SQUIRREL...!

We have been looking at Nehemiah for the last few weeks focusing for the most part on the nature of his prayer and perseverance. It seems at every difficulty he turns to God in for strength and direction. The last chapter we tackled dealt with some pretty neat problems solving principles about staying focused on the task at hand. One of my favorite movie characters comes from the movie Up. It is the dog, Dug, who can talk. This dog is beautiful illustration of our first principle: staying focused on the goal. It seems everytime Dug gets some traction, something grabs his attention, "Squirrel!" This of course is funny for the audience, but we all know how this can happen. In Nehemiah 6:1-2, Nehemiah is tempted to get sidetracked from what he knew was God's vision for his life. Something that looked really important was placed before him. Maybe it was important, but was it really God's best for him? That is the question we need to address on a daily basis, maybe multiple times. The writer of Hebrews tell us to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Many other times in scripture we are told to maintain our focus on God's word and ways then we will know His will. How easy is it to become short sighted and loose track of the vision? I would say extremely! This is where Nehemiah gives us another principle to guide us through tough times. Sometimes the focus is directed from an outside force. In the case of Nehemiah, it was a few people making false accusations about him. There were two types accusations made about Nehemiah, both are destructive if not dealt with correctly. The first was an exageration which made him look better than he was. The second was designed to make him look bad. In both cases, Nehemiah faced them with the truth. He knew what the truth was, but not only that, the people around him trusted him to tell the truth. Look at the first lie: the wall is complete. Nehemiah was being tempted to lie to himself and others and believe the wall was done, when it was not. Now it seems a tiny oversight, but if Nehemiah agreed with the lie, the next lie, the one intended to bring him down in front of all his people would have been a hard one for all to get over. Facing any lie with the truth is important. If someone is going to lie when the going is good, how much more will they lie when things are going bad? Look how this all connects: Good things said about us exagerating our abilities can lead us to think more highly of ourselves and get us off track with God's vision. This is in the same way degrating gossip can lead us down to self-destructive tendancies getting us off track yet again. How do we deal with all of this you may be asking? This leads us to the next practice of Nehemiah: prayer and dependancy on God. This is the only way to keep a healthy perspective on life in this deceptive world in which we live. Our daily prayer for strength and wisdom should lead us in the direction of Christ and not away from Him. One final thought, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 give us the nature of where we should focus. Our wisdom and hope needs to be in Him who has become both for us, Christ Jesus. If you are going to boast, boast in the LORD.

Honesty, Chaos, and Other Things

As I sit and contemplate the past week of my study in Nehemiah, one thing hits me: how easy Nehemiah takes everything. I'm not saying it is easy for him, don't get me wrong. There had to be a time, maybe not captured in his account when he felt alone and isolated (even among his own people). From the account however, he seems to have unswerving faith in the God of Heaven. In this week's readings from chapter 6, one idea I looked at was the simple act of honesty. Part of me goes back to the song by Billy Joel and know its such a lonely word, but what we need in this world. Honesty in the little things seems to be the easiest to break. Those little white lies we tell so not to hurt feelings or show how scared or worried we might be. I have to tell you: those might be the easiest to tell, but they are also some of the most difficult to recover from. Take Nehemiah; in the first verse of chapter 6 his opponents say the wall is complete. The truth of the matter was the wall was not complete and Nehemiah faced that lie with his first words by telling the truth, "the gates have yet to be put into place." He could have entered into the lie and continued the lie, but at what cost? I think the hope and prayer from Nehemiah was that God would bless the decision made to correct the lie and so bless the construction of the wall. Makes sense to me. So what does this do to the everyday? When we look at the reasons why we compromise the truth and inflate reality to make ourselves look better what does it really do? We may think it doesn't harm anyone but ourselves, but what is the fallout. The other night I watched the original Jurassic Park. I really loved the book and the movie was great too, but I was taken aside by the mention of the Chaos Theory. I will admit, when I read the book I got really hooked on this Theory's idea of everything being intertwined. In the movie, Malcolm is trying to explain the theory to another scientist. He says something along the lines of, "a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil and it causes a rain storm in New York." Now, this is not exactly what he said, but get the point here...the little white lie you tell someone through the course of your day could eventually lead to the destruction of the relationship to the person you lied to. That little compromise leads to bigger compromises. I looked at King David and his act of indiscretion with Bathsheba(2 Samuel 11). Not an act of indiscretion, but sin led him to a cover-up scheme, then to a murder, and to another cover-up scheme. Each time the lie escalated to a greater sin. It was not until Nathan rebuked David did he seek forgiveness. If David had been honest with the temptation the beginning, he would not have needed to deal with the sin in the first place. He is still human as one young lady would tell me in my church. Yes indeed! Back to Billy Joel's words about honesty...it is such a lonely word. Sometimes when we stick to the truth it is unpopular and causes us to feel like we are all alone with no where to turn. I know by experience and trusting in God, He will honor the truth every time. Yes it may not be the most popular thing, but it is the only thing. As we finish Nehemiah 6, there is a rumor started about him making plans to become king and people are coming to kill him. Now I assume word got out about this, but because Nehemiah faced the truth at every turn, it was stopped and people did not believe the rumors. He was not willing to compromise what he knew to be true from God. It was not easy to stay true for Nehemiah, but it is some much easier to keep track of the truth and trust God's got his back. I think it would be a better place to live in this life if we all kept our eyes fixed on the truth. The undeniable truth of God.

