The Difference Between a Dreamer and a Visionary

I have been reading a great deal about planning and visioneering new ideas. And I cam across and interesting observation in Andy Stanley’s book “Visioneering.” Nehemiah does prays for the opportunity to rebuild the city wall himself; he doesn’t prayer for God to rebuild it for him. Nehemiah was a man of vision, not just a dream. “Dreamer dream about things being different. Visionaries envision themselves making a difference. Dreamers think about how nice it would be for something to be done. Visionaries look for an opportunity to do something.” (p.32)

Fear is the Opposite of Faith

One day after school, my great friend and coworker Kalisha popped her head in my room to share what her pastor had preached about on Sunday.  “Fear is the opposite of faith,” she told me.  I thought about the phrase over and over, again.  “Fear is the opposite of faith, fear is the opposite of faith, fear is the opposite of faith.”  For the next several days it stuck in my head.  Every time I began feeling a sense of anxiety about what God has in store for our future or questioned where does God want us to go, I heard that phrase repeat itself in the back of my mind.  I am definitely a worrier by nature, so this has become my new “mantra” whenever I feel a twinge of doubt or uncertainty creep up on me.  I don’t know what worries, doubts, and fears you may be facing, but remember “fear is the opposite of faith.” 

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1

Uncertainty…Jumping Into a Black Hole With a Smile On My Face and Peace Of Mind In My Heart.

It is so weird and out of character for me to stop something before knowing the next step or knowing where exactly I am going to start.  But that is exactly what I have done.  I resigned my position as a Family Pastor, without knowing the details of what is next.  I took the plunge without knowing exactly what I have jumped into.  It is funny; normally this uncertainly would drive me crazy.  But this time, knowing that this is what God has been calling me to do, I feel at peace.  Even though I have no idea where my next paycheck will come from or how I am going to pay my bills, my mind is not filled with the slightest bit of worry.  I know that God has always taken care of me and I rest assured that his provision will not start to fail me now.  It is a great but uncomfortable…exciting yet fearful…uncertain yet confident place to be—in the center of God’s will.  I feel like I just jumped off a cliff into a black hole, with a smile on my face and peace of mind in my heart.
 
What does the future hold?  Where will I start this new church I know God is leading me to start?  Where will I get the funding for the new church?  Who will God send to help me with the start?  So many questions to be answered and uncertainties to be discovered.  Much work to be done.  I am excited to see God’s will unfold before my very eyes.  It is all uncertain…sure.  But it is also an exciting adventure which I have begun.

Five Dollar Cheapie Sandals

Eric and I have been traveling to L.A. every weekend to visit different church plants in order to get ideas and see what is working for other successful church planters.  We attended Mosaic church’s evening service at the Mayan theatre in downtown L.A.  The sermon was about sacrifice and how we as Christians are called to make sacrifices just like our Lord and Savior did on the cross.  The pastor, Erwin McManus, talked about Abraham and Isaac, Paul, and many others who made sacrifices in the Lord’s service.  I nodded along with him as he asked us how willing we are to make sacrifices.  I thought, “Well shoot, Eric and I are willing to take a leap of faith and start a new church — surely that counts as pretty major sacrifice.”  I was feeling pretty good about myself, then McManus did something I didn’t expect.  McManus looked out into the audience and said, “It’s easy to talk about sacrifice, but let’s put our words into action.  There is a homeless shelter not too far from here and they are in need of shoes to give to the people who stay there.  So, I thought, how awesome would it be if all of us in this room today left our shoes on this stage to donate to the people at that shelter?”  Now, I would love to say that my initial response was a favorable one; however, my first thought was, “Thank goodness I’m not a member here, so I’m exempt from participating.  Besides, we have several errands to run after the service and I can’t just walk into places with no shoes on, you know the signs ‘No shoes, no shirt, no service.’”  I looked down at my feet and saw my five dollar cheapie sandals and thought, “Well, I guess I could give these away they’d be easy to replace.”  Then, I looked over at Eric’s feet.  He was wearing his favorite pair of shoes, the ones I had given him for Christmas.  Now, you have to realize, buying my husband shoes is a difficult task, he has flat feet and very exacting taste so finding him a pair of shoes is quite an ordeal.  To my amazement and shame, Eric had already  removed his right shoe and was untying the other.  I then took off my sandals and followed him to the front where we left our shoes on the stage.  After the service, we walked out onto the sidewalk of Downtown L.A. in our barefeet and I was struck with the thought, “Wow, there are people who walk these sidewalks every day with no shoes  and I struggled to give up my five dollar cheapie sandals when I have an entire closetful of shoes awaiting me at home.”  I asked God to forgive my selfish attitude.  I marveled at how willing we as believers are to say “sure I’m willing to sacrifice my life in the Lord’s service” and yet we hang on to things like a cheap pair of five dollar sandals.  So I just want to conclude by asking you, “What ‘pair of five dollar sandals’ are you unwilling to sacrifice in order to follow  the Lord wholeheartedly, today?”

