I was sitting in the den at my house with my wife and youngest daughter, Kayla. My oldest daughter, Heather, and our grandson, Aidan, were arriving that day for a visit. Sitting there in that moment I was really overwhelmed with God’s goodness to me and my family. I shared this feeling with LuAnne and Kayla – how God has been and is so good to us.
I know some of you may be having bad days or tough times to go through, and I’m dealing with some personal things too, but, I am constantly amazed at God’s goodness. I love my wife (even more today than the day I married her 27 years ago), we are blessed with three awesome kids, and two “in-law” kids – all who love and serve the Lord. We serve along side one of the best church staffs at one of the greatest churches anywhere – I’m almost ready to shout!! Thank you Jesus. I am so totally grateful for His awesome blessings.
But I am scared!
I am concerned.
Not in a “I don’t have enough faith” kind of way. But in a “I don’t want to do anything to mess this up” kind of way.
I want to see God do even MORE in the days to come in my life and in our church’s ministry.
I have a pastor friend who challenged his church in this way – I think it’s right for us too. Would you pray and believe God with me?
Let’s pray that, as a church family we will…….
- NEVER be satisfied with where we are!
- Always be thankful for what God has done!
- NEVER limit what God can do!
- ALWAYS dream big – and take bold steps of faith!
- NEVER stop reaching people for Jesus!
- ALWAYS spend money for Great Commission ministry!
- NEVER let the critics and skeptics silence us!
- ALWAYS be willing to make time for Christ in our lives!
- NEVER forget where our source of strength comes from!
- ALWAYS celebrate where we are going – even before we get there!
- NEVER allow creativity to supersede Scripture!
- ALWAYS show the world how relevant the Gospel is!
- NEVER lift up personalities!
- ALWAYS lift up the name above all names – JESUS!!
We are so blessed here at McGregor. And I think the greatest blessing is that God’s greatest blessings are yet to come!!
dRP
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
I was just thinking...
...about the irony of what the next few days hold for me. Today I'll experience the culmination of a tremendous week of VBS. Our whole staff acts and play like kids because we are playing with kids - hundreds of them. Check out the crazy pictures on Mark's Blog. It's been a great week. So far, at least 42 children have asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior this week. I'm praying for a great harvest tonight. Precious young lives are being changed right in front of our eyes. Some will never be the same - only time will tell. It is up to us as a church family to make sure that McGregor is always a fun and safe place for kids so that, when they're older, they'll remember their church experience fondly and long for their children to experience the same.
This Sunday night's VBS Family night is huge. Many families, many who would normally NEVER go to any church will be here. I LIVE for these moments. We have a real chance to introduce them to Christ and our church - and some will be drawn to both. THAT is what I am so excited about. I'm more than praying for this; I'm begging God to show up, touch hearts, bless as only He can. Lives are on the line.
Then, Monday I leave for the Southern Baptist Convention. I love my convention. Sometimes, as a Christian at my age, I feel very alone in my love for this great old convention. So many are bolting for less bureaucratic lines of church development and Kingdom growth. The convention grows........old. Every year. I pray that the SBC's influence isn't diminished among younger believers in the future.
There are numerous Baptist distinctives that I believe are very important guidelines for applying our theology and doctrine, as well as church polity (the practice and governance of "church"). Additionally, the SBC has what I believe to be the most extensive network of missionaries and mission endeavors of any other evangelical organization -- all supported by Cooperative Program gifts of our church and the 42,000 other member churches. Read more about what we believe in the Baptist Faith & Message. It's an incredible story of God's faithfulness, where we, as Southern Baptists, have come from and where we're going.
All of that being said, I was just thinking about how I absolutely love these young, innocent, growing, maturing VBS kids and their families. And, I also love our old, somewhat tiring, somewhat outdated Convention. I think BOTH are absolutely crucial to the advancement of the Kingdom. Yet, they are so.......different.
I love both the kids and the Convention. They seem sometimes to have so little in common and so little respect for each other.
