Mine!

They were Yours, You gave them to Me!

John 17:6

Jesus Christ takes possession of you from the Father. To have possession of another living thing is a big responsibility. That is one reason Tracy and I have had all our kids involved in agriculture at some time in their lives.

At times they whined and complained about it. They didn’t like the extra work, the feeding in the rain, the blanketing of horses in the cold, breaking the ice in the water trough on a frozen winter morning, checking the pasture for fencing an animal might get tangled in, getting up early on a school morning to do whatever needed to be done, or recognizing that your evening at the movies still had to be finished off with a feeding and haying of everything that needed it, even when you stayed for both ends of a double feature. Yes, when something living is yours, the care and attentiveness cannot be limited to the times it is convenient.

Jesus Christ does that for you. He does it for you in a VERY sacrificial way. He never complains, never questions if you are worth the effort, never tires of the high maintenance you require.

When we see our Christian life in this perspective, being a disciple is not about doing anything for Jesus, but of being a delight to Him. The easy part of that is that we are already a delight to Him. He has already proven that to us through His death and resurrection on our behalf.

This is the way we give ourselves to Jesus Christ. He has already posted a claim on your life. It is your job to recognize His claim as the one and only claim on your life. You sign away all rights and privileges to the One who bought you with His very own life and now takes responsibility for your care and life.

Today, be entirely His!

Pastor Craig

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewisU) tweeted at 6:16 PM on Sun, Sep 23, 2012: "Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different" #CSLewis (https://twitter.com/CSLewisU/status/250010815221080064) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

A Simple Kindness

“You got any cans in there?!” That was the call I heard as I dumped a trash bag in the dumpster behind the church. I turned and saw a man I assumed to be a little older than myself. He was at another dumpster down the alley looking for aluminum to recycle. He was trying to get enough together so he could afford to do his laundry.

It was Sunday morning. I was running a little behind for the Men’s Prayer Breakfast. “No,” I said, "just trash."

“I like to get ‘em before they get buried and nasty if I can,” he said back. “I’m going to have to wait on laundry until Monday, maybe Tuesday, because I can’t get money for these until the recycling place opens up in the morning.”

“Have you eaten breakfast?” I asked. “We’re having a breakfast right here at the church. It should be just about ready. You are more than welcome. Come and join me.”

“I’d have to come like this. Everything else I have is dirtier than this, and I’ve been digging in the dumpsters this morning. I wouldn’t want to offend anyone.”

“You are fine. Jesus doesn’t have a dress code that I know of,” I replied.

“Well, that’s mighty nice of you,” he replied. “Most people are nice, or at least try to be. You know, there’s somebody in these apartments here who pulls out all their aluminum cans and hangs them on the corner of the dumpster here so I don’t have to crawl in here after ‘em. Now that’s nice; isn’t it? It’s like a little angel taking care of me, making life just a bit easier.”

“That is VERY thoughtful,” I replied.

Well, my new friend came and ate breakfast with the men of First Presbyterian Church. He finished his breakfast and went to complete his rounds so he could do his laundry with the money he found that we threw away. I have thought about him in the days since that morning, but I haven’t seen him around. I have thought about him and the world he is a part of, one that is so different from mine.

I have thought even more about the kind soul, anonymous still, who every week separates out their cans, not for their own benefit, but to make life just a little bit easier for my breakfast friend.

And so, whoever you are in the apartments across from the post office here in Ennis, if you are reading this, know that you are someone’s angel, that your kind gesture is noted and appreciated. I hope you are blessed, for God has certainly used you to bless someone else.

Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are Christ's, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Mark 9:41 ASV

Pastor Craig

Are You Progressive?

 We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

C. S. Lewis

Yes, it is called progressive. It is also called, on the spiritual road at least, repentance.

What is it that keeps us stubbornly headed down the wrong road travelling towards a destination that is not productive? Why do we do things like this to ourselves?

