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Obsessed w/ Being Better

I just read this on another pastors blog, Steven Furtick.  He says it so well, there is no need to rewrite it. Here ya go.

I’m obsessed with being better. With doing better. And this extends to every area of my life. From being a husband and father, to being a preacher, to making up competitions with my lead staff. 

If I lifted 100 lbs. yesterday, I want to be able to lift 105 lbs. tomorrow. 

If I tithed x% this year, I want to tithe x+y% next year. 

If I preached a great sermon on Saturday night, it had better be near perfect by our second service on Sunday morning. In my mind, if I’m not getting better, I’m getting worse. If I’m not progressing, I’m regressing. There is no middle ground. There is a holy discontentment inside of me to constantly be improving. 

The reason is that “better” now will eventually become outdated and average later. When the first generation iPhone came out, it revolutionized the industry. But it was updated and replaced because it soon was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of those it was serving. Yesterday’s release of the iPhone 4 was just the latest update. A year or so from now, we will have the iPhone 5 because the needs of the consumer will constantly demand a better phone. Your capacity as a leader, a spouse, a parent, or an employee might be adequate right now, but it will be inadequate momentarily. 

The needs of those around you will constantly demand you to produce at a higher level. For this reason, we must have a healthy obsession with improving everything we do every time we do it. Not for the sake of pride. But for the sake of those who need us to be at our best and continually improving on our best. 

There is a potential danger with this mindset. We can become so busy constantly obsessing over being better that we do not take the time to adequately celebrate and appreciate where we are and how far we’ve come. This danger is real. We must continually be thankful for what God has done in and through us. Yet the bigger danger is standing still and settling for less than the future progress He still has for us. 

At every moment I must be performing at the maximum level of my capacity while at the same time be increasing my capacity for the moment that follows.

The Lady in the ER

A couple days ago I had another spleen scare. My doc had some bad results from an ultra sound. He called me in and sent me for blood work and CT scan. God healed my spleen from the time of the ultrasound until the CT scan! The CT scan results showed an alive and functioning spleen, which is amazing in itself, chance were low after the procedure.  I thank God for His healing!

There is another issue from all the internal bleeding and clotting, but God is able to heal that too. I have faith!

Don’t take me wrong for the next few statements I am going to make. I am thrilled for the healing. I believe God sent me there to show me that He is healing me. I am thankful that God is still in control and has given me a 2^nd chance to live, and that is sooo cool, it’s all in His hands.

I believe most of this visit to the hospital was for a girl named “Marie” (name has been changed) Marie works in the ER admitting offices. Renee and my relationship w/ her started 6 weeks ago.  She was the first person we saw on my first visit to the ER. She was kind & nice, but as we looked into her eyes, we knew she was missing something.  We all hit it off.  For some reason, she thought we were ‘cool’ pastors, (not so ‘cool’ in the ER, LOL) So after the 1^st visit, Renee and Marie exchanged numbers and we were off.

The next night when I was dying, we went back to the ER. We asked for Marie by name. She came out not expecting to see us again, but here we were. God is so cool how He plans things out and aligns our schedules!!  If you ever forget, remember His timing is perfect.

So Marie got us taken care of quickly and rushed into a room.  A couple days later, after the spleen procedure, I was resting in a bed, Renee by my side (yes, she was actually by my side in the bed, she was tired of sitting in the chair) when in comes Marie.

We were totally shocked she came to visit. We had just met her a few days prior, in the ER of all places. She said even though works there, she has never even been to the floor I was on, and added, she had never came to check on any of the patients she admitted. Something was drawing her in.

I think Renee had texted her once since then and we had continued to pray for her. So Tuesday evening while we where waiting for test results, we were strolling the halls and decided to go ask for her. We bumped into Marie in the hallway. I can’t begin to explain the look on her face, loneliness, scared, confusion, not sure what step in life to take next.... The second we started to talk to her, she teared up. She is going through some hard stuff in her life right now. We all exchanged a few words. I think she was still in shock that we remembered her name or that we cared. Renee stepped up to hug her, Marie tried to hold back the tears, but it wasn’t working too good. Renee encouraged her that things are going to be OK and that we have been praying for her. She was at work and had to go, but asked us to be praying for her. 

I love how God works. We do not know her from Adam. She does not have a relationship w/ God. Just a girl we met while at the hospital. We don't know anything about her life, except for what she has told us, that she is hurting. 

I believe w/ all my heart, this is the main reason we were there was for Marie. God is starting to move in her life and has allowed our paths to cross.

