Driscoll at The Gospel Coalition Conference

Wanted to post this video that Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle & President of the Acts 29 Network) preached last week at The Gospel Coalition Conference. It was another good one. Click the link to the right for the video.

Back from Disneyland

What a great trip we had! It was soooo nice in SoCal. The weather was perfect, Disneyland was pretty much empty until the evening, and we got to just relax and have fun. Didn't get to see everyone we wanted, but we did get to enjoy the break. The Marriott in Anaheim is still awesome (it's the only place we stay when in Anaheim) and it was just about a perfect stay. I'd recommend this Hotel (which is more like a resort) to anyone who finds themselves in Orange County.

Now it's back to the task of searching for God's will for us in ministry.

This is an exciting time for us, packed with all kinds of change and opportunity. We ultimately want to glorify God in everything we do and we know that following Him isn't always easy, but what else would we want or desire to do? Fulfilling God's mission by bringing the message of the Gospel is a great responsibility, an amazing calling, and I can honestly say there is really nothing like it. As we continue to seek the direction of God, we could use your prayers for clear direction and calling. Thanks for checking in. I'll keep the updates coming.

Off To Disneyland

Tomorrow we are heading to Disneyland for a couple of days of fun in So Cal...I'm so stoked! This will be Micah Man's first time to the promise land, and Justices' second. We had so much fun when we took Justice a couple of years ago, and I think this time she will actually be able to keep up with me on the rides.

We will be getting to hang out with my dad, my bro Kevin, some of Sandi's family, and some other friends who wish to remain anonymous, it's going to be killer, not to mention getting a break from Seminary and Arizona. The trip's gonna be off the hook and I hope to have pictures and video of the trip when we get back next week.

Thanks also to everyone for the encouragements about the Podcast. Sandi and I are putting things in place for our next church plant, and getting the word out has been awesome. If you haven't checked it out, go to: bobgreene.podomatic.com. You can also access the link from my website: www.crosstheroad.org. Check it out, tell your friends, even post a comment. If you want to hook up in Anaheim this weekend, give me a ring, ring. Later on.

"Humility: True Greatness"

I Just finished a great book by C.J. Mahaney that I want to encourage every Christian to read. The book is called, "Humility: True Greatness."

God clearly states that He is drawn to the Humble. He’s also clear that He opposes the proud. These two, humility and pride, cannot coexist. Where one is fostered, the other is defeated.

C.J. Mahaney paints a striking picture of the daily battle quietly raging within every Christian and asks whether you will passively accommodate the enemy of your soul, pride, or actively cultivate your best friend, humility. When you acknowledge the deception of pride and intentionally humble your self, you become free to savor abundant mercies and unlikely graces. You will find a new life–a life God richly favors. A God~glorifying life you don’t want to miss.

Redefining Success

One of the interesting conversations I’m having with people right now (especially church planters), is the question of success. How we measure success, what it looks like when we succeed, and how we can tell if we’re not succeeding?

Success, by definition is, “The achieving of objectives or personal fulfillment.” In order to answer theses questions, I’d like to start out with four True or False questions:

Question #1- True or False- The real test for success is my family’s well-being and happiness.
In other words, my ultimate goal in life, the way I really can be successful, is to provide for my family and make them happy.

Question #2- True or False- Having nice things is a good indication of whether a person is truly successful.
If I own a house, at least one car, and have a few nice things, then I am successful. This doesn’t mean that I am filthy rich; I just have some nice stuff.

Question #3- True or False- Receiving a promotion always demonstrates a person is successful.
In other words, if I move up in my career towards better things and more influence then I must be a successful person.

Question #4- True or False- Having time to do the things I love is the ultimate measure of success.
Let me put it this way, if I retire with a little nest egg and good health and my wife and I have time to pursue our hobbies then, we have succeeded at life.

What are your answers? In a way I feel like I may have tricked you, because the answer to all of these questions is False. We all want to be successful in whatever we do, but neither family, nor possessions, nor career, nor pleasure, nor church attendance have anything to do with true success. For believers, success depends on the faithfulness of God. The danger in success is that it can lead us to dependence on our own strength, instead of upon God.

The trouble is that we don’t usually even realize it’s a problem for us. Most of us don’t see success as a problem because we often picture success as a yuppie in a suit, holding a briefcase in some metropolitan area, sipping a Grande, decaf, triple-shot, non-fat, café Latte.

That is why I want to look at the Biblical View of Success, to show that it is not wrong to want to succeed, but also to offer a good way to measure true success.

Let’s begin with the Biblical Views of Success:

1) God Created Success (Genesis 1:31).
Success is talked about and pictured throughout the Bible. Based on this truth, I think there are some things we need to understand about success.

We Need To See The:
The Evidences of Human Success:
1) Wealth (Ecclesiastes 2:4-9 & 1 Kings 10:23-26).
2) Power (Genesis 41:41-43).
3) Knowledge (1 Kings 4:32-34).

The Limitations of Human Success:
Success Can Lead Us To:
1) Pride (Deuteronomy 8:17-18 & Isaiah 10:12-15).
2) False Security (1 Timothy 6:17).
3) Success Does Not Lead Us To Justification (Galatians 2:15-16 &
Romans 3:23-25).

The Evidences of God’s Success:
1) God Always Accomplishes His Purposes (Isaiah 46:9-11 & 55:10-11).
2) Lives Reflect God’s Grace (Joseph in Genesis 39:1-3 &
David in 1 Samuel 18:14).
3) Jesus Is God’s Gift Of Salvation (John 17:4, Acts 4:12 &
1 Timothy 2:3-6).

Human beings can achieve many things, but any success, which disregards God, is futile. God always achieves what He intends. Anything of eternal value needs God-given resources. True success is not measured by the happiness of our family, our influence, our position at work, the attendance in our church, or our possessions. True success is measured by our faith in Christ and our level of obedience to Him. If we obey Jesus, that’s enough…everything else will follow because of God’s unmerited Favor, Sovereign Grace and Unexplainable Mercy.