Getting Started with Nehemiah

Restarting my blog after a number of years has been a difficult thing to do. Its always been out on the web, but a place I just never go. Earlier this year, I did a study in the Gospels just before Easter. I also wrote a complementary devotion and study to go along with it. Many of the individuals participating did not want it to end. However, trying to keep up with writing a daily devotional for 30 days was hard to keep up. But lately I have been feeling the urge to begin again, just not on the grand scale I was keeping up before. So, here I am. A little different format, but I will keep up at least once a week. I have been reading preaching and teaching a study in the book of Nehemiah. He is one of the greats when it comes to leadership in both the Bible and the world. It has been a good number of years since I last did any teaching out of Nehemiah, and I have gained much insight in the present study. One of the amazing things I don't think I picked up on before was Nehemiah was not a church leader. He was a normal business guy doing a job for the king. Minding his own business, when someone called on him. At this point in the book, it was not God who called on him personally. It was a few of his countrymen who brought a problem to Nehemiah. Whether or not he could do anything didn't seem to be the question. The Scripture says when Nehemiah heard the report of how terrible his homeland was falling apart, he sat down and wept, mourned, and fasted (Nehemiah 1:4). He did not stop there. The next step was to take it to the LORD in prayer. I am teaching about Nehemiah the man of prayer and perseverance. This is what defined him as a leader and should define us as followers of Christ. Many times in his own teaching, Jesus told his followers to persevere and stand up under trials and difficulties. My favorite of these passages is John 16:33: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." There is so much more the book of Nehemiah will tell us, but most importantly to take everything to the LORD in prayer first. I guess to follow prayer, is to wait expectantly for an answer. We have to keep in mind the answer is sometimes yes, sometimes no, and many times wait. There are other answers, but for me the hardest is the waiting.

If you have been keeping up with the Olympics the past two weeks, you have certainly seen some really great feats of athletics. There have been victories and heartbreaks; gold medal celebrations and silver medal sadness; vows to return and some to retire. It is fascinating to me all of the athletes who talk about their four years of preparation for this single moment in time. Take the 100 meter race for instance: Usain Bolt trained his whole life to run for just 9.63 seconds. Even in the 200 meter, at twice the distance and time, we might call his behavior over the last four years as insane. Let just speculate a little: even if he just trained a normal 8 hour day for six days a week (taking the Lord ’s Day off), he trains 172,800 seconds a week just on a run that takes less than 10 seconds. Obsession…I think so. We could calculate this out for all of our Olympic hopefuls and we would come up with much the same story for all the athletes and how they train. What is it like to come in second? To be just off the pace enough to be what many would call the first looser? I watched a short segment on the NBC coverage of the Games and to me it was a bit disturbing. When asked of the Silver placed winners how they felt to take second place, many responded with how awful they felt and disappointed of themselves they were. Then they brought in the Bronze medal winners and their attitudes were totally different. They were very thankful for the chance to be on the podium and represent their country at the Olympic Games. All that training and sacrifice and it come down to three individuals on the podium receiving medals; I would think that the athletes would just be happy they get to take home anything. With so many athletes competing for just those three medals, I sometimes wonder why they do what they do. Is it for the chance to stand on top of that podium and hear your National Anthem, or is there something more. There are more than 10,000 athletes competing more than 300 different events (about 900 medals given out). It has to be more than just winning medals. All this talk about the Olympic Games, takes me to the Hebrew analogy of our Christian walk: “Run with endurance the race marked out before you.” The word there used for endurance means patiently and consistently keep going. I found a little encouragement in the Silver medalist words that their race wasn’t good enough, and they will keep training until that Gold medal is around their neck. Paul is quick to remind us of how important it is to run the race well: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize (1 Cor. 9: 24). Many people get caught up in the Olympic spirit so much that when it is all over, they will experience a sort of post-Olympic depression. Much of the reason is there is nothing left on the television, but much of it is that we forget we are all in a race. God has marked out the race before us. Are we going to run the race worthy of the prize? Or are we just going to sit on the couch and watch the others run their races? Paul uses this language in many different places, and never states that resting is an option. Keep going, never letting your guard down and run your race.

