A common question guys have is….
“Do I matter?”
“Do I make a difference?”

You might say that Kirk makes a difference.
He touches and affects lives every Sunday from the podium.
You could say that is his job.

Do you today feel as though you touch and effect lives ?
Do you matter?

Know this ….You do.

To your wife. To your children. To your friends.
That right there is significant. And can bring positive effect upon the world through those you influence.

If you desire to matter beyond that you have to get out of that “comfort zone” you live in and reach beyond those you are familiar with.
Intentionally get involved with more people.

Move and through tenacity escalate relationships….
That’s an acrostic for the word….matter.

If you doubt that you matter….get over it.
Realize YOU DO to those around you….
Don’t underestimate your effect on them… and be responsible for them.

Beyond that…
You must get out of yourself and interject yourself into people’s lives.
It takes work…time….and listening.
People want someone to hear them, to listen.

Do that with five guys next month….who you do not spend time with now…that’s one a week.

Or just do that with one guy next month.

You do that and you will begin to matter to one or all of them. You will get involved in their life.
Pray for them,
Don’t just say you will pray for them.
Pray for them.

Many times people say they do not know how to pray… once you have listened to these new contacts…pray about what you have heard is on their heart….
Their children, their marriage, their job…Their issues.
Pray for them.

Follow up with them.

You will begin to matter to more people than your circle of influence currently.

You will know then that you matter. It will not just come to you…you have to go get it…. like most things that matter.
You have to want it.

Do you???

Terry
October 30, 2014

We are growing as a Church. I believe that we grow through two ways.
One, by God leading people to our Church through a friends invitation, as was the case with me.
Secondly, we grow through people knowing us, being drawn to Christ or being drawn to us, through our attractiveness….meaning how we let Christ be seen in and through us.

I would encourage all of us to engage ourselves in both of these areas.

Be the “Fifth Gospel”.
Four are in the New Testament. You are the walking, talking, living and breathing gospel…
the “Fifth Gospel”.

That’s why what Kirk recommended about reading Scripture daily is so important. It draws us to become, and then live Christ-like.

If we live like that… People will be attracted to what they see. Then, when you invite them
They are more likely to respond. Or, as was the case when people came to Christ…when calamity comes into their life…and it does to all at some point…they will know you represent Hope and Light, and be drawn to that.

What the Church is….is you. What people think of when they think of Metro…unless they are connected to our denomination…is the corporate version of you.

If people call churches hypocritical its because of the people they see and know in churches.

Be the living Gospel that those in your world see and know. Part of life is being vocal…be vocal in a Christ-like manner.

When the time is fulfilled you will draw them…
God will draw them because they see Him in you. Allow Him to grow in You. He will then be seen in you.

As we grow in Him….He will be seen in us and He, then, will grow our Church.

Terry
October 28, 2014

,

II CORINTHIANS 10 tells us that we have “Mighty” and “Supernatural” weapons in our warfare against strongholds, against Imaginary things, against anything that lifts itself up against Christ.

True. Dependable. Needed.

We also possess less powerful weaponry in our eyes, our mind, our hands and feet.
Use your mind and hands to click the remote when images appear on television which you and no one in your house needs to have imprinted on their mind. Commercials about movies or shows too graphic or intense.
You know of what I speak. A day is soon to arrive on the 31st which allows images in movies and such which you need to use your weaponry to defend your house against.

Your feet can keep you out of troubles.
Stay out and away when your mind speaks.
Allow your mind to guide your eye when It speaks and says “do not look a second time”.

These are battles that the more you fight …
The keener your weaponry should be.
Therefore between your own weaponry in hand with the Spiritual weapons we possess from II CORINTHIANS 10 you should be winning.
If you win…your family wins and the Body of Christ grows stronger.

Terry
October 22, 2014

The doctor who contracted Ebola helping infected victims in West Africa is well. Since he has recovered, the blood from his body has been used to heal a few other victims.

You should see where I am going.

Many victims will be healed by the introduction of the blood of one who was healed.

That doctor went in among the infected and sought to provide help and healing.
We go among the infected and bring about some effect everyday…. It’s not West Africa…. It’s the office….the grocery store…Church… a restaurant.
Infected ??? Yes, we go among those infected with sin.
Do we help or do we simply get infected and spread it rather than providing help and healing??

We have been infected and we have spread it …
Yet we have had the opportunity to have the Blood of One to give us healing.

That healing in us can be spread to those infected around us.
We can introduce that healing to them.

It does not take going to another continent to see infected people .
It goes not require a long trip to help the infected.

Introduce the Blood of The One Who has healed you to those around you…
Healing follows.

Terry
October 15, 2014

He was really aiming to get somewhere else.

In discovering this part of the world, Columbus had in mind getting to China/India. He has received credit and acclaim for not getting to the place he intended. It is a great place, but his intention was elsewhere.

Our Savior fully intended to do exactly what he did before he ever arrived.
Throughout His time here, He was fulfilling exactly He and His Fathers intentional plan.

No wandering off course.
He was precisely on the mark each day He was here.

