The Familiar Road

Have you ever thought to yourself, "You know, I think I'm going to change _____ tomorrow." And then tomorrow comes, and you end up doing the same ole thing, no change happens.

As I left the house this morning, I thought I would drive to work a different way, just for a change of scenery. There are about 4 different ways I can drive, all about the same distance. But, for some strange reason, I ended up driving the same ole familiar way. I didn't deviate from the norm. I failed to make a simple change.

Often in life we discover things that need to be changed. Sin, or bad habits, creep in and we get so used to them they hardly seem to bother us. But we know they need to go. We know that we need to change certain behaviors. We say "Today I change. Today I will avoid ______." And then before we know it, we are still behaving the same way. For some reason, we just like the way things are.

Paul complained in Romans 7:18-19 "And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway."

He describes so well the battle each one of us deals with daily. So what do we do? I know I need to change. I want to do the right thing. What do I do? One of the keys is found in Romans 12:2. Again Paul, the same one struggling with bad behavior says this:

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

We must allow God to transform our behavior. Admit your problem to Him, daily. Give it back to him, daily. Read His Word and pray, daily. As His words begin to sink into your heart and mind, He will begin to transform you in ways you cannot even imagine.

Following God...

God is awesome! If we will listen, He will direct and guide us in our daily lives. This past week God led me and my family into a new arena of ministry.

Several weeks ago, Pastor Rob asked me to consider becoming the campus pastor for Southbrook: Monroe. We recently started a church campus in Monroe with the goal of reaching that community for Christ. A great group of people have been meeting there already for several months. I began to pray about it. Nancy began to pray about it. We visited the campus on a Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to preach live (the teaching is primarily by video). We left that Sunday pretty sure in our minds that this was not where God was leading. But I just couldn't let it go.

For various reasons, Nancy was not comfortable with some of the circumstances, and how they would affect our family. Fair enough, I totally understood. But I still just couldn't let it go.

We wrestled some more with the idea. We prayed some more. Pastor Rob invited us to dinner after a Saturday night service to talk about it some more. The message at church that night was "You're an Idiot." We were asked to consider 3 questions:

1) In what area of mnistry have I become dangerously secure in my own knowledge and abilities?
2) What faith risk is God calling me to take?
3) What painful decision have I been avoiding?

Pastor had shared these same questions several weeks earlier at our staff retreat. I had already begun wrestling with them. Nancy was now faced with these same questions. On the way to meet with Pastor Rob, Nancy said "I felt like I was supposed to stand up in the service and say 'OK, I get it, we'll do it!'"

And so - God moved our hearts, change our thinking, and called us to take on the challenge. We are excited to be in this position. Yesterday the service was just amazing. From the worship, to the message, to the buzz of excitement in the air. There are quite a few challenges ahead. There are a lot of unknowns ahead. But there is also a great group of people committed to see this thing happen in Monroe.

We are looking forward to seeing God work in and through Southbrook: Monroe.

DNA

I have three children. Each of them has my DNA. They have inherited certain things from me. When each of them was born, people would try to figure who they looked like, me or their mother. "Oh, he has your nose," or "Look, she has her mother's ears." This always irritated me a bit - why couldn't they just be who they were, having their own noses and ears? Why did they have to have mine?

Another thing that irritated me was when some would say "There's no denying him, he is definitely yours!" Did they think I was wanting to deny my own children? Whatever, back to the point. The thing is, because my children have my DNA, they automatically assume similarities to me.

Check out 1 Corinthians 4:16 - "I urge you then, be imitators of me." Paul, the one sent by God to preach the message of Jesus Christ, is writing this letter to the Christians in Corinth. He is in the middle of telling them how far off track they are in their Christianity. And he follows that up with "be imitators of me." In order to understand what Paul means, we have to make a distinction. Paul doesn't want the Corinthians to become carbon copies of himself. He doesn't ask them to duplicate himself. He says "imitate me." In other words, take my DNA, learn from me, and act like me. You be you, but live as I live, love as I love, and serve as I serve.

I can't expect my kids to become carbon copies of me. (What a scary world this would be if they did!) I do know that their behavior is learned from watching me. Some of their personality traits are inherited from me (like my good looks and great sense of humor, for example). I must strive to be a model for my children to follow. Paul was a model for his spiritual children, the Christians at Corinth.

Why was Paul a good model to follow? Because Paul was imitating Jesus Christ. Paul's life goal was to become like Jesus Christ. And so should our's be! Everyday we should be striving to be more like our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ.

Are you imitating Christ? Follow Him, learn from Him, and live like Him.