Purple Mountains
I spent the last two days in Colorado Springs. When I got off the plane and into my rental car I couldn't stop praying and praising God for a half hour. The mountains were absolutely majestic. I got up early Tuesday morning and the rising sun painted the mountains a pinkish-purplish hue. No wonder those very mountains inspired "America the Beautiful"--"purple mountain majesty."
Do people who live there actually get used to them? I think we tend to take our surroundings for granted. Washingtonians take the monuments for granted. Coloradians take the mountains for granted. Minnesotans take lakes for granted. For some reason it's more enchanting seeing something you usually don't see or going someplace you usually don't go. So I was praising God because of the mountains but I think most people who look there stopped double-takes a long time ago! Such is human nature. I spent six hours with pastors and church planters today. It was one of those days where you feel exhausted and energized at the end of it. My day started at 4 AM and it'll end past midnight, but I love being with pastors who are in the fray. I shared part of Sunday's message about Saul and David. We pastors are an insecure breed and I couldn't help but think about how Saul was all bent out of shape because David had better numbers. I think that is how many pastors feel. They play the numbers game or comparison game and because they only pastor hundreds and someone else pastors thousands or tens of thousands they feel insecure or insignificant or unimportant. I felt like I was speaking a language every pastor can understand. I have a feeling that this message will be one I share for years to come in pastoral circles. I presented along with Lee McFarland, the pastor of Radiant Church in Surprise, Arizona. He shared his story and it was pretty powerful. He worked for Microsoft before ministry. He went from $160,000 and 16,000 shares (at that point worth $180/share) at Microsoft to a small church making $26,000. He committed occupational suicide just like I committed academic suicide when I left the University of Chicago. You’ve got to be willing to “die to self”—your goals, your dreams, your plans. But God will give you bigger and better goals and dreams and plans. What really impacted me was the fact that Lee prayed that God would you give him one person for every share of stock he gave up! Here was my takeaway: the more you’re willing to give up the more God can use you. If you’re willing to give up everything there is no limit to how much God can use you. Abraham was willing to sacrifice the promise—His own Son. If you ever get to that point there is nothing God can’t do through you. They had 147 people at their first service in 1997. Last Easter they had 12,000 and average 4,000 on Sundays. God might do a "stock split" and give him more than 16,000!
Do people who live there actually get used to them? I think we tend to take our surroundings for granted. Washingtonians take the monuments for granted. Coloradians take the mountains for granted. Minnesotans take lakes for granted. For some reason it's more enchanting seeing something you usually don't see or going someplace you usually don't go. So I was praising God because of the mountains but I think most people who look there stopped double-takes a long time ago! Such is human nature. I spent six hours with pastors and church planters today. It was one of those days where you feel exhausted and energized at the end of it. My day started at 4 AM and it'll end past midnight, but I love being with pastors who are in the fray. I shared part of Sunday's message about Saul and David. We pastors are an insecure breed and I couldn't help but think about how Saul was all bent out of shape because David had better numbers. I think that is how many pastors feel. They play the numbers game or comparison game and because they only pastor hundreds and someone else pastors thousands or tens of thousands they feel insecure or insignificant or unimportant. I felt like I was speaking a language every pastor can understand. I have a feeling that this message will be one I share for years to come in pastoral circles. I presented along with Lee McFarland, the pastor of Radiant Church in Surprise, Arizona. He shared his story and it was pretty powerful. He worked for Microsoft before ministry. He went from $160,000 and 16,000 shares (at that point worth $180/share) at Microsoft to a small church making $26,000. He committed occupational suicide just like I committed academic suicide when I left the University of Chicago. You’ve got to be willing to “die to self”—your goals, your dreams, your plans. But God will give you bigger and better goals and dreams and plans. What really impacted me was the fact that Lee prayed that God would you give him one person for every share of stock he gave up! Here was my takeaway: the more you’re willing to give up the more God can use you. If you’re willing to give up everything there is no limit to how much God can use you. Abraham was willing to sacrifice the promise—His own Son. If you ever get to that point there is nothing God can’t do through you. They had 147 people at their first service in 1997. Last Easter they had 12,000 and average 4,000 on Sundays. God might do a "stock split" and give him more than 16,000!
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