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!

Something We're Not

My family spent last week in Orange Beach, Alabama for a few days of vacation and some much needed rest & relaxation. Of course we were all concerned about the massive oil spill in the gulf. I had heard that thousands of families had canceled their summer vacation plans and that hotels were near empty and the gulf coast region was experiencing one of their worst summers on record. And I believe the reports were accurate. It was eerie quiet around there and we had no wait in any of the restaurants we visited and the beaches seemed vacant.

We went any way just to get away and our hotel bill was lower because they are practically paying people to come down there and visit. We got down there and saw zero signs of any oil. We walked the beach front every morning and enjoyed God's gift of the ocean waves. As we spent time walking on the shore line, I noticed that there were BP workers out sifting through the sand. Here they were in boots, duct-taped to their long pants and wearing t-shirts and hats and we were walking in bare feet and shorts. So that got me to thinking, "are my feet going to rot off?"

So, I stopped to talk to a few of the workers. This one guy was an electrical contractor who had been layed off from his job. So He got hired by BP to come down and be apart of the oil clean-up project. He was from Terre Haute, IN. I said, "Hey guys...how are you doing? Can I ask, what are you looking for?" Here is what the guy said, "We are looking for nothing...this is all for public relations - just so people will see us out and about trying to do something." "BP had just layed off 250 beach workers the day before" he said. I added, "So what is all the thousands of tractors, bull-dozers, land movers, etc... I saw up the road what is their purpose?" He said, "Same thing" He went on to say "Basically, they are spraying dispersments in the ocean on top of the oil and it is sending the oil to the ocean floor."

I thanked him for a few minutes of his time and caught up to my family and I'm thinking "wow, what a joke." They were looking for NOTHING..it was all a show. They don't really care about the ocean or the fish in it, it's just about not letting that oil get to the coast line because millions of dollars are lost on the economy if people see oil and won't come to the resort communities of the gulf coast.

Before we get too hard on BP...let's remind ourselves that we are lot like that in our spiritual life. We try to disperse sin in our lives to the bottom and we end up living a lie and telling ourselves that everything is OK with us. We pretend to be something we're not. Let me encourage you to let the sin surface to the shore line of your soul and then we can deal with it, give it to God as we ask for His forgiveness. Let's be transparent about who we are!

And Oh by the way...my feet are still attached!

Reflection

I woke up the other morning and looked out across the lake in my back yard and saw this deer looking down at his or her reflection. Got me to thinking about the Psalmist David when he asked God to examine his heart. We all need to ask God to examine our hearts. Looking at the reflection of our souls is a good thing to do. I know...I know...too busy right? Well, if we don't examine who we really are, what we are doing...we might get lost along the way.

What do I mean by lost? We get lost because we lose our direction in life. God made each one of us with a purpose. Discovering that purpose is critical and vital for really living life and not just existing. Don't look up 10 years from now and wonder where the time went? Be a part of something bigger than yourself...join forces with other Christians...experience a love relationship with Jesus Christ and really live.

Take a moment every now and then to ask God to examine your heart and take a moment to look at your reflection. Do you like what you see on the inside? If not, it's never too late to change...you can do it! Ask God to come and live in your life...you'll experience a new way to live.

Merry Go Round

While walking around the Union County Fair this past Friday night...I just watched kids riding the Carousel or as some call it the "Merry Go Round". It is so fascinating to watch children climb aboard their favorite horse and around they go! Smiling, laughing...some clinging on to a parent because they are not sure when this creature will come unhooked and take off! I'm sure some wonder "when can I get off this thing?"

Got me to thinking about life. If we are not careful we can all begin to just go round and round again and wonder "when can I get off this thing?" Life can get a little blah from time to time and we keep moving but we don't seem to get anywhere. We wonder if God will allow us to come unhooked from the ride and take off? Let me suggest a few things that might help you unplug from the Life Merry Go Round:

* Wake up and have a daily devotion. God wants to give you a new direction each day...a new set of instructions. We need to be in God's Word (the Bible) and we need to pray and listen.

* Get the focus off yourself and look at helping others.

* Become obedient in Godly living (i.e. tithing, faith, serving, forgiving...among others)

* Check your attitude at the gate - be an encourager!

* Smile, laugh & enjoy the ride - don't look at life as a burden but rather an opportunity!

Practice just a few of these things and then get ready for a brand new adventure.

Sin = Yuk

No body likes seeing this...how sad to know that this massive oil spill in the Gulf is endangering wildlife, plant life and sea life. Just makes you sick all over.

Did you know that sin is like that? It covers our lives and our hearts like tar. The Bible clearly teaches that sin separates us from God! "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:23). Sin is just as dangerous to our lives as spilled oil is to animals...yet we rarely here if at all the damages of sin. I believe it is Satan's greatest tool to keep us from being alarmed about our sin. We should be outraged about the yuk in our lives, but we tend to pay very little attention to it.

Veterinarians, oceanographers, and specialists are working around the clock to capture, clean up and save these animals from death. God has been working since the beginning of time to do the same for us. He sent His Son to the cross to die that we might live. I believe that grace covers a multitude of sins and we can all be washed like new...we just simply have to ask Him to come and live in our lives. Thank you Jesus for washing me like new each day!

Lessons from Children

All week long our church has been involved in VBS or Vacation Bible School. There is something unique about watching kids. We can all learn a lot in life as adults by observing kids. Here are some things I've learned:

1. They are gut-honest about everything. They can see through people better than Superman using X-Ray vision. They know reality when they see it.

2. Their faith in God is pure. Their love for the most part is unconditional. Their joy is limitless.

3. I wish I had only 20% of their energy level! :)

4. When hanging with friends, they don't look at external things (i.e. what your wearing, how others view life, how much money you have, how many possessions do you own, etc...they just love their buddies.

5. They trust their leaders. They expect adults to lead them and guide them. It is our responsibility to lead them in the direction of Christ. While we can't live their lives...we can coach them in the things in life that really matter.

Take more notice of kids in your life and try to live more like they do and you'll find life to be a little fuller, more joyful. Don't forget to play a little everyday and lighten up!