Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
I pray all is well with you this week and that you have experienced the powerful presence of our Mighty God moving in your life.
Earlier this week I was having an email conversation between some men in the church and one of them metioned that he was trying to get a slang term to catch on in reference to our church. He said, "I'll see you around the copper-top." We then had some other email exchanges. I responded with, "You can't top the copper top" because we worship "The One the Lasts" (of course referring to some duracell slogans).
Then another email came across saying, ""copper top, you'll always be, home sweeeet home to meeee. Good ole' copper top, copper top u-m-C, copper top u-m-C". I had to laugh at the exchange, but I was also encouraged by the love for our church community and the desire to reflect on our church in new and exciting ways.
It got me to thinking about FUMC and in what ways the rest of the Body perceives the ministries and in what ways the ministries of our church have touched your life. So, I would like to hear from all of you about why you love our church body and in what ways the ministries have touched your life. Next week I will post all of your responses. I hope that this will be an encouragement to the church as we continue to journey together and minister in the places that God is showing up in our community!
You can write your comment below in the comment section of this blog, or you can email me at donbird@canonumc.org. It can be one word, a short paragraph, or a short story. Or, you can stop by the copper top and share your story with me in person. I look forward to your comments as we strive to be the best copper-top UMC, home sweet home to you and me.
"Precious Lord, You have created the church for our benefit. Thank you for leading us as we support, love, and equip each other. Thank you for the opportunities to encourage each other along the challenging path of life. Thank you for revealing Yourself to us in the midst of our fellowship together. Help us to not take the church for granted. Help us to not take You for granted. May our fellowship and our relationships with one another honor and glorify You. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen."
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Balancing Act
Good afternoon!
This morning, as I was driving to the church, I heard an interview with Ted Cunningham on Q102.7. Ted is a pastor that co-wrote a book with Dr. Gary Smalley called "Great Parents, Lousy Lovers". I was drawn into what Ted was sharing about parenting in today's world. He was speaking straight to me about the struggles of having our kids involved in every activity under the sun and not losing that connection with your spouse.
In the interview, Ted talked about the Sabbath and how the commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8-12) is the one commandment that the Lord elaborated on the most. It must mean He is serious about this commandment. God realized that if we are left to the craziness and busyness of our world, we will surely out-run our souls. Remember, at the time God wasn't talking to the Information Age of the 21st century. Yet, He knew the tendency of our human nature to not take time to slow down, rest, and become renewed and restored.
Pastor Ted mentioned that we do not do a good job of keeping the 4th commandment and that has now negatively impacted the lives of our children and it has impacted our marriages. Ted spoke of the importance of keeping the sabbath as a family. Making it a priority. Teaching our children how to make it a priority in their lives as well.
I know this is a balancing act and it appears impossible. But, I also believe, that many of us are instinctively aware of this need to slow down. We have been duped into believing that our adult lives have to be busy and that they have to revolve around keeping our children busy. God's command is counter-cultural. To Him it's not a balancing act (how much can I put on my plate and balance at one time). To Him it is the way it works. It is the way that helps us maintain our sanity and our health and our relationships.
One of the main victims of this busy-way-of-life is marriage. Husbands and wives are so busy driving the mini-van taxi, they don't take time for themselves. We don't realize that the greatest gift we can give our children is that of a strong, healthy, loving, vibrant marriage. A marriage that is centered on God and a marriage that loves each other as Christ loves us. It is not a marriage that is centered on the children, where everything revolves around them. It is not a marriage that makes decisions based on keeping the kids happy. It is a marriage based on loving each other and following God together.
When I think back to my childhood, yes I remember vacation to Hawaii and the soccer games and piano lessons and road trips, etc. But, what I CHERISH are the family devotion times before bed, worshipping with my family in church, and reading the Christmas story on Christmas day with my Grandpa. It was the spiritual nurturing that has kept me going. It is the spiritual upbringing that has become my Rock. Not all of that other stuff.
If you would like to read more about this book, you can go to: http://greatparentslousyloversthebook.com I know that am going to be getting myself a copy.
So, if you are living the balancing act and trying to figure out how to balance your life, your kids' lives, your marriage, your work, your faith - you don't have to look too far for the answer. God tells us to put one foot in front of the other, sit down on that balance beam of life, and regularly spend a day with Him.
"O God, my Rock and my Redeemer, there are times I feel like I'm about to tip over from all of the things I feel I have to do. I get off-balance and when I do, I see you as something else I need to deal with. Forgive me. Take Your hand and bring me back to the balance I seek. Remind me again and again of Your commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. Remove from me any temptation that will distract me from You. I seek the balance only You can bring to my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
This morning, as I was driving to the church, I heard an interview with Ted Cunningham on Q102.7. Ted is a pastor that co-wrote a book with Dr. Gary Smalley called "Great Parents, Lousy Lovers". I was drawn into what Ted was sharing about parenting in today's world. He was speaking straight to me about the struggles of having our kids involved in every activity under the sun and not losing that connection with your spouse.
