There is Power in Who You Know

Philippians 3:4-11

I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was a Sophomore in high school, and the first Taco Bell was moving into the town that I lived in.  Me and my cousin Eric were totally stoked, tacos in our town!  I love Taco Bell, so much so, my aunt wrote the company on our behalf and were invited to the Grand Opening celebration.  We recieved our letter in the mail and upon arrival were ushered through the ordering line, for free tacos!  What a day in paradise.  There is no way we could have experienced that with out our papers and without writing to the right person.  It's all in who you know. . . 

Yesterday we began our series on Living Powerfully.  Everyone has an answer for that dillema, there are books, movies, support groups, you name it; all wanting to teach you a thing or two about how to live a powerful, effective life.  Power comes not from your pedigree, or from the things you have earned; true power comes from who you know, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6, says that while we were still "powerless," Christ died for you and me.  Take a few minutes and meditate on that thought.  Without Jesus you were POWERLESS, and it is only through Jesus that we have any power at all.  You see, it is all about WHO you know.

Todays Challenge:  This week what are the things in your life that you are keeping power over?  That is the big question: What are you controling that you should be giving over to the Lord?  Maybe you just realized that you should be handing it over, maybe you know what God would have you to do and you don't want to do it.  Maybe you just don't trust anyone (including God) with that decision.  Write it down.  Spend 5-10min a day praying about that power struggle you are having.

Trying to Be More Purposeful

John 9 

I heard a couple comments from the guys who were out at the men's retreat after Shaun preached, about what an extension his sermon was with the message Aaron Couch brought to us at the retreat itself.  One of the challenges thrown my direction through the message Shaun brought and through the retreat as well, has to do with purpose.  The things in my life, the things within God's church need to be done with purpose.  Aaron hit it hard on Saturday evening essentially saying that human nature calls us to create or build something in order to maintain that something (job, retirement, classic cars, etc).  God though, never wants us to be in a maintenance mode when it comes to our relationship with him and others.  2 Peter 1:5-9 reminds us that if we are not growing, especially in our love for other people, then we are dying and we are ineffective and we are unproductive and we have even forgotten the magnitude from which we have received forgiveness.  

That thought is a reminder to me but man I need reminded often.  We are not done, our job is not finished.  We have MUCH work to do.   A purposeful life makes time for those who need to hear about Jesus.  A purposeful life uses resources and talents to help capture the heart of those who need Jesus.  A purposeful life is not comfortable, or predictable but it is faithful.  A purposeful life cares not about the well being of "me," but looks to how we can serve others.  A purposeful life is not defined by a "to do" list, it is an attitude, it is not a day of the week or a defined event, a is a life style decision.

I hope I and we can be more purposeful together, for our Lord.

God's Merciful Mission

Jonah 3

A question of fasting has been brought up by this text.  What is fasting and should we fast?  This is a very interesting question.  First of all fasting is the abstinance of food to show our weakness and our dependancy on God.  Fasting does not always have to be from food.  In scripture their was a fasting from sexual relations (I Corinthians 7:5), from bathing and in the case of Jonah (and Esther) , from even drinking.  Fasting is found 61 times in scripture and is a Spiritual discipline to show submission to God.

Here in Jonah, the people fasted in repentance, to show their submission to God.  So, what are other reasons to fast?

For Engaging in Prayer for others, or yourself:  Daniel 9:3, 16  Daniel prayed for the people of Jerusalem, calling to God on their behalf.  We fast and are reminded that God is in control.

To Prepare for a Decision or God's Guidance:  In Acts 13:2,3 Paul and Barnabas were set apart for ministry by prayer and fasting.  When we have big decisions in life to make, fasting can be a way of showing God that you need his guidence and direction.  At the feeling of hunger, we pray for God's guidence.  

To Prepare ourselves for Spritual Warfare:  Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness to be to be tempted.  Matthew 4:1,2.  When we are facing battles that seem more spiritual, we must be sure we are calling on God for the support we need.

Those seem to be the most popular reasons in scripture, though I know of many other examples of fasting.  Regardless of your reasoning for a fast, the purpose of a fast, like we saw in Jonah 3, is to remind ourselves that we are not God, but we desperately need him.

aaron

A Rebel

Jonah 1

I love Jonah.  He is a really cool guy, kind of head strong with his own ideas on what he thinks this world needs.  Jonah is pretty sure that this world does NOT need the likes of a dirty ole' city like Ninevah.  He is not keen on the idea of going to such a scum filled place, so he runs.

Doing the right thing is hard.  It can be difficult and burdensome, no one else is doing the right thing, so why should I?  The right things take effort and planning, the right thing seldomly involves a short cut or for that matter, a lot of well deserved praise.  The right thing is hard.

Yet, not doing the right thing often times brings more burdens in the long run.  Take math for example, when doing a large math problem with many steps; when you make a mistake early on, the further from the right answer you will get and the more difficult it will be to fix it.  Often, shorcuts lead to more trouble than it's worth.

In Jonah 1, Jonah runs.  He chooses to do quite the opposite of God's call, because Jonah runs he causes himself and others pain, heartache and lots of undeserved troubles.  Being a good steward with our time and finances is tough, but it's better than bankrupcy and/or high blood pressure.  Loving people is hard, but it's better than losing a good friend or an opportunity to share God's Word.  Following the rules our Government has in place can be burdensome but it's better than sharing a 6x6 prison cell with a guy named "Bubba."

Joshua gives us one of the greatest lines in scripture when he says in Joshua 24:15, "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

An Assurance in Something

1 John 5:13-21

As the old saying goes, you can be certain of 2 things: death and taxes.  As we have concluded John, he reminds us that there is something else we can be certain of, our standing in God's kingdom.

I am sure you have the same problem I do, maybe it is a little self conciousness, or maybe it is just human nature but with some people I have a hard time knowing exactly where I stand, am I friend or foe.  A few a months ago I ran into an old friend from my earlier days in ministry.  I was happy to see him but I didn't get the same feeling from him.  Was he mad about something in our past?  Did I call him by the right name?  Later on he called to apologize as he too noticed he was short in our conversation but he was concerned about others going on at the same time.

John is very clear here in 1 John 5:  "We know that we are children of God. . . We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."  Our standing is not based upon a feeling, it is based upon the truth of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

Have you committed your life to Jesus?  Do you believe He is the truth and follow Him as such?  If your answer is yes, than you can be assured of your place in His kingdom.

Here We Go Team

John 4:7-21

Why love?  John gives us a clear indication of why, because God first loved us, and God is love.  Love is one of those characteristics that makes God so great!  He loved us, he made the first move and he loved us EXACYLY the way we needed to be loved (maybe not the way we thought we should be loved).  As a child of God and as we get to know our Creator and Father, we will begin to reflect the love, and begin to love others the way that we should.  Yesterday we talked about making the first move to reconcile with others, we talked about having the wisdom to love people where they are at, with a love that meets their needs (sometimes not the way they think they should be loved).  

I don't know about you, but all of this takes a tremendous amount of wisdom that I do not posess.  So, if it's all right with you, I may need your advice?  I may need help.  We need one another to encourage us, go guide us in wisdom, to help us out!  We are a team and if we are going to do this right, if we are going to love people the way they should be loved, we are going to need each other.  Take just a few minutes, pray for someone in the church.  Mentally think about the people who sit around you and lift them up in prayer.  Don't be afraid to let them know next time that you see them that you prayed for them.

One last thing, our New Year Resolution:  (Don't forget it)

• Wiser Decisions
• Stronger Faith
• Trusting God More

Have a great week!

Loving People When It's Not So Easy

1 John

We have talked about loving people before, people who are hard to love, people who walk all over your gifts, people who are ungrateful, people who are difficult to love.  Something we talked about yesterday took that a step further, into a relm I am not sure we have discussed before.  Not only is it difficult to love the unlovely but it is also difficult to figure out the best way to love people you truly care about and sometimes loving people the right way is hard to do.

Sometimes love says, "no!"  Sometimes love puts people on the street.  Sometimes love must quit enabling others, sometimes love makes others responsible for their own decisions.  I have heard it before, "If you really loved me, you let me have ________________."  (you fill in the blank)  No, sometimes love makes others earn it.  Sometimes love doesn't let people off easy.

Jesus loved the religious leaders of his day by calling them a "brood of vipers."  In the hope they see their shortcomings.  Paul oppossed Peter to his face, to show Peter he was doing the wrong thing (Galatians 2:11).  Love stands for what is right, whether it is popular or not.  Love is not a doormat.

