Don't be stingy!

This one will be short. I believe being stingy is a sin.  Being a good steward is a blessing.We've been blessed to much not share willingly with others. My favorite quote right now came from a customer last week. " Money is like manure it's not worth anything unless you spread it" . I can't add much to that.

Be blessed,
Russ.

Just like Jesus

I find myself at a cross road in Christian walk. As I write this, the words "all things new" keep popping in my head. It seems that all the things surrounding church. At least my perception of church has changed. The old stability I had in a church is gone. Maybe this is happening because so much of what I engaged in was about me and what I liked. Sometimes I think I engaged "church" more than I engaged God. So maybe God wants to make this thing called church new in my life. I have found myself wanting more than anything to study Jesus. We hear so much, " be like Jesus" or hear it in the song "give me your eyes". I want my life to matter. I want to feel God's pleasure in the things I do. I want people to see Jesus through me. I want to encounter God as in the day of Act's. The world is dying around me and I just want to able to bless those I can bless as I navigate this life God has blessed me with. I see church moving, flowing, changing as quickly as the world changes around us. I see a church that gives more than it takes. I see a church that pours out during the week more than it takes on a Sunday morning. I see a church that completely trusts God and His word in all it's forms, even when we don't completely understand what He is saying and doing. I see a church that believes that God is bigger than our mistakes and Rom.8:28, works to the good of those who love Him and are called by his name". I see a church that focuses on the problem solver and not the problem. Give me Jesus A friend sent me this link, it is exactly where I am in my walk right now. I hope it works. If it doesn't check out All Sons and Daughters, Reason to Sing. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y56nxe5HeFI God bless who ever stumbles across this.

Prayer

Hello to anyone who happens across this. It has been a while so if you've read before you may have given up on me or moved on. I am here today and that is all that matters.

My devo time has been a scattered lately and quite sparadic so in an effort to have a more focused devotion time I have found myself in 1 Samuel. I would like to share what God has laid on my heart so far.

1 Samuel starts out with story of Samuel's mother Hannah. Hannah was married to Elkanah who also had a second wife, Peninnah. Peninnah was able to bear children and Hannah could not. As the story went Elkanah loved Hannah more than Penninah and out of jeleousy Penninah made fun of Hannah and made her life misserable. Hannah wanted nothing more in life than to have a child. She endured this hardship for years. So Hannah went to the one who has all the answers, God, and pleaded for a child, in fact in her pleas she vowed that if she was to be given a child, she would give the child back to the Lord for His service in the temple.

Great story, so what, right?

What I was impressed with was the manner in which Hannah prayed. She prayed silently , intimately in her heart. No fancy words or actions, she just silently poured out her heart. The other thing I noticed was that she didn't fight back when oppressed by Penninah. She endured it all those years and when she couldn't take it anymore, She took it to the Lord. In her words, to the Priest Eli, who thought she was drunk because she was moving her lips but no words were coming out, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord".   ......"I have been praying out of my great anguish and grief."1 Sam. 1:15-16. The part I like about the last part is "praying out of ". It may not mean this, but I think it works.  In her time of great need her prayers will take her out of the situation that was bringing her great sorrow. What is the best way to get out of situations that are bringing us sorrow. Pray. Pray out of. Seek God first in any and all situations we don't have the answers for.

Does it work?

1 Sam 1:19-20 "and the Lord remembered her.......in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son" God heard and answered. Pastor Roger pointed this out to me. Not only did God give Hannah a son, he gave Israel a leader that would help shape the future of Israel, Samuel. God also honored Hannah for following though with her pledge to give Samuel to the Lord. 1 Sam 2:21 " And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters." God is faithful.

God is listening.

God Bless you,

Russ.

Hello Again

I hope I am not the only who starts a blog and then doesn't write anything for two months. This is an ugly pattern in a lot of things in my life( a lot, not all). I start something with great excitement and soon loose steam and quit altogether. The exception this year is my diet, I have lost 50 pounds since June, and I am exercising regularly and I feel much better. So I hope this will rekindle my blogging.

Tonight I was thinking about politics. Yuck. What a crazy world we live in. Sometimes it feels out of control. Is this how we are supposed treat each other. Is it legal because it's politicians and we can through verbal stones at them. Are they the only ones who mess up in life. Were is the mercy? Are they really that bad? As a Christian, how should I react to all the political jargon. Do I join in and rip and tear like everyone else. I'm shown mercy everyday, and believe me I mess up from time to time. Many smear adds could be written about my life.

Seems like someone is always watching for the next person to mess up, so a new smear add can be run. No mercy. In an imperfect world we set standards for people based on a scale of perfection that no one can attain. When I do this I forget what Romans 3:23 says " for All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" not some, all. I am no better than anyone, "anyone". But political leaders are important right? What should I do? We need leaders.

