Thoughts on Life and Leading

It may seem a bit futile to attempt to narrow down the Bible to one verse that summarizes one’s life. Why would I even try? I think that the concept of a “life verse” is not so much about summary as much as it is about encapsulating. I have known many people who have used a particular verse to encourage, inspire and direct them. I have done the same for quite some time.

Actually, I have a few verses that I keep returning to. One of my favorites has always been Philippians 1:6 “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This verse reminds me that God is not finished with me yet, that He has a plan for my life and, as I am faithful to Him, He will accomplish what He wants in me.

Another verse I have held on to is 1 Samuel 13:14 “…the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart…” A straight-forward reminder of my priorities and what God wants from me.

The verse that has inspired and directed me in the ministry more than any other is Psalms 78:72 “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” I pray that I can fulfill this verse in my work for God.

So I guess technically I have a few “life verses”. Having a “life verse” has been a helpful idea for me. It is like an anchor for my life. I would suggest the same for you.

So what verse nails it for you? Is there a particular passage that describes your heart, your passion? Have you narrowed it down? If not, read the Scriptures cover to cover until something grabs you!

Later this week, I plan to write about my favorite Bible characters.

That may sound like an impossibility to you, but it is true.

Today was a very encouraging staff meeting for me. It wasn’t that anything all that awesome took place (although Kathy gave an incredible book report). It was more the sense of togetherness, the light-hearted laughter and the personality chemistry that made the meeting special. After our hour and half together and a nice lunch after that, I was left with some of these feelings:

More optimism for the future
More energy to pursue the vision.
Greater sense of well being for the church.
Grateful heart for the team.
Amazement at the skill level of such a young staff.
Desire to dig deeper, fight harder and work smarter.

Thanks Than, Megan, Spencer, Kathy, Norm, J, Rebecca, and Letha! I love working with you guys!

Today I saw life change happening right before my eyes. If you know anything about Maranatha, you know how passionate we are about seeing people turn around. It is our focus; it is what God has called us to do.

Without getting specific, (out of respect for issues of confidentiality) I witnessed some very cool transitions in more than one life. The stories are bouncing around. Some families that had all-but-given-up are trying again and finding that God is on their side. Some pretty hopeless situations are pivoting. People are surrendering their lives.

I have to say, while this is not all about me, it comes at a crucial time. For the past several months, I have been very concerned about what appeared to be little lasting impact of the ministry. We were plugging along and being faithful, but there was little observable results. It seemed like nothing was happening. Our leadership team prayed about it and discussed it. We strategized. I was discouraged about it. And now it seems that God is coming through. Maybe this stuff was happening all along and we were just not hearing about it. Either way, it is awesome to see so much progress.

It is working. The vision is being fulfilled. God is doing it. And I am glad. Now to get more momentum going…

Tomorrow I will be sharing a message about how Christ gives new life to whoever comes to Him. I have pushed pretty hard with the people who are connected with our church family the idea of including people who normally wouldn’t come to a church service. We’ll see if it worked.

Here’s the situation: I don’t like the idea of serving a meal to someone who has already been eating too much. When there are hungry people, it seems a little selfish to keep gorging ourselves. The message on Sunday will be geared toward people who have not heard or have not yet accepted the message that we can trade in our old life for a new one. Life Swap is a basic message of what a relationship with Jesus Christ is all about.

Don’t get me wrong, I will preach the message that God gave me, no matter who is there. But I really hope to not be trying to describe renewal and hope only to people who have been walking with Christ for 40 years. A simplistic comparison would be trying to describe an awesome steak dinner to a guy who eats steak every day. Yawn!

I suppose it is possible that someone could be sitting at the table every meal for many years and have never taken a bite. In all likelihood, there are some church members who don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, at least there isn’t much evidence in some lives of that relationship. So I think it is best if I just deliver what’s on my heart and let God sort out who needs to respond.

If someone gets tired of eating steak all the time, maybe they will share it with someone who is hungry.

I have had several conversations this week with a variety of people on the topic of transparency and accountability. While these people are not connected, the subject was singular – we need to be in relationships that keep us on track.

Today, I have been processing these talks this way: connection brings life. When we are close enough to people that they know how we are doing – really doing – we grow. Involvement in the lives of one another is one of the things that gives us life.

Isolation kills. Those of us who are not connected in meaningful and in-depth relationships are headed for trouble.

