I call it the Africa Decision Myth. I’m sure you’ve heard, or maybe even said it, before. The idea is simple: if God asks me to go to Africa, I will go. In other words, I will live my life, my way, and then if God busts in and interrupts everything, gives me a big ol' sign in the heavens, I will do as he asks.

God has, Paul told us, given each believer enabling grace. If the blood of Christ covers us, we are part of the larger body of believers. From His exalted seat in heaven, Christ pours out His grace and Spirit to aid us in the church's work. He is our head. We are His body.

The dominant word of this sentence — Paul used it seven times — is “one.” It describes the whole Trinity — one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father of all. Paul dreamed of the church. In so doing, he introduced a beautiful truth: the universal church is one because the Triune God is one.

I recently reached the ten-year mark as the lead pastor of Calvary Monterey. In one sense, that is not a great deal of time, but it was a wild decade.

The authors of the New Testament, or the entire Bible for that matter, were not oblivious to the hard conditions found amongst humanity. They were conscious of the turmoil and pain many people groups have been forced to toil under. As the gospel of Jesus Christ spread, so did the church’s understanding that women, children, and the working class have often been abused in various systems, cultures, religions, nations, time periods, etc.

Growing up, my family always had a newspaper subscription, so reading the news always felt like a grown-up thing to do. But my entrance into adulthood coincided with the proliferation of internet news outlets, followed by social networks which quickly became useful for disseminating headlines and editorials. And, because this is what humans do, all I ever did was add to my reading list. I never subtracted. Finally, a breaking point came, and I realized I could never keep up.

The thing about this man is that rather than exclusively concentrate on building his networks and connections, he builds his skills. As the years pass by, he is no one-hit-wonder, no temporary YouTube sensation. Instead, his skills speak for themselves. Dude has game. He has a craft, a job, an enterprise, and his ability to perform it is strong.

When God looks at His people, He often sees things we cannot see in ourselves. Through a lens of grace, God knows His children. He looked with grace upon many of the characters found in Hebrews 11. Moses is no exception.

Before Israel finally embarked on their journey into the Promised Land, Moses wrote and recited a song for them. He knew he would not lead them into Canaan, for that was Joshua’s calling, not his, so he wanted to give them his lyrics instead of himself. In his song, Moses spoke to them of who God is. He referred to God as the Rock, a firm and strong foundation for them as a people. He referred to God as great, the only one worthy of worship and praise. And he referred to God as their Father, the one who had made them into a nation. He sang to them of who God is.

I love rivers; the sound, the light. I love the way rivers pass us by. As I'm fixed on the bank, the water flows away, replaced immediately by a new supply.