Tag: comfort zone

I’m Moving To Colorado Springs! What???

I have a Love/Hate relationship with change.  How about you?

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In the Fall of 2013, it was revealed at our staff retreat that my wife and I were going to step out of our staff roles at the time to launch the first multisite church campus of Christ Community Church. Fast forward to Nov 8, 2015. On this Sunday we announced that our campus would be changing our video teaching model to offer live preaching. Not only did this change not include my wife and I (change in leadership), we also announced that we were moving to Colorado Springs in 4 weeks.

This has all happened so quickly.  We really have seen the finger prints of God all over this…not only in our own lives, but for the health of the campus as well.

So, this is basically a journal entry reflecting on my thoughts with this transition:  What I FEEL vs. what I KNOW.

What I feel | There is personal loss attached to big life transitions. Loss of close friends, co-workers, family, culture, and familiarity.

What I know | There often needs to be loss if God is going to bless us with new blessings. It’s His way of making room for the new. I have seen this over and over in my lifetime, so I’m not sure why I don’t get more excited at the onset of changing seasons when they pop up.

What I feel | 18 months is too soon after launching a new church campus for the leadership to move on. Ok, it’s too soon for my comfort level. There, I said it. I really thought I’d be shepherding this body of believers for at least 3-5 years. And that was my problem. I presumed God’s intentions more than I should have.

What I know | God’s timing is always perfect and always better than mine. On God’s clock, late and early are non-existent. This is so comforting (and frustrating) to me.

What I feel | Its not fair that I don’t get to be a part of this local church body in its next chapter. I want to see it grow. I want to meet all the amazing, new people. I want to celebrate with the new believers and disciple them.

What I know | God’s calling on my life (and yours) is never about fairness. And it is not about our personal wants. It is, however, always about obedience, faith, and a larger Kingdom purpose than my own little world.

What I feel | I worry about how my kids will weather through this change. Our 2 oldest are staying in GA, while 2 of our boys are moving with us. I often think, they did not ask for this life of ministry….constant change and moving from place to place.

What I know | They are only mine for a season and for the purpose of training them up in faith and life. Ultimately, they are The Lord’s. When we dedicated them to Him as babies, we were placing them in His care. As they have grown older, I have had to constantly re-visit those moments and ask myself a question. Do I truly mean today what I meant back then? Thankfully, the answer has been ‘yes.’ But I do find myself constantly rededicating each of them to God’s care and providence. This is mainly for my own sanity.

What I feel | If I’m going to be really authentic here, I’d have to admit that I’ve said to God (more than once) that I didn’t ask for this calling of ministry in my life. I’ve often thought what it would be like to go to church at the same time as everyone else does. Or how it would feel not to have to live completely by my calendar. Or not having the heaviness of knowing so much of the pain and struggle many of our church members are enduring each week.

What I know | While that all sounds appealing on the surface, I know better. Yes, ministry is demanding and hard. But (there’s a huge ‘but’ here), it is also rewarding beyond words. The innumerable experiences, tragedies, joys, challenges, victories, and relationships God has gifted me with….none of them would have come to be if I had said ‘No’ to His call on my life. I would have forfeited the past 24 years of partnership with God. The thought that I could have given all that away to someone else makes me cringe.

“This is God’s universe, and He does things His way.  We may have a better way, but we don’t have a universe.”  – Dr. J. Vernon Megee

 How about you?  How have you maneuvered through major transitions in life?  When have what you FEEL vs. what you KNOW collided?

This has been the quickest, healthiest, and craziest change in my life to date…..and I’m really looking forward to it!

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Stepping Into God…1, 2, 3

When God is calling you to something HUGE, what do you do?  

Since day one of moving from Washington State to Columbus, GA over four years ago people simply assumed I was in the military.  I guess I can understand their reasoning.  I mean I have the Army haircut, and why else would someone move his family 2,600 miles across the country?

photo by: www.businessreviewcanada.ca
photo by: http://www.businessreviewcanada.ca

Come to think of it, the majority of twenty-three years of marriage for my wife and I have been anything but stable.  Don’t get me wrong; we are blessed with an incredible relationship.  That’s not what I mean when I say we have not been  ‘stable.’  We’ve actually never lived at the same address for more than three years.  Many of those residential moves have been related to ministry work.  In fact, we recently left the home we had hoped to purchase and settle down in and moved just across the river for the sole purpose of living in the town we are launching a new church campus in.  We are so excited for this new chapter of life the Lord is writing with us.

What about you?

What is God calling you into today that is new, different, or maybe even challenging?

I’ve learned something about God in my 27 years as a Christian.  This is huge…you might want to write it down or even Tweet it.

Ready?

Saying ‘yes’ to God at the moment of our salvation only begins a life of ‘yes’ moments with Him. 

You see, God doesn’t just want you and I to say ‘yes’ to His grace, forgiveness, and salvation and then to be done with it.  That intimate moment with Him is amazing.  But…to experience kingdom living on a grand scale we (you and I) are going to be constantly called, challenged, pushed, encouraged to step into something bigger than ourselves.  Something out of our comfort zone.  Something inconvenient.  Something we would even prefer not to do.

I’d like to offer you 3 clear steps to consider as you approach stepping into something new with God.

1)   Be open:  God is not going to force us against our will.  Now, He might make avoiding His call incredibly painful at times.  But He desires a trusting and open heart that will respond to Him.

2)   Pray:  Seriously.  Devote some real time to praying about whatever it is.  Journal your prayer life through it.  This will help to bring your head and spirit together on the issue.

3)   Tell another mature believer:  This really is where the rubber meets the road, folks.  The first two steps are completely on us.  But this one…this one takes it to a new level.  Telling someone creates accountability and defines the genuineness of our intentions with God.  Take this step seriously.

May our Lord and Heavenly Father bless and reassure you as you begin stepping even further into Him today.

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