3 posts tagged “church”
I have heard that too many changes all at once can be stressful. In the last couple of weeks we have experienced a lot of changes as a family. We recently moved from a trailer that we lived in for 7 years and in order to move from there into our new place we had to make some tough decisions and sacrifices. One of the hardest decisions was to downsize the pet farm. At that time we had two dogs, a cat, a bird, two puppies and a kitten. We are now down to Angel the lab and Peaches the bird. It was very difficult for us to say good bye to our beloved pets but the new residence only allows for us to have two pets and they also put a very steep pet deposit in place which made it necessary to severely reduce the number of pets we took with us.
The other thing that was stressful for the teens was to uproot from their schools at Sedgefield and Goose Creek High School and make the move away from their friends into new schools at Westview and Stratford High School. I am sure that Justin and Kristina will find new friends eventually but I am sure that they sorely miss their friends from the other schools. I know that Kristina keeps in contact with several of her friends in person as well as through MySpace and e-mail.
I drove in to work early this morning and it is a dreary rainy dark looking day. It was good to go to bed around 10:30 pm last night because it enabled me to wake up at 6 am and get an early start on my day. That includes driving from Goose Creek to Kiawah Island which usually takes about an hour depending on traffic. The earlier I start out the easier the traffic is which makes my morning commute much more bearable. Speaking of change my new job as an I.T. manager for a resort rental company has been quite stressful. I found myself walking into somewhat of a mess and I had to hit the ground running with little to no training from the previous I.T. person that was here before me. When I arrived that person had been gone for two weeks and I had to depend on feedback from the technology provider company that was being utilized until my arrival. When I arrived here there was a back log of workstation problems that took me about 4 weeks to resolve.
On my drive in this
morning I prayed for my family and my church, my nation and I am quite thankful
for many things. I am thankful for Katy
and the children. I am thankful that God
has blessed me with a family who loves me and friends like you who care about
me. I am thankful that I live in America
and that I can enjoy the freedom of speech and religion and the right to vote
for my leaders. I understand that our
system is probably messed up beyond all measure however I also know as a
naturalized citizen that if it were not for my adoption parents I would have
never made it here. I also realize that
no matter how screwed up the American form of government is or how many crooked
politicians may be in office it is a far cry better than living in some
socialist or communist country where we would not have any freedoms that we
take for granted.
I am thankful that each American can go out and vote tomorrow during the presidential election. If you are an American I would encourage you to do what a lot of other citizens in other countries can not do, go VOTE. If you feel hopeless, and that your vote does not count then please know that you are probably not alone. All you can do is educate yourself the best you can and make the best decision you can. There are websites that are dedicated to providing us with a comparison of each presidential candidate and where they stand on the issues.
Your decision to vote will enable the democratic system to work the way it is supposed to work. For the people and by the people means that we vote people into office that we think will best represent us in our government. If you do not vote then you have robbed yourself of a privilege that you have as a citizen and you will not be able to complain about who makes it in office. The bottom line is this, your vote counts.
I am thankful this morning that I can go to church on Sunday and that my family and I can take part in open praise and worship. I am also thankful that other folks like you have the right to go worship God or not worship God. That is what is great about our country. We do not have to worry about our government forcing us to worship one particular religion nor do we have to worry about them throwing us in jail just because we do chose to worship.
I am thankful that I am employed this morning. There are a lot of folks out there that are being laid off or are having a very difficult time finding gainful employment. Our economy is struggling at this time and businesses and people alike are learning how to live more frugally than before. I am hopeful that our government leaders will be able to make the right decisions and the tough decisions that will enable our economy and citizens to get back on the right track.
I am hopeful that our
government leaders will realize that downsizing and making budgetary cuts is
not just limited to the poor and middle class Americans. All of us need to make some sacrifices for
the greater good of all.
I am thankful for technology and that I can use it to write these words and share them with you. If it were not for the advantages of technology and the Internet or World Wide Web I would not be able to share my thoughts with you nor would I be able to know all of you, my friends and fellow cyber citizens.
Today is a good day. The rain has stopped and the sun is out and it is cold outside. I went to the gym and worked out for an hour and that is the first time I have done that in months. Back in December I started walking the five flights of stairs in my office building and walking. I am ready to go to the next level which means going back to the gym and reaquainting myself with the elliptical trainer and weight machines.
