Monday Reflections

… on Tuesday. No, I didn’t forget.

• I filled my inbox with a bunch of thoughts and ideas over Thanksgiving that I wanted to deal with so that’s what I did on Monday.
• I’m excited about that which God has made me excited!
• I believe God is moving in some powerful ways, particularly within me which means periods of gut-wrenching repentance and overwhelming joy.
• The gospel never fails to move me.
• The theme of God keeping promises will surface again this week. I’m so thankful that God never forgets and never fails.
• It was a joy to hear those kids singing in the first service – I can’t wait for the Christmas program this Sunday at 6 p.m.
• Keep praying for those pastors I mentioned Sunday morning, especially the family of Thomas Young and Matt Chandler. I appreciate you lifting them up.
• I look forward to communing with you this Sunday as we celebrate Holy Communion!

Monday Reflections

I’m going to do a quick reflection as we get ready to head out of town for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to eating good food while trying to avoid gluttony! Do me a huge favor – travel safely!!! I want to see y’all on the 29th for the 1st Sunday of Advent!

• I’m thankful for you. (Philippians 1:3)
• I’m thankful for Jesus (Romans 8:1)
• I’m thankful that we’ll all (hopefully) get some rest this week and gear up for Advent and a new year.
• The challenge stands – Thanksgiving 2010 will be a holiday that we look back on and say, “I’m thankful that God worked mightily among us.”
• How will you respond to God’s call in order to see the grace of God extend to all people?
• Big thanks to the 7 folks who came to help decorate Sunday afternoon. They’re going to finish up at 5 p.m. on Tuesday if you’d like to come and help.
• There are some left over door hangers on the table by Sandi’s office if you want to put out a few in your neighborhoods.

Here’s the YouTube video of that comedian I mentioned yesterday.  It’s a little more “blue” than I remember it but it’s still worth pondering:

Monday Reflections

Since I got knocked out of doing last week’s on Monday because of that blasted cold, I’m going to get this week’s done before noon! Thanksgiving is right around the corner so don’t forget decorating and doorhanging next Sunday. We’re going to be gone next week to visit family and get ready for Advent. I’ll be without internet for two whole days! I have no idea what I’m going to do – that’s not true

Anyway, on to the reflections!

• Wow. Sheila Birch blew me away with her testimony. I was trying to pray for strength for her while getting choked up myself. What a blessing it is to hear about God’s work in the life of his children!
• Will Sheila’s testimony open the door for you to share with us what God’s doing in you? I hope you’ll think about it!
• Giving was up yesterday which was a great feeling. Let’s keep it up and finish the year strong!
• Mark your calendars – February 19 & 20, 2010. We’re going to Fayetteville for an evangelism training with Rob Williams who is a church planter extraordinaire currently planting Second UMC in Siloam Springs. He knows what he’s doing and will be a HUGE asset to us. I’m going to take as many as will Go. It’s a Friday evening and all day Saturday.
• Prepare to Mark your calendars – March 22-26, 2010 is Spring Break for schools in Arkansas. We are going to participate in a mission trip again this year. Ask someone who has been in the past. We want YOU to go with us.
• Harvest Time Dinner was AWESOME! I waddled home. Great food and even greater fellowship with a lot of folks, some of whom I hadn’t even met before.
• Big thank you to the Friendship Circle who organized and executed this event. Success in so many ways but particularly in the way it really matters – relationships. Great, great job, ladies.
• Another big thank you to the off duty ushers who escorted people in with umbrellas while it was raining. Your servant hearts inspire me!
• Check out some pictures here. If you have others, bring them by or E-mail me and I’ll put them up.
• The GPS will be under the “Grow” tab of the website shortly.

Have a great week, y’all!

Monday Reflections

The late Tuesday Afternoon “I Habe uh Code” edition.

Yuck. I more than likely got this head cold by trying to be a good dad to my daughter over the weekend while she was sick, but it’s a good reminder for all of us to remember to wash our hands and use the hand sanitizers sitting out.

Onto the reflections (that I can remember after two days of cold medicine!):

• I’m geared up for the Harvest Time Dinner. It’s going to be a great meal but more importantly it signals a renewal of the UMW which delights me to no end. I hope you’ll join me in showing support for them and the church!
• If you’d like a digital copy of either the GPS or the weekly giving chart you can go to this page on our church website. We’re going to try and make things like this available through our website. I’m hoping, too, that by the end of the year to have video of our worship services up as well.
• Proverbs 22:7 reads “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” I don’t want any of us, individually or the church, to be a slave of anyone but Jesus Christ. How can I or the church as a whole help you? I’ve talked with a few about Financial Peace University. What do you think?
• There are few things we live more recklessly with than our finances. The more out of control we are the more likely it is that our priorities are out of whack. What are the priorities in your life? What are your values? Those are questions Heather and I have been wrestling with, trying to answer for our family.
• We’re going to talk about living passionately this coming Sunday. What gets you worked up and excited in life? How might God be using your passion to make his passion – making disciples – a reality? That’s a question we should all chew on.

