Ain't Nobody Got Time for That!

By: Adam McClendon

Adam is the Lead Pastor at Springhill Church and the Director of New Line Ministries.

Unfortunately, it seems that church in America is all too often more reflective of a country club organization than a life-giving, light-producing organism.

One such area in which this seems readily evident is the view of “serving” held by the membership or attendees. 

Here is a comparison of how service is viewed in the country club versus how it is to be viewed by the Christian church.

SERVICE COMPARISONS
Country Club	Christian Church
want to be served	want to serve
hire a professional	help wherever needed
want important position	want to fill need
need recognition	need purpose
think they are important	think others are important

Yet, all too often church leaders are scrambling to find people to serve within the church.  Why? 

People have a lot of reasons that they don’t like or want to serve in the church.  Maybe they feel that they’ve worked all week and church is for them to receive, maybe they put extra money in the offering so that they don’t have to do that “stuff,” maybe they just don’t feel qualified or gifted enough, or maybe the church staff tries to guilt them into serving and they don’t like the sales pitch.  Lots of excuses are available, but it seems that the one that gets the most traction in today’s American culture is “I’m too busy.  I just don’t have the time.”

Is that excuse legit?  Just where is all the time going?

Well, thankfully, the Bureau of Labor Statics does extensive research to help answer that very question.

According to their data, Americans spend has 5.1 hours per day on leisure.

Now, in all fairness, this data includes everyone 15 years old and up and weekends.  The average working parent would argue that non-working teenagers and adults skew the data.  That’s a fair critique.

So, how do working parents spend their workdays?  Even with all the other responsibilities of life, the average working parent spends 2.6 hours a work day on leisure. 

Certainly, all this data concerns averages and some people are the exception.  Nevertheless, all this information seems to reveal some important realities. 

First, the average American wastes far more time than realized, spending a disproportionate amount of time on self.

Second, everyone has the same amount of time.  Each person needs to determine more intentionally if this is how they want to use their time.

The truth is that the excuse that someone is “too busy” just doesn’t really fly.  A more accurate response might simply be, “I don’t want to.”  The evidence says that they have the time, they just would rather watch tv than serve in the church.

Will You Chance Your Arm?

By: Adam McClendon

Adam is the Lead Pastor at Springhill Church and the Director of New Line Ministries.

2 Corinthians 5:20a: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ….”

Believers in Christ have the privilege of representing him through life and words to a dark and desperate world.  While this privilege is amazing, its call to serve as an ambassador often brings fear as a result of the uncertainty surrounding how others might respond. 

This story is about finding courage in the face of such uncertainty and as it is read, the question each follower of Christ must ask when confronted with the fear of sharing the good news of Jesus is, “Will I chance my arm?” 

In 1492 two Irish families, the Butlers of Ormonde and the FitzGeralds of Kildare, were involved in a bitter feud. This disagreement centred around the position of Lord Deputy. Both families wanted one of their own to hold the position. In 1492 this tension broke into outright warfare and a small skirmish occured between the two families just outside the city walls.  
The Butlers, realising that the fighting was getting out of control, took refuge in the Chapter House of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. However, the FitzGeralds followed them into the Cathedral and asked them to come out and make peace. The Butlers, afraid that if they did so they would be slaughtered, refused.
 As a gesture of good faith the head of the Kildare family, Gerald FitzGerald, ordered that a hole be cut in the door. He then thrust his arm through the door and offered his hand in peace to those on the other side.  Upon seeing this, FitzGerald was willing to risk his arm by putting it through the door the Butlers reasoned that he was serious in his intention. They shook hands through the door, the Butlers emerged from the Chapter House and the two families made peace. 
Today this door is known as the "Door of Reconciliation" and is on display in the Cathedral's north transept. This story also lives on in a famous expression in Ireland "To chance your arm" (Story taken from: http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/Chancing-Your-Arm.aspx).

So, will you chance your arm?  Will you risk the relationship, your reputation or whatever else you fear losing in your commitment to be an ambassador of Christ to a world that desperately needs to be reconciled to him?

Power of 5 Minutes a Day

By Joanna K. Harris

Joanna Harris is an author and blogger with a tremendous passion for God.  You can contact Joanna here.  For more on Joanna and her ministry, check out her website here.  There you can also find links to her other blogs.

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. -Proverbs 13:11

I know this verse is specifically talking about money, but I think the same principle can apply to our time as well. Time can easily slip away from us, or we can harness time little by little to make it grow in impact and effectiveness.

One way to do that is to recognize the power of what we can do with just 5 minutes every day.

Jimmy Evans (marriage expert) says that 5 minutes a day of practicing empathy toward your spouse can resurrect a dead marriage. I've also heard that 5 minutes a day of praying with your spouse can greatly improve the quality of your marriage. 

You may also have heard that  

* 5 minutes a day of laughter can improve your health. 

* 5 minutes a day of tidying the house can keep the potential chaos under control (just ask my mom who raised 6 kids). 

* 5 minutes a day of reviewing your goals and strategies can keep you on track and more focused, helping you say "yes" to the right things and "no" to the distracting things. 

In my own life I can testify to the power of 5 minutes a day spent in simply delighting in God. It refreshes my focus and transforms my perspective. 

With 5 minutes a day of memorizing Scripture, over the last two years, I've memorized several Psalms and a few short New Testament books.

Andy Stanley explains that it is small deposits of time, over time, that produces significant results.

5 minutes a day of listening to your kids may go farther than one big outing once a month. 

5 minutes of stretches a day is worth more than one long workout now and then.

I think this principle can be powerful in any arena of life.

I know in my own life that if I don't plan for things, they usually don't get done. Thankfully, 5 minutes a day is something even I can plan for in my schedule, and 5 minutes a day is a good place to start for habits that we eventually want to increase in, such as prayer or Bible reading. 

So, some good questions to ask are,

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to move toward becoming who we want to be? 

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to work for what matters in eternity? 

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to practice doing our part?

The options are plentiful. Where is God leading you? How can you use 5 minutes a day as a powerful tool in your life this week?