During a recent Saturday, while I cleaning out the garage, I became increasingly more frustrated at the junk and clutter that seemly appeared out of nowhere since the last garage “cleansing,” just a couple weeks prior. My wife happened to walk through my path of aggravation while she emptied out a wastepaper basket into the garbage can.

“I cannot believe how disastrous this garage is. No matter how much I clean it, it is destroyed in a couple days,” I preached to my one-person audience, feeling a sense of satisfaction as I set the record straight.

Jen just glanced back at me with no sympathy and said, “Someday you will have your clean garage with no toys to straighten, as well as two empty boys’ bedrooms upstairs to fill with miscellaneous pieces of furniture. You’ll wish you had a dirty garage again.” Bang, the door slammed as she walked back in the house.

Touché… Silence. Just me and my broom alone in a dirty garage.

I began to think about the value of a dirty garage. You see our dirty garage is a symptom of a full life, two energetic boys, and the neighborhood kids using it as their playtime “Mecca.” Deep in thought I began to realize that much of what I deemed to be a proverbial pain in the rear was really the symptom of a blessed life.

Without waxing poetic, allow me to tell you what I mean. Those muddy shoes that are only three weeks old from Target and are sitting in the corner of the garage… Well, they got muddy because pirates were attacking the house. Neighborhood boys were dispatched to the front ditch in our lawn, that just happened to be full of rainwater, to defend to the death. (The water made the fight against those pirates all the more exciting!) Thankfully the house is safe. Oh yeah, that dent in the car?

You see a gang of heroes was riding past the car on their bikes, rushing to an intergalactic rescue. One hero, who is still learning his balance, veered a little to the left and struck the black GMC “spaceship,” leaving an indelible mark. But all’s good. The heroes prevailed and the galaxy is back to normal again. If life were full of dent-less cars, pristine shoes, and clean garages, then there would be no pirate attacks, galaxies to be saved, or little hands that “forget” to straighten up toys.

Would life really be all that great? Hmmmm, probably not. So therefore, I am thankful.

Growing up, I played a lot of sports with the kids in the neighborhood.  Whether it be soccer, baseball, football, or the like, we found ourselves playing from sunup to sundown; barely taking breaks to go to the bathroom

At that young age, the rules of the game tended to be bent slightly as to not cause one’s team to have an unfair disadvantage.  For example, if the hike was not properly snapped to the quarterback, instead of a fumble, there was an immediate call for a “do-over.”  Do-overs tended to happen often in the competitive environment of backyard sports.  The team that made the mistake, rather than living with the consequences of the rules, begged that there be a second chance; sometimes a third.

In life, you don’t get a do-over.  One life, one try, one change to get it right.  However most of us have experienced that moment of making a mistake and immediately reverting back to the default cry of our youth… “Give me a do-over!”  Thankfully our God does listen.  Many times when we fumble on the original play, He calls for a do-over and we get a second chance.

Jeremiah 29:11 says that the “plans” that God has for us are for “good” and not for “evil.”  Notice that “plans” is plural.  Many time we fumble plan “A” or “B” and must go back to God out of humility and honesty and ask for a do-over.  He gracious works out “all things for good” if we continuously follow His Spirit and direction.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  There are consequences for fumbling the ball.  The scars and memories of past mistakes do still linger, even though forgiveness has been granted.  However the amazing God we serve wants to take our past mistakes and cover them under His grace and help us move forward.  God is a God of the future, not the past.

“I can’t do this!”

“This is not real!”

“I’m a failure!”

“God doesn’t like me!”

The list could go on and on.  Everyone has mind games.  These are those nagging thoughts that you just can’t get out of your head.

“They sound so real and convincing!  They must be true!”

Actually it is quite the opposite.  Most of the thoughts we think throughout our day are just “stinking thinking.”  The Bible has a lot to say about these thoughts and what we are suppose to do with them.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)  “Above all else, guard your heart (mind), for it is the wellspring of life.”

The Bible infers that our thoughts determine our actions.  So we have to pay attention to what we are thinking about.

“How do I know what’s true?”

You compare your thoughts with what God says about you in the Bible.  The Bible is complete truth, therefore, if what you are thinking contradicts what the Bible says, you have to ignore your thinking and embrace what the Bible says.  You must reject the “stinking thinking” and replace it with the Word of God.  It is hard to do at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets!

Prayer:

“God help me to get rid of anything thinking that is not of you.  I will believe only what you say about me in the Bible.  Help me to guard my mind!”

