God never gives up on you

Last week at my church, one of the people from the congregation gave his testimony about how God had pursued him.

The man had drifted from God and had troubles with his wife. He recently heard a voice every morning for a week saying, "God loves you."

My fellow churchgoer repented of his sins, reconciled with his wife, and got baptized! Thank you, Lord, for pursuing us.

God loves people

My wife and I recently traveled up to Duluth, Minn., to attend the Cause Conference. The conference was very intriguing, with sessions including:

• "Do I Think Like Jesus?"
• "Peace in the Middle of the Storm"
• "How to Position Yourself to Participate in What God Is Doing"
• and more.

The senior pastor of the Duluth Vineyard church, Michael Gatlin, shared a fascinating story about how he wanted to become a pastor but it just wasn't happening after 10 years. While on a walk, he heard from God:

'No human being can keep you from accomplishing my plans for you,' said God.

          'Then why aren't you letting me be a pastor right now?' Michael replied. 

          'Because I love people,' God said.

Apparently Michael wasn't ready to be a pastor. He needed more time to have God work in him. That definitely worked, because the Duluth Vineyard church is changing lives throughout the Duluth area.

Movie review: 'The Mighty Macs'

To put it simply, "The Mighty Macs" is a feel-good movie. There's nothing wrong with that, but since the film is based on historical events, we already know how the story ends and are left to focus on other aspects of the film -- i.e., the acting.

The acting is excellent, particularly by Carla Gugino. She plays Cathy Rush, the new women's basketball coach at Immaculata College -- an all-female college in Pennsylvania founded and run by nuns. The facilities that Cathy gets to work with are atrocious. The team plays in an old activity center, which was being used as a storage room. Their home games are played at the local high school, and in one instance, the players have to use a ladies' room as their "locker room" for an away game.

The odds are stacked against Cathy, who is married to NBA referee Ed Rush (David Boreanaz). Immaculata College is in financial trouble, Ed doesn't support her efforts to turn around a losing team, and there is no funding for equipment.

By hard work, contagious enthusiasm and cleverness, Cathy and her team pick up steam. Instead of the once-a-day practices they had under their previous coach, the players now practice at 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. A sister at the college joins as the assistant coach. After a humiliating loss, Cathy forces the team to practice drills in a tunnel sewer.

The school starts to rally around the team when it's invited to a regional tournament. Despite a disappointing loss, the team gets one of four at-large bids to the national tournament in Chicago. The only problem? No funding. So the team gets clever, raising money by selling hand lotion door to door and Cathy dressing up in a habit to fly free.

Remember how "The Mighty Macs" is a feel-good movie? Well, of course, they win the national championship, Ed comes around and the marriage is healed, and the administration supports the team. Now if only we get to know how their women's basketball facilities improved after that. . .

Courageous

I'm currently going through a Bible study with three other men related to the movie "Courageous," the latest film by Sherwood Pictures.

It's a quick, but deep, study designed to challenge men to live courageously for the sake of their families. Session topics include:

1. Courageous Call:  fighting for your family
2. Courageous Priorities:  valuing what matters most
3. Courageous Legacy:  impacting future generations
4. Courageous Faith:  standing for Christ.

I highly recommend this Bible study to fathers and husbands. One of the key lessons that I have learned through this Bible study about leaving a positive legacy is that you have to unpack and deal with the legacy left in your life first.

I love you, God

Last week I was at church and the worship leader said something that really hit me.

He started out by asking everyone in the congregation who had ever been in love to raise their hands. Most people did.

Then he said, "You know when you tell someone 'I love you'? It feels a lot better when they say something like 'I love you, too' instead of no response or 'ditto'."

He continued, "God is trying to love us in so many ways, and I bet that he wants us to say back, 'I love you, God.'"

The worship leader was right. I love you, God.

Peace.

Yesterday I was really anxious in advance of a new business meeting related to my consultancy. I prayed to God.

His response:  Peace.

At that moment I was clearly reminded how He has it all under control.

God wants His church back

John Wimber

The church that I attend is part of the Vineyard movement. One of the founding leaders of the Vineyard was John Wimber, who was inspired by God telling him, "I want my church back."

Todd Hunter shared a little more background on that story on his blog:

Do you know what made John Wimber so ruthlessly unmovable on the one hand yet so winsome on the other? After years of traveling around the country as a church growth consultant with Fuller Seminary, after years of consulting with denominational hierarchies and institutions, John found over and over again that the church was hardly ever in God’s hands. It was in the hands of bishops. It was in the hands of pastors, deacons, elders, boards. It was in the hands of almost anybody but God. John just simply said, 'I’m going to go home and I’m going to start a church in which the Holy Spirit is the leader.' In a 'Godward' church, in the church I would build, the Holy Spirit would be the leader, the administrator, and the architect. You may remember that John Wimber’s very first renewal messages in the early '80s in South Africa and England were entitled, 'I Want My Church Back.' That was his way of reflecting on what he had seen through his years of consulting. I don’t know how many times I heard both John and Carol (John's wife) say, privately and publicly, 'When does God get what he wants out of his church?' This is a driving question for me: How can I do everything possible to see that God gets what he wants out of the Vineyard?

It's inspiring, indeed.