The other day I went and checked the mail and in the mail was a pamphlet from Texas letting me know the end of the world was going to be this week! (Thanks for the warning!) Some guy had looked in the Bible and figured out the secret countdown for the world's expiration date and it is on May 21, 2011.
At first, I was so relieved because I have A LOT to get done, and if the world is ending then I don't have to do most of it! However, I know that even though I am not guaranteed to wake up on May 22nd, the odds are I will. So I continue to plan and work and look forward to my vacation next month! I have decided the end of the world is not a good enough reason for let up on the tasks God has given me for this day, this week, and this year! No matter what some guy who misuses Scripture to prove whatever point He is trying to make.
It amazes me, this guy could know something which Jesus did not even know. The Scriptures clearly says it is not up to us to figure the times or dates of the these things. I have got enough stuff going on in my life which requires my time, energy, prayer, and focus without having to worry if the world is going to end this week or next week or next year or whenever. I just try to remember Christ is coming back and I just need to be ready when He does, whenever He does.
So, on May 21st, I will be getting ready for May 22nd, Sunday, to worship the God who has all these things under control!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
"Worn Out and Worn Down" or "No Rest For the Wicked"
This morning I woke up to go do my workout for the day, and something very unexpected happened. My body said, "I don't think so!" I argued with it and started to get ready to leave the house, but every step I took was labored. My body just refused to do anything I wanted it to. I knew what I needed to do. I just needed to go back and rest and give my body a break. And as fun and easy as it sounds, it was hard just to admit I could not workout today. I had to admit to myself it did not matter how strong, tough or determined I think I am, I had to rest.
There is a stigma against resting. We tend to think of rest with laziness. We tend to think if we are not constantly pushing, moving, or working then we are failing as people or believers. However the Scriptures plainly say there still remains a rest for the people of God.
Rest is an important part of our physical and spiritual well being. Physically, rest gives the body time to rebuild and recoup in order to be stronger and healthier for the next time demands are placed on it. Spiritually, rest gives us time to just be with God. Rest is necessary as we strive to reach a lost world with the Gospel. There are times when God just wants to build us up and allow us to be ready for the mission God has planned for us.
So this morning I slept in a little, for tomorrow I get back to work. So, kick back and relax a bit. Then get back to work. You'll be better for it.
There is a stigma against resting. We tend to think of rest with laziness. We tend to think if we are not constantly pushing, moving, or working then we are failing as people or believers. However the Scriptures plainly say there still remains a rest for the people of God.
Rest is an important part of our physical and spiritual well being. Physically, rest gives the body time to rebuild and recoup in order to be stronger and healthier for the next time demands are placed on it. Spiritually, rest gives us time to just be with God. Rest is necessary as we strive to reach a lost world with the Gospel. There are times when God just wants to build us up and allow us to be ready for the mission God has planned for us.
So this morning I slept in a little, for tomorrow I get back to work. So, kick back and relax a bit. Then get back to work. You'll be better for it.
Friday, April 15, 2011
"Afraid For Our Lives" or "Is It Really All That Bad?"
I have been getting really down lately. Every time I turn on the TV, all I see is the bad news going on all around us. Gas prices are going up again, wars in the Middle East, bickering in Washington, and on and on and on it goes. Then I had to stop myself and think about it for a second. Hasn’t gas been going up for years? When was the last time there was peace in the Middle East? Has Washington EVER been peaceful? Yet we are all up in arms because the loudest in society is drawing our attention towards it!
I have had the pleasure of hearing many people talk about what God has done in their lives lately. The stories which I hear everyday are quite amazing! In a different part of the Kentucky, teenagers are changing a county because of their love for God and their enthusiasm in reaching their friends regardless of the obstacles the “grown-ups” at church put in their way! Friends and family of mine are selling their houses and possession because they are headed out to reach a lost world for Christ! This Easter, people from all walks of life are reflecting on what the Cross means to them and their lives! People from all over the country have left home and family on order to train at a Bible College so they could be useful for the Kingdom of God! And the stories just go on and on and on. These are just the stories I have heard this week alone!
So next time, the news gets you down and the troubles of this world seem overwhelming, just remember that under the noise, a real movement of God is happening! All you have to do is open your eyes and see it! (And turning off the TV might not be a bad idea either!)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
"OOOHHH, Look Shiny!" or "I Don't Suffer From ADD, I Enjoy Every Minute of It!"
One of the things that have shaped my life is the fact I have ADD. I didn't know I had ADD until about 10 years ago, because when I was a kid there was no ADD. You were just a hyperactive kid or unfocused kid! But I have learned over the years how to live and actually thrive with my ADD. Then a couple of months ago I found a new therapy for ADD. I refuse to take the prescription drugs so this therapy relied on Vitamins and Supplements. I took them and within a week I notice remarkable changes. I was more focused, less distracted. I slept easier. The "voices" (most of them mine) quieted. It seemed the a great solution!
