Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Live like you really do have victory in Jesus.”

 

“O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever. He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my life is due Him, He plunged me to victory, beneath the cleansing flood.”

 

“Victory in Jesus” is one of the most beloved hymns of all time. It’s a happy snappy tune with lyrics that are uplifting and inspiring. It was written in 1939 by Eugune Bartlett. Mr. Bartlett was a successful and wealthy businessman, as well as a talented singer and songwriter.

 

“Victory in Jesus” was the last of many great hymns that he wrote in his lifetime. The reason it was the last he wrote was because he suffered a major stroke and was unable to sing or play the piano anymore. But he wrote “Victory in Jesus” after the stroke. He wrote it while he was partially paralyzed and bedridden. That’s right, he wrote this joyous ode about living victoriously in Christ while he was lying in bed, no longer able to do anything he loved, and waiting to die (he died two years later).

 

This is what Paul was writing about in Romans 8:31-39. Verse 37 is actually a hinge verse that connects everything that came before it with everything that comes after it. Paul began his chain of thought in verse 31 when he asked, “If God is for us, who is against us?” He then went on to write about how it is that nothing can ever separate us from the reality of God’s love for us – not affliction or anguish, not persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or the sword – nothing.

 

That was all in verses 31-36. Then in verse 37 he affirms that we are victorious in all those things. But, he couldn’t leave the thought there. He picked it up again in verse 38 and went on to say that neither death nor life, angels or rulers, present things, things to come, hostile powers, height, depth, or any created thing has the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

I don’t know what it is that you are dealing with today, but I do know that all of us have things in our lives that we wish weren’t there. But be that as it may, we can still have victory in Jesus and we can still live like it.

 

I want to encourage you this morning to spend a little extra devotional time slowly reading the words of Romans 8:31-39. Let the reality of their meaning wash over you; let them sink deeply into your heart and inspire in you a sense of both peace and of victory.

 

Make it a point today to live like you really do have victory in Jesus.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.” Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

 

Our thought for today: “Bring it to Jesus.”

 

Ok, time for true confessions, and I’ll start with me. When I allow myself to get stressed-out I tend to get grumpy, irritable, short with people, and even mildly depressed.

 

I know, I know, you’re shocked. You thought pastors lived in a constant state of prayer and that we walk around all day loudly singing “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine …” Well, perhaps other pastors do but this one tends to get stressed-out and grumpy from time-to-time.

 

Now is one of those times. I’m getting ready to leave on Friday to take a small medical and dental team on a two week mission trip into the restricted region of the Amazon Jungle. And as Satan always does, in the days before departing he always creates extra problems for the team members. Family or church members get sick and need special attention; or you get sick; or the car breaks down; or difficult people become more difficult than they normally are. This afternoon I will unexpectedly be getting extensive dental work – $3000 worth (no dental insurance); and on it goes.

 

So pardon me while I spit and sputter and kick the dog. (Ok, just kidding. If I kicked the dog Linda would kick me!)

 

I know I’m not just describing my life but yours as well. We all go through times like that. The prophet Isaiah had a bit of advice for us regarding such times. He recorded it in Isaiah 26:3. There he reminds us that God will keep us in perfect peace if we first keep our mind fixed on Him.

 

In other words (in New Testament terms), we are to bring it all to the feet of Jesus and leave it there. This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 11:28-30 when He said:

 

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (HCSB)

 

When life seems to be closing-in on you and your attitude is slipping, that’s when you need to spend even more time focused on the Lord. Bring it all to Him and lay it at His feet. Allow Him to carry the burdens for you. When we do that, as both Isaiah and Jesus said, we find relief. The fear, anxiety, doubts, stress and strain start to melt away and in exchange we get peace.

 

So give your spouse, your co-workers, your friends, and that poor dog a break. Give it all to Jesus instead.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

 

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Let you mind be cleansed.”

