Conference Response 3

I'm not sure I have spent enough time ruminating on Andy Stanley's statements. And I have been following him on twitter hoping he would tweet out some more profound, life-changing, 140 character eternal truths. I don't want to say that Andy has let me down or anything... but ummmm. I guess Twitter might not be the place to look for that stuff huh?

The next thing that is really alive to me from the conference is what Francis Chan said. He said (in a nutshell of course, and in my own paraphrase - so don't call Francis and accuse of anything I notate here) that "if the Holy Spirit doesn't do something, it won't get done, even if we can make it look like it is getting done."

Salvation, spirituality, personal worship, discipleship, Christian service, integrity, character, mission... None of them can be created by our efforts. We cannot manufacture them. No matter how much I want them for myself or for my children, or for the friends I serve in my church, I can not cause them to happen.

I wish that were some kind of relief to me. I wish that somehow that took some kind of weight from my shoulders. I wish that I felt like my job description somehow just shrunk. What I feel is discouraged. (I typed in the word 'forlorn' but decided that it sounded pompous and out of date.) I fee discouraged not because I doubt the power of the HS to deliver on his job description, or because I have a small picture of God and His power. I'm discouraged because I'm not sure I trust people to respond to the Holy Spirit as He does his job. I'm discouraged by MY unresponsiveness to the HS.

I respond to my desires, my comfort, my 'happiness' (to confess to the dilemma of my most recent sermon) much more readily than I respond to the Holy Spirit. I WANT TO ONLY CHOOSE GOD.

I MUST PRAY. I have taught many times that prayer is the most effective thing a Christ-follower can ever do. I MUST PRAY MORE. I must pray that the HS do in me, and in my family, and in my congregation all that He desires of us AND that we respond to Him above all else.

PRAY WITH ME
Dear Lord Jesus,
Have your way in me. Teach me to love like you love, to live like you lived, to give with your generosity, to serve with your humility, to think with your wisdom, to see others through your grace, to live out your mission with the determination that compelled you to hang on my cross. And move mightily in me and through me to act according to your perfect will.
Amen.