John 17

I struggle with Christians who do not have any non-Christian connection.  Some do it unintentionally.  They attend church on Sunday and go out to lunch with their Christian friends from church after Services.  They work in a Christian environment during the week.  They have Bible study with Christians one night a week.  Their children play for the church softball league – where everyone is a Christian.  The longer we are Christians, the more Christians we meet, and those are the people we fellowship with.

For others the division is on purpose.  Some communities of faith do not want any outside influences to sway their flock.  So, they encourage their congregations to home-school their children together as a community or the church has an affiliated school to enroll in.  All activities for the children are sponsored through the school; i.e. Brownies, Boy Scouts, sports teams, music education, etc.  The adults have small groups for Bible Study and socialization.  Supper clubs during the week and other events are scheduled as a community.  Some faith communities even encourage their congregations to move into certain neighborhoods for closer community.

On one hand, I see the attraction to this kind of lifestyle.  There is no need to worry about negative ideas being introduced to the children.  Conversation is always uplifting and not “gossipy” or ugly.  Those you spend time with are – well – Christians.

On the other hand, secluding ourselves as Christians dilutes our ability for evangelism.  Without non-Christian friends and co-workers, we begin to forget what life was like before Christ.  It becomes a challenge to relate to those who don’t live with Jesus as their plumb line.  Our passage today tells us that Jesus did not ask God to take us out of the world, just that the evil one would be kept away.  We are to be light in this dark world (Matt. 5:14); which means we need to be out in this dark world.

Who do you know that is not a Christian?  I encourage you to get to know them more.  By building that relationship, they will be open to you inviting them to church.  They will become open to you sharing your faith with them.  By becoming a friend, you can lead them to Jesus.  This is what we are called to do.  This is what we should want to do.  It might be scary, but the truth is if someone does not know Jesus as Savior, when they die they will go to Hell.  By being their friend and introducing them to Jesus, you will change their eternity!

If you truly have no one in your life who is not a Christian, pray that God would send some your way.  If you already have someone in mind, ask them out for lunch or coffee and begin building that relationship.

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Proverbs 1

Have you ever met someone who would rather make something up than admit they didn’t know about a topic?  Have you ever thought, “This person has no idea what they’re talking about”?  Or have you ever met someone who was really smart, who had all the facts, but wasn’t very “street-smart”?  They did know all the answers, but didn’t have the wisdom to apply the knowledge to life.

Knowledge and wisdom are two different things, but go hand in hand.  It’s just like knowing how to do something is different than being able to do something.  Just because you’ve read every book there is on how to remodel your kitchen, doesn’t mean you have the ability.  Just because you know the Scripture, doesn’t mean you have the wisdom to apply it to your life

I love the book of Proverbs.  This book gives us true knowledge and the wisdom to apply it to our lives.  And unlike fortune cookie proverbs, this is the Word of God.  The first seven verses give us the purpose of the entire book:

Proverbs 1:1-7  The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  ² To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,  ³ to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;  ⁴ to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth--  ⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,  ⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.  ⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Reading Proverbs every day will give us guidance and wisdom into our daily living.  There are 31 Proverbs.  Many people like to read the Proverb chapter that coincides with the day of the month (so today you would read Proverbs 9).  This book is often overlooked, but is packed with insight and direction for our lives.

My challenge to you – for the next month, read one Proverb a day…the wisdom and instruction will change your life!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Psalm 150

Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!  2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!  3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!  4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!  5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!  6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

I love old school Disney movies.  Summer Magic, The Absent Minded Professor, and the Love Bug are just a few I enjoy to watching.  One movie that I didn’t really like when I first saw it was Pollyanna.  I didn’t like the ending.  I enjoyed most of the movie – hypochondriac Mrs. Snow, cranky-old Mr. Pendergast, and staunch Aunt Polly; I enjoyed watching their personalities change as they were affected by the fun, loving Pollyanna and her “Glad Game.”  These complaining, black cloud characters became thankful, silver-lining individuals.  The change was almost miraculous.

Then Pollyanna gets hurt.  She’s taken away on a train that leads to a medical procedure that might cure her paralysis…but we don’t know the outcome.  I didn’t like it.  I wanted to know she was going to be all right.  But I was missing the point.

It’s easy to see the darkness in life.  Things never go our way 100% and it’s easy to focus on what is going wrong.  When traffic is crazy and we’re late to work we grumble about how other people can’t drive!  When we go through the drive-thru and the employee gives us the wrong food, we complain about how others can’t do their job!  (Never mind that we have a car that runs and money to buy food).  That’s the point of Pollyanna.  Even though she was hurt, at least she wasn’t killed.  She was surrounded by people who loved her; at least she wasn’t all alone.  There was a procedure that might help; at least there was something they could try.