The most difficult part of all of this, is figuring out the best and most wise way to love people.  As I pray for all of you this week, my prayer will be for wisdom to truly love others in the most productive way!

Be a Servant this Christmas Season. . .

Here we go, into the meat of Christmas.  I got to thinking about this time of year, what better time to open yourself up to love Cottage Grove.  Bake cookies for your neighbors, or make them little Christmas trinkets (if your good at something like that); invite them to an open house Christmas fun time (put on a pot of coffee and a plate of cookies), anything to let those around you know you care.  There are so many ways you can care for those around you.

I just happened to run across this quote the other day and I loved it, "There will always be more people willing to do ‘great’ things for God than there are people willing to do the little things. The race to be a leader is crowded, but the field is wide open for those willing to be servants." - Rick Warren

Wow, what a a great quote and how true.  My prayer for everyone of us is that we may be servants of ALL.  Try it out this Christmas season, give service, don't expect to get service.  Merry Merry Christmas.

Dealing With Grief and Loss
John 11

Life can be very painful. Every one of us has dealt with grief and loss on one level or another. Though we may not have lost a family member or a close friend, there are many things in life that can gives us grief and depression. There are many people who are losing their life savings, losing jobs, and income. If you know someone who is facing devastation like this be in prayer for them, spend some time comforting them, just being there with them.

We talked yesterday about 3 actions we can take to help us get through grief. These are actions, you must act in order to succeed.

1. Be honest with God and yourself.
2. Be proactive about depression. Seek HELP!
3. Trust that God is in control and He cares about what is going on.

Do you have someone you can turn to and trust with your pain? Are you trust worthy enough for someone to trust you with pain? Always be ready to care.

Don't Waste Your Life

It was really nice to see my good friends the Peterson's on Sunday. They were the first cross culture ministers I had ever come in contact with some 15 years ago. What an experience as a young man to see ministry like that and to be a part of something bigger than myself. Rodney challenged us yesterday by stepping heavily on our toes in regard to our personal lives. "Don't waste your life!"

Every single one of us is on a journey in our relationship with Jesus. Some of us are like new born children, just learning what it means to follow, others of us need to be reminded of the commitment we made so many years ago to be doers of God's Word. Wherever we are, God asks us to grow more like him ever single day.

1. Don't waste your life in regard to your family. . . When our relationship with Jesus is right, our relationship with our family had better be too. If you are struggling with your marriage or children, take a deep look at how much time your spending with your Savior.
   
   
2. Don't wast your life with addictions. . . Many times we get caught up thinking about the obvious addictions of drugs, alcohol, or gambling. Truthfully, we can become addicts to anything, all forms of idolatry. TV, RV, ATV, movies, food, sports. . . What is first in your life.
   
   
3. Don't waste your life with the status quo . . . There is good, there is better and there is best. Many times we think good is good enough. Why do better or best? Because you are not doing it for your self, you are doing it for your Lord.
   
   
4. Don't waste your time with the superficial . . . The weather, sports scores, news, those are great ice breakers, don't forget that you and are called to be the salt of the earth, to spice things up. We are not to be bland or boring. We are called to jazz this world up.

Take some time today, or tomorrow and take inventory of these four challenges. Journal about them, talk out loud with your children, or your spouse. How are you doing in these areas of life? No, we can't be perfect, but we sure can all try a little harder.

aaron

Your Weekly Challenge
Elders

We had a wonderful Sunday last week as we discussed Elder qualifications. Let me remind you, the God is looking for an elder with.

1. Good Character.
2. Great Reputation.
3. Experience as a leader and a follower.
4. Ability to lead and strengthen God's people.

As we apply those to our leaders, let us not forget that these are also characteristics that we should be striving for as well in our walk with God. Take some time this week to read 1 Timothy 3 and Titus and take a deep look at your life, how are you living up to the person God wants you to be?

This is an update from the previous post. You can read the original message by clicking here!

Goat Central Update
6-Nov-2008
9:40 A.M.
Turkana, Kenya

The response to Ekadori's "Goat Wipeout" has been amazing! 74 goats have now been pledged or given! Thank you all! We were hoping for 40 and hoping his community would step up and give the final 28. One of our goat donors was praying that Ekadori would be like Job; where God allowed his wealth to be wiped out and then blessed him with more than he had before. That prayer has been answered. We trust God's plan for Ekadori is such as this.

