You’re invited to Heather Clardy and Justin Hart’s wedding reception, Saturday, May 26 at 6:00 pm at Justin’s parent’s home at 4179 King’s Place in Springdale. A BBQ dinner will be served. Dress is casual.

Today is day 40 in our 40 Days of Purpose. We have walked a path together, thinking about how to live up to God’s desire for us, how to please him in every way. We have talked about worshipping God, building relationships with each other, growing to be more like Jesus, getting plugged into ministry, and sharing the good news of Jesus with people we come into contact with. As we finish up today, I am curious about what you have learned, how you have grown, what your journey has been like. Would you be willing to share you story with us all? Do it here.

And thanks for walking this path with me.

Balance. What an amazing thing - the ability to stay upright, to stay together, to keep from falling. We marvel at the tightrope walkers who can keep their balance on small lines at staggering heights. We applaud the gymnasts who perform acrobatic feats on balance beams. And maybe we ought to be awed too at how we all get up every day and put one foot in front of the other, navigating dangers and steps of various kinds, all while keeping our balance.

Spiritual balance may be harder to keep than physical balance. Spiritual balance is about not going overboard with one aspect of our walk with Jesus that we neglect the others. Time and again, I have seen Christians - and even whole churches - do that very thing. Time and again, I’ve caught myself neglecting one of the basic things for which I was created.

For me, keeping my balance is easier when I am aware of the danger of losing it. I think more about it, concentrate a bit, make it a priority. Today’s chapter in PDL - and we’re almost done, so don’t bonk now - was a great reminder that for me to live a life that is worthy of God and pleases him in every way, I have got to worship him, fellowship with others, grow as a disciple, serve with faithfulness, and share Jesus with effectiveness. Balance.

I grew up in a church culture that was pessimistic and hopeless. The world was spiralling out of control, things were going from bad to worse, and everyone was out to get us. The church had a remnant and fortress mentality, thinking that it was just our little group and that we needed to hole up together and just wait for Jesus to come back. Sara Groves has this great song about taking our church to the moon that reminds me of what it was like growing up.

I have since then developed a different way of looking at things. I now look at the world with much more optimism and hope. I am inspired by that heavenly vision of people from across the globe and throughout the ages unified in worship of Jesus. I am challenged by the great problems of our day, problems that governments have been unable to solve but maybe the church could. I have been captured by the little phrase, “Love Wins.”

So, what does that mean? For me, it means that we adopted a little girl from the foster care system. It means that I support the One Campaign. It means that we have a Compassion International child. It means that I dream of adopting another child from a desperate part of the world (and, yes, my wife knows about that.) It means I can’t wait for Vintage to be in the financial position to make a serious commitment to oversees missions, not as white American saviors, but rather in training local pastors to lead effective, world-class churches in their countries.

There is so much to do. And with God’s help and by his grace, we can do it.

What does being a world-class Christian mean to you?

Back on Day 12, I shared that I think that honesty and humility are the true essence of faith. I think that they are the true essence sharing faith too.

When it comes to sharing Jesus, I think too many followers of Jesus are paralyzed by fear, frozen by the hypocrite label. Most of us tend to think that to share Jesus we’ve got to have some semblance of perfection in our lives. Since we are not anywhere near perfect, we don’t bother letting people know that we are Christians because we don’t want to be called hypocrites.

When we think this way, we are missing some crucial - our non-Christian friends already know that we are not perfect. They are not surprised when we mess up. In fact, they may be a little amused by it. It is only when we *pretend* to be perfect that we run into trouble.

If we are honest and humble enough to admit our imperfections, we become channels through which God’s grace flows. If we apologize for an unkind word, if we admit our frustrations and discouragement, if we say we are sorry, we embody the honesty and humility that are the essence of faith. People are not attracted by perfection - who can be perfect? People are attracted by honesty and humility.

Can you be honest?
Are you humble?
If so, you are the kind of person through whom God will make his appeal!

Have any thoughts about this?

I am curious what impression and thoughts you have when you hear the word “evangelism.” Share them here.

Guys like to brag about how strong they are - how much they can lift or how much horsepower their engines have. But bragging about our strength doesn’t really draw us closer to God or each other.

I am a weak person. I really am. I often try to mask it, but I am pretty weak. As Bono said, “I’m not broke, but you can see the cracks.” I am a mess, really.

As I’ve told my small group, I have a voice in my head that tells me I am lazy. When I am running late with a project or when I just feel like taking an evening to chill or when I can’t seem to get into a creative groove, I start hearing in my head about how lazy, unproductive, and undisciplined I am.

I get cranky pretty easily too. I hate it when I get testy with my kids, but not enough to stop. I get annoyed way too easily. I am frequently too sarcastic and cynical.

I am weak, and I guess I ought to glory in that. There is wonderful irony when God’s grace can come shining through in a guy who is wearing his cranky pants. There is sweet mystery when effectiveness flows from a couch potatoe. (I’ll spell it with an “e” because I’ve got an nostalgic soft spot for Dan Quayle.)

Vintage is a place where vulnerability and authenticity are values. We believe that messy spirituality is still spirituality. It’s our prayer that’s God’s grace and glory will shine through our weaknesses.

How about you? How weak are you?

Things that amazed me today -

That $2.99 is a good price for gas.
That people were actually smiling at the pumps.
That we had 25 or so people from Vintage sacrifice a few hours on a beautiful Saturday to brave the potential chaos of pumping “cheap” gas and do it with such servants’ hearts.

Here are some pictures.

Worried about gas prices? Someone is about to ease your mind. With
the price at the pump soaring, a local church is doing what it can to
make a difference.

For two hours on Saturday, May 19, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am, Vintage
Fellowship will be lowering the price of gas at two stations by (at
least) $0.25 a gallon to (at most) $2.99 a gallon.

Members of the church will be pumping gas at the Valero Station at
Crossover and Zion in Fayetteville and at the Phillips 66 at the
corner of Rt. 412 and Rt. 265 in Springdale.

Following the example of Jesus who gave bread to hungry people and
encouraged discouraged people, Vintage Fellowship will be serving
Northwest Arkansas by saving drivers money and sharing a smile.

For more information, please call Pastor Robb Ryerse at 479.685.0649
or email vintagefellowship@gmail.com.

Vintage Fellowship meets for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:15 am at
the Twin Theater in the Northwest Arkansas Mall. Visit
www.vintagefellowship.org.

To the Only God-Chris Tomlin: www.christomlin.com 

Stir In Me-Kevin Fitzpatrick 

Center-Charlie Hall: www.268generation.com