Religion

I just got back from a day-long retreat with the local Sarver-Saxonburg Ministerium.  It was great!  One of the common themes of the day was that it's HARD to take the time daily to get alone with God for an hour, and weekly or monthly for a more extended time.  Why?  For the same reason that it's hard for everyone--time doesn't grow on trees, and there are always 100 things crying out for our attention.  Even pastors and other church workers struggle with putting God first on our calendars, because so many other people and circumstances press in on us.  I was reminded throughout the day of Jesus' response to such pressure.  After his first full day of ministry --calling 4 disciples, preaching in the synagogue, healing dozens of people and casting demons out of many more, Jesus called it day.  (What a day!)  The next morning He got up before daylight, and went off by Himself to pray.  When the disciples got up they started looking for Jesus.  After a while they found Him and said, "Jesus everybody is looking for you!" (No joke.  He had started quite a ministry the day before.) They could have gone back into Capernaum, started a capital campaign and had quite a ministry.  But Jesus said, "Let's go someplace else, and preach the Good News.  That's why I came!"  Jesus didn't get distracted by all the competing cries for His time, His skills, His life.  He had invested the first and best part of His day with His heavenly Father, so He was clear on what He was AND what He was NOT supposed to do.  What would our days look like if we did that, too?  (See Mark chapter 1 for the full account.)

Monday evening I read Joseph Sangl's I Was Broke, Now I'm Not.  It's the most practical guide to getting finances under control I've ever read!  I've been through Crown Financial's materials, Good Sense Materials, and have read Randy Alcorn's books on money and stewardship--and all of them are excellent.  What makes I Was Broke, Now I'm Not stand out for me is that it is so SIMPLE--not easy, but simple.  It also challenges you to think not only about finances, getting out of debt, etc... but it starts with asking you to consider what you would be/do if money was not a stumbling block in your life.  That's a great question, isn't it?   How many times in my life has a lack of "spare" money, kept me from being able to do something that would advance God's kingdom? -- More times than I can count.  Sangl's book has given me a renewed commitment to get completely out of debt, so our family can be freed up to live fully as Jesus wants us to.  The next step is to PLAN, then IMPLEMENT the plan.  One of Sangl's best comments is "Thoughts and talk without action are babble."  Amen.  If I had a dollar for everytime I talked about becoming a more effective money manager (steward of God's resources), I would have more than enough money!  If you're looking for a practical guide to turning your financial life around, honoring God in that area of your life, and being debt free. I Was Broke, Now I'm not is for you.  See more at Joseph Sangl

Monday night at 9:45, Nancy told me she was tired and was going to bed.  Emmy was going to bed because the school strike was finally over, and she needed to get up early.  That left me with a decision--Stay up and watch "My Own Worst Enemy," one of my favorite new shows; go to bed and get some extra sleep; stay up and read Joseph Sangl's book I Was Broke, Now I'm Not.  As I was pondering the decision, this thought struck me:  What if watching My Own Worst Enemy is really BEING my own worst enemy?  I believe the thought came from God!  I chose to read Sangl's book.  More on that in my next post.  Before I end this one, though, let me say that through the decision-making process I came to an important conclusion:  I am no longer going to stay up to watch tv by myself.  In fact, if tv watching isn't a "team" experience - meaning my family, friends, etc... I'm not going to do it.  Actually, Nancy, Emmy and I have been watching a number of shows on the network websites AFTER they've been on, and it only takes 45 minutes to watch an hour show.  In addition, the commercial breaks are only 30 seconds long.  Eventually, with decisions like this maybe I won't be my own worst enemy any more!

The Purchase Line Red Dragons football team fell to the Portage Mustangs in last night's semi-final round of the District Six playoffs.  That probably means little to most of you, but PL is my alma mater, and I had hoped that this would be the year that they went all the way!  The Red Dragons finish the year at 11-1, which is amazingly better than "back in the day," when I played for them.  We didn't win 11 games in my entire high school career.  Congratulations to Coach Dave Small and the Red Dragons for another great year.  You make all of us PL grads proud!

Emmy and I were driving to have lunch with Nancy's brother and sister-in-law and the rest of our immediate family after worship this morning (actually early afternoon), when big snowflakes started coming down as we drove.  What a beautiful form of precipitation!  I know folks have differing opinions about snow, and every other aspect of the weather, but Emmy and I were immediately ready to go home and get out the Christmas decorations.  While, we didn't, the snow reminded me that winter will soon be here with all that entails.  It also means another year is nearly over.  Where has 2008 gone?  One thing's for sure--there's still lots of time to live the remainder of 2008 for Jesus (unless He returns before it ends, in which case time will suddenly be irrelevant for all eternity!), and to bring Him honor.  Whether the snow continues, or whatever the weather, I'm grateful that God created snow, and so many other reminders that Someone greater than I is in charge!