The exchange rate here in Kenya has recently hit a several year high at 80 shillings to the dollar. If you have pledged a goat and have not sent in your check to CMF, please do so quickly so we can take advantage of this rate. Perhaps we can squeeze another two or three goats out the currently high exchange rate. I love it when God arranges things like that!

Today is a Kenyan holiday because Barak Obama won the AMERICAN Presidential election. Go figure. Surprisingly, not every Kenyan was for Obama. Everywhere I go, I am asked who I want to be president. Rather than answer, I just ask them who they are for. The answers surprised me.

We are still rained out of our home at Kosikeria. The landscape is GREEN and full of small yellow and white FLOWERS! We expect the rivers to be down enough tomorrow to return home. The rain has brought cooler temperatures, muggy weather and lots of spiders, scorpions and snakes. We've had lots of fun each night killing the various "critters" which are unfortunate enough to let us see them.

We will go to the "goat market" and purchase Ekadori's goats, probably along with him and the chief and church leaders. We¹ll get lots of pictures and post them online for you all to see. Again, thank you for reaching out to Ekadori and his family. He is going to be so blessed! God has a plan for this man! It will be exciting to see what it is and how it unfolds.

In Jesus,

Scott, Kristi Wyatt, Aidan and Gabe

How Do (Should) We Reach Out

Here is an interesting update from one of the missions we support, I read this a few moments ago. What a great story about reaching out and caring for a brother and sister in need, from the mission field, enjoy.

Dear Friends,

Meet Ekadori. Ekadori is a Turkana friend of mine. I first met him last month, when he brought his wife to us. She was "very, very" pregnant and since her delivery was imminent, he wanted Dr. Kristi to do an exam and make sure everything looked good. The exam revealed the baby¹s head in the correct position for birth and a strong fetal heart beat. She gave birth a short week later to a healthy baby girl.

The night the baby was born it started to rain. Rain which hadn't come to this area of Turkana for 14 months. A drought ending rain. It flooded the plains and the fields. The rivers flowed hard! We are not sure exactly how it happened. Perhaps Ekadori was pre-occupied with his wife's delivery. Perhaps he was shocked at such a hard rain after no rain for such a long time. Ekadori's herd of goats were swept away in the flash flood! He had 74 goats and he lost 68 of them that night. A good night for having a new baby. A horrible night for loosing his wealth. Paradox strikes again.

We didn't hear of his loss until a week later when he came to our house asking for food. Where was his food we wondered to him. Then he told us the news of how he lost his entire herd of goats, he still had 6 goats remaining, the newborns. How many others in the community lost their goats? No one. Why Ekadori? God knows. Why are we here at this time? Perhaps for such a time as this. Ekadori is a baptized believer, but hasn't been going to church. I suggested to him that perhaps God was wanting to get his attention and is wanting him to go deeper in his faith. Perhaps, God has allowed his wealth to disappear so he would rely on God and not himself.

We also wondered if this is not an opportunity for the local church and the community to show Christ in a practical way, replace Ekadori's goats. Each family to give him one goat,..a free gift. We want what's best for Ekadori. We want his relationship with Christ to deepen. Christ is his Shepherd. Ekadori and his family are part of His flock. How much does one goat cost? He told me that one goat would cost him about 1000 shillings, about 13 dollars. I think I will buy him a couple of goats. I can afford to. We want to bless him. He's a good man, a Christian brother. He has a family to feed.

Please pray for Ekadori as he learns more about Christ and how Christ can meet his needs. Pray for the salvation of his children. Pray Ekadori will be a strong spiritual example for his children and family.

In Christ,

Scott and Kristi

If you would like to buy a goat for Ekadori, please write a check to Christian Missionary Fellowship and put Seidel¹s-Goat Fund in the memo line. You can also use the paypal button on our website at www.seidelfamily.org
<http://www.seidelfamily.org>

Tuesday. What a day! I pray that everyone will or has already taken the time to vote. In our unique system everyone has a say and I hope that you are ready and prepared to vote.

Take time today and say a prayer for our country and the decisions being made this week.

Your Weekly Challenge:

Coming up here in November we are going to take a break from our regular messages through the book of 1 John. Around this time each year we have our annual elections where our Elders and Deacons are put into service for the next year. Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at the importance of Elders, Deacons and what membership means to us at 6th and Gibbs church. I hope you are challenged and enlightened by the roles each leader has and how this is God's plan for the structure of our church.

