Out of Eden

What's Been Going On...

2010-08-02T12:09:00.003-04:00

It has been a long time since I've posted anything! Wow! I am going to try and make this blog much more of a regular thing. But before I get into that, let me tell you a little about what has been going on lately... I promise that this is the condensed version... :)

--Back in early May, my wife, Christina, was having some real bad pain in her abdomen. No, she's not pregnant (just in case you're wondering). It turns out that her gall bladder went bad! So we had it taken out on May 8th. But, she didn't seem to be getting any better. A week or so later, she developed pnemonia. After a week of heavy meds, she still wasn't any better. We took her to the E.R. and they said she had asthma. After two weeks of heavy steriods and breathing treatments, she seemed better... Goo enough, in fact, to go on a mission trip to Honduras for 10 days. When she returned, however, she was much worse.... Long story short, after another stay in the hospital, dozens of tests, and a trip to the OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, it was discovered that she has vocal cord displacement. In other words, her vocal cords close when she inhales, rather than open. This is a rare side-effect of being intibated during surgery.

--So for the last 1 and 1/2 months, we've been staying at my parent's house because they have central AC and since mom is a nurse, she can monitor Christina's progress...

-- BTW, Christina is doing much better! Praise Jesus! She goes to see a specialist next week, so hopefully we're almost out of the woods...

-- The last few months have been very trying for us as a couple and individually. God has really been teaching us some crucial life lessons. I hope to share more of those over the coming days and weeks...

For now, just know that we're both doing well and that we appreciate the prayers and support of all our friends and family. We've missed out on a lot lately, but we've also gained so much through this... God Bless you and remember... THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Eden's Fall Festival

2009-11-09T20:24:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, Eden had it's 2nd Fall Festival and it was incredible! We had a great turnout-- around 70 people! Now I realize that 70 people may not seem like a lot to some of you, but when you consider that Eden has an average attendance of 35 and that last year we had maybe 40 people, 70 is a great number! The best thing about our turnout was the fact that God is the noe that brought it all together.
I am just so amazed that God has blessed Eden and so thankful! We had a number of volunteers step up and step out to serve others. We gave out invitations during trick or treat in Reedsville and that also helped to get the word out. I loved the attitude that Carla Browning-- who headed up the festival-- has. When I thanked her for all that she did, she said that it wasn't her. She said that it was all God and that He used others to step up. Isn't that great!?!? If more people at Eden have this attitude, God is going to be doing some incredible things both though and at Eden UB Church.
Some general thoughts about the festival:

We had some pretty neat things... 2 packed hayrides, a "fish pond" for kids, a pumpkin toss, face painting, a cake walk, general store, and great food!
We did accept donations at the festival BUT let me explain! All the donations recieved will go entirely to our Christmas outreach. I don't believe that churches should ever have "fundraisers" to pay to keep the lights on. That is the duty of the membership of the congregation.
I don't like "Charging" for things like this... but... We've found that many people in our community are very skeptical of anything free. We've had free events before and advertising them as free and people did not show up. But if we post suggested prices and donations that are very low, we increase our impact many times.
We made some great connections! The Fall Festival is an outreach but not an evangelistic one per se. We did however make people feel comfortable at Eden and introduce ourselves to build up a report with others so they will eventually come to Eden.

More to come, but thanks to everyone who came! God is awesome!

Sunday Reflections (September 6, 2009)

2009-09-07T10:46:00.002-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while but I really do have a good excuse! The house where Christina and I live has no high-speed internet access. The only time I am really online anymore is when I visit my parents (10 minutes away) and usually it is only to check my email. But enough with the excuse, on to my point!

Sunday was an awesome time at Eden UB! We are in our third week of a series called Revealed and the message was called Undecided. The Bible passage is Revelation 3:14-22. Some general reflections of yesterday:
- Our crowd has been smaller the last few weeks because of youth football leagues. I am a fan of football and I understand it's family time. Parents, just make sure your kids realize that Jesus is greater that a touchdown.
-Revelation is a mysterious book to most of us, but it doesn't have to be. Yeah, there area lot of things about Jesus that we will not understand until we get to heaven, but we don't need to complicate them and that is just what many people have done with the last book of the Bible.
-This series is not an in-depth look at the "end times". Why? Because no one knows for sure how it's going down and my job is to proclaim truth, not theories.
-By the way, Revelation is so much more than simply a book about the end times, it is a book on worship! The summation of the book is this:

Jesus is Mighty and Awesome
Jesus is Lord of the Church and He has expectations of us
Jesus is deserving of our worship
Heaven is incredible
Jesus is coming back soon and to defeat evil forever.

- Christina has been sick the last week. I took her to the Emergency Room Friday for lower abdominal pain (and no, she is not pregnant.... almost everyone has asked that). She has a 1 1/2 inch cyst on her ovary, so pray for her.
- When Christina is in pain I am all over it. I mean, I swing into high gear to take care of her. She is my bride and I love her and cherish her more than anything. This all reminded me of how much God loves and cares for us.

-We need to stop sitting on the fence when it comes to Jesus! You can't have Jesus be Lord or leader of your life and then try to control your life.

-Churches can't embrace the future while haveing a death grip on their own preferences.

The Honeymooners

2009-07-29T08:54:00.003-04:00

Christina and I were married two and 1/2 weeks ago. Wow! Time is flying by already! The wedding was wonderful and eventually I'll post some pictures when we get them in. On Sunday, the 12th, we left for our honeymmon trip. We went to Pipestem Resort State Park in southern West Virginia. We really really enjoyed our time. Some gerneral thoughts:

Shuffle board is fun but difficult in the rain.
I like the hotel room cold but Christina likes it much warmer.
I am used to one side of the bed but Christina is more used to the middle of the bed. We need to talk about that more...
When taking a bubble bath in a jacuzzi tub, you should not use too much bubble bath. I thought I'd do some reading and I realized there was a problem when Christina came in and started to laugh. Bubbbles half way to the ceiling...
The t.v. in the hotel room are not usable unless the remote works. Christina and I wanted to watch a movie one night but the control stopped working.
I married the most amazing woman ever, bar none. She is wonderful, beautiful, Godly, and an incredible companion.
I am looking forward to a long life together with my lovely bride.

I'm Getting Married Tomorrow!!

2009-07-10T11:00:00.001-04:00

So I am getting married tomorrow at 2:30... so what? My mind is racing in a million different directions. But since I just woke up (got in from work at around 2) I need some time to think and so therefore I blog.
Some random thoughts going through my head right now...
--Christina is amazing! "He who finds a wife finds a good thing." Solomon was right on!
--I want my marriage to break the mold. Both sets of parents have had rough if not poor marriages that have not been consistantly built on faith in Jesus Christ. I pray Christina and I build our lives on the rock of Jesus Christ. Marriage is too important to fail...
--FOLKS, Elope!
--Marriage is the blending of hearts and the merging of two lives into one (got that one from my minister's manuel).
--I've been reading a lot of books lately dealing with the Christian Theology of Sex. Yep I said it. And I must say that the Church of Jesus has done a terrible job dealing with Sex. In a few months or years I want to do a sermon or series of sermons dealing with the theology of sex within the design of marriage.
--Looking forward to the honeymoon. Enough said!
--It has been difficult for Christina and I to remain pure but I am so thankful that Saturday we become each other's without regret.
--My mother, who is a nurse and the Education Manager & employee health person at St. Joseph's Hospital where I work, gave me my first Hepatitis vacination shot the other day. She then played a cruel joke saying this would prevent me from enjoying married life in a physical sense for a month. I was about to hurt someone.
--I feel so honored to have Bishop Ron Ramsey officate at our wedding. Ron (can I call him that?) has been a huge mentor and help to me for four years now. He has never let me down and has really invested in me. For some country bumpkin from SE Ohio to get that kind of help means a lot. He's like a older father/young grandfather to me... Paul to my Timothy for all you Bible scholars.
--Christina and I are taking communion together as our first act as a married couple. If we are going to last, Christ needs to be at the core of our relationship.

Thats all for now. Some more will surely follow...
What do you think?

Reflections from Sunday (6/14/2009)

2009-06-15T09:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a good day. I had a lot to do, and as normal, I stressed myself out (why do I do that when I know Jesus can carry all my burdens?), but overall, it was a great day. I preached for the first time in two weeks since I was away last weekend. The message was called Break The Mold. The text was Romans 12:1,2. Here are some basic thoughts--

We are all shaped by something-- Some of those things are: culture, race/ethnicity, heritage, family background, traumatic events, deaths, births, natural disaters, financial background, education, geographic location, friends, etc. We are shaped and molded by our environment.
Do you really want to be like your environment? Nearly 60% of marriages end in divorice. In the Church, 50% of marriages end in divorice. Actually, the Southern Baptists lead in the divorice statistics, so something is terriblely wrong here. Christina and I are getting married in a month. We don't want to fit the pattern of "normal" marriage. She and I both come from families with marriages that either are not godly are all, or need some work. We want to succed and not fail!
--75% of local churches in the U.S. are either dead or dying. The population of this country is up and growing, but in the last 50 years, church attendance (which is the biggest indicator of spiritual growth) has continued to nose-dive. Who wants to be part of a dead or dying church? JESUS DOESN'T so what should we?
Our thinking does a lot to determine our actions. Jesus told us that both adultry or sexual sin and murder begin in the heart. Sexual sin begins as lusting and murder begins as hatred. How we percieve things affect our actions. If you think someone flips you off in traffic, you might be tempted to do the same, but maybe all the did was wave and you couldn't see very well. Our attitudes and thinking determine our plan of action.
Jesus has told us to give up control over our thoughts and actions. We are called to be "living sacrifices." Interesting... In the Old Testament, sacrifices were made and they usually involed something dead (either and animal or picked grain). But Jesus, speaking though Paul, is telling us to give ourselves up to God, but still be living. How? By giving Him total control over evey area in our lives, because only then do we find real freedom. We are no longer ourselves, but a new creation; Christ living in us.
When we give Jesus control and become Living Sacrifices, we break the mold. We are transformed by the renewing of our mind in Christ Jesus. When we break the mold, we show the world that God's Will is perfect.
Are you Breaking the Mold or Simply Conforming to the Lost & Boring World Around You?

What Do You Smell Like?

2009-06-10T10:50:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I read a passage of Scripture, Ecclesiastes 10:1, "Dead flied putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor."-- NKJV
The New Living Translation puts it like this, "As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor."

Our sense of smell is one of the strongest senses. Think about it... We taste with our nose more than we deo with our toungue (Don't believe me? Pinch your nose during dinner tonight and see if the food tastes as good as usual.). Another example of how strong smell is to us: My great uncle Philip died in 1989. I was four years old and can't remember his voice at all. But I have several precious things that belonged to him and they still have a faint hint of his cologne. My Grandmother Will died in 2000. I also can't remember what her voice sounded like, but when I go to what was her house, I can still smell the perfume she used.

Smell is such an important part of life. But smells can be bad as well.It used to be that whenever I'd drive into Parkersburg, WV, I could smell the city water treatment plant as soon as I crossed the bridge. If I didn't turn the AC on recirculate, the stench would be stuck in my car for several miles. Let me tell you, that smell is AWEFUL! Just one whiff and it ruined my trip.

It's the same with us, you know. We can work really hard and say all the right things and go through all the right motions. But if we mess up one time, our perfect record is broken. All it takes is one screw up, one mishap, to wreck our attempt at perfection. Just one bit of stench stinks up your life.

Part of the problem with this is that we are used to bad smells if we're near them enough. Spend time around a person with bad hygiene. They are going to smell bad. But they have probably gotten used to it. We get used to our sins and our stinky life. To us, it's not a big deal. But to God, it is a big deal.

God sent Jesus to cleanse us, literally. When we accept Jesus and are cleansed by His blood and obeying His Word, we smell different. The Bible talks of us being living sacrifices, a sweet smelling aroma to God.So what about you? Does your life smell like the city dump? Or has Jesus made you to smell like a bed of roses? If you smell bad, call on Jesus and He'll clean you up.

It's Hard To Admit Mistakes

2009-06-08T21:32:00.004-04:00

Hi! My name is Adam and I have a problem. Sometimes I have this compulsive desire or need for people to like me. Lately this has gotten me into trouble.

I realize that not everyone likes me. I realize that I might even make people angry. But still, I can't stand it to know that people are upset with me. Sometimes this desire to please others pushes me towards spiritually unhealthy behaviors.