I had a good time in our church service yesteday. The praise and worship music went very well and I could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit moving about the sanctuary as we lifted up His praises in song. I spent several hours this morning on my day off reaching out to people in our congregation that are missing in action. Some are absent because of travel or illness. Some folks are absent because they just have better things to do. Lets face it, there are plenty of other fun things to do other than going to church. Am I right or what? I guess it all depends on your definition of fun and the reasons why you go to church to begin with.
We have been attending a local church here in Goose Creek now for about 7 years. I like attending church because of several reasons.
A. I can reconnect with God in my life there
B. I hear his word being preached and taught
C. I can be around other like minded people
D. I get encouragement from the other folks I am around
E. I realize that I am not alone in the many struggles or trials I face in life
F. I have opportunities to serve when I sing on the Praise team and help with technology
G. I am in a place where I can renew my committment to serve God and be the best husband, father, employee,church lay leader etc.
H. I can minister to the needs of others around me as I am led by the spirit of God
I. I can support the pastor and his wife as they minister to us
I was speaking to he pastors wife in e-mail about some of the lost sheep in our congregation and she told me that some folks seem to think that the relationship they have with the Lord is enough. Why should they bother with going to church or responding to our reaching out to them. This was my response to her question.
I guess the question for all of us is this. Do we want an intimate personal (daily) relationship with the Lord or do we want a superficial relationship?
I fully believe that there are people who think that going to church once or twice per week is enough.
Relationships require work and the harder you work at them the better they become. How do we get close to God? We get close by reading his word, praying and being around other believers. Reading his word reveals his character and will for our lives. His word gives us direction and a purpose for living. Reading his word gives us HOPE and reason for going on through this world despite the garbage and heart ache. Reading His word gives us power to live by. We connect to the power of Holy Spirit by allowing His word to saturate our hearts.
When we pray we enter into his presence. It allows us to interact with a God that loves us. It allows us to be still and quiet in his presence and allow him to minister to our needs. How can God get close to us if we are always moving away from him and distracted? How can God talk to us in the still quiet voice of our hearts if we are always listening to the clamoring of the many voices out in the world?
When we fellowship with other believers God gives us a chance to minister to the needs of others and be ministered to by them as well.
Jesus said in his word , Be encouraged and be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
We can get that message from not only God but also Jesus in others. We need to connect one to another so that we can all have the same goal which is to glorify God which is in heaven through both our words and deeds. If we don't love our brother and sister then the love of God is not in us.
Learning HOW to do these things takes commitment and practice. The longer we do these things the easier it gets. We need to learn how to do it ourselves and then we can mentor others and show them how to do it. We are not responsible FOR people or the decisions they make. We all have to take ownership of our issues and our decisions and realize that while their are some consequences for sin that does not mean that God or his people will not forgive.
Yes, there are some people who are self righteous and judgemental and they wont know how to forgive. That does not mean everyone within a church is the same way. We are responsible to God for how we treat one another. If our vertical relationship with Christ is healthy then our horizontal relationship with other people will be ok. Our job is not to change people, save them or be judgemental. Our job is to love them as Christ loves us. We are not to love the sin someone entertains nor are we to engage in that sin but we are to love the person and help them to walk into restoration in whatever way we can.
One way that we can help people to come into a place of restoration is to love them just the way they are and try to invite them to join with us as we attend our local churches and be in a place where they can get help and healing right along with us. Ultimately the church is a spiritual hospital where all the hurting people come together and find out what is wrong and get the healing they need.
As Christians we are surrounded by hurting people who need Christ in their lives. I do not care where you find yourself you never know what is going on in the lives of people that are in the community that God placed you in. We might be the only Jesus that those people may ever see or hear. I want to encourage you to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth to those people. Work on a healthy relationship with God yourself so that when you come into contact with another person that is hurting or sick emotionally, spiritually or mentally you will be equipped to help them just as Christ has helped you.
As we find ourselves at the beginning of 2007 I wanted to take the time to share from my heart. I hope that you will think about these things and then join me in 2007 as I try to develop a stronger relationship with Christ in my life. These thoughts are primariy focused towards those of you who have identified with Christ and claim that He is your Lord and Savior.
