Stop lying to yourself and saying, “After this, it will get easier.”

After this season of sports, my kid’s life, my work situation, the holidays, this family transition, or even a season of rest, we are convinced life will be different.

After that current situation, it will be easier to pray, read my Bible, attend a small group, serve in ministry, invite people into my home, or be more generous.

That is a lie you keep telling yourself because it will never be easier. There will always be a new season in which things are a struggle. Time will always be limited.

The difference between people who have a thriving spiritual life and those who don’t is not the number of issues in their lives; it is the willingness to include God in every season they walk through, even the ones where it is difficult to do so.

Instead of being all over the place in your service to the Lord, what if you focused your attention on one or two areas of ministry? Do a few things really well as opposed to lots of things partially.

When I was young, a preacher illustrated it to me with a laser. He would say that light can fill a room, but when it is extremely focused, it can cut through metal.

It is wonderful to attempt several different ministries as you start serving the Lord. When you see an area where you feel gifted and are seeing results, then focus your energies there. Be the best worship leader, children’s teacher, greeter, cook, or whatever you can be for the glory of God.

Determine where God is taking your unique life and skill set and head that way with reckless abandon.

This is also called the “Argument from Authority.” Perhaps it is better understood as “The Misattribution of Authority.”

Simply stated, just because someone is an expert in one field does not qualify them to be an expert in other areas.

Some examples are easy to see. Your mechanic may be the best on the planet, but that does not qualify him to give marital advice. Someone might be a great ball player, but that does not mean you should listen to their thoughts on investing your finances.

Other examples are more complicated. A famous actor may not be the best person to teach morality. A popular writer might not be the person who should give psychiatric advice. A well-known podcaster is not your best source for unbiased news. And even a preacher, like me, needs to know his limits.

Be extremely careful when accepting someone’s authority on a topic because you like what they have to say about some other subject. People are often led astray by those with good intentions.

This Sunday, I am preaching about loneliness and our lack of close relationships.

One thing I do not address is our desire to remain distant. While it is easy to say we would like to have people close to us, it is also less intrusive to keep them at a distance.

It is much easier to fool people and make them think you have your life together and are a committed believer, great spouse, or parent at a distance.

Use a few of the correct phrases, and people will think you are growing as a Christian. Be seen in a few of the right places, and people will believe your relationships are strong. Post a few of the best pictures on social media, and the charade is complete.

For many of us, the question is not, “Do I want close friends?” Instead, it is, “Do I want to let people get to know the real me?”

Sometimes I play a game inside my mind that I call, “Would you rather?”

When I hear about a situation that someone is going through, I ask myself, “Would I rather this happen or that happen?” This helps me clarify my values and assess what I am doing in my present situation.

For example, would I rather serve the Lord every day for the next twenty years, or would I rather have six months to leave a powerful testimony through a difficult situation? Possibly, I might think, would I rather give away a large sum of money to change someone’s life one time or give away a little money to a lot of people over a lifetime? One last one: would I rather have one extra close friend or have five people who I am relatively close to as a friend?

It is a silly little game, but it helps remind me that life is rarely made up of big moments and events; it is about the daily actions over a lifetime. If I am presented with an opportunity to do something great, I will always be ready, but greatness is usually the result of a lifetime of small investments of our faith.

Your actions reveal what is going on in your heart. They reveal what you genuinely feel.

Your words reveal what is going on in your mind. They reveal what you genuinely think.

If those two things are not aligned, then your actions supersede your words.

If you say you love someone and then treat them poorly, you don’t truly love them.

If you say, you don’t depend on a substance, but you cannot make it through the day without it. Then you are addicted.

If you say you are a follower of Jesus and then do not do what he says, you are not a Christian.  

In the end, you must be brutally honest with yourself about what your actions are showing the world, no matter how much you protest that you believe something different. A heart for Jesus will lead to doing the things Christ desires for your life.

The journey of faith is not about arrival; it is about the transformation that is made along the way.

What type of person you are becoming needs to be evaluated regularly.

Are you becoming a more grace-filled person?

Are you becoming a person of greater joy?

Are you becoming a person with a deep faith?

Are you becoming more like Jesus?

At present, you and I still have numerous flaws. Given enough time, let’s try to overcome those issues and become the people God designed us to be.

Everyone’s instinct is to read the Bible for understanding.

I totally appreciate this desire because the Bible has been so poorly understood through the years. We must look at the context, find the author’s intended meaning, and consider how it fits into our overall theology.