Lately I let someone down and I felt really bad about it. Its not that I did anything intentional, but rather, I forgot to take care of something for them. Whats worse is that when push came to shove, I was tempted and did lie about it. Yeah, that's right, I sinned and I feel like crap about it. I thought that telling the truth would cause problems so I figured if I stretched the truth a bit, it would be okay. After all, I got the job taken care of before any deadline, so no harm, no foul, right?

WRONG! What I did was wrong. I am supposed to be an example of a Christ follower, but here I showed my self to be just another example of fallen humanity. Yeah, I know we aren't perfect, but this really bothers me. Yes, I have confessed my sin to God and He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us, but I also think God is teaching me a lesson with all of this.

I understand that you cannot trust a liar. But truthfully, (ha... no pun intended) I can say that I am a pretty honest person. It just seems that when push comes to shove I feel this need to stretch the truth to keep on people's A-list. But when I do that, all that happens is that I get myself into trouble with others and I disappoint my God and Savior.

So to the person I wronged, I am sorry. I know that doesn't make it okay, but please forgive me.

The carnal nature in me just wants to cry out, "It's no big deal. It wasn't life or death. Why do people notice when I tell one little white lie and others lie all the time?" Actually that last part does sometimes get me. But we need to realize that when we sin, it's not against the other person. Our sin is always vertical against a holy God rather than horizontal against fellow sinful people.

So to everyone out there, I am sorry. Even if this instance doesn't include you, I am sorry if I have destroyed any trust. This has all been very humbling to me. Yeah, I know we all mess up and some more than others, but I need to constantly remember that I am only clean because of Jesus and not because of my position, heritage, or works I do.

Here I stand, opened up about something most bloggers and pastors would never admit to, but I need to. It's hard to admit mistakes, but I can't face Jesus or others unless I do. Again, it might have only been one white lie, but that was one too many.

A Confession

2009-06-02T09:13:00.004-04:00

As most of you probably know, I am a pastor, and perhaps my biggest job is communication in various ways. Today I was reading some random thoughts about communication and it hit me... If something is important enough to communicate, you need tospend time preparing for it and not get stuck in a rut.

Let me put it this way: In the last 4 years, Eden UB Church has made some pretty drastic changes. I came in there at the age of 19 and did'nt realize I wasn't "supposed" to change anything for a year or two. We have changed the time of our worship service (flipped it with sunday school), gone from very tradtional unrehersed music to more of a blended/contemporary style with lots of practice. We've ceased having Sunday night preaching and now we have a Bible study. We've changed a lot.

But I am really starting to feel like we're dropping the ball. We didn't change for change's sake. We made these changes to be more effective in our mission to make disciples for Jesus. In the early times of change, I spent hours working and planning transitions, but now, I am relying more and more on taking the easy way out of it. It's not just me- its a trap we all fall into.

Think about it. Eden used to only have one or two congregational songs per service. Now we have three or four. But at first we used to do a different order of service every week to keep it interesting. Now we do the same order, we just switch out songs. It has been so easy to do this because instead of FOCUSING ON JESUS, WE'VE FOCUSED ON SOMETHING ELSE.

Why do we as Christians or church leaders sometimes settle for mediocraty when Jesus deserves our very best? It does't make sense to me. When I get together with the others on our worship team and plan the services together and pray and search the Bible, you can tell the difference in the Sunday worship time.

Why do we get stuck in a rut? SO, JUNE 14 WILL BE TOTALLY DIFFERENT at Eden UB Church! I will be gone this weekend at National Conference (I'll be blogging about that on here each day), but the first Sunday I'm back, we're gonig to do things in a fresh way.

What I've Been Up To... Part 1

2009-05-30T09:59:00.004-04:00

I admit it. I am guilty of one of the most important principles of blogging-- if you want to keep people reading, keep posting regularly. But I guess I just haven't had the time or the discipline to put my thoughts onto screen. I can't possibly go into all the stuff that's been going on lately, or to give you detailed observations of Sundays at Eden since Easter, but here is the abridged version of my life over the last 6 weeks:

Like I mentioned in my last post, Easter was a blast, not only at Eden but in general.
On Saturday, April 25, Eden had its first Family Meal & Movie Night. We had a great spaghetti dinner and then we watched the movie Fly Wheel. Honestly, we didn't have nearly the number of people we were hoping for, but then again we didn't market the event much either. Nevertheless, it was a great time spent with the Eden Church Family as well as we had a non-churched couple come for the meal and the movie. Here's the awesome part: That couple have been coming every Sunday since then and bring their grand kids. They're asking questions about God and He is definitely working in their lives.
After Easter, we did a series of messages at Eden called Where's My Bailout? I hate to talk about money, but Jesus tells us to teach what He and His Father taught. There are 500 verses in the Bible about Heaven and Hell, less than 500 on faith, and there are nearly 2,300 verses in the Bible dealing with what God says about money, possessions, and being good stewards! People are really concerned with their money and stuff and as the body of Christ, we need to be teaching them God's plan. It was really hard boiling down all God says into three messages when we could spend years on the subject, but it came down to three main issues:
--Am I Putting God First in My Finances? When we put God first by tithing (giving God 10% of my money before anything else) He promises to bless us and provide for our needs. This is one of the few places where God actually dares us to test Him. I have never met someone who went broke who also put God first in their finances. By the way, tithing should always go to a local church, not some televangelist with wild hair, or some other ministry. We should be generous, but God calls us to bring our tithes to the local church. If we give to other ministries, that comes after the tithe. Also, if you are unemployed, I realize that 10% of 0 is 0.
--Am I Working Hard? God does not reward laziness. Even if you are retired (which is not a Biblical concept) or even well off, you need to be active. Volunteer, plant a garden, do something with your life. If you have a family, provide for them! I understand that you might not have a job or can't find one right now. I am there myself. But you need to get off your rump and try! Paul tells us that a man who does not provide for his family is much worse than an unbeliever! Ouch!
--Am I Trusting God and Investing in Him? Jesus said that we need to lay up treasure in heaven where it cannot disappear. But instead, we are so worried about the economy. Lets be honest... We do not have a terrible economy. It's just not as good as it has been. I've been to third world countries, and we still are rich beyond compare. The reason so many people are worried about money is because when the stock market died, so did their god. Our Lord has all the riches imaginable and He WILL SUPPLY OUR NEED! But are we trusting in Him?
In Summary: Here is God's Bailout Plan-- 1. Put God First in Every Area including FINANCES. 2. Work Hard. 3. Trust God and Seek Him First.
Christina and I now have a house to rent. It needs a lot of work because no one has lived in it for almost 10 years, so no maintenance was done. But the landlord is a great guy and giving us a great rate, so we're happy to do a lot of the cosmetic work ourselves.
Anyone know where I can get a good slightly used refrigerator?

Reflections from Sunday --Easter Sunday (4/12/2009)

2009-04-15T11:19:00.004-04:00

Sunday was Easter, and it was a great day! I get excited every time I get to be with my Christian bothers and sisters and spend time with Jesus. I'm sure you can guess that Easter is just about the busiest time of the year for a church (except Christmas). It is hard for to believe that it has come and gone, but here are some thoughts I have as I've pondered over the day and the message I preached.

The message was called Remembering Jesus. The Bible reading for the message was John 6:47-58. Here are some of the basic points of the message:

Jesus said that we need to eat His body and drink His blood to have eternal life. This is not an easy passage. And no, it is not talking about becoming Hannibal Lector. Let me unpack this a little more for you:
God Created the Entire World-- In Genesis 1, we see that God made the universe and everything in it. Just like a building proves there was builder and a painting proves the existence of the artist, so creation and the clear design we see all around us points us to the fact that something created the world. We know Him to be the LORD God.
Everything Was Perfect in the Beginning-- God created mankind to know us and to have a personal relationship with us. We were created to show the glory of God and to be on intimate terms with Him. And that worked out great... for a while... and then Adam and Eve fell into sin. Because of sin, there is a curse on all humanity.
People Have Tried to Get Back to God for Centuries-- The problem is that sin is not based solely on outside actions, but on the inside of the heart (mind, will, emotions, etc.). God destroyed the earth once by water (remember Noah and the Ark?), but right after that, people still sinned (Noah became drunk and one of his sons walked in on him naked). The reason the couldn't? Sin is a heart condition and not merely a matter to be overcome by will power.
God Gave His People the 10 Commandments-- These laws didn't make people right with God. Rather, they showed people the way they really were. You can't be very self-righteous when you look through the 10 Commandments. When I look at them, I realize how far I am from God's standard. He is way, WAY out of my league.
You CANNOT Get to God by Doing Good Things-- Think about it... If I killed someone today, and then for the next 20 years I gave millions to charity and I spent time working in homeless shelters, that would not take away the fact that I had committed murder. Or look at it this way. Say you sin only 1 time a day. In 1 year, that's 365 sins. In 3 years, that's more than 1,000 sins. In 30 years, that's more than 10,000 sins. And how many of us can only sin once a day? How many sins does it take to keep you out of heaven and away from God forever? God personally said that just 1 will! That's a high standard that none of us can possibly achieve.
Jesus Came to Bridge the Gap-- That's why we remember Jesus. That's why His followers take what is called Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist: Jesus came and did what we could never do. See, God loves us so much that even though we're the ones who broke the relationship with Him, He is the One who mends it! By the way, many people do not believe Jesus ever existed. To that, I'll say this: I'm a history geek. I love it. And I can show you that there is more historical proof that Jesus existed-- from secular and even anti-Christian sources-- than there is for the existence of Christopher Columbus.
Here's Why Jesus Told us to "Eat His Flesh" and "Drink His Blood"-- A close look at the context of John 6 reveals Jesus is speaking figuratively. He said He was the bread of life. That means that Jesus needs to be the building block, the source of focus, direction, and sustenance in our lives. Jesus is telling us that while it is His death and His resurrection that removes our sin and places us in heaven, rather than hell, we MUST participate. We need to die to self and thereby discover who we are truly made to be. If we don't identify with Jesus, then He will not identify and save us. This Easter, we need to remember Jesus and celebrate who He is!

Here are a few other thoughts besides the message--

-- We had 43 people at Eden on Sunday! Great! A lot of guests! I am very proud for Eden UB stepping up and bringing people!
-- 12 of the above mentioned 43 were under the age of 14! AWESOME!! Our Children's ministry was pushed to the limits, but they did a great job with all those kids! Man, I get so stoked to see kids loving Jesus!
-- We had several people recommit their lives to Christ! That never gets old!! It's so awesome to see God changing people's lives! It's better than anything I've ever experienced!
-- We had a few people express interest in learning more about Accepting Jesus Christ as Forgiver and Leader.
-- A kid at Eden wants to get Baptised!

All in all, it was the best Easter I've yet to experience as a pastor, and I am looking forward to see what God is going to do next Sunday!

Reflections from Sunday --Palm Sunday (4/5/2009)

2009-04-06T10:16:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, I'm back to blogging about Sundays. So here goes:
Sunday was a good day. That was hard to say but yesterday was truly awesome. Let me unpack that a little for you:
Yesterday started out great. I got to Eden and everything was going wonderful... until... THE PROJECTOR MESSED UP! I am sure that it was user error, but I had a few other people take a look at it and we could not get it to work. Sure it worked, but the resolution was all outta whack! This has happened to me a few other times before, but I forgot how I fixed it. Anyway, it wouldn't have been a huge deal, but it really stressed me out because I was using a lot of different media in the message as well as during the singing portion of the worship time. So, we sang out of the hymnals instead. I am glad we still have them for times like this. Other than that stress, it was a good worship celebration. God is still on the throne and if we trust in Jesus, we can't let things get us too down.
On to the message. It was called Who Did Jesus Die For? The text was Matthew 21:4-11 (click the link for the passage). Jesus came in to Jerusalem on a young donkey. Same story every year, right? Wrong!

