5 Things For Which I Am Thankful

1. Friends and Family

I am so thankful for my family and friends. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful, loving wife and children as well as wonderful parents and siblings. I am also thankful for the numerous friends that are a part of my life. Friends that are there to encourage, support, and offer guidance in all aspects of my life. And even when they tell me the things I don’t like to hear, their love will always be cherished.

2. Food and Home

Every time I go Nicaragua, I am sharply reminded of how blessed we are to have food to eat and a roof over our heads. There are so many people around the world today that go hungry. They don’t have the basic necessities of life that we so often take for granted. I am thankful for the food God has provided to us and the home in which we live.

3. Freedom to Worship

I think we casually regard the freedom we have to worship to God. In other countries, the freedoms we enjoy could cost you your life. We have been blessed by Almighty God to live in a country where we have the freedom to express our faith.

4. Freedom From Sin

I am thankful that Jesus Christ died on the cross in order to take away our sin.

5. Our Church

So many people suffer through their religious obligation every weekend. Their services are dry. Their people are cold and indifferent. And they practice a form of religion without the dynamic relationship that comes from knowing Christ. I am so grateful to God for Mountain View. I am overwhelmed at what He is doing at our church and where He is leading us. Better things are yet to come.

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Stay Committed To God's Dream

I believe one of the reasons we never reach the dream God has for our lives is because we simply quit before the dream is realized. Some of us get weary, discouraged, give up, and settle for second best. Others of us don’t have the commitment level it takes to rise above mediocrity. Many people struggle with the qualities of commitment and faithfulness. That’s because we have lost the ideal of servanthood. There have been many times when I wanted to quit. Times when I wanted to throw my hands up and say, "That's it, I'm out of here!" Times when I've asked myself, "Why should I stay the course. It all seems to be going down the tubes!" But I didn't quit. Why? Because one day I will stand before One who didn't quit. He went the distance. He was committed all the way to the cross. Jesus is the epitome of a servant. He said that He came to this world not to be served but to serve. And He completed the task that was put before Him by Father God. Faithful servants reach their dreams, not because they are somehow more special than others, but because they fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises and complete their commitments. Unfortunately, in our culture today, most folks don’t know the true meaning of commitment. We casually commit to marriage, then we break our marriage vows. We casually commit to loans, then we don't pay our bills. We make commitments to give, then we casually withhold what we have promised. We make commitments to serve, then break our commitments without any reason and without hesitation. You can see it in churches all over the world. Sunday arrives and the staff and leadership are left scrambling to improvise because those who committed to serve didn’t show up, weren’t prepared, showed up late, and in many cases didn’t even call to say they wouldn’t be there. People like that usually flounder through life living from day to day, yet never realizing the dream that God has for their life. Like I said in an earlier post, “I believe God wants to do some incredible things in the lives of His people.” He has great and wonderous dreams for His children. But because of a lack of faithfulness and commitment on our part, these dreams do not come to pass.

So, how committed are you? How committed are you to the dream God has for your life? Are you trustworthy? Can others count on you to be faithful to your word? Remember, this life is a test. What does the test of life say about your commitment level to go all out for Jesus and press forward to the goal that lies ahead? God will not trust us in the great things until we are faithful in the small things. And by the way, you might retire from your job one day, but you never retire from a life of serving. Are your dreams being inhibited by your lack of servanthood, commitment, and faithfulness? Only you know. Like one fellow said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” God has more in store for us if we will remain faithful, committed, and serve the Lord with gladness. Don’t give up. Keep pressing onwards, not turning to the right or to the left. Stay committed to God's dream.

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Naysayers

Lynn and I went to the movie, “The Blind Side” tonight. It’s a true story about a young man – Michael Oher - who overcame incredible odds to achieve his dreams. He was a homeless boy, living on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee, seemingly destined to amount to nothing. Fortunately, a well-to-do Christian family gave him a home, paid for him to attend a Christian school, and helped him exceed all expectations. He was an enormous fellow, with an innate talent for football. The high school he attended had an engraved Bible verse over the entrance from Matthew 19:26 – "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." That verse came true in Michael Oher’s life. Not only did he graduate from high school, he also graduated from Old Miss and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens NFL team in the first round. It wasn’t an easy journey, however. Most of his teachers believed that he would not succeed. His friends thought he wouldn't make it. Even his coach had doubts. But against all odds, with the love and encouragement of his new found family he ignored the naysayers and overcame the odds.

