Light the Darkness

My ways are not your ways

As a Pastor I hear certain verses used over and over, and at times, out of context. One such verse is Isaiah 55:8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are my ways your ways declares the LORD. This verse is commonly used to support the fact that it is hard to understand why God does what He does--so we should just accept it. While it is true that God is sovereign and we can trust Him that is not at all what this verse is about in context. The truth of this verse is one of the greatest statements of the scripture and for the most part we miss what the Spirit really meant because we don't read the rest of the chapter.

Take a moment and go to Isaiah 55. Read the whole chapter slowly and let it sink in. Then go to verse 8. In the context the scripture is talking about God's grace. It goes so far beyond man's natural bent that it is higher than the heavens are above the earth. This is HUGE encouragement and we miss the point! It is man's way to keep score, to hold grudges, to compare, to be jealous, to justify, and on and on... It is God's way to offer his love to the thirsty unconditionally, to invite us into covenant, to act in mercy, to provide blessing, and on and on... Read it again. The point of the chapter is that God loves us because it is His nature to love. His love is not based on who we are--that is what is not like our ways!

Don't miss out on the amazing grace that flows through nature of God! Celebrate it! And spread the word!

Gary Kendall

The Mighty Men

When David was at a low place in his life God sent mighty men (and women) to him. They joined when David was in a fight for his life, he was on the run, he didn't have much to offer but they came. And they laid the foundation for the many victories that followed.  In I Chronicles 12 you can read their names and hear their stories of valor.

A week ago in my devotional time I heard a whisper from the Spirit that He was sending mighty men (and women) to serve at Indian Creek and it is happening. In the last few weeks Bridget and Damon Taylor who lead Triiilogy offered to serve in Worship Arts helping us advance the Big Idea. Dave Geenens, who brings experience as a CEO, and is now teaching in the Master's Program at Benedictine, has volunteered to be our Live Out Director which is a 15-20 hour position. It is a very strategic role as we position ourselves as a "Live Out" church. Rick Keaton stepped up to be the Prayer Coordinator and we meet Monday to release him and his team for Impact. Mike Zimmers and Jeff Sturman are playing leading roles in Community Groups by leading the Olathe and Gardner campuses respectively in our new fall outreach. These are all unpaid servants who have a passion in their heart for helping people find their way back to God and becoming 3L followers who love God, love people, and live out the love of Jesus.

Nancy Mitchell is volunteering her time to be the Prayer Champion guiding and mentoring the Prayer Leaders on each campus. Belinda Kendall offered to give up her salary and serve for free as our Care Champion who coaches, mentors and leads the Care Coordinator on each campus. The Alpha team of Cheyrl Scott, Jon DeWit, and Tom King are taking Alpha to a new level at Indian Creek Community Church. We hope to have 150 persons involved this fall.  

I could go on and on and if I've missed a person who is leading a ministry and is newly placed in service please let me go. The point is this. God is up to something BIG! He deserves the glory but let's give these people credit and there are multitude of other faithful servants serving inside the various ministries. It takes all of us and we need even more.  I'm thrilled that we are offering 60 groups or so this fall.  They are about half full with two weeks to go. Just think what it will be like to have 600 persons in community groups, doing life together, growing as Christ followers, caring for each other and serving. Whew! Bring on the fall!

Thanks God and thanks Indian Creek for stepping up! 

Gary Kendall

A week ago in my devotional time I heard a whisper from the Spirit that He was sending mighty men (and women) to serve at Indian Creek and it is happening. In the last few weeks Bridget and Damon Taylor who lead Triiilogy offered to serve in Worship Arts helping us advance the Big Idea. Dave Geenens, who brings experience as a CEO, and is now teaching in the Master's Program at Benedictine, has volunteered to be our Live Out Director which is a 15-20 hour position. It is a very strategic role as we position ourselves as a "Live Out" church. Rick Keaton stepped up to be the Prayer Coordinator and we meet Monday to release him and his team for Impact. Mike Zimmers and Jeff Sturman are playing leading roles in Community Groups by leading the Olathe and Gardner campuses respectively in our new fall outreach. These are all unpaid servants who have a passion in their heart for helping people find their way back to God and becoming 3L followers who love God, love people, and live out the love of Jesus.

Nancy Mitchell is volunteering her time to be the Prayer Champion guiding and mentoring the Prayer Leaders on each campus. Belinda Kendall offered to give up her salary and serve for free as our Care Champion who coaches, mentors and leads the Care Coordinator on each campus. The Alpha team of Cheyrl Scott, Jon DeWit, and Tom King are taking Alpha to a new level at Indian Creek Community Church. We hope to have 150 persons involved this fall.  

