Anyone can do ANYTHING with Money…
Overheard a great quote from Mike Michalowicz today that is so true for life and SOOOO true for the Start Up phase that Soul City is in right now.
“Anyone can do anything with money. What can YOU do without?
What a brilliant reminder for us personally and for whatever Business or Church Endeavor you find yourself in. The comforting deception is that “If we just had more (or some) money we could…”
- …Reach more people in our city.
- …Hire more people to do more work.
- …Get out of all this debt.
- …Be able to give more as a family.
- …No longer worry about NOT having money.
You fill in the blank.
But the naging question remains – “What can you do without?” What can you do without money that people with money can’t do? What kinda faith and creativity and ingenuity might God be trying to squeeze out of you in the absence of having all that you think you need?
Money is nothing to God. He could give you all that you need and then some. So money is not the point. Faithfulness. Obedience. Dependence. Sacrifice. Creativity. That stuff that is priceless. And all the money in the world can’t get you that. But not having it…that may be the only thing in this season that affords you the things that God desires most.
So – What is one thing you have done or are doing that is GREAT in your family, business, or church without the supposed luxury of money? We’d love to hear your stories…
Mustard Seeds of Faith, Trust, and Sacrifice
Early on into the process of deciding to launch Soul City Church I felt God give me a prayer to pray every time we hit our common speed bumps of fear, control, and desiring comfort.
“God please turn my Fear into Faith, my Control into Trust, and
my desire for Comfort into Sacrifice.”
Today I hit all three speed bumps. I realized how much I am afraid of when it comes to giving up our jobs and financial security. I realized just how out of control I am when it comes to the fact that I can’t make someone buy our home, and I realized how I crave comfort when it comes to my lifestyle.
After flopping around in the reckless fear, control, and comfort for a while I was taken straight to the passage in Matthew where Jesus breaks it down for his disciples as to why they could not cast out a demon and said this…
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you
have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move
from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20
So I went to my cabinets and grabbed a container of Mustard Seeds and asked God to give me that kind of faith, trust, and desire for sacrifice today. I put three mustard seeds in a bowl representing my fear, control, and desire for comfort – and asked God to turn them into faith, trust, and sacrifice.
How about you – What kind of mustard seed faith, trust and sacrifice do you
need today?
THEY will not suffer for OUR Sacrifice
There is a life altering difference between Sacrifice and Suffering. Sacrifice you choose. Suffering is chosen for you.
Before we finalized with God that we would actually do Soul City, we told Him and committed to each other in no uncertain terms that:
- If our kids’ relationship with God suffers because of this sacrifice we’re making to God…than we will have to walk away.
We know that what we are embarking on as followers of Jesus, as a married couple, as parents, and as leaders will come at great Sacrifice to our lives, plans, and dreams. We get that. We not only accept it, we embrace it. BUT. We shudder to think that this sacrifice that we choose would ever cause our kids to Suffer for something that they did not. We love Soul City Church, but never more than we love God, love each other, and love our kids.
We can’t imagine standing in front of a Soul City Church one day talking about all that God has done while our kids hate God and can’t stand us. We’ve seen it too many times in our own friends families. It doesn’t add up. “Why”, in the words of Andy Stanley, “would we ever choose something that anyone else can do (a church) over something that we only we can do (family)?”
We couldn’t agree more.
Maybe you feel the same, maybe you don’t. We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
The Turning
Jesus had a beautiful way of taking ordinary items and turning them into the extraordinary. At a wedding he took some ordinary water and quickly turned it into wine. While on a hillside he took a young boys lunch of a couple fish & loaves and turned it into a complete all-you-can-eat buffet for the masses that were gathered to hear him teach. We have been experiencing this kind of “Turning” throughout the process of launching Soul City Church. God is taking the things that have become ordinary in our lives and is turning them into extraordinary growth.
We have walked with Jesus for many years and we have devoted ourselves to ministry – but just like every other human being we often find ourselves having fear about the future – leaning into our propensity to want to control life – and clinging to our selfish desires for comfort. It has almost become a daily experience where God will take our developed and far to ordinary skills of fear, control, and comfort and invite us into an opportunity for him to turn it into extraordinary growth.
God has been taking our fear about the future, finances, and finding a facility and He consistently has invited us to allow Him to turn it into faith.
God has been taking our desire to control the housing market, the details in our team building, the timing of how it all comes together, and He consistently has invited us to allow Him to turn it into trust.
God has been taking our desire for comfort as we leave our home, say good-bye to dear friends, and move to the unknown – God has invited us to allow Him to turn it into joyful sacrifice.
God loves to turn things around…
Where does God need to…
- Turn your Fear into faith
- Turn your desire to Control into Trust
- Turn addiction to Comfort into Sacrifice?
…will you let him?