You have to be intentional on this. Most of us are too involved in our responsibilities to fall into these kinds of friendships. We have to go out of our way, we have to seek it out.

So, share and live.

I am going this afternoon to conduct the funeral of a 94 year old man. I asked him a few weeks ago, “Mike, who is the first US President that you remember?” He said, “Warren G. Harding.” Harding was President from 1921 -1923! This puts some things in perspective for me. Mike lived 94 years, an incredibly long life on this earth. But 94 years compared to eternity in heaven with God … a blink of the eye.

Mike is in heaven, I have no doubt, having a great time today.

We received word on Friday that the County Parks and Recreation Department will no longer allow us to conduct worship services at the park, where we have been enjoying our Sunrise Beach Service for several years. Each Sunday morning at 7AM, dozens of people gather to sing, pray and share the Word of God. Because of some scheduling problems, we have to relocate our service or meet later in the day. Later in the day does not work for me because of our worship service schedule at the main campus. Our option seems to be to find another place where we can worship.

What Would Jesus Do?
Protest?
Picket the Parks and Rec Department?
Call the local news reporter?
Boycott the County parks?
Threaten a lawsuit?
I doubt it.

I am hoping that we can assume a position of “turning the other cheek”. We wish to be at peace with our County leaders. We want to work with them, along-side them to bring positive change to our community. We want to model a Christ-like attitude as we face this situation.

We are looking for alternative places of worship.

I have to say, this minor inconvenience has caused me to wonder what it is like to have government oppression against our religious practices. How would it feel if worship were made illegal? How would underground worship happen in our community? What do our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in oppressed conditions experience daily?

Pray for the persecuted church around the world.

Is this the first step to the government taking away our freedom of religion and rights to worship? Possibly. Are we going to get in a panic about it? No. I would rather spend my time ministering to people than fighting with community leaders.

Besides, we have been breaking the rules all along. The park is clearly posted: “Park opens at dawn and closes at dusk.” We are there way before dawn on most Sundays.

Say a prayer with me about perspective. We need to see these things the way Christ does.

I am expecting growth to come from this. I think this challenge may result in something positive. Honestly, I can’t wait to see what God does with this one!

2 Corinthians 5:17 “…anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (New Living Translation)

Most people are too skeptical to believe in a new beginning. Fresh beginnings are only for sports teams at the start of a new season. I think that: 1) past failures and, 2) the myriad of “friends” who surround us to let us know that optimism is for dummies is enough to squash right out of us any shred of hope for positive.

But God has different ideas.

Next Sunday at Maranatha, we will jump into the concept of New Life in Christ. Life Swap will be a four-step “walk through” of how God brings real transformation to our lives. Week one will zero in on how Jesus offers a new beginning to anyone who asks. Each week we will will build on a biblical theme of redemption and renewal.

I am asking that all friends of Maranatha make the investment of time necessary in order to bring a friend to next week’s service. That may mean a phone call, it could mean an email. It may even mean an invite to lunch after church. Do whatever it takes short of kidnapping! I will be presenting a very simple plan of salvation. The kind that old church members may find simplistic but seekers find as life-giving. (a word to our old church members – we love you but this one is not about you! It is about Jesus and those who are lost from Him!)

If you would like to receive an e-invite that you can pass along to someone, email lwhitter@maranathachurch.org.

Life Swap – don’t miss it!

Tomorrow, I plan to put the vision that is in my heart out there for everyone who cares to listen. This doesn’t feel risky to me, it is exhilarating. I am not too concerned about whether people like it or not. I do hope that there is “buy in”, but I know what God has said to me about His kingdom work in my sphere of responsibility and I am fired up to share it. I won’t be defensive, I won’t be insensitive. I will be straightforward.

If you are coming to Maranatha tomorrow, please come with an open heart. If you aren’t coming, good luck with the translation to audio or video – it just isn’t the same!

Grace to you!

We are making plans for a life-changing missions trip. During Thanksgiving week, my family, along with most anyone else who is qualified, will travel to Guatemala to help some very needy children. There are two major events for this trip. 1) We will feed, minister to and provide shoes for 200 very poor children in Rio Bravo, Guatemala. These children are literally starving without outside assistance. Most of them are barefoot which contributes to various health issues. 2) We will cook and serve a traditional North American Thanksgiving meal to the orphans who live at Casa Shalom.

If you are interested, there is a lot of info about the trip on our church website.

The sign up deadline is October 4.

If you can’t go, you can send.

Please watch the video in the post below.

