vision

Spent this morning at the eye doctor. It's just my yearly check-up...and my eyes are getting older and so, I go to get eye drops in my eyes and stare at lights and charts, etc.... because vision is important. My eye doctor is awesome, so I know that my physical vision is in good hands, but what about spiritual vision? The elders (I'm one of them) will be gone this weekend visiting three different churches in Las Vegas (yeah, I know what your thinking...but it really is all about vision) You see, we are visiting with some pastors and elders of these growing churches to learn from them. We are praying for God to expand our "distance vision" by revealing some stuff that He is doing in other churches. Particularly we want to know how they are being "dangerous witnesses" in a place that is called "sin city". Hopefully, what happens in Vegas comes back to Normal and God will use these other parts of his kingdom to expand our vision for the work here. Of course, vision also entails seeing clearly what it near. I knew my readers are becoming more of an issue because I can't read the scores on the bottom of the screen when I'm watching ESPN...or I can read them but they are blurry. Another part of spiritual vision is seeing clearly what is right before you. This happens in two ways: 1. We see clearly when we pray and read the word of God. The Bible is most obvious guage for what God wants us to do. If our sight is lined up with God's Word, then we can see clearly to do the work He calls us to, but if our sight is not lined up, our ministries will be blurry. 2. We see clearly by looking at the people and resources that God places in our lives. All of our leadership comes from clearly seeing the lives/needs of those around us. Blindness is the worst thing that can happen when it comes to your eyes. There are so many limitations when you can't see. This is true spiritually too. When Jesus called the Pharisees "blind guides" he was questioning their ability to see God's Word and the sheep of Israel clearly. Of course, the leaders at Eastview don't want to be blind guides, so pray for your leaders always so that they can clearly see God's work up close and what He is leading us to in the future.