In our life we need to be thankful and praise God for all things.  We need to play the “Glad Game.”  My challenge for you…when you find yourself complaining, think of a reason to celebrate.  When people are driving you crazy, find something to be joyful about…and Praise the Lord!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Matthew 6

Sometimes church people bug me.  As a Pastor and Chaplain I get to visit many different people – many different kinds of people.  Some are truly saved and love the Lord, others are Christian because that’s how they grew up, but have no church affiliation currently, and some have no faith at all.  I love working with everyone.  Each new day, each new person brings different challenges to listen to, different questions to ask, but one Lord to point everyone to for help.  Sometimes I pray, sometimes the person I am with and I both pray, and sometimes the prayer is said silently as I’m leaving the room.  Some are more challenging that others, but truly God has given me a love for each person I meet.

But there is one group of people that bug me.  I can tell pretty quickly if someone falls into this group.  When I walk into a room, I do a quick assessment of how many meds the patient is on, whether IV or pill bottles.  I also look around to see if there are pictures or flowers lying around to get an idea of what kind of support this patient might have (now don’t get me wrong, some families send flowers in place of bringing themselves to visit – so this isn’t a hard and fast judgment).  As I take a quick look around, I always ask how they are doing.  If the person responds, “I’m doing ok, praise the Lord,” but I can see the grimace on their face and the pile of meds they are taking, I’m hesitant to believe them.

Now, I know that God will bring us through the storm, but the storm is still there.  I know we are not going to get burned up, but we still have to go through the fire.  I come in to listen to people share what’s going on in their lives.  Oftentimes, I am privileged to hear stories the family never gets to hear because the individual doesn’t want to be a burden.  But I would rather spend an hour with someone who is real about their current situation than someone who is hiding behind their faith.

A few weeks ago, I was with someone like this.  I didn’t get anywhere with this individual.  This person had built up a “Christian Façade” so thick that no one could penetrate it and reach the truth.  Any time a family member came up in our conversation, the person would make an excuse why they hadn’t been by to visit or why they had been so mean the last they did.  I could see the pain, but there was no chance of forgiveness, because the problem wasn’t being addressed.  It wasn’t being brought to the light.  It was being brushed under the “Christians don’t get upset” rug and left in the darkness.  Meanwhile, this person was growing more and more bitter by the day.

I was with a different individual earlier this week that had a horrific story to tell.  A story of abuse – every type imaginable, a story of loss and grief, a story of unbelievable pain, but a story of God and His Hand continuing to move in this dear saint’s life.  This individual was being real, sharing all the ups and downs of life.  This person shared the hell that had been traveled through as well as the saving grace that had been experienced.  Through it all, this individual had been able to offer forgiveness to the ones who had caused the pain.  This person glowed with the love of Christ.

We are called to be real.  Showy Christians concern me.  It makes me wonder what is really going on behind closed doors…is it just an act?  We are also called to forgive, but if we can’t admit anything is wrong, we are unable to get to the place of offering forgiveness.  Scripture says if we forgive others, God will forgive us, but if we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us.  Ouch!  This is a hard pill to swallow. 

If someone has hurt you, admit it.  Admit it to yourself and I encourage you to admit it to someone else whom you trust.  Sometimes just talking something out allows forgiveness to happen.  Other times you may need to speak to the offending party and confront what they have done/are doing.  But we are called to forgive.

Now – just a side note.  Forgiving does not mean forgetting.  Sometimes we need to forgive as we flee out the front door away from an abusive spouse, never turning back.  Sometimes we need to forgive as we submit our resignation because of a volatile situation at work.  Sometimes we need to forgive as we discipline our children because we still need to train them up in what is right and what is wrong.

When in doubt, pray about it and talk to someone!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Isaiah 43:1-7  

But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  ³ For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  ⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.  ⁵ Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.  ⁶ I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,  ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Scripture is filled with many different types of purposes.  Some passages tell a story, others teach lessons; there are those that worship and some that admonish.  There are many other categories we can list, but I find comfort in today’s passage.  There are those days when I am overwhelmed.  I am overwhelmed with appointments and meetings, with completing different tasks, trying to get to the gym, grabbing healthy meals along the way… and inevitably I’m tired on these days – which always make everything worse.  Individually each task is no big deal, but when you pile up everything on top of one another, those days I feel like I am drowning.

First of all, this passage promises that God will be with us every step of the way.  We are never alone.  Some days, even when there are tons of people around, we can feel alone.  On those days, we can stand on this scripture and remember that the feeling of loneliness is false because truly, we are never alone.  God is always with us.

