What's In Your Sink?

Psalm 51:7
Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Snow was going to be my theme to share about this verse, mainly due to the fact that most Ohioans have seen enough this winter, but as I was preparing to shave, the Lord simply placed a thought in my heart in regards to my spiritual life, by using a washcloth.

The water was turned on, and the cloth laid in the bottom of the sink. I was anticipating a hot, lathery shave, so I waited. As the water ran, I picked it up carefully to not get burned, but discovered the water had not heated up and the rag was saturated with cold water.

As the faucet now began to transform into warm and now hot water, I knew I needed to get rid of the cold that was retained in the cloth, so I rang it out.

Sometimes our christian lives are like wash rags. We want to be hot for God, yet we are still saturated with cold and lukewarm spiritual water. For revival to come we need to allow the Lord to ring us out so that we are ready and receptive soil to hear from Him.

The cloth may feel like hyssop sometimes, an abrasive stone, but as the Lord cleanses, our hearts can be pure, just as white as the new fallen snow.

Any cold water lingering in your spiritual wash cloth? Give it to the Lord today!

Groundhog's Day

Corinthians 5:17 (New King James Version)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Tomorrow, February 2, is Ground Hog's Day. A great day. One, mom and dad celebrate their 53rd anniversary, and two, the title of a great movie, in which Bill Murray keeps waking up to relive the same day, over and over. After he realizes what is happening, he begins to correct mistakes he has made in the previous day. He tries to manipulate events, getting wiser and more deceptive with each new ring of the alarm clock. Regardless of what happens in a twenty four hour span, he has to start all over at 6 a.M. the next day.

What if you could go back and re-do some of the mistakes you have made in life? Would you avoid bad decisions that had cost you? What if you could wake up with a fresh start each morning?

As a christian you can, and it is not a fictitious movie, it is the promises of God's Word. When you give your life to Christ, he clears the account, and wipes it clean. As a christian, we need to settle our sin account on a regular daily basis. God is eager to forgive us, and sometimes we drag things around with us that God is longing for us to give up and surrender to Him.

Don't let your past, rob you of the joy that is in Christ Jesus today.

If the ground hog sees his shadow, six months of bad weather left, if he doesn't only a month and a half.

Haiti Heartbreak

In my lifetime there have been plenty of natural disasters and hardships, but nothing any more than what we are witnessing in Haiti. After a team from our church returned this summer, we were reminded that the folks in Haiti didn't have anything to begin with. They were thankful for anything. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.

How depressing it would be to be known for what you do not have. My heart and our prayers go out to the survivors and families who have lost loved ones. Especially those who have not heard from their loved ones who may have perished or be trapped, even as I write.

Why did God allow it? If God loves us, how could he do this? These are some questions that you may soon be hearing from your friends and loved ones. How are you going to respond?

Paul wrote in the New Testament, "1 Corinthians 13:12 (The Message)
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us.

Romans 8:35-39 (New King James Version)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”[a]37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

While we do not understand, there is a hand to reach to, a Father to collapse on.

While the false worship of voodoo is huge in Haiti, may the Lord Jesus Christ be lifted up as Christians meet the needs of hurting families. One of my preacher friends, Terry Essex has invested his life there. He has spoken for us several times. He is supposed to go back in three weeks. Pray that God uses him in a mighty way as he shares hope to those who now feel as they have no hope. Meet the needs of Brent Gambrell and New Missions as they minister

My heart aches thinking about a little boy walking around with no one and nothing. Just crying. The tears trickling down a dirty face, just waiting and looking for someone to save him.

Oh God, if my heart would hurt for those who are walking alone as well, right in Camden, without Christ.

Make me hungry to see people come to Christ. Please Lord help these people.

Christmas: A Few of My Favorite Things

I can't remember a Christmas season that I have enjoyed any more than 2009. Perhaps it is because we are all excited to spend time with our new grandson Aiden. I have been blessed to have wonderful tradition passed down to me.

So to Aiden and all of you, here are a few of my favorite things at Christmas time:

• Jesus!
• Family
• The Christmas Story from the Bible
• The Music: Favorite Carols ( Oh Holy Night, O Come All Ye Faithful)
• The buzz in the air of excitement
• Church Choir programs
• Children's choirs
• fudge
• sleds
• galoshes (boots?)
• kids
• babies
• Mom's cooking
• Salad that has mandarin oranges, marshmellows, cocunut, nuts ( You get the picture)
• Spending on others
• A great bargain
• Christmas treat bags at church
• Red Poinsettias
• Snow
• Hearing from friends
• Charlie Brown Christmas
• It's a Wonderful Life
• White Christmas
• A fire burning
• A lit tree.

