I’m very excited about the upcoming boot camp. We are very near 100% registration among our members. (There are only five members who have not registered. If you're one of them, you can register here.) Additionally, we have a good number of
regular attenders who are registered.
That’s wonderful.
There are a number of reasons to call this a boot camp. First of all, there is the obvious
macho appeal. Also, much like the
military tears men down and rebuilds them, Lord willing we’ll be tearing down
wrong thinking and bad habits related to spiritual leadership and rebuilding
our thinking and habits in accordance with Scripture. But probably the most important reason
to call it a boot camp is because of how seriously we should take our
commitment to this thing. That
commitment will be demonstrated in several ways:
We’re committed to
being on time. We will be
starting promptly at 7:00am each Saturday morning. If you are driving into the parking lot or making a trip to
the bathroom or getting a cup of coffee at 7:00, you’ll be late. Don’t be late. Please be seated and ready to hit it by
7:00. If you want coffee, show up
early and take care of that in time to be seated by 7:00.
Some of you have mentioned that you’ll just be getting off
work at 7:00 and will be late. I
know who you are and that’s fine.
If any of the rest of you know that you’ll be late for a particular
session, please let me know prior to that session.
We’re committed to
finishing what we start. The
elders would like for all of us to commit to completing the boot camp. A commitment to begin is a commitment to
finish. We are all conscientious
about how we do our work in the secular workplace. We are responsible there to finish what we start. For some reason, this does not always
translate to our commitments at church.
Yet, it should, especially for those of us who are members of the
covenant community at PBF. Let’s
view this boot camp as a commitment to complete the journey together for the
good of ourselves, our families, and the church.
We’re committed to
being accountable for our absences.
This means two things.
First, if we have to miss a session, we’re committed to watching that
session online and to completing the weekly mission by the following
Saturday. Second, if we have to
miss a session, we’re committed to giving notice ahead of time. If you have to miss a session, that’s
fine. Just please let me know prior to that session so I can get you
the materials via email.
But there is a second notification that you need to make. A crucial component of the boot camp will be something
called conference groups. Each
week, we’ll spend a portion of our time divided into smaller groups for
conferencing, a concept that will be explained at the boot camp. Conference groups will be formed at the
first session and will remain together for the duration of the boot camp. If you are going to miss a session, you
also need to let your conference group know ahead of time. Don’t leave them hanging.
We’re committed to
going all out. It should be
obvious from the passages that we’ve studied during the last two Sunday
mornings that serving as the spiritual leaders of our homes is a glorious, holy
obligation. It is something that
we are all called to. It is not
something optional for those who want to take it to the next level. Our Lord Jesus Christ poured it all out
for us. We are to pour it all out
for our families. Therefore, there
should be no tiptoeing into this boot camp. No trying-it-out.
We need to all show up ready for action, ready to go all out for the
glory of God and for the good of His people. If you are struggling with a wrong attitude, confess this to
the Lord, ask His forgiveness, and pray that He would give you a holy fire in
your belly to hit the ground running.
May the Lord steel our resolve. May He move us to step up to the plate and lead. I look forward to seeing you on February 7.
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