There is a man that comes to my house every couple of weeks or so to chat with me. His name is Billy and he is a Jehova's Witness. The first time I met him was many months ago when I was having the tree in my front yard trimmed. I happened to be standing outside when he came by and we started small talking. I knew why he was there but I didn't mind chatting with him. He told me that he saw that I was busy and he asked if he could come back and talk with me at a better time.
There started this relationship I have with Billy. He is a very nice older man who is very personable and always respectful of my time. So I started to carry on conversations with him whenever he came. He likes to talk to me about verses in the bible and what they mean and how they apply to life. He avoids topics where he knows we will disagree for one reason or another, but I do not go out of my way to point those differences out.
Tonight, at our iGroup we were discussing loving people and the time that I spend with Billy. I asked the question, "how do we typically respond to Jehova's Witnesses or anyone else that wants to come to our door?" One of our friends, Dwayne, asked a very honest question. He asked, "how do you love someone that just comes to your door from time to time?" He also wondered what is the point of letting someone like this come to your door 17 times and letting them spend 15 hours of your life if you know you aren't going to change their mind and they are not going to change yours. I loved that question! The answer to how to love them is answered in the second part of the question. When Billy comes to my door I will invite him in, I will offer him something to drink and I will ask him about his family and his life. We talk about what he wants to talk about because I am not threatened by what he has to say. I am giving him the 15 hours of my life because my desire is to love him.
When an expert of the law asked Jesus in Mathew 22 what was the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
If we are going to be effective as believers of God then we must truly embrace this idea. That loving people without agenda is paramount and that it is not our job to change minds, to win arguments or to feel like we need to push people to make decisions. We simply need to love people. The trick now is to figure out how to do that in the context of our purpose driven culture.
Perhaps for another post. Be encouraged, God is moving in Murrieta and He is using His people to make an impact in lives. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next!
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Getting outside before work
I have really gotten into a new sport: Disc Golf. Its really great fun and its a no brainer to play. And we have a huge 'green belt' park near our house where we have made up a course so going is nothing more than just getting out there to throw 9 'holes' before we start the day. Me and Travis (Impact Church worship leader) have committed to getting out there at 7 am a few times a week to throw a few discs and hang out before getting the day started. We are usually done by 8:15 am so its not like we are spending all our time out there. I like it for a couple of reasons. One, it is a hilly park and its full of obstacles so it requires a little thought and a little hill climbing so by the end of the game I have worked up a little bit of a sweat. Second, I take Buster out with us and he chases the discs down the field until he can't stand it anymore. By the time I get him home all he wants to do is find a nice cool corner where he can lay out on some tile and sleep the day away. I would have to say that its a fantastic way to start the day for bipeds and quadruped alike!
I play with 5 different types of discs, which is a lot for someone that is just out there trying to get a piece of the great outdoors. But, they are not too expensive and they each have a specialty when flying through the air. So after I got hooked it wasn't hard to justify a few discs. I also have a backup disk or two for loaners so if any of you ever want to come out and catch us playing just give me a call and I will have a few disks for you to throw as well!
Monday, August 14, 2006
Wow, its been a long time
Ok, so I know that I haven't been good about keeping up this blog. Seriously, I just feel like sometimes nothing ever happens and who wants to hear about how many times I picked up the dog's poop on walks this week? But, I know that some of you (very few of you) used to look at this to see what is happening in our lives. So in the spirit of fostering communication I will try to take it up again.
So, lets start with Sunday (the first day of the week). Church was a little shy on the numbers this Sunday. Some feel like its just because its summer and particularly that because its August a lot of people are squeezing in their last weekend trips before school starts again. Jeff and I had been doing a lot of leg work last week to try to rally the troops. I don't know how many people I called and chatted with or left messages for. Many of them sounded very happy to hear from me and told me they would see me Sunday. Of course, of all the people that I talked to and stopped in on only one family showed up. Now, this is a family that almost never comes because of some busy thing or just no energy. So it was encouraging that they came, but they were the only ones. Jeff and I talked after church and we felt pretty discouraged. Pray for us. Its intimidating to look at our little church plant and feel like no one is sticking with us. I know that I for one could be doing better to gather people to us, but I am realizing where I am going wrong and trying to improve. Jeff suggested that perhaps our resolve is being tested. After all, we are called to love poeple with no agendas, so as we do this should we expect to get a quick response? If we don't get a quick response, will we stop loving people? Or better yet, if we don't get a response ever, will we stop loving people? As hard and painful as it might be the answer must be, absolutely and without waivering: NO. We can't stop because regardless of the success of Impact Church or the potential damage to our egos, we are called to something higher. To experience personal growth in Christ and to daily endevor to become more like Him. And as we walk and grow and love others without agenda, we invite others to walk and grow and love with us regardless of where they are in the journey. We need to become the Church.
Man, what a journey! Its hard, its going to get a lot harder, but I wouldn't trade it for the world...
Well, I will try to keep up with this blog now. Maybe it will help me to apprehend the thoughts the run wild in my head and tame them into something I can grasp and maybe help others to grasp.
Hope this finds you all well,
John
So, lets start with Sunday (the first day of the week). Church was a little shy on the numbers this Sunday. Some feel like its just because its summer and particularly that because its August a lot of people are squeezing in their last weekend trips before school starts again. Jeff and I had been doing a lot of leg work last week to try to rally the troops. I don't know how many people I called and chatted with or left messages for. Many of them sounded very happy to hear from me and told me they would see me Sunday. Of course, of all the people that I talked to and stopped in on only one family showed up. Now, this is a family that almost never comes because of some busy thing or just no energy. So it was encouraging that they came, but they were the only ones. Jeff and I talked after church and we felt pretty discouraged. Pray for us. Its intimidating to look at our little church plant and feel like no one is sticking with us. I know that I for one could be doing better to gather people to us, but I am realizing where I am going wrong and trying to improve. Jeff suggested that perhaps our resolve is being tested. After all, we are called to love poeple with no agendas, so as we do this should we expect to get a quick response? If we don't get a quick response, will we stop loving people? Or better yet, if we don't get a response ever, will we stop loving people? As hard and painful as it might be the answer must be, absolutely and without waivering: NO. We can't stop because regardless of the success of Impact Church or the potential damage to our egos, we are called to something higher. To experience personal growth in Christ and to daily endevor to become more like Him. And as we walk and grow and love others without agenda, we invite others to walk and grow and love with us regardless of where they are in the journey. We need to become the Church.
Man, what a journey! Its hard, its going to get a lot harder, but I wouldn't trade it for the world...
Well, I will try to keep up with this blog now. Maybe it will help me to apprehend the thoughts the run wild in my head and tame them into something I can grasp and maybe help others to grasp.
Hope this finds you all well,
John
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)