* You start to dislike going to church rather than anticipating it…

* Your relationship with God is an obligation rather than a connection

* Your relationship with your spouse/kids begins to suck

* You’re increasingly critical and bitter…usually about everything and everyone

* You wonder “what’s the point”?

* You’re constantly tired instead of inspired

* You think you can change anything and everything (ha)

* You think people are against you and your ideas

* You begin to dislike people and their feedback

* You wish you didn’t work in the “church” realm

* You lose your passion

Long list. Don’t know if you are feeling any of these symptoms, but I have at some point. Remember that w/out a regular connection with God, all the other stuff is pointless. I love the quote from Bill Hybels…. “The work of God was destroying the work of God in me”.

Help us God, never to get to that point.

God has been working on me for a while. I have been wrestling with something for quite some time…

Let me start by saying this…

1.) I work at a church

2.) Many people think that this should be the “standard” for someone always being on their Christian “A” game

3.) Many times I don’t care about other people’s needs. I feel burned out, tired, or just plain annoyed. I want to go through my day without having to be concerned about others.

The problem is that God is checking my heart.

People are what matter to God the most.

There is someone in my life right now that I am fairly confident doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus. When this person talks with me every once in a while, I start to get annoyed. Not because he isn’t a nice guy or that he has done something to offend me, but because I don’t want to be bothered. He talks quite a bit, and to be honest…there are times where I don’t want to interact with others. I just want to retreat to my home and be with those that are most precious to me.

Here’s the catch….

I regularly pray that God would “open up doors of opportunity for me to be able to impact others lives with the message of Jesus”.

I have been closing the doors that God has opened for me. For some reason I have taken them for granted. Explaining it away that I will have another opportunity at another time. A time that’s better for my schedule. One that fits into my selfish needs. That is not God’s heart.

How many times do we cry out to God in the midst of our disasters and desire Him to rescue us immediately? We want answers….we want help….and God is good and merciful enough to send it. I wonder how it makes Him feel when He is sending us to help those in need, and we are consistently refusing to lay our own wants at His feet. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you shouldn’t prioritize certain areas of your life or have zero boundaries. Check your attitudes. Check your heart.

Are you becoming more and more of a critic that stands on the sideline while everyone else gets into the game? I know how that feels. I’ve been there many times. I’ve been a critic, a whiner, a selfish jerk….and I am in full time ministry!

God is re-shaping my heart for people.

Once we get settled in with the new baby, I plan on having this couple over to our house. I plan on purposely developing a relationship that I have been reluctant to initiate. I plan on re-opening doors that I have closed.

What doors do you need to re-open?

This article made me angry. I’m not sure what we as the “church” are sometimes thinking. This article presents the “Top 20 Youth Pastors”. How does someone actually rank that? Why are we even comparing ourselves that closely to one another?

That is a scary place.

I know that for many of us that have been exposed to the church “culture” for many years, it’s hard not to compare yourself to someone else. Feeling that you may be inadequate, under-qualified, or flat out not good enough. We get involved in this malicious cycle of comparison that many times leads to deeper insecurities and ineffectiveness. If I could only speak like so and so….if I only had this degree….if I had that marriage….then my life and my ministry would be different.

Wrong-o

I believe that Jesus never intended for us to look at one another in deep comparison so that we would further an altered mindset. Jesus created you and He wants you to be who you are. If you are always trying to fill in the blanks with someone else’s talent then you are disrespecting God. You are saying, “God, you didn’t do a good enough job and quite frankly, I don’t know what You were thinking”. You are abandoning your uniqueness. You are cheating those around you. You are faking it.

Many times I have been “wow’d” by an incredible message, event, concert, video, atmosphere, ect, and I walk away from the event feeling empty. Wondering, “God, why I am not at that place?” Wondering why God hasn’t given me that talent. Believe me…don’t buy into that.

That is a lie.

God needs you. He needs your fingerprint. Your design.

If you’re on the merry-go-round of comparison, get off as fast as you can. Stop looking at everyone else’s talent, stop wondering why your church isn’t yet rolling in the digits, and fix your eyes on what God has given you. Men and women in the Bible that were successful weren’t necessarily the most talented or gifted. They were however, willing and obedient. Willing to do and be whatever God had created them for.

Do yourself a favor, don’t start comparing. And please, don’t start a list.

“We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.”
- John Stott

While running this morning all I could think about was finishing my final “set” of stairs. Halfway into my stair workout the thought of getting to the “last” step was the only thing on my mind. Why is “the last” typically what your mind races to when you are striving to accomplish a goal? If I can just climb the last stair…if I just finish one last bite…if I just pass the last test….I have to tell that relative what I’m thinking before their last breath. You get the point. I started thinking and the “last” is usually on my mind quite a bit. Finish the project…..finish spending my time with God….

I realized that when you constantly look to the “end” you may be missing out on what really counts….all the hard work in the middle. Maybe it’s just because I know that when I get near the “last”, a new “start” is right around the corner.