Just Do It!

I received the following devotion from a friend of mine today in an email. I'm not sure who wrote it, so I cannot give them the credit they deserve; but I wanted to share this with my readers today.

"A doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave." Jas 1:6 TLB

The Bible says, "A doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave...driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can't make up their minds" (See Jas 1:6-8 TLB).
This Scripture applies specifically to asking God for wisdom, then rationalizing and vacillating when He gives you an answer. But the same principle applies to all of life.
Have you ever seen anything more fickle than a wave?
The wind that takes it one direction today, takes it in an entirely different one tomorrow.
"How does this apply to me?" you ask:
(1) If you've grown up in a family where every decision was made for you.
(2) If you spent your life around people who made reckless decisions that left you feeling "it's too easy to get it wrong and too hard to get it right."
(3) If the bad decisions you've made in the past have sabotaged your confidence - then today's devotion is just for you!

James makes the point that none of us learn to hear from God without making mistakes. So don't be hard on yourself. Learn from your mistakes, correct the ones you can, and continue being decisive.
Don't fall back into a pattern of indecision because you got it wrong a few times. Often you'll only know that you've done the right thing - when you do it!
Devote a reasonable amount of time to waiting on God, and when necessary seek the counsel of others.
But don't be afraid to act; make a decision and follow through with it.
In other words, "just do it!"

The Quest to Reach a Generation

Today I was drawn back to this post I wrote last January and decided to repost it. These kids and young folks mean so much to me... and even more to God; we cannot give up on them!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

The Quest to Reach a Generation

In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to speak to several folks who were high school to college age, who profess themselves to be atheists or agnostic. Last week I was talking with another pastor about these young folks, and he commented that they were just being rebellious. The more I have thought about this, the more it has upset me. I believe that when we who are followers of Christ simply dismiss and cast off these young people as "rebellious" then their blood is on our hands. I think many of my contemporaries would do well to go hang out with some of these kids for awhile, and not talk, but just listen. They need to discover what this generation has been taught in school. They need to try to come to terms with the world view that has shaped these kids. Try to comprehend this: 50% of them come from a broken home. A large percentage of them have either experienced or witnessed physical and/or sexual abuse. The vast majority have been raised in the first generation where both parents worked outside the home, thereby decreasing the influence of the parent on their lives, which means the education system has had a much greater impact on the framing of their mind. Add to this the fact that this generation has been raised by the first generation to have the Bible and anything to do with God removed from their education; so this second generation has by and large been taught nothing of God or his word, and had a humanistic philosophy poured into them for 12-16 years in our education system.

Are they being rebellious? Not at all. They are living what they have been taught.
Those of us who are in Christ have our work cut out for us. We've long been told that over 90% of all those who ever receive Christ do so before the age of 20. Now, our system has removed God from their education during these formative years, so when they reach young adulthood and we present them with the Gospel and the Word of God, they are not likely to receive it because it is foreign to them. For all practical purposes, they have been framed to believe only what fits into the framework of what they have been taught, and they have not been taught anything of a spiritual realm, other than what they see in the movies, and Hollywood has slanted that education in such a way that biblical teaching is laughable and foolish and those that believe in God are mentally imbalanced. Folks, we have an uphill climb to reach this generation.

This generation has been taught evolution as a fact and told that creation or intelligent design is foolishness. The biblical view has been painted to be so out of touch, that this generation has never been given permission to think it through for themselves, and told that they were being more intellectual by renouncing the creationist theory. I listened to a college professor in an interview who was asked why creation was an impossibility and his only argument was "It's silly. It makes no logical sense." Let's think on this a minute. The idea that nothing became something and somehow fell into the right alignment to form a living being... that makes sense to them. When questioned as to where those first particles came from, one PhD argued, "those first particle just always were there." But the same man thought it just ridiculous to believe that God could have always been. Kind of hypocritical there, don't you think? Stop and consider how illogical it is to think that just the right particles happened to fall together to make everything we know. The odds are beyond comprehension. Everything that is cries out to us and demands that there was a designer. This same PhD actually argued that maybe aliens seeded the earth to set evolution into motion. OK... you can believe in aliens who "set it in motion" (helllo? a creator?) but you cannot believe in the possibility of a God? How whack is that? This man just indicated he could believe in an alien (no explanation of where he came from) but no way he could believe in God.

The question then must be, "Why can you not believe in God?"
To me, it is obvious. To admit that there is God, an intelligent designer, admits that there is someone or something that is higher than we are, and therefore makes us accountable to that being.... and that, to these intellectuals is unacceptable to those who are so wise.
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."

