What tomorrow brings….

Well, today is the last day of 2008 and tomorrow will be the first day of 2009. So, tonight will ring true the old saying, “out with the old, in with the new.” I like the word, “new.” I get excited when I hear the word, “new.” For some crazy reason when I think about the word new my mind goes back to my grandmother’s house and sitting with her, watching the Price is Right game show and hearing the announcer say, “the prize is a NEW CARRRRR.” My eyes would light up and I would think about how I should go on that show and win a NEW CARRRRR. Well, tonight at midnight I will be the winner of a brand NEW YEARRRR.

Don’t you wish that meant at midnight that you would get to erase everything from last year and years before and start over with the knowledge of the mistake and failure, but not have to live the scars of those mistakes? Well, tonight at midnight I don’t think that will happen for me or anyone else.

 

The word that I like more than new, is RENEW. This is where you take something that has been damaged and repair it to it’s original condition. That is what I look for this year; to let God restore me to my original condition. My original condition was total trust in God and the goodness of people. I love to be around small children who are still in their original condition, who still trust God and trust in the goodness of people.

 

Maybe this is what Jesus was trying to tell us in Matthew 18:3 (NIV), “And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”

 

I want to be renewed in 2009. How about you?

 

 

What’s Your Goals?

I am having a partial week off this week. What that means is the office is closed. I have not been able to get away from the phone this week so far. I did get to play golf yesterday at Little Mountain Golf course. I like playing there for two reasons one it is cheap two and I can walk the course for sixteen dollars. The second reason I like playing golf there is I get to meet new people. You can really get to know someone after eighteen holes of golf. I like meeting people who don’t know I am a pastor and see how long it takes before they ask me what I do for a living.

 

Rhonda has informed me that we have a big house cleaning day today, basement and all. She is having her singers and band over New Year’s Eve. I think she invited them so we would have to do a super cleaning job. It will be fun.

 

Wednesday, I plan to set some goals for the New Year. After praying and asking God for direction I start writing five to ten goals. One thing that helps me stay goal focused is to write these goals down every day. Once I write them over and over in my journal day after day, I begin to see them coming to pass. Like last year, I knew I was going to do financial peace university, so I set a goal to pay my car off by the end of January 09. I owed about $13,000 and had no idea as to how that was going to happen but Rhonda and I put any extra money we had toward it and God has done the rest. As of next week I will owe $1,500 on it and I am believing some how that it will be paid off by the end of January.

You give it try.

 

The problem’s not mine in 2009

Well, this is the week that I will slow down and reflect over this past year and try to celebrate in my own heart the wins of 2008.  Personal wins as well as our church family wins.  I will also reflect on what didn’t work.  I would like to give a shout out to our student pastor, Ricky Mosel for a wonderful and challenging message yesterday.  If you would like to hear it you can go to http://www.sccview.net.  He challenged us to not just make a new years resolution with a list of new things we are to do, but to make a stop doing list.  I think this is great advice we all can receive for ourselves. I need to learn to rest.  Resting is for me is not sitting around watching movies all day, what some people call vegging.  I would call that hell.  No, resting for me is more mental than physical.  So, the first thing on my stop doing list is to stop trying to solve every problem that I hear about.  That probably sounds nuts to you, but that is the way my mind works.  I will give problems to a group of people and let them solve them instead of me trying to solve every problem that I see.  So, that’s my first new year’s resolution.  I will however become a “problem giver.”  I will give problems to God and to others and never have the intention of being the problem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

Last night we had our Christmas Eve Services, by the way, I love this service and this year we had Holy Communion, it was a special time, we talked about Joseph and how very special this man was, the adoptive father of Jesus.

 

Joseph was making plans to marry Mary and I am sure he was planning to get their own home and maybe open up his own carpenter shop, all the things a person dreams about when they think about a life with a person they love.  Like how he will be the best provider Mary could ever have.  All these dreams I am sure were in Joseph’s mind and they came crashing down when the most gut wrenching words came out of Mary’s mouth.  “Joseph, I am with child.”  Can’t you just feel your own heart speed up when you read that, just out of pity for poor Joseph?  I am sure that’s all Joseph heard, I don’t believe the words that “the baby is from the Holy Spirit” registered with him at all.

 

Joseph faced what we all face in life, an interruption.  His response was the same as ours today when interrupted.  He tried to get rid of it.  I can hear him say, “Mary you are out of here.”  But, here is the amazing thing, God was in his interruption.  Joseph was chosen to be the father of the Father’s son.

 

I have found that most of the time, things that happen in my life that I see as an interruption, I want to just get rid of it and want it to go away.  When I stop trying to just get rid of it, I realize that God is in my interruption.

 

I want to say Merry Christmas to all who read my blog.

