I was going to write out a verbose post that illustrated the events of 2011. Instead just watch this video. It exemplifies the changes of 2011 to a tee. This happened and I was home to see it. Happy New Year. Continue reading
Year End 2011
1
Most Read Posts of the Year
Since I haven’t really done any real typing for the last few weeks I thought I would provide you with a list of the top five posts from the year. I know it’s a cop out but to sweeten the pot I’ll give the person who guesses the order correct a bright shiny nickel.
Sit, stand, sit, stand, leave…
It’s not a toy, it’s technology…
It was made apparent to me over the weekend that I may have giving off the wrong impression by using my tablet pc during church services.
Some of our more aged members were under the impression that it was just a toy I was playing with while our pastor was preaching.(If they were paying attention to the pastor instead of me they would have never seen that I even had it right)
It really brought home a problem that churches all over the nation are experiencing.
How to integrate technology in services without creating the appearance of distractedness.
Mouth Noises…
Failure…
If you have ever spent any time in church you have undoubtedly heard the creation story. God created man and woman. He created man to tend the earth and woman to help him and be his companion. God felt it would not do to allow man to exist alone. Thus the creation of woman.
Later in the story the woman was the initial one tempted by the devil to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. I’ve heard a lot of people over time question how easy it would have been to not eat that fruit. And honestly I put a lot of weight into that thought process as well. I mean really. You were given EVERYTHING and told not to do one thing. ONE thing. It’s easy to be a monday morning quarterback. We have it all figured out with the gift of hindsight.
.But just this morning a thought came to my head.
When Adam was in the garden before the fall he was not alone. He had God as a companion. He had no knowledge of the concept of a female companion so how could he understand being alone?
God in his infinite wisdom knew that man would fall from grace. We would be tempted and we would fail. At that point the personal contact with God would be cut off and man would truly be alone. Unless he created someone for us. Thus woman.
Before we ever even failed he knew we were going to. And even though he knew we were going to fail he sought to provide us with what we needed to live in our failure. To succeed and thrive. He gave us a second chance before we needed it.
Much like Christ dying on the cross. He died thousands of years before I sinned, but it was done with the foreknowledge that I would. And I would need that second chance. Not only a second, but a third, fourth and many more.
Because God has true foresight we are provided for.
Get right…
Sometimes I wake up and fell like I just can’t seem to get right.
I just don’t seem to catch a groove. It’s not that any specific thing is going wrong or even that it is a bad day.
Just not a normal feeling day. It’s as if a haze has desended on my brain, and we all know I can’t afford too many of those days. I can however power through until lunch. Usually by then the fog lifts a bit and I seem to function a little better.
What causes this?
A new era…
I just finished mastering a CD from my church’s multi-track recorder. We implemented this several months ago and I’m still learning new tricks on this piece of equipment. I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of this church and all the things they are doing. The part that really blows my mind is that this is the same church I grew up in.
I say it’s the same church, but really it’s only the same building. The church is now a vibrant and growing body of Christ. Before when I was a child it was merely in a holding pattern. As we all grew up and moved in our separate directions the church dwindled in attendance.
There have been a few staples that have carried over from that era but in reality as the church has grown it has taken on a whole new image. No longer the church with impotent leadership and stale worship, it has grown in Christ to a new focus.
The new focus is on God himself. I remember as a child being involved in a lot of fun activities in the church, but the real meat of Christianity escaped us. Partly because of our own immaturity in Christ and partly because of ineffective leadership.
But the new. The new is merely just a focus on what God would have us be. Not to be a growing church and not concentrating on just trying to keep the doors open. We merely ask to be the church that is needed in our community and be the people that God calls us to be. As long as we maintain that focus I don’t see how we can ever falter.
Because we are no longer looking to the members to keep it alive. We are looking to God to guide us in the way he would have us go. And with that comes a level of discomfort for everyone involved. I say discomfort because when you truly ask God to make you into who he would have you be, it is often diametrically opposed to who you want to be. We have to make choices that would be easier to follow the worldly path.
I know that I fail every day, but if God is truly at the helm of this ship, we will never be lost.
Losing Interest…
How many of you have started a new hobby that you were just absolutely certain was something you were going to love for a long time?
How many of you have given up on a new hobby because you lost interest in it?
Everyone raise your hand.
Sometimes we start things with the best of intentions only to find later on that it is something that at it’s most base level does not interest us. Is this a bad thing? Both yes and no. Yes it’s a bad thing if your new(soon to be forgotten) hobby is going to leave someone holding the bag. You have to ask yourself if your retraction from that hobby is going to harm someone else.
Does that mean that you should hold on to hobbies simply to appease others? No.
It simply means that if that hobby was a source of bonding with a loved one, it needs to be replaced with something else. Maybe the time together is what that other person cherished, not the activity. Sometimes our flippancy to a certain activity that we were once passionate about will create ill will among those around you.
What good can come of giving up a hobby?
Lots.
From that activity or hobby a new thing may be born. A realization about who you are. A revelation so to speak. By not filling our time with things we are only half interested in, we free up time for things we are wholly interested in.
While we start things with gusto, it can flow out like low tide. The thing to remember is that it’s just a few moments before the tide comes back in.
Sinner’s Anonymous Week 10
Week 10
12 Christian Steps of Sinners Anonymous & Biblical References
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with GOD, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will, and the power to carry that out.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Col. 3:16)
Hopefully when we get to this point we have fully prepared our hearts for God’s presence. We have eliminated as much of the rocky soil as possible so God can sow seeds of great obedience in his honor. Continue reading
Motivation
It seems here recently I have had a problem with motivation.
Not in everything, but in a few important things. I noticed a pattern of motivation I had when I was in sales. I would be incredibly motivated for two months at a time and then a one month period of demotivation.
How much more efficient would I have been if that one month of demotivation had been one more month of motivation? About 33% according to numbers.
I think the problem we have is where we derive our motivation from. If it is from some temporal thing, it will wax and wane. We will have a tidal surge of motivation, only to retreat to almost nothing. Then a resurgance.
Our motivation isn’t gone, it is merely in another place. I have to constantly find new tools to motivate myself. And honestly what better motivator than that of my place in the body of Christ.
Do you want Jesus to come back and find you at half speed?
Not to scare anyone, but realistically if he were to come back, would you be remotely satisified with the pace you are currently operation at?
