Let's be real for a moment or maybe for the rest of our lives?

One thing I have learned about myself on this journey is how selfish I am. Each day I live here in Hawaii and move through the hours, I see that much of my life is built on what I want or what comforts I love. I am realizing more and more each day how unsatisfying living for me is. As someone who has been marked with Christ, I find myself sick of things I try to put into my life for comfort, realizing how shallow and how false these things are. Our small group has been studying Colossians and God is revealing so much to me. Paul, the writer of Colossians (by the prompting of the Holy Spirit), says that his life has been completely transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in that the thing he thought he was to destroy has become the reason he lives (Colossians 1:24). This leads me to ask myself how the Gospel has transformed my life and how I am living for the Gospel. Can I tell you it is so easy to impress church people! People are at awe because I moved my family to a place away from everyone I know or serve with. It is so easy as a Pastor to allow myself to get lost in church policy or events and not live the Gospel Central life (the Gospel is why I live). I am learning more and more each day how much I am a coward when it comes to what people think about me. How can this be? It is simply that my life is marked with comfort and selfishness. It should not be an accomplishment to move to a community that needs Christ, the accomplishment should be to accept the sufferings and trials that come with sharing Christ. I have failed in this many times and have found forgiveness and freedom from Christ in this. So many times I have made decisions about who would like me or what would make me happy, only to find emptiness and loneliness on the other side of my sin. Much of my struggle is actually with myself and not Satan. I find that all the enemy has to do is trigger self want and I take it the rest of the way. As Dr. Piper once said "my greatest enemy is not Satan it is Shawn Peoples (my name replaced his name)"

So I am not writing to make a declaration of my new desire to be Gospel Centered (which I have always desired) but to fight harder for the Gospel and those who need it. Please pray for this week as we begin to coach two football teams and seek the share Christ with those who He has Sovereignly connected us with. He loves the people we are with more than we do, but I am praying that His love will live through me to them.

Let's not be at awe at people moving to start churches or not watching horrible movies but be at awe at the work of Christ in the hearts of those who were once separated from Him but are now living intimately with Him. Let's be at awe at Jesus and celebrate when He is worshipped. The fact that I feel the freedom to write this is the work of Christ in me and I praise Him for that. So let's be real not just for a moment, but for the rest of this life!

Hoping my sin and the repentance of it brings freedom to your life!