Weekly Reachout 12/7

Hey folks, I was just talking to Amy about how tired we both are. I know that it's perfectly normal for this time of year but whoa. I hope that this hectic time of year won't press in too hard on you guys!    Ilove you all and hope that you will take time to celebrate our Savior's journey to Earth. Take time to listen for His voice, and spend some time just enjoying His presence.

    I hope many of you have decided to join us for caroling Sunday. We will eat after the 11o'clock service and then go to the nursing home for some singin' and card givin'. We will have the lyrics with us. No, you can't lip sinc. Please come and join us. It'll be different for sure and a lot of fun!

    Please don't forget gifts for the Navajo children and the gifts for the family we decided to help this year.  The church is pushing for Toys for Tots so we need to really come through for the Navajo kids. I know we will do a great job for both.

    We are still on for the 8th of January. Bring your favorite dishes and we will have a movie ready.It's gonna be a blast.  We love you all so much! See ya soon!

God's creations

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.
We all read this and probably know it by heart. God created it all. We know this and yet we seem to fail to appreciate just what God created. We tend to witness everyday events and take even the sunrise and sunset for granted.

Here is a section of the Bible I love to read. In it you can see sarcasm from God as well as the things he is constantly in control of that we call nature. It's way too long to post here but please click these links and read these chapters.

Job 38
Job 39
Job 40
Job 41

Job 42: ¹ Then Job replied to the LORD:

² “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

Everything we see and know is a product of God. We seem to know why it rains or hails or lightning strikes, but God knows where he keeps the rain, hail, and lightning before he sends it to us. If for once we could see the everyday world as something God is orchestrating then we could see his majesty.

Now go and read Isaiah 40:10-31.

²⁵ “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

Verse 22 talks about God sitting above the circle of the Earth. Now it seems so ordinary, but this was thousands of years before anyone imagined a round world. To our eyes it all seems simple. God has literally dumbed it down for us. See, when you take apart something man has made it goes from something complex to something simple. Imagine a car. It's a complex machine. Take it apart and you'll get lots of pieces but it's just nuts and bolts. Now lets look at God's work. He's taken something very complex and made it look simple. Anyone who has done any Chemistry work knows about molecules and atoms. We look and see a simple piece of gold. But if you put it under a microscope you may get to see the individual molecules that make up the chunk of Gold. What you can't see is that making up those individual molecules are things called atoms. Gold has 79 protons, 118 neutrons, 79 electrons. The electrons reside on 6 different energy levels. The levels are: 1-2 electrons, 2-8 electrons, 3-18 electrons, 4-32 electrons, 5-18 electrons, 6-1 electron. Change one proton and you'll have a completely different element from gold. Now you probably recognize atoms. But did you know that it goes further? If you further magnify that proton inside the atom you'd see that it's composed of quarks. Right now that's as far as we can see or guess. You could do the same thing with anything even the world going through the galaxies. This is why as technology increases we get yet another layer upon layer of things scientists thought they knew were final and yet they keep going. You know it goes further though because God's work ends up going back to God's ways.

Isaiah 55: ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God's ways are much higher than ours. I thank God that he can show us how awesome he is just by giving us a glimpse of his creation. I also thank him that he dumbed it down so we could comprehend and use his creations. One thing is constant that can't be ignored. There is a point where scientists know that everything is so fragile and removing one little piece would destroy. To them it's a mystery why everything is in such great order. To Christians it's obvious. God has made it this way to testify to his greatness.

Romans 1:¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

All nature testifies to God. Is it any clearer than just simple nature? God's works are amazing and that's just the littlest things of God's creation. To be honest, it's hard to talk much about God's awesomeness. Not because I don't think he's amazing but just the opposite. His works and power are just so awesome that mere typed words can't describe or relate. Everything seems inferior and of course they are. If you skipped reading the Job chapters please go back and read them because it serves as a great reminder just how God continues to work everyday in our lives.

Holy, holy, holy

Exodus 33:¹⁷ And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹ Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

Exodus 34: ⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

⁸ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹ “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.”