My Facebook status was the inspiration of this post tonight. I so many times get caught up in the political rock throwing melee, that I forget that there are human lives that my verbal rock will strike. For this I am sorry, what a poor example. When I open my mouth to speak about someone it should be a blessing or a prayer. This world needs more prayer, not billion dollar stimulus packages. This world needs more spoken blessing, not more tax cuts. This world needs an extra dollar in the collection plate, not another social program. This world needs Matthew 11:30 " for My(Jesus) yoke is easy and my burden is light" People change, God doesn't. God can bless and help our elected officials. Pray for our elected officials. May the peace of God reign.

Thank you for reading and God bless,

Russ.

For freedom, humbly resist.

I had the day off today so I spent this morning reading Josh Hamilton's autobiography "Beyond Belief ". For those who don't know, Josh is an All Star outfielder for the Texas Rangers. He was the first round draft pick in 1999 and had the world by the tale. He signed a 3.93 million sign on bonus at 18 years old, I can only imagine the world he was entering. But for reasons only he can describe, he threw it all away for an addiction to cocaine and crack. He was at rock bottom and through the unconditional love of his grandmother and the realization that he needed to totally surrender to Jesus Christ', he gave it all to God. He knew he had no other choice. So he hit his knees and gave it all up to God, and he didn't do it for baseball, because at this point in his life his hope and desire for baseball was gone. When he got up off the floor he grabbed his Bible and began to read scripture, and this verse caught his attention. James 4:7

"Humble yourself before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you"

This verse became his weapon to fight off the devil. Every time he felt the attacks he would say this verse in his mind. Sometimes he would say it out loud. He trusted in the power of God's word.

What jumped out for me was how simple yet powerful, the remedy for his healing was. He didn't recite a fancy prayer with a special name tied to it. He simply dropped to his knees and asked God to do with him what He wanted to do with him. Everything for Josh was going to be on God's terms. Wow, I am still pondering this. I find myself wondering if I am at that place. Do I willingly surrender everything to God. Easy answer, No, but I will say that every morning I do pray that God will help me be a blessing to the people I am around. This is truly my hearts desire. I think the reminder from reading Josh's book is that it's the power God's word and the position of your heart that allows God to work in your life. A humble heart and a desire to resist the pitfalls of this world my flesh so desires. When Josh stopped at James 4:7 he read it over and over, and committed it to memory. A tool to fight the enemy, a fight he only won with God's continued help.

Josh doesn't live out anyone Else's life, he is now living the life God had planned for him. With humility he serves God by sharing his life and his God given talents with everyone. Josh's dad told him that his greatest sin was depriving people of his ability. Like Jesus parable about the the guy who buried his talents in the ground for his boss. It is a reminder to me that God can use the good and the bad of any ones life for His glory, if we let him. It's much easier for God to work in our lives when we have a humble heart.

I highly recommend this book to any one, especially if you have a child in sports.

Stay humble and God bless,

Russ.

Epicureans=Americans

Our pastor Rogers sermon today came out of Acts 17:16-31. God used Roger to once again reveal another part of who my Father God is. I found myself in a place this morning were I felt so close to God that I didn't want to leave. Vs 24-25 paints a picture of our all sufficient God who made everything, who needs nothing from us. But Vs 26-27 paints the picture of our Father God, our Daddy who determined our place in time and places us in specific places so that "perhaps" we might find him and seek him. Seek him by our free will, the free will he gave us. Another glimpse of the grace of our great God. "He wants us to find Him!" The God who has everything wants sinful, fallen man to find Him so that we can follow God into eternity. I thank you Father God for laying this and the other scriptures on Rogers heart for this mornings sermon. Praise God!

Now to the title of this post. What is an Epicurean. In the Apostle Paul's day they were a group of Greeks who's beliefs were this( this is from my Life Application Bible) " The Epicureans believed that seeking happiness or pleasure was the primary goal of life" Sound familiar? It does to me. Isn't this the American dream? Could this be why the American Church is becoming more ineffective each year? Is this why marriages are crumbling around us? Is this why our government seems to slip deeper and deeper into debt trying to to make a Utopian happy place for all Americans? Is this why we have infighting and division in our churches" if I ain't happy ain't nobody going to be happy"? This is nothing new, but look at the TV adds and look at the themes that are being portrayed, "happiness and joy". Big 401K's, fast shiny cars(I struggle with this), clothes, dream vacations, a more sculpted body. Have this and that and you will have pleasure and be happy. Epicurean ism.

