Being Real

I could use your prayers.
NO, I'm not going anywhere...I'm not having marital problems or kid problems...I'm not in trouble with the law...

And NO, I'm not writing this to get pats on the back or be told how I'm doing...so please don't!

I just feel like I'm hitting my head against a wall in the church and in my ministry. There has been this sense that something is just about to break - it's coming - it's almost here...and still we're waiting. I feel like some of us are expecting God to do the next big thing, and there are many others standing/sitting on the sidelines just watching to see what happens. There's a BIG difference.
When you expect something, you look for it. When you watch to see what happens, you're usually waiting for the crash! (Anyone ever watch NASCAR?)

We sing a song at times in worship titled "Come Expecting Jesus" by Don Moen.

I come expecting Jesus to meet me in this place.
I come expecting to receive His mercy and His grace.
When I eat the bread and drink the wine, it will be a holy moment in time.
I come expecting Jesus to meet me in this place.

Folks, that's my prayer EVERY Sunday as we get ready for worship. I want us all to encounter this Great, Awesome God of ours and let Him change our lives miraculously! I say it and I mean it with all I am that I don't want us to leave the same as we came in. I WANT GOD TO WRECK OUR LIVES IN A GOOD WAY!

But I'm not so sure many of us - in FBC Pocatello and beyond - are really expecting anything. Is it a faith issue? Is it a communication issue? Is it a leadership issue? Is it a heart issue?

It gets very frustrating at times when we hear God telling us to do something and there's this buzz, this excitement at first of people saying YES! But when it comes to crunch time, people let us down. Actually, I believe that people let God down.

So, I'm asking for your prayers - wisdom as I direct my leaders; clear communication from all of the staff and leaders about what's coming; a rising up of people who will say, "I will go, serve and be Christ to this community/school/office/home."
Pray also that I would stand strong against discouragement. That is a tool that Satan likes to use to tell me how much of a failure I am or how much of a disappointment I've been to the church.
I know it's a lie...I just need to be reminded at times.

By the way, I'll be here in Post Falls with some of the staff at the annual Pastor's Retreat and will be posting some key points from the sessions. Should be great and the timing couldn't be better.

Hmmmm...wonder who set that up?