Great weekend ahead

Looking forward to a fun and uplifting Saturday program. Joe Wells is coming to share his series on "Confronting Culture". I saw Joe about four years ago at FHU lectureships giving this same series. I was so impressed that I resolved to get him here for a youth function. Four years later, presto!

Samantha Spurlock from Alabama is coming to head up the ladies classes and though I have never heard her speak, obviously, everyone I've talked to says she really turns on the message. She spoke at Jewels at Faulkner and the girls at Macland agree that she is really a good speaker.

Cornerstone will be performing a secular show and representatives from FHU and Faulkner will be on hand to discuss Christian colleges.

Lunch is provided free of charge.

This is not a youth rally. This is a day when families can meet and learn about the challenges facing the youth of this generation and how families and the church can face those challenges head-on.

Please come on out and strengthen your relationship with your parents or young person.

We start at 9 am and will go until 3-3:30 pm.

Excellent day of worship today. In our drive for 300 in attendance, we had our usual Sunday service, ate a common meal afterward, met for a singing service at 1 pm and evening services at 1:30. Strange to be done with services at 2:30, but gave us some time to come home and do a little work around the house.

I try to empathize with those folks who say that they are uninspired by worship services and that they gain little from them. I will say, however, that worship is for God and that we are blessed to be able to worship our Creator every first day of the week. I am always gratified to be uplifted and sometimes rebuked during our period of worship, but my main goal is to give praise to God Almighty. I think that if more people went into worship with a goal-oriented mindset (worshiping God) their end result would be much more in line with what they are looking for: a sense of fulfillment. Instead of picking apart the singing, sing louder and stronger than anyone around you. Instead of wondering if the prayer will ever end, listen more carefully and add your own silent addition to the prayer being offered. Instead of checking the time during the sermon, make a point of looking up each scripture as it is offered. Goal-oriented worship is what I am striving for. How can you improve yours?

What a day!

Had a fantastic day at Piedmont Road for their annual youth rally. This is their ninth year and they really do a great job with it. I got to hear Chuck Webster speak twice as the keynote speaker and he did a really nice job. I remember Chuck from Freed-Hardeman while I was there back in 1988-1992. The singing was uplifting and all in all it was a special way to spend a beautiful Saturday.

My topic was about temptation and I was grateful for the opportunity to study a subject I don't really study that much. God is with us at all times. God is not everywhere at once, he is everywhere. He wees us when we face temptation and he is with us when we give in or when we are able to withstand the snares of the devil. He will not tempt us but he will allow us to be tempted. Temptation is essential for the Christian. We cannot avoid it completely and when we face it and overcome it, we have a new strength that will allow us to become stronger than we were before.

I may start a little mini-series on temptation for future posts.

Have a great Sunday and be sure to come back.

What next?

I am constantly amazed at the way technology is able to influence our lives. I remember when cell phones were "mobile phones" and were attached to small briefcases that you had to lug around. Now, you can impact almost any aspect of your life with a 3" x 5" piece of glass and plastic. You can post to Facebook and Twitter, check and send e-mail, play some really clever games, watch TV or even a movie, check the weather, surf the Web, listen to music, take pictures or videos, read a book and even make a call to someone (gasp).

I have an app that, when I scan a bar code, allows me to find the item at any online or local vendor and gives me the best possible price. Unthinkable, not 3 years ago.

If you have a cell phone (85% of Americans do), what would you do if it were taken away, never to be replaced? I think some people would actually go through a sort of physical withdrawal. We can't imagine our lives without one of these in our hand, but you know what...we would survive. The same way we survive when the power goes out, the cable goes down, or the car doesn't start. Technology makes our lives easier (it's true) but it is fallible. It can and will disappoint us as will anything made by human hands.

What will not disappoint us? What will never fail and leave us in the dark (no pun intended)?

We know that God never disappoints or fails us. Romans 5:1-5 "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God though our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our access by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character , hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

What do you put your trust and faith in: things of men or the glory of God.

Stormy skies

I was having lunch with a friend today and while we sat, eating our food, I looked out at the skies and saw some really incredible clouds moving overhead. Dark clouds that could mean nothing other than a torrential downpour. I fully expected to hear the klaxon sirens signifying a tornado sighting. A couple of minutes later...it hit. Seriously strong winds whipped the trees back and forth and sent loose debris careening down the parking lot. Then the rain came. Big fat drops of rain that seemed enough to drench you with one drop. All this lasted...one minute. That's it. One minute. Barely enough time to open your umbrella and get from the car to the doorway. I couldn't believe it! I was prepared to sit the afternoon in a restaurant and wait, but the ferocity didn't live up to the foreboding.

It is like that many times in our Christian walk. We see the clouds and the dark skies over our lives. The wind, by itself, seems to be enough to flatten us. We worry and fret and then... nothing much really happens.

Do you see harsh times as inevitable? Consider the widow in I Kings 17. God told Elijah to go to Zarephath to stay at a widow ladies house. When he arrived, he asked for a little water and some bread because he had been travelling and was hungry. The widow replied that she had almost no supplies and that she was going to bake one last loaf of bread for her and her son and that they would die of starvation soon after. There was a drought in the land and food was scarce. Elijah revealed that if she would make a loaf for him and then one for her and her son, that her supplies would not run out until the drought was lifted. How much worry and dread had this woman endured before the arrival of the prophet...and for good reason. All that worry, however, was for nothing because God provided for her through the prophet Elijah.

Don't let the clouds of fear and doubt paralyze you as a Christian. God will allow nothing to keep you from your service if you will do what He tells you to do. Worry does us no good and much evil - Matthew 6:31-34. Trust in God to help you look to sunnier skies.

Temptation...

My topic for this weekend's rally is "What Can God Do For You: When you face temptation?" I had to do some soul-searching on this topic because I often fall into the same trap as everyone else. I find myself sometimes using God as a last resort instead of a first line of defense.

As mortal beings, we see ourselves as capable of confronting any problem, warding off any disaster and being our own best friend. The Bible tells us otherwise. Job 5:6-7 says "Affliction does not come from the dust, neither does trouble sprout from the ground, for man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward." and Jeremiah 4:18 affirms "Your ways and your deeds have brought these things to you. This is your evil. How bitter! How it has touched your heart." We are bound to cause ourselves problems, often because we try to take the place of God or replace God with something else.

The Arameans learned the folly of "limiting " God in I Kings 20:28. "Then a man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord, 'Because the Arameans have said, "The Lord is a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys"; therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord."

God is the God of all. He will deliver us if we allow it. I Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it."

He loves all mankind. but His people are special to Him. He will provide an escape.

Are you looking for one?

Youth Rally

A big thank-you to the youth rally organizers at Piedmont Road. I was asked to speak at the rally this upcoming Saturday. The big event begins at 8:30 am and ends at 3 pm. They have a great day planned and you are invited. The theme is "What Can God Do for You?" I will be speaking on "What can God do for you when faced with temptation?" Lunch is provided and I know that this will be a wonderful uplifting experience for all who attend. I hope to see you there.

Piedmont Road Youth Rally

I'm baaaack. Two years and one month later...my latest entry. It took a while for me to realize that a blog may be a way to reach people and I take lessons to heart. Look for regular updates and entries and better communication from this point on.