Let me start out by saying, “I’ve been there.”  I know what it is like to run a Life Group week after week for years.  I know what it is like to have a Life group night quickly approaching and nothing I had planned was coming together.  I have felt the pain of having a key person that you have invested into decide to turn their back on God and walk away.  I have experienced the exhilaration of having a meaningful talking with someone at a restaurant, where I saw the Holy Spirit turn the lights on in their mind and they really got it!  In short, I’ve been there!

I cannot honestly say that I always liked being a Life Group leader.  There were good times that I wouldn’t trade for the world and there were tough times, where I wanted to quite.  There were times that I saw God use me in the life of another and other times where I silently wondered if I had a clue.

All in all, being a Life Group leader was one of the best experiences of my life.  Over the four years that I had the privilege of running a student small group, my life was full of amazing experiences, great friendships, inspiring mentorship moments, and a overall sense of excitement as I watched those that I loved in my small group grow and develop in Christ.

I want this experience for you!  I want you to feel the same feelings of excitement.  I would love you to sense that feeling of fulfillment by seeing people you invest into actually “get it” and become life-long disciples.

To this day, I keep in contact with many of my Life Group friends.  They are old and married and have kids.  My family goes on mini-vacations with their family.  When I fly into a city to minister, many times someone who I invested into picks me up from the airport and we go to lunch.  I have seen God turn these Life Group “attendees” into life long friends.  I am one of the most privileged people in the world!

In looking back, there were some tough times too.  Times where I didn’t really know what I was doing (more times than I want to admit).  Times where I was deeply hurt because it felt like the students didn’t give a rip about what I had to say.  There was also a fair amount of stress that came with running the Life Group that I didn’t sign up for.

However, if I were to take all the positive aspects of Life Group and put them together and weight them against all the negative times… the positive ones would win, hands down.  It wouldn’t even be close!  The scale would break trying to hold all of the fulfilling moments.

So, dive in…

Don’t hold back…

When Jesus was speaking to Peter, He said, “If you love me, you will feed my sheep.”

Love Him!  Feed them!

Don’t wavier or fall into the enemy’s lie that you are wasting your time.  Being a Life Group leader is not just an “add on” to you life… it is life-giving.  You DO LIFE TOGETHER as a Life Group and share the common goal of becoming more like Jesus.

Reach out and invest into others, even when it hurts.  That’s what Jesus did.  I’m sure He didn’t always like being a Life Group leader to His disciples, because sometimes it was hard.  However, He consistently invested and prayerfully shaped the lives of those He was with.

He loved…

He prayed…

He worked…

He invested…

In short, He discipled…do the same!

Your friend in the journey,

Pastor Jeremy

Truth #1:            It does not mean you are a bad person or you have a lack of faith if you question God, as long as you are proactively pursuing truth from the Word of God (Bible).

These are moments of honesty and transparency with God.

Here’s a saying that I love… “If you have never truly questioned, then you’ve never truly believed.”

No one wants to put his or her brain on autopilot and in a very robotic way, just believe.  I don’t believe God wants us to disconnect our brains from our hearts!  Questions are either going to make you a better Christian or a better critic; it all depends on your proactive pursuit of truth from God’s Word.

Truth #2:            There has to be a standard of truth

What is your standard of truth?  You must have one if you are going to get answers to your questions.

Sarah Michelle Geller  (Scotland’s Daily Record)

“I consider myself a spiritual person,” she told Scotland’s Daily Record. “I believe in an idea of God, although it’s my own personal ideal. I find most religions interesting, and I’ve been to every kind of denomination: Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist. I’ve taken bits from everything and customized it.”

We tend to customize our theology to fit our lifestyle.

A question I would like to ask each of us to ponder…

Do we interpret the Bible in the light of our situation (trying to customize it and make it fit our lifestyles) or are we interpreting our situation in the light of the Bible (making our lifestyles conform to God’s Word)?

Truth #3:            Many questions you have are not SPECIFICALLY addressed in the Bible, but the principle or theme is in there.

One of the most common things I see in people’s questioning is that there is not a specific verse that addresses the precise question.  However, the theme or over-arching principle is there throughout the Bible.  With as much intentionality that you give towards forming your question, you must research what God’s Word has to say about your question.=

Truth #4:            Questions usually emerge from confusing life experiences that seem to contradict our perception of God.

