Aging

My dad is right.  The older you get, the faster the years go by.  With that acknowledgement, what will it take in your life to slow you down?

While the weather certainly has crippled, or at least slowed down much of the nation this winter, for some it may be a simple trip to the Doctor for a routine check up. The visit leads to a referral, and the referral leads to a test that comes back with life changing news. For some it is a call in the night that shares heart breaking news that a loved one has passed away.  For others it may be a trip to the supervisor's office where you are finally given the word that you are losing your job.

The Hebrews writer in Pauline like fashion says,
¹  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

When I think of a race, I am instantly thinking, "Get through as fast as you can!" Hebrews tells us to run with endurance, patience. A battle that will require discipline and sweat.  In essence it shouts out, "Don't quit!"

If you have found yourself sitting on the sidelines, I encourage you today to grab your Bible, and if it has dust on it, gently wipe it off and thank God the Word is still alive.  Pour yourself into it.  If you find yourself bitter or mad at someone, get on your knees and ask God to give you a new start and forgive you as you forgive them. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Hey, we are all getting older!  We are aging!  Life is too short to miss out on what God may want to do in your life.  See you this Sunday.    Bro. Greg

Frozen and Chosen

The holidays have come and gone and we are now settling in to a new year. The winter has been brutal so far. Most of us are longing to see and feel the warmth of the Spring. It is fitting that one of the hit movies this year is "Frozen." We are!

Once again I have stated and hope to read through the Bible, but like many I normally start out strong then fizzle. I don't want to do that this year. By now you have made the decision of whether or not you were serious about any resolution that you have made. In a recent ministrygrid.com leadership lesson by former Pastor of Southeast Christian Church, Bob Russell, he made a statement that really struck home with me as a Pastor.  He said, " Any organization that has been in existence for more than five years runs the risk of having no goals, only activity."
My prayer for our church this year is that we do set goals pursue them, that we don't settle for everything we did last year, but serve the Lord with gladness and a freshness. 

I have noticed in my life that I really do like old songs.  When I say old, I am talking 70's, late 70's, the High School era for Renee and I. I like old hymns and classic southern gospel.  While it is not wrong to do that, when it comes to life in Christ,may my life be one marked by seeing God do new works in us and through us. Throughout Scripture we are called to look back and praise God for what He has done. But let's not stop there, let us trust Him for each step that is front of us and for the new things He has in store.
 

The Psalmist declares that it is the Lord that gives us a new song.
Psalm 33:3    Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
Psalm 40:3    He has put a new song in my mouth-- Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD.
Psalm 144:9  I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

Praise the Lord that He takes the ordinary, and supernaturally recharges the batteries for us to continue on and serve Him! He puts a new song in us, a song to sing for His glory.

Hello 2014, it is going to be a great year! May the Lord do a new thing in our lives and church!

The Tune of the Unknown

 I love Calvin Miller’s title for today’s Advent Devotion from his book, "The Christ of Christmas."

The Tune of the Unknown.  Years ago Renee and I visited Arlington National Cemetery in Virgina and stood at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was powerful display of discipline, patriotism, and gratitude. The message to us was that there will be no man or women who has served our country forgotten.

Luke 1:51-53 (NKJV)
⁵¹  He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. ⁵²  He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. ⁵³  He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent  away empty.

The high and mighty rarely seek God’s help, so most of

His work is done by those with less reputation.

It doesn’t appear in Scripture that Mary saw herself as an almighty saint, but as a person of lowly status.  God was the Great One. Only He was mighty, exalting those of low degree.  Most of the great bible heroes would have been surprised to look down from heaven and see how venerated they became.  Perhaps no one was more surprised than Mary.  How she must have trembled at the Almighty’s request of her.

God’s will for her was not only hard to bear, but also impossible to explain.  Here’s what I love about Mary.  She didn’t wait until God’s plan was complete before she rejoiced.  She sang her Magnificat form the very first moments she yielded her life to God.

You will find that you may not complete all that God has for you to do in order to find your own joy.  Joy begins with the moment you begin to yield your life.  It is the “yes” moment, the moment you throw your reluctance overboard. You will feel praise welling up inside you.

