Mark's idea of reaching one!

In yesterday's message I talked about the importance of sowing good seed. Most of us if we are willing to admit it have sowed our fair share of bad seed. Most of us have spoken words that can't be taken back. Most of us have taken action against someone that we later regret. Most of us have even indulged in activities that we now look back on with a bad taste in our mouth and wished that we had never done it. But of course the kind of seed that Mark is referring to here is the Word of God. What are the kind of words that God would want us to share you ask? Words of love and compassion. Words that build up others instead of tearing them down. Words of invitation to church and to fellowship and to getting know some of these crazy Christian's in their environment and home. Words of encouragement and grace. These are the kind of words that should come from us. But most of all we should extend to our friends and family words of forgiveness that only Christ can offer. So just keep up the good work.

Before I go I wanted to share with you some of the books I am currently reading and some of the websites that I frequently visit.
Books:
"Bonhoeffer" Written by Eric Metaxas just this year. His work has been on the New York Times Bestselling list. And I can see why. The author takes an almost bigger than life individual, at least in the Lutheran and the Christian academia world, and gives a wonderful historical account of his life from birth to his tragic murder in 1943. It is a large volume to read but well worth it to see how he came to the theological, moral, and ethical position that guided his life.

"Essential Church? reclaiming a gneration of dropout
Thom Ranier has connected with his oldest son, Sam, in writing about an all but forgotten subject and group of people. It is full of statistical data about why and how to reclaim these lost souls. It is inspiring, but don't kid yourself, it can be a depressing book as well. Depressing in the sense that it makes you wonder what you could have done to prevent this exodus and now that it has happened is there anything that we can do to reverse it. All in all, a very good read with lots of ideas.

Websites:

Most of these websites are church websites that I watch their services on. None of them are close to Des Moines but it is great to see how others come before the Lord.
www.parksidechurch.com--This church is in Cleveland, Ohio and is pastored by Alistair Begg This is one of my favorites.
www.vineyardcincinnati.com This is a very contemporary church and they also address issues of the day on a weekly basis. They are very topical in their preaching.
www.pclive.org This church is in Nashville, Tennessee. Many of the "famous" singers and songwriters of the country music world attend this church. But I've never seen any on tape. The pastor Rick White has been their pastor for at least 20 years and for the most part his messages are expositional as opposed to topical. Good stuff here.

One final note about these websites is that generally you need to locate the media button on the webpage and this will take you to the archives and you can choose what you want to watch. The other thing is that if you don't have high speed internet access, the best way to watch these is to download them and then watch.

Have fun and let me know what you think.

How's the plan coming?

After I finished my message last week I got to thinking that some of you may have wanted to throw everything I said out the window. Those of you who are retired and do just about whatever you want whenever you want maybe were thinking that this doesn't apply to me. I'm living in my golden years and my plans are beginning to wind down. Sometimes as the scripture teaches that "our thoughts are not His thoughts neither are our ways His ways." (Isa. 55:8) In other words I would encourage you to give God another chance to work in your life. Our destination may be secured but we don't always know the direction that life will take us as we move toward that destination, heaven.

For those of us middle aged folks we too need to realize that God isn't finished with us yet either. What new journey will He lead us down, what new path will He carve out for us. What new challenges will He place in our path that will spur us on to do more for the kingdom of God than we might not of done otherwise.

Finally for all you young adults just beginning your family and career I would encourage you to step out in faith to do something great for the Kingdom of God. Like what you ask? I'm glad you did. Like going on a missions trip to a place far away from what's familiar and easy and comfortable. Why you ask? Because it is there that God is doing a marvelous work among people that He has chosen from before the foundations of the earth were laid to know Him personally just like you do. The country they come from is immaterial. The color of their skin doesn't matter. The language they may speak is a language that God speaks and communicates in very well. They need His word as much as we needed God's Word at the outset of our country in the 1600's when the pilgrims first came to America. Thy need the Holy Spirit to move in revival power just as He did in the 1800's and 1900's all across this land and in Ireland and Scotland and England and all across Europe. And they need to hear the song "Just As I Am" as much as we did the day we responded to the Holy Spirit's wooing our heart to Jesus our Savior and sometimes even today we need to hear that song to remind us that He's still there for us, wooing us, pursuing us. Why? Because He has a plan for us and desires that we follow that plan for the sake of His Kingdom.

