Sipping coffee and reading this book by pastor John Mark Comer this morning.

When I started going to John Mark’s church in the suburbs of Portland, ORE, I was only 20 years old. I remember how quickly our church outgrew our little space in Conestoga Middle School in Beaverton, ORE then we had to move to another building across the street in Tigard, OR.

The church quickly multiplied and became a Mega-Church with thousands of people attending. I never thought I was important at that church, and I didn’t really care, because that’s how mega churches work. I didn’t talk to anyone outside my circle of friends from college at Pacific University that went there with me. I didn’t even talk to the cute young single guys at the church from George Fox, as I heard all the guys attending from that “school” were not “real” Christians. Anyways, not a true rumor….as I am now married to one of the guys I “wouldn’t” talk to from church.

After reading this book, it helped me realize why I felt unimportant at the mega church.

At a busy mega church, the pastors are always running around. There are too many services at 6 services a day, and too many people to truly love on them all. There is no time to love on the people attending, tithing, serving, and giving to the church.

The goal is the vision, and the vision is growth. The more the church grows, the more it can keep growing, and the more people it can hypothetically reach.

But what I realized reading this book is that mega church’s just continue to perpetuate a lack of quiet time, and a lack of space.

John Mark left the mega church that he started!! Really, from my outside perspective – it seemed like it was his father Phil and him that got it going in the first place, but he had to leave it all behind to find rest for his soul.

This Christmas 🎄 has me at home. I’m not in the crowds Christmas shopping due to the pandemic.

I am moving at a much slower pace, and I’m finding that I have time now to reach out and have coffee or hot apple cider with a friend and share stories with one another.

When I’m not hurried or rushed, I just have more time for love and to give love to others.

We are all born with the knowledge of selfishness. No one has to teach us how to be selfish. We just know that we have to take care of ourselves.

But when we are rushed, hurried, and preoccupied with ourselves, we have no time to be loving to others.

The world teaches us to go conquer the world. Your worth is based upon your accomplishments and how much you accumulate.

But is that really the life we want to live?

I have seen millionaires die at a young age of 65, never having rest for their souls. Working every weekend tirelessly. Never truly resting, always building and forging the pathway forward.

I saw my own father do this, and so I grew up thinking that this was just “the way.” We work ourselves to the bone and that’s how we know we were successful.

But is it really the way, or in John Mark’s words does, “success really look a lot like failure.”

He gives a really good example in his book about how even Jesus had to get away and let himself be still in the quiet place, and there he found rest for his soul.

Are we a failure if we work less weekends? Are we a failure if we work less Christmas eves?

OR

Have the big brands and marketing taught us a lie? Have they really actually caught our attention to believe to truly be happy then we need to get the newest Apple products, new sheets, the best kitchen remodel, nicest house, etc.

When all we really need is REST.

My favorite part of his book is this:

“Sabbath – a spirit of restfulness.

• Margin vs. Busyness
• Quiet vs. Noise
• Deep Relationships vs. Isolation
• Enjoyment vs. Envy
• Trust vs. Anxiousness
• Work as a contribution vs. Work for accumulation
• Time alone vs. Crowds
• Delight vs. Distraction
• Clarify vs. Confusion
• Gratitude vs. Greed
• Joy vs. Melancholy
• Contentment vs. Discontentment” list from John Mark Comer’s book the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry