Have you ever wondered why all the pain in your life?  If God loves me then why all the pain and suffering that I’m experiencing?  If you are like most we have all asked that question a time or two.  When I was diagnosed with diabetes back in September 2003 I found myself asking, “Why God?  Why me?”  On the front end I could not understand why a seemingly healthy 33 year old would hear such news.  I continued to ask the “Why me?” questions for some time.  Then one day God spoke to me and said, “Ken, you are asking the wrong question.  The question should be ‘why NOT me?’”

You see as James teaches us our pain is put there to help us mature spiritually.  Look with me at James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

This morning I woke up and received my devotion from David Jeremiah on my Blackberry.  I would like to share this story as I close this post this morning.

David, a 2-year-old with leukemia, was taken to see Dr. Truman who specialized in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. At the age of three, after a year of the usual treatments, David had to have a spinal tap a painful procedure at any age. “If it hurts, remember it’s because he loves you” said his mother of Dr. Truman. The procedure was horrendous, taking three nurses to hold down David’s little flailing body as he sobbed. When it was over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and said, “Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting.”

It’s hard to turn on the TV without hearing something about the economy, and people losing their retirement.  So it got me thinking about a verse in Matthew.  It’s Matthew 6:20 and it reads like this:

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where neither thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:20

I started thinking about storing up treasures in heaven.  Have you ever considered that heaven is the only place where we can invest that we receive eternal dividends?  The return is really out of this world!  We can work our fingers to the bone and hoard up as much money in this life as we possibly can, but when check out of this world you won’t take it with you.  Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul?  I didn’t think so!

However, there is something we can take with us?  It’s really the only thing that can go with us into eternity.  Do you know what that one thing is?  It’s other people!  When we invest in heaven we do so by reaching people with the life changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It’s the only thing that can take a hopeless, hurting person and transform their life.  So how’s the investing in the kingdom been going for you?

It is my prayer that the members of God’s family would take seriously our call to share the good news of Jesus Christ.  I pray we wouldn’t just talk about it, but that we would “pray” and “go.”  In Matthew 28:19-20 we read of the “Great Commission.”  In this the word “Go” is used.  The word is really continuing action.  As you are going…..make disciples.  I pray we would all become witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ.  As we wait for the soon coming King may we lay up treasures in heaven!

This morning at the Tilley home was pretty normal.  We spent our normal time waking up the kids for school, getting dressed and eating breakfast.  We spent our normal time talking about life, school and God.  This morning I led the girls in a devotion I received via email from David Jeremiah [www.davidjeremiah.org].  I did so from my new Blackberry Storm [thank you Crosslink!].  The devotion was on our need to give up the “control” in our lives, and give it to God!  Let God be in full control of our lives.  I know I needed to hear this!  I often get in a rut [note: A rut is a grave with both ends kicked out!].  I don’t know if you are like me but I will be very disciplined in my walk with God [Another note:  the word disciplined comes from the root word “disciple”….go figure!], and then I drift from the discipline.  Now my heart is still in the walking part, but it’s the carrying it out part that I often struggle with.  Do you resemble that remark?

So Dr. Jeremiah talked about us losing control so God can gain control of our lives.  He used the illustration of tandem bike riders.  Whoever is on the front of that tandem bike is in control.  The person seated in the back is a contributor, but they aren’t in control.  They are only pedaling.  There is a lot of freedom in this concept to the believer.  If I understand the sovereignty of God I know that I’m not in control I’m just pedaling.

It is my prayer for my own life that I will do a much better job at pedaling, and leave the controlling to God.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.”  Psalm 37:23

If you have children then you’ve probably heard these words from a seasoned parent…”cherish the moments you have with your children because they grow up fast.”  I’ve heard these words all my life and now I’m starting to experience it.  Madison turned ten years old last month, and Laikyn will be eight in August.  Emmie is bringing up the rear after just turning three.  This whole idea of “Growing Up Too Fast” sort of set in last night.  The school was to do a program today about “puberty” which we opted out of.  Stephanie and I both agreed that we should be the ones who talk to her about the changes that are coming.  So Steph went through the school material in detail and talked with Madison about what to expect.

As they were in her bedroom talking about it I sat in the family room thinking our little girl is becoming a little lady.  There is a part of me that this is really hard to accept, but then I’m reminded that our job as parents is to prepare them for adulthood.  However, it’s still hard to believe that she is growing up so fast.  Her shoe size is bigger than Steph’s already!  Well, I feel like I’m rambling, but I guess what I’m trying to say is “cherish the moments you have with your children because they grow up fast!”

Have you ever had this awesome vision about what should be and could be, but it had to wait?  I know I have!  I’ve always struggled with waiting.  When it comes to waiting for a vision to come to fruition I can be impatient.  You too huh?  Well, you are in good company.  I’ve never seen too many visions that didn’t go through a period of waiting.  So waiting can be a good thing for vision.  However, if we aren’t careful it can also die in it’s infancy! 

So while you are waiting should it be a period of inactivity?  Absolutely not!  It’s a time to do two things.  Maybe God has given you a vision, but you currently aren’t able to act on your vision.  You are at the wrong job, working for the wrong boss and it’s just not a good time!  So here’s what you can do:

Pray for opportunites and plan like it’s going to happen!  Take the initiative to pray and seek God’s guidance.  If you have a vision for your children to become people of character [and you should] then don’t pray “Lord, help our children be people of character.”  Instead pray “Lord give me the opportunity to teach our children character.”  Do you see the difference. 

