-I'm too busy to be doing this-

I try to stay on a pretty tight schedule of sending this email out every two weeks. I really enjoy doing it, and I hope and pray that you enjoy receiving it. Also I hope that it feeds you spiritually, helps you stay in the Word, and ministers to you as you seek God is your daily life. So I’ll go ahead and apologize for not sending the email out last weekend. With school starting, our first HIMnI service of the semester next Thursday, MissionLab busy recruiting for next summer, and moving from our house about 20 miles outside of New Orleans to a place within 5 minutes of downtown, I have been swamped. But I’m really preaching to the choir, huh? We are all busy. A lot of our time is even spent doing ministry related things - going to church three times a week, volunteering, youth events on the weekends, getting our families ready to go to church, etc. But is it a possibility that we can be so caught up in doing ministry and good things that we neglect our own spiritual health and responsibilities?

Rob Wilton, the President and Co-Founder of Ignite Mission, wrote an article in the Prayer Guide that we passed out at the Out of Range Conference last month. This quote in his article is extremely relevant to the life of a busy Christian. He said, “I’m not sure if this happens to you, but sometimes I find myself so busy for Christ that I forget about Christ all together.”

I am convicted that some times we try to accomplish the mission of God without God. We want to try to do things our way in our time. Sometimes the best thing to do is to step back and seek the face of God. Let’s not get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we forget who we are living for. Don’t forget why you are serving; don’t forget the reason you participate in church events and go to worship: to bring glory to God.
Juggling the day-planner that we call “life” is a constant struggle. This week, focus on prioritizing your schedule to include spending time in the presence of the Creator. Seek His plan and will for your life, and put your life, your money, and your time in the hands of the One who so graciously gave it to you.

-Spending some time in the Word-

“In the madness of ministry in today’s society, Satan loves how busy we have become.” -Rob Wilton

-In Ecclesiastes 2:17-23, Solomon repeats the fact that work has no purpose. In fact, the theme of the entire book is found in 1:2, “Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Everything is Meaningless!” Solomon realizes that everything we earn, say, do, or accomplish in this life is meaningless and worthless if you are not doing it for Christ.

-Hiding the Word in your heart-

“In contemporary society our adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds.” -Richard Foster

-1 Timothy 4:10- “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”