A compelling and powerful way to share the love of God with needy children:
http://thehansonsinguatemala.blogspot.com/

I am getting geared up again for some outreach/missions stuff. I was checking out a website today that has some incredible quotes from well known missions leaders. Take a look here.

Be watching for some of these great quotes and, more importantly, some details of some upcoming missions events we are pushing.

Here is one quote that killed me:

“Today Christians spend more money on dog food than missions.“
Leonard Ravenhill

I’m on twitter, if you are interested.

twitter.com @rickwhitter

FlashForward
(if you weren’t at Maranatha on 9/20, you will need to listen online here – usually posted on Tuesday)

Some questions for your consideration/discussion (maybe your small group can use this):

How do I react/respond to the question “if you saw your future, what would you do”?

Are you willing to accept the fact that your actions today determine, in part, your future?
Any adjustments necessary?

Dig into verse 7 of Ephesians 2: “So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.” (NLT)

Consider the vital part the Church plays in regard to fulfilling God’s vision:
Ephesians 3:10-11 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (TNIV)

Process the idea…
“what part do I play in the future of the church?”

Come to worship service next week. We plan to explore some pretty cool options for “Flashing Forward”.

God,

Let them dream for themselves like You dream for them.

Let them be more influenced by You than by others – in regard to their futures.

Let them listen and engage with an open and tender heart.

Let us connect with the idea that the Church is your plan for fulfilling Your vision and reaching the world.

Give us the courage to do today what will result in a better future.

Let us shake off the things that hold us back.

Give us vision.

Let us hear from You.

So be it.

Part of the message at the main campus on Sunday with feature an interview with Patrick Palmer. Patrick and his family came to Maranatha about a year ago. He and his wife and children became members and he and his daughter, Brianna were baptized last month. He has a great story, one that I would love to see duplicated again and again at the church. You will enjoy it!

FlashForward will be motivating to you. Let’s focus on what God is saying about our future as Christ-followers and as a church.

“If you saw your future, what would you do?“

Don’t miss it!

Flash forward 10 years…

It is the year 2019. There you are, looking back at your life over the last ten years. Do you like what you see? Miraculously, you are able to send yourself a message, back ten years ago (2009). Your “future self” is able to share some wisdom with your “past self” that will prevent mistakes and make your life more meaningful.

What would you say?

What message would you try to get to your former self?

Another way of looking at it:
What decisions are your making right now that will still be impacting you and those you love in 10 years … 20 years?

What are doing right now that will matter in 100 years?

Kick that around while you are contemplating our worship experience this Sunday.

The verse I am using to launch FlashForward is Ephesians 2:10 “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” (NCV)

Think through that for a minute. The entire goal of our lives is to figure out and fulfill our divine purpose – the reason we were born. I wonder how many people ever even consider this, let alone actually do it. Here’s the thing, if people don’t know to do it, they certainly won’t. So this is a crucial message that we have to get out. Once we talk about it, we actually have to get people to buy into it. It’s true, God has something awesome for you to do.

Come on out on Sunday and we will discuss it more in depth. Here’s a little hint of one thing we will discuss – your purpose will not take place in a vacuum. In other words, your purpose is connected with others and with their purposes. There is great power in that idea. God gives you and me and others something good to do for Him. Alone, our job doesn’t seem like much, but put it together with a few million others and, POW!, the world changes. Let that simmer for a minute.

Make plans, see you on Sunday.

Peace

I am in full preparation mode for this weekend’s message. It has been a while since I have been this stoked about a particular topic.

I got the idea for the title (FlashForward) and tag line from the new fall TV show on ABC. The message has nothing to do with the show, but I thought the concept of looking forward to the future that God has for us is vitally important.

Here’s the deal (and tag line): “If you saw your future, what would you do?” I am trying to figure out the best way to tell people that we absolutely have a major part to play in determining what tomorrow looks like. So many people are just along for the ride – it isn’t supposed to be like that.

I personally am very optimistic about the future of Maranatha Church. The people who are involved, and those who will be in the future, are in for some good stuff. This is not just hype. I guess I should say it this way: if we do what God wants, we are in for some good stuff.

Here is what I am asking: If you live close to Palm Beach Gardens and are not connected with another church, please plan to come see what we have to say. If you have friends in the area that are not involved with a church, please send them a link to this blog and invite them to come with you.

I’ll be pushing this idea this week, stay with me.

FlashForward…what are you going to do about your future?