I've really been asking God how we can look at this story --familiar to many of us "church" folks-- in a new and refreshing light. Here are some of the points God showed me:

Jesus Did It God's Way-- The Jewish crowd wanted a conquering king on a white stallion with a mighty army who came to destroy Rome. Instead, Jesus came as a humble servant-King on a weak animal (so weak that they had to lay clothes on the ground so not to hurt the humble beast) with a bunch of ordinary disciples who came to destroy sin and death. Sometimes we try to put God in a box and we insist He does things our way. But the truth is, He IS GOD and that is why He makes the decisions!
The Same People Who Celebrate You on Sunday Will Crucify You on Friday-- I think I have experienced this to a much lesser degree. Something at a church service goes really great and everyone loves the direction that our church is taking. Then, later in the week they find out that it's not going to be done their way, but God's way. Man, religious people can get really ticked and when they do, they get really mean... After all, it was the "church" of Jesus' day that put Him to death! Let me unpack that a little more for you:

--The Pharisees were just like many "church" people today-- The Pharisees had the right doctrine (for the most part), the really believed in tithing (they competed to see who gave more), they loved to pray (especially in public), and they really hated sin (but mainly if it wasn't their own). Sounds like a lot of the "holier-than-thou" crowd that makes up a least a pew of every local church in this country. They loved Jesus when He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday!
-- The Pharisees turned on Jesus because He made them uncomfortable!-- The Bible tells us that many rulers of the synagogues and leaders of the Pharisees believed in Jesus, but they loved the praise of men more than a walk with their God. In Luke 23, we read that when Pilate told the Jewish leaders he found nothing wrong with Jesus, they replied that His teaching was causing a huge uproar all through the country. That's the problem with too many "Christians" today. We like the blessings of Jesus, but not His teachings. We like the fact that He is our Forgiver, but we often times don't like it when He is our Leader. If Jesus is not your Leader (Lord), He is not you Forgiver (Savior).

It was the Humble Thief who Really Accepted Jesus-- This guy was humble. He just asked that Jesus might, maybe, perhaps, think of him later when Jesus was exalted in heaven as King. Jesus said that even better than that, that man would go to Paradise with Him!
You See, Jesus Died for Everyone, but Not Everyone Follows Him!-- Jesus died for the Pharisees but they didn't want any part of it because they were too proud and wanted their will to become God's will. It doesn't work like that. Jesus never came so that we could be comfortable! Jesus came so that we would become CONVICTED and CONVERTED. For far too long, the American church has had their middle finger pointed at God and said they didn't want His teachings. They did not want to follow His Word. Then they weep and moan and wonder why He has allowed us to go through such problems. Many think that the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD (which Jesus predicted 40 years before) was punishment for the Jewish people not following Jesus. That makes me wonder if all the stuff going on isn't God removing His hand of blessing on us as a nation.
Here's How to Apply All of This To Your Life in a Nutshell-- Jesus died so that we could live. Jesus came to give us life and to set us free from all the things that tie us down. Most importantly, He came to glorify the Father. Are we really accepting Jesus, or do we want a Jesus-Lite? If you have Jesus as your Lord & Savior, you need to live like it. I need to live like it. I challenge you (because God has challenged me) to live this week like we live for Jesus. After all, He Died for Us... For You!

By the Way!!!!
Eden's Easter Services are as Follows:

Son-Rise Service/Breakfast-- Sunday at 7 AM
Sunday School-- 10 AM
Worship Celebration-- 11 AM

This coming Sunday's (Easter) message is going to be a Holy Communion Service. The whole message is talking about that Communion, or the Lord's Supper, is and why you need to take part. If you can make it, you need to be there! You don't want to miss it! Bring a friend too. We have gifts for every guest/ visitor who comes.

Some Things That Are On My Mind & Why the FOCA Must be Defeated

2009-04-01T10:56:00.006-04:00

Yeah, I know that I haven't blogged for a while and I haven't been posting my thoughts on Sundays. I assure you that I am still alive and that I am still preaching. I just didn't blog. Oh well. Enough small talk. Lately, some things have been either consuming my thoughts or just simply interrupting my normal ones. Here's a few:

I am officially too stupid to work at Wal-mart! Huh? PEOPLE WHO WORK AT WAL-MART: THE FOLLOWING MAY SEEM INSULTING, BUT IT'S NOT: To work at Wal-mart you need to apply, right? Well on the online application you have to take an assessment. No problem, right? After all, I've never "officially" worked retail, but I have sold stuff and worked in constumer service before. Well, I failed the assessment. It was one of those self-evaluations with a scale of 1-5. I am terrible at those!! I never thought of myself as incapable of being a Wal-mart greeter, but evidently I am.
My diet is really not working out. My goal is to loose 40 lbs. before my July 11, 2009 wedding. I was doing great for about the first two months. I lost 10 lbs. I might have gained it all back and then some. I really struggle with weight. I want to be fit for my wife and future family not to mention that I am being a really bad steward of the body God gave me.
So this won't sound like a gripe list: I am really excited about Easter. Easter and Christmas are the two most anticipated dates for a minister (besides vacation, which could be more holy). Is Eden ready to receive a whole bunch of guests? I'm not sure that we're ready. But I do know that God often uses the weak to show His strength. I am really praying and believing that He is going to show up BIG this Sunday and on Easter. I know that when we expect God to show up, He never misses a chance to show Himself.
Secret Sins Seem to Be the Worst Kind. Why? Because you feel as though you can't confide in anyone. I've talked lately to some people who have been dealing with secret sins and I've had to deal with some of my own before. I take that back. God has had to deal with them. He is the only one who can.
I am EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH OBAMA. I didn't vote for the guy. I figured he'd drop the ball. But I want our president to succeed. He is the president of us all. But he either continually makes bad decisions or fails to make them at all. This wouldn't bother me so much if he didn't promise to do things in a more open and different way. The only difference so far is that Washington DC is more secret and corrupt than ever. Way to go, Mr. President! Not to mention his die-hard support for abortion and the FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT (FOCA).
About the FOCA-- The Freedom of Choice Act of 2009 if pasted would put the final nail in the coffin that is America. This act is anything but freedom. It makes any law regarding limits to abortion criminal and void. Seriously, no state could legislate anything regarding abortion or "reproductive rights".
Get this: I am a school board member and I know this for sure... If a 14 yr. old girl at Eastern Local wants an aspirin, she needs parental consent. Aspirin is generally very safe. But if the FOCA passes the same 14 yr. old girl could go to a clinic and get an abortion with out parental consent. Independent medical studies have shown that all forms of abortion are potentially life threatening to the mother. Many women have mild to severe side effects after having an abortion including: sterilization, hysterectomy, cancer of the uterus, cancer of the vagina, cancer of pelvis, genital trauma, major side effects from medication, etc. But we refuse to get the parents involved.
As a minister, I am required by law and conscience to report any indications of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. But the FOCA allows abortion providers to get around this law. Girls may be getting raped by their fathers or someone else, and forced to have an abortion without anyone ever being investigated.
My mother works for St. Joseph's Hospital in Parkersburg, WV. They are owned in part by the Catholic Church and as such refuse to provide abortions or controversial medications that can cause abortions. They have that legal right. The FOCA would force all doctors and nurses, and hospitals to perform abortions on demand. If my mother was a Jehovah's Witness and had a moral objection to participating in a blood transfusion, the hospital would have to get another nurse. Under to FOCA, the hospital could not make that exception if my mother has an objection to performing an abortion.
That said, most Catholic hospitals in the US would close rather than perform murder on demand (oops, I mean abortion). The Bishop who oversees St. Joseph's has already made it clear they would close rather than perform one abortion. In our area, at least half of our hospitals are owned in part at least by the Catholic Church. Typically, they are better ranked hospitals too. My mother tells me that already there is a shortage of capacity in the area hospital beds. So, Obama, the great health care reformer will cause a health care crisis in this country like we've never had.
Even if you do think abortion is okay in some instances (like rape and incest and mother's health [which account for less than 1% of abortions]), this Freedom of Choice Act would spell disaster for this country.
I really believe that America will be judged by God for this. In the Bible, God destroyed nations when "their sin had reached it's fullest capacity." God IS keeping score and we just keep pushing the line. I truly believe we can't have peace and prosperity while killing the unborn! Do you realize we, the USA, the great Beacon of Hope and Freedom, have killed 3 times as many babies that Hitler killed in the entire 2nd World War? Hitler was evil, but we think we're just giving people the freedom to choose. CHOOSE AMERICA! Choose Life & Choose to follow God, not self!

Reflections From Sunday (3/8/2009)

2009-03-11T10:45:00.004-04:00

Sunday was another good day. My voice was still a little raspy, but as least I didn't loose my voice. The past several months have been very trying for me, emotionally and spiritually, so the message was as much for me as for anyone else. The message was called Renewing Your Faith. The Scripture passage was Hebrews 12: 12-17:12:
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; 16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Here are some thoughts about that text:

We need to strengthen our weak points. You've heard it before, but a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. If you have a dynamic prayer life, but you refuse to read and apply the Bible, you don't have a strong walk with God. You might resist that, but its true. You know it. No excuses! I really encourage everyone at Eden to take a Spiritual Growth test. We provide these to people at Eden for them to self-test themselves to see where they are weak in their faith.
The question that this message answers is this: If FAITH is absolute confidence, then how can we keep confidence when we go through life's rough spots?
If there is something in your life that causes you to either sin or weakens your faith, GET RID OF IT! I am dead serious about this! If you're a recovering alcoholic, you'd be STUPID to live in an apartment over a bar. The same logic applies to our walk with God. If you are addicted to your iPod, get rid of it. If you can't read your Bible because your watching TV, cancel the Cable or Dish! Why would we be so stupid to give up an incredible walk with Jesus simply because we love to watch a certain TV show? Compared to Jesus, T.V. is nothing but worthless junk.
We Need to pursue Peace with others. Sorry folks, but you can't love Jesus with every ounce of your being and hate ANYONE. It doesn't work that way. If you have any siblings, maybe you can relate to this: If I hate my brother, that hurts my mother and father because they gave life to him just like they did me. God made each and everyone of us with the capacity to know Him and follow Him. To hate anything that He made so special is to spit in the face of Jesus. I know it's not easy to love people, but they might find it just as hard to love you. Think about it...
Without being Holy, we can NOT EVER see Jesus. A lot of people have issues with this. I take that back; we all probably have issues with this. a few points about this:
-- Holiness is not based on external appearance. Women don't have to wear ankle long dresses to prove their love for Jesus. It's obvious they shouldn't dress like a porn star. Ladies, if it's not on the menu, don't show it off. If you love Jesus, you don't need the love of a man bad enough to show him what only your husband should see on your wedding night!
--Holiness is not about following the rules because you have to.
--We need to realize that TRUE holiness comes only from Jesus. Holiness means perfection and Jesus is the only person to ever live on earth who is perfect.
--When we follow after Jesus, He changes our hearts and causes us to become more like Him.
There are 3 or 4 things that are HUGE Obstacles to Renewing Your Faith:
--Falling short of the Grace of God (v.15). We've all fallen short of God's mark. That's why we need Jesus. Failing to take a hold of the Grace God offers is foolish. It's arrogance and God's Word says that arrogance (pride) is one of the worst things. It destroys relationships, especially those with God.
--Being Bitter (v. 15). I've met way too many "Christians" who are full of bitterness. Bitterness will destroy you. If I choose not to forgive someone who hurt me, that won't hurt them, it will only serve to destroy my life. Forgiveness doesn't mean that what they did was okay, it means that you won't hold it against them any more. Trust me, Jesus is much better at judgement or punishment than you could ever be. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you trust an unworthy person, it means you simply let it go.
--Sexual Sin (v.16). Probably the biggest sin problem of this era. Just because you're married doesn't mean that this doesn't happen. If you look at someone with sexual desire besides your spouse, your sinning. Don't argue with me, take it up with Jesus. He's the one who said it in the book of Matthew. Disclaimer: Before I go farther, I need to disclose that I am virgin and the following comes from a close examination of God's Word. Sex is a wonderful gift from God to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage. Sex is not about an orgasm, but about one-ness with your spouse. Sex is sacred and it is Holy. It is as much a part of worship to God as is Holy Communion or Baptism. If you're not married, this is one way of worship you can't experience! The Bible calls sexual sin profane. Why? Because it is taking something Holy and wonderful and dragging it through the mud. Every person you have sexual contact with has become "one" with you. You have given part of your self away. This is why sex addicts suffer so much, because all they have become is a machine, they've literally given away their entire being and only God can restore that back.
--One more thing--IRREVERENCE. If you don't deal with what is dragging you down spiritually, then you have no hope. If you don't cut up your 10 credit cards, you're never going to get out of debt. YOU HAVE TO BE SERIOUS WHEN IT COMES TO SERIOUS STUFF! THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR STANDING WITH GOD.
One last point- Esau. Esau was Jacob's twin brother. Esau hunted and was his father's favorite. Jacob was a Mommy's boy and basically stayed at home. One day, Esau went hunting and came back to the tent. He was really hungry and Jacob was making a stew. Esau said he was starving (like us, if didn't eat for a few hours he started to complain). So Jacob (who's name means "deceiver") said that he'd feed Esau if Esau would give Jacob his birthright. Esau (who was born first) would have a double portion of the inheritance. So Esau sold his inheritance for a little bowl of soup! That is the way with sin. Sin is FUN! That's why we do it. But when we sin, we are trading eternal delight away for a little temporary fun. Folks, when we think about it, this is STUPID! Sorry, but it is. It's the equivalent of me paying you $10 dollars every day for the rest of my life if I can have only $70 dollars now. We end up with a huge debt at the end. That's why Jesus came to pay a debt that we never could. He bought us back.
We need to RENEW our FAITH and get back on track with Jesus!

