February 6th, 2009 is a date that I'll always remember as the end of an era in my life. For nearly 21 years I worked at a Christian bookstore here in Indianapolis until the day the doors closed for good on January 31st. After the closing I spent the next 6 days packing the remaining stock, book shelves and additional furniture to be shipped to other stores in the chain that had been spared our fate. I helped tear down the walls that formed the Bible Department I had worked in and saw not only the dismantling of a store, but also the dismantling of the heart of the store... my co-workers and customers. It was a sad time on many fronts, but still, there was hope.
As I've shared with several people; though I knew I would miss my co-workers and customers (and getting to see all of the new product coming in), I have to confess that I was gripped with a sense of excitement rather than the sense of fear one might expect we would have felt, especially amidst the major financial trial Judy and I were going through. But God gave us peace. In my mind I was saying, "okay Lord, what's next?" You see, I never felt as though my ultimate destiny was to remain in that job (though 21 years would seem to indicate otherwise). Still, though I always knew something else was out there waiting for the right time, I never knew exactly what that "something" was or when it would be. My wife and I had an idea of what it could be, but we never really knew for sure.
Fast-forward about a month and a half to mid-April...another point in time that I'll always remember as the beginning of a new era in mine and Judy's lives. I was involved in Rob Whitlow's most recent recording "Sacrifice" done live at Real Life Church in February, and was going into the studio to do some vocal over-dubs, when I see Pastor Perry in the assembled group of vocalists. He hadn't been involved in the initial recording, but his voice was a very welcomed addition to the over-dub session. We had a blast that night, so much so that I felt bad about how much fun I had and sent an email to everyone present that night to apologize. Well, I received a few emails back basically saying that my apology was received, but unnecessary. Still, I felt I needed to do it. One of those emails came from Pastor Perry which began a series of conversations between he and Melissa and Judy and I that led to me now being the Pastor of Christian Education at Church52.
Judy and I have always felt a close kinship with Pastor Perry and Melissa that goes back some 20 plus years. When they felt God leading them to start the church plant at Church52, Judy and I wondered why we weren't sensing the call to follow them there. We even scheduled a meeting with them to tell them this so they wouldn't think we were just blowing them off. At the time Judy and I had no idea we'd eventually be involved here at Church52. But God who knows all things knew it and knew when the right time would come for us to be involved. Judy and I never thought we would leave Calvary Temple (though we never resisted the notion that He could move us), and we certainly had no idea we would love another church like Calvary. It just goes to show that when we trust God and commit ourselves to following His plan for us, everything fits. This is what I'll call being "On His mark."
While I would like to take the credit for developing the title "On His mark," I can only claim a partial contribution to its creation. I derived my title from the theme of last week's 10th annual Catalyst Conference (titled On Your Mark) in Atlanta, Georgia which, by the way, I had an awesome time with all of our pastors and staff evangelist Rob Whitlow traveling to and attending. This is a conference that Andy Stanley is a big part of that seeks to give encouragement and "thinking-outside-of-the-box" kinds of ideas for ministries to stay relevant in our current culture. Andy Stanley went on to explain that this theme is NOT about making your mark on this world, but rather, being open to God by letting Him make His mark through us. This, as Andy Stanley explained, will keep us from worrying about who's against us (see the book of Joshua for a similar scenario) because we'll know God is for us because we've determined to be for Him.
As I reflect back upon the words of the speakers at the conference I see an interesting pattern. Chuck Swindoll, who was honored with a "Lifetime Achievement" award, spoke of "when God wants to do an impossible task, He takes an impossible person and crushes them!"Ouch! But how true that is. God has to make sure we've died to ourselves so He can work His will through us. Priscilla Shirer spoke of how the call of God on our lives will interrupt and alter the course of our lives if we'll let it. This means we need to resist the other "options" so we can walk in victory. Matt Chandler spoke of when God speaks to us about an area of our lives that is met with hesitation, this is God's invitation to us to go into deeper water. It is an opportunity to dig in, confess, repent and grow. This is a continual process that if allowed, will kill the pride in us that would seek to keep us down. Pride comes before the fall, and Malcolm Gladwell illustrated this with an account from the Civil War. He spoke of how a certain Union General had devised the perfect battle-plan by surrounding Confederate troops and told his union soldiers that his plan was so perfect that not even God could defeat it. Though we had to leave before Mr. Gladwell finished his story I can tell you that the Confederate Army won that battle. Why? Because pride is a killer.
Dave Ramsey then spoke to us about how momentum is created, it doesn't just occur. He wrote out some mathematical formula which worded says, "Focused intensity over time, multiplied by God, equals unstoppable momentum." He likened all of this to the story about "The Tortoise and the Hare." By this, he related how we have to figure out the course and then stay on it, not allowing any distractions to keep us from the goal. And it's not just any race we are to run...it's God's script we have to follow. It's persistence that will see us win in the end. Because the only way you lose is if you quit! Shane Hipps then challenged us with the thought that, though the message is still the same, our methods must change. He likened this to how a person who was once an infant and is now an adult is still the same person, while at the same time different. You have to use different ways to reach an adult than you do an infant to get the same point across. Otherwise, you run the risk of not being heard.
Tony Dungy then spoke of how our families need to know that we'll never stop fighting for our relationships. And finally, Rob Bell emphasized the vital necessity that we all must have a Sabbath. Yes...this means pastors too. Too often in ministry it is easy to work ourselves to a frazzle and miss out on the blessing of effective ministry by not taking care of ourselves. In a recent small group series I wrote for our church I made the point in one of our lessons that when working-out for fitness, the time when your muscles grow...when you become stronger, is not when you're working out, but rather, when you're resting. While caring for others we have to include caring for ourselves. Otherwise, we're no good to anybody.
The pattern in all of this is that of dying to self... dying to our agenda and embracing God's plan for us. If we can let go of our pride and be open to do what God says...the way God says to do it, (which includes keeping proper priorities with regards to our relationship with God, our family, getting proper rest, then giving our all in ministry), we'll be ensured of success! In this we show our willingness to let God Make His mark through us!
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perry meade
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