As we go along in our busy lives worrying about the world’s problems and how we are going to make it through this latest heat wave, we may often forget about the need for reaching out to others in their times of need. In most churches across the country, there are members who for one reason or another cannot get to worship service on a regular basis. We try to include them in many ways. For example, CD ministries, TV/ radio programs, phone calls and the list can go on. I believe all of these ways to stay attached are important and not to be forgotten, but nothing seems to work better than the face to face visit with those who need to feel attached to the body of Christ. I know it is easy to forget about those who don’t make it out to our worship services. As I go about my days, it is not always a priority to me to see those that are shut in and unable to get out on a regular basis. There is always a great reward for me when I visit the needed, whoever that may be. I am reminded of Jesus’ emphasis of this in Matthew 25, "For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me." They also will answer, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?” He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." I hear good things from our North Grove family about visiting. There are many in the family who get out on a regular basis and make it a point to visit, shop, or bring a meal for those who are in need in our family. There are a number of things we can do, not just the above listed, and I think we do an okay job of keeping connected. What we have looked at as the elders and myself is we need to be more deliberate in our approach to taking care of needs. It seems to be easy to give money to something and hope that someone else will do the work, but money is only part of the process. We need to get involved on a personal level. Paul tells us in Romans 12 to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. In other words, get involved! There are many of us who have the gifts of mercy and hospitality who enjoy going to visit, talk or even just listen to those who need to feel attached to the body of Christ. I urge you to pray about this. I have given a bit of information on this issue and two people have come forward to express interest in participating in this type of ministry. Is God calling you to be a helper? Let me know as I continue to pray.

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” Luke 8:15 God can instantly do many things for us, but most often, the work of God involves waiting, patience, perseverance, and a span of time. It’s a lot like physical conditioning. We all want a magic pill or some belt to wear while sleeping, when in fact, it actually takes time, perspiration, and intentionality. There are no shortcuts or drive-thru lines with God or for our mid-life bellies. We have to put in the time. Since entering my 40s, I am paying more attention to my health. I exercise five days a week. Most days, I do not feel overly motivated or excited about the putting time in doing the exercise experience whether at the gym or at home, but out of discipline, I put in the time. I know that if I eat less fried food and more green and orange stuff, I will feel better and live longer. Day by day, week by week, over the course of time, I feel the benefits, though not always instantly. As Americans, we tend to lean toward the instant, just-add-water methods of health. We want our fitness like we want our food - packaged and ready right now. In fact, most of us would probably starve to death if our driver's-side window ever broke. We worship microwaves, but God tends to lean toward marinades. It is only in the last 50 years that Americans have lost touch with this idea. Our ancestors understood the process of food production and were less bothered when a restaurant actually cooked the food after it was ordered instead of retrieving it from a rack under a heat lamp. Waiting was not seen as a curse; instead, the chasm of time actually allowed people to relax and talk while others cooked and served. It was a treat to get a reprieve from kitchen duty. The crop Jesus mentioned in the above verse came only after someone had plowed the soil, planted seed, waited patiently for the rain, diligently pulled the weeds, and then was willing to wait patiently for germination. Waiting on the unseen takes faith, and that is exactly why God does not always give us the answer in an instant. He wants us to put in the time and then trust Him when His work is seemingly invisible. We must allow due time and space for worship, working, and unhurried conversations with those we love. The way to the harvest is most often in a waiting room and less often on a freeway. I cannot guarantee flat bellies for everyone, but I can guarantee that God is always faithful, especially to people who are willing to persevere. As we have been going through the faithful in Hebrews, I think it is wise that we take time to notice just how long some things can take, but in Gods’ time, He works all things together for good for those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

The Walls Between Church and Community

In Matthew 23, Jesus tells his disciples: “Be careful so that you don’t build a religion and in the process build walls.”

Having started the New Life Community Center, I have been doing a lot of reading and research on the different walls between church and community. Some we didn’t even know we were building. Here are three types of walls we have to tear down.

