Why Your Story Matters [Pt2] by Alesha Sinks

I want to tell you that your story matters…

But not because it’s your story.
Your story matters because you need to share it.

You need to share your story more than most of the world needs to read it.

Something happens when we begin to artistically share our story. We begin to see how the pieces fit. We begin see how that little forgotten piece from childhood shaped and prepared us for today. We begin see how that deep, dark season prepared us to minister to that person in front of us today. We begin to see the darkness of our own need and the greatness of His love that has saved us from ourselves.

When we share our stories, we see it new all over again.
When we share our stories, we learn things we never saw the first time.
When we share our stories, we relearn the lessons we’ve forgotten.
When we share our stories, we are reminded of God’s gracious hand in our lives.

The world might need your story, but not as much as you need your story.

If you never tell your story, you’ll never learn the power of reviewing all that God has done.

If you never tell your story, you may miss the vastness of God’s glory in you life.

You need your story, because you need to remember where you have come from and what God has done and how faithful He has been in the past. Because when you remember His past faithfulness, it builds faith in Him for the present.

And there will never be enough retellings of your story to express the fullness of God’s glory in your brokenness, so let’s just keep telling and retelling His goodness.

Be blessed
Alesha Sinks

The same playing field

Nehemiah 1:6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. 

All leaders have followers. If you are out ahead and no one is following you, then you probably are not a leader. We must understand that we all play different roles and we need each other. The Bible tells us that leadership is a gift from God and is given to leaders by grace. What will make a person into a great leader is walking in humility. We need to recognize that we are all equal,  living our lives to glorify Jesus. God has given us different roles, gifts and abilities all by His grace and exhorts us to uses our position, gifts, and abilities for His glory. Just because we have different roles doesn’t mean we are ever more important than anyone else. We have the same goals in mind as we serve Jesus—we are all on the same playing field trying to win.

Nehemiah recognized this as he addressed the remnant of people that were living in despair. Why? Because he understood that both he and the people were sinners—imperfect people. He could have easily said that the remnant in Jerusalem deserved what they got because they had sinned against God, but he understood that he wasn’t perfect either. He says in this verse,  “We have sinned against You. Even I and my father's house have sinned.” Just because he was in a different position didn’t change the fact that he was imperfect as well. He understood that his position of cup bear was given by God’s grace.

It is hard sometimes as a leader not to elevate yourself and become prideful. You are doing so much, and it can be very easy to have pride slip in. You can actually think that you are better or even on a different level than the people you are trying to lead. But we aren’t better than our followers. We are all sinners, and we are all in desperate need of Jesus in our lives.

Those that understand they are just a piece in a larger puzzle are often more gracious. I want to be more gracious and non judgmental with those I lead because I know that I make mistakes as well. I know that I blow it. I know that I am a sinner. We see Nehemiah going to God with this truth rather than putting people down to elevate himself. I have come to find out that when I go to God with my sin and imperfections He is able to handle it all and lovingly forgive me. Jesus deals with my sin perfectly and has graciously loved me. So when I go to God with my sin as Nehemiah did,  I find love and hope in Him. This helps me lead people better because now I don’t have to put others down to deal with my imperfections. I can now help others by pointing them to Jesus to deal with their sins and imperfections. I can testify of His loving grace and encourage other to go to Him for strength. I can say WE are on the same playing field and we all need grace.

Why Your Story Matters [Pt1] by Alesha Sinks

I want to tell you that your story matters…

But not because it’s your story.
Your story matters because your story is a part of His story.

Our God is a story teller.
Since the beginning of creation, God has been writing the story of the world. It’s a story of love. And like every good love story, it’s filled with rejection, redemption, renewal, sacrifice, pain, beauty, and glory.

It’s a story of God creating life because He wanted to love us. And He has continued to love us even when we’ve rejected Him, scorned Him, ignored Him, fought against Him, and claimed He doesn’t exist.

He loved us so much that He sent His Son to earth to die, to pay the price of our sin and rebellion, so that we could be restored into relationship with Him. He pursued us relentlessly, and He still pursues us today.

