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

 

 

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him.” Acts 10:34 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We must welcome those who are different from us.”

 

Do you know that most Christians are not like you? It’s true, they’re not. First of all, most Christians do not live in the USA. I don’t have the exact figures in front of me but approximately 90% of all the Christians in the world today live somewhere other than the USA. So that means that most Christians do not look like you, they speak a different language than you do, and they do not read the King James Version of the Bible.

 

Even within our own country most Christians are not like you. Christians come in all shapes and sizes. They are big and tall, heavy and thin, red and yellow, black and white. They are rich and poor, young and old, they come from the north and south, the east and west, and they belong to dozens of different denominations.

 

Why am I telling you this? So that each of us can check our attitudes regarding how we really feel about those who are different from us; and, whether or not they are really welcome in our churches. It’s often been said that the most segregated hour of the week in the United States of America is 11:00 on Sunday morning. That is so because that’s when we gather in our churches. Sadly, most of our churches are segregated; maybe not intentionally, but segregated none-the-less. But the Kingdom of God is not segregated. It’s not supposed to be segregated here on earth and it definitely is not in heaven.

 

In Galatians 3:28 the Apostle Paul wrote, “There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” He means of course that in the eyes of God there are only Christians and non-Christians. There are no other distinctions that matter.

 

In Revelation 7:9 we read about a great worship service in heaven. Note the diversity: “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

 

What if, on this Sunday morning, two homeless men visit in your church? They are dirty, disheveled, and stinky. Will they be welcome? Really welcome? How about if an immigrant family comes in and quietly sits in the back. Will everyone turn and stare for a moment, and then turn back around to face the front? Or will many people get up and give them a warm and friendly greeting – and really mean it?

 

Church is the place where all the distinctions between us should fade into the background. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. There we’re all the same, just a bunch of sinners forgiven and redeemed by the blood of Christ and the grace of God.

 

What’s your attitude about those who are different from you, and how welcome are they in your church?

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near!” Luke 21:28 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Be tough and do not fear.”

 

In the last half of Luke chapter twenty-one Jesus was providing a glimpse of the End Times. He described wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, strange signs in the heavens and tremendous persecution of God’s people. But then in verse 28 He told His listeners that as they see and experience those things they were not to cower or tremble in fear; instead they were to stand up and lift up their heads, confident that their redemption was near.

 

Jesus intentionally painted a picture of people who were unafraid of threats and challenges, fearless in the face of adversity, and confident that they had victory in Jesus. These were tough people in tough times.

 

Do you consider yourself to be tough like that? If you’re a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ then you should be tough and unafraid, and you can be. The fearless confidence of God’s people in the face of tough times is one of the most common themes in the Bible. Repeatedly we are told to “Fear not!’. Over and over again on the pages of Scripture we find examples of God’s people facing difficulty with courage and confidence. Those examples are in the Bible to serve as models for us. Those people were no different from you or me. That means that we can handle similar situations the same way that they handled theirs.

 

Dr. James Loehr is a sports psychologist who spent his entire career studying and working with athletes who seemed to have mastered the ability to stand tall, to hold up their heads, and to push through even the most adverse of challenges. Dr. Loehr said that those people were top athletes because rather than shrinking back or being intimidated by difficulty, they were energized by it. The challenge made them tougher, more determined, and more aggressive. No stooped shoulders, bowed heads, or dragging feet. Instead they would stand tall, head held high, shoulders back, communicating strength, purpose, and confidence. They would talk to themselves and others in a positive way and would entertain no thought of retreat or defeat.

 

The book Dr. Loehr wrote about his studies is called “Toughness Training for Life”. It’s not a Christian book and some of the athletes he studied were not Christian, although some of them were. However the winning attitude of toughness, resilience, and confidence they displayed is exactly what Jesus was calling for Luke 21:28. It’s exactly what the Bible describes in so many other passages as well. And here’s the thing, as a Christian you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you to help you be tough like that.

 

Whatever it is you’re facing in life you can have victory over it. You are not a defeated and helpless victim. You are a child of God with the Holy Spirit of God living within you. You can be confident and courageous in the face of whatever you’re dealing with. So stand up! Lift up your head!

