Some people get a whole lot of satisfaction from cramming 1000's of songs onto their iPods. Set it to "random" and you are good to go. I, the other hand, have 1 album (can I still use that word?) on my little iPod "Shuffle" and I listen to it to death. Every once in a while I will find one that I really resonate with, one that stirs up something deep down and it receives all my listening attention. Lately, there are two albums that fall into this category. The first is Jill Phillips, Nobody's Got it All Together. Boy, ain't that the truth. If you are on the verge of packing it in, or you are struggling with your faith and need to hear a little grace in your life then, Nobody's Got it All Together, is for you!
Andy Gullahorn is an artist I discovered just this past week. Awesome! He is a little goofy but underneath are some powerful lyrics. Check out "God Loves that Guy" and "Desperate Man." Wow! I found a commercial for the album on Youtube.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Do Something Different
In 1968, Dick Fosbury changed the world of high jumping in a way that propelled athletes to newer heights. For the first time in Olympic competition he jumped over the high bar backwards and it won him the gold medal.
The "fosbury flop" is now a standard in the high jumping world. Sometimes when you don't seem to be getting anywhere in your faith you need to do a spiritual "fosbury flop." Do something different than your regular routine or "system" that keeps you where you are - going nowhere.
In Jesus' day there was a man who sat by a mysterious pool called Bethesda. Legend had it that the water had healing powers. His goal was to get into the pool before everyone else so that he could be healed. I don't know how long he had been at it but John 5 says he had been disabled for 38 years! Something about his system for healing was not working. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well, instead of answering yes he gave excuses. I am not sure he really wanted to get well. My guess is that he was becoming comfortable with where he was even though he knew in the back of his mind there was something better. He needed to do something different in order to reach new heights. He needed a spiritual "fosbury flop!" He needed to break out of his self imposed way of doing things in order to become spiritually well.
What do you need to do differently? Well maybe it is as easy as just doing what the master tells you to do without any excuses. He told the man to "Get up, pick up your mat and walk." He did it. No excuses. What is Jesus asking you to do? If you give excuses then it may be a sign that you don't really want to become spiritually well. The number one excuse I have heard is - NO TIME! That is an excuse to keep you where you are. If you want to experience new heights you need to learn to flop! Approach the bar differently.
May you flop this today!
Here is something different that can break you out of a routine - go on a mission trip. We just came back from the Dominican Republic and helped to further the completion of our sister church in Alondra. We spent 10 days digging, painting, 2 medical clinics, 2 VBS's, 2 worship services with our Dominican brothers and sisters and a lot of relationship building. We had an awesome team headed by Laurie Miles. If you want to do something different find a mission trip.
Before going on the trip I weighed myself to test out the weight reducing potential of spending 10 days in the DR. When I came back I weighed in at 238! One lousy pound and I guarantee that it was mostly sweat.
The "fosbury flop" is now a standard in the high jumping world. Sometimes when you don't seem to be getting anywhere in your faith you need to do a spiritual "fosbury flop." Do something different than your regular routine or "system" that keeps you where you are - going nowhere.
In Jesus' day there was a man who sat by a mysterious pool called Bethesda. Legend had it that the water had healing powers. His goal was to get into the pool before everyone else so that he could be healed. I don't know how long he had been at it but John 5 says he had been disabled for 38 years! Something about his system for healing was not working. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well, instead of answering yes he gave excuses. I am not sure he really wanted to get well. My guess is that he was becoming comfortable with where he was even though he knew in the back of his mind there was something better. He needed to do something different in order to reach new heights. He needed a spiritual "fosbury flop!" He needed to break out of his self imposed way of doing things in order to become spiritually well.
What do you need to do differently? Well maybe it is as easy as just doing what the master tells you to do without any excuses. He told the man to "Get up, pick up your mat and walk." He did it. No excuses. What is Jesus asking you to do? If you give excuses then it may be a sign that you don't really want to become spiritually well. The number one excuse I have heard is - NO TIME! That is an excuse to keep you where you are. If you want to experience new heights you need to learn to flop! Approach the bar differently.
May you flop this today!
Here is something different that can break you out of a routine - go on a mission trip. We just came back from the Dominican Republic and helped to further the completion of our sister church in Alondra. We spent 10 days digging, painting, 2 medical clinics, 2 VBS's, 2 worship services with our Dominican brothers and sisters and a lot of relationship building. We had an awesome team headed by Laurie Miles. If you want to do something different find a mission trip.
Before going on the trip I weighed myself to test out the weight reducing potential of spending 10 days in the DR. When I came back I weighed in at 238! One lousy pound and I guarantee that it was mostly sweat.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
From Float to Flying
The Woodstown Presbyterian Church was well represented in the Woodstown Fourth of July parade on Friday. Buck and co. did an incredible job putting together this year's float (as always) and we won a third place trophy! Later that weekend Buck won a gold medal in our tennis tournament. Nice show! Thanks to everyone who cheered us on and to the kids who road on the float and passed out VBS invites and candy.
On Sunday we recognized vets and families of military service men and women. Please keep in your prayers the Zastrow family whose son Jared is headed to Afghanistan tomorrow. He leaves behind a wife and 5 month old and a baby on the way. We are organizing a bulletin board at church with pictures of soldiers and ways to support and pray for them. Mary Lou Short has volunteered to be the keeper of the board. Thanks Mary Lou!
Here is the "Letters from War" video we showed on Sunday.
Finally, the DR Mission Team is taking off tomorrow at 7:00 in the morning. I will be part of the team. Please pray for us. You can watch for updates on our website.
I know some people think we lose weight on these trips. So just to test whether a mission trip can be a good weight loss idea I weighed myself this morning. Today I am 239 pounds. My long term goal is lose 29 more pounds! I'll let you know how I do. Find out what you need to do to be healthy and take care of your mobile Temple and go to www.realage.com.
