Once upon an attic

The Church in Europe. Where to start. I guess I didn’t have a clue really about the Church in Europe, I thought it was just like the United States. We’re staying in Western Lithuania and there is a beautiful church down the road that is absolutely massive. I mean I thought it was the Sistine Chapel or something right?... yaa to bad I’m a stupid American and that’s in Italy. Anyway the point is it’s the biggest most well put together building in the whole town of Klaipeda. But guess what.. It’s vacant! They don’t even use it. NO ONE meets there! What the..?

The Reason I’m getting all up in my feelings about this is because I went to church this morning here in Klaipeda. I thought without a shadow of doubt in my mind that we were going to go to that church. I was getting excited when we were driving up the road toward that magnificent building of a “church”, and then we passed it.

We soon arrived to our destination and got off the bus. I looked around for the church and couldn’t find it anywhere. All I saw was a teenager walking into an old hotel with a Nike sweatshirt on. Well one minute later I found myself walking through the same door as the teenager to go to church.

We were greeted by a friendly smile and sent upstairs. Not one, not two, but three flight of stairs and we were there. We made it to the attic of the building. I walked through the “doorway” (a small opening in the wall), and found about 40 people sitting there in their makeshift sanctuary. Our group alone being there this morning doubled the size of their church.

A funny thing happened. That place became more of a sanctuary than any other sanctuary I’ve ever been in my life. We started worshiping in Lithuanian and it almost brought tears to my eyes. These 40 people were meeting with their Lord and Savior. Nothing else mattered to them then to stand at the foot of the cross and cry out to Jesus. There wasn’t a nice piano or huge sound system… just a couple guitars, drums, and broken people praising the Lord.

The local missionary was speaking today. Wow he was something to look at. He was straight from Cali, he had hair to the middle of his back, a foot long goatee, and tattoo’s. He spoke in English and it was translated to Lithuanian which was nice for us so we could understand the service. But my oh my… this guy is bringing the word to these people. Wow he spoke with passion and zeal that only comes from a heart for the Lord. He’ll admit he doesn’t know why or how he is even over here but all he knows is we have to become less so God can become greater. Truly. Have we ever really thought about that concept? Fear. Worry. Does that come from wanting to guide our own lives and make our own decisions? I propose this to you:

If he truly becomes greater in our lives and we become less; then will he not lead us the way he wants us to go? You say “Travis I’m not worried I just don’t want to miss an opportunity God has for me.” I say bless your heart because that’s how I feel… but guess what if God truly becomes greater in your life and you become less that means he will fill you with his passion and love for what needs to happen in your life and/or he will put an opportunity for you to use that in your life. It truly isn’t complicated. Each day look to God and he’ll look to your future. Live one day at a time. Lord knows I can’t handle more.

This also falls into my next thought of the day. I've never taken a class about following. I've taken countless leadership classes.. and how to be a successful leader. But never following. I realized that I get so caught up in leading that I didn't realize I'm missing the whole point. I need to submit to the Lord and to others and follow. Only then will I truly know how to lead. Love you all more than you know.

Trav