Fervently Zealous

I came across a passage that was a key text in one of my sermons early in my ministry. Back when I was preaching at this church and that church. Here and there and getting a little experience. Meaning I could use the same sermon on numerous occasions. There was one verse in Romans 12 that really jumped out at me all those years ago. (I think I first preached this passage when I was 19.) The funny thing is that I read it in my quiet time this morning and it hit home again. So I thought I would share the thought with you.

Romans 12:11 says, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." As a young preacher I had no knowledge of Greek or near the number of study tools I have today in my office so I did the profound thing to figure out what zeal and fervor are really about. I pulled out Webster's dictionary. I still remember the answer I found. Zeal means enthusiastic diligence. Fervor means zealous. They are synonyms for enthusiastic diligence.

So that became a part of one of my first sermons. We need to be enthusiastically diligent in our service and faith. We do not often combine these 2 thoughts. Enthusiasm means you are excited and ready to do some thing. Diligence refers to working hard through a difficult task. Here is the cool thing. That combination is exactly what serving the Lord should look like. Serving the Lord is a difficult task yet it is exciting. We should be enthusiastically diligent in serving the Lord.

The problem is that too often in the seasons of life that seem more diligent than enthusiastic we give up and quit. Or the times that seem so enthusiastic and exciting we forget to be diligent about it and it somehow loses its excitement and then we do not like the diligence so we give up and quit.

The thing is that our tendency is to do the exact opposite of this verse. I have seen so many people quit serving the Lord because they had lost their zeal, that it makes my heart hurt and my head spin. So often these well intentioned people said they just needed a break so they could restore their zeal, but it never happens. They never get back up and going (or at least EXTREMELY rarely).

You want to know why? The Bible says that you need to do the exact opposite thing. If you want to not lack in zeal then keep your fervor by SERVING THE LORD. Serving the Lord will make you more zealous for the Lord. Why do we think not going after the things of God would make us want to go after the things of God more?

It's like sports. The more you practice…the more you want to play. I have started trying to really run and the further I run…the further I want to go the next time. (My longest yet is a 6 mile run.) The more you are around a person you think you are interested in - the more they interest you. (Or not and you don't marry that person.) But when you are dating someone you would never say, I think the best way for us to get to have a good close relationship would be for me to do nothing else for you for a while. That will really build up our relationship. I am just going to sit around and do nothing and ask you to join me in it. That will give us a great and lovely relationship that is exciting and full of fervor. WHAT??????

Why do we think that would be true with our relationship with God? So if you don't feel very zealous for the Lord, quit telling the Lord you are sitting and waiting and get up and serve him. If you have been hurt some how in serving the Lord or in the church, realize that healing starts with rest, but is really experienced in rehabilitation. You got to get some spiritual exercise.

So I challenge you today to not lose your zeal, but to stay fervent by serving the Lord. I challenge you to find your lost zeal in the only place it can be found…in the fervent service of the Lord.

Cannonball Faith

Some times in our lives we get to hear stories that make us laugh so hard we cry, but at the same time can teach us a very valuable lesson. I heard such a story last week.

Last week I met with a young lady in our church who has accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord and she decided to be baptized. While riding home in the car she called her grandmother, who led her to the Lord, and told her about the baptism. After she got off the phone her little brother – who has a tendency to need to one-up his sister – spoke up.

He said he already has been baptized. His parents asked him, what do you mean? He then told them, the other day as he was at the swimming pool, he ran towards the pool, asked Jesus to come into his life, did a cannonball all the way under water, and when he came to the surface, he had a new life!!!

I love two things about this story. First is the cannonball and second is that he knew he needed to go all the way under. The story is humorous and fun, but it also teaches us a great lesson.

As soon as I read the email with the story I thought of these words. " I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Mark 10:15) Do not misunderstand what I am saying. I do not believe this idea to be the process by which a person has a genuine experience of salvation, but I do think it is a genuine expression of genuine faith. It is a faith that is still not completely informed or understood but a genuine and true all the same.

