A Church Planter has even more Thoughts!

Sorry for missing yesterday's post, I know you just live for my blog. Anyway, continuing on with my thoughts, good or bad here we go:

As I reread my post from Tuesday the Lord hit me upside the head. Why do my thoughts turn negative when people do not respond the way I think they should. (There goes that mental movie again) At the same time I am disappointed, I am also extremely encouraged about the people who are making huge steps of faith to be a part of The Journey. Can I tell you about Jim and Marianne who recently left their church in which they were greatly involved to begin a new chapter in their lives with The Journey. They understand the vision and focus of The Journey and are making major adjustments in their lives to follow the call of Christ! (Sounds like a disciple of Christ to me). How exciting is that!

So why do I focus on the negative? Does the devil make me do it? No. Is it just who I am and I can't do anything about it? I certainly hope not. Is it a choice that I have made to focus on the negative rather than rejoice in the positive? Yep, that is it! It has been my choice.

So here is my deal... Today I will focus on the positive and take the negative to the Lord to handle. If this is a choice then it must be done on a daily basis. So I will do it today and worry about tomorrow, well, tomorrow! Hope you have a great positive day! Remember, it is your choice!

More Personal Thoughts of a Church Planter

Thanks for the comments on yesterday's post to wait on the Lord. There is a song that says "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord" and that seems to be where I am living these days...waiting on the Lord!

These are my thoughts lately about waiting, good or bad here they are. Frankly, I am not good at waiting. We have been here for six full months and in my mind The Journey should be running over with people wanting to invest into the life of a church plant. The reality is that planting a church is hard work! Working with people is a great opportunity, but it is also filled with disappointments. Just when you think some are coming on board with you, they disappear!
My first thought is to cast these people aside and press on, but if I am waiting on the Lord then I must understand that He has a plan for them that may or may not include The Journey.

So here is my thought for the day: what do you do when you wait on the Lord? Am I to just wait at the house and catch up on television, do I continue to build relationship with core group members, with lost, with the community?

The Bible tells us to watch and pray, so waiting is an active sport. Prayer is not a blessing for a meal but a time to engage with the Heavenly Father. I guess this ties in with yesterday's question about fasting and praying.

Help me out here, what do you do to promote an active prayer life rather than passive waiting. Any suggestions are welcomed and needed!

Personal Thoughts of a Church Planter

If you notice the time of this post then you see it is 4am once again and yes, I am awake. It is remarkable to me how many times God seems to wake me up just to spend some time with Him. I used to get back to sleep by reading or watching television, but lately I get up and pray and study the Bible on the topic on my mind.

So what is on my mind this morning? The topic of fasting. I have to be honest with you I do not know much about the subject so I have been looking at Scripture and googling the subject. It is amazing to me that I have been in the ministry for almost 15 years and have not tapped into the area of fasting. Maybe that shows what a comfortable life I have lived that I did not need to dig deeper to get in touch with myself and God.

So why the interest in fasting now? Have I mentioned that I am a church planter without a consistent paycheck living in an apartment trying to lead people to a new way of "church"? All of the above areas are on my mind, but my greatest concern is how do I make a dent into the darkness around me? How do I lead others to see that it is up to believers to be salt and light in the world? How do we get on board with a movement of God to reach the hurting, confused, and angry and lead them into a relationship with Him.

Pretty heavy thoughts for 4am. Here's my overwhelming desire: I want to be used by God to make a difference in the lives of others. Oh, those others are not necessarily church folk - but those who do not acknowledge God right now. How on earth do I do that?

I know I have been rambling, so maybe you can help. What are your resources for fasting? How are you penetrating the darkness? What is God showing you about how to reach into a world separated from the love of God? You hear my thoughts, what are yours?