It's a NEW YEAR!

With a New Year...comes new expectations...new dreams...new hopes!  My GOAL this year is to be more faithful about writing on my blog.  I am going to attempt to write a blog post weekly.  Could be anything related to current events, culture related, life strategies, things about church life and whatever comes to my mind.

In a way I was ready to see 2013 disappear and I'm more excited about a clean slate and moving forward.  Prayer is a big thing to me, and I'm also committing to spending more time in God's Word and in prayer this year than ever before.  Praying to God does two things:

1.  Helps me focus on giving thanks and getting the proper perspective.

2.  Helps me listen to God for direction, temperament and vision.

I'm not big into "New Year's resolutions"...as they have a way of becoming distinct and then we just set ourselves up for failure.  But having goals is a worthy endeavor.  I've often used the addage "If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time."  Too many people drift through life trying to make ends meet.  Let's take one or two things this year and really give it our best effort.

So, prayer and being more faithful in writing on this blog are my goals.  They are not very lofty you say?  Well, to me it's a start!  What are you aiming for?

I've washed my car, cleaned my umbrella and danced in the back yard calling for rain.  Oh, and I've done serious things like pray about it as well.  Yet, we are now 15 inches down from our normal rain fall in this area.  No one likes a rainy Saturday when you plan on going out to play or work in the yard.  But we have seen no signs of rain for a LONG period of time.  It's beginning to take it's toll on farmers livelihoods, aquadic animals living in ponds, streams and lakes among hundreds and thousands of other issues associated with no rain.

It got me to thinking about our spiritual lives.  We often go into spiritual droughts.  Our hearts become dusty, cracked and hard.  When God does speak or do something amazing it just simply rolls off our backs like water off a duck's back.  Well, maybe not the best analogy, but you get the drift. 

We may not be able to control the amount of rainfall this year.  Or be able to predict when things will get back to normal.  But we can do a few things to avoid spiritual droughts or when in one, we can get out of it by:

*  Read God's Word for nourishment.
*  Pray..that is both sharing your heart to God and taking time to listen.
*  Re-focus on what is really important in life and that is loving God by serving others.
*  Soak our hearts into God things.
*  Kick start your spiritual recovery by doing counseling, go to a Christian Concert, find a read a good book by a great Christian author.
*  Worship.  Maybe even dance as David did in the Old Testament and give praise to God for life, for a sense of purpose and joy!

This is a good start on reclaiming some moist conditions in your spiritual walk.  I'd share more but I'm feeling the urge to head to the back yard and cut a rug!

Persistence

An unbelievable experience got me to thinking this week. The other day I noticed on my deck at the house that birds were trying to build a nest on the corner of my flood light and draining gutter. I thought to myself, "no, let's not do this" and I gathered it up and deposited it in the trash. No, there were no little birds or eggs inside the nest. (There were no birds damaged in the making of this blog :))

I went about my day, came back outside and an hour later and it was like I had never taken it down in the first place. So, I repeated the exercise. So did the birds. We battled ALL day long! FIVE times I took it down and FIVE times they built it up. So, as you can tell by the picture, I finally surrendered. I tipped my cap to their persistence.

I wonder if we Christians attack life like these birds? Are we persistent with our personal spiritual growth? Do we stay in our daily devotion and study of God's Word? Are we consistent in prayer? The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:18 "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."

Birds 1 - Tim 0 But lesson learned!

Playing Like a Team

I've been a pastor for a number of years now and I've also been involved in High School sports for awhile as an assistant coach. Specifically basketball. I'm a basketball maniac - I have a passion for the game but I have a greater passion for the players I get the opportunity to coach. And I have a passion for God and for God's people.

I've noticed that there are a lot of parallels between coaching kids in high school and leading a church. No matter how you look at it...it requires team work. It requires us to be unselfish and to work together for a common goal. I say it all the time: We can do more together than we can a part!

Here are some parallels I find interesting:

Church Life
Rebounding - discovering God's grace
Sacrifice - putting away our own self interests
Sharing - the mark of any New Testament church
Penetrating - reaching everyone with God' love
Passing - forgiveness to everyone
Block Out - stop occasionally and praise God
Victory - living for Christ daily

Basketball Team

Rebounding - takes heart
Sacrifice - giving it your best everyday
Sharing - being unselfish
Penetrating - not being afraid to attack
Passing - come to the ball
Block Out - the key to rebounding
Victory - doing the little things right

At First Baptist Church Morganfield, KY we are experiencing God's blessings in church growth, solid spiritual foundations are being formed, new lives coming to Christ, dynamic worship and a sense of unity.

Our Girls Basketball Team of Union County is currently 16-6. Winners of 10 straight and #1 in the Region.

Takes hard work but the experience is a blast!

Slick Spots

It looks normal...but it's not! This time of year we are reminded by the state police to drive carefully and to be on the lookout for slick spots. Some people call it "black ice." People travel roads thinking everything is just normal but then hit a patch of this ice and go hurling into a ditch or even worse: oncoming traffic!

I'm reminded that as Christ-followers we often hit slick spots in life. The Bible tells us that Satan is a deceiver and is the father of all lies. He sets traps for us and lays in waiting for us to spring the trap. We feel like life is going well and then just like a car hydroplaning on slick ice...we hit a slick spot of sin and go hurling out of control.

So what's the best way to avoid slick spots. Well, to be honest...we can't avoid them...but we can be very cautious. We can remain alert and watchful. Be another pair of eyes for your friends and family. The more we stay connected to God's Word the better our traction in life!

Balance Beam

Vines: Good - Not So Good

Summer heat is always tough on plants, grass, shrubs & trees. But as you can tell the plant on the left has received a bit more care and a little more water. The one on the right...well it has seen better days and now resides in the garbage. But both got me to thinking about our spiritual lives. Didn't Jesus say I am the Vine and we are the branches and apart from Him we can do nothing? Yes, I believe He did. Jesus Christ is the life blood to our lives just as water and good soil are to flowers. We too need to be ready to receive this new life in Christ by preparing the soil in our hearts. How do we do that? We spend significant time in the Bible. We take prayer seriously and is more than a "to-do-list" or "our request sheet." We open our lives to be available to serve others. Why? Because that leads to soft soil. What happens to water when the soil is hard and unresponsive to a good soaking? Yep...it just rolls off and thus flowers die. God will continue to send His blessings, His instruction and His guidance but if our spiritual soil is not soft...it will just roll right out of our lives. So let's be the kind of soil that God can soak into us His grace and peace.

Oh by the way: that requires a daily soaking so let's be prepared daily to receive all that God has for us!