Monthly Archives: February 2010

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Don’t Give Up!

I had a hard time getting online this morning!  I kept getting an error message and nothing that I tried seemed to work in solving the problem, but I did not give up – I kept on trying.  So many times as we try to live our lives, we will get thrown a curve ball and things will not work out the way that we planned.  I am not talking about the easy stuff like trying to get online.  I am talking about the tough stuff – like life just sometimes being rough and not working out the way we had hoped and planned!

Don’t Give Up! On a good day – life is hard, and on a hard day – life seems impossible!  When times get like this, we are tempted to give in and give up, but don’t you dare do it!  Keep after it!  Here are some steps to make sure that you are doing the right thing!

First, make sure that you are in communication with God. Talk to God about your situation.  He already knows all about it, but loves to hear it from your perspective.  Sometimes, just taking the time to talk it over with Him will lead you to a moment of clarity that helps you to get everything headed in the right direction!

Second, check to make sure that you are not the cause of the problem. We always want to shift the blame, but ultimately – we all bear responsibility for ourselves.  I am responsible for my actions and reactions to life!  It is very easy for us to get out of God’s plan and focused on our very own and very limited agenda.  Make sure that you are where God wants you to be and doing what God created you to do!

Third, enjoy the journey! Life here on this earth is way to short to not enjoy every moment of it.  Don’t let anything or anybody rob you of the special experiences that God has for you in the failures and the victories!

I hope this encourages you today and helps you to get more out of this very special day that God has given you!

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Personal!

Tools Of The Trade!

I love to journal, but must admit that I do not take the time to do it as consistently as I should.  I want to do it and I even find that it is something that I enjoy, yet I sometimes fail to make and take the time for it to happen.

Blessed! God is incredible and has been very good to me.  It is a great blessing to be able to serve Him as a pastor, shepherd, leader through the ministry of His Church.  I can honestly think of nothing else that I would fulfill me.

God’s Amazing Grace! And while I love serving Him, the truth is that there are days that are frustrating and often the load is more heavy that I care for, but God’s grace is always has and continues to sustain me.  I have to come to a place that I wish all of us could come to.  The place of realizing that God has gifted and equipped me for this very thing.  It’s not just that I am good at something – this is who I am and who I was created to be.

Thankful For God’s Calling! My life would be empty and void, if I had to get up in the morning and face life without a calling from God.  I don’t even want to think about it!  The thing that God is teaching me this week is that “He in me is all that I need!”  E Stanley Jones said it best when he said:  ”I need no outer props!”  This is the life I want to live – a life so full of Jesus on the inside, that there is no need for props of any kind, shape or size on the outside.

My Prayer! I pray that God will continue to bless me, by allowing me to serve Him in preparing His Bride – the Church to get ready for His return!

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Treasure Map!

Got Your Treasure Today?

As you wander though this life, you will stumble across many treasures!  Some will be found very easily, while others will take solid and continued effort.  These treasures are not placed upon life’s path by accident.  They are placed there by our Creator and are intended for out blessing and our growth.

Missed Any Lately? How many treasures have you missed out on?  Missed out on because you were not paying attention, or because what was a treasure did not look like a treasure to you?

Life Changing! When you come upon one of God’s treasures and you know it’s one of His treasures, from the very moment of it’s discovery, your life begins to change.  Your focus changes, your dreams increase and your goals grow!  Treasure is important, because it always carries with it the capacity to change our lives.

Matthew 13:44 says:  “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

Kingdom Relationship! One of the greatest treasures that God has given us, is the treasure of a Kingdom Relationship.  He does not give it to us because we deserve it.  He gives it to us out of His grace, mercy and forgiveness.  Because He gives us this Kingdom Relationship, it should change our lives – who we are, how we live, what we do, where we go and the why of everything that we do.

Don’t Waste It! Don’t waste your Kingdom Relationship!  Do whatever it takes to protect it, grow it and share it!  Remember:  It is a treasure and a treasure should bring blessings!

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Figure Out Love?

Me With My Nephew "Willie Joe"!

I have spent a good bit of time during the last couple of months thinking about love.  And I have discovered that love is the solution to so many of our problems.  Love is the answer to so many of our questions.  When we learn to receive love and return love, then we are living according to our created design.  Love is the key that unlocks the door to the possibilities and potential that God has put in each one of us.

When we experience love and express love, we are living in the flow of Who God is!  God is love!  We know Him and experience Him as we allow ourselves to be loved by Him and as we express this love back to Him and others.

