Little is Much When God is in it…

01/23/2012 in Featured

You cannot grow spiritually or otherwise without a serving spirit or attitude. You just can’t. This is the road to significance and to spiritual growth. If we desire to model the life of Jesus we will have to develop a heart to serve others. Jesus said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve and give of my life…” If you truly want to succeed in life and have real significance you will have to live a life of giving and serving. The primary excuse I hear people offer is: I have so little to offer. But remember little is much when God is in it. Everything I can think of at the moment that grew into significance stared small.

So Start Small

One of the amazing things about God is He has this incredible ability to take that which is small and to make it big. He has a history of doing that. When He took a small amount of bread and fish and He fed thousands. When Jesus pointed to the woman who gave two coins in the offering and He said to His disciples, “She’s giving more than anybody because she gave everything she had.’” Jesus said, “ Let Me tell you what’s big. It’s when you give a cup of water.” Matthew 10 says, “Even if you give a cup of cold water to one of the least of My followers you will surely be rewarded.”

So start small. Give Him what you have. It doesn’t have to be big. If you love music, you don’t have to start by writing songs, just be faithful in singing songs and before long you may be writing songs and producing songs. You can start small. We’ve bought into this myth; this cultural myth that’s made it’s way into the church that says if I’m going to go I might as well go big. Go big or go home. And because I don’t have anything to offer that’s big I’m going to sit on the sidelines. You don’t have to identify with or go to a big church to serve a big God and use the small gift that you presently possess.

One of my favorite things I see and hear about in churches as I travel is the people who serve in small ways that nobody even knows about.

Several years ago I was looking for the man who would replace me as pastor of the first church I started. A preacher friend I had known for many years had moved to our city and began attending our church. He and his family were on an extended Sabbatical. He had pastored for years and was no longer pastoring. During Vacation Bible School I noticed that he would show up and clean the bathrooms after the children’s break. He also began to do all sorts of little jobs around the church that were too small for many to notice. Today, he is the senior pastor of that church. He served his way right into my heart and the pulpit that I had been privileged to fill for 25 years. He is a great leader in my eyes not just because he is a good preacher, but also because he models service and serving.

When you’re serving, God looks at your heart. He doesn’t necessarily look at the size of the job you are doing? He’s looking at your heart. He cares about your heart. 1 Chronicles 28 says, “The Lord sees every heart and understands and knows every plan and thought.” It’s not the size of the job that He’s looking at. He’s looking at the motive of your heart. What’s your heart like while you’re serving?

If there were not a lot of people doing the little things you know what would happen to most churches? They would crumble or be in disarray. But there are a lot of big, good, and godly people doing the little things.

I began to think this week. What would happen if nobody did anything? What would happen if just one person did everything? I tried to imagine what that might look like. What I would love to see is every person doing at least one thing. You see a need and then you meet it. That’s the equation for significance. It’s not small to God. Why don’t you ask around and find out what you can do in your neighbor, your community or your church. It might seem small to you, but I assure you it can make a difference.

Doing the Little ‘BIG THINGS’

01/04/2012 in Featured

I am sure like me you are looking forward to a great year. Below are four things I believe will help us if we adopt them and make them a part of our lives.

Assume responsibility for your life.

This is not a popular concept because in our culture we have a concept called “political correctness”. This basically says, “None of your problems are your fault. Everything bad in your life is somebody else’s fault. Blame the environment. Blame the educator. Blame your parents. Blame anybody else, but it’s not your fault.” If you get in an accident, it’s never your liability. If you spill some hot coffee on yourself, sue McDonalds — it’s their fault. It’s always somebody else’s fault. But you’re never going to be a success in life and you’re never going to make your life count if you have that attitude. You must assume responsibility for your own life.

Believe you can change

Stop saying, “I can’t” and start saying, “I can”. The person who says, “I can’t” and the person who says, “I can” are both right. Philippians 4:13 (Jerusalem Bible) “There is nothing I cannot master with the help of Christ who gives me strength.” Do you really believe that verse? There’s nothing I can’t master! That means there’s nothing I’m going to hit in the next 365 days, no problem, no situation, no circumstance, no hassle that I can’t handle, that I can’t manage, that I’m not competent to handle. On my own effort? Of course not! But “…with the strength that Christ gives me.”