A Few other things about Sunday:

Next week will be my 4th anniversary of being at Eden Church. Wow! Seems like yesterday at times and at other times if feels like 4 decades.
I came upon a wreck right down the road from the church. I missed it by like 30 seconds. I got to pray for the guy and be there until he was life-flighted. He's going to be okay, by the way.
I am so proud of our Reedsville Volunteer Firefighters! They do a lot for nothing. Why can't the Church be like that. We're supposed to!
Christina and I are planning our wedding. Its more difficult being on this side of the wedding than performing one!

Notes From Sunday (3/1/2009)

2009-03-05T10:17:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday was a GREAT day! I lost my voice right after preaching in the morning worship celebration, but it was still a great day! God really spoke to me through the message He wanted me to give. The message was called Confident in Christ. The Bible passage was Hebrews 11:1-6--
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken
him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Here are some thoughts that come to mind when we take a look at this passage:

Verse 1 is not a definition of faith. Rather, it is more of a description of what Faith does. This may not help you much, but the word translated as faith in Greek is the word pistis which means faithful but more than that, it means firm confidence or absolute conviction.
The word substance means assurance of reality. Why do I bring these last two points out? Knowing NT Greek is not going to radically change your walk with God, but when we understand here what God is really talking about... Wow... We finally get it. Our world tosses around the word faith all the time. "Well I just gotta have faith." That is a common phrase. But the truth is that this faith is unshakable and unmovable. It is absolute conviction that CANNOT change.
TOO MANY "Church People" don't have this Faith the Bible talks about. What am I talking about? Don't many "Christians" believe? Duh, they do! But the kinda faith that this passage describes is something that is not doubted. We can have confidence, absolute confidence in Jesus Christ. Too many times too many of us (including me) have a very wishy-washy faith. But the truth is, its not faith at all.
We need to be Confident in Jesus, not in ourselves! I have a real hard time being around arrogant and cocky people. It really grates on my nerves. We all get stuck on our selves at times, but I for one hate when I see it in others. The Bible really speaks out against pride. God hates pride because pride prevents people from having a right relationship with God. On the other hand, having no confidence is wrong, too. I am a person that has more often fallen into this extreme. For much of my life I have had little to no self confidence and as a result, many of my relationships with others suffered. I put friends through some terrible stuff when I was in school. Here's the happy medium we need to strive for: We need to realize that we are all messed up people who are loved and pursued by a perfect and holy God. That confidence we have in Him enables us to live a new life and move mountains of obstacles.
If We Really Have Confidence in Jesus, We Will Give Him & He Deserves Our BEST! Abel's sacrifice to God was acceptable when Cain's was not because Abel offered God his best. People have always debated and wondered why God chose Abel and not Cain? Was it due to the fact that Abel's sacrifice was a blood offering and Cain's was vegetables and other produce? Not necessarily. All sacrifices don't have to be blood and the Bible doesn't indicate that it had to be blood. No, the main reason, as I see it, is because all sacrifices to God had to be our best offering to Him. CHRISTIANS, DO NOT MISS THIS! Some times we as believers miss out on so many of God's blessings because we refuse to give God our best. Abel gave God his best lamb whereas Cain gave God "some" (not the first or the best) of his produce. When we get out paycheck or whatever, the first check we should write is to God for at least 10%. It's not giving God your best when you chip in $1 at the end of the month when you take home $1200. It's not giving God your best when if you teach in the Church that you look at your lesson late on Saturday Night. God always responds when we give Him our best. It's hard. Abel was killed for it. Yet, if we have absolute faith --confidence-- in Jesus, we can and should give God our best.
Without Faith, You CAN'T PLEASE GOD! People, please don't miss this-- You can't get to Heaven without faith in Jesus Christ. You can't have your sins forgive if you don't have absolute conviction that Jesus died and rose again and lives forever.
Churches that don't have Faith in the Mission God has given them REALLY UPSET ME! God made the whole universe and created each and every one of us differently; He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins and now Jesus lives forever. And we respond with INDIFFERENCE?!?!? God is calling us to have great, strong, unshakable, and confident faith in Jesus Christ.

A few other random thoughts going through my mind as I reflect about Sunday:

I was loosing my voice throughout the message and my voice was basically gone by the time we left. But, if the early Christians faced lions, I can handle being a little horse.
Sunday night I stayed home rather than lead the GROW IN HIS WORD Bible Study. My lay leader and my mother (she's a Sunday School Teacher) did a great job! The day the church can't survive without their pastor for a service or two is the day that church is in SERIOUS trouble.
Even though I was sick most of this week, I enjoyed the down time. I didn't feel bad about missing Sunday night. Sometimes as pastors we feel guilty if we're not there all the time. God never called me to do everything. Sometimes, pastors just need break. And why not? Its not like everyone else is always there! Ha ha!
God has been really speaking to me lately about giving Him my best. I know I talked about that above, but I am really passionate about that. I'll blog about that topic soon.
I'm getting married in July. WOW! I can't wait, but at the same time I am overwhelmed by all that needs to get done before then.
If you're in the area, you really need to come to Eden this Sunday! I am SUPER EXCITED to see what God is going to do in people's lives! See you this Sunday at 11 AM!
REMEMBER TO SET YOUR CLOCKS UP ONE HOUR THIS SATURDAY. We're "springing forward" so you need to go to sleep a little sooner.

Just One Small Change Can Make A Huge Difference!

2009-02-28T12:40:00.003-05:00

Right now I am typing on my home PC, which is odd because lately I have nearly exclusively used my laptop. So what, right? Well let me explain why.

Yesterday, my fiancee Christina and I worked at cleaning my dinning room. Years ago my parents got rid out the dinning room table and the room turned into the computer room. It has been continually filthy, thanks mostly to me. So yesterday we cleaned it. Some couples watch movies. Some go one nice country drives. Christina and I clean. She motivates me to get off my hindquarters and actually accomplish things!

Anyway, after we cleaned most of it, I had an idea. We have cleaned this room before but it always go back to looking like a disaster zone withing days. I thought maybe we could re-arrange the room to make it more functional and actually create more space. She thought it was a great idea, provided I didn't fill up that extra space with more junk. So we spent about 4 hours total cleaning and rearranging the heavy computer desk, and moving chairs and etc. Now there is a functional space that includes the computer a little sitting area in one corner, with more floor space than we've had here for a long time. Again, what's the point?

Just a small change can make a HUGE difference. Instead of sitting in my room working on my laptop, I am downstairs working in a clean workspace and feeling very good about it. Just a small change in the layout of this room (as well as a lot of pick-up and throw-away) has changed my work habits and mood.

This principle can be applied to areas of my life besides clutter. Last night I took Christina home to her house and got back around midnight. This morning when I called her, we decided to read our Bibles via phone. We've made a commitment to read the Bible together everyday, when possible. Already today I feel much closer to her and excited about what God is doing and going to do in my life. Already I feel really motivated to get stuff done. Just a small change... But a HUGE impact.

I've heard the following about pilots & airplanes: Even on auto pilot, the plane is constantly being turned and adjusted to correct it's course. Just a one degree difference can be huge. I heard it said that if a plan flying from New York to Hawaii is off just one degree it could end up in Australia (it could be New York to Tokyo and ending up in Australia). All it takes to stay on course is a small change.

So I want to encourage everyone to make just a small baby step today. Read your Bible for 10 minutes today. Pray for 5. Go to church tomorrow even if Sunday is your day to sleep in. Spend 5 minutes telling your spouse how wonderful they are. Play with you kids for a few more minutes. Offer to help an elderly person with their bags at the store. Just baby steps... It can and WILL make a huge difference!

By the way, at Eden tomorrow we're talking about how faith is absolute confidence and how we can have complete confidence in Jesus Christ. Hope to see you there at 11 AM!

Notes from Sunday (2/22/2009)

2009-02-23T10:01:00.001-05:00

Wow. I can't believe that this weekend came and went so quickly! Even though the week went by quickley, it was definately a good week. Wait, let me clarify that. What started out as an okay was transformed into a great week because of yesterday. The message I gave on yesterday morning was called A Strong Faith and it is a continuation of the series of talks called Exploring Faith. The Bible portion we read was Hebrews 10: 23-25: 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

By the way, I don't preach from a written manuscript, so some of these are points I hit yesterday and some are points God has shown me since I preached yesterday. Here are some of the key things to take away from this passage:

Times right now are really rough. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the economy or if we're talking about your personal life. We all have valleys that really stink and mountain top experiences where we're high on life. But all of those experiences come and go. We will all go trhough roiugh patches at some time or another. What has you grounded? What is your support system?

We need to have a firm grasp of our faith in Jesus. The New King James Version says to "hold fast." We don't use that term often today, but it means to grip ahold of something and to not let go. Have you ever seen someone drive who had white knuckles because the grasped the steering wheel to tightly? We need to have that kind of hold on Jesus Christ. There is an old hymn that I always liked that said "We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast secure, while the billows roll..." An anchor has no value if it is not grasping at something to steady the boat. Our faith in Jesus is totally useless if we do not grap a hold of it firmly.

Jesus IS a Crutch. So many people bash followers of Jesus becasue they say Jesus is a crutch for weak people. They are partially right. We are all weak, but some are too weak to admit their need. Jesus is much more than a crutch, He is our mighty King and should be the whole desire of our very being, not only a support system. When everything crashes down around you, you need a firm foundation to build your life on if you want to make it through the storm. There is no firmer foundation than Jesus Christ.
We need to have strong FAITH! One of the things that really disturbs me is how churches and ministers tell people what to do but give no helps in doing it. They'll say things like, "You need to surrender to Jesus." but they don't tell you how that is done. Well, we need to have strong faith. Here's how than can happen:
--Remember that God is faithful, even when we are not. God doesn't quit loving us and helping us just because we slip up. His faithfulness should encourage us grab hold of Him and never EVER let go.
--Get to know Jesus better! The first time I drive a different vehicle, I am really slow and not very confident because I don't know how the car will drive and re-act. It takes a few minutes to adjust and gain confidence in this new vehicle. Same with our walk with Jesus. It's hard to stick with Him if we don't know Him! We need to spend time with God every single day. It's hard to be grounded in God when you're not sure about Him.
Here's something else--- GET INVOLVED IN A LOCAL CHURCH OR AT LEAST WITH OTHER BELIEVERS! This is a biggy! Disclaimer: Going to "church" does not make you a Christ follower any more than going to a funeral home makes you a corpse. You don't become committed to Jesus simply because you walk through a set of doors and take a seat in a certain building at a certain time on a certain day. Jesus never said that God so loved that world that He told us to go to church.
Notice that I didn't capitalize "church". Here's why. In SE Ohio... well, in America in general, we think of the building as "church". Not it at all! The "Church" is the universal, invisable, indestrucable body of Jesus Christ. We who are followers of Jesus are the Church! Sometimes I think that it would be better if all the 'church" meeting houses were destroyed so people who quit idolizing buildings and start living for Jesus rather than a steeple. Okay, sorry for that rant but I had to get it out of the way!
But here is why we need to be involved in a congregation of followers of Jesus. It helps us be stronger followers of Jesus! You can be a Christian and not go to church, but a very strong one, and trust me, your faith will falter if you refuse to be with who Jesus commands us to be. But why? The word in the original Greek NT for stir up means to convulse. Ever had a full body shiver? If so, you know that it is so powerful, your body can't control it. It is an involuntary spasm. So is the Church of Jesus... Huh? When we challenge and encoruage fellow believers, love and good works automatically occur. We automatically become stronger in our walk with Jesus when we are around His people.
We Christians need to stop judging people who don't come in the doors on Sunday. They need Jesus and they don't need bad looks or hypocrites praying for them to get "religion". They NEED JESUS! Jesus is the hope of the world! But we have been entrusted with that message. The Church of Jesus is unlike any other institution. God only created two institutions: 1. Marriage, and 2. The Church. People have to have a desire to be married and they have to have a desire to be in the Church. That takes God to work in their lives. We need to stop praying for people to feel guilty enough to come to a church meeting and start praying that God gives them a passion for following Him, which will include the Church.

