Bulldozers and What to Do with Them

"Good intentions don't move mountains, bulldozers do"
"Strategies are bulldozers- they're action oriented"
"Strategies transform intentions into actions"

Three great quotes that hit me like a ton of bricks (or a ton of feathers--lol). One thing that strikes me about the way that I have done ministry thus far, is that I have had good intentions, but intentions to no end. the very nature of intent is that it has a focus. With my intentions, the focus seems to have become the means and not the end.

It should not be my intent to create small groups at church. It should not be my intent to create a flourishing children's ministry. It should not be my intent to create an amazing sermon series. It should be my intent, however, to see hearts and lives changed through accountability and Bible study. It should be my intent to see children come to know Christ and be discipled, and for adults to learn how to minister to children. it should be intent for the message of the Scripture to prick the hearts of the people listening.

Without realizing it, I have created strategies to get a bulldozer on site. The problem is that I need a strategy for how to drive it to the mountain, where to put the excess rock, and what to build in place of the mountain.

Now that that's clear.....Let's get to work

Knowing

I'm findin' that its really hard to breathe
when all the air is right in front of me
and all I ever am or was won't let go with both hands and take the leap

Its funny all the thoughts inside my head
how I can be alive yet somehow dead
will I ever figure out how death is gain but life is You instead

All these thoughts of mine
seem to undermine this mind You gave me new when I became Your child
If I let me go
do You swear to hold me up and if I do how can I know You tell the truth?

And the irony that ends it all
is that the way to learn to fly is fall
You told me that to gain my life I should hate myself and try to lose it all

But I got none but love for me
there's another bit of irony
that takes us now from this catch 22 to the question in front of me

All these thoughts of mine
seem to undermine this mind You gave me new when I became Your child
If I let me go
do You swear to hold me up and if I do how can I know You tell the truth?

I guess I can't if i don't

Let Go

Ground Control to Major Tom

So what if God's will is not what I want?

A very valid question asked by a very valid questioner. So what if? This, for me, is a question that I only ask as a last line of defense. When I come to this point, it is because I am trying to do anything at all but ask God, "What is your will for me".

In fact, I am currently in the middle of this battle. We go through life on auto-pilot and everything is hunky-dory, then that little light comes on....the voice over the radio says, "You need to land here, so take it off auto and let's do this".

Auto-pilot is nice. You, as the pilot, get the most amazing view of the sky. You see all the beauty of Creation and lazily act as if it is you leading all those passengers to better skies. Occasionally you give a command or suggestion to a stewardess and feel like the King of the World.

Newsflash Genius------YOU'RE NOT THE KING OF THE WORLD---------YOU'RE NOT LEADING THOSE PEOPLE, THEY JUST HAPPEN TO BE ON THE SAME PLANE AS YOU----

You work for the airline; you are not to fly for enjoyment, you are to fly to a particular place and arrive at a particular time, drop off a particular load of cargo and pick up some also. You also, while you work for the airline, your job is to serve the people following behind you. True, you are supposed to lead them, but you are also supposed to serve them, making sure the stewardesses are in order, making sure the people feel safe, and moving them safely to the destination that they are destined to reach.

So, what if God's will is not what I want? Then
1. The people depending on me go nowhere
2. My disciples never learn to serve properly
3. People on the ground in need never get their cargo
4. AND I DON'T GET A PAYCHECK

Lucky

I Really Love My Wife!

The Mountains

Ok, here are some song lyrics that I like. If you won't think I'm a little gay, I'll tell you where I got them:

I can almost see it
That dream I’m dreaming but
There’s a voice inside my head sayin,
You’ll never reach it,
Every step I’m taking,
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking but I
Got to keep tryin
Got to keep my head held high

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
theres always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I'm going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

The struggles I’m facing,
The chances I’m taking
Sometimes they might knock me down but
No I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m going to remember most yeah
Just got to keep going
And I,
I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on,
cause

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I'm going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes you're going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb

This saong makes me think of another song my mom and her sisters used to sing. The words were, "Lord don't move this mountain, just give me strength to climb". this parallels what we saw at small group. Jesus did not pray for His followers to be rescued from the world, but for them to have strength in the world.

I spend a large majority of my time annoyed with the mountains I have to climb. They are here on purpose, and some I'm even gonna have to fail to climb. This is the process of forcing me to learn the difference between spiritual and carnal. Lord, don't move these mountains, just give me strength to climb

(Lyrics are from Miley Cyrus)

Civil Rights v. Spiritual Beliefs

Here is an interesting article

http://www.musingson.com/ccCase.html

It is basically saying that we should support gay marriage but oppose it church. She believes that spiritually, it is wrong and should never be condoned by Christians, but it is a "civil-right" all the same.

She feels that the "church" should stand for its beliefs, but understand that our place is not to force our laws to follow our belief system. This basic premise is the foundation for our country.

I see(not necessarily agree with) her point......what do you think?

Is this Ranting or Raving?

So I checked out this Paul Maurice Guy from the other blog. He is terminally ill, bed-ridden, and writing a book that encourages us to create inter-faith dialogues. He basically wants us all to find our own "Divine" and worship it how we want to, and therefore become friends. From His site I found another blog called liberaljesus(the name alone speaks volumes). This guy has a discussion going about why he stopped going to church. He said, and I quote,

"Instead of singing, I spent my time trying to translate the song lyrics into metaphors I could affirm.Instead of praying, I spent my time pondering the moral bankruptcy of a God who would grant any of our prayer requests, while every day, thousands of people starved to death. I tried not to be appalled at people who would follow such a God."

This is what he was doing at church. No wonder he didn't like it. That got me hot. I was ready to fight.....then I read the comments. It was filled with people who praised him and told him how they were in the same battle. They truly found peace when they stopped "playing the game" and learned to "worship in their own way". This was not a blog based out of New York, LA, or even Houston.....it was in Abeline, home of Abeline Christian University.

I stopped being mad and became overwhelmed with sadness. Our world is filled with this mentality. Our churches still spend most(I think 90+%) of our time doing things that edify us. This is not wrong in and of itself, but there is so much more to do. I wonder how much time(percentage wise) God would have us spend on ourselves as opposed to on the world.

It bothers me to no end how that if someone wants to do an out of the box ministry and reach out, they are tagged as fanatic, liberal, or stupid. The fact that these ministries are considered "out of the box" is a testament unto itself. I just wish God would give us a few choice expletives for times like this. I'm so mad, sad, annoyed, and defeated right now, I want to spit!!!!!

God help us, God save them

LET'S DO SOMETHING FOR HIS SAKE!!!!!

No Takers?

Okay, so I'm a little let down by the lack of comments on the last post. I know for a fact that the idea of inventorying one's life is scary. I still would like to encourage you all to do this with your life. It seems that Jesus was fulfilling the Great Commission in all He did. I would like to tell Him I did the same when we see each other. He may just smile and laugh like parents do at kids who say they cleaned the kitchen, but who only did it "kid-style". I'd like to hear it all the same.

Great Commission Checklist

Here's a thought:

Do a Great Commission Checklist. Write down the 3 things in the Great Commission-
1. Make Disciples- witness and train
2. Baptize- uh....baptize
3. Teach the Bible- Kinda like training, but deeper

Then, take all the basic activities and relationships in your life and see if they fall into any, if any, area of the Great Commission. I'm going to try to do this with my life, and I'll get back to ya.