I have been working with Nate Johnson from Level Two Design (http://www.level2d.com/home.html) on redoing a new blog. With a new blog will come a fresh new look. These next blog entries will create in finality the end of this journey we have shared in the last several years through Short Circuits.
New Year’s Day is usually my favorite holiday of the year – there is just something refreshing about a new chance to begin again. Church of the Highlands is launching a twenty-one days of prayer focused on seeking God to new levels and higher heights. I have decided to transition to a new blog after these twenty-one days. Blogspot and the original Short Circuits blog have served me well, but I believe it is time to move on with a more professional look that I know will change lives hopefully by the hundreds and then by the thousands, leading to an eventual book contract.
Over twenty-one days, I have some simple goals. They are listed as following:
1.) To run for 21 straight days getting back in shape and getting my body back to a level that will truly glorify God. I have registered for three races for the next twenty-one days, each subsequent Saturday.
2.) To blog for 21 straight days, updating readers on my status with how things are going.
3.) To do my very best to finish as much as possible on a book I have been working on and off for the last 18 months (a personal memoir about living with bipolar disorder). While the book project and text will continue to be a work-in-progress until it signs (perhaps even for many years to come), the next three weeks will be a focused effort to push and bring the story all together.
4.) And to fulfill the Big Three (part of my own one year Happiness Project, more of this to come) – reading the Word, memorizing the Word, and praying for others (not focusing on my own needs) …. The Big Three is something I have been working on for two or three months now, missing a day or two here or there. I would like The Big Three to become a habit where I do these things every day without thinking about it, like driving a car.
I really believe that this is a great way to start out a New Year….focusing on goals with a Christ-centered focus and feel. Church of the Highlands is exploding. It is overwhelming and almost unprecedented how God is working through the church in the state of Alabama….saving people, serving through community, praising, and giving thanks for ALL He has done. Through the New Year, I will continue to pray that individuals do not fall through the numbers but that somehow and some way Highlands continues to touch lives through the leadership of Senior Pastor Chris Hodges where time is precious and not expedited through so much growth that we forget about the Jesus we love so much, causing some to feel estranged. Availability is imperative, and an invitation beyond a hand shake or hand raised becomes paramount. I believe that through vision for growth we must continue to remember the statutes our body was founded on - equipping experienced believers while bringing new ones to the Lord's table. When so much growth occurs, perhaps the potentiality to do the small things well becomes more susceptible to missing our purpose altogether. Some first time visitors do not become involved unless they are welcomed by friends and family – most do not initiate involvement unless asked by someone of merit to come. My intentions are not to discredit my church home but rather as a writer express my thoughts on recent matters, giving readers something to think about.
This year I am reaching for higher heights. Last year was tumultuous – it was really weird looking back with all the events that occurred in own life, the strange dreams, the mental challenges, and continuously asking myself, “What is going on here?”
I want to believe in hard work, real hard work with my purpose in Christ’s Name. Simply mentioned, that is my focus for the year, that the 21 Day Initiative at Church of the Highlands is for something tangible in the hearts of those involved….that we truly fight for a cause worth fighting for, an eternity for you, an eternity for me, and an eternity for the lost without numbers being the only goal, but rather growth for believers in where they are so through our personal growth in Christ others come to Christ. You might have to read that again. In our growth as experienced believers growth becomes possible in others….if you train soldiers to live and die for His Gain, we must continue to refine our souls in both small group fellowship and friendship but also in congregational gatherings where as a family we come together. As I have heard our pastor say continually through my tenure since the beginning, we are truly “better together.”
And as I focus on the next 21 Days, I hope that these 21 days turns 2012 into a life-changing year where my hands are held in the air raising up like Rocky into a new generation, becoming a the heavyweight champion of the world in union with Christ. Together we can and together we will change lives for Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment