Urgent patience...

I was reading in John 9 the other night about where Jesus heals a man born blind.  The disciples asked Jesus why this man was born blind, was it his sin or his parents?  Jesus told them it was neither, but he was this way so the power of God could be seen in him.  Then there was this verse....

4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.

A couple of things... God will sacrifice physical comfort for spiritual gain.  We aren't too keen on that and somewhere in our psyche, we have programmed into us, just like the disciples, that everything that isn't comfortable is a punishment or a persecution...when actually, there's no guarantee that it is either one.  It could just be a sacrifice of praise to your God.  Are you okay with that?  To quote the great theologian Ben Stiller from the end of "Meet the Parents"...CAN YOU DEAL WITH THAT? 

That's a tough concept to assimilate....God creating you to go through a hardship so He can show His power.  This blind man had lived to manhood, completely blind, and it wasn't anyone's fault or a punishment, but was simply so God could show His power.  That's not the particularly lollipops and giggles God that everyone seems to try to sell, but the sovereign Lord that we are all forced to come to grips with if we follow Him long enough.  Of course, God loves us, but we forget that His purpose doesn't begin and end with this act of love.  Though valuable enough for Him to voluntarily die for, we are not more valuable than Him.

None of us really have any problem with God showing His power, in fact, we welcome that moment...it's the stuff before it that we have the biggest problem with.  It's also that God doesn't send us a postcard letting us know when this process begins that it's going to end up with Him showing His power.  Many times, we are in the dark until the moment that it happens, much like the blind man. 

Truthfully, the blind man was fortunate.  I'm reminded of a story I heard Monday night in my LifeGroup of the an Eastern European cleric who attempted to take down Communism by defending the truth and overcoming evil with love.  When the troops came into the streets, he handed them cookies.  He finally was killed, finished off by being drowned to death, after being tortured within an inch of his life.  The people to which he preached revolted by the thousands, but they were true to his message as they marched through the streets shouting "We forgive". 

He never saw that moment in the story...he never saw the massive result of his life on Earth.  The truth is that many of us will never see the culmination of what God has for our lives...regardless of our lives, the ripple lasts longer.  The fortunate really get a moment of exhale, when they know it was really worth it...but it never compares to the moment when we see Christ face to face and really get it.

The thing we must remember...is the final statement.  The night is coming and at some point, your chance to make a difference will be no more....when no one can work.  There is an urgency...but we must not run ahead...but delayed obedience is still disobedience.  There must be a balance of tension and patience in life, where you are always ready, but never rushing.  It's the obedience zone...it's the balance on the waterskis between pulling and being pulled (one gets you a face of water)...because we all have tasks and we must "quickly carry" them out when the moment comes, not hesitating, but surging forward in urgent patience.

Look for it.  Don't miss it.

Please continue to pray for us as we try to be the Jesus' church in west Palm Bay Florida at Bay West Church.

A wonderful PROBLEM

Hey folks, in the aftermath of our message on the Family and why it matters in our "Family Matters" series, we are looking to start some new Life Groups.

The wonderful problem is that the ones we have are starting to get FULL! What we need is for some of you to pray about hosting one in your home and others to pray about actually facilitating the study.

This may mean that you are currently in a LifeGroup and God is leading you to step up in leadership and fill one or both of these roles (our goal is host and leader to be separate, but it works in some situations).  This may mean that you aren't involved in a LifeGroup currently, but would like to be in on the start of one of our new groups.  Please pray about this.

If you are interested and would like to know more, please email Dennis Smith (Minister of Education) at dennis@fbcmel.org or Jim Campbell (Campus Pastor - Bay West) at jim@fbcmel.org . Thanks.

Please pray for us as we continue to be the church for the West Palm Bay, Florida at Bay West Church.

Habakkuk...the ultimate 'SAY WHAT????"

I was thinking about a friend tonight who's had a really rough time recently and isn't out of the woods yet. What do you say? When things have been so tough, just what religious platitude do you throw out there? "Keep on keeping on"...yep, I'D hit me if I said that. When "trust in the Lord" is what my friend is doing and it's just going to be a process...a long one, perhaps, what do you say?  Guess I'll just pray.  It's especially hard when you've lain out for the very Lord that seems to have been the very One who left you almost stranded in the tough spot you are in. What's encouraging? Maybe a little company, possibly?
When I prayed for my friend, I prayed for the faith of Habakkuk. Here's the story (if you don't know it). Here's Habakkuk, trying to be out there being God's guy, standing up against evil, and he goes to God completely indignant against the nasty Babylonians.  He's all like just laying down how it is to God, completely expecting God to totally agree with him...Habakkuk is completely convinced that God is right there with him, and of course, who wouldn't be? But God completely throws him an uber-curve. "God, how can you let their evil continue?", and God replies "no, no, I'm raising the Babylonians up to do something you wouldn't believe..."


After God laid out the plan, I don't know if there was a long pause before Habakkuk's second complaint, but there should have been. My picture is a cartoony extra long Looney Tunes face on a guy just standing there with his scroll unconsciously slipping from his fingers...."Say WHAT????....bu-bu-but you sa......"
This moment was a cataclysmic theological change for Habakkuk. He was COMPLETELY bought in to one particular line of thought and it got just blown out of the water..."raising up" the people who were tormenting/violating/damaging him and his people and doing evil all over the place...God???  How???  He's in a tough spot, and it's almost like God just booted him from the chariot he road here in and sped off in it down the long dusty road out of sight.
Still, through the book, you see the faith that is beyond "belief" or theological theory in Habakkuk...a belief that is simply in the amazing God that He has served all His life...and at the end of the book in chapter 3 are these words, from the guy who's just been driven somewhere and left...

16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.

17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Wow...that's stout.  Throw me a curve, God and I'm with you.  Completely destroy my pre-conceived understanding that I've spent years building of You and I will still rejoice in You and be joyful as well.

Hang in there, buddy.
 Please pray for us as Bay West Church continues to try to be the church to the people of west Palm Bay, Florida.

The Invisible Woman - overtime

Here's a pretty good video by Nicole Johnson called "The Invisible Woman" and it has an expanded view on the message last Sunday from our "Family Matters" series.  Larry played it at the Melbourne Campus. 

Remember that the "invisible creates the visible" and that is your character...the character of the Proverbs 31 woman.  It's interesting to see Nicole's take on not getting caught up in the resume and how she illustrates another point...not only does character connect and communicate...it rarely gets the credit it deserves...also, it's contribution isn't made for the benefit of the contributor or those close to the contributor here on Earth.


Watch it...it's pretty good and I doubt you'll be disappointed.



Please continue to pray for Bay West Church as we continue to try to be the church of Jesus Christ in the West end of Palm Bay, Florida

NEW MESSAGE series: Family Matters

Family matters...that's just a fact. No matter what composes your family, whether it's traditional, blended, multiple combined or you and your friends...families are important. God created the family and His Word has a lot to say about what He can do in our lives through our families and in His world.



Please join us for this 6 week discovery of some of the things that God has in His word for mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and all of God's believers...all in the context of our family.

 
Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we continue to try to be the church of Jesus in West Palm Bay Florida.

Within Reach outreach event was a success!

Here's a message from Jeff & Tracey Gwinn, Within Reach founders and coordinators.  They are a real testament to what you can do, if you just listen to God and follow His leadership.  You can make a difference in your community and in your world.  Jeff is just a guy who listened to God's leadership in vision-casting, dreaming and stepping out in faith to organize this ministry event last Saturday that Bay West worked in partnership with. 

Here is the link to the Within Reach Facebook page.

I hope everyone is rested up from the long weekend. If you were at the Within Reach event on Saturday I would like to hear from you on what you thought of our first event and if you might of seen God move in different ways or would like to testify of God's goodness then email me back or post it on our WIthin Reach FB page. I want to once again thank everyone you came out and was a part, we could not have done it with out all of your support,


Thank you and God Bless,
Jeff and Tracy Gwinn
Within Reach
 
Please continue to pray for us at Bay West Church as we try to be the church of Jesus in west Palm Bay, Florida.