HCLM BLOG

Today we were talking about next steps and where we go from here now that Pastor Jon will soon be leaving…and it just makes me think, “Man, there’s a lot we got to take care of!”  Jon was in charge of a lot and did a lot of things around here so there are a lot of unknowns and a lot of blanks to fill in!  Just when you think you’ve got things figured out and you get into a rhythm, it seems like life takes a different turn!  Why does it seem like God never lets us just coast or settle for a while?  Why can’t we just enjoy a time of peace and normalcy?

I’m comforted during this specific time that we know that this is God’s church and not ours.  What we do certainly matters, but ultimately the growth and expansion of this church and accomplishing the vision of what we believe God is calling us to do is up to him.  That’s why our Vision2020 starts with this phrase, “God is equipping and empowering HCLM…”  We are not doing anything in and of ourselves…we are doing our best only to go where God is leading us.  

With Jon leaving, does that mean our vision changes?  No!  God has given us this vision and though how and through who we accomplish that vision may change a bit, our goals remain the same.  We believe God is still going to do great things throughout Central Florida and we want to be a part of that.  We want to be a part of 7 new congregations in 10 years.  We want to be a part of supporting those ministries with finances and resources and especially by promoting the teams in each one of them.  We want our school to succeed at a level it hasn’t seen yet.  The important thing to remember through change is recognizing that there is Someone who is greater than all of us who has it all figured out.  Romans 8:28 says that God works it all out for the good of those who love him.  He doesn’t tell us he’ll explain to us why it’s good or even that we’ll see the good in it.  He just promises that it’ll be good.  It comes down to a matter of trust.  Do you trust God in change?

Jon, we will miss you!  I personally wish I could have had more time to spend working with you, though I won’t miss all the obscure Michigan references.  And we know that God has great plans in store for Salem Lutheran Church in Orange County!

I’m just having one of those days.  Every now and then, I just get this inkling that I’ve gotten off track.  It didn’t happen fast and there isn’t one thing I can point to, but somewhere I’ve gone off the path.

I preached about investing the other week, and it really made me evaluate my own life and the things that I’ve invested in.  And quite honestly, I’m feeling a little convicted.  If someone were to look at my life from the outside, they’d think I was doing alright.  I’m not trying to brag, just trying to realistically evaluate my life.  I’m 27 years old, graduated with a Masters degree, doing what I love to do while at the same time making a good amount of money with my internet business.  I’m married to a healthy, beautiful wife and have one amazing son with another one on the way.  I just bought a house that is huge and beautiful, drive a car that is relatively new, have numerous great friends and a loving family. I can eat whatever and wherever I want, have bought some of the latest technology, and so on and so on.

But something about me isn’t satisfied.  In fact, something inside me thinks that all of this stuff is worthless.  I know there are people that are hurting out there but I’m much more content driving home and closing the garage, turning on one of my LCD TV’s that I own sitting in one of my La-Z-Boy’s that I own and just watching football.

You may think I’m being hard on myself.  But the truth of it is, I’m ready for a change.  None of the stuff God has given to me is wrong.  But what has happened is that slowly, I’m being comforted by the things in my life and I’d rather go after one of them than pursue God.  They have my heart rather than God.  I’d rather watch football than spend some quality time with God.  I’d rather look at Best Buy to see what’s new than explore God’s Word to see what’s something new I might learn about my Creator.

I don’t think I’m alone.  I think there are people in our church who aren’t satisfied either.  People who know they were created for something more.  I want God to have my heart.   If you want God to have your heart, what are you going to do about it?  I’m anxious to hear from you.  I personally am thinking about how I can be more giving and generous with what God has given to me.  I don’t want the stuff that I have to own me and right now it does.  If you are in the same boat as me, then try this from Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, “Jesus, I need to give myself up.  I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own.  I can’t do it, and I need You.  I need You deeply and desperately.  I believe you are worth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next.  I want You.  And when I don’t, I want to want You.  Be all in me.  Take all of me.  Have Your way with me.”

God, have your way with our church, and help us not find our safety, comfort, and security in the things of this world, but only in You and Your grace!

We’ve stayed at our house in Mount Dora officially for twenty one days now.  We had a huge amount of help from people moving our stuff from a storage garage in Lake Mary to Mount Dora.  We even had some people help out unpacking and putting things together for us.  We were extremely grateful and can’t fathom how many hours of work these brothers and sisters in Christ saved us in the long run.

Still though, we’ve had to do a lot of work.  And Allison and I are both people who like to know where things are.  I hate when I can’t find something I need.  Currently, I’m driving around with expired license plates from Missouri.  I was waiting to register my car until I had moved in because I have some of the papers that I need to register my car located in a safe.  For days, however, we couldn’t find the safe so I can’t get my car registered.  Finally, on Monday evening we found the safe!  But, guess what?  Now we can’t find the keys to get in the safe.  Still looking and still driving around with expired plates!  Please don’t report me!

And it got me thinking.  How many times do we find something in our life that we’ve been looking for but are still dissatisfied?  Or we still want more?  Even when it comes to God, how many of us have thought: “Now that I’ve found God (or to be more theologically correct, “now that God found me”), things should go this way.  My life should look this way now.  Life will be better now.  It will be different.”

And sometimes it just isn’t.  It isn’t what we expected.  God doesn’t come through for us the way we wanted him to.  We wanted him to act one way but instead he acted in a different way.

God never promises to keep us happy or to fulfill our promises.  But instead He promises that He has a plan, not just for us, but for the whole world.  And somehow, in some way, the frustrating parts of life (all the way from not finding a key to a safe to much larger things like diseases, death, crime, etc.) will in one way work together for his glory.  This seems impossible for me to understand.

Maybe you’ve found something you thought would bring fulfillment to your life and it hasn’t.  Maybe there’s something in your life that you just can’t figure out or let go of right now.  I take solace in Deuteronomy 29:29 which says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”  God calls us to trust him.  And for me, who has a lot on my mind these days, it’s nice to know that I don’t have to have everything figured out.   It’s nice to know that somebody else has things under control, even when I might disagree or question certain ways in which He does things.

Now if I can just find those keys…