Read a great quote in a missionary’s newsletter.

Alva Lee Taylor said, “God wants you living out of His pocket, not yours.”

That’s hard to do, but God’s pocket is a lot deeper than mine and His never runs empty.

Last night , I was reading Isaiah 25 in the Maxwell Leadership Bible.  John Maxwell had an interesting note concerning followers and leaders.  I began to evaluate where I was and thought “everyone needs to see where they are on this list”:

FOLLOWERS
1.  See the here and now.
2.  Driven by the atmosphere of today.
3.  Limited perspective on their abilities.
4.  Can be diverted by today’s losses.
5.  Key word: immediate.

LEADERS
1.  See the ultimate goals and potential.
2.  Driven by their vision for tomorrow.
3.  Larger perspective on everyone’s abilities.
4.  Stays on track by focusing on the goal.
5.  Key word: ultimate.

So, are you a leader or a follower?  Is there some areas you need to work on?

Maxwell also said, “Good leaders never shrink from dealing with the realities of the here and now, no matter how depressing they might be.  Yet they never lose sight of the big picture and what the ultimate future looks like.”

We must look to the future as we build our church today!

This week at our July 4th Potluck Dinner we will be having some great fun.  We will be having a watermelon eating contest as well as a seed-spitting contest.  The last seed-spitting contest I was in, I won first place with a 27 foot shot.  I don’t know how I did it but I am seeking to win the championship again this year. 

As a part of our day we will also be having a fundraiser unlike any other fundraiser we have ever had.  This year we are having a STICKY fundraiser to raise money for our KID’s ZONE for BGMC and Mission of Hope orphanage in Haiti.  There are three buckets and three people involved in this event. Our children’s pastor, youth pastor and me.  The goal is to give as much money as possible in one of the buckets for each of the participants.  At the end of the day the one with the most money is saturated with pancake syrup.

This fundraiser was “dreamed up” by one of our children’s workers who remembered a sermon I preached 4 years ago on fear.  She capitalized on my greatest fear, “Being Sticky”.  In the sermon I shared that my worst nightmare was to be locked in the room with a dozen 3 year olds eating pancakes.  I hate stickiness.  I will not even take Hannah out of her high chair when she is eating pancakes.  So, based off of this sermon, one of our dear ladies thought we could raise money by making me sticky.

If you would like to give toward this fundraiser, please send a check to the church office or bring it Friday, with one of the 3 names (Brian – Children’s, James – Youth or Danny – Senior Pastor).  Our address is PO Box 427, Nederland, Texas 77627.  Please help me out by giving the money to the other guys.

This last month we have been going through our series entitled, “My Last Series”.  We have looked at My Last Sermon, My Last Wish, My Las Month and this morning’s My Last Prayer.

If I only had one last prayer, what would I pray?  I thought of many things, “I would pray for my family, my healing, my lost loved ones” but none of those seemed to fit.  I finally concluded that I would pray for the most powerful force in the world. Unity.  “Lord, make us one!”

There is power in unity and if the church of Jesus Christ would focus on building His Kingdom together, look out, great things would be done.  We looked at the results of unity:

1.  Revival happens when the church is unified.

2. Miracles happen when the church is unified.

3. The sky is the limit when the church is unified.

God blesses when we are unified in our purpose.  What is our purpose?  Loving God, Learning Together and Living Servanthood.  If we are busy focusing on living these out, friends, we will see God move.

As I was taking a walk last night I was reminded of a passage of Scripture I had read earlier this week.  It is interesting how we can read something and down the road God will remind us of it. 

In Deuteronomy 29:14-15, ““I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, 15 but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is not here with us today.”

I was struck with the way that God speaks to Moses about the concern for future generations.  In essence, He is saying that this covenant is not just for you, but for those who are not even here.  This is often contrary to the way we view church.  I come so that I can have MY needs met.  I come so I can enjoy the worship.  I come so that I can hear a sermon that will help ME.  Often our view of church is only seen through our own eyes.  What is in it for ME?

The tragedy of this position is that it does little to ensure that the church will carry on beyond our lifespan.  If I want a church that is all about me, then how will those who have yet to come like it?  In a day where we cater to every one’s needs in the church, including the pastor, what are we doing to prepare for future generations?  Will the church exist once we are gone?