This week in Sunday School it was about God's portion so I thought I would read and write a little on God's glory this week. There are many times in the Bible that God shows his glory and the result is always the same. We tend to think of us strutting into Heaven and giving God a High five, but it's not going to be that way at all. In these verses we get a glimpse of God's greatness. I can imagine Moses turning to Jello just seeing the back of God. Notice immediately he bowed to his knees and worshiped. Even the back side of God is holier than the holiest angel in Heaven. When Moses came down from the mountain the people recognized just the holiness of God still on Moses' face. His face was radiant. I imagine a bright light. It was so frightening that Moses had to put a veil over his head when he wasn't in the Lord's presence. So just how holy is God? Isaiah puts water over the whole strutting into Heaven and giving God a high five.

Isaiah 6:² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Now remember Verse 20 of Exodus again... no one may see my face and live. In Isaiah we see seraphim flying around the Lord. With 2 wings they covered their faces. Why? Because no one will see God's face and live. Even angels. With two wings they covered their feet. Why? Because the same reason God told Moses to remove his shoes on holy ground. See, we won't be going up and seeing God's face. His Holiness trumps everything everywhere. Just think, if our best is as filthy rags before the Lord, what do you think our filthy rags look like to him? God is infinitely holy and we are infinitely unholy. So what's the big deal? We've got Jesus to forgive our unholiness right? yes. but...

God is perfect holiness. If we are to live our lives as close to God as possible then it's just easy to see why we are called to be holy. If we are to have any harmony with God it has to be through our steps to holiness.

1Peter 1:¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Leviticus 11:⁴⁵ I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

We as sinful creatures cannot really understand or fathom the holiness of God, but it's something we must try to somewhat grasp. It's his holiness that brought us the 10 commandments, and ultimately Jesus to atone for our sins. It's only when we put aside our sinful desires and attempt a holy life that we can start to have a relationship with God.

Take a little time this week to try and feel God's holiness. Imagine yourself in the cleft of the rock with God's hand holding you to protect you. Imagine your body turning to a quivering pile of Jello with nothing at all to do but bow down and worship our Lord. For 40 days Moses didn't eat or drink and he didn't even know his face was so radiant. Nothing was of concern after viewing the holiness of God. Wouldn't it be nice to forget about all our troubles and worries and just bask in his holiness?

12/05/10, part 3

12/05/10 part 2

12/05/10 part 1

Comment posting has been changed

To keep spam to a minimum I had comments moderated on posts that were a day old.  So far we've been pretty fortunate that the spamming Russians haven't hit us so I'm going to open up the comments to unmoderated for posts up to 10 days.  The main reason is that when someone posts a comment (rarely unfortunately) they want it to show up immediately.  At least I do.  If anyone wants to come and contribute then please come.  You can reply just in comments and include your email and I'll send you a link to start posting.  This is for posting content on the blog, not commenting.  Commenting will always be open to anyone.  I'd love to have everyone interested and posting but I can only authorize people who respond and so it's up to y'all to let me know you want access.  Seriously it has really helped me in my walk posting here.

Gifts for AZ Mission trip

Hey guys! If you happen to be out and about shopping on Saturday, please remember the toys we are collecting for the Arizona Mission Trip. The team will be leaving Christmas night. They are looking for toys in the $5-$10 range for children ages birth-17 to be given to children on the Navajo Reservation. You can bring these gifts to class.

We will also be helping a family locally with 2 children- boy age 10, girl age 7. There are no particular wants, but the need is great. The little boy wears a size 10 slim and the girl wears a  7 slim. We'll have a more specific sign up sheet for gifts ready on Sunday, but if you are shopping and see anything (clothing or toys) that a 10 year old boy or 7 year old girl would like, feel free to bring it in as well.

We will be collecting for the mission trip and the local family through Sunday, Dec. 19.

Thanks so much guys! You are a blessing to us and will be to these people as well!

Ryan and Amy

Romans 11: Grafting in the redheaded step child...

Romans 11: 11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!

13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

This morning we read Romans 10 & 11. There is some deep and heavy stuff in Paul's letters. Especially in Romans where it's all laid out. I picked a pretty interesting part of 11 that really piqued my interest. To be honest sometimes when you read all this it comes face to face with things that you've heard other places. Sometimes real Biblical reading turns upside down the philosophies of things that you've created because you've put God down on your level and not up at God's level. We've made it more palatable but in turn turned the word around to make it not sound so harsh. So what in the world am I talking about? The sternness of God. It's something we tend to overlook in an effort to put God into human attitude. Instead of reading and learning verse 21, we'll focus on the easier parts of just being saved.

Bottom line is this. There are whole denominations built around once saved, always saved. Either way, believing or not believing it. It's all foolish trash designed by the Devil to keep us from trembling at God's sternness. People can go on and on about this and that and when exactly does someone lose their salvation, etc. We boldly point to Romans 10: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” I think we're pretty covered on declaring with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. I think we've got the sinner's prayer pretty down. Where we can't be sure of is the heart. Only God has that privilege. People can fake heart. So lots can come down and we can proclaim them saved, but only God really knows the truth. That's why once saved always saved is such a stumbling block. It's an insurance policy.

God doesn't want insurance policy holders. If you have to worry about once saved always saved then you had better change your life and get it right with the Lord. In verse 21 Paul talks about being broken off the tree. Seems pretty clear to me anyway. Verse 24 he talks about regrafting back onto the tree. So if we profess that Jesus Christ is Lord but don't actually make him Lord then where does that leave us? I'm not really sure. The humanist side who wants it to be easy as just saying some words to get to Heaven wants it to not matter. The Biblical side can't ignore these warnings combined with Jesus actually spitting out lukewarm Christians in name only. So if God knows your heart and the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin. Here's a thought....

If you have to ask someone if you are saved then you probably need to cancel your insurance policy and get to praying and work on making Jesus Lord over your life. I don't think that you can fall away from Jesus and have him not be Lord over your life without the Holy Spirit doing some pretty big convicting. Don't just write off every insecure feeling of eternity to the Devil. Do you think the Devil wants you to question your security and have you get it right with God? You know... it may be Jesus knocking at your door asking to come back in. Sure we can fool ourselves into thinking everything is ok but not really. We can ignore it, but deep down you know whether you are making Christ Lord over your life.

Matthew 7: ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Can we really believe that it will be easy to find the narrow gate? Do we think that it won't matter who is Lord over our life? If it was as easy as just saying a prayer and talking then wouldn't that be a pretty wide gate? We've got to make sure we have Jesus in our heart. That's not something that us selfish people do very easily. Yes maybe for a second for insurance, but everyday? I feel like I have lots of scars from being cut off and regrafted back to the tree. It's so much easier to play church than to be the church. It's so easy to think about Jesus' forgiveness of our sins instead of going and sinning no more. Much easy to do work for God the same as you do for man than to attempt a holy life. We all want it easy. I especially love easy. The wide gate is easy to find.

So really what am I trying to say? I'm a conflicted man. The Holy Spirit convicts me everytime I read about God's sternness. The wheat and the tares scares me to death. What do I want? I want to be walking with Jesus. My soul craves him. So I'm at war. My body craves easiness and sin and my soul craves holiness and Jesus. Everyday (hour or minute/second) I pray for me to turn my back on sin the way I've turned my back on Jesus so many times. God's word is hard and the teaching of the Lord aren't for the people who want to stay in the dark. It's a huge light and when you turn it on there are lots of things that were hidden by the dark that we've got to clean up. I pray we all turn to the light and swim upstream. If we have any question at all over your salvation then take time and make it right. Not to get out of Hell, but to make yourself holy and closer to the Savior.

**Disclaimer** I'm not attempting to preach down anything or anyone. It's just what God put on my heart and is working with me on. I know it's a really hot topic and controversial point and I'm not trying to bring up controversy. My views are just that. Not views from the church or even Sunday school. It's not a something I've hung my hat on but honestly something that I want God to decide on and lead me in the direction. It's not even really about once saved always saved but in actually being saved.

Broken/Don't Pass Me By - Indiana Bible College IBC

So we practiced Hallelujah Anyhow yesterday at choir practice. It's going to be part of the production. But then I just happened to listen to this song and wow. It's seriously blessed me. I so wish we could sing this in the choir. I know it's Jesus Freaky, but isn't that what we're supposed to be? There's never a time when this song doesn't apply to our lives. It's when we're broken that the Spirit will come and move. Please listen and tell me what y'all think. I could feel the Spirit moving even through headphones and a working environment.