I could go on and on and if I've missed a person who is leading a ministry and is newly placed in service please let me go. The point is this. God is up to something BIG! He deserves the glory but let's give these people credit and there are multitude of other faithful servants serving inside the various ministries. It takes all of us and we need even more.  I'm thrilled that we are offering 60 groups or so this fall.  They are about half full with two weeks to go. Just think what it will be like to have 600 persons in community groups, doing life together, growing as Christ followers, caring for each other and serving. Whew! Bring on the fall!

Thanks God and thanks Indian Creek for stepping up! 

Gary Kendall

Trouble

My devotional reading took me to Matthew 1-3 today where I read the story of Joseph and Mary again. The thing that jumped out at me was how that pursuing the will of God led them into trouble not away from it. I often have this thought that if I am having trouble in my life I must be doing something wrong.  Do you ever think that way?

Joseph and Mary had a good thing going until she became pregnant. Then she had an unbelievable story to go with it. Joseph took the step of faith to take her as his wife inviting the ridicule of the community. After the birth of Jesus they had to flee to live in a foreign country. Later they learned that Herod killed all the children 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem because of Jesus birth. Eventually they were told they could go back to Judea but Joseph was afraid to settle there because Herod's son was ruling. I would be afraid too, wouldn't you? So they settled in Galilee--which was God's plan anyway.

That is quite a start to the life of Jesus, a mother and father trying to stay one step ahead of disaster. He's moved from place to place while he is preschool age. Of course they wouldn't have had security, financial stability or conveniences in life. But all the time they were very much in the center of God's will.

Why is it that we so often think that doing God's will is going to result in making life easier? Wouldn't it be more accurate to assume that if we do God's will we are heading into a storm? The enemy will fight us and so will our human nature. The path is going to lead upward, it will seldom be smooth. Jesus said the way is narrow and few find it.

Today, if you are doing the will of God and it is tough, celebrate that God is bigger than any problem you have. Take courage, it is likely that the difficulty you are experiencing is at least in part due to the fact that you've chosen to follow the one who seemed to thrive in the midst of trouble.  Bringing new life to this world is like labor, it is painful but it produces a great result.

If you've caused your own problems, confess your need for Him. If there is sin--give it up to Him and ask for forgiveness and grace. But if the trouble results from choosing to follow the will of Jesus take heart. He knows and He is with you. He will use it for your good. Be faithful. Take it a day at a time. Praise Him as you go and watch Him accomplish His purposes in you.

Gary Kendall

Take Off Your Shoes

Today I spoke at the Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church in Lenexa. We saw God work in some great ways.  Here is the story behind what happened.

Last night when I returned from sharing the first message, A Call to Full Surrender, Download The Call to Full Surrender. I immediately began to study for today's message.  I planned to speak about the life of Joseph but after an hour of study it was obvious to me that it wasn't God's plan.  There was nothing moving in the Spirit for that message.  By then it was nearly 11 so I decided to go to bed and get up early to start on something else.  I had a message on Moses that I used at the CMA conference and as I considered the content of it something came to life in my spirit.

I got up early and immediately ran into a real spiritual battle.  I couldn't think straight at all. When I tried to study it was like nothing would sink in. I realized what was happening and began to pray against the enemy's work and at the same time prayed for the Holy Spirit to take over.  He did. The prep went well and I was sure I was to share this message.

God used it in a powerful way--like only He can do.  There were many applications to the listeners that God knew, I didn't know until I shared it.  He moved in us and revealed His love and His plan. At the end of the message I invited anyone who wanted to come forward to invite God to do a healing work in their life to take off their shoes and bring them to the front of the church. I believe God not only wants to heal us but to use the pain in our lives to bring others to freedom, much like He did with Moses.  Many came forward and we created a big pile of shoes in the floor.  Then we gathered around the pile and dedicated ourselves to God.  It was a God moment!

I'm so thankful for the prayer support of Belinda, my parents and many other faithful pray-ers from Indian Creek . God is working! I am humbled and grateful.  To God be the glory!

If you want to listen to any of the four messages you can click on this link: http://www.ihscom-beta.org/message/sermons.php

Gary Kendall  

How's Your Heart?

A friend came to see me yesterday and asked, how is your heart? It is doing well I replied.  I am fully entering into the good and the difficult. I'm grieving loses and feeling them appropriately.  I'm celebrating wins and living with passion.

I told him I appreciated his concernn and support. I said it feels like a boxer in the middle rounds of a heavyweight fight.  It has been going on for awhile now so the early energy and adrenaline have worn off.  I've got in some good swings and I've been hit by a few too.  It is not so late that my arms are heavy. I believe we will win but I can definitely tell I'm in a fight.

He asked how I can feel and stay passionate in spite of the fact that this has been a difficult season in many ways. I reminded him it has been a good season too and that the refining work God is doing is good and necessary.

