Love Does

Love Does. A title of a book I think I mentioned before by Bob Goff HERE and told you I would let you know my thoughts. I finished this book but haven't had much time to read at work since I stopped pumping which is unfortunate. Anyway the book is good. I would recommend reading it. Sometimes I get overwhelmed or restless thinking about this broken world but this book did a good job of refocusing me back to the moment. Loving people and meeting the needs right in front of you. Check it out!

I also think this ties into the announcement that was made yesterday. David Platt announced he would be leaving the Church of Brookhills and will begin serving as the International Mission Board's (IMB) president. I like this news. We sat under Platt for a year when we lived in Birmingham. His faith is so real, genuine and he treats it like the Truth it is. You can hear it in his voice when he speaks about Jesus and his concern for the people who have never heard of him. I always think/thought he is on the verge of tears the way he speaks with such passion about the church, Christ, and unreached people. If God is real, its supernatural, shouldn't we all be speaking with this certainty and urgency. Here is the video he posted addressing everyone who give, knows about, or is interested in IMB. I am sad for the Church of Brookhills, as I know if I was still there, I would be sad to lose such a gifted teacher of the bible. He doesn't fancy up scripture because it doesn't need it. There are few jokes and side stories. He taught the bible as a whole. Old testament and new testament were always taught pointing to Christ and showing redemptive history. Needless to say, I am happy that he responded to the call to move positions as I think he will use the IMB's resources the best way to advance the gospel to all nations (aka the Great Commission).

Isn't it cool how though he is comfortable and currently used by God serving at the Church of Brookhills, that he is still willing to move to a new spot. It reminds me that whether we are a pastor or not, if we call ourselves Christ followers, we should all keep a blank check on the table. We should never say things like "in 10 years Ill live here", "when the kids get older we will move close to family", "Ill keep this job for 5 more years then look for something else", or "I don't think we will move, we like it here." It is not our decision. If we truly surrendered our life to Christ, that includes where we live, what we do, everything! I have to preach this to myself a lot. I know we moved to Seattle for a purpose that we felt God ask us to, but we still don't need to take our blank check off the table. I like it here and so does Wes. I like my job and friends. We like our church family. It could mean God keeps us here for 20 years or it could be 20 more months. Either way it is not up to us and we should always pray for guidance, discernment and direction. It is hard I know when you get comfy. If only before every decision, big or small, I always asked "is this my selfish desire to _____(insert live close to family, make more money, have fun with the kids, etc) or is this going to advance the gospel, love God and love people?"