The weekly Mosaic Versailles update, as I listen to cheap firecrackers being set off outside at 12:24 in the morning(more on that in a minute)...
-Had a productive luncheon with some area pastors on Thursday. They listened to my vision for Mosaic and heart for ministry, and asked questions and offered insights and suggestions as well. They will now prayerfully consider whether their church should partner with us beyond prayer. It is good to know that other churches have the same heart for ministry and outreach that we do, and would consider stepping alongside us to see this happen in Woodford County.
-Spoke on the phone with Rick Long, pastor of The Point Community Church, a new church in Frankfort. Rick caught wind of what's happening here in Versailles and wants to touch base soon. The Point has really taken off in a short time, and has built relationships with other church plants in the area, as well as Mars Hill Church in Seattle(not Rob Bell's Mars Hill church, but Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill Church). I look forward to meeting and praying with Rick sometime soon.
-This week's batch of vegetables was delivered to The Salvation Army shelter on Main Street in Lexington. Again, there is confusion as to whether our local food bank takes fresh produce. So for the second week in a row, the Probus mini-van drove up to an unsuspecting veggie recipient, like Ed McMahon delivering a Publishers Clearance House prize. Except that instead of a giant check for 10 million dollars, they get a zucchini. Which, in the short-term, might not sound as good as 10 million dollars, but at least you don't have to deal with all those leeches that would hit you up for cash if you won the jackpot. Rarely do people call their long-lost friend/relative begging for a bite of zucchini. So you avoid the long-term hassle. Anyways, we're feeding people who don't have food. So that's a valuable ministry, wherever it's taking place.
-Remember, no gathering this Wednesday night due to the holiday. Spend time with family/friends. We will resume the following Wednesday night at our Eureka campus. Be praying now for who you can invite.
-Job situations are coming into focus for those who have been anxiously waiting for them to come into focus.
-Why do people have to blow stuff up? That's the question on my mind right now, and it will be probably for the next week or so, as people set off their own fireworks leading up to the 4th, late on the night of the 4th, and then blow up the clearance-priced fireworks in the days after the 4th.
It didn't used to bother me. In fact, I remember lighting sparklers on our back porch and waving them in the air, then throwing them off the porch into the bushes when they stopped burning(take THAT, environment!). I even remember us buying "the good stuff" on our way back through Tennessee from summer vacation, and lighting fireworks in the shape of chickens and tanks in our driveway. I was a Civil War buff as a kid, and I remember us buying a Civil War-themed fireworks set one year, and lighting it in the driveway. As it sprayed sparks and flames four feet into the air, I remember thinking that this was EXACTLY what Fort Sumter must have looked like.
But now, it's an annoyance. I think this is for two primary reasons: one, I don't want them waking up my kid. Two, they're usually not very good. Even the "good stuff" from Tennessee is never as good as what you see at city-sponsored July 4th festivities, or Kings Island every single night, or every single time the Reds win a game(which is three times a month).
But every year, people buy them, and every year, they set them off. They're just a cheap replica of really good fireworks shows. It would be like me saying, "You know what? I know that the Transformers movie comes out later this week, but I think I'll instead make my own Transformers movie, using this toaster, my Playstation, and a power washer. It will be just as good, and then I can show it on the side of my house at 1:00 in the morning. The neighbors will LOVE it."
In other words, people are willing to trade the real thing(which is ALWAYS better), for a cheap imitation, which promises to look, sound, and act the same, but in the end turns out to be pretty disappointing(at least in my opinion). They do it because they want to be in control, have it done their way, on their terms.
We do the same whenever we decide that our way is better than God's way. Just like that Civil War-themed explosion of light and sound, our way makes promises that it just can't keep. So instead of waiting for God's best, and paying the price to see God's best, we jump the gun, do it ourselves, and try to maintain control. And while we might see some initial sparks, and make some loud noise, in the end...it's a rip-off.
Don't trade God's best for a cheap imitation. Even if it comes from Jellico.