I’m Messed up

Today is a day that I am going to slow down and enjoy the people around me.  I have been trying to get a lot of things done by the end of the year and it has been crazy.  I have worked on budgets and restructuring the way our church operates starting with our staff and it has been draining.  Something you may not know about me is I have a  messed up personality.  I am a very direct person, but I really don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  Now that is messed up.  So, I have this internal conflict inside when I have to be direct, I know it is going to hurt someone’s feelings and it bothers me.  I look at some people who are so even keel like my wife and say, “your life must be really boring.” She then reminds me,  “it’s not because I married you.”

 

So, today my prayer is please Lord don’t send anyone my way that has to be confronted.  I want to chill out for the holidays.  I hope you will chill out too. 

Sunday Reflections

Today I am still trying to let Sunday sink in.  All of the stories that I heard of Stockbridge Community Church doing good for others is overwhelming.  I was totally shocked when I heard Denese Rodgers tell us that 1,400 people’s needs were met this Christmas and largely because of the people of this Church.  How many times do you hear someone who works with the government say we couldn’t have done it without a Churches help.

 

I know I pastor the greatest church in the world, not because SCC is a perfect church, because the day I showed up as the pastor it became imperfect.  It’s not because we don’t have problems, because anytime you have people, you have problems.   I think I have figured out what makes SCC such a great church, it is the fact that we love God and we have learned as a church how to express that for God by loving one another and our community.

 

I pray we never let go of real love, the kind that keeps expressing itself in what we do for others.  Thank you SCC for loving one another and loving the community the way you have. I can’t tell you how my heart runs over with gratitude for you

Wow

 

Today is what I would call a fabulous Friday.  Why you might ask?  The answer is because it is a day that I reflect on what has happened this past week and month  and my heart is filled with Joy.

 

Here are some of those thoughts:

 

When I was told one of our ladies at Stockbridge Community Church is volunteering at Hands of Hope Clinic.  She is in her seventies and files the paper work of the clinic.  Wow.

 

Joy comes when I think about how three families helped in our community with Helping in His Name Food Bank.  How two men from Stockbridge Community Church picked up food from schools that was donated.  Just to serve. Wow.

 

Joy comes when I think about how men from Stockbridge Community Church worked on bikes so that kids would have something for Christmas.  That excites me.

 

Joy comes when I think about how people in Stockbridge Community Church are helping one another.  I have heard of one such case where a guy in our church repaired a car for a lady and let her use his until it was complete and guess what…. He paid the bill.   That is very exciting.

 

Joy comes when I hear stories of people delivering bikes to people who would not have Christmas.

 

Joy comes when I think about how the greatest church in the world gave $14,000 to provide Christmas for over 200 kids.  Stockbridge Community Church is the greatest and the most unselfish church in the world.  Wow, Wow.

 

It truly is a fabulous Friday.

What’s the point of gifts?

I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and the gift giving.  I have asked myself, “Why do I give gifts?”  I hate to admit this, but most are out of obligation and not because I want to.  This is totally opposite of what Christmas is all about.  Christmas is all about giving, but not like I have been and I would dare to say that’s the way most give. 

 

So, I have done this soul searching and have asked myself, “Why are Christmas gifts given?”  Well, here’s the conclusion I have come to.  Christmas gifts are to be given as an expression of love.  If I give a gift for any other reason it, leaves me feeling empty.  With that thought in mind, I will not give my grandmother another $20 gift card to Walmart.  I will take her on a date.  The greatest gift I can give her is me.  You know I think that is what all of our family wants is more of us and less stuff.  They want us to be there when we are there and not ready to run out the door. 

 

Maybe this Christmas I will walk into my parent’s home with a bow on my head, with all my family present, and say, “I am here, all of me is here, I am not in a hurry, let’s visit awhile.” 

A Christmas Story

Last night my family and I delivered bikes and other gifts to the families that were having a difficult time this Christmas in our community.  It was a very eye opening experience for me.  I really thought I would be going to the poorest areas of our county, but that was not the case at all.  I went to people homes who were middle class people just like me, who were just having a very hard time financially.  One house that we went to was just a few miles from my own home. It was a very nice home and as I went in it I noticed it had nice furniture and big flat screen TV.  You could tell these people were living the American dream.  As I looked at all the things in their home, was still amazed at how excited they were just to receive the few things we had to give them.  They didn’t even have enough money to get a Christmas tree.  I just wondered what line of credit or credit card company was demanding they pay them before they provided for their family.

 

 We see the word of Proverbs come true again.

 

Proverbs 22:7 (CEV)    Those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders.

