Sunday Schedules

As we've moved out to the country, we are starting to form new habits and get used to a new schedule. One thing we are getting used to is that a trip into town is not so easy as before. :) So, when we go into town for church service on Sunday, we have been using that time to do some grocery shopping for the week...

A Family Staple For Groceries

Curious George On The TV While Mom Shops

The basic idea so far: the kids and I stay in the truck and watch a movie/nap while mom gets the groceries. Seems to be working so far!

And while we were in town we were able to get our Christmas tree for this year....

Working On Decorating Last Night

It's not the most relaxing way to spend a Sunday, but it's working so far, and it's making some good memories I think.

Of course, Christmas tree decorating at the end of the night is always a great way to make memories!

The Journey (The Chapel 2/16/14)

The Journey

We are all on a journey. The Christian life. The life of following Jesus.

Thoughts for the journey...

1) It is a journey.
I love road trips... I love the process of getting there. Sometimes I want to hustle right to the destination.
Its a process. The destination isn't reached in one day, or one sermon, or one month, year, etc. It takes time. High highs, low lows. Rejoice with those who rejoice...

Striving for perfection. It is a process. Romans 12 Renewal of our minds.

Philippians 1:9-10 ESV
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV sanctification
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Are you not satisfied with your walk? Be thankful. The dissatisfaction you may feel in your heart could be the very desire God birthed to bring you to Himself. Be thankful you are dissatisfied as it would be horrible to be sitting in a pew each Sunday far from God and not caring. There may have been a time in your life where you didn't care... isn't it great that you care now?! Brother Boniface.

Enjoy the process. Enjoy the journey. Take time to look around at the scenery and appreciate where you have come in your walk with Him. Remember and be encouraged by the fact that this is a journey.

2) Part of the journey is self-discovery.
Man doesn't even know His own heart. The heart is deceitful and wicked. But God knows our heart and He tests it.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 ESV
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?   “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

Proverbs 17:3 ESV
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.

Our heart is a vast landscape that we do not even understand. There are peaks and valleys and hidden places that only God sees and we ourselves don't recognize. There are unexplored territories that we have never visited, but they are clear and visible to the Lord. He has always seen them and is familiar with them.

What the Lord has been revealing in me...
motives behind seemingly godly desires on the outside. Desires that when looked at under the surface are evil and self-seeking. Desires for my glory and not His, though I proclaimed them as godly. My selfish desires were motivating so much of my life.
Yuck. And God sees it all
It said that it took God days to bring them out of egypt, but 40 years to get Egypt out of them so they could occupy the promised land.

3) Everyone around you is on a journey too.
Are you patient with the process or journey of others? Just as they need to be patient with you?
Paul talks about how we are at different places in our journey with the Lord.

Galatians 6:2 ESV
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Do we criticize each others shortcomings or praise the areas of growth?

Romans 14:1 ESV
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

Romans 15:1-2, 5-6 ESV
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

4) Are you willing to let God have His way in the journey?
Are you willing to get into the trunk and put Jesus in the drivers seat?

5) We don't go it alone.

Its nice to know that we don't go it alone.

He has promised He will never leave us or forsake us. It puts me at peace knowing that I am in His hands and nothing can snatch me out of His hands.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

John 10:28-30 ESV
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”

Exploring the Mansions

As I start a new year, I am so excited and thankful to begin with this book again... I do not say this lightly - a life-changing read.

December 29, 2013 Teaching Notes at The Chapel at Somerset

Here are the notes I had in preparing to preach this morning. I enjoyed studying this portion of Scripture with the Lord, hopefully the message was helpful for those who were there today...

New Year is quickly approaching
- reflection
- dreaming
- resolutions

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 AMP (read through once first)

1 KEEP YOUR foot [give your mind to what you are doing] when you go [as Jacob to sacred Bethel] to the house of God. For to draw near to hear and obey is better than to give the sacrifice of fools [carelessly, irreverently] too ignorant to know that they are doing evil. [Gen. 35:1-4; Exod. 3:5.]

Ecclesiastes 5:1 NLT
...It is evil to make mindless offerings to God.

2 Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 NASB
Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God...

3 For a dream comes with much business and painful effort, and a fool's voice with many words.


Go back through the Scripture now slower to teach...


Hear and obey...
Position of humility. Proper position before the Lord of all. Right way to approach the Lord.
We've gotten too casual in our approach to Him, even on how we think about Who He is.

Careless, irreverant, mindless offerings...
Hasty in word, impulsive in thought...

Mindlessly going to God.
That is the picture in my mind of how we communicate with God often. Talking at Him, but missing Him. He is there, but we are not engaged. Like someone walking in on an existing conversation and blabbing whatever without care to what's already happening. Do you know what is happening?? He is forever worshipped.

