Sam's Blog

Loyalty

2009-03-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Loyalty is so important in any relationship. It is what builds trust and creates an environment for honesty. I have seen so many who lack loyalty in their lives. Affairs, gossip and even an unwillingness to confront issues in a friends life often arises from a lack of loyalty and commitment. Loyalty is hanging tight with someone when their life is falling apart all around them. It is willing to listen and discuss the hard issues of life. It is open to constructive criticism because their has been a mutual, often unspoken agreement to be loyal to each other. It is knowing that they have your back. It is a foundation for what God calls Fellowship. That deep quality of friendship that David and Jonathan had. Willing to take a bullet for each other and stand up for the other in the midst of a barrage of criticism.

Where has loyalty gone? I think in our consumer driven culture we treet our relationships like our car insurance company. If we find a better deal, bam, we are gone. If things get a little tough or they get a little to close or say the wrong thing or speak into our life, bam, we are gone. Deep relationships require honesty and loyalty. You cannot have one without the other. Am I a loyal friend. I hope so.

Ultimate Network

2009-03-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Constant Conversation-pray without ceasing, same thing, yet we so often think of prayer as unattainable. In our day it may be said to stay connected. We do this with our friends through text, e-mail and cell phones. We are never more than a text away from our loved ones. I believe this is what God meant when He told us to pray without ceasing. To have a constant dialogue going. For me I have begun to use everyday things to remind me that I am never in a "dead zone" with God.

Today, seeing the beautiful sky, I said; Thank you, God, for the beautiful sky. This reminds me not only who is responsible, but also that God is with me. Being a friend with God means that I am connected by a network that can never fail. One established by Jesus and maintained by the Holy Spirit. Yet, to utilize it, I had to join, by admitting my need for forgiveness and accepting the work Jesus did. Then I became part of a network that never fails or drops any calls. God loves it when I use the network. It keeps us close and I am aware of His presence more and more in the ordinary, even mundane things of life.

Friends, family, beauty and even difficulties can keep the conversation flowing. Brother Lawrence in the book Practicing the Presence of God tells how everything we do can be an act of worship, if we do it for God. I'm "connected;" are you?

Live Like you were Dying

2009-02-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite songs. Tim McGraw put so many of our thoughts into words. If we sould only live this way on a daily basis there would be less arguing, complaining and the constant struggle for more. There would be more time for caring, spending time with those we love the most and less worrying about things that don't matter. Day 4 reading in Purpose Driven Life sums this sentiment up well with Matthew Henry's words, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day.”

Most of my life has been spent living for the here and now, not for the future. True freedom comes when we learn to live with eternity in mind and can let go of the unimportant. In college i read a small pamphlet called the Tyranny of the Urgent. It laid out the premise that life is filled with important tasks and urgent tasks. The important are those areas that bring life the most meaning, such as; participating in our children's play, holding hands with the one we love, slowing down and enjoying where we are and who we are with. Instead we allow the urgent to run our life. E-mails, text and phone calls dictate how we spend our days. The urgent scream for our attention, while the important sits in the background waiting patiently for our time. So many of us have succumb to Tyranny of the Urgent and when we reach the end of our life we are filled with regrets. If we will turn these issues around and put the important first and relegate the urgent to follow our schedule, we will reach the end of our life filled with wonderful memories and with the people we love.

I am trying to "live my life as if I were dying." Funny thing is we all are and just don't act like it. That's a thought for another day.

I'm Back and Better than Ever

2009-02-24T11:20:00.000-08:00

What on earth am I here for? This has some tremendous implications for me now since my recent brush with death. Or should I say the "shock" of death. Having a heart attack has given me so much to think about. It has driven home that we have such a short time to live and made me ask; is what I am doing really important, really valuable? Am I just taking up space or making an impact? How do we determine the answers to these questions? Who decides what is important and what is not? Can we know?

I think we can. God has made it clear that it is not what we do, but who we are that is important. "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." He gives our life meaning. It is in how He designed us that causes impact, not how well we can do a cannonball in the pool of life. We are a masterpiece, created in His image, designed to fulfill His purpose, this is the answer. It is not about how much we do, but who we are that matters. You and I ARE God's masterpiece. When we live according to the way He created us we become a tool in His hand that can create. It is in this that we discover our purpose and meaning.

EXPERIENCING GOD

2008-07-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

If God is all powerful and able to anything that He wants, then why do we not see more evidence of His working in our lives? Do we somehow say we believe yet in practice and lifestyle prove otherwise? These are issues that are raised in a book I am reading by Richard Blackaby. His book Unlimiting God, opens up the issue that God desires for us to know Him in His fullness and experience His power in our lives, yet because of our lack of faith, we limit ourselves to living mundane lives.

