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connect with people

I love the people I get to connect with.  Just had a gentleman walk in my office.  Yes, he sales ads, but this dude loves Jesus and attends a church like ours in another town.  We have great conversations.  He makes me stop and think and even answer tough questions.  But Dave leaves letting me know that our church is not alone, not the only one seeing God work and that we are stronger through encouraging one another.
 
Matthew 11:29 (nasb) --- Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
 
I love the people I get to connect with.  Sat with a friend I have known for only 6 months this morning, and he poured out his heart.  We talked about really rough things.  Discipleship is one of the things we do together...so much to learn from God and from people who are walking with Jesus.  Then we had some "come to Jesus" moments where we shared some not so easy stuff.  Accountability maybe.  Yet we both left confident that God is at work.
 
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (nasb) --- Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
 
I love the people I get t connect with.  Over the past three days I have had some tough and some not so tough meetings with a few of our leaders here at the Community.  Some of those meetings were downright difficult.  But as I wrote yesterday, leading is not for cowards.  One thing that I dearly love is watching people walk with Jesus.  Following Jesus is not easy but it is sweet.
 
Romans 12:8 (nlt) --- If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
 
I love the people I get to connect with.  Over the last couple weeks I have had a few opportunities to be with some of my most favorite of people one on one.  I'm talking about my children.  What neat conversations we have.  Imagine the 11 year old, 10 year old and 5 year old conversations.  Some of them (heck, most of them) make this daddy's heart melt.  Had lunch today with my little boy.  He doesn't talk much when I visit at school, but we did chat about friends and food and the like.  Best for me, since I will be out of town the next few days, was the huge hug I got as he got in line with his kindergarten class.  I love my kids.
 
Ephesians 6:4 (nlt) --- Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
 
I love the people I get to connect with.  Maybe you are like me, sometimes I get overwhelmed with stuff and forget the importance of connecting.  I forget that God called me to be an influencer of people for Him.  I forget that each of these folks have value, and it is a choice to let each know that they have value to me and to God.  Connecting people to God is the highest and best thing we can do.  But to get there, we first have to connect with people.
 
Philippians 2:4 (nlt) --- Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks Michael - a great reminder that we need to stay connected. Sometimes I get so busy working on ministry that I forget to take the time to develop relationships with those I'm serving, and those I serve with.
January 14, 2009 at 2:59:00 PM EST
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