for with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth
he confesses, resulting in
salvation.
That is one of the
most incredible verses I have put my mind and heart in to in the last few
days. It came up as I prepare for the
last sermon I would preach in 2015. That
verse connects our hearts and heads, our belief with our words. It is in those places, inside of us that understand
our salvation and the unlimited grace of God.
As Christmas is over
and the New Year is about to begin I am giving you a little more of the Monday
mind dump. These are random thoughts,
actions and outcomes from daily life. Let
me say right off that I see my life as one who is big time blessed.
So, let’s step
forward with the proverbial dumping:
* I like surprises,
like gifts. Recently I got a message
from a ministry person asking that I meet a few people from their church. I showed up a few minutes late only to be
surprised my a kind Christmas gift that was unexpected.
* Our van broke down
after church Sunday morning, and the one thing that came to my mind as well as
to my wife and our girls was how glad we were that it broke down after we returned
home from our Christmas trip to Georgia.
It could have happened a long way from home. Thank you, Jesus, for your protection and
kindness.
* It never gets old
to see one of our kids from church exit our kids area to come see me at the end
of church to share that they asked Jesus in to their heart. Yesterday is was Lindsey. I couldn’t be more proud of her and grateful
for salvation.
* My heart goes out
to those people who are away from home during the holiday season. I am talking about people who are in jail, in
the hospital, in the military or any of a number of places some distances from
their families. No I am not talking
about my mom and others who have died.
They had a pretty awesome Christmas in heaven even if we did and do miss
them a lot.
* Have I told you we
are dog people? We have 2 dachshunds:
Bella and Brodie. I love my dogs.
* I have read
several articles about Christians arming themselves by legally carrying a
gun. Let me just say that I agree with
this and appreciate the people who protect my family, those in public service
and private citizens.
* Some favorites
lately (just a little FYI in to my likes): Adele’s song “Hello”, TV show
“Madame Secretary”, my Nissan Frontier truck, snowman sugar cookies, great
stories of what God does…
* During the sermon
yesterday morning I asked people to share how they had seen God display the
fact that He is limitless. It was a huge
blessing to listen to people talk about the goodness of God in their lives. I could listen for a very long time.
* I really, really
missed spending time with my dad and brothers at Christmas, but our time with
Julie’s family in Georgia was so, so good.
We just didn’t get to spend a long enough time with them.
* On of my favorite
Christmas gifts this year was a sermon series on DVD by Robert Morris of
Gateway Church in Texas. It was from my
mother and father in law, and our family is watching them together. Awesome!
The series is simply titled “Amazing Grace”.
* I am excited about
our theme at The Community Fellowship for 2016 of RETURN. It is my pray that our church and believers
all over take seriously our responsibility to invite others to experience God’s
grace.
* Soon our church
leaders and I will be asking people who love the church to join us in a special
challenge to make our new campus a reality in the coming months.
* I like my pillow
and my bed. Both were missed a great
deal while we were away.
That is enough for
now. Have a great week, and may your
2016 be off the chain, totally amazing and big time blessed. I am ready.
Hope you are.
Philippians
3:10 NLT
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power
that raised him from the dead. I want to
suffer with him, sharing in his death
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