OCC--Al Newell--Global Connect

Today Al Newell came to the podium sporting a pair of Mickey Mouse ears with the instruction, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear," and he had plenty to say.

First he confided, "If they'd offered me 100 tickets on the 50 yard line at the Super Bowl in exchange for ONE ticket here I'd have laughed at them."  Clearly, this Global Connect is the place to be.

Al went on to expound on the High Impact model of volunteer ministry from a framework of the life of Gideon from Judges 6-8.

He first reminded us of the definition of High Impact, "Restoring a biblical model of volunteer ministry and experiencing organization-wide, powerful ministry effectiveness."

It begins in the heart and every principle is biblical.

The word 'volunteer' really means servant or, more precisely, bondservant--one who chooses to the role of a servant.  And the piercing question:  Are YOU (am I) a bondservant of the living God?

Seven Principles:

1)  Jesus loves you and has an impossible mission for His bride.
--100,000,000 with the process of multiplication added in is not far from a billion
--in Exodus 19 Moses gave God's covenant to the people and basically said, "Will you marry me?"  Keep my covenant and you will be my special treasure.  But we easily lose our first love.  In Judges 8:33 we read how easily God's people played the harlot and wandered away.
--Al outlines four temples in the Bible: 1) Moses' tabernacle 2) Solomon's temple 3) Zerubabbel's rebuilt temple 4) the Living Temple (God's dwelling in us)
--When is the time for building?  Set your heart and soul to serve the Lord your God.

2)  God has an impossible mission for you -- If you feel weak and overwhelmed join the club.  God has you right where He wants you--dependent on Him

3)  God does not see you as you see yourself
--God sees you as a masterpiece
--God designed you in the womb for a purpose
--We are priests unto God and have the power of God
--We are living stones and valiant warriors

4)  A little task is a big deal to God
--in Judges 6 Gideon was working at a small task
--Are you faithful to the little tasks?
--Our faithfulness shows our heart

5)  God chooses the qualified but improbable team
--Gideon's army was whittled down to 300 who were truly qualified
--Jesus prayed all night and then chose 12 men who were improbably but qualified

6)  Exhausted but pursuing (Judges 8:4)
--They were 300 crazed lunatics chasing 120,000 Midianites
--One man in God's power is everything
--"Brother and sisters--YOU are those crazy fools"
--You are the pursuers by faith
--Look at examples of the heroes around you and persevere

7)  Finish the job
--Gideon killed the two kings and finished the job
--Jael finished the job

WILL YOU FINISH THE JOB BY GOD'S GRACE?

**Personal Note:  As Al talked about being exhausted I watched an international volunteer sitting in front of me begin to cry.  She was wearing headphones to hear the message via an interpreter so I thought language might be a barrier between us.  I didn't know the exact cause of her pain but I identified with it.  I know what it is to be exhausted, spent, too weak to carry on.  So when the session ended I rushed to her and put my arms around her and we just held onto each other for a long, long time.  She said in English "thank you" and I hugged her again before turning away.  It was just a hug, but it may be the most moving experience of the week for me.