 

The words of the Bible, under the power of the Holy Spirit, have a tremendous ability to cleanse our minds. In his book, “Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God”, Dallas Willard offers a wonderful illustration regarding the amazing way in which the Bible serves to cleanse our minds:

 

“Just think for a moment about what happens when you wash a dirty shirt: the water and laundry soap move through the fibers of the shirt material and carry out the dirt lodged within those fibers. When we come to God our minds and hearts are like that dirty shirt, cluttered with false beliefs and attitudes, deadly feelings, past deeds and misguided plans, hopes and fears. The word of God enters our mind and brings new life through faith. As we open our entire life to this new power and as those sent by God minister the word to us, the word moves into every part of our personality, just like the water and soap move through the shirt’s fibers. God’s word pushes out and replaces all that is false and opposed to God’s purposes.”

 

As a Pastor it concerns me greatly that so many professing Christians are essentially Biblically illiterate. They simply do not know the Bible very well at all. That’s because they don’t study it for themselves, and they spend little time listening to it being taught. That then means that their minds and hearts are very much like that dirty shirt Dallas Willard described, the filth and grime of the world is caked on and embedded into the very fibers of their being. The word of God is powerful, and it will break the dirt and grime free and wash it away, but it has to be applied.

 

So what’s your attitude about the Bible? Do you love it enough to actually read it, study it, and absorb its lessons? How much time do you spend each day applying it to your mind and heart?

 

I encourage you to get a translation of the Bible that you can easily read and then resolve to study it everyday. There are many good ways to study the Bible. You can just read it from start to finish like a chapter book. You can get study notes and do an in-depth study of small portions of it. You can do a character study of individual people in the Bible. You can study themes, or memorize passages.

 

The particular manner in which you are reading and studying the Bible at this time doesn’t matter, as long as you are reading and studying it everyday and applying its lessons to your life. The Holy Spirit will use God’s words to break free and wash away all the accumulated dirt and impurities in your mind and your heart. You will be cleansed and transformed as Paul wrote about in Romans 12:2. I encourage you to have a personal Bible study plan and stick to it. If you need help deciding on a plan that is right for you, email me and I will be happy to discuss it with you.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Then Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?’ The man of God replied, ‘The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” 2 Chronicles 25:9 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Do what you know to be right and then trust the Lord.”

 

Amaziah was one of the few good kings of Judah during the era when the Jews were divided into two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north. This was a time when most of the kings in both Israel and Judah were evil.

 

For the most part, Amaziah honored the Lord in the way he led the nation of Judah. However at one point, when he was preparing his nation for war, he became concerned that his army wasn’t large enough to prevail over his enemies. So he decided to enter into an agreement with the kingdom of Israel to hire 100,000 of their soldiers to supplement his army. But at that time the kingdom of Israel was knee-deep in idolatry and all sorts of wickedness. That means that the godly man Amaziah was about to enter into a business and military partnership with people who were very evil. He was dancing with the devil.

 

So God sent an unnamed prophet, identified in Scripture only as “the man of God”, to warn the king not to enter into this partnership with Israel. At that time Amaziah had already paid 7,500 pounds of silver in order to pay for the rented army, and he knew the Israelite king would never voluntarily return the money. That’s why he asked the man of God the question he did in 2 Chronicles 25:9, “But what about the money I paid?”

 

The response from the man of God was classic and it’s one we need to remember, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this.” In other words, “Just let it go. Just break the partnership you have made with evil people. Do what you know to be right and trust the Lord for the outcome.”

 

Far too many Christians are willing to dance with the devil if it seems as if there might be some advantage to doing so. Oh, they don’t intend to fully embrace him, of course not. They’re not thinking about a cozy and cuddly slow dance, arms wrapped tightly around each other. They’re going to keep him at arms length and just do a polite little two-step.

 

Uh-huh. The Apostle Paul warned us about this in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15: “Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Bellal? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?”

 

This does not mean that we cannot be friends with or work with unbelievers. However it does mean that we have to be cautious and wise about how deeply we allow them into our lives and what kind of relationships we have with them. It also means that we should not allow ourselves to be drawn into anything that is in anyway illegal, unethical, or even questionable. We should strive to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in our own lives – and that has to include not allowing ourselves to be associated with the evil or ungodly activities of others.

 

Sometimes this is not so easy. Sometimes it will require us to make tough choices. And sometimes it might appear that if we decline to dance with the devil, just a little bit, it might cost us in terms of friendships, job, income, etc. Decline anyway.