In the interview, Ted talked about the Sabbath and how the commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8-12) is the one commandment that the Lord elaborated on the most. It must mean He is serious about this commandment. God realized that if we are left to the craziness and busyness of our world, we will surely out-run our souls. Remember, at the time God wasn't talking to the Information Age of the 21st century. Yet, He knew the tendency of our human nature to not take time to slow down, rest, and become renewed and restored.
Pastor Ted mentioned that we do not do a good job of keeping the 4th commandment and that has now negatively impacted the lives of our children and it has impacted our marriages. Ted spoke of the importance of keeping the sabbath as a family. Making it a priority. Teaching our children how to make it a priority in their lives as well.
I know this is a balancing act and it appears impossible. But, I also believe, that many of us are instinctively aware of this need to slow down. We have been duped into believing that our adult lives have to be busy and that they have to revolve around keeping our children busy. God's command is counter-cultural. To Him it's not a balancing act (how much can I put on my plate and balance at one time). To Him it is the way it works. It is the way that helps us maintain our sanity and our health and our relationships.
One of the main victims of this busy-way-of-life is marriage. Husbands and wives are so busy driving the mini-van taxi, they don't take time for themselves. We don't realize that the greatest gift we can give our children is that of a strong, healthy, loving, vibrant marriage. A marriage that is centered on God and a marriage that loves each other as Christ loves us. It is not a marriage that is centered on the children, where everything revolves around them. It is not a marriage that makes decisions based on keeping the kids happy. It is a marriage based on loving each other and following God together.
When I think back to my childhood, yes I remember vacation to Hawaii and the soccer games and piano lessons and road trips, etc. But, what I CHERISH are the family devotion times before bed, worshipping with my family in church, and reading the Christmas story on Christmas day with my Grandpa. It was the spiritual nurturing that has kept me going. It is the spiritual upbringing that has become my Rock. Not all of that other stuff.
If you would like to read more about this book, you can go to: http://greatparentslousyloversthebook.com I know that am going to be getting myself a copy.
So, if you are living the balancing act and trying to figure out how to balance your life, your kids' lives, your marriage, your work, your faith - you don't have to look too far for the answer. God tells us to put one foot in front of the other, sit down on that balance beam of life, and regularly spend a day with Him.
"O God, my Rock and my Redeemer, there are times I feel like I'm about to tip over from all of the things I feel I have to do. I get off-balance and when I do, I see you as something else I need to deal with. Forgive me. Take Your hand and bring me back to the balance I seek. Remind me again and again of Your commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. Remove from me any temptation that will distract me from You. I seek the balance only You can bring to my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Round 12
Good afternoon!
I am going to sound like a broken record in what I am sharing this week, but you'll understand when you here of our ongoing saga...
The mouse is baaaaack!
You may remember a few months back in my blog, "It's On!", the story of the mouse that we couldn't catch in our garage. Since that time, we had caught two mice in the garage. I thought that would be the end of the story. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks back I noticed a quick movement out of the corner of my eye by one of the bathrooms in our home (the kids' bathroom, no less). Wouldn't you know, a mouse was running rampant, but this time it is in our house!
We laid some more traps and got some of those pulsating deterrents you plug into your wall sockets and we didn't see the mouse again for a couple of weeks. Until yesterday. It was back and I am tired of it messing with my mind!
It is one thing that the mouse was out in our garage, it is a whole other story now that the mouse is in our house.
I was reflecting on this situation again this morning. Who would have known that a tiny rodent would bring so much spiritual reflection to my life? Is God trying to tell me something? I shutter at the thought.
I think about my own life and how sin enters my life. I think about those things that tempt me and in their own subtle ways remind me that they are around. At first, these temptations stay out in the garage of my life. Every now and then they appear. I focus on them and then try to get rid of them. However, if I don't completely take care of the temptation and those things that cause me to stumble, eventually they move in to the home of my heart. They run around unnoticed, nibbling and hiding in the deep recesses of my heart. Now, when I am at home and comfortable, they come peering at me, inviting me to turn my attention, my energy, towards them.
After chasing it around a bit, I realize that I need to get rid of this temptation, this stumbling block that has taken up residence in my life. I set out traps to try and kill it. I tempt the tempter and try to chase it out of my heart home, but still, I struggle.
How do you get rid of these temptations and stumbling blocks in life? I want to, but once I think it's gone, there it is staring back at me again. It's like going round after round in a boxing match, with no end in site. I'm tired, but I won't give up. It's Round 12 and if I don't get a knock out, I may get leveled myself.
