How Does It Work?

If I desired to be the best golfer in the city of Corona, but didn't do anything to make that possible, I would embarrass myself on the golf course when my friends showed up to 'see my skills!!" (With the best Napolean Dynamite voice possible)

Everything that you and I encounter is the result of a system. Circulatory System, Endocrine System, Solar System and many other examples give us a result based upon an order of how things function or operate together. The way you get ready for bed or for the day is a system. The way a golfer gets ready to swing or putt is a system. Basketball players have a routine or a system for how they shoot free-throws. The way we get a baby ready for a nap or put them to sleep is DEFINITELY a system or routine.

Your spiritual growth is no less affected & influenced by the invisible but very powerful systems that you put into place. You have to marry things that you want done to a system or it will never be done. Systems create desired behaviors in people, work environments, marriages, families, churches, teams, etc. The question is never whether or not you have a system affected your behavior the question is do you know what the system is & is it in a battle with your actual desired behavior or outcome? 

Take a look at how you prepare your heart for a church service, a night out with your spouse, a sermon, or a ministry & you'll find the need to address a routinue or system. If we are to be the spiritually developping people God has called us to be, we have to have a routine that we put into place that will give us the desired outcome.
Otherwise, its just wishful thinking.

Spirit of Intentionality

The conversations that God wants us to have used to be a part of the biblical culture of the 1st century. Faith wasn't a foreign concept. If someone talked about their belief in god, its wasn't like they were talking about sex w/ their parents in the next room. No one whispered about it. It was normal. It was healthy. It was spiritual. It was a part of everyday life. I wake up. I brush my teeth. I tie my shoes. I talk about God with my friends & coworkers. I learn about myself & what God wants from my life. Crusades, Slavery, Hate, Bigotry, Judgmental Beliefs, September 11, Jihad, etc are all phrases that remind me of reasons why faith can sometimes have an ugly sense to it. I believe God wants to raise up a people who will redefine that feeling. Remnant is a ministry that seeks to live that out in a real-world scenario.

I wonder what would happen if we were just normal and introduced God into those talks? If it wasn't to prove a point, to look better than someone, or whatever, but just to be, normal. I'm a human. I care about my world. I have values & standards. I do my homework, sometimes on time. I love my family. I want to get married & stay married to one person. I love to laugh. I want to live a life of purspose & fulfillment. My belief in Jesus, not a religion, is what unites all those passions. I believe he was the perfect example of someone who cared, loved, & stood for whats really right.

I'm believing for Remnant to continue to live out the intentional, normal & passionate pursuit of connecting people to the 'real' love of Jesus. Every conversation that leads someone closer to that real love, is spiritual. And it requires the spirit of intentionality.