We have to ask ourselves a couple questions…

• Is our perception of God correct and in line with the Bible?
• Do we believe and trust our experience over His Word?

We tend to form, what I call “Experiential theology” or theology based on “my” personal experiences.  Back in the past, people thought the world was flat, because it was their only experience and perception.  Obviously today we know they were wrong.

The danger of building your theology through your experiences is that you create a tainted version of God.  Just because we were born into sin and dysfunction doesn’t mean that we were intended to be that way!  Our past or present condition does not necessarily mean that is God’s ordained and perfect design for our life.  That condition does not speak to created intent, but rather to fallen nature!  Unfortunately, the will of God is NOT automatic.

Many times we don’t understand God’s timing.  We are confused by the lack of result to our prayers.  We are frustrated by the struggles we encounter.

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)

Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Therefore I will continue to trust and believe God’s Word, even if my experience says otherwise.

Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)

NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Pure faith is believing that God is right. . .even when we disagree.

Most people’s faith is God could be summed up like this…  “I have enough faith in Him to believe that He will do it, like I think it should be done.”

However, at the end of the day, if God is in charge and Jesus is Lord, then we must say… “I agree with God. . .but even  if I don’t see it eye to eye… EVEN if I DON’T understand WHY, I STILL think God’s right.”

Keys to developing a spirit of excellence in your ministry and life

1.     Realize that excellence is not a skill, it’s an attitude!

You must develop an attitude of excellence!  Many times in life we are conditioned to just get by.  Your attitude has to be one of not being satisfied until you know you have given your all and your best.

Excellence vs. Perfection

“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.”   No of us will ever achieve perfection, but all of us can achieve excellence.

“Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.” – Booker T. Washington

ALL of us can do this…anyone can acquire an attitude of excellence and personal best!

In his fine book, Excellence, John Gardner says…

“Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them.  They achieve it. They do not achieve it unwittingly by ‘doing what comes naturally’ and they don’t stumble into it in the course of amusing themselves.  All excellence involves discipline and tenacity of purpose.”

It is a disciplined act of your will to choose excellence rather than the path of least resistance.  Many times no one but you knows whether you are choosing a mindset of excellence or just doing what comes naturally.  (Especially if you are somewhat talented or in a leadership position.)

“Quality begins on the inside… and then works its way out.”

It all starts with your attitude!

2.     Excellence is in the details.

Train yourself to notice details…

a.              Hang around people of excellence and observe how they notice details that most people miss.

b.              Ask lots of questions as to why successful people/ministries do things the way they do.

If you do not believe that God is in the details, read about all the specific instructions that He gave to Solomon about building the temple.  God was incredibly specific and extremely detailed about the way He wanted things done with excellence.

God didn’t look at Solomon and say… “Hey, just build the thing any way you want.”

God didn’t look at Noah and say… “Just build something that floats.”

God is in the details!!!

3.     Work hard at educating yourself!

People of excellence are self-educators.  Listen to podcasts/MP3’s constantly.  Read books!

4.     Associate with people of excellence!

You can never aspire to that which you have not been exposed to!

I love it when others around me don’t let me get away with substandard work.  I allow others to speak into my life and give me corrective criticism to better me.  Allow others to confront you when you “wing it.”

Hang around excellence and you will become excellent in time.  You want to develop a spirit of excellence, hang around those who already have that spirit.

5.            Realize that having a spirit of excellence with improve the quality of your life.

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”  Vince Lombardi

When I lay my head on the pillow at night, I want the satisfaction of knowing that I gave it all for the Kingdom of God.  I want to be able to say to Jesus… “I did my best in every situation.”

Matthew 11:28 (Message)  Jesus speaking…

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Are you tired and worn out?  Then maybe you’re living your life with bad punctuation.  Life without pauses, exclamation, stops, and even questioning is like a book with no punctuation… a run on sentence.

Exclamation points are time of stopping and celebrating God!

Why is it important that we have “exclamation point” times in life?

1. We will run and run and get worn out.

2. Because celebrating God shows people that God is faithful.

Psalm 40:3 (Message)

He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God.  More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God

3. Because celebrating God does something supernatural to your spirit.

4. Celebrating God reminds us that God is the source of the “win.”

So what should we celebrate?  Here’s a very easy rule of thumb…

Celebrate what God celebrates!

God celebrates changed lives!

Luke 15:7 NIV

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

God celebrates faithfulness to His Word (His way of living)!

Matthew 25:21 (NLT)

The master was full of praise. “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!”