Admitting we have made such a grievous error and travelled so far down a road in the wrong direction is something that can be difficult to take. We want to be right. However, wouldn’t we be “more right” by admitting we are wrong?

It is amazing that is all God ever asks of us, to recognize and speak out loud, what we already know, then to take the action necessary to get ourselves on the right road traveling the correct direction. God has already provided everything we need to make that happen. All that is necessary is for us to accept the reality of our need for His saving grace.

Some of us have travelled a long time in the wrong direction. That is not a commentary on the “seriousness” of our sin, for every sin is serious. It is more a commentary on how entrenched our wrongness may be without our even realizing it. It has become habit. We assume it is part of who we are. Jesus Christ wants to give us a new identity. He wants to tell us that we are much better than we ever realized. He wants to remind us that we are a child of the King, an heir of all that exists.

With all that said, only one decision remains. Would you rather continue down the road you are currently travelling so you can claim to be the master of your own destiny, or would you rather accept a course correction provided by your Creator and be truly progressive?

 

Pastor Craig

They Don't Come By Themselves!

The story is told about a Rabbi from New York accepting a position in the Deep South. Wanting to make a good impression and get involved in the community, he decided to breakfast at a local coffee shop. He scanned the menu and found an item he was unfamiliar with. “Grits” it said.

He called the waitress over to the table and inquired, “Excuse me, what is a ‘grit’?”

The waitress replied, “Honey, they don’t come by themselves.”

It seems Christians are the same way. We have a hard time growing by ourselves. We like to think we are strong, independent, and faithful. Unfortunately, the truth is that left to our own devices we tend to follow after whatever teaching makes us feel good, agrees with our own point of view, or makes us the least uncomfortable. This is why God called us to form communities of worship called churches. It was His hope that we would be honest, sincere, and transparent with one another because in the church we can experience the same kind of forgiveness that God extends to us.

If only that were true.

It seems the church is one of the places we feel least comfortable being ourselves. We put on a brave face to hide the hurt we feel because our children have abandoned us. We bury the loneliness deep inside because we live alone. We keep our struggles to ourselves because we don’t anyone to know our weak points and our failings. We have been told that doing it that way shows us to be strong. God isn’t in the business of showing us to be strong though. He is entirely interested in showing Himself to be strong in us, through us, and on our behalf. Our pride just won’t let us get out of the way. Imagine how strong God could be in your life if you only gave Him a chance to work on your weaknesses!

Pastor Craig

Lest the Darkness Overtake You!

Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you. (John 12:35)

Your theology must work itself out, exhibiting itself in your most common everyday relationships. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you working it out in the everyday issues of your life? Every detail of your life, whether physical, moral, or spiritual, is to be judged and measured by the standard of the atonement by the Cross of Jesus Christ.

From: One Minute Meditations

The Scripture verse from John tells us that we are to be about doing something. It also tells us that we have forces working against us, to stop us, to frustrate us. Time is short and we must be moving. Our salvation is not the destination. It is the beginning of a wonderful adventure.

Christianity is not an acknowledgment of Jesus Christ; it is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything about us rests in the hands of our Creator. It has always been there, even before we began our life as a Christian. We just never realized it.

The rest of our life is a race to the finish line. The writer of Hebrews describes it as a race run before all of our ancestors in the faith. They are looking on, cheering us towards the finish. We should perform at our best. Hebrews 13 tells us to throw aside, even as we are running the race, anything, absolutely anything that would slow us down and allow the darkness to overtake us.

The Scriptures assure us we can never be snatched from the hand of our Savior. However, some of us live as though we intend to put that promise to the test. We seem to throw ourselves in front of temptation at every opportunity. It seems as though we seldom gain victory over it and never run from it.

Walk! While the path is visible, while the guide is with you, while and where the light shines, Walk! No, Run, because at the end of that path is your Father in Heaven and lining the path are the saints who have gone before.

Pastor Craig