Well Open Range wireless is out of the question. He came up with a 10 foot pole and we couldn't touch the signal (there is a joke there, but not exactly sure how to tell it). Wild Blue will get a call Monday if hte other wireless company does not come thru tomorrow. Michael (@ O.R.)said this could be God working. I laughed. It's not the way I want to be humbled. I guess there is no way I want to be humbled huh. I want everything to just go smoothly :o)
I just got back from Perkins. I had pushed them pretty much out of the picture and planned on Brite, but I keep being led to them. I think that might be the place I end up going, but cost is going to be an issue. I have less in savings than I thought and I got started too late to get in on most grants/scholarships. Perkins is not as liberal as Brite and as for resources, Perkins can't be beat. B ut when this school year will be $2k-$3k more, that's killing me. Brandy said we could put the word out and see about churches and stuff giving. Not sure what that would look like. God does provide.
I went to HEB yesterday. Brandy gave me $20. My total was $22.51 and I had $3 in my wallet.
We need a weedeater. I went and saw Bryan @ Sears and decided on the "cheap" $50 electric one as opposed to the $100 gas one. That was a week ago. I went in today since we got paid and the electric one range up @$39 on sale.
There are others, and unbelievers (or those believers that don't really believe in miracles) would say that it's coincidence. I think it is God working.
On my way back from Perkins today I started thinking about God talking. God does not talked verbally to me. I'm not sure why. maybe I could not handle it. Probably the best way to explain it is he gives me an end game and will guide each action by opening and closing doors for me. I went to visit one of my congregation members yesterday. I told her that when I was in the SWT conference and started working on this ministry process, doors were closed everywhere and I hit way too many roadblocks....I even started wondering if this was what God wanted.
Then we moved to Hutto in the Central Tx conference and all the doors opened and the lights flashed and it all fell into place. Sometimes he is walking beside me....Sometimes he is carrying me....Jesus is always with me.
-Pastor Sean
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
dial up access
Man I am going crazy. Well I think Brandy is going even more crazy than I am. Since moving 2 weeks ago we still don't have broadband. we are a mile outside of Waxahachie and don't have access to cable, can't get DSL, I have trees all around my house and am having problems getting wireless. I have one more wireless company to try and then it's satellite. I've heard good and bad on satellite so not sure. One bad is the up front cost.
We were so spoiled living near Austin. I walked into the Waxahachie library the other day with my laptop and asked how to get on wireless. They looked at me like I was crazy (or from another planet). I can go to Whataburger and get wireless and i can go wireless @ the oilchange place, but not at the library. What's up with that.
I really love this church. they are searching for growth and ready for the changes. I told Brandy that those people who say don't change anything for the first year were wrong here. I'm looking at a contemporary service, youth group, strong men's ministry. I know i will have help with the first and last. the middle I'm worried about. Need some strong prayer on that.
I will write more soon. Need to do some visiting and work on the sermon. Here are the scriptures I'm looking at right now.
Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-2:24
Psalm 130 or 30
2 Corinthians 8: 7-15
mark 5: 21-43
We were so spoiled living near Austin. I walked into the Waxahachie library the other day with my laptop and asked how to get on wireless. They looked at me like I was crazy (or from another planet). I can go to Whataburger and get wireless and i can go wireless @ the oilchange place, but not at the library. What's up with that.
I really love this church. they are searching for growth and ready for the changes. I told Brandy that those people who say don't change anything for the first year were wrong here. I'm looking at a contemporary service, youth group, strong men's ministry. I know i will have help with the first and last. the middle I'm worried about. Need some strong prayer on that.
I will write more soon. Need to do some visiting and work on the sermon. Here are the scriptures I'm looking at right now.
Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-2:24
Psalm 130 or 30
2 Corinthians 8: 7-15
mark 5: 21-43
Sunday, June 25, 2006
June 25 sermon Mark 4:35-41
A pastor is walking down the street one day when he notices a very small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house across the street. However, the boy is very small and the doorbell is too high for him to reach.
After watching the boys efforts for some time, the pastor moves closer to the boy's position. He steps smartly across the street, walks up behind the little fellow and, placing his hand kindly on the child's shoulder leans over and gives the doorbell a solid ring.
Crouching down to the child's level, the pastor smiles benevolently and asks, "And now what, my little man?" To which the boy replies, "Now we run!"
When you are on top of the world, everyone wants to be near you. You have friends everywhere. Jesus is no exception to that rule. The disciples took him in the boat “as he was”. He was tired. He was exhausted. No more talking. Many boats followed.
Why would these boats follow along? I believe it’s because we have a desire to be part of something bigger than us. We get up in the morning, have breakfast, get dressed, go to work, come home, watch some TV, go to bed, start it all again the next day.
But someone comes along who talks with authority, who gives insight into our lives. He tells the everyday truth that many of us know, but the way he tells it.
It’s so compelling. You want to sit at his feet and listen all day. He can dig deep into these everyday occurances like planting and harvesting and giving. His stories are profound and interesting and you can’t get enough.
Do you have an aunt or uncle that is a great story teller?? I remember an Andy Griffith show one time where Opie and the other boys in his class didn’t like history. They thought it was boring. So they went to see Opie’s dad. It was lost in translation, but what the boys heard was that they didn’t need to take history.
Oh the controversy began. The teacher came and gave him a piece of her mind. Really bad communication. But instead of scolding the boys and forcing them back to class, Andy did something different.
He shaped and molded their thinking a bit. He told them the story of Paul Revere and all about the guns, and cannons, and horses. The fighting, sneaking around, mystery and intrigue.
The boys didn’t have to be told what to do. They wanted to learn more about history. They were compelled to search for more.
Well, Jesus was a great story teller. These people in the boat wanted to stay with him. They wanted to be a part of this thing and see where it went. So they follow along in their own boats.
But how fast do they disappear when the storm comes along. We don’t hear anything else about them.
At the end of our scripture reading, Jesus’s boat was the only one that came ashore. Fairweather friends.
It sounds….well it sounds kind of like the Dallas Cowboys doesn’t it.
Tom Landry is coach and they have tons of fans. When Tom is gone, many fans fall off. But oh Jimmy Johnson is there and winning and “The Boys” are America’s team, world champions.
But you don’t hear much about the Cowboys right now. The Mavs are a favorite.
A pastor is walking down the street one day when he notices a very small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house across the street. However, the boy is very small and the doorbell is too high for him to reach.
After watching the boys efforts for some time, the pastor moves closer to the boy's position. He steps smartly across the street, walks up behind the little fellow and, placing his hand kindly on the child's shoulder leans over and gives the doorbell a solid ring.
Crouching down to the child's level, the pastor smiles benevolently and asks, "And now what, my little man?" To which the boy replies, "Now we run!"
When you are on top of the world, everyone wants to be near you. You have friends everywhere. Jesus is no exception to that rule. The disciples took him in the boat “as he was”. He was tired. He was exhausted. No more talking. Many boats followed.
Why would these boats follow along? I believe it’s because we have a desire to be part of something bigger than us. We get up in the morning, have breakfast, get dressed, go to work, come home, watch some TV, go to bed, start it all again the next day.
But someone comes along who talks with authority, who gives insight into our lives. He tells the everyday truth that many of us know, but the way he tells it.
It’s so compelling. You want to sit at his feet and listen all day. He can dig deep into these everyday occurances like planting and harvesting and giving. His stories are profound and interesting and you can’t get enough.
Do you have an aunt or uncle that is a great story teller?? I remember an Andy Griffith show one time where Opie and the other boys in his class didn’t like history. They thought it was boring. So they went to see Opie’s dad. It was lost in translation, but what the boys heard was that they didn’t need to take history.
Oh the controversy began. The teacher came and gave him a piece of her mind. Really bad communication. But instead of scolding the boys and forcing them back to class, Andy did something different.
He shaped and molded their thinking a bit. He told them the story of Paul Revere and all about the guns, and cannons, and horses. The fighting, sneaking around, mystery and intrigue.
The boys didn’t have to be told what to do. They wanted to learn more about history. They were compelled to search for more.
Well, Jesus was a great story teller. These people in the boat wanted to stay with him. They wanted to be a part of this thing and see where it went. So they follow along in their own boats.
But how fast do they disappear when the storm comes along. We don’t hear anything else about them.
At the end of our scripture reading, Jesus’s boat was the only one that came ashore. Fairweather friends.
It sounds….well it sounds kind of like the Dallas Cowboys doesn’t it.
Tom Landry is coach and they have tons of fans. When Tom is gone, many fans fall off. But oh Jimmy Johnson is there and winning and “The Boys” are America’s team, world champions.
But you don’t hear much about the Cowboys right now. The Mavs are a favorite.
Back to our storm. What kind of storm do you think this is?? Some of these men are trained fishermen. They have been on the sea all their lives. Yet this one is big enough to scare even them.
In October 2004 we left Austin for Orlando Florida. Headed to Disney World. Does anyone remember what happened in the fall of ’04?? We left Texas after hurricane Ivan made landfall.
In Alabama we had to take a detour becase an I10 bridge had collapsed. There was no communication in the area. One gas station had a hundred cars lined up to get gas, and another one opened just 20 miles away had 2 customers.