And this brings me to my point. As we were gazing at our tree the other night, all but two strands of lights went out at the same time. It was very sad looking. Renee searched and found out that one strand went out, and after removing and reconnecting, it was soon shining in full beauty. That's the way it is with God. He wants to remove all of the stuff in our lives that keep Him from shining through us. When we connect with Him, people will see Christ is our lives, especially this Christmas.

Merry Christmas from Pastor Greg and Renee.

Just Like That? Merry Christmas

Prov. 17:6 Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their father.

He came around the corner, walking tall. My son was about to introduce us to a little man that would change our world. Our new grandbaby. A boy! Aiden Andrew Jackson.

As Renee and I had the chance to hold him in those first few minutes of life, it was as if we were stepping back in time twenty four years. It was our boy that we were supposed to hold, as parents. But just like that........ we became grandparents.

What will he call me? Papaw, Poppy, Granddad, GRANDBROTHER Greg? You know what, what ever he decides will be perfect.

The spoiling, the fishing rods, the ball games, the fun ahead of him.... and us! These are exciting days. What a hap...happiest season of them all.

Christmas is the perfect time to have a baby. It is a fresh reminder that Jesus is Christmas. Can you imagine looking into the eyes of your newborn, knowing that you would one day have to give them up to die on a cruel cross of sacrifice? Can you imagine cringing everytime your heard a hammer drive a nail? Can you imagine watching him suffer, while being inocent the whole time?

Some say they can't live the christian life. None of us can keep it by ourselves. Remember that it is Jesus that does the saving. It is God who gives the gift of eternal life. That first Christmas He gave us a gift that would never fade. He brought hope to mankind. Why not accept Christ as your own personal Savior this Christmas, and just like that... your sins will be forgiven, heaven will be your home..... and your world will be forever changed.

The verse in Proverbs came to life. Aiden indeed is a crown... and just like that, I must be getting old.

Merry Christmas to all of you readers. Keep Jesus first!

Hope in a Box

Romans 6:23 (New King James Version) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

One of the most moving altar calls I have been involved in as a pastor, took place in tonight's service. Our people came forward to pray over each individual Operation Christmas Child Shoe Box that will be sent out this week.

One thing we can know for sure, is that each one has been prayed over. We prayed that God would prepare the hearts of those who receive these boxes, and that they would come to know the Lord Jesus as personal Savior.

What an awesome thing to realize that these boxes will make a way for the gospel of Christ to be presented.

A shoe box is much like a heart. It has to opened in order to be filled. God fills empty things. If the gospel of Christ can be shared through a simple shoe box, surely the gospel of Christ can be the main theme of our Christmas season. The message of Jesus is the gift and the heart's of our loved ones and friends represent the boxes that need to be filled.

Take a minute and pray for Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse. What a great ministry to be part of. We will be sending over 150 boxes this week.

We will be sharing, hope in a box.

Fallen Leaves

James 4:14 (The Message)
13-15And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money." You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."

The fall here in Ohio is beautiful, while at the same time, it is the call for some hard work as I try to get a handle on the leaves that are falling. I have approached this task in several different ways, and each year I seem to learn a little more about what to do, and what not to do. There have been years when I have waited till they all fall, (only problem with this method is that they get too deep to even mow over) I have tried to keep up with them as they fall. (Only problem is that you work yourself to death trying to accomplish it) I have also raked and hauled them off. One thing is for certain, they are an issue that you must deal with.

Are you ready for the spiritual application?
Leaves represent a season. We all have seasons in our lives. I am eagerly awaiting the season of hearing a soft little voice say, " I love you Papaw." I can't wait to look into the eyes of a new grand son and pray that God will bless this new life. (I am already doing that, along with many of you) We are heading into a new season. It will be the first time I have ever dated a grandma(Renee). We are looking forward to it.

When you think about the past few weeks, some of our folks had to die in order to live. They had to shed this old tent; or, they had to shed the leaves of their body, in order to step in to eternity with the Lord Jesus.

There is one thing for sure about a tree that loses it's leaves, winter will come, and spring is on it's way.

Tell somebody about Jesus today. God may have them ready to respond to the greatest gift available to man. Jesus.