Monday, January 31, 2011
LITTLE
Sunday, January 30, 2011
LYNCHPIN
Since the beginning of this year, I have been challenging our congregation to just 'believe what the Bible says and do that' - without rationalizations - without excuses - without good reasons why it won't work for me - just believe it for what it says and do it and see what amazing things God does because you follow it.
Today, as we talked about having an attitude of criticism, which the Bible says is flat-out sin --- there was the discovery that the antidote to that kind of spirit is found in I Corinthians 13.
It says love is PATIENT:
It waits for people to change and it blesses them in the meantime.
It is persistently compassionate even when it is undeserved.
It says love is KIND:
It isn’t just passively accepting people; it is actively accepting them.
It isn’t just standing on the other side of the room saying, 'She drives me batty, so I'm just going to steer clear of her way over here. That way I won't say anything I'll regret and have to apologize for later.' (I hear that approach a lot, by the way.) But that’s not love. Active love is actually walking across the room and finding ways to bless people.
It says love is not JEALOUS - it doesn’t BRAG - it isn’t ARROGANT:
I bless you even when you are more successful than I.
I bless you even when you are more prominent than I.
I bless you even when you are more gifted than I.
I bless you even though you are better looking than I.
I am for you; I have always been for you; I will always be for you.
It says love BEARS all things:
It bears the weight of misunderstanding. 'It's what she said, but it isn't what she meant. I know it sounded like what she meant, but it isn't what she meant.'
It says love BELIEVES all things:
It believes the best rather than assuming the worst about what they did.
It says love HOPES all things:
It sees people - not as they are - but as they will be by God’s grace.
It says love ENDURES all things:
You can retreat if you want to, but I’m never going to back up when it comes to loving you and blessing you.
It says love never FAILS:
This is the lynchpin to this whole thing. Think about the implications of love never failing. If this whole church thing goes south, God, help us to be able to say it wasn’t because we didn’t love each other -- and if we truly love each other, there is no way on earth this church thing can go south.
And be blessed.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
7
Someone asked me a few weeks ago why '7' was God's number. I wasn't sure that was the right way to say that, but certainly - from the seven days of Genesis in the beginning to the seven seals of Revelation at the end, Scripture is saturated with the number seven.
The word 'seven' occurs 287 times in the Bible. 'Seventh' happens 98 times. 'Seven-fold' is written 7 times. Just a bit of trivia - or maybe it's more than that, but those numbers are all factors of the number 7. Kind of weird, like the fact that President Abraham Lincoln's secretary was Mrs. Kennedy and President John Kennedy's secretary was Mrs. Lincoln - like John Wilkes Booth (President Lincoln's assassin) shot the president in a theatre and was caught in a book depository - and Lee Harvey Oswald (President Kennedy's assassin) shot the president from a book depository and was caught in a theatre.
In the Hebrew, seven is 'shevah.' It is from the root 'savah', to be full or satisfied, to have enough of. So on the seventh day God rested from the work of Creation. It was full and complete, good and perfect. Nothing could be added to it or taken from it without marring it. From that comes the word "Shabbath," Sabbath, or day of rest.
Most Biblical scholars, regardless of their stance regarding the meaning of numbers in Scripture, have recognized its significance. It is impossible to miss.
- God rested on the seventh day.
- Noah took every clean beast and bird onto the ark by sevens.
- God blesses Abraham with a seven-fold blessing (Genesis 12).
- Jacob served seven years for Leah and then seven years for Rachel.
- Egypt had seven years of plenty and seven years of famine.
- God makes a seven-fold covenant with Israel (Exodus 6).
- In Leviticus, the priests are told to sprinkle the blood of the offering seven times before the Lord.
- Joshua was told to march the Israelites seven times around the city of Jericho.
- Elisha instructed Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan RIver to be healed of his leprosy.
- David sang: "Seven times a day do I praise You, O God" (Psalm 119).
- In Proverbs, there are seven things detestable to the Lord.
- The New Testament has the miracle of seven loaves and fishes feeding 4,000 men with seven baskets full left over (Matthew 15).
- Jesus says to forgive seventy times seven.
Whatever you might believe, seven certainly gives a sense of persistence. Jesus said: "If someone sins against you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times asking for forgiveness, you should grant it." If Naaman had washed only four times in the Jordan River and then said, "Aw, this isn't working - just forget it," he wouldn't have been healed.
And remember ... 'Though the upright fall seven times, they get up again' (Proverbs 24:16).
And be blessed.
And be blessed.
And be blessed.
And be blessed.
And be blessed.
And be blessed.
And be blessed.
Friday, January 28, 2011
CONFESSION
Thursday, January 27, 2011
HANDS
We talked for an hour over eggs (him) and oatmeal (me) and told of the life-bending and miraculous things God was doing in both our lives. The hour flew by.
At the end, he asked if he could pray for us. Usually that's my job, it seems, but I was eager to have it play out this way this time. Yes. Definitely. Please do.
We joined hands there in the restaurant - with tables chattering next to us - and waitresses breezing back and forth - and he began to pray a blessing on our church and on my life.
