Our theme for this month: “Sabbath Rest”

Our Bible verse for today: “Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.” Deuteronomy 5:12-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t be a slave”

In Deuteronomy 5:12-14 Moses was reminding the people of God’s instruction, originally given in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, to observe the Sabbath and to keep it holy. If you flip back in your Bible to that fourth commandment, found in Exodus 20:9-11, you will find that God linked the commandment to observe the Sabbath to the example He set for us in Genesis 2:2 where He stopped His work and rested.

Sabbath is taught directly or referred to at least 172 times in the Bible. If God begins by setting the example for us and then mentions it 172 more times, that’s probably a clue that we need to pay attention to it.

The concept of Sabbath-keeping is actually divided into two distinct parts. There is Sabbath-worship and there is Sabbath-rest. Most of us are better at Sabbath-worship than we are at Sabbath-rest. We usually faithfully participate in corporate worship services with our church family – so apparently we get that part of Sabbath, but the resting part is a bigger problem. Most of us don’t really participate in very much Sabbath-rest. Therefore most of our emphasis in this series will be on Sabbath-rest.

Why is this so important? Moses answered that for the Israelites in Deuteronomy 5:15: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

In other words, “You are no longer slaves so stop acting as if you are.” They were not to be slaves to the Egyptians, nor were they to be slaves to their jobs, their chores, or to their endless activities.

That goes for us too. Don’t be a slave to your job or to your chores or to your activities. Sabbath-rest helps us to push back against and to resist the endless pressure to do, do, do. God intends for our Sabbath-keeping to consist of both Sabbath-worship and Sabbath-rest. Tomorrow I will share with you the very best example I have ever witnessed or participated in of Sabbath-keeping done right.

God Bless
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “Sabbath Rest”

Our Bible verse for today: “On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” Genesis 2:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “God wants you to rest”

I want to thank everyone for being patient with me as I was on my mission trip to Kentucky and therefore not sending out the daily devotionals. It was a great mission trip but I’m glad to be home. We’ll now spend the rest of this month exploring the topic of “Sabbath Rest”.

“God wants you to rest”. That’s something I’m trying to get better at. I’m a doer by nature. I go from early in the morning till late at night, day after day, and I often wear myself out. However, I’m getting ready to go on vacation soon and I’m a little stoked about it because I’m looking forward to the rest and relaxation. I intend to try to make it a true time of “Sabbath Rest”.

Sabbath Rest is a concept that is widely misunderstood and often misapplied. “Sabbath” is most commonly understood as being a day set aside for worship and gathering in our faith communities. That would be the 7^th day (Saturday) for observant Jews and the 1^st day (Sunday) for most Christians. Gathering with our faith communities is an important part of Sabbath, but it is only part of it.

The other part of Sabbath is “rest” (thus the term “Sabbath Rest”). Rest is a period of time when we cease from work and other strenuous activity for the sake of renewal and rejuvenation. Good rest should be restorative and nurturing. For Sabbath Rest we cease from the strenuous activity of work, we lay aside our chores and other stressful activities, and in many varied ways we renew and restore spiritually. That renewal can take many forms. It could included extended times of prayer, Bible study, reading Christian books, quiet meditation, etc. But it might also mean sleeping late (sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to take a nap!) It could also include time with family and friends, long walks on the beach, or various kinds of play and recreation.

In Genesis chapters 1 and 2 we read that God worked, and then He rested. Did God rest because He was tired? No. He’s God. He doesn’t get tired. God worked and then He rested as an example for us. He was teaching us an important lesson. We need to rest and relax.

Sabbath Rest is actually a crucial part of staying healthy and balanced. There are lots of ways to be spiritually renewed and refreshed and we’re going to consider many of them throughout the month. I look forward to spending this month exploring with you some of the many varied ways we can accomplish that.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Just walk it out day-by-day”

Those of you who have been reading these daily devotionals for a long time have probably heard me say before that each day these devotionals are about me first and about everyone else second. More than eight years ago I started writing these little daily messages as part of my personal quiet time with the Lord. Writing helps me to clarify my thinking. So each day I would write about an issue the Lord was helping me to work through. It was about me and it was for me. It was only later that I felt led to begin sharing them with others who might be interested in reading them too. Little did I realize that eight years later there would be hundreds of faithful daily readers through emails, Facebook, and the church website.