#1 The Wall of Weirdness: Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hell-bent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation, it makes perfect sense.” We think it makes perfect sense to people, but from their perspective, it’s just weird. Stories of guys being swallowed by giant fish. Red Sea being parted. Virgin birth. Jesus being crucified somehow forgives sins?

Levi, also called Matthew, one of Jesus’ disciples, figured out a simple way around the Wall of Weirdness. He threw a party for his friends who were not following Jesus. In fact, Jesus’ reputation was tarnished for even attending this party with so many people known as the worst sinners in society. (Luke 5)

We might say that we don’t discriminate and that the people in our sphere of influence are always welcome, but are we being proactive?

We’ve created networks to remove the walls between our community and us. We gather for social events, learning opportunities, and to work together to meet spiritual and physical needs in your immediate vicinity. Medium size groups are a more natural place to connect with people. They are spiritual families. Networks are all about helping you do what you really want to do – remove the church weirdness for you and your friends.

#2 The Wall of Hypocrisy: In ancient Greek societies, hypocrites were actors. Rather than having a large cast to perform a play, there were only a few actors, but they switched multiple masks in order to play various roles. A hypocrite is someone who wears a mask, who preaches one thing, but does another. Church hypocrisy bugs people who are outside the walls.

We represent Jesus to those near us. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says: “You are the light of the world so let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Wall #3 – The Wall of Indifference: We never meant to create a wall between the church and the community, but the more we ignored real needs right in front of us, the higher the wall towered between us. James 4:17 reminds us: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” When you have a strong sense of the right thing to do, but you equivocate, you leave it for someone else to do and walk away, you’ve violated your conscience. The pain of other people is our business!

In Matthew 10:5-8, Jesus says, “God intervened in your broken life; now it’s time for you to get involved in the brokenness of others.” With our families, small groups, and networks, we can make a difference in the lives of others far beyond what we could do on our own.

There are real walls between the church and the community. We don’t notice them because we are so used to being on the inside; we forget what it’s like on the other side of that window. Tear down the wall of weirdness. Decimate the wall of hypocrisy. Break through the wall of indifference.”

Welcoming Visitors to Church

Smaller churches have a distinct advantage over larger churches in welcoming first-time guests. First-time guests are easily recognizable since the regular attendees know everyone.
What can a smaller church do to be more effective in welcoming those people? The following are four effective initiatives in welcoming first-time guests:
1. Demonstrate practical hospitality.
The strength of smaller churches is relationships. Take advantage of this by encouraging members to not only greet first-time guests but also to include them for lunch or in your home.
• Simple gestures of introduction, invitation, and inclusion can pay enormous dividends.
• Friendliness is expected; hospitality shows you care.
• Friendliness is the first step; hospitality is the walk that welcomes people into the church.
2. Welcome without commotion.
A fine line exists between being friendly and being desperate. And I don’t know exactly where that line lies. Smaller churches, since they know who the first-time guests are, will often go overboard in welcoming an individual or family.
This gesture of friendliness can be misinterpreted as being overkill for your guests if too many people make too much “fuss” over the new people. Treat a first-time guest how you would want to be treated when you visit a place for the first time. The next initiative may help...
3. Employ a two-minute offense.
Since everyone knows everyone in smaller churches, the opposite tendency is to speak only to your friends or family, leaving the first-time guest alone. A way to break this behavior is to encourage members to speak to guests before they speak to friends immediately before and after the service.
In a first-time guest’s mind, the most important time of a church service is the few minutes before - do they feel welcomed, and the few minutes after the service - does the church care. Simple gestures of smiling, a handshake, introductions, invitations to lunch, to play softball, etc. will go a long way in making first-time guests feel comfortable.
4. Repair, replace, or remove the cracked mirrors.
Cracked mirrors in our homes, if left that way over time, are often overlooked and ignored. (The mind plays a trick on us and we don’t notice the crack any longer.) Show that same cracked mirror to someone, seeing it for the first time, and the crack is glaring and obvious.
Churches have cracked mirrors that have become overlooked and ignored to its members. The cracked mirror may be something as simple as the frayed carpet in the foyer or the hollow sound system in the sanctuary to something more complex, such as the kind-hearted person who is overbearing and obnoxious to new people or the music leader who sings every song at the same tempo.
Cracked mirrors need to be repaired or replaced or removed. To a first-time guest, these “cracks” are glaring. They cause the newcomer to question, “Why doesn’t someone do something about this? Doesn’t the church care? How could this church be so blind?”