The first 139 copies of Life Cycle of a Christian were printed and put into book form yesterday, and as the old Shake 'n Bake commercials used to say, "...and I helped!"  The only way to get the first copies completed on Friday was for Emmy and meto join the staff of the Eagle Printery for some collating, and then we got to go to the bindery and watch as they were "perfect bound" and cut.  The first printing of Life Cycle is 1,000 copies.  Here's a synopsis:

Why do some followers of Jesus mature rapidly in Him, while others don't seem to grow or mature at all?  In Life Cycle of a Christian, Chris Marshall not only answers that question, but provides biblical guidelines for believers who want to accelerate their own growth.  Whether you use Life Cycleas a personal study guide, in a home group setting, or a Bible study class, you will learn and grow deeper in your life as a Christian.....This step-by-step approach to growth doesn't provide "ten easy methods." It does provide time tested principles and practices he has sought to live in his own life for nearly four decades, and which he has been passing on to others during his quarter of a century in pastoral ministry. Life Cycle is a must read for those who are serious about putting Jesus first in their lives, and becoming more like Him each day.

Life Cycle costs $12.00 (US) and you can get your copy by posting a comment to this post with your name and mailing information.  Bulk order discounts are available.

Thanks, to Wendy for forwarding this to me:

READ THIS BRIEF STORY BEFORE WATCHING THE SHORT VIDEO:
A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'
The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'.

They went on to complete the marathon together.

Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.

One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.'

To which, his father said 'Yes' too.

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever.

The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86kilometer) ocean swim,
followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island, Hawaii.

Father and son went on to complete the race together. View this race at.....

NOW WATCH THIS VIDEO:

Pundits have been touting today as the most important day in American history.  While that may be an overstatement, without a doubt, today is an extremely important day.  We have the opportunity as followers of Jesus to be faithful citizens of God's kingdom as well as of the United States of America.  We're all aware that Romans 13 calls us to "obey the governing authorities.." and part of that obedience for us as Americans is to take an active role in selecting our leaders.  While God puts all leaders in place as Romans 13 tells us, He gives us the opportunity to participate in that process as Americans.  So, if you are a Christian and a registered voter, make the time today to VOTE!  And remember that we cannot separate our faith from our decisions.  We may not have a great choice in each of the offices for which we must choose a leader, but we do have a better choice.  It is not only our duty to vote our consciences as followers of Jesus, but to vote as the Holy Spirit leads us.  VOTE!

Every year when it's time to "fall back" I miss out on the extra hour of sleep we're all supposed to get, because something always comes up, or I just stay up because I'm getting an EXTRA hour.  Then in the spring when we "spring ahead," I lose that hour.  Since that's been my practice all of my adult life, I'd guess I've lost about 30 hours of life that I'm never getting back!  Actually, I'd be grateful if in the past 30 years I had only lost 30 hours of life.  The older I get the more I realize that there aren't enough hours left to waste them.  2008 has been a year of "Back to Basics" at New Life, but it's been a year of back to basics for me in my personal life as well.  I've been seeking to truly seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as never before.  I take time to plan my work, work my plan and then evaluate the plan and the work as never before.  That being said, I find that old patterns really don't give up easily.  Every time I sense that I'm on the verge of breaking through to the kind of ordered world that has adequate planning, excellent action and realistic evaluation, resulting in maximum productivity for the Kingdom of God, something comes up that keeps that ideal from working fully in my life.  One thing I realized this morning is that with the "falling back," to eastern standard time, I have about a week where my body is going to be "fooled" into thinking that it's an hour later than it is.  I woke up without an alarm at 4:00 a.m. this morning, because my body thought it was 5:00.  That will continue for a week or so, until the old body "clock" resets.  That means I'll have a week or so of getting started early, planning more effectively and getting AHEAD on my list of "to do's" that need to be "to done" in order for me to be working ahead.  If I take that window and use it wisely, life will be better.  I'll let you know how it works out.  Maybe you'll want to take advantage in the same way!

Have you ever wondered about baptism?  Do you know that the Bible speaks of "baptisms" (plural) as one of the six elementary teachings of our faith?  This Sunday we'll investigate what the Bible says about "baptisms" and what that means for our daily lives as Jesus' followers.  We'll also celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, so you'll want to be there for sure!