May The Legacy of Truth Never Die

I was reading one of my favorite blogs today written by Seth Godin, which is called Seth Goldin’s Blog (real unique). In his Blog, Seth placed a couple of quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

This sparked me to search and read more about Dr. MLK, Jr., one of the greatest leaders, heart-moving speakers, passionate lovers of God, Jesus, and his fellow man we could all learn from.

Martin Luther King, Jr’s willingness to put his life of actions behind his words (words which were very Biblical based) demonstrates one of the best modern day examples of a person living out a life of sacrificial love and leadership with the purpose of transforming a community (a state, a nation, a world) into the likeness of the Kingdom of God, that has been seen in the last 75 years.

Take a few minuets and read some of these quotes and reflect on their truth…truth that continues to be lived out today in each of our lives. When reading them, keep in mind the conversation between Jesus and Pilate found in John 18:37-38 “What is truth?”

Martin Luther King, Jr. Born: 1/15/29 Died: 4/4/68

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.”

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

Money Mistakes

If you haven't heard yet, our Church has started a new series about becoming Balanced in our finances. The more we dig into it together, the more we realize that we all have something that we're struggling with financially; whether that be trying to make ends meet from week to week or trying to get out of debt that we're in.

The good news is, you are NOT alone! We all have something that we're struggling with in this area. We are trying to bring those things to the surface, seek after the Lord for His guidance & find ways that we can honor Him with our money.

One of the things we discussed this past Sunday was knowing where we are. We need to know where we are currently sitting in our finances before we can make any changes. This requires us to be:

• Honest with ourselves
• Honest with God
• Honest with each other

This also requires a certain level of vulnerability in admitting our mistakes and shortcomings. But we can't move forward to action into where we want to be until we come to terms with where we have been and where we are.

Perry Noble is the pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina and has written a few blogs on his past financial struggles. He openly shares his failures and how he overcame them. Go check them out and see if you can relate in anyway. I know I sure can!

• Top 7 Money Mistakes I've Made Part 1
• Top 7 Money Mistakes I've Made Part 2
• 12 Reasons I was BROKE!

DO SOMETHING!

3 John 1-4 (NIV)

The elder,

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

I was reading today in 3 John how excited the author (John) was when he heard that a good friend of his, Gaius, who he had spent time with leading and teaching about the truth of Jesus, not only had a “faithfulness to the truth”, but was “continuing to walk in the truth.”

John, full of excitement over this wonderful news then made this statement:

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

As I reflected on these four verses, I realized something. Yes, John had “great joy” from hearing of Gaius “faithfulness to the truth” but John’s greatest joy, came from hearing the Gaius was “walking in the truth”. In other words, John’s “greater joy” came from Gaius putting his faith into actions!

Gaius had moved from being a hearer of “the truth” of Jesus in the worship service on Sunday morning or his weekly LifeGroup to a person who was willing to try and live it out daily.

Gaius moved from a person meditating and thinking about “the truth” of Jesus to a person who was willing to actually try and demonstrate “the truth” of Jesus by how he treated those around him.

“The truth” of Jesus wasn’t a just a good idea or theory to Gaius. “The truth” of Jesus was an actual belief and faith that was so strong within him, that it couldn’t be contained. He had to do SOMETHING with what he believed. He chose to allow “the truth” of Jesus that was growing within him, to be shared with others by his actions.

To our knowledge, Gaius didn’t have to move to the mission field in another country, he didn’t have to go to seminary, or anything that earth shaking. He was just LIVING OUT the truth of Jesus right where he was.

And guess what. As Gaius LIVED OUT “the truth” of Jesus in his daily life, word spread (how else would John have heard about it). And that positive word about how he was LIVING OUT “the truth”, became a source of encouragement to his teacher, John (which was earth shaking to John).

Is “the truth” of Jesus just another belief or good theory on paper that comes up in our conversations with others around the water cooler at work?

Or is it an actual belief and faith that is so strong within you, that it can’t be contained and you just have to DO SOMETHING, like living it out each day, wherever you are, so others can experience it?

I promise you this, when we chose to take our faith in “the truth” of Jesus to the next level and actually begin LIVING OUT “the truth” of Jesus in our daily actions, not only will people experience the positive life change Jesus can bring, there will be such a contagious excitement within the body of believers that others will join with you as well.

Start the Ripple Effect of “the truth” of Jesus right where you are. DO SOMETHING!

Who am I?

What a beautiful day it is. I had a speaking engagement at the High School today that I had to prep for and was not able to jog this morning. So after a few text messages, I was able to switch around a few meetings so I could take a “Late Lunch-time Jog”.

It was so beautiful and warm, and I felt pretty good, so I half-heartedly stretched and decided I would walk for a while to loosen up. After 5 minutes of walking in the beautiful weather (which may not be this good much longer as winter is approaching), I thought, “why don’t I do some interval work.”

Recently, I have been hanging around some real runners who take this stuff seriously. I have jogged with a couple of them (until the leave me in their dust) and have heard them talk about doing “interval work”. You know, run as fast as I can for a couple of minutes, then walk 30-45 seconds, and then repeat, doing this for total of about 25 to 30 minutes. That didn’t sound that bad, and if they can do it, so can I.

