MOVING FROM BITTER TO BETTER

Leaders in any organization, but especially in the church, spend so much time in bitterness management. Life Church pastor Craig Groeschel once said the thing he deals with more than anything else as he tries to grow a great church is lawsuits and negative people. Thankfully, he finds ways not to focus on such problems, because what you focus on is what you fall on.

I’ve decided not to make negatives my focus. I want to concentrate on making people better, not bitter.

And I’ve come to realize that the first way to do this is to work on making myself better instead of bitter. Most of the bitterness in the people I encounter began inside of them. Their own view of themselves and their personal circumstances created the bitterness that then spills out into the situations they enter. I want to be better than that. Concentrating on better always leads me upward. Slipping into bitter leads to a never-ending downward slide. Me being bitter doesn’t make me better, and it surely does nothing for those around me.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageFebruary 10, 2021better, bitter, leader, leadership, church, relationships, love, love one another, life, bitter to betterComment

3 REASONS I'M DONE CRITICIZING THE CHURCH

In some circles today it’s cool to criticize the church. Search social media and soon you’ll find someone upset because they say the church has failed them. Some have even walked away. In fact, most readers of this blog know at least one person who has decided to leave church altogether.

Obviously, the critics are not totally wrong. Attend church long enough and you’re sure to bump up against adultery, jealousy, lying, or just general unpleasantness among folks who are supposed to be redeemed.

I get it. Sometimes someone will say to me, “It must be wonderful to work at the church, doing God’s work all day every day.” Well, it certainly is gratifying to partner with God in his activity on earth. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Spiritual healing is like physical healing: sometimes it means cleaning messy wounds, draining ugly infection, watching for many months (or years) while disabled people slowly hobble along until their brokenness has mended.

So I could tell you plenty of reasons to criticize the church. But I’m committed not to join the critics, for at least three reasons.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageDecember 9, 2020church, criticizing, complain, leading, leader, leadership, leadership struggle, stop, bride, hope, jesus, loveComment

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE MAKE POLITICS OUR PRAISE

Not long ago I passed a house with a shocking photo on display in the front yard. It showed a man holding up a middle finger above a caption that used the ugliest epithet to suggest what viewers could do if they didn’t vote for this guy’s presidential choice.

At first I couldn’t believe it, but quickly I realized how typical this is of what’s happening too often today. But here’s the worse part. Behind this unpleasant middle finger soared a huge white cross, the symbol of Christian love and sacrifice, also on display in the yard. But I doubt many who saw the photo noticed the cross, and those who did certainly received no clue of what the cross of Christ is all about.

When we put our political views in front of the cross of Christ, we hide it from a watching world. When politics becomes our praise, our effectiveness for God in this world is diminished, if not ruined.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageSeptember 16, 2020politics, praise, political, worship, church, love, unity, leadership, serving, policy, platformComment

LEARNING TO WORSHIP IN THE PAIN: 3 LESSONS OBSERVED FROM MY FRIEND EMILEE JOYNER

Last week I promised a post that I’ve decided to delay till next week. After I wrote those words, life was interrupted by the sudden, shocking, unexpected death of someone dear to our church, and I want to tell you about her today.

Emilee Joyner left this earth last Wednesday after only 34 years with us. In the last several years, she had a deep impact on everyone who worshipped at Christ’s church. And since Wednesday we’ve seen how her influence was even wider, based on a faith that was deeper than some know.

Her memorial service is happening as you might be reading this, and I want to tell you three things about Emilee I’m sharing at the service.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageApril 22, 2020worship, loss, death, pain, eternity, help, mourning, love, embodied, kidney, heaven, heartComment

THE PANDEMIC OF GOOD NEWS

This shutdown is only beginning, and already most of us are looking forward to life getting back to normal. But my prayer is that the church will never get back to normal. Here’s what I mean.

Too much of the church I’ve seen in my 41 years has been complacent, apathetic, lukewarm, and self-seeking. I don’t want to get back to that.

In some ways, the church is being scattered today, and that’s what should continue:

“We gather to scatter.”

Maybe God is using this moment to scatter the church so it can actually BE the church. Maybe this quarantine can make us more aware of the needs and hopes of those around us.

So I’m praying for a new pandemic, a gospel pandemic, a pandemic as contagious as any virus we’ve ever experienced.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageApril 8, 2020hope, pandemic, corona, covid, hope dealer, faith, love, church, leading Comment

“We gather to scatter.”

Trevor DeVage

copyright 2018

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