I’ve often wondered what the people of God could accomplish if we refused to listen to the “naysayers” and instead listened to the “now-sayers”. I believe that God created us for greatness. He gave us an innate desire to do amazing things in our lifetimes. But along the way, there are plenty of people who will do everything in their power to discourage us and disprove this face. They are the ones who have the “gift of discouragement”. And they have made themselves the self-appointed naysayers who discourage greatness and say it can’t be done. But don’t listen to them. God gives us challenges both great and small to shape us into the wonders we were designed to be and lead us to accomplish the plan and purpose for which He created us. I believe this is true both for the individual as well as for His church. When you look at the economy and see the rising unemployment rate and instability of the dollar, it’s easy to take the safe route instead of trusting in the power and provision of our Savior and walking in faitht. But God has already blazed the trail that lies before us. Regardless of what we face, we will not travel through uncharted territory. Nor will we be alone. We can rest in the security of a sovereign God who promises that “He will keep us from stumbling” and even though things seem possible for man, nothing is impossible for Him. So no matter what your circumstances may be right now, listen to the voice of God and ignore the naysayers. He will sustain you and keep you. The Bible says, “He remains faithful...” You can trust in Him. Don't look at the size of your problems. Look at the size of your God.

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Opportunity

I believe that God gives us opportunities all the time - opportunities to be blessed, opportunities to be a blessing, opportunities to bring glory to Him, and opportunites to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. In order for us to experience these opportunities, however, we have to learn to walk in faith. I was reading Jeremiah this morning and this verse stuck out like a neon sign - There they will exclaim, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise; he has missed his opportunity.' Jeremiah 46:17

That verse made me wonder: "How many opportunities have I missed in life?" I'm sure there are many. Now, not every wish we might have is a God-appointed opportunity. But alot of times He gives us opportunities that we miss. Why do we do that? I did a quick search of the blogs I follow and found this posting about Jeremiah 46 by Perry Noble, a fellow pastor in Anderson, SC. It spoke truth to me in a very loud way. I hope it will speak to you as well.

Pharaoh was a leader…he had potential…but for some reason he MISSED his opportunity.

It wasn’t that the opportunity wasn’t there…it was that he missed it. AND…the same thing CAN happen to us if we are not careful.

I began thinking about why we miss opportunities…here are a few reasons.

#1 – Laziness - Opportunities require action…period. Some people get so wrapped up in the way things are that they never even consider additional opportunities because doing so would require effort. (See Jeremiah 48:10!)

#2 – Fear - God never gives us the complete picture…He never says, “Do this and this…and if you do then I will do this and this and you will live happily ever after.” He reveals Himself one step at a time…and demands that we have the faith to follow Him wherever He leads us. (See Hebrews 11:6)

#3 – Doubt – There are people reading this blog right now who have serious doubts that God could ever use you to do something great for His name…and you’re WRONG! Gideon wrestled with doubt (see Judges 6) until he realized that God didn’t see him as he was…but rather as who HE had created him to be!

#4 – Pride – There are some people that are so busy looking for the great and awesome opportunities that they miss the “little things” that God places in front of them every day because to acknowledge them would be somehow demeaning because, after all, certain “little things” are beneath people who are pursuing a path of greatness, right? Uh…the only real problem with that is Jesus…the GREATEST of all time…who, in His pursuit to be completely obedient took time to wash the feet of the men that were going to deny and betray Him. (See John 13) If God can’t trust us with the small things…then how in the world could He ever trust us with “big” things?

#5 – Unawareness - We lose sight of WHO HE IS (Isaiah saw Him and was ruined–see Isaiah 6:1-8). We lose sight of WHAT HE CAN DO! He healed the blind, put an Interstate highway through the Red Sea, made the lame walk and BROUGHT THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE. We read those stories in the Scriptures but many time fail to understand…HE’S THE SAME GOD!!! HE HAS THE SAME POWER!!! HE IS NOT LIMITED! HE WANTS THE CHURCH TO THRIVE MORE THAN WE DO!!! It’s not that He’s NOT wanting to do great things…but rather than He can’t find men and women who believe in Him enough to attempt what HE is leading them to do!!!

