I left the grocery store after I ran through an argument in my head. How inconsiderate….Don’t they know that people were waiting on them. It was inconvenient.

Where was the grace in my attitude?

As a pastor, I do everything I can to talk up my church and make sure people know how loving we are… Our church is one that anyone can come and experience grace. I always hope people will show up on a Sunday and sense this fact. As I walked back to my car, I began to think about this concept of grace. Is grace something that is only confined to Sunday morning? Is it a gimmick that can sell a new comer on yet another worship community?

The fact is I, more than anyone else, tend to compartmentalize the Gospel to a truth that is most applicable in church. BUT, when I am out in the real world….what actions can I show that back up the words that I preach?

I am convinced that we, as believers, need portable grace. If this message that we believe is actually true…then it should affect our life more than just an hour on Sunday morning… Christianity was born from a grace we did not earn or deserve. It was given to us without merit…so why are we so stingy to give it? Reflect on this today.

Don’t invite people to church if you are not willing to be the church in front of people….

Well, last night my son decided to let us know he was awake and unhappy 2 times, and these were times in which we were in the deepest of sleep. The doctor had warned us about this time in his life, and told us that he would be going through a growth spurt and wake up as much as when he was a newborn. At the time we mentally prepared for this, but he has slept through the night for so long that he had easily led us into a false sense of security.

His cries in the middle of the night last night were a combination of discomfort and pain. As parents, we can handle the crying that comes with wanting to be picked up, not wanting to nap, or even when he thinks he is hungry but is just really wanting comfort. The cries that came with pain, however, are ones that well up emotions in us that blend sadness and desperation. No one likes to hear their child in pain.

The fact is, while we hate to hear this as parents; to grow he needs to go through it. There is nothing we can do other than comfort him during this time. In order for his body to mature, and for his bones to become healthy he will have to experience this for a temporary time.

In the same way, we go through things in life on a regular basis that can be compared to spiritual growth spurts. Trials and heartaches are events that we must go through in order to grow. Even though it is painful, we are promised that God desires to comfort us. We can emerge on the other side with a new sense of purpose and a tesimony that will help someone else through their growth spurt.

Be someone’s comfort today….

We all have these things in our lives. Those spots or pieces of furniture that are being held together by multiple layers of duct tape…

There are also instances in which we try to temporarily fix various spiritual issues in our lives. We say, “Oh Lord, just help me get through today…”, or maybe you avoid that dreaded conversation…or an email you have been meaning to send. Having these mentalities will creep up on a person and the consequences can be treacherous. The times in which you are stewing, and festering with anger and bitterness are times in which the enemy can sneak in undetected.

God wants us to live full and abundant lives. In order to do this, we must be willing to allow Him to fix that which is broken. Not with a temporary fix, but mending with the lasting expertise of a master craftsman.

We can not continue living from one makeshift fix to the other….It is vital that we are made whole. This is how life was designed to be lived.

So, we get into this cycle of simply surviving and we find ourselves spiritually heading in circles just like a race at the Motor Speedway. All we do is race, and strain, and exert only to end up where we started…

What if we were to have a mission in life? A mission that involved saving people from the everyday… the routine. The Bible indicates the fact that God gives each life purpose. Initiating a relationship with the God of the universe will bring about adventure, chaos, danger, and intrigue. Our mission will be to become closer to Him, and each day is filled with new possiblities. People will look at you differently. Your work will have new meaning and direction. There will finally be a reason to get up in the morning….

Don’t get me wrong….it is not easy. But then again, living the routine is easy…

Throughout this exhausting day, I also tend to take the time for a nap on a nearby padded accommodation. At the time, this seems like a good idea. The next day, however, I immerge from my coma lethargic and feeling as if I need to be carried whereever I go. I also find myself getting cranky, and not feeling right. I think this story is true for many people.

Many churches today have this same ailment when dealing with the spiritual condition of their people. Some will sit in the seats each Sunday, and desire to be spiritually fed. They would rather sit in these seats and keep “eating” until they feel lethargic and unwilling to move. A few symptoms of this sickness is apathy regarding the work of the church, and constant criticism. These will both lead to burnout of the Christian. The fact is if believers do nothing to exercise their gifts and what they are being fed, then preaching at a group of stoic Christians that have lost their joy will do no one any good.

When churches become spiritually obese, then you hear phrases like “we need to start worrying about the people here before we start reaching out.” Or, “why do we need this new ministry…we tried it 10 years ago and it failed…” Church…..it is time to get off our rumps and start doing what God has called us to do. We will get more nourishment out of feeding others than we will just sitting in the seats every Sunday.

Within the last few days, my prayer life has had some frustration laced in the standard petitions. You see, my wife and I chose not to find out the gender of the baby, so when I talk to her belly, I am not sure what name to address it by. The fact is I wanted to find out the gender, and my wife didn’t……so we didn’t. I am not bitter though.

I so desperately want to meet my child, and hold him/her and go about the business of figuring out how to keep it alive  until I can yell at it for coming home past curfew. I long to lead this kid to know Jesus, and make it a challenge to discipline when the going gets tough.

I know what I should be learning….God’s timing is perfect…..Wait for the blessing….blah blah blah. Reflecting on these truths often doesn’t help, because I want my baby here NOW. I suppose, in that regard, practicing what I preach may come in handy.

Do you think God longs in the same way about humanity? God so desperately wants to be close to His children again, and He wants us to know His name. God is anxiously waiting the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. The difference is….He is willing to be patient.

I envision a church that simply seeks to follow Jesus where He goes. Also, speaking the truth in love, and not shying away from the message of scripture.