Folks, let's not write off this generation as rebellious. They have been indoctrinated to think the way they do. They are worth saving. We must take time to hear, really listen to what they are saying, because they are empty inside and looking for something that is void in their lives. There is a God shaped hole inside of them, because they have never been told that they were created to walk in fellowship with a loving God.

We Offer Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness

Several years ago I was given a book to read but it ended up in my "to read" pile, and remained there for almost 2 years. Then in 2004 I attended a "Renewal at the Springs" conference at Trinity Chapel in Powder Springs, Georgia, and I met a man who spoke of this same book, "Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness" as one that had changed the focus of his ministry. When I returned home from that conference, I read the book. Right now, I am reading it for probably the 6th or 7th time since then. Jerry Cook was so far ahead of his time when he wrote this book that many never "got it." I wish so badly that someone had put this book in my hands 25 years ago. In the last 5 years, it has changed and shaped my ministry in a profound way. To some it is a catch phrase; to me, it is a model of ministry... offering Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness to people who desperately need it!

Face it... churches CAN BE some of the most judgmental and critical places on the face of the earth. Those who don't know Jesus don't need someone to judge them. They need someone to accept them, just as they are, forgive them for all they've done and point them to the forgiveness that is found in Christ and to love them unconditionally. Unconditionally... that means, that when they blow it, when they stumble or even dive head long into sin... we still love them... just as we did before they fell. That love, that acceptance and that kind of forgiveness is not found in most churches. Face it, it is not. Christians are known for shooting our wounded. It's time to put away the guns and hold out a hand. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, I can tell you that if it had not been for a man who took a chance on me, and loved me when I was an up and down, uncommitted "Christian" and he loved me as I was, and helped to make me a disciple of Christ... I probably would not be alive today. (Thank you Mike!)

I have to say, that while my church certainly has issues of its own, and we may not be the largest church, nor the wealthiest church... our people have grasped the model of ministry that I am trying to model before them and they are some of the most loving, forgiving people I've ever had the privilege to be around. They will accept anyone into our church, regardless of color, economic status, what they have or have not done... they are loved and welcomed in. If you are in the Galesburg area, I hope you will come in and discover this out for yourself.

Harvest Church... I want to say of you... I am so proud to be your Pastor. Nope... you're not perfect... and neither am I... but together, we are working to build a house where Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness is offered to all; and I love you dearly for this!

Just a Reminder!

Set your clocks back one hour, get an extra hour of sleep... and make it to church on time!

What Difference Do It Make?

First a confession: Before receiving this book, I had never even heard of "What Difference Do It Make" by Ron Hall, Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent. When I did receive "What Difference Do It Make?" in the mail, I was not so sure that I’d even make it through this book. Honestly, I set it aside and did not pick it up for a couple of weeks. A few days ago I finally picked it back up and thought I give it a quick glance. As I thumbed through the pages, I found myself getting interested, and before I realized it, I had dove in and read the book through in one sitting. I found reading this book almost as if I were sitting in my living room and having a conversation with the authors as they shared his life stories. As a reader, you cannot help but feel involved in the lives of these men. They just seem real as they open themselves up and make themselves vulnerable to the reader. The funny thing is, from life’s perspective, Ron and Denver would not even be paired together, yet fate did indeed bring them together and their message of hope and healing is profound as they speak of stepping out of their self defined comfort zones and learn to let God be God, and take control of their lives. I highly recommend this book, and will admit that I’m getting ready to go back and read the first book now.

Sometimes You Just Need To Say, "I'm Sorry"

We all have them... You know those days when you just snap on your kids? I had one of those days Monday. My daughter was being particularly moody (hello, 16 year old girl?) and when she gets like that, she can get quite mouthy. Ashley was wanting me to sign something for her and I was trying to get her to tell me what it was that she was asking me to sign when she really got mouthy. I snapped and ripped the paper into pieces. I know, real mature; but I was at my limit. But that is no excuse, it was a really stupid, inappropriate thing for me to do. I am supposed to be the adult, right? As soon as I did it, I realized what a stupid thing I had done, but I was so angry at that point that I could not deal with the situation. I told her to just back off and leave me alone, which she did. I felt bad, but at the same time, was glad it was over. But the truth is, it wasn't over, I had just thrown my weight around and silenced her. The truth of the matter was, while her mouth was inappropriate, my behavior was far worse. To be honest, I had not felt good all day, and the day had been stressful to boot and Ashley became the target of my frustration.

Right here, before everyone, I want to tell my baby girl that I was wrong, I am sorry Ashley, and I ask you to forgive me for my behavior. I know you've already let it go, but I still owe you an apology.

I was prompted to write this tonight because of a conversation with someone else who was having a similar situation and had done something almost as boneheaded as I did on Monday night. I decided to write this to all of us parents, because we do all have days like the one I described and we end up doing something we regret.