While you are praying for opportunities, go ahead and begin to lay out the plan.  Lay out the next steps.  Why?  Well, when the opportunity presents itself for you to speak then you can act with confidence.  This was the pattern that Nehemiah followed in his life in rebuilding the walls.  If you are in the area of Crosslink Community Church in Mebane, NC this Sunday stop in and listen to the message “While You are Waiting…”  Or you can go to the podcast at www.lifeatthelink.org.

Madison, Laikyn and I met Toby Mac backstage at Winter Jam 2009.  It was an awesome concert.  The girls enjoyed all the bands, but they really liked PureNrgy, and Toby Mac.  They love some Toby Mac.  So when my good friend Mark Deweese told me he could possibly get us backstage to meet him, well I was elated.  As a parent you want to bring joy to your kids.  You want to give them some “memory making” experiences.  This was truly a memory making experience for the girls. 

I enjoyed it too!  I didn’t know Toby was so short!  So for those who may not believe me I made sure we got a picture of it.

When I was younger I would watch my grandmother put puzzles together.  She loved puzzles.  You know the 10,000 piece puzzles!  If I’m putting a puzzle together I have a rule I follow.  It’s called “The Rule of the 12.”  This means if it’s over 12 pieces I don’t attempt it!  Grandma on the other hand loved the big puzzles.  The harder they were the better she liked them.  I asked her one day, “Grandma, how can you put those hard puzzles together?”  She replied, “It’s easy when you look at the picture.” 

Vision is defined as “a pictue of a preferred future.”  When you look at your life do you have a picture of a preferred future?  At the heart of every vision is the tension of what is and could be.  Or put another way “what should be and could be….well, it will be.”  Have you ever heard, “If’ it’s meant to be it’s up to me!”  In a similar sense God has a vision for your life and my life.  He has laid it out for you to seek.  Have you discovered it yet?

Well, God’s vision for us often begins with a concern, or a burden we may be carrying.  When we started Crosslink Community Church I had a concern, a burden for the people in Mebane, NC.  I still don’t really know why, but God does.  The what of a vision usually precedes the how to accomplish it.  Let me encourage you to take some time to seek out what God’s vision is for your life.  What are you concerned about?  What’s the burden you are carrying?

Nehemiah had a vision for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem [See Nehemiah 1], but it started out of a concern for the people of Jerusalem.  Take the time write down some of your concerns you see in your community.  What will you do to answer the call of this vision?  It is my prayer that you will hear from God, and respond accordingly to His calling on your life. 

 On March 8 I begin a new message series on “The Power of Vision.”  Vision is a “picture of a preferred future.”  Maybe you are like me and when you have problems seeing your vision it’s because of a lack of clarity.  I see it.  I just don’t see it clearly.  Sometimes it take an extended period of time before God shows it to me clearly.  Vision weaves four things into our daily experience:

1)  Passion - There is no such thing as an emotionless vision.  A clear, focused vision actually allows us to experience ahead of time the emotions associated with our anticipated  future.  The clearer the vision the stronger the emotion!

2)  Motivation - vision provides motivation.  It gives me something to “shoot” for.

3)  Direction - the most practical advantage of vision is it sets a direction for our lives.  It serves as a road map.

4) Purpose:  Vision translates into purpose.  A vision gives you a reason to get up in the morning.  If you don’t show up, something important won’t be accomplished.  Suddenly, you matter.  You matter a lot!  Without you, what could be-what should be – won’t be.

So for the next several weeks, during this message series, I will be posting on vision.

I hear the nurse call my name, “Kenneth Tilley.”  I follow her to the scales where she proceeds to weigh me.  Have you ever noticed how we will take every single thing out of our pockets before we weigh?  It’s as if the chapstick, and .75 cents is going to equal the five pounds we gained since the last visit.  Once the weigh in is completed we go into a room where she checks my vital signs.  These are important because it indicates health, or the lack thereof.  Everyone needs a health examination from time to time.

The same is true for churches.  Every church needs their vital signs checked regularly!  I believe every church has to answer these three questions:

1)  Whose your master?

2)  What’s your message?

3)  What’s your motive?

 Once we have answered those three questions then we can look at some vital signs of church health.  These signs of health can be found in the book of Acts 2:42-47.  Here are the signs of a healthy church:

1)  It focuses on building disciples.

2)  It focuses on building relational bridges to fellowship.

3)  It’s a place where biblical worship happens.

4)  It’s a place where ministry happens.

5)  It’s a place where lives are changed regularly.

Now ask your self….is my church healthy?

Have you ever had a day when it seemed liked everything went wrong?  Yesterday started off like that for us at Crosslink.  I received word when I arrived for setup that VL Hall’s truck was stuck in the mud and he needed to get a wrecker to pull him out.  He pulls our trailer each week, and the trailer has all of our equipment on it.  About thirty minutes later I get word that he is out of the mud, but the trailer has a flat tire.  So it was at this point that God reminded me of wonderful passage found in James 1:2-4.  It goes like this,

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when you endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”  James 1:2-4 [NLT]

God used this to remind me to praise Him no matter what’s going on.  If times are good…praise Him!  If times are bad…..praise Him!  Our praise to God should never be bound by our circumstances.  God also used this circumstance to remind me that it’s no about us anyway!  We simply need to trust in Him.  It’s not about all the media that our church has grown accustomed to.  He simply wants to be lifted up in true worship and when He is He will draw everyone unto Him.

When I received our Connection Card report and saw where we had 3 people accept Christ as their Savior yesterday it reminded me once again of the power of the Holy Spirit!  So whenever you are going through a trial, temptation or struggle remember to praise God anyway and simply trust Him!