One problem though, I never realized how much I had grown to depend on my ADD. I kept telling Steph things were too quiet. I couldn't come up with answers quite as quickly! I would be so focused I could no longer do 3 things at once! In short, I hated it!! I went off the therapy immediately and now appreciate this "abnormality" in my life. I love my ADD and what it allows me to do. Sure I would to be able to sleep more and easier, but I won't give up what it allows me to do while I am awake! Even as I write this blog I am busy with 3 others things. I am preparing my sermon for Sunday, learning Russian, and checking on my garden.
There will always be things in our lives we will not like about ourselves, but they make us into who we are! They mold and shape us into the people God wants us to be. Embrace the flaws! Celebrate abnormality! Enjoy the dysfunction! You might just find out you would miss them if they left!
One problem though, I never realized how much I had grown to depend on my ADD. I kept telling Steph things were too quiet. I couldn't come up with answers quite as quickly! I would be so focused I could no longer do 3 things at once! In short, I hated it!! I went off the therapy immediately and now appreciate this "abnormality" in my life. I love my ADD and what it allows me to do. Sure I would to be able to sleep more and easier, but I won't give up what it allows me to do while I am awake! Even as I write this blog I am busy with 3 others things. I am preparing my sermon for Sunday, learning Russian, and checking on my garden.
There will always be things in our lives we will not like about ourselves, but they make us into who we are! They mold and shape us into the people God wants us to be. Embrace the flaws! Celebrate abnormality! Enjoy the dysfunction! You might just find out you would miss them if they left!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
"Can't We All Just Get Along!" or "We Are The World"
Many years ago, a group of musicians all got together and recorded a single of which the sales were to go to the starving kids of Africa. Everyone alive during that time knew the song and could recite it with ease. The concept of the lyrics were considered to be idealistic and probably unsustainable in world with hate and strife. Even still, it gave everyone hope that maybe, just maybe, the world could unite for this one moment, and perhaps carry it on to others avenues as well. Of course this never materialized, but the sentiment was admirable.
A couple years ago, God was speaking to me about the need for the churches in the area I am serving in to unite and worship together. Little did I know, God had placed this same desire in 2 other men as well. Through a series of unlikely events, we all met and decided to hold a Creative Arts worship service for any church who wanted to be involved. I had heard this was impossible. I had heard we would go strong for 6 months then it would fizzle out. But God had a different plan.
When we started, we laid out a few ground rules.
1st, no sermons. We wanted to focus on those things which would unite us, not divide us. When you have a sermon, it is very likely a lot of people will disagree with the interpretation of the Word of God and thus they would not return.
2nd, Unity would be achieved through accepting those things which were different, but not wrong. We have African-American Churches, Rural churches, and white city churches all in the same service. So in this same service, you would have urban Gospel dancing one moment followed by a quartet of southern Gospel, followed by Skits and dramas. You just never knew what to expect! But we made should to celebrate our diversity. They aren't wrong, just different!
3rd, We would emphasize the fact that Jesus is the head of the church. And We, all of us,are the church! Different styles, One Savior! Different Locations, One Church! Different Look, Same Family! The World will know you are mine if you love one another!
As a result, we have grown and grown and grown! So much, the places we normally have the services are too small! Henderson County churches are coming together in record numbers, 2 years later!!! Now, we have churches partnering together in ministry that have never even spoken together before! They are even performing at the services together. God is doing a cool thing, and we seeing God use this thing He created to reach people who would have never heard before!
So let's continue to get along! Let's continue to serve with each other! Let's continue to realize we are not in competition, but rather we are on the same team!!!! All for the Glory of Jesus!!!!!
A couple years ago, God was speaking to me about the need for the churches in the area I am serving in to unite and worship together. Little did I know, God had placed this same desire in 2 other men as well. Through a series of unlikely events, we all met and decided to hold a Creative Arts worship service for any church who wanted to be involved. I had heard this was impossible. I had heard we would go strong for 6 months then it would fizzle out. But God had a different plan.
When we started, we laid out a few ground rules.
1st, no sermons. We wanted to focus on those things which would unite us, not divide us. When you have a sermon, it is very likely a lot of people will disagree with the interpretation of the Word of God and thus they would not return.
2nd, Unity would be achieved through accepting those things which were different, but not wrong. We have African-American Churches, Rural churches, and white city churches all in the same service. So in this same service, you would have urban Gospel dancing one moment followed by a quartet of southern Gospel, followed by Skits and dramas. You just never knew what to expect! But we made should to celebrate our diversity. They aren't wrong, just different!
3rd, We would emphasize the fact that Jesus is the head of the church. And We, all of us,are the church! Different styles, One Savior! Different Locations, One Church! Different Look, Same Family! The World will know you are mine if you love one another!
As a result, we have grown and grown and grown! So much, the places we normally have the services are too small! Henderson County churches are coming together in record numbers, 2 years later!!! Now, we have churches partnering together in ministry that have never even spoken together before! They are even performing at the services together. God is doing a cool thing, and we seeing God use this thing He created to reach people who would have never heard before!
