Worn Out

Galatians 6:9

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

 

Ever get tuckered out?  We all do.  Just want to post this as an encouraging word for all you mighty warriors out there.

We are in a battle and the front is multifaceted.  From family strife to church life to work related issues, we are under constant attack from the enemy of our souls.  The Devil does not show mercy and he likes to kick us when we are down.  

But don't give up!  Keep fighting.  Do good, bless those who curse you, pray for people who abuse and use you.  Remember that the people around us that we may be receiving punches from are not our enemies.  Very rarely do we run into someone who is evil just for evil's sake.  Most of the people we are having a hard time with are in just as much pain, if not more, than we are.  Let us take courage from our Lord's example.

Luke 23:34

"And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments."

He spoke this blessing of forgiveness over the very men who had beaten Him beyond recognition, nailed Him to a tree and mocked Him.

Now, before you say, "Yeah, but He was Jesus", let me remind you that He has promised you this same strength.  He poured His life out so that He could pour it into us.  It is a huge cop out to say we can't because we are only human.  We are not mere humans anymore.  We are supernatural humans.  We are sons and daughters of the living God, heirs to the throne, His beloved, a chosen and royal priesthood. 

Did not Stephen pray this same prayer as he was being stoned to death at the feet of Saul (later known as Paul)? See Acts 7.  Stephen was just a man...until the Holy Spirit filled Him with power. 

What is this great and awesome power?  I'm just as charismatic as the next guy and I love miracles and the mysteries of God.  But this power is no mystery.  This power that we have to cover over a multitude of sins is greater than any physical healing or display of authority over nature.  This power that we now have to bind up the broken hearted, release the captives and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor is nothing other than Love. L-O-V-E, love. 

Let love rule the day, my friends, and in the end you will find that love has won the day.

Bless you all,

Dave

Vision 101

In this bit, I have quoted Rick Joyner's book Leadership, The Power of a Creative Life; in particular, his chapter on cultivating vision (Ch. 12 pp 111-113) and then added some of the thoughts I was having while I was reading this.  The main reason I wanted to share this with you all is because cultivating and understanding how vision works is so crucial to the future of the Tri-state.   The scriptures are clear; "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18).  This means that if we don't know where we are headed, then we will probably end up nowhere. 

"Cultivating vision is a practical way that we can increasingly open our eyes to see beyond the things that are and see the way they could be."  This is a truth that we need to grasp for the Tri-state.  What do you see that no one else does?  What do you see that needs to be?

"...great leaders dictate the course of history...True leadership is born out of vision and strategy that is established firmly on the bedrock of conviction and purpose..." 

By this, Rick is saying that when we catch sight of what could be and what should be instead of what is, we can allow that to fuel our resolve to see our vision become a reality.  Change for the sake of change is pointless.  Change for good is okay.  Change for the best should be our goal.

"By definition, a vision is a concept that is not yet real.  The first step in formulating a vision is to simply start thinking about what could be rather than what presently exists.  This does take a certain amount of optimism; the critical and skeptical will seldom have visions or dreams." 

It is easy to weed out the skeptic among us.  The difficult, and much needed, thing for us to do is empower the skeptics to see and back the vision for a brand new Tri-state.  To do this, I think it will help to be aware of their hesitations, stop dismissing them and address them with patience and love.  Taking the, "Fine, I'll show you" approach only serves to create division.  There is no quicker way to "de-vision" a people than "di-vision".

"To be optimistic is no small feat...70% of the average person's thoughts are negative (thinking bad about something, someone, or expecting something bad to happen)...lives lived in bitterness fall well below their potential.  Only those who believe they can succeed will be encouraged enough to put forth the effort it takes to succeed...The most important step...is to start thinking the very best about everything and everyone.  EVEN IF WE ARE SOMETIMES WRONG,...it is better to err on the side of believing in others...This will open us up to disappointments, but there are things much worse than occasionally being disappointed--namely, failure to accomplish anything."

Rick went on to talk about how every event in our life will either make us bitter or better.  We are not talking about ignoring wisdom or overlooking warnings that are meant to protect us from failure.  But the negative thinking will cause us to see only warnings and then we become paralyzed.  In another chapter of this same book, Rick talked about how canoes can only be steered when they are in motion.  So even a canoe that is headed in the wrong way must continue to move forward in order to be corrected.  Those who are so afraid of failure will simply stop their canoe in desperate hopes that the canoes will either right itself or the direction they are going will suddenly become the right way.  That, I believe, is very similar to insanity.  In the very least, it is silly.  Fear of failure leads us to the very thing we fear.  What we should fear is not doing anything at all.  This will bring us to accomplishing many great things.

"We must always keep in mind that the accomplishment  of any significant vision will take significant people, and significant people will almost always need to be led in a positive way."