Home Pastors Articles for Pastors

I'm not sure what to think about this; I found this while looking for sermon illustrations...New iPhone App Forgives Sins Penance, a new iPhone app, allows users to confess their own sins and absolve the sins of others.
Penance, a new iPhone app, allows users to confess their own sins and absolve the sins of others with anonymity. In a story from the Religious Dispatches, the app is reported to require every user to play the role of both sinner and saint as they trade ‘horns’ and ‘halos’ from their accounts. The app allows users to select from seven sin categories they wish to confess—one for each of the Seven Deadly Sins. The details of the user’s sin is anonymously sent to other iPhone users, who then reply with a description of the 'penance' that the user must carry out to be forgiven. The iPhone app owner’s description says that the app is “structured to create a self-sustaining community rather than be a simple whiteboard for posting confessions.”

What do you think: In your view, is the Penance app harmless fun, a dangerous device, or somewhere in between?

Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise

I found this story on the 53x11 Coffee website and though I should share with the masses.
That cup of coffee that many gym rats, bikers and runners swill before a workout does more than energize them. It kills some of the pain of athletic exertion, a new study suggests. And it works regardless of whether a person already had a coffee habit or not.
Caffeine works on a system in the brain and spinal cord (the adenosine neuromodulatory system) that is heavily involved in pain processing, says University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Robert Motl. And since caffeine blocks adenosine, the biochemical that plays an important role in energy transfer and thus exercise, he speculated that it could reduce pain.
So the researcher, a former competitive cyclist, divided 25 fit, college-aged males into two distinct groups: subjects whose everyday caffeine consumption was extremely low to non-existent, and those with an average caffeine intake of about 400 milligrams a day, the equivalent of three to four cups of coffee.

Unexpected results
After completing an initial exercise test in the lab on a stationary bike to determine maximal oxygen consumption or aerobic power, subjects returned for two monitored high-intensity, 30-minute exercise sessions.
An hour prior to each session, cyclists - who had been instructed not to consume caffeine during the prior 24-hour period - were given a pill. On one occasion, it contained a dose of caffeine measuring 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to two to three cups of coffee); the other time, they received a placebo.
During both exercise periods, subjects' perceptions of quadriceps muscle pain was recorded at regular intervals, along with data on oxygen consumption, heart rate and work rate.

"What we saw is something we didn't expect," Motl said. "Caffeine-naïve individuals and habitual users have the same amount of reduction in pain during exercise after caffeine (consumption)."
The results are detailed in the April edition of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Co-authors included Steven P. Broglio of the University of Illinois and Sigurbjorn A. Arngrimsson of the Center for Sport and Health Sciences, Iceland University of Education.
"Clearly, if you regularly consume caffeine, you have to have more to have that bigger, mental-energy effect," Motl said. "But the tolerance effect is not ubiquitous across all stimuli. Even brain metabolism doesn't show this tolerance-type effect. That is, with individuals who are habitual users versus non-habitual users, if you give them caffeine and do brain imaging, the activation is identical. It's really interesting why some processes show tolerance and others don't."
Regarding the outcome of the current research, he said, it may be that tolerance to caffeine plays no role in the way it diminishes pain during exercise.
Motl said one of the next logical steps for his research team would be to conduct studies with rodents in order to better understand the biological mechanism for caffeine in reducing pain.
"If we can get at the biological mechanism, we can begin to understand why there may or may not be this kind of tolerance."
Will it help you win?
Motl previously has conducted other studies on the relationship between physical activity and caffeine, and considered such variables as exercise intensity, dose of caffeine, anxiety sensitivity and gender. A future research direction might be to determine caffeine's effect on sport performance.
"We've shown that caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics. But does that reduction in pain translate into an improvement in sport performance?" he said.
Meanwhile, the current research could prove encouraging for a range of people, including the average person who wants to become more physically active to realize the health benefits.
"One of the things that may be a practical application, is if you go to the gym and you exercise and it hurts, you may be prone to stop doing that because pain is an aversive stimulus that tells you to withdraw," Motl said. "So if we could give people a little caffeine and reduce the amount of pain they're experiencing, maybe that would help them stick with that exercise."

