By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
I was honored to preach at Lick Creek COB a few weeks ago. Pastor Bill Holsopple asked me to participate in a series he is doing on “Vision” because he saw me as a man of vision.
It really got me thinking: What is vision? Google defines it as “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom”.
That helped me to understand that I am half a visionary. The ability to think about the future with imagination and wisdom is not me.
It is not in my skill set. However, the ability to plan the future with imagination and wisdom fits me better. Since the term “half a visionary” seems weird. I think I’ll go with being called a Reactionary. I react to what God or someone puts in front of me.
God equips the Body as He chooses. That pretty well eliminates any boasting. 1 Cor 12:11 AMPC reads “All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.”
What I’ve been able to bring to the table since arriving here some 36 years ago is the ability to help those visionaries plan how to carry their God planted vision into reality.
A couple of quick examples are the clothing ministry that Grace Community Church had. It began with Co-Co Sumner. She saw men in the church’s rehab program without many clothes and she started asking friends to donate to help that man.
Word spread that we were taking in clothing (but we weren’t). Soon, I’d have to spend time every morning moving bags of donated clothing from in front of the church’s door downtown just so I could get into my office. In a few years, Co-Co’s passion led to 2 clothing thrift stores and 5-53” semi’s of clothing being sent to missions every year.
My only part was to find creative ways to distribute all the clothing people so generously gave. My second illustration is the toy ministry of Grace.
Toys started coming in as the Sanctuary homeless shelter became better known. Since we housed children, then we most surely needed toys for them. True, toys for 3-5 kids were helpful. But, the toys didn’t stop there.
They kept coming and fortunately God sent Fred and Jean Bittinger who came up with a way to use those toys by having a toy give-a-way. They and their team washed and repaired used toys every Tuesday, year round, resulting in as many as 1,600 children getting toys for Christmas.
My part was finding ways to house the cleaned toys and managing the distribution of them at Christmas.
I have a few of points I’d like to make about all this: First, God provided the vision.
Secondly, God provided the people to carry it out. Third, God provided the resources to make it happen. And, finally, God provided the passion to those called to help fulfill the vision.
2 Chron 16:9a reads “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…” God expects His Church, His Body on earth, to meet the practical needs of others.
What he does is he looks for those who are fully committed to him, those willing to give and sacrifice for him. Then he plants the vision in them and strengthens them to be able to carry that vision out.
It doesn’t say he provides strength for the pew sitters, the moderately committed or the self-centered believers. No, he strengthens those who are wholly or fully committed to Him. Those who are sold out to him.
Those who will hold nothing back from him. When you see those kinds of people, you ought to appreciate them and learn from them…and maybe become one of them.
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.