So, what do we do when we have days like this where we've blown it with our kids? We can ignore the whole thing and justify ourselves by saying that we can’t take it back, and while that is a truth, we can certainly say we’re sorry, that we were wrong, and ask for forgiveness. I really believe we should do this for a couple of reasons. First, it’s the right thing to do. Second, we should lead by example and we should teach them to do the same thing. We will accomplish this if we teach them that we can humble ourselves enough to admit we were wrong.

What's Halloween About Anyway?

It's that time again, and I've been asked at least 6 times in the past 3 days about Halloween. I decided to pull a post from 4 years ago and re-post it.


Monday, October 31, 2005
What's Halloween About Anyway?
I get these questions every year about this time. "What is Halloween?" "Why don't you let your kids dress in costumes and go trick or treating?" "Why don't we have a Halloween party at the church?"

I don't ask try to force my beliefs on this on everyone, but I do have some very solid convictions about this. Rather than spend all morning trying to give my view, I want to just share a slide taken from the American Folklore Center. This is not a religious organization at all. They just simply report facts about American Folklore.
I hope this slide is large enough for you to read it.
Here is what they say about Halloween:


If you click on the picture it will enlarge.



Posted by Darrell at Monday, October 31, 2005 0 comments

Sounds Like A Plan To Me

I like the philosophy of this video. "Who says you can't be happy all the time... I know, but I'm still gonna try." Sounds like a plan to me... to try to be happy all the time.

Die Happy lyrics

Lighthouse Family - Happy Video - Die Happy Music Videos

Music Videos by VideoCure

It All Depends On Your Perspective

Our temperatures have been up and down bringing about the fall colors in the trees lately, and it really is beautiful this time of year. Unfortunately, we've had a ton of rain and wind the last few days, which drove a lot of the leaves from the trees and onto the ground. This morning a delivery woman came to my door and while we were talking, she made a comment about how beautiful our lawn looks. She said that it looks as if we had a golden carpet on the yard. I looked at it and laughed and said, "I guess it depends on your perspective. You see a beautiful golden carpet, but I see several days of raking and bagging leaves."

After I came back into the house, I was thinking about our conversation and I realized that there are a lot of things in life that may look totally different to different people and their perspective or vantage points.
I was reminded of a conversation with someone just recently in which they made the statement about me that I "had to go to church every week." The irony is that I don't see it as having to go to church, but rather that I GET to go to church. I've lived life without Christ and now I have lived for him for the last 28 years and as a person who has lived from both vantage points, I am so grateful that I GET to serve God and have the opportunity to go to church as often as I can.

A little while later I was looking online at someone's Facebook page and their pictures. There were numerous pictures of this person and her family members drinking at various parties. This person had one of her father who you could tell was very intoxicated even in a picture. The caption made a comment about how falling down drunk he was and how hilarious it was to watch him make a fool of himself. She saw it as hilarious and as having the time of her life. I have a different perspective. I see a man who was once serving Jesus and leading his family to do the same. I saw a family that is lost and going to hell, and there is nothing funny about that. Perspective does matter.

You Go Congressman Rogers!

Is Obama Poised to Cede U.S. Sovereignty

On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton gave a presentation in St. Paul, MN on the subject of global warming. In this 4-minute excerpt from his speech, he issues a dire warning to all Americans regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty that is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009.

A draft of the treaty can be read here:
http://www.globalclimatescam.com/docu...

Page 18: Section 38 of the "Share vision for long-term cooperation action plan" contains the text for forming the new government.

Page 44-45: Section 46 "Objectives, scope, and guiding principles" contains the text for enforcement and establishment of the rule of law.

There has been considerable debate raised about Monckton's conclusion that the Copenhagen Treaty would cede US sovereignty. His comments appear to be based upon his interpretation of the The Supremacy Clause in the US Constitution (Article VI, paragraph 2). This clause establishes the Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. TREATIES as the supreme law of the land. Concerns have been raised in the past that a particularly ambitious treaty may supersede the US Constitution. In the 1950s, a constitutional amendment, known as the Bricker Amendment, was proposed in response to such fears, but it failed to pass. You can read more about the Bricker Amendment in a 1953 Time Magazine article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/art...,9171,806676-1,00.html

Lord Monckton served as a policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher. He has repeatedly challenged Al Gore to a debate to which Gore has refused. Monckton sued to stop Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" from being shown in British schools due to its inaccuracies. The judge found in-favor of Monckton, ordering 9 serious errors in the film to be corrected. Lord Monckton travels internationally in an attempt to educating the public about the myth of global warming.

Wake Up Church!