Comments (1)

By Dave ©, June 21, 2007 7:55 am

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a big fan of Andy Stanley, Senior Pastor of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. To celebrate Father’s Day this past weekend, Lauren and Carmen gave me two Andy Stanley DVD series: Playing God and Simply Irresistible. What made these two gifts even more special was that I hand-picked them from :Connections, the bookstore at North Point Community Church. We drove down to Atlanta for a long-weekend to meet Charlotte, Kevin and Micah and, of course, to visit North Point and see Andy preach.

Although I’ve read just about every book he’s written (or co-written) and have listened to just about every one of his sermons in the past couple of years, I had never seen Andy Stanley speak in person. I assure you, the experience was truly amazing and unforgettable. But before I get to Andy’s sermon, let me first explain our experience heading up to it because it was also special.

10:25 AM. We arrived at North Point (Perhaps a little early but I didn’t want to be late for the 11 AM service). Before we entered the building, we were greeted by a woman. I asked her where we need to go to take Lauren and Carmen to Waumba Land. She responded, “Follow me. I’ll take you there.” Within a minute, we arrived at the entrance to Waumba Land. Our hostess handed us off to the Waumba Land greeters, and then (presumably) headed back to the front door to greet others.

10:35 AM. After the girls were safely in their respective rooms, we headed to the east auditorium to find a seat. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be late. While there were still plenty of seats available, the auditorium was quickly filling up. We found seats just to the right of the primary video cameras on the main floor, about half-way to the stage.

10:52-ish AM. The “10B4″ video started. I have to be honest; I don’t remember much of the video except for “Cooking with Hal.” I was too enamored with the technology and the video itself (camera work, lighting, editing, multi-screens, etc). It was exceptionally well-done (and Hal’s cooking looked great too!).

11:00 AM. The service started. The worship band led us through two songs and we quickly moved into the baptismal portion of worship. Really powerful testimonies from two people.

Sometime after that Andy started speaking.

The sermon, which was based on Proverbs 27:12 (The prudent see danger and take refuge but the simple keep going and suffer for it. NIV), could essentially be summarized as, “Direction determines destination”, or where you are heading will determine where you end up. I’ve also heard it said, “If you want to go to Texas, don’t go north.” A few points that I remember include:

• If you get lost driving and have to backtrack, you waste a few minutes or hours. If you get lost in life and have to backtrack, you could easily waste seasons, years or decades!
• Relationships are always moving. Never evaluate a relationship based on where it is. Always evaluate it based on where it is going. The prudent see danger and take refuge but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
• Regarding finances, the borrower is slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). If you are a slave today because of consumer debt, you will be a bigger slave tomorrow if you just keep going. You want to be more generous but you can’t because you are a slave.

Since direction determines destination, I need to:

• Do something. Take action. I can’t just keep going. I must change course when I see danger. I must take refuge.
• Sacrifice. I need to give up something now so I don’t have to live with regret later.
• Expect embarrassment. Most people will not understand and may think I am foolish.
• Prepare to sigh in relief. The day will come when we’ll be able to look back and see the danger that was avoided. When that day arrives, we’ll breathe a sigh of relief.
  As he does in many sermons, Andy inserted the Best Question Ever to use as a tool. “In light of my past experiences, current situation and future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?” (Based on Ephesians 5:15-17)

He closed by giving us a great prayer: “Lord, please help me to see danger long before it arrives, give me the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.” Lana and I have been praying it together everyday since.

12 Noon-ish. The service ended. We picked up the girls from Waumba Land. I must be honest. We have never seen Lauren as excited about Sunday school as she was this past Sunday.

Thanks Andy and thanks North Point! We had a great experience this Father’s Day and I assure you that Lana and I will keep praying, “Heavenly Father, please help us to see as You see. Please help us to see danger long before it arrives and give us the wisdom and courage to do something about it.”

Thanks Charlotte, Kevin and Micah. We had a great time with you this week!