And your story…your story is a piece of that story. It’s like one thread in a massive and intricate piece of embroidery. You won’t fully see the role that your thread, your specific color and sheen and thickness and placement of thread, is playing until the end, until you can see the masterpiece from the perspective of the Artist.

Your story is not needed because your words are special or your wisdom is special or you are special.

Your story is needed because it is part of His story and His story shows His power and His love and His glory. And when you share your story with that in mind, we can catch a greater glimpse of Him and the story He’s writing.

He’s writing a million micro stories into one macro narrative that will be revealed in heaven. Each tiny piece of the story, each of our little lives, is a piece of that story meant to bring Him glory.

There will never be enough stories and enough songs and enough art and enough words to express the fullness of God’s glory, so let’s just keep sharing our stories and get as close as we can.

Be blessed
Alesha Sinks

Love One Another Deeply by David Baldwin

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. —1 Peter 1:22

If you had the choice of being loved versus having great wealth without the ability to love or be loved, which would you choose? I can’t fathom any greater satisfaction than being able to love and be loved. A loveless life with great wealth would be fruitless, meaningless, and lonely.

Love is so valuable and so important that Jesus addressed it as our greatest commandment.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” —Matthew 22:36-40

Jesus reveals that love is the foundation for everything you do and believe in. 

Peter inspires us to “love one another deeply.” He did not stop at “love one another.” He added the word “deeply,” which adds such richness to the way we love. To gain even further perspective on how to love deeply, go to 1 Corinthians 13, which describes love as:

Love is patient.

Love is kind. 

It does not envy.

It does not boast.

It is not proud. 

It is not rude.

It is not self-seeking. 

It is not easily angered.

It keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

It always protects.

Always trusts.

Always hopes.

Always perseveres. 

Love never fails.

It is amazing how this scripture concludes with “Love never fails,” which is the bottom line to loving deeply. Natural love has a chance to fail, to disappear like the morning dew, and thus natural love has no lasting value. However, God’s love and His inspiration for love are perfect. His love has no boundaries, it has no contingencies, it carries no judgments, it possesses no timetable, it harbors no selfishness, it does not get entangled, and it does not get exhausted. Showing love God’s way has no capability of failing—ever. So, to love one another deeply, including those who seem undeserving, you are to move beyond natural love by taking it to a majestic level.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. —Ephesians 5:1-2

Takeaway:

Failure to embrace God’s law of love only brings poverty to one’s soul—a life without the ability to love and be loved deeply.

Reflections:

• Lately, how have you demonstrated the depth of God’s love to those around you?
• If your ability to show love fails at times, how does that resonate in your soul when you are guided to love everyone “deeply”?
• Take a few minutes to pray to the Lord about how to love God and others deeply. Afterward, sit quietly and listen for how the Spirit is guiding you.

The Palms Of His Hands by Jason Sanchez

I had yet another amazing conversation with my little 4 year old, Ayantu Faith.

The other night, I walked into our room just as Jackie and Antu finished reading a story from her  Jesus storybook bible.  As I knelt down by our bed to spend a moment with her, she said “daddy, I want to tell you something…”  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that line, followed by all kinds of either questions, stories, thoughts, etc.   Little did I know, she was going to move me to tears and a deeper thankfulness for her and our Lord.

Antu continued, “…daddy, my mom and dad left me…”  she paused for a second and looked like she was going to rephrase her words.  I wasn’t quite sure what she was saying, and was ready to respond with, “no we didn’t, we are right here.”  But before I could say something, Antu was talking again, “daddy, my mom and dad left me…and that’s when the police found me and brought me to my nannies at the orphanage.  They took care of me until you and momma came and got me.”

