are you in love with God or His stuff?

This quote from Crazy Love (by Francis Chan) has been messing with me for a couple of months now.  

Am I more excited about what God can offer me; a good marriage, great children, financial success, great friends, etc

or 

am I just in love with God.

The creator of the Universe who is perfect in every way and could and should do anything He wants only asks one thing of us.....to pursue Him.  

God, I pray that I would join with others from my church and churches across the world in continuing to fall more in love with You every day.  

God help the outcast

We are all in need of relationships.  Even those who consider themselves to be loners.  Those who are content with just blending in with the crowd and going home after work, school, etc and being by themselves.  

We have seen that most of the people who just go home to be by themselves, actually aren't by themselves.  They watch their favorite television shows which they have become attached to or 

they play World of Warcraft (or another similar game) where they are able to connect with others in a safe environment.  They do not worry about being judged or being a disappointment to others.  They don't have to work extremely hard to fit in, they are just accepted by the common bond that they have with their fellow players.  They have been looking for relationships of acceptance and they have found them.  

as a church leader one word comes to mind......OUCH.  

If there is any environment where people should be able to feel accepted unconditionally it should be the gatherings that we call "church".  I know that we don't accept sins that people delve into or allow people to just fill whatever position they want to without any qualifications, but come on!

Why are there emotionally hurting adults AND TEENAGERS that we just push to the side?  Why do we look exactly like the rest of the world in the people that we accept?  

You might be saying, oh our church accepts all people, we are not judgemental like that.  Maybe, you are telling the truth....but in most cases that is BS.   Look who you spend the most of your time with.  Look who you are concerned with getting plugged in.  Look who you show the most grace to.  How equal are you?

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that Jesus did not show any favoritism nor does God show any favoritism.  So lets start giving everyone the same change to be used by God, 

HE DOES!

top 5 blogs (part 1 of 5)

responding to criticism        posted on  7/28/08

 

When someone begins to criticise me or an issue arises in a relationship, there is a simple process that I follow in order to make things right.

 

Step 1: I evaluate my life. I check to see if there is something related to the issue that I need to get in line with God. Usually there is.

 

Step 2: I evaluate (not judge) the other person and see if there is any black/white issue that shows they are clearly not following God.

 

Step 3: I ask someone that I trust about the issue. They usually point out something I can work on as well.

 

Step 4: I pray about resolving the issue.

 

Step 5: I attempt to resolve the issue. Start with you heart! Tell them where you desire the relationship to be.

 

This has been very helpful to me over the past year. I encourage you to follow this or come up with a process to handle relationship issues in your life.

some good reads

Five books that have helped shape me into the man I am today:

Velvet Elvis

Crazy Love

Mere Christianity

Encounter God in the City

winning with people

weekend recap

Mosaic 5K

We had 247 participants in the 1st ever Mosaic 5k!!!!!!!!

The unofficial amount of money we raised is just under 5K dollars!

-all proceeds benefiting the Crestview Pregnancy Center and the building of  a well in Mali, Africa.

I am so proud of Kinetta (race director) and all of our volunteers that made it happen!

Worship

I think that week 2 of "no more christians" was the best overall worship service we have ever had!

It was cool to meet people who have been to church once or twice in the last 10 years! (It seems like this is starting to be a regular thing!)

1 year celebration

We had a great time of hanging out, eating good food, singing together, and sharing what God has done over the past year!

I am so excited about what God has done, is doing , and is going to do through our Church!

Cameron

His second tooth appeared this weekend.  It is so bittersweet to see him grow up!

I love my family so much!

God

Is so good and so real on a personal level!

five questions I ask myself just about every night.

What did God teach me today?

How can I be more like Him tomorrow?

What decision do I need his guidance on?

Who do I need to intentionally talk to about their walk with (or lack of) Christ?

What am I afraid of?

four blogs that annoy me (part 4 of 4)

the continual response blog

What I did this week probably is annoying to some bloggers out there.  Imagine if my blogs were like this all the time.  What annoys me more than anything is a blogger that only blogs when attacking what other people have blogged about.  

It is like they don't have anything to say but they want to be heard.  

A lot of people are like this in life as well.  Pastors who have no vision but love to criticize Pastors who are actually doing something.  People who don't have courage to follow their dreams, but make fun of others who chase after theirs and fall short.  Unhappy people trying to tear down people who are happy.  

Come on now.  I would love to read your blog, but I want to read YOUR thoughts.  

Love and respect others.

Live your life to the fullest, and if you have the time...

....blog about it.  

Kevin Clark

As my wife and I balance preparing for this week's message, caring for our son, and getting the house ready for our guests; I am reminded of Kevin. Kevin, is a true servant in every fashion. Kevin has continued to amaze me by his willingness to do whatever is needed. Kevin's heart is that the Church fulfills its mission.

In most situations you find people who serve one area of the Church and have some agenda in doing so. Kevin serves in any area and with the big picture in mind. In fact Kevin randomly calls me to remind me to follow the vision that God has given me and to not worry about man's opinion.

Kevin is the kind of guy that I hear most pastors wish they had in their church. I am so thankful to have that guy serving at mosaic and partnering with me to make an impact in our community and world!

As a partner of mosaic we are asked to commit to serve selflessly, if you ever question what that means, hang out with Kevin Clark.

Bill Zuhlke

Bill is one of the seven original partners of mosaic church. We actually had our first two months of Bible study at Bill and Debbie's house. Bill is also the "church adminstrator" and really handles all of the finances (along with the finance team) and records for the Church. In addition to this roll, Bill and his wife have done/are doing numerous things for our church. He pulls the trailer every Sunday mornings, they print the bulletins every week, they help greet, and I could go on and on.

Bill is also not afraid to respectfully question decisions that I make as the leader of our church and hold me accountable to the vision that God has given me.

I know that Bill has a true desire to see mosaic church grow and reach out to our community and world. Bill does not do all of these things for recognition, he does them for the eternal reward of seeing people's lives changed!

It is a blessing to have someone like Bill working alongside me and for all that he does, I am truly thankful!

the naked principle

Job had it all. He had prosperity, stature, and family.

Then in one day it was all taken from him.

Imagine that. You are doing life as normal and then everything on this earth that means a lot to you is gone. You say that God is your all, but yet how do you feel without the ability to have great things, without the respect of people, and without your loved ones?

Job said that he came into this world naked, and that he is leaving this world naked; so may the name of the Lord be praised!

Job realized that God is the one in control, God is His everything, and that He would continue to live for Him. Job's faith and relationship with God was not contingent upon "blessings" of this world, but hope for the next!

Where is your satisfaction found?

responding to criticism

When someone begins to criticise me or a an issue arises in a relationship, there is a simple process that I follow in order to make things right.

Step 1: I evaluate my life. I check to see if there is something related to the issue that I need to get in line with God. Usually there is.

Step 2: I evaluate (not judge) the other person and see if there is any black/white issue that shows they are clearly not following God.

Step 3: I ask someone that I trust about the issue. They usually point out something I can work on as well.

Step 4: I pray about resolving the issue.

Step 5: I attempt to resolve the issue. Start with you heart! Tell them where you desire the relationship to be.

This has been very helpful to me over the past year. I encourage you to follow this or come up with a process to handle relationship issues in your life.

the toughest part of my job

Do you ever wish someone could just see what your heart is feeling and understand how much you care for them?

When you make decisions that affect people, they sometimes are not very happy about those decisions. This is understandable because when we are in the wrong it is very difficult to see what is right.

I have heard that what separates those who achieve greatness and those who do not is their willingness to respond and grow from criticism and set-backs.

It is just very difficult when you are the one who is used to separate those people.