This child does not yet understand what the Lordship of Christ means and how the death and resurrection of Christ forgives us of our sins, but I told his dad this the other day, "The day he does understand, his faith is ready." Listen to what he says. He asked Jesus to come into his life. He immersed himself. And he had new life.

Do you believe in new life like that? Do you believe that Jesus Christ does exactly what he says he does? He did not have potential for new life or hope for new life – just NEW LIFE! Jesus told us that he came to give us "life and life more abundantly."We, however, must have faith like a child to enter into it.

We must have faith that is all in. All the way. No qualifications or limitations.

Faith like a cannonball. Faith that is committed to going all the way under and coming up having made a huge splash.

So...do you have cannonball faith?

Learning Wheel - Link Six

This one is from a cool lady in our church, Donna Guillot.  Donna has been a Christian for about a year now and she is growing in the Lord in leaps and bounds.  She has a past of many struggles with her health.  She was blogging before I knew her, but some of her blogs since she became a Christ-follower have really inspired me and challenged me.  I went back to an old one for this learning wheel challenge.  In my blog that started all this I told pastors to listen to the people they pastor, too.  Donna is one I have heard from and learned from this year.  http://trials2triumph.blogspot.com/2009/07/true-cost-of-our-freedom.html

Learning Wheel - Link Five

Craig Groeschel is the man.  His book It has really challenged me this year to seek it, to keep it, and to know it is all from God.  His blogs are great thoughts.  The one I am linking is actually the last of a 4 day series on “spiritual fathers.”  If you know me and my ministry and my age you will see why this one challenged me.  I too struggle with the same thing he discusses often in my life.  He had a great practical series on hiring from within or from the outside for churches before this one.  It was great to learn from too.  http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/08/06/are-you-ready-to-be-a-dad/

Learning Wheel - Link Four

Here is a great and challenging word about the Gospel and its place in our Christian lives.  It is written by the mack daddy author of the modern era – John Piper.  If you want something deep go buy a Piper book.  I can barely read an entire book from him because my brain hurts, but I am pumped to have recently heard of his blog.  Dude writes some great stuff.  Read this one and take it in.  It is really good.  (BTW I heard about this one in the morning meeting from Jonathan, too.  The Learning Wheel works.)

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1687_never_let_the_gospel_get_smaller/

Learning Wheel - Link Three

This one is from Sir Todd Blount.  He is a great writer.  The cool part about this one is that it was from one of our morning office meetings I mentioned in The Learning Wheel.  This one had really stuck with me like Joey’s quote in the Jonathan’s blog that came from another morning meeting Joey led.  Do you see how this thing works yet?  The more you are around Godly people and have God-centered conversations or take in thoughts from books, blogs, songs, and other forms of communication that point you to God the more the wheel turns.  So here is a great thoughy for the day from another great dude who learned it from a dude who was great but kind of blew it in the end.  http://toddblount.blogspot.com/2009/08/devils-in-details.html

Learning Wheel - Link Two

This blog entry by Steven Furtick also makes The Learning Wheel point.  I think Steven is a great blogger.  He is not like me at all.  He writes short stuff.  He preaches long and writes short but does both exceptionally well.  Anyway, in this blog he does not even write the part that really hit me.  He knows a man in his church who is great at what he is writing about so he has him write the meat of the blog.  Brilliant use of the The Learning Wheel.  (BTW his whole series of blogs on encouragement, thoughtfulness, and kindness is really good and will probably be fodder for a series at FC in the next year.  I drew some great inspiration from it in just a few short moments of time.)  So here it is…

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/well-timed-words/

Learning Wheel - Link One

Check out this great blog by Jonathan Ickles.  It is a good word from a good dude.  It really shows the concept in my last blog about the “The Learning Wheel.”  Jonathan quotes Joey in this blog entry with a quote that really hit me, too.  What is funny about it is that I was thinking about blogging the same thought but I had not yet done it.  So check it out.  A great word from a great dude who got it from a great dude who got it from somewhere or God.  http://jonathanickles.blogspot.com/2009/08/fisher-of-men.html

The Learning Wheel

I was asked an interesting question yesterday about who I am and what I do. The question was in a great conversation about our church and other things like that (while I was on a fishing trip in which we caught 100 speckled trout by 10 AM.) The question made me think about the difference between what others see and hear in our lives and how we see and hear the same things in our own lives.

