Authority

Sorry for the light posting this week...been crazy.

This week I had a mandatory pastor's meeting to go to. Occasionally, I'll have these as part of our denominational connection. But I don't mind them (not that I want to be going to one every week). But, I understand authority. When my denominational leader says that a meeting is mandatory, I'm there. When I'm told to do something by someone in leadership in me, I do it. It's really not that complicated. Man, a lot folks struggle with that concept in our culture.

I preached about this a couple weeks ago in regards to teenagers. Understanding authority is so crucial in our faith. If one can't understand authority, he or she will struggle with God in their lives because the whole point of this walk with Christ is to give Him authority in our lives. Authority over our decisions, family, money, career -- everything. Do you struggle with giving authority to your boss? Are you giving it to Jesus? Authority is hard to give up. We all want to be in control. We all want to be king of our own castle. But giving Christ authority means that we're not in control anymore.

I find that giving Christ authority in my life has taught me what authority on earth is, too. It's okay that someone else has authority over you. Everyone has that. No one is autonomous, we just pretend to be. I hope you experience the freedom found in giving Christ what is already His, for "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me" (Matt. 28:18). You'll find room to grow under His authority. You'll find His plan is better than your plan. You'll find His dreams are bigger than your dreams. And you'll find he can shoulder the burden of control. Let go. Give him authority.

I'll say it again...

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I'm so ready for some college football.

"Legendary" Survey

Hey folks, we're doing a series in October called "Legendary" in which we're going to take some of the stories from the Old Testament that we've heard about or learned as a kid and really dive into them to see what God has for us. We want your help in deciding which stories to use. So, we're asking Church of the Way folks to fill out a poll for the top 5 stories their interested in hearing about. Plus, you can write in your own. If you haven't had the chance to vote on Sunday morning, let us know what you want to hear. It'll only take a few seconds. Thanks in advance for your help!


Just follow the link here: http://poll.fm/38vkd

Reasons Don't Matter for Leaders

I recently read an article at the Business Insider website about Steve Jobs, the recently resigned CEO of Apple. Jobs will continue at Apple in some capacity, but he's giving up the reigns as the big boss. The article was about Jobs' training of new VP's. He basically tells them that janitors get to have reasons for not getting their job done. Their key wouldn't work to get into an office to empty the garbage. There was no hot water. The power was out at the building. They were out of cleaning supplies. Valid reasons are acceptable for them. But, he adds:

"When you're the janitor, reasons matter," Jobs tells newly minted VPs,
according to Lashinsky. "Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons
stop mattering," says Jobs, adding, that Rubicon is "crossed when you become a
VP."

Vice Presidents don't get the luxury of having reasons for not getting the job done. Vice Presidents HAVE to get it done. There are no excuses for failure.

What Jobs is saying is a part of leadership that a lot of people don't understand. Leaders don't get to make excuses. If it doesn't work, the leader IS the reason. It's his or her job to make it work. The bottom line is that there is a different standard leaders. That's part of the burden of leadership. There is a weight to carry for the leader. It is their responsibility to make sure the engine runs. Reasons don't matter. The sad part of that, for me, is that so many in ministry settings don't take that aspect of leadership seriously. Leaders too often look for reasons. Now, this isn't to say that leaders never fail. On the contrary, leaders fail a lot. But real leaders have to claim that failure. "We didn't fail for this reason or that reason. It was my failure. I will learn from it." If leaders, especially leaders in the church, would take this kind of responsibility and accountability seriously, we could move mountains for God. Dear Lord, let it be.

Oh...and thank a leader today!

