Yesterday the weather turned off beautiful and it made me feel great just to be alive and breathing God’s air. The purple martin scouts have arrived from their winter homes in Argentina and are buzzing the Honey Lake martin houses and checking out their spring nesting sites, the grass is beginning to turn green, the horses are rolling in the pastures, ducks are stretching and flapping their wings on the ponds and lakes, and trees are beginning to bud out.
Last night several close friends came over after a long hard day at their workplaces, and we met for several hours into the night. Our goal was to improve the next service and day of faith, family, friends and Fun to be conducted at Honey Lake Church and Worldwide Ministry on February 10th.
We carefully reviewed the first service and tried to identify those things that we did right and those that could have been improved. We did some things exceedingly well and received very positive feedback, but we also had a few areas that had not been well thought out and the resulting behind the scenes drama created by it could have been avoided and done far better. Next time it will be, (at least in those areas).
I’ve been involved with business for a long time and have utilized a similar process to improve our various companies. It requires taking a candid look at oneself and being totally honest. Sometimes the temptation is to pat each other on the back for an hour or so and then organize a parade for ourselves, but that accomplishes little; however if we just understand that we are not perfect nor ever will be we can come to grips with the axiom that: Anything can be improved and there is no best way to do anything. We just need to look for the problem(s), and once they have been identified, do something about them.
We briefly went back in time and touched on some of the negative comments that we received when we first contemplated launching the ministry. Several people advised me that it was too ambitious, there were too many obstacles, the time was not right, people wouldn’t drive all of the way out there just to go to church, we didn’t have enough money and volunteers, and so forth. I insisted upon forging ahead in spite of any misgivings and I’m exceedingly glad I did because approximately 400 folks showed up and had a great time, and most importantly several gave their lives to Christ.
What is often forgotten in board meetings or even family planning sessions is what I call the “God factor”. We sometimes become so obsessed with working through the weeds and snake pit of problems ourselves that we attempt to solve everything on our own, (exclusive of God). People who have built successful organizations like Billy Graham and Bill Glass would not think of conducting their ministries without prayer teams constantly petitioning God to bless their efforts, lead and direct them, and restrain satan and his hordes.
I told our board that God needs to be at the forefront of this ministry and not pushed to the back; after all it is His ministry and not our own. My life verse states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Most importantly we must take God at His word on this and maintain faith that He will bless our efforts on His behalf. To be sure we must work hard because many obstacles will be thrown at us, but victory in Jesus is guaranteed to the faithful.
Such is the same in life. Do you lead a life expecting victory? If you cannot candidly answer with a “yes”, then think about God’s role in your life. Is He on the front burner, or a back burner, or maybe even still in the freezer? The Bible instructs us to pray without ceasing. Many of my friends have shared with me that they seldom pray. Not surprisingly, they more than others, lack the faith they need to give them confidence to boldly go forth in the world much less face a real crisis.
We need to get our relationship with Christ out of the freezer and thaw it out. Put it on the front burner and build our lives with Him in the forefront and around Him.
Come see us on February 10th. We have former master jewel thief turned devout Christian “Murf the Surf” Jack Murphy, and country music star Clifton Jantsky that will thrill your souls with the amazing things God has done in their lives since their big thaw… Now we’re cooking!
Matthew 7:7
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”