Pastor Talk

Psalm 19:14 reads,

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
       be pleasing in your sight,
       O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

This heart-cry of David is a prayer all of us would do well to live out in our lives.  This is a final verse in a chapter that deals much with God’s greatness in creation and His Word.  From our Summer School lesson on Sunday, we heard how great our Bible is; that it is the God-inspired and God-revealing, accurate, authoritative guide for our faith, belief and manner of living.  We also reinforced the idea that it does us little good if we don’t read it.  Listen to David’s words before he penned the above verse:

‘The law of the LORD is perfect,
       reviving the soul.
       The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
       making wise the simple.

 The precepts of the LORD are right,
       giving joy to the heart.
       The commands of the LORD are radiant,
       giving light to the eyes.

 The fear of the LORD is pure,
       enduring forever.
       The ordinances of the LORD are sure
       and altogether righteous.

 They are more precious than gold,
       than much pure gold;
       they are sweeter than honey,
       than honey from the comb.

 By them is your servant warned;
       in keeping them there is great reward.”

Psalm 19:7-11

How would King David keep the words of his mouth and the meditation of his heart pleasing in God’s sight?  By knowing and keeping God’s Word.  We would be wise to do the same.  If you are already in the habit of daily Bible reading, I encourage you to keep it up.  If you are not yet in that habit, I challenge you to begin.  Find a Bible reading plan that works for you and start today.

Some things I have done in the past is to use various reading plans included as part of Bibles I own.  On the internet, I have used the Year of the Bible at http://yob.gospelcom.net/ which gives you 5-minute-or-less daily readings that will lead you through the New Testament in one year.  You can read them from their website or subscribe to have them sent to you daily via e-mail.  I currently use a reading plan from BibleGateway.com at http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/ and plan to read through the entire Bible in about a year.  It has been an enriching experience that I am nearly half way through.  

It doesn’t matter how you do it, just do it.  What works for you?  What benefit have you received from daily reading of God’s word?  Comment about it and encourage someone to begin this life changing habit today.

Thursday evening I encountered a hideous creature I have never heard about or seen before. 

My girls and I had been at the church for about an hour and were getting ready to go home.  As I was doing my fatherly-best to convince my five year old to pick up some scraps of paper she had thrown on the floor, I heard a scream from another room.  I left Grace to find out what Katie was upset about.

When I saw Katie outside the bathroom in the nursery she was pointing to the floor and asking, “What is that thing?”  The light was off in the bathroom but through the darkness I could make out a shape of a bug in front of the toilet.  Because of the enormous size of the bug, I immediately thought it was a plastic toy bug that some child had thrown into the bathroom.

Just in case I was wrong, I cautiously reached for the light switch without taking my eyes off the creature.  In the light it looked real.  Still, because of the size, I was thinking…toy.  I reached for the plunger behind the toilet and the bug started moving.  I realized I was now face-to-face with a creepy bug and had to wear my brave “dad hat” because I had two little girls screaming in fright.

Long story short - I captured the big guy/gal using the old tupperware and paper trick and transported him/her home for later identification (this completely freaked out Grace who cried about the horrible creature in the trunk for the entire mile home).  Turns out, it is called a Jerusalem Cricket or Potato Bug.  A picture is included at the bottom of this post for your viewing pleasure.

In 1994, Hal Donaldson had an idea to begin a ministry of compassion called Convoy of Hope.  Today, as the flood waters in Iowa continue to wreak havoc, Convoy of Hope is preparing to offer needed relief items to the victims.  This ministry has served over 21.4 million people by responding to disasters all over the world and hosting outreach events where free groceries are distributed, job and health fairs are organized, activities for children are provided and the gospel is shared.  It is amazing to see what God has done with this ministry because one man decided to act on the idea God gave him.

What ideas has God given you lately?  What dreams and thoughts has he breathed into your heart?  Are you willing to act on them?  Maybe the idea won’t blossom into a world-wide compassion ministry - but it may impact your neighbor or friend to respond to Jesus.  God wants to use you.  Will you allow Him to?

