Search for Significance

The modern Church has stated that we can save ourselves. If you really want to be a better person, pull yourself up by the bootstraps and continue on your journey. If you want significance in this world, you must become significant.

This was my journey for the past 15 years. Even after I came to Christ, I believed that prayers for myself would be selfish because I CAN DO ALL THINGS through Christ that strengthens me. Unfortunately, I focused on "I" rather than on Christ.

Today, I confess that I have intellectualized my faith and can talk a good game, Yet, the sin in my life is not from without but within. I want to be significant.

Read the following from Matthew 12:43-45:

43"When an evil[f] spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

Christ does not call us to become self-reliant but Christ-centered. This has been a long, hard lesson. I know it intellectually, but maybe I can begin to live it out.

The New Year

How does your new year look? Do you have a change in view? Weight loss? Time management?

Jesus has placed a burden on me. It is time for CHANGE. This change is a deep rooted spiritual perspective. Not superficial, but a change in perspective.

First, the Holy Spirit has revealed a message: "The Significance of being Insignificant." I have suffered from a "savior" perspective, thinking I was significant. I used to be a youth minister. I am a school teacher. I led an independent coffee house ministry for two years. I became the legal authority over my aunt (who is 100% disabled according to psych evaluations). I WAS SIGNIFICANT. People told me this.

Then, Jesus reminded me that "the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10a). The world told me I was significant. I did not need a savior.

This Christmas break has been revealing. The Holy Spirit explained to me that I sought attention, sought to be important (apart from God). HE reminded me of John 15:5: "apart from me you can do nothing." Wow, I was a "good person" living in SIN.

I challenge you to rethink your walk with Christ. Rather than asking God what you can do for HIM, ask what you must cut out to find a SIGNIFICANT relationship with GOD. Anything less is sin.

The Franchise Players

I am preparing for tonight's VBS lesson for my youth department. As I prepare, God ALWAYS replenishes me. As I struggle and falter in my professional and personal life, God provides. Listen to this:

The Franchise Player is the player that provides the franchise a future. Today, God has placed in EVERY CHURCH a franchise player (and that AIN'T the pastor). Remember, the pastor is the manager. The franchise players are the church members that are willing to be managed and led by the pastor. Then, the franchise player builds the foundation of membership through Jesus Christ. That foundational member will be used by Christ to stabilize the church as pastors come and go.

WOW! What a backwards thought to the normal church member. Today, we members wait for the pastor to build the foundation. We wait for the pastor to lead EVERY STEP, and yet God uses our pastor to lead us into a journey (coach us if you will) so that we can make the BIG PLAYS when they are needed to be made.

Maybe, you and I should reverse our thought about church. Rather than a place where believers rest and worship, maybe it is a place that we members allow the HOLY SPIRIT to coax our pastor to lead us into positions of leadership.

Just a thought