A Summer of Psalms

This is going to start a journey through the summer with the book of Psalms and some personal ways God is stretching and shaping my life. There's no chronological format here, just landings that seem to be massive influences in the rhythm of my life.

Psalms 63:1-7
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

I wonder if we long for Christ like David? What has to change so that our desires and affections long for God because nothing else can satisfy us? This is my prayer for my life, my family, and His church. Why would anyone turn to Christ if they don't see Him as the deepest yearning in our very own lives...People of God, let's not settle for a flicker of light in us, but to be consumed by the fire of God!

The journey begins with us earnestly seeking God. When you flesh that out it looks like the remainder of verse one. Have you ever been so thirsty that you literally didn’t know how much longer you could make it without a drink of water? But what happened when you got that initial drink of water? Couldn’t you feel it coat every inch of your throat and mouth instantly and refresh you because it was so satisfying? God provides that quenching for a thirsty soul that earnestly seeks HIM. Next, v. 2, reminds us to look in the sanctuary and see the power and glory of God that rest there. So, does that mean a physical building? Not since Jesus! Now it means to look at our own lives where Christ dwells as the Holy Spirit. Behold the power and glory of God by peering into your life and seeing how the gospel of Jesus Christ has/is changing you. Give God the glory as you are put in tense situations that are transformational. Finally, meditate on God! Remember Him at night, during conflict, in temptation, and know how essential it is to be dependent on Him!

This is not a magic formula, but it is the reality of a life that longs for God. What can happen when Christ is the ultimate desire and greatest object of our affections? The answer: Our Lives Change! 3 small steps toward a massive fulfilling relationship 1. Earnestly Seek God 2. Remember Your Testimony and God’s work in your life 3. Meditate on God. I love you and hope that you are pressing in to the call of Turning People to Christ.

3 Ways to Disconnect

Every church has a passion to see people “come” to their worship experience in hopes to see them connect with their church and become a part of their church family. We call this church growth. However, when you juxtapose “church growth” and “spiritual growth”, there are some errors in our efforts of connecting people. The whole crux of the church is how we’re growing, but the perception of growth that is learned by good ole Southern church folk can actually put people in position to disconnect from Biblical growth. How does God’s Word teach you and me to measure growth? I want to show you in a weird way. So be on the lookout for Biblical Ways to measure your important, God honoring growth, while I show you 3 ways you could disconnect from Turning Pointe or any other church. BTW, I’m giving you 3, but there are more!

1. Put down the Bible and do anything else. So, the quickest way to disconnect is to unplug from the main power source baby. If you stop fighting for time to be in God’s Word (apart from Sunday) then you will eventually stop bringing that stuff called “redemptive fruit” to the table of God. John 15:4-5 Biblical Growth is the evidence of Christ changing you by producing fruit in you. Even when you’re new to the process, there is evidence that you are Abiding through your life transforming. Check out Galatians 5:22 to see what begins to happen when you Abide in the Word of God.

2. Treat prayer like it’s your idea and not God’s. This one’s easy because we can just do what comes natural, pray shallow popcorn prayers (not that popcorn prayer is always shallow and bad), and feel better because we’ve talked God. John 15:7 God desires for us to be filled with what is good and what satisfies, which is His Word. When we are filled with His Word, we begin this John 3:30 life that see’s Jesus get bigger and we get smaller and smaller and smaller. It’s at this point that the Gospel is transforming us and we begin to pray dependently on God and seeing His plan as our infinite desire.

3. Become self-centered instead of others centered (a servant). Our tendency as humans is to gravitate inward. We tend to do this without any effort too. There’s no better way to set back and disconnect from what God is doing than to stop thinking like Christ. If you abandon community, abandon serving, and abandon being the church, then you will walk right into the door of disconnect. John 15:12-17 Biblical growth is when we, as the church, LOVE ONE ANOTHER! When we serve together, fellowship together, share together, and sacrifice together, we will effectively serve our community together.

Obviously, I want you to be aware of how dangerous it is disconnect. It’s not church growth that is important; it’s the growth of us, the Church, the Bride of Jesus, the Redeemed Family of God that will cause us to live like we're chosen. Are you finding yourself disgruntled? Answer the question Why? Evaluate your personal relationship with God. Come face to face with the reality that we all are fighting in our process with fear and trembling and that is a great thing. It’s when you quit that you begin to disconnect from God’s process in your life and from the church family that He’s called you to partner with. I love you church, and I’m praying for you. Don’t give up! Fight the good fight! Keep the faith! For us to fully “connect” with the vision of Turning People to Christ, we must stay “connected” with God’s vision of Turning Us to Christ.