Thursday, May 22, 2008

Church Planting Days 3 & 4

To my avid blog reader(s?),

I am really intrigued by this notion of reaching the nations through church-planting. I think many churches experience plateaus or moderately small growth because they lose their desperation.

We can say the same thing about our own spiritual journeys. I cease to be shaped and empowered when I lose my deep, gut-wrenching desperation.

I led a devotional meditation this morning and God smacked me in the face with something that I had not really seen. Psalm 51, definitely one of the top ten Psalms around, David's psalm after Nathan called him out for his sins with Bathsheba...David says, "Grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." I said something in passing without much thought..."Our surrender is the only thing that leads to our sustenance."

I felt the Lord whisper as I said this aloud to the group, "Did you hear what you just said?" Only when we are willing will the Lord's hand uphold us. Do we believe this? I'm not sure...I think I see my sustenance through the lens of having a place to live, health, drivable vehicles, etc. If God will bless me I will be sustained. While this is true on a basic level, it is not true when we understand that blessing does not lead to satisfaction. Some many people (especially in an American context) are SUSTAINED but largely UNSATISFIED.

Our deepest satisfaction comes from surrender. What dreams, idols, and excuses need to die in your life?

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