What are you listening to...

Just thought I would share what I'm listening to while I work today...

Quote of the day

“In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign,does not declare,'That is mine!'”
Abraham Kuyper quote

Monday morning thoughts

• Yesterday the church had a time of pastor appreciation during the service. Several people had very encouraging and kind things to say about myself and Logan. Everyone was very gracious and you will probably never know just how much your expressions of gratitude mean to the both of us and our wives. Thank you.


• Yesterday I preached on the flow of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives. I was so excited to get to preach that message. As I was preparing it this question kept coming to mind. What if we are not only saved by Grace but we are to live by Grace as well?...and how does that look?
  
• I have started writing this years advent devotions for the Advent season and God is showing me some cool things in the process. (Each one is based out of the Gospel of Luke)


• Today we had our second funeral in three days. I can not wait until Jesus comes and there will be no more death!
  
• Allison went back to work today. That means Micah is with me and so far we are having a fine day bonding. I think he kinda likes my office. (He should...it's looking more and more like his place anyway:-)


• This Wednesday is the fall festival at church. This is going to be a great time of celebrating with the whole church together. Everyone please come out and be ready to have a good time.


• This year Halloween is going to be a trip. I know some people are against Halloween for one reason or another. That's fine...but I'm excited because my little girl is going to be Supergirl...and that pumps me up!

Friday

Today is Friday and I'm looking at the next few days thinking..."Wow, what a weekend." Over the next three days we have 2 funerals and our Sunday morning service. I know this is not the busiest schedule out there by any means. However, when you think about how much each of these things means to people it can be over whelming. Death hurts. It is an enemy. Thank goodness it has an end. In the mean time we must all endure the separation we experience when our loved ones die. These funerals will be more about the celebration of life than the tragedy of death but we could still use your prayers as we walk these families through this.

Sunday's sermon is one that has been on my heart and mind for a while now and I am absolutely pumped to bring it. God is at work and we need to recognize that He will accomplish His purposes. The question is...how can we ride the waves of His Spirit?

Here are a couple of quotes that I came across recently that tie into this whole weekend.

"The Bible without the Holy Spirit is a sundial by moonlight."-D.L. Moody

"In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him."-C.S. Lewis

Have a great weekend and please pray for us that we would be open channels to God's Holy Spirit.

Darkness

I just finished reading Matthew 26-28. I don't know that I have ever read those three chapters straight through together...without stopping. Although, I have to admit, I was tempted several times to stop...take a break...it's so much to take in...really you can come back to it.

The story is dark. To say that it is difficult to read is an understatement. The emotions. The betrayal. The neglect. The abuse. The lies. The mocking. The isolation. The hopelessness. The Crucifixion. The pain. The bitterness. The punishment. The suffering.

The obedience. The grace. The love. The victory. The resurrection. The celebration. The good news. The commission. The promise. The King. The Lord. The Savior.

My description can not even begin to accurately describe all that Jesus went through and accomplished because He loved us and still loves us that much today.

It overwhelms me. I don't deserve it. I never have. Yet He generously pours out His love and grace even today. Wow!!!!!!

I encourage you to read Matthew 26-28 today. Don't stop. Keep reading it. It will be hard to read. It will be difficult to watch as Jesus is punished. However, when you reach the end you will witness a hope and joy victory that is like nothing else. The eternal. The everlasting. Amen and amen.

Monday reflections

• Yesterday was Youth Sunday and the youth ROCKED THE HOUSE!!! They did a great job at presenting the gospel through greeting, drama, music, and the Word of God.
• Aunt Jo's surgery went well this morning but she is in a great deal of pain so they are keeping her in the hospital overnight. Please pray that her pain will ease soon.
• Getting back in the office when you have been gone for a week is harder than it looks.
• Vacation is over and the 1600 calorie/day diet officially begins today...ugh!
• I can not wait for this coming Sunday. I have been rolling this message around for over a month and this week I'm putting the polish on it. I'm am pumped about how God's grace works in and through our lives!
• Traveling with a 3 year old and an infant can add HOURS to your travel time. (...but you get to see a lot of bathrooms along the way...)

seriously??????

So I've been on vacation this week and we have had a great time seeing family and friends. We even had the chance to see some of the fall leaves throughout the mountains. I have actually worn long sleeves all week. The temperature dipped down to the 50's the other day and Natalie was convinced it was about to snow. Ahhh my poor little Florida child.

In any case I was having a great week relaxing when I came across this news story. My first reaction was "SERIOUSLY???". Then I couldn't help but just shake my head and be reminded of other well meaning people who are sooooo guilty of taking things out of context. Whatever your reaction is to this story please pray for these folks because I'm sure there is something more productive they could be doing to build God's kingdom.

