Raise your hand if you have ever tried to get something started. Anything. A group. An initiative. A ministry. How did it go? Was it smooth sailing? Did everyone you talked do follow through on their promises? Did everyone who encouraged you stand by you all the way? Was it as easy as it seemed in your head? Did it last?

If you ever tried Amway or something similar, you know how it goes: you catch the vision, you attempt to impart the vision to your friends, you see reality fall short of the vision, and you eventually throw in the towel, recognizing that all of your friends and acquaintances are, like the Israelites, “a stiff-necked people” who will never get it. It is the same in the church. The problem is not the people, per se, it is inertia.

When you know something is a great idea, you know that God is in it, and you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you have been called to leap forward, that’s when inertia kicks in.

INERTIA PREVENTS INVOLVEMENT
People are subject to physics – when at rest, people tend to remain at rest. We are a busy culture. Folks are tugged in every imaginable direction by attractive pursuits – many of which are, shall we say, less than healthy – leaving very little mental or physical energy for “new ideas.” Even with pursuits that people know are in their best interests, physically, emotionally and spiritually – exercise, prayer, family time, continuing education, evangelism, community service, Bible study – people are hesitant to take on anything new.

INERTIA ENABLES FAILURE
Even when people do, in an attempt to better themselves, undertake something new, they are oftentimes easily derailed by “outside forces.” Right when you seem to have a rhythm, right when you begin to recognize momentum, something knocks you off your bike. Have you ever noticed how almost anything seems like a good reason not to go to the gym? Has it ever seemed almost impossible to find time to pray or read your Bible? Does it ever seem like distractions are drawn to your endeavors like moths to flame? Can I get a witness?

So inertia is evil, right? It is the enemy of success and effectiveness and innovation, correct? No. Like most influences in our lives, inertia is neutral. It is a force of nature we need to master. Money is not “the root of all sorts of evil,” but love of money is. Inertia is not evil, but allowing it to prevent you from following God’s clear direction for you life is.

INERTIA ENABLES MOMENTUM
The same force that keeps things stationary allows things to move. Once something is really going, it is hard to stop. Once in awhile, even an Amway distributor is successful. The right combination of vision and leadership and investment can lead to a “movement.”  This is to be encouraged.

INERTIA PREVENTS STAGNATION
If you are really moving, you will be too busy to get bored, too busy to get distracted, and too busy to listen to naysayers. It is in the midst of this kind of inertia that God births revival. This is what Luke was describing in the second chapter of Acts. The Jerusalem church was too busy being the church to get distracted, and in that environment, God “added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

So, if we are to embrace inertia, we must discourage failure and stagnation in favor of involvement and momentum. To do that, we must empower the outside forces that set movements in motion and disable the outside forces that derail them. How do we do that?

FIRST: Step out in faith, take a risk, and trust God.
God blesses faithful risk-taking. No one can promise you an easy run or guaranteed success when you step out, but I will personally guarantee that if you do not step out, nothing will happen.

NEXT: Pray, pray, pray.
Pray for straight, smooth roads with no potholes. Pray for protection from the schemes of the enemy and the distractions of life. Pray for passion, direction and perseverance. And when you face curves, potholes, schemes and distractions, pray them away.

Inertia is good. Inertia is bad. Inertia is inevitable. Recognize it. Embrace it. Ride it out. In other words, go with God.

(published first on The Official QPlace Blog  subscribe for more great posts and visit QPlace Online )

Washington Christian Church and the Washington Ministerial Association will host a Pancake Supper and Bake Sale on Saturday, March 3.  The proceeds from the event will help fund a new, long-term transitional housing facility for single moms and their children.  The facility is called “My Sister’s House” and is located on Walnut Street in Washington.  The pancake supper will be held from 4 pm to 7 pm at Washington Christian Church, 1012 N. Main Street in Washington, the cost is by donation.

CLICK HERE FOR VOLUNTEER MATERIALS

This event is a community effort between multiple Washington-area churches and businesses coordinated through the Washington Ministerial Association.  The event will feature coffee donated by The Blend in Washington and sausage donated by friends of the Herrmanns and the Eureka Locker in Eureka.

My Sister’s House was founded by Mark and Tammy Herrmann, partly to honor the memory of Tammy’s sister, Debbie Wagner, a single mother herself. For some time, the Herrmann’s have felt called to assist struggling young people and are now making it their life’s work.

My Sister’s House’s mission will be to provide mentoring that enables women to provide for themselves and their children. Tammy Hermann explains, “We want to establish a home of tranquility, transformation, and transition for single woman and their children.”