My hope and prayer for myself and for all of my brothers and sisters is that we can find the things of this world that are choking out Christ in our lives and find a way to diminish the presence of those things and replace those things with Jesus. There is an old saying and it says something like this. The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible. There is so much truth to that.
As I look at my life and the process of sanctification I know that I know that I stand in His way of that perfect work more times than not. We are to be in the world but not of the world. The only problem with that is we are so deeply entwined in the things of this world on a daily basis that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the two. The only thing that will enable us to see clearly (as through a stained glass) is for us to get a better picture of who God really is. The only way we can do that folks is to pursue HIM in a personal relationship. We can do that through reading of His word. We can do that by experiencing true koininia with our bretheren. Through that fellowship we will see God working in the lives of other believers and in turn the Jesus in them will reach out and touch our lives. We can experience God in a closer more personal way by spending time in prayer and listening to what God is telling us in the still quiet places in our hearts. We must purpose in our hearts to get still and quiet before God shut our mouths and listen. If we can not hear his voice how in the world will he be able to reach us?
My pastor said this statement on Sunday. Christians today try to be self sufficient and do everything themselves and then when they are at the end of their resources and things are all messed up then we go to God and ask him to fix our messes. Proverbs 3:5 and 6 says this. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Trust in God with ALL your heart and in every aspect of your life. That includes but not exclusive to your relationships,finances, talents, dreams, hopes, desires, career, marriage.... The list is endless. Instead of always trusting our gut instinct we are instructed to see what the Lord would have us to do. We are promised by God that if we will trust every aspect of our lives to the will of God that He will put us on a straight and narrow path that is PERFECT in His eyes and for our lives. We have to die to ourselves daily and crucify the flesh and the things the flesh so desperately desires in order to truly trust in Christ. We have to purpose in our hearts every single moment of every single day to not allow our flesh to take control. Our flesh left to its own devices will do one thing and that is drive you to the pits of hell trying to satisfy it. Our flesh is never satisfied and our enemy knows that and works over time trying to tempt us to do that which is not of God.
The next thing that we can do that will enable us to have a more personal and rich relationship with Christ is to find a way to invest ourselves in service. My pastor says that people get out of God what they put into him. People have this Burger King mentality in which they want to come to church and get whatever it is that they think they need. When they do not get whatever that thing is then they start to whine and say that they did not get anything. The reason for that is because they are using God and the church as a fast food restaurant picking and choosing only those things from the menu that will make them happy. The problem with that is that God is not in the business of making us happy. God is in the business of loving his creation and pursuing us and trying to have a closer relationship with us. We have to remember that God chose us first and that He is God and we are not. Amen? We serve Him as Master and King not out of fear but because He first loved us and died on the cross that we might have eternal life OUTSIDE of HELL. That alone should make us want to serve Him. We all deserve HELL, none of us deserve Heaven.
One of the best ways that I know to experience God in a deep and personal way is to quit focusing on all of my problems, leave them to God to handle and then find out how He has equipped me to serve him. Every single one of us has talents and skills that can be used in the local church to further his kingdom. All we have to do is find out what those skills are and find out where to put them to use. If you do not know what you are good at go to your pastor and say, Pastor I want to serve God but I am not sure how I can do that here in this church. Trust me when I tell you this. After the pastor is revived because he fainted he will be happy to lead you in the right direction of service. Amen? How many churches are filled with Burger King minded people who are seeking to be made happy and completely missing the purpose of the local church? The local church is a hospital that is filled with sick people (us) who desperately need Jesus to fix all of the junk and damage in our lives. Some of us are more healed than others but none of us have arrived. For those of us that are more mature in the faith then we are commanded to help those in our congregation that are not. In a spirit of meekness and fear we are to go to them and minister to them through the power of God in our lives in those areas that the Holy Spirit shows us. Amen?
Are you doing these things mentioned above? Most of us are probably doing some of them but not all of them and that includes me. My desire is to get out of the way so that God can do His perfect work in my heart and change me more into his likeness every day. Our world, our local church, our local community, our schools, our work places, our lives will be better off because of it.
May God bless you richly in 2007
