Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for. I have a wonderful family. We have had 2 new additions to our extended family and one being added in by marriage next year. I have a great job. I go to a great church. I have heat on the cold days and food on my table. I feel very blessed. Today I will be going to a men's breakfast at Lambs Road Assembly and then heading to my sister's for Thanksgiving dinner. It will be a day of eating all sorts of stuff but I don't want to forget to thank God for all His blessings. All that I have is God's and comes from Him. I am just His steward. I pray that you would be able to find the things that you can be thankful for today and praise God for them. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sadduccees

This week I mentioned the Sadduccees. As I was thinking about them I began to wonder why they even professed to follow God if they didn't believe in any sort of afterlife. What is the purpose of following a strict set of rules when you believe that once you die there is nothing. Maybe it was because they saw it as a way to gain power in this life and wanted to be able to wield power over others. Or they just hadn't thought their position on the resurrection very well. My eternal life began when I became a follower of Jesus Christ and will continue for all eternity. What I do here and now matters. There is a purpose and reason for my life and everyone else's. I am thankful this week for my relationship with Jesus Christ. I am thankful that I can live a life of eternal significance because of what Jesus did for me. What are you thankful for?

Men's Retreat

Today we are headed out on our first men's retreat. We are going to Harvey Cedar's Retreat Center. I am looking forward to getting to know these men better and to see how God is going to challenge us in our time away. We are going to be talking about discipleship and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We all need reminders at time of what it means to follow Jesus. I pray this would spur all of us forward in our walk with Christ.

Money pt.2

As I was pondering my own finances and how it relates to my faith in God I had a thought. Consider this. What if each of us was employed by the same company and we each had a corporate credit card. We would be allowed to use that card for specific purposed based on the policies of the company. Some things would be allowed like a modest hotel room while on a business trip. Other things like an extravagant room could be banned. Renting a car or taking a plane could be ok if it fir into the policy. If we decided to take that card and go out on a shopping spree we would be using it wrongly and stealing from the company especially if we hid what we did. We would be guilty of misappropriation of funds. You hear about it all the time. A local sports group will have someone who made off with a lot of money. In most cases it started off small. A little bit here with the promise to pay it back later. Over time it begins to snowball into a larger and larger amount and then the person is facing jail time. Don't we do the same thing? We are servants of a King. We have a policy (the Bible) to follow. When we go against the stated policy we are stealing from the King. When we use His things in the wrong ways we are guilty of being bad stewards. Where in your life are you using things that belong to God (which is everything) in ways that wouldn't please Him? Will you continue to disobey God or will to look as His word and put your trust in what He says is right and true? What are you going to do about?

Money

One of the more difficult things we as American's find to talk about is our money. Yet Jesus time and again points it out as something that can be stumbling block to each of us. This past Sunday we looked at the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. We saw that 2 of the servants were good stewards of the master's wealth by using the master's money in a way that pleased the master. They knew what the master desired and carried it out. We know what our master desires. He wrote it down in His book to us. We need to be good stewards of what He has given us especially when it comes to money. He gives principles such as giving back to Him of the first fruits of what we get. To give to Him off the top and not as an afterthought. He is the one who gave us the ability to work and earn money. When we surrender our lives to God's control we need to also surrender in this area. Martin Luther is reported to have said "There are three conversions a person needs to experience: The conversion of the head; the conversion of the heart; and the conversion of the pocketbook."

Maybe we don't trust God enough in the area of our finances. It seems hard to me that we trust Him for salvation from judgment for our sins which is a huge thing. But when it comes to our money we can't seem to trust that His way is right. Maybe we need to take time to ponder why we trust Him for the most important thing in the world and yet not trust Him with lesser things like money and how we use it.

My Spiritual Gifts

This week I took a spiritual gifts test to see if anything has changed since the last time I took one. I compared my previous one from about 4 years ago and not much has changed. I still rank highest in knowledge and teaching. I believe God has put me in a good place to use both of these gifts for His glory. If you haven't already taken a spiritual gifts test, take one now. Here is the link to the one I took. http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/

God answer's prayer

I was trying something new in my prayer time yesterday. Another pastor suggested writing out my prayers on an index card and then placing them on a shelf signifying that I was giving my request to God. One of the items I prayed about was having to do with paying some unexpected bills and be able to buy some Christmas presents for my family. I put this on the shelf at 7:45 yesterday morning and at 4:30 I got a call to do some consulting work that I thought wouldn't take too long. I ended up with at least 6 hours of work and should be able to pay some of those bills and put some towards Christmas shopping. I can't say that writing prayers down is what did it, but how many times to we pray for something and we forget about it and never look to see how God answered our prayers. I encourage you this week to take some time to see how God has answered your prayers.

Spiritual Gifts

This past Sunday we looked 1 Peter 4:7-11 and saw that God has given us spiritual gifts to be used to serve others. I encouraged each person to take a spiritual gifts test and to pray about how God could use them effectively for His kingdom. When we use our spiritual gifts we are showing the grace of God towards others. We are not limited to using our spiritual gifts inside the church body. We can use our gifts in every situation we find ourselves. We should be looking for opportunities to use our gifts in everyday life. Pray that God would use you today in the gifts that He has blessed you with. That is my prayer.

