were placing their faith in Jesus Christ. Jason caught this vision from God and through his actions we can see a couple of things that is evident when we embrace God’s vision for his church and his people:

  1. They are Willing to Suffer Personally (Vs. 3-7) – Jason did nothing more than open his home for Paul and Silas to have a place to stay. The Scripture never says that he even opened his mouth to proclaim the Gospel, yet the mob came and attacked his home, drug him before the city council, accused him, and threatened greater consequences for being a part of this vision. Jason could have saved his own Butt by telling the council where Paul and Silas were. What did he have to gain from keeping them hid? Nothing earthly. The Scripture never says that Paul gave him recognition for his act of bravery and self surrender. Jason didn’t need that. He willingly kept his mouth shut, endured his home being attacked, endured being roughed up physically, and being accused. Simply so the movement could continue and God’s vision could prevail.
  2. They are Willing to Sacrifice Personally (Vs. 8-9) – This whole thing started with Jason being willing to open his home to Paul and Silas to give them a place to stay. This was extra cleaning for two additional people in their household, extra food to provide for them to eat…his hospitality alone was a great sacrifice, but in verse 9 the scripture says that they were forced to post bail to be released. Jason has already faced personal suffering for the vision that Paul and Silas were carrying out, but now, its costing him money. Now most people draw the line right here! When suffering begins to start costing us financially, all of a sudden, it must not be God anymore. Not for Jason…he believed in the vision to the place where he was willing to sacrifice to see it come to pass. At any moment Jason could have renounced this movement, protected his home, saved face from public humiliation, and saved his money…but the vision had POWER and when God is in the middle of something, those who do not have their own agendas are drawn to it.
  • Are you willing to suffer and sacrifice personally to see God’s vision come to pass? Or do you have your own personal agenda that is hindering you from diving all the way in?
  • God’s vision has no room for personal agendas. Those who only seek power, recognition, financial security,  positions, etc. prevent the movement of God from happening through them.
  • Let’s lay our personal agendas aside, fully embrace God’s vision for our lives (New Passion: to lead people to a passionate relationship with Jesus) and see a Revolutionary God Movement take place in our lives and in our cities!