Are you serving God to make Him happy with you?

Are you serving so that one day you’ll earn your way into heaven for eternity?

Do you REALLY believe that unconditional love of God that you preach to your people?

Watch this video and follow along with the lyrics and see if it defines what’s really going on in your heart today.

Eyes closed in a veil of tears when I hear the sound
Once more you have come to me – You have calmed me down
You still the raging sea inside of me
My Lord has come for me
Why-why is it so hard for me to see
Why is it so hard to just believe
Show me what it means to be free

The only thing I need I already have
The fullness of Your mercy in my hand
The only One who loves me as I´m
The only thing I need I already have

My heart – a companion to my wounded soul
Again You comfort me-You take control
You quell the fear that owns too much of me
As it was meant to be

So why-when each & every word becomes a war
When there isn´thing I can see worth fighting for
You come into my heart & set me free

Chorus

You are all I need-already have it
All I need-already have it
All I need-already have it
All I need-already have it

Harry Potter. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, your head’s in the sand. The final, final movie comes out tonight (in my timezone). What an impact on our culture it has had!

One particular character is ”He Who Must Not Be Named”. The villain. The bad guy. The most powerful on the evil side of the equation.

Voldemort *gasp!* I said his name!

Why didn’t the other characters want to say his name? Irrational Fear.

Think of our real life enemy: satan.  Do you fear him to the point of irrational behavior? Or do you treat him too flippantly? Both extremes will lead you to burnout in ministry leadership. It will sap your strength.

Here’s a great way to view satan (which I learned early while in youth ministry leadership):

Instead of viewing satan with fear, see him with respect. In other words, recognize the powerful possibility that he can lead you to destruction gradually and subtly. But at the same time, recognize he’s already lost (God will ALWAYS be more powerful than he is).

Your Turn: How do you view satan? And how does that view impact your ministry leadership?

I heard a quote by William Barclay the other day. It was in a commentary on the book of John. I thought of you who diligently serve Christ in ministry leadership and wanted to share it with you as an encouragement:

“What God did for Jesus, God does for every man. When God sends us out upon a road, He does not send us out without directions and without guidance. When God gives us a task, He does not leave us to do it in the lonely weakness of our own strength. God is not a silent God, and ever and again, when the strain of life is too much for us, when the effort of God’s way is beyond our human resources, if we listen we will hear Him speak, and we will go on with His voice ringing in our ears, and His strength surging through our frame.”

…His strength surging. It’s how God rolls.

THAT’S a picture of serving strong, wouldn’t you agree?

shootingthebreeze

Hey! Just a quick note to let you know I was asked by Kevin Martineau to guest post over at his place today. Here’s an excerpt:

“If a trillion dollars was compared to a trillion seconds of ordinary clock time, it would equal 31,546 years. If you spent $1 every second, it would take 31,546 years to spend $1 trillion.

“Put another way: If someone were to build city blocks that contained 10 homes valued at $100,000 per home, you would end up with 10 houses to a block, 10 blocks to a mile and a hundred blocks per square mile. It would take 10,000 square miles to reach $1 trillion in value (an area larger than Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island combined).

“This post is not politically motivated. It’s about your ability to serve strong…”

Read more…

The Apostle Paul said it well over in Philippians 3:

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Straining. Pressing. Winning.

These are all disciplines of ministry leaders who are intent on serving strong and finishing strong. Precision. Is that what you are working for?

Check out this cool video of Johnny McEntee of UCONN and some trick shots:

In what area of your ministry are you striving for precision?

pol sifter

Peter  

He raged. Powerful. Spewing murderous threats. He hated the church. He frequently stammered in the drunkenness of his enormous influence. BANG! A flash of light. A thunderous voice. A grand introduction to be sure. And now he lay in the dark of blindness. Caught in his betrayal. Bitter remorse.  

Paul  

She sat. Crying. In a garden with no desire to plant or weed or harvest. She meets two angels and bumps into a gardener. Her Lord. Oh, her Lord has been stolen. Who would steal a body? She pleads with the gardener, “Would you tell me where you have taken Him?”  She stood in the dark of the morning hour. Caught in her faithlessness. Bitter confusion.  

Mary  

However, their darkest defeat became their brightest beginning. For Peter, a change of heart and a church against even hell will never overcome. For Paul, a change of direction and an author whose writing encourages hundreds of thousands even today. For Mary, a change of perspective and the privilege of being the first evangelist to tell others about seeing the risen Lord.

Ministry been getting to you lately? Feel like you’re out of gas but still have miles to go? Yeah, I know. It happens to everyone. Ministry is tough. But because of God alone…  

There will always be hope…….