Ed Taylor, Connections Pastor at Washington Christian Church and current president of the Washington Ministerial Association, was captivated by the Herrmann’s mission and passion. His small group caught the vision and decided a pancake supper was just the ticket.

Taylor says, “Many people are convinced that there is no homeless problem in Washington, but I can tell you from experience, this is a huge problem in this area. There are waiting lists at every shelter in the area and there is virtually no transitional housing available outside of Peoria. I applaud the Herrmann’s for recognizing this need and chasing after a solution. We, as pastors and concerned citizens, just want to do whatever we can to help. This fundraise is just a start.”

There will be tours of the facility on the day of the pancake supper and the founders will be available for questions during the meal.

If you would like more information you can contact Ed Taylor at Washington Christian Church, 444-2550 or 712-6493, or Tammy Hermann at 634-1983.  Information is also available on My Sister’s House Facebook page, and the Washington Christian Church’s website www.washingtonchristian.net.

Matt Chandler talks about drawing from wells that quench our thirst for only a moment. Sex, money, respect, what is your well of choice? Check out this article and let us know what you think.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/28174-sex-money-a-other-good-things-gone-bad

Enjoy!

Ed

Check out the video, then check out this commentary on it:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/

I have read a bunch of stuff on this video, but this is the most cogent argument – in favor or against – that I have yet read. What do YOU think?

- Ed

Check out the rest of this very interesting blog post at the link below, then come back and tell me what you think.

- Ed

Zack Hunt with “The Myth of Sola Fide”

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/marchweb-only/whytherearestillatheists.html?start=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWA1A9XFi8&feature=related

Have you ever been guilty of dismissing the atheist as foolish or characterizing him as self-absorbed? If so, check this article out and tell me what you think…

(Coordinated by the Children’s Ministry team, if you have any questions, please see Jon.)

When I was really young, I leaned liberal, not because I knew what that meant, exactly, but because that was where the cute girls were leaning and – can I be honest with you? – the liberals were just more fun. They were fun, but they were delusional. See, they thought the government was the savior of the world.

But after college, I was in the military, I got married, and I became a Christian, and I began to drift more and more conservative. In fact, I was a conservative editorial cartoonist for many years, I worked on many local campaigns, I was active in grass roots party politics, and I even subscribed to The National Review. I was conservative because it was patriotic, fiscally responsible, and appealed to my Christian ideas about objective truth. But my conservative friends were also deluded. They thought that the American Experiment was the savior of the world.

Now that I am in pastoral ministry, I have become more of a libertarian. I would love for the government to lean toward civil liberty. They make excellent policemen, but I would love it if they would leave the moral wrestling matches to the poets, philosophers, preachers, and parents.

What I have learned is that maybe the US government is the best in the world, maybe it DOES make a really great policeman, but government, ANY government makes a lousy God.

This world already has a savior; it doesn’t need another one, amen?

Here’s what Paul has to say about it: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:1-5)

Our government won’t save us and neither will our ideals. What will save us is the Lord, Jesus Christ, and his reconciliation of all things to himself.

That said, having worked for the government most of my life, I know that they need prayer every bit as much as the rest of us, maybe more so. So let’s go to the Lord…

Father, God, we thank you so much for many things, but especially today, we thank you that we were born in this great country at this very important time in its history so that we might be the ones to lift these particular servants and leaders up to you. For in your word, you tell us that, even if it seems like they are working at cross-purposes with you and your church, that YOU are in control, that they are YOUR servants even if they don’t know it, and that you have put them there for your purposes in your timing.

So, Father, we pray that you would protect and provide for the leaders of our nation, our state, our county, and our community.

Father, we pray that you would grant them wisdom, patience, discernment, and an awareness of your love and provision.

Also, Father, we pray that you would help us, as implicit members of this great representative government of ours, to pick our battles carefully. I pray that you would help us, as US citizens, agents of your son, and bearers of your image, to be chiefly concerned with exalting you among the nations, not by winning our little skirmishes, but by submitting to your authority, living lives of obedience, love, and grace amidst our circle of influence, helping to change one life at a time, starting with our own.

By this humble service to you, our fervent prayer, which you have promised will avail much, we call on all Americans everywhere, to quit abdicating our responsibility to the poor, the widow, and the alien – giving it over to our overworked and overextended government -  and put it back in the lap of the church where it belongs. We repent of paying others to do our ministry, and pray that our leaders will recognize this as YOUR sovereign will and get out of the way.

But most of all, in our government, our homes, and everywhere else in this great nation, Father, we pray your will, not ours, be done. If that prayer was good enough for your son, it is good enough for us – so we humbly ask it in HIS precious name, amen.

Ed’s Blog <  click for more of my older blog posts

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