growth. I am very preoccupied with the future. I dream much about what could and should be BUT, BUT, BUT... I fear the day that efforts toward good systems, newly learned leadership principles, fancy technology, social networking, slick communication, overall progress etc. overshadow or replace the pursuit and love for the raw, unfiltered power of God. KEEP READING--I will explain.I am speaking this Sunday, 10:45am at East Baptist Church, here in Charlotte. My first full time job in ministry was at this church. In fact I was there when God began to blow up my vision and passion for Charlotte
. I didn't know it then, but that vision would ultimately be named RIDGE CHURCH!! Anyway, I am speaking for what is called a "Homecoming service". If you didn't grow up in or haven't experience baptist world in the south then you have no idea what that is. Well, neither do I, really. I do know that it is a reunion of sorts for people to reconnect with individuals that have attended in the past and maybe moved away. And it's a time to cast vision for those that are new. But most of all I know that there is always good food after the
service!So I went over to East Baptist Church this week after a lunch appointment in down town Charlotte, and tooled around in my old stomping grounds for a little while. That's where my observations from the first paragraph in this post came from. I didn't know much back then, and I hadn't experienced much, but we had God. I prayed a lot, and did everything with a raw passion. I made a lot of mistakes, but we saw a lot of life change. They were powerful days because everything we did only had one logical explanation...GOD did it! It was exciting.
...so I walked away from my visit, challenged and inspired all over again to combine the raw passion and total dependence of those early years, with the knowledge, precision, and skills that have come in the la
st decade. It will be explosive!!Ridge Church-- I know you don't have church this Sunday morning, so come worship with us at East Baptist Church at 10:45PM. Directions HERE. See you there.
**By the way this picture represents all that is good about America! Funny thing that the best and worst about our country are so closely connected:-)
1 comment:
that was MONEY man. been really inspiring to me to hear you talk about this lately. I think it's easy for us to do as we get "smarter", more "talented", and learn better systems... thanks for reminding me of this.
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