We stayed a week in Florida and then came back just before hurricane Jeanne came to land. People thought we were crazy even going. Stubborn kids I guess.
The wind starts up on the sea. The waves rise. The boat is rocking and water is coming in. The disciples do what they know to do. Batton down the hatches, right. Bring down the sail.
The waves get higher and crash over the boat. Peter yells to James to get the buckets and bail the water out. Judas is running around looking for a life preserver. I think if the movie “The Perfect Storm”.
Do you remember that wall of water the boat went up in that movie. Unbelievable. The disciple’s boat is really rocking now. And Jesus is a great help. He mans the buckets. He ties down the sails.
NO. Jesus is asleep. WHAT!!! How can Jesus sleep at a time like this.
He was tired. He got in the boat with the disciples “just as he was”. Wiped out. He had been talking all day. It’s a long string of speaking engagements.
I went deep sea fishing one time. The water was really rough. On the way back in, after being out all day, I layed down and actually went to sleep, even with all the bouncing around.
When you are exhausted, you can sleep thru a hurricane. After the disciples had done everything they could think of to do, they go to wake up Jesus. “Don’t you care if we drown?” They said we as in Jesus also.
They still did not know who Jesus was totally and we will get to that in a minute. “Do you want to die? Can’t you do something? Grab a bucket.” Jesus got up, RAISED HIS HANDS, and said “be quiet wind, calm down waves.” What power and authority.
The sea became like smooth glass. Sometimes he calms the storms. When the disciples starting thinking about the episode later, they might have remembered Psalm 107 where it says
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.”
They were glad when it grew calm. Then he turned to the disciples.
“Why are you afraid? Do you not have faith?” That word “faith” in the Greek is “pistis”. It is associated with assurance, belief and faith. Do you not have assurance of eternal life that you would let go of this life.
I remember other words of Jesus where he said “those who hold on to their life will lose it, but those who lose there life for my sake will gain eternal life”. That is the faith Jesus is looking for.
Those who will lose themselves in Jesus. Give their all. Be on fire for Jesus. Those who are called Jesus Freaks.
We read in the next verse that the disciples were fearful. They were glad to be saved one minute, but then fearful of Jesus the next.
What kind of power does this man have that he can control the wind and sea? What kind of man are we following?
I’ll tell you what kind of man this was. This Jesus is God. He was 100% man and 100% God. You say “Pastor Sean, that does not add up.” 1+1=1. Amazing God we worship isn’t it. He wasn’t married. He didn’t have a love child like some books might say. And if you want to discuss it, I’m free anytime.
God – the one and only God – is not a Sunday God. He doesn’t want one day a week from you. He wants every day. Sunday-Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs-Fri-Saturday. He looks at you and looks at your life.
He says…”Open your wallet. Do you have money. Give it to me.” Well ok, that’s no problem. “Nice pictures. You have a boat and nice truck.” Oh yeah. We go to the lake every chance we get. “Give them to me” he says. Now hold on a minute.
That’s my boat. I get to work with that truck. Are you married. Do you have kids?? Yes I have a great family you say indignantly. I want them too he says.
Tears well up in your eyes.
Your family is your life. You can’t do without them. You protest. You kick and scream "You can't have them. They are mine." God only looks back at you.
He stares deep into your soul. Where were you when I put the stars in the sky.
Did you tell the waves of the sea they can only go so far? I control the sea and wind. I created you. I formed you in your mother’s womb. I gave you breath. I want it all. Everything you have.
Down on your knees you go. Face in your hands. “Take it. It is yours. I am nothing and deserve nothing.” You throw it all on the alter. Now the amazing thing happens. God smiles. That broad heavenly smile.
He reaches down and takes you by the hand. He brings you back up to your feet. “My child. I love you more than the birds in the air. Here are MY keys. Use MY truck for my glory. Share your faith at work.
Take your family to church in it. Use that $20 in your wallet to buy some clothes for that single parent family down the road. I’m giving this to you. Make me proud.”
When you leave here today to go to Service, look at what you have as God’s. Look at each day as God. At the end of the day, look back and say “did I glorify God today.”
The one who has complete control and I can place my life in his hands, did I make him proud. Better yet say “Lord, did I make you proud”. I have a banner on my desk that says “Christ is life, the rest is details”.
Right above that another sentence that says “If you knew you could not fail, what would you do today”. Go and do it now. Do it for Christ.
In October 2004 we left Austin for Orlando Florida. Headed to Disney World. Does anyone remember what happened in the fall of ’04?? We left Texas after hurricane Ivan made landfall.
In Alabama we had to take a detour becase an I10 bridge had collapsed. There was no communication in the area. One gas station had a hundred cars lined up to get gas, and another one opened just 20 miles away had 2 customers.
We stayed a week in Florida and then came back just before hurricane Jeanne came to land. People thought we were crazy even going. Stubborn kids I guess.
The wind starts up on the sea. The waves rise. The boat is rocking and water is coming in. The disciples do what they know to do. Batton down the hatches, right. Bring down the sail.
The waves get higher and crash over the boat. Peter yells to James to get the buckets and bail the water out. Judas is running around looking for a life preserver. I think if the movie “The Perfect Storm”.
Do you remember that wall of water the boat went up in that movie. Unbelievable. The disciple’s boat is really rocking now. And Jesus is a great help. He mans the buckets. He ties down the sails.
NO. Jesus is asleep. WHAT!!! How can Jesus sleep at a time like this.
He was tired. He got in the boat with the disciples “just as he was”. Wiped out. He had been talking all day. It’s a long string of speaking engagements.
I went deep sea fishing one time. The water was really rough. On the way back in, after being out all day, I layed down and actually went to sleep, even with all the bouncing around.
When you are exhausted, you can sleep thru a hurricane. After the disciples had done everything they could think of to do, they go to wake up Jesus. “Don’t you care if we drown?” They said we as in Jesus also.
They still did not know who Jesus was totally and we will get to that in a minute. “Do you want to die? Can’t you do something? Grab a bucket.” Jesus got up, RAISED HIS HANDS, and said “be quiet wind, calm down waves.” What power and authority.
The sea became like smooth glass. Sometimes he calms the storms. When the disciples starting thinking about the episode later, they might have remembered Psalm 107 where it says
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.”
They were glad when it grew calm. Then he turned to the disciples.
“Why are you afraid? Do you not have faith?” That word “faith” in the Greek is “pistis”. It is associated with assurance, belief and faith. Do you not have assurance of eternal life that you would let go of this life.
I remember other words of Jesus where he said “those who hold on to their life will lose it, but those who lose there life for my sake will gain eternal life”. That is the faith Jesus is looking for.
Those who will lose themselves in Jesus. Give their all. Be on fire for Jesus. Those who are called Jesus Freaks.
We read in the next verse that the disciples were fearful. They were glad to be saved one minute, but then fearful of Jesus the next.
What kind of power does this man have that he can control the wind and sea? What kind of man are we following?
I’ll tell you what kind of man this was. This Jesus is God. He was 100% man and 100% God. You say “Pastor Sean, that does not add up.” 1+1=1. Amazing God we worship isn’t it. He wasn’t married. He didn’t have a love child like some books might say. And if you want to discuss it, I’m free anytime.
God – the one and only God – is not a Sunday God. He doesn’t want one day a week from you. He wants every day. Sunday-Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs-Fri-Saturday. He looks at you and looks at your life.
He says…”Open your wallet. Do you have money. Give it to me.” Well ok, that’s no problem. “Nice pictures. You have a boat and nice truck.” Oh yeah. We go to the lake every chance we get. “Give them to me” he says. Now hold on a minute.
That’s my boat. I get to work with that truck. Are you married. Do you have kids?? Yes I have a great family you say indignantly. I want them too he says.
Tears well up in your eyes.
Your family is your life. You can’t do without them. You protest. You kick and scream "You can't have them. They are mine." God only looks back at you.
He stares deep into your soul. Where were you when I put the stars in the sky.
Did you tell the waves of the sea they can only go so far? I control the sea and wind. I created you. I formed you in your mother’s womb. I gave you breath. I want it all. Everything you have.
Down on your knees you go. Face in your hands. “Take it. It is yours. I am nothing and deserve nothing.” You throw it all on the alter. Now the amazing thing happens. God smiles. That broad heavenly smile.
He reaches down and takes you by the hand. He brings you back up to your feet. “My child. I love you more than the birds in the air. Here are MY keys. Use MY truck for my glory. Share your faith at work.
Take your family to church in it. Use that $20 in your wallet to buy some clothes for that single parent family down the road. I’m giving this to you. Make me proud.”
When you leave here today to go to Service, look at what you have as God’s. Look at each day as God. At the end of the day, look back and say “did I glorify God today.”
The one who has complete control and I can place my life in his hands, did I make him proud. Better yet say “Lord, did I make you proud”. I have a banner on my desk that says “Christ is life, the rest is details”.
Right above that another sentence that says “If you knew you could not fail, what would you do today”. Go and do it now. Do it for Christ.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
June 18 sermon - The Chosen 1Samuel 15:34-16:13
Well this is my 1st sermon at the new church. I've gotten good "reviews" so far. I pray hard about this. Lots of things need to happen. Lots of things to do. Pray pray pray. visit visit visit.