Love is one of those words that we throw around with a lot of carelessness.  It is one of those words that we love to go running to for comfort.  Real love is so much more than a word.  Real love is action!  It is the action of getting from God and giving back to Him and others.  If we love God, then we will love others!

I’ve got some work to do on experiencing and expressing love!  I have not got it all figured out, but that is okay because He loves me anyway!  And because He loves me, I am going to work to try and figure this thing out!

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Bummer Day!

The way I Feel!

Have you ever had one of those days when everything starts out good and then it takes a left turn and heads down hill?  That was my day today!  I got up early, had a good time with God and then went to the hospital to try and be a blessing by trying to bring a little peace and comfort to a lady that was having surgery.  Then a headache hit and started to grow and made me totally useless for the rest of the day.  (Have not had one of those suckers for such a long time!)

I can’t stand days like today, because I get almost nothing accomplished on my to-do list.  Which means that tomorrow I have twice as much to get done.  I don’t like it, because it makes me feel useless.  As if the headache did not make me feel bad enough, I then start to beat up on myself because of an unproductive day. And then it hit me!  The reminder of what I already knew!

My day being productive is not based on my to-do list!  My day being productive is based on God’s to-do list!  At the end of the day we may have everything checked off of our to-do list, but if we have not accomplished what God created us for, then that is when we really have a productivity problem.

A to-do list is a good thing!  The most important thing to have on your list is what God wants and has for you to do!  So, the next time you are having an unproductive day, just make sure that you take the time to think about what it is that God has for you to do.  When you discover what God has for you to do, then do it and you will watch unproductive day become productive!

Before I go to bed – I’ve got a few things to do!

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Get Ready For Sunday!

Join Us Sunday!

Looking Forward! I am really looking forward to Sunday!  ”Crazy In Love!” has been a great series!  In preparation for Sunday I just want to challenge you to read Matthew 7:7-11 and take a little time to think about how much GOD loves YOU!

Experience Love! God does love us and while most of us have knowledge of this love, we could all use greater experience!  God loving us and our loving God is about so much more than a list of do’s and don’ts!  He is about you and your life and it making a difference.  He is about you experiencing acceptance, fulfillment and satisfaction of the most amazing kind.  He is about you growing to become the very special creation that He created you to become!

Our Goal! You can know God in a greater way!  And our goal this coming Sunday is to help you know Him in a greater way.  Trust me – this has the potential to change your life and take you to a brand new place of understand and purpose.

Open The Door! Make sure that you are here and make sure that you have invited some others to join you!  It is going to be a great day that has the potential to open the door to many other great days that will be packed full of the blessing of God!

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Funerals!

Live Like You Were Dying!

Funerals! I have attended a lot of funerals lately.  It is an almost continual reminder to me that we are always headed out of this life and into the next, which the Bible teaches is eternal!  A few weeks ago, I was reading “Crazy Love!” by Francis Chan and he hit me with this thought:  Have you ever noticed how really good and special the dead are made to sound at most funerals.

Preacher Talk! We preachers get up and focus on their positive qualities and if we are honest, sometimes accentuate and even puff up the positive, while ignoring  the negative.  We usually end up making people sound much better than they really were!  The funerals that I love to share at, are the ones where I just get to tell it like it is and it is all positive, because the person had experienced God’s love and it changed their life and so they were able to express that love back to God and others with a life that had been changed from the inside – out!

It all got me to thinking about that poem by Linda Ellis – How Do You Live Your Dash!

“I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.  He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning… to the end.  He noted that first came her date of birth and spoke the following date with tears, but he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. (1934-1998)

For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth…  and now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.  For it matters not, how much we won; the cars…the house…the cash, what matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.. are there things you’d like to change?  For you never know how much time is left, that can still be rearranged.  If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never done before.  If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile.  Remembering that this special dash might only last a while.

So, when your eulogy’s being read with your life’s actions to rehash…  would you be proud of the things they said about how you spent your dash?”

A Different Life! How would our lives be different – if we really got up every day determined to make our dash count?  How would our lives be different – if we worked to live a life that made the job of the preacher of our funeral easy?  I don’t want anyone to have to make up anything or exaggerate at my funeral!  I want to live a life that honors and brings glory to God!  I want to love the One Who love me!  I want to experience His crazy and amazing love and I want to express His crazy and amazing love through the living of my life!  I’ve got some work to do!  See ya!

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Heart Prayers!

How To Get Your Prayers Answered! Last time we talked a little bit about the reality that God answers prayers.  We discovered that we need to talk to God and not at God, if we expect to see Him work powerfully in and through our lives.  Today we are going to take a little time to think about the truth that God answers prayers, but it may not always be the answer that you are looking for!

