Leading within and without.

I attended the mens breakfast this morning where our pastor was speaking. He's doing a multipart series on Uprising as our general focus is making an impact on our city, but part of what he was reflecting on today was the visit by Ted Haggard, and Ted's observations about christians in Flagstaff. Ted noticed that when the pastors got together for the Friday morning breakfast that no one took notes and hardly anyone had a bible. Its like we all just all showed up to listen and nod our heads, and then go back to our regular life.

This situation is no better in our congregation, and Jim is tired of it. His tone with us men this morning was the most serious and severe I've ever heard. First he asked everyone if they remembered the focus of the last men's breakfast:

Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Now, I didn't go to the previous breakfast, so I have some excuse for not knowing what the focus was, but Jim was not happy with everyone else not knowing either. Next was a pop quiz on the mission of our church, which is

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Along with that goes the three points of focus: strengthening a relationship with god, strengthening a relationship with members of our family, church & christian community, and reaching out to the world (and the lost).

His reminder that if we hear this and know this, but do not do what God has commanded, its as if we do not know it.

Matthew 7:26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

He further pointed out that if we do not study the bible and commit its verses to memory, that we cannot set an example for our children. While we may say that studying and knowing God's word is important, our actions will speak louder than our words. We cannot teach what we do not know.

Todays main focus was on standing out in the community:

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

And its not that we are to stand apart from the community/city. We must create relationships within the community so that we may influence others. By being what God called us to be, we should be examples of kindness and Godliness. With a visible transformation we can use our influence to make disciples of others, and change our community. But this change starts within.

One part I always have a problem with is the transformation. I was raised in a christian family, and was brought up with the teachings of the bible, and at the appropriate time, I dedicated my life to Christ. It wasn't a change for me, it was all part of the plan. I've never been the rebelious godless sinner. Now I'm not a mature Christian yet either, I still have plenty of growing to do and many areas to work on. While I learned most of the books of the bible back in sixth grade, the most used page in my bible is still the index of books of the bible--I always have to turn there first before jumping to Ephesians or Job or Joshua. Ok, I can find Genesis and I think my book has a color code for the gospels, but that's about it.

So what am I going to work on immediately? Taking serious the study of God's word I think, and communicating it with my children. I took the first step this afternoon, having a conversation with my four year old son:

"So papa went to a meeting to learn more about God and what I need to do to fullfill his will."
"There is a lot to learn about God, and even Papa needs to learn more."
Max nods his head
"Does Max learn about God's word in bible class?"
"Yes," says Max.
"And are we going to keep learning more all the time?"
"Yes," says Max.