Planting the Gospel

Maybe you’re like me. You want to read, you like to read, you even carry books around with you…but you struggle to find the time to read. Or at least that’s our excuse.

Two quick ways to kill excuses & start ploughing through some material in the next month.

1. Commit to reading small amounts over long periods of time. Did you know you can easily read the entire New Testament in a year by only reading 1 chapter a day?! Yes you read that correctly. All the N.T. in one year by reading one chapter a day & you only have to read 5 days a week. Imagine that! You may not be an entire Bible in a year kind of guy or gal, but one chapter a day is doable for all of us. Here’s a reading plan that proves it just in case you don’t believe me: http://www.bibleplan.org/nt/esv/
2.  Make reading time an appointment on your calendar. Did you know The average American can read 20 / 250 page books in a year by simply reading 30 minutes a day. We don’t read because we expect to “get it in” along with all the other busy tasks that hit us in a given day. The problem is that reading will ALWAYS get pushed off the calendar because it’s not URGENT. In order to read we must prepare in advance. I like to schedule a 30 minute appointment with a book just like I do with a person. It goes on my calendar along with a time & location & gets marked IMPORTANT just like appointments with other people.

I’m realizing more & more that my lack of study & reading isn’t a problem with my schedule, my tasks or my job. I like to blame all those things. But, it’s really my lack of discipline to make it a priority, calendar it, & follow through.

Maybe you can’t read at work. Consider making a commitment to read 15 minutes a day before looking at Facebook or watching TV. I know, sounds ridiculous! But consider the amount of time we spend needlessly surfing Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, ESPN, and the list goes on & on.

So get off this post & make a commitment to sharpen your mind. Calendar it, make a small commitment, and read!  Like I tell my kids, leaders are readers & readers are leaders. I’m not sure which comes first, but I know good leaders never stop learning.  That means they never stop reading!

As a church planter I’m always looking ahead!  Always.

Maybe you’re not like me.  Maybe I’m the only one who looks at the budget, volunteers & available resources & wonders how we will ever do all that God has put in my heart. Maybe I’m the only one who meets a goal and instantly begins to think about what’s next.  Maybe I’m the only one who struggles with forfeiting today’s joy in exchange for tomorrows hopes & dreams.  But I doubt it…

By nature church planting is entrepreneurial.  That means we are constantly looking forward.  There is no time for whining, head shrugging or lamenting the past.  Growth doesn’t come through spinning your wheels or getting stuck.  The future is glorious & our job is to paint that picture & to call people to seize it!

But there’s a problem that comes with always focusing on the future.  If we always dream about tomorrow, it’s really hard to be present today!  I’m learning more & more how important it is to climb down off the “vision ladder” occasionally & to daily rejoice in the Gospel that I have today!

Paul said it this way:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)

This is what I need to hear.  Because sometimes the Sunday offering doesn’t give me a reason to rejoice.  But can I still rejoice on Friday afternoon even when the P.O. Box is empty?  Can I rejoice on the evening that I put extra work into our small group & half the group decided not to show up?  Paul says yes!

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

I’m convinced that gratitude is the foundation for hope & joy to spring up in our lives.  If I live in the future & what could be, I’ll never enjoy the goodness of the Lord today! I’ll forfeit the glory of the cross & the salvation that God has so graciously offered for me today!

Ultimately my struggle is the sin of lust. Not in porn, or in a sexual nature, but in lusting after what I feel could complete me. Do you lust after the future? Do you lust after goals, achievements, & accolades that will come if you reach a certain mark? The truth is it will never be enough. Only Jesus can satisfy. And the Gospel is available to us every day of our lives in every circumstance.

I challenge you to spend the last few minutes of your day practicing the discipline of gratitude! Thank God for His goodness. Rejoice in the accomplishments & struggles of the day. Lay your head down at night resting in the Gospel. On the cross Jesus declared, “It is finished.” And it is! We are utterly & completely loved by our Father.  Not because of what we have done.  But because of what He did!

Last week my middle son (Cole) asked a very insightful question. “Do you think Jesus might come back on Christmas Day?” I asked why he thought that might happen. He responded by saying that Jesus came the first time as a baby & it made since that he might return again at the same time.

I’ve never thought about that before, but it makes a lot of sense. This is the type of simple faith that children have and adults need.

This morning I reflected on his question. Of all times of the year, strangely enough, I think Christmas Day is one of the last days of the year that I would expect Jesus to return. Apparently I’m missing something in this Christmas season. Christmas Day is a time of the year that calls for REFLECTION but it calls for ANTICIPATION as well!

As we anticipate Jesus return, we find great meaning in life! I challenge you this Christmas season to REFLECT & ANTICIPATE.  I read a passage of scripture this morning that spoke of the power & responsibility of living in light of the gifts we have been given, preparing for Jesus to return at any moment!  Faithfully & fairly caring for all that He has entrusted to us.  A great message to consider during this time of REFLECTION & ANTICIPATION.