D.L Moody, once said that he world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully devoted to Him. I ask why is God able to use an ordinary man, greatly and often those with great gifts and talents remain mediocre. I agree with Blackaby that it is the choice of the individual. Each of us has the ability to be used by God. There is no insignificant task, when God gives us something to accomplish. Often we, I look for the grandiose to perform for God, when God wants us to submit and obey in the little things that He is able to mold into a grand masterpiece, one that only He receives the credit. Am I willing to join God in His assignment or am I waiting for some huge task? Am I following Him or trying to get Him to follow me?

I want to know the power of the resurrection. How about you? What am I willing to do to experience it.

How would you rate your marriage?

2008-06-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, whiloe attending a marriage conference we were asked the question; rate your marriage from 0-10, with 10 being the greatest thing ever. I went first and thought that I would be a little conservative and say that I thought it would be between 7 or 8. Myra then went and said that in her opinion it was only about a 4. What a shock. I had no clue. This became the first of many steps in growing a great marriage. Have you asked you spouse how they would rate your marriage? Probably not. Go ahead and take the chance. Be willing to hear a difficult answer, and then be willing to begin taking steps to make it all that God intends for it to become.

Marriage????

2008-06-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

What do you think of when you think of marriage? Happily ever after or does it cause you to feel disappointment, anger and frustration? How do we make this life together really work? It is often a mystery, the intertwining of two lives into a single tree reaching together for the stars. I am not nieve, neither do I have a perfect marriage (because I'm not perfect), I do know what it is to have a difficult marriage and now I know how great marriage can be. It has been a long journey for us, 26 years and counting. The first 18 were years of much battling and difficulties. In the last 8 we have entered into a time of joy together. I'm a slow learner, I guess. But, I am learning the secret to this beautiful union of two individuals called marriage.

Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring the secrets of marriage here and on Sunday mornings at JC3. Let's journey together toward marriage happiness.

2008-05-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Life can get out of control so quickly. We never know what is next on the agenda. Health concerns, financial chaos, children and spouses all can change in the next moment. It is what makes life so unpredictable. How do we navigate in the midst of all the obstacles we can't even see? It is vital to hold onto the only one who never changes, who is steady in an unsteady world. It is why it is so important to tie our rope to a secure anchor. It seems that many times when an unexpected event comes along, and lately it has been happening more than I'd care to reminisce about, that my rope is tied either to loose and I drift or tied to the wrong thing. Only God offers true security in the "eye of the storm." Are you tied tight to God? Don't wait to find out, as the boy scouts motto says, I was one for about six months, but that is another story, "Be Prepared. It is never too late, yet, it is so much easier when chaos shows up to find that your anchor is secure.

What storm are you facing?

More to come...

Is belief enough?

2008-05-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Is it enough to believe the right things about God? Is that what makes me a follower of Jesus? While I do believe that we have to believe in certain core truths, like; Jesus is God's Son, He died and was buried and rose again. I think there is more to being a Christ follower than knowing certain facts. The bible says that even the demons believe and yet their destiny is Hell. So it must be that it is a lifestyle and not a set of rigid beliefs. To know Christ is to become like Him, that is why I like the term follower. It signifies that we are to become like Him in action. The Christian LIFE is just that a decision followed by a change in our lifestyle. We cannot claim to be a follower of Christ if it is not effecting our everyday lifestyle. How are we living like Jesus today? So join me as I choose to follow Christ today. What do you think?

Sunday

2008-04-28T08:00:00.001-07:00

Wow! Awesome! Unbelievable! How do you describe it when God moves? Yesterday blew us away as we were witness to a tremendous movement of God. Someone said it looked like half of those in attendance came forward to commit to Christ at the close of our worship. We have been praying for God to move and He certainly did yesterday. We talked about a difficult and hard subject to hear; HELL. Yet, God used it to impact all of us in attendance. Pray with me as we follow up with those who made a commitment and encourage them to take the next step, baptism.

You never know when God will show up, so it is important to always keep our eyes open to where He is working. Praise God He is still changining lives and uses us to accomplish it. God wants to use you as you make youself available. How can you make yourself available this week? Will you do the "same old things" you do everyday or will you commit to reach out to soemone in love and pray that God uses you to infect them with His love? Let's become tools in God's hands and do something hard this week. Touch a life. Wow, I can't wait to see where and when God is going to show up again.

Can we really Change?

2008-04-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Romans 12 makes it clear that transformation comes through a change in our thought process. I have been trying to think more positive lately. It is so cool to imagine that our thought have such power over us. Thinking on the things that God thinks about us has a calming and invigorating effect on our outlook. He accepts us worts and all. In John 1:12 Jesus makes it clear that we are God's children if we trust in Him. Wow!!! What an awesome thought. I am God's son. He is my Father, my Dad. Let that sink in. What do I have to worry about, if God is my Father. There is nothing that catches Him off guard, nothing to big for Him to handle. Wow!!! Think about that!