Jackie and I often talk about when the appropriate age would be, to tell Antu her complete story, but apparently she’s got it mostly figured out.  She has talked about her nanny before and how we are in an orphanage just like the one she was in.  In fact, yesterday while we were in the dining hall, she said, “you know dada, this orphanage is different then my orphanage I lived in.”  She then proceeded to point out all the things that were different (as if she really remembers).  However i’ve never heard her talk about how her mom and dad left her.  I didn’t need to hear anything else for the tears to start flowing.  I immediately hugged and squeezed her tight, telling her how much I love her and how thankful I am that she is our daughter!

I think part of the reason I was so emotional was because I can’t believe someone would abandon this precious girl.  How in the world could someone leave a 2 day old baby, naked, alone, on a dusty dirt road.  And then I started thinking of the boys in the other room, who too have experienced abandonment.  All three of them don’t have fathers, Erasmo’s mother forsook he and his siblings and little Luis is truly an orphan, not having any family. I don’t understand it!

Well, actually, I do understand it.  We live in a fallen, broken, sinful, hurting world.  And apart from a relationship with Jesus, people do the craziest things.

Every year, we celebrate and remember the greatest sacrifice and gift the world has ever received.  Around Easter, we spend time remembering Jesus’ brutal death on the cross, the day He took ALL the broken, fallen, sinful, hurts of this world upon Himself to cleanse and change our lives forever.  The day that our Savior remembered all those who have, are, and will be abandoned or neglected, and He engraved us on the palms of His bloody hands!  The day that TRUE LOVE died…that He might be raised again, as we will celebrate and remember every Easter.

“Can a nursing woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have enraged you on the palms of my hands…” (Isaiah 49:15-16).

I pray that the Lord uses this reminder to minister to your heart in a new and fresh way, as you think on our Lord, engraving you on the palms of His hands!

Rejoicing to Know Him by Alesha Sinks

“And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.” Nehemiah 8:12

They understood. They rejoiced!

And so often I hear the word of God and I groan.

God wants me to be relentless in pursuing Him. God wants me to put the needs of others ahead of my own. God wants me to give the first of my money with a cheerful heart. God wants me to serve others with humility.

Yet they rejoiced.

They read commands like give the first and the best of all your increase and do not exact interest from your brothers and they rejoiced. They rejoiced.

But I so often read the commands and sigh. And then Nehemiah 8:12 and I wonder what’s wrong with me. They rejoiced at the reading of the law and I find myself stressed when I think about making time to pick up His Word. And I wonder why?

But as I look closer, it becomes clear that they didn’t rejoice at a list of rules.

They rejoiced to know God.

And I think that’s where I get off track.
I turn God into a to do list and a list to check off and a measuring stick to see how tall I stand when really it was supposed to be a relationship.

They rejoiced to know God, and I am taking the knowing of God and turning it into a list of rules. And rules and religion never made anyone rejoice.

But knowledge of a good and loving God brings great joy!

When I read the rules and the challenges of God’s Word and see God’s character through them, that brings joy. Because the rules and the lessons of the Bible aren’t a measuring stick so much as they are laser pointer, always focused on Jesus.

So day by day I’m reordering my mind...it’s not a book to read and obey, it’s a relationship to partake in and be transformed by.

Remind yourself who God is today

Nehemiah 1:5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

Staying focused on your priorities is a very important part of leadership. If you are a leader, you are busy. Your calendar gets full fast, you have many to do lists, you are ambitious, and you want to accomplish great things…you are a leader! With this drive in my own life, I have many things going on all at once and this is why I love my smart phone. It helps me schedule, send email, listen to podcasts, make notes, and the million other apps I love to use including social media. The biggest help on the phone is the reminder. I often fill my calendar full and tend to forget the little details so I have the calendar alert me of my next appointments and my priorities. I find myself looking at my calendar often so I can see how I should spend my time next and what to make a priority. This helps me focus. This will help you. 

Just as I look to my calendar to remind myself of my priorities, I must also look to God’s Word and spend time praying to remind myself of His plan. This can be hard when there are long to do lists, people to get back to, projects to finish and the million other urgent things pressing on me for the day; but I find myself actually leading better if I stay focused and putting my priorities first. Just because something is urgent and pressing doesn’t necessarily mean it is the most important thing at that moment. Nehemiah just received the urgent information about Israel and how the walls where broken. He could have done a million things to just start the process to fix the situation, but we see Him praying and reminding Himself of who God is. 

