Wall Quotes and Picture Frames (Part 5)

“It’s one thing to dream, but when the moment is right, you’ve got to be willing to leave what’s familiar and go out and find your own sound.”

Howard Schultz

The above quote is from chairman and CEO of Starbuck’s Howard Shultz and it really hit home when I read it. I think what Schultz is saying is it is important to dream but there is a time when one needs to go from dreaming to doing. As a church and a pastor we/I need to dream about the future. It is important to make plans and have a vision for the future and I/we must realize that in our dreaming, visioning and planning there will be a time where we need to make the jump from dreaming to doing. As the quote says, “You’ve got to be willing to leave what is familiar…” This usually involves change.

What does it mean to find your own sound? Personally I think it means you have to be willing to go out and become who God created YOU to be and not what people think you should be.

As a church I believe it means that we have to become what God wants us to be and not what we or others think we should be. This may and probably does mean we need to be willing to seek God’s plan and purpose for us and not try to fit a human made definition of what is called “the church”. It means we should be more than just a service or program on Sunday morning. We need to be more about being and not just showing up and doing. We don’t attend church we are the church. We are to be a group of believers who unashamedly love God, loves people and are disciples of Jesus who go out and make disciples of Jesus. This is the dream I have for my life and our church.

Are you willing to leave behind the familiar to pursue your own sound? Are we as a body of Christ willing to leave the familiar? I know we like the familiar. We like safe. We enjoy the “norm”. We like to sit in the same pews week after week. But is God calling us to a familiar, safe, normal sit in same pew kind of faith day after day? From what I read in the Bible God/Jesus is continually commanding/asking us to leave what is familiar and safe to follow him and sometimes that journey is unknown, dangerous and wild. We see this is the cases with Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Jonah, all of the disciples, and so on. May we learn from these men of faith. Let’s not be afraid to dream in our lives and in our church. May we be willing to leave the familiar and allow God to work in us so that we can find our own sound.

Wall Quotes and Picture Frames (Part 4)

"The sovereign selection of God gives great confidence to the Christian workers. We can truly say, ’I am here neither by selection of an individual nor election of a group, but by the almighty appointment of God.’”

J. Oswald Chambers

“How did you end up here?” This is usually the response I get when I am asked by a local why I moved from Western PA to Spring Valley, WI. I always answer, tongue in cheek, “I still haven’t figured out how I got here yet.” The truth is (and I always say this after my joke) I am here not because I chose to come here; nor am I here because I was the one person selected out of many to be the pastor of this church. I am here simply because God has appointed me. This truth gives me great confidence in where I am personally and as a pastor. I am here because of God. This truth should give the members of the church great confidence. Why? Because if God is the one doing the appointing then nothing and I mean nothing can change the fact that we are in his will. In Romans 8:31 the Apostle Paul writes, “If God is for us then who can be against us?” He answers this hypothetical question in verses 35—39 God is in control of all and victory belongs to those who are in Jesus Christ. In these verses he goes through a list of possible “things” that can separate from the love of God. He concludes that he is CONVINCED there is NOTHING that can separate from the love of God. This is where my confidence lies and should give you great hope and confidence

The quote from J. Oswald Chambers is probably one of the oldest quotes I have had on my wall. For over ten years I have read this (almost daily) to remind me of why I am where I am today. There are times when I question my calling as a pastor and all I need is to be reminded… I am not a pastor in the Upper Midwest because I chose or was chosen by people, I am here by the sovereign selection of God. This means I will remain here until God has revealed both to me and the church any different. This gives me (and hopefully you) great joy and confidence that we are right where God wants us. There is nothing better than being right smack dab in the middle of where God has put us.

How about you? Are you confident God has put you where you are? Can you say that you are where you are not because you or anyone else put you there but because God in his sovereignty selected you to be where you are today?