Now I do not have all of the facts, but I just saw a commercial for a casino in Ohio. The website for the group is http://www.myohionow.com/ The underlying theme of the commercial was that everyone else has a casino, so why is Ohio letting tax money and revenue from gambling leave the state? This just reminded me of what my mom used to say when we would tell her that everyone else was doing it. She would always say, “well if all your friends went and jumped off a bridge would you do that too?” Just because everyone else is doing it, does not mean that it is right. Especially as Christians, I believe we should really question things if it is acceptable by society. Now I am not saying this casino is not a good thing for Ohio, but the reason to do it is not because 38 other states have gambling. We need to weigh the options, and see all of the possible outcomes. A casino may bring jobs, but it will also cause issues for some people that do not need the temptation of a casino. Do the pluses out weigh the minuses? We need to weigh the options and seek the guidance of God. We are called to be in, not of. We need to go with God and not with the majority.

Today I was outside with my 5 year old daughter. She is trying to ride a bike without training wheels. My 6 year old did this last year, and I just about cried when she did this. This is a passage that is a milestone in their lives. They are no longer little kids, they do not need the security of the training wheels. They are riding on the faith they can keep the bike up all by themselves. The 6 year old does it really good now, but the 5 year old does not really have. She is trying and falling. I watch her from a not really far distance. She is trying and getting frustrated, much like most of us do with life.
We do what we think is the right thing to do, we cling to that thought that we have the understanding of what the best thing to do is. We know our lives and know what needs to happen. Do you remember riding a bike with training wheels, depending on something to hold you up and keep you from leaning too far to the left or the right? Isn’t that what God will do for us? Now I do not want to be little God to being training wheels, as being something we can out grow, but I do see how God keeps us on track and helps to keep us up, when we do not have the strength to do it ourselves. God will guide you. Step out on faith and try to peddle that bike, but know unlike the real bike my kids ride that I will be taking the training wheels off of, God will never let us take Him off of us. He will always guide us. Just reach out on faith and believe He will not drop you.

I just received an email from a friend of mine. I believe it speaks volumes that we all need to hear and re hear and hear again….

A Native American boy was talking with his grandfather.
“What do you think about the world situation?” he asked.
The grandfather replied, “I feel like two wolves are fighting in my heart. One is full of anger and hatred; the other is full of love, forgiveness, and peace.”
“Which one will win?” asked the boy.
To which the grandfather replied, “The one I feed.”
(Origin Unknown)

This simple story provides the essence of a possibly life-changing attitude for yourself… You’re likely to become what you think about. The words are almost too simple to “feel important.” However, if you “get it,” if you truly integrate their meaning, you can harness the power of a positive attitude. Simply stated… if we choose to think positive thoughts, we’ll more likely get positive results; if we think negative thoughts, we’ll probably get negative results. Pretend for a moment that every thought is a seed you sow in your fertile mind. Therefore, someone once said, “If you plant crabapples, don’t expect to harvest Golden Delicious.” You will likely reap the fruit of the thoughts you sow.

We reap what we sow. So many times we just do what we want when we want thinking only of ourselves, which we can not do. Those of us with spouses and children know that we can not always get our way, and seldom do. But the point of it is not that we always get what we want, the point is we love others as we love our selves. If we are able to show the love God gave to us, then the short falls we think are coming will be mountains we can not contain.

Feed peace, not hate. Love as you were loved. Remember we see Jesus when we go and do, not sit and wonder.

I just saw this on Third Day’s website and I think it is so cool. You can check out the website here 031408.
I think this idea is great. It started from radio stations I guess, but the idea is when you go through a drive thru, you pay for the order of the car behind you. Then you leave a note that says something to the effect that you felt like doing something kind, so you paid for their order. It is just a small way to show someone you care. We all get cut off, shown we are #1 through out the day, wouldn’t it be nice to show someone that you were thinking of them, and that they were thought of in a way that did not have people covering the ears of their children.

God shows us love in all kinds of way and us doing this one act of random kindness to someone, may be the ray of hope they need in their lives.

So I challenge us all to an A.R.K. (an Act of Random Kindness – from Even Almighty) a week, or be a superstar and do one a day. You do not have to pay for every car behind you in the drive thru, open a door for someone with boxes, smile at someone who needs a lift, give someone a hand…

Show God’s love in tangible ways and see how His love will over pour in your own life.

And if you do want to do the drive thru thingy, here is a little note I composed that you may borrow and use.

Is this a question you would expect to hear from someone visiting your church?

How would you feel if a visitor came into your worship service and asked you, “Are you really God’s servants, or should we look elsewhere?”

