Our Vacation Bible School is this week. My girls are so excited and have been for about 2 weeks prior. In my family, my wife has spent a couple of weeks coming up here everyday for planning, cutting, gluing, decorating, making copies and such for our VBS. The girls and I "help" of course and it's great. The girls are so excited every night as they get to learn Bible stories, experience recreation, do neat crafts that reinforce lessons, get to meet and learn from missionaries, and get to be with many friends and volunteers from our church family. It's a great week and I'm so happy that my girls are excited about it.
Tonight I saw a whole lot of kids really excited to be here. They are learning and growing in the Lord. This is when a church is at its best, when we're serving the community and each other through discipleship and ministry that plant eternal seeds in the hearts of hearers. Those kids are the hearers this week. I'm just glad to be a part of what God is doing.
Thanks to God for His blessings and provision and thanks to all of the faithful servants who get their hands dirty by serving the "least of these" in His name!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Quit Blaming the Devil
I deal with people and their sin all of the time. It kind of comes with the line of work I'm in. I'm seeing a pattern that seems to be bugging me more and more in recent days. There are a lot of people who blame the devil for their sin. Though the devil is the author of sin and evil, we does not force us as humans to commit the act. The act of giving in to the temptation is ours. It's our sin because it was our choice. So many people say that the devil is destroying my marriage or the devil is why I'm losing my job or the devil is why I bad things are happening to me. Let's be honest. It is you and I who make our sinful choices and it's you and I who are paying the price for some of the choices we make. We have to take ownership of our own sin and repent.
I have a guy here at Oakwood who didn't file his taxes for a little over 7 years. He owed around $35,000 to the government. When he became a Christian, repented of his ways, got baptized and began living a real Christian life, he prayed & wished that God would fix the tax situation. Unfortunately, he still owed the government $35,000. He still had to make payments and over the next 7 years till he paid all of the taxes and penalties back.
Here's the point. The devil didn't make him do it. He made a choice to not pay his taxes just like he made a choice to pay his taxes back. The devil didn't make him owe the government money. He made that choice. I'm sure that the devil had something to do with the opportunity to sin, but the sinful choice was his own. We must get out of blaming the devil for things (I think that we're giving him a little too much credit) and take responsibility for what our actions and decisions produce. Only in that will we experience true repentance, freedom, and redemption.
It's time to own up and quit playing the blame game.
The next time you are faced with that temptation, you know, the one that the devil throws at you the most, remember that giving in is your choosing and not his. And remember what the Word of God says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
The good choice or bad choice is up to you. You own it. It's yours. Now go do something about it!
Keep the faith & live the faith!
I have a guy here at Oakwood who didn't file his taxes for a little over 7 years. He owed around $35,000 to the government. When he became a Christian, repented of his ways, got baptized and began living a real Christian life, he prayed & wished that God would fix the tax situation. Unfortunately, he still owed the government $35,000. He still had to make payments and over the next 7 years till he paid all of the taxes and penalties back.
Here's the point. The devil didn't make him do it. He made a choice to not pay his taxes just like he made a choice to pay his taxes back. The devil didn't make him owe the government money. He made that choice. I'm sure that the devil had something to do with the opportunity to sin, but the sinful choice was his own. We must get out of blaming the devil for things (I think that we're giving him a little too much credit) and take responsibility for what our actions and decisions produce. Only in that will we experience true repentance, freedom, and redemption.
It's time to own up and quit playing the blame game.
The next time you are faced with that temptation, you know, the one that the devil throws at you the most, remember that giving in is your choosing and not his. And remember what the Word of God says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
The good choice or bad choice is up to you. You own it. It's yours. Now go do something about it!
Keep the faith & live the faith!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Pursuit or Not Pursuit
If you are reading this, I'd love to get your feedback. Just leave a comment. It's quick, easy, and you can stay anonymous of you must.
I was in K-Mart tonight looking for a sprinkler. I have a couple of places in my yard where the sprinklers don't get very well. Anyway, Amy and I ran into some friends that we hadn't seen in a while. They are in ministry like we are. As we all started discussing life, church (it always comes up), and kids, the guy I was talking to said something very interesting. We were talking about church growth and churches gaining new members. While we were talking about churches strategizing to get new people, we started talking about pursuit. So many churches pursue people. And he said that you never read about Jesus and the disciples pursuing anyone. In fact, they ran more people off than came to repentance sometimes.
The conversation then went toward churches bending and trying hard to win new members so they can boast of their attendance rolls rather than making fully-devoted disciples of Jesus. He then kind of challenged me in my thinking. If a church had 100% sold-out disciples, then it would always be a growing church because disciples, truly dedicated followers of Jesus, always share their faith.
My philosophy has always been to do my job and let God bring the growth. If He wants the church to be 1,000 in weekend services, He'll make it happen. Our job is simply faithfulness in our areas of calling and to bring others along in the faith with us.
I'd love to hear any feedback that any has as you read this. Should we pursue and try to woo people to our church? Or should we not pursue and just preach, teach, edify, challenge, and grow people in the Lord? Are we called to go after prospective members or let them come to us? I'm not talking about not reaching the lost. I'm talking more about people who are saved and church shopping. I'll be interested to see your comments. Just click on the "comments" link below and let me know what you think. Thanks!