Veteran's Day

This week we celebrate Veteran's Day. I would like to thank each and every veteran for their service to this great country. Your dedication, sacrifice and patriotism should be praised by all American's. My prayer is that God would bless you for your service on behalf of others and that He would protect those who are still in service to our country.

What is God's?

We are going to be examining how we can be good stewards of everything that God has blessed us with over the next few weeks. This past Sunday we looked at what belongs to God from each one of us. Matthew 22:37 speaks to our love belonging to God. Malachi 1:6-8 shows us that we need to give God our honor. Malachi 3:8-10 shows us that we need to give our best of our tithes and offerings to God. John 14:1 says that we need to trust God. 1 Peter 4:1-3 is about how our time and our lives belong to God. Psalms 24:1 tells us the everything that has been created belongs to God.

I believe as we change our mindset and outlook from everything we have as belonging to us to everything belonging to God, it will free us to do what He wants us to do with His stuff. As stewards of God's creation we are to use everything for His glory. It all comes from Him and we will be held accountable for how we use and steward what has been put under our control.

It comes down to being honest about how we don't give back to God what is His. And once we repent we can then begin to give to God what is His and use the blessings He has given us to His glory. When we don't own up to this fact that we all miss the mark at times when it comes to being good stewards we are like the people God speaks to in Malachi 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me." We rob God by stealing from Him what is rightfully His. What in your life needs to change? I implore you to change it now.

Why are we here?

Sometimes I think it is good for us to take time to examine why we are here. Why does God have us in this place at this time? How can we glorify Him through our current circumstances? I think it goes back to Matthew 28 when Jesus tells the disciples what they are to do for the rest of their lives. He tells them to go make disciples who follow everything that Jesus had taught them to do. We are here, as disciples of Jesus Christ to go make new disciples and pass on the life changing message of Jesus Christ to all those that God has put in our path. God has put you in a specific situation to allow you to share the Good News in a way that no one else can. Jesus did not die on the cross just so that you can go to spend eternity with God once you die. He died also so that you may bring life to others who are dying in their sins and upon whom God's judgment currently rests. Until we begin to see others as God sees them we will not be true disciples or followers. Pray that God would open your eyes to see and love people as He does. Allow Him to change your heart towards others.

The witness of others

This past week we talked about the parable of the two sons contained in Matthew 21:28-32. Jesus was rebuking the chief priests and teachers of the law because they say yes to God but never do anything about actually following God. Jesus points out in the passage that even though they saw the change that came over tax collectors and prostitutes who repented when John the Baptist came, they still did not follow after God. Not only did they have the message of John, they had been able to see the fruit of the message by the change in these "sinners" lives. Maybe you are out there and you don't know if you can trust the message that has been written to us in the Bible. I challenge you to take a look at the change that it has wrought in people who have followed it. I was reading in John 4 and it talks about Jesus' interaction with a Samaritan woman. She later goes into the town and tells everyone about Jesus. On the basis of her testimony, the people come to meet Jesus and they end up saying this. It is no longer because of what you have said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.(vs 42) They saw a change in her life and wanted to find out more and once they encountered Jesus they had their own experience with God and were changed. Don't be like the chief priests who rejected both the message and the fruit of the message. Say yes to God and then do what he commands.

The Fig Tree

This past Sunday, Ed Webster shared from Matthew 21:18-22 about Jesus casting judgment on the fig tree. I have always wondered about why Jesus did this and Ed was able to bring to light a lot of things about this passage. I was interested to find out that the fig trees in Israel have a bud that comes out before the fruit appears that is edible. If the buds don't appear then their will be no fruit. Jesus passed judgment on the fig tree because it would not be bearing fruit. The early sign of fruit did not exist. It was an example to the disciples of what was about to come upon Jerusalem and the nation of Israel because they were not bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. The warning also applies to us in our communities of faith. We need to bear fruit in our churches or we will begin to wither from the root upwards. Each one of us in a branch on the tree and all of us need to work together to bring the fruit out. We need to stick close to the source from which all good things flow which is Jesus. If we remain in him we will bear fruit. If we are not bearing fruit it is a sign that we are not in him. Are you remaining in Jesus?

Time off

Everyone needs time off once in a while. I took the last couple of week off to do a lot of things around the house. I had a list of at least 16 projects that needed to be completed. So the first week I worked on the most important ones. You know, the projects you promised that would get done. Then I got sick. I was planning on doing the entire list and not really taking a whole lot of down time to just relax and enjoy not having anything to do. Well, once I became sick, I didn't have a choice. The list was put away and I laid around for 4 or 5 days trying to recover. I have to say that this was not the worst sickness I ever had and it was a reminder that I need to take time to not do anything even when I have a list to complete. I feel better now and I have a better sense of things that I need to be focusing on in the next couple of weeks for work and around the house. I did end up getting 11 of my 16 projects done so it wasn't a complete wash out.

