A lot of what we try to pass off as being a man is actually a mess with no foundation in the Word of God. God never sanctioned angry men, treacherous men, ignorant men, prideful men, stubborn men, immature men. At some point, males have to put away childish things, as Paul wrote, and become men (1 Cor. 13:11).
If we are to leave a godly legacy, as parents, we need to know that our choices affect our children.
I love that Scripture does not tell the stories of perfect people. In the pages of the bible, we find the stories of men and women who had serious character flaws and who often messed up big time just like we do, and yet were still used by God in amazing ways. I don’t know about you, but I find that to be incredibly encouraging because what it says is that no matter what my life has looked like in the past—in fact, no matter what my life looks like right now—God has the power to turn it around! If we are going to leave a legacy that glorifies God, we need to know that!
In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul wrote, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The Apostle Paul himself, the author of most of the New Testament, readily admitted that he hadn’t arrived. Paul acknowledged that he hadn’t come to a place where he could say he knew everything, understood everything, had done everything right. No. In this scripture, Paul tells us that there were things in his past that he had to “forget” if he was ever going to be able to attain that which God had set before him. The same applies to each of us.
Have you messed up in the past? Welcome to the club! We all have things in our past that, if we let them, could cause us to hang our heads in shame or cause us to give up hope. For some of us, it’s not just our past that haunts us; it’s what’s going on in our lives right now. The answer? Keep pressing! Keep trusting God! Forget the past! Forge your legacy!
We have a sliding glass door in our living room that leads out to our deck. We are forever cleaning that door because it is always covered in fingerprints. People come in and out of that door all the time, especially when we have guests over, and as they do, they leave fingerprints. No one means to leave fingerprints all over that door. It just happens. Fingerprints come with having a glass door. Legacies operate in much the same way.
As we go through life, we touch the lives of other people, and whether we mean to or not, we leave fingerprints. We make an impact. Whether we intend to or not, that’s what happens. It’s a part of living that we can’t escape. Unlike the fingerprints on our sliding glass door, however, the impact that we have on other’s people’s lives doesn’t have to be haphazard. It can and should be intentional.
We all have a circle of influence. We all have people in our life whose lives we impact, either negatively or positively. That could be our spouse, our children, our siblings, co-workers, neighbors, in-laws; the list is endless. Our impact on the lives of others is our legacy. That’s what stays behind after we’re gone. God has called believers to live intentionally. God commands us to be mindful of how we treat others (Eph. 4:32) and the example we set (1 Cor. 11:1). Because whether we realize it or not, we’re leaving our fingerprints on other people’s lives.
Make plans to see Launch Theatre Productions’ presentation of Legacy June 19 & 20. Continue to check for updates at LaunchTheatre.com or on Facebook.
In our effort to comply with our governor’s request to avoid large gatherings due to current public health concerns, we have postponed our production Legacy until June 19 & 20. The cast and I have been excitedly preparing for this event, and while I believe postponing the production was the right thing to do, I must admit that it was a letdown. We were eagerly anticipating how God would use this production to change lives. We believe that is still God’s plan. The only thing that has changed are the production dates.
As I was running all of this through my mind, something occurred to me. It occurred to me that just because we can’t do Legacy doesn’t mean we can’t talk legacy, so that’s what we’re going to be doing for the next three months leading up to the production. We’re going to be talking legacy.
Guest bloggers and I are going to be sharing thoughts about different aspects of legacy—what legacy means, how the legacies that were passed down to us shaped our lives, how to forge a godly legacy, and so on. We promise to keep it short and to the point, so stay tuned as we talk legacy!
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables—the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. There is so much packed in each of these parables individually and as we look at them as a whole.
One thing that each of the parables has in common is that they deal with something that was lost. In the first parable, a man is searching for his lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7). In the second parable, a woman is searching for her lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). And in the last parable, a father is reunited with his lost son (Luke 15:11-32). While recovering something that had been lost is a common theme for each of these parables, one of the things that marks them as different is the way in which each loss occurred.
