Stepping up to the Plate

You could see and hear the enthusiasm in Ken's presentation on Step 7 this morning, as well as those who preceded him these past few weeks in our series "12 Steps For Christians". Wow, what fabulous teachers have given us their best, Don, Ernest, John, Russell, Rick, Ted, what amazingly spiritual folks with a heart for honesty and truth. It is amazing to sit back and watch the transformation of ATB from infant to thriving growth. 

For our weekly meetings, Willie Mae, Trellis, Eddie, Jim, Mark and others have taken on leadership roles and you can see the maturity and joy of seeing that they too can do this. The key here, when we step out of the way, God's Spirit can then work effectively. If you look at Jesus, his intent was to do what he had to do, then turn it over to those he had trained to do the spreading of the message throughout the world. But, what he did was empower them by His Spirit, not on human wisdom. But he, like any other leader, had to show the way before he departed.

My blessing is to watch this happen before I ever depart, or whether I don't, and see that as I become less, God becomes more. This is the natural way of things because for a time each of us who decides to lead a ministry, a church, or whatever endeavor we choose has to fire it up with passion, enthusiasm and countless hours of work to get it rolling. And then, like we would with a child we have taught, we watch them grow into their own spiritual aura and as they begin to thrive we become the encourager (as we see Paul being a spiritual cheerleader for churches he has started).

I am not tossing around the names of Jesus and Paul to say I am anything like them, on the contrary, I have just become like minded and humbled by their examples. We follow the blueprint of members of the Hall of Faith, not the human Hall of Fame. Without their examples and the patience the Lord has had with all of us, we would still be lost and useless.

But now, people are stepping up to the plate, empowered by the Holy Spirit and unafraid to fail because God has restored their lives, given them confidence and assurance of purpose. My job was to be the point man for awhile, and now it is to help point the way toward their success. 

Let us all pray that when we step up to the plate and go to bat for Jesus, we not only know that he is empowering us, but that all of us are cheering each other on, not worrying who gets the credit, but hoping those who hear us get the point: ATB is a bridge from nowhere to somewhere, from loss to the cross, and from a living hell to a place where the Lord makes us well.  

We hit a Home Run when he increases and we decrease, he has all the power!