Today is Valentine’s Day, the day we typically celebrate romantic love. Many people will buy chocolates, flowers, or a nice piece of jewelry, while others will go for a fancy dinner. Gifts and cards will be given, and romance will fill the air.

I suggest that you give the greatest gift in the world – TIME.

A few years ago, I noticed a shift in the people I was leading. In my experience, people used to value money highly. They would come to the Church and spend hours working and working to save the Church money. They would also scrimp and save, using every means to build their personal bank account. Money was kept with a tight fist.

Then this shift happened, and time became more valuable. They started having kids’ events every evening, and there were places to go and things to do. Suddenly people were hurrying through life, had a packed schedule, and responded to “How are you doing?” with the single word “busy.” People no longer gave large blocks of time to the Church but started giving more money so the Church could pay someone to do projects.

Not only that, but now people have phones in their pockets all the time. Messages and phone calls roll in constantly, giving people less downtime. When they get a break, they grab their phone and fill it with something from recreation to more work.

That person you love and who cares for you in return finds that time with you is more precious than ever. Unfortunately, giving them a few minutes of undivided attention is rare. So I believe the greatest gift you can give is TIME. Not just hours and minutes, but give them your undivided attention. Put the phone down, shut the TV off, and maybe get the kids a babysitter.

It has been said that love is spelled T-I-M-E, which may be the best gift anyone can give.

It was my second year of full-time ministry, and I had decided to launch a monthly printed newsletter for our Church (it was 1996). Two other local preachers named Jeff and John, along with me, made it our goal to launch something that year for our perspective Churches, and then we would try to help each other improve what we were doing. 

I sat down with my pencil and paper and began drafting ideas. I made detailed plans for each section, developed a format, selected a name, and debated the graphics I would use.

The next time I saw these two men, John had his first issue created, printed, and mailed. He had gotten the first one done in record time while I was still in the planning phase.

He handed each of us a copy, and on each page was some error that required adjustment before the next issue went to print. Jeff and I walked through every page with a red pen and showed him all his mistakes and things to consider. John looked at me and said a line I will never forget, “You can’t improve on nothing.” He continued in his thick southern accent, “You have got to start somewhere, and you can improve from there.”

While I was working to develop a perfect newsletter, he was already getting material out to the public. From there, people gave him feedback, and within a couple of months, he had a nice-looking publication. He moved quickly and made adjustments while I was still working on finishing the first one.

Sometimes the best place to start a project is somewhere. Anywhere. From there, you will have the chance to make changes and create a higher-quality product. Remember, you can’t improve on nothing.  

When reading material designed to help Churches, I am often surprised to read the word expert. And yet it is something you see repeatedly. For example, some writers are considered “Church Growth Experts,” while others specialize and become “Volunteer Coordination Experts, Guest Services Experts,” and “Public Speaking Experts.”

When someone is labeled an expert, they are an authority in that field. This is because they have comprehensive knowledge of a particular area of Christian work.

The problem I see after 29 years of ministry is that there are no experts in the Church world. Sure, some people have a large amount of knowledge gained from their experiences, but they are not experts.

This is because the Church is ever-changing as culture changes. Jesus remains the same, but the methods we use are modified year after year. Not only that, every congregation is unique and placed in a specific location. Every Church is one of a kind.

Over the past 20 years, I watched a man plant a Church with great success. People labeled him as a “Church Planting Expert.” Eventually, he left that first Church to start another one in a different town in another place in the country. His second Church has been struggling for almost ten years and is no larger in attendance than the Church I lead. All the dynamics were different, and the results were not nearly identical.

I am wary of anyone who is labeled as an expert. I try to learn from them, but just because something worked for them might not mean it will work for you.

The best thing to do when you have an idea for the Church you attend is to begin with prayer. First, see where God is leading YOU. Then ask some friends, read a book, listen to a podcast, gather wise information, and talk to the leadership. Then pray again and see if God is still laying it on your heart. If so, go and serve the Lord your own way, no matter what the experts say. Quite often, the experts are all wrong.

The things I write are all received differently.

Thanks to my publishing program on WordPress, I can see which posts are visited the most, get the most likes, and are shared by people. Some of my writings generate significant interest, while others get almost no attention.

But I aim to keep writing one lousy post after another until one hits home with people. 

I suggest that whatever you do for the Lord, keep doing it over and over. Even when you feel like you are not doing it well, keep working. You never know when God will use something you did dramatically. 

