Played golf with a friend on monday. We had a great time and truthfully he is one of my favorite people in the world. He is passionate about life and loves God. We were on the 18th tee box and the wind was blowing from left to right really hard. There was water down the right side of the fairway. My only thought was "don't go right". The shot was a disaster and it didn't go right... it went way right. From the tee box, I was positive I went into the water. As we approached the water I saw a my ball hanging on the edge of disaster. I was worried that the wind was going to blow my perfectly placed ball into the deep blue sea. My first thought was----hit it fast. My second thought was---- I am glad I am right handed. My third thought was----take a picture because there is a lesson in this. I would have never put myself this close to the edge of disaster on purpose. In fact, I was about 50 yards right of where I wanted to be. As I stood over my ball and thought "I am 50 yards from where I want to be".....I smiled. I smiled because really, I was 138 yards from the hole. I was thinking about the moment and not the goal. When I stood on the tee box my goal was not to end up in the middle of the fairway. My goal was to be in the hole on the 18th green. We get so focused on where we are that we forget the end goal.

As a christian "or in my case a church leader" this is important information to have. The spot you are in today is leading you somewhere. It might feel like a disaster but perhaps God is refining you. Once you see the bigger picture you will understand how hanging on the edge of disaster has defined who you are. It could remind you of the end goal or it might show you who you really are. As the church we have an end goal. It is to make disciples of all nations. It is crazy to me how churches forget the end goal. When churches hit hard times--stand on the edge of disaster--- the first thing they do is stop giving with a global heart. They cut off the funds that are reaching outside their walls. They think they can avoid disaster by saving money. Not only is this faithless but it is also mission"less". The end goal is not to pay your bills----it is to expand the kingdom of God. If you have reached the point of cutting off a missional focus....you have lost focus and missed the target and I would bet the blessings of God are far from you. You can't spend your way out of debt and you can't stop being missional and be a church. If you want to be a country club drop your non- profit status and open a golf course. You always have a choice to make.....keep the end goal in mind; If you don't, you will loose.

---- Napoleon once said, "it is a maxim in the military art that the army which remains in its entrenchment is beaten." The non-missionary Church sins against its own best interest and is inviting defeat. A stay-at-home Christianity is not real Christianity at all. The guaranty of Christ's abiding presence is consecration to the world's evangelization. The "Lo, I am with you always," is conditioned upon, "Go ye, and disciple all nations." The Church which disobeys this command insults Christ and cannot survive.             - J. Ross Stevenson, 1902

I had two choices for a missionless church picture. One was hard to see because the brown clumps had settled into the dark green grass. The other is posted!

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