hard decisions

There are days that you work hard with your body, and that is when your body aches and you have pain for sometime.  Physically you feel drained.  But there are other days where you situation leaves you emotionally aching.  That is when you are emotionally drained, and often the emotions make your body feel fatigued as well.

In my job there is a lot of emotional fatigue because I put so much of myself into the people around me.  These are the people attached to our church and friends who have become part of my heart.  These people mean much to me, and when they hurt, often I hurt.

This past Monday was a difficult day for many of my fellow Oklahomans, yet I talked to many people who are hurting because in the mix of those severely hurt or killed by the tornados where children.  To hear about those 3rd grade students in Moore, Oklahoma that died in the storm is almost too much to learn about.  It reminds me of the people killed in the Boston bombing or in the children killed at Sandy Hook, Connecticut school in December of last year.  Many of you like me were riveted to the news and mourned the death of children we had never met.

In the past several weeks many situations have drained my heart and my strength.  This past evening I sat holding the hand of a dear friend battling cancer.  Several weeks ago I sat with a dad who told me how his wife left town with their young son.  This dad was devastated.  I sat with a young husband a few weeks who shared with me about the difficultly in his marriage and his desire for restoration.  A wife and mother called me not long ago and shared with me how her husband said he was done with their marriage.  Recently I spent some times with grandparents who young grandchild was battling terrible health issues.  I listened to a dear friend tell me about a special lady in her life is being hit hard with the affects of cancer as treatments are leaving her with very difficult problems.

That is just a few things, and you would agree that those situations cause fatigue as you deal with them and even when you have people you really care about as they share with you.  God calls us to do life together.  That means we share our joys and sorrows.  That means we are our brother and sisters keeper.  God created us for relationships.  By sharing life we share the ups and the downs of life with each other.

Here are a few things that are important in relationships:

Ephesians 4:32  NLT

Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Kindness goes a long way.  Being tender is very important.  Relationships can’t work without give and take which includes forgiveness. 

1 Peter 4:8  NLT

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

Love is a big deal.  Real love is unconditional and looks like what God has for us as we share it with others.

1 Corinthians 12:26  NLT

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

We might not have the same mom and dad, but we have the same God.  That makes us family, and when one of our members hurts, we all hurt. 

May God help us to connect with each other even more.  May our connections bring courage and encouragement, strength and a source of inspiration, peace and a sense of God’s presence.  God created us to share life together and that makes the hard decisions of life a little easier.

response to the storms

Moore, OK hit by tornados on May 20, 2013

Proverbs 3:25-26 (NASB)

Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes; For the Lord will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

Monday afternoon my phone and my Facebook page began to get very busy with people asking me if my family was safe.  At first I wasn’t sure what was going on.  I knew that the town of Shawnee, Oklahoma was hit Sunday night with tornados and several Texas towns were hit last week.  That is when I realized that tornados were ripping through suburbs of Oklahoma City and in particular the town or Moore.

In 1999 this same town was hit by horrible storms and sustained a great deal of damage, and here they are again.  The town of Moore, Oklahoma and its people were in the middle of devastation once again.  I called my family.  I asked about family friends and others who lived near the storms.  It was hard to hear about the elementary school that was hit and the 3rd grade students who died in the storm.

Are we afraid of the storms that come across our lives?  Fear is a very real part of life, yet fear is a part of life that we have to deal with.  Fear and worry actually point out that we are not living by faith or leaning on God.  But when the storms hit, when life is out of control that is when fear is at its height.  It is also when our trust in God ought to be at the greatest of its strength.

2 Corinthians 13:9  NLT

We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10  NLT

That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When storms come into your life, what do you do?  Where do you turn?  When you see the path of destruction, are you left stronger because of your faith or empty because of a lack of faith?  I pray that God would increase our faith.

My family is safe and well.  But many families in and around Moore, Oklahoma are hurting today.  They have lost their homes and possessions.  Many have lost the people they loved.  This is when we, the church, come out to help.  Even NBC newsman Harry Smith said (something like this), “when the government takes forever and ever to help, Baptist men are there with help the next day.”  The church is the agency God set up to show up in the lives of hurting people when crisis comes.  Our church is one that doesn’t back down from a challenge, and when it comes to injustice or hunger, homelessness and hurt, we will step in to demonstrate the love of God in tangible ways.  I pray you and your church will do the same.

Here are a few of the organizations on my radar helping with relief from the tornados in Oklahoma (contact them to help or go to their website to donate money to):

God’s Pit Crew (www.godspitcrew.org) delivers goods needed by the victims and relief workers.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (http://www.namb.net/namb1cbdr.aspx?id=8589999098) is on the ground feeding people and helping with clean up.

Lifechurch.tv (http://www.lifechurch.tv/relief) and other local churches in the Oklahoma City area are making a huge difference by serving their neighbors.

The Community Fellowship continues to serve hurting people in our community.  Your church as well is making a difference, or I am sure in your town there are churches and local organizations doing great things to help those are going through the storms of life.  Go to your church or some local organization and give your time, your talents and/or your money so that you can be a part of sharing God’s love with hurting people.

see the new COMMUNITY campus

This is an exciting time.  We announced at Community Worship this past Sunday that our church has purchased a new campus and are beginning the process of restoring and renovating the old American Standard Building Systems property and buildings.

22 acres.  2 story office building.  Huge metal building.  More information will be shared as the planning pushes forward for this new home for our church and the outreach we are part of this community.  The new campus will allow us to grow as well to be able to minister to many more people throughout our community and beyond.  As you have heard before and we must remember... we are called to demonstrate the love of God to our community and beyond.

Here is your chance to get a first look, in person, at the new property and buildings.  Here are three opportunities for your to visit the property:

Today (Tuesday, May 21st) at 1:30pm

Today at 6pm

Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 22nd) at 6pm

There will be more opportunities in the coming days and weeks, but you will be blessed and encouraged by seeing the building and property for yourself.  It is located on Commerce Drive in city of Martinsville.  

DIRECTIONS: (1) turn on to V C Drive next to the Sirloin House on Commonwealth blvd and go to where it meets Stultz Rd and take your next right on Commerce Drive. OR (2) turn on to Stultz Road off of Virginia Ave and go to the end of the road.  Turn Left continuing on Stultz Road and take immediate right on on to Commerce Drive.  OR (3) from interception of where Stultz Road meets Liberty Street and Clearview Drive go west on Stultz Road and continue on till you go past an apartment complex on your right.  Take the next left on to Commerce Drive.

We look forward to sharing more information and working with you to get this campus ready for our church and outreach ministry to be located there.  For more information call the church at 276-647-8231 or email info@thecommunityfellowship.org.

Hope to see you soon visiting the new campus and this coming Sunday for community worship at 10:10am.  Have a great week!

putting others first

Must of what I am sharing today was first posted on my blog in 2006, but it remains true today.  Jesus said if we want to be first that we better get comfortable with last place.  He also said that the greatest person will be the servant.

Philippians 2:3 (MSG)

"Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top.  Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead."  

Jesus said it.  He lived it as well.  It really is a pretty simple way of loving a person.  Would you agree?  Through the years I have heard people use this pattern: JOY --- Jesus, Others and You.  Here are just a few pieces of this important puzzle God put in front of us:

lift up your friend  (Eccl 4:10)

loves at all the time   (Prov 17:17)

speak encouraging words to one another   (1 Thess 5:11)

build up one another  (1 Thess 5:11)

serve one another  (Gal 5:13)

confess your sins to each other  (James 5:16)

pray for one another   (James 5:16)

speak the truth in love  (Eph 4:15)

put on a heart of compassion  (Col 3:12)

sharpen one another  (Prov 27:17)

be good friends, devoted to one another  (Romans 12:10)

do not judge one another   (Romans 14:13)

welcome one another  (Romans 15:7)

accept one another  (Romans 15:7)

be courteously reverent to one another  (Eph 5:21)

be content with second place  (Col 3:13)

forgive each other  (Col 3:13)

whoever wants to be great must become a servant  (Mark 10:43)

I learned the following definition of love a very long time ago and must be reminded often: Love gives to others without ever thinking what you might get back.

Others ... an acrostic to close with from that word, "Others":

going OUT of your way

TO

HELP

EVERYONE be

REFRESHED by our

SAVIOR

May God help us serve others and think of others before we think of ourselves.  The motivational speaker Zig Zilgar says it this way: “You can have anything you WANT in life if you will help enough other people get what they WANT”

raising godly kids

We are in the middle of a series at The Community Fellowship called BLESS THIS HOME, and yesterday we talked about raising Kids.  I want to thank Pastor Ron Edmondson for sharing an article about his plan to his boys to follow Jesus.  Here are some of the things I shared with our church family:

One of the most challenging areas of life can be family.  Get married.  Add kids.  You got a recipe for great things, or you have a road headed for trouble.  There’s lots of joy, but there are also many pitfalls.  I’d suggest that our biggest stressors in life have to do with relationships.  Maybe even with our kids. 

Most believers have a strong desire to raise kids who are followers of Christ and who are godly.  With three kids, I know the difficulty and the competition that our world offers and distracts us with.  Almost 20 years ago Julie and I got married.  It was about 19 years ago that we began thinking about what we will have 30 or 40 years from that point.  We began to plan for our retirement and for our family to succeed.  About 6 years ago we met Joe Sangl, and God put it on our hearts to become debt free.  That takes planning and hard work now so I can have a positive result in the future. 

We want to succeed, but we want to have it all handed to us.  Often people aren’t willing to do what it takes or are unwilling to plan for success.  We want success, but we don’t do what it takes.  To succeed means we have to make some decisions, and to succeed takes time and planning.  If I want a specific outcome, I have to make hard and great decisions now.  So take this into consideration: desired future results determine today's choices.

If I want great results in the future, I have to make great choices today.  To have a retirement I have to start planning now.  To go to Disney I have to start saving and planning.  To buy a house I have to start putting away some cash and put together a plan of what we want and how we are going to get there.  To have a career that is something out of the norm and successful I have to work on educating, working hard and more.  Those decisions have to be made now.

Raising kids, godly kids, is much the same.  I desire for our children to be strong and successful in life.  We want them to be well rounded and to have great relationships and strong families.  That means I have to make some choices now.

3 John 1:4  NLT

I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

The greatest joy comes when you work hard for something and get it.  What does that look like to follow truth?  What does it mean to be a successful adult or to have a strong family?  What does a Jesus follower look like?  How can we make sure that our kids follow the truth?

We have to teach our kids truth.  We have to model truth.  We have to aim at something, know what we are aiming for and keep on the right path.  Raising godly children does not happen over night or by accident.  Something has to happen.  Somethings might have to change.  My direction and my mind need to see now what I want to see then.  Listen, I have to see in my mind’s eye today what I want to see in the future.  Desired future results determine today’s choices.

Proverbs 22:6  NLT

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.