The Apostle Paul speaks of this very struggle we all have. Listen to what he says in Romans 7:14-25 (The Message translation):
"I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."
May those last two verses give you hope, as it gives me hope. That in this life of contradictions, the answer is always JESUS CHRIST!
"Gracious God. Forgive me for opening myself up to allowing sin to take up residence in my life. Forgive me for enjoying it. Take away any sense of guilt and make right my life which I give to You. I want to serve You. I want to worship You. I want to live my life fully for You. Remind me that it is not my job to take away the temptation. It is my job to allow you to defeat it and remove it from my life. I am willing. This round is Yours. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
I am going to sound like a broken record in what I am sharing this week, but you'll understand when you here of our ongoing saga...
The mouse is baaaaack!
You may remember a few months back in my blog, "It's On!", the story of the mouse that we couldn't catch in our garage. Since that time, we had caught two mice in the garage. I thought that would be the end of the story. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks back I noticed a quick movement out of the corner of my eye by one of the bathrooms in our home (the kids' bathroom, no less). Wouldn't you know, a mouse was running rampant, but this time it is in our house!
We laid some more traps and got some of those pulsating deterrents you plug into your wall sockets and we didn't see the mouse again for a couple of weeks. Until yesterday. It was back and I am tired of it messing with my mind!
It is one thing that the mouse was out in our garage, it is a whole other story now that the mouse is in our house.
I was reflecting on this situation again this morning. Who would have known that a tiny rodent would bring so much spiritual reflection to my life? Is God trying to tell me something? I shutter at the thought.
I think about my own life and how sin enters my life. I think about those things that tempt me and in their own subtle ways remind me that they are around. At first, these temptations stay out in the garage of my life. Every now and then they appear. I focus on them and then try to get rid of them. However, if I don't completely take care of the temptation and those things that cause me to stumble, eventually they move in to the home of my heart. They run around unnoticed, nibbling and hiding in the deep recesses of my heart. Now, when I am at home and comfortable, they come peering at me, inviting me to turn my attention, my energy, towards them.
After chasing it around a bit, I realize that I need to get rid of this temptation, this stumbling block that has taken up residence in my life. I set out traps to try and kill it. I tempt the tempter and try to chase it out of my heart home, but still, I struggle.
How do you get rid of these temptations and stumbling blocks in life? I want to, but once I think it's gone, there it is staring back at me again. It's like going round after round in a boxing match, with no end in site. I'm tired, but I won't give up. It's Round 12 and if I don't get a knock out, I may get leveled myself.
The Apostle Paul speaks of this very struggle we all have. Listen to what he says in Romans 7:14-25 (The Message translation):
"I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."
May those last two verses give you hope, as it gives me hope. That in this life of contradictions, the answer is always JESUS CHRIST!
"Gracious God. Forgive me for opening myself up to allowing sin to take up residence in my life. Forgive me for enjoying it. Take away any sense of guilt and make right my life which I give to You. I want to serve You. I want to worship You. I want to live my life fully for You. Remind me that it is not my job to take away the temptation. It is my job to allow you to defeat it and remove it from my life. I am willing. This round is Yours. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Another Breakthrough
Good afternoon!
Today I read from Luke 14:15-24 (I encourage you to read it) and it talked about the Kingdom of God. Actually, there are over 100 references to the Kingdom of God in the gospels...which means it was a pretty important topic for Jesus. Therefore, it should be an important part of our conversation as well. The story talks about how the Jesus is ready to invite all of us to the banquet table to experience the Kingdom of God (God's full presence around us), yet many make excuses or are distracted by other things this world has to offer.
Recently, I read about Gary Kildall. In 1973 he wrote the first popular operating system for personal computers, named CP/M. The story goes that IBM approached Kildall in 1980 about developing the operating system for IBM PCs. But Kildall snubbed IBM officials at a crucial meeting. Instead, Kildall chose to fly his new airplane.
IBM executives were frustrated with Kildall and instead turned to Bill Gates, founder of a small software company called Microsoft, and his operating system named MS-DOS. Fourteen yearss later Bill Gates was worth more than 8 billion dollars.
Kildall, who has since passed away, was not aware of what was right in front of him and how big the market would become for operating systems. In a similar way, we don't often realize how big God's Kingdom really is and when God comes calling with the offer of a lifetime, we tend to find other things to do.
Personally, I don't want to miss out on the Kingdom of God. I'm not just talking about Heaven here. I'm talking about seeing God at work around me and within me. The Kingdom of God is breaking through all around us in small acts of mercy, in words of kindness and compassion, in standing up for injustices, in speaking for those who are on the margins of society, in standing for the truth that comes through Jesus Christ, in a child's innocent look, and a baby's cry. The Kingdom of God is HUGE and I don't want to miss it.
