Think out of the Box

The Children of Israel got a lesson in thinking outside of the box when God delivered out of bondage through the hand of Moses. After the ten plagues and after the Passover, when the Israelites reached the shores of the Red Sea, they found themselves in a predicament. The sea was blocking their path in front of them and the Egyptian army was pursuing them from behind. They were in what seemed to be an impossible situation. (Exodus 14)

How did the Israelites respond? They were stuck in the box. They were still thinking in the old pattern of slaves. They refused to believe that God was going to deliver them in spite of the overwhelming evidence of His recent works on their behalf. They believed they were delivered so that they might be slain by the Egyptians.

As I write this I am at the same type of crossroads that the Israelites were in. I also believe that the church is facing a similar situation. How will we respond? I have undergone some huge changes over the past year. God has been working mightily in my life to give me victory after victory. I refuse to believe that God has delivered me so far just to drop me by the wayside now. What God started He w 7ill finish, He will bring the seed of promise that He planted to birth!(Is 66:9; Rom 7:4; Gal 4:19; Heb 12:2) God has plans-good plans for me both personally and professionally. He has good plans for you if you will persist in faith.

My challenge to myself and the church is to think outside of the box. Allow God to reshape your thinking. We first must undergo a tearing down process that happens when we present ourselves a “living sacrifice’ (Rom 12:1) We are then to be transformed by the “renewing of our minds” (Rom 12:2) We must allow God to engineer our thought patterns to fit what He has in store instead of demanding that His work fit our old patterns.

One opportunity where we can start thinking out of the box is upon us. I have recently redesigned the church website http://www.bridgechurch.org . The website has a cool new look, pictures, and a podcast that will allow the content of the website to be both accessible to cell phone and IPods and easily distributed to other websites. If you haven’t seen the new look yet please take a look.

We are experiencing at this time a revolution in communication. The conventional wisdom concerning how to communicate information, which includes the gospel message, is undergoing revolutionary change. We must think outside the old boxes to take advantage of the new opportunities. The potential for web based technologies to be used to both spread the gospel and disciple Christians is greater than ever before. Do not be like those who died in the wilderness but rather be counted among those who enter into the Promised Land in this and all other opportunities that we have.

Dallas