The sheep more than likely wandered off innocently or foolishly. I don’t believe the sheep just got up one day and said, “You know what? I’m outta here! I’m tired of this shepherd, and I’m sick of this flock! Deuces!” I don’t think that’s how the sheep ended up lost. I think the sheep probably just wasn’t paying attention or thought he hadn’t gone too far away from the rest of the flock. But before he knew it, he had wandered too far off and couldn’t find his way back.
Then there’s the coin. The coin found itself lost of no fault of its own. It didn’t have the ability to form the intent necessary to get up and leave. The coin was lost by a woman who was supposed to take care of it.
Lastly, there is the son. Unlike the sheep and the coin, the son did possess the ability to make a willful decision to leave, and this is how the son ended up lost—through a conscious, rebellious decision to walk away from his father.
But here’s what I love: No matter how any of these three ended up lost—the sheep, the coin, or the son—they were all found again and the finder REJOICED!
Are you like the sheep? Have you sort of drifted away from the Shepherd and the Flock (the Church)? You didn’t mean to, but that’s what happened—little by little. And before you really realized it, you found yourself in a place you didn’t want to be. You’re lost.
Maybe you’re like the coin. Circumstances that seem beyond your control have put you in a position that you never thought you’d be in. People you trusted have let you down, and you don’t see any way to fix the mess that is your life. You’re lost.
Or do you identify with the lost son. You willfully and deliberately chose to walk away from the Father for reasons that seemed legitimate to you at the time, but now you’re in the midst of a famine—spiritually, physically, financially. And since walking away, you’ve found yourself doing things that you never thought you’d do. You’re lost.
Now, here’s the good news: God is searching for you! He wants you back! You are precious to Him!
I remember the first time I read Luke 15, I was like, “Psh! Go searching high and low for one sheep? The devil is a liar! You bettah cut your losses, buddy! You still got ninety-nine more sheep. Why jeopardize them to go after one lone stupid sheep? And you with the coins, you still have nine left. Why do all of that work for one coin?” And I definitely identified with the elder brother: “What?!?! This raggedy boy done come back broke, and you throw a party?!?! Is you crazy?!?!?” I’m so glad that God doesn’t do math like I do math!!! One is precious to Him! And THAT’S what I didn’t recognize. Each of these parables demonstrate just how precious—how indescribably precious—each of us is to God.
The Word of God says that “while we were yet sinners (lost), Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Why? Because it’s not His will that any perish (be lost), so He will do whatever it takes to find (redeem) you.
Are you like the lost sheep? Have you somehow managed to wander off from the Shepherd and the Flock? This is what God says, “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out . . . I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick” (Ezekiel 34: 11 & 16).
Are you like the lost coin? Have circumstances beyond your control help contribute to where you are today? Has someone you love and trusted let you down and broken your heart? The Word of God says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Or are you like the lost son? Have you deliberately and rebelliously walked away from the Father? You need to know that Jesus said He didn’t come to condemn you (John 3:17). He said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
It doesn’t matter how you were lost. All that matters is that you are found!!!
So, what’s your part in all of this? Simple. Be willing to be found. What does that mean? Each of the parables that Jesus tells in Luke 15 ends like this, “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). The parable of the coin ends this way: “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). And how does the parable of the lost son end? With the prodigal son repenting and the father rejoicing (Luke 15:21-24).
Your part is to be willing to be found. Unlike the sheep and the coin, you can make a choice. You can choose to return to the Father or to stay in your lost condition. The decision is yours. No one can make it for you, not even God. If you are ready to be found, pray this prayer:
"Father, without you, I am lost. I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me of my sins, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I ask Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."
What now? Right now the angels in heaven are rejoicing if you prayed and believed this prayer. Now you need to return to the Flock. Find a church—NOT a building where people go to practice religion—a church. Find a church where you can be nurtured and protected. You need to be around the people of God and be taught the Word of God to help you grow keep and to keep you from being lost again.
See the parable of the lost son brought to life on stage on Sunday, April 16, 2017, at 10 a.m. at New Life World Outreach Center located at 106 Hull Rd. in Snow Hill, NC.