This is the question and the explanation of why it caused that thought. The question was simply "Where do all the sermon series and topics come from? Do they come from the Southern Baptist Convention or a book or from other preachers?" The answer is honestly, they come from me. But the other honest answer is they do not come from me. Let me do my best to explain.

First, they come from the Lord. That is not an attempt to sound holy-roller like, but an honest answer about how such things take place. The Lord really does lead when we ask him to. The thing is that seldom in the process or in the speaking is that communicated. It is a background fact. It is simply a part of who I am and what I do that I think most people figure happens, but is difficult to actually speak to it or give it credit week in and week out.

Second, they come from what I observe. I see and hear things in the lives of the people I pastor and God gives me compassion for those people. I ask God for insight in how to teach people in dealing with such issues and truths in their life.

Third, I have some help from within Fellowship. Most of it starts with me, but the creativity is most definitely a team deal. And not just staff. We have great people who can make things work well. The topics are basically from me (although Todd is helping out with that more and more), but the creative elements come from a group of volunteers and staff.

Fourth, I read other people's stuff. I am not a good sermon listener. I know we encourage people to listen to podcasts and I think that can be a great thing, but I stink at it. I have never made it through an entire sermon online with the exception of the ones we showed during the God is series. I simply lose my train of thought in it. I do, however, listen to parts of them. I hear where and how they are coming from on a topic. I love to see the different insights into communication especially when other pastors use creative ways to teach deep truths.

I also read. I read blogs. Not a ton of blogs, but some real good ones. I read books. Not tons of those either. I often do not finish books. If you are not a good writer or if you are saying very little in lots of words, I don't finish your book. (maybe how you feel it about this blog.) I skim it for what is good and I go on. I love Executive Book Summaries because they take the best leadership books and summarize them. Right up my alley. Great books often cause great sermon series. The truth is some times a bad book can spark an even better one.

There are several people that I like to read the blogs of. So this week I am going to put out several blogs that will link you to some good stuff I read this week. A simple blog entry by a pastor will cause a whole train of thought for me that will end up a sermon series at Fellowship. That is how the Lord leads.

Another new source of thought provoking material is the daily office meetings at Fellowship. Every morning at 9:30 someone is responsible for leading a short time together to learn and pray. Todd, Jonathan, and Joey bring some great stuff that really challenges the mind and spirit. I love learning from them.

The other person God uses is you guys. Many times you say things that stick with me and I struggle with them and they challenge me. Wendy is probably the person that God uses the most in my life to do this. She asks great questions. She challenges my thinking on things and often when I am thinking through why I think what I think I learn where it comes from and I think "someone else could really learn from that." Some times you will make a comment in a conversation and it sticks in my mind and spirit and later becomes a sermon or series, but most often I forget who said it by the time I have some thoughts ready to use on it. So you get no credit, my apologies.

The last thing I will mention is the one God most often uses. I get messages to preach from the Word during my personal times of studying the Word. I read the Bible on my own simply for my own spiritual growth on a daily basis. This is separate from sermon prep, life group lesson writing, or Vine writing time. This is just God and me time. It is during these moments he speaks his strongest truths into my life. It has been during my own personal walk through the Bible this year that God started showing me the characteristics in Biblical leaders that are the recipe for change in Changelicious. We will have another series coming up on Psalms that is not a coincidence that I am currently reading through Psalms during my Bible reading plan from www.biblegateway.com.

So that is how that works. It is like a wheel. It goes around and around. I hope that God is using what I have to say like that in the life of someone else. That is life. That is the learning wheel. I hope your life is like that. I hope you are constantly turning and constantly learning. Never stop rolling. Never quit moving forward. And learn to enjoy everything new you learn – even if it hurts.

The thing about who we are and what we say is really a result of who we hear and what we take in. That process, however, is seldom mentioned. I hope this is insightful for someone. I encourage you, if you are another pastor that for some reason reads my blog, to make sure you are taking in enough stuff. Take in the Word of God, spend time with God, but also open your ears and eyes and hear what other believers are saying. Listen to the people you pastor, too. Not just to hear where they are weak and need instruction but to the wisdoms and insights God gives them. Your people probably say some of the wisest things you have ever heard if you will just stop long enough to listen. You never know where a simple blog you read today might take your church next year.

So, Fellowship, lets keep on rolling. Coming soon Maximum Security, Anti, Honest to God, The Arrival, The Total Temple Project, and a series out of Acts that has yet to be named. Who can say exactly where it came from but I am most excited about seeing where it takes us.

The Work of Workmanship

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 has some powerful truth in it. (I, however, encourage you to read Eph. 2:1-10 to get the context.) This passage has been an important part of my studies recently as I have led our church through a study of the book of Ephesians during our eGrace sermon series. The reason this passage is so important to me is because it is so difficult for me. It is not difficult to understand, but it is the ongoing struggle of my walk with Christ. In this blog I am going to share with you one of my greatest spiritual struggles and hope you will it will help you grow.

"We are God's workmanship" means that we are his handiwork or his craftsmanship. We are literally the work of God. God has worked in us and on us to create us and cause us to be who we are right now. This is the product of God's grace in our life. We are saved through faith and the living out of that salvation is still God's grace.

The problem is that I too often get consumed with the "good works, which God prepared in advance." My struggle is quite different from many peoples but some of you can relate. My struggle is that I fail to find my value in God's workmanship before I find my value in my good works. The spiritual issue that this causes is simple to explain but difficult to overcome.

The reality of works and workmanship is that a person (even me) can not do any of the works that God prepared for them without first being his workmanship. The other side of that coin is that you can never become God's workmanship through your works. You will never be able to do what God prepared for you nor will you ever become what God intended you to become through you work. That is why salvation is by grace and not works.

My struggle with this has been long and difficult. I so often find my identity wrapped up in what I do for Christ that I fail to realize that really all I am is what he has done for me. The last 15 years of my life has been so entwined with my identity in ministry that I have too often failed to find my identity in Christ. My own self-image and self-confidence has been so connected to what I did for God that I have too often failed to find it in what he has done in me and for me.

Over the past year I have found great growth in this area, but I am discovering it is a true spiritual battle in my life. I preached on spiritual warfare this week out of Ephesians 6:10-20 and the armor of God. The truth I taught was that each object of armor is actually an object of God's grace. It is his truth…his righteousness…his Gospel…his salvation…his faith…and his word we wear. It is his work that we are as it is his work that we do.

I share this with you to challenge you. I challenge you to be real about who you and who you are not. You are his workmanship before you are his worker. But at the same time you must realize that he uses the works he has prepared for you to chisel you and to paint upon the canvas of your life his masterpiece. Do not think that your role is to sit and be sculpted for no purpose. It is in the midst of doing the greatest work of your life in the Kingdom of God that the King of Kings will do his greatest work on your life.

There is a balance to this truth. I have committed to fighting the spiritual battle necessary to find God's truth in all this. I have decided to enjoy the work he has done and is doing. I might not be exactly who I should be, but that is the whole point of grace. I have also decided to never stop seeking the work he has prepared for me. I have decided to the do the work of workmanship. It is in that combination that God receives the glory due His name in our lives.

So stand up and be counted in the Kingdom sculptures of grace. Move forward artwork of the Master. And allow the tapping of his hammer and the tapestry of your life to be the image of God in the eyes of the world around you as you serve him faithfully in your family, your daily life, and His Church.