Clarify what you really want

You must decide what’s important and what isn’t important. God has given each of us an incredible gift called the freedom to choose, the freedom of choice. That’s one of the things that makes you like God. When God says in Genesis 1, “Let Us make man in Our own image” one of the ways you’re different from animals is He gave you the freedom to choose between good and evil.
Job: “We can choose the sounds we want to listen to. We can choose the taste we want in food. We should choose to follow what is right. But first of all we must define what is good — that means to clarify what I really want. What are your values? What’s important to you? What really counts? You can’t do what’s important until you clarify what’s important. Otherwise you’re going to be pushed around by the pressures of life doing this and that then all of a sudden the year is over and you’re saying, “What got done?”
Your values determine your vision. Your desires determine your direction. Your roles determine your goals. You must first stop and say, “What’s important? What really matters to me?”

Don’t wait to begin.

Nike says, JUST DO IT! I say do it now! Three words that will change your life — Do it now. There will never be an ideal circumstance to start on that change, to make that growth, to work on that development. Do it now. Don’t wait to begin.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” Probably the phrase I hear more often than any other is “When things settle down…” They’re not going to settle down! That’s called life!
Life must be enjoyed under imperfect circumstances. Whatever you’re going to do — get on with it now! Because things are not going to settle down for you until you’re in the coffin.

How 2012 Can Be Different…

12/27/2011 in Featured

Well in just a few more days 2011 will become history. I’m not sure if time is speeding up or I am just moving slower. I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

So what are you going to do in 2012? Have you given any thought as to how this New Year might be different. 2011 was a good year but a tough year for so many. It was a year of challenges, a year of choices, and a year of changes. For some it was a year of crises. The fact is for some of you 2011 brought disappointment. Maybe you experienced the loss of a loved one. Maybe it was the loss of a job or possibly you had a financial setback.

The good news is this: However 2011 was for you, in just a few days you will get to start over. Well, maybe not over, but it will become a new starting point. God brings us life in bite-sized pieces, in hours and days and months. Every year He just says, let’s wipe the slate clean and let’s start with a brand new year. It’s like starting over. And that’s good news.

I am of the persuasion if a new day, a new week or a new year is to be better it will involve making a plan, setting some goals and working and praying to that end. Just saying, “I hope it’s going to be better.” will not work. You’ve got to have a plan to pray and work toward to make it better.

Proverbs 17:24 “An intelligent person aims at wise actions, but a fool starts off in many directions.” For some that may describe 2011. You went charging off in many directions. To have an aim means that you have a goal, a target, and an objective. I would encourage you to spend a little time planning as to what you would like to see happen next year. Of course it’s God’s hands but He does want us to plan.

I am not sure I will finish this article today, but I would like to offer four steps or four keys to maximizing this New Year.

I believe it is always good for each of us to:

A – Assume responsibility for your life.

This is not a popular concept because in our culture we have a concept called “political correctness”. This basically says, “None of your problems are your fault. Everything bad in your life is somebody else’s fault. Blame the environment. Blame the educator. Blame your parents. Blame anybody else, but it’s not your fault.” If you get in an accident, it’s never your liability. If you spill some hot coffee on yourself, sue McDonalds — it’s their fault. It’s always somebody else’s fault. But you’re never going to be a success in life and you’re never going to make your life count if you have that attitude. You must assume responsibility for your own life.

Galatians 6:5 “Each person must be responsible for himself.” The fact is my choices always determine more than my circumstances. You cannot control your circumstances. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me this coming year. You haven’t the foggiest idea either. But we can control our actions and our reactions. Our actions and our reactions will be determined by our choices therefore, I’m going to choose to be different in 2012.

There are three kinds of people in life. There are accusers. There are excusers. There are choosers.

Accusers: They always blame everybody else for their problems. Their favorite phrase is, “It’s all your fault.” It’s never their fault.

Excusers: Excusers always have a rationale for where they are. There’s always a reason. I’ve discovered that whenever I want to procrastinate on something, any excuse will do. The Bible says, “A lazy man is full of excuses.”

Accusers and excusers are people who blame others and people who excuse themselves (I call them losers). So you need to be a chooser.

Choosers: Choosers say, “I choose to assume responsibility for my own happiness. I’m not dependent upon somebody else. I choose the direction of my life.” I’m not depending upon the crowd. I’m choosing to accept responsibility for my life. If you choose to do this, you already have a head start for this New Year.

I think I will make this a series. See you next week.