One of my prayers is for God to let me cross paths to help someone find a relationship w/ Him and to use me in anyway possible, it doesn’t matter, this whole thing is bigger than us, bigger than you could ever imagine. I challenge you to do the same, ask God to let you cross paths w/ the people you need to cross paths w/. Whether it’s for ministry purposes, job markets or just friendships, He cares and wants the best for you, more than you do.  He knows us and our needs better than we know ourselves!

www.ryancook.net 

This IS What MOP's is About

This letter was emailed to me from our MOP's (mothers of preschoolers) leader. MOP's is close to my heart because my wife Renee got our MOP's group up and going for the first 2 years. 

Kim's experience is what MOP's is about. What reaching out is about. What letting people see Jesus in us is about. What seeing people as Jesus see's them is about. It's about living out your life and walk w/ Christ in a way that others see and want what you have. Check out this awesome letter:

To all my MOPS moms,

I was never very girlie. I caught spiders, frogs and snakes and asked to keep them. I wrestled and played football. I didn’t wear makeup until I was 16. I bought my first “pretty” bra when I was 20. Slowly I learned it was ok to just be a girl.

Years passed and at 25 I moved here (to Grand Junction) I met Sara (a steering team member in our group) and came to MOPS. Here I found beautiful, strong women. They weren’t prissy or elitist. I didn’t feel like an outcast because I wasn’t “girlie”. Quite opposite. I was encouraged. I became more and more comfortable with attempting to be fashionable. I learned it was perfectly fine for me to like lace and flowers and even pink. And I liked feeling accepted as me, but encouraged to grow. All from women that I was sure, at least in my mind, would have never given me the time of day.

Mops has changed my life. This group has changed my life. Sharing our stories gave me strength and let me know that I wasn’t a bad mom for being frustrated, I wasn’t a bad person for not being perfect all the time. Being around positive women, sharing coffee and decorating picture frames somehow brought me peace. I could leave energized and enlightened with new ideas on how to help my family. I wasn’t stuck alone in my four walls anymore. I had a place to go where I was understood.

When I first moved here, I didn’t pray anymore. I didn’t like religion or church or any organization affiliated with church. I remembered God but didn’t know how to fit HIM into my life. I was uncomfortable even having a religious conversation. I had never even prayed with my kids. Slowly, MOPS helped me remember. MOPS gave me a positive interaction with a church group. I saw a group of happy, healthy families, church goers who weren’t hypocrites. People that put positivity back into religion for me.

My children pray every night. They pray before meals. I pray as I lay down to sleep. And when all answers are exhausted my children hear “Because that’s how God made them”.

If you had met me three years ago, you would not have heard me say those words.

I am grateful to all of you for helping that change.

I say all this because before I say goodbye, I want to say thank you. Thank you for every part you’ve played in my journey. For helping me become more feminine, for offering advice when I was at wits end, for playing and talking when I wanted someone to hang out with. Thank you for helping me find God again.

I won’t promise to remember all your names or all your faces. I will promise to remember the good you’ve helped create in me and the wonderful 3 years we’ve shared. You will all hold a special place in my heart.

ryancook.net

God is Still God

Wow! I just watched this video that New Spring along w/ Zac Smith put together.

This story is amazing, crazy, & inspiring all wrapped together. The most amazing part of this video is the last 20 words. Those are some moving words!

After watching this, it makes me want to be a better father, a better husband and a better person and I hope that it doesn't take cancer to make me realize that. Zac is an inspiration!

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

ryancook.net

if only...... Significant

I was reading the other day, yes I do that from time to time :-), and ran across an article about being significant, worth and meaning.

I was not surprised by any of the responses, in fact it made me think about it a little more.

Here are some of the responses:

• If only I could be more disciplined and lose all this excess weight….then I would feel more significant.
• feel completely confident in my own skin…
• seize the opportunity and show who I am
• Be a better wife, mother, housekeeper, friend, daughter, sister…Child of God,…
• If I could only make my in-laws care about me genuinely..then I would feel more significant.
• If I could only have a life 100% free of the devil and his tricks, then I would feel more significant.
• Be who I know God has called me to be in ministry instead of living in the depression of my failure’s
• leave my hang ups behind and go full steam ahead following God’s plan for my life
• kill the demons that I can’t seem to get away from and live successfully as ME, and not a clone of someone else
• If I could only get *that* job, then I would feel significant, important. Until then I continue to feel useless.
• If I could only (make some money) and not be “just a mom” I would feel more significant. ugh. 

There are false beliefs – beliefs that lead us to believe our significance comes from things and people within the world. It doesn’t. I have personally struggled w/ this for many years. Trying to please others to feel significant, do something that would "wow" others, but I have come to the conclusion that in the big scheme of things, none of that matters. As long as you are exactly where God wants you to be, that should be enough. He will take it from there and add to you.

My significance comes from God alone and nothing else. If I base my significance on my acceptance in Jesus, and dedicate myself to pleasing God, my confidence will be unshakable. My strength will be spiritual.

I’m here for a purpose. God’s purpose. That’s all the significance I need.

www.ryancook.net