It's almost Christmas! Hurray! I like Christmas. I love the one we celebrate the birthday of at Christmas. And I enjoy cookies, gifts, smiles, music, and movies of Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. Today I edited a video of a drama and solo from this past weekend's worship at Friendship Community Church. Here it is for your enjoyment.
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It's Sunday morning and I woke up early and decided to come on into the church. The roads are a little icy but I'll see what the morning brings. I enjoy worship so much that I am saddened that some people won't come today because of the weather. I understand that people need to be safe, but I will still miss them. We are a family and it's great when the family gathers on the weekend. But just in case the weather was bad today and people couldn't make it, last night after the Saturday evening service I put the sermon online . So if you are iced in today or snowed in or whatever, take some time to listen to the sermon and even a song if you wish . Have a wonderful day and merry Christmas!
This weekend I preached at Friendship Community Church. Usually I lead worship but with Pastor Hall away I had the opportunity to speak this past weekend. It was quite an interesting feeling to preach after not doing it since last November. I was nervous but knew that God would see me through it. My topic was Everybody Needs A Second Chance and I was reminded of how much I need second chances myself. But now it is over. The sermon was preached three times to three differing audiences. Now it has been placed on the internet for others to hear. If you are interested, the audio is here. There is no video, just the church logo. The sermon lasts about 30 minutes here , I had to trim off a little to get it under the 30 minute limit of GodTube. Feel free to leave comments and stories of what having a second chance has meant to you.
Everybody Needs A Second Chance. Sounds true enough to me. All of us mess up at times and even though we can never wipe it out like it never happened, we can start over. Most people want second chances for themselves but have a hard time granting second chances to those who hurt them or hurt people they care about. In any case, this weekend at Friendship Community Church this will be my topic. I will look at two brothers, a prodigal and the stay-at-home son, and a prophet named Jonah. All of them needed second chances. Some of them didn't want certain others to have them.
Election Day plus one. We have a new President. I knew we would. It was inevitable. Two terms and done, that's the rule (unless it's just one term). President Obama and his family need our prayers. So do the McCain's. Life goes on. No annoying phone calls anymore...well, not about politics anyway. God is not surprised. God is in control. God still wants to deal with humanity one person at a time.
Election Day is finally here. I looked out my kitchen window at 7:03 a.m. this morning towards the Community Building nearby and saw a long line stretching out reasonably close to the road. Election day. People were lined up and the parking lot had a lot of cars. For the next half hour, before I headed to work, there were lots of cars in and out and the line remained almost as long of people waiting to vote. On the other side of the building is another voting area. Then here at work we are a polling place also. I heard it was a big line also when the polls opened. I got here about 7:45 a.m. and there has been a constant line of people to vote. I was told around 9:15 that as many people had already voted as had voted for the entire primary day. People are definitely interested in the election. We became a polling place a few years ago but this is our first presidential election. So we are a good host with lots of room in our lobby for people to vote in a well-lighted area. Six...
One day to go before Election Day 2008. Usually I have these kinds of things all figured out but I have to say that this year I am one of those "undecided" voters that are said to be so important to the candidates. Our house has received so many mailings and automated phone calls from the candidates and their followers that we are certainly ready for all of this to be over so we can have our mail box and answering machine back. In years past I was often convinced that if a certain candidate won that it would be the end of civilized society as we knew it (well, not quite that bad but close). Now I have come to see that it is important who is elected from the state house to the white house but that the good of mankind doesn't rise or fall on an election. Of course I always knew that, but it just "felt" like an election was of utmost importance. This year I may be undecided on who to vote for, though I would even surprise myself if I didn't vote for one particu...
Yesterday I took the day off and ended up watching two back to back movies in the morning. The first was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was fun to watch Indiana again and see him in a new "old" place with an old friend who betrays him and a new sidekick who ends up being his son. Good movie, fun to watch, and an interesting look at running into an old flame again after many years and discovering that the two of you had a child together that you knew nothing about. Ah, the surprises of life! This Indiana Jones had the 1950's communist menace as the foes as opposed to his earlier movies when he fought the Nazis. The second movie I watched had the Nazis as the foe. This movie was "Bonhoeffer, Agent of Grace." Quite a bit different kind of movie in many ways. Bonhoeffer was a pastor in Germany who early in the movie is in the United States in 1939 and has the opportunity to stay there. But he chooses to go back to Germany and be with ...
Every so often an idea strikes me (it seems seldom at times) and I am able to capture it in a song. This past week it happened again. The idea is that when we think "What have you done for me lately, God?" the answer is that "You were there with me...and You're here with me." God is with us through our doubts, troubles, and when things are going well. Here is a video look at this song.
OK, I confess...I have enjoyed watching the political conventions the past two weeks. Yes, I said "conventions," both of them. Somehow as I am aging I am able to look for hope and ideas and look for the best in people even in two different political parties. I have discovered several "news" channels and seen just how much they report based on the "leaning" of the channel politically. (Nice way of saying they are biased and report accordingly.) It is hard for all of us to look at an event, a speech, a conversation and not see it from our own biased viewpoint. Did I say hard for us? I mean it is impossible. Still isn't it OK to have enjoyed Hilary Clinton speaking one week and Sarah Palin the next? Am I off-base because I could enjoy Barak Obama one week and then Joe Lieberman the following week? I used to feel that if a certain candidate didn't win that the country would be in big trouble. Now I still care and will vote in the election, b...
An interesting week of media. I finished up The Shack, I'm reading The Faith of Barack Obama, and I put together a second video of small group leaders describing their offerings for this fall. There are so many ways to grow as human beings. From reading to being part of a group of people who want to grow deeper in their spiritual lives to so many different things. The important thing is to take the time to be in relationship with God and with people. Here is the video I just put together. All kinds of groups described here from bible studies to men's and family and teen groups to fantasy sports leagues.
This week I read The Shack by William P. Young. What an excellent book. I like to read mysteries and action type of books and this had that...and so much more. In the book, a man named Mack is invited to the Shack to spend time with Papa. He has the opportunity to have one-on-one time with God, if only he will go for it. Or is it a hoax, or a trap, or a crazed joke? I enjoyed the book so much. I learned so much about God and spent time thinking about my relationships with people and with God. But if you think it is an over-your-head type of book don't worry, there is something for everyone. Yes, it requires some thinking but the plot and the characters draw you in. Will it stretch your thinking about who God is and what it means to be a Christian? Yep, it sure will but that's a good thing. Will you agree with every thought expressed? Maybe not but that can be OK too. It's a novel, not the final word. It gave me a lot to think about. What else can you hope fo...
This past week I got to talk with some terrific people who have a heart for helping others grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus. In order to help that happen, they are going to lead Deeper Life small groups this fall. Rather than just put out a brochure of when the groups are meeting and what the topics will be, I met with these leaders and video taped each of them. Then I put together a video to encourage people to become a part of a small group. I even taped myself. Hope you enjoy watching this and are motivated to join a group and grow deeper in your life with Jesus.