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Josh Reich

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Pantano Southeast Campus

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A lot of new things have been happening in my life.

On September 8, we announced that Revolution would be joining Pantano Christian Church and become Pantano Church – Southeast Campus.

It has been a wild ride since April when this conversation began between myself and Glen Elliott, the lead pastor of Pantano.

And yesterday, we announced this step at Pantano and challenged people to move from the East Campus and attend and serve at our campus as we prepare to launch on January 5, 2020.

The response was overwhelming. Every day I am reminded of God’s hand at work through this entire process, dating back a decade when Glen and I met. It is one of those times when I shake my head and think, “only God.”

Here is the announcement from yesterday at Pantano.

If you have questions or would like information about serving at Pantano Southeast, you can go here.

Here are a few things you can be praying for:

  • The people of Revolution as they continue to put the Kingdom First to reach more people for Jesus.
  • For people who are moving from Pantano East to jump in and start serving from day one. We had over 60 families sign up yesterday at Pantano East who signed up to move to our campus and serve and/or attend.
  • That our team would have wisdom as we walk with people through this change and help two churches become one church in multiple locations.

These are exhilarating days. Every day I am blown away by what God is doing. For me, I have always wanted and prayed about being a part of something that can only be explained by God, and this feels like it. I’m savoring every moment of this ride and trying to keep up with how fast God is moving.

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How to Change the Things You’d like to Change

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Have you ever done something and thought, why did I do that? 

I remember growing up; whenever I would do something wrong, and my grandfather found out about it, he would say, “That’s not what our family does.”

We all have one of those things. 

It might be a feeling that we wished we could stop; we struggle with worry and anxiety and wish we didn’t. It might be controlling things or feeling fearful more than we want. 

Maybe you find yourself flying off the handle and see the damage it does but don’t know why.

You tell people close to you, that you are working on it, make promises to stop an addiction, but it keeps coming back. 

So what do we do? We take a class, read a book, see a counselor, which are all good things. But the problem is, most of the time we look for ways to stop being angry, to stop feeling something, to stop buying things we can’t afford or how to stop looking at porn. 

We miss the crucial thing. 

How to Change the Things You’d like to Change

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What is that?

We miss what is in us.

Often when we look to make a change, we look outside of us. The places we go, the things we do, the people we are with. This is important, but only tells us part of the story.

Change happens from inside out, not outside in.

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If you’re a follower of Jesus, this is one of the struggles you often bump into: When we start following Jesus, some of those stops immediately. We hear people say, “I was addicted to ____ for years and started following Jesus, and it was gone.” For many of us, the things we struggled with before following Jesus, we still struggle with after we follow Jesus.  We wonder if something is wrong with us. We wonder if we’re following Jesus and beat ourselves up because a good Christian shouldn’t struggle with what we struggle with.

Think about it like this: when we do anything, we are looking for something. This can be positive or negative.

When we do anything, we are looking for something.

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Every time we take a job or go on a vacation, we are looking for something and looking for something that will fill us.

When you look at porn. Why do you do that? What are you hoping that will fill in you?

When you work too much, what are you hoping that will do for you?

When you get angry and fly off the handle, what are you hoping to feel?

When you keep all your emotions in, what are you hoping you will get?

Every time we sin, we are hoping for something. 

Again, when we think of changing something, we look for ways to improve something, but the reality is that something came from somewhere. We have to face that.

This is painful for many of us. We have to look at our stories, what has come before us, and why we do things. 

Learning to face why you do things.

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To move forward in freedom, you have to ask, why do I respond in anger? Why do I pull away from people? Where does that come from in my story? Where have I seen this in my life or family or origin?

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Are You Wiling to Make the Sacrifices Success Demands?

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Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

One of the hardest things in life and leadership is feeling ready for success and effectiveness but having it elude you.

You might look around at other leaders, pastors, or churches and wonder, “Why do they seem to have the effectiveness and health, and I don’t?” The same thing can happen in relationships when it seems like others have an easier time than you do. 

There are things you can and can’t control regarding effectiveness in life and leadership.

One of the things you can’t control is God’s timing for your life. I remember reading a quote from Martyn Lloyd-Jones years ago where he said, “The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready.” Sometimes in life and leadership, you aren’t ready for the dreams that you have. There may be some lessons you need to learn; there may be some lessons others need to learn before they can come and help you take your next step.

The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready. -Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

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The other thing I’ve realized the longer I’m in leadership is that looking back, I didn’t want the things I dreamed about. Every pastor, at some point, dreams of speaking on a big stage, writing books, and having a large platform, but deep down, many aren’t willing to make the sacrifices it takes to get there. You need to work long hours to be successful and effective at anything. Your life needs to revolve around something; the most successful are making sacrifices that others aren’t. There is a reason that few megachurch-lead pastors make it to the end of ministry with a marriage and family intact. And a lot of that has to do with the sacrifice and pressure others must make for someone to be successful.

Do you want the dreams in your head?

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A few years ago, I started to ask successful people, what things have you given up to get where you are? What sacrifices have you or your family made for your success? This question can be eye-opening when you hear the answers. 

I’ve talked to several “successful” pastors who have marriages that aren’t fulfilling or ones who rarely speak to their kids. I’ve talked to countless leaders who are incredibly lonely and have enormous platforms. 

One of the things it showed me was what I wanted out of life. I heard some answers and thought, “I don’t want to give that up.” When you realize that, you can see that you don’t want what that person has because you aren’t willing to do what that person did. 

That’s okay. 

Some of this is the season of life, and some is simply your life calling. 

So, before you start to envy the life someone has, look at the sacrifices they had to make to get there and then ask, “Do I want to make those sacrifices?” If you don’t, that’s okay; it just means you have a different life.