How do you celebrate God?

a. Give Him credit.

b. Live with His priorities as your priorities.

c. Praise God for His holiness, mercy, and justice (2 Chronicles 20:21, Psalm 99:3-4).

d. Praise God for His grace (Ephesians 1:6).

e. Praise Him for His goodness (Psalm 135:3).

f. Praise God for His kindness (Psalm 117).

g. Praise God for His salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Then let us adore and give Him His right,

All glory and power, all wisdom and might,

All honor and blessing, with angels above,

And thanks never ceasing for infinite love.

Wesley

The idea that there is a love that is infinite and unconditional towards us is sometimes hard to comprehend.  The Creator, sending His sinless Son as a gift to mankind is the best news that we could ever receive.  “Infinite love” means never-ending and no matter what!

Never ending love for you and I…no matter what we have done or how imperfect we are.  God loves us with an unconditional love and that love, once received and realized, changes one’s life forever!  That is the driving force behind Rockford First.  Helping people receive and realize the infinite love that God extends towards them.  Once they truly understand this, an amazing thing happens…Life-change!

When a person realizes what Jesus has done for them and how much God loves them, they want to reciprocate by extending that love back to God with a life that is sanctified and full of His purpose.  In other words, they want to live their lives with abandonment to God and His will.  Infinite love changes everything!

So what fights against us in our effort to get to know God more?

1. Relying too much on feelings

Lie of the enemy: ”If I feel something it must be true!”

-       The world tells us to “follow our hearts” but doesn’t tell us where it will lead us.

Proverbs 28:26

He that trusts in his own heart is a fool: but who walks wisely, he shall be delivered.  We must be willing to reject any feelings that are not consistent with the truth (Bible).

2 Corinthians 10:5

“…taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

Truth is objective
Feelings are subjective

Martin Luther was allegedly asked, “Do you feel forgiven?”  He replied, “No, I don’t, but I place my faith in the unchanging truth that God has forgiven me in Christ and I stand upon it!”

Galatians 5:16-17 (The Message)

My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.

2. Lack of consistently talking to God and reading the Bible.

James 1:25

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

D.L. Moody  ”This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”

Corrie Ten Boom  ”Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”

3. Challenging circumstances.

This week there was a massive storm in Rockford on Friday night.

Imagine if you were in a tent during that storm…

How many of you were thankful that you had a house to hide in to weather the storm?

Matthew 7:24-27 (Message)

“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living.  They are foundational words, words to build a life on.  If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.  Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

Life has its fair share of storms or challenges.

-       These storms can really fight against your faith.

-       But if you haven’t built a firm faith on a solid foundation of the Word of God, then it could be disastrous.

I want to challenge all of us to come up with a plan.

Relational health with God will not strike us like lightening.

It requires effort, time, and strategy, just like every other relationship we have.

1 Timothy 4:7 NLT

Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.

Romans 12:11 (NIRV)

Never let the fire in your heart go out. Keep it alive. Serve the Lord.

Thank you to Kevin Schiavo, long time member and Elder at Rockford First for this material.  I felt it was so good, I’d just post it:

20 Good Decisions

1.     Relationship with Jesus Christ

2.     Decide to be a giver

3.     Decide to be a positive person.

4.     Decide to have childlike faith and believe the Bible

5.     Decide to be content in all things

6.     Decide to be a thankful person and appreciative

a.     Learn to write thank you cards or notes.

b.     Learn to simply say thank you for even small things.

c.     Learn to smile at people

d.     Look for things you can do for individuals ho necessarily can’t do them.

7.     Decide to go to church every Sunday.

8.     Decide to believe the best in people.

9.     Decide to get upset over things that really don’t matter.

10.  Decide to be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem

11.  Decide to make time for your family.

• a.     Take time to pray with you family
• b.     Take time to listen, no matter how inconvenient
• c.     Take time to play with your kids
• d.     Take time to discipline your kids properly
• e.     Take time to spend with your wife

12.  Decide to become a good listener

13.  Decide to become a part of a Life Group

14.  Decide to invite someone to church

15.  Decide to be a good employee

• a.     Be on time
• b.     Be a hard worker
• c.     Be friendly
• d.     Be Honest
• e.     Be Expectant

16.  Decide to be a person of follow through

17.  Decide to forgive

18.  Decide to be a good steward of time, talent, and treasures

19.  Decide to eat healthy and exercise

20.  Decide to be a servant