Like talking at our spouse but never listening. Its not conversing and it will sap your intimacy. You don't really know who you are talking at! You don't take time to listen!

To just come and babble without much awareness of your words reveals your immaturity and possibly your problem. In other words, by how you are approaching Him you think God is someone that He isnt. You think He is here for you. When He isn't. You are Here for Him. And if you thought more accurately of the Lord and who He really is, you may not even have the very problem you are coming to Him with! Like a whiny 2 year old who things he deserves something that he doesn't. He thinks He's being wronged or not cared for when He is actually revealing His selfishness and His lack of uderstanding the bigger picture!


For God is in heaven, and you are on earth...

But wait, He calls me friend! Yes, He calls you. You don't call Him. Ask John about that in revelation. Ask the 24 elders around the throne. He is still God and you are not.

John 15:14 NASB
You are My friends if you do what I command you.

Notice there is a requirement of Him calling us friends. He commands, we obey.

Colossians 1:15-20 NLT
In case you have forgotten......

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

Yes, HE calls YOU friend.

Let your words be few...

There is such benefit in our walk with the Lord to being still, coming reverantly and quietly, and listening to obey. We remind ourselves of who He is and who we are not. Let Him speak if He wants, and let our words be few. And I believe we will find what we need through less mindless talking and deeper, more mature communion.

End in NLT version...

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 NLT
As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. Don't make rash promises, and don't be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.

My Total Money Makeover

DaveRamsey.com

Recently, I finished my July book, "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey.

Wow.

What do you say? Other than I have been for much of my life VERY "financially illiterate."

Liz and I in recent years had begun to live on a budget, meaning, tracking every penny and planning our expenses, really out of necessity. For so long we had "more month than money" as Dave talks about. We had to get our spending under control. We had taken great strides to getting out of debt and becoming more financially secure through what we had read in the Scriptures, Crown Financial Ministries, and listening to Dave on the radio. But we still had (and have) many things to learn.

"The Total Money Makeover" revealed where we were still compromising in our monthly budgeting, and showed our lack of specific vision for the future. The book confirmed much of what we have learned, but it gave us greater clarity for now and the future and strengthened our resolve to become better money managers, and ultimately better stewards of what God has given us.

I have lived in la-la land regarding money for much of my life, not  really knowing how money really works and not seeing the deceptive traps I was in. In reading the Scriptures I have learned such things as "the borrower is slave to the lender," and "owe no one anything except to love," and that it's diligence and hard work that brings wealth as opposed to get rich quick schemes.

I also learned in 1 Timothy 5:8 that he who doesn't take care of their own household "has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

That one hurt. Bad.

I overspiritualized money by not really giving it my concern or attention, and yet all the while wanted more of it and not enjoying the situation we were in.

The spiritual thing, in fact, is to get out of debt, take care of your household and your future, and position yourself for giving!

So through tears, joy, despair, inspiration... I finished The Total Money Makeover.

Now it's time to have one.

Standing with Israel

I have absolutely loved this book, Standing with Israel. It has opened my eyes to Jewish history over the past 2,000 years, specifically in regards to Anti-Semetism, as well as the Christian Zionist movement.

The book reminded me of the Jewish roots to my faith. It was the Jews who gave us the prophets, the commands, God's Holy Word, it is the Jews who are the pure olive tree, to which I am grafted in, and it is from the Jewish blood line that we have our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I read a Jewish Bible, serve a Jewish Master and Rabbi, and am adopted into His family.

Christianity finds its roots in Judaism, not the other way around.

All this to say, I'm crying "uncle" in regards to completing the book :)

I have loved it, yes, but I have lost momentum in it. The book is very much like a textbook, a discourse, or thesis you might say. Full of such wonderful knowledge, yet so much so it was hard for me to get through (made it about half way through the meat of it).

So, this being my 6th book of the year, I'm still on pace if I can select another and finish by the end of the month.

I'll let you know what happens...

Homemade Strawberry Jam

My wife and kids worked hard on creating this years strawberry jam today...

Sunday our whole family spent time in the afternoon picking fresh strawberries from a farm in Nancy, KY - Wilson's. What a grand time we had as the owner showed our kids how to pick a ripe strawberry, then let us loose to pick (and eat!)

So today, was jam day.

After a couple trips to the store for sugar, sure-gel, etc., we have two dozen fresh jars of jam, and we enjoyed some angel food cake with freshly crushed strawberry and whipped cream topping...

Shall I go on?? Delicious!

And far better, wonderful family memories!