Life is hard! You can do the right things and live the right life and it can still be very tough.  Living a good life according to God’s guidelines does not guarantee that everything will go your way and always be easy.  In fact, you can try and do everything right and still have challenges and frustrations.  The difference for Christ followers is this:  You are never alone!  God is always with you – every step of the way.

God Answers! Just because things are not working the way that you think they should, does not mean they are not working.  God is always at work and often is doing His greatest work when we are not even aware.  When things are not going the way that you think they should, then it may seem that God is not answering your prayers.  Keep in mind that God answers prayer – it just may not be the answer we want or expect, but it will always be the answer that we need!

When you pray – pray your heart and if it is not right, then be open to God challenging and changing your heart!

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Answered Prayer!

Hope Showing Love!

Prayer Talk! Let’s talk a little bit about prayer!  Everybody knows that they need to pray, but most never get around to really doing it.  And those of us that do take the time to pray, often do not do it right!  I am not being critical, just stating a reality that we need to accept, so that we can change and grow in our communication with our Creator!

God’s Answers Prayer! When I read through my Bible, it becomes very clear that God answers prayer!  I think many times our failure to get a response from God is really our failure to talk to Him.  You see – a lot of times we talk at God instead of to God! We talk at God by giving Him our list of request, demands or deals – whatever you like to call them.  Prayer is so much more than just talking at God.  Prayer is talking to God, which means that we talk and listen.  To talk to God is to have conversation.  To talk to God, we have to know His will.  To know God’s will, we have to spend  time in His Word.  If you don’t feel like God is answering your prayers, then make sure that you are talking to and not at Him!

Let’s Work To Grow In This Area! We look at this a little more tomorrow and hopefully it will grow our communication with our Creator!

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My Blessing!

My Grace!

I Am Blessed! I just wanted to take a moment to share with you one of my extra special blessings!  I am blessed with a wonderful family.  Any of you that know me, know how important my three girls are to me.  Joy – my Bride, Grace and Hope – my Princesses!  God has taught me so much though these relationships and has brought me more blessings than I can count.

Bed Time! Sunday night when I was getting ready to go to bed, Joy and I were having one of those conversations where we rehash the day and she told me a couple of things about my daughter Gracie that really worked on me in a good way.

Sunday Morning! Earlier in the day I had preached a message called “Crazy In Love!” which focused on the crazy and amazing love that God loves us with.  I had explained to the congregation that the Holy Spirit had started showing me some things about my relationship with God that I had never really considered and believed these things could challenge and change all of our lives.

Good Is The Enemy Of Great! I have always thought that I had a pretty good relationship with God, but then one day while reading the “Crazy Love!” book by Francis Chan, I heard a song by Beyonce called “Crazy In Love!” and as I listened to the lyrics, she was explaining this intense love that she had that was driving her crazy in a good way.  I could not help, but to think about how love can make you do some crazy things and I started to think about the crazy love that God has for me and how I could and should have a crazy love back toward Him.

On The Front Row! My daughter listened to me explain this on Sunday morning during our worship time and she watched the video where Francis Chan goes into even greater detail.  (The video can be found here:  http://juststopandthink.com/)  When I finished the message and invitation, I explained that we had copies of Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love!”  book in the back for purchase if anyone would like their own copy.

Take An Envelope! There was one other thing that I challenged our church to do on this day.  I challenged them to take an envelope from the back and bring back a love gift to God for His Church the next week, because we had missed the week before due to snow and ice and the budget was tight!

My Blessing! What my daughter did that was so amazing to me – is she listened and obeyed!  She listened to her Dad the pastor and did what he was asking/telling her to do.  She believes in God and she believes in me!  My nine year old daughter went to the back of the church and bought a book – I still don’t know where she got the money!  And she went and got an envelope to bring a love gift back to God!

On Her Own! She did not ask anybody.  She just did it!  And as I lay in bed Sunday night thinking about her faithfulness to God and submission to me as her Pastor, it was a very humbling and moving experience for me.  When I asked her about it later she said:  ”It just made sense and sounded like something that I would be interested in!”

My Lesson! She listened to her Dad, she trusted her Dad and she followed her Dad’s lead.  God has given us leaders to help us to get to a very special place in our relationship with Him and I am thankful to my daughter for reminding me that I am one of those leaders!  It may not mean much to you, but it means more than words can say to me!  It is so amazing to think about where God would take us, if we would just innocently and trustingly follow the lead He provides!