Tag: church

A Life of Service

Having only attended 3 or 4 services at Connect Church, I walked in that Sunday remembering there was going to be a guest speaker. I thought to myself, “Well dang, this is either going to be a huge hit, or a big waste of time.” Our pastor got up and began introducing the speaker as a mentor and spiritual father, but then he said the words that made me tune right out… missionary . Having grown up in church, I knew having a guest speaker talk about missions meant the service would be less than engaging and more than likely a lousy sales pitch for funding. Now, in full disclosure, Pastor said President of OneHope, a global Mission Organization, but all I heard was “missionary.” I remember thinking, “this will be a snooze fest.” My experience with missions in my previous denominational context led me to boredom and disengagement.

This service was different. This guy was different. His story was different. His passion was different. Immediately, I was captivated by what he was saying. As he told story after story of the organizations history in country after country, I began to see they were making a major impact all over the globe. Once he finished sharing about OneHope, I wanted more. They announced at the conclusion of that service, that in June they would be partnering with OneHope for a mission trip. I knew no one in the church, but following the service, I texted the pastor from the parking lot, “I’m in.”

Fast forward a few weeks later to June of 2017. I found myself on an airplane headed towards Bogotá, Colombia with a group of people I didn’t know, from a church that I wasn’t very connected to. I was nervous. I was anxious. In full transparency, I was regretting my decision. Little did I know, in seven short days, my life would never be the same.

As we walked through the schools and orphanages of Colombia, I began to see that these people were living with real pain. They were longing for any sign of hope, but they were also resilient. They didn’t need material things for a smile to be beaming on their face. Standing among them, my perspective began to shift. While sharing the Word with them, I realized their pain wasn’t much different than the pain I’d been suppressing myself. I began to see that while we have endless material wealth in the United States, we are just as broken. Standing in the streets of Bogota, I realized for the first time that we are a world of broken people. The only thing that can bring true joy to all of life’s circumstances is peace found only in God.

When I arrived back in the United States, I was shaken and confused. Prior to our trip, I had a significant amount of worldly success and received many accolades in my business. None of that brought fulfillment to my life though, like being in a foreign country sharing God’s love. I didn’t know then, but recognize now, that God was calling me to be all in. In those moments, I realized true joy in life is found in serving others.

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking to yourself, “I’m not sure about the idea of serving”. I’ll admit, I was quite apprehensive at first myself. I encourage you to start small. Not everyone is called to go on, or needs to serve in global missions. There are daily opportunities for you to serve others. At the very essence of Jesus you find service. In our pursuit of becoming Christ-like, what better way than to start each day with an attitude of service.

“ For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (ESV)

Connected Community

A few months ago, in my effort to be intentional about what God is calling me to do, I started making decisions that to some others didn’t make sense. One of those decisions was to sell my truck. If you know me, that doesn’t sound like the most bizarre thing—I got my first car at 15 years old, and since then I’ve owned nine different vehicles, all of them completely unique. I went from a 1992 Ford Explorer to a BMW to a brand new 4-door Jeep Wrangler with a four inch lift, plus a few more in between. (I still really miss my Jeep). This time though was a little different, I bought a very small and practical car. This new car is something Dave Ramsey would encourage one of his listeners to buy. 

Sometimes though when you buy a “beater”, as Dave calls it, you inherit the problems. The first problem I inherited was that after only two weeks of driving the car, the transmission had to be replaced…that wasn’t the biggest issue though. The biggest issue I faced with this car was that it already had an owner— an ant community. Yep, that’s right, my car was COMPLETELY infested with ants.

As I began to strategize, I knew I’d have to outsmart them to rid my vehicle of them. At the time, I had about 100 different thoughts racing through my head. Where are they living? How did they get in my car? What will get them out? My first plan of attack was to take apart the covering of the gear shifter where I first noticed them crawling. When I shed light into that space, I noticed food crumbs left from the previous owner. I vacuumed and cleaned out that area. Thinking I had gotten rid of their food source, I was confident that I had fixed my problem… WRONG. The next day I got back in the car and much to my dismay, the ants were back. I realized since there wasn’t food anywhere else in the car, there had to be another reason drawing them inside.

Over the course of two weeks I learned a lot about ants. They are very tenacious and determined insects; but most importantly they are a species that lives and dies based on their community. 

In hindsight, I wish I could have experienced the ant infestation years ago; not because it was an enjoyable experience, but because it was a great illustration of a lesson I myself learned a couple years ago. 

During the early stages of my agency, I realized it’s difficult being a single guy working to build a successful business. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of perks- no one was asking when I was coming home, or getting mad if I worked 18 hours a day/7 days a week, but the downside was huge. I was exhausted. I wasn’t looking out for my well-being, and I was chasing my own desires. If all of that doesn’t sound bad enough… I was alone. I was investing so much energy and effort into creating something for myself, that I pushed away those closest to me.

Fortunately, I eventually learned what Solomon pointed out to us in Ecclesiastes… it’s all vanity. 

“All [that is done without God’s guidance] is vanity” 

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (AMP)

When I got to this point though, it left me confused and lost. 

Not knowing which way to go, I began investing in a relationship that started out simply as meeting for coffee once every couple weeks. The conversations soon led to coffee on a near weekly basis. Through these weekly meetings, I truly discovered  a real relationship, one that left me hungry for more. I began to think, “I need to follow this guy”. Fortunately he was a Pastor, so it was easy to “follow” him. 

I began attending his church and there found more relationships. I learned quickly that just like the ants, we all need community to prosper. 

Growing up, church was just church, simply a box to check off on the religious list of duties. But after experiencing life, I began to realize there was more to God’s design of church than a checklist. We are designed for community. We are meant to be in community. Life is not meant to be lived alone.

While I cannot speak to your current situation, I can guarantee that if you find a church that values community, you will begin to see real life change. 

If you’re having trouble finding a local church, I suggest checking out this website for starters:

www.arcchurches.com