secret church & legend following.

it’s 7:53am. lubbock is b-e-a-utiful this morning. i almost didn’t recognize her. the sunrise was so stinkin’ good. the LBK has cornered the market on the whole sunrise, sunset game. it’s God being all creative and such and i fear i’ve missed too many. but, all i’ve got is today and today was worth it. it reminds me of who’s in control and the beauty that He possesses. oh, and when i got to sugar brown’s our HS girls bible study was meeting. at 7am. YES. so, so, so GOOD. makes my morning, every wed. morning, when i see that happening. so stoked to have our HS gals and our interns who breath life into them! may they be light and hope in all their different hallways and classes today.

tonight is secret church. PUMPED. we’ve adopted what david platt has started at brookhills and put a student spin on it. thanks david. (like he reads this thing). anywhose, we take battery powered coleman lanterns and place four or five of them throughout the HS room. no other modern electricity. the AC gets a break. the chairs are put up. the mac stays off. no soundboard. no screens with words. it’ll be our first one of the year, which is awesome. and funny. why? because it’s so fun to watch the faces of all the freshmen who haven’t experienced one yet. we make them take their shoes off. truth is, when you go into a family's home in parts of the world, you've probably been walking through some "tough stuff." and who wants "tough stuff" in their house? not this guy. so, you take your shoes off out of respect. and because it would make our mothers smile and tell other mothers how good we kids are. nights like this have become a favorite. we model it after the way so many of our brothers and sisters have to worship around the world. in secret. underground. hiding. in fear. we sit on the floor as a big ‘ole family and pray for our bigger family. we simply ask God to move powerfully through their situation. God's mission through them becomes our focus. they’re our brothers and sisters…we’ve got the same Father. for the last three weeks, china and mongolia have been our focus. the facts state that their are more than 186 million folks in china alone who don’t know Jesus as savior. 186 MILLION. however, prayer IS changing china. growth there since 1977 is "unparalleled in ALL of history." dirks has come up big in leading our missions moments. he’s becoming a pro. such a sweet thing to have students teaching students about God’s activity around the world.

the talk tonight is simple. it’s short compared with other nights. maybe 10 minutes or so. why? there's lots to do. the Scripture for the last three wed. nights has focused on how God moved in and through moses and how He does the same for us. tonight, moses gets to see the promised land. but that’s as far as our boy gets to go. God foreknew it would now be joshua’s turn. joshua? joshua. you know…the kid who was in the tent of meeting with moses? YEAH, THAT KID! he heard all the conversations God had with moses. why? God was preparing him. he got the chance to listen to the heart of God day after day after day. think about it. pretty crazy. (truth - you and i have the same chance. every. single. day). it was now his turn. joshua may not have known it, but the Father sure did. God asks joshua to step up. will he? won’t he? will we? won’t we?

the words of the Lord to joshua at the beginning of the book named after him are so rich. so applicable. taste and see. i almost want to make it required reading for everyone i know for every single morning. imagine following a legend. imagine following the greatest leader in the history of a people group...

put yourself in joshua's shoes.

look at college sports. (i know…i’m sorry). when legendary coaches leave, it seems impossible for the new guy. think bobby bowden. bob knight. and whoever gets to follow jo pa or coach k at duke. that's four HUGE fan bases. four HUGE "people groups." florida state. indiana/texas tech. penn state. duke. new guy's under a microscope. haters show up in mass quantities. “does this young guy have what it takes?” “can he recruit?” “can he win ten games and send us to a bowl game so we can talk trash to our friends?” "can they win over the crazy fan base?" -think israel here.

in a way, the Lord simply says to joshua, “i’ve got you.” God’s not worried about him following the legend. never has been. why? because it’s NEVER been about moses. it’s always been about Him. it’s God’s power that generates success. it’s God’s Word that will flow from joshua’s lips. it's ALL God. all the time. God simply needs joshua to be willing. trust the Provider. it’s never really about the person. it’s ALWAYS about the Provider.

God’s got you. whether your following a legend or not.

g

ps...word on the street is that jack is coming to secret church to share some wisdom tonight. CAN'T WAIT.