Why do what you do?

Have you ever taken the time to examine in your life why you do the things you do?  Things like work, relationships, education, spirituality...why do you engage (or not engage) in certain things?

I have been thinking about this a lot from the perspective of our community of faith at Higher Calling.  If I am not careful, it is far too easy for me to become apathetic.....maybe you are the same.  In these times it is important to me to know WHY I do what I do, it gives me motivation, passion, and purpose to know the WHY of my life.

I have decided I do the things I do because I genuinely love God.  I am confused by Him, I rarely understand the path He chooses for me and for others, but I trust Him and love Him.  The only reason I can continue doing what I am doing is because of His power working in me, and I will always be grateful for the many blessings He has given me.  I do what I do because of what He has already done for me.

I also sincerely love people.  Not just love people, either, I actually like them (I just lost some of you!).  I like meeting people and getting to know them.  I like being a part of people's stories, and I like being with people as their journeys are shaped.  I like sharing with the highs and the lows

More than anything, I like introducing people to God.  I'll tell you what's the most incredible thing of all:  when I meet people again after they have met God.  It's like meeting a completely new person.  I love that.

And its why I do what I do.

Let's try this again

Did you miss me?  I am going to be writing on here again after a three month hiatus.

The last blog experiment went pretty well, but I think writing too much burnt me out a little bit. Its hard to come up with a new entry everyday!  If you like reading, you can help out by sending in questions or topics for me to handle so I don't have to think of them.  I want to post 2-3 times a week, on good weeks you may get even more.  We will see how I feel.

Let the journey begin.....again.  Higher Calling Online Journal v. 3.0 starts......now.

(If anyone is reading this, even if you know me from church, leave a comment or something.)

Fuel For The Week

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I have some news to share with you about upcoming events at Higher Calling and some encouragement to send your way as well.

Next Sunday is August 3rd, and it will mark the two year anniversary of Pastor Don's death.  Many of you knew Pastor Don, and many of you didn't, but all of you have been affected by his story because of your presence at Higher Calling.  Most of you know that Pastor Don was my dad, and obviously that day will be difficult for me and my family and for so many of you who knew my dad as a friend and as your pastor.  On any emotional day, we all must choose how to respond to the stress of the day.  My dad had to make those choices in how to respond to life with cancer, and he chose to believe God even when circumstances were difficult.

That is why we are putting together a special service on August 3rd.  Instead of choosing to withdraw and reflect, our church will be reaching out to people who need to hear that God can do something amazing in their life.  God still changes lives; we are all proof of that, and we want to see him change more lives on August 3rd.  Many of you have expressed a desire to share the story of the church to friends or family members; this service will be the perfect opportunity to do just that!  I am asking that you do all you can personally to get as many people as possible into our Worship Center so many can be touched by this message.

Don't sit this one out!  We are putting together an inspirational and reflective service that will touch the hearts of everyone involved.  If you know some people who don't usually go to church and may only go once a year, make sure they are at this service because God is going to move in a powerful way.

If there is one thing that I learned from my dad, it is this:  always trust God.  That is why I believe August 3rd will be an incredible time as we reflect on the story of our church and our incredible vision for the future.  Let's all believe God for something even more than we can imagine.  Pray that the lives of people close to you at this service will be changed forever because of what is shared.  

We are all in this together, and I am glad to be on the journey with all of you.