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We need discipline and self-control.”

 

I don’t know if the Apostle Paul was an athlete but I do know that he loved to use sports metaphors. He compared the Christian life to a race to be run, a fight to be fought, and a training regime that must be engaged in if we are to live successfully and be victorious.

 

From what Paul described of himself in his writings, a picture emerges of a man who was disciplined and who strived to exercise self-control in his life. Those are attributes which are essential for every man or woman who desires to be the best person he or she can be.

 

Yesterday I wrote of how it is that God sees within you the person that you can be, and that He is in the process of molding and shaping you into that person. He progressively bringing out from within you the new, better, and improved you. But it’s not all up to Him. Each of us has a role to play in the transformation too. God works in partnership with us. He does His part but we must also do our part. We have to exercise discipline in all areas of our lives and do the things that need to be done in order to become the man or woman God wants us to be. And we also have to be self-controlled in order to avoid the things we need to avoid.

 

For instance, you cannot fill your mind with pornography, violent images, and profane song lyrics, and then expect God to transform you into a holy and righteous person who exalts Christ in your manner of living. You have to be disciplined and exercise self-control in those areas and then God will bring out the fruit of the Holy Spirit in you (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

Likewise, I would love to be able to live on a diet of ice cream, pizza, and chocolate, but have a healthy body that is slim, trim, and physically fit. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. I have to do my part to eat well and to exercise, and then I can reasonably ask God to help me stay healthy and fit. I cannot stuff myself with junk food and then expect God to magically make me look like Fabio.

 

Most of us need more discipline, structure, and self-control in our lives. I encourage you to consider the areas of your life that need to undergo some transformation and then consider what kinds of structure you can implement to help you become more disciplined and to have greater self-control. God will do His part in your transformation, but you also have to do our part.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Attitude”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “God sees you as you can be, not as you are.”

 

“The Pygmalion Effect” is a version of the theory of the “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Pygmalion was a figure from Greek mythology. He was a sculptor and he created a statue of what he considered to be the perfect woman. Day after day he studied his statue and thought deeply about the kind of woman she would be if she were real. He fell in love with the image of the statue and found himself longing for a real woman who would be a live version of his perfect woman. Well the gods favored Pygmalion by bringing his statue to life, and Pygmalion’s longing for the perfect woman became a self-fulfilling prophecy. It turned out that there was a real perfect woman hidden deep within the statue.

 

In the early 1900s the poet and writer George Bernard Shaw wrote a play about the self-fulfilling prophecy. This time the story revolved around a professor by the name of George Mason. George contended that what a person believed to be true about themselves would ultimately determine what actually was true about them. To prove his theory, George conducted an experiment with a poor, uneducated young woman by the name of Eliza Doolittle. George told her that deep within herself she was actually a beautiful, cultured, dignified lady of high society and if she would just allow him to help her bring those qualities out, it would transform her life.

 

Eliza was doubtful at first but she went along with the experiment. Over time George trained Eliza to conduct herself like a high society lady. As Eliza began acting that way, she slowly came to believe it to be true of herself. And the more she believed it to be true, the more she acted that way. Long story short, one day Eliza was presented to British high society and everyone was awed by this beautiful, charming, cultured lady.

 

What you believe to be true about yourself matters very, very much. More than that, what God knows to be true about you matters very, very much. You may see yourself as a hapless, uneducated Eliza Doolittle, lacking in self-confidence and expecting little of your life. God sees you differently. God sees you as the person you can be, not as the person you are.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 is just one of numerous passages which remind us that God is in the process of slowly transforming us into the men and women He intends for us to be. He is in the process of sanding off the rough edges of our personality, purging the sinful habits we used to engage in and which were so repulsive to others, and He is bringing out of us the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control).

 

As God looks at us He sees the beautiful person within, and He is at work bringing that beautiful person into being. So when He assures us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has a great future in store for us, He’s thinking of what lies ahead for us as He continues to mold us and shape us into the person He knows we can be.

 

God is doing great things in you, and He has great things in store for you. Believe it. And then let that great truth determine your attitude about yourself.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim