Resolutions from the Bible

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2 (NIV)

Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. Psalms 17:3 (NIV)

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel 1:8 (NIV)

Taken from Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox

When God speaks...You know it!

I don't know about you, but it's been a tough week. At times I've felt overwhelmed, frustrated, somewhat hopeless, depressed, beaten up, chewed up and spit out. The other morning, I was fumbling through my Bible hoping to find some cure for my blues.

Honestly, I wasn't really expecting I would find anything. Oh we've all heard people say, "You won't believe this - I was down in the dumps but this morning my Bible just happened to open to this verse and God spoke directly to me". Well, that rarely happens to me. In fact, my Bible would probably fall open to one of the Old Testament books like Numbers 26:48-50 which says, "The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were: through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; through Guni, the Gunite clan; through Jezer, the Jezerite clan; through Shillem, the Shillemite clan. These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400". What do you do with that?!

Well, I have to say that it actually happened. On Wednesday morning my Bible just happened to open to 2 Corinthians 6:3-10. This is where Paul is talking about his hardships as a minister of the Gospel.

Here is what it says: "We try to live in such a way that no one will be hindered from finding the Lord by the way we act, and so no one can find fault with our ministry. In everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in jail, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, our sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit. We have faithfully preached the truth. God's power has been working in us. We have righteousness as our weapon, both to attack and to defend ourselves. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are well known, but we are treated as unknown. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive. We have been beaten within an inch of our lives. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything".

That was exactly what I needed at that very moment. God is good all the time!

It's About Time

Can you believe it's December already? Every month I say, 'Can you believe it's (fill in the month)". That great rocker and theologian Steve Miller had it right when he said, "Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin, into the future." Where does the time seem to go?

We all wish we had more of it. During the hectic holiday season, I'll bet it will fly by. There will seem to be alot less time as we rush to purchase that last-minute gift. Time will seem to evaporate as we have all of these good ideas of who to invite over, then poof - gone. The pressure of trying to get it all done before Christmas can be overwhelming. Why is it that this time of year when we focus more on "peace on earth" often feels like "hell on earth"? Well, I said on Sunday that I believe part of the reason is that Satan is reminded that this is the time Christians celebrate the birth of the newborn king - the rightful heir of God's creation - and he (Satan) is not happy. He will try to make your life miserable and sidetrack you from slowing down to focus on what Jesus' birth means for each of us - indeed the whole world.

When Jesus was on the earth, he talked alot about time. In most cases, he referenced the coming Kingdom of God. He encouraged his followers to stay alert because the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. This coming Sunday at Bellwood (and for the next three Sundays), we are going to allow the worship service to be a time of intentional focus on making time for God. We will create space to allow us to be refreshed from the busyness of the season. And why not? It's about time.

Want some?

At Bellwood we are concluding our series on the letter to the Ephesians. Paul saved the best part for last. He concludes by encouraging believers to always put on the armor of God - and closes with a reminder to always pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. He says to stay alert and be persistent in prayer for all believers. And then he asks them to pray for him.

He doesn't ask that his situation be changed. Instead he asks for boldness to be able to continue preaching the gospel while still in chains! If it were me, I probably would have asked for prayer to be released from prison, but he asks for boldness to continue on right where he is.

All of us find ourselves (at one time or another) in situations that we want God to change. And it's OK to ask God to change them. He certainly can, but what if (sometimes) God would rather have us pray for boldness? It's much easier to go around the valley, but sometimes God wants us to walk boldly THROUGH the valley. Psalm 23 reminds us that He is with us.

This Sunday at Bellwood we will have a special time of prayer. Anyone who would like to come forward after the message will be able to have myself or one of the Elders pray over you. We will ask God to fit you with His armor so you are able to stand firm in the battle. We will pray that God will grant you boldness to persevere in whatever situation you find yourself.

Folks, we have access to the greatest power in the universe. It is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. All we have to do is ask for it - and that's what we are going to do. Be there this Sunday if you want some!

10 Reasons to Be an Equipping Church

Here are some practical reasons why we focus on "equipping the saints for the work of ministry (service)":

1. Assimilation - Newcomers are brought into the fold quickly, making friends and getting involved.
2. Stewardship - People give to what they believe in.
3. Freedom - You serve because you want to, not because you have to. Knowing your S.H.A.P.E. allows you the freedom to serve.
4. Longevity - Burnout will no longer exist. Stress levels will plummet.
5. Influence - You want to make a difference in someone's life and see lives transformed.
6. Unity - People are so focused on their ministries that there is little time or desire to complain about minor issues.
7. Growth - Nothing is more contagious than an equipping church. Non-Christians will see lives being changed and want to be part of it.
8. Depth - Believers are automatically being turned into disciples.
9. Breadth - Having more people involved enables the church to reach even more people.
10. Rejuvenation - New life and new energy kick into high gear.

Taken from article, "Equipping the Saints" by Brian Proffit. It appeared in REV magazine some time ago.

How Church People Feel About Change

God was at work at SCC Outreach

I've had several people ask me how it went on Sunday so I thought I would blog about it. SCC had their Open House on Sunday. This is the first time they had a Business Expo in the Welsch Center. There were probably 20 vendors that had tables set up. Several of the businesses and churches in Milford were there just to let current and prospective students aware of their services.

Bellwood was fortunate to be right beside Pizza Kitchen. Of course, they were giving away free pizza and we had homemade cookies to finish it off! It was a perfect location! We had a lot of traffic at our booth because we had a drawing for some give-aways: A $50 gift card to Best Buy, $25 gifts card to Casey's and a $25 gift card to Mini Mart. We simply asked the students to answer a 10 question survey so we might know what their needs are and how we could help to meet some of those. Everyone was happy to fill it out. I think we ended up with about 75 completed surveys.

Some of the questions were things like:
Would you need laundry services, transportation, overnight lodging in bad weather? Would you like a monthly home-cooked meal, a care basket of goodies? Would you be interested in a Saturday night Bible study or worship service? (Brenda Burkey came up with some great questions!) She will tally the results and then let us know how we can reach out to the students.

I am excited to see how God might be at work through all of this. Thanks to everyone who asked about this and especially to everyone who was in prayer about this. Keep praying!!