The Big Diehl

This 30 second clip cracked me up.

Total Devotion.
You’ve got control.
I’ve emptied out my heart, so you can make me whole.

A few days ago I was eating dinner at my house and those words sorta popped out of my mouth in a song. That’s all the song was - but I love the third line so much. Think about it.

We want to be complete. We want restored relationships, forgiveness, acceptance, approval, love, etc. etc. Because we’re looking for a blessing from God (which isn’t bad), we hang onto our pride. Before God can make us whole, we have to release everything. That seems like an oxymoron, eh? You lose something before you get what you want.

I can remember several times having drank a cup of milk, and then filling it up with ice water. It doesn’t matter how much of the milk I had drank — if I didn’t rinse the cup before putting in the water then my water would taste funky. It just doesn’t work. Before God can restore what’s messed up — we’ve got to be broken — we’ve got to be willing to allow God to mess us up inside.

Wow. This band is incredible. Michael W. Smith says they are the best thing he’s heard in a long long time. I agree with him. Check out their myspace and listen to their stuff — it’s awesome. Especially “Carried to the Table.” That one is really moving, at least for me.

A poverty mentality is a mindset. It not only includes finances - but your attitude. Someone with a poverty mentality isn’t just someone who is poor - its someone who will stay poor. I heard a story about a single woman who lived her entire life in an efficiency apartment in the slums of a large city. After she died, the landlord remodeled her apartment and in doing so he removed the wall paneling. It was then that they realized the woman had made holes at the top of her walls and had put money down inside her walls. When they counted it all up it totaled more than $1 Million. This woman had plenty of money, but she wasted it and stayed poor her entire life because of her poverty mentality. Her poverty mentality caused her to waste her life, most likely treating human relationships much like she did her money. Scared to live; scared to move; scared to effect the world. People with a poverty mentality stay “down in the dumps” in their finances and life in general because they do not strive for anything more.

We need to be content with where we are and what God has given us, but we should never be satisfied.

I am content with my car. But I am not satisfied — I am saving money so that in a few years I can purchase a nicer replacement.
I am content with my education. But I am not satisfied — I will soon be pursuing my Master’s degree.
I am content with my church. But I am not satisfied — I want my church to be more passionate than yesterday.
I am content with my house. But I am not satisfied — I am taking care of my house and fixing it up so that when the time comes, I could sell it for more.
I am content with my job. But I am not satisfied — I want to be even more “on the ball” tomorrow and give far beyond 100%.
I am content having a relationship with God. But I am not satisfied — I want to be closer to God tomorrow than I am right now.

Someone with a poverty mentality is “satisfied” with nearly everything, but they are not content with anything. People with a poverty mentality never strive for more of anything. Think about an area in your life where you have developed a negative poverty mentality.
I will always be content, but I will never be satisfied!

“Worship is the humbling of self and exaltation of God.” - Ross Parsley

I’m going to go memorize Psalm 119:9-16. Grab your Bible, open it up, and quiz me on it next time you see me.

Hebrews 10:25 says to Christians, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

The larger a church is, the smaller they have to think in order to make this verse a reality. That’s sort of an oxymoron - “to be big, you must think small.” But its true. New Hope has a lot of people in it - but we’ve got to maintain an environment where we can continue meeting together and encouraging each other (you can’t do that very easily in a room with 300 people in it). Every church needs community.

The Summer Choir will be built on community. We’re going to do lots of things in Summer Choir that will just be fun — great ways to get to know each other. The reason I’m so excited about this choir is because this will be unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of! I’m not promising anything, but my intent right now is to have cheeseburgers and tacos at the first rehearsal this Tuesday! How cool will that be?! We’re also going to have a “cookout” night in July. As often as feasible we’re going to have rehearsals outside in the awesome sunshine. Seriously - this will be the funnest choir in the world. Forget what your mama told you about choirs . . . because this will be way different. If you attend New Hope (or no place) and like to sing, you gotta check it out. At least come to the first rehearsal this Tuesday and you’re going to get free food out of it! Here’s more information.

This is gonna be sweet.