80%

over the past 10 days i have been privileged to go to two incredible conferences - catalyst west and a.r.c. (our annual conf. for the church planting organization we belong to).  both conferences were amazing and had top notch worship (hillsong united, fee, c3 team) and some of the greatest communicators in the world (andy stanley, greg surrat, rick warren, chris hodges, dino rizzo, erwin mcmanus, craig groeschel, and others).

i could go point by point down the list of take-a-ways that i got (from each session) - but that might be boring.  so, let me attempt to share what happened in my heart while i was sitting in 38 hours worth of meetings over the course of 5 days.

at catalyst during the opening set of worship, i was moved to tears and had an incredible experience with God.  i realized that there were internal barriers that were causing me to hold back and coast a bit.  as i worshipped God i asked Him to bust through the barriers and demolish them - and He did!

 isaiah 64:1 (nlt) says, “oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down!  how the mountains would quake in your presence!”  for me the mountains represented the barriers in my life that needed to (not only quake) but be totally crushed.  psalm 97:5 (cev) declares, “mountains melt away like wax in the presence of the Lord.”  so from the first chord being struck on joel houston’s guitar - God’s presence overshadowed me and began to melt away the mountains of complacency that were in me.

at the a.r.c. conf. the opening session dealt with the heart.  both conferences provided a much needed reminder that leadership is from the inside out.  i can’t lead externally without having a heart filled with passion, love and sacrifice for God.  being totally honest with you - i feel like i have been giving God 80%.  the issue is that He demands 100% and nothing less.  Jesus said to gain your life, you have to loose it.  he also said that we are to love God with all (100%) of our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  so 80% doesn’t cut it and i became painfully aware of this.  one speaker said, “luke warm pastors build luke warm churches.”  man i hated to hear that!  after he said that i knew it applied to me.  i was confronted with the truth that i have been holding back and (most likely) causing others to hold back.  80% is luke warm.  80% sucks!

i feel like God has brought much needed correction to me.  i’m excited to see what He will do as i put the pedal to the medal and give Him all of me.  i’m convinced that some amazing things are going to happen in my life and at the summit.  no more 80%!   no more coasting!  no more going through the motions!  i hope this post encourages you and sparks a desire in you to go after God with everything you’ve got.  

“as the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, God.”  psalm 42:1 (web)