What Brad is Made For

It has been a while since my last post.  Call it a lack of motivation.  Call it being distracted by the tyranny of the urgent.  Call it whatever you want. 

The good part is that God has brought me back to the wonderful place of being centered on Him.  Not pleasing, or serving, or doing, or performing.  Just Him.  The lyrics of this song pretty much capture where I am right now.

So what brought about this re-centering?  Several things. 

• Special time in the mountains with Jodi and the boys.
• An evening here in Branson with folks gathered around a campfire.
• A great hike with my dogs under some incredible clouds.
• New faces in church today.
• Reminders from several places (yep, including the Bible) that God wants us to be still before him.

Yeah, there are still things to do, projects to finish, and people to serve.  But all of that fades in comparison to simply knowing, living in, and resting in Jesus.  That’s where our focus needs to be.

In that focused rest comes motivation.  In that focused knowing comes peace.  That’s real life.

That’s where I am today.  Whatever tomorrow brings, I know that I can face it as I rest in and move in Jesus. 

How ‘bout you?  Where has your focus been lately?  Have you been worn out, or do you feel rested? 

That’s What I Love About Sunday

Yep, that’s the title of a country song by a guy named Craig Morgan.  For the first time in several years, I really feel what that song is about.

As a Pastor, Sunday is my work day.  There are lots of good things that happen on Sunday as a pastor… preaching from God’s Word, catching up with people, shaking lots of hands.  The funny thing is, that is my job.  It’s my duty to do all of those things.  Those things are all good – I enjoy every part of a pastor’s Sunday.  It’s good for me to remember how everyone else (non-pastors) enjoys and relaxes on Sundays.

We’ve been in Evergreen for the past two Sundays.  On the first Sunday, we just chilled out at the in-law’s house (read between the lines – we skipped church – gasp!).  It was relaxing and refreshing.  It truly was a day of rest.  We went to church this past Sunday. I loved sitting under the trees (it’s an outdoor service) an listening to an encouraging, informative, challenging, uplifting sermon.  The church hosted a big barbecue VBS celebration (with a jumpy castle!) after the service.  Later than afternoon, 2 groups of friends and cousins stopped by to see baby Will.

Relaxation.  Rest.  Family.  Friends.  Fun.  Rejuvenating.

That’s what Sundays should be all the time.

For those of us that faithfully go to church every Sunday, it can often turn into a routine thing of duty.  God wants us to encounter Him and encounter each other in fresh, vivid ways.  He desires us to rest and relax in His presence… hopefully that can be in the presence of other believers as well. My challenge to you is to examine your typical Sunday experience.  Is it a time of duty?  Is it a time of routine predictability?  Or is it a time of refreshing and recharging?

For those of you that don’t go to church on a regular basis, I respect your need to rest. Weeks are long and we need to recharge.  God created us to need rest.  God also created us to need connection with Him and connection with other Christian brothers and sisters in a healty, wonderful way. My challenge to you is to find a church family that is connected to God and to each other.  Find a church home where you can plug in, where you can relax, where you can be yourself.

For those of you in our Branson church family, how can we be more refreshing for each other on Sunday and during the week?  Kind of related to that… where can we have an outdoor service out of the wind and under some trees?  That could be really fun.   Any ideas?