June 18 sermon
Struggling to make ends meet on a first-call salary, the pastor was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. "How could you do this?!""I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I found myself trying it on," she explained. "It was like Satan was whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress. Buy it!'" "Well," the pastor replied, "You know how I deal with that kind of temptation. I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!'" "I did," replied his wife, "but then he said, 'It looks fabulous from back here, too!'"
Saul was a failure. He had done the opposite of what God wanted him to do. He would quickly kill anyone who opposed him. No hesitation in making sure he was in control. The prophet Samuel understood this. God told him to get his oil ready and go.
It’s time to anoint the new king. Samuel grieved over Saul. It’s really not surprising. I think Samuel maybe thought of himself a failure when Saul failed. Maybe he did not talk to Saul enough, or get his message across.
Maybe he did not do enough pastoral counseling. More Pentecostal preaching and less singing of boring hymns. Whatever he was thinking, he prayed to the LORD that he would change his mind about Saul. But God had enough.
Samuel was also scared though like I said. “Saul will have me killed when he hears about this.” “No worries.” Says God, “I have a solution. Go down and lead worship with this tribe. Make sure that Jesse and his boys are there.” Well Samuel gets there and the elders are now the ones to be scared.
When a prophet like Samuel comes into a small town, it’s as if God himself were there. What kind of revelation is he going to bring. So they ask “are you coming in peace?” Of course Samuel says. I’ve come to lead worship.
Now you start to think…is God deceiving the elders by doing this? I mean come on; Samuel is there to anoint a king. Well no.
Samuel is there to lead worship. In the worship, God will reveal to them who the next king will be. God often has more in mind than he initially reveals. Revelation can come at any time, not just worship.
I was sitting down here at the alter rail Thursday night singing my heart out to the one who created me. As I was singing “I Can Only Imagine” the Spirit of God washed over me and I had this feeling…I’m not sure how to describe it.
Peace, assurance, comfort. Maybe all rolled into one. I know God delivered us to the right church.
Well with a great sigh of relief, the elders welcome Samuel into the community and they start worship. Samuel sees Jesse’s oldest son Eliab. Tall muscular boy. He would make any father proud. This must be him. The new king. “No” says God. “You look on the outside, but I see what is inside every man.” All of Jesse’s sons pass by but the LORD rejects them all.
Can you see Samuel throughout this whole process? Start with the tallest, best looking man and he is turned down. As the family procession goes by, and each are turned away, Samuel’s face gets sadder and droopier.
It’s kind of like a cell phone.
I tell you, we have Sprint and we are having a heck of a time getting signal. I’m in the master bedroom, and I have 2 bars, I’m in the living room and I have 1 bar, I’m in the garage touching the 3rd light socket and standing on one foot and I get 3 bars.
I even walked up the fire escape on the side of the church. At the bottom I get 1 bar (maybe), half way up I get 3 bars, and at the top I’m back at 1 bar. But at least with one bar I have signal.
All of Jesse’s boys go by, and Samuel is frustrated now. YELLING OUT “Is this it. Don’t you have any other kids? Anyone??”
Well there is the runt. He is tending the sheep now. Low kid on the totem pole. He can’t go to worship with the rest. Someone has to watch the sheep and he is assigned that chore.
“Go get him” Samuel said. I don’t think the look of Samuel would change when David shows up. Just a dirty kid. He stinks from the sheep. He is handsome, but come on, he is the runt.
But God, Oh God….He gets a big smile on his face, raises his hands and says “YES. This is the new king. This is the chosen one”.
Like when your child makes her first goal, hits his first home run, wins the gold medal, it’s a satisfying smile of God.
Mother Theresa went to the church one day. She said “I have 3 pennies. I plan to build an orphanage. I will help many children.” The church said “You can’t build an orphanage with 3 pennies!!”
And Mother Theresa just smiled and said “That’s right. But with God and 3 pennies I can do anything.”
Can churches be the same way of picking like Samuel was?
Picking pastors certainly has some of the same signs. I’ve looked at different posting for churches looking for pastors. “Looking for mature charismatic preacher who is tall and handsome, between 30 and 35 with 15 years of preaching experience (outside of school), a PhD in biblical studies,
speaks fluent Greek and Latin, has spent at least 8 years in a youth pastor position, and knows how to follow directions. Please send a picture with your resume”.
I’m thinking more of churches though. Most people have heard of Willow Creek church. Rick Warren is the pastor of that mega church. He wrote “the Purpose Driven Life”. Many have heard of Joel Olsteen and Lakewood church in Houston. They were getting so big, they bought the sports event center there. 35000 attendances on a Sunday.
What do you hear from the small churches. Or… what do small churches like Sardis United Methodist Church have in common with David? Maybe like David, it’s what you don’t read in the headlines that makes a church and how a church makes disciples of Jesus Christ.
I asked one member last week to tell me about this church. She said she could feel the presence of God here. The love was overflowing.
When we pulled in with all our stuff, we got the same feeling. Bill was there talking to Brandy waiting for us to arrive. Melanie, Doris, and Ann came over with some good food. Mike and Tammy showed up to help unload he truck. They didn’t do this because they had to or to impress the new pastor. They did it out of love.
Pastor Rod has told me some things about the church. I pulled him aside at Annual Conference and told him “That if everything you said is true, and I don’t doubt it one bit, this church is definitely a model church for others to see.”
I can be a great preacher, but my preaching will not make this church grow much. When Barna surveyed Christians and asked them why they go to a particular church, over 75% say it was because they were invited by someone they know.
Christians invite other people to church because something is “happening” in the church. You can feel the Spirit moving like I did the other night. There is excitement in what we as a congregation can do to impact Sardis, to impact the Waxahachie district, to impact the Central Texas Conference and beyond.
Jesus did not say that his commission was to go and make disciples of the choir. No. We are to go make disciples of Sardis, all of Central Texas, and beyond.
This here is worship time where we lift our voices up and sing to the one who created us and knows every hair on our head.
This is the time that we greet one another and thank God for what he has given us and what he has held back.
This is the time we petition God for his will to be done thru us and to reveal to us that will.
The SERVICE though, starts in 15 minutes. As soon as you stand up to walk away, then the service begins.
Just as David’s deficiencies were provided for by the Holy Spirit, so will any perceived deficiencies be provided for that we may have when our service begin.
There will be times when you don’t feel up to the challenge, or think you are not worthy or educated enough, old enough or young enough to do a task God is calling you to. Kind of like being a new father.
I’ll tell you right now, if God is calling you to it, He will make a way for it to happen. If one door closes, the window beside it will have flashing lights around it saying pick me pick me.
By reading God’s Word regularly, talking to God daily (some people call that prayer) he will guide you.
I want you to think this week. Where does God want you to go. It might be to the neighbor’s house. It might be to the homeless shelter to serve food.
It could be to the children’s home to read stories. It could be to the Appalachian Mountains to build houses. It could be to Calcutta to work in an orphanage.
But it could be to the nursery to care for the children. It could be upstairs to lead the youth in Sunday School. Don’t dismiss a thought because “I’ve never done that” or “I’m not trained to do that.” Go with the Spirit leading you. If it is of God, he will bless your ministry and HE will multiply it. I would like to see a time where church is completely integrated into all our lives. So when John tells Bob he is moving across town, Bob calls six guys to come over and help. When Mary mentions her porch is about to fall down, a group goes over and rebuilds it. When Bill says there are lots of people struggling in this area, a group gets together and starts a weekly dinner that is open to the public. These are not to bring people to church, but to bring the church to them. That’s the love Christ wants us to show. So like the song says “I can only imagine what it will be like”, it can be a glimpse of heaven right here.
June 18 sermon
Struggling to make ends meet on a first-call salary, the pastor was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. "How could you do this?!""I was outside the store looking at the dress in the window, and then I found myself trying it on," she explained. "It was like Satan was whispering in my ear, 'You look fabulous in that dress. Buy it!'" "Well," the pastor replied, "You know how I deal with that kind of temptation. I say, 'Get behind me, Satan!'" "I did," replied his wife, "but then he said, 'It looks fabulous from back here, too!'"
Saul was a failure. He had done the opposite of what God wanted him to do. He would quickly kill anyone who opposed him. No hesitation in making sure he was in control. The prophet Samuel understood this. God told him to get his oil ready and go.
It’s time to anoint the new king. Samuel grieved over Saul. It’s really not surprising. I think Samuel maybe thought of himself a failure when Saul failed. Maybe he did not talk to Saul enough, or get his message across.
Maybe he did not do enough pastoral counseling. More Pentecostal preaching and less singing of boring hymns. Whatever he was thinking, he prayed to the LORD that he would change his mind about Saul. But God had enough.
Samuel was also scared though like I said. “Saul will have me killed when he hears about this.” “No worries.” Says God, “I have a solution. Go down and lead worship with this tribe. Make sure that Jesse and his boys are there.” Well Samuel gets there and the elders are now the ones to be scared.
When a prophet like Samuel comes into a small town, it’s as if God himself were there. What kind of revelation is he going to bring. So they ask “are you coming in peace?” Of course Samuel says. I’ve come to lead worship.