Here are some other things of note:

People accuse churches today of being centers of entertainment. SO? Some churches work really hard to make God seem boring. If you make God boring, you're sinning. If you are a minister and you bore people with the Word of God, you're sinning. God is AWESOME and NEVER boring. I'd rather my church keep people's attention than to put them asleep.
It is awesome to see God working in the lives of people. Again, going to meetings doesn't mean your really committed to Jesus, but it can be a good indicator. We've had a young woman come to every ministry we've had this week. Awesome, considering bad weather.
We had twenty at Eden yesterday morning. That's low, but considering we probably should have canceled due to bad rouads, twenty is great!
I am really excited for this Sunday! I mean it! It's so cool to gather together and remeber how God has worked and how He will continue. By the way, We're going to have to schedule a baptism service soon! Praise God! That's amazing!
God is really calling me to have great faith for what He wants to do in my life. What about you?
I hope you guys can make it to Eden this Sunday. Worship starts at 11 AM and we have some great nursery workers for those of you who have kids.

Notes From Sunday- 2/15/2009

2009-02-18T23:31:00.005-05:00

Sunday we continued in the series Exploring Faith. The message was called Our Faith & God's Word. We read Hebrews 4:11-13: 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Here are some of the things to take out of it:

Spiritual Growth is NOT Automatic & it DOES NOT Stop! There is not a place in your walk with God where you can say, "Okay, I've made it!" We don't become Super Christian over night. It takes time to mature in Jesus. Sorry, but no one was ever born and immediately began to walk, talk, and was potty trained. It takes time! That's why the writer of Hebrews tells us to be diligent! We need to strive and be passionate about our Passionate God!

We Cannot Mature as Followers of Jesus on our own. I know this seems to contradict my last point but it doesn't. The fact is that God is cooperating with us, or vice-verse. Jesus is the one who changes us, but He won't change us if we don't want Him to. Jesus will not force you to come to Him, but if we have hard hearts and refuse Him, we're being very foolish.

God's Word is Living and Powerful & It is Not a Fairytale! I know I'll get push back on this from non-believers, but I don't care. The honest to God truth is this: The Bible has never ever EVER been proven wrong! The only people who doubt it's truth are those who refuse to accept its message. You don't have to be a follower of Jesus to know that the Bible is true. The Word of God is self-proving! God's Word is very powerful.

It Doesn't Bother Me Too Much When People Who Don't Follow Jesus Doubt the Bible... as much as...:

Christians who supposedly make the Bible their rule of faith and supposedly live it out, but really neglect it's message. The Bible makes it clear that those who the Word of God but refuse to live it out will be subject to harsher judgement. It REALLY bothers me when "Christians" can sit in their seats all smug and think that they have it all together, when in reality, there is so little difference between them and the world. The greatest danger preventing people from coming into the Kingdom of God is, I believe, not Satan, but the Church of Jesus being stagnant and lazy.
If God's Word is True, Then it MUST Affect Us! Here are some areas:
- Attitudes towards ourselves and others.
- Our Finances-- Put your money where your mouth is. People think the Church is all about money... We're not, at least not at Eden. God does not need your money. The Bible says He has the cattle on a thousand hills. Giving and prioritizing your finances is not about supporting the Church as much as it is about putting God first in your life. D.L. Moody said, "The wallet is the last thing to get saved and the first thing to go carnal."
-Our Relationships-- Marriage, Family, Dating, Friends, etc. They need to be grounded in Christ. You need to be showing Jesus to these people in your everyday lives.
-Our Passions & Purpose-- What do you get excited about? Football? Fishing? Movies? Spending time with Friends? How about Jesus? Is He our Foundation, or just a figurine on a shelf? Are you excited the the Son of God came and died and rose again for you to have a new life and eternity in Heaven? SERIOUSLY! THIS SHOULD PUMP YOU UP IF YOU'RE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS!
God's Word Brings It All Out Into The Open! You can't hide from God. You can try, but it is pointless. People spend their entire lives running from God and it gets them nowhere fast. Don't be silly and waste your life. We need to admit who we are without Jesus: Lost in sin. God's Word is piercing... It is Convicting... It will cut you to the quick and you need that because we all need Jesus.
By The Way: If You Realize You're Not Following God's Word or that You're not a Disciple of Jesus, The Bible Tells Us the Answer. In the next verses in Chapter 4 of Hebrews, we find that Jesus is our compassionate High Priest. That means that He is the middle man between us and God. But not only that, Jesus has total compassion-- meaning He knows we need Him and He loves us greatly.

Some other thoughts are running through my mind as I look back at Sunday:

God is really AWESOME! He is working in the lives of people and that never EVER gets old.
God is also working in me and that is also AWESOME because I need Him more and more.
I am excited for the Worship Celebration this Sunday! SERIOUSLY, you need to be there!
I'm looking forward to Easter and Spring! It's coming quick! This Spring you need to come and bring some people with you to Eden Church. Talk about a season of re-birth!!
I realize that I probably won't be at Eden forever, but I want to give God my best while He has me here. Lately, God has really been impressing me with the issue of excellence in everything we do for Him.

Notes From Sunday- 2/8/09

2009-02-12T21:38:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday was the second message in current series "Exploring Faith" where we are looking at the book of Hebrews. The message was called Our Faith is in Jesus. Here are some of the highlights:
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “ Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘ They shall not enter My rest.’” 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “ Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” --Hebrews 3:7-15

Ever since the Garden of Eden, God has been calling out to humanity. But just like in Eden, we have run from Him.
It is SO INCREDIBLY FOOLISH to try to hide from God! But we do it all the time! Yes, even Christians!
What do you mean even Christians? Read the above Scripture again... The nation of Israel followed God, or at least they claimed to. But they still ignored God. They were all about doing their own thing and only depending on God when they had their backs to the Red Sea or some other potential disaster.
So many "Christians" claim to follow Jesus, but they are really ignoring Him and trying to be like Adam & Eve and hide behind the "trees" in their lives.
People who pretend to follow Jesus are such a danger to themselves and to the Church of Jesus. They have deceived themselves and they so often lead others astray.
It TICKS ME OFF when "Christians" thumb their noses at God. And if God is going to change the world, then WE NEED TO KNOCK IT OFF!
But here's the kicker! Even when we reject God's call, He is still trying to connect! He's like the guy from the Verizon commercials asking, "Can you hear me now?"
God is speaking to us that we need to listen to Him today
To have a relationship with God we need to repent of our sins, and place our faith in Jesus. NOT JUST BELIEVE IN JESUS, but we need to place our faith and trust in Jesus like a skydiver places their trust in the parachute. We need to not just think about Jesus, but we need to put on the Lord Jesus and become new in Him.

On a few other notes:

I am so proud of the folks at Eden UB Church for how they parked on Sunday. We have very limited parking right now. I asked Eden to make space for expected guests and they did! Awesome! If we're going to reach 200 people in the next 5 years, we need the parking.! Again, Awesome job Eden!
We had people respond to an invitation. We had some acknowledge they needed Jesus as their Forgiver and Leader, and we also had many people who acknowledged they needed to start listening to God's will for their life.
God is really working at Eden UB and I CAN'T wait until this Sunday! God is Awesome and He is going to show up BIG!
If you haven't been to Eden for a while, you REALLY ought to come and be our guest!

God Bless,

Pastor Adam

A Few Random Things About Me

2009-01-31T12:03:00.001-05:00

So i am sitting here at home on a nice Saturday, putting off going to the office at church, so I thought I'd do something useful... Well, sorta useful. Here's a few random things about me you may not know.

-- I am a geneology & history buff. On my mother's side, I have traced my lineage back to the Kings of Scotland, England, and France. One line goes back to the time of Christ. I found out that I am a direct descendant of Constantine the Great, William the Conqueror, & John Rogers (wrote the first complete english translation of the Bible). Its kinda neat, but unfortuneately, my line was disinherited.. so no castle for me....

-- I like trees. No, I am not a tree hugger, but there is something great about sitting under a nice maple tree reading a good book.

-- I am a VERY picky eater. But lately I've been feeling bold with my palate.

--I am an elected official. Yep, I'm one of the few UB's out there who has been elected to serve the public. I am a member of the Eastern Local School board (easterlocal.com)

--Politics really interest me, but at the same time, I can't stand it when people put their trust in politics to solve problems.

-- I have this deep fear that people think I am fake. I have real security issues with that one...

-- I HATE IT when people who go to buildings on Sunday Morning think that is all the Church of Jesus Christ is about.

-- I never want to stop learning.

-- I have the ability to understand both sides of almost every issue, which makes it very hard to be decisive when I need to be.

-- I am always willing to learn from people who have differant outlooks on life than I do; But I will never compromise my values and principles in order to be liked by everyone.

-- I really believe I saw some kind of angel when I was 8 years old. I was in an accident (not hurt) but I did see a strange sight.

-- I am the vice-president of the Meigs County Right to Life Society, but I have serious problems with the pro-life leadership. We need to show people we are truly pro-life from conception to natural death, not just abortion.

-- I come from a family where three generations of the man of the house was/is not a follower of Jesus Christ.

--I live on a farm. Now it is split up in the family, but we still call it a farm.

--When I was four years old, I said I wanted to be either a preacher of the president. My father graciously informed me that those two don't often work out well together.

--Lately, God has just been rocking my world. He has shaken me to my very foundations and causing me to build my life on Him.

--I am engaged to the most wonderful being in the world (who is also SMOKING HOT) Christina Ann Layne. The only bad thing about her is her last name which needs to be changed to Will!

--I hate college. I love to learn but I have had bad experiences with schools. But I guess we all have.

--I like any kind of music (some in moderation).

--I've drank before. I didn't like it and I won't drink again. I can think of quicker ways to pickle my liver.

--People who drive while on the phone sometimes tick me off...
--I talk on the phone while driving... lol...

--I am afraid of heights. God made me 6'4. If He wanted me up higher, He would have made me grow more.

--I've been half-way round the world.

--I can speak a little tagolog (language of the Philippines).

--I am blessed to have several male role models in my life who have taught me so much and always been there when I needed them. Bishop Ron Ramsey, Peter Martindale, my uncle Dan Will, Dale Colburn, my uncle Jeff Wyers, Rev. Bob Sanders, Patrick Jones, just to name a few.

-- I am a compulsive blog reader, but rarely post myself.

-- I am late for the office!!

God Bless!

2009-01-20T20:16:00.001-05:00

I have just discovered ping.fm. It seems good to streamline stuff.

My Thoughts on (and hopes for) Barack Hussein Obama-- Part I

2009-01-20T11:06:00.005-05:00

First off, let me give a disclaimer: I haven't talked about Obama much here if at all. But he is going to make history no matter what your opinion of him and therefore, I feel the need to blog. I blog, therefore I am. By the way, this is my rant, and not a political endorsement or policy of Eden Church or any of my affiliations. Okay, here goes!

I did not vote for Barack Obama. I know people who did and I am sorry for them. Joking! Okay, sort of. I find Obama a fascinating figure. His rise to nation renown is a stuff of legend. The fact that a person of mixed race who admitted to always finding it hard to fit in with either whites or blacks has risen above a rough past to achieve is dreams is something to find admirable.

But here is my issue with him. I am a follower of Jesus, or what is commonly called, a Christian. I realize a lot of my friends aren't really on fire with God, and that is partly a result of all of the hypocrisy in the churches. So I am the real deal. I want to show people that my faith doesn't end on a certain day to only begin again on Sunday. If my faith is the real thing, then it should consume me. "For I am crucified with Christ, and yet I live, but it is not I that lives, but rather Christ that lives in me!"