Admission is free. All are welcome.
I didn’t grow up in church. When I was a kid, every now and then my mother would get what I called a “wild hair” and would make my brothers, sister and I go. Sometimes she would go with us and sometimes she wouldn’t. Our family never really ventured to church enough for me to really understand the whole point of church. If you’d have asked me as a kid what church was about, I probably would’ve told you that church was a place where you had to sit still and quiet for a long time, except when the choir sang; then it was okay to clap and sing (if you knew the words, which I didn’t because we didn’t go to church that often). As a kid I probably would’ve went on to tell you about hearing preachers “hoop” and seeing people “catch the Holy Ghost.” That’s all church was for me. I didn’t know a thing about Jesus or salvation or anything like that, so when I accepted Christ when I was twenty-one, I pretty much came to the church as a blank slate as far as “church stuff” goes.
One of the first things that people told me I needed to do after accepting Christ was to read the Bible. Of course, I knew what the Bible was (sort of), but I don’t think I had ever cracked one open, even on one of my family’s random church excursions. So, someone gave me a King James Bible and told me to have at it. That lasted every bit of two minutes before I found myself confoundedly asking, What’s a ‘thee’ and who is ‘thou,’ and why do all these verbs end in ‘eth’? What’s up with that?” I quickly tossed the King James Bible to the side and started trying to figure out how I could be a Christian without reading the Bible. When I got hold of a New International Bible (NIV), things changed drastically. There were no more thee’s, no more thou’s, no more “eth’s.” Now I was able to better understand what I was reading, and what I found in the Word of God absolutely amazed me (still does).
I was told that I had to read the Bible to get to know God and to learn how He wanted me to live my life, so I expected the Bible to be a big book of “can’t do:” Can’t do this, can’t do that, and you definitely better not do that over there! I was so surprised to find that the Bible was anything but that. I found it absolutely amazing that there were stories in the Bible—lots and lots of stories! And I instantly fell in love with these stories. I love the stories of Esther and Ruth and Nehemiah and of Jesus Himself. I loved that these stories were so exciting. I love that they contained depth and held spiritual truths. And I loved that this is how God had chosen to reveal Himself to us—through stories in the Bible. How absolutely cool!
Here I am several, several years later, and I am still fascinated by the stories in the Word of God, and my ministry is to bring those stories to life on stage, so that God can speak to others through the truths contained in His Word.
One of my favorite stories in the Word of God is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15). Jesus told this story, and it is a beautiful story about God’s redemptive love. Over the next few months, check out this blog as I and a few others discuss what makes the story of the prodigal so powerful. Then plan to join us on Sunday, April 16, 2017, at 10 a.m. at New Life World Outreach Center in Snow Hill, NC, as we bring this amazing story to life on stage. You won’t want to miss it.
Putting together a theatre production takes work—a LOT of work. For starters, every theatre production starts with an idea, and ideas don’t just coming flying out of the sky (not for me). You have to actually sit down and think them through. You have to ask yourself questions, such as, "What do I want to say through this production? Do I want it to be a comedy or a tragedy? Is my intended audience children or adults or both? Music? No music? Live music?" Once you have what seems like a feasible idea, then you have to actually sit down and write the script, which means PRESSING pass procrastination, self-doubt, writer’s block, distractions, more distractions, lots of distractions, and even MORE distractions to plot the story and write believable dialogue. Then there’s editing the script and editing the script and EDITING the script some more. Once you FINALLY have a workable script in hand, that’s .when .the fun begins.
Next, you have to put together a production team. You’ll need an assistant director, stage manager, set designer, costume designer, lighting designer, audio designer, LOTS and LOTS of designers! And let’s not forget the cast. What’s a production without a cast, which means holding auditions. Once the play has been cast, there are weeks and weeks of rehearsals. That’s just some of what happens in front of the curtain.
Behind the curtain, all those designers are busy doing what designers do. They’re making costumes, building sets, making or buying props, planning the lighting design, etc. And did I mention the administrative part of putting together a theatre production? You have to set production dates, choose a venue, determine ticket prices, layout programs, and . . . You get the picture. Putting together a theatre production takes work . . . a LOT of work.
