Ok, Ok! Women Can Lift a 40 lb Bag of Rice!

During the message “A Place for Everyone” this past Sunday I was illustrating the fact that the human body must work together. In the illustration I stated that it takes the whole body to maneuver a 40 lb bag of rice. How it is easier if both arms cooperate with each other and that it’s nice when the legs cooperated with the arms picking up the bag of rice. And it’s really nice when the shoulder is in sync with the body so that it can help carry the load in the bag. This was to demonstrate that the each person in the body of Christ must be in their place performing their duties.

Then it happened! I stuck my size eleven all the way in my mouth. I made the statement that men could carry the 40 lb bag of rice but the women would need a 20 lb bag of rice. So when the service was over I had more than one women (I know there were others who wanted to share this with me.) come up and tell me that they could handle a 40 lb bag of anything by themselves. Thank you ladies for informing me of your strength. I am sure you can handle a 40 lb bag of anything.

So what I meant to say was. . .that women could handle a 40 lb bag and men therefore would be able to handle an 80 lb bag! JK!! Really JK!

Let me remind you of what was really important from the message Sunday! The passage that I shared Sunday was 1 Corinthians 12:14- 21 NLT “Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 Suppose the whole body were an eye—then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything? 18 But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. 19 What a strange thing a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re the president of the United States of America or a Sanitation Worker! All parts of the body of Christ are important and therefore to be utilized in service for His Kingdom.

Have you found the place that God wants you to serve?

Are you functioning as a part of the body of Christ?

You can listen to the message here -> http://crosslifechurch.org/foreveryone

The International Incident

There was an “International Incident” at the CrossLife Church Sunday, August 22 at 7 pm that turned many stomachs upside down. The event of the incident began with a concept in the calendar planning committee’s head. They thought it would be good to host an International Cuisine for Missions. The only problem was that the committee didn’t think past a great fellowship time or a wonderful opportunity to raise funds for missionaries or even past the delicacies of food from around the world. Only if they would have thought to the time when 11 different countries food was resting in our bellies.

Let’s begin with the how the evening was supposed to go. The plan was to host an event that would raise funds for missions (we did that). The event was planned and organized (we did that). The sign up sheet was place out for individual to sign up to bring foods from 11 different countries representing our missionaries. Those countries were: Brazil, Bulgaria, France, India, Ivory Coast, West Africa, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Germany, Spain, and Uruguay (we did that). The meals prepared and served at 7:00 pm est time (we did that). A great feast was shared with all (we did that).

Then the rumblings began. Here is the texts from some who attended the dinner approximately 1 hour after all was said and done. “I’m having country wars in my stomach.” “Germany is not getting along with the Ivory Coast.” “Mexico has just raised their flag.” “Panama has just closed the canal.” “The only thing holding back Panama is the Ivory Coast dessert.” “India is sailing to Japan.” I myself woke up at 3 am with international disaster written all over it. When I walked into the church this morning it smelled like the mall food court.

You want to know what the silliest thing is about all of it. Everyone is wondering when we are going to do it again.

It was a great event that raised money for missions. What did you think about it?

Did you have food wars from this event? Would you like for us to host the event again?

Great Way To Use Your iPhone

Here is a great way to use your iPhone!  Enjoy!  I did!

Living Missionally

What exactly does it mean to live missionally? Does it mean moving into a disadvantaged neighborhood to work for renewal? Does it mean living in the same zip code as the people we are trying to reach so we can truly be a missional community? Does it mean deepening already existing relationships with co-workers? Does it mean deliberately changing my patterns of life to bring me into contact with non-Christians “on their turf”?

Tim Keller helps to answer this question by observing that the standard pattern of evangelism in the New Testament centered around the oikos (Greek for household). But the word household in New Testament times was much broader than we tend to think of it.

“In the Bible, evangelism does not happen primarily through programs … it happens naturally through one’s oikos, or household…. A household was not just your family, but … a fairly tight-knit, close set of colleagues, kin, friends, neighbors. It was understood that when you became a Christian, you had been called to be a steward, evangelistically speaking, of your oikos” (Tim Keller, “Evangelism and the Steward Leader” audio).

In our day, Keller suggests, the biblical term oikos applies to at least five relationship networks:

• your kinship network (family and relatives)
• your neighborhood (those who live near you geographically)
• your colleagues (co-workers or co-students)
• your affinity network (people with a shared special interest)
• your friends (those from the other 4 networks with whom you develop a  close relationship) 

The relative strength or weakness of these five networks varies based on your context. But what it means to live missionally is to have authentic friendships with people in these networks. If Jesus is truly important to you, and if you have real friendships with people, then Jesus is going to come up sooner or later in the natural course of sharing life. Those in your oikos will get to know Jesus as they get to know you.

So, is missional living primarily about your neighborhood, your co-workers, your hunting buddies, or your non-Christian family members? The answer is: Yes.

Taken from Bob Thune’s blog at www.CDOmaha.com, October 30, 2009.

A Heart To Serve

I will be closing the sermon series The Generosity Factor with this illustration tomorrow.   I believe this describes the difference between why most people serve the Lord (Self-Focused)  and why we should all serve the Lord (Christ-Focused).

Ten years ago, Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, put together a brief comparison of the characteristics of service that is focused upon us and service that is focused upon Christ:

SELF-FOCUSED SERVICE is concerned with impressive gains. It enjoys serving when the service is titanic or growing in that direction.

