Saturday, July 26, 2014

Questions of Life

Over the next several weeks I am going to be asking you all several questions. How you answer these questions six months from now will be more important than you initial answers as you read them.

I won’t keep you guessing. The reason your answer six months from now will be more important than the answer you give today is that, if the answer remains unchanged for six months, it will show that we are headed nowhere. We may talk a great deal about the who, what, when, and where of ministry, but the only thing that matters is if we actually engage in the ministries we have planned.

Here is your first question: Think back on your entire experience at this church and name a time when you felt the most engaged, alive, and motivated. That may be hard for some of your. You may have to search far back in your personal history to find the answer.

I have a good guess as to your answer. I have this guess based on my experiences in asking this question before. In other settings, I can tell you this, most people felt more engaged when they were younger and had kids in the youth group. This is true for most of us. We were in the youth group or our kids were, and that led to us being involved as well.

There are two questions that must come after this first question. They relate to it very closely. First, are you sure that your spiritual activity at the time was directly related to any spiritual depth you may have experienced? What is the difference between spiritual depth and spiritual busyness? Can we recognize that difference in our own being.

Secondly, what happened that you stopped this spiritual activity if it was so grand? You don’t have to stop working with the youth group just because your kids are grown and away from home. If your activity in the church was such a tremendous source of joy and personal satisfaction with the church, I think God may be telling you to rethink you decision to take yourself out of the game.

As long as we continue to make use of the breath God breathed into us and the first human beings he created, I believe he expects us to use that breath to breathe life into the people around us. We do not retire from the kingdom of god. God calls us to be forever ready to “give an answer to the faith that lies within us.” How will you live for Jesus Christ today?


Pastor Craig

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Foundations

We are success driven people. We like, and want results. Our worth, in many areas of our life, is determined by the results of our labors. Some of us thrive under those conditions. We like it. We know where we stand, and we know what we need to do to succeed. Our yearly employment evaluation is based on some score based on new sales, increased student participation or passing rates, number of cold calls, the percentage of calls that are turned into customers, eliminating shrinkage, or increased customer satisfaction ratings. I am sure you can think of dozens more.

We transfer certain amount of that to our spiritual lives as well. We want results. We want our prayers answered just the way we asked them. We want to “feel” a certain way when we leave worship. We want the songs we know and the Bible verses we like. We want to know that God is on our side. We want warm and fuzzy faith. The problem is that we don’t really live in a warm and fuzzy world. I have a friend whose mother died yesterday. I have a colleague who is dealing with a cancer they can’t find, but know is there. I have a sister who became a widow this last year and another friend whose son blames all of his misfortune on her and God. All of these people are people of faith. Their faith may be stronger than yours; then again it may not. Either way, they are trying to do the best they can, but they are not getting the results they would like. It isn’t a warm and fuzzy world.

Scripture talks about our life as a building. One of the things that matters most about this building is the foundation. Jesus speaks of the two builders, one who built his house upon a foundation of sand, and another who built his house upon the rocks. When the storm arrived, you know which one stood firm. We tend to think this means the house is undamaged, but we all know that severe storms will at least loosen a few shingles. The difference between the houses is the foundation. The house on sand is a total loss. The house on the rocks simply needs some repairs.

Paul talks about building with different materials in 1 Corinthians 3. He reminds those who build that some of their work may not stand the test of time. The best start is to begin with the only foundation that matters, and that foundation is a life based on faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith is recognizing that Jesus Christ pulls us up on the rock with himself. He does not promise success in all of our endeavors. Even Paul’s great missionary efforts met with some rejection and even violence. His message was not always welcome.  

Psalm 16:8 says, I have set the Lord always before me, Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken. The world, our world, may be shaken. Some of the work we have built on this rock may not stand the test of time. However, because HE is at our right hand, WE indeed our secure. May that bring you peace and give you joy.

Pastor Craig

Friday, July 11, 2014

SEVEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE 4TH OF JULY

The Fourth of July may be known for its stellar picnics, fabulous fireworks and heavy doses of patriotism, but what about the coincidental deaths and jumbo-sized gifts that have also marked America's 236 birthdays?
1776: Pomp and Parade, Two Days Late
America's second president John Adams is notorious for his love of Independence Day. Adams wrote that July 2, the date the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Britain, not July 4, the date Congress' president John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence, should be "the great anniversary Festival."
1826 and 1831: The Death of a President (or Three)
John Adams, the second president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third president, were bitter rivals throughout their political careers, but nearly twins in their deaths. They died hours apart on July 4, 1826, Adams at age 90 in Massachusetts and Jefferson at age 83 in Virginia. James Monroe, the fifth president, also died on July 4, five years after Adams and Jefferson in 1831.
1863: Vicksburg Victory
After one month, 15 miles of trenches, countless battles, near-constant bombing, Confederate Gen. John Pemberton surrendered to Union forces at Vicksburg, Miss. That surrender, on July 4, 1863 would mark a turning point in the Civil War. The town of Vicksburg refused to celebrate the Fourth of July for the next 81 years.
1870: Congress Makes It Official
It took nearly 100 years for Congress to make the Fourth of July an official holiday, despite the widespread celebrations that had been ringing in America's birthday since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
1884: A French Birthday Present, Size XXL
The United States got what may be the country's largest physical birthday present on July 4, 1884, when the French presented it with the Statue of Liberty. It took four months to assemble the 151-foot-tall statue, which was shipped from Paris in hundreds of pieces. In other 1884 news, miners in Swan City, Colo., blew up their local post office on Independence Day because the town did not supply them with fireworks.
                1912: The Fourth Goes Global
It may be America's birthday, but the United States isn't the only country that celebrates it. Denmark started throwing a Fourth of July bash in 1912 after thousands of Danes emigrated to the United States. The Danish tourism office bills it as the largest Fourth of July celebration outside the United States.
1938: Federal Employees Rejoice
Congress officially declared July 4 a federal holiday back in 1870, but it took them nearly 70 years to give federal employees a paid day off. July 4, 1938, was the first Independence Day that federal employees picnicked, barbequed and fireworked without denting their paychecks.