I have had the great privilege of several godly mentors in my life. They have been and continue to be men of courage and integrity. Before moving to Macon I had the great privilege of working with Pastor Ben Orchard – I miss our times together greatly. He taught me many things in our two years together, but one of them has come to me more often than the rest.

He once said, “Patrick, your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.” Now, whenever some one praises me in some area of my life I automatically begin looking for my weakness in it. I am working on a blog series called, “Lessons from Leader’s Who Last”, a book by Dave Kraft and I realized something tonight. One of my greatest strengths is that I’m fairly even tempered and can adapt easily to most new situations (look at the last two years of my life to see that clearly). Tonight I realized that my great weakness in that is I can become very comfortable in a situation and not desire to change out of it.

Kraft was challenging me in being a visionary leader and I realized that I have a lot of work to do in this area. As I sat brainstorming and examining my life I realized the strength of adaptability and the weakness of a lack of vision for what could be. This revelation is perfect timing because God has me working with a great visionary leader in Keith Watson.  I continue to be blessed by God’s guiding as He forms me into the man that He desires.  This will become a new prayer and area of examination for me.

What is your greatest strength? You will probably find your greatest weakness there as well.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

We have been working through the book of Ecclesiastes at New City.  It has been a great book to study through and I have been  challenged on many levels.  This past week Keith preached through Ecclesiastes 9 and really focused the message on living, dying, and not wasting it all.  This is a theme that I think on more often than not.  There is not a week that goes by that I do not consider my time and the spending of it.  I am constantly asking, ‘are you wasting it?’  I fall off the side that many probably don’t.  I have to fight to not dwell on wasting my life.  I have to fight to not picture myself as an old man looking back on my life and being overwhelmed with the sense that I wasted it.  It can quickly grab my heart, drive me to depression and leave me hopeless.  The thought of wasting my life can often drive me to work harder and longer than I should, to try to please people in ways that I shouldn’t.  I confess that there are times that I feel like I need to pay God back for all that He has done for me and continues to do.  I know that I don’t deserve grace and at times I hate that I receive it.  How can someone so good love someone so evil?

But God…

I turn 37 this year and I feel like I have only truly begun to understand, apply, live out the Gospel…to live out grace.  I credit this awakening to the preaching and ministry at New City.  I have sat under many good men and they have been exactly who I have needed at the time.  It seems that God has me now at a place where I need to go back to the center of it all…the Gospel.  I have paired the sermon series with  Driscoll’s book ‘Death by Love’ and I must admit that there has been new freedom found, a new thirst for God’s mission, and a movement away from guilt to forgiveness.  Tears usually burn.

If you live in Macon, come join us as we gather at the Cox Capitol Theater and hear the Gospel…maybe applied in ways that you have never dreamed of.  If you do not live here, then follow us live on Sunday mornings or watch the recordings later on.  If you are not hearing the Gospel every week then you are missing it.  If you are not living out the Mission, then make the changes necessary to live it out.  Don’t waste it.  Jesus has called you to trust Him and there is a fine line between foolishness and faith – are you walking it?

This past Sunday I was reminded that I am dying.  I have one life.  I should feel the freedom to enjoy the good gifts that God has so graciously given as I join God on His mission.  I should be about His Kingdom and not my own.  I should not fear.  I should be a faithful fool that spends his life well.

Thank you Jesus.

I love and greatly value wisdom from older Saints.  I love to see an older Saint who has walked a long time with Jesus and continues to do so with great joy and anticipation.  There have been several of them in my life and I have always deeply valued what they had to share.  Here is another Saints bit of simple wisdom – http://ow.ly/QhgX