Today will be the last message in our series “You Gotta Keep Dancing”. I have extended it one day into the new month because tomorrow I leave for a one week mission trip to build and renovate houses in a poor section of Appalachia in Eastern Kentucky. A group from our church will be meeting-up with another group coming down from Maryland and together we will spend the week working with the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) to serve impoverished families in that region. So this will be the last devotional message you will receive until Saturday June 8^th. I want to ask you to hang on it and use it as a reminder to pray for our team each day that we are gone.

What does that have to do with our theme of “You Gotta Keep Dancing”? Just that God has used the issue of mission trips to teach this lesson of “keep dancing” to me in a personal and powerful way. Back in March of 2007, when my wife Linda had her stroke and brain surgeries, I was serving as the Vice-President of Operations for an international humanitarian relief agency. My job was to plan and lead humanitarian relief missions around the world. I also traveled around the USA to speak in churches and to attend mission conferences as I promoted our organization and recruited team members.

But when Linda became disabled it seemed as if my traveling days were over. I left the humanitarian relief agency and returned to being a Pastor instead. It looked like I probably wouldn’t be going on any more mission trips. But Linda and I both sensed the Lord telling us to just take it one mission trip at a time and to trust Him for how it would work out. So I continued to help with the missions, one trip at a time.

Amazingly, over the 12+ years since Linda’s stroke, I have somehow been able to plan and lead 19 international mission trips to Romania, Haiti, Mexico, the Andes Mountains of Peru, and the Amazon Jungle. There have also been numerous shorter missions to Appalachia here in the USA.

How has that been possible? God. That’s it, just God. Somehow in each case, with the help of family members, neighbors, church family, and Linda’s own great attitude and determined spirit, the details at home just worked out and I have been able to go – over and over and over again. We just had to keep dancing and God made it possible.

That’s true for you too. Regardless of what your issue or challenge is the answer is to just keep dancing. Just take it one day at a time, one event at a time, and just keep moving forward.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

Our thought for today: “Your life matters.”

Recently I was reminded about the great story told in the classic Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, starring Jimmy Stewart. The story is set in the mythical town of Bedford Falls in the 1930s and 40s. Stewart plays a man named George Bailey. George is a young man who reluctantly takes over running the small Savings and Loan bank owned by his recently deceased father.

George didn’t want to spend his life running a small bank in a small town. He dreamed of bigger things. He wanted to travel to interesting places and do exciting things. Instead he felt compelled to stay in Bedford Falls, carrying on his father’s work, because people depended on him. It was the same old boring thing, day-in-and-day-out. Worse, George had to contend with the scheming and maneuvering of old Mr. Potter, a competing businessman who was always trying to take over George’s bank.

George was depressed and unhappy; he was convinced his life didn’t matter much and really didn’t add up to anything. Finally he decided to kill himself. So he goes to a nearby bridge intending to jump off and end his life, but right at that moment God sent an awkward angel by the name of Clarence to stop him. George argues with Clarence, saying that his life doesn’t really matter and everyone would have been better off if he had never even been born. To prove him wrong, Clarence then leads George on an adventure through time to show him what the world would have been like if he had never lived.

George is stunned to discover that his beautiful and happy wife Mary never married and ended up being a lonely and unhappy spinster. His younger brother Harry died as a child because George had not been there to save his life. Consequently Harry wasn’t there in World War II to shoot down a kamikaze airplane. Instead it successfully sank a U.S. Navy ship, killing hundreds of men who therefore never lived their own lives and never fathered their children, resulting in even more generations who never even lived. The town of Bedford Falls became a seedy little dump instead of a pleasant home to many families, and it happened because George Bailey wasn’t there to stop Mr. Potter from swindling the people.

On and on it went. It turned out that the subtle but steady influence of George Bailey, lived out in a hundred small ways every day, had more of a positive impact than he had ever realized. George then knew that he needed to get back to his life and just keep doing what he had been doing.

The same is true for you. You have more of a positive impact on the people around you than you realize. As Ephesians 2:10 says, you are God’s masterpiece, created by Him to accomplish wonderful things planned long ago. Your job is to just be yourself; just faithfully keep doing what you’re supposed to do – and just keep dancing.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Learn to love your life”

Our theme this month has been inspired by Tim Hansel’s great little book “You Gotta Keep Dancin”. It’s about how Tim learned to live a full and productive life despite living in constant pain as a result of a rock climbing accident earlier in life.

