The Server and the Served

The other day I attended a house dedication for five families who were apart of Habitat for Humanity.  It was truly an awesome thing to experience.  A member from our church was one of the recipients of a brand new home that she had to contribute what they call "sweat equity" into her home.  I was also privileged to be asked to say a few words and say a prayer of blessing over this sister's new home.  I also was asked to do the same thing for another recipient who did not have a pastor and gain I was privileged and humbled at the same time because I had an opportunity to serve this woman who I did not know.. 

A city commissioner was there and she spoke about how Habitat fro Humanity helps on three levels:  emotionally, economically and socially.  She mentioned that the new homes reduce blight, drugs and crime.  I then begin to think about how much our communities have become run down over the years.  People move to new subdivisions for bigger homes and more affluent neighborhoods.  We try to lead people into believing that we are living life fabulously when it is all actually financed with borrowed money all the while leaving others behind. 

Now I am not saying that we should give all of our hard earned money to those who need it but what I am saying is that we need to start serving others more.  I thought about the volunteers who gave up their time and helped these five families build their homes.  They served.  They went nameless and were not the center of attention that day.  They also did not receive any compensation for their hard work but yet they served.  Dr. martin Luther King, Jr. said once that not all of us can be rich and famous or CEO's of companies but we can be great by serving. 

Because of Habitat for Humanity five families who did not have a chance at home ownership and quality housing now do.  Those unknown volunteers who gave of themselves probably will feel a great deal of pride as they see those homes years from now.  Why don't you find a way to serve in your community?  The fact of the matter is that government and electing the right people from the right party will not turn our communities around.  The answer is you and your willingness to serve.

The Purpose of Disappointment

I am reflecting on a message that I had preached two weeks ago. I find that the more that I learn about the Lord the more I don't know. At the church that I pastor we began having a service just for the core group since we began on 1/21/07. I have been doing a series on Leadership called "What a Leader must Be, Know and Do." On this particular Sunday I was dealing with how a leader must know how to relate to those that he or she is serving. I stressed that God has made us a blessing so that we can be a blessing. I also stressed that if you look at it most of the blessings that we receive have come through a person since the Lord works through man in order to accomplish his will on earth. That's pretty interesting. Man partnering with God to accomplish his will on earth. As I was reflecting on what I had taught it occurred to me that even though the blessing may have come through a person we are still not to depend on them but God and Him alone. I also discovered that if people did not disappoint us we would never really turn to God. This is very simple and not even deep at all but it was very liberating. As a pastor of a new church with very limited resources and having to depend on people to support this new work it can be very disappointing at times wanting to more but being very limited. The disappointment that I feel sometimes makes me second guess myself at times not seeing the progress that I would like to see. I have come to the conclusion that the measure of a church and its ministry is not in numbers or buildings but rather it is in how relevant the church is to the community it serves and how efficient that church is in serving that community. As I work in my adopted community I see so many needs but I feel so helpless at times. This disappointment I feel makes me cry out to the Lord even more and rely on Him more as well. Maybe this isn't about launching a new church. Could it be about me learning to rely on him as we carry out the great commission?

My Thoughts: Relationships

One of the biggest struggles that I find that people have are relationships. All kinds of relationships ranging from romantic, family, business/work, and friendships. I believe that one of the keys to a wonderful life is learning how to become successful in all of our relationships that we have and when we do this our lives will be richer and fuller. The question is how do we do this? The answer is rather simple but at the same time very difficult to do.

The first thing that we must do first is evaluate our relationship with God. People, especially christians, do not understand that God is relational. All relationships are important to him and they help to show us our relationship to him. God uses natural things in our lives symbolically for us to really understand him but often times we are so caught up in ourselves that we miss the point because we think about how it often affects us. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about the story of the good samaritan and how everyone passed the man by on the side of the road who had been robbed and beaten then left for dead. Then the samaritan man, who was actually looked down upon, help the man. Dr. King said that there were two questions that were asked. The first by those who passed the man by was, "If I help this man what will happen to me?" The second question asked by the samaritan was, "If I don't help this man what will happen to him?" We often treat our relationships so selfishly by always looking at how it affects us and what we can get out of them.

The second thing that we must do is realize that our gifts, talents and possessions were never meant for us. Everything that we have and who we are is always for the benefit for others. God uses our relationship with our children to show us this. Our children never really give anything to us but we give all that we have to them because their survival depends on it. When you look at the world as a whole we depend upon other in order to live. Someone needs to grow the food and sell it in order for you to buy it. So forth and so on. Never rest on your status. Whether you have money or not. Whether you are a manager, supervisor or just an employee. You are important.

The third thing is that how successful we are in our relationships shows where we our in our relationship with God. The scriptures says, "If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must also love his brother also." 1 John 4: 20-21. Our relationships on all levels were designed to help us become closer to the Lord and how we are in our relationships can help someone really see the Lord. Forgive others when they have done wrong to you and ask for forgiveness when you have wronged others. Do not treat you relationships selfishly and remember that it is better to give than receive and figure out how you can be a blessing to others instead of how they can be a blessing to you.