I am very encouraged by this statement in that I know the Tri-state is full of significant people.  In fact, I have not met one single person here who is insignificant.  Sure, there are those who are not living up to their potential who are being hindered by wrong choices and the negative bombardment of society and the enemy, but they matter and it is our responsibility to awaken them and put the salve on their eyes so they can too see what could/should be instead of the negative reality they find themselves in.

What is this great vision that I see for the Tri-state?  It is actually pretty simple and I fully believe that it came from God's desire for this region. 

I believe He wants a city of people that love Him more than they do any other. 

I believe that He wants Evansville and the surrounding communities to be known as a modern day City of Refuge (thus the name of this blog) where people from all around will come to find peace with God. 

I believe this will be manifested in several ways, from economic strength to emotional well being and even on to environmental purity. 

We may be known now as a place that is fighting to stay afloat economically in a nation that is falling apart, but we will soon be known as an economically strong city that will be a beacon to those who are hurting. 

We may be known as a city full of depression and one of the highest suicide rates in the country, but we will soon be known as a city of joy.  This joy will be so infectious that it will spread to the rest of our nation and even the world. 

We may now be known for ozone alerts and allergies galore, but we will soon be known as a place of pure, fresh and cleansing air.  So much so, that people will come from all over just to breathe our air, drink our water and enjoy our produce. 

Seem crazy?  Good. 

Otherwise, it would not be a vision worth having.  If we could do it easy, it would be done and I think we all can asee what has been done.

Let me leave you with this thought from Peter Drucker, a military strategist.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

Manifest Presence

Sometimes, I get caught up in self-pity and many other things, "self."  You ever get that way?  It is during these seasons (and as seasons go, they are longer than just a day or even a week usually) that I find my heart turning away from the face of God and as I begin to thirst for something to sustain me, I inevitably turn to something that cannot fill me.  We are all guilty of this.  We fool ourselves into thinking that we have not abandoned the manifest presence of God and that we are really just having a season of trial.  Trials sent by God to test and approve us are very different from predicaments we find ourselves in because of our own foolish choices.

Let me take a moment and explain what I mean by "manifest presence" and then I'll get back to this whole trial vs predicament thing.  The word "Manifest", in essence, simply refers to something that we believe to be true being revealed to our senses and effecting our lives.  It moves out of the realm of the idea and becomes a reality.  Our belief that God is real is not what makes Him real.  He is real because He is.  However, we are not always aware of that reality and we can ignore the signs of His presence with the greatest of ease.  But God finds ways of breaking through the darkness that clouds our senses and makes His face to shine upon us.  Another way to explain this idea of manifest presence is to think about a swimming pool on a hot summer day.  We all can imagine how nice that might be and we have experiences that we can refer to in our mind that give us a fairly accurate idea of what that is like.  This is where many of us like to stay when it comes to our intimate relationship with God.  We want it in our control and available when we need it.  However, if a swimming pool were to suddenly appear underneath you right at this moment, that would shock you into a reality that you were not prepared for.  On top of that, your unpreparedness for the manifestation of the swimming pool would reek havoc on your clothes, your hair, your phone, your wallet or purse, your computer, etc.  We all like the idea of God, but when HE actually shows up...well, you get the idea.

So, back to trial vs predicament.  A trial that is allowed to come into our loves for the purpose of forming Christ in us is very different than a situation we created because of our own silly choices.  Don't get me wrong, God is so good, that HE can even use these "fine messes" we get ourselves into to train and shape us for our betterment, but we are so quick to point the blame at Him for things we create.  For instance, my little self-pity parties.  I start staring at my navel  and then make the illogical leap to trusting in my own abilities and then I end up wishing I could eat what the farmer's pigs are eating.  It is a downward spiral that happens all to fast.  It is easy for me to enter into these self-made problem situations (especially in the middle of a God-made trial), but it is never God's fault.  We are so quick to turn to self and other lies that promise to do things that they are unable to do.  Why? I refer you back to the whole swimming pool thing.  I want God when it is convenient.  I want God when I have my bathing suit on, I'm all sun-screened up, I have the radio on and the water is just right.  The only problem is that this is not when I need God.  I need God all the time.  I need God just to get out of bed in the morning.  I need God just to tie my shoes.  I need God just the breathe.  He is not a God of convenience, HE is an all-consuming fire.  My hope for myself and for the rest of the Tri-state is that we would abandon ourselves to the reckless, and raging fury that they call the love of God instead of continually holding Him at bay with our fears and hesitations that He will mess things up for us.

Maybe you are not afraid of His messing you up, and you just really need to know that He is there.  If that is you today, write me via this blog and we will turn our faces toward His together.  One thing I have learned about God is that every single time I turn to embrace Him, He is there.  Every time!  God never fails.