So...how goes the planning session?

Okay, I know I said alot about Stephen this morning. But his legacy stays with us to this day. It is a reminder of what kind of legacy he left for the church and what kind of legacy he has left for us. Remember I spoke about the crucible that existed in the early church? It is the crucible of life that we deal with. It is this life that we are changed by our experiences both good and bad. I often hear people in the world say, "Life Sucks"! I suppose that it depends on your point of view. There are some pretty wicked, awful things that can happen to us, things that are our fault and things that are not. Whenever life hands us lemons, do we make lemonade? We cannot, no matter how hard we try, avoid the pitfalls of life. It will suck sometimes. We lose our jobs, we offend our friends, we make stupid financial decisions, we say things that we later regret, we get mad at the people of our church, family members die. You name it and it can happen to us. How do we respond to it? How did Stephen respond to the members of the Sanhedrin? He continued to talk about the man from Nazareth, Jesus. As a matter of fact he couldn't stop talking about Him and it ultimately led to his death. But his death was not in vain. As a matter of proof that his testimony mattered and that people were listening, those so called religious leaders of the day said that he had the face of an angel. So I ask you once again, can others tell that we have been with our Heavenly Father?

Did you reach one yet?

This is just a checkup, for my own comfort I suppose. I wanted to refresh your memory about each of us reaching one person for Christ. So, how's it going? I have meet some interesting people and have started to build a relationship with them. I'm waiting for Holy Spirit to open the door for me. I believe that he will! At first sharing our faith seems so scary and sometimes even foreign to us. It's one of the things that God saved us for, to lead others into the Kingdom of God. Don't get impatient if things don't go exactly as you planned. It may be that God has other plans, but never underestimate the Holy Spirit and what he can do through us. It is a great feeling as well as a sense of accomplishment to know that God wants to use us to introduce others to the King of Kings. It's humbling to know that a King desires to use me, just a lowly human who is seen through extraordinary eyes. So have you started that relationship yet? If so, work as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on Jesus, because it does.

I love you all and know that you can do it with His help.

Giving it all up?

For the last several weeks I have been taking us through the book of Acts. On several occassions Luke, the writer of Acts, makes mention of how many who were endowed with lands and wealth would take the time to sell their land and give the proceeds to the church so that those without could be provided for. Along this line I said that we should not allow our possessions to control us, rather we should control our possessions. Now granted we are living in a materialistic world and the temptation is great to acquire land, nice houses, newer cars and money in the bank. But at what cost? Many allow family and friend relationships to flounder or go by the wayside in order that we might be able to acheive our financial goals without considering the ultimate cost. Which is, loss of family and friend relationships, health, ability to care for others which by the way, for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ is more of a command rather than a choice. Anyway, my rambling on isn't intended to make anyone feel guilty or morose, or intended to generate any bad vibes. I simply am trying to help open our eyes and hearts to the importance of obedience when it comes to our possessions.

I stumbled across a small booklet the other day called "The Radical Question". It is really a summation of the full book by the same name. His premise is in asking the question, "What is Jesus worth to you?" Rather than me try to explain it's content I have provided you with a copy at the church free of charge. I guarantee that after reading it you will either a, think the author is full of hot air or b, allow yourself to consider what Jesus really is worth to you. Happy reading.

Are We Reaching Anyone?

After I returned from Annual Conference I brought you a message about reaching others. In order for most of us be able to reach people for the cause of Christ several components have to fall into place. One of those is that to be able to effectively bring a person to Christ a relationship has to be established. It's amazing what being a friend can mean to people. The next thing that has to happen is that we must pray for them. God wants to work, wants to save, wants to bring hope and joy. I'm sure you've heard the expression, work as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on God. Because it does. It all depends on God to seize the moment when it comes.

So are we following through? Are each of us doing our part to reach one person that doesn't know Christ as their personal Savior? You can do I know you can! Develop those relationships and seize those moments that come to share your faith with them. Remember you're not doing this alone, Jesus is with you all along the way. Don't give up, have faith and trust in Him.

