Really?

Really, is that really it? I would bet you have heard this question before and someone is asking it because they believe there is more than what has been said or done. I remember sitting down with my advisor in college, and they asked me, what do you want to do with your life. To which I answered, be a high school math and science teacher. Why is that Bill? I want to be a teacher because I like to teach, and teaching math and science as a male would make me marketable. Then they asked me a question that changed our whole conversation. Bill what is it that you really want to do? It stopped me in my tracks and I had to think for a moment, not that I didn’t want to be a teacher, but instead what is behind your desire to be a teacher. Well I guess I want to teach people, because I believe that we can change lives through teaching. Suddenly the conversation had changed and they asked me, Bill how do you believe you can best in the best situation in life so that you can teach in such a way that leads to life transformation? I changed my major to better prepared for seminary to teach as a pastor, not a high school teacher, and now sit here as the pastor of this church.

She asked me a simply question, really? Yet that question pushed me to look deeper, to see if there was anything below the surface that I had not yet considered. I found that what was below the surface was something quite significant and different than my initial answer. When I was asked to look deeper it led me to a different solution than I had initially thought of. It allowed me to put my dream in a different perspective.

One day I was speaking with a gentleman who wanted me to pray for him that he might get a promotion at work. When I asked what lead him to ask for this prayer, he said that he wanted to move up in the business. Is that really why you want us to be praying for this I asked? To which he froze and then met my eyes with laser focus. Bill, I grew up in a house where things were tight financially. I did not go to college, and always wondered, what if I had gone? My family does not have a ton of extra money, but I want to make sure that if my children want to go to college they can. So with a raise, I could start a college fund for the kids, so that they can have opportunities that I never had. His response to the question, “really?” changed our entire conversation and prayer.

What dreams do you have? What dreams do you have for your life, and for your church? Why? Really, is that really what is behind your dream? What will it take for you to achieve it? Because what you really desire might change how you go about trying to make it a reality. The Christian Band Rush of Fools has a song called “Can’t Get Away,” and it opens saying this, “God, I am an arrow, I am a rocket, Cause You are the target and the atmosphere.” No matter our dreams or hopes, at the end of the day our desire needs to remain in God, our final target needs to be what God’s target is. But are we ready for that? Are we ready for what God’s desire and targets are in our lives?

Get in the Game

When I was a kid I daydreamed a lot.  I envisioned myself as a Ninja Turtle, a strong knight, and an astronaut, just to name a few.  I have not stopped dreaming as an adult, my dreams just change a little along the way.  Some girls dream of their perfect wedding, others dream of their first house, first job, being a parent.  I would also guess that most of you have dreams of how you could change the world.  Maybe you have a theory about how to improve fuel efficiency, how to reduce poverty, to make from our farm land, a cure for cancer, AIDS or more.

Think for a moment about where you see yourself in those dreams.  Are you saving the world or watching someone else save it?  For most, we are active in our dreams.  We dream of being the strong hero of the story, we dream of finding a cure for cancer, helping to reduce poverty or more.  Yet how many of us are sitting on the sidelines in our lives?  How many of us dream of making a difference, an impact, but do nothing more than thinking or dreaming about it?

We are told in the prophet Joel (2:28-29) that the Spirit will be poured out on God’s faithful and people will dream dreams, and have vision.  God made us to have those dreams, to want to make a difference for Him in this world.  Yet for a number of reasons we often do not.  It may be fear, skepticism, discomfort, or a number of reasons.  But Jesus tells us in John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7, TNIV)  If what you are doing is part of God’s will, it is in line with who God is, and what God is leading you to, then it will be done.

Christian artist Casting Crowns puts it this way in their song, If We are the Body, “If we are the body, Why aren’t His arms reaching, Why aren’t His hands healing , Why aren’t His words teaching, Why aren’t His feet going , Why is His love not showing them there is a way?”  God calls for us to be part of the story, not just bystanders reading it.  As you think about how to be part of God’s work be creative.  You can be involved in God’s work if your skills are more doing “behind the scenes work” or are doing it from the front.

God’s call is that – He will use those who are faithful and obedient to Him for his work in this world.  So what is your dream?  How do you want to change the world and make an impact? If we believe that Jesus is alive and working in our world and our lives, and we believe that Jesus called the church the body of Christ, and charge us with being a physical embodiment of him; then we have some work to do.  We have been given a call by God to make an impact in this world, and He is calling us to make that impact not from the sidelines, not from the bleachers as spectators, but in the middle of the game, on the front lines, as an active participant in the work.

Pastor Bill

Dream

When I was in 6^th grade I did a project about what I was going to be when I grew up.  I had to research all about what kind of training was needed, the perks and struggles of the job, and more.  In 6^th grade I decided that I was going to be an astronaut, to explore the universe, to study how things worked.  I had big dreams about what I was going to do one day.

There is a creative gene in each of us that dreams.  We have big dreams about careers, family, and even our faith and church.  But then something often happens to those dreams, someone steps on them.  It sounds like this, “that is a great idea, but how will you pay for it, that will never work, oh just wait till you grow up a little you will change, wait till you do this for a while.”  How many of you have heard this?  These little comments from loved ones and others can crush those dreams, our passion for a cause or idea, or job suddenly is squelched.  So often what we do then is settle.  Well since, this idea, job, and passion, is silly or not possible, let’s just do something else, what is easier, less scary, pays better, or involves less risk that I can pursue instead.  Next thing you know we are simply surviving, we do just enough to keep our relationships alive, just enough to keep going, but not much more than that.

This happens to a church from Ephesus in scripture, and they get a letter from God about it.  It begins this way, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance (Revelation 2:2, TNIV), so far so good, they are affirmed for working hard, and for sticking to their guns, but then the passage continues, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4, TNIV)  God calls them out for just getting by, but also for being distracted.  They had forgotten their passion for God, all the reasons they became a church, all the reasons they wanted to be a Christian, and were just going through the motions.

During high school I had a number of friends who were not Christians that I eventually invited to youth group.  Today a number of those guys are Christians.  I had the joy to pray and talk with one of them as he became a Christian, and thought to myself, this is the greatest gift I could ever give someone, introducing them to God.  That was my dream that sent me into ministry, sharing in relationships that lead to transformation, and helping introduce people to God.

What dreams has God placed on your heart?  Maybe your dream is to become a praying family, or to train young leaders, to become well versed in the bible, to invite all your neighbors to church, or more.  Has something or someone taken you off that path?  Were you told that it was unrealistic, too big, and too crazy?  God reminds us that those dreams, those passions, those first loves need to drive us, to be remembered, and not forgotten.