Coming Alive

I was flipping the channels a minute ago and came across this really tacky Christian station.  It was one of those where everyone is dressed like they are in the 80’s and there is unusual architecture everywhere.  Anyway, the host was interviewing T.D. Jakes.  Admittedly I have never been a big fan of Jakes, but right as I was flipping by he said something that caught my attention so I gave him another 30 seconds…

Then he earned another minute…

Then I just sat down and listened.

He was saying some stuff that not only was incredibly profound, but also very relevant to me right now.  
1.  One thing he said was that your ministry is often times born out of your misery.  Essentially, if something is driving you crazy you are probably called to be the instrument of change.  Good stuff.

2.  Next he talked about the difference between confidants and constituents.  A confidant is someone who is with you no matter what.  A constituent is someone who is with you because they agree with where you are going.  Confidants are rare.  Constituents aren’t necessarily bad, but the problem is that if they percieve that someone/something else can get them to their goal quicker than you…they are gone.  Constituents don’t have loyalty…and its likely they aren’t living out of a calling.  For a pastor they can be a HUGE headache.

3.  Finally, Jakes spoke about how he had recently learned that if you go to a pharmacy and buy pills you aren’t actually paying for the ingredients of the capsule.  The charge for that pill has much more to do with the research and study that went into discovering WHAT exactly needed to go into the pill.  The revelation Jakes had was that unlike medicine, Christians value the end result more than the process of discovering the solution.  We pay for the fix not for the learning of HOW to fix.  Read that again.

It seems like the I bomb every Sunday before I go out of town.  It never fails.  This week Kristan, Nolan and I are at the beach, so, inevitably my message was a train wreck.  Halfway through I was talking to myself inside my head talking trash…to me.  After a while the trash talk stopped when I fell asleep on myself.

Ok, it wasn’t THAT bad.  It was pretty bad.

Oh well, there are worse tragedies I guess.  At the end of the day I still have the best job in the world.  I still get to share God with people on a regular basis.  And, I am comforted with the knowledge that days like that happen sometimes.  I prepared, I prayed, and for some reason God thought it would be HILARIOUS to make me sound like it was my first time delivering a sermon…

Good one God.