Every Day Gets Faster

When I was a kid time moved painfully slow. If I had to wait a full month for something it seemed like the day would never come. A bit older now, it is January and I’m thinking that it will be Summer before I know it. With every passing season it just seems like every day gets faster. I do not know when my life will end but I do not want to later regret how I used the precious time I was given as a gift. This inevitably leads to the question – am I wasting my time or investing it? I often think about the balance of family, work, kids activities, hobbies, relationships…etc. I do enjoy some TV shows and sports but while they can be good, I have to be careful that they don’t take away from things that are more important. If I have the opportunity to look back on my life, I will hardly be thinking about how many Super Bowls the Cowboys have compared to the Steelers, Patriots, Packers or 49′ers. That being said, I would like for the Cowboys to have the most – ha!

I really can’t imagine a scenario in which I would think about anything but my God, His bride (the church), His mission and the people He brought into my life. How I live now will determin whether I have regret or thankfulness later. The same is true for you. What are you living for? Look at how you spend your time and you will have your answer, plain and simple. And so will I. Oh, by the way, our kids will most often follow in our footsteps regarding this. When I look around me…I see people with incredible opportunities to invest. I pray for them and I ask then to pray for me.

^“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” Ephesians 5:15

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Sweet Emotion

New to Me

I’ve read this parable from my perspective as an individual.  While it does speak more to the individual, there is huge application for the local church.  I’ve not ever read it in this way.  Until now.

“Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:13-21 ESV)

 

Missionaries Steve and Emily Dilla

An update and a thank you from Steve.  Our mission as the church both includes and goes beyond the people of the Story Church. I am encouarged that this is a growing reality in our individual and collective lives.

What a Whopper!

My 8 year old son loves those little tasty chocolate treats by the name of Whoppers.  So you can understand his reaction when he saw this sign and yelled – “What a rip off!!!”

It’s a Girl!

Hope you enjoyed that!  Also, we are getting a group together to go to National Night Out in Wylie.  Should be fun.  It will be Tuesday, October 4th from 6-8pm in Old City Park.  There will be free hot dogs and drinks, bounce houses, music and a number of other things to do.  There will plenty of space to just hang out and have a good time along with others from our community.  Join us!

Called to Serve

Shoes for Orphan Souls, a ministry of Buckner International, has distributed more than 2.0 million pairs of new shoes to vulnerable children in the United States and to orphans in 74 countries around the world. Each pair of shoes represents a child’s self esteem, a child’s health or a child’s access to an education. And we are going to help by having a drive for new shoes on October 9th ourselves.  There will be more information to come. For now, watch this short video from when Students and Adults went out as the Story Church and served at Buckner a few weeks ago.  Thank you to all who served and to the Morphew’s who hosted the cookout afterward.  As we look forward to the shoe drive let’s remember (as they say at Buckner) – new shoes are good for the soul.   

Story…

We started a new series called Living a Better Story where we have focused on all things story. With all the great storytellers from Shakespeare to Spielberg, it is amazing that most great stories have a similar Narrative Arc (the structure of a story). What’s more amazing is that a majority of these great stories are an echo of the greatest story ever told – God’s story. You’ll have to watch the message – Living a Better Story- to hear more on that.

During this series, we are asking ourselves a question I got from a guy by the name of Donald Miller – “If your life was made into a movie, would you want to go and see it.” Most of us would would have to say no.We don’t believe that our lives compare to the ones in books, the Bible or movies. One difference that I see between characters in movies and us is that movie characters don’t have a choice whether or not they enter a story. We do. We feel the tug but we often are too busy, too tired or feel like playing it safe. There are also times we don’t enter into a story because of the obstacles we have.

What we may overlook is the best stories start off with huge obstacles. When we are in the midst of busyness, fear or struggle – there is something I want us to never forget. We could be at the beginning of a great story.

Do You Want the Lord or what He can give You?

If the Lord told you that you could have everything you pray for but you couldn’t have Him…would you be okay with that? Imagine “having it all.” Would you even notice if He wasn’t around or would you think, “Of course He’s here, look at all my blessings.”

In the book of Exodus, we see the Lord miraculously setting the Israelites free from Egyptian slavery. They are on the way to the Promised Land but grow impatient and turn from the Lord. So, they seek alternative ways to get to the Promised Land than following the one that saved them in the first place (Exodus 32). I wonder what they would have said if asked, “If you could have all you pray for but you couldn’t have the Lord, would you be okay with that?”

The Lord gets mad and tells them (and I’ll paraphrase),“You want the Promised Land – you can have it. You can have everything I promised but you can’t have me.” Yikes – that’s enough to rattle anyone. How Moses responds is very telling about whether He wants the Lord or what the Lord can give Him.  In Exodus 33:13 we see Moses say, “If I have found favor in your sight, please show me your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” How revealing from a guy who was as imperfect as you and me. And what Moses says next (Exodus 33:15) is what sparked this thinking in me. I’m speculating that you’ll probably want to reflect on this later. To paraphrase Moses, “Lord, I don’t want to go somewhere, if I know that You’re not there.” Incredible, how nourishing to the soul is that? And how about this? Answering like a proud Papa, in Exodus 33:17, the Lord says, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

For the people who follow the Lord, I pray that we care more about Him than what He can give us.

Why would the Lord command His people to rest?

Imagine a high ranking officer unexpectedly walking into a room of people he is in charge of. Hear the shuffling of feet as they scramble to attention. Feel the silence as the officer slowly looks around at every person without saying a word. Now, picture the silence breaking voice of the officer saying, “This is a DIRECT ORDER!  Again, remember these words – this is a direct order. Everybody in this room…take the day off.” As the officer walks out of the room, picture everyone looking at each other and muttering,“Is He serious? The day off? Alright!!!!”

I don’t think they would sit around frustrated because he issued a command. They’d probably be grateful and feel that they really needed it. Not to mention, if he didn’t command it, they might not have done it.  After all, the to-do list is never complete.I realize  this isn’t the perfect analogy.  The truth obviously is, I don’t know all the reasons why the Lord commanded His people to have a Sabbath. But He clearly knows that we need it or He wouldn’t have commanded it. Also, if He didn’t command it we might be even less likely to do it.

Oh, and by the way, the Lord is of a much higher rank than any officer.

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” Hebrews 4: 9, 10 (See also:  Exodus 20:  8-11, Deuteronomy 5: 12-15)