 

Let your attitude be that you will do what you know to be right and then you will trust the Lord for the outcome.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “A joyful heart is good medicine.” Proverbs 17:22 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Have a little fun”

 

“If you’re not having fun you’re doing something wrong.” – So said the great comedian Groucho Marx. He didn’t explain himself after he said it so I guess we’re all free to read into that whatever we want but one thing is clear, this man who made his living by making other people laugh seemed to think that life ought to be fun. And I agree with him.

 

Some people wear life like a heavy old coat. They walk around with shoulders slumped, head down, hound dog look on their face, and even if they don’t actually say it their message is “Woe is me! You have no idea how hard it is to be me!”

 

Well, quoting Drill Sergeant Hulka to Francis Sawyer in the movie “Meatballs”, “Lighten up Francis!” (The scene was the first day in Army boot camp. The Drill Sergeant gathered the new recruits in a circle in the barracks and had them introduce themselves. Francis was a glum and scowling and angry young man. He introduced himself by saying, “My name is Francis Sawyer but everyone calls me Psycho. If any of you homos call me Francis I’ll kill you.” After an awkward moment of silence Sergeant Hulka, in a challenging and menacing way, looks him in the eye and says “Lighten up “Francis!”)

 

In Proverbs 17:22 Solomon wrote about how it is that a joyful heart is like medicine, it just makes us feel better. Therefore doing things that make us happy is an important part of maintaining a good attitude. If we become like Francis and we’re having difficulty lightening up or having fun, we need to see that as a warning sign. When the fun stops we need to pay attention because something is wrong.

 

That’s not to say that all of life is going to be lollipops and gumdrops. It isn’t. Sometimes life is hard. And that’s precisely why we need to intentionally seek out the moments of joy and happiness and milk every drop out of them!

 

One of the ways to do that is to spend time with other people who bring you happiness, and who bring happiness out of you. There are certain people I truly enjoy being around simply because I love to hear them laugh. These are people who laugh often and whose laughs are infectious. Hearing them laugh makes me smile too. Spend time with people like that.

 

Today is Friday. There’s a good chance this has been a long and tough week for many of you. I encourage you to have some fun this weekend. Watch a funny movie, go out with some friends, play with your dog, come to church on Sunday, do something that brings you happiness and joy. Laughter and a light heart are good for the soul.

 

So, “Lighten up Francis!” and have a little fun.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Some rest will do wonders for your attitude.”

 

In his book “Toughness Training for Life” Dr. James Loehr makes the case that one of the best things we can do to help make sure we are tough, is to get enough rest. He writes, “Recovery is an important word and a vital concept. It means renewal of life and energy. Knowing how and when to recover may prove to be the most important skill in life.”

 

Yesterday I wrote about how important it is to maintain a good balance to our lives. I noted that being creatures of habit, we do best when we have a smooth rhythm to the pattern of our lives, a pattern within which all the important elements of life are properly balanced, each receiving adequate amounts of our time and attention.

 

For many of us rest and relaxation, what Dr. Loehr refers to as “recovery”, is an important area that does not get due time and attention. Allowing enough time to adequately recover involves getting enough sleep, but there’s more to it than that. We also need to carve out time and space that is free from the hassle and noise of life. Picture yourself alone in the woods, lying in the grass alongside a stream, just looking up at the sky and listening to the bubbling water and the birds.

 

Renewal time like that can take many forms but it has to involve shutting out the rest of life. This is exactly what Jesus was calling His disciples to in Mark 6:31. They had been involved in so many ministry activities for so long, and still the people were pressing in around them. Finally Jesus called a time-out. He literally left the crowds standing there, and He led His followers to a remote and quiet place to simply rest and relax.

 

Sometimes we feel guilty about doing that. We get the notion that the world will stop, or other people’s lives will fall apart, if we’re not there to hold it all together. No, the only thing that is going to fall apart is you – if you don’t stop and get some rest.

 

I’m preaching to the choir here. I used to be better about this. There was a time in my life when, two or three times a year, I would rent a cabin in the mountains and go way for a couple of days by myself. It was just me and the Lord and some good books (and the Good Book), alone in the mountains with the birds and the bees and the bears. I don’t do that often enough anymore.

