PAUL OWENS - 10,000 Hours

This past weekend several of the men of the church had the privilege of spending time with a bunch of high school guys on a Chrysalis weekend. Chrysalis is a three day retreat designed to encourage high school aged youth to become faithful followers of Jesus.

Twelve youth, three of which were from Cornerstone spent three days with a ministry team comprised of other high school youth and adults who had prepared for the weekend for more than two months. As with all Chrysalis weekends (both guys and girls), the lives of many youth are forever transformed.

As the weekend came to a close, the youth were reminded that they would soon be going back into the world they broke loose of for three days... and that nothing had changed... the same situations, challenges and temptations would be waiting for them. But what had changed was themselves... their attitudes... their perspectives... their relationship with Jesus and with each other. How I wished there was some way, instead of having three days of being immersed in the things of God, they could have three years!

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book the Outliers, suggests that it takes 10,000 hours of practice before we become really efficient at something. Gladwell implies that success most often comes not from someone's genius or giftedness, but from hard work and practice. It was no mistake that Jesus set aside three years of his life to work and live with twelve disciples. It took a lot of time and work to get the disciples ready for the task of going into all the world to make disciples.

One of the great places to practice, and get your 10,000 hours in, is to commit to be part of a small group. Next month (January 2009), if you haven't already connected to a small group, we will be creating some new opportunities and ways for you to get connected. We must never forget that God designed this journey with him to be done in community with other believers. We can travel alone through this world as a follower of Jesus with the promise of entering through the gates of heaven... but when we enter we will have missed out on some meaningful hours of practice as we bow to worship at the feet of our Lord.

Blessings to you!

Pastor Paul

Cornerstone Church