Hope y’all have a great week and don’t get sick! Pray for those who are, especially the children!

Monday Reflections

Back again!  Still loving the end of Daylight Savings Time.  I sure wish we’d get rid of the whole thing all together, though  Onto the reflections!

• I always love having communion with y’all.  We talked a little about this last night at Disciple during our discussion of the Passover.  ”Do This in Remembrance of Me” reminds me every time of the “Lamb who was slain” (Rev 5).
• Thank you Jesus for the saints who have died.  They are a part of our cloud of witnesses (Heb 12).  Although not members of our church, I’m deeply thankful for Austin Stovall, Henry Coker, and Glenn Cummings and their influence on our family (those are our grandfathers who died this year).
• I realized yesterday how few are the times that I actually pay attention and see God answer my “little” prayers.  One of those prayers for my heart was answered and I wrote it down to remember!
• If you’re interested in what I reading – something that’s feeding my experience with God recently – check out In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.  Weird title, good book.
• I got a lot more questions back yesterday.  Great job!  I think I’ll make a deal with you: if I get 100 cards, after I rank them (as in, which questions are asked the most) into the top 4, I’ll try and take a couple of them a week in 2010 and answer them on this blog.  Deal?

See you on Sunday!

Monday Reflections

Another rainy day and a week full of meetings. Thank God for his presence and the Spirit who witnessed to me this morning that I am his child. I’m nothing without Jesus and anything that I am is because of Jesus. Amen!

On with the reflections!

• I pray that I never get numbed to God’s work in my heart and in his church.   
• I love seeing people we have prayed for back in church following surgeries or other procedures. Those are answered prayers.
• I’d like to know, after you’ve had a week with it, if you find the GPS helpful. It stretches me to think about what goes in them and what God might be teaching me.
• Don’t forget your questions on the index cards!! What do topic do you most want/need to hear preached from a Gospel-centered, Biblical perspective?
• I only got two back and they were EPIC questions. Seriously. Good. Questions. I want to see some more over the next couple of weeks.
• I got an appreciative comment yesterday and one today about our prayers for pregnancies. These women appreciate it and so do their husbands. Keep praying!
• Falloween was a success! Lots of kids running around enjoying themselves. There was even an Elvis sighting!
• My Disciple Class continues to stimulate my thinking and reminds me every week why I love studying the Bible – It’s because I learn about God has done and is doing in the world! It excites me!

Finally: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I deeply appreciate all the ways that you show appreciation to me and to my family. It is a joy to serve and to experience life with you. I pray that we will – all of us TOGETHER – grow in Christlikeness with an unceasing desire to magnify Jesus in our lives.

Monday Reflections

Whirlwind day and I’m almost late! CIC was good for what I needed – time to pray and abide in Jesus (John 15). God was gracious to me in that time and stoked the flames of the Spirit in my heart. It’s always good when those things happen.

On to yesterday!

• So good to see Joyce behind the organ for the first time in the new building, wasn’t it? It adds such a wonderful dimension to the music in the 11:00 AM service.
• It’s so weird when I step up to preach feeling like nothing is going to make sense or resonate with anyone BUT then hear from people that God touched afterwards. Goes to show that it’s ALL about Jesus.
• Saw lots of new faces. Some were from out of town but not all of them.
• The stats I mentioned yesterday are these: 78% of kids under 14 grow up in a home where they do not attend church. 95% of unchurched people attend church for the first time at the invitation of a friend. 45% of unchurched people would attend church if invited.
• Your invitation means more than you believe!
• Once again, a fantastic evening with the Disciple I bunch. It was eye-opening for me to think about how pervasive my sin is and it makes me thankful to Jesus.
• Can’t wait to see y’all again Sunday – I hope you invite someone!

Later, friends!

Monday Reflections

I’m getting to this a little late in the day as I’m at Subiaco for Connected in Christ. You may still E-mail me or call, just have patience as I wait for a break to return your messages.

Reflections from yesterday:

• It’s always a blessing to worship Jesus with the body of Christ. I love you folks more all the time.
• So glad that Robert Jackson Cameron Jones was born but more importantly that he is healthy as a slight premie.
• My prayer for James’ new son is that Robert will love and follow Jesus and devote the whole of his being to Jesus.
• I’m reminded how God uses the letdown of our expectations to draw us closer to him. God is far better to me (AND US!) than we notice sometimes. Maybe we should look for those opportunities this week.
• I’m amazed how two seemingly separate passages of Scripture, one from the sermon (Hebrews 4:11-16) and the other from Sunday School (Romans 4) tie closely together. The Bible consistently amazes me.
• I got caught up in Romans 4 and how salvation is a GIFT. Now THAT is a gift.
• What a great time at the Fish Fry! It was chilly outside but there was some great warmth inside and I’m not talking about the food.
• I sat at a table of people enjoying themselves and getting to know one another. I have been at the church longer than anyone else at that table. How fun!
• The musicians looked like they were having a good time

This Sunday is going to be great! I hope to see you there. Bring a friend!