If my faith really consumes me, it is not compartmentalized, but rather makes up my life. My purpose is to make Jesus famous and glorify God in all I do, not just some of it. Barack Obama is part of what is being called the "religious left." That's just it, their religious but not Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus. I think that to support abortion by claiming that the evangelicals only care about the baby in the womb is STUPID AND VILE. I realize we have to deal with poverty and the issues that sometimes lead to a woman choosing abortion. And I concede that the evangelicals have at times been lacking in that area and we REALLY need to step up. But COME ON! So the holocaust of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto was okay because they were going to have a miserable existence living in the ghetto during the Third Reich? Ridiculous!

On dealing with helping others, the Church of Jesus has really been loosing focus. We need to advance the ball down the field here. Jesus talked often about sharing your possessions because in reality, they don't belong to you, but rather to God. Obama needs to realize something here. Jesus was all about the re-distribution of wealth, but only on a voluntary basis. Another thing, all these possessions belong to God, not to the government. I am convinced if the U.S. Government were to use the Book of Proverbs (even taking out the God parts) we would not be in this recession. I am not talking about a theocracy but rather using common sense and wisdom, bot of which God literally wrote the book on.

Obama is like a messiah to many people and this REALLY TICKS ME OFF! Even if he is a great guy, and I am sure he is and I would even like to just hang out with him, he is just another fallen guy trying to fix a fallen world with fallen methods. I know of people who have honestly stopped paying their bills simply because the think Barack is going to solve all their problems. In Obama's defense, lately he has been distancing himself from the extreme "Obama = Jesus" fanatics, but during the campaign he seemed to encourage this cult of personality. Democrat, Republican, Independent, or what ever, this is not a healthy thing. Nancy Pelosie said Obama was a gift from God. Huh? This statement about God's Will coming from a secular Catholic? Oh boy, let me pin that on my wall! Seriously, these people need to calm down and let the dude do his job.

I do wish Obama well and I will pray for him just as much as I did for George W. Bush, and maybe even more. I will follow up with more on this after the swearing-in later today.

My Goals for 2009

2009-01-12T00:13:00.004-05:00

2009 is already here and before you know it, it will be half over. So many times I've broken my resolutions for the new year. But this year, I thought that I needed to make some. Not just some random goals, but goals that I think God has for me. So without further ado, here they are:

Loose 40 Pounds by July.
Get married July 11th.
Learn to be a better fiance and future husband to Christina.
Get back to focusing on my education.
Disciple 4 men at Eden Church
Find new supplemental employment.
Make personal time with God a priority.
Finish the 40 or so books I have started in the last year and not finished (everything from history, to cooking, to church leadership, to mysteries, to humor, to Max Lucado and John Ortberg).

So there they are. And that is probably not all of them. Back in August, my bishop gave me a homework assignment to complete. I needed to name 1 or 2 short-term goals (6-12 months) in 9 different areas of my life. Well, I haven't really worked on them thus far, but now is the perfect opportunity.

Yes, I have already broken some of them. I did eat that Peanut-Butter Ice Cream I swore off. But in my defense, it wasn't as much as I used to eat! Ha!

I really want to be all that God wants me to be because I find myself desiring a deeper intimacy with Him. Notice I said desire. I am not always as close to God as I should be. I fall at times. But I am so thankful that God's Holy Spirit is stirring in me and is causing me to have a deeper desire for a closer walk with God.

What are some of your resolutions?

Christmas Day

2008-12-25T18:42:00.003-05:00

Today has been a great Christmas!! This month at Eden Church the messages have been all about having the best Christmas ever. Well, today certainly makes the list of best Christmases. Christina and I left her house at 8 a.m. this morning and arrived at my home at 9:30. We opened gifts at around 10:30. It seems as though we had fewer packages this year, but in reality, I think that we had more gifts but they were in smaller boxes. Some great gifts:

My brother Aaron received: toilet cleaner (he is a bachelor who lives like one), gift cards, a fire exting., and a few other things.
Dad got a a few DVDs and I gave him a gift card to Borders because I forgot the books he wanted.
Mom got a new angel for the top of the tree from Christina and I; a biography on Condelizza Rice from me; A candle from Christina; a DVD from dad; a calendar from Aaron; and some other stuff.
Christina received: A computer game from me; a book from me; some clothes from Mom; a stereo from Dad; I got her several other nice things. This year we started our Christmas Village. Mom got Christina and I several new accessories for our village.
Here's the run down of what I got: From Chrissy-- The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren, The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a blanket she crocheted for me ( I LOVE IT!), a DVD, and a bunch of other things; from Mom-- a Hallmark ornament, a few books, some clothes, including a new dress shirt which I desperately needed, and a few other things one would expect from their mother. Dad got me a gift card to JC Penney's and Aaron got me a gift card to Olive Garden and a new wireless Internet router. Yea! Now I can surf from the comfort of by couch or bed. Gee... Could I get any more lazy?!

We had a great home-made meal today at 2 PM. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, home-made 12 grain bread, corn-cornbread casserole, and a green bean casserole. An older couple who are very dear family friends (the lady was my baby sitter and is like another grandmother) came down and gave us a wonderful home made red velvet cake. Awesome.

As I write this, surrounded by the lights and loved ones watching Christmas movies, I can not help but feel very blessed. At the same time, keep thinking about others. My mind keeps going back to the first family we took a food basket to a few weeks ago. My heart just keeps breaking for them. I had no idea that they would be gone the next day. The youngest girl of those three (who couldn't be more than 4 yrs old) told us, "Thanks for all the presents!" The oldest, who was probably 8 said, "Look, mom! There's more!"

I'm not rich. If I didn't still live at home, I'd be way below the poverty level. But, I am so blessed. God has given me so much. I am so very grateful for His Son Jesus, my Forgiver and Leader. That is the greatest gift of all. But on a more earthly level, I am so blessed. These people who go without. I don't mean going without getting the latest I POD or going without a new PlayStation 3 or what ever. There are people going with out food and shelter and love and peace, and people who are going to hell without Christ Jesus. We are called to be the Church, the body of Christ, but how often are we reaching out to others with the Love of God?

I am really praying that God will richly bless that family. I want to see them accept Christ and get back on their feet.

Merry Christmas to All!

Christmas Caroling

2008-12-18T10:44:00.003-05:00

Last night, Eden UB Church went Christmas Caroling. This was our either our third or fourth year going. Well, this year was by far the best!

This fall, when we had our Fall Festival, we took all donations from that, plus other gifts from people in the church, and decided to give away food baskets. In the last two months, we've had people bring other things to church with them. In addition to food, we collected soap, shampoo, paper towels, toilet paper, toothpaste and toothbrushes, deodorant, detergent, and other stuff. We also supplemented each food basket (which is designed for Christmas dinner complete with a frozen pie, bag of potatoes, and a ham) with fresh fruit. But we didn't stop with just the 9 food baskets. We also made up about 10 fruit baskets to give to everyone who was nominated for a food basket.

Ten of us showed up for caroling, and IT WAS A BLAST! We were out for nearly two hours but it zoomed by fast. In addition to the baskets, each home got a Christmas Gospel of John and an invitation card to Eden. But we didn't go out looking for people to come to church. We went out to BE THE CHURCH. I got to pray with almost every family. We just wanted to show people the love of God. That is what Christmas is all about: Jesus came to earth and became flesh and dwelt among us. He left heaven for us! So last night, we left the warm confines of our building to go and share the light and love of Jesus Christ with those who are in so much physical and Spiritual need.

The first family was really poor and, as I understand it, about to be evicted from their rental, about 1/4 mile from Eden. The mother was already in tears when we crossed the street singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." That family consists of parents, three little girls under 10, and occasionally the grandparents. All living in a 4-5 room house.

Another stop was to a family where the grandmother's trailer had burned so she was living with her daughter and grand kids. There were 4 boys there. They were really surprised.

A fruit basket went to a family of 4 brothers, middle aged, who have severe mental disabilities. One of the brothers is crippled. It seems like their legal guardians take advantage of them, but I'm not sure about that. They have so little.... I drive by their house every time I go to Eden Church. I wonder how many people just drive by, with out ever trying to help; without ever being the Light of the World. Folks, these people need help! All of these people need Jesus Christ in some way or another, like the rest of us.

Its time for the church to be the Church Jesus wants us to be!

It is times like this that I go home and sleep, knowing that I was being a little more like Jesus. That is my prayer for today: that I become more like Christ Jesus in every area of my life and that I give my life completely over to Him.

"Let it snow..."

2008-12-07T10:58:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the first significant snowfall of the season. Disclaimer: I should say compared to the flurries we've had thus far. We were supposed to get a dusting. Well, the dusting came and the snow was still falling. All in all we've probably had close to an inch. I love the snow. Winter is ugly without a nice dusting of the white fluff.

So whats so bad about a little snow? I mean we SE Ohioans can handle blizzards and floods and bad windstorms and the occasional ice storm. Well, it was dry snow, so it would not compact on the roads, making driving very hazardous. Plus, most people were unaware that a snow clipper had set it. One of my best female friends was in a bad accident. She was on her way to a wedding (one which I was also to attend, but soon opted out due to the conclusion of this short tale), and her truck flipped multiple times. We were on the phone just about three minutes previously. I called her and asked how the roads were.
"Hey Tiffany, how are the roads?"
"Adam."
"huh?"
"Adam."
"yeah, what?"
"The roads are bad. I just flipped my truck."

Thank God she is okay, just a few stitches.

So, we made the choice to cancel church services. I hate doing that! Eden is located on a state route and is normally okay on the main road. But our parking lot, if you can call it that, is right off the road, so any plowed snow greets people as they pull in. Also, many of our older core group lives on the main roads, but most of our new people and young families have to drive on slick county or township roads.

A pastoral confession: I hate to disturb my Christmas sermon series that I've been working on and praying about for 4 months. In two weeks, we are having our Christmas Program (which everyone should come to if you can!), but today was going to be our first real practice. Well, that's kinda been put off. I wonder, can you conduct dress rehearsals via telephone?

We serve a great God. And to be honest, (this is another thing pastors always think but never tell) I am kinda glad I didn't have to preach today. Even with all my planning and praying, I felt unprepared, mentally. This week has been a rough one for several reasons.

But this snow reminds me that God is always in control. He kept my friend safe, He kept the Eden congregation safe but not letting them try to venture out today. And that wedding? I'm sure it went off great.

So, God, let it snow. 'Cause I reminded of His purity and how He has made me clean by the washing away that comes through the blood of Jesus, the Lamb. And as a good friend told me, "That'll preach, brother!"

God Bless!

It's That Time Again...

2008-11-25T18:13:00.004-05:00

This week Eden decideded to have our Wednesday small groups on Tueday due to Thanksgiving and travel for the holiday. Well, I was on my way to the church when I got a call from my lay leader. He wondered if we should cancel.

I guess that one of our regulars called him and stated that the roads were getting slushy in places and it was only going to get worse. So, I told him to call the groups and cancel. Not even December, and we're already canceling due to the threat of snow. Its going to be a long winter!

Recent Happenings At Eden UB Church

2008-11-21T10:25:00.003-05:00

I thought that in the midst of talking about other churches that I have visited in the recent past, I should give an update about Eden UB. After all, it's my hope that this blog can be a communication tool. So, here is a brief bit about the last several weeks at Eden.

On Saturday, Nov. 1, Eden had a Fall Festival. It was a huge success! We had a couple of hayrides around the community. There were games for the kids, plenty of food (the deserts were awesome), and just a bunch of fun. People from the church brought family and friends who don't attend church anywhere. It was a great thing. Eden is trying to make some inroads into the community, and we did it. We estimated that around 50-60 people total showed up. It was such a blessing for me. The Lord has been dealing with me about empowering others to do the ministry and to trust Him for the results. So I asked Carla Browning to do it, and she did a fantastic job. God truly did bless the Fall Festival!
Last Saturday, Nov. 15, Eden Church had it's second annual Thanksgiving Dinner. The church I grew up at always had both a Thanksgiving dinner, and a Christmas dinner. Both were mostly fellowship events, and rarely did many guests from outside show up. So when Eden started having a Thanksgiving dinner, I was adamant that it be both outreach and in reach. I have a conviction that the best bonding between Christians occurs when we are serving others. Well, we had a really good turnout. We had the about the same as last year (around 40). This year, we tried an experiment: We only advertised by our church bulletin and through our outside sign. No fliers, no newspaper. We got the same results. Point? Evidently people at Eden are starting to get excited about what God is doing, so they are inviting more and more people to come! This is a good thing! Melody Hauber coordinated the meal and she did a great job!