The greatest hymn writers in history often wrote thousands of songs only to have one or two that endured. Great preachers often speak thousands of times before that one message has a dramatic impact. Some painters have painted hundreds of pictures before they get the one that takes your breath away. Many writers will put together multiple books before they sell more than a few hundred copies. The list of people and professions that require perseverance is long.    

This post may be another lousy attempt at connecting with people, but if I keep working, maybe the next one will be better.

Keep doing your best at whatever you do; you never know when you will do something that God uses significantly. 

“I am never going back there again!”

I will never eat, shop, visit, or spend my money there ever again.

We have all said that about someplace. The service was terrible, and the experience was upsetting. So we decided that we were going to protest that place. We severed our relationship and walked away forever.

Of course, this will get mentioned when other people plan to visit that establishment. Then we will vocalize our disdain for that place to sway other people’s opinions. Even now, we can feel our blood boil whenever that place is mentioned.

We do this with people too.

The interaction did not go the way we wanted it to go. They made you angry and didn’t seem to care. Finally, you are so frustrated with them that you swear, “I will never have anything to do with them again.” 

With that, you began your personal protest against that person. Now, whenever anyone speaks of them, you tell your unpleasant story and try to sway other people’s opinions. Quite often, we feel justified in our frustration and believe everyone else should feel the same way.

I understand this outside the Church, but inside the community of the Lord’s people, this should not happen. Paul writes to the Church in the city of Colossae, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13 – NIV 2011)

Maybe it is time to drop your picket sign, give up your personal protest and find the forgiveness that is needed.

What I know now.

I would make different mistakes.

It is easy to sit back and second-guess your decisions. We each know so much more about the situation than we did when it happened. We see the dynamics of the exchange. The consequences are clear. The long-term results have been experienced.

So maybe you would make that one decision better. But then you would experience the same lack of knowledge about other things. And you would simply make a different poor choice.

There is no use in replaying the past in your mind and thinking about all the ways you would do life differently. It is only helpful to work on the future carefully. To take all of your wisdom and apply it to today’s choices.

Then one day, you can look back on what happened now and be happy with all you have done.

You can tell me the most important things in your life right now. You can vehemently declare your love for the Lord. You might explain how much you value your marriage or family. You could even tell me about your love of the Church and the work that it does. You may believe that you have built a life that is God-honoring in almost every way.

I think two things serve as proof of your claims: your watch and your wallet.

One way to test your priorities is to determine where you spend your time and money.

If I looked over your schedule, would I see that you have spent adequate time doing the things you claim are important to you? If I scrolled through your bank statement or credit card bill, would I see that your use of money supports your priorities?

Wherever your time and money goes is what you genuinely value, no matter how much you state something different.

Does adding more Bible verses to a sermon or lesson make it more valid?

Does adding verses out of context make a sermon or lesson more Biblical?

Adding verses, perhaps numerous ones, out of context and with little explanation may sound good, but often it adds little to the overall content of the material.

Biblical messages honestly handle the Bible within its historical and theological context. They walk through the literary and immediate context in which it is written. They ask questions about the material and listen with open hearts and minds to what God is teaching us through that text.

A lady once told me she was going to another Church because the preacher there was more Biblical in his preaching. I curiously asked what she meant, and she said, “He quotes so much scripture in each sermon.” I smiled and said, “I pray you will be blessed there,” but I felt like saying, “Quoting more verses does not make it more Biblical; it just sounds that way.”

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” – Jesus

All of us know what it is like to be hungry and thirsty. To have that desire to fill our stomachs and quench our thirst. Jesus says that his followers should seek right living with the same intensity.

At the Church, I can preach, other people can teach classes, and we can provide small groups and video lessons for you to learn. The Church can produce all kinds of material to help your spiritual growth.

The only thing we cannot do at the Church is give you the drive to learn. That has to come from you. The food and drink provided by Christians and the Church community are only satisfying if you bring your hunger and thirst.

The Church can only do so much; the rest is up to you.

Recently I heard communications specialist Vanessa Van Edwards say people take two kinds of pills.

One is painkillers, and those are for immediate relief. It is obvious that we have a problem and need help. We don’t need charts or graphs to show why we need to take these pills.

The other type is vitamins. These have no immediate benefit. They are something that will not change our life if we neglect them for a day or two here and there. Sometimes we will even need reminding of their importance to motivate us to take them.

One pill is for today’s problem, and the other is a long-term solution.

Walking in faith as a follower of Jesus has a few painkillers, it is primarily vitamins.