Lord, today may you use the yielded.  Help me to yield to your will.  Help me to never think that I am somehow deserving of You.  Help me to realize that I cannot do anything major with minor trust.  Help me to say yes to you, so that my song can be, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”

I Don't Belong

Today I attended the funeral service of a friend and colleague in ministry, Fifty nine year old Pastor Rick Shoemaker. He would have turned sixty this Sunday.  Rick pastored the First Baptist Church of New Carlisle, Ohio for thirty four years. While we were not in weekly communication, we did touch base periodically.  At one time Rick was even considering becoming the Associational Missionary for our Association. He was always kind, and gracious.  As you see from his picture, he usually had a smile.

His  memorial service was absolutely packed with family, his church, and many friends and fellow pastors. Those that spoke , spoke passionately about the impact he had made on their lives.  He invested in people! His life, and even in his death, he has reminded this pastor that you really never know the impact or the reach of the ministry that God has place us in, or me in.  A Missionary from Thailand I believe preached the sermon and it was powerful!  Love his thought when he opened to Rick's wife and family and shared that this is not a precious day, but it is a precious thing to the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Psalm 116:15.

Buddy Greene in his ballad the Sojourner's Song sings it this way on the chorus:

I don’t belong and I’m going someday, home to my own native land.
I don’t belong and it seems like I hear the sound of a welcome home band.
I don’t belong; I’m a foreigner here just singing a sojourner’s song.
I’ve always known this place ain’t home and I don’t belong.

I don’t belong and I’m going someday, home to my own native land.
I don’t belong and it seems like I hear the sound of a welcome home band.
I don’t belong; I’m a foreigner here just singing a sojourner’s song.
I’ve always known this place ain’t home and I don’t belong
Read more at http://www.lyrics.com/i-dont-belong-sojourners-song-lyrics-buddy-greene.html#UISV4UoMWdqRFaZX.99

I don’t belong and I’m going someday, home to my own native land.
I don’t belong and it seems like I hear the sound of a welcome home band.
I don’t belong; I’m a foreigner here just singing a sojourner’s song.
I’ve always known this place ain’t home and I don’t belong
Read more at http://www.lyrics.com/i-dont-belong-sojourners-song-lyrics-buddy-greene.html#UISV4UoMWdqRFaZX.99

Fifty nine has made me once again consider my own mortality.  I will not live on earth forever.  May the Lord somehow use this weak vessel of clay for His Glory through the preaching of His Word. Lord may I be found faithful.

Home

Lost! Do you ever spend part of your time dealing with the word lost?  I don't know about you, but I spend many minutes a day looking for misplaced things or lost things.  The urgency of the search depends on what value I place on what is actually missing. Luke 19:10 (NKJV)  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." If Jesus came to save us from being lost, there must be some place we are supposed to be. That place is in a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. What value God places on you.  He loves you and me and died so that we could be found, be saved!

Today marks another loss in our personal lives.  Twenty nine years ago today, Renee's dad, Floyd Smith said goodbye to a great family and a cancer stricken body and went home to be with the Lord.  Today as we remember him, I thank God for the great daughter he handed to me thirty years ago to take care of as my wife. He would be so proud of her. 

Today I am now a father in law.  With a wonderful daughter in law, Ashley, who loves Drew and is raising two great boys, and a fine son in law, Kyle who loves Stacy and faithfully preaches the gospel.  We are blessed! God help us slow down and enjoy today.  May we linger in the moment of being a family.

When we lose a loved one who knows Christ as their Savior we often say we have lost them.  When we know where they are, they are not lost, are they?  They are simply home.

In memory of Father in Law Floyd Smith - Oct. 16, 1984.

TenTwo

Flag Poles and Prayer

  On this See You at the Pole Wednesday, students across the nation gather around a flag pole to pray and ask God for his blessing in their lives, this nation, and our school campuses. O. Hallesby writes," Listen my friend! Your helplessness is your best prayer.  It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas.  He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness.  He hears today as He heard the helpless and the wordless prayer of the man sick with palsy."
   As a nation we turn to God when tragedy hits.  When we have a national crisis we are all about prayer from the White House down. It is during these times that we get it.  There is no other place to turn to find comfort for the hour, and hope for the future.  Jesus Christ is the answer friends, do you know Him as your Savior? Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."John 14:27
Let's make sure we pray everyday.  

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