Broken by IBC:

Lord I am broken
My life is in pieces
But your strength is perfect in all of my weakness
Lord I am broken
My life is in pieces
But your strength is perfect in all of my weakness

Jesus, Jesus
Jesus Jesus
I'm calling you
Jesus, Jesus
Jesus Jesus
I'm calling you

I know I'm broken
but you can heal me
Jesus Jesus
I'm calling you
I know I'm broken
but you can heal me
Jesus Jesus
I'm calling you

I might not be worth much
But I'm still willing
Jesus Jesus
I'm calling you
I might not be worth much
But I'm still willing
Jesus Jesus
I'm calling you

Hallelujah Anyhow - Indiana Bible College IBC

I believe I'll testify
God's been good to me
Through every test and trial
I've got the victory
The enemy has tried his best
To make me turn around me bring me down
But my God's never failed me yet
So I'm gonna stand my ground

No matter what comes my way
I'll lift my voice and say
Hallelujah anyhow'..

Wait a minute one more time
Think I'll say it again
God's been so good to me
And He's my closest friend
I've come to far to turn around now
I'm gonna stand I'm gonna wait
Watch God work it out somehow

No matter what comes my way
I'll lift my voice and say
Hallelujah anyhow'..

Oh, Hallelu Halleu anyhow
Hallelu Halleu anyhow
Hallelu Halleu anyhow
No matter what comes my way
I'll lift my voice
REPEAT CHORUS
Hallelu Halleu anyhow
Hallelu Halleu anyhow ' I'll keep singing
Hallelu Halleu anyhow
Hallelu Halleu anyhow

"This Blood" By: Carman

First time that I've heard this song. I was looking through Hannah's old CD's and she had a Carman CD. Thought that this was a pretty powerful song for the lost.

Holiday means Holy Day

I received this Daily Devotional today from Christian Women Today. I thought you all would enjoy, men too!!

“But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Many are unfamiliar with the fact that our word “holiday” comes from an old English word whose original meaning was Holy Day. Though our secular society seeks to drain all that is holy from Christmas leaving little more than tinsel and toys, eggnog and elves, we can bring back a sense of sacredness to the holiday.

As believers, we understand that while God alone is truly holy – pure and sinless – He calls us to holy living. We approach God with reverence and awe because of His holiness. The Scriptures, the Sabbath, and days of remembrance and rejoicing are sacred because God ordained them.

We can bring a sense of sacredness to our celebration of Christmas, simply by seeking to be holy ourselves.

The call to holiness is found throughout the Bible:

• “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

• “May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all His holy ones” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

• “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

The concept of holiness also encompasses the idea of being set apart for God or consecrated to Him. How do we embark on this journey of holiness?

Treat His name, His word, and the building where believers gather with the reverence they deserve. Begin each day by taking time to speak with God and offering yourself to Him, to be used for His purposes. Mediate on God’s word. Ask God for His cleansing power in your life. Be holy these holidays and let the world be in awe of what God has done in your life.

God, You are holy. Make me like You. Amen.

Weekly Reachout 12/1

Folks, i don't know about you but I can't quite get adjusted to the crazy changes in Georgia Fall month's (75 during the day-39 at night) temperatures. I am grateful though that we live in a place that horrific snow seldom visits. I love the stuff but only for a couple of hours. I really only have a couple of things to remind you of.

    Don't forget that January 8th, we will be eating together at The Branch and then watching Passion of the Christ. I have been informed that this would be something that many of you would enjoy doing once every six months or so. Before we commit to this, I want to see how this works out in Jan.Bring your favorite foods and let's pig out;-)

    We, as a class, will be caroling at a local nursing home December 12th. We will eat lunch at Ernie's then go to the home. We will pick some of the easier and well known, and we will certainly have the words for folks like me.Let's sing people. You only live once! Lisa Jones is coordinating it for us. We will have a sign up sheet for this and for the Jan.8th meal so we can plan appropriately.

    Our Sunday school quarter jar will be back this Sunday. Remember, all we ask is that you bring a quarter to put in. We use this money to help offset the costs for the projects we do. The jar will be empty because we used these funds to help pay for the wood used on the wheelchair ramp we built. There are still some needed funds so we will use anything given to  pay toward this, Thanks so much for all that you do for others! We've got a couple of projects coming up. Jason Sharpton will be letting us know when we can make it happen.

   

We love you all and wish you the very best Christmas. It's not far away. Hang on and shop safely(haha).