Thistles and such…

I have noticed that I lean towards finding the negative in stuff pretty fast.  Part of it is a gift, I sit in all of our weekend services as the "producer" and see what we can improve on.  In order to do that I need to have an eye to catch small things that if we made 1% improvements on would make a difference.

However this can go overboard.  I sometimes am guilty of this:  In thinking about my church, rather than finding the 10 good things that I can say, I just see the 10 things that could be done better.

Kem Meyer had this happen this week when she opined here and then had to self-rebuke here.  To Kem I say…been there done that!  You have been an encouragement to me…brush it off and press on.

It reminded me of a story that Jesus told.  He was sitting around with his friends and a huge gathering of people and went into a story about harvest time. He explained how a man had planted a field of wheat and in the middle of the night his enemies came and sowed thistle seed into the field to ruin his crop.  After telling the story, he dismissed the crowd and went inside with his disciples.  As it often was – they did not get it.  But that is not the part of the story that is telling, the telling part is what they asked…

Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field."  Matthew 20:36 MSG

They saw the negative.  They asked about the thistles.  There was still an entire of harvest of "good seed" and in the end the wheat was saved but the thistles were burned thwarting the enemies plans.  They missed it.

How often I miss it…

- Over 7000 people will attend one of 10 Seacoast locations this weekend where many will accept Christ and 1000′s will walk further in their journey.

- Over 150 people will attend a newcomers reception this weekend, making a first point of connection.

- Over 4000 people will attend a small group this week and have fellowship with friends FAMILY.  Connie and I will be two of them tonight and I can not wait to see Jason, Carrie, John, Lisa, Nate, Amanda, Shannon, Richie, Chad, Tonya and of course Tiernan, Aubryn, Charlotte, Jackson, Allie Grace and Isabelle!

- I get to work with some of the greatest people in the world – thistles and all – and I would not trade it for the world.  Thousands who volunteer – 100 or so on my teams – and a staff at Seacoast that together make a pretty descent representation of Jesus to the world.

God – help me to ask, "Tell us the story of the wheat in the fields"