I love you all, you're great wonderful people.

Memorial Day

I don't know about you but ever since I was a very small boy I often wondered what Memorial Day was all about. I'm sure I asked my mom and dad every year why we celebrated it and was thankful at the same time that it was a day off school and my dad was home from work, at least from his main job. I can even remember being at my grandmother's over Memorial Day and going to my grandfather's grave and seeing other family members tombstones and placing flowers on them. Not really understanding why?

As I've grown up, now passing the half-century mark, I'm beginning to remember some of the things that my dad told me about this momentus holiday. In that it wasn't really a holiday at all. A short study in history will show that many women of the south would visit the graves of their fallen men and place flowers on their graves, it was done with the intention of giving the idea that no one be forgotten for the sacrifice they had made on befalf of the south. This idea spread and before you know it people from places all over America began to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers. Hence the name originally of "Decoration Day". Other things have come out of this tradition such as the red poppy flowers sold by the VFW and the proceeds going to help care for veterans. In the early years these funds were used to help care for orphans and widows of soldiers slain while serving their country.

Many wars and battles long past were fought to gain freedom for or maintain a country's freedom. For those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior many battles and wars have been fought by veteran Christians and novice Christians. We fight the battle not "...against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12) Satan works so hard with all his allies, the demons of hell, to get us to turn over our lives to him without even thinking of the consequences. And the sad thing about it is that many will do just that. Give up without a fight. Many are happy to fight for something that they can see with their own eyes, like freedom in America, but can hardly think about their spiritual freedom. Freedom that Christ gave His life for, freedom from the bondage of sin and freedom from the consuming evil passions of this world. And let me remind you that this world is ruled by Satan and he will do everything possible within his power to defeat Christ. Jesus said in John 8:31,32 that whoever follows his teachings, all of them not just the ones we like, then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.

On Decoration Day we go to the graves of our loved ones and give them flowers and honor them for their service to the country. As Christians we are indeed thankful for those who gave their life in service to maintain our spiritual freedom, but oh so much more thankful to a Savior who died on an old wooden cross, to give me freedom not just from sin but freedom from an eternity forever separated from God in a miserable place called hell. Do you know this kind of freedom?

New Life in Christ AND the Holy Spirit

Okay, after last Sunday's message I felt like I needed to do some research. As I was praying for direction about this business of receiving Christ and the Holy Spirit at the same time I knew in my spirit that there was a passage of Scripture that would "exhonorate" me. Sure enough, it was actually a passage that I had chosen to us in my message but didn't get to it. The passage is Acts 2:38. Just a side not, I'm not a big fan of text-proofing. For those of you who don't know what text-proofing is, it's the use of scripture to prove a principle or belief. You might ask yourself this question, Isn't that what reading the Bible is all about? Yes and No. The point of the Bible has nothing really to do with proving whether God is God or that anything He did whether through the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit is valid or not. The point of the Bible is let us, mankind, know what He has already done and what He desires to do and plans to do in the future. You can prove the existence of God through His Word, but that is not the primary purpose of the Word. Read II Tim. 3:16, 17 and that will in a nutshell tell you the purpose of the Scripture.

But back to my proof-texting. Luke in writing about the early days of the church recorded an event that took place with Peter. The folks he was addressing got under conviction and said "Brothers, what shall we do?" It was then that Peter said to them, "Repent, be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." There you have it. The forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit all in one fell swoop. So is that the end of it all? By no means NO! Because as we move in our journey of faith and deeper into our relationship with God we learn to surrender more and more to Him and as we surrender more of ourselves we are filled up with more of Him. We pour ourselves out and He pours Himself into our spirit. There are times where we stall out, get discouraged, perhaps even want to give up. Don't give up friend, simply reach out and take the hand of Jesus and He'll pull you closer to Himself then you and I were before. Why don't you let Him do that today? He can be trusted!

Surrender? Me? Why?

