I need a Spotter

For those of you who don't know, I am a certified personal trainer as well as a youth pastor.  I was in the gym yesterday, which is my sanctuary away from my sanctuary.  I was doing what I believe to be the most overrated exercise, the bench press.  I mean how many times in life are you going to be in a situation where you are lying on your back and pressing weight off you.  Yet the most common question asked at the gym is, "Hey, how much do you bench".  The bench press has always been the most intimidating lift for me to do.  I am not the greatest at the bench press.  Yesterday I was attempting lift  275 pounds off of my chest.  I did it 3 times but not without fear.  I wanted to lift 300lbs yesterday but i was a little scared.  I knew I could do it but I never lift that much without someone spotting me (helping me).  I know I am capable of lifting the weight but I also know that I am capable of being weak and dropping it on my chest.
Let me parallel this story to our walk with Christ.  All of us need an accountability partner, someone who is there to strengthen us and hold us to a high level of integrity.  I realize more and more in my life that I need people around me to keep me in line.  It's not that I think that I am going to sin, but I know I am capable of sinning because I am flesh and live in a sin filled world.  In order to get stronger physically I need a spotter at the gym and in order to get stronger physically I need a spotter in life.

Community
Let's talk about true community. As a pastor i have always felt the need to portray the role of superman to those I lead, But I have never been comfortable doing that. I do my best to be transparent and honest. If I am not transparent then I might as well be saying that I don't trust God's people enough to hold me up when I am weak. True community happens when we open up and lean on each other. Stop wearing masks and saying you are ok, trust the body of Christ to hold you up. This is what the New Testament church was founded on. They devoted themselves to developing true community everyday. Be real, don't cover things up or sweep it under a rug. Confess your sins, hurts, pains, faults, one to another. God moves in true community. The Kingdom grows in true community.

Put it in the rear-view

It's tough to move past things sometimes. Maybe you have been let-down, disappointed, hurt, blamed, abused, etc., or maybe you have just made some bad decisions and stupid mistakes. Whatever the case, our past should be our past. It should be behind us, and what took place then should not affect our now or later. Having said all that preacher talk, it's hard to let go of what happened to us. Let me give you some advice the Lord has given me. Put it in your rear-view mirror. God spoke that to me and I thought, "Ok, that makes sense, but when i look in my rear-view I can still see it." Then the Lord showed me that if I am not moving toward His destiny for my life then yes my past will be seen in my rear view mirror. You see when you are in your car and you look up and see a tree in you rear-view, that tree doesn't disappear untill you move far enough forward to get it out of sight. We have to move forward to what God has for us to get away from our past. I think maybe Lot's wife learned this lesson a little too late.

Advance the Kingdom

For those of you reading this blog, I am going to assume that you know a thing or two about being a Christ follower (which may be dangerous). John the Baptist said "the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force". Our duty as Christ followers is to advance the kingdom of God in everything you do. For some this may mean through teaching, pastoring, performing, or singing, but for all of us it means spreading the word of Christ everywhere we go. God gives us each a different set of skills and abilities, but what we don't realize is that they were given to us in order to advance HIS kingdom and not ours. So my question to you this morning is what are you doing to advance HIS kingdom with what he has given you. You could be a business man who could use income to finance the advance of God's kingdom. You could be a student who can reach one classmate at a time with the hope of Christ.
Everyday most of us wake up with the thoughts of how we can improve things for US or OUR kingdom. I encourage you to open your eyes and look at things through the scope of God's kingdom. How can you advance HIS kingdom today? Love someone, teach someone, disciple someone, show HIM to someone