Yesterday I spoke on Jesus' first miracle: Changing Water into wine. You can read the biblical account in John chapter 2.
I find it amazing that Jesus took something as plain as water. As common as water and made it into the "good wine" of the wedding feast. How good was it? It was better than what was originally thought to be the best wine.
The neat thing is; He wants to do the same thing with our lives. Change them! Here is water everyday water, not bottled, not flavored, not even some lemon in it to help out the taste, Just water, and zap he changes it to wine. Do you realize that Jesus wants to do that to your life? That He wants to change you. To take away the dirt, the grime, the fear, the loneliness, the pain of rejection, the stress, the struggles, the things that go bump in the night. He died to take those away from you. To say "I've got you back".
Daily Jesus takes drug dealers and changed them
He takes the addict and heals the hole that is in the souls.
He takes the beaten women, and shows her how a man is supposed to treat a woman.
He takes the Lost and says "oyu are found"
Takes the forgotten and shows them love and that they are not forgotten
He takes you and me and says " I love you so much, I want to change you , so that you resemble me." Why? because people need Jesus!
The complete basis of why we are here is this: PEOPLE NEED JESUS! You need Jesus, I need Jesus, Everybody needs Jesus, and he wants US, you and me to represent Him to other people. That is amazing to think about, Jesus wants us to be used by Him, to show other people His insane love for everyone.
May He Shine richly on you this week,
Mike
Monday, February 19, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
I am not an CEO
I receive numerous amounts of junk mail. Sometimes it is spam on the Internet and other times it is through the Pony Express. More and more I am receiving parts of dead trees from people that want to make me into a CEO, wealthy and well heard of Pastor. That i deserve fame, adn if I do church their way then all will be ok. These are "church men and women" whom seem to think that success means that my church has to reach at least 400 if not 4000. They seem to think that bigger is always better. You must have these programs, you must wear this type of clothing, you must read these book, you must etc, etc, etc.
I wonder what Jesus thinks of all of this. That with the right plan, the right money spent at the right time on the right program, with the right church coach will = a successful church. did He die for an instituation? Didd he die so that His church looks more like Starbucks or Microsoft, than a group of loving people? For some reason I keep on thinking that the church Jesus is the head of; is a group of people that have given their lives to Jesus Christ and want to follow him, not a building or business style organism. Maybe I am wrong.
Maybe what God wants is bunch of people punching the time clock, and then forgetting about God, Jesus and living to change our homes; let alone our communities and the world. Maybe I should rely on my experiences in management, more than the Holy Spirit and what the bible has to say. Maybe I should chart out what we need to do, how to get there, make sure I hire the right people "because something this important we need profession, and this cannot be left to the people in the pews". Maybe, just maybe with the right programs, if I have enough control, then this church will grow, that we will have more customers, that we will be success according to Donald Trump.
However I measure success a little bit different. Changed lives. CEO's want numbers, Jesus wants hearts. CEO's want to expand their back pockets; Jesus wants you not to worry about the back pocket. CEO's want to measure results; eternal life is the result of following Jesus.
We must get to the point that we are not looking to make man happy, but instead to please Jesus. Does He want his kingdom to grow? Yes! Does He want us to responsible with the churches he has given us to shepherd? Yes. We need to live and teach according to his Word and the church should "run well". But at the end of the day is it going to matter that I have 3,000 listening to me Sundays or is going to matter that I died to myself and let God use me to bring himself glory?
It's time to stop looking at the numbers, we need to start looking at the hearts. Are people living for Jesus? Are they taking the Word and makign it thier own, are they dting to selfish wants and puttign others and Christ beofre themselves? From what I've read Jesus will build his church. What we are suppossed to be seeking is not numbers but the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness.
I wonder what Jesus thinks of all of this. That with the right plan, the right money spent at the right time on the right program, with the right church coach will = a successful church. did He die for an instituation? Didd he die so that His church looks more like Starbucks or Microsoft, than a group of loving people? For some reason I keep on thinking that the church Jesus is the head of; is a group of people that have given their lives to Jesus Christ and want to follow him, not a building or business style organism. Maybe I am wrong.
Maybe what God wants is bunch of people punching the time clock, and then forgetting about God, Jesus and living to change our homes; let alone our communities and the world. Maybe I should rely on my experiences in management, more than the Holy Spirit and what the bible has to say. Maybe I should chart out what we need to do, how to get there, make sure I hire the right people "because something this important we need profession, and this cannot be left to the people in the pews". Maybe, just maybe with the right programs, if I have enough control, then this church will grow, that we will have more customers, that we will be success according to Donald Trump.
However I measure success a little bit different. Changed lives. CEO's want numbers, Jesus wants hearts. CEO's want to expand their back pockets; Jesus wants you not to worry about the back pocket. CEO's want to measure results; eternal life is the result of following Jesus.
We must get to the point that we are not looking to make man happy, but instead to please Jesus. Does He want his kingdom to grow? Yes! Does He want us to responsible with the churches he has given us to shepherd? Yes. We need to live and teach according to his Word and the church should "run well". But at the end of the day is it going to matter that I have 3,000 listening to me Sundays or is going to matter that I died to myself and let God use me to bring himself glory?
It's time to stop looking at the numbers, we need to start looking at the hearts. Are people living for Jesus? Are they taking the Word and makign it thier own, are they dting to selfish wants and puttign others and Christ beofre themselves? From what I've read Jesus will build his church. What we are suppossed to be seeking is not numbers but the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness.
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