Here it is...

The Journey of Giving-3/3

So God woke me up in the middle of the night with a question. I had been working and studying the concept of giving, especially as it relates to our giving to God and His ministry. Most of my thinking up to this point had centered around how much I should give or with what type of attitude I should give. However, here is the question that God brought to mind that really rocked my world.

"What if it's not about you?"

What???? At first I was a little stumped. Of course it's not about me. However, I soon realized that while I agreed that it was not about "me" it was only "me" that I was thinking about. How do I give? How much should I give? What's the best way for ME to give?

I was dumbfounded by my own selfishness.

What if it's really about a Holy and Almighty God who is always giving and refuses to stop giving? What if He is the best at giving and pours out generously based on His love and not our efforts? What if He is simply inviting us to be open to Him so that He may not only pours in us but through us as well?

Then I began to read familiar passage of scripture in a new way as God's giving jumped off the pages.
Read Romans 8:28-39.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
Notice how God gives. Notice what He gives. Notice who He gives. Notice and recognize the giving God.

When I realized that it is actually God who is the true giver and... when I recognized what a holy activity giving was and...when I admitted that my efforts were not adequate to be considered sufficient and...when I confessed and submitted to my Almighty God...He opened a whole new world of giving that I had not known before.

I'm not saying that I have this perfected today but I am saying that God is at work in me, molding me into His image...the image of a giving God.

The Journey of Giving-2/3

Many people take Malachi 3:10 to heart when it comes to their giving. They faithful give their 10% every week or every month or every year. They give it out of obligation, duty, fear, or maybe even worship and love. However, recently there has been a thread of teaching that sees giving a little differently.

People are beginning to point out that Malachi is actually in the Old Testament and we are living in a post-cross, post-resurrection world that is not bound strictly to the letter of the law and the 10% that Malachi speaks of.

At first this line of thinking made me nervous...until God took me a step further in my journey of giving.

In 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 the Apostle Paul is relaying what has been happening in the Macedonia churches. They have been giving what they can and then giving even more! They are so consumed with the idea of giving that they can not even stop themselves. Paul sees this and it is his desire to see that same passion flow through all the believers. In verse 8 he even tells them that he's not commanding them to give but wants to see the desire flow out of their hearts.

Don't give because you HAVE to. Give because you WANT to! Don't be so consumed with the idea of giving 10% to the point where if you don't have it you don't give anything. Give out of your love for Jesus Christ no matter the amount. Give what some would call a "love gift" to God.

Wow! That is so freeing in some ways. To not be consumed with the logistics and calculations figuring up 10% every week. That is awesome! That sounds so much easier to me.

Then in the middle of the night God asked me a question about my giving that rocked my world and I still can not shake. This question took me yet another step forward in my journey of giving...

The Journey of Giving-1/3

When it comes to giving, especially in the context of church, I believe my earliest understandings came from Malachi 3:10. God instructs his people to bring their tithe (or a tenth) into the storehouse. It's the only place that I have seen where God tells the people to test Him and see if He doesn't open up the very windows of heaven and pour out blessing.

Ever since I became serious about tithing I kind of took the approach of "why not". Why wouldn't I give a tenth of my money. After all if God really is almighty and can do anything then let's see what He can do with just 10%. What do I have to lose? I still have 90% to work with.

Even though God has always supplied for my needs I have to admit that I am tempted sometimes to give God less than a tithe. I start to think..."I could make more progress in paying off ______ bill." "I could make an extra car payment." "I could put that much more towards the house payment." The funny thing is that even while all of that is true God brings me back to the fact that He tells me to "test" Him with the tithe and He has never, ever failed any test before and never will. Do I really trust Him to do what He says? Do I really trust that God can do far more above and beyond all that I can imagine?

Sometimes I don't want to give to God. Sometimes I do it out of habit. Sometimes I do it out of obligation. Sometimes I just do it because I'm afraid not to. Sometimes it really is an act of trust and worship. But this is where I started the journey of giving.

Then God took me a step further...

Monday morning reflections

• Yesterday we experienced a great God service. God's word. God's music. God's generosity. God's people. God's timing. WOW!
• Saturday was a great day in the life of WJACC as so much of the church came together for the purpose of celebrating a wedding and a marriage. Congratulations Marshall and Sarah!
• My brother and sister-in-law were visiting this weekend and we had a blast together. Natalie took about 1 1/2 seconds to warm up to both of them.
• I will be blogging some of my thoughts from yesterday's sermon on giving soon so keep watching.
• Quote of the day...this one is for all pastors and worship leaders. "The hour on Sunday can be a time of wonder, a time of transformation, maybe even a time of awe."-Nancy Beach
• Check out this blog from Clayton...it should make all of us pause.