Several sunday mornings ago I shared with you about the importance of being yielded and allowing the Holy Spirit to move us further along in our relationship with Him. That requires sacrifice on our part. I always ask myself the same question when it comes to sacrifice. After reading I Sam. 15:22 it makes me ask myself, why do I have to do all the sacrificing? Good question but not a necessary question is it? I have to sacrifice because God the Father already sacrificed all He had by offering His one and only Son for me. And because I must realize that it's not about me. In the spiritual realm, sacrifice has everything to do with the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and secondly it becomes about us. When Abraham went up the mountain to offer a sacrifice to God, Abraham knew that he may end up sacrificing his own son and he was prepared to do that because he knew that it was not about him, it was however about his faith in God. Sacrificing takes us to deeper levels of committment and faith toward a deeper more intimate walk with God. What have you sacrificed lately for the Kingdom of God? Will you do it for Him?

Let's Do It For Loves Sake!

In a world of hurt and disappointment there's always room for improvment isn't there? Sometimes we may be the source of some of that hurt and disappointment. I certainly hope that it's not intentional, but being the people we are it's inevitable. It's inevitable because we're fallen human beings. Cursed from the beginning thanks to Adam and Eve, if it hadn't been for them it probably would have been someone else. After all we can't be perfect, as hard as we try it won't happen, unless of course, we make the decision to put Jesus Christ at the center of our heart and life. Then we can be made perfect in Him, by Him, for Him, through Him. Sure it will be difficult at times, we may have to apologize for the hurt we've caused and the disappointment that's been generated because of our lack of judgment. But it can happen none the less. Jesus said we are to love those who hurt us and despitefully use us. That is a tall order but when we yield ourselves to Him it makes all the difference. When we love others the way Jesus loves we can see life and circumstances through His eyes and love him with His love instead of our own. So let's love others for love's sake.

Dreaming Big

Have you even had a dream so big that you thought would never happen? A dream of going on a trip around the world or to Hawaii or Australia? That is a reality that can happen, but you have to plan don’t you? You have to save and sacrifice and scrimp. You go without now so that you can take that trip later. Nothing else matters. You do what you have to do to see that happen. In the church the same is true. We plan with the big picture in mind. The big picture being our ability to minister to the needs of others in a big way. It begins small and grows in increments. The point is, if we don’t dream, then we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we die. Of yeah, I know that is a pretty pessimistic point of view, but it is truth never the less. Fortunately for me these moments of pessimism are brief and without any permanent damage.

Back to our dream? What do you believe that your dream for the church here on 81st and Douglas is all about? Does it involve seeing the pews filled with fellow worshippers? Does it involve honoring God above all? Does it have to do with leading people into a relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Does your dream have to do with continuing to help care for people, both physically and spiritually? Does your dream have to do with seeing our sanctuary filled with the holy presence of a Holy God? A sanctuary filled with others lifting up praise to their Heavenly Father? If so, then you’re on the right track! This is what we should be dreaming about. We shouldn’t be dreaming about just the next Sunday’s service but about the next year’s worth of services and the year after that!

Don’t limit your dream based on how much money it will cost or how much time we’ll have to invest. Dream with God’s ability in mind and His limitless resources available to us. When we trust in someone and something bigger than ourselves it motivates us to either put our fears behind us or to jump in with both feet. I’m all for jumping in who else is with me? I hope you are!

Another New Year!!

Something tells me that this new year is going to be an outstanding year. I am now 53 and think that some of the new year's that I've seen my fair share of not so good new year's. I'm thinking specifically of the year that my mom died, 18 years ago this October, that was a tough one. It wasn't that I thought mom would never die but that she would live way longer than she did. She was only 62 and I know it sounds selfish but I wasn't ready for her to go. But because God did take her it gave me a chance to get to know my dad better. We had always had something in common. We could always seem to find something mechanical to work on together or a project to work on that needed attention. I had 14 or 15 extra years with my dad
that gave me a new appreciation of what it meant to be a dad. I was able to glean from him what it truly meant to be a dad in ways that I might not have known had mom lived.

I love and miss them both very much. But as they say, life goes on. I can't stop living my life because their's comes to an end. And has it really ended anyway. I plan on seeing them again in heaven, not tomorrow but at God's appointed time for me I want to go to heaven and fellowship with Him and them. I look forward to it and trust that this year will be the year that we can move ahead with His joy and presence driving us deeper into a relationshiip with Him.