Pilgrimage

What a wonderful day to celebrate God’s wonderful plan of salvation and Christ’s obedient pilgrimage to the cross, the tomb, and then back to the Father!

Nicole and I had a great treat this weekend visiting Messiah Bible Church in Tom’s River, NJ. Pastor Bobby and his wife Cecile were true servants of Christ. We stayed in their home and enjoyed some good filipino food at the church. Seth and Sophia had a blast with their children Steve, Brandon and Belle. Steve was the state spelling Bee champ this year and is now teaching himself Japanese in his free time…all at the ripe age of 14.

One of the things Messiah Bible Church does is stress Christian unity. Almost the entire church takes a spiritual retreat each year for three days. During the retreat they are able to build relationships, seek the Lord and cast vision.

Pastor Bobby truly has a heart for leadership development and from what I could tell does a fantastic job of empowerment and accountability -no small feat in the church world.

I am reminded of how Jesus empowered His disciples before the crucifixion and then during the time before His ascension. When you think about it, empowerment is really the only legacy you can leave. Those who seek to horde power take it with them, leaving nothing behind. They really have no legacy at all. It’s almost like the Emperor with no clothes –claiming leadership development but never empowering leaders. Jesus was the antithesis of this. He was incredibly secure in who He was and the mission He came to accomplish that He felt the freedom to proclaim “greater works than I have done shall you do.”

Thank you Lord Jesus for being the perfect model of godly servanthood!