Anyhow, I find myself with this week's message done, bulletin printed and storms coming, but none of them on the forefront of my mind. Rather, I've been given an incredible privilege and opportunity to address about 150 colleagues on Friday in Minneapolis. And the topic the Lord has led me to just won't leave my mind (I suppose that's a good thing).
Now, I get an hour in MN, but in just a few bullet points, let me share what's on my heart most in this moment:
- All of life's needs can be boiled down to three Core Needs: Initimacy, Security & Significance. Every need and/or desire we can feel in this life is rooted in these three.
- There are two ways to go about meeting each of these: My Way or God's Way
- My Way fills the three, in order, with: Sex, Accumulation & Achievement. The problem is that each is incomplete. Sex, like any other drug always requires more and unfortunately, in our current culture, almost always more people. Accumulation is plagued by the unanswerable question of "When do I have enough?" (and thus always requires more stuff). And Achievement has it's own worst enemy in it's passing nature (and thus always requires more work).
- God's Way, on the other hand, fills the three, in order, with: Worship, Release & Identity. Worship grants me unlimited capacity for intimacy in the purest way imaginable. Release allows me to stop trusting me, and begin to trust God for my security. And Identity focuses on who God declares me to be, which is requires no work on my part and is permanent.
- My Way always leads to Death (at multiple levels) while God's Way leads to Life (also at multiple levels). If I embrace the former, I get to not only enjoy Life but be a distributor of it. But if I embrace the latter, I not only speed along towards Death, but end up taking many others along for the ride.
As one who takes very seriously my purpose and impact in this life, I am challenged continuously to evaluate not only What I am doing, but Why (sounds a bit like an earlier topic, huh?). My answer to this question, and my commitment to meet my Core Needs God's Way will make all the difference in this life...and the life to come.
I told you a couple months back that we were going to "boldly go...", so I hope you're enjoying the journey. And yes, just in case you're wondering, I did see the new Star Trek and it was GREAT! I just pray that my desire for the next one (which will surely come) will always be eclipsed by my desire to be God's man...and Captain.
