Giving Getting

For pastors and leaders we find ourselves giving a lot. There's the counseling in times of crisis. There's the pressure of making tough decisions and calls. There's the great emotional energy it takes to teach and preach God's Word.

And these are good things. And a part of the calling. But we also must balance it with getting.

For me lately, I've been looking to a lot of blogs and online sermons to encourage and minister to me. My current favorite resource is the resurgence.com.

...and inspiring videos like this one:



So what's your current form of "getting"?

What Was That...?

Remember how I told you that most cover songs are awful ideas.

Well this video I showed tonight is an exception:



Yes. That is Willie Nelson singing.
Yes. That is a Coldplay song he is singing.
Yes. Those are claymation pigs in a video about sustainable living.

Does it get any better than this?

Better Late...

Greetings all.

I pray that you survived the crazy candy-fest that is Halloween. My family had a grand ol' time and is still recovering from bloated belly-aches this morning!

We actually started a new tradition yesterday of truly making my day off a day of rest and ending with a traditional Shabbat meal. (More on this in a day or two)

But in honor of my costume last night (I dressed as a Procrastinator - "I'll work on my costume...tomorrow!") I thought I'd post this truly informative and helpful article on the holiday of Halloween:

What Christians Should Know About Halloween on theresurgence.com

Let me know your thoughts and where you land on the whole issue. God bless.

Simply Put...

The word of the day for me has been "simple".

It keeps popping up every time I turn around.

Like the lady who talked to me about growing up on a farm - feeding chickens, fishing in creeks - and how it was a better time. She finished her moment of nostalgia with the statement: "I guess it was simpler times."

Or the numerous comments about the hotdog & marshmallow roast one of our Sunday School classes had this weekend. Is it a coincidence that they all loved it and all identified that it was restful time to have no agenda other than to visit around the fire?

One lady referred to it as "simple".

See, so often I feel this pressure to do more. Do bigger. Do faster.

I confessed to the "simple"-comment lady that I always feel this pressure to have an agenda, thinking that's what people want.

But maybe we just want things to be simple. Maybe God even desires that for us.

One of my favorite statements regarding the disciples is found in Acts 4:13

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

See, the disciples were just ordinary men who were used by God to do extra-ordinary things.

Maybe it was because they had rid their lives of complexity to the point where God could use them. Too often my plans, my agenda, my calendar get in the way of listening to God and loving others.

Maybe we need to try to be more simple. How can you simplify this week?

A Crisis...

Approximately 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with it.

Up to two-thirds of your body is made up of it.

And yet the lack of it is the largest crisis facing our planet today.

Water.

Up to a billion people on our planet today do not have access to adequate clean water. That means one in every six people alive do not have the most basic need of life. That is mind-boggling. Especially when we turn our faucet on without a second thought that anything other than clean, cool water will come out.

As followers of Christ, this problem should concern us.

Jesus said that the second greatest thing God asks us to do is love our neighbor as ourselves. He also makes it quite clear that our neighbor is anyone that we discover has a need for which we have a solution.

So let's start obeying Christ and being part of the solution!

This year our youth ministry has committed to raising enough funds for a well in another community. We will be partnering with Living Water International to accomplish this task.

For the next month we are making a renewed effort to raise funds and awareness for this project. We are challenging all of our youth to come up with individual creative ways to raise money and get people involved.

Asking each of your friends for a $1.

Giving up soda, movies, shopping, whatever; and then giving the money you save.

Drinking only water for the month and spreading the word.

The possibilities are endless.

We will then have a special offering on Wednesday, November 9th.

In addition to these efforts, some of our members have also organized a benefit concert in November at the Lemondrop in Springfield, MO. All proceeds will go towards this project.

So I pray that you will get involved and be the neighbor God commands us to be. God bless.

A Good Day...

It was a good day at church yesterday.

We had good attendance at church. People were very receptive to the sermon. Some even came to the altar to respond. I got the privilege of baptizing a little girl during our service. Another young lady shared with me that she received the Lord as her Savior earlier this week.

And yet, there were hard things yesterday too. We found out after our first service that a dear elderly lady in our church had past away during the night. Some of our congregation were actually the ones who discovered it when they tried to pick her up for church. Another young lady came to me after service and shared about some really tough and discouraging things going on in her life. Another member is having a really hard time with recovery from surgery.

But at the end of the day, after our evening service as several of us stood on the front lawn watching our kids run through the grass and having great conversation, we found ourselves saying, "What a good day!"

But was it good because of attendance or how many people responded? Was it good because things went the way we wanted them too?

In Genesis we see God looking at the things He created - the things that came from Him - and calling them good. In the gospels we see Jesus telling the rich young ruler that "no one is good except God alone." Paul tells us in Romans 8 that in all things (that would include both the salvation and the death that we experienced yesterday at our church) God works for the good of those who love Him. James tells us that every good and perfect gift is from God above.

And you begin getting this sense in Scripture that "good" isn't so much a circumstantial state of being, but a realization that God is with us. That He is in control despite our circumstances.

And if these things are all true (which we know they are) wouldn't every day be a good day?

So tell me, how was your day good yesterday?

Back To School!

For most of us school is starting back this week (if it hasn't already started).

I know for me it brings back that excitement I felt as a kid. A fresh year with a fresh teacher and fresh school supplies. There was something special about riding that big yellow bus on the first day with your backpack full of freshly sharpened No. 2's and your brand new Knight Rider lunch box next to you.

(I still almost can't resist buying a Captain America lunchbox for myself while shopping for my own kids!)

And with the excitement of school, I always look forward to the return to routine in our youth ministry. After a long summer of camps and vacations, our students return looking for the stability of our fellowship.

Each year we offer a Back-To-School Kickoff to connect with new students and reconnect with those we haven't seen in awhile. We also always start off the year with a fresh and relevant message series. This year we are going to spend almost three months in the book of Ezekiel under the title of "Abomination and the Magic Bands"! We are also retooling some of the things we are doing with Sunday School and Small Groups to maximize our discipleship opportunities.

We have found that with the excitement of school starting, it is always a great time to recast vision and launch fresh direction. I hope you will join us in that excitement.

So what are you excited about during this back to school season?