April, 2014 ~ CFL News  ~ Information and inspiration for Life Teams, Leaders, and gospel-driven champions of life.

Churches for Life
Click for our 1-page article, "What is a 'gospel-driven' champion of life?"
Don’t Try to Live Your Life in One Day
 
Any child of the 1980’s will immediately recognize the title to this month’s “Gospel Encouragement” colum as the title to a hit song by British pop artist Howard Jones. In 1985, it climbed to #19 in the US and #14 in the UK (listen here).
 
I was listening to this song on my iPod this morning as my heart rose to a sweaty 150 beats per minute on the elliptical trainer at the gym. In those moments, my mind was pumping with equal vigor as I wrestled with all the ministry and personal things I felt I needed to do right now. God used a non-believer’s pop tune to remind me of an essential Christian truth: don’t try to live your life in one day.1
 
Of course, this exact phrase does not appear in the bible. But its truth is all over the pages of Holy Writ. In Deuteronomy 7:22, God models this principle Himself by delivering the Promised Land to His people “little by little,” not “in one day!” In Proverbs 21:5, God tells us that the diligent (careful), not the hasty, enjoy abundance. In Philippians 1:6, God says that He continually works on us to conform us to the image of Christ. In Ecclesiastes 5:2, God warns us not to be hasty when talking with Him.
 
This idea – don’t try to live your life in one day – is simple yet convicting. If there’s one thing we Americans value, it’s getting things done right now (or at least as soon as possible). Urgency is the name of the game, whether working in relationships, finance, information, industry, travel, ministry, spiritual growth, and more. Working in the life arena adds fuel to this fire by screaming at us, “Act right now! Don’t you know this is a matter of life and death?!”
 
It’s not that we are to be lazy, dear friends. It’s just that we must recognize that life – including life ministry – is not a one-day situation. We can not do it all in one day! So, work hard, but not frantically or hastily. Perhaps we can adopt a “life-in-many-days” perspective regarding our work. One of the best helps in doing so is acknowledging that a Day is coming when Jesus will completely and finally set all things right. Until then, don’t try to live your life in one day!

In 2013, God nearly tripled the number of Life Teams in process across the nation from 25 to 70! Please join Him and us as we nourish these and many more new Teams to equip their churches as gospel-driven champions of life.
 

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Careful
 
A careful Life Team equips their church with grace and truth at an appropriate speed. To do this, the Team must first gauge the maturity of their church on specific issues. Unfortunately, Teams often (wrongly) assume that their church knows what the Team knows and is as passionate as the Team is about life issues. This is almost never the case! So, once the Team measures their church’s maturity they must fit their equipping efforts to it. It is very important for a Team to talk about these things in its meetings. Otherwise, a Team can give its church “whiplash” by equipping too fast. And doing that will cause damage that may be hard to repair
. For more on this topic and many others essential to Life Team health, consider our April 5 live Life Team 101 Workshop, or Tool 3: Life Team 101.

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Call and Conduct Team Meetings

Every month, Life Team Leaders have a wonderful opportunity to impact their Life Team for good. It’s called the monthly meeting. Don’t be a leader who squanders this great opportunity by preparing last-minute! Instead, set aside time to prepare and send out the meeting agenda at least a week ahead of time. Consider how you will navigate various aspects of the agenda. Work hard on your biblical devotional. Then, be sure to show up early for your meeting and have everything you need with you (e.g., handouts). Stick to your agenda. Start and end on time. Spend time praying, and when the meeting is almost over, review action items. Remember, your monthly Life Team meeting is an amazing opportunity to impact your Life Team for good. Don’t squander it! Find out more by getting CFL’s Tool 2: Life Team Leader Training.


Reminder: Join our Life Team Leader conference call on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00pm. Click picture for details.

Video Scrapbook of our March 8 Life Team Summit


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Life Team Equips Church for Sexual Integrity...more


Life Team Conducts Conference for ALL Christians on Singleness...more


CFL President Equips Undergrads to Start Life Teams...more


New Website, Blog, Social Media for CFL!

God has brought CFL to an exciting crossroads of expansion. He's moving us out across the nation! To follow Him, we are about to launch on an extensive redesign of our entire "digital footprint." It will involve new and/or redesigned, social media, website, blog, and e-marketing. We expect a top quality outcome that will allow us to nourish more and more churches as gospel-driven champions of life through 2020. HERE is the template for our new website. Please join us and God to complete this essential project by giving a one-time gift or becoming a regular monthly giver HERE.



Life Team 101 Workshop
 
This April 5 workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about starting or being part of a Life Team. Get info and register here.


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1 I often employ “redemptive analogy” in teaching biblical truth. This means that I see God’s truth – as revealed exclusively in the Bible – embedded and illustrated everywhere, including in pop culture and creation. Psalms 50:6 and 97:6 demonstrate this basic idea. By employing “redemptive analogy,” I am not claiming that pop culture or creation are sources of truth, but that they often illustrates truth. As I do this, and as you consider doing it, be advised to measure all things by Scripture, and when looking at culture and creation for illustrations and reminders, “eat the meat and spit out the bones.”