 

Even if it’s only for an afternoon or an evening, all of us need to regularly carve-out those blocks of time when we can just rest and relax. You would be amazed how much good some recovery and renewal time will do for your attitude. I encourage you to get some soon.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We need balance in our lives.”

 

One of the keys to maintaining a good attitude is to have a life that is properly balanced in all the important areas. We need to take proper care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. They’re all connected. If one area is neglected it has a negative impact on the other areas. So we must eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, nurture our relationship with God, and take the steps to manage our emotional condition and mental health.

 

Also, we must be sure that some activities are not allowed to so dominate our lives that they cause us to neglect other important areas of life. The obvious and most common activity that gets in the way of a healthy and balanced life is too much work. Americans tend to be work-alcoholics. We allow our jobs to consume so much of our time, attention, and physical energy, that it has a negative impact on other important areas of our lives.

 

This is so much of a problem in Japanese culture that their psychologists have designated it as an official psychological disorder and given it the name “Karoshi” which means, “Death from overworking”. We do this too. We allow our jobs to so consume our lives that it ends up killing us, or at least causing great damage.

 

Balance is essential. As human beings we are creatures of habit. We do best when we have a rhythm to life and patterns of living that we stick to. Getting out of bed around the same time every day; having quiet time with the Lord; eating nutritious meals the same time everyday; having an exercise routine that is scheduled and which you stick to; planning for and actually having regular times of socialization with the important people in your life; regular participation in the life of a good church; going to bed at the same time every night. A pattern of living like that is one which provides good balance and a comfortable rhythm of living. Those are the conditions under which humans thrive and do their best.

 

If your life is out of balance in any of those important ways then that lack of balance is having a negative impact on your attitude, and it is resulting in a life that less rewarding, less satisfying, and not as happy than it otherwise would be.

 

If balance is something you struggle with then an excellent Christian resource which could be helpful to you is the workbook “Boundaries” by Townsend and Cloud. I recommend it to you.

 

We need healthy balance in our lives. I encourage you to give serious thought to whether or not you need to make some adjustments in your life.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “My dearly loved brothers, understand this: Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for a man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” James 1:19-20 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “You can control yourself.”

 

Yes, it’s true, you can control yourself. Whatever emotion or impulse we’re talking about, it can be controlled. In James 1:19-20 James was referring specifically to the emotion of anger. His remedy for outbursts of anger is to first listen to the other person and then pause before you reply. It’s like your Momma used to tell you, “Count to ten first.” The point is that we should not respond to situations based upon raw emotion. We need to pause long enough for emotions to subside and for logic to kick-in.

 

That’s a general rule that applies equally well to virtually any emotionally-charged situation. Whether we’re talking about anger, lust, greed, frustration, fear, or any number of other emotions, we need to pause before we respond. That’s how we control ourselves. That’s how we make sure our attitude is based on logic and not emotion.

 

One of the best techniques you can employ for creating that pause and regaining control is to focus on your breathing. Inhale deeply. Hold it for a moment and then let it out slowly. Do it several times. Do it ten times (just don’t hyperventilate, lol).

 

Controlling your breathing to control your emotions is actually scientifically proven to produce a chemical reaction within your body. When your emotions begin to rage your heart rate increases, your blood pressure goes up, your vision narrows, and your mind becomes sharply focused on the cause of your rising emotional response. But when you intentionally take control of your breathing in the manner just described, you heart rate decreases, your blood pressure goes down, your mind clears, and the emotions subside.

 

So you can use deep breathing to gain control of anger, to quiet a panic attack, to manage pain, or to create increased awareness. You can even use the control of your breath to focus power (martial artists do this as they’re preparing to break a board with their fist).

 

Controlling your breathing won’t necessarily erase your fear or eliminate your pain. And in terms of anger, it probably won’t make the obnoxious jerk standing in front of you suddenly disappear, but controlling your anger could keep you out of jail. You see, there are all sorts of good reasons to control yourself. Staying out of jail is just one of them and controlling your breathing will help you to do it. (You’re welcome. No extra charge. I’d rather share advice with you then pay your bail.)

