Draw the Circle - Day 13 - One Day

"One day at about three in the afternoon, he had a vision" - Acts 10:1

The subtitle of The Circle Maker book reads "Drawing circles around you biggest dreams and greatest fears."

I'm glad that Mark Batterson is not just talking about big dreams and visions.  For some of us, before we can dream big dreams, we have to overcome great fears.

Prayer is the key to both.

I know your stories.

And some of you are just trying to catch your breath let alone dream.

I encourage you to pray. Pray even when you don't feel like it.  Pray when you feel like you've prayed all you can pray.  Persevere in prayer.

The more you pray, the more your heart will be aligned to God's heart and when that happens, your greatest fears will become small.  You may even face death, but you will not fear it.  Because death has been swallowed up in victory.  Because nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

And once fear is overcome, you can begin to pray for "vision beyond your resources" - the mantra of National Community Church.

Did you know it says in Proverbs 29:18 "where there is no vision, the people perish."?  The problem with many churches is that they are just going through the motions - they have no vision.  And without that God-given vision leading to unity and alignment, churches without vision will die.

The Vine may or may not continue on for years to come, but I do know that we won't go down without a fight. We will not fail for lack of prayer or lack of vision.  We should not fear a vision beyond our resources.

We cannot let our current giving determine our future course.

Let's pray for more than we have.  Let's pray without fear.  Let's pray for changed lives and changed hearts - starting with ours.

Keep drawing circles.

Draw the Circle - Day 12 - Sow a Seed

"if you have faith as small as a mustard seed . . ." - Matthew 17:20

The illustration of the man planting the carob seed - which takes 70 years to reach maturity (begin producing fruit) is very appropriate to much I wanted to share with you today.  The powerful line in that story of a man planting seeds that he would not be able to enjoy ends with "I am planting trees for children and grandchildren so they will be able to eat the fruit of these trees."

It is a story of legacy and a story of patience.

I often think about legacy and patience when it comes to the Vine.

And all this ties into a conversation I had with Thomas yesterday over lunch who reminded me that sometimes I get way too far out in front of my people.

Much of what I have been sharing in this blog can be overwhelming - so much bigger than us - so far out of reach.  But I want to put you at ease.  I can't say that I bat 1.000 when it comes to discerning the future, but I have seen God work on me, in me and despite me to paint pictures of my church's future that have been amazingly accurate.  And often those pictures were refined and clarified by others.

That's what I am asking from you.  Don't be afraid.  First - have faith as big a mustard seed.  God can do great things with small things.  Second - be patient.  The vision that God gives us may be for our children and grandchildren.  It may find its fulfillment after you and I have given way to a new generation of Christ-followers.

Right now, you and I, are being called to be faithful where we are - in the present.  That means drawing circles around our family and sowing seeds in them.  Same with work, our neighborhood, and the school we meet in.  These circles are like ripples in a pond - expanding outward into our future circles.

One of the reasons I've been reluctant to talk about the Vine's future is because I have never been sure how long I would be intertwined with you.  But I am (re)realizing through this experiment and readings that any vision God gives the Vine is bigger than me (or you).  It's all about God.  In my first two churches, much of what I had envisioned happened AFTER I left.  One mantle was picked up by another church when mine rejected the opportunity to yoke with another congregation.  My last church just planted a new campus in the neighborhood my family and I lived in, in the school my children attended - a seed that I had sown for nine years.  I feel blessed to have sown seeds from which others can enjoy the fruit.

In the grand scheme of things, the Vine has just gotten started.  Really three years is just getting started.  But I may or may not be with you a year from now.  Much may depend of the prayers we are praying even now. But I believe this with all my heart - that He who began a good work in you, will see it on to completion.

My task (and yours) is to continue to remain faithful and to continue to pray and draw circles.  God has called me to equip you.  Ephesians 4:11-12.  And I will keep on with this task as long as I can.

"We need the patience of the planter.
We need the foresight of the farmer.
We need the mindset of the sower."

Keep the faith.  Keep drawing circles.

Drawing the Circle - Day 11 - First-Class Noticer

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. - Colossians 4:2

I wrote a song in seminary based on Psalm 127.  It wasn't much but it helped me memorize the words - forever etched in my brain . . .

"Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain . . ."

God sees things first, but those who are vigilant in their watching through prayer also see things before others.

In prayer we invite God to watch over us, our families, our neighborhoods, our work. . . .

And in so doing, God prepares the way for us to be fruitful - to multiply his Kingdom.  God does the heavy lifting.

To do this "watching" without God is to create work without fruit.

Haven't we all been there and done that?  Following God's ways are hard enough, fighting upstream against the cultural flow is already difficult so how important is it that we NOT create "work" for ourselves in terms of mission and ministry?  What I mean is - prayer is essential to being effective, fruitful.  Without it, we can do a lot of good, but we can also wear ourselves out in well-doing while seeing few results.

John 15, Viners.  Abide.

Inviting God into the building of houses and watching cities and in our case - being missionaries in our school, work, markets, and neighborhoods is essential.

There should be a warning label on everything we do - 

"WARNING - DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS WORK WITHOUT PRAYER!"

Yet, how many times do I start something without starting with prayer?
How many times do I offer a cursory prayer before an activity rather than having been "prayed up?"
How many times before I learn that unless God is in the work, I labor in vain?

The other side of this prayer life is being thankful, and I think too this is an area that "needs improvement"  in my life.

Being watchful and thankful changes my attitude towards difficult situations.  If I'm note careful, I can be come Eeyore before you know it.  I love the practice of some of my friends - posting five things they are thankful for on facebook - daily.  What a gentle reminder and witness that as we open our eyes, spiritually, we have much to be thankful for.

We need this (I need this), especially as we wrestle with injustice and inequality and principalities and powers.  In fact, Paul penned those words to the Colossians while in prison in chains.

On the front lines of the war between the Kingdom of God and the empire of Rome, can you imagine where Paul would have been without being watchful and thankful?

Powerful.

Keep watch, abide, be thankful.  Bear fruit.

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late.
to eat the bread of painful labors, work at things you hate.
For He gives to His beloved, even in their sleep.
Abide in the love of Jesus - in His grace, you'll keep."