The second point of comfort I receive from this passage is that the rivers of life will not overwhelm me and the flames of the fires of life will not consume me.  This passage does not promise that I won’t get wet in the river or struggle to stay afloat (it says – when you pass through, not if!), but we won’t drown.  The passage does say we will walk through fire, but we won’t be burned or consumed.  It will probably get hot and make us sweat, but we don’t have to worry about being consumed.

Be encouraged!  God is always with you as you go throughout your day!!  You are never alone.  And when life seems overwhelming, just remember – God will not allow us to be overwhelmed!!  You will not drown.

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Colossians 1

Our passage today is the first chapter of four of a letter written by Paul the Apostle to the church at Colossae (or to the Colossians).  Paul had probably never been to Colossae, but a Colossians named Epaphras was probably in Ephesus when Paul was there.  Epaphras responded to Paul’s message and became a believer.  Then he went back to his home town of Colossae and started a church…one of the first church planters in the early church!

Paul had heard that a dangerous teaching was being shared at the Colossians church.  Paul wrote this letter in response to this news, encouraging the Colossians to grow towards Christian maturity.  Christian maturity is one of those terms that sound impressive, but what does it really mean to obtain Christian maturity?  Paul gives us some idea in the first section of his letter.  First and foremost, we need to have faith in Christ Jesus.  We need to admit that we are sinners (not just mistakers), believe that Jesus died for our sins (He paid the price), and confess that Jesus is not only Lord of All but also Lord of our life.  Asking Him to be our Lord and Savior is the first step towards Christian maturity.

Paul continues discussing the love the Colossian Church has for one another.  We are called to be perfect in love – loving everyone no matter what!  (Now sometimes it’s not healthy to hang out with everyone, but we still need to love them).  We need to be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”  If we seek God every once in a while through prayer or through reading His Scripture, it will be a challenge to learn His Will for our life.  We need to seek Him daily, moment to moment to hear His guidance and direction.  When we listen to Him and follow Him, we stop listening to our direction and our desires.  Eventually, what He wants is what we want too!  This is the only way to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.”

When we listen and follow God and His guidance, we begin to reveal fruit in our lives.  We gain a strength to endure every struggle, we have patience to wait for His timing (which is never our timing), and we have joy in all things.  These are marks of Christian Maturity. 

Oftentimes our churches are filled with those who have taken the first step.  They have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but they have not given Him Lordship of their lives.  They have not relinquished control.  We like to do what we want to do, say what we want to say, and go where we want to go…and if God comes with us that’s ok…if He doesn’t that’s ok to.  This style of living is not revealing Christian Maturity.  This is demonstrating immaturity.  When it’s all about us, we sound like a toddler, “Mine” or “I do it!” instead of a growing Christian.

Do you have the marks of Christian Maturity in your life?  Or does your response to life seem more like a toddler’s?  Where are you growing and where do you need some attention.  Either we are growing in our faith or we are dying…there is no standing still.  Which way are you headed?

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy

Galatians 6

I have become an HGTV Junkie.  Whenever there’s nothing on TV to watch (which is more often than not), I flip it to HGTV to see what’s going on.  I enjoy many of the shows – buying homes, renting apartments, but I like to watch the shows that remodel.  I am always amazed at the before and after pictures after a remodel is complete.  There is one show I recently watched that ends up remodeling a home, not because the homeowners want a new color on the walls in the living room or they want an “open concept” floorplan.  They end up remodeling because someone has been there before and didn’t do the job the right way. 

Watching “Holmes on Homes” always makes me sad.  Typically, someone has bought a home or had renovation work done and everything looks great…to start.  As time goes by, the homeowners realize that things are not quite right.  They try to get ahold of the contractor and he’s no where to be found.  They try to contact different agencies that are in place to help homeowners in these situations, only to hit a dead end.  No one will help them, no one is willing to accept responsibility.

Today, our culture likes to make excuses and “bend” the truth as to not take responsibility for their actions.  We like to point fingers and not accept the consequences of our actions.  It’s always someone else’s fault.  Scripture tells us that we will have to “bear our own load” or pay the penalty for what we are doing.  Whatever we sow, we will reap – when a farmer plants corn, he expects corn to grow.  If pumpkins started to grow instead, that would be unnatural.  When we sow deciept and shirk responsibility, we will have to pay for our actions.

Thankfully, we serve a God who forgives.  The moment we admit that we have sinned (missed the mark), He forgives and restores us.  Have you been denying responsibility or do you do the right thing and accept it?  Do you need to ask for forgiveness and step up to the plate?  Seek God now for His guidance and He will get you back on track.

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy