Invested in people

One of the things I admire about Paul is that he invested so much in those he ministered to. In Romans 1:9 he talks about how day and night he prays for them and their needs.
I'm so blessed to be able to work with such a great group of incredible Christians. One of the things I want to be able to do is pray for you specifically. I pray for all of our leaders regularly, and I'd love to be able to pray for your specific needs. Please be sure to let me know if there is something going on in your life that I don't know about and you'd like me to pray about it with you.

Known throughout the World

In Romans 1:8, Paul commends the Christians in Rome because their faith was becoming known throughout the world. When I read this, I wondered, how could that be? Today, it's easy for the whole world to know things, with the internet, tv, and all. Back then, not so much. For the whole world to know about the faith of these people, something incredible must have been happening. There obviously must have been a major change happening in and through them that was making people take notice! They definitely were not keeping their faith to themselves. This makes me ask myself, is my faith known throughout the world? Probably not. But a good place to start is by my faith being known by my family and in my neighborhood. I know most of my neighbors, and have at least talked to them, but what kind of positive impact can I make in my neighbor's lives that they will take notice of my faith in God?

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I'm so thankful for all of you and pray that you and your family have a wonderful time together. It always seems to be a busy time, but I hope you all get a chance to relax and spend time enjoying this special day with your families, remembering just how incredible it is that Jesus came to earth to be our Savior.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Time #2

Christmas is such a great time, and with all the busy-ness it is easy to get distracted from the whole reason we do all this to begin with. Last Friday our church hosted a concert called Behold the Lamb of God with a bunch of artists I'd never knowingly listened to before. They told the story of the coming of Christ, starting with Moses and singing about promises and how they were fulfilled with the coming of Christ.
I have to say that for me, it was one of the most powerful worship services I've ever been a part of, even though it was technically a concert. Interestingly enough (and without offending anyone I hope), I have never left a Christmas program more focused and in awe of Christ and what He did for me. With all the troubles our nation and families are facing, many have had a hard time getting into the "Christmas" spirit. This concert put me in the Christmas spirit for probably the first time this year, all because it reminded me to focus on Jesus, coming down from heaven, becoming human, and making the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be saved.

Christmas Time!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! For me, anyway, the busy time is winding down and it's almost time for Christmas. The first 3 weeks of December seem to be full of parties, open houses, musicals, and other Christmas events. I got to host my last Christmas party (that I know of) last night and it is my favorite one of the year. Our Children's Workers Christmas Party is one of the highlights of the year for me, and I hope for a bunch of other people too. We had a great time eating delicious food (I've got to thank whoever invented the 'potluck' dinner, that was incredible stuff!) and played Dirty Santa. It's always fun seeing people fight over cheap gifts for a little while, offending and getting offended, and then leave smiling when it's over! I appreciate our volunteers so much, and God is blessing our church and ministry in so many ways, I can't think of a group of people I would rather spend time with at Christmas than those who I get to serve with each and every week! Thanks again everyone!

Charlie bit me!

A couple weeks ago I was tipped off to this video clip, many of you may already have seen it, but it's definitely worth watching. Gotta love kids!

"Charlie bit me" has become a big deal in kid circles. I asked kids during my visits to the schools about it, and each group immediately started acting out the video. It's amazing what captures kids attention and imagination. I've got to find a way to use this in our kids ministry...

Loving God loving us 3

John 15:12-14 has Jesus telling his disciples to love others in the same way He loved them. Then he goes on to say that the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. Jesus said this before he went to the cross, so he was obviously (to us) foreshadowing his own death, which his followers still didn’t quite understand yet. Obviously after his death and resurrection, they probably remembered him saying this and it made more sense!
It got me thinking, when Jesus said to love others like he loved us, what would it mean for me to lay down my life for a friend? Maybe putting aside some of my selfish ambitions to help a friend? Taking time out of a busy schedule to talk with someone I know is hurting? Maybe giving sacrificially, out of things I may want or even need, to help someone who needs it. These all seem good, but they still don’t seem like they’re ‘laying down my life’ for a friend. If you’re reading this, I’d love to know what you think are some ways we can ‘lay down our lives’ for our friends, and by that love others as Christ loved us.

Loving God loving us 2

How did Jesus respond to the love his Father had for him? He obeyed him! Jesus says to remain in him (John 15:9-11) by obeying his commands. Sometimes we think about obeying in a negative way, like “I’m not going to do this just because so-and-so asked me to!” But Jesus says that he tells us to obey him so that we will be filled with joy. Not burdened or weighed down, but full of joy! I know the most joyful times in my life are the times that I do what I know God wants me to do. It may not be the easiest thing all the time, or it may be out of my comfort zone, but when I do something that is directly obeying God, I am filled with joy in a way I would never experience if I chose to ignore what He wanted me to do.

Loving God loving us

Jesus said that he loves us like his Father loved Him (John 15:9) When I read that, it took me back a little bit. How did God the Father love Jesus? I can relate to the love a father has for his son, but my ability to love isn’t even close to God’s. And then Jesus loves us the in the same way. I’m so grateful for a God that loves us so much and cares about every situation going on in our lives.

Producing fruit #2

Another thing about vines and branches is that a branch cannot survive if it’s cut off of the vine. You won’t ever see a branch on the ground, not connected to a tree, with a bunch of good fruit on it. The spiritual fruit that God wants us to produce (read Gal. 5:22-23) cannot happen just because we want it to. We will only produce this kind of fruit if we stay connected to Jesus.
Sometimes we start counting on other stuff (money, discipline, relationships) to do great things in us or through us that only God can do. Apart from Christ, we can never bear fruit that will last. If we stay connected to Him and his Word, great things will happen for the glory of God.

Producing fruit

This week I’ve been reading in John chapter 15, so I thought I’d just share some things God’s been teaching me in my quiet times with Him.

Jesus talks about being the True Vine, and God being the gardener. I believe we are the branches on that true vine. The thing about branches is, if they don’t produce fruit, they don’t belong on the vine. This made me think about our tangerine tree.
Producing fruit is a natural part of being a tree. There’s not much I need to do to get our tree to produce tangerines. I can’t remember a time I went out and begged that tree to produce some tangerines. Sure, I could add fertilizer or trim the dead branches, but for the most part, I just sit back and watch and about this time of year, we’ve got tons of tangerines to enjoy and share.
As Christians, I believe it ought to be natural that we produce spiritual fruit. It can’t be forced or faked, as my pastor once said, that'd be like taping grapefruits on an oak tree, but with God living in us, the natural result should be that we produce much fruit.

Being Thankful #3

I’m also thankful for people God has put in my life. I’m thankful for friends that I can talk to and just laugh with and have a great time. I’m thankful for my pastor and the privilege it is to serve him. I’m especially thankful for all the wonderful people who are ministering to our children at church. One of the things Gaynel and I enjoy most is just spending time with the people who are so kind to partner with us and the Lord in ministry to children. I’ve got so much to be thankful for, the hardest part is remembering all of it! Make an effort to do that, and thank God for all of it! Have a blessed Thanksgiving and thank you, thank you, thank you, for all that you do!

Being Thankful #2

Sometimes it can be hard to be thankful. Last week we were having ‘house’ problems. As in appliances breaking or malfunctioning. We had a dryer go up in flames (literally!) and on the way out the door to church Saturday found out that something on our refrigerator broke and had flooded the kitchen. These unexpected surprises really had me wondering why I should be thankful for them. What I realized was that I’d better be thankful that God allowed us to be home when they happened, so we didn’t come home to a house that was burnt down or flooded! It also made me think about and be thankful for the material things that God has allowed us to have, such as a house and reliable transportation. It also made me thankful again for my father-in-law being a good handyman. I was also thankful that APSCO had a refrigerator technician available to make a house call on a Saturday night. Look for things to be thankful for, even when things seem to be going wrong.

Being Thankful #1

This week of Thanksgiving really is one of my favorite weeks of the year. One reason is that so much of our family comes into town for this holiday. Not only do we spend time ‘lingering’ on Turkey Day, that ‘together’ time extends for the rest of the weekend. We don’t do a whole lot, but just being able to sit around together is such a nice change of pace for those few days. I want to take time to be thankful for my family. God has blessed me with not just an incredible wife and 2 great kids, but a loving extended family that I married into who treat me as if I was part of their family all along. No matter what might be going wrong in my life, I want to thank God for blessing me with family!