I am at my wits' end and it's a good thing

"When we are at our wits' end for an answer, then the Holy Spirit can give us an answer. But how can He give us an answer when we are still well supplied with all sorts of answers of our own?" -Karl Barth

This quote from my friend Shane stopped me in my tracks this morning. I see this quote being lived out in my life, the lives of others and our church as a whole. I want to be a part of a community of people who embrace a "wits' end" look at life because that will lead to a community of people who are finding answers in God and not in man.

Our Greatest Danger

"This time of waiting on God was also necessary in order to teach them the greatest lesson of the Christian life--to cease from themselves. The greatest danger about these men was not in what they may fail to do, but in what they might try to do. The greatest harm that we can do is the attempt to do anything at all when we are not prepared, and when we do not understand the Master's will. There are times when the most masterly thing we can exercise is inactivity, and there are times when the most mischievous thing we can do is to do anything at all." --A.B. Simpson referring to Acts 1:1-5 in his book "The Holy Spirit." HT - Shane Stacey

Southern Gables Church is living in the midst of the tension of this quote and it's a beautiful thing to wait with all the people of SGC through this time!

Wildness lies in wait

"The real trouble with this world of ours is not
that it is an unreasonable world, nor
even that it is a reasonable one.
The commonest kind of trouble is that it is
nearly reasonable, but not quite.
Life is not an illogicality, yet
it is a trap for logicians.
It looks just a little more mathematical
and regular than it is; its'
exactitude is obvious; but
its' inexactitude is hidden;
its' wildness lies in wait."

- GK Chesterton

This quote captured my heart again today as I am reading Leading in a Culture of Change by Michael Fullan for a second time.

The times of our lives are filled with complexity. They are filled with wildness as we lie in wait. I want to live a life with a community of people that desire to embrace the wildness and seek out the hidden inexactitudes!

I will make you fishers of men

Matthew 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

I have been thinking about these words this week and the results the book of Acts records of the first disciples whose focus wasn't on creating a church, but rather on following Jesus. There is no doubt, the early disciples were fishers of men!

Acts 2:41 "There were added that day about three thousand souls."

Acts 4:4 "The number of the men came to be about five thousand.

Acts 5:14 "All the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number."

Acts 6:1 "At this time . . . the disciples were increasing in number."

Acts 6:7 "The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly."

Acts 9:31 "The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace . . . [and] continued to increase."

Acts 12:24 "The word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied."

Acts 16:5 "So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily."

My hope and prayer for our church is that we would all seek to follow Jesus and trust God for the results.