February 22 – “A Discernment Meeting”

Sunday morning.  And a quiet one at that.  Chris and I were the only ones here.  Well, except for Scooter and the fish with the name I never can remember.  But they are both quiet.  It was a feeling I hated to leave, but it was, after all, Sunday morning.  The call of Seaside and teaching and the discernment meeting afterwards was ringing in my ears.    For years I really haven't liked the entire business aspect of church here in America.  I know we are protected by the government and all, but I honestly believe that we won't be forever.  And it has always seemed to me that there was something inherently wrong with church being run like a business, albeit an efficient one.   I recently reached a peace with myself about the issue.  I revised our church bylaws to show in as clear-cut a way as I could the difference between the church as a New Testament covenant community and the church as an American administrative organization.  Even if Seaside never completely adopts it, I still received great peace in doing it.  And practically speaking, I plan to operate personally under the plan.    So with that under my belt, I didn't mind wading in on business today.  We call our time of business at Seaside a "discernment meeting" because the idea is to discern where God is at work around us and do what we can to join him with our resources.  We are in the middle of discerning where we need to go next – after Ike – as the Body of Christ that meets here in Galveston at Seaside.  We decided to get some of the "tyranny of the urgent" things done that we have been putting off.  Replacing all the lighting in the building.  Replacing our storm-damaged roof and ceiling.  Buying a portable sound system to replace the one we lost.  God has provided us with some extra monetary resources in the last few weeks, so we'll be able to take care of that stuff.    But my favorite part of the meeting was the brainstorming time.  I asked everybody to "climb out of the boat" with me and dream.  If money were no object, what would you like to see us do?  There were some interesting ideas.  Take care of all the transportation costs for youth camp.  Very practical.  Buy a van.  We've talked about that one before – and we've even been there before.  Not all that practical when we considered all the extra expenses.  Build some outside storage space under the new school building.  Also practical, and certainly needed.  My all-time favorite suggestion, though came right at the end.  It went something like this, "We need to do something that makes us into a center for ministry in the community.  We need to get outside ourselves and touch the people around us for the Kingdom of God."  Wow.  Somebody got it.   Matthew 28:18-20 says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."   Father, help us to focus on loving you more than we worry about understanding you.  Amen.