Another great and poignant message this past Sunday from my friend and pastor, Phil Pike. It was very timely too, because I’ve been feeling restless with my life here lately. I’m (probably to a fault) too open and honest at times, but I’ve got to be honest here… by nature, I am very lazy and I have to fight with everything in me to not be that person. Ever since Landon arrived, we’ve been forced into a new routine of sorts and I’ve let some things slip and have let my guard down in a lot of ways. As a result, I feel my relationship with God is nowhere close to where it needs to be. I also feel I’ve lost touch with the world around me in a lot of ways and have been too focused on myself to really do anything about it. That’s not a good place to be in.

Phil’s message this Sunday was all about having a “dislocated heart”… a heart that is more concerned with God’s agenda than with our own agenda. Not going to lie, my heart right now is very much “localized”. My first inclination is to think of what’s best, what’s easiest or most convenient for me, everyone and everything else is secondary. When you get a glimpse of what that really looks like in the mirror, it’s a sobering picture. In this series, Phil is using Chip Ingram’s book “Holy Ambition”. One of the quotes from the book really spoke to me, he says:

“Every great movement of God and every project that has brought about relief of human need and the fulfillment of God’s will has started with one man or one woman who cared deeply enough to hear God’s voice and stepped out to do something. It started with a dislocated heart. That person understood that he couldn’t change everything, but he was convinced he had to change something!” –Chip Ingram, Holy Ambition (pp. 45-46)

Wow! That’s the kind of man I want to be. In jest (and sometimes honest frustration), I self-deprecate on this blog from time to time, but the bottom line is, God isn’t looking for talent, he’s not looking for strength or beauty, He’s simply in search of “those whose hearts are fully committed to Him”. I’m someone who has always tried to find the easy way out of things… I’ve got a very, very defined comfort zone. But from past experience, I know that’s not how God works, and it’s definitely not how He shows Himself strong through someone wanting to see Him at work in their life.  Another quote Phil read from the book was this:

“Stepping outside your comfort zone often begins with something very, very small. It’s not about doing something great for God; it’s about letting God do something great in your heart! God never does something great through us until He has done something significant in us!” –Chip Ingram, Holy Ambition (p.49)

This week so far has been a week of self-evaluation. It’s humbling when God reveals things in your life that need changing, but it’s in these times that His love seems so overwhelming. I’m praying that God will show me how to live with a “dislocated heart”, that He’d help me see people as He sees them and begin to have a passion and heart for them, outside of the bounds of my clearly defined comfort zone.

Click here to listen to the sermon audio and find out for yourself what it means to live with a dislocated heart.

Ok, so my “creative streaks” come in phases. I can go weeks/months without ever having a desire to dabble in design. Then all the sudden I get the itch and it’s all I think about. Problem is, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. My techniques are limited, skill set lackluster and time non-existent these days. I’m not a designer, I’m just a dabbler and a designer wannabe. If I had it to do over again, I would’ve started sooner and have studied graphic design in college. I feel so far behind the 8-ball compared to some of my creative friends and acquaintances I’ve met via social networking. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not throwing a pity party for myself, just venting, because that’s what blogs are for, right?

So over the last week I’ve been bit by the design bug and have been working on redesigning this site. I really wanted to learn more about WordPress in the process and how to hack up themes to customize them to my liking. I’ve got a few projects in the works in the next few weeks, so thought I’d better get some practice in. I’m discovering that most of it involves knowing your way around CSS… something I’m slowly getting a “little” better at. My biggest problem is that it takes me WAY TOO long to do anything. I’m horrifically slow, but part of that is due to my anal retentiveness and the perfectionist in me. I could never do this for a living, I know that much, but I do enjoy it.

I’ve discovered over time that I’ve got the ability to see what looks good from a design standpoint. I’m a patchwork designer. I can piece things together to come up with a concept, I just lack the ability to originate it. Frustrating, but for what I do on a daily basis at work and what I do @LifePointSC it’s all I really need to do. Still trying to stretch myself though and by surrounding myself with some amazing talent and with all the free resources available online, I’ve got lots of opportunities to learn.

Phil delivered a great message to us at LifePoint Sunday… it was all about defining the church, and what it really is to us as Christians. He started off with a great illustration, one which I will attempt to duplicate for you here! ; )

This is not a trick question… please name the image you see below:

Yep, it’s a cat… what about this next one?

Correct, a dog. And the last one?

It’s a church, right? If you said it’s a “church” you would be incorrect ; ) Let me explain…

Is a church just someplace you go to on Sunday’s or is it something more? Is a church a building, with bricks and mortar and a steeple on top? As Phil shared with us from Acts 2, the church is not a place we go, but is who we are, as followers of Christ.

One of my earliest memories as a child is learning the finger game for describing a church… goes a little something like this (in case you’ve never heard it or have forgotten):

Here’s the church, (interlock your fingers and stick your thumb up for the steeple)

Here’s the steeple,

Open the door, (Pull palms apart leaving fingers intertwined for the roof)

Where’s all the people?

Here’s the church (interlock your fingers so the tips of fingers point down)

Here’s the steeple (stick up thumbs together)

Open the doors

There’s all the people!

Sure, it’s just a fun little kids rhyme, but even as harmless as it is, it’s teaching kids the incorrect definition of what “church” really is! Since we’ve been at LifePoint, this is one of the key lesson’s I’ve learned… that we don’t “go to church” but that we “are the church”. Consequently, we now refer to churches as “church buildings”. Semantics? Maybe so… but it always serves as a great reminder to me of what the church really is. And when you really let that sink in, it’ll change your whole perspective and help you understand the definition that Jesus really had in mind for his followers.

Man, how far we’ve strayed from this way of thinking! For as long as I can remember, I’ve wondered why churches are always trying to out-do one another and why more don’t partner together to reach those who need the love of Jesus. We’re not in a competition – we’re all striving for the same thing… or are we?! It seems churches today are more concerned with creating social clubs and activities for their members than reaching beyond the walls of their “church”. Where did we go wrong?

If you read the book of Acts, it’s pretty obvious what the church was intended to be and how it was to be operated, yet we’ve got all of these preconceived notions in our head of what church is, what it’s supposed to look like and sound like and act like. I think we need to take a good, hard look at the modern day church, take out a blank sheet of paper and start from scratch, using the book of Acts as our template.

I could keep rambling all day, but if you’re reading this and it’s sparked an interest in you, I’d encourage you to tune into this week’s Podcast, What Are You Devoted To – it really will open your eyes to what the church really is, and what our responsibilities are as a result.