Greetings, this is Brian. Hope you’re doing well. And as you are engaged in extending the Kingdom of God where you’re at, I thought I’d start doing a video blog once a month over this next year, kind of, hopefully, something that would encourage you and allow for others also to get in this blog to encourage you as well.
Well, listen, I was looking through “The Alabama Baptist” and I came up on an article that is about Jesus Navarro, who’s one of our church planters, and it says, “Only God can do it.” And I was reminded today that, as I was rereading the article, that it is only God that can plant His church. And it is the Lord that brings people to Himself, and we are just lifting up Christ.
Jesus’s story, I met with him last week again and had a wonderful time as he’s digging into Oneonta and serving, but I was reminded of a couple things in planting. Number one, it has to be God that calls you and God that sustains you. So as you’re evaluating everything in your life and looking at this next year, my prayer is that you’ll be able to kind of focus in and understand anew and breathe anew God’s direction and call and what He’s called you to do.
Number two, though, is the reality that it’s a process. You know, a neat thing about Jesus is he had planted, as a bi-vocational layman, three churches in Houston before coming to Alabama. And all of that, you kind of wonder, how’s that preparing him? And then he starts coming to Alabama on summer breaks and then God moves in his heart that he’s supposed to come to Oneonta. So I’m reminded again that, you know, everything we’re in is a process, relationships, things lead towards something else. Yeah.
So I would encourage you during this time to take time to be present with the Lord, to listen to the Lord. And in our network, we’re about healthy, equipped leaders. And as we’re looking, even at Valentine’s Day and other events, I think sometimes I feel like I get distracted, distracted by all the things around me, the challenges that are always in front of us, and distracted when I’m supposed to be present, even with my wife and with others that I care about, and the mind is somewhere else. How do we love those well that are around us? I think part of that is being present.
A verse that hit me again is Psalm 46:10, to be still, to not strive and to know that He is God. That it’s He who will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted among the earth. So my prayer for you all, in this time especially, is to remember that only God can do it. So allow us to be present with those we love, to listen well, and to serve effectively for the Kingdom’s sake. Thanks for what you’re doing. You’re making a difference one life at a time. God bless you.
