Tag: talent

Project People

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Christianity, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, UncategorizedLeave a comment

There is a trend in humanity that has invaded the church.  I find it difficult to understand, difficult to accept.  Let me see what you think.

We are a consumer society.  We want our products now, oh yeah, right now!   We want them cheap.  And we want them packaged properly, no danger to our children, no chance of them spilling their contents on us as we rush through the drive-through, no risk.

We want people the same way.  

We don’t want them smelly.  If they have baggage, we want it dealt with and tidied up.  We want them talented, beautiful and with some pretty impressive credentials.

Excellence is what we are striving for, right.

I’m not so sure.

I think we just want the finished product.  We want people serving who we don’t have to serve.  We want ministers who don’t need ministering.  We want teachers who have no need of being taught.  We want someone with a proven track record of discipling and growing others so that we don’t have to show them the way.

And, sometimes, we want that because we don’t know the way.

Can I remind us all that none of our completed projects?  The best of us are a hopeless mess.  We shouldn’t be shocked when leaders fall.  We shouldn’t wonder why when children are abused or money is embezzled.

Humans do that!

Even with credentials and talent and beauty…

Even with hearts that love Jesus, we still fall.

Ah, but a heart that loves Jesus, one that is yielded to Him, pursuing Him, even in failure, despite the risks and lack of glitter…

He can work with that.

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Proud!

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, WorshipLeave a comment

Caleb Rocking with Radiant Worship

Yesterday I watched my son playing drums in front of our large congregation.  It was the first time and, in some ways, it was like watching him fly.

He has been playing for years and has had many struggles on the way.  He has practiced and taken lessons.  He has played and received direction from me and others.  He has been ornery, funny, encouraging, hateful, rude, calm, excited and all the other inconsistencies that make up a musicians life.

He is my youngest and so has had to follow in the footsteps of his brothers all his life.  Never as good as they are at anything, at least to his mind.  But this year that changed.

Both of my older sons are talented, intelligent, gifted in many ways.  But he found out that there are somethings he can do that they just can’t.  He can fix things they can’t figure out.  He can make beautiful a motorcycle that has sat around for many years.  We got it running but he is making it shine.  And he can drum.

It was a last minute thing.  He had been passed over before and dealt with the rejection and discouragement that came with it.  But he’s tough.  God has been helping him believe in himself.  He was tired from working a really difficult job but was able to put the time in to quickly learn some songs that were unfamiliar to him.

I didn’t want to say anything at the time, but I was nervous.  These things have so much potential for going either way.  Like when he learned to ride a bike.  You’re not sure he won’t wreck till you watch him flying down the road.

And….he flew!

It can be so easy to not risk, not try.  It can be so easy to look at our failures and past regrets, knowing that we will fail again and again.  But God calls us beyond that.  He calls us to believe that, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!”  He calls us to live.

As I watched my son play, my heart joined with the Father’s heart that says, “I always knew you could.  I always knew that you would be a blessing.  YOU ROCK!!!”

Do you hear Him saying that to you?