Now you start to think…is God deceiving the elders by doing this? I mean come on; Samuel is there to anoint a king. Well no.
Samuel is there to lead worship. In the worship, God will reveal to them who the next king will be. God often has more in mind than he initially reveals. Revelation can come at any time, not just worship.
I was sitting down here at the alter rail Thursday night singing my heart out to the one who created me. As I was singing “I Can Only Imagine” the Spirit of God washed over me and I had this feeling…I’m not sure how to describe it.
Peace, assurance, comfort. Maybe all rolled into one. I know God delivered us to the right church.
Well with a great sigh of relief, the elders welcome Samuel into the community and they start worship. Samuel sees Jesse’s oldest son Eliab. Tall muscular boy. He would make any father proud. This must be him. The new king. “No” says God. “You look on the outside, but I see what is inside every man.” All of Jesse’s sons pass by but the LORD rejects them all.
Can you see Samuel throughout this whole process? Start with the tallest, best looking man and he is turned down. As the family procession goes by, and each are turned away, Samuel’s face gets sadder and droopier.
It’s kind of like a cell phone.
I tell you, we have Sprint and we are having a heck of a time getting signal. I’m in the master bedroom, and I have 2 bars, I’m in the living room and I have 1 bar, I’m in the garage touching the 3rd light socket and standing on one foot and I get 3 bars.
I even walked up the fire escape on the side of the church. At the bottom I get 1 bar (maybe), half way up I get 3 bars, and at the top I’m back at 1 bar. But at least with one bar I have signal.
All of Jesse’s boys go by, and Samuel is frustrated now. YELLING OUT “Is this it. Don’t you have any other kids? Anyone??”
Well there is the runt. He is tending the sheep now. Low kid on the totem pole. He can’t go to worship with the rest. Someone has to watch the sheep and he is assigned that chore.
“Go get him” Samuel said. I don’t think the look of Samuel would change when David shows up. Just a dirty kid. He stinks from the sheep. He is handsome, but come on, he is the runt.
But God, Oh God….He gets a big smile on his face, raises his hands and says “YES. This is the new king. This is the chosen one”.
Like when your child makes her first goal, hits his first home run, wins the gold medal, it’s a satisfying smile of God.
Mother Theresa went to the church one day. She said “I have 3 pennies. I plan to build an orphanage. I will help many children.” The church said “You can’t build an orphanage with 3 pennies!!”
And Mother Theresa just smiled and said “That’s right. But with God and 3 pennies I can do anything.”
Can churches be the same way of picking like Samuel was?
Picking pastors certainly has some of the same signs. I’ve looked at different posting for churches looking for pastors. “Looking for mature charismatic preacher who is tall and handsome, between 30 and 35 with 15 years of preaching experience (outside of school), a PhD in biblical studies,
speaks fluent Greek and Latin, has spent at least 8 years in a youth pastor position, and knows how to follow directions. Please send a picture with your resume”.
I’m thinking more of churches though. Most people have heard of Willow Creek church. Rick Warren is the pastor of that mega church. He wrote “the Purpose Driven Life”. Many have heard of Joel Olsteen and Lakewood church in Houston. They were getting so big, they bought the sports event center there. 35000 attendances on a Sunday.
What do you hear from the small churches. Or… what do small churches like Sardis United Methodist Church have in common with David? Maybe like David, it’s what you don’t read in the headlines that makes a church and how a church makes disciples of Jesus Christ.
I asked one member last week to tell me about this church. She said she could feel the presence of God here. The love was overflowing.
When we pulled in with all our stuff, we got the same feeling. Bill was there talking to Brandy waiting for us to arrive. Melanie, Doris, and Ann came over with some good food. Mike and Tammy showed up to help unload he truck. They didn’t do this because they had to or to impress the new pastor. They did it out of love.
Pastor Rod has told me some things about the church. I pulled him aside at Annual Conference and told him “That if everything you said is true, and I don’t doubt it one bit, this church is definitely a model church for others to see.”
I can be a great preacher, but my preaching will not make this church grow much. When Barna surveyed Christians and asked them why they go to a particular church, over 75% say it was because they were invited by someone they know.
Christians invite other people to church because something is “happening” in the church. You can feel the Spirit moving like I did the other night. There is excitement in what we as a congregation can do to impact Sardis, to impact the Waxahachie district, to impact the Central Texas Conference and beyond.
Jesus did not say that his commission was to go and make disciples of the choir. No. We are to go make disciples of Sardis, all of Central Texas, and beyond.
This here is worship time where we lift our voices up and sing to the one who created us and knows every hair on our head.
This is the time that we greet one another and thank God for what he has given us and what he has held back.
This is the time we petition God for his will to be done thru us and to reveal to us that will.
The SERVICE though, starts in 15 minutes. As soon as you stand up to walk away, then the service begins.
Just as David’s deficiencies were provided for by the Holy Spirit, so will any perceived deficiencies be provided for that we may have when our service begin.
There will be times when you don’t feel up to the challenge, or think you are not worthy or educated enough, old enough or young enough to do a task God is calling you to. Kind of like being a new father.
I’ll tell you right now, if God is calling you to it, He will make a way for it to happen. If one door closes, the window beside it will have flashing lights around it saying pick me pick me.
By reading God’s Word regularly, talking to God daily (some people call that prayer) he will guide you.
I want you to think this week. Where does God want you to go. It might be to the neighbor’s house. It might be to the homeless shelter to serve food.
It could be to the children’s home to read stories. It could be to the Appalachian Mountains to build houses. It could be to Calcutta to work in an orphanage.
But it could be to the nursery to care for the children. It could be upstairs to lead the youth in Sunday School. Don’t dismiss a thought because “I’ve never done that” or “I’m not trained to do that.” Go with the Spirit leading you. If it is of God, he will bless your ministry and HE will multiply it. I would like to see a time where church is completely integrated into all our lives. So when John tells Bob he is moving across town, Bob calls six guys to come over and help. When Mary mentions her porch is about to fall down, a group goes over and rebuilds it. When Bill says there are lots of people struggling in this area, a group gets together and starts a weekly dinner that is open to the public. These are not to bring people to church, but to bring the church to them. That’s the love Christ wants us to show. So like the song says “I can only imagine what it will be like”, it can be a glimpse of heaven right here.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Life
June 11 sermon – Life Romans 8:12-17
Joke……In leu of a joke, Dilbert is hilarious...http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20060611.html
John was a 2nd year college student. He had some tattoos on his arms, a couple ear rings. His standard dress was cut off shorts, T-shirt, and sometimes flip flops, sometimes barefoot. He went to a liberal college in a northeastern town. Right across the street from the college was a huge traditional button down Methodist church. One Sunday he got an idea. “I want to check this out”. So he went to the church one Sunday morning. The service had already started. The church was packed. He started walking down the isle looking for a seat. Finally he got down to the very front and realizing there were no seats, gave up and plopped himself down on the floor right in front. Right after that, people started seeing an old man who was the patriarch of the church walking slowly down toward him, his cane keeping him balanced. As he walked, people started whispering. “Oh he’s going to get it” “He should have known coming to church dressed like that” “Here it comes”. When the old man gets down to the front, the church was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. The man dropped his cane down, squatted down, and sat beside the college kid. After a minute the pastor said “no matter what sermon you hear today, you won’t remember it. There is just one thing you will remember from today.
That’s life. That’s Christian life. Both of these men were led by the Spirit of God. The college boy was led to seek God. The patriarch was led to welcome the boy by sitting beside him.
There is more to being a Christian than having the right stuff, knowing the right doctrine, having your head in the right place. To be a Christian, you must open yourself up to the Holy Spirit.
You must invite the Spirit to invade you, possess you, take over your life. Are you willing to let the Spirit take over your life and you surrender all control over EVERY single part of it?
It’s not easy, and it’s not a pie in the sky picture where everything comes up roses and you never have any problems. Romans 8:28 says “All things work for good for those who are children of God”.
Many people think that means if you believe in God, everything will go good in your life. Then when something bad happens like terrible sickness, death of a loved one, September 11th, they lose faith. It’s different than that.
Those who are lead by the Spirit, say that no matter what goes on in my life, how good or how bad, I know God is there. My rock that I can tie to. My savior I can hold on it.
And God’s people are there and can be called on whenever needed because they are led by the Spirit. I’ll tell you how God’s people are there.
Our electricity was cut off on Friday….a week early. After yelling at Direct Energy for an hour, and waiting, it was not turned on that night. We drove to Llano for my family reunion, a day early.
Yesterday it was still not turned on. After going round and round with Direct energy again, I gave up. After some phone calls to the Rogers area, we showed up on Mary and Kin’s doorstep at 10:30 last night with an offer for a bed. I also got a call back from Margaret offering help. That is stepping up in Christian faith.
A man named Millard Fuller, called a friend of his many years ago and said, "I want you to be on a board."
"For what?"
He said, "We’re going to build houses for poor people."
The friend said, "That’s good."
He said, "Not only are we going to build houses for poor people, but they are going to be able to buy these houses with no down payment."
The friend said, "That’s terrific! That’s what usually keeps poor people from buying houses."
He said, "Beyond that, they are going to have long term mortgages and no interest on the mortgages."