Monday Reflections

I’m actually writing this on Sunday afternoon – I guess I couldn’t wait for tomorrow.  It’s raining out there but thankfully didn’t much this morning.

• I had no less than 4 people ask me if I was okay yesterday.  I’m going to assume that wearing all black was part of it, but I’m pretty sure what you saw was the weightiness of the message punching me right in the gut.
• It was as hard a sermon to preach as it was to hear.  I promise.  I wasn’t expecting my own emotional reaction to the text and its implications.  I apologize to those who have heard me say negative things or things unbefitting my call.
• Judging from the number and content of the comments I got afterwards, I expect that many of us are giving James 3:1-12 some thought today.  I pray our thoughts turn to actions and that we bless the socks off those around us.
• I am so grateful to have a forgiving wife.  Not only does she forgive but she also doesn’t force me to take a sedative when I’m not in the driver’s seat of the car even though we both know it would make the world a better place.
• Our words ARE powerful.  Consider one of my favorite passages – Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
• I’ve been on the receiving end of some gracious words in the last couple of weeks.  I appreciate it and hope you know that.
• Our Disciple I class as been such a source of fun for me.  Tonight I experienced wonder and a gnawing to do some writing that I haven’t done since I was a junior in college.  The Bible is awesome and I love devouring it.
• I’m going to initiate some conversations this week as to how our church can bless our city.  Keep your ears open for more news and pray that we can love the places where we live and the people who live there.

Don’t forget the Fish Fry this Sunday at 5:00 PM!  The weather may not allow for any games but we can still hang out and visit with one another which is a blessing unto itself.  I hope you’ll join us!  If you didn’t sign up for a side dish or a dessert E-mail Sandi this week at sandiw@pgtc.com and let her know what you want to bring.

Monday Reflections

What a great Sunday!  I saw a lot of smiling faces – I love it when people enjoy coming to church, worshiping Jesus, and connect with one another in a common place.  You all are what makes being a pastor more than a calling – it’s a privilege!

On to the reflections:

We videotaped the whole early service and I watched it like game film today so that we can make adjustments and improvements in the way we work together to serve God and the world around us.  My initial reflection about ME: brutal.  Always remember – black is slimming  And how did that bald spot get so big?

The sun was bright, but the SON is brighter still.  I loved singing about the Wondrous Cross upon which Jesus died for our sins.  I’m so thankful for what God has done in my life and is doing in the life of the church.

Some of our adult Sunday School classes are PACKED.  That’s a great sign!

Lots of kids yesterday, too.  That’s another great sign.

I’m thankful for the wise, encouraging, positive, Biblically-literate, and Spirit-led people in our church.  You make such a difference in my life and in the world.  Your counsel means the world to me.

Instead of King Reheboam, Lord help me be like King Jehoshaphat “His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 17:6)

We had a great Disicple I class last night.  I love it when my heart yearns for the Word of God.  I had one of those moments last night in that group.

From Disciple I – Deuteronomy 6: Not only love the Lord with everything, but teach his commandments to your children diligently.  That was the Scripture I recalled when we found out we were having Elisa.

Next week we’ll wrap up our series Say What? with a message called “Watch Your Mouth.”  Can’t wait to see y’all Sunday!

What a great Sunday!  I saw a lot of smiling faces – I love it when people enjoy coming to church, worshiping Jesus, and connect with one another in a common place.  You all are what makes being a pastor more than a calling – it’s a privilege!

On to the reflections:

• We videotaped the whole early service and I watched it like game film today so that we can make adjustments and improvements in the way we work together to serve God and the world around us.  My initial reflection about ME: brutal.  Always remember – black is slimming  And how did that bald spot get so big?
• The sun was bright, but the SON is brighter still.  I loved singing about the Wondrous Cross upon which Jesus died for our sins.  I’m so thankful for what God has done in my life and is doing in the life of the church.
• Some of our adult Sunday School classes are PACKED.  That’s a great sign!
• Lots of kids yesterday, too.  That’s another great sign.
• I’m thankful for the wise, encouraging, positive, Biblically-literate, and Spirit-led people in our church.  You make such a difference in my life and in the world.  Your counsel means the world to me.
• Instead of King Reheboam, Lord help me be like King Jehoshaphat “His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 17:6)
• We had a great Disicple I class last night.  I love it when my heart yearns for the Word of God.  I had one of those moments last night in that group.
• From Disciple I – Deuteronomy 6: Not only love the Lord with everything, but teach his commandments to your children diligently.  That was the Scripture I recalled when we found out we were having Elisa.

Next week we’ll wrap up our series Say What? with a message called “Watch Your Mouth.”  Can’t wait to see y’all Sunday!