With Excellence

I am a student of one of the greatest teachers of excellence that I know. I've learned a whole lot from my Pastor, mentor and friend, Pastor Dan Vera, What I've learned most is that excellence must be a standard that we always keep ahead of us in anything we do for God. Excellence is as plain as black and white. Sometimes excellence means you must play hurt, other times it means suck it up and get the job done all the way, but one thing that excellence always is, "Doing the best that you can, with what you have"

Just moments ago I text some of my team and I brought up a question that we ask now and then to grade our level of excellence. "Can you see the heart?" Here the answers I got back:

1) Getting back...
2) No, I feel disconnected
3) I feel like everything is moving too fast
4) Vaguely

Why am I showing this too you? Why am I exposing our current struggle? Why am I being so vulnerable? Because, You can't do anything excellent if one ingredient is missing, HEART, and all of our hearts have a way of straying. Life, schedules, jobs, problems, family, stress, etc. all of it has a way of affecting your heart and if your in ministry like I am how do you continue to do things with excellence when your heart is under all of that? Truthfully you can't, and if you try, there will be this unsatisfying feeling in your gut because heart was missing. I'll be honest I hate that feeling. I can't stand to think I'm wasting time, life and energy because I can't find the heart.
So what are we going to do?
Maybe under difference circumstances, but we've been here before, so we know what to do. We may be tired, stretched thin, and even burdened with some stuff, but we know where we want to go, and where God wants us. We know how to find heart again.

I know with that simple text just moments ago, people are beginning to think, regroup and prepare to encourage one another. I can hear the question now, "How's the heart?" Can you see it? Can you feel it? Can we pray about it? If excellence is your standard, find the heart, don't wait, find it now. Say a simple prayer and ask God to help you get back on track. David's prayer in the bible was this "I will not offer to God that which cost me nothing"

Anything with heart involved will cost you something, but in the end, it cost you more if you live without heart. Find the heart again and live excellent.