So tonight is my first official City Council meeting. The last couple of days I have been reflecting on how I got here. I did stick my nose in things a few weeks ago when I offered to do mediation work with the former council. So I take on this assignment with that motivation still in tact. I want to be a man of peace who can function with the wisdom of Daniel in government.
But I did not arrive at this place completely by chance. In a letter to the exiles in Babylon, Jeremiah tells them to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Read Jeremiah 29:4-14 for the whole context) So as an exile from heaven living in Grants Pass it seems fitting that I should seek the peace and prosperity of the city I am in.
My having served on over a dozen boards, mostly of non-profits or service providers, comes from a firm conviction that though my eternal citizenship is in heaven my current responsibility is to the city in which I live and the planet that I am on.
People speak of being so heavenly minded you are no earthly good. When I read about stewardship, good works, honor, and grace it seems that my being heavenly minded should specifically make me of earthly good. In fact, Hebrews 11 talks about people of great faith throughout history and concludes that they were people "of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb 11:38) rather than people who decided the world was not worthy. As Jesus teaches us "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father who is in heaven." (Mat. 5:16)
So while I had not planned to end up with this assignment and had actually resisted this assignment in the past I do not believe I have ended up here by accident.
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