Category Archives: religion

Nov 8 2011

Good Days and Bad Days

This is a guest post from my friend Tracy’s Pastor at her church.

The Pastor’s Pen  
Someone has said that there is dual quality to human existence – that life is lived out of “two pockets”.  Another way to say this is that we have “good days” and we have “bad days”.

 Heck, I have days when I get out of bed, feel rested, walk through a very dark house without running into the furniture, the coffee pot works without a hitch, the shower water is hot, the towels are clean, my razor is sharp and my favorite shirt is cleaned and pressed.  By the time I get to the office, the employees are already there working diligently, my computer runs smoothly, I remember to call on the neediest people, and I never say anything wrong!  Sundays are like that, too.  The music is superb, we begin worship on time, the sermon is witty and powerful, and we get out of worship on time.  Yes, days like that are very very good days.

 And then there are the bad days.  I get up late (I forgot to set the alarm), I feel like a truck hit me, and as I stumble around in the dark, I stub my toe.  By the time I finally get to the church office, I get a phone call from Wendy telling me I have incurred a late fee and a penalty from the bank (I’m overdrawn in my checking account), and the health insurance company has declined yet another bill that they should have paid immediately.  Then to make matters worse, I get on the phone, and in a moment of insensitivity, say all the wrong things to a member who is already upset with me….yes, this is going to be a really bad day!

 As we move forward in the wake of yet another All Saints Day (the day that follows Halloween), we realize that Saints also had their ups and downs, their good days and their bad days, the time they were ”saintly”, and the times they were extremely “human”.  A well-known philosopher once said “our life is lived out of two pockets.”  He went on to suggest that whatever comes out of the “pockets” of live generally reflects either our greatness or our smallness.  Yes, we all have our good days and our bad days – and God loves us every day, fortunately!
Sep 11 2011

Remembering Part II

As was probably the case in many churches today, our sermon focused on the events of ten years ago today, September 11, 2001.  The first half of the message answered the question, “What changes have taken place in our country since that day?”  Here were some of the examples listed:

  • Air travel
  • People have become more patriotic
  • Congress was united right after the attacks (didn’t last long though)
  • The fundamental values of freedom were more of a priority
  • We grew in appreciation of the men and women in the military, police, fire and 1st responders
  • New household vocabulary words were learned like Osama Bin Laden, Taliban and War on Terror
  • People went back to church (temporarily)

That last point is what is interesting to me.  Why is it that when people are afraid, they seek God the most?  The real reason should be that they have come to realize that real hope is only found in the living God.  Life is uncertain and very brief and there are no guarantees except through Jesus.  He can’t be matched.

This song was performed today along with the video.  Very moving.  We are certainly blessed to live in this country.

 

Aug 21 2011

The Mirror

Thought I would share a summary of today’s sermon.  We are still in the book of 1 Samuel, which I have written about earlier.

The key verse today was  1 Samuel 16:7 – But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

How true are those words.  When God decided to choose a new King for Israel, he wasn’t looking for a man who had a head full of thick, wavy hair, or one who was muscular and wore the best clothes, or the one who had the most Facebook friends :)   Instead his focus was on finding a man who had great character, great faith and who had a heart of obedience to God.  And so he chose David, the youngest of eight sons.  He chose a person who came from an unknown city and an unknown family.

In today’s society, image is what gets the most attention.  We judge each other on how we look, what we wear and by what we drive.  We pay out billions to attract attention to ourselves, just so we feel that our life matters.  Between the cosmetics, hair products, diet foods and surgeries, we have basically shown that the image we see in the mirror is our top priority.

But we are so wrong.

I constantly preach to my children that just because some one is cute or pretty, doesn’t mean they are a nice person.  Never let your outward beautify define who you are or aren’t.  What matters the most is inside you – what’s truly in your heart and soul.

Everything else is just temporary anyway.

 

Aug 7 2011

God and the Government

Our Sunday sermons this summer have focused on the Old Testament and how it applies to us today.  I have enjoyed them and have learned a great deal.  Today was no exception.

We have been studying the book of 1 Samuel for the past few weeks.  Today’s focus was      1 Samuel 8.  In this chapter we learn that the people of Israel wanted an earth King.  This displeased God, but because God gives us free will, he let’s us make our own decisions, even if they are bad ones.

God spoke to the Israelites through Samuel about what the King, or the government, will do.  I couldn’t help but to think that this lesson still rings true to this day.  Here is what the bible says about having an earthly King:

“This is what the king who will reign over you will do:  He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.  Some he will assign to be commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.  He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.  He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.  He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.  Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves”.

Doesn’t look like things have change much over the years.

Jul 25 2011

Sunday Thoughts

I wanted to post this yesterday (Sunday), but just never got around to it.  Better late than never.

I did a lot of reading on our recent trip, as we had a ten-hour drive one way.

One of the books I read (and am almost done with) is called Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado.  It is a great book on how God uses ordinary people to do great things.  There are some great take-a-ways from this book that I would like to share with you.

Quotes

“God doesn’t call the qualified.  He qualifies the called.”

  “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.”

“As long as you are stationary, no one will complain.  Dogs don’t bark at parked cars.”

“He is the Milky Way galaxy.  We are the sand flea.”

“He walked on water but never strutted on the beach.”

“God never sends you where he hasn’t already been.”

“Prayer does not change God’s nature; who he is will never be altered.  Prayer does, however, impact the flow of history.  God has wired his world for power, but he calls on us to flip the switch.”

Open Your Door; Open Your Heart

This chapter, six, is about hospitality.  Maxwell says that “You can cycle through a day of business and never say hello.” With all the automated services there are today, human contact has decreased substantially.  He goes on to say: “Some people pass an entire day with no meaningful contact with anyone else.”  And did you know that the Greek word for hospitality means to love a stranger?  When was the last time you invited someone over for dinner or tea?

Stand Up for the Have-Nots

I re-read Chapter ten a few times.  I learned something that I knew nothing about – the year of Jubilee.  This was a celebration that was to occur twice in a century.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Beginning on the Day of atonement, all the fields were allowed to rest.  No farming permitted. The fallow land could recover from forty-nine years of planting and harvesting.  In addition, all the slaves were freed.  Anyone who had been sold into slavery or who had sold himself into slavery to pay off debt was released.  Bondage ended.

And as if the soil sabbatical and slave emancipation weren’t enough, all property was returned to its original owners.  The Jubilee provision guaranteed that every family, at least twice a century, would have the opportunity to get back on its feet.”

Maxwell describes this time period like this: “God shakes the social Etch a Sketch, and everyone is given a clean slate.”

I pondered this over and over in my mind.  If this provision was still in existence today, what would our world look like?  But the more I thought about that, I realized that in some respects, we do have that opportunity to start fresh each and everyday, thanks to Jesus.  So if your picture on your internal Etch A Sketch isn’t what you want your life to look like, let Jesus shake it up and start over.

May 1 2011

Out Live Your Life

Today our sermon at church was entitled Out Live Your Life.  It was based on Max Lucado’s book.

Our minister’s message was about the brevity of life.  He talked about people who live their entire lives preparing to live – living for the “Someday I will. . .”, not realizing that the “somedays” will eventually come to an end.

James 4:13 -14 says this: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

He went on to ask these questions to the congregation:

“Are you living from distraction to distraction?  What really matters to you today?  What are you doing today that will still matter 100 years from today?”

That last question stuck with me all day.  What am I teaching my children or doing for my community that will have made a difference 100 years from now?  Whatever your answer is to this question is truly what matters.  It should be your focus. 

Don’t be one of those ‘If only I would have. . .’ people.