This weekend our bedroom got really warm one night so we opened the window a little. The next morning my eyes were swollen and I couldn’t stop sneezing. I had forgotten that part of Spring! I have this Spring-time allergy that affects me for about two months, then is gone. I had been looking forward to warmer weather for so long I had forgotten the down-side to Spring.
Yes, there is a down-side to every good thing we hope for. We want flowers, but we don’t want rain. We want to go shopping, but we don’t want to go to work. We want to have fun, but we don’t want to be responsible for our actions. This is life. The bad comes with the good.
So, we can either focus on the bad things coming into our lives, or we can focus on the good. They’re both there at every turn. I can be defeated, or I can be a winner. The choice is up to me. So, I believe I’ll go spray my nose again and enjoy the sunshine one more time.
Its easy to get people to do what you want when they’re on the payroll. But, how do you motivate people to do what they should when they volunteer? You can’t threaten to fire them or discipline them because they are volunteering and will quit on you. This is why John Maxwell says the most difficult organization to lead is a volunteer organization.
There are other ways to motivate volunteers to excel besides money. They are volunteering because their heart is touched. Some ways to encourage their heart:
1. Make sure they are aware of the good things they’ve accomplished.
2. Publicly celebrate their victories.
3. Appreciate them with a few “‘Atta Boys” and pats on the back.
4. Compliment them to others (word will get back).
5. Reward them with a creative gift, such as a PayDay candy bar.
6. Make sure they know you are there to help them.
7. Listen to their suggestions (they are the ones with their hand on the plow).
Easter comes this year as early as it can on the calendar. Easter is a season of spring breaks and getting ready for warmer weather. It is a season for tulips and robins and mud and spring cleaning. Its also a season when people go shopping for warmer clothes.
But did you ever think of it being a season of revival in a person’s spiritual life? As people begin to look outward from the winter seclusion, it is also often a time when people attempt to make improvements in their homes as well as their lives. The cross is all about improvements in the life of a believer. The Book of Ephesians is a great teaching about the believer being in an exalted spiritual position. But it ends by challenging the reader to live according to this exalted spiritual position. Its a challenge to a life of holiness that draws attention to Jesus, not us.
The classic parable of the Prodigal Son is also a story of personal improvement. The son went back home, but his attitude was never the same. He was now the new and improved version. When Legion was delivered of the multitude of demons, his life was dramatically improved. Prior to the resurrection, Peter cowardly denied Jesus three times. After the resurrection, the same Peter boldly declared the resurrection of Christ before multitudes. His ministry had been vastly improved.
Let’s take some time this Easter season to do some spring cleaning inwardly. Let’s be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
There are two periods of discouragement in the church calendar. The first occurs in February and is called by church leaders the Winter Doldrums, and the second is during the summer months and is called the Summer Slump. We all understand the Summer Slump, but seldom give attention to the Winter Doldrums.
The Winter Doldrums begin imperceptively right after the high of Christmas, with all its activities, church attendance increases, hubbub, much ado, and excitement. We deal OK with winter throughout January, although the snow problems slow us down. But by the time February settles in we are tired of being cooped up in the house and dealing with snow and ice. Impatience begins to set in. This spills over into our church life. People become cranky and dissillusioned. Why is church attendance down? Why is there not excitement here like we had last year? Whose to blame? Maybe I need to find a new church that is more exciting.
Just in the nick of time, Spring comes, we turn our clocks ahead, the sun shines brighter and we emerge from the Winter Doldrums to the renewed excitement of Spring and Easter. Hallelujah!
February is not the time to make major decisions! We need to patiently await the surely coming Spring and the renewed excitement it brings. Every church has to battle the discouragement of February, and every church awaits the new day when March/April arrives. Be patient!
The news media was active in posting video of a Navy missile shooting down a malfunctioning Spy satellite while in orbit. Can you imagine hitting a moving target like that from so far away? That’s like hitting the proverbial needle in a hay stack with a thrown dart from a riding horse! Wow! How did they pull that off with one shot?
I think we’ve seen enough ’smart bomb’ videos from the Iraq War that we understand the missile “homed in” on the target and kept readjusting its focus as it moved down its trajectory until it finally hit the bull’s eye and destroyed the failed satellite. Staying on target and continuously readjusting its focus was the key to its success and hats off to the US Navy for pulling it off.
But we should also take our hats off to the Holy Spirit, sent on the mission to target our souls no matter how hard we try to hide. On this deliverance mission, the Spirit of life keeps readjusting His efforts every time we take another step in a different direction. He has been called “the Hound of Heaven” for His determination to seek out and and win over every heart. Its wonderful to watch the Spirit’s unpredictable actions as He leads and convicts to bring each of us to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. You can’t hide from this spiritual smart bomb because He never loses His focus!