This question is taken from Twelve Keys to an Effective Church: The Study Guide, and is based off of the first and most important key: Specific Concrete Missional Objectives. What does this mean? I was recently at a meeting of pastors, and at the church we were at there was a jar of peanut butter with a sign on it that read missioanl planning process. This is because the missional planning process is as clear as a jar of peanut butter. What is our congregational missional plan? Do we know where God is calling us and where He is leading us? Are we ready to go where He has called us, to follow where He is leading us?

If someone where to come into our worship service and ask if we are really God’s servants, just like John asked Jesus, how would we respond? Can we name concrete examples of how we are God’s servants, or are the items way we preach ourselves? If everything is about us and what we are doing, then we need to step back and take another look at the way we are doing what we are doing, or possibly re evaluate our whole ministry outlook. We need to be the revelation of God in this place, not the God that people want, or the God we think we need, but of God. This is why John was questioning Jesus, because Jesus did not measure up to what they had expected the Messiah to be. He was not freeing them from oppression? He was not being a king? He was not uniting the people? Or was he? He truly freed the oppressed, not the people of Israel, but the oppressed of the world. He did not come to be King of the Jews, but to be the King of all the World. He did not come to unite and lead the people of Israel to victory, but to unite the people of the world.

Can we say how we are being God’s servants, or do we need to tell our visitors, to look somewhere else?

Have you ever thought about what the final judgment will be like? Have you ever pondered the questions God will ask you as you stand before Him on the last day?

Is He going to ask you about the kind of house you lived in, or the salary you made, or the car you drove? Is He going to ask you about your investments, and who you left them to? Is He going to ask you about the commandments and how many you kept? Is He going to ask you to recite the Apostles Creed or the Lord’s Prayer? Do you need to know all of the Levitical Law and have upheld all of them with no falter?

Judgment to us is not something to be feared as the above picture makes us want to tremble. There is a picture of the last judgment in Matthew that makes fear go through most people, but I really think that is because we do not understand what Jesus is telling us. The passage is Matthew 25:31-46:
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 25:32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 25:33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 25:34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 25:35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 25:36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 25:38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 25:39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 25:40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 25:41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 25:42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 25:43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 25:44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 25:45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

In this final judgment scene, Jesus separates the people, some to go into the kingdom, and some to go into eternal punishment. But what is the separation point? Is it law? Is it bank accounts? Is it knowledge of the creed, the Lord’s Prayer, or the commandments? The separation point here is compassion. The separation point is love. It is doing unto others as you would have done unto you. Loving your neighbor, loving the last, little, the lost, the least. It is truly when you can look into the eyes of the least of these and see your brother that you are seeing with eyes that are not yours, that you are seeing with the sight that Jesus gave you. the final judgment is not about what you did right or wrong, it is about whether you loved as God loved you. Did you welcome the least as God welcomed you? Look into the eyes of the stranger and see your mother or father, your sister your brother. But they are smelly and dirty, and I’m afraid I’ll catch something from them. If we can see them through God’s eyes, and love them as we are loved, then we got the idea. Jesus calls us to see him in everyone we meet. To love them as we ought to love him. To devote our lives to service of other and to not worry about doing the right thing, but loving others. It is not about sinner or saint, because we are both, it is about love.

It is not about right or wrong, it is about love.

Love as you have been loved, and welcome as you are welcomed.

Have you ever been angry with someone? Upset with how they are acting or what they have done? Has any one ever let you down, and you got upset with them, or angry at them? Is this causing an issue in your relationship? Has it completely changed your relationship forever?

I will admit I am not good at controlling my temper. I have a problem getting upset very easily and flying off the handle. I am working on it. And a few months ago a great friend of mine told me about unrealized expectations. He had a relationship with someone, and he was angry with this person. This relationship never got a chance because the other person died before the expectations could ever be realized. But that is what led this person to come to an understanding that our anger is based on unrealized expectations. The person had expectations of the loved one who passed, and the loved one never quite measured up. They always let the person down. How many people let you down and you get upset with them, you get angry because they do not act or do the things you expect them to do. Your expectations are unrealized, so you set up a barrier that could effect your life forever. Are you letting unrealized expectations cause problems in your life, and your relationships.

I wonder how the world would be different, how our families would be different if we loved like God loves us. Think about all of the things that you have done that God wishes you never had. God is constantly dealing with unrealized expectation, however instead of anger, He gives us love. He gives us the same love He always has, because regardless of who we are or what we do, He loves us, and calls us to love each other as He has loved us.

So when the kids draw on the van, or your spouse leaves their socks on the floor, or your parent is just completely off their rocker with expectations, love them, as God loves you and them. Do not let your life be in the dumps because people are not perfect like you want them to. Just think if everyone was perfect like you, how boring would the world be!

Love as God loves you, welcome as you were welcomed.