One problem with this push to understand is that some things we will never know completely. The Bible often records things that happen with little explanation. We can read that it happened, but we will never fully know what it means this side of heaven. This does not stop people from guessing and can lead to an endless stream of articles and arguments that typically prove unproductive.

Another issue is that gaining understanding can miss the purpose of scripture. The goal of the Bible is to change us into fully devoted followers of Jesus. Christians are people who do everything that Christ commanded (Matthew 28:20). Jesus himself said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The result of scripture should be that we do what we read and nothing less.

My instruction to people is to read the Bible and look for ways they can apply it. Skip past the complex parts to understand, as they are usually more fodder for arguments than application. The ironic part is that the more you keep reading and applying, the clearer those hard-to-understand passages become.

It is far better to know only ten things from the Bible and do all ten of them than to learn a hundred things and do none of them.

Our Church is setting aside one hour, at two different times, for people to focus their attention on community worship. For us, this is the only time that will happen in the next seven days.

This Sunday, we will gather with all the believers in our faith community. This provides us with a reminder to know that we are not alone in our faith. It gives us the opportunity to meet new people and share the love of Jesus in all its forms.

This Sunday, we will sing songs of praise and worship together. This is the only time when the whole community is invited to sing, reflect, and connect with Jesus with one voice.

This Sunday, we will be instructed in the word of God together. As a preacher, I have taken 8-10 hours to prepare something I think will bless the lives of people who are walking in faith. I have read widely, prayed deeply, listened closely, and prepared intensely to speak the word of the Lord in a way that is engaging for everyone. Sure, you can listen to this online anytime, but the difference is that, like going to a concert versus listening to a song on your phone, the context is part of the engagement.

This Sunday, we will share in communion as a community of believers. This is the only time all week when people take the bread and juice in reflection of Jesus’ death on the cross. I believe this is the foundational element of the Church gathering together. It reminds Christians of the grace we need for the mistakes of the past week and encourages us to live for Jesus the following week.

This Sunday will be the perfect opportunity to bring someone to worship and hear about Jesus for the first time. All studies still show that nonbelievers find Sunday morning the best onramp to faith.

This Sunday, Christians will meet all over the country and the world. This is a fantastic opportunity for every believer to engage their faith in a way they cannot do any other day of the week. If you call yourself a believer, I am sure that you do not want to miss it.

This year has been a blur. With Easter falling in late March, there was not much time between Christmas and Easter. During that time, I taught a membership class and did the follow-up. I led a small group and personally discipled two men. Our Church also had two families come who were considering being on staff, and we finally hired one of them. Every day this year has been full of positive activity for the kingdom of God.

Easter is the pinnacle of spring in the Church. Attendance is the highest it will be all year. We always collect a considerable offering and give half to a mission we support. Numerous people step up to serve and perform special songs during our worship. This year, lots of people have taken the step of baptism, along with others placing their membership. Mother’s Day is only a few weeks away, and the wave of growth, both numerically and spiritually, will carry us till Memorial Day.

Every month this year has been incredibly exciting. Each week, I meet with someone who wants to serve, get baptized, grow, join, or connect.

While I am excited, I am also a little frightened. Every time the Church begins to move the kingdom of God forward in a significant way, evil rears its ugly head to try and stop it. So here are a few things in my heart that I hope you will pray about with me.

1. Health. Often, evil will attack the health of Church leaders and key people or bring some tragedy in an effort to get people to take their eyes off Jesus.
2. Unity. One way to bring down a Church is to tear it apart from the inside. All week, I have been thinking about how everyone needs to understand that we are on the same team.
3. Leadership. As we are adding a new staff person and a new leader this spring, pray that God opens doors for them to move forward without delay in helping our Church.
4. Outreach. Hundreds of people have passed through the doors of our Church this year so far, and many are returning after a long absence while others are brand new. Pray that God will continue to work on their hearts and bring them back to worship. May this be the year that God does something incredible in the lives of these people who are taking their fledgling steps of faith.
5. The Pastor. [Me] Many days lately, it feels like I am under attack. I have been struggling with exhaustion, loneliness, and temptation in every way. Pray that I, along with every pastor, can lead with the power of the Holy Spirit through this spring and into the future.

The Lord has been doing great things in our Church and across numerous Churches. Pray that this post-Easter season will continue to have a dramatic impact on the lives of people as they live for Jesus.