"That’s wild!” said the friend “ I’m buying a house and most of what I pay in any given payment is for interest."
And he said, "That’s right. But the Hebrew Bible says that you should never charge interest to poor people so we’re not going to do that. One thing more, when these poor people buy these houses they are only going to have to pay for the cost of building materials."
"Millard, that’s wonderful except for one thing, who’s going to pay for the labor, who’s going to pay for the workers?"
He said, "No problem! I’m going to get church people to volunteer."
"Yeah Right!" was the response to that.
Twenty-five years later, Habitat for Humanity has completed 100,000 houses. Did you hear that? 100,000 families delivered from sub-standard living, with some degree of dignity, because this man was led by the spirit of God, led by Jesus to do something incredibly important with his life.
You know, when the hurricane blew through Homestead, Florida, some years ago, it blew down every home in Homestead except for the 18 houses that were built by Habitat for Humanity. When the press interviewed Millard, they asked, "How do you account for this? How come the houses built by Habitat stood when all the others were blown down?"
He smiled and said, "Well you have to understand that when Habitat builds a house, we build a house on the rock."
These reporters wrote it down. They didn’t get it. But, of course, it’s deeper than that. The real reasons the houses didn’t blow down is because the people who built them, these church volunteers, didn’t know what they were doing.
You see, a builder knows you put a piece of wood in place, you put a vise in place, you put five nails here and five nails there. That ought to hold the beam. But the Habitat builders don’t know what they are doing, so they put twenty nails here and twenty nails there.
If the foundation requires this much cement, they put in that much cement. Every house they build is over built. And so when the storms came, other houses might have blown down but their houses stood.
It’s an incredible story of the man who had a vision, a vision that was given to him by God. He will tell you that. He’ll tell you how that at a particular point in his life, he opened himself up and asked the Holy Spirit to invade him, possess him, take possession of him and lead him. For as it says in Romans 8:14, "As many as are lead by the spirit of God, they are the children of God."
Now you say, “I’m no Millard Fuller. I can’t do fantastic stuff like that”. I’ll tell you another story. John was a preacher in a small Texas town. He was trying to get a deacon to step up and be led by the Spirit.
Finally this deacon decided that the one thing he could do was take the youth group to the old folks home. Once a month they went and did church service. The deacon stood in the back of the room.
An old man in a wheel chair rolled over and grabbed the deacon’s hand and held it all thru the service. He did the same the next month and the next and the next and the next.
Then one month the old man did not show up. The deacon inquired about him at the nurses desk. “What happened to him”. He is near death” the nurse said “maybe you should go see him.
He is in the 3rd room, but he is unconscious.” The deacon went to the room, and the man was lying there with lots of tubes in him. Instinctively led by the Spirit, the deacon grabbed the man’s hand and started to pray. And when he said
“Amen” the old man squeezed his hand. The deacon started to cry. He tried to get out of the room, but as he was leaving, he bumped into this lady. She said “he has been waiting for you. He said he would not die until Jesus came and held his hand.
I tried to tell him that after death he can hold Jesus’ hand all day long. But he said No, once a month Jesus comes and holds my hand and I don’t want to leave until I get to hold his hand one more time”.
To be led by the Spirit of God will allow you to do some amazing things like Millard Fuller. It will also allow you to do some things that will never make the headlines and never be on TV.
There is a good chance God does not want some big flashy show from you. There is a good chance that he wants you to open your house or open your hand and be Jesus for someone else. He does not want you to just believe in him, but he wants you to surrender to him, yield to him, and be transformed by him.
For Paul, the radical message of Jesus was that love offered belonging and forgiveness, and from the renewed restored relationship with God, goodness would flow, not because of fear of disobedience, but because love begets love. Love is the fruit of the Spirit.
If we don’t love, eventually the well of loving will dry up, and the fruit of the Spirit will disappear. Paul calls this living in the flesh.
By flesh he means the human values that come to dominate us – selfishness, greed, exploitation. He contrast these with the fruits of the Spirit – love, goodness, kindness.What matters most to Paul is the ongoing relationship with God. What thrilled Paul is the shared life of God he gave.
God…and shared God everywhere. That is where we must be too. Sharing God here there everywhere.
Joke……In leu of a joke, Dilbert is hilarious...http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20060611.html
John was a 2nd year college student. He had some tattoos on his arms, a couple ear rings. His standard dress was cut off shorts, T-shirt, and sometimes flip flops, sometimes barefoot. He went to a liberal college in a northeastern town. Right across the street from the college was a huge traditional button down Methodist church. One Sunday he got an idea. “I want to check this out”. So he went to the church one Sunday morning. The service had already started. The church was packed. He started walking down the isle looking for a seat. Finally he got down to the very front and realizing there were no seats, gave up and plopped himself down on the floor right in front. Right after that, people started seeing an old man who was the patriarch of the church walking slowly down toward him, his cane keeping him balanced. As he walked, people started whispering. “Oh he’s going to get it” “He should have known coming to church dressed like that” “Here it comes”. When the old man gets down to the front, the church was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. The man dropped his cane down, squatted down, and sat beside the college kid. After a minute the pastor said “no matter what sermon you hear today, you won’t remember it. There is just one thing you will remember from today.
That’s life. That’s Christian life. Both of these men were led by the Spirit of God. The college boy was led to seek God. The patriarch was led to welcome the boy by sitting beside him.
There is more to being a Christian than having the right stuff, knowing the right doctrine, having your head in the right place. To be a Christian, you must open yourself up to the Holy Spirit.
You must invite the Spirit to invade you, possess you, take over your life. Are you willing to let the Spirit take over your life and you surrender all control over EVERY single part of it?
It’s not easy, and it’s not a pie in the sky picture where everything comes up roses and you never have any problems. Romans 8:28 says “All things work for good for those who are children of God”.
Many people think that means if you believe in God, everything will go good in your life. Then when something bad happens like terrible sickness, death of a loved one, September 11th, they lose faith. It’s different than that.
Those who are lead by the Spirit, say that no matter what goes on in my life, how good or how bad, I know God is there. My rock that I can tie to. My savior I can hold on it.
And God’s people are there and can be called on whenever needed because they are led by the Spirit. I’ll tell you how God’s people are there.
Our electricity was cut off on Friday….a week early. After yelling at Direct Energy for an hour, and waiting, it was not turned on that night. We drove to Llano for my family reunion, a day early.
Yesterday it was still not turned on. After going round and round with Direct energy again, I gave up. After some phone calls to the Rogers area, we showed up on Mary and Kin’s doorstep at 10:30 last night with an offer for a bed. I also got a call back from Margaret offering help. That is stepping up in Christian faith.
A man named Millard Fuller, called a friend of his many years ago and said, "I want you to be on a board."
"For what?"
He said, "We’re going to build houses for poor people."
The friend said, "That’s good."
He said, "Not only are we going to build houses for poor people, but they are going to be able to buy these houses with no down payment."
The friend said, "That’s terrific! That’s what usually keeps poor people from buying houses."
He said, "Beyond that, they are going to have long term mortgages and no interest on the mortgages."
"That’s wild!” said the friend “ I’m buying a house and most of what I pay in any given payment is for interest."
And he said, "That’s right. But the Hebrew Bible says that you should never charge interest to poor people so we’re not going to do that. One thing more, when these poor people buy these houses they are only going to have to pay for the cost of building materials."
"Millard, that’s wonderful except for one thing, who’s going to pay for the labor, who’s going to pay for the workers?"
He said, "No problem! I’m going to get church people to volunteer."
"Yeah Right!" was the response to that.
Twenty-five years later, Habitat for Humanity has completed 100,000 houses. Did you hear that? 100,000 families delivered from sub-standard living, with some degree of dignity, because this man was led by the spirit of God, led by Jesus to do something incredibly important with his life.
You know, when the hurricane blew through Homestead, Florida, some years ago, it blew down every home in Homestead except for the 18 houses that were built by Habitat for Humanity. When the press interviewed Millard, they asked, "How do you account for this? How come the houses built by Habitat stood when all the others were blown down?"
He smiled and said, "Well you have to understand that when Habitat builds a house, we build a house on the rock."
These reporters wrote it down. They didn’t get it. But, of course, it’s deeper than that. The real reasons the houses didn’t blow down is because the people who built them, these church volunteers, didn’t know what they were doing.
You see, a builder knows you put a piece of wood in place, you put a vise in place, you put five nails here and five nails there. That ought to hold the beam. But the Habitat builders don’t know what they are doing, so they put twenty nails here and twenty nails there.
If the foundation requires this much cement, they put in that much cement. Every house they build is over built. And so when the storms came, other houses might have blown down but their houses stood.
It’s an incredible story of the man who had a vision, a vision that was given to him by God. He will tell you that. He’ll tell you how that at a particular point in his life, he opened himself up and asked the Holy Spirit to invade him, possess him, take possession of him and lead him. For as it says in Romans 8:14, "As many as are lead by the spirit of God, they are the children of God."
Now you say, “I’m no Millard Fuller. I can’t do fantastic stuff like that”. I’ll tell you another story. John was a preacher in a small Texas town. He was trying to get a deacon to step up and be led by the Spirit.