 

This is why we as a church are on a mission to offer people, people like these and anyone who will receive it, an “Opportunity for a better life” through Financial Peace.  Now is the time to get our own house in order and help others do the same.  With God’s help we can help prevent what we are seeing all around us this year.  We can be set free from financial bondage as a church and community.  Call me crazy or nuts, whatever you want to call me, but it is my mission to lead people out of financial bondage, relational bondage, and spiritual bondage because it all goes hand in hand.  God’s word gives us direction, God’s spirit will provide the power, and God’s people provide the proof that He can do it.  I plan on the rest of my life to be a walking billboard, a testimony that God’s way works.

 

 

Tis the Season…to slow down

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that this season makes life speed up.  When I get too busy, I get tired and when I get tired, I am hard to get along with at home.  So, I am working at keeping things together.  Here are some tips I have come across to reduce the holiday stress. 

Peace on Earth—and at Your House, Too

How to beat the stress of the season

James and Heather Sells 

It’s supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year,” but the strain of the four-week Advent season can test even the strongest of marriages.

You’ll go to extreme lengths to make meaningful memories for your kids. You’ll try to blend three family traditions (hers, his and ours). Possibly you’ll travel hundreds of miles to visit loved ones. You’ll write, rewrite and distribute a Christmas letter (bonus point if you include hand-written notes), spend hours shopping for presents (bonus point for time-consuming homemade gifts) and attend the obligatory office parties, neighborhood get-togethers, church socials and school programs (triple bonus points if you host a party).

No wonder your idea of peace on earth has shrunk to 30 minutes of quiet—so you can wrap presents.

‘Tis the season to make some changes. For Christmas this year, you and your mate can exchange these patterns for a saner Christmas. Here’s how to beat the stresses of the holiday season.

1.  Say what you want. As holiday tensions increase, so do conflicts. As you get more tired, the more you expect your spouse to pick up the slack. When these unfair expectations don’t get met, you both feel resentful. So forget expectations, but do ask.  Desires should be stated, collaborated and related. “Stating” means discussing roles and responsibilities for each person. “Collaborating” is working together to resolve differences. “Relating” is honoring your relationship in all your actions.  Get down to the ‘nitty gritty’! Tell your mate why it’s important that you stay up ’til the wee hours baking cookies and writing personal notes on Christmas cards. Negotiate and make specific plans, for example for decorations—big trees vs. little tree, who will put up outdoor lights, which rooms you’ll decorate indoors, etc.

 

2.  Put your marriage and family first. It’s hard to take care of each other when you’re worried about disappointing loved ones. But if both sets of grandparents plan simultaneous celebrations, someone’s got to be disappointed. Don’t sacrifice your spouse’s needs. The rule: spouse before family of origin or friends. Decide together what you want to happen in December. Maybe you should say no to your uncle’s annual snowmobiling trip so you can skate with your own kids.

 

3.  Share the load. Holiday preparations tend to fall on one person’s shoulders—which isn’t good for either spouse. The one with the heavy workload feels resentful; the other partner feels useless and disconnected.  Seek a balance of duties and agree on priorities before the rush begins. To create a balance, let some duties go and mix up other chores. Last Christmas when I was pregnant, Jim bought stocking stuffers for his family’s Christmas celebration—a job I normally handle. We’re still laughing over the funny gifts he chose

 

4.  Listen to your spouse’s dream. Heather tells me that what she really wants for Christmas is some quiet family evenings. So we set aside the nights. Plan to see “The Nutcracker” together or take a Saturday to shop for the tree and trim it.

 

5.  Honor each other’s family traditions. In my family the video camera and other cameras stay in continual use during holiday gatherings. Heather comes from a photographically challenged family, but now she enjoys it—most of the time. Maybe you dislike your spouse’s family’s favorite Christmas snack. Maybe your family gives lots of presents, and your spouse’s gives just a few. Talk about the differences and respect each other’s celebration styles.  There is really no “right” or “wrong” here, just different preferences.

 

6.  Plan ahead– lighten the calendar. Make pre-Christmas, Christmas and post-Christmas plans. For example, have get-togethers in November and January, then commit December to major events.

 

7.  Respect your budget. If Heather splurges on a gift for her sister then I feel “justified” to splurge on a gift for my dad. It’s easy to find ourselves extended beyond our budget. Especially when money is tight, it’s not fair to overspend and then expect your spouse to support your purchases. Plan ahead so you have time to find “perfect” gifts within your limits.  Talk with your spouse about what is fair and avoid competing.

 

8.  Set a date night in December. Too many “must-do” events leave no time for you as a couple. So plan a night out—or “in” after the kids are asleep. If you can’t schedule one, then you’re over-committed.   Back off from trying to do so much.  Slow down and live.

9.  Keep in mind the best gift you can give. A loving relationship is the best gift. So make decisions that nurture your marriage and reduce tension. What’s the gift we want most? A marriage that reflects the beauty and sacrifice of God’s gift to humankind.