Whew, what a week.

2008-04-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

It seems that this week has been busy and stressful on one hand and so rewarding an renewing on the other. Thank God, I'm not in control. I'd be yelling let me off, stop this thing. Thank you for praying for our 9 month old granddaughter who spent the first two days of the week at Children's Hospital after having another seizure. Talk about feeling out of control. Yet, in the chaos of all of this we saw God answer our prayers by giving us reassurance and a few more answers. We discovered that seizures cause no brain damage or developmental issues. Two things we didn't know. This alone calmed our fears of what would the effects of little Ashlynn's episodes would do long term. While we are still waiting to see if God has healed her, He has answered our prayer for the Doctors to find the cause of the episodes. The unknown is worse by far than knowing the issue.

That began our week and then we saw continue to move in the life of our church. God moved in an awesome way Wed. evening during our first Wed. service. God touched someone who has been dealing with an addiction problem and he uncovered it before God and before us. He is also homeless and we took an offering to provide a place to stay. There is a powerful movement going on. Please pray for God provide for him and that he would receive the love God has in store.

God is with us no matter what is going on. He sees where we are and loves it when we join Him in his work. He is working in so many areas around us. Look around and see if God is not working where you are. Ask for eyes to see and then for the courage to take the necessary steps to join in His work with Him. You never know what will happen as a result of our leaning on Him.

Change

2008-03-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Time to make a change... Changes. What is it about change that we love to hate? Is it the underlying lack of motivation or the thought of doing the hard work that is often required for change to take place? I don't like my weight, but the effort required to exercise regularly or to push back from the table is more than I'm inclined to give. Therefore, change in that area doesn't happen.

If I am to change I have to be willing to do the hard work of uncovering those areas where I am stuck. Stuck in the muck of doing the same thing over and over. Getting unstuck is difficult. It requires tremendous effort if we are to accomplish the work. That is why we need God. He is the unseen force that can remove the obstacle from our lives that has us stuck in the muck. Only when we uncover the area of difficulty and allow God to intervene can we experience life change. He is able to work in us to provide the motivation and power for change to happen. My prayer is for God to reveal those areas where I am stuck, so that with His help, He can reach down and pull me out.

Signs

2008-03-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

Signs, signs everywhere signs... remember the old song. Well the past couple of weeks, signs have been on my mind. I guess because we tore down the old church sign and just today had the new one installed. It's funny, someone said that a friend asked if we went out of business because our sign was missing. Hopefully, today they will realize that we are back in business and doing better than ever.

This got me thinking. What is our sign? Is is just for information? Does it show that we occupy some space? Or is it the symbol of what is inside? I hope it is the latter. What is the sign on your life, my life? Is it the external looks? I think it is the external actions that come about because of our internal character. Our sign is seen 24/7. Only we don't consider it as a sign. It is our behavior. The way we interact with people. Our sign is always on. We can have our sign changed. Only God is able to change our sign.

Most people go through their Entire life with the same sign. Only an encounter with the Creator God is it possible for our sign to be changed. Some have tried to change it themselves, yet underneath the old sign reappears. God changes us from the inside out. Then people see the difference that He makes and question what has happened to the old sign, old you. This Easter is a great time to allow God to change our sign. I'm ready for it, are you?

Great Leaders

2008-03-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!! Having just returned from Duck, NC from our leadership retreat, I am flying high. It was a wonderful experience, building unity and grower as a team. Friday, God showed up and we experience a wonderful time of praying for each other.

It is so true that when we surrender our will to God, He moves in our hearts. We discussed how humbling it is to allow someone to serve us. Our pride interferes with God's desire to mold us into a Mature follower. That is one of Jesus' reasons for washing the disciples feet in John 13. After Jesus washed the disciples feet He commands that we wash each others feet. I don't have a difficult time washing someone's feet, it is difficult to allow someone to wash mine. Yet, Christ told Peter that if he couldn't wash Peter's feet, then Peter would not be a part of Jesus. This time opened us up to experience God's movement and a time of healing. Many of us keep God at arm's length because of our fear of being found with dirty feet.

Ever experience the embarassment of taking your shoes off in a group to find you have dirty socks or socks with holes. We hate revealing that our feet are less than spotless. We would rather hide the dirt. That is so like our life that we hide those areas of our life that are hidden and yet are imperfect. Jesus desires to wash our life daily to remove the dust and dirt that we pick up by being human. He never forces us to come to him to be washed. He patiently waits for us to come and humble ourselves so that He can do His work. I am so glad Jesus is so willing to wash my feet.