I don’t want to lose sight of God in my life for the “urgent” things that consume my day. I tend to be so caught up in a situation that it consumes me, and I try to get things done. Although this can be helpful at times, God want us to make sure we have perspective. To base our life on His Word and promises (2 Pet 1:3-4) so that way we can prioritize the way we spend our time. I have to be reminded often of what really is important. I don’t want to lose sight that their is a God who made the Heavens. That nothing is impossible with Him. That He calls me to do great things for His kingdom and has good plans for me. That He keeps His covenants and is faithful. That He is for me and loves me. And that He loves you. 

I find the most important part of my day as a leader is not spending my time on the urgent matters of the day or even checking my to do list off BUT the part where I spend time with God. When I am able to do this, I am reminded of His truth and He helps me focus on my priorities, my time, and my life. When I remind myself of who He is and His love for me, it helps me. When I can spend time with Him, I find myself handling whatever pressing issue that comes up for the day a lot more graciously because I have persecutive. His perspective. I even go back through the day reminding myself that this great and amazing God is with me. This helps me lead better. This will help you lead better. I must continually remind myself of who God is. When do you remind yourself of who God is?

Mission looks like what? by Cameron Barber

I think that there might be some confusion about what a church plant looks like, or what mission is today.  I would like to share some things we are learning as we go along.

The first is the notion of a product.  When you think of church, what comes to your mind?  Is it four walls, pews, chairs, sound system, worship band, and pulpit?  Is it some kind of house church?  Whatever picture comes into your head, it is a physical product that took years of hard work, prayer, and God moving in a certain way, to get to that point.  Was this the only way that Jesus meant to build His church?  

Why are there no pictures this time?   Photos of church are great, and God has blessed this church plant.  But, there are things that happen that are not on film, or even part of what happens in Sunday service.  These things are the very essence of what church planting, and mission is all about.

Through working at a job outside of the church, I have been able to have many great conversations, made connections, and been able to share the Gospel with people who would not be caught dead inside the four walls of any church building.  Because of the nature of this job I get to talk with one person, for an entire day.  I don’t always get to share the Gospel, but there are times that the Lord opens a door and softens someone’s heart to let me speak truth into their life.  

There are certainly incredible things that God does during church gatherings, but I have seen God do much more that cannot be expressed in pictures.  Things like, conversations with homosexuals, or with young men that have turned their back on God.  This is the very Spirit of God in motion.

Our weekly service is not very big, around 10 on a good night, but the sowing of seed is what is really exciting.  Think of a church plant like that.  It’s not taking a root bulb, or a small tree and putting it in the ground.  It’s digging a hole, planting a seed, covering it, and watering, watering, watering, watering.....

I’m telling you this to get the message out there that the mission field is outside your front door!  Jesus said that He would build His church, and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it.  He wants us to take ground, get dangerous, and love like there is no tomorrow.  Because for those without Christ, that is exactly the case.  You don’t need to be skilled in music, have a degree, or even go through a “How to” program in evangelism.  You need a spirit that is willing to submit to whatever God wants, because if enough of us submit to Him, the world will shake!   

THE GLORY OF INCONVENIENCE by Pilgrim Benham

 I didn’t sign up for this.  When I first got involved in ministry, in serving God for His glory and fame in the world through the local church, I forgot one crucial element of ministry: people.  What is it, more than anything else, which causes distractions and problems in a church?  People.  Who gets offended or causes division?  People.  Who are the sources of constant woes and heartache and turmoil?  People!  It seems that when I thought about ‘ministry’, I was thinking about the glory of my gifting : how well I could communicate, how I could explain Biblical truth, how hard I could work or serve or how talented I was as a musician, writer, or athlete.  What I had missed was what ministry was all about: people!

