Pursuit

Thomas a Kempis the great 14th-15th century writer said this: 'nothing will ever bring you rest, except being closely united to Jesus.'

We live in a time when people are applauded for their pursuits. Men and women alike are applauded for pursuing a sports championships. There is great applause when someone pursues the goal of running a marathon or climbing a mountian, or paying off all their debt or ....

Let us as parents and leaders applaud those who 110% pursue Christ and find their rest in Him and in Him alone.

Chick-fil-a

I was in Chick-fil-a the other day. And here follows a free advertisement for them.

I was once again blown away be the incredibly positive attitude that was exhibited in all the employees. As I was being served, I felt like I was the only person in the restaurant, even though it was teeming with people at the time. That environment, combined with great food, made me want to come back, and in fact, I did just two days later.

This made me think:

What is the environment that people walk in to when they walk in to our churches?

What kind of 'food' are they getting while they are in our churches?

Does the environment, combined with the great 'food' that is in our churches make people (Followers of Christ and Non-Followers of Christ alike) want to come back?

As leaders we can answer that question through self-evaluation and observation.

SELF OBSERVATION: Would I want to go to the church that I serve at if I were not a paid staff person?

OBSERVATION: Are people that visit coming back? Are people that have been regular attenders or even members excited to be there or are they leaving?

Static on the phone line

Just a thought that I would like to share. Recently we have been having phone issues at our home. Our calls have been really hard to hear and there has been static and buzzing in the line. I have called our phone company two times to come and repair the line. The first time it did not work. I am happy to report though that it at least appears that it is working the second time.

I talked with the repair guy about what the issue was with the line. He said that it was the 'root line' that was coming into our house. To remedy the problem, he unconnected the bad line and reconnected our line to a different line.

Here is the thought, how many times are we experiencing 'static' and 'buzz' on our 'life lines?' We search and search only to not find the problem.

Maybe the problem is the 'root line' that we are connected to. Maybe we are connected to Christ, but we are experiencing interference because we are connected to other bad lines as well.

Maybe we need to unhook from the interference and be completely connected to Christ.

is listening to a story on npr that says that some toxic assets are not as toxic as some think. Hum?

is enjoying reading time at pre-school!

just put ping on my cell. Now you can know my every going on! Lucky for you!

is home from the Y. Miscellaneous for the rest of the day!