Lead Pastor Blog II.VII

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning. I have found myself this past weekend revisiting my dreams for Cornerstone as well as for my own life. I have been pondering the vision of Cornerstone changing our world.  I find it disturbing, dangerous, frustrating, humbling and a host of other emotions to spend much time dreaming. Are you currently chasing something that has your complete attention?

I don’t know if many of us slow down long enough to think about what is consuming our time and attention. One week slides into a month. One month leads to another and a year is gone. What have I accomplished from eternity’s perspective? I am at a stage of life where that is what matters to me. I guess that is why I find this dreaming stuff frustrating when I look back to see what has been accomplished in and through my life.

Joseph is my go to guy in the Bible when it comes to dreaming. He was an imperfect character as all men in the Bible were. Received a very cool dream from God but then he flaunted it in front of the family. Essentially he tells them that in his dream they are going to bow down to him. At this stage of his life let’s just say that Joseph did not have humility mastered. Later on in Genesis 37 as he goes to check on how the family business is doing we read in verse 19 “Here comes that dreamer!” Clearly his brothers were not saying it with any sense of respect or awe. No matter how you slice it that did characterize Jospeh, he was a dreamer. I’m not sure we have many Joseph’s in our midst these days. Men and women of vision. Individuals who have heard from God and are chasing the dream.

I really believe we need those people. We need dreamers to dream new great God-inspired dreams for the church today. If life is just about the stuff around us then life is so small. I don’t want my children and grand-children to spend their lives chasing what we can see. I don’t want the people of Cornerstone to spend their lives chasing stuff.  Honestly to me that is such a small way to spend our lives. It has no lasting influence.

Joseph reminds me that dreams don’t just happen. They definitely don’t happen in a straight line. Joseph had many ups and downs on the way to his dreams becoming reality. He had long periods of time where it appeared his dreams had been derailed. It must have been tough at those times to still believe. Genesis tells us that Joseph had another party who was guiding, guarding, watching over the dream. God had not been derailed in His purposes being accomplished in and through Joseph.

Perhaps that is where I am today. Maybe God is just reminding me that He is in control and not me. But right now I want more. I want to see more of Cornerstone’s influence in this world. I want to know that my individual life is having a lasting impact. God I want more. I want to see changed lives…lots of changed lives. I want to see broken people healed. I want to see lost people find the answer in Jesus Christ. I want to see hardened people softened. I want to see the uncommited become commited to the life changer named Jesus. I want to see the unmistakable hand of God at work.

What are you chasing today? Do you have a dream that has captured your attention? Is your life being spent or invested? Does Jesus have your attention? Do you think Jesus has the attention of Cornerstone Church?

I find this stuff so humbling, frustrating, disturbing and yes even dangerous. It is really hard to just be comfortable when it feels like God is poking me.

This change the world stuff is ……….