In our denomination, we are talking about if the UB Church has started to make a turn around. Folks, turning around a church is much more slower than turning around a business. But Eden, I pray, is starting to move in the right direction. We're not there yet; With God, you never are finished until you get to Heaven. But we keep seeking God and doing His will, the congregation's best days are still to come!

Hey, if you want to come and experience what God is doing in the life of this congregation, come be our guest! 11 AM Sunday is our Worship Celebration.

My Hajj to Huntington-- New Hope Church

2008-11-13T10:54:00.002-05:00

The Sunday night before Labor Day, Christina and I decided to go to New Hope Church in Huntington. They were the only UB church in Huntington that stated they had Sunday night services. Now, I don't think you must have Sunday night services. Eden has Bible Study on Sunday nights because in June I stopped preaching in the evening and we switched to something I thought would be effective.

Anyway, the reason we were going is because we wanted to attend as many UB churches as possible. Well, when we got there, we were the only ones. No body else showed up. We were at the right place, but evidently they had cancelled their services. That was their peroggitve. But I was wondering if they even had Sunday nights anymore. Here is my point: Miscommunication is bad for ministries. If the cancelled for any reason (and there are plenty of good ones, I know) they needed to let others know. They have a nice sign out front. They should have used it. If they no longer have Sunday Night services, they need to adjust what their website and the UB website says.

Now I realize as much as any one person out there that un-saved people are most likely to come Sunday Mornings. However, I have learned a very painful lesson in my ministry: When the Church says something or starts something, we have to follow through until we come to a new change of pace or direction.

I know the pastor of New Hope: Bishop Ray S. He is the former Bishop of the UB. He's a passionate man. But my evaluation of New Hope is a C-. They have a nice facility from the looks of the outside, and a nice parking lot; a well manicured lawn, but not much landscapping. They seem to have a decent amount of property for the future. But the communication problem really prevented me from giving a full and accurate report. Hence the C-.

When I come out to Huntington again soon, I'll try it again.

M Hajj To Huntington IN- Conclusion Part 1

2008-11-13T10:46:00.002-05:00

Here's a confession of a young pastor: I sometimes get distracted from things and move on. I have abandoned numerous sermon series part way through, but that is a topic for another post. But I am now going to start finishing (an oxymoron, I know) the blog series I started Labor Day Weekend.

I went to Huntington IN in over Labor Day weekend and I experienced the best UBdom has to offer. I attended two churches: College Park (which was for a long time considered the flagship of the denomination) and Emmanuel (a 1970's plant by College Part, now three times the size). I really wanted to go to Anchor Community, but time didn't permit it.

So, after reading a book called "Jim and Casper Go To Church", I thought that I'd do a review of each church I visited.

So they will now follow in the next few posts.

My First Catholic Mass & What I Learned from Chad

2008-11-11T15:58:00.004-05:00

Today marks a first for me. I attended my first Roman Catholic Mass.

I am in Columbus for an Ohio School Board conference. One of the people there with our team is our librarian/teacher/media specialist. His name is Chad and he is a remarkable guy. I've known Chad for about 14 years. When I was but a wee lad, Chad attended my church, Mt. Hermon UB, for a spell when he was in high school. When I was in high school, he was the geography and British Literature teacher. When it came time for me to take his class, he transferred to the hybrid position he has now. In 2003, he re-enlisted in the Army Reserves. In 2006, he was sent to Iraq as an intelligence liaison. Needless to say, he is a pretty cool guy. He is the kind of person you enjoy being around. I've enjoyed discussing everything from teachers contracts to the finer points of theology. What does this have to do with a Mass?

Between sessions, Chad and I decided to walk to the historic St. Patrick's Church in downtown Columbus. On the way, Chad told me that during his time of church hoping, he found his home in the Catholic Church. I was surprised. I didn't know he espoused any particular faith, let alone Christian. We talked all the way to the church. When we got there, we found out they had a daily Mass at 11:45. It was 11:50, so we went in. Now I know a lot about Catholicism, but even I was slightly lost during the service.

I enjoyed the priest's homily, but we missed nearly half of it. He was talking about a saint from Italy during the 4th century who was a pacifist. Then I remembered, it is Veteran's Day. The majority of the remainder was taken up by the Eucharist. Chad was considerate to stay kneeling with me in reverence while the others went up for the sacrament.

Now, I do have serious qualms about the Catholic church and it's teaching. But, I only heard one mention of Mary as the "Mother of God" and to be honest, it reminded me of a very liturgical United Methodist wedding I attended a few years back.

Chad and I walked to an indoor market place for lunch and we continued our talk over NY style pizza and curried Indian vegetables. I was always quite impressed by this man. But today I saw a new side of him. Is Chad an evangelical? I'd say close, but not quite. A true Christian? I saw more of Christ in him today than I see in many people who claim to be. As he and I both said, God looks on (and knows) the heart.

We interrupt this Blogcast...

2008-09-22T10:55:00.004-04:00

Okay, I realize that I haven't finished my Hajj series. I will try to have that posted by the end of this week. But I found out something today and was absolutely shocked. The contemporary Christian singer Ray Boltz came "out" as homosexual. This is the link to the story. This guy wrote and sang some amazing stuff like "Watch The Lamb" (which we acted out for Easter at Mt. Hermon UB when I was a kid... I was "daddy daddy"), "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb", and many others. The guy was married for some 30 years until he divorced his wife this year.

Should I be so shocked? I know I am naive, but shouldn't believers give other people the benefit of the doubt? To be honest, I would understand it more if this guy had more of a liberal theological background. Maybe he did. Obviously he forgot what God's word has to say on the subject.

Now, don't get me wrong. Heterosexual sin is damnable just as homosexual sin. But to me, homosexual sin just shows how far down in the depths one has fallen. But Christians need to respond to this just as we would with any other brother or sister who has "fallen". We need to pray for Ray and his family. Pray for him to be convicted by the Holy Spirit, not by men. Jesus said He came not to condemn, because sin has condemned us already. We need to confront this sin, but not condemn the person to hell because that is the job of God.

If anything, this story with Ray Boltz teaches us to be on our guard and to (as Paul says) build up the body until we come to the maturity of Christ Jesus. Remember to keep growing in your walk with God.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog, already in delay...

Day One: My Hajj to Huntington

2008-09-02T18:30:00.001-04:00

My Hajj to Huntington—Day One

In my last post I introduced my trip to Huntington, Indiana. Well, I am going to leave tomorrow and it is about time that I write about my first day, even if it was only a partial day.

We arrived in Huntington mid Saturday afternoon. We had made reservations at the Vista Hotel, not far from Huntington University. We were supposed to have two adjoining rooms. I was to stay in a room with a king bed and my mother and Christina were to take the room with two doubles. It seemed like a good idea. We were originally going to stay in new Staybridge in Fort Wayne, but it seemed too expensive.

When we arrived, I was really disappointed. The hotel, which guaranteed our accommodations, gave our adjoining rooms away and gave us two rooms that we on opposite sides of the building. This just was not acceptable to me. Not only were we guaranteed two connecting rooms, but it would be difficult to spend time with Christina. My legal training (which consists of all the Law & Order shows & a few collage law courses) did not prepare me to deal with this bad business practice. At my suggestion, and slight temper tantrum, we re-confirmed our reservations at the Fort Wayne Staybridge. It really didn’t cost too much more.

We came to the hotel and we were instantly impressed. Not only is the facility new, but the staff is extra friendly and the accommodations are excellent. The high speed internet is a big plus, now that I finally have a laptop. The pull-out couch is actually pretty comfy, and the fully equipped kitchen saves us money on eating out. Oh, and did I mention the pool? Its one of the best indoor pools I’ve seen—and I’ve seen a lot of them.

When we finally settled in and took a swim it was time to go to bed. We were planning to visit several UB churches in the area so we would be getting up real early.

That’s it— my first day in the Holy City. No fasting, no prayers addressed towards 302 Lake Street, but a good day. Five hours of traveling, 1 hour of hotel problem solving, and raw nerves. But here we are.

My Hajj to Huntington— Introduction

2008-08-31T16:56:00.002-04:00

On of the five pillars of Islam is the Hajj, or pilgrimage that every faithful Muslim must make to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Well, I am not a Muslim, I am a Christian who belongs to the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. So where do I go for my pilgrimage? The Vatican? Jerusalem? Lourdes?

None of those. I find myself, a guy from the Ohio hills in the middle of flat Indiana. Now I need to say upfront that this trip is not a requirement of my faith. Nor am I visiting any shrine other than perhaps the Bishop’s office. I don’t even get an indulgence.

You see, for us United Brethren, Huntington is the closest thing we have to a shrine. Nothing super spiritual about the place, it is just the HQ for this branch of the universal Army of Christ. I was invited to leave my home in SE Ohio for a few days in Indiana. Flat. This hillbilly has a hard time adjusting. (Where do the kids sled in winter?)

I didn’t come on a pilgrimage for forgiveness. But to me this is kind of a pilgrimage. You see, I am on a search for answers. Not about heaven but about my life before going there. I am on a fact-finding mission. Where am I supposed to be right now? Am I supposed to stay at Eden for the rest of my life or does God have other plans for me? What do I need to do to be in the center of God’s will? Am I being disobedient in my life and ministry? Am I following God’s plans or my own?

I haven’t written for this blog for a long time, but I want to document my “hajj.” Not only for others to read but also that I can reflect and have resolve that God has and is directing me. So join me as I take the plunge into discovering God’s will for my life. I’ll be blogging about the entirety of my pilgrimage to the Holy See of Huntington.

Mothers' Day-- Why Not a Week Later?

2008-05-09T10:48:00.003-04:00

I am excited for this Mothers' Day! That said, I wish it was a week later. This past week, I have spent much time in prayer and meditation on God's Word. And I am sure that the Lord has given me several great messages to share with the congregation. As I was contemplating each message's application a thought dawned on me. I had completely forgotten that this Sunday is Mothers' Day! I mean, this is tantamount to forgetting the Apostle's Creed, especially since I still am living with my parents!

So, I have spent the past two days searching the scriptures like the Bereans, looking for something I can use that is different than the past three MD sermons I've given. I thought I had it when I came to Proverbs 31:10-31. Most Christians are at least familiar with the passage. But then it hit me. We need to be emphasizing Christian Women, not just wives and not just mothers. We have a number of women in our congregation who are not mothers, in the biological sense anyway. It is my belief that Christian women everywhere can and should be people of influence for the Kingdom of God. We have a lady in our congregation who has one son but she is a spiritual mother to most of the kids that ever enter the door of our building. She is what larger churches would call "Head of Children's Ministries". In our church, she is the children's ministry! I think that she deserves more recognition that for just being a biological mother. It is the same with men & father's day. The Lay Leader of my congregation has no kids, but he is definitely a spiritual father.

So what is the point of this ramble? First, Mothers should be celebrated every day, not just on the 2nd Sunday in May. Secondly, all Women of Faith need to be celebrated and encouraged to keep up the fight for the Kingdom. Lastly, I need to work on my sermon instead of blogging!

Revs on Revelation

2008-05-08T11:27:00.004-04:00

For a long time now, I have struggled with the book of Revelation. It is not that I find it unbiblical. The problem is that it is scripture. All Scripture is God-given and God-breathed. What is the problem then?

The problem is that I have no idea what I believe will happen in the "end times". I believe that Jesus is coming back in power & glory & in a physical way. I do subscribe to the pre-millennial view. Just which one?

I am not amillennial. I believe that there are good Christian people who hold this view. I am not one of them. I think that to assume this view, you have to stretch application of certain verses and take others out of context. Plus, this view didn't really exist en masse until the 5th Century. That, to me is important.

I am not post-millennial. The way I see it, things are getting worse, not better. The universal c Church is having less of an impact than it was 100 yrs ago. This was a view held by some early christians, but as time went on, Jesus' prophecies made on Mt. Olive and those elsewhere in the New Testement led people to believe that this world is going somewhere in a handbasket, and it is not to "Glory".

I am pre-millennial. Pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib? I don't know. I am fairly certain there will be a "rapture". Am I dispensational? I say yes, but not to the degree that others are.