Have you ever felt like God was calling you to something?

Did you ever question this call when it came?

Did you move to do what God urged you to do? Or did you take a step back and count the costs?

Did the disciples hesitate when Jesus called them to follow him? Not as far as we can see from the Bible. The disciples went when Jesus called them to follow. They left everything, and did not look back. They gave up their lives to follow this man, they had never met, or knew nothing about. They left it all behind, because he said come follow me….

Have you ever heard Jesus say to you, “Come, follow me.” It is a command, not a question of do you want to follow me, not a request, like it can be refused. However most of us refuse to follow. We step back and count the costs of following. Much like the 2 Jesus talks about in Luke 14:28-32. The man counts the cost of building a tower, and the king counts the cost of going to war… Are these the models of discipleship we are to be seeking, or are the disciples the ones we should watch?

The cost of being a disciple is clear in Luke 14:26-27. This passages says (TNIV): 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

If you do not hate everyone. even your own live, you can not be a disciple. Jesus continues after the story of the man and the king in verse 33 with: In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. You have to give up everything and carry your cross, the cost of carrying your cross is death, but the life of discipleship is one of a life with God eternally.

What will a disciple do, count the costs, or trust, bear their cross, and follow when called?

What will a disciple do?

Below is an unaltered statement of the former pastor if the church I am serving, my congregation. The pastor wrote this statement to say that anyone is welcome to come through the doors. The congregation did not make it an official statement of the church to not pigeon hole me (the new guy) into something that they did not necessarily believe in. I whole heartedly agree with this statement and would love to see it adopted at all congregations. Everyone is welcome here, because none of us are good enough. None of us would be able to stand if not for Jesus.

So I invite your comments on this statement.

We at Hosanna proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and the new life he brings. We welcome all to join with us in our journey of faith.

May God give us the grace to welcome and forgive one another as Christ has welcomed and forgiven us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son to die for it.” (John 3:16)

We want it to be known that “we are justified by the grace of God, which is a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 3:20)

We want it to be known that those of different nationality, ethnicity, culture and heritage are welcome here.

We want it to be known that those who suffer from addiction to drugs and alcohol (whether they are recovering or not) and their families are welcome here.

We want it to be known that women and children are welcome here and that they will not be harassed or abused.

We want it to be known that in this congregation you can bring children to worship and, even if they cry during the entire service, they are welcome here.

We want it to be known that those who are single by choice, by divorce, or through the death of a spouse are welcome here.

We want it to be known that if you are promiscuous, have had an abortion, or have fathered children and taken no responsibility for them, you are welcome here.

We want it to be known that gossips, cheats, liars, and their families are welcome here.

We want it to be known that those who are disobedient to their parents and who have family problems are welcome here.

We want it to be known that gays, lesbians, and members of their families are welcome here.

We want it to be known that we offer hope to the hurting, refreshment to the ones who are tired, encouragement to those who are overworked in busy lives and renewal to the people who are “burned out.”

We want it to be known that we take seriously the apostle Paul’s statement, “all have sinned and fall short to the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) The young and the old, the rich and the poor, all of the broken are welcome here.

We offer welcome here because we believe that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly,” (Romans 5:8) that is, us. Christ did not die for us after we showed signs of “getting it all together.” Christ loved us and still loves us while we are yet sinners. Sinners are welcome here, sinners like you and me and our neighbors. Let us not condemn the world, but let us proclaim God’s forgiveness and grace to a broken and hurting world.

We want it to be known that, since we are a sinful people, we will not always be as quick to welcome as we should. Let us be quick to admit our sin and seek forgiveness.

We want it to be known that we do not think that we have all of the answers. We are merely travelers on the journey. We invite you to join us as fellow travelers in the journey. You are welcome and are invited to join us as we seek God’s grace together.

Have you ever felt like no matter what you did that it was always wrong? You try to help others at the expense of your family. You try to spend more time with your family and someone who needs you is left out. You try to do something that is asked for, and it is not what some one else wants.

Have you ever just stopped and wailed that you can not do it. Through the tears and frustration you scream at God and ask him to come and take it because you can not possibly do it any more. You can not possibly even think about being the person that everyone needs and/or wants you to be. You can not do it. And do you know what you are right. I can not do, you can not do it. God is the only one who can. We are merely tools in the hands of the creator of the universe. In todays slang, or at least my generations slang a tool is somebody who does not get it, who is not all together. But to be a tool for God is the best thing you can do. Scream it our through the tears, God will never let you down. I will, and everyone around us will let us down, we will drop you and hurt you and get it all wrong, but God will never leave you nor forsake you. God is the one who wants you as a tool.

So do nothing right, but allow the one who does it all right to use you to do what he needs to.