I was in K-Mart tonight looking for a sprinkler. I have a couple of places in my yard where the sprinklers don't get very well. Anyway, Amy and I ran into some friends that we hadn't seen in a while. They are in ministry like we are. As we all started discussing life, church (it always comes up), and kids, the guy I was talking to said something very interesting. We were talking about church growth and churches gaining new members. While we were talking about churches strategizing to get new people, we started talking about pursuit. So many churches pursue people. And he said that you never read about Jesus and the disciples pursuing anyone. In fact, they ran more people off than came to repentance sometimes.
The conversation then went toward churches bending and trying hard to win new members so they can boast of their attendance rolls rather than making fully-devoted disciples of Jesus. He then kind of challenged me in my thinking. If a church had 100% sold-out disciples, then it would always be a growing church because disciples, truly dedicated followers of Jesus, always share their faith.
My philosophy has always been to do my job and let God bring the growth. If He wants the church to be 1,000 in weekend services, He'll make it happen. Our job is simply faithfulness in our areas of calling and to bring others along in the faith with us.
I'd love to hear any feedback that any has as you read this. Should we pursue and try to woo people to our church? Or should we not pursue and just preach, teach, edify, challenge, and grow people in the Lord? Are we called to go after prospective members or let them come to us? I'm not talking about not reaching the lost. I'm talking more about people who are saved and church shopping. I'll be interested to see your comments. Just click on the "comments" link below and let me know what you think. Thanks!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Not Blogging So Much & a Proud Daddy
I do have to say to my readers that I'm terribly sorry for not writing more than I have been. It's just been really busy and as I look down my list of ministry priorities, my blog gets put on the back burner from time to time. There is so much I could write about that's happened since my last blog, but I decided to start current and try to stay current and not back track too much.
I got to go to church camp with Madalyn this week. This was her first time to church camp as an actual camper (she's been a couple times as a P.K.) and I was thrilled to be able to share this experience with her. She made me so proud in so many ways that I can't even begin to express it all. I had a couple of sponsors from other churches tell me how well behaved she was, how she participated in Bible lessons, helped others, did her memory work, and was truly a blessing to everyone. That made daddy very proud.
I got to see her heart first hand on the first day of camp. We split into family groups. Each camper had to pick a partner so you could have at least one friend in every group. There were 3 girls from Oakwood of course and Maddy was the one who was left out. My heart broke for her, but she handled it like a champ and made friends with another girl who was by herself. Madalyn did a great job being positive and grateful even in these circumstances. Again, daddy was so proud of her.
After camp we talked about it all and she had the best time. She can't wait to go back next year, she said. It was a good little camp for her. I'm glad that she felt like she had a positive experience and wants to go back again.
VBS is next week and we're all gearing up for a great week. I'll be working 24-7 for the next 10 days or so. I'll try to keep up with blogging a little more. Be patient with this pastor and remember that God's not finished with me either. Keep the faith & live the faith!
I got to go to church camp with Madalyn this week. This was her first time to church camp as an actual camper (she's been a couple times as a P.K.) and I was thrilled to be able to share this experience with her. She made me so proud in so many ways that I can't even begin to express it all. I had a couple of sponsors from other churches tell me how well behaved she was, how she participated in Bible lessons, helped others, did her memory work, and was truly a blessing to everyone. That made daddy very proud.
I got to see her heart first hand on the first day of camp. We split into family groups. Each camper had to pick a partner so you could have at least one friend in every group. There were 3 girls from Oakwood of course and Maddy was the one who was left out. My heart broke for her, but she handled it like a champ and made friends with another girl who was by herself. Madalyn did a great job being positive and grateful even in these circumstances. Again, daddy was so proud of her.
After camp we talked about it all and she had the best time. She can't wait to go back next year, she said. It was a good little camp for her. I'm glad that she felt like she had a positive experience and wants to go back again.
VBS is next week and we're all gearing up for a great week. I'll be working 24-7 for the next 10 days or so. I'll try to keep up with blogging a little more. Be patient with this pastor and remember that God's not finished with me either. Keep the faith & live the faith!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Mid-Year Update
I am humbled and excited to be a part of what God is doing at Oakwood. I was curious to see statistically where we were at in decisions for the year. I had Nancy pull the decisions stats and this is what we found:
59 decisions so far this year.
33 new members have joined the church.
19 have come to salvation and been baptized.
We've had many come for repentance and rededication.
As God works it should excite each and every one of us. We are followers of the Way and anytime someone comes to Him or comes back to Him, we should rejoice. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 15 (Eric's paraphrase) "There is more rejoicing in heaven over 1 sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who need more repentance.
Rejoice in the Lord for He is good. Thank Him for His mighty works. Pray and ask Him how you can be a part of the body and advance the Gospel. Then get out there and be the salt and light.
59 decisions so far this year.
33 new members have joined the church.
19 have come to salvation and been baptized.
We've had many come for repentance and rededication.
As God works it should excite each and every one of us. We are followers of the Way and anytime someone comes to Him or comes back to Him, we should rejoice. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 15 (Eric's paraphrase) "There is more rejoicing in heaven over 1 sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who need more repentance.
Rejoice in the Lord for He is good. Thank Him for His mighty works. Pray and ask Him how you can be a part of the body and advance the Gospel. Then get out there and be the salt and light.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)