Click on the following link to hear the sermon, “If Everyone Sacrificed” by Erwin McManus.

The Call

It is so weird and out of character for me to stop something before knowing the next step or knowing where exactly I am going to start.  But that is exactly what I have done.  I resigned my position as a Family Pastor, without knowing the details of what is next.  I took the plunge without knowing exactly what I have jumped into.  It is funny; normally this uncertainly would drive me crazy.  But this time, knowing that this is what God has been calling me to do, I feel at peace.  Even though I have no idea where my next paycheck will come from or how I am going to pay my bills, my mind is not filled with the slightest bit of worry.  I know that God has always taken care of me and I rest assured that his provision will not start to fail me now.  It is a great but uncomfortable…exciting yet fearful…uncertain yet confident place to be—in the center of God’s will.  I feel like I just jumped off a cliff into a black hole, with a smile on my face and peace of mind in my heart.
 
What does the future hold?  Where will I start this new church I know God is leading me to start?  Where will I get the funding for the new church?  Who will God send to help me with the start?  So many questions to be answered and uncertainties to be discovered.  Much work to be done.  I am excited to see God’s will unfold before my very eyes.  It is all uncertain…sure.  But it is also an exciting adventure which I have begun.

Taking the Plunge

Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans that I have for you’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”  Now, I know that this verse is quoted quite often, but when I read this familiar passage in my devotional book on January 17th, it held special meaning.  That was the morning that Eric was to submit his resignation to Stine Road and to say that I didn’t second-guess God’s calling for us would be untrue.  Charles Stanley, who wrote the devotional I was reading, talked about making decisions and asked whether we really consult God or do we just give Him a passing nod and do whatever we desire.  Once again, I asked God, “Is planting a church what you have really called us to do, because I definitely don’t want to dive headlong into this unless I know for sure?”  So, as I struggled with my doubt God gave me a clear message — “Are you kidding me?  How much more obvious can I make this?”  He brought to mind the class that Eric and I had been co-teaching on Ecclesiastes and the running theme throughout to “cast your bread upon the water” and to not come to the end of your life and regret those decisions that you were too scared to make.  He also brought to mind the book In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, which was written by a church planter in D.C.   The book’s premise is that the greatest victories are often disguised as the greatest challenges and it definitely spoke to my heart.  But the most convincing thing that God brought to my mind was our Home Group study from the previous Tuesday.  We were completing a study of the above book and the final study listed several ideas of potential action steps.  As we came near the bottom of the list we read the words, “Submit your resignation.”  Eric and I had been praying about starting a church for some time, but to see the words staring back at us as though God himself had written them on the page for no one but us, hit us “squarely between the eyes.”  I felt God removing my sense of doubt and replacing it with an awesome sense of excitement — about today, tomorrow, and “the plans He has for us” in the future.