Finally this deacon decided that the one thing he could do was take the youth group to the old folks home. Once a month they went and did church service. The deacon stood in the back of the room.
An old man in a wheel chair rolled over and grabbed the deacon’s hand and held it all thru the service. He did the same the next month and the next and the next and the next.
Then one month the old man did not show up. The deacon inquired about him at the nurses desk. “What happened to him”. He is near death” the nurse said “maybe you should go see him.
He is in the 3rd room, but he is unconscious.” The deacon went to the room, and the man was lying there with lots of tubes in him. Instinctively led by the Spirit, the deacon grabbed the man’s hand and started to pray. And when he said
“Amen” the old man squeezed his hand. The deacon started to cry. He tried to get out of the room, but as he was leaving, he bumped into this lady. She said “he has been waiting for you. He said he would not die until Jesus came and held his hand.
I tried to tell him that after death he can hold Jesus’ hand all day long. But he said No, once a month Jesus comes and holds my hand and I don’t want to leave until I get to hold his hand one more time”.
To be led by the Spirit of God will allow you to do some amazing things like Millard Fuller. It will also allow you to do some things that will never make the headlines and never be on TV.
There is a good chance God does not want some big flashy show from you. There is a good chance that he wants you to open your house or open your hand and be Jesus for someone else. He does not want you to just believe in him, but he wants you to surrender to him, yield to him, and be transformed by him.
For Paul, the radical message of Jesus was that love offered belonging and forgiveness, and from the renewed restored relationship with God, goodness would flow, not because of fear of disobedience, but because love begets love. Love is the fruit of the Spirit.
If we don’t love, eventually the well of loving will dry up, and the fruit of the Spirit will disappear. Paul calls this living in the flesh.
By flesh he means the human values that come to dominate us – selfishness, greed, exploitation. He contrast these with the fruits of the Spirit – love, goodness, kindness.What matters most to Paul is the ongoing relationship with God. What thrilled Paul is the shared life of God he gave.
God…and shared God everywhere. That is where we must be too. Sharing God here there everywhere.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Nurture and Witness and Outreach all in one
Well it looks like it happened. We have been praying for Kris and Jimmy and their marriage. It's over now. Kris is going to live with us for a while. David will too. Amanada is going to live with her dad. As sad as it is to see, there is blessing in here.
Kris needs a girlfriend with her. Brandy does too. I think one of the loneliest positions in ministry is the pastor's wife. No other ladies will get close to the pastor's wife. Maybe it's fear of saying the wrong thing or that she will pass everything along to the pastor. For whatever reason, the PW does not have friends in the church. Plus she is looked upon to lead some sort of ministry.
Brandy needs Kris there. I guess with that, I need Kris there too. She is like a sister to me. I'll watch over her and David and make sure they are taken care of and if Amanda comes and lives with us also, that will be just fine. We (Brandy and I and the church) will Nurture them. We will Witness to them. and in doing this is we are Reaching Out. That is the Methodist call. Follow me NOW.... amazing how that works out.
What a weekend
My niece got married on Saturday night. Dad (who has been "out of the family" for a while now) has a relationship with Heather. It's good to see. But then Heather has dumped her mom and sister and gone off on her own. That's sad. Eventually the rift will heal. But it's not going to happen over night and it won't happen because of one wedding. It will happen though. Dad and I are good friends now. We forgot to take the wedding gift for Heather and Patrick. That's ok. I'm thinking of including a list of important things an old married couple has learned to pass on to the new married couple.
1. You don't have to be right every time, even if you are. A friend once said "is this the hill you want to die on". Sometimes just letting it go is the best thing overall.
2. Get away from each other once a month. One person needs to leave for the weekend...go to your mom's, to see a friend across state, to Uncle Sean's house. But get away from each other. The time away will refresh your marriage and you will see how much you missed them when you get back.
3. Money is the biggest thing you will fight over...whether you have any or not. Combine all your $$ in one acct (don't have separate accts). Don't have one person responsible for the bills every month. Do them together, or at least look at them together when the other is writing them out.
4. Move out of the town your parents live in. This is true unless BOTH of you have the best relationship with whatever parent lives in town. Mom and dad only want the best for their child, and they will ALWAYS pick their child over the spouse. You may have though that "Everybody Loves Raymond" was funny...it was very true.
5. Don't get in the family bickering. Whatever mom thinks of dad or dad things of uncle Joe, ignore it. Make your own relationships.
6. This also goes for in-laws bickering. What you tell your mom about your spouse and spouse's family is all she knows. If you tell her that "my wife's mom send a nasty email to us", but you don't tell her about the phone call the next day to apologize and make everything better, mom will always hate the other family. Plus there is always a contest about which family is better. It get's worse wen you have kids.
7. Live your own life. Your family comes first now. You do what's best for them. That can be anything including moving across the country or around the world.
8. Focus on God in your marriage. Like my auto-sig says "Pary clean, live righteous". It's hard to believe without really experiencing it, but when you look to God in your marriage, in making decisions, in just learning more about him, he will guide your life more than ever. It's a great thing. Sometimes it seems things are not going like they should, but if you stay focused on God, guidance you will have.
If you have others, post them.....
1. You don't have to be right every time, even if you are. A friend once said "is this the hill you want to die on". Sometimes just letting it go is the best thing overall.
2. Get away from each other once a month. One person needs to leave for the weekend...go to your mom's, to see a friend across state, to Uncle Sean's house. But get away from each other. The time away will refresh your marriage and you will see how much you missed them when you get back.
3. Money is the biggest thing you will fight over...whether you have any or not. Combine all your $$ in one acct (don't have separate accts). Don't have one person responsible for the bills every month. Do them together, or at least look at them together when the other is writing them out.
4. Move out of the town your parents live in. This is true unless BOTH of you have the best relationship with whatever parent lives in town. Mom and dad only want the best for their child, and they will ALWAYS pick their child over the spouse. You may have though that "Everybody Loves Raymond" was funny...it was very true.
5. Don't get in the family bickering. Whatever mom thinks of dad or dad things of uncle Joe, ignore it. Make your own relationships.
6. This also goes for in-laws bickering. What you tell your mom about your spouse and spouse's family is all she knows. If you tell her that "my wife's mom send a nasty email to us", but you don't tell her about the phone call the next day to apologize and make everything better, mom will always hate the other family. Plus there is always a contest about which family is better. It get's worse wen you have kids.
7. Live your own life. Your family comes first now. You do what's best for them. That can be anything including moving across the country or around the world.
8. Focus on God in your marriage. Like my auto-sig says "Pary clean, live righteous". It's hard to believe without really experiencing it, but when you look to God in your marriage, in making decisions, in just learning more about him, he will guide your life more than ever. It's a great thing. Sometimes it seems things are not going like they should, but if you stay focused on God, guidance you will have.
If you have others, post them.....
June 2 sermon - communication - Acts 2
An elderly pastor was searching his closet for his tie before church one Sunday morning. In the back of the closet, he found a small box containing 3 eggs and 100 $1 bills. He called his wife into the closet to ask her about the box and its contents. Embarrassed, she admitted having hidden the box for their entire 25 years of marriage. Disappointed and hurt, the pastor asked her, "WHY?"The wife replied that she hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings. He asked her how the box could have hurt his feelings. She said that every time during their marriage that he delivered a poor sermon, she had placed an egg in the box. The pastor felt that 3 poor sermons in 25 years was certainly nothing to feel bad about, so he asked her what the $100 was for.She replied, "Each time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them to the neighbors for $1.
Great communication huh. Maybe they needed to sit down and have a talk a little sooner. Have you noticed how bad communication can change everything.
Email is one of the worst, and before email it was the phone. No body language, no voice inflection in email. If you put a comma in the wrong place, watch out.
Well you have the disciples sitting in a room alone and a great rushing wind comes from heaven and fills the whole house. Tongues of fire fall on each of them. Then they start speaking in other languages.
The first thing we need to get out of the way is that they were speaking in different languages. They were not speaking gibberish, uttering incomprehensible words, shaking on the ground, barking like a dog, strutting around like a chicken, or doing anything out of their control.
The scripture tells us they spoke in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Did you read all the different people who were there. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Egyptians, Romans, Cretens, Arabs……wow. All these different people, yet they were hearing the disciples praise God and proclaim the saving life and death of Jesus Christ in their own language.
I think that is how heaven will be like. When we get there, we will be a cornucopia of skin color and language. Yet we won’t have to learn a special heaven language. I think we will automatically speak in the language of the person we are speaking too. No interpreters. No funny looks.
Every note we send will auto correct itself when you send it and email will be exactly the same way. No more miscommunication.
Before I left Dell, (not looking back, running as fast I could), I sent an email out to all my long time customers. I wanted to tell them they would be getting a new account manager and also I wanted to spread the Word of God.
I put in my notes that I was going to be a pastor full time. I have a website online that I post my sermons and other thoughts and put that in the email too.
I got some of the usual responses back. “Good to hear your doing what you want” “Wish you well” “Thank God we finally get someone else”.
But I also got some other emails back. One of my customers told me of how he was a missionary in the UK for 2 years. Another told me of how his daughter is a missionary in Croatia. One of the responses I got back really hit the nail on the head.
