Single Focus

I just made a trip back to my old school early this week to recruit people for the Summit, Student Leadership Conference, and Our Generation Training Center.

I went to college dumb, naïve, and hungry.  And college was a simple and straightforward - not a lot of complexities to get distracted with and in that environment my dreamer went wild.  I was growing every day, I asked more questions every day, I loved God more every day, and my desire to see Him work in my life kept me pursuing Him and what He wanted me to step out and do.

And there always seemed to be opportunities to step out and do.  So at the beginning of semesters I would grit my teeth, grimace and sign up for the hardest classes I could find.  And all year I was pushed to learn.  Every summer, or break from class, I made myself sign up for something that would put me in places where I could see Him use me.  

Every few months I had to choose.  And I went to college and saw a bunch of students at the conjunction.

And it reminded me that if I’m not careful that I will think that I’m smart, comfortable and satisfied.  Choices don’t seem so obvious any more.  They don’t show up as a class schedule or internship opportunity.  They are disguised as a call to make, a place to go, or some other form of extra work.  That doesn’t sound very exciting.

But I remembered this week that dreams die because dreams are starved.  And dreams survive on the extra stuff.

Here is you a Video to help you dream a little about doing something for God….it gets better as it goes along…

Buttermilk Biscuit Boys

I have no idea where they got their name, but here are the Buttermilk Biscuit Boys.  I think you will really enjoy the evening coming up this Sunday Night at church.  

They will be with us doing a concert for us in the service.  I know it will be enjoyable and you wont want to miss it.  

My double-duty around here is the Singles and Music director and I am quite careful about who we would want to come, but I am excited to have this strange-named group.  It will be different, enjoyable, exciting, and definitely worthwhile.

I just wanted to let you know about it and encourage you to be there Sunday Night at 6:00pm.

I guess many of you read this blog via email or a blog reader of some sort, but I went to the great trouble of redesigning this blog for your viewing pleasure.

Since this is otherwise a useless post, I thought I would give you a couple of favorites from YouTube.

Bush Straight Talk

How does a person make a Worldwide Difference?

And speaking of changing the world, don’t forget volleyball this Sunday afternoon.

Not this Sunday, but next, we are going to get together after Sunday Morning’s service at Lang’s house and have a little volleyball competition.  We are going to join with the international class and play against the 2 couples classes.  It should be a lot of fun and I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t win against the old folks.

So, next Sunday.  Lunch will be there too.  Hang out and play volleyball with us.

November 2nd, hope its not cold.

Tomorrow morning we are going to dive into a study of Colossians.  A letter written to a church that was in the middle of a culture of paganism, liberalism, and knowledge of God that was very confused.

An overwhelming and unmistakably clear message of the identity of Jesus what identity He gives His people.  

What does it mean to be “in Him??”

What does it mean for Him to be “in Us??”

Therefore……???

Considering the world, we mainly see outward appearances of inward problems.  We see fruit, but often fail to trace it back to the root and deal with the problem at the source.  But that is exactly what God’s Word does, it discerns between the innermost parts that we just ignore and let coagulate until we are just sluggish.

But learning truth, (core, fundamental, basic truth) strips away lies and false assumptions that we have built our shaky life upon and sets us again on a rock that is sure.

If there is any book that distills things to make them unmistakably clear, it is Colossians.  I hope you will desire that and come as we dissect these truths of God and man.  

Stop the guessing game.  Find out what God says.

This is one of the things that has puzzled me.  A student in school produces more, learns more, and does more than is humanly possible.  He takes 18-20 hrs of classes, works 20 hours at a job, reads and studies like a madman, and sleeps 4 hours a night.

Then he graduates. He loses all that accountability, and slows waaaaaaay down.

Accountability in school was good because it worked.  It motivated you.  It pushed you.  It required things of you that you had to deliver.

I think we can learn some things from that to help us redeem the time and encourage our responsibility TO God.

What makes strong accountability?

1. Accountability that is teamed up with the specific area you are trying to improve.  In school we had everything neatly divided.  A math class kept you motivated to do math, a science class gave you projects to keep learning science.  A work schedule to let you know what you had to do to keep a job.  One person didn’t keep up with everything, there were many systems that kept you moving.  
2. Accountability that is dedicated and consistent.  Teachers were great accountability.  They called you in multiple times a week and asked you hard questions that revealed whether or not you did what you were supposed to.  Then they gave you a number to rate your performance.  They kept it organized and up to date.  If you didn’t do what you were supposed to you didn’t just get away with it, you failed.  Accountability must be the same way, if your system lets you cheat and slide and slack, its not a good one and will do you no good.
3. Accountability that is specific.  Accountability can’t just be general, it has to target specific areas directly.  Not, ‘How are you doing?’ that is easy to weasel out of, but ‘Did you read your Bible this morning?’.  There must be times where it is required to ‘turn in the report’ or ‘take the test’.  Or you probably wouldn’t study.
4. Accountability that is to authority.  To someone who you are concerned about what they think.
5. Publicity to peers.  Peer pressure can be good.  Be accountable to authority, but be public with your peers.  
6. If you are the authority, a multitude of subordinates can become yours.  For example, a pastor becomes accountable to his congregation, though he is the leader, by having to stand before them week after week and teach something new.  He must study or people will definitely know it.

Everyone agrees that responsibility is absolutely fundamental.  If you are going to be successful in anything you have to take on the responsibility to work at it, do what is required, and see it through to the end. It takes discipline.

But what has weakened our effectiveness and crippled our character is that we have switched from being responsible TO SOMEONE and started being responsible FOR SOMETHING.  And that makes things hollow.

If I am responsible FOR something, that is fine, but the moment I don’t really want to do it anymore I will procrastinate and let it slide quickly into oblivion.  

Nothing is accomplished, and no one knows or cares.

Here is the problem - I’m lazy, undisciplined, bent toward sin, and become quickly unmotivated.  Can anyone relate??  

Here, I think, is a good solution.  Remember remember TO WHOM you are responsible, not FOR WHAT you are responsible.  Tasks and laws burden and kill.  They don’t motivate me!  But He does.  Love will cause you to do far more (with joy) than a responsibility for something ever will.

If my boss gave me a task I would be responsible FOR the task, but TO my boss.  And it normally takes a boss to get something done.  For anyone.  We have bosses, bosses have bosses, and presidents have shareholders.  And it is that responsibility cycle that gets things done.

So who is your boss?  Who are you responsible to for reading your Bible?  For prayer?  For keeping your mind and thoughts pure?  For growing and learning?  

Here’s who we should be responsible TO:

1. God - Who we are ultimately responsible to.  Substituting Goals for God will always lead us to vanity.  But living responsible TO GOD ALONE brings freedom to do no more and no less than what He has called you to do.
2. Others - We make ourselves accountable to others to help us remember our accountability to God.  No more, No less. 

YouTube - Apple: Crazy ones.

Come for friend day at the park.  Its going to be partly cloudy and 85 degrees.  Thats nice.

It is also the Vision Olympics, so I just wanted you to know about it.  It will be a good day for a picnic and fun.

RIght after church.  Hope to see you there.