Creative Inspiration

Over the past month, THE ONE has inspired many people to intentionally connect with those around them for the purpose of encouragement and discipleship. Many people have experienced spiritual revival and have been challenged to break out of their shell. Andy Frey is one of those.

I got an email last night where Andy shared that he had been struggling with finding his "ONE." He writes,

At first I was really excited about "The One" but I quickly became discouraged. The problem is, I'm not really the outgoing person a lot of the other people in the group are, and I really began to struggle with the whole concept.

I prayed and prayed and prayed, knowing that I was in that group for a reason, I just couldn't figure out how I fit in. So after a week or two, the answer came to me.

Andy's answer is http://www.LifeWalkTV.com. Andy says, "This is my 'ONE'."

I love this! I love that THE ONE kind of "woke something up" in Andy to use his gifts and unique personality to impact the people around him, and potentially, thousands more. I love this kind of creativity.

Have you ever come to a chapter in the Bible where it list all the names of people and wondered why should I read this? Today I finished the book of Romans and chapter 16 has such a list. As we read these there is much to be learned if we take the time to carefully read and ask God to give us understanding. Fortunately pull gives us a little more meat then the old testament list.

For example vs. 5 where Epenetus is mentus. Do you know who he is? The first convert to Christ in Asia! Can you imagin being the first convert to Christ for a whole continent? Many of us are the first for our family and have the burden to and privilage to reach others. Epenetus probably had a bigger target audience on him mind.

But vs. 3 we hear of Priscilla & Aquila again and notice what is said about them "They risk their lives for me." Their lives! What have you risk for the cause of the Gospel? I was once threatened with jail while in Greece on my first mission trip. But I believe that i have become civilized in my faith and do not risk anything. We are afraid to risk our "reputation", freinds or something else that is of little eternal value in order to share the live changing power of the gospel to others.

Ask God to give you the Barbarian style of faith and to live with an eternal perspective today!

Discipleship

I have taken the One call and used it to connect with a neighbor and begin a discipleship process. We will be going through some tried and true materials call the 10 Basic Steps which Bill Bright developed a long time ago.

No one ever knows where to start in the discipleship process and I beleive that the best place is with a solid foundation. To often we assume folks in the church know certian Biblical truths and principles when in reality they do not. Going through some core materials may seem simplistic they are great spiritual reminders for me and the foundation for spiritual growth for my disciple.

I know that others are at different points in determining what they will be doing but always remember to start with the foundation of Biblical truth and go from there. This way you are both on the same page and can then determine where to go.

Authentic Relationships

Dear Friends,
As I sat with you, listening to Pastor Jeff share his vision for the ONE, I was certain that someone had tapped into my brain, downloaded my “relationship building” file, and then invited me to it’s public broadcast! For many months now, God has been speaking to me on the subjects of relationships and authenticity. Admittedly, I have a lot of what I refer to as Sunday morning, “hey, how’s it going” friends. Now, God is leading me to build more meaningful, authentic relationships – especially with my brothers and sisters at LHC. In addition to being a passionate participant in the ONE campaign, I am also implementing changes to the LHC Sports Ministry to center our focus on developing relationships within LHC. Rather than entering teams into a competitive league, this year LHC will field teams in a men’s recreational church softball league. Again, the emphasis is on having fun and building authentic relationships – no talent required! I encourage the men participating in ONE to invite your ONE to sign up with you. It will provide a platform for you and your ONE to hang out and have some fun one night each week. Come see me at the registration table over the next two Sundays.

Wayne Marshall

Was I the one?

I work in a three-story office building. Since I'm so quiet and shy -- not -- nearly everyone on my floor is a 'friend' on some level. A couple years ago, there was a lady down the hall that I smiled and said Hi to nearly every day. We would chat in the hall or on bathroom breaks when we ran into each other. I felt drawn to her and enjoyed our casual friendship at work.

After a year or so, she asked if she could come over to my house on Saturday. I was excited because she had such a sweet spirit, I was glad to take our friendship to another level. She came over and we had coffee. She wanted to let me know she was moving back to New Jersey. She said she had been here a year and never really made friends. She said that she didn't make friends easily and my daily smiles in the hall and our little chats were all that got her through the past year.

I started crying because God had burdened my heart for this dear woman and I didn't step out to answer the call. She started crying and said, No its not like that, she just felt very seriously about letting me know what a blessing she thought I had been to her. She said while it may seem like a small thing to me that it was a huge thing to her. While she may not hold me accountable for being a better friend, God and I had a lot of work to do over this!

I'm not as good as I'd like to be about going deeper in friendships, I'm better than I was. God is still working on me though. This was all brought back to me this past week. The day following our Are You the One meeting, the person I felt God was leading me to create an intentional friendship with told me she was moving on to another job and leaving my building. It felt like God was saying, "Now or Never Helen?" I answered, "Now, God!" I felt like Samuel, "Speak God, I'm listening."

She and I had talked about kids, life and had coffee together for nearly three years. We always talked about getting together but never got around to it. So the day after our meeting, God gave me the perfect opening.

