The power of Expectancy...

... and the discipline to act.

As I sit in the Atlanta airport I want to get a message to you quickly. Its something I'm chewing on right now and it's overflowing in me so I have to get it out....

Based on my experience at Catalyst '08 this week I am now convinced of another tidbit. This tidbit isn't very new. In fact it's an ancient truth that we fail to practice in our daily lives where it matters but we practice perversely on most days.

The tidbit on which I'm meditating is this: there is spiritual power in expectancy.

How expectancy works:
Take an event like Catalyst. When People are in a mode of 'getting ready' to attend an event of this size they make numerous preparations which each in their own way point to the expectation. At Catalyst this year hundreds or thousands of people paid for NEXT YEARS Conference. Do you know that for 362 days these people will have somewhere in their lives a sense of expectancy. They have a hopeful desire to see God move. They will be on the edge and the ledge of spiritual growth and at next years event the great people of Catalyst will only have the job of nudging them into the power of God that they've been waiting for.

Our churches and our people are not experiencing God because many have given up on expecting great things to come of our gatherings and our leaders.

I observed Pastor Steven Furtick before he got up to speak. He has built a culture of expectancy among his people. As he prepared to walk up to the stage he was as focused as any prize fighter I have ever seen. I've seen pictures in news articles that show him preparing each service in a mobile trailer outside of the High School in which they meet. He doesn't have a sanctuary or a green room to prepare so he (even in a portable setting) has found a way to have this time with God and his trusted friends to get prepared to deliver a word from God EVERY WEEK. His people know that he is fighting spiritual battles and EXPECTING God to move every week.

Do our ministries reflect the same? I doubt it.

The key to expectancy is not simply 'looking forward'. It's looking forward AND looking present at the same time. I'll speak more on that as well as how we pervert what I'm now considering a spiritual discipline.

Today I ask. Are you expectant of God to do ANYTHING? When people see your urgency do they see a person who EXPECTS God to fulfill his promises and move among his people or have you given up and become expectant to get lost in the hum drum of life? Become an expectant individual and allow an amazing God to move on your behalf!

They are calling my group to board now... Have a great Saturday!