The accident was a really big deal. It changed Tim’s life dramatically. As a young man he was a strong, adventurous, physically fit athlete. He had an M.A. and M.B.A. from Stanford. He had planned to remain strong and athletic for the rest of his life as he pursued amazing adventures and had great success in the business world. But that’s not how his life unfolded. Instead his body was broken, he lived in pain, he hobbled a lot, and he spent much of his time writing and speaking rather than climbing cliffs and riding white water rapids.

But Tim discovered the joy and fulfillment that was available to him in his new life. It was there, he just needed to find it, embrace it, and be grateful for it. He wrote, “I survived because I’ve discovered a new and different kind of joy that I never knew existed – a joy that can coexist with uncertainty and doubt, pain, confusion, and ambiguity.”

Psalm 16:6 is one of my favorite Bible passages and one of my personal life verses. I recite it to myself fairly often. It helps me to remember that despite the trials and difficult circumstances I am often faced with in the life that I have, there is also much joy and adventure – there are many good things to be appreciated and to be thankful for. Life isn’t perfect, and I have my share of problems just like you do, but still “the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places”.

Our series for this month is almost over and we won’t be looking into Tim’s book any further; but before we leave it I will share with you one more helpful and inspiring thought from him:

“Each of us gets a second chance every day, if we would just open our eyes to the possibilities … life is not so much meant to be understood as it is to be lived out; it is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be participated in fully.”

I encourage you to live life fully. Embrace the mystery. Enjoy the adventure. Learn to love your life.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.” Hebrews 11:32-34 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Be a survivor”

One of the books I’m currently reading is the autobiography of Four-Star Navy Admiral William McRaven called “Sea Stories”. Admiral McRaven was a Navy SEAL for thirty-seven years. He planned and commanded the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

He grew-up as an Air Force brat. His father was a fighter pilot in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. For those years the family lived in close-knit communities in military housing units on Air Force bases in this country and around the world. The families were close and spent lots of time together. So McRaven can vividly recall spending time with “Easy Ed” Taylor, “Wild Bill” Wildman, and “Gentleman” Rod Gunther, all Air Force colonels, all fighter pilots, and all with many war stories to tell.

All of these people – McRaven’s father and mother, the other fighter pilots and their wives, and all of the associated friends – had been children during World War I, they had lived through the Great Depression, they had fought in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and they were tough. They had lived through it all. Here’s what Admiral McRaven remembers about them:

“They were survivors. They didn’t complain. They didn’t blame others for their misfortune. They worked hard and expected the same from their children. They treasured their friendships. They fought for their marriages. They wore their patriotism on their sleeve, and while they weren’t naïve about America’s faults, they knew that no other country in the world valued their service and sacrifice as much as the United States did. They flew their flags proudly and without apology.”

“They were survivors”.  Hebrews chapter 11 tells us about similar people. It is sometimes called “The Faith Hall-of-Fame”. It recounts the stories of many heroic saints of God who faced extreme adversity in life but who did so with faith and courage, with determination and perseverance. They too were survivors. Not necessarily in the sense that they overcame their problems and lived, because some of them didn’t live, some of them died for their faith. They were survivors in the sense that they refused to give-in or give-up. They refused to be crushed or defeated by their circumstances. If they were going to die, they would do it with dignity and courage.

I love examples like that because they inspire the rest of us to also dig-in, suck-it-up, and gut-it-out. The lesson is that they were survivors and you can be too.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Choose to enjoy the day”

As I sit here writing this it’s early in the morning.  There’s a hint of dawn in the eastern sky. The windows in my office are open, the birds are chirping as they greet the new day, the ceiling fan is swirling creating a pleasant breeze, and there are deer grazing in my yard. And I have a cup of coffee. It’s a peaceful and relaxing moment and I’m enjoying it.

As I contemplate the day before me I know there are issues that will have to be dealt with. For one thing, it’s sermon-writing day. That’s always a joy but also a burden. Writing a sermon is hard. It takes hours of intense concentration and it’s spiritually and emotionally draining. By the time I’m done I’m not good for much else for the rest of the day, certainly not anything creative.

My sister has also moved to our town and is beginning a whole new chapter in her life. Today is her first full day here and I will spend some time today helping her to get settled. There’s more. The lawn needs to be mowed and watered, I have to check the dogs for ticks, and the oil in the car needs to be changed. But you don’t need to hear about my stuff because you have plenty of your own stuff to deal with – probably a lot heavier stuff than checking the dogs for ticks.