Blessings! PRESS ON!
Facing Fear
If I were to make a top ten list of things that keep us from growing closer to God, topping that list would be fear. Fear can paralyze us and rob us from joy in life. Fear can keep us from being used by God. Fear stinks. You know what they say, you can smell fear.
Fear is often rooted in a false sense of reality.
There is a story in Mark 4 where the disciples were going for a boat ride and the wind started to pick up. In fact it got so windy they started to fear for their lives. Jesus was in the boat but the wind didn't seem to bother him. In fact, he was asleep! On a pillow! The disciples wake him up to try to speak some sense into him. But at that point, if you were to choose, who had the better grasp on reality? Jesus or the disciples? Common sense would say the disciples. But in the back of our minds we know the answer is really Jesus. He was asleep because he knew that at any moment he could say the word, wave his hand and everything would be back to calm. But the disciples did see that reality. That is why they were afraid.
When we understand the power of the one who is in the boat with us, the closer we are to seeing the reality of any situation, no matter how threatening. Fear looks at the waves. Faith sees the one who is in the boat with us.
You even after the sea was calm the disciples were afraid. This time they were frightened by Jesus. Actually, the greek word used to describe their fear means something like, "awe" or "reverance." That is the only kind of fear that mixes well with faith. It is the kind of fear that sees more clearly the reality of Jesus.
Next time you sense fear paralyzing you, stop looking at the waves and keep your eyes on the one asleep in your boat!
PRESS ON!
Jesse Owens is a great example of someone who faced fear rooted in a false perception of aryan supremacy. He demonstrated the reality of his athletic superiority by winning 4 gold medals on Nazi turf. Awesome!
Fear is often rooted in a false sense of reality.
There is a story in Mark 4 where the disciples were going for a boat ride and the wind started to pick up. In fact it got so windy they started to fear for their lives. Jesus was in the boat but the wind didn't seem to bother him. In fact, he was asleep! On a pillow! The disciples wake him up to try to speak some sense into him. But at that point, if you were to choose, who had the better grasp on reality? Jesus or the disciples? Common sense would say the disciples. But in the back of our minds we know the answer is really Jesus. He was asleep because he knew that at any moment he could say the word, wave his hand and everything would be back to calm. But the disciples did see that reality. That is why they were afraid.
When we understand the power of the one who is in the boat with us, the closer we are to seeing the reality of any situation, no matter how threatening. Fear looks at the waves. Faith sees the one who is in the boat with us.
You even after the sea was calm the disciples were afraid. This time they were frightened by Jesus. Actually, the greek word used to describe their fear means something like, "awe" or "reverance." That is the only kind of fear that mixes well with faith. It is the kind of fear that sees more clearly the reality of Jesus.
Next time you sense fear paralyzing you, stop looking at the waves and keep your eyes on the one asleep in your boat!
PRESS ON!
Jesse Owens is a great example of someone who faced fear rooted in a false perception of aryan supremacy. He demonstrated the reality of his athletic superiority by winning 4 gold medals on Nazi turf. Awesome!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Noise
This morning our men's group met at our regular 6:30 am time. Today's Nooma video was titled "Noise." This really "resonated" with me as I am thinking about PRESSING ON (Philippians 3:14). In a nutshell, as a culture we have become so immersed in noise (cell phones, tvs, radios, ipods, pagers, email, and on and on) that it has become difficult for us to hear God's voice. The book of Hebrews says, "look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith." In the greek, the word translated "look" means block out all distractions and focus. What if we've become distracted by all this noise? What if it keeps us from focusing on Jesus? Find some silence today that will help you to focus and block out the noise of life. During that time pray for our Wednesday men's group and for the leadership of Jamie Danner. Here is a clip from that NOOMA video.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Building Endurance
"Lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely.." Hebrews 12:2
How do you build spiritual endurance? Part of the answer is to carry no more than you need. Hebrews says that we are carrying around sin that weighs us down. So, drop it or you will drop out of the race. Here is the skit with Bob Newhart that I mentioned on Sunday.
Maybe it's not the most sensitive advice but sometimes we need to "stop it" in order to "drop it." After all, you don't want to live your life weighed down. That sounds unpleasant.
Sometimes we need more such as the power of God and supportive relationships. In the end, do whatever you can to "drop it."
Of course, the second strategy for building spiritual endurance is focusing. To hear the rest message go to our website.
PRESS ON!
How do you build spiritual endurance? Part of the answer is to carry no more than you need. Hebrews says that we are carrying around sin that weighs us down. So, drop it or you will drop out of the race. Here is the skit with Bob Newhart that I mentioned on Sunday.
Maybe it's not the most sensitive advice but sometimes we need to "stop it" in order to "drop it." After all, you don't want to live your life weighed down. That sounds unpleasant.
Sometimes we need more such as the power of God and supportive relationships. In the end, do whatever you can to "drop it."
Of course, the second strategy for building spiritual endurance is focusing. To hear the rest message go to our website.
PRESS ON!
Press On!
Every summer our church has a theme. Last year it was "Endless Summer" in the spirit of the Beach Boys' greatest album from the '70's. With the Summer Olympics taking place this year we thought it would be fun to play with idea of the image of the olympic athlete as a model for the christian life. The apostle Paul uses this analogy several times in his letters challenging believers to run the race of life as one who is going for the gold! He writes in Philippians 3:14, "I press on to the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." So that is what we are doing. Pressing On. We are figuring our what that means. In most cases it means exerting more effort in pursuing God than we are right now.
It means making a decision to really want to know Christ. It means dedication and commitment. The christian should have the drive of a Wilma Rudolph. Check it out.
Don't be a spiritual couch potato. Get in the race!
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