While we remember Columbus as a guy who happened, off-purpose, to discover America….
let us lift up our Savior in honored remembrance for His on-purpose, perfect, prophesied Life.

We continue to reap the rewards.

Terry
October 13, 2014

Kirk issued a challenge to everyone to read the devotional and your Bible
for the 30 days of September.

Did you ???

Most people, after doing something for 30 days, develop a habit of doing that thing .

Have you ??

I would encourage you to do so. Relationships are built by constant and involved contact.
You spoke to and listened intently to your wife as you pursued her. You may or may not now… but she would probably say you DID.

I encourage all of us to speak to and listen intently
to God….always and everyday.

No speaking
No pursuit

No listening
No communication

No communication
No relationship

We should pursue God with all the passion we pursued our woman with.

At least that

More than that.

Did you honor the challenge Kirk issued ?

If so….. make it a habit.
If not…. why not begin to pursue The One who gave you life and everything in it of value.

Consider.

Terry
October 12, 2014

We had dinner with two guys and their families last night. We have been close, so it was good to see them and see the growth in their children. These two guys served and worked for years at their craft and benefited many of us in doing so. Saw and heard them every week.

Then, they were both called to a larger stage.
God called and moved them.

They now are leading, directing and orchestrating the worship at the fastest growing church in Alabama, maybe the whole country .

The lesson here is that they served well and worked to develop their abilities… and the ability of others around them…for years.

God saw that. He then lifted them into a greater span of influence. They now have unlimited horizons in front of them to serve, lead, bless, and have influence over thousands of people all over this nation.

They worked and developed. At His Time, He moved them.

Work and develop your abilities. God gave them ,
He will honor your stewardship of them…at His Time.
Have patience, serve those you are around now .
God may have a greater stage for you.

Get ready.

Terry
October 10, 2014

Heard a speaker yesterday talk about being deposited in others lives, about passing the baton of wisdom, experience and knowledge.
We have talked a great deal about that in this forum.

When passing the baton in a race there is a confined space of twenty yards in which to transfer it. Too early or too late is just that and it brings a penalty.

In life, it requires the proper timing as well. You don’t give an automobile to your son when he is 8. Also, you do not put physical expectations on a 90 year old man.
There is a timing in giving away authority. I know a man who owns a very successful business. His sons are in it with him. One day he will pass it to them… they could handle a lot of it now. However, he did not turn all authority over to them the day they came in the door. Some experience can be taught, other experience must be experienced.

There is a timing to passing the baton and it rests mostly with the holder.

We must lead, train and instruct the receiver before placing the baton of our accumulated experience within their younger hands… yet it must be done.

To give it away too late is as ill – timed as giving it too early.
Many people hold on too long and never release anything….and their tightly wrapped fingers can strangle the life out of the forever-waiting recipient.

Life is about getting it to the next generation. That’s legacy.
Too early might indicate laziness. Passing it too late probably reveals selfishness in the holder.

Work to pass the baton.

As the runner approaches the hand-off zone….their mind begins to order their steps correctly, think precisely and reach properly to pass the instrument .
Do that.

If you are the receiver, do not start sprinting too soon , do not reach to take it as much as you hold out you hand to receive it.
There’s an important difference in reaching and receiving.

Experience, knowledge and wisdom can be gained alone. All the better to receive it from another who has accumulated it and brings it to you.

Important transfer.

Terry
October 6, 2014

Sent from my iPhone

Saw a title or topic on a television channel….Lean Forward .
Thought about it and came to the phrase “Lean In”.

When you talk with someone at a table, in a crowd, you sometimes have to lean in to hear them, especially if you danced too close to the speakers in college.

Lean In.
Show interest .
Listen.

Be intentional to hear what’s being said to you.
It might reveal someone’s most important concern.
It might be the topic that is keeping them awake at night .
Lean In.
Show interest.
Listen.

When you lean in you might make the one talking feel more important as you look at them in the eye , not past or around them to see who might be more important to talk to.

You might be the single person the one talking feels comfortable speaking to.
You might be the one who has the advice or input they need.
You might be the one God has prepared to give them their answer.

Lean In

Terry
October 4, 2014

Heard an interview with a young football player Saturday morning.
Probably the best at his position in the country.
It caught my ear because he was raised about 8-10 miles from where I was raised in Miami.

Answering the interviewer’s question, he revealed a great deal about himself.

When asked about his speed he answered, “God given”.
Asked about his size, he answered “God given”.
Asked about his strength, he said. “Coach inspired “.

He said he was taught to always stay hungry and humble.

The interviewer said most receivers talk a lot….
The young man answered, “My mother taught me to not talk, just work harder “.
The young man’s words give some light as to the reason he has knelt in the end zone after scoring.

Very young man. Mature statements.

Good to pay attention to.

Think about it…
Any talents we have, at their basis…they are indeed God given.
Any physical gifts we have, at their basis, they are all God given.

At any level…When we have an occasion…we CAN give glory to God. Do we?

Our Creator IS the reason we have the talents and gifts we do. Even the perseverance to work and improve and steward our gifts …. That gift of perseverance comes from God.

Stay hungry….
Stay humble.
Know where it all comes from.

Terry
October 4, 2014