Memorial Day

I am not entirely certain what happened on Sunday!  I had prepared a sermon on Gideon and his battle with the Midianite army.  I thought this was going to be the perfect Memorial Day sermon.  Before I preached, there was a video shown with all of the people associated with our church who have served in the armed forces.  Somewhere in the middle was a picture of an elderly lady in our church named Mary.  Mary is just a tiny little thing, and is getting up there in years.  On the screen was this beautiful young woman, and it said she was a nurse during WWII.  Immediately my mind began racing about the stories she must have, and I wondered how many people listened!

The way my mind works, that got me thinking about our own stories…the stories that we have about our redemption…the stories about what God has done in our life, and God kept taking me to Deuteronomy 6.

“Deuteronomy 6:4-9

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. “

We have a responsiblity to tell our children…to tell them every opportunity we get about the One God whom we serve!

Tell your story!

It was painful, but I scrapped my sermon on Sunday, and spoke briefly about this passage…I have never abandoned a sermon completely 2 minutes before I was supposed to preach it, but I couldn’t do anything else!

Impress your story on the people around you!

Good Friday

Good Friday services aren’t really done in the independent Christian Churches very often.  This year, I decided to do one.  We really didn’t know what to expect, but all in all it went pretty well.  One of the Elders said that at anything on a Friday night in the past would pull in maybe a dozen people.  We had about 80 for the service tonight.  We have been running in the 130’s the past several weeks, so I feel that was good response!

I tried to stay away from people after the service, because I didn’t want the empty platitudes, I wanted them to be meditating on what Jesus actually went through for them.

I stole the idea for the sermon from Terry Bowland at Ozark Christian College!  He had said in class one day that “There they crucified Him” would make a great 4 point sermon, and sure enough it does!

1. There – The most unholy place
2. They – The most unholy people
3. Crucified – The most unholy death
4. Him – The most Holy Person!

I gave each person a carpenter’s nail as a reminder of the spikes that were driven into the hands and feet of Jesus to take on our sin. 

I hope people encountered God!

A Selfish Prayer

I just laid down the newborn, hoping that she falls asleep now!  (I think she is a little gassy)

My 7 year old daughter who has the cyclical vomitting syndrome went to bed tonight feeling “a little queasy.”

My other 3 children struggled going to bed tonight because they were so tired! (strange, I know)

My parents are in town.

I still have some sermon work to do for Sunday.

My selfish prayer tonight is for sleep!  Sleep for my beautiful bride, sleep for my incredible children, and selfishly, sleep for myself!  I guess Jesus prayed for himself one time, but it was only after being ultimately concerned about those around him.  Although, even Jesus’ prayers for himself involved honoring God! 

I pray that my life somehow bring glory to the almighty God, yet I fall so miserably short every time!  I know that I am not Jesus, but I hope that I can reflect the glory of the Son in some way so that the Father may be glorified!  If it is about me, God will not be glorified.  Father, forgive me for the selfish prayers!

I love what I do!

After my rant of that last post, I had to post this!  I love what I do!  I was told once that if I could be happy doing anything other than being a minister, do it!  I truly don’t believe that I could do anything else, because this is what God has called me to do. 

I work with the most incredible people at a pretty incredible church!  We are all just a bunch of flawed people trying to draw closer to God together!  I am blessed by great elders to work with, and a very supportive congregation.  Who could ask for anything more?