Jeremiah Study

As we near the end of our study in Jeremiah, there have been a few things to keep in mind. We started off in a pretty strange way by getting the understanding of how we are to live. Jeremiah 12: 5 really gives us a good idea of what God want from not only Jeremiah, but from us as believers in Christ as well: How can you compete with the horses if men have worn you out? Looking at the first twelve chapters, understanding God’s point of view here may be a little harsh. Jeremiah was being attacked physically, mentally and spiritually. Why would our heavenly father treat him in this fashion? For the simple fact that Jeremiah needed to be in God’s will for the long haul. Paul tells us that we need to run the race as if to win the prize and not all are willing to do that (2 Cor. 9:24).
Jeremiah learned much about doing things God’s way not by depending on his own strength. Not only did he follow God’s will, but we also found out there were “friends” who would look after him. Jeremiah knew when to accept help from others. The Egyptian, Ebed-Melek, came to Jeremiah’s aid at just the right time and was eventually rewarded for his efforts in saving Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:16-18).
Jeremiah was not just a preacher, because he actually believed what he was preaching (Jer. 32). We wonder all the time what it would be like to hear the voice of God. Would we know it was really Him? Jeremiah had the type of relationship with God that at times was frustrating. We can see at time he does indeed get anger with God, but he never stays there. He was always willing to trust. Think back to when God told him to buy his uncle’s field in Anathoth. It seems like the perfect time to not buy real estate, but here is Jeremiah doing just what God told him to do. No matter what the circumstance (prison) or what was sitting on the land (Babylonians), he was willing to go with God’s plan and not his own.
We also had Jeremiah’s big show in the Temple (Jer. 35). The time God told him to go out and invite the Rekabites over for dinner and offer them wine to drink. Now the Israelites knew all about the Rekabites and wondered what Jeremiah was up to bringing them into the Temple to eat. But it was very much Jeremiah’s style to go big or not at all. One of the Rekabite ancestors told them not to drink wine, so they didn’t. When it comes to the Israelites, God’s word told them exactly how to live, yet they decided it wasn’t good for them and went their own way. The Rekabites were a great example of doing the right thing because they were told to do the right thing.
My favorite image from Jeremiah is when he was told to go to the Potter’s house and see what was going on there (Jer. 18). Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hands, house of Israel (Jer18: 6). Just because we make a mistake and don’t do what God best is for our lives doesn’t mean that it is over. Just as the potter did not throw away the malformed clay, God will not give up on us. Romans 8:38-39 tells us: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can rest on this understanding.

As we finish the final preparations on our 150th Anniversary celebration a few things have come to my mind. Reading the history of how the church was carved out of stone, loaded on horse drawn wagons, and prayerfully placed together gives me a real life image of Jesus telling Peter, “On this rock I will build my church.” (Mt 16:18) Jesus was not telling Peter he would be the human leader of the Church, but it was the faith of Peter Jesus was talking about; much like the faith of our forefathers who struggled and toiled to build this church.
In a world of fast food, digital cameras, and 900 channels on the television, it is great to see how the faith of our fathers has truly stood the test of time. North Grove Church has seen many changes in the world. From the first mission project sending clothing, supplies and Bibles to the troops and their widows in the Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, both the Korean and Vietnam wars, the fall of Communism, the New Millennium, and now in the uncertainty of our own nation’s financial well-being this church has been a house of worship.
How many lives touched by countless blessings given in the name of Christ we will never know. There have indeed been lean years in this church, but the faithful maintained their focus on God and God did not disappoint. What a blessing God has been to this church. As we look back at this heritage, it may be easy to say it doesn’t get any better than this. The good old days were great and it is hard to top them, but we are not yet finished. We still live in a broken world. A world in desperate need of God’s love and grace. We are the agents of His love and grace. Hebrews 10:23- 25 gives us this call: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
We need to maintain our course into the next 150 years. I have talked to many of you who remember the good old days like they were yesterday. (I only wish I had your memory.) We need to realize we are setting a foundation for the next 150 years. Of course none of us will be around to see it, but think of all those picture and memories we pass on to the next generations. We want all who come behind us to find us faithful as well (1 Cor 4: 2). This is a great milestone to be celebrated, but pressing on toward the goal, with memories in mind, to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus should be our prayer and goal for those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I recently finished this book by Donald Miller and it was all about what he learned while editing his life for a screenplay and movie. I have yet to see this movie, but the idea of this book struck me as very interesting. What drew me to the book originally was the cover, and it became so much more as I began to read it.
As the author was going through his life he realized he could not remember much of his life and all that he did was gone from his memory. Not only that, but he found out he was not living the epic story that makes a great movie. As I was reading Donald's story I have also been studying Jeremiah's struggles with doing what God called him to, a prophet for God's word among the Israelites. Jeremiah 12:5 states, "if you are getting tired of running with men, how are you ever going to run with the horses." At this point in Jeremiah's life he was being pursued by men who really wanted him dead. He went to God and expressed his complaint and got God's reply.
If we just walk through life without a purpose or plan we have no motivation to do anything. This kind of life can get rather monotonous. God has called us to a specific plan and purpose, Psalm 139 talks about how God knit me together in my mother's womb and He knew me before creation and purposed us for His glory.
I guess the question at the end of all of this is, "Are we living up to the potential God has planned for us?" Everyday brings its own set of problems, but how we react to them is most important in life.