He said “I wish there was a way for casual or even longtime business associates to identify one another as Christians. What an opportunity for fellowship that we miss by not making it clear to each other.” He is exactly right.
At one time I was putting scripture on the bottom of my emails at work. None of my customers complained, but HR saw it and got upset. To get around that I would put spiritual sayings that someone famous would say. I have had quotes from Lincoln, Churchill and others. Things you don’t hear about in history class in school.
Back in the early centuries, there was much persecution against the Christians. How would they be able to identify each other? I’m sure you have seen the fish symbol on the back of cars.
The fish outline is a logical symbol for Christians because of all the references in the bible. The most notable is “I will make you fishers of men” from Mark 1:17.
There is also Jonah and the great fish, the fishes and loaves that Jesus multiplied, and the fish Jesus ate after his resurrection.
The Greek word for fish is “ICHTHUS”. This is an acrostic for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Each of the letters represents one word in the saying.
Back to the persecution. The Christians didn’t wear crosses like the one I wear around my neck. They didn’t have the fish symbol branded on the rear of their donkey. But they did use the symbol for a password. If two strangers met and were unsure if the other was a Christian, one would draw half the fish in the sand.
If the other man was a Christian, he would complete the other half, forming the outline of the fish.
There is great symbolism in this passage from Acts. Remember in Genesis 11 the people all got together and started building a tower. They wanted to be up in heaven with the Gods.
But there communication was changed and all had different languages. The Spirit comes in Acts and lifts that curse. There were 120 men in the room when the Spirit came. The numerical symbolism is 10 people from each of the 12 tribes of Judah.
The thought is that here is the true Israel ready to expand. God is taking a remnant of his people to spread the Word. Although there are many different languages being spoken, realize it is true Israel.
All the people listening are Jews. This is God and God’s people together. They were not speaking one language per se, but they were of one mind. They were of one mind so they were focused on one thing…Jesus. Theology seemed to be simpler then.
They were not worried if you had been dunked in the water at baptism, they were not worried if you looked the same or talked to same as everyone else in the group. They were focused on Jesus. Do you have a saving faith in the only one who can save.
Some people on the ground said “hey…they are drunk”. I want you to notice something. There were two sets of people down there listening. Those that were actively seeking God, and those that were…. acting.
Scripture tells us that if you seek God you will find him. Now the unbeliever will yell out loud “I want to see you God. Come to me.” God can’t be controlled. Neither can the Holy Spirit. Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Those who earnestly with all their heart pursue after the creator God, He will reveal himself to them.
So back to the people. Many were amazed and perplexed. What can this mean they said. These people were of one mind like the disciples. They wanted to know God. But the others there mocked the disciples. “They are just drunk”. These people didn’t want to meet God. They were like the Pharisees and only going thru the motions.
They were like the pew warmers or C&E worshippers who go to worship out of some duty. They are not looking to connect to the one knows every hair on their head.
Those who believed what the disciples were saying and who listened to Peter after that and believed were baptized. There were 3000 in total. Can you imagine. 3000 people came to know Christ that day.
But it wasn’t because of the preaching. It was because of the Holy Spirit and because they were seeking God and wanted to know the truth.
The Spirit worked thru the disciples to touch those 3000 men. The Spirit could have done the job alone. Tongues of fire could have come down on the people in the streets and THOSE men could have been converted instantly. But he chose to use the disciples.
And he does that today to us. God uses each of us every day to preach to others. Sometimes it’s verbally. Sometimes it’s not. Every day we are called to walk the walk of Jesus. Every day we are called to share the truth of Jesus. Shout it from the roof tops or whisper it at bed time.
An elderly pastor was searching his closet for his tie before church one Sunday morning. In the back of the closet, he found a small box containing 3 eggs and 100 $1 bills. He called his wife into the closet to ask her about the box and its contents. Embarrassed, she admitted having hidden the box for their entire 25 years of marriage. Disappointed and hurt, the pastor asked her, "WHY?"The wife replied that she hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings. He asked her how the box could have hurt his feelings. She said that every time during their marriage that he delivered a poor sermon, she had placed an egg in the box. The pastor felt that 3 poor sermons in 25 years was certainly nothing to feel bad about, so he asked her what the $100 was for.She replied, "Each time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them to the neighbors for $1.
Great communication huh. Maybe they needed to sit down and have a talk a little sooner. Have you noticed how bad communication can change everything.
Email is one of the worst, and before email it was the phone. No body language, no voice inflection in email. If you put a comma in the wrong place, watch out.
Well you have the disciples sitting in a room alone and a great rushing wind comes from heaven and fills the whole house. Tongues of fire fall on each of them. Then they start speaking in other languages.
The first thing we need to get out of the way is that they were speaking in different languages. They were not speaking gibberish, uttering incomprehensible words, shaking on the ground, barking like a dog, strutting around like a chicken, or doing anything out of their control.
The scripture tells us they spoke in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Did you read all the different people who were there. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia,
Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Egyptians, Romans, Cretens, Arabs……wow. All these different people, yet they were hearing the disciples praise God and proclaim the saving life and death of Jesus Christ in their own language.
I think that is how heaven will be like. When we get there, we will be a cornucopia of skin color and language. Yet we won’t have to learn a special heaven language. I think we will automatically speak in the language of the person we are speaking too. No interpreters. No funny looks.
Every note we send will auto correct itself when you send it and email will be exactly the same way. No more miscommunication.
Before I left Dell, (not looking back, running as fast I could), I sent an email out to all my long time customers. I wanted to tell them they would be getting a new account manager and also I wanted to spread the Word of God.
I put in my notes that I was going to be a pastor full time. I have a website online that I post my sermons and other thoughts and put that in the email too.
I got some of the usual responses back. “Good to hear your doing what you want” “Wish you well” “Thank God we finally get someone else”.
But I also got some other emails back. One of my customers told me of how he was a missionary in the UK for 2 years. Another told me of how his daughter is a missionary in Croatia. One of the responses I got back really hit the nail on the head.
He said “I wish there was a way for casual or even longtime business associates to identify one another as Christians. What an opportunity for fellowship that we miss by not making it clear to each other.” He is exactly right.
At one time I was putting scripture on the bottom of my emails at work. None of my customers complained, but HR saw it and got upset. To get around that I would put spiritual sayings that someone famous would say. I have had quotes from Lincoln, Churchill and others. Things you don’t hear about in history class in school.
Back in the early centuries, there was much persecution against the Christians. How would they be able to identify each other? I’m sure you have seen the fish symbol on the back of cars.
The fish outline is a logical symbol for Christians because of all the references in the bible. The most notable is “I will make you fishers of men” from Mark 1:17.
There is also Jonah and the great fish, the fishes and loaves that Jesus multiplied, and the fish Jesus ate after his resurrection.
The Greek word for fish is “ICHTHUS”. This is an acrostic for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Each of the letters represents one word in the saying.
Back to the persecution. The Christians didn’t wear crosses like the one I wear around my neck. They didn’t have the fish symbol branded on the rear of their donkey. But they did use the symbol for a password. If two strangers met and were unsure if the other was a Christian, one would draw half the fish in the sand.
If the other man was a Christian, he would complete the other half, forming the outline of the fish.
There is great symbolism in this passage from Acts. Remember in Genesis 11 the people all got together and started building a tower. They wanted to be up in heaven with the Gods.
But there communication was changed and all had different languages. The Spirit comes in Acts and lifts that curse. There were 120 men in the room when the Spirit came. The numerical symbolism is 10 people from each of the 12 tribes of Judah.
The thought is that here is the true Israel ready to expand. God is taking a remnant of his people to spread the Word. Although there are many different languages being spoken, realize it is true Israel.
All the people listening are Jews. This is God and God’s people together. They were not speaking one language per se, but they were of one mind. They were of one mind so they were focused on one thing…Jesus. Theology seemed to be simpler then.
They were not worried if you had been dunked in the water at baptism, they were not worried if you looked the same or talked to same as everyone else in the group. They were focused on Jesus. Do you have a saving faith in the only one who can save.
Some people on the ground said “hey…they are drunk”. I want you to notice something. There were two sets of people down there listening. Those that were actively seeking God, and those that were…. acting.
Scripture tells us that if you seek God you will find him. Now the unbeliever will yell out loud “I want to see you God. Come to me.” God can’t be controlled. Neither can the Holy Spirit. Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Those who earnestly with all their heart pursue after the creator God, He will reveal himself to them.
So back to the people. Many were amazed and perplexed. What can this mean they said. These people were of one mind like the disciples. They wanted to know God. But the others there mocked the disciples. “They are just drunk”. These people didn’t want to meet God. They were like the Pharisees and only going thru the motions.
They were like the pew warmers or C&E worshippers who go to worship out of some duty. They are not looking to connect to the one knows every hair on their head.
Those who believed what the disciples were saying and who listened to Peter after that and believed were baptized. There were 3000 in total. Can you imagine. 3000 people came to know Christ that day.
But it wasn’t because of the preaching. It was because of the Holy Spirit and because they were seeking God and wanted to know the truth.
The Spirit worked thru the disciples to touch those 3000 men. The Spirit could have done the job alone. Tongues of fire could have come down on the people in the streets and THOSE men could have been converted instantly. But he chose to use the disciples.
