Well, last night was a doozey of a metting. I agree with Bro. Billy's take on it all (see his "over my head" blog). So many ideas were tossed around, so many possibilities, and so much money!!!! I wanted to just scream aagghhhhg! I know we all felt that way though. I got home, and like everyone else at the meeting, I was pretty tired, but wired at the same time from the high octane meeting. So, I started reading Bill Hybel's book-"Corageous Leadership." Bro. Billy let me borrow it. I am only on the first chapter, and man, I can tell this is going to be a blessing! I was personally reminded in reading, that through the building meetings and stress and unsure postion we are at in regard to the details of how to proceed, there is one thing we can be sure of. God wants to use the church. The church is a living, powerful force, if it is used right. THE CHURCH IS NOT A BUILDING! NO MATTER HOW NICE AND BEATUIFUL IT IS, OR HOW SMALL AND PLAIN IT IS, THAT'S NOT THE CHURCH! The church is the specific group of believers in which the Holy Spirit of God indwells! The same Spirit who came on the early believers in power and added daily to their number, those who were being saved! 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Sama'ria and to the end of the earth." That word power in the original Greek is "Dunamis." That is where we get our english word, dynamite. That means that believers are like walking sticks of dynamite that contain the power and love of God. That is why if we use what is at our disposal and let the Holy Spirit have all of us, then this world will see the explosion of the love of Jesus poured over them, and here, in the small town of Covington, we could acutally see first hand what the First Century church saw in Acts 2:46-47: 2:46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. So please pray for the leadership at FBC. We desperately need the mind of Christ and His desires and plans to be our own. Most importantly, please pray that we don't lose the focus that should be in usion with the above verses. Our passion must be people and showing them the transforming power of Jesus and His love. It is very easy to get our focus on what kind of building to use and where to do it, and how much money we need. While that is important to consider, we must not lose sight of our primary purpose, which is to be God's dynamite here on earth, and to light our fuse and watch Him explode into the lives around us! Pray with and for us! May Acts 2:46-47 be true of FBC in 2007! Chris. |