Response to The Shack

I have just finished reading a book, The Shack, which has some controversy attached to it. Without giving away the story a man, Mack, has a devastating event in his life which forces him to battle what he believes about God. The event caused Mack to succumb to what he called the Great Sadness. It is a depression that encompasses his entire life and affects his relationships with his wife, children and friends. The question the book is trying to answer: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? It seems like a fair question. When something bad happens we all want to scream out to God and ask why. It seems only normal to blame the Creator for the mess of the world.
The book does a good job at answering this question and one of the more interesting parts was about what God expects of us. We all live in a world of expectations; whether we are failing, meeting or exceeding them is another story. Someone in your life has failed your expectations. Sometimes we pray to God and He fails our expectations. When we sin we feel as if we have failed God’s expectations. But what does God really expect of us? This is the part where we list all of our great spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, Scripture, worship and any number of things we try to do. We might even get on the 10 Commandments wagon and say, “God expects me to keep those in my life.” I find it interesting that when it comes to God and what he expects of us, the Bible is pretty quiet. I think we see a lot of rules in the Bible that tend to confuse us into thinking God is conditional and wants us to serve him and do all kinds of acts of service in His name. This would be the time to say not by works shall you be saved so that no one may boast…it is only by (God’s) grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Even though we know this, there are times when we feel as if we have not been living the life God has planned for us and something bad happens to us and we feel judged by God. What did I do (or not do) to deserve this?
What God wants from us is relationship with Him. This is not a thing, but a verb an action. We set rules because rules are a lot easier to deal with than relationships. Rules tell us where the boundaries are, but in relationships it may be hard to define boundaries. Rules give power those who set them to enforce and judge those who fail to carry them out. God is all-powerful please don’t miss that, but He is not about lording guilt and shame over us when we don’t follow the rules. The Scripture says that anyone who calls on the name of Christ will be saved Acts 2:21). We are set free and because Jesus came down from his throne to dwell and have relationship with us that through His death and resurrection we are forgiven. The only thing we need to do is accept the free offering of God’s grace. We enter into a relationship with God through the acceptance of Jesus in our lives.
I stated above that relationships take work, but not works. To have relationship with God we need to spend time with Him. Not just some time, but all of our time. Our lives need to be about building relationship with God. Everything we do should revolve around this relationship with God. The Bible doesn’t teach us to follow rules; it is a picture of Jesus. While reading God’s word gives us a picture of God’s character and what He may want from you, we have to remember that none of it is possible all on our own. Life and living are in Him and in no other. We cannot live the righteousness of God all on our own. Rules may seem a lot cleaner than relationships, but rules will never be able to love you and rules will never answer the deep questions of the heart. Relationships were instituted by the very presence of God. Before there was any creation, there was a relationship in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Before we get all down on ourselves for not having enough relationship with God, remember that God is not into guilt. And finally the only one to get this right was Jesus when he came down to earth, yet this is the potential we all have, because Jesus was one of us, but had perfect relationship with God in the same chaotic world in which we live.

Missions Trip to FL

Yes I know it is hard to go from the deep freeze of the mid-west to Florida in the middle of February, but sometimes you just have to suffer for Jesus. It started out pretty cold, but by the time we got back on the plane it was 74 degrees. Very nice. Of course, we had to come home to a snow storm...Oh well it is still winter.
Myself along with 10 others from both North Grove and Crossroads Church in Polo went to New Tribes Missions Homes in Sanford, FL. This is a retirement facility for missionaries that served with NTM. Pretty cool place. We were "hired" for a roof and some siding work, both of which we did not finish, but we did get close. We ran out of shingles for the roof, and more where 2 weeks out. It did not seem fair, but it happened. It was a good week. We did get to visit R.C. Sproul's church. Kind of cool since I have read a few of his books. Our contact with NTM is Wallace and Barb Pouncy who have been supported by North Grove for somewhere near 30 years. They are a great couple with some wonderful stories of meeting tribes in the jungles of South America. Including Wally getting speared. Not fun, but very much a Christ centered couple.
For those of you interested, my wife has a blog as well chronicling her difficulties with this strange mysterious health conditions she has. Check it out: href="http://it-all-can-change-in-a-day.blogspot.com/">

End of my time with GT

It is a sad state. I just received an e-mail from the GT Dirt Coalition that the team has ended. I was really looking forward to racing for them again this year, but looks like I won't. I really enjoyed racing my GT and showing it off at the races, but I will continue on, probably still racing my GT cause I don't have anything else to ride. Thanks GT for the great ride!