If we’re not careful we can easily get caught-up in thinking about all the chores we have to do and the burdens of life we have to deal with, and we can miss the simple joy of just being alive. I need to be conscious of the fact that the Lord has granted me another day of life. Birds are chirping in the trees, deer are grazing in the yard, a cool breeze is blowing through the windows, and the coffee tastes good. For the moment it’s enough to just relax and enjoy that.

I love Psalm 118:24 – but I think it needs to be personalized. It says let “us” rejoice and be glad in the new day. I think it should read “I” will rejoice and be glad in it. This needs to be about each of us individually.

Don’t miss the miracle of simply being alive today. Notice the small blessings and enjoy the simple pleasures. This is the day the Lord has made, I encourage you to rejoice and be glad in it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring – what your life will be! For you are like a vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.” James 4:13-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t keep putting it off.”

Sue was a healthy and active middle-aged woman. Now that the kids were grown and out on their own, she and Bob had big plans for this new season in their lives. They loved to laugh and joke about the television commercial that was running back then. It showed a smirking young man looking at his parents and he says “Well Mom and Dad, now that I’m moving out are you going to miss me? What are you going to do?” In reply the parents looked at each other and smiled a mischievous smile, then they looked back at the son and the mom said “We’re going to Disneyland!”

But it didn’t turn out that way. Out of the blue Sue was diagnosed with stage-four cancer and she was gone in less than six months. Now, a month after the funeral, Bob was sorting through Sue’s things and he came across a box from a high-end dress shop. It contained a stylish and slinky dress that Sue had never worn. Bob remembered when she came home from the store with it. He had slyly asked, “Well, when am I going to get to see that on you?” Sue grinned and said “It’s for a special occasion.” But sadly that special occasion never arrived. Sue never wore the dress for Bob.

In James 4:13-14 James reminds us that we don’t know what tomorrow may bring – or if there will even be a tomorrow for us. Life is fragile. There’s a thin line between life and death, and none of us knows what tomorrow might bring for us – or if there will even be a tomorrow. So we need to live life now. Yes we do need to plan for the future, but we also need to live in the present. Too many of us put off joy for tomorrow as we struggle with the issues of today.

In yesterday’s devotional message I encouraged you to slow down and savor the simple things in life. We do need to do that. But we also need to do special things with special people now, while we still can. Don’t keep putting those things off for another time. There may not be another time.

I encourage you to wear the special dress. Go on that trip. Embark on the adventure. Make the phone call. Eat the ice cream. Check something off of your “bucket list”. Don’t keep putting it off.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “You Gotta Keep Dancing”

Our Bible verse for today: “But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.” 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Focus on what really matters.”

Linda and I have experienced an interesting shift in our thinking in recent years that has resulted in major changes in our life. We have come to appreciate the truth that in life, quality is more important than quantity. So we decided to simplify and downsize in all areas. First we sold our old home and bought one half the size. Then we gave away or sold approximately 75% of our possessions. Then we cut out of our lives a lot of the busyness and activities that kept us constantly on the go but didn’t really add anything meaningful to our lives.

During that time I’ve also found myself drawn to books about the simple life. “Wisdom of the Plain Folk” by Donna Leahy; “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” by Annie Dillard; “The Little Way of Ruthie Leming” by Rod Dreher;  “Jayber Crow” by Wendell Berry; and “The Farmer’s Son” by John Connell, just to name a few – all of them about the peaceful beauty of living a quiet and simple life.

I suppose one reason for our shift in thinking is simply the fact that we’re older and have slowed down a little, but part of it is out of necessity too. Linda’s health issues required that we make some changes. But interestingly, this has resulted in a much more pleasant and enjoyable life for us. It’s slower, more peaceful and serene, and we’ve learned to truly savor and enjoy the little things. This is the kind of life Paul was commending in 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 cited above.

In all my decades of working with people I have observed that trials and difficulties, even sickness and even apparent tragedies, have a way of shifting our thinking and causing us to focus on the things that really matter in life. Often, in the long run, in many ways this shift in thinking ends up making things better rather than worse.

Yesterday I suggested to you that God brings good things out of bad situations for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). That’s what I’m talking about here. As you continue to deal with whatever it is you are wrestling with in life right now, I encourage you to focus on the things that really matter. Use this season in your life as an opportunity to reevaluate your life and to cut-out things that have been weighing you down or holding you back. As the song says, “Maybe your world isn’t falling apart; maybe it’s falling into place.”

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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