Clearing the Temple

Two additional thoughts about Jesus clearing out the temple as recorded in Matthew 21:12-13.
1. Jesus was expected by his followers to assume the kingship of Israel and then through the Romans out of Israel and usher in the Messianic Kingdom. Instead, he goes to the Temple and drives out those who were using God’s Temple for their own gain. He attacked the system that was truly keeping people in bondage. That was the Pharisees whose rules and regulations made it impossible to become a follower of God. Jesus took what they had put in place which didn’t lead them into God’s Kingdom and threw it out. He made a way for each of us to come into God’s Kingdom.
2. God gives us chances to clear the clutter out of our lives. There does seem to come a time when he takes it upon himself to forcefully remove the things that separate us from him. Which is better? Too drive the things are wrong in our lives out like Jesus drove out the money changers? Or to have God come in and force them out.

What do we believe about the Bible?

"The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice." This is taken directly from our Statement of Beliefs on our website. It sounds good, but what does it mean and why is it important. Let's start by talking about what inerrant means. Inerrancy is the view that when all the facts become known, they will demonstrate that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in all it affirms, whether that relates to doctrine or ethics or to the social, physical, or life sciences.

This means that there are no contradictions in the Bible. Anything that we think is a contradiction show us that we do not have enough information about the passage to understand it completely. It also speaks to the original autographs as being inerrant. Not to the many copies and translations. We know that some of the translations of the Bible seem to change what is being said when compared to other translations. The Bible is trustworthy in all that it contains.

This is important because there is also a belief about the Bible that is infallible. This is the belief that what the Bible says regarding matters of faith and Christian practice are wholly useful and true. Some denominations that teach infallibility hold that the historical or scientific details, which may be irrelevant to matters of faith and Christian practice, may contain errors. This becomes a slippery slope where the judgment of where the Bible is fallible or infallible falls to very fallible men. We start to believe that the Bible is wrong on one area and then that leads us to believe that it is wrong in many areas. If it is wrong then we don’t have a basis to stand on as believers in Jesus Christ. We have seen over the last few years in many church denominations that hold to Bible to be infallible but not inerrant a change in direction away from what the Bible teaches and they have allowed and condoned things that the Bible specifically speaks against. This is because they have made judgments on God's Word that are incorrect and are teaching false ideas.

Let’s hold fast to the Word of God as it is the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men and the only rule of Christian faith and practice.

What does it mean to be a servant?

As I was studying in Matthew 20, I came across Jesus talking about what greatness looks like in God's kingdom. To be great, you must be the servant of all. We don't have servants around today as they have in the past. It isn't something most of us have come across or are familiar with. What does a servant do? A servant does whatever his master requires. He does small jobs that seem menial and below him as well as large, complicated jobs that stretch his talents to the limit. A servants primary responsibility is to complete the work given by the master. In our case, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to love God and to love others and also to go into the world to make disciples or fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. For us to become great in God's eyes, we need to be about his business and his business comes before ours in order or priority. What changes would God want in your life for you to be about his business?

Guiding Statement

There is a lot of talk in church circles about vision. Depending on who defines vision, you may come across 10 different people with 10 different definitions. At the Edge Church we have a guiding statement. It is this.

God’s call to the Edge Church is to establish, build and maintain loving relationships in three key areas. These key areas are the relationship between each one of us and God, between each other in the body of Christ and between each one of us and those who are not followers of Jesus Christ.

As we move forward as a church, we will refer back to this statement to give us guidance on what we should do. If it does not establish, build or maintain loving relationships then we will not do it. It could be a great idea, a great program, but if it doesn't fit in with our goals then there is no point in doing it.

Baptism

It was amazing to be part of baptizing 6 people on Sunday. Each has made a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 6, when we go down into the water we are identifying with Jesus' death and burial. When we come up out of the water we are rising to a new life in Christ Jesus. Just as Jesus arose into a new life, we too have new life in him. It is amazing that God does that for us. It wasn't enough for him to reach out to us, to show us the way to get to him. Instead of leaving it there, he paves the way for us and pays for all the tolls and gives us the strength and power to serve him. None of it comes from us, all of it comes from him.

Leadership Summit

This past week I attended a Leadership Summit that was put on by the Willow Creek Association. It was a 2 day program that had a lot of good speakers and some great ideas for how to lead in these uncertain times. One of the things that struck me the most was that someone asked one of the speakers recently when would things go back to normal. When would the economy start working again. When can we go back to the way things were before. He answered with the question, what if this is the new normal? What if things around us continue to be uncertain? Does this change who God is and that he has a plan and a purpose for not only the Edge Church, but for each of you? God does not change, he is not surprised by the events happening around the world. If this is the new normal, all this uncertainty, how are you going to approach life from now on? What changes could God be asking you to make in your life? He is challenging me to trust him in all things.