Another interesting observation from the Reveal survey was that new Christians seemed very satisfied with their church, but the longer a person attended their church, the more dissatisfied they became with the church. Why would that be?
Perhaps its because when a new Christian starts attending the church, everything is new and challenging for them. There are new things to learn and new activities and people to meet and try out. Spiritual growth happens rapidly in the first years. A person learns that the pastor will always feed them every time they come to church. Someone will always meet a need in their lives. But as they mature, people are not taught to feed themselves spiritually or seek God to find answers for themselves. They keep expecting the church to do it all for them. Thus, they soon become disillusioned with the pastor and the church.
Perhaps we should challenge new Christians with what they should expect from the church and not let them get this unrealistic expectation up front. The church should be providing ministry opportunities, but it is the individual Christian’s responsibility to feed themselves and get into small groups even if they create their own.
I just finished listening to a CD with a couple of staff people from Willow Creek discussing a big survey project they did in 30 churches of various styles from across the country called ‘Reveal’. In the survey they designed questions that could measure spiritual development from a number of perspectives. The analyzed results will be available in book form this summer entitled Reveal. But, a couple of interesting observations came to light that I thought I’d share.
First, and not surprisingly, new converts are the most effective in sharing their faith with the lost, not seasoned veterans who know exactly how to do it. New converts had a passion that was transferable to their former friends, while more mature Christians seemed to lack that.
And, a second interesting observation was that in measuring a person’s satisfaction with their local church, the longer a person had been attending that church, the less satisfied they were. It was the new attenders that were very satisfied. That can be a blow to a pastor’s ego.
Thirdly, neither age, gender, nor race had much bearing on the result of the survey, interestingly popping another myth.
I’ll look forward to reading more about these interesting findings when the book is released.
Girl Scouts are busy out there selling cookies right now. We all know this is an annual fund-raiser for the Girl Scouts. And we all know how good these cookies are. I’m looking at a half-eaten box of Thin Mints (my favorite) as I write this. How can anything that tastes so delicious have all those unsavory ingredients that are listed on the label? Such things as thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, and cocoa processed with alkali! Yuck! There’s got to be a lesson in that somewhere.
Perhaps we learn that for anything to be really “good” it must also have some elements that aren’t so good. Like marriage, for example. For there to be a really good marriage, there must be a testing time that brings out the worst in each partner so it can be dealt with so only the good remains. That takes a process of time and involves some yucky stuff, but, boy, is it worth it in the end! Hang in there; it gets better.
Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”.
These are three interesting requirements. 1) We are to do justly. Justice is what is deserved. Justice honors the Law. If I deserve it, I can demand it. It is owed to me. I am to live my life sowing seeds because I can expect to reap what I sow.
2) We are also required to love mercy. Mercy is the opposite of justice. Mercy is when I get what I don’t deserve. Mercy is when I find grace because I deserved justice. I am to do justly, while I am to love mercy. How do we reconcile these two opposite concepts?
3) We are to walk humbly with our God. To walk humbly is to recognize that we are nothing in ourselves. It is to remain open as vessels that God can use in any manner He chooses. I am to act justly, while demonstrating mercy to others, so I can be a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. These things the Lord requires of us.
Early in 2007 I became concerned with our church’s decreasing attendance and dwindling offerings. I had moved in the “seeker” track in an attempt to reach the lost in a culturally changing America. But while reaching a few lost ones, we were losing the past harvest. I sought the Lord about all this.
Then the Lord spoke to my heart. I’ve never tried to compare our church with others because I thought that was egotistical and wordly. But the Lord led me to think about the competition in our community. The largest churches around us are Sonlight Community Church in Angola (a Mennonite Church), Fairview Missionary (a Missionary Church), Dayspring Community Church ( another Missionary Church), Lakewood Park (a GAR Baptist Church), and County Line Church of God (a Church of God Church). These are all non- or anti-Pentecostal churches. They have all followed the seeker route and grown dramatically. And I know that for a business to succeed amid the competition, it must be first, fastest or better. But what was our “niche”? What does New Hope have to offer that none of these others has? And the answer was obvious: a solid belief in the ministry of spiritual gifts among the body.
And I also know that Pentecostal churches are much to blame for turning off people to spiritual gifts with their emphasis upon emotion (a function of the soul) and calling it a move of the Spirit. But the New Testament teaches us to believe in the supernatural working of a God who cares! And then I understood that we must find a balance between an expression of the gifts of the Spirit and keeping dignity in the House of God.
The Christmas movies we’ve all just watched prove to us that Americans really want to believe, but believing in Santa Claus or flying reindeer isn’t reality. And this upcoming young generation will not tolerate phony Christianity that just blesses ourselves at the expense of others. So I’ve decided to move into 2008 with a great expectation of a genuine visitation of God’s Spirit to set people free and give life as Jesus declared in Luke 4:18 (go read it carefully). That’s my New Year’s resolution.