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

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!

Just One Small Change Can Make A Huge Difference!

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!

My Goals for 2009

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

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!

Mothers' Day-- Why Not a Week Later?

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!