#1 Tip for avoiding the Swine Flu …. Don’t Do This!!

Thanks once again to Shawna for the tip

And we all know who gave it to him …

Thanks to Shawna for the tip

Several weeks ago I promised that I would be writing a Part 3 called “Beyond the Tent” in my series on Abraham. For some reason I kept struggling with writing it though. It was really odd because I would keep hearing things related to what I believe God told me and so I kept thinking … I gotta get that written but every time I would sit down to write I would get distracted.

At first I started thinking it was just my flesh getting in the way but I now understand why it was happening. God wasn’t done sharing with me everything that He had for me. This past week He showed me more and now I get to share it with you all.

As you all know I have been studying the life of Abraham. He was an awesome man of faith. In Part 2 (“Move”) of this series, I talked about how Abraham moved when God told him to move. He didn’t bother looking at the circumstance or how much work it would entail to accomplish the move. He just did it. He believed in what he saw beyond the tent. God told him in Genesis that the land was his and that not only would he have a large family but he would be the father of a nation. He caught the vision … God’s vision … it wasn’t even his own vision but it was something close to his heart.

We as ministers sometimes get boxed into our own ideals of church and what we can and cannot accomplish. We refuse to use our faith and step out but in reality if the church is ever going to reach the World then we have to look beyond the tent. We have see the vision God has for us. We have to stop looking at the tent walls and start looking out. We have to operate in a new way. Faith is operating outside of your means. If you had the means to do something then it wouldn’t require faith. The vision IS greater than you.

As many of you know I recently moved to Appleton, Wisconsin to partner with a new church plant here called Overflow Church. It wasn’t my decision (not that I am fighting it). God told me to go … and so here I am. I am the children’s pastor here and believe God has given me an awesome vision for the children’s ministry. Everything from a huge stage with awesome props, lighting, puppets, life size mascots and rocking music to a room packed with kids worship and praising God. It’s a vision that would require a children’s ministry staff of 30 or more. It’s a HUGE Vision for a church plant but I am looking beyond the tent. Yeah, I see the tent. I see that we are currently a small church plant with about 10 kids, 2 children’s ministry volunteers and a very very limited budget but I refuse to operate inside the tent. We moving … we are taking territory. Yeah, to start of with I might have to start a little smaller (I mean Abraham didn’t claim all the land right away … He took the vision … STEP BY STEP) Yeah, we are small now but even though we only have 10 kids I am starting by operating like we have 50 kids. When we get to 50 kids … I will be operating like we have 100 kids. Ohhh and when we reach that 100 mark … I will be operating like we have 250 kids. I refuse to stop … I refuse to limit God and what He has planned. Who are we to limit His vision? The unfortunate (sometimes) thing is that He gave us free will. His vision will be accomplished with or without us … have no doubt about that but I would rather be part of it … that to be part of the hindrance. Overflow Church in Appleton, Wisconsin will have a children’s ministry unlike any other children’s ministry in the World. There’s a God given vision … beyond the tent. I refuse to sit inside the tent and look at my boundaries. The vision goes further than the tent.

I believe I heard Pastor Steven Furtick bring this up in one of his appreciation messages once in which he always wanted to operate at the next level. If your ministry only has 20 people involved serve like you have 50. When the 50 come … step it up again. Hold on to the vision and don’t let what’s in the tent distract you.

NOW … hold the phone here. Let me throw caution to the wind. Always make sure you hear from God about your next step before taking it. Sometimes we have the vision but it might not be time to take that next step. God told Abraham when to move. He didn’t just wake up one day and start moving. Sometimes we take steps out of our emotions or flesh. What we have to remember is that when we are the leader giving (and living) the vision it’s not just affecting us … but it’s affecting everyone around us as well.

While I hate giving personal examples I think that I should share something with you that might help you understand what I am talking about. I believe that God has an awesome woman of God for me. I have believed this for years. As a matter of fact, I started praying for my wife when I was 11 and while I have had some awesome relationships over the years I am still single.

Over the last few weeks I have been dealing with a full brunt of that wonderful “loneliness” emotion. You know, the emotion that can’t be filled with friends. Just being real. It would be great to be able to hold my wife and snuggle around a campfire or even just to have someone I could share everything with. All you married people know what I am saying.

The unfortunate thing is that I looked beyond the tent (looking at the vision) with my own emotions. I ended up posting a personals ad on a website only wake up the next day wondering why I posted it. You see … emotions come and go. I allowed a temporary emotion to not only affect myself but all those who read my ad. You see, at the moment, I am not ready for a relationship. I just moved here and still haven’t found a job so I am living with my parents temporarily. Not only does that sound horrible to a female “Unemployed guy who lives with parents … looking for wife” but it also bothers me because when I love someone I want to provide for them in every way I can and I am not at a place I can do that right now. I will be soon once a job opens up and I can move out and get my own place but I just can’t right now. Instead I should be preparing myself for that step rather than actually taking the step.

So, I had to sit down and write a letter to each and every one of those wonderful women that responded to my ad. I had to apologize and explain the situation. I felt horrible. I allowed my emotions to push me to take a step (to find my wife) when it wasn’t the right time and because of that 20+ other people were inconvenienced.

If you move in ministry based on emotion you are not only setting yourself up for stumble but your move will affect everyone else involved. We have to walk in prayer. We have to hear the voice God and take steps only when He tells us to. I encourage you to keep looking beyond the tent and to be prepared for the next step but don’t the take the step without God’s instruction.

One final thing … complacency should never exist in ministry. If you are comfortable with where you are at, then you truly don’t have the vision of God in mind. We have to be thankful for where we are at but we should always be pressing further. Don’t ever stop pressing. Don’t ever stop looking beyond the tent.