Waiting on the Authority!

Psalm 27:14 ESV. Wait  for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Eight years ago I was a youth pastor in Northwest Illinois when our youth conducted a live nativity portrayal on a very frigid December night. As our youth stood outside in a manger scene bundled up underneath their costumes, many of them including myself were still shivering in the cold of night.

Yes, it was difficult for the kids to be patient between replacement breaks in which hot cocoa and warm shelter awaited their arrival. But that night something magnificent occurred in the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

As our kids stood outside portraying the Christmas story, a police car drove past our location. When this occurred our shepherds and even Joseph and Mary waved and made their presence known to the police officer.

The next thing that happened was a police car pulling into the parking lot of the live nativity. The youth thought they were in trouble and awaited the officers coming to speak to them. When the officer arrived, to their astonishment he supported them and praised them for standing outside on such a cold night.

With this the officer picked up one the the Magi gifts and stood with our youth in the cold as they portrayed the coming of our Messiah. For me the moral of this story is that it is often hard to wait for good things to occur, but those that are faithful will be comforted by God in His time and when we least expect it.

Brothers and Sisters my prayer for you this day is that you take courage this season of Advent and know that God is faithful and that the Messiah will come, and God's plan for His world will be put in place.

We saw courage and faithfulness in the form of a police officer on a very cold winters night in Northwestern Illinois eight years ago, and we will see our faith and courage be rewarded with the arrival of God's precious gift of the Messiah very soon. So be patient and wait in the hope of God's promised arrival.


This is the day that the Lord has made.

Trend Setter or Gospel Proclaimer

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Mark 16:15 ESV

Recently I reviewed an article by Thom S. Rainer titled Three Trends in Local Churches That Are Accelerating. (http://thomrainer.com/2014/11/24/three-trends-local-churches-accelerating/) In his article Rainer states that the three church trends that are accelerating quickly are:

• Churches that have multi-site and multi-venue locations
• Multi preachers and teachers
• Large churches that are quasi denominational.

Church trends in general focus on the direction in which ministries are going to be pointed as to get the largest outcome. In the sense of the church a trend is used to point the church towards the people rather then the people to the church. Often trends focus on fashion or a way of doing things that are brand new, or even non-conventional. Churches that consider themselves trend setters are focusing on the way that God is viewed in reference to new and out of the box ways of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As an out of the box thinker I’m all for new ways of sharing Christ with the world, but I often think that instead of being trend setters we are just actually doing what the gospel says we are to do in the first place. When I began my seminary education the term “Missional” in reference to church ministry was and continues to be the focus of the day. The missional perspective relates to God's people being among the people and going to where they are and becoming part of that community.

Even before the missional concept we were to be trend setters from the get go by adhering Christ's call for us to go out into the world proclaiming the gospel. My intent in today's message is to proclaim that God's people are to be radical in ministry and to be missional in thinking out of the box in the ways that we spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

But we are to understand that we are not trend setters. Jesus Christ was God's trend setter that came to reach out to the people in ways in which they would accept him as Lord and Savior. Additionally, that great idea that you or your church had for ministry, understand that it is not a trend but rather a God given and a Holy Spirit given revelation.

Beloved, my prayer for you today is that you go out preaching and teaching Christ Jesus, but in the understanding that it is what God intended us to do in the first place.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

Don't Take Her Football!

Philippians 4:3 English Standard Version (ESV)

3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

I recently watched an NFL football game and observed the kind act of a player throwing a football to a female fan. Just as the woman got the ball into her hands it was snatched away by a man that was sitting in the same section. The woman begged the man for the football but was ignored and refused by the man. Fortunately the home football team saw this and brought the woman another football.

The topic I speak of today is not football or football games, but rather what happened to the days when men respected women and treated them as the precious flowers they truly are. In the Philippians verse we see the word companion used in relationship to our walking through this life together, especially those that truly have their names written in the Lambs Book of Life.

In an online question site called Girls ask Guys, this question was recently posted by a young lady:

Guys: do gentlemen still exist?

I don't look for perfection, but its like I’m a genuine, giving person, that has lots of love to give, and thinks i deserve to be treated with respect and to be adored an cherished, as i would do for a guy. I'm fun and love to laugh and just me and happy, and have goals, and have been told I'm the perfect girlfriend material, yet wheres Mr. boyfriend material for me...but its like the right guys don't want a girl, and the wrong guys want me, so am i wanting something that doesn't exist anymore?

The Philippians verse tells us to help women who live in this world with us and who work and exist side by side with us in life’s journey. My prayer for all men this day is that we remember that we are gentlemen. Opening doors, pulling out chairs, and acting with kindness and respect to ladies truly expresses God's love for those we call true companion.

Men

Women still seek out gentlemen not only in relationships, but in everyday encounters in which respect, dignity, and kindness of a man towards woman should be the expected result.Today's women are stilling looking for gentlemen, and the question that I pose is:

Are we teaching our sons as well as today's male society to respect women, or are we teaching them to take their footballs?

This is the day that the lord has made.

Heaven or Earth?

Are You Waiting For A Response?

Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

How often in your lives have you contacted somebody and they have failed to respond to you, failed to return a call, an e-mail, or a personal invitation? What is the reasoning for leaving messages unanswered, what is the reasoning for leaving people hanging on your response?

Are we afraid to speak the truth in love, do we not care enough about the person to grace them with our response, or do we find ourselves to busy to bring the communication loop to a completion?

Beloved, as brothers and sisters in Christ we go to God in the knowledge that God will supply an answer, even if it isn't the answer that we are wanting to hear.

A few weeks ago in a blog entry I wrote that 80 percent of life is done by just showing up and being present. The same goes for our communication with others in the fact that a 100 percent of our communication is done when we respond to others that communicate with us.

My prayer for you this week is that you will return your messages and complete all your communications in the knowledge that God Answers, and so should we.

 Be faithful, keep covenant and answer all those who contact you, and do so in the steadfast love of God.




This is the day that the Lord has made.

Different Paths, Same Destination

Proverbs 3:6 ESV 

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

This morning was a very busy morning at our house, in the fact that we were all rushing in different directions  this morning. I'm sure that for many of you, your morning's may look the same as ours. Yes, children heading to school and parents heading off to different jobs in different locations. It is enough to make you feel lost sometimes. The one thing that we do in the morning's as to slow ourselves down and to set all our paths straight is to tell one another that we love them before they leave the house. 

I think the same goes in the fact that often we are each living emotional paths and each person that we encounter is on a different emotional path than we are. Some are lost, confused, perplexed, unclear, and maybe even off course. The saving grace for all of us as followers of Christ  is the  fact that God is constantly telling us that He loves us, so we can walk different directions and still wind up all at the same destination. When we believe in Jesus and are faithful to him we can all be in different places, but the love of Christ leads us all to the same destination.

My prayer for you today is that you will always start your mornings by loving Christ and loving others. In this way all our destinations will be heaven and our paths will all be made eternal, through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This is the day that the Lord has made 

Maintaining Your Faith