So Paul ends his preaching with this thought. God has promised that Jesus will return and everyone will be judged. I think we need to ask God to search our hearts. Do we dare do that? If Jesus comes today what kind of church is he going to find. ( not the building) Remember in vs 24, He doesn't need a building, He can work inside one but He is not constrained to it. Are we seeking happiness in our churches or can we lay down our "crowns" of happiness and pleasure and seek him even if that doesn't always make us feel good. Roger shared a little bit about the suffering Paul experienced on his journeys, beatings, stoning, left for dead, and prison to name a few things, Does that sound like happiness and pleasure. Not to me. I can't put words into Paul's mouth but I can imagine him telling people today that I can't keep from following Jesus no matter what, the joy that God fills me with when I serve him is intoxicating. I can't help ,but tell the whole world about the saving grace of Jesus Christ, I can't stop. I believe Paul sought the Joy of Christ not the happiness of the world, he had been there. I'm sure he had a great wealthy life before his conversion. You know most of this I am preaching to myself. One day at a time my heart calls out to follow Christ while my flesh cries out to follow the world and its pleasures. God put this thought on my heart at Work Systems Sat while I was talking to another brother in Christ. A divine appointment, Vs26-27, God knew this was going to happen. Anyway I was impressed with this thought, if Satan works on the slippery slope principle, stealing little parts of your life over a period of time until the enemy has taken everything, why can't we follow Christ in in the opposite way. following him daily so that little by little we draw closer to him, so like in 2 Peter 1:3-10, we make our calling and election sure. Let " the joy of the Lord be my strength" Ive been sing that song in my head as I have been writing this.

Lets seek the joy that comes from following Christ.

Gods joy and peace be with you.

Russ.

Check out this song by Delirious, Kingdom Of Comfort.

Lyrics to Kingdom Of Comfort :

Save me save me

From the kingdom of comfort where I am king

From my unhealthy lust of material things

I built myself a happy home

In my palace on my own

My castle falling in the sand

Pull me out, please grab my hand

I just forgot where I came from

Save me save me

From the kingdom of comfort where I am king

From my unhealthy lust of material things

I rob myself of innocence

With the poison of indifference

I buy my stuff at any cost

A couple of clicks and I pay the price

Coz what I gain is someone else's loss

Save me save me

From the kingdom of comfort where I am king

From my unhealthy lust of material things

Instrumental/Lament

Save me save me

From the kingdom of comfort where I am king

To this kingdom of heaven where you are king

Roast Pastor

Roast Pastor, It's what seems to be for Sunday lunch.

Why is the success or failure, of the church, put on the back of the church pastor. Why does the pastor receive the bulk of the nasty phone calls, emails, or a degrading meeting? Should all this responsibility be heaped onto the back of our pastors? Sometimes it seems like we put the pastor as the head of the church. Is it because we follow a man made structure for church hierarchy, with the pastor placed at the top of the ladder.

This subject has been running through my mind today after hearing from a friend, a story of a lunch run in with a couple of local pastors. They were feeling a lot of oppression from their congregations and one of them was brought to tears as he shared his story of the difficulties he has had in ministry. People problems. I wonder if part of the problem is that we hold them to standards that no human being can attain in this fallen, sinful state. Yes he should be above reproach, he should lead by example, he should be Jesus with skin on, but he should also be human, and should be given the same amount of grace that we all have received. the apostle Peter publicly denied Jesus three times , and the all knowing Jesus Christ, prior to Peter doing this, knowing that Peter would deny three times, looked at him and told him that " on this rock, I will build my church". That's grace, Amazing Grace! Our pastors deserve that grace. They are not perfect, and if they mess up they need to be corrected and restored. So how can we change this?

I believe we need to make the church a simple place again. If you read Acts 2:42 you will find a simple formula for church order, function and worship. No fancy names that people can't understand, no special formulas and charts to mark your spiritual growth, they did this, (Russ paraphrase)" they devoted themselves to the apostles teachings, they had fellowship together, they broke bread together and they prayed." Four simple yet profound things. A very easy ministry plan that everyone could understand and follow.

So what about the church hierarchy? This passage in the New Testement, lays out a great plan for a healthy church.. In 1 Cor. 12:14-18 Gods word say that the church is made up of many different parts working together. If we have Christ as the head then the rest of body follows the heads direction,(like our brain directing what we do). Remember this passage doesn't put the pastor as the head. I do however believe it is an important body part category. Eph 4:11 talks of this,"it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." Very important body parts but not the head. They are to join the rest of the body in unified worship and service to Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Follow the head! Does the pastor need to lead? Yes, with the other church leaders. The apostles were the church leaders, but they did it as a group and they sought God for wisdom to make good decisions.

So what should we do. Love your pastor, you don't have to agree with everything he says, Paul and Barnabas didn't agree on everything, in fact, they parted ways because they couldn't agree, but they continued to love and serve the Lord. Love your pastor and pray for him. Pray ,pray pray. Talk to him face to face. Don't cook him at 350 for 2 hours and serve him with potatoes and gravy to everyone you meet. Keep your mouth shut to others and talk to him directly. Most of all remember that this church thing is not about us. It's about Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and meeting them were they are moving. And believe me when I say this, I have just as much work to do in this area as anyone. It's so easy to speak before I pray.

We need to build the church based on Gods biblical blueprint. God's word is black and white, lets follow it. Lets keep the main thing, the main thing.

God bless you.

Russ.