I told you yesterday that God has once again grabbed my attention with the story of Nehemiah. Specifically, I've been chewing on the verse that started it all:
"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven." - Nehemiah 1:4
God hit me between the eyes with the question: "How do I respond to the depravity of Greenville?" He has used that question to show that my response is evidence of how close my heart is to His. If I choose to ignore depravity, then I'm far away. If I am brought to my knees as Nehemiah was, then I'm on the right track. Same goes for you and the same goes for our churches.
But my next question, as with most problems I experience in life, is: "What am I supposed to DO about it?"
Maybe you're like me and when you get fired up about something, you're ready to run out and do all you can to change the world in 24 hours. My lean is always to respond emotionally...sometimes irrationallly...which mostly leads to poor, short-sighted decisions. The motive is right, but the action is not quite right.
And here's where Nehemiah sets such a great example for me and you. Obviously, he was emotional about what he heard. He had to sit down. He wept. But what he decided to do next is HUGE for me.
He fasted. He mourned. He prayed. He waited on "the God of heaven." "For some days"...meaning, he did the pray, fast, mourn, and wait deal for a long time. I don't think for a second Nehemiah was acting cautiously. I don't think for a second he was afraid. I think there was a fire in his bones that he could only take one place...the throne of grace. (I didn't even mean for that to rhyme :-)) The vision God gave him for what needed to be done was HUGE and he knew he couldn't do it alone.
Nehemiah wanted to see what God could do, not what Nehemiah could do.
Three years ago, God pierced my heart with a vision for Greenville that literally changed my life. One year ago, He paved the way for that vision to take a big step towards becoming reality with the launch of Catalyst Church. Now, as Catalyst nears its one-year anniversary, He is answering the prayers that have been prayed for three years...
I want to see Greenville turned upside down. I want to see people who are far from God fall on their face before Him and give their lives to Him. I want to see the poor and underserved cared for and loved. I want to see Christ-followers live out a missional lifestyle everywhere they go. I want churches in this city to be packed to the gills Sunday after Sunday. I want the local church to take the lead in shaping the future of Greenville.
What started three years ago with me praying, and then with my wife praying, and then two other families praying now has literally hundreds of people praying the same thing: "God, use Catalyst Church to change this city."
A CCer sent me an email yesterday. Here's part of what she said:
"I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am to be a part of something great. It's incredible to see how much our church has grown in just the past few months and I am looking forward to the future when we can all look back and witness all the great things God has done...I believe that Greenville will be changed by the presence of Catalyst Church and our people."
Folks, God is answering our prayers! He has given me and given our staff a vision for year 2 that is unbelievable. As a friend of mine has said, if year 1 was about gathering, year 2 is about invasion. Invasion in a good way, of course!
The bottom line...when God grips your heart with a big vision, the first thing to do is pray and fast, pray and fast, and pray and fast. He honors it. He speaks through it. He gives clarity. He puts feet on that vision. And when He says, "Go," nothing will be able to keep from doing what He has set in your heart to do.
I've learned that first hand as God has broken me down over the last 3 years. And just so you know, He said, "Go," a little over a month ago! And, on April 22, He is going to say to us as a body, "GO!"
Are you ready? The time is NOW!
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