Runaway Freight Train

This past week, someone I hadn't seen since before Christmas asked me how the holidays were for our family. I answered with a knee-jerk, "Great," but when pressed for details I had to press to remember the details! The Christmas-New Year reload seems like a lifetime ago already.

That's because of the incredible opportunities that God has put in our path as a church, as a family, and as a teacher. I feel like my faithfulness with the gift of 2008 really hinges on how I manage my time over the next three months.

First up on our radar screen is a message series that kicks off NEXT Sunday, Feb. 3. This is a series that was conceived 17 years ago and is just now ready to be birthed. I'll announce it at tomorrow's services and then we'll be talking about it throughout the coming weeks and months since it also will mark the launch of two new huge ministry initiatives for LHC.

Second, I'm going to be speaking at Fellowship Church's Creative Church Conference, Feb. 21-22. Julie and I were on staff there when the first one drew 199 attendees in 1997 just before we moved to Austin. Now that they annually bring in over 3,000 pastors and church leaders, I'm grateful for the invitation and really focused on the responsibility and the chance to learn and steal ideas from other people around the globe.

There are other things out there on our radar screen, but those are the big ones in our immediate trajectory.

I'd love to hear from you: What's on your radar screen that only God can accomplish? What are you working on that creates a combination of excitement and fear?