I was just thinking...
dRP
This Sunday night's VBS Family night is huge. Many families, many who would normally NEVER go to any church will be here. I LIVE for these moments. We have a real chance to introduce them to Christ and our church - and some will be drawn to both. THAT is what I am so excited about. I'm more than praying for this; I'm begging God to show up, touch hearts, bless as only He can. Lives are on the line.
Then, Monday I leave for the Southern Baptist Convention. I love my convention. Sometimes, as a Christian at my age, I feel very alone in my love for this great old convention. So many are bolting for less bureaucratic lines of church development and Kingdom growth. The convention grows........old. Every year. I pray that the SBC's influence isn't diminished among younger believers in the future.
There are numerous Baptist distinctives that I believe are very important guidelines for applying our theology and doctrine, as well as church polity (the practice and governance of "church"). Additionally, the SBC has what I believe to be the most extensive network of missionaries and mission endeavors of any other evangelical organization -- all supported by Cooperative Program gifts of our church and the 42,000 other member churches. Read more about what we believe in the Baptist Faith & Message. It's an incredible story of God's faithfulness, where we, as Southern Baptists, have come from and where we're going.
All of that being said, I was just thinking about how I absolutely love these young, innocent, growing, maturing VBS kids and their families. And, I also love our old, somewhat tiring, somewhat outdated Convention. I think BOTH are absolutely crucial to the advancement of the Kingdom. Yet, they are so.......different.
I love both the kids and the Convention. They seem sometimes to have so little in common and so little respect for each other.
I was just thinking...
dRP
Saturday, June 2, 2007
I'm Not in Management...
...just in sales. As a pastor, especially at McGregor, I have a lot of great pastors and "teammates" who help me make a lot of decisions that affect a lot of people. That keeps my prayer life very current: "Lord, give us wisdom that we might not mess up today..."
Sometimes, though, "decisions" get made for me. At the Pastor's Golf Challenge this weekend, things were taken completely out of our control and it was a real mess -- not due to anyone's planning; rather, it was Tropical Storm Barry on the FIRST DAY of hurricane season! The weather, the timing, the conditions, the effect on the tournament - it was all a mess.
Rain soaked the Friday round - some guys just quit (including me) and some fought on through. I'm sure for them, it was way less than an enjoyable round of golf. Saturday was canceled and re-scheduled for next Saturday (June 9). Any teams that didn't finish on Friday because of the weather can join us on Saturday and complete the tournament.
I really want this to be a GREAT tournament - and lots of folks want to beat me - bad! That's ok because my only real desire is to raise as much money as possible for the students going on mission trip. Everything we make from this tournament goes to help our students go around the world to share the love of Jesus. That's really important to me. Remember, I'm in sales. If you love Jesus, you are too.
I'm reminded of Paul's encouragement to the Christians at Thessolonica: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Especially when we can't control the outcome, we need to recall God's faithfulness to us and praise him through every situation, whether the sun is shining on the golf course or you're playing through the storm.
dRP
Sometimes, though, "decisions" get made for me. At the Pastor's Golf Challenge this weekend, things were taken completely out of our control and it was a real mess -- not due to anyone's planning; rather, it was Tropical Storm Barry on the FIRST DAY of hurricane season! The weather, the timing, the conditions, the effect on the tournament - it was all a mess.
Rain soaked the Friday round - some guys just quit (including me) and some fought on through. I'm sure for them, it was way less than an enjoyable round of golf. Saturday was canceled and re-scheduled for next Saturday (June 9). Any teams that didn't finish on Friday because of the weather can join us on Saturday and complete the tournament.
I really want this to be a GREAT tournament - and lots of folks want to beat me - bad! That's ok because my only real desire is to raise as much money as possible for the students going on mission trip. Everything we make from this tournament goes to help our students go around the world to share the love of Jesus. That's really important to me. Remember, I'm in sales. If you love Jesus, you are too.
I'm reminded of Paul's encouragement to the Christians at Thessolonica: "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Especially when we can't control the outcome, we need to recall God's faithfulness to us and praise him through every situation, whether the sun is shining on the golf course or you're playing through the storm.
dRP
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