And over the years I’ve learned that there are two types of people. There are those who are “built” to do theatre and those who just aren’t. The ones built to do theatre find the theatre process exhilarating and come back again and again. They acknowledge that theatre life can be tiresome and even tedious, but they love it and can’t imagine their life without their next production on the horizon.
I’ve also come to understand that there are different things that motivate theatre people to do what they do. Some do it because theatre is a way for them to make people laugh or think or escape for a couple of hours. For these folk, it’s all about the audience; they do what they do for the impact it will have on the lives of others. Then there are those who love the thrill of standing in front of a live audience and doing their “thang.” These are the people who, as kids, were always shouting, “Hey, Mom, look at me!” For these people, life itself is just one big stage, so one way or another, they are going to find a way to “shine.” And there’s yet another group.
The people in this group have an eternal view when it comes to theatre. They see theatre as a way of advancing the Kingdom of God, and thus they take their role in theatre—whether it be on stage or behind the scenes—as seriously as a preacher takes preparing for a Sunday service because they know that what they do and how they do it could have eternal consequences. For them, yep, it’s just that serious. This is the category that I and most of the people that I work with fall into. Ministry is what motivates us to put in the long hours and to do the hard work that’s necessary to pull together a production time and time again because we know it matters—it really matters.
My pastor says, “You have to know your ‘why.’” You have to know why you do whatever it is you do. Lose sight of your why, and you’ll eventually stop doing whatever it is you’re doing, whether it’s working on your marriage, training your kids, serving in the church, etc. If you lose sight of your why, more than likely you’ll throw in the towel. At Launch our mission is to bring the Word of God to life on stage and to establish relationships that allow us to introduce others to Christ. That’s our why. That’s what keeps us doing what we do.
Man! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been doing theatre for almost a quarter of a century. For those of you (like me) who don’t do math, that’s twenty-five years! That’s a long time, y’all! Not too long ago, my husband, Rick, and I were reminiscing about productions we’ve done over the years at churches and at schools and out in our community. He brought up some skits and plays that I’d completely forgotten about, and I brought up some that he’d forgotten, and we literally laughed out loud as the memories of certain people and special moments came flooding back into our minds.
I’d be lying if I said that every moment that we’ve spent in theatre has been joyous. It hasn’t. Like every other aspect of our lives (and yours), there have been ups and downs, but Rick and I both agree that we feel blessed to have had the opportunity to use the gifts that God has given us to minister in the ways that He’s provided. We’ve met some incredible people and seen God work in some amazing ways, and it has brought us a great sense of gratification and joy to have been a part of that. We truly believe the best is yet to come!
Over the years people have asked me, “How do you do what you do? What’s your approach to putting together a theatre production?” In the nearly twenty-five years that I’ve been doing the “drama thang,” my approach has never changed. Now, twenty five years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to articulate that approach because I didn’t understand it myself. I was just doing what seemed “natural,” not realizing I was being led by the Holy Spirit. Today, I understand it a bit better. Today I understand that in doing theatre, step one is build a family.
In the weeks, months, years that we work with people, they become more than just actors, more than just set designers or costume designers or stage managers, what have you. They become family. And while that might not be essential when it comes to just “doing theatre,” it is oh so important when it comes to doing ministry. Because, see, family is about commitment. Family is committed to one another with a common goal and a common love which enables them to conquer obstacles in order to fulfill a common purpose. That’s family.
The people we do theatre with end up being the same people we do life with. We rejoice with one another at birthday parties and at weddings and on days when we just want to hang out together; we cry with one another at funerals; we encourage one another during life’s difficulties, and we pray. Because we are family, we pray for one another . . . always. In short, we love each other on stage and off. And the power in approaching theatre this way is that it allows those of us who are believers to build relationships that help lead others to Christ, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. Period.
Step one: Build a family. In the nearly twenty-five years that I’ve been doing theatre, that’s one thing that has never changed, and I’m pretty sure never will.
