The night the Faith Church congregation voted to build the community center on our Faith East campus I went home and wrote the following essay. I shared it with the pastors and deacons at the time, but I think it might be a blessing to a wider audience now as we see how the Lord is opening a door of opportunity for Faith Church with the Northend Community Center.<\/p>\n
After the strong congregational vote to initiate a new community center and seminary ministry I began to wonder why God keeps moving the decimal point.\u00a0 Maybe you have noticed this also.\u00a0 There was a time when Faith struggled with only a few hundred dollars.\u00a0 We began to get that under control and God moved the decimal point.\u00a0 We started having to deal in a few thousand dollars.\u00a0 Before we could get completely comfortable with that, God moved the decimal point again.\u00a0 All of a sudden we were dealing with tens of thousands.\u00a0 We were amazed.\u00a0 But God doesn\u2019t seem to know when to quit. \u00a0He moved the decimal point once again and we were the stewards of hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u00a0 Now, as incomprehensible as it may seem, it looks like God is going to move the decimal point even farther.\u00a0 We could be stewards of millions.<\/p>\n
Rita and I sat down at the table after coming home from the evening service and marveled over what God has been and is doing with Faith.\u00a0 Besides watching the decimal point slide rapidly to the right something else has been a noticeable part of Faith\u2019s history.\u00a0 We have always been willing to adjust our evangelical and disciplining ministries to match the culture in which we are living.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t that we have been foolish; we just wanted to reach our community with the good news of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Faith began with door-to-door visitation and witnessing.\u00a0 There was just a few of us and it worked for a while.\u00a0 But Satan is a formidable coach and he and his team kept heading off our offense.\u00a0 God\u2019s team is always on offense, you know.\u00a0 We always have the ball.\u00a0 We went to a bus ministry and that worked for a while also.\u00a0 Then we added the counseling ministry and it has been and still is a fabulous way to evangelize and disciple people.<\/p>\n
It makes one wonder.\u00a0 Is there a correlation between God continually moving the decimal point to the right and Faith\u2019s willingness to adjust our offense?\u00a0 At every decision point it took faith.\u00a0 But you know something?\u00a0 The move to a community center and seminary requires less faith than some of the earlier initiatives we have taken.\u00a0 Relatively speaking, this initiative is less risky.\u00a0 We already have the income to support this move.\u00a0 Since Pastor Bill Goode became our senior pastor we have been equipped with a highly qualified staff.\u00a0 Besides, trusting God gets easier the more you do it.<\/p>\n
Of course, we are learning that it isn\u2019t about me and it isn\u2019t about you.\u00a0 Neither is it about attendance numbers and it certainly isn\u2019t about dollars.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about pleasing our Lord and\u2026Enjoying God’s Grace… (to the hilt).<\/p>\n
Since writing this essay I think we have all become acutely aware that God has continued to \u201cmove the decimal point.\u201d We also know it that it takes more than money to accomplish what God is doing through Faith Church. He has continued to bring people with dreams, gifts and abilities\u2014both pastors and lay persons\u2014to carry his programs forward.<\/p>\n
I was recently tagged with the title \u201cDinosaur\u201d (and I wear it proudly). Well, this old dinosaur\u2019s heart swells with joy every time I see deacons, some as young as I \u201cback in the day,\u201d filled with the same zeal as me and my contemporaries. And what about our soon-to-be dinosaur pastors filled with wisdom, energy and vision?<\/p>\n
And now there is a cadre of young pastors and interns who are driving our new ministries tirelessly and effectively? And there are all the volunteers, both men and women, boys and girls, who joyfully put their shoulders to the wheel. God has continued to bring the right people at the right time to do his work.<\/p>\n
If I don\u2019t stop my heart is going to explode. Praise God!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"