Let me leave you with a thought that I was left with in a clergy gathering earlier today. It is a question I will ask myself everyday - "Where have I seen the Kingdom of God break through today? This week? How did I block it from breaking through?"
Imagine how our perspective of life and faith would change if we were always on the look out for the Kingdom of God - I think we would recognize just how BIG our God is and how BIG the opportunity is to live for Him.
No more excuses.
"Almighty God, thank You for breaking through the mire and mess of my world, to show me a glimpse of You every day. Forgive me when I have been a barrier to Your Kingdom being made a reality here on earth. Forgive my excuses and my desire to do other things that take me away from You. I don't want to make excuses anymore. I want to see You and Your greatness every day of my life. If You can use me God - I am Yours. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen."
Today I read from Luke 14:15-24 (I encourage you to read it) and it talked about the Kingdom of God. Actually, there are over 100 references to the Kingdom of God in the gospels...which means it was a pretty important topic for Jesus. Therefore, it should be an important part of our conversation as well. The story talks about how the Jesus is ready to invite all of us to the banquet table to experience the Kingdom of God (God's full presence around us), yet many make excuses or are distracted by other things this world has to offer.
Recently, I read about Gary Kildall. In 1973 he wrote the first popular operating system for personal computers, named CP/M. The story goes that IBM approached Kildall in 1980 about developing the operating system for IBM PCs. But Kildall snubbed IBM officials at a crucial meeting. Instead, Kildall chose to fly his new airplane.
IBM executives were frustrated with Kildall and instead turned to Bill Gates, founder of a small software company called Microsoft, and his operating system named MS-DOS. Fourteen yearss later Bill Gates was worth more than 8 billion dollars.
Kildall, who has since passed away, was not aware of what was right in front of him and how big the market would become for operating systems. In a similar way, we don't often realize how big God's Kingdom really is and when God comes calling with the offer of a lifetime, we tend to find other things to do.
Personally, I don't want to miss out on the Kingdom of God. I'm not just talking about Heaven here. I'm talking about seeing God at work around me and within me. The Kingdom of God is breaking through all around us in small acts of mercy, in words of kindness and compassion, in standing up for injustices, in speaking for those who are on the margins of society, in standing for the truth that comes through Jesus Christ, in a child's innocent look, and a baby's cry. The Kingdom of God is HUGE and I don't want to miss it.
Let me leave you with a thought that I was left with in a clergy gathering earlier today. It is a question I will ask myself everyday - "Where have I seen the Kingdom of God break through today? This week? How did I block it from breaking through?"
Imagine how our perspective of life and faith would change if we were always on the look out for the Kingdom of God - I think we would recognize just how BIG our God is and how BIG the opportunity is to live for Him.
No more excuses.
"Almighty God, thank You for breaking through the mire and mess of my world, to show me a glimpse of You every day. Forgive me when I have been a barrier to Your Kingdom being made a reality here on earth. Forgive my excuses and my desire to do other things that take me away from You. I don't want to make excuses anymore. I want to see You and Your greatness every day of my life. If You can use me God - I am Yours. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen."
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A Quick Thought
Hello Friends and Family,
I pray all is well with you.
I have a quick thought for you today that has guided my prayers and my thoughts today. It was my devotion today and it comes from "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis. Read the words...read them again...let them sink in...reflect on their meaning and say, "God, speak."
"The life of a good religious person should shine in all virtue and be inwardly as it appears outwardly. And it should be the much more inward, for Almighty God beholds the heart and we should always honor and reverence him as if we were always in his bodily presence, and appear before him as angels, clean and pure, shining with all virtue.
We ought every day to renew our purpose in God, and to stir our hearts to fervor and devotion, as though it were the first day of our conversion. And we ought daily to pray and say: Help me, my Lord Jesus, that I may persevere in good purpose and in your holy service unto my death, and that I may now today perfectly begin, for I have done nothing in time past."
God speak...
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
I pray all is well with you.
I have a quick thought for you today that has guided my prayers and my thoughts today. It was my devotion today and it comes from "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis. Read the words...read them again...let them sink in...reflect on their meaning and say, "God, speak."
"The life of a good religious person should shine in all virtue and be inwardly as it appears outwardly. And it should be the much more inward, for Almighty God beholds the heart and we should always honor and reverence him as if we were always in his bodily presence, and appear before him as angels, clean and pure, shining with all virtue.
We ought every day to renew our purpose in God, and to stir our hearts to fervor and devotion, as though it were the first day of our conversion. And we ought daily to pray and say: Help me, my Lord Jesus, that I may persevere in good purpose and in your holy service unto my death, and that I may now today perfectly begin, for I have done nothing in time past."
God speak...
Take Care & God Bless,
Pastor Don
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