I opened my eyes halfway thru (sorry, but I did) and glanced at our right hands that were clasped in the center of the table - my white hand, his black hand. I couldn't even close my eyes at that point. I just stared at our hands while the man continued to pray. It was a beautiful sign of what God is doing in our church and one of those moments indelibly imprinted in my heart.
Thanks, friend, for what you did for me this morning. I needed it.
And be blessed.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
MATURITY
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
GRAPE
Occasionally, like today, I get asked to come to someone's house who can't ever get out and serve them communion. It's an honor to be part of that.
Monday, January 24, 2011
THEM
Sunday, January 23, 2011
PACKER
Well, today's blog is just predictably inevitable ...
"God must be a Packer fan,
With robes of green and gold.
Watching all the football games,
Where the other teams get wiped away.
God must be a Packer fan,
With cheese heads and jerseys galore.
Keeping the faith of America's Pack,
And leading our team to the Bowl.
God must be a Packer fan,
With Packer shoelaces and socks.
Allowing us touchdowns to win every game,
And field goals to help a little bit more.
God must be a Packer fan,
With posters and pennants galore,
Singing along to the wonderful fact that,
"We are the Champions!"
Saturday, January 22, 2011
SEUSS
...
And be blessed.
AUDIT
Friday, January 21, 2011
HAT
Thursday, January 20, 2011
DEVIL
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
PASTORS
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
IF
Monday, January 17, 2011
khaw-ZONE
CHAZOWN is the Hebrew word for vision. This book by Craig Groeschel about fulfilling God’s personal dream for your life is written in the same style as he speaks - unadorned, clear, slapstick funny, and ingeniously simple. In it, Craig directs us stepwise thru the discovery of our personal values and purpose.
Along the way, he shares transparent stories and draws us in with amazing encouragement to do something most of us thought we could never do: Define our God-purpose and then write it down.
Though you could probably sit down and read the 75 very short chapters in one sitting - it’s that easy to read and that tempting to do - the better alternative is to take them one at a time - read one and spend a few days thinking on it. Rinse and repeat.
To facilitate the bite-sized approach, Craig has sprinkled interactive pages throughout, to help you process your own journey of writing personal values, purposes, goals, gifts and self-inventory. An added bonus is a dedicated website - www.chazown.com - to help you find your own CHAZOWN.
Craig has packed a whole lot into 218 pages. I recommend this book to anyone who is trying to ‘make this one life count.’ As Craig says: “Everyone ends up somewhere. We will end up somewhere on purpose.”
*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
FEEL FREE TO GO TO http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/view/2208 to rate my review.
And be blessed.
ASKING
Sunday, January 16, 2011
SEE
Contrary to popular opinion, pastors struggle with issues of faith, too. I don’t struggle with or wonder about the reliability of the Bible or the realness of Jesus, but I struggle with other issues of faith at times.
It is not my nature to sit quietly by and wait for God to do His thing. I think He moves too slow a lot of the time. I’m not very patient. Anyone who works with me will tell you that.
When I’m falsely accused, i want to lash out and set the record straight. I know I’m that way.
I feel like truth often takes too long to make itself heard.
I have found it hard at times to trust God with my children. I have become anxious about their futures and wanted to protect them from every evil influence - even as they have become adults.
Sometimes I even get disappointed with believers. Sorry, but I’m just being honest.
I don’t fully understand how people can live with such a wide chasm between what they profess to believe and what they actually live out.
I see too many people compartmentalizing the Bible and rationalizing their disobedience, seemingly without an ilk of conscience over it - they think it’s all fine with God just because it somehow ‘works’ for them.
I see too many people harboring personal bitterness and anger when we are clearly commanded to forgive.
I see too many people forever complaining and gossiping with no apparent agenda except selfishness or to hurt others - even though the Bible calls those attitudes and patterns sin.
I see too many people living rebelliously toward the various authorities in their lives when the Bible is clear we're to be in submission to those authorities - in fact, we're to be in submission to one another.
I see too many people living for the here and now rather than for eternity.
I admit it. I wonder about those issues of faith at times.
But here’s the bottom line: I see too many people ... and I need to get my eyes off of you and back on Jesus - and you need to get your eyes off of me and back on Jesus.
And be blessed.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
DOPE
Rememer that? Yeh, me neither. It would have been DOPE though, don't you think? And you would also think that story was true based on how many people end up getting 'Christian tattoos' on their bodies. The easiest ones seem to be a cross or maybe the fish thing, but there are scores of other tats that prove you're a believer. Dope.
One of the most amazing ones I've read about was a guy who got a tattoo of the conversion of the Apostle Paul down his whole right arm. Now that is kind of cool, if you go for that kind of thing. I guess the guy even ended up telling his story of faith on the show 'L.A. INK' because of it. If I was into it, I might want to depict the story of the Prodigal Son on me somewhere - but I'll settle for just thinking about it since the only way that is going to happen is if my wife is nowhere on the planet.
And be blessed.
Monday, January 10, 2011
FAMILY
I know every person on the planet doesn't feel that way about their own family and for very good reasons many times -- but I challenge you to start today. Start going forward from where you are. Putting the past behind you is far tougher done than said, but one has to begin somewhere. The generations coming forward need the blessing and benefit of close family ties. Start today.
And be blessed.