As we talked I pointed to God's grace as the key ingredient. Once we truly dive deep into the unmerited favor of God for us and we realize it is by grace through faith we are acceptable to God it is energizing.  The more I understand His unconditional grace and I realize the depth of His love the more I love Jesus.  It is all about Jesus from start to finish.  I'll do anything He asks me to do.  He knows me better than anyone and He is the One I'm living for. I feel His support and I accept His invitation into intimacy. There is a freedom to fail and succeed when I realize that it is all in His hands and it is all for His glory. The longer I talked about the grace and love of Jesus the more emotional I got. 

I found myself bathed in a fresh sense of God's love and motivated to tell everyone I know about His great grace.  It is for you and because of Jesus you can live a full life, a satisfying life, a sacrificial life and a life that has divine purpose.  Embrace His grace in a fresh way today!

Gary Kendall

PS I'm speaking a the Lenexa Chinese Church, Emmanuel Baptist Church, tonight at 7:00 p.m. Please pray for me and if you would like to come, join in. The message is: The Call to Full Surrender

Choose the Ending

Those of you who know me know I'm not given to the kind of thing I'm going to try to describe.  I'll do my best to illustrate and apply what I experienced.  I suggest you offer it up to God for discernment to see if it is from Him and if it is then what it means. 

I woke up one morning last week with a lot on my mind.  I heard my alarm and sat up in bed thinking about the upcoming Vision Retreat and our congregation's response to the Ignite Initiative.  Before I realized what was happening I fell back asleep.  I had what I originally thought was a very graphic dream.  I was walking on a hilly overlook with my dog (yes, I know that is hard to believe).  I had a Golden Retriever on a leash.  We stood looking down on a pasture where there were sheep and horses grazing.  It was beautiful and peaceful.  All at once a bear stood up on his hind legs, spread his paws and gave a big roar.  I was shocked that I didn't see him earlier and immediately felt alarm for the sheep.  The bear made a very aggressive swift move and tackled two sheep. He quickly began to devour them.  Now I was really concerned.  About that time I saw three more bears.  They began chasing the sheep and horses who were running different directions.  I felt sick at my stomach.  Then two or three times that number of bears appeared until they trapped the sheep and horses and a feeding frenzy occurred.  I was looking for someone to help but there was no help.  I woke up with a start! 

Once I was awake I began asking God if this was from Him and if it had an interpretation.  I began to imagine that the bear represented evil and the sheep were people while the horse were ministries.  While I was praying about this I fell back asleep or perhaps it was a vision because of what happened next.  The scene started over again.  It was like watching a movie on an IMAX screen.  I thought, oh good, I'm going to pay more attention to the details this time.  But this time right before the bear stood up I saw 5-6 angels.  I thought, how did I miss those the first time.  Then abruptly the whole thing stopped.  I heard a voice loudly say, "the ones who are deciding get to choose the ending." It was over as quickly as it started. 

My heart was beating so fast!  I thought, at least I don't have to try to understand the meaning--that was given to me.  The ending will be decided by those who are in the process of making decisions, about what I'm not sure.  I felt very sober remembering that there are eternal decisions hanging in the balance.  I felt very motivated to step up my prayers and to exercise complete obedience.  I thought of the words of Amos the prophet, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.  What I do and what you do will determine whether the angel ending or the bear ending finishes the story.  That is if what I experienced even came from God.  I'll let you pray through that for yourself. 

This kind of thing is not normal for me.  I sat on it for several days because it was so unusual.  I offer it with some hesitation.  However, if it is from God, I need to be faithful to pass it on.  I'm unfamiliar with what it is like to have a vision-- if that is what happened, I give God the glory. If it was just a human dream--then I'm human :) Offer it up to God and see if there is anything here for you.

Gary Kendall

Obedience Enables the Blessing

I ran across something in my devotions today that stopped me and made me think.  In John 11:53, 54 there is the story of Jesus stopping his public ministry and going into hiding.  It made me wonder, why did Jesus need to hide from anyone?  Why couldn't he just keep doing what He was doing no matter what came?  Think about that one! 

The thought that settled best was that even Jesus needed to be under the authority of the Father.  The Father has His own timing and His own way.  It wasn't that Jesus was afraid of the authorities as much as it was that the Father wanted contact and confrontation on His terms.  It wasn't fear that drove him into isolation it was timing, trust and obedience.  And it is obedience that enables blessing.

I've learned the hard way not to dive into every problem or to welcome every challenge from the enemy or from opposition.  I want to obey so that the Father can strategically apply my gifts as He sees fit.  Rushing in where the Holy Spirit doesn't send me or fighting the enemy or people in settings God didn't choose is a set up for a less than the best result.  If even Jesus needed to pick his battles surely I need to follow His example and obey--every time.