So…as I was leaving church yesterday, I was informed that our connection to the Internet was down and an investigation into why had been fruitless.  This morning I started my day at the office with a call to Verizon, our DSL provider.  After a few automated menus and being transferred from one technician to another, we discovered the modem was broken.  During lunchtime, I stopped by my garage and picked up a spare modem I had, plugged it in at the church and voila…connection restored!

 During all this activity I had this profound thought: a modem is like our relationship with Christ.  Without a working modem this morning, all the computers were working properly and waiting to connect to the Internet…but couldn’t.  The line coming into the church had the capability to provide access to all the devices…but couldn’t.  It took this small box that could fit in your pocket to connect the two.

Here is the parallel.  Without a relationship with Jesus Christ, we have just a religion.  A religion that tells us who God is, that He loves us and doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in hell.  It may cause us to visit a church, read a Bible or sing a song - but it can’t save us.  It lacks a connection to God.  Jesus is that connection.  Not just a knowledge that He exists, but a relationship begun as we confess Him as Savior and Lord of our life.  Savior meaning He is the one who forgives our sins and allows access to God and Lord meaning that He is the leader of our life.  This relationship continues as we turn away from our sin and endeavor to live our lives in a pleasing manner before God.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’”  John 14:6  NIV

On Memorial Day, my family and I spent some time gardening.  We had weeds and plants we did not want that reached well over 6 feet tall.  We had our work cut out for us.  During our time in the garden, Jill observed that weeds will grow without any work at all, while the plants that you do want seem to need much more attention to keep them healthy and producing good fruit.

What a great parallel to our Christian life.  In fact, it is a parallel that is mentioned several times in the Bible.  As Christians, we are to bear fruit.  This fruit-bearing refers to spiritual virtues, such as the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23, and to sharing Christ’s love with others.  The weeds, or dead branches that require pruning, are those distractions, interruptions and sin that keep us from bearing good fruit.  It takes hard work and dedication to grow a successful garden.  It will require the same to continuously bear good fruit in our Christian lives.

Some tips for your “garden”:

• Water daily with Scripture reading and prayer (even a few minutes a day can make a huge difference).
• Pull out the weeds of bitterness, jealousy, gossip, hatred, sexual immorality, discontent, unforgiveness, etc…
• Allow plenty of “Son” light in through church attendance and involvement in other church activities and Bible study opportunities.
• Seek help from other gardeners if you are having trouble with stubborn weeds or diseases that are causing your fruit to be less than desirable.

Alright, enough with the gardening metaphor.

Let’s do our best to love God and affect our world for Him!  Know that I am here for you if you need anything.

Post-Baptism Picture!

What a great day we had yesterday as four believers were baptized and we all had some great BBQ!  Thank you to everyone who helped with our meal before, during and after.  This is an awesome church to pastor!

Surfing is a unique sport due to the fact that the ocean is constantly changing.  While surfing you must find where the waves are breaking that hour.  Last Thursday, I was out early and had to find this spot.  I found a nice break if I lined up with a building on the pier and a grouping of palm trees on shore (primitive GPS).  I had a nice, consistent break there for the two hours I was out.

While surfing, I was again struck by the importance of being in the right place at the right time.  Not just in the water, but in our lives.  God wants to not just be our Savior but also our Leader.  He will make sure we are in the right place at the right time (providence) when we line our lives up with His Word and through prayer, give Him time to speak while we are listening.  Our lives in Christ are not to be passive, but an adventure as God uses us to share His love with an entire world.  The role each of plays is different - but vital.  If you don’t know the spot God has placed you, ask Him today.

Here is a link to a song called “Center of it All” by Tim Hughes.  Let it remind you to make Jesus the center of your life in all you do this week!

Center of it All

Welcome to my new blog.  A place to check in on some random thoughts your pastor has had throughout my week.  Some may be inspirational.  Others funny.  We could even enter into the realm of the corny, weird, extra-terrestrial (probably not), or miscellaneous (love that category).  Anyway, feel free to leave comments as you deem appropriate.