(Luke 12:42-49 ESV)

And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

Ever find yourself having coffee or lunch with someone where there is no agenda?  No specific point of being together other than relationship or friendship.  Okay I realize this rarely happens in life today.  But, if we are making disciples, we should be engaging new relationships all the time.

Recently I found myself in a situation in which I hoped to see spiritual movement in a friends life, but there seemed to be no real agenda to our appointment.  So I created one.  Looking back on our conversation, I want to offer a framework for what I believe can create movement in a persons life through the work of the Holy Spirit.

COACH / DISCIPLE / COUNSEL

COACH: I began by asking a good open-ended coaching question: “What is one thing you would like to see take place over the next few days that would really make your holidays great?”

DISCIPLE: I listened to his answer to better understand his core values, idols, and world view.  We talked briefly about his response in light of the Gospel.  I pointed out that his answer failed in comparison to the peace that Jesus & the Gospel brings into our lives.

COUNSEL: Then we spent the last part of our time together looking at other options.  I offered counsel regarding some other life issues and challenged him: “I really encourage you to think deeply about who you are living for.”

Obviously, this wasn’t the first time we had met together.  But I do hope it was a significant conversation.  He left pondering some questions that admittedly weren’t easy to answer.  As a result, I sensed God’s movement in his life.

My prayer is that God will continue to reveal sin & self-centeredness in his life.  Only the Holy Spirit can bring an awareness of sin & a desperate need for the Savior.  So we are called to partner with God in pointing people to their need for better news…The Gospel.    I challenge you to use all the tools God has given you to partner with the Holy Spirit in seeing movement.

COACH / DISCIPLE / COUNSEL – in this order.

Discipleship is like Billiards.  Both require thinking 2 & 3 steps ahead!

I grew up in a small town about an hour south of Birmingham, Alabama.  I turned 16 & finally found the freedom I had longed for throughout my adolescent years.  I even had my dad’s old 1982 Chevy S-10, stacked with a 2.8 liter V6 that topped out at a speedy 77 mph on a good down hill slope.  But there was a problem.  There was nothing to do & drag racing was not an option for obvious reasons.

So I took up a much slower sport & spent my Friday afternoons & some Saturday nights at a local Pool Hall.  My friends & I played 8 ball if we had extra money & if times were tight we would stick to the slower game of 9 ball.  One thing I learned during those long restless hours has served me well over the last 2o years of my life.

Yes, you had better find a straight pool stick or you will never shoot long straight shots.  Yes, you had better keep your stick chalked well or you will not have good follow-through when shooting the cue ball.  Yes, you can learn fancy jumps & even be effective by putting “english” on the ball to make it spin in different directions.  But most importantly.  If you want to be a GREAT pool player, the key comes in learning to thing 2 to 3 shots ahead!

The same is true for discipleship!  It’s not enough to merely lead someone to Christ.  Too many of our evangelism efforts have fallen short because we only think in terms of “converting people.”  This is only one step.  Although making disciples is hugely important, maturing disciples (discipleship) is equally important.

Jesus strategy was an ongoing strategy of multiplication.  Not just making a disciple.  But making disciples who then in turn make disciples!  It’s far easier than you might think if the Holy Spirit is involved.  We just have to have the right thought process.

One of my friends who has recently come to know Christ is always thinking 2 to 3 steps ahead.  He does this by thinking about what benefited him when God saved him.  He gives friends 3 things when they are turning toward God:

• An ESV Study Bible.
• A copy of Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life.”
• A CD of Christian worship music.

The study Bible comes in handy for people who have lots of questions but may not always have someone knowledgeable sitting right beside them.  ”The Purpose Drive Life,” simply because it does a good job of covering a broad perspective of Christian living without going too deep.  It’s also easy to read in bite size chunks for someone who may not be disciplined in study.

Finally the worship CD is the biggest surprise to me.  When someone who hasn’t been inoculated with cultural Christianity is saved, they are amazed to learn of a whole new world.  Seriously, one of his friends (who has come to know Christ in the last year) just discovered Lifeway and thinks she is walking into heaven every time she opens the door.

How are you “thinking ahead?”

One way you can do this is to begin praying imaginatively for the people you are currently investing in.  Dream about the people in your friends network of relationship who could be impacted by the Gospel if God saved them.  Dream about the people those people could impact.

Recently I got a phone call from my friend who gives out the Bible, book, & CD.  Within the last year I’ve seen God use him to save a professional skate boarder, a multi-millionaire, and to make major investments in several other lives.  I never would have believed that God could have used him in this way if I weren’t “thinking ahead.”

Who are you currently investing in?  Are you praying for them as if they are the lost children of God?  Are you dreaming about the people God will save through their lives?

The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  Jesus told his disciples in Luke 10 to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.  In that moment, Jesus was teaching them to “think ahead.”  There were no more laborers.  He was sending out all 72 followers!  The only opportunity for more laborers would come from outsiders being saved & then beginning to make disciples!

“Think ahead!”  Dream ahead!  Pray ahead!  The harvest is plentiful.

What’s your next step?