diversity

I finally got home tonight, 24 hours after I was suppose to arrive. My flight got delayed, delayed, canceled, overnight stay, delayed, and then finally I got home. I spent a lot of time in the airport and saw a lot of different people...some cool, some young, some old, and some very strange.

I walked away with an appreciation for the creative genius of God. So many people who were so very different. Yet in all that diversity we all have something in common. We all want to matter, we all want to make a difference, we all want to connect with something bigger than we are. I believe that is the fingerprint of God that God leaves in each of us...calling us back to him.

We are all sooooo different and soooo diverse (spend 24 hours in an airport and you will be amazed), but we all have these same desires. Random chance? I don't think so.

life is a journey

One thing that I am learning is that God is more focused on our journey and we are all too focused on our destination. We always want answers to all our questions, we want to know what the purpose of life is right now, and where it is going. I am not saying those are not valid questions, but we have to understand God's priorities for us or we will be frustrated with his response.

As you read the scripture you get the sense that God is more focused on getting his creation (us) to look for him, experience him, and follow him in whatever life brings. He constantly encouraged us to trust him whatever comes. The thought is that our job is not to always know the destination of life, but to view life as a journey with God, and seek to please him in the daily journey.

So today I am going to do my best to move forward, but to also look for God in all the good and bad that life throws at me.

I never thought I would ever say this, but Miley Cyrus may be right with the song The Climb:

"Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!"

Matthew 6:34
34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Ever been bragged on?

As I got out of the car here at the Shreveport airport, my sister grabbed me and said, "I just wanted to say that your children were great this weekend. They were great to have around and always had manners." Now, I know my children and I know that they have their moments when I wonder if they are human. Any good things in them I attribute to my wife, Jana is an awesome mom.

It was good, however, to have someone else see something in them to brag about. My sister wanted me to know that she saw in them something that would make me proud as a dad. I sat here thinking that if someone was in conversation with God and said "God, let me tell you about Jerry..," what would they say? Is there anything in my character, values, speech, lifestyle that they would think that God would need to know because it would make him smile. Would they talk about how I loved like he loved, gave liked he gave, served like he served...or would they find it hard to find something good to say? Or maybe, all they could say is that I was a "good" guy.

Think for a minute, in the way you live the one life that God has given you, what in it would make Him smile.

A blog for pastors from a pastor

Hey Pastor,
If you know or have heard me you know that I am in no way conventional. I have a passion to take the timeless truth in the scripture and communicate in a way that captures people's attention. I love that fact that people who question if there is a God come to Piedmont because we make them think. We have done some things that traditional church people would think is outrageous. I think that Piedmont is the "coolest" church in Middle Georgia.

However, there is a new thing that many pastors are doing. They are using words like damn, hell, and crap in their message. They are doing it in the name of being cool, relevant, and hip. My response is to say shut-up. If your content is so shallow that you have to use that kind of language, then you have nothing to say.

I love creativity, but that is not creativity...that is stupidity. So stop trying to be cool, start just being you, fall in love with Christ, and be more concerned with having something to say then how you say it.

Ok, all those who are not pastors can begin reading now

Be different

Ok, I have been all into facebook and faded from the blogging scene. However, I have been missing it, and so I am back.

I was reading an article while sitting in the airport today and a statement caught my eye. A young teen was quoted about his small town and he said, "They may be Christian people but when they get out of church it makes no difference." What a sad statement, but I would bet that most of you can understand this statement...maybe even agree with the kid.

Somewhere along the way Christianity became a belief system and no longer a movement. It became something you did, and not something that invaded everything about you. It became more about keeping God happy, and less about following His lead. It turned more academic, and less kinetic.

I think a big part of the shift centers around a change in church. Today we expect the church to grow us spiritually. In many people's mind, it is the church's responsibility to "grow me," the result is I do not have to take ownership of my own relationship with God. So I just go to church, leave, and do life with little difference from those who were not at church.

Reality is, I am responsible for my spiritual health. Church is a part, but so is reading the scripture on my own, fighting to forgive those I do not want to forgive, stepping out in faith with a lot of fear, watching my words, giving a percentage of my income even in these kinds of times, seeking God's leadership, etc. That is what will make me different.

need

Have you ever had something that seemed so basic and simple trouble you. Today I was thinking about all the potential that we are seeing realized at Piedmont Church, and all that we could do. In all that I found myself saying, "If only we could get..., If only we could develop..., if only we could...." I then got up from my desk to get a refill of Diet Coke and I said out loud, "God you know our need."

I said it half as a prayer and half in frustration. All of a sudden that simple phrase hit me like a ton of bricks...He DOES know our needs. He really does. He knows what we are capable of and what we need to take
PC (Piedmont Church) to the next level. He knows PC's needs better than we do. I am to work hard to cast vision, challenge everyone through scripture to never remain the same, to create systems that result in momentum, and to push everyone to live beyond themselves by serving and inviting people to come to PC with them. But our needs, our real needs, he knows them and I will ask in confidence that he will supply them.

I walk back into my office with a great sense of confidence in my walk.

He knows your need...he really does.

Passion and Wisdom

Today I listen to someone and afterwards I found myself thinking that passion without wisdom is very dangerous. Passion is a good thing and it causes people to want to follow you, it causes you to be committed to a plan or cause, and keeps you moving forward. However, passion alone is not healthy. Passion without wisdom is like a race car with the throttle wide open but without a steering wheel. It can create havoc.

Also, having a "good heart" is not a substitute for wisdom. I will hear people talk about a decision someone made and say that their heart was right, good, pure, or sincere. As if that means that anything they do or decide is right and good. I know a lot of people that have done the wrong thing fully believing it was the right thing. What they lacked was not passion or a "right heart," what they lacked was wisdom.

I guess this is why God challenges us to pray for wisdom. He tells us to ask for it and he will give it liberally.

So today ask God to give you wisdom and I believe he will begin to take you through things that will do just that.