Week of the One Year
- This is a big week…exactly one year ago our family made the westerly pilgrimage from Ohio to Missouri. And wow, what a journey it has been. In some ways it has been one of the most challenging years of our lives…in other ways it has been the most rewarding year of our lives. There are so many incredible lessons, blessings, and moments in the last year…God has demonstrated to us his faithfulness and goodness over and over again. We are blessed with friends that we love and love in return. We are filled with hope about the future that God has in store. We have witnessed amazing life-change in people. And we have watched God deliver just in the nick of time. This has been a year that will shape the rest of our lives…and we are very humbled and thankful for everyone who has had a part in it. Thanks!
- I guess “I just want you to wash the dishes” really wasn’t as good as a punch line as I thought…
- Looking forward to “living it out” within our community on Wednesday night at 7pm. Be here.
- This week we will be “going live” with a couple of new on-line additions to our ministry. The simple “scaled-down” version of our new church website and our internal church management software. It will take a few weeks to get everything aligned and working…but I am stoked about getting the ball rolling.
- Next Sunday we are celebrating Pastor Bill’s contributions to nbc over the last 5 years. Bill and Mel have given of themselves to our children and church…and I hope that we can give a little back this next Sunday.
- I am working on a new series for late summer…the idea is to gather questions from the audience and talk about it and check out what the Bible says….I am wanting to call it something like “your questions” or “your sermon” or “I wish I could ask…”. BUT I need your help. First, help me name this series. Second, what questions do you have or wish you could ask about the Bible, God, Christians, life, or the church….???
- Oswald Chambers – “The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you.”
I have questions about God’s will/power and how that relates to me. I think I believe that God lets me live my life and make decisions. I don’t think I’m a puppet. I don’t have any concrete evidence that God has ever changed the course of my life without my consent. Then again, on many occasions my heart has been changed by things I have seen or heard that God provided. Well, here’s my real question. What is the use of prayer? Let’s say that I have a terrible disease. I pray for God to heal me. And let’s pretend that I am healed. Did my prayers convince God to heal me? If God is all-knowing didn’t he already know that He would heal me? Did He also know that I would be obedient and ask for that? Do my prayers ever change His mind?
Tackle that one!
Jodi Light
July 7, 2009 at 9:49 pm
One of my favorite (in most cases rhetorical) questions to ask: Why do so many Christians spend so much time preparing or waiting for that big ministry opportunity, instead of doing what they can where they are?
The former often results in a lifetime of waiting, while the latter spends a lifetime of serving.
Follow-up rhetorical question: Which group are you in?
Ray
July 13, 2009 at 10:30 am
Great question…I think I would have to say…both. I have lived the “frustrated” life of waiting, feeling like I had to have permission and title in order to act. And I grew eventually enough frustrated at my frustration that I was motivated to do something about it. For me…it goes back to the very first blog post ever written here on my blog. I was reading a book called “Holy Discontent” by Hybels…and I can honestly say, it was a defining moment in me to act. I have tried from that moment to this to always choose to serve over standing around complaining…
Shane Ash
July 13, 2009 at 2:49 pm