 

You can control yourself. Controlling your breathing will help.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Paul came to them, and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.” Acts 18:3-4 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Your job is your ministry field.”

 

In Acts 18:3-4 Luke reveals to us something of the Apostle Paul’s background that we didn’t know before. Paul was trained as a tentmaker. He made tents for a living. This is something we didn’t know about him and it comes as a bit of a surprise. Prior to this we knew little of Paul’s early years except that he was a diligent student of the Old Testament law and that ultimately he became a Pharisee, and was therefore a religious professional.

 

But at some point in those early years he also learned a trade – that of a tentmaker. Good thing he did too because we find that after he became a Christian, and was therefore no longer eligible to be supported out of the temple treasury like all Pharisees, he needed to make a living. So we read here in Acts 18:3-4 that when he arrived in the city of Corinth God hooked him up with Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who were also Christians and who also make their living as tentmakers. They all then evidently went into business together.

 

What’s most interesting and most instructive for us here this morning is that Paul used his employment as a platform for ministry. He did what he had to do in order to earn a living, but he also preached and taught as he had the opportunity. I imagine that in addition to formal preaching and teaching opportunities, Paul being Paul, he almost certainly used his daily business dealings in the tent making business to talk to people about Jesus.

 

This passage illustrates a mindset we call “business as ministry”. “Business as ministry” is a model whereby someone intentionally uses their work situation as an opportunity for ministry. I know a successful and affluent businessman who uses a lot of the profits from his business to help fund a wide array of Christian ministries. I know of many others whose jobs require them to interact with the public all day long. They then use that as an opportunity to build relationships with people, talk to them about Jesus, pray with them, and invite them to church.

 

Another term that’s often applied to this approach is “Marketplace Missions”. This is the understanding that a secular job is not an inconvenience or a necessary evil, but instead it is a God-given opportunity to meet and interact with people for a higher purpose. This is the context within which tentmakers do their best work for the kingdom of God.

 

“Marketplace Missions” is one of the most effective ministry models commonly used by overseas missionaries in a foreign country on a long-term assignment. They use their trade or profession as a medical doctor, nurse, auto mechanic, teacher, etc, as a means of interacting with the people and driving down deep into their culture.

 

I want to encourage you today to see your job as a God-given opportunity to be on-mission with Jesus. Your job is your mission field. It is “Marketplace Missions.”

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:20-23 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Love each other.”

 

What’s your attitude about the other people in your church? Oh, I’m not talking about sweet little Mrs. Emma, the older lady who is kind and humble and always smiling. Everybody loves her. I’m talking about the grumpy guy, the one who was obviously weaned on a lemon and has never lost the sour look on his face. I’m talking about loud and outspoken Mr. Opinion who has something to say about everything. I mean the bratty eight year old boy who evidently doesn’t get spanked enough. What’s your attitude about those people?

 

One of my favorite illustrations of the average church is that of “The Star Wars Bar”. You might remember the scene from the first Star Wars movie when Hans Solo and Chewbacca go into an inter-planetary bar. It’s filled with odd looking creatures from across the universe. Some have two heads, others have three eyes, some are small and purple others are large and green. In that bar there’s every kind of weird creature you can think of.

 

Yup, that describes most churches. It’s been said that God loves some mighty strange people – and you’re one of them! And so am I.

 

In 1 John 4:20-23 the Apostle tells us that we are to have love – genuine love – for our brothers and sisters in the family of God. That doesn’t necessarily mean we have to “like” them, but we do have to “love” them. Honestly, it can be hard to “like” someone who is argumentative, smelly, rude, or unkind. And yes, there are people like that in all of our churches. But you can love someone without liking them much. There are times when I’m sure my wife would like to choke me, but even then she still loves me.

 

As you prepare to gather with your church family this Sunday I want to encourage you to spend a little extra time in prayer preparation (maybe a lot of time, depending on the assortment of characters in your church!) Go through the church directory and pray for each person by name, asking the Lord to give you extra patience where needed, kindness and compassion in all cases, and the ability to show Christian love for each individual (especially for those you don’t “like” a whole bunch).

 

From time to time it’s a good idea to check our attitude about the people God has placed us into fellowship with. Do you love them, and does it show?

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim