Raising the Bar

What does raising the bar mean when it comes to walking the Christian life? Does it mean that we work harder and be more committed to what we do? Maybe in some cases it might. But I believe that it goes much deeper than the outward actions. Would I love to be involved in a local body that every member gave 100% all the time, gave their tithe no matter what, bought into being here no matter what both Sunday morning AND Sunday night even if they weren't in the limelight of the stage? Absolutely! If every person just gave 5% in a tithe, it would flood our budget with revenue that we have yet to see. But again, there has got to be more to the Christian life than outward actions.

So what is it? Raising the bar when it comes to the Christian life is actually very simple. It is realizing that we will never realize all of God. Apostle Paul challenged us greatly in Philippians 3:12-14 when he made a statement about his one goal. He said "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Two things...this ONE THING I DO and I PRESS TOWARD THE GOAL. When we look at our lives, how many "things" do we find ourselves doing that pull us away from the goal? Are we so overbooked, double-booked, triple-booked in our lives that we are so far removed from the statement "this one thing I do"? The goal...what is the goal? Again, if we stop long enough to look at our lives, are we living a life that is pressing toward the goal of knowing Him?

The first five words in Philippians 3:10 describe the goal of Paul's life..."that I may know Him."

This week's blog is a challenge to us all to "raise the bar" of knowing Him. We can't stay where we are in our relationship with Him. The divorce rate in this country is over 50% and one of the reasons for that is that the relationship is still back at the "I do" stage instead of the "I am doing" stage. Although we know God will not divorce us, it still spurs us on to be men and women who are not the same place today as we were yesterday in our relationship with Jesus.

So the challenge to you and to me is..."will we raise the bar?"

Have a great week!

pb

The week of 19-24 2009-Conversation Material

When I was growing up churches used to have an annual youth Sunday. This Sunday the youth taught all of the adult classes. If the church had a youth that could lead the music, that person did, and sometimes even a youth would preach. In order to get ready for this task of teaching the adult Sunday School classes, the youth had to show up to "training union" where one person would teach the lesson to the youth so they could teach it to the rest of the adults.

I remember the lady that always taught training union. Her name was Mrs. Jennings. I will never forget her opening statement to us one year that I taught. She said and I quote, "I will never apologize that I only have one subject to talk about. His name is Jesus." What I didn't know at the time is how important that statement would come to mean to me.

Lately, two different people have brought this point up to me about how much time conversations between God-loving Christians area about anything besides just wonderful He is. We can find everything under the sun to talk about besides just simply carrying on a conversation about what Jesus is up to in our lives. We can talk about TV shows, and those that know me well know I there are many shows on TV that I love to watch. We can talk about movies, and again those that know me know that I really enjoy going to movies. We can talk about sports (well alright you can talk about sports...I know very little and that is certainly alright with me). On and on we can talk, but what is the purpose?

Scripture in Ephesians 4:29 gives us an insight on what is important to come out of our mouth...that which edifies and builds up one another. Now, is quoting Scripture the only way to do that? Obviously not, but I do know that the joy of the Lord comes on people's face that love the Lord when the conversastion is all about Jesus. We can't help but smile.

So what I am trying to say? I think that 1 Corinthians 10:31 says it best. So whatever we say or do, do all for the glory of God.

Have a great week.

pb

When Leaders Lead

What happens when leaders lead?

• Leaders operate in their God-given gifting
• The followers have a sense of security
• The followers have a sense of unity
• The followers have a sense of direction

Because God has called us to be followers first of Him, that calling requires us to be examples in everything we do and say (1 Corinthians 10:31). But as I have said many times, the Wedgworship team that includes the choir, orchestra, band, drama, and media are called to step out to a higher calling.

Leaders that operate in their God-given gifting not only thrive on being leaders, but truly make a difference in this world as they follow the Lord's leading in their leading.

Followers that are following a leader that is truly leading have a sense of security and know everything is going to work out in the end. And what a sense of unity of having that team be all on the same page and knowing the direction they are to be traveling.

In 2009, we as Wedgworship purpose to lead people to worship through connecting them to Christ through brokenness.

Over the next few weeks, we will talk about the methods of making that happen.

Have a great day. Know that we have great days ahead. We have such a huge calling on us and I know that it is hard to see it in a tangable way sometimes, but when we look back on it at this time in 2010, we will see it.

Till next time...Phil

PS...this blog is not really developed yet as you see, but that will also be a cool thing to watch as we get more stuff on it.