A Change'll Do You Good

I find that I am sometimes a strange mix. In some ways, I'm an extreme traditionalist. In others, I embrace change for the sake of change. For the most part, in college football, I'm a traditionalist. I do not want my team to play on Thursday nights because Thursday nights are for JV teams, not teams from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. However, I am very pleased to sit in front of my TV to watch some OTHER team play on Thursdays. I am a UGA fan, and many of our fans are up in arms over our new Pro Combat uniforms for our opener against Boise State. When it comes to uniforms, I'm usually a stickler for tradition. But, I don't know, something in me is changing. The uniforms for one game aren't a big deal to me. And, while many others are up in arms about the possibility of new conference alignments like Texas A & M coming to the SEC, I say, "Change is good!"

The bottom line is that change is virtually unavoidable. Dead people don't change. They usually stay dead. Living organisms have to change. It's part of thriving in our environment. Our bodies are constantly reproducing themselves. We are changing. Isaiah 43:18-19 says,

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

God wants to do something new in us, to us and for us, but we have to embrace change. I'm not sure why we're afraid of change. It's probably the unknown. But the unknown could be better than the known. The unknown could be the answer you've been looking for. And, if the unknown comes from God, you can be sure it's good, for He is working for our good. Don't be afraid of change. Embrace it. Enjoy it. Seek it out. He wants to do a new thing...in you.

Red Velvet Cake

So, this is the Red Velvet Cake I made for my beautiful wife's birthday. From scratch, baby. And, it is pretty delicious (patting self on back). It did turn out pretty good considering it's the first time I've ever made one. Made the icing and all. I don't really understand what people mean when they say they can't cook. I always want to say, "Can you read?" Now, some recipes are easier than others. This was a bit of a challenge, but you just have to do what it says, usually.

Now, I did get a great lesson from this wonderful cake. I stopped on the way home last night to pick up some Cake Flour, which I've found is impossible to find. No one really sells cake flour. But I found a substitute on the inter-tubes and went with it. But that was not the end of it. So, I get home from the grocery store and start on my cake. I get everything out and look at our sugar. It calls for 2 cups. We did not have 2 cups. I just assumed we had sugar. We usually do. We didn't this time. So, I head out to the store again, get my sugar and get started again. Get the eggs and sugar mixed up and get ready to mix the cocoa and red food coloring, two ounces of it. I saw we had some in the cabinet. Surely we had 2 ounces. I was wrong. Trip number three to the grocery store. By this time it is about 11 p.m. I finally finished the cake. I was proud of it, but it was an experience.

I did something great for my wife. She loves red velvet cake, but I wasn't very prepared to do something great. Often, we want to do something great for God, but we have not prepared. We have not done the grunt work that it takes to get prepared for God to move. We want to see God's glory, but we have not let God see our sweat. Being great, doing something great, being a part of something great takes preparation. God will send us through a season of preparation and we have to be willing to focus to get ready. We often get in the kitchen with God, so to speak, and expect a miracle when there are simply too many missing ingredients. We have not gotten ready for waht God wants to do. That makes the process longer and more difficult. God can't do what God wants to do if we have readied ourselves. Do you want to do something great? Is God calling you to something great? If so, chances are, it's time to prepare. Don't be running out to the grocery store for the 3rd time at 11 p.m.

Sitting on the Rock

A few days ago I was jogging on a trail in one of my favorite parks, Tribble Mill, just down from my house. About midway through the jog I found great rock to take a seat on and have some time with my Creator. It kind of became my praying rock. I sat there for 10-15 minutes and just had a talk with God. It was a soul-replenishing time for me.

However, I noticed that as a sat, the rock wasn't that comfortable after a while. In fact, it was downright uncomfortable. I began thinking about how we sing "On Christ the solid rock I stand" and I thought about how, in life, I want to sit on the rock of Jesus. But resting on Jesus isn't always comfortable.

Just because you're a Christian and just because you are following God's will does not mean that it will be comfortable. In reality, the opposite is true. You can almost rest assured that it's going to be uncomfortable. There are no promises that it will be easy. No promises that it will be comfy. No promises that it will be all smooth sailing. But there is a promise that the rock is steady. You can count on it. It's not going anywhere. In a world where everything changes all the time, I certainly need a Rock that won't move.