My daily Bible reading on Wednesday was about Jehoram. He was a selfish king of Judah who lived like the old kings of Israel - selfishly. After 8 years as king, he still had no friends. When he died, no one cared. The Bible says "to no ones regret". We are being called out now to walk with God, to stop living selfishly. Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." We are to reach out, get out of our comfort zone. He doesn't want us stuck in a Church, Home, and Work Rut.

I hope you are taking this charge seriously, don't be like I was. Don't wait until you "get around to it". Get after it people!

I'm praying for you! ~Helen :)

Let Love Rule

So, I'm taking a little time today to study for the 12:3 Conspiracy. We are in week eight of the studies and I'm looking forward to teaching Romans 12:9 on Sunday. I thought it was cool that the 12:3 Conspiracy was starting Romans 12:9 (Let love be genuine...) on the same day we are starting our introduction to the 40 Days of Love at LHC. Anyway, I'm reflecting on something that I haven't done in a while and wanted to share it with you.

In his brilliant little book, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer has a chapter entitled, The Day with Others that talks about starting your day in reflection of Christ's sacrifice and readings in Scripture, especially the psalms. Then, Bonhoeffer tells us how to end our day in the fellowship of others. Bonhoeffer writes, "The early morning belongs to Christ...the break of light remembers the morning on which death and sin lay prostrate in defeat and new life and salvation were given to mankind." This is how we should start every morning if we are to take on the task of spending the day with others.

Spending the day with others, huh, I've never thought of it that way. Most of our lives are lived in routine. We are around the same people, almost everyday. The same people at work, church, the gym, Starbucks, and most routinely, our families. Do we genuinely think of the "routines" as "others?" I think there is a way to start. It's called practicing the one anothers.

Practicing the "one anothers" from Scripture starts by knowing what they are. Here's a list:

John 13:34
Love one another

Rom. 12:10
Be devoted to one another

Rom. 12:16
Live in harmony with one another

Rom. 15:7
Accept one another

Gal. 5:13
Serve one another in love

Eph. 4:2
Put up with one another

Eph. 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another

Col. 3:16
Teach and admonish one another

Heb. 3:13
Encourage one another daily

1 Pet. 4:9
Offer hospitality to one another

Ok, so it's easy. First, memorize the list so you can recall the one's you need at any given circumstance. However, while you're memorizing them, you could practice at least one a day. Let's say you choose "devoted to one another." What does the word "devoted" mean? According to Webster's it means: to give up or appropriate to or concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, cause, etc. When's the last time you spent time with others like that?

It would be cool to get some comments on this blog and to hear how this "practice of the one anothers" is going for you. Any ideas of how you are doing this? Any stories that could encourage someone else? Let me hear from you.

Pulling Back, Disconnecting or Whatever You Want to Call It

You never know what a day will bring. It's funny how you can wake up, go about your day, and then, something out of blue happens and you think, didn't see that one coming. I had one of those days on Wednesday. Just when I was wrapping up my day and headed home—BAM! A phone call that changed everything! It changed the whole trajectory of my day, my countenance, emotions—everything.

After the phone call, I got into a mindset that usually happens after I get news like that. I kind of go into this "disconnection" mode where I begin pulling back from people and responsibilities. Have you been there? I think we all "disengage" from time to time, but, sometimes I wonder if that's really healthy? I know all of us go through emotional ups and downs, but what I'm talking about here is cutting loose, hiding out, abdicating our relationships because we are "knocked for a loop." I'm not sure how healthy it is. Any thoughts?

I guess the danger is that we tend to "disappear" or "go dark", as one of my friends puts it, when we face some kind of stress or relational disaster. I think that's when we need the people around us to recognize when and how we start fading. I have had plenty of people recognized my countenance looking a little down the last couple of days, however, I have tried to blow it off as "I'm tired" or "I'm good, no worries." Funny, how we have gotten in the habit of offering these trite expressions. We might as well be saying, "No thanks, I don't need your encouragement or prayers today. Maybe next time when I'm in a better mood." This can no longer be. I know God has surrounded me with people who care. I'm not "putting them out" by sharing how my stresses are bogging me down. Most of these people are my friends, I like to call them "my cushion."

Maybe it's time for some of us to re-engage. Some of us have been disengaged so long we can't remember the last time we allowed ourselves to be encouraged by another. We end up playing a victim and think we deserve a time-out. Well, in a lot of cases we do deserve a time-out, but we don't deserve an off-season. We don't deserve to just quit the game. A time-out is fine, but we must gather our emotions, change our mindset and re-engage with 100% assurance that we can make it. Why? Because, you may need to be the cushion in someone else's life today. You never know what a day will bring.

Below are Scriptures that include the phrase "one another" that might encourage you.

John 13:34
Love one another

Rom. 12:10
Be devoted to one another

Rom. 12:16
Live in harmony with one another

Rom. 15:7
Accept one another

Gal. 5:13
Serve one another in love

Eph. 4:2
Put up with one another

Eph. 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another

Col. 3:16
Teach and admonish one another

Heb. 3:13
Encourage one another daily

1 Pet. 4:9
Offer hospitality to one another