Hard to believe we’ve passed the 30 day mark! When I first started the Bible in 90 Days Challenge, it was alway my intent to test drive the process with a view to doing the whole church challenge. As a part of doing the whole church challenge, I am going to redo the blog. I will write all-new articles on my second time through. In addition, I’ve considered something else that I think might benefit some people.
I want to do a podcast.
I’ve been wanting to do one for some time now, and this seems like a good way to start. So, my question is, would you listen? If you think that what I’ve had to say (write) so far is valuable, would you like to hear an audio version? To start off, I’d probably just record what I write in my articles. However, I hope to develop it into something more so that it flows with the blog, but isn’t just the blog. I’m thinking about a short podcast here, 5-10 minutes maybe. Maybe less. So, would you listen?
Almost 40 years ago, Jerry Falwell had a dream. He dreamed of a school that would be the Notre Dame of the evangelical world. He dreamed of a school, right there in his hometown of Lynchburg, that would have the highest Christian moral standards while still offering excellent academics and competing in NCAA sports. The news reporters at his first press conference laughed aloud. Undaunted, he continued to explain that this university would one day soar to 25,000 students. Despite the nay-sayers, he started that school in 1971. When I enrolled, some 4-5,000 students were on campus and Jerry preached at convocation on a regular basis. Today, over 11,000 students are on campus, and Jerry Jr. is the new Chancellor. The school is well on the way of realizing that original goal of 25,000 students on campus, and already offers a wide array of excellent programs, has competitive sports teams, and still upholds a high moral standard. On May 15, 2007 Jerry died suddenly, in his office, before seeing his full dream come to fruition.
Several hundred years ago, King David had a dream (1 Chronicles 28-29). He dreamed of building a magnificent Temple to house the Ark of God. God gave him detailed plans right down to the blueprints and materials list. Yet, at some point, God told him it wasn’t for him to build. I can’t discern whether the detailed plans came after this revelation that David would not build the Temple, or before. Either way, God placed a specific vision in David’s mind about how the Temple would look and even what it was to be made of.
David made ample provision. He stockpiled the gold, sliver, bronze, iron, and wood that would be necessary to accomplish the task. He gathered the elders of Israel and told them of the plans for the Temple, and instructed them to support young Solomon in this great task. He told them about his vision for the construction, the plans God had given him by His Spirit’s instruction, and about all the provisions being laid aside for the right time.
He was faithful in the waiting.
David could have reacted differently. He could have gotten upset that God had not chosen him for this great task. He could have been very upset that his son was going to do it instead. But David agreed with the word of the Lord spoken through Nathan, and submitted himself to God’s plan. Then he went one further. He did just about everything but build the Temple. Instead of growing bitter against his son, Solomon, he helped him on his way. He shared the vision with Solomon, passing it on to the next generation and preparing them for the task he knew he would never do.
How do we react when things don’t move as fast as we’d like? Are we faithful in the waiting? I hear about guys in my seminary all the time who aren’t serving in, or sometimes even attending a local church! (By the way, this is against the seminary’s policy.) They are too busy “preparing for the ministry!” How absurd! What better way to prepare for the ministry than to serve a local church while studying to lead a local church? While I was in a period of waiting before I came to the church I currently serve, I got involved in an AWANA program at the church we were temporarily attending so that I could learn all I could about the program because I knew it would probably be a big part of my next ministry. I got to meet some great kids, and some great leaders! I know a pastor who is in a time of waiting right now and let me tell you, there’s no moss gathering on that guy! Not only is he preaching everywhere he can, he and his family decided to set up a booth and do face painting and tell people about Jesus at a local community event.
Faithful in the waiting.
I recently got a call from the youth pastor who came after me at my previous church. He wanted to tell me that a guy I had shared the gospel with relentlessly for my last nine months at that church had just accepted Christ. This was more than a year and a half after I’d left. I worked so hard to share Jesus with him, I prayed for him, we got to know each other pretty well. He actually stopped coming to church just a few months before I left. I never got to see him become a Christian, well not directly. Sometimes, it’s not about that.
Sometimes we must be the ones to stock-pile the gold, silver, and bronze. Sometimes we’re the one that gets all the nails together, and finds all the marble. We might not get to see the Temple in all its glory, but we’ve read the floor plans. We may never see it with our physical eyes, but we can see it by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Let’s be faithful in the waiting. Let’s trust God to finish whatever plans He may have begun in our lives. Perhaps we’ll get to see the end result. Perhaps we’ll never see it even begun. But God is faithful to complete everything He starts (Philippians 1:6).
*image courtesy of RAWKU5 at www.sxc.hu
Words of Reason 