And he does that today to us. God uses each of us every day to preach to others. Sometimes it’s verbally. Sometimes it’s not. Every day we are called to walk the walk of Jesus. Every day we are called to share the truth of Jesus. Shout it from the roof tops or whisper it at bed time.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Picking Leaders
One day a policeman stopped a motorist who had just gone through a four way stop sign and was about to give him a ticket when the motorist said. "Officer you can't give me a ticket for that!' "Why not" said the officer. "Because although I did not stop I slowed right down and its almost the same." "But you did not stop" replied the officer, "and the sign says STOP." "But the way was clear and it was safe" replied the motorist. The officer then pulls out his batton and starts hitting the motorist. "What are you doing!" yells the motorist in surprise. "Do you want me to slow down or stop" says the officer.
The frenzy of American Idol is over. Oh what a time. All those people trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. So many can’t sing well. William Hung can’t sing at all and he got a record deal just because of his TV appearance. But a little over a hundred get to go to Hollywood and be on the TV show.
Over the weeks they narrow it down to 12 finalist. These are the best of the best. Down to six and finally down to the last two. The votes are in. 36 million votes are cast. Just one person is worthy enough to be the American Idol. Taylor Hicks wins. He is the 2006 American Idol. “I’m on top of the world” he says.
Matthias was promoted up the ranks something like that. There are about 125 men standing around. Peter prays and two are picked. Someone must replace Judas. Then one of the disciples pulls out a pair of dice and rolls. If they come up 4 then it’s Matthias and if the come up 5 it’s Justus. Isn’t that kind of how it sounds, huh. They threw lots. Matthias’ number comes up and he is the new disciple.
We don’t read anything else about Matthias. It’s believed he evangelized Ethiopia. He went from disciple to apostle. What does Matthias have that the other 100 didn’t have? What sets him apart? What’s the difference between disciple and apostle?
You read about the apostle Paul and how he wrote most of the New Testament. You also hear of John the apostle. He was the one that Jesus loved the most. We talked last week about the apostles James and Peter. They were pretty special guys.
OK. So what is the difference between a disciple and an apostle? Read what Peter said. “We must pick someone who has been with Jesus from the beginning.”
An apostle was someone who had direct contact with Jesus. That’s part of it. But more, an apostle was one who “is sent”. Disciples are students.
Let’s use the analogy of basketball since the NBA playoffs are on now. Disciples are the players and apostles are the coaches. The coaches have been in the other role. They have been thru the paces already.
Well how do we choose a leader in the church today?? I’m not talking pastor, but chair leader. I’ve been in churches where whoever will lift up their hand and say “OK, I’ll do it” is given the job. A while back at one church we were in, if you were not at the planning meeting, expect to be heading up a committee. But based on scripture, that’s not how it’s supposed to be. You start out as a disciple. What’s the mission statement of the United Methodist Church??
It’s to Go and Make Disciples. This is training time. This is boot camp. You’re getting information (lots of information), unbelievers are telling you your crazy, and you don’t have much response to them. And you wonder if you did the right thing.
But you grow. You step out and challenge yourself, challenge your faith….and it gets stronger.
One day you wake up and God is knocking on your door. “I want you to be a leader. I want you to teach. I want you to take a mission group to the homeless people in Temple, to the broken on the gulf coast, to the poor in the apalatian mountains.”
And you scream out at God. “WHAT! Are you crazy? I’ve seen how these people question the pastor behind his back. I’ve seen the arguing in the pews. I can’t even lead my dog and you want me to lead a ragtag group of disciples? I’m too old. I’m too young.”
On and On. And God says… “Yes, you’re no longer a disciple. You are an apostle. I’m giving you a different calling than you had before.
You were on milk and now you’re eating spiritual meat. You can do this because I will be doing this through you.
There is no platinum recording contract though. Oprah will definitely not be calling.
You might have other leaders in the church fighting you or pushing you away (giving you the cold shoulder) thinking you should have done something different or another way.
But you know you are on the right path when someone tells you “that’s the best sermon you’ve preached” or “thanks for giving me that gift. No one has ever been so kind. Your such a blessing.”
So where are you at?? Are you a disciple or apostle? Are you training or being trained?
Or are you a disciple who is trained, but is being called to step out?
You don’t have to be an apostle to get to heaven. We all have different gifts and callings. And we are called at different times to do different things. The harvest is ready. Now God is saying “I’m calling you disciples. I’m calling you apostles. I want more. I want all of you”. And you know what all means… All means all and that’s all all means. If he does call you to step up like he called Matthias, will you do it?
Someone did step up. Tomorrow is Memorial Day. We are having communion today. I know usually we have it on the first Sunday of the month. However, I thought it was only appropriate. You see, Jesus Christ died for our freedom. His blood was shed so we would be out of the enemies hands. Thousands of men and women in the armed forces died for our freedom. Their blood was shed so we would be out of the enemies hands. Communion is a times to remember one death and come to Christ in a deeper way. I pray that you will come to Christ and remember the other deaths also.
The frenzy of American Idol is over. Oh what a time. All those people trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. So many can’t sing well. William Hung can’t sing at all and he got a record deal just because of his TV appearance. But a little over a hundred get to go to Hollywood and be on the TV show.
Over the weeks they narrow it down to 12 finalist. These are the best of the best. Down to six and finally down to the last two. The votes are in. 36 million votes are cast. Just one person is worthy enough to be the American Idol. Taylor Hicks wins. He is the 2006 American Idol. “I’m on top of the world” he says.
Matthias was promoted up the ranks something like that. There are about 125 men standing around. Peter prays and two are picked. Someone must replace Judas. Then one of the disciples pulls out a pair of dice and rolls. If they come up 4 then it’s Matthias and if the come up 5 it’s Justus. Isn’t that kind of how it sounds, huh. They threw lots. Matthias’ number comes up and he is the new disciple.
We don’t read anything else about Matthias. It’s believed he evangelized Ethiopia. He went from disciple to apostle. What does Matthias have that the other 100 didn’t have? What sets him apart? What’s the difference between disciple and apostle?
You read about the apostle Paul and how he wrote most of the New Testament. You also hear of John the apostle. He was the one that Jesus loved the most. We talked last week about the apostles James and Peter. They were pretty special guys.
OK. So what is the difference between a disciple and an apostle? Read what Peter said. “We must pick someone who has been with Jesus from the beginning.”
An apostle was someone who had direct contact with Jesus. That’s part of it. But more, an apostle was one who “is sent”. Disciples are students.
Let’s use the analogy of basketball since the NBA playoffs are on now. Disciples are the players and apostles are the coaches. The coaches have been in the other role. They have been thru the paces already.
Well how do we choose a leader in the church today?? I’m not talking pastor, but chair leader. I’ve been in churches where whoever will lift up their hand and say “OK, I’ll do it” is given the job. A while back at one church we were in, if you were not at the planning meeting, expect to be heading up a committee. But based on scripture, that’s not how it’s supposed to be. You start out as a disciple. What’s the mission statement of the United Methodist Church??
It’s to Go and Make Disciples. This is training time. This is boot camp. You’re getting information (lots of information), unbelievers are telling you your crazy, and you don’t have much response to them. And you wonder if you did the right thing.
But you grow. You step out and challenge yourself, challenge your faith….and it gets stronger.
One day you wake up and God is knocking on your door. “I want you to be a leader. I want you to teach. I want you to take a mission group to the homeless people in Temple, to the broken on the gulf coast, to the poor in the apalatian mountains.”
And you scream out at God. “WHAT! Are you crazy? I’ve seen how these people question the pastor behind his back. I’ve seen the arguing in the pews. I can’t even lead my dog and you want me to lead a ragtag group of disciples? I’m too old. I’m too young.”
On and On. And God says… “Yes, you’re no longer a disciple. You are an apostle. I’m giving you a different calling than you had before.
You were on milk and now you’re eating spiritual meat. You can do this because I will be doing this through you.
There is no platinum recording contract though. Oprah will definitely not be calling.
You might have other leaders in the church fighting you or pushing you away (giving you the cold shoulder) thinking you should have done something different or another way.
But you know you are on the right path when someone tells you “that’s the best sermon you’ve preached” or “thanks for giving me that gift. No one has ever been so kind. Your such a blessing.”
So where are you at?? Are you a disciple or apostle? Are you training or being trained?
Or are you a disciple who is trained, but is being called to step out?
You don’t have to be an apostle to get to heaven. We all have different gifts and callings. And we are called at different times to do different things. The harvest is ready. Now God is saying “I’m calling you disciples. I’m calling you apostles. I want more. I want all of you”. And you know what all means… All means all and that’s all all means. If he does call you to step up like he called Matthias, will you do it?
Someone did step up. Tomorrow is Memorial Day. We are having communion today. I know usually we have it on the first Sunday of the month. However, I thought it was only appropriate. You see, Jesus Christ died for our freedom. His blood was shed so we would be out of the enemies hands. Thousands of men and women in the armed forces died for our freedom. Their blood was shed so we would be out of the enemies hands. Communion is a times to remember one death and come to Christ in a deeper way. I pray that you will come to Christ and remember the other deaths also.
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