Couldn't the sun just shine?

It seems like forever since the sun made its presence known to those of us in the midwest. We had a brief spot of sun today, but so far it is filtered through some grey dismal clouds. It is hard to get used to the weather here in the north again. For 5 years we lived in southwest Missouri and this time of year we had pretty good weather, but this snow from Thanksgiving to Memorial Day is too much. Yes I know I exagerate, but it feels true.
We finally got around to buying a new car. This has been a 3 1/2 year process(since our son Corban was born). We did only have a VW Beetle and with the way we have kids we did not have any notice so buying a car was not really possible. For the first six months, we had both kids in the Beetle alone. We finally found a Ford Focus and we had that for almost 3 years, but it never really fit us well. So we decided it was time. It is so nice to have room to move in the car. Traded in the Focus and got ourselves a minivan. Yeah, we are one of those people now. I swore I would never own a minivan, but having two kids has changed my mind on the whole subject. It is a nice Pontiac Montana with the DVD built-in. Can you say road trip?

Great Expectations

At Church, we started a new small group last night with the younger couples. I call them the younger mainly because of our kids age, but also in their marriages they are fairly young. Joy and I are the oldest with 14 years in, but our kids are 3 and 4, so we fit right in. It was a good start and part of our lesson was talking about the desires we bring into our marriages. Whether it is all of a sudden or over time, when we get announced as man and wife, these desires become our expectations for the marriage.

Expectations can come from anywhere: TV, media, books, parents or others marriages. These sign of an expectation can be, "Well that's not how my parents did things!" Of course it can be any number of ways, but expectations can be detrimental to a relationship. If our spouse does not live up to the expectations we can get conflict. Conflict is just a nice way of saying having a fight. This is an option for expectation not being fulfilled, but it does not always end good unless we know that the conflict is not going to end in someone taking off and saying, "Enough!"

We talked through some of the different solutions for expectation, but we ended on the perspective shift of fighting for our marriages. It is not enough to fight for our marriage. We are in a relationship with another person. We need to fight for the other person, just as the other person should be fighting for us.

It is never easy to have a one-sided relationship, because it is not possible. It's in the definition: one-sided is not a relationship. Our prayer is for our group to become more we centered and fight the temptation to be I. Working together to strengthen our marriages with the strand of 3 cords making sure Christ is the third strand.

Lost at Sea

I realize this may sound like I really am lost at sea, but really it is just a sea of busyness. I have not written anything in 2 months and right at the moment I do not have the time either to sit and be very creative, but Christmas and new years are over for another year and we have jumped both feet into the January blahs. It seem that this time of year is the hardest for me to get out of bed and do anything simply because of the lack of sun light pouring in my face. It is always nice to have a sunny day to sit; letting the sun energize me. More of these times are needed for me.

For those interested, I was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Church Alliance this past Sunday. It was a great service and I thank everyone that came out and supported me. Most important was my family. I really need them there for this stepping stone occasion. I also need to thank Pastor Pat for coming out and making it a great Spirit-filled event.

For now, we must all go forth and combat evil doing our best to see God's will and follow His ways.

Baileyville 5K

It was a cold day in Baileyville, but a good day for running (if there could be such a thing). Running to me never seems very daunting until I actually get going. 3.1 miles didn't seem like a lot until I turned the first corner and looked up the hill we had to climb. If that wasn't bad enough, a headwind blowing right in our faces all the way up that mountain. My mind fast forwarded to the end of the race, "I get to come down that hill." That was a good thought and it kept me going for a little bit. Knowing there were only two guys in front of me helped also, but one was about 12 years old. I caught him half way up the hill and led him for most of the race, but he caught me in the end. Feeling a little inferior, I reminded myself of the fact I had not run since the beginning of September. (This was all to apparent the next day with pain.)

It was good to get out and run for a good cause. The reminder from the Baileyville Reform Church comes from Isaiah 40: 29-31:
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

This is good to remember whether running a race or living our life. Trials come regardless of whether we put ourselves in them or not. God's promise is that he will be there to be our strength if only we put our faith in Him.