Rough Around the Edges

People who aren't saved yet, or people that just got saved, can be very rough around the edges (to say the least!). How do we, as Christ followers, who are farther along in our spiritual development, respond to such people? I suggest we respond to them as Jesus would.

Here's an excerpt from a book by Bill Hybels called Just Walk Across the Room that speaks to this issue:

Jesus was fierce in his determination to look past ill-timed comments and inappropriate actions. He dreamed about what could happen in a person's life if God's power were released in them - and so he pushed through people's fear and sin, and he kept including people, loving people, and lifting people up to their fullest potential.

As you view people through this lens - you have new eyes to see things as Jesus saw them. You allow peope's foibles and failings and faults to fall away, instead seeing them in their potential, Spirit-infused state. You see filthy-mouthed, party-loving, woman-chasing Joe (or whoever), and you say, "What would Joe - even a guy like Joe - be like if God ruled and reigned in his heart? Joe would be incredible if Christ invaded his world!" You start dreaming of that day, in fact. You begin picturing him in his redeemed state. Your love for him grows and grows as you move toward him, engaging in the good, the bad, and the ugly of his life. You find yourself craving oportunities to be around people just like him - people who are on prayer away from becoming your eternal brothers and sisters.

Why Ask "Why?"

In John Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You, we learn the importance of asking the question "Why?" within our organizations.

The British have always been good with the patronage system. John F. Barker in Roll Call tells the story that for more than twenty years, for no apparent reason, an attendant stood the foot of the stairway leading to the House of Commons. At last someone checked adn discovered that the job had been held in the attendant's family for three generations. It seems it originated when the stairs were painted and the current attendant's grandfather was assigned the tastk of warning people not to step on the wet paint. One British newsman, told of the situation, commented, "The paint dried up but not the job."

Like Father Like Son

Whether we like it or not our kids will repeat some of the behavior they see modeled in our lives. Take Abraham for example: In Genesis 12 and in Genesis 20 Abraham moved to a new land and told the people living there that Sarah (his wife) was actually his sister. He did so because his wife was very beautful and he was afraid the people of the land would kill him to get her for themselves. So he lied. Well fast forward a few years to Genesis 26 and you find Abraham's son Isaac doing the same thing (after his father has already died). He moves to a new land and tells the people living there that Rebekah (his wife) was actually his sister. He did so because his wife was very beautiful and he was afraid the people of the land would kill him to get her for themselves. So he lied. Like father, like son.

Here's my point. Our kids will model our behavior. They will follow what they SEE, not what they HEAR. We can tell them over an over about how to live, but they will do as we DO, not as we SAY. Since we know ahead of time that our kids will repeat behavior they see from our lives - let's choose to model behavior worth repeating. Let's choose to live godly lives in front of our kids. With God's help this is possible.

Highlights of 2009

I'm sure I'm gonna forget about 1,000+ memories worth writing down but here are a few highlights from 2009 that stand out to me. If you remember something worth while please leave a comment!

• We moved to Sunday mornings (from Friday nights) and we moved to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Enfield, CT from the Longmeadow Community House in Longmeadow, MA.
• My longtime friend Scott Steglinski came to New Day for the first time on Easter Sunday and got saved and then later water baptized.
• New Day had our first water baptism (Neil Butler) on January 4th (we went on to baptize 17 others throughout the year).
• We broke 100 (total attendance) for 1st time Aug 16th and broke 100 (adults only) on Oct 4th.
• We baptized 6 people at once on Dec 13th.
• My old buddy from high school James Stephenson came to New Day for the first time, got saved and got water baptized shortly after.
• My brother Tony started coming to New Day cosistently and joined a growth group too.
• New Day started growth groups in Oct and had 69 of 75 sign up (our average adult attendance at the time was 75).
• I hired Rachel Axtmann as kid's director, Peter as financial organizer, Bethany Souza as growth group director, then Danielle Ramirez as administrative assistant.