Jesus is the Subject; I am a Verb

I've been working on my personal mission statement lately.  In doing so, I was challenged by a colleague (who has actually been coaching me for the past year) to develop statements of personal Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values.  As with most things with me, this is a work-in-progress, but here's what I've come up with.  Feedback welcomed.

Jesus is the Subject.  It's all about Him.  Everything we do as His followers is to show that Jesus is the subject, that we are owned by His mission.  The mission of the church is to take this message to those who are far from God: "Jesus loves YOU!"  Our words and actions to one another must resonate, "Jesus loves you!"

"Jesus loves you" has three parts:  a subject, an object, and a verb connecting the two.  The subject is the one doing something, so Jesus is the subject.  The object is the one receiving whatever the subject is doing, so "you" is the object.  In reality, each of us is the object of the love of Christ, yet there's another part.  The verb connects the subject to the object.  The verb is the action of the subject to the object.  When we become followers of Jesus, we become the verb - an action word - the hands and feet of Jesus, taking the message of His love to those who are far from Him. 

I am a verb!  Fellow Christ-fol…

This week brings a change in our regular routine, such as it is, and my family found ourselves with a few hours free on a Wednesday evening.  This isn't a usual occurrence in the life of the family of a pastor, as most churches hold midweek Bible studies, prayer meetings, and other such activities.

What to do with a couple of hours on a Wednesday night?  We decided to top off a busy day by sitting down for supper at a CiCi's Pizza just a couple of blocks from our church facility.  No one has to cook and... it's PIZZA!  Everyone's happy!

The experience was a wake-up call of sorts for me.  This pizza establishment was busy with families from the community.  People of all ages and skin colors eating, laughing, and glancing occasionally at the big screen TV in the corner.  As we walked in, my teenage son saw a friend from school and went over to say "hi."  Within 2 minutes of being there, I was recognized by someone as "the pastor who likes like Rascal Fla…

Setting SMART goals may not be a new idea for many folks, however I was recently introduced to this process of goal-setting by my pastoral coach through the Healthy Growing Churches network.

True goals must be SMART:
   Specific.  What exactly will you do (or stop doing or change how you do it)?  The more specific the better.
   Measurable.  You have to be able to measure progress to determine when a goal is met (length, size, amount, etc.).
   Actionable.  How will the action take place that will lead to reaching your goal?  Every resolution should start with a verb: "quit," "run," "finish," "eliminate," etc.
   Realistic.  The goal must actually be possible.  A good goal may stretch you, but you have to use common sense.
   Time-bound.  Set dates/timing as specific as possible.  Is this a goal to reach "by Dec. 31," or is there a shorter/longer time frame?

A number of years ago I began to set goals that were specific and manageable…

A New Year is always a time for me to reflect and set new or continuing goals.  One of my goals has to do with journaling and blogging, so there should be at least 1 blog post a week throughout 2K15.  Stay tuned for that one, and if you regularly read what I write, accountability is welcomed.

Another of my goals is in the area of health & fitness.  This year I began working with a Stretch To Win trainer.  She has challenged me to not only increase flexibility, but to strengthen my core.  My lower body has been strong for years, and last year I really focused on strengthening my upper body, but she suggested that a strong core is key to centralizing total body strength and endurance.

One of the best core (think abdominal muscles) exercises I've come across is the basic plank.  This strengthens the core, while reducing the back stress that accompanies sit-ups and crunches.

Therefore, I created my own challenge, I'm calling the Daily Plank Challenge.  This Challenge has sever…