I am sure there are other reasons…those are just a few that hit me.

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Virtual Church Dream

According to USA Today, one of the fastest growing and most popular places to grow a church is on the internet. I observed this phenomenon just recently when I joined Newspring Church's online services live on Sunday evening. They have taken the idea of having an internet congregation to the ultimate in my opinion. And Newspring is not the only church that is exploiting the benefits of the internet. . A growing number of congregations are creating Internet offshoots that go far beyond streaming weekly services. Like Newspring, the sites are fully interactive with a dedicated Internet pastor on staff, live chat in an online "lobby," Bible study, 1-on-1 prayer through instant messaging and even sharing communion. (Viewers use their own bread and wine or juice.) On one site, viewers can click on a tab during worship to accept Christ as their Savior. Flamingo Road Church, based in Cooper City, Fla., twice conducted long-distance baptisms through the Internet. The move online is forcing Christians to re-examine their idea of church. It's a complex discussion involving theology, tradition and cultural expectations of how Christians should worship and relate. Even developers of Internet church sites disagree over how far they should go. The sites share the same basic approach: contemporary-style worship music and a sermon either broadcast live or recorded at the in-person weekend service that is quickly mixed with live or recorded greetings expressly for online viewers. The phenomenon is so new that no one has an exact count of interactive online campuses. The Leadership Network has found at least 40 successful and growing churches online. God has given us a wonderful tool to spread the Good News of Christ's love. What an incredible dream and a huge possibility for Mountain View. One of the "huge" dreams I have for Mountain View is that one day we will reach the 35 countries that download our sermons with a live interactive worship experience. What dreams has God given to you?

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It's Time to Dream Again

President Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

When we were children, all of us had huge dreams. Remember some of the dreams you had? I dreamed of playing college football. I dreamed of being a hero and saving people from dangerous situations. I dreamed of being a cowboy in the wild, wild, west. Some of you may have dreamed of being an astronaut and going to the moon, or hitting that game winning homerun in the World Series. One of my good friends dreamed of becoming a racecar driver. Regardless of your dream, every one of us, when we were young, were dreamers. No dream was too big. The world hadn’t gotten to us yet to show us that we couldn’t possibly achieve our dreams. But what did we do? Over the years we started to let our dreams die. People began to tell us that we couldn’t do the things we wanted. They said, “You’re out of your mind. What you’re dreaming is impossible. Responsible people don’t chase after dreams. Settle down. Be sensible. Be content.” But you know what I say about that? Poppy cock! That’s a bunch of hooey! It’s time to stop listening to the naysayers and dare to dream again. It all boils down to pursuing the dreams God has for us and trusting Him to see us through. It’s a matter of faith. You may have a dream that you can’t see how it could ever come true. But you have to look past right now and look to the potential of the dream. And besides, if our dreams only consisted of what we could do, we wouldn’t have to trust God. So my challenge for all of MVC is this: “It’s time to dream again”. It’s time to dream big dreams!!! God sized dreams!!! I truly believe God wants to rock our world if we will just trust Him!!! What do you need to trust Him for today? Reignite the childhood spark that caused you to dream.

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On the way home

Well folks, I've had a great time hunting in Illinois this past week. What a beautiful place! Richard Padgett and I stayed with a friend of mine that I haven't seen in 28 years - Steve Pless. He and his wife, Denise treated us better than any hunting lodge I have ever visited. The accomodations, especially the food, were outstanding. And for sure, the friendship was absolutely incomparable. Steve and I spent our evenings playing guitar around the fireplace like we did many years ago. It's amazing how you can reconnect with some friends and it's like you pick up right where you left off years before.