CHRIST-FOCUSED SERVICE doesn’t distinguish between small and large. It indiscriminately welcomes all opportunities to serve.

SELF-FOCUSED SERVICE requires external reward, appreciation, and applause.

CHRIST-FOCUSED SERVICE rests content in hiddenness. The divine nod of approval is sufficient.

SELF-FOCUSED SERVICE is highly concerned about results. It becomes disillusioned when results fall below expectations.

CHRIST-FOCUSED SERVICE is free of the need to calculate results; it delights only in service.

SELF-FOCUSED SERVICE is affected by feelings.

CHRIST-FOCUSED SERVICE ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need. The service disciplines the feelings.

SELF-FOCUSED SERVICE insists on meeting the need; it demands the opportunity to help.

CHRIST-FOCUSED SERVICE listens with tenderness and patience. It can serve by waiting in silence.

Tomorrow we launch One Hour Hero at CrossLife Church.  Join us for this challenge of service.

21 Days of Prayer

The CrossLife Church begins a 21 Days of Prayer Challenge.  Starting Monday January 11, we are committing to praying 10 minutes a day for 21 days through Monday, January 31, 2010.

Below find a few examples of the types of prayers that are recorded in the Word of God that will help us pray the scheduled time.

5 Basic Kinds of Prayer:

 

1. Adoration  -In prayers of adoration or worship, we praise the greatness of God, and we acknowledge our dependence on him in all things.

 

2. Contrition -In a prayer of contrition, we acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for His forgiveness and mercy.

 

3. Love -Prayers of love or charity are just that—expressions of our love for God, the source and object of all love.

 

4. Petition -Prayers of petition are the type of prayer we are most familiar with. In them, we ask God for things we need—primarily spiritual needs, but physical ones as well. Our prayers of petition should always include a statement of our willingness to accept God’s will, whether He directly answers our prayer or not.

 

5. Thanksgiving – Perhaps the most neglected type of prayer is prayer of thanksgiving. While Grace Before Meals is a good example of a prayer of thanksgiving, we should get into the habit of thanking God throughout the day for the good things that happen to us and to others.

 

Join Us In This Endeavor To – GROW DEEPER AND REACH FARTHER!

Growing Deeper – Reaching Farther

The 2010 theme for the CrossLife Church is GROWING DEEPER – REACHING FARTHER.  Back in November, as the wife and I had a few days off, my mind went to the place I was trying to get some r and r from, WORK!.  This time is was a good thing!  As I began to think about the future and the church, I felt the Lord speak to me about a theme for the coming year.  I began to get excited.  Originally it was Growing Deeper.  I talked with Jan about it and as we discussed it – it developed into what is now the 2010 theme – GROWING DEEPER – REACHING FARTHER.  We discussed not only should we grow deeper in our Christian life but we should reach farther for the Kingdom of God.  As we further discussed it the scripture passage Luke 13:19 came to mind.  It is about the mustard seed grain being placed in the ground then it grew into a tree and birds lodged in it.  So then it became the verse that would launch this year’s theme.

As I delivered the launch to the series this past Sunday, I felt the presence of the Lord dealing with hearts.  There seemed to be an excitement in the air as God charged our hearts with the challenge to GROW DEEPER and REACH FARTHER.

I will absolutely need to rely on the Lord as we dive into this new endeavor. But with the Lord going with us, it will be a success.  Please join us in 2010 as we GROW DEEPER AND REACH FARTHER!

You can listen to the first message in this series on our website - > Growing Deeper – Reaching Farther

 Luke 13:19 “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.”

Brown County Fall Foliage

As most of you know, Jan and I took a week off. We spent most of that week in beautiful Brown County Indiana. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Life Should Be Fun!

Are you enjoying the journey that you are on? Do find joy as you serve the Lord? This video is another reminder that people will choose even a more difficult path if we make it fun.

God In Focus ’09

They Want ME To Speak?

My alma mater is celebrating 50 years next week at the annual Oklahoma State Association of Free Will Baptists Meeting.  Hillsdale,  along side the Oklahoma State Promotional Office,  planned for the 50 year anniversary.  As they planned the meeting, someone along the way thought it would be good to ask former students to speak at this celebratory meeting.  In the process, I was asked to speak at the Minister’s Conference Monday morning along with former classmate and alumni Gene Kissinger.

As I prepare for this opportunity to speak many things come to mind:

• Why did they choose me?
• Wasn’t there anybody better that would agree to speak?
• Man it’s a long way to OKC from Indiana (in more ways than one).
• Great, I get to speak in front of former professors (with a joyful inflection in my voice).
• Great, I get to speak in front of former professors (with a fearful inflection in my voice).
• Great, I get to speak in front of pastoral peers (with a joyful inflection in my voice).
• Great, I get to speak in front of pastoral peers (with a fearful inflection in my voice).
• Let’s see. . . Explanation, Illustration, Application (this one is for all my pastor buddies).
• Wow!  What a great privilege and opportunity I’ve been given!
• Lord, help my heart to be humble as I speak.
• God, please bless Your Word as it is preached.

I look forward to seeing some old college friends I haven’t seen in awhile.  Please pray for our travel and for me as I finish preparing and deliver the message God has for us.