Brian Howe

“Good Enough” 

I loathe this phrase…good enough??? By whose standards? This is a term I have been working hard to erase from my hard drive and from the vocabulary of those on our team. The term good enough is always thrown around when you get tired of working or creating. It’s thrown around as an excuse and it is an open admittance that the task or the project you are working on will not receive your BEST effort. 

I think the church world in general has often had the “good enough” approach and it’s time for that to end…Are you settling for good enough? 

Today I had the privilege of hanging out with Marty Holman. This dude gets it! It’s so refreshing and exciting to get to hear what God is doing and shaping at Fellowship Church. I have known Marty for close to 10 years now and have watched him mostly from a far as he has progressed through his years of ministry. Marty has worn a bunch of different hats, from Worship Pastor to Exec. Pastor and now he has his shot at being the Lead Pastor of Fellowship Church in Holden Mass. He is leading a church that is thriving in New England. With so many other talented peeps forgoing the Northeast for other parts of the country I am glad guys like Marty have stuck it out up here and are getting it done! Stop by Marty’s blog and give him some love!

I am sitting in Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga putting my message together…It has been brewing in me and I have all the parts…just putting them together! Every time I have the honor to speak at Nway or anywhere else I get the same feeling. It’s this combo of nerves, humility, fear, boldness, nausea and a few other things. The responsibility to speak from God’s Word will do that to you. Libby is chillin with me, she is the best soundboard, I just bounce my message off of her and she tells me the truth. I am excited for this weekend and trust me my prayer life is caught up. No matter how many times I speak it still feels like the first time! 

Doing what I do, you work weekends. It’s in the contract so Friday’s are my day off and I have really been sticking to actually taking the day off…I usually sleep in until at least 8 and then I just take the day as it comes. I spend a lot of Friday’s alone because the rest of the world works on Friday’s. 

Througout the week I meet with a couple of different guys who I allow to speak into my life and I in turn speak into theirs. Meeting with those guys individually is great but a few weeks ago we decided to merge those meetings into a weekly breakfast where we can throw down some food, attempt at answering life’s questions, and just be straight real with each other. Sounds great right…however the best day and time for these guys is Friday’s at 6:45AM!!!

Today was our first day and I have to admit that when my alarm went off at 5:30 I hit the snooze several times and had some serious thoughts about not going. I’m glad I finally dragged my rear out of bed because I needed this today, it’s great to be a part of something where you don’t have to be the Pastor…you can just be a regular guy trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Jesus, a better husband, better friend etc. It was definitely worth it and I am looking forward to next Friday.

In Genesis 32 the bible tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God…like for real, throwin down. I read the story several times today and it’s kickin my booty. In the end, Jacob’s name is changed to Israel which means God-wrestler. That is quite the title.

We are in the midst of some great changes here at Northway, we are shifting…locations, positions, and so on. And I feel like I am literally grappling with God. Let me be clear, I am not fighting Him or His plans for me. I think there is a difference. I believe God welcomes our wrestling with Him…it’s in that wrestling that we ultimately find that He has our best interest in mind and it’s in the wrestling that we see our strength is found in Him. 

Are you wrestling with aspects of your relationship with God? Do you care enough to wrestle with God?