Back to the Basics

I've heard people from time to time say, "we need to get back to the basics". When asked to define what the basics are many definitions surface. A lot of times people define the "basics" as their own personal preferences. However, I do think the basics are not only needed but necessary. What basics do I mean? I think Ed Young does a great job of describing it here.

Who's growing what?

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."

1 Corinthians 3:7 (English Standard Version)

We get so caught up a lot of times on what we are producing. "I have to do this or it won't get done." "If I don't do it no one will." It can become as if we don't think God is actually at work. It's almost as if He has left everything up to us to accomplish here on earth. However, I keep being reminded in God's Word that it is not about me.

God is the one who makes things grow (physically, spiritually, mentally, etc.). He invites me to play a part in it. I may get to water or plant a seed or maybe even be present for the harvest but it is God that does the actual growing. If I don't play a part God will use some one else in the process. He does NOT need me. He wants me. So that we walk in this process NOT out of obligation but out of the privilege of being used by the Almighty God of the Universe.

What is God inviting you to be a part of today?

Monday morning thoughts

• Yesterday's service was "off the chain"! Terry brought a great message, the music was flowing, the people were celebrating and the food was good and plentiful.
• We saw at least 16 people baptized between the two churches yesterday. Yeah God!
• We are seeing groups come together for Bible study and fellowship more and more throughout the church. Who knows what all God is up to...
• I found out that an MP3 player does not fair well in the washing machine.
• A 3 year old IS able to sleep through the night without waking Mommy or Daddy...now if we can do this on a consistent basis...
• Next weeks sermon is going to be a mind-bender. We are going to look at money and finances in a way that I have never preached before. Come next week and check it out.
• Going to a birthday luncheon today...Happy Birthday Uncle Robert!

Random stuff

Here's some links and random thoughts for the day...enjoy.

• Here's some special words about the flow of life here.


• John Ortberg answers who the Spirit is up to here.


• Read Phillipians chapter one today. Ask yourself, "Is the Apostle Paul thankful for the individuals in his life or the work of Christ that he sees in others around him?"
• This coming Sunday we are going to see people baptized! That is Awesome!
• Happy Birthday today MOM!!!!

The Chasing Song

We all chase something in our lives. We chase deadlines. We chase toddlers. We chase dreams. We chase each other. Today God reminded me that even in the midst of my chasing everthing HE chased me and caught me and loves me and will not let go.

Here is a song by Andrew Peterson that I think sums up a lot of what I'm trying to say today. Enjoy.

Isaiah 48:18

Isaiah 48:18 (English Standard Version)
18 "Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;"

God's commands lead to a river type of life. Obedience allows us to flow and be active and be refreshed. A river moves, constantly flushing the impurities and making room for fresh water. Your righteousness will keep beating the shores of life...over and over again. Only God can stop the waves.

The more we obey God's commands the bigger the river...the mightier the wave. If we are seeing little flow or little waves in our lives then we need to ask...is there somewhere or something in our lives that we need to repent of?

God has called us to an intentional life of impact. The BEST way to live that kind of life is to flow with God's Spirit. Now how much impact we are allowed to make seems to be directly linked with how much we obey God's commands. How much we obey God's commands is directly linked with how much we believe God is worth obeying.

What do you believe about God today?
Is He worth obeying?

another quick quote

I know I haven't written much lately and today is no exception. However, I did want to at least offer another quote I came across this week that I really liked. Here it is for pondering...

"He didn't choose you to lose you." -T.D. Jakes

Brief Quote of the Day

“If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.”
John Maxwell

Are you growing today?

Tuesday Morning reflect

I hope everyone had a great day yesterday. We took advantage of Chick-fil-a's free chicken sandwich offer for lunch and loved it so much we almost went back for supper. You gotta love the cow!!!

Sunday's service was a little low in number. A lot of people taking advantage of the Labor Day weekend. I hope and pray you all have been able to take advantage of a little more family time this weekend. We had a great service. The music was hummin' and God worked despite my state of sleep deprivation.

Speaking of which, Micah had his two week check up today and he is healthy and strong. He seems to be changing by the hour. I look at Natalie right now and find it hard to believe that 3 short years ago she was that small.

In any case, enough rambling. Here are some cool links for you to check out today.

• Perry once again has another great, humbling post on leadership here.
• Tomorrow is the free online leadership conference "The Nines". Check out the info here.
• Here's a quote from Duke Ellington-"The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen."
• Clayton challenges with the use of boundaries here.

Have a great day!!!