Gary Kendall    

Crazy Bicycle Rider

About ten days ago we had a great snow fall in Olathe.  Yes, I am from Alaska and by those standards 2-3 inches was light, but any snow in Olathe is great as far as I'm concerned.  Anyway, I'm digressing.  On that Wednesday while driving to Target in the early evening snow was falling, there was accumulation on the roads and that is when I saw him.  A young man was riding his bicycle in the snow on Black Bob Road!  The traffic was heavy and the roads had not been cleared.  He was all bundled up because the chil factor was in the single digits. 

Everyone in my car started laughing.  I used to ride my bike in the snow in Alaska and I know how hard it is.  I started telling stories about the contests we would have where we would ride as fast as we could toward our elementary school ice rink.  They piled the snow that was scapped off on the side so we would catch some air and then land on the ice.  The competition was to see who could go the furthest before wiping out.  It is great fun--but I'm digressing again.  Anyway, we thought the guy was crazy.

Last Sunday I was talking to a woman who was raving about the great experience her teenage son is having in Journey Student Ministries.  When she came to Indian Creek she was very concerned and offering many prayer requests for him.  Now he is so excited he rides his bike to church to attend the Student Ministries on Wednesdays even in the snow! She launched into a story about how that last Wednesday he rode a long way, nearly an hour, in the snow just to come to church.  He was the crazy guy on the bike!!!!

Wow! I'm not laughing now, I'm thrilled at what God is doing for that young man and grateful for Indian Creek's influence.  Yea God!

Gary Kendall

Aslan Sightings

For some reason I've been thinking alot about the movie Prince Caspian.  In the C.S. Lewis fiction film the four children are back in Narnia but it has all changed.  Aslan is gone and Narnia has run down.  It is cold and things look bleak.  However, as the children try to find their way and make sense out of this unexpected turn of events there are some Aslan sightings.  At times they think they see him but it is at such a distance they aren't sure.  They think they hear his roar but it is distant.  They have to operate from their memory and their sense of what he would want them to do.  Eventually they do find their way to their destiny.  They meet Aslan and they set Narnia free. 

I hope you will read the book or watch the movie because my description doesn't begin to do it justice.  But here is why I wrote about this.  I've been praying alot lately about my desire to hear from God and follow His leading.  I realize what C.S. Lewis was trying to tell us--that although we don't get to see God face to face there are many God sightings.  We see Him through the God moments in our world.  Someone goes in for an MRI and they can't find the cancer that was there weeks earlier.  A person prays to receive Christ and not only follows through on the decision but checks into a treatment center to work on an addiction.  Gospel music, Dove award winner, Lynda Randall comes to Indian Creek unexpectedly and asks us to host a conference for women because she's heard about our commitment to diversity and she wants to reach urban women in a suburban church.  A bank founder comes to us and asks us to consider planting a church in one of their potential developments because they've heard such good things about our church.  The first Gardner meeting has 40 people and goes well.  Erin Southards has a healthy baby girl.  And the list goes on.

We see God at work here, there and everywhere.  We don't get a straight on look and the world we live in is tough. But I'm encouraged and I have faith that God will do everything He says He will do and that in the end He wins.  I've heard Him, seen Him at work, felt His presence and I know He is returning. 

I Saw Aslan

In the C.S. Lewis story, Prince Caspian, Lucy saw Aslan and he spoke to her giving her directions about which path to take.  But when Lucy told her brothers and sister they didn't believe her because they hadn't seen him or heard him.  They went a different way and Lucy chose to follow them.  Many difficult things came out of that decision including a horrific battle.  In the end Aslan came and rescued them. 

Lucy hugged Aslan and he comforted her fears.  Then he looked her in the eye and asked her why she didn't believe him.  He was very serious about her failure to trust him.  She explained that she gave in to the pressure of her siblings but the consequences of that choice revealed how costly it was.  He loved her and reassured her that he only had her best in mind.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately.  I truly believe I've heard from God concerning the call to help 5,000 people find their way back to God.  I believe only God could have revealed the vision to plant 20 churches across this city clear back when we were only 300 in size and about three years old.  We had a vision for multiplication twenty years ago before anyone was talking multiplication.  However, when I shared the vision many if not most, doubted I heard from God.  I never quit believing the vision but at times I went along with the majority opinion and just kept the vision to myself. 

A couple of years ago I decided I was going to pursue the vision with everything I have until we succeed or fail.  I am going to give God every chance I possibly can.  I don't want to do what Lucy did.  I'm looking for Aslan at every turn these days desperately aware that without Him I am not enough. 

I realize it takes a whole church but this blog is about my personal challenge to believe and live in faith.  I'll talk more about what it takes for us as a church to launch the 2020 Vision in future blogs.  It will take all of us ignited in faith, fully surrendered and willing to do what God tells us to do.  We'll have to step up BIG time and I believe we will.  I heard it from Aslan Himself.