I know some are wondering what I am doing?  What kind of business are you starting?  The name of my new company is Sureway Transportation. In short it is a truck brokerage business.  I am very excited about this new venture in life and look forward to building a successful business.  I don't think for one minute that God has called be to be a truck broker.  I do believe it is time for me to step away from full-time ministry, at least for a season.  It is certainly clear that I have a responsibility to provide for my family.  This business is simply an avenue for me to do that.   My identical twin is here this week helping me set everything up.  He has been in this business four years and God has blessed his endeavors.  Watch out Malvern there are two of us in town this week.  By the way if you see me around town and I don't speak to you, it probably wasn't me.  My office is located in the Edward Jones building downtown. Someone asked me the other day if God would be mad at them regarding a decision they had to make if they made the wrong one.  My immediate response was absolutely not.  It is sad to me that as children of God we gravitate toward a Father who is looking for a chance to be mad at us. I believe that when we are endeavoring with everything in us to please God, He blesses whatever we set our hand to do.  I think the weighter things like love, kindness, giving, and service are so much more important to God than whether we make a right decision or not. When our lives are built around Christ we please Him, even when we make mistakes.  I know for me right now this is right, and what else can any of us do, but to do our best to follow God.  It takes faith to step out in a new venture, but I truly believe that God will take care of us. At men's breakfast the other day Floyd Parker pointed out a cute little rubber duckie on one of the tables and how it made him smile.  By the way, let me make something very clear, we normally don't have rubber duckies as our table setting for mens breakfast.  The ladies had set up the fellowship hall for a baby shower.  I love that story because I believe God smiles at us, and that makes us smile.  On the contrary God is not mad at you. I know He smiles on me, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...

Once we have a change of heart we must have a change of mind. In other words you and I must be willing to change and accept change when it happens. Willingness is a decision we make based on information.  Like wineskins we must be willing to immerse ourselves in God's truth, we must allow Him to repeatedly stretch us and work in us so we become willing, soft, and flexible. God you change my heart, you help me to see the big picture.  Now I make the decision to get my eyes off of myself and set my mind to change.  I am willing to follow your passion and purpose for humanity and for my life. It’s saying God it may be uncomfortable, but it is a choice I am making to allow you to stretch my thinking.  It may mean leaving some old traditions behind, you may have to accept people who are different than you are, or it may mean taking a new direction in life.  It will most certainly mean going against the status quo, the sway of "they", whoever they are.  Whatever it is we must make the choice to change. You and I must be willing to change. The third level of change is in our behavior. Like Nike said, "Just Do It!"

It doesn’t matter how willing we are, if we do not DO IT, there will be no change We must not only be willing we must put action to it.  Jesus said it best, "... a wise man puts it to practice."  The difference between a wise man and a fool is defined in his action. Anything that is not accompanied by action is dead.  We must do more that talk about the need for change. We must take it to the next level.  We must Dive in. What is God asking you to change.  Are you ready?  There are great things ahead of us if we are willing to "dive in" and make the change.  Change is in the air. "JUST DO IT"

How do we cope with the winds of change? I believe change must be dealt with on three levels. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who is at work within you, giving you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.” This verse speaks to the three levels of man.  The heart or the spirit of man, the mind which is our will, the action which is our body.  All change must take place on these three levels;  1.     Change of Heart – purposed to change 2.    Change of Mind – willing to change 3.    Change of Behavior – action.  Let's look at this first one - Change begins with “ passion”.  It begins with a purpose greater than ourselves and our traditionalism. Change begins in the heart. Traditions in and of themselves are not bad but Traditionalism says: This is the way we’ve always done it and we are going to keep doing it that way.  It supposes that nothing should ever be done for the first time. There is always tension between tradition and innovation. Anytime we step out to do something there will always be tension. In the parable we read earlier Jesus was saying patching an old coat with a new piece of cloth, and putting new wine into old wineskin's both show the result of unresolved tension.   Tension tears a bigger hole in the old coat, when the coat gets wet and the new material shrinks.   Tension caused the old wineskin's to rupture, when the new wine begins to ferment and swells up inside the bag. Life means change, but change is uncomfortable.  So there is tension between our traditions, the way we do it, which is comfortable, and becoming innovative in doing something different. When our faith is about us we can become narrow minded in our tradition and fail to see the bigger picture.   Remember this change involves you, but it is never about you. Jesus was continually encouraging his disciples to lift up there eyes and get a different view.  Why?  Because most of us live with our head to the ground focused on the same old same old.  God is always moving forward, and the only way I know to do that is to get your head up.  Sometimes we have to let go of our but(t) and go with God.  Does it take courage?  You bet it does.  Does it produce tension?  Every time. To change we must first be willing to have a change of heart, then we must have a change of mind... that's the next blog. 

Yesterday I begin to talk about this word change. When you stop and think about it the whole ministry of Jesus was about change.   He was endeavoring to move people from the old way of coming to God to the new way.  Every time Jesus turns around, someone is picking on Him or criticizing Him because he isn’t doing things the way they’ve always been done.  Then he tells the parable of the patched garment and new wine-skins. What is the lesson?  The time has come for God’s people to breakout of their boxes; the stereotypes of what they think it means to be godly, and allow the kingdom of God to work in new ways. I happen to love a good inspirational movie, particularly if it centers around football.  Remember the Titans, is a true story about a town that finds itself in the middle of racial turmoil.  Coach Boone is clearly irritated by his team’s attitude.  He assembles all of the players in order to put the work ahead in its proper perspective.  What is needed is change. In one turning point in the movie Coach Boone looks at his players.  He does not see what they are, he sees what they can be.  What they require is fundamental change.  It will require discipline, hard work, an undoing of past behaviors, and a commitment to a new way of thinking and acting.  I believe that God is continually challenging the church to be willing to change.  People are looking for the real deal in the church.  If we are willing to change our approach in reaching people, God will honor us.  Let's face it, we don't live in the days of Ward and June Cleaver.  Life is full of change.  The only way that I know to stop change is to stop living.  Change is inevitable.  If change is a way of life then the question is what must you and I do to move forward when we meet change?  How do we cope with the winds of change?  We will answer that tomorrow....