Lead Pastor Blog I.VIII

I can’t do that. I have said that more times than I would care to admit. A 180 yard golf shot from the fairway over the water and onto the green without ending up in the sand trap makes me say, “I can’t do that!” Sharing my faith with a complete stranger on an airplane makes me say, “I can’t do that.” Doing a devotional at a Junior High event makes me say, “I can’t do that.” Developing a vision for a local church that changes the world makes me say, “I can’t do that.” I could go on and on but you get the point.

It is very easy to sit down and conclude, “I can’t do that.” When I conclude that I can honestly tell you most of the time I have taken God out of the equation and come to the conclusion that I can’t do it. Taking God out or factoring God in changes everything about what I can or cannot do.

David factored God in and killed a giant. Moses factored God in and walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. King Saul factored God out and lost his kingdom. Peter factored God in, then factored him out as he walked on water and then sank. Joseph factored God in and rose through the ranks in Egypt to be the King’s right hand man even though his brothers sold him into slavery.

The Bible is full of people and stories that either factored God in or factored him out with the resulting evidence of which way they chose.  Our lives are no different and the history of Cornerstone Church will be no different.  What we accomplish from an eternal perspective will be directly related to what we did with God.  Did we seek His face, depend on his power and accomplish what he inspired us to accomplish?  Or did we have a good idea, work hard to accomplish it and do it with our own strength?

Our vision is to change the world with the love and message of Jesus Christ.  The really cool thing about that vision is that it is impossible to accomplish apart from God’s power.  I can’t do it but but but but but but but we can do it with God’s power.  At Cornerstone we are dreaming God shaped and God sized dreams.  A number of years ago I had a man ask me, “Russ, is your dream big enough to grab God’s attention?”  Wow that is a great question.

What can’t you do?  What can you do with God’s power?  Think about it.