Last night, I heard Rev. Jim Blaine (my cluster leader) preach a sermon on Daniel 9. He is doing a revival series at Mt. Hermon UB on the 2nd Coming of Jesus. He did a marvelous job. I am not sure I agree with him on everything, but that is okay. Do I believe Jesus is coming back and back soon? Sure. I'd even take a bullet for that. But I am not going to take a bullet on where this all fits into a timeline or is the rapture pre-trib or mid-trib. That's not what I call bullet theology. Others would take a bullet for this belief, and I salute them. I'm just not one of them.

I wish I had firm convictions like other pastors do regarding the end times. For now, I will just have to preach the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ by explaining all views and giving some evidence or critique of each one.

3 Focuses For Adam Will

2008-05-07T01:36:00.002-04:00

Last week, I attended the "Hit The Bullseye" conference in Lima, Ohio. It was worth going! I am a big believer in continuing to learn all you can about your passions and vocation/calling. While there, I got to spend some time with my Bishop, Ron Ramsey. He is an incredible inspiration to me. I told him of some of the situations I find myself in as pastor of Eden UB Church. He gave me three things to focus on in the few weeks and months:

Sunday Morning Worship/Sermons- Have the best worship services possible and work hard on my messages.
Sunday Night Service- Transform our Sunday night service from a worship service to a Bible Study. This will take some getting used to, but will help develop and grow people in their walk with Christ much more than the current situation.
Wednesday Small Groups- We already have a Wed. night group. But we are going to transition them into a small group ministry, focusing on community. By going to curriculum, this will save me a great deal of prep time and enable others to teach the group.

So, there you have it. I am going to be working hard on each of these 3 things and not worrying so much about the other stuff. By making some of the above changes, I should lighten my work load and free up more time for studying, vision casting, and personal work.

I am tired and I am going to head off to bed. Maybe I'll have an even better picture/vision in the morning.

Good Night!

Up Late, Thought I'd Blog/ Accepting Resposibility

2008-05-07T01:25:00.003-04:00

So it has been almost two months since I have "blogged". Wow... I haven't intended to be so prolific! Ha! I reall do wish that this would be a regular habit for me. Good disciplines are hard for me to establish. Blogging is not the only area I struggle with. I also struggle with keeping an in-depth prayer life and daily Bible readings. I have read all the Spiritual Self-help books to no avail. I guess I just have to buckle down and do it!

I find that we as humans have a very hard time accepting responsibility for our lives. Not only do we have a hard time accepting responsibility for worldly/secular things, but spiritual things as well. We argue over who was supposed to take out the trash, why the lawn wasn't mowed, why no one called Grandma, nobody fixed the sink, and a million other things. We try to find excuses fo why our churches aren't growing. "We've been overwhelmed by all the work days." "We don't have enough youth." "We couldn't find the right music or the right program." We need to accept our responsibilities. I should have been the obe to take out the garbage, call granny, fix the sink, and invite my neighbor to church. Oh, by the way, I should be the one who makes myself begin my day with prayer to my Father. It's up to me to read my Bible, not just devotionaly, but to study it and learn God's Word.

So maybe this whole blogging thing has taught me one thing I didn't expect it to: I can only blame myself for not following through on the things I start. It is up to me to grow in my walk with Christ and up to me to make my life all that it can be for His glory!

My Goals For "Out of Eden"

2008-03-09T23:26:00.003-04:00

I know that this is something that I probably should have done when I first started this blog, but I didn't so here it is.

I have come to the place in my life where I realize if something has no purpose, then I have no use for that thing. Therefore, I need to set some goals for this blog and describe what the purpose of my typing away is

My Goals for "Out of Eden" are

A Record. By writing this blog I can keep a record of my thoughts and things that happen without trying to look for that composition notebook I try to journal in. The net is here and here to stay. Also, I can look back over time and see what God has done and how I have grown and (hopefully) matured.
A Communication Device. Now I realize probably only 5 people at Eden have even been to a blog before, but hey, that is nearly 15% of the congregation! I hope that as Eden grows and has more tech and web savvy people that this blog will be a method of keeping in touch and keeping people informed. Just because we have blogging people at Eden doesn't mean they will read my blog. One can hope, right?
An Outreach. I know, I know. You're thinking, "Outreach?!" I realize Reedsville is not exactly silicon valley and that the percentage of homes with reliable web access is relatively small. Yet I think that this gives people an inside look at our congregation at Eden, as well as a chance for Christians to be encouraged and hopefully inspired. I'm not talking a full-fledged on-line ministry, but whatever works.
A Kingdom Thing. I know I don't show it enough, but more that anything I want my life to give glory to God. If this grows the Kingdom or encourages my spiritual brothers and sisters, great. I think that we should do everything as unto the Lord and He gets glory in it all... Including blogging!

It's Been Awhile

2008-03-09T23:10:00.003-04:00

So I haven’t “blogged” in a month… wow… I was hoping that this would be a regular thing and a way for me to expand Eden and stay in touch. Kinda dropped the ball on that one! Anyway, I do seem to have a problem writing down my thoughts. Christina gave me a journal for Christmas and I was doing really well; writing every day until around Jan 25! Having said that let me list some of the things that have happened over the last month:

Eden went to a new music system on Feb 24. We are now singing to CD’s. This makes it so much simpler, in that I don’t have to practice the piano/organ for hours and we can learn some newer songs. We also are now projecting the words to the songs on the wall. People were a little uneasy at first, but now it seems that the congregation rather enjoys it. People are using the hymnals less and the singing is much better. Singing along with people helps too.

Christina and I celebrated Valentines Day. What a weekend! Her birthday is the day right after valentines, so I naturally spent way too much money in just a few days time. But we had a good time together. Each day I am amazed that God has brought us together. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

We had Wednesday night Bible Study maybe two times 5 weeks. The snow didn’t fall on the weekends, just on Tuesdays. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

We started our first men’s group at Eden! Praise the Lord! I really believe that the more men there are who are living out God’s plan for their lives, the more people will come into the Kingdom of God.

I plan to write about all of these things in the next several posts, so bear with me.

Brooklyn Park UB Church / Eden UB Church

2008-02-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

This morning I got up, and as usual, one of the first things I did was to check my e-mail. Surprisingly, I only had 4 messages and (can you believe it?) NO SPAM! But anyway, I received an e-mail from John Christophel who is the Senior Pastor of Brooklyn Park UB Church near Baltimore, Maryland. The point of the e-mail was to ask other UB churches for support in their creating of an after school program, called UB Lighthouse Youth Mission. I won’t go into all the detail about all the violence and problems right near the church, but there seems to be a great need for this mission. I plan to ask Eden to join other UB’s in helping to assist Brooklyn Park.

After reading this, I got to thinking. I know that can be dangerous for some people like me! I am really impressed with Brooklyn Park’s vision and desire to see this happen. Then I look at the church I pastor. What is our vision? We are still working on that. What is our mission? I still think that is unclear to some of our congregation.
Our mission is to seek and save the lost. Our vision is to love God, love people, and serve others. We do have a set of values and goals that is formed from an acrostic:
Evangelize the Community
Disciple converts & church family
Experience: God
Fellowship with church family
Nurture Leaders and Ministries

I would love to see our congregation at Eden get behind the mission wholeheartedly. I realize that I need to pray and seek God’s guidance to clearly communicate the burden God has given me for lost people.

Now as Paul Harvey says, “Page Two.”
The Reedsville/Hockingport and surrounding communities have a need for the type of program that Brooklyn Park is implementing. We have an escalating drug and alcohol problem. I have dreamed of establishing a mission here, similar to the one at Laurel Mission in Kentucky. But, God will build His Church. Maybe this is not Eden’s time for a “mission”, but rather for us to simply get on task. I thank God for the drive that Brooklyn Park Church has. I pray that they are successful.

P.S. Click here for Brooklyn Park

Super Tuesday

2008-02-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we had the closest thing ever to a national primary election for the Republican and Democratic canidates for president. I have to say that I found it exciting to watch. Some people are understandably tired of the political stuff by the point. But I see this as history being made. For the first time since 1928 (or at least that is what I am told), we have no incumbant running for the presidency.

Barak Obama came out with 13 prizes, compared to Clinton's eight. Doesn't look like the results for New Mexico will be in until later today. Clinton has the advantage, winning big states such as California and New York. Obama still lost Massachusetts even after the Kennedy clan threw their support behind him. I was hoping Obama would pull out a win against Clinton, but I am not so sure that is going to happen. Change is a good thing, and while I don't think Barak Obama would be a good change agent, he would be better than Clinton. The Clintons had 8 years to change the country and instead they left us with the same problems Hillary blames on the Bush Administration. Just more of the same. I do agree with Mitt Romney... Washington is broken.

So, on to the Republicans. McCain had a huge night, winning 9 states, some of them "winner take all" states. Romney won 7 races, but most of them were in smaller delegate states. The only real prize Romney won was Masssachusetts, his home state. I think the real story of the night was Huckabee. He started out with a win in West Virgina, aided by McCain supporters, and then proceded to win 4 other states with a very close 2nd place in Missouri. Huckabee was underdog until he won Iowa and again until last night.

Here is my take:

I like Romney because he is the most conservative. But to me, he has credibility problems. He does look the most presidential, if that really means anything. I won't vote for him except for in the general, if for no other reason than he went too negitive, too soon. He seems almost like the Clintons of the Republican party, as far as negitive campaigning goes.
McCain. What can you say, America loves an underdog. He has real problems with conservatives and his absolute stance on global warming bothers me. The science is still not exact, so he position shouldn't be either. I like the fact that he is a moderate. I am a conservative, but want to see us become a party of inclusion, rebuilding another coalition, like Regean did with liberals and moderates as well as conservatives.
Huckabee. My Hero! I don't agree with all of his positions, but I think he is very qualified with executive experience. He did raise taxes, but he did it to improve the infrastructure of his state. There are (gasp) good reasons to raise taxes... just not many of them. Huckabee will probably end up VP for McCain, which I am really hoping for.

I'm Just The Preacher

2008-02-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

Last night, as I reading my Bible before I went to sleep, I had an epiphany. I am not the Savior of the world! Now, those of you who know me have known this from the first time you met me. But let me explain this to everyone.

I have noticed in my experience (granted, not too much here) that people in ministry of any level tend to feel absolute responsibility for those in their flock. If someone has a moral fall, well then you can blame the Sunday school teacher… After all, wasn’t that teacher in a mentoring relationship? Or when people have a hard time grasping a truth, especially an important doctrinal position, isn’t the pastor at fault for not teaching enough on the topic and to the full extent of his ability?

This past week, I ran across something that surprised me. I found that someone who has attended Eden said something that indicated a possible error in important theology. I say possible because what they said could just have easily been taken out of context. I realize that sort of thing happens all the time. But within minutes I found myself wondering why I hadn’t preached more on the subject. Maybe, I thought, we needed to form a small group to study the issue. Then I started wondering why this person wasn’t growing. All the other indicators of Spiritual growth are present, except this statement.

Finally, it seemed as though the Lord took me aside. I imagine the dialogue as this:
“Adam, take a break from your thinking and let’s reason together” God says that in a Sean Connery voice (hey this is my epiphany, God used things I would get!).
“Now Adam,” he continues “You don’t know what this person meant, although it could be troubling. It is not your job to sanctify them. It’s not even your job to save them. All I ask is that you preach and teach and lead from my word.”
“Okay, Lord. Whatever you say… And thanks.”

Like Paul says, it’s God that gives the increase.

What a relief… I am just the preacher.

A New Year; Same Direction.

2008-02-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

Today is Februrary 1, 2008. January is gone. Before we know it, so will February. There is so much I want to accomplish this year and so far I am lagging behind. Christina and I decided that we would read the Bible through this year. I have never done that before. I have started reading through and made it all the way to Isaiah, but failed to continue. Anyway, according to the calendar, we are supposed to be in Levitcus and we are not even in Exodus!

Its another year, but so far I seem to be moving in the same direction. Eden had a great year last year. We declined a few percentage points last year, but in realilty, God seems to be working now more than ever. New Year; but same direction... No new surge, no new vital growth... Yet.

Its a New Year, and I believe that God is moving in the same direction... Forward! We may fail in our resolutions, but not God. He still loves us inspite of our faults. Even when the Church of Jesus is undergoing some promised pruning, the gates of Hell are still being pushed back.

Yes, I believe that Eden is moving in the right direction. I am sure we need to move faster, but finally, I believe we are starting to point in the right direction.