Ministers who focus on the glory of their gifting miss out on one of the greatest blessings of serving Christ: the glory of inconvenience.  Think of what Jesus’s public ministry looked like.  He was constantly pulled away from the task God had given Him by needy people.  What most of us fail to realize is that this was the task God had given Him!  Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost.  His ultimate purpose was to lay down His life as the sacrifice for our sins, to save us.  This mission played out by saving people from temporal pain, suffering, demonic possession, ignorance, and hunger.  Jesus said in John 17:4, “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do”.  Jesus prayed this before even going to the cross.  Jesus was referring to the pre-cross ministry of teaching, healing, forgiving, and ministering to people’s needs.  And it brought God glory because peppered through His ministry was the glory of inconvenience.

Inevitably as a Christ-follower and fellow minister of the gospel of grace, you will face inconvenience.  Though we certainly are inconvenienced by common hassles like spending our time, money, energies, efforts, talents, and goals for Christ, the most prevalent difficulty is: people!  People require grace, love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness.  People need our longsuffering, discipline, explanation, instruction, rebukes, attention, sympathy, and listening ears.  We get frustrated when someone interrupts our schedule, our goals, or our comfort.  The reality is that these people are not interruptions or inconveniences to ministry; they are the ministry!

Pastor Don McClure recently mentioned that when we feel people are “in the way” we fail to realize that God doesn’t see them as that. People are the way. So people aren’t getting in the way of something you have to do, they are the way, the focus, the priority, the reason we do what we do.

Paul explained the glory of inconvenience in 2 Corinthians 11.  Among the difficulties and disturbances he faced, he was constantly moving, facing trouble in every neighborhood he ventured into, losing sleep, going without meals, heat, and even his dry cleaning!  He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and imprisoned.  Moreover, he was constantly concerned for the people God had brought into his life.  His final analysis is that though we are weak in Him, “yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you” (2 Corinthians 13:4).  May that be our prayer no matter how difficult the glory of inconvenience becomes—that we are, by God’s power, living with Him to serve others.

This means war by Alesha Sinks

I fall into the trap daily, hourly…the trap of my own mind.
Thoughts creep in and I listen, somehow thinking that what ever my mind comes up with is worth listening to.

I think I’m right, because everywhere I look the world is screaming the same message…Follow your heart.

And every time, somewhere down the path of following my heart, I find myself desperately broken and totally lost. Because my heart isn’t worth following. Your heart isn’t worth following.

Somewhere along the way, our pride has tricked us into thinking that our earthbound, temporary view of things is strong enough to guide us correctly through life and into eternity.

But you don’t have to look hard to find God saying something very different.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV)

And we think this life is a game to win or lose without any real consequences, when we’re really on a battle field, fighting for our very lives.

The battle isn’t good people and bad people.
The battle isn’t us against them.
The battle isn’t you verses the world.
The battle is you fighting you. The battle is fought in our minds and the battle is won and lost over who we will choose to follow…ourselves or God.

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind…” 1 Peter 4:1a (NKJV)

Our mindset is armor, and this is war.

What mindset will you choose?
What voices will you decide to listen to?
What truth will you follow?

This life isn’t a game board, it’s a battle ground.
And you can’t expect to win a battle without armor.
And you can’t expect to win a war without a plan.

I battle in my mind a lot. I think we all do. And our enemy knows exactly what thoughts to put into our hearts and minds to derail us.
But we aren’t fighting this battle on our own.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Romans 12:2a (NKJV)

Our hearts might be deceitful, but we have access to truth. The world might be shouting lies at us everyday, but we have unlimited access to the Source of Truth.

We have the ability to renew our minds.
We have the ability to arm ourselves with a right mindset.
We have the ability to put on a perspective based on truth.
Will we?

Will we turn to the Truth for a right perspective?
Will we read God’s Word to learn truth?
Will we meditate on the Bible to consistently refresh and reset our minds?
Will we use the armor we’ve been given?

Because our mindset is armor, and this is war.

Be blessed
Alesha