So let's continue to get along! Let's continue to serve with each other! Let's continue to realize we are not in competition, but rather we are on the same team!!!! All for the Glory of Jesus!!!!!
"It Takes Time To Grow" or "You Have WHAT In Your Garden?"
We've decided to give it another go this year. We are going to try and plant a garden again. Last year, our lives were very much up in the air that we couldn't do one. The year before that, a family of rabbits decided to help themselves to our garden. The year before that, we discovered God will not water your garden for you and a consistent basis! But with lessons learned, we are going to attempt to grow not just any garden, but an organic garden.
Most of the plants we buy are already started for us and we just transplant them into the ground. But a few, about 30 and counting, are being started from seeds. the ones we are planting from seeds are mostly unusual plants I never knew existed. We have purple, red, and white carrots. Purple tomatoes. Snow white cucumbers. Orange Watermelons. Purple potatoes. White Squash. Spaghetti Squash. And a whole assortment of herbs. (Bet ya want an invite to our cookout now, don't ya???) We do these unusual plants, frankly to keep me interested. I get bored with the usual garden items you can find in any grocer or farmer's market. I need to go beyond that. I need to stretch and grow as a gardener. (pun intended)
But we all need that in our everyday lives. Many years ago someone invented a revolutionary concept which is still being used today to stretch and grow us as Christ Followers. That concept was called Sunday School. It has gone through some changes and evolution over the years. In some churches the name has changed, in others the times and locations have changed, but the concept has basically stayed the same; A small group of people getting together to discover what the Word of God says about how God wants me to live my life today.
It is a wonderful, yet challenging time with a group of friends where we can discuss and help each other work through the issues and problems of our everyday lives. If you are not involved in a Sunday School/Bible Study/Fellowship Class then find one! You'll be glad you did!!!!
Most of the plants we buy are already started for us and we just transplant them into the ground. But a few, about 30 and counting, are being started from seeds. the ones we are planting from seeds are mostly unusual plants I never knew existed. We have purple, red, and white carrots. Purple tomatoes. Snow white cucumbers. Orange Watermelons. Purple potatoes. White Squash. Spaghetti Squash. And a whole assortment of herbs. (Bet ya want an invite to our cookout now, don't ya???) We do these unusual plants, frankly to keep me interested. I get bored with the usual garden items you can find in any grocer or farmer's market. I need to go beyond that. I need to stretch and grow as a gardener. (pun intended)
But we all need that in our everyday lives. Many years ago someone invented a revolutionary concept which is still being used today to stretch and grow us as Christ Followers. That concept was called Sunday School. It has gone through some changes and evolution over the years. In some churches the name has changed, in others the times and locations have changed, but the concept has basically stayed the same; A small group of people getting together to discover what the Word of God says about how God wants me to live my life today.
It is a wonderful, yet challenging time with a group of friends where we can discuss and help each other work through the issues and problems of our everyday lives. If you are not involved in a Sunday School/Bible Study/Fellowship Class then find one! You'll be glad you did!!!!
"I'm Bored" or "I'm Given All She's Got, Captain!"
There is one phrase you rarely hear around my house. It is, "I'm Bored!" Any time the girls use these two words of agony, then the next reply is always, "O.k. I have some laundry that needs to be done", or "I have dishes which need to be wash" or some other household chore just waiting for bored girls to take a hold of. So, now they have learned to suffer silently, quietly wishing things could be better, or at least more exciting.
The church seems to be this way. We have a lot of people sitting in the pews, bored, but afraid that someone will give them a job to do if they would dare utter their discontentment. They are bored with the same old, same old, week in and week out. Every year they know exactly what is going to happen, so they feel no compulsion to get up and do something new or even better.
There is another group in the church who do not have time to be bored. They are busy running in and out scurrying along doing the same jobs they have done for the last 20 years, whether they are effective or not. They don't have time to evaluate if lives are being changed or to even consider if God may want to do something new!
Maybe one of the problems of the church today is our calendars are full of predictable, ineffective activity which has not be prayed over or sought God's advise on. What if we did something so unpredictable the world had to stand up and take notice as we attempt unprecedented steps for the sole purpose of Knowing Him and Making Him Known?
What can you do? What will you do?
The church seems to be this way. We have a lot of people sitting in the pews, bored, but afraid that someone will give them a job to do if they would dare utter their discontentment. They are bored with the same old, same old, week in and week out. Every year they know exactly what is going to happen, so they feel no compulsion to get up and do something new or even better.
There is another group in the church who do not have time to be bored. They are busy running in and out scurrying along doing the same jobs they have done for the last 20 years, whether they are effective or not. They don't have time to evaluate if lives are being changed or to even consider if God may want to do something new!
Maybe one of the problems of the church today is our calendars are full of predictable, ineffective activity which has not be prayed over or sought God's advise on. What if we did something so unpredictable the world had to stand up and take notice as we attempt unprecedented steps for the sole purpose of Knowing Him and Making Him Known?
What can you do? What will you do?
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