What are you known for?

We had our 4th area-wide multi-church gathering for Pastors and their staffs last week in order to get to know one another better. We took time to eat together, to worship, pray and be inspired by one of the Pastors who gave a devotional. I was asked to lead the Prayer segment, I love to pray and lead out in prayer, I have learned much over the years reading about prayer and learning from others as I have listened to their prayers. A couple days after the event many of our staff complimented me on what a great time the prayer time was, and then someone said, "if Pastor Kevin is known for anything it's prayer."

Don't get me wrong, that is a wonderful thing to be known for, but I'd love to be remembered for more than that however. I hope people remember me for being a lover of God, truthful, relational, grace filled, a great teacher of the Word, a producing reproducer, a great husband, Dad and brother etc. What about you? If someone was going to sum you up in a singular statement what would they say? I believe the older we get the more focused we become and what people say about us is a by-product of how we spend our time, resources and invest all that we have and are.

The summer should be less hurried for most of us and so I encourage you to either answer the question yourself or even ask others around you what they would say about you. If you don't hear what you hope to than make whatever course corrections you need to be in order to become what you want.

There are No Short-Cuts!

This past Monday night I just finished several months of formal discipleship/leadership mentoring with some outstanding young men, followers of Christ. We met every other Monday night at our house and as each night approached I sensed my own excitement building. I had planned out the 10 sessions way in advance, I asked God what He wanted me to teach, and most nights that planned was followed. There were some nights however when what was planned got changed and that was great, for I love how the Holy Spirit leads like, and I am grateful to hear His promptings and as much as possible, follow them. One of the sayings that I repeated,t "there are no short-cuts!" In matters of spiritual growth, scripture knowledge, a deeper and more effective prayer life, growing more intimate with God and so on - "there are no short-cuts". I remember one of my spiritual/ministry mentors say to me many years ago; "you have as much God in your life as you want, you have as many close friends in your life as you want, you have as much love in your life as you want" and so on. He was and is correct. The question we must all ask is "how badly do I want something?" One of the keys in obtaining it is to make sure you have peace and confidence it is from God, if it is, than He will provide the plan, power and passion to see it through. Right now I am trying to lose some pounds around my stomach, re-gain some muscle, and get more limber, there have been several challenges like injuries, and those have discouraged me. Much of my success or lack of it will depend on how badly I want this. I know that there are no short-cuts. I am grateful for my relationship with God, my love for Him, the joy I get in serving Him and the people of the church I serve for they are a Godly, teachable and passionate bunch! There are no short-cuts in seeing our church become all that He desires. As I finished up our last meeting, I closed in a prayer for each man, a personalized prayer that I hope they get to see become a reality. I then challenged each of them to find 4 men they can mentor and I will do the same, that will become exponential. Come next Fall it will be time to Produce some more Reproducers, four new men will step into our living room and I will lead off with the same true statement - "Men, there are no short-cuts."