You may be noticing the pictures being taken and our new picture board on the wall. We are hoping to display all of our families in the church on this board to give everyone an idea of who is who. If you or your family has not been pictured yet, you can have those done, before, after, or between services. We are also hoping to add another element to our gathering, name tags. As we try to figure out how that will work best please keep that in the back of your mind. Not everyone likes a name tag but I believe it will help our visitors and regular attenders all the same.

Your Challenge:
This week, read Acts 20:13-38; Timothy 3; and 1 Peter 5:1-4 to prepare for our discussion of Elders on Sunday.

Church

It's Sunday and I am at home this morning, not feeling well at all. Loopy from medicine and I just don't feel like eating (which is highly unusual) but I miss church. My prayers are with my church, my thoughts are there too. I miss you all!

Message Challenge
How is your faith?

Cory Lemke gave us some great words yesterday to help drive us toward fully trusting in a trust worthy God. He encouraged us to consider our level of commitment to God; he challenged us to step out of our comfort zones for God; and he reminded us that it is only by trusting and obeying God that we even have any hope for the future.

It seems that the economy and the looming elections have provided for us lots of things to be worried about. But the truth is, politics cannot change this world; money and the economy will not bring true life change to this world; A new president cannot hardly bring the changes promised. True life change can only happen through Jesus and trusting in His word.

How trusting of God are you? What is your hope in? A strong message I see God laying on my heart this past month is this: Whomever gets elected, whatever strings are pulled to save us from this financial mess will not bring peace. This world doesn't need more oil, more govt., more money, you name it. What this world needs is Jesus! That this world needs is you and I to step up, and be the believers God wants us to be.

Thoughts on Missions

Yesterday we had a great blessing, Cory and Janice Lemke shared with us their lives and their passions as we heard about mission life and the life in the Ukraine. I am always amazed at how others throughout the world do church. All this week we heard about missionaries from Latin America, India, Africa, and Arizona and each and every mission had a new way of reaching out, a different way of sharing God's word.

With that thought in mind I got to thinking about how truly diverse God is. He doesn't do the same thing twice and their is never a list of "how to's" when it comes to structuring church or reaching out. Sure, we have principles from which we do things, like Acts 2:42 gives an example of how the believers had communion, prayed and listened to the apostle's teachings. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians we are to be all things to all people, to win some to Jesus. How that happens is fully up to you and me.

In the Ukraine there are no paid preachers. Messages are given by those who have been reading a ready in God's word. In Africa music is their heart beat and stories and verses are sang as worshippers jump around. No seats, no pews and people sit outside to worship. Is that kind of ministry better? Are we more holy? Are they?

I read about communion in the New Testament and it sounds like the early church didn't have a wafer, and a little cup. It sounds like their communion was a lot like a meal. So, are we doing it wrong? Of couse not. The purpose of communion is to remember what Jesus has done for us. The emblems matter not. The gathering of the church is to encourage believers to live out their faith. It's not about who speaks, who sings and how long it lasts. The question we must ask ourselves is: Are we being a church that is glorifying God?

You can visit my family blog to hear about Alex and my exciting hunt: www.earlywinefamily.blogspot.com.

Strangers in a Foreign Land
1John 2:15-17

Today I visited a good friend of mine. Billy Craig has been dying of terminal cancer for more than a year now. The Ministerial group that I associate with went to his home in Creswell and spent some time praying and crying over our brother. Billy, really doesn't look like Billy anymore. His facial features are the same but he has lost that zip, his eyes, his body looks tired.

It is in these moments that I am so glad that this life is only temporary. I am so glad I am not stuck here in this body forever. I have a hope, I have a promise knowing my God is watching over me.

In 1 John 2, John points out that we are not to love this world. It is not our only stopping place. Sure, we are here because we have to be, but our place is in eternity with our father in heaven. We are citizens of heaven, as Paul writes in the book of Philippians.

The Philippian people would have understood that concept a lot better than us. Philippi was on the edge of the Roman Empire, it had been controlled by Romans for less than 100 years. Those in Philippi had belonged to the Persian Empire and kept it's culture and practices, while there land was controled by Rome. They were citizens (as far as they were concerned) of Persia, yet they were held in control by Rome and pledge Ceasar as their ruler.

We live here on earth, but we pledge our loyalty, we live for our Father in Heaven, strangers in a foreign land.