LIVING ON THE EDGE

Sunday was a great day in so many ways. God blessed us with several new guests, the band rocked and God gave us a great offering. Not to mention the fellowship was great. It is always good to hang out with the people of WC.

The series on the LORDS PRAYER has been very refreshing to me. It is always good to be reminded that we should be praying everyday and connecting with the FATHER in a personal and intimate way.

This past Sunday, Jesus told us in Matt. 6:11 that we should be asking him everyday to give us our daily bread. Too often we get greedy and ask Him for things we don’t need. Or we don’t ask at all. We think we’re self-sufficient and don’t need God until we get in a mess then we use prayer as a last resort.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Tim. 6:6-8 MSG told young Tim that he had a relationship with Christ and shoes on his feet and food on his table then that was enough. Paul knew what it meant to be content. Paul understood that the closer he got to Christ, the more he got to know Him the more he trusted God to meet his daily needs.

“Give us today our daily bread” is an awesome reminder that God will meet our needs daily if we ask Him.
Can we say as individuals and as a church family that we are content? Is what we have today enough? Or do we still want more.

I hope today that we all can say THAT’S ENOUGH.

Well, I have been silent for awhile now on this blog highway because I just didn’t have much to say. I have been spending most of my time with God trying to figure out what He wants me to do next. And as of this blog, I still don’t know. But I do know He is doing something in my life and He is making me very restless.

This past weekend, my wife and I attended my 40th HS reunion in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that’s right mister smart guy, 40 and it was an experience I will never forget. Seeing some of my old friends after 40 years was very rewarding. It reminded me why I hung out with them in the first place-good people. However, there was one thing I noticed about many of them-loneliness. As I would talk to them and look into their eyes you could just see it. I have heard other people talk about it but this was so obvious to me. These people needed a friend. I’ll write more later on this subject.

While talking to one of my closest friends, (We went to grade school all the way through HS together) I began to sense his deep feeling of being all alone. It broke my heart. I loved this guy-we did everything together and I looked up to him as a guy that would one day make his mark in this world. Now, he was telling me that he was all alone for the first time in his life. It still hurts me as I recall the conversation.

I was looking for the right time to get him by himself so I could share how he didn’t need to feel that way any longer but we kept getting interrupted . We never had another chance to talk. He did not make the final event on Saturday because of car trouble. So now I plan to write to him and build the bridge in order to share Christ with him so he does not need to feel lonely.

This reunion did a lot to remind me that ministry does not just happen in the four walls of a church building. Ministry happens wherever people are hurting. I live in this bubble and sometime I lose sight of what God is doing in other places on this planet. All I need to do is open my eyes and make myself available to God and He will use me and you to help those in need.

I have made a commitment to stay in touch with these people, especially Mike and do everything I can to share Christ with them. So far three of my classmates have heard the good news. There will be many more, I promise.

You know what? I think I just figured out what God wants me to do next-SHARE CHRIST with people.

We can learn a lot from the shortest man in the bible. NE-HI-MIAH was a great man and a great leader. I was just kidding about being the shortest man but when it comes to leading, he was a leader of leaders.

As leaders, whether a pastor, dad, husband or boss we have the opp to influence a lot of people and how we lead and the qualities we posses will, I believe dictate our effectiveness with those we are trying to lead.

Over the years I have tried and most often failed at these qualities but never the less they are still leadership qualities that are found in our man Nehemiah that we as leaders should and can perfect to be better influencers.

1.  Compassion.  Nehemiah was a compassionate man.  He cared about people.  Everything he did was motivated by love for God and people.

2.  Contemplation.  Nehemiah was a man who thought deeply. He prayed deeply.  He spent much time alone with God.

3. Cheerfullness.  He maintained a positive attitude in spite of the fact that he was constantly under criticism, constantly being attacked, constantly being opposed on everything he did while he was rebuilding the wall.

4.  Concentration.  Nehemiah knew how to concentrate.  He knew how to set a goal and focus and say this is what we’re going to get done whether anything else gets done or not.

5.  Creativity.  Nehemiah was a very creative person.  He knew how to solve problems with creative things because he obviously didn’t have all the resources at his disposal.

6.  Courage. Nehemiah demonstrated this quality from the beginning when he approached the King with his passion and vision to rebuild the wall.

7.  Clear conscious.  Nehemiah was a man of integrity.  He walked blamelessly before people and before the Lord.

8.  Conviction. Nehemiah believed very strongly that God had called him to this job and nothing could stop him.

If you and I want to be a better leader, pastor, dad, husband then these are qualities we need to build into our lives in order to be more effective.