In the Assemblies of God, we find an aging church.  The average minister is around 55-57 years old.  Our congregations are graying.  In another 50 years what will we be like? 

We have to move beyond the thought of building a church that meets the needs of existing church members and prepare to build a church that reaches every generation.  How much are we investing in youth?  How much are we investing in children?  How much are we investing in young adults? How much are we investing in senior adults?  Every generation is valuable!  We must create a church that is willing to allow each generation the freedom to worship.  We must tailor our church to ensure that after the senior saints are gone to be with the Lord, we still have young people to continue in their place.

It is selfish for us to not worry about the next generation.  God told Moses, this covenant is not just for you.  It is for those who are yet to come.  Let us build a church that impacts young and old alike.  Let us build a church that will still be strong in another hundred years.  Let us build a church!

Last night, as I was driving past one of Nederland’s Middle Schools, I noticed a banner hanging inside the foyer that read, “Failure is not an option.”  I understand the intention behind that statement is probably saying that nothing is impossible if we try, however, I think the banner is a little negative.  Maybe I took it wrong but when we communicate failure as not being an option it hinders us from trying things that we do not “think” we can succeed at.

The other day I was sharing with someone a dream that I have that is a little impossible to attain on my own.  As they read this dream of mine they instantly began to tell me that I was crazy.  When I defended myself, they said simply, “I am just trying to keep you from failing.”  I replied that I am not afraid of failure as long as I try great things for God.  I would rather fail taking risks than I would always playing it safe. 

When we teach our kids that failure is not an option it sets them up for safeguarding against it.  Somehow in our American culture we have made success the main prize, however, failure is healthy.  I learn the most from my failures.  When I try something that doesn’t work, it doesn’t make me stop trying. It only causes me to learn from my mistakes so that I might try something else and see if I can succeed.  The problem with our mindset is that we seem to cater to the successful without ever looking at the mass amount of failed ventures they have incurred.  It is said of author John Creasy that he was rejected 563 times before he was accepted for a contract.  What if he would have given up as a failure at 562.

Do not be afraid to fail at trying something great!  If you fail start over, try again.

This morning  I had a special meeting with the police (not the music group).  It was around 5:45am as I was on my way to Men’s Breakfast, when I realized I was driving too fast.  I have always found it interesting that the only time I realize I am speeding is when I pass a police car.  I rapidly slowed to the speed limit but it was too late.  Lights were already flashing.

I pulled over and went through the normal procedure.  I got a ticket for speeding.  A ticket that was not wanted but was deserved.  There are always the normal excuses and emotions when you see the red and blue flashing lights.  I tend to rationalize the speeding.  My excuses this morning included, “That should be more than a 30 mile an hour limit there,”  “there were other cars going just as fast”.  But the truth is, I was speeding and I deserved the ticket.

I always seem to get convicted when I try to make excuses here.  In fact, sometimes I don’t like it when God reminds me of the Scriptures.  As I was stewing over this fine I would have to pay, not to mention the unhappiness this causes Sonya, God reminded me of Paul’s writing to the Romans. “Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.” Romans 13:1-3 The Message Bible

What would it be like if there were no police or ruling authorities?  People would be lawless with no accountability.  God uses these servants of our communities as ministers that keep law and order.  We should be thankful for them even if it requires us to pay a large sum of money for wrong-doing.  Take time today to pray for our police department and military.

Yesterday we were in week three of “My Last Series”.  We talked about My Last Month, what I would do if I had only one month to live.  It took me a while to narrow down what I would do but I felt like time was the most critical element.  I talked about Valuing Time and spending time in three areas.

1.  I would spend time with God.  Jesus spent time with God in the last hours of His life.

2.  I would spend time with my family.  In the last month of life I would spend time affirming my wife and investing in my kids. 

3.  I would spend time with certain others.  I would take time to reconcile with those I am at odds with.  I would also take some time to witness to my lost loved ones.

The sad thing is that often we wait until the end of our life to make these adjustments.  Our premise Sunday was to start NOW!  To start spending time with God, now.  To spend more time with our families, now.  To reconcile with others, now.  Do not wait until you only have one month to live, do it now!

This has been an eye-opening series for me.  I have never considered these things before.  It has been good for me, I hope it has been good for those who have listened.  Check back later this week for the sermon audio.

You can listen to last Sunday’s message “My Last Wish” here.