The hunting was great as well. We saw several deer. Lots of does, several small bucks and a few monsters - 5 of which were HUGE! We were bowhunting however, and the deer have to come to within 40 yards for a shot. All the big ones stayed at a distance of 80 to 100 yards. My friend Steve took a 50 yard shot at a giant 10 pointer but missed. Oh well, that's why they call it hunting and not killing. I look forward to returning to Illinois next year. Hopefully we will be there during the rut. That's when the bucks lose their minds chasing after does. I believe there's a verse in the Bible that says something like - "My son, do not become like the stag that foolishly chases after the doe and falls prey to the hunter's spear." Lots of wisdom in that verse. Too many of us foolishly chase after money, fame, women, men, career, status and image and neglect our relationship with the Lord. When that happens, we make ourselves vulnerable prey for the one who is "like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

We hit the road early today - 4:30 am. And we're looking forward to seeing the NC mountains on the horizon. Other places are great to visit, but there is no place like home. Hope you all have a great Sunday. I know that Carson is going to knock a home run with the sermon. He is preaching on - "I believe in God, but I trust in money." I hope you will all be there.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week!!! In His service with you, kb.

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How To Know If Your Church Is On The Move

So how do you know if the church is headed in the right direction or not? I think there are several characteristics of the church that's on the move. Some of them are:

• People in the church are more interested in reaching outside the walls than in keeping those already inside the walls comfortable.
• When you hear fewer excuses and more solutions. And people are ready to pitch in, roll their sleeves up and fix the problems.
• When the church doesn’t use the sagging economy as an excuse for not attempting “big” things for God.
• The focus of the church is the Kingdom of God, not the church building and grounds.
• When the church stops settling for things that naturally happen and start relying on the supernatural.
• When the church is more concerned with what God thinks than with what people think.
• When there is a sense of urgency in reaching the lost in our communities.
• When the Word of God is not watered down and made politically correct. The truth is preached without apology and lives are being changed.
• The church is more proactive in approaching problems, ministry opportunities, etc. rather than reactive to situation that seem to sneak up on us.
• The church is willing to take huge steps of faith because they believe and trust in the provision and sustaining power of God.
• When the church doesn’t depend solely on the pastor to minister to everybody and everyone realizes they have a role in the body and a ministry to fulfill.
• When the leaders and staff will go the extra mile in leading and serving regardless of how inconvenient it may be.

Hey folks, we’re not there totally yet, but we’re arriving. Like I said Monday, I am excited beyond description about what I believe God is getting ready to do here. Let’s pursue the will of the Father with passion, confidence, and dream big dreams for the glory of God!!!

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About Sunday

WOW! What an incredible Sunday. I feel sorry for the churches that meet on Sundays and practice a form of religion but do not experience the power of the Holy Spirit! Thank you God for your tremendous blessings of grace to our family of faith. A few of my observations about Sunday:

• The worship band and praise team continue to take us higher and higher. Thank you all for your willingness to selflessly serve our Lord and lead us into the presence of God.
• The new song, "This Is Our God", was outstanding. What a great theme song for this new series "Practical Atheism".
• I never get tired of people coming to know Jesus. I also get fired up about folks being shaken out of their complacency and stepping across the line to a greater level of dedication.
• Folks, I want you to know that I fully believe that God wants to rock our world in an incredible way this year if we will allow Him to do so. I see the vision coming together and I'm totally fired up!
• My prayer is that God will ruin us over these next four weeks. That none of us will be satisfied with "meandering thru the maze of mediocrity".
• I challenge you to continually evaluate your life. Do you have any traits that are characteristic of a Practical Atheist? Do you say that you believe in God but live as though He doesn't exist.
• Next week we're going to get even more intense as we look at the subject, "I believe in God, but I don't want to go overboard." Just how fanatical are you about Jesus? Are you on-fire? Are you ice-cold? Are you room temperature?
• I believe that many of us wonder why our lives are so messed up. We question why God doesn't "come thru" for us and show up when we ask Him and do what we request. The truth is, we're looking to God as our 'fix-it man' and not as our Lord. God wants to do great and mighty things in our lives, but His greatest desire is for us to be in a living, vibrant, serving, growing relationship with Him.
• I would like for us to start praying about God increasing our tent. I don't know how, where, when or what, but I believe God intends for us to grow beyond our current location. Please continue to give generously to our building fund and let's be ready when God says "GO".

I want you all to know that I love you more and more with each passing day. The blessings Lynn and I receive from all of you on a weekly basis are overwhelming at times. Let's endeavor to pursue with passion the mission and vision God has given us as a faith family. And as we reach Western North Carolina with the message of Christ's grace and hope, we will continue to make Jesus famous, one life at a time.

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