So, off I go. The first couple of intervals were good. In fact, I was increasing my pace and stride length and feeling good about myself on this beautiful day. Then it hit me. A burning pain in the back of my left leg. Pulled hamstring. NO WAY! It’s warm today, I sort of loosened up walking, and its beautiful outside, this can’t be. So I stopped doing intervals and just walked for a while. As the burning stopped, I started jogging. After 100 yards, there the burning in my leg was again. Long story short, I kept trying to jog and walk, but the last part of the trip was all walking (BTW, I should have headed back toward the house when this 1^st happened instead of continuing heading away from the house… I ended up traveling a total of 4 miles, with 3 of that being on a bum leg)

So, what’s the point? The outside environment (whether it is beautiful or not) doesn’t determine what is going on inside of me. Beautiful, warm weather on an AWESOME day doesn’t mean my body was prepared to do what I was asking it to do.

Mistake # 1: I didn’t prepare like I should have. I just went through the motions, walked a little bit and was ready to go. I should have stretched my muscles to begin with. No mater what the outside conditions were, no mater how much I wanted to get out there and get started working out, I STILL SHOULD HAVE PREPARED MYSELF for what I was about to do.

Mistake # 2: I’m not a runner yet! I tried to be something that I wasn’t ready to be yet. Just walking and jogging a few days a week doesn’t make me a runner yet. Hanging around with, talking to, and even jogging with runners, doesn’t make me a runner. Really, I’m a poser. I act like a runner, talk like a runner, but when it comes down to it, I haven’t put in the training or time yet to be a runner. I am a “walker/jogger” right now. Doesn’t mean I won’t or can’t become a runner. I just ain’t one now!

Truth is, there are people just like this in our churches today. Oh, I’m not talking about “walkers/joggers” posing as runners (Thought there are some of those). I’m talking about those who are posing as disciples of Jesus and aren’t prepared for what Satan is throwing at them, and are blaming God for them getting their butts kicked all over town by Satan.

Take a look at Acts 19: 1 – 23 pay close attention to verse 13-23

Remember the mistakes I made running today. 1- I didn’t prepare like I should have and 2- I tried to act like something that I wasn’t yet.

Satan is just waiting for you to “get too big for your britches”, and when he gets through with you, a pulled hamstring might be the least of your worries.

Hey LifeSpringer's,

I received this copy of a Blog (As Iron Sharpens Iron) from our District Superintendent & a good friend of mine, Ben Martin. It is pack with some AWESOME and Insightful comments, which I totally agree with. This is exactly the attitude and challenge that we, the Leadership and Congregation of LifeSpring Church (and every church) need to be reminded of. (I have also cut and pasted Ben's Blog to the bottom of by blog today)

As I read each line of this blog, I found myself NODDING IN AGREEMENT with Ben's statements. But it is more than "head nodding" and "un-huh's", and even "Amen's" we need today. We need vision (direction), a plan, and individuals to be bold and courageous enough to step outside their comfort zone and DO SOMETHING!

This Sunday (11/6), The LifeSpring Leadership Team will be meeting with me to - Remember our vision and internalized it, develop a plan to make that vision a reality, and then, with God's help, we will move forward with boldness and courage unlike any we have displayed before to invite, encourage, involve, and lead our congregation & community to the positive Life-Change found in Jesus Christ we all are called to.

Pray for us each day as we will for you as we move further outside our "comfort zone" to DO LIFE TOGETHER & making a Ripple Effect of Jesus love that change all of us!

LORD, let it be so.

Dorsia

The Real Problem?

Posted: 03 Nov 2011 08:16 AM PDT

Traveling across the District during this Charge Conference season I have heard many conversations about the economic challenges facing in our churches. It is not surprising therefore that when I attend conference meetings, one of the main topics of conversation is the economic challenge facing our conference. If the local churches are struggling the inevitable fallout is that the conference is struggling. Everywhere there is talk of scarcity, budget shortfalls, unpaid apportionments, staff and salary reductions, questions about our future.

While we have to address those issues because they are real and immediate, it is disturbing that we have more conversations about a decline in giving than we do a decline in membership and worship attendance. While we search for ways to teach stewardship and decrease budgets, I have always found the most effective way to increase giving and meet budgets is to grow the church. We should be far more disturbed about the lack of confessions of faith in our churches than the lack of giving. Many of our churches are working hard, and rightly so, to audit rolls, correct numbers, and take off inactive members. We do need to know where we actually stand. But, are we investing the same energy into our efforts to reach new people? We are ready to entertain new ways of raising money and carrying on our ministry with less money, but are we as ready to entertain new ways to worship to appeal to unchurched and younger adults, new ways to open our doors to the community, new ways to share the gospel? I would venture so far as to say it is not the economy that is killing our churches. In many places we have just gotten too comfortable with our church the way it is. Many of our churches have never decided that we wanted to grow (and in so doing have decided that we don’t). Too many of us have no passion to be intentional about meeting new people, and building relationships with people who are unchurched. Most of us don’t know the neighbors three doors down and sometimes even those who live next door. After twenty plus years of serving in the local church and never being out and about on Sunday morning, I have been shocked traveling from church to church to see how many people are at Wal-Mart and restaurants on Sunday morning. Maybe we are in the wrong place on Sunday morning. Undoubtedly the greeter at Wal-Mart has a better chance of sharing the gospel with someone who doesn’t know Jesus than we do in the church. We can no longer operate with a “build it and they will come” strategy in our local churches.

Our mission is the same as it has always been, “Go therefore into all nations and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.” Could it be that our financial struggles are simply the result of having lost sight of what we are to be about?