Yesterday  morning I had the opportunity to visit one of our mission outreach partners in the Peoria area--Southside Mission. I was invited to see the various ministries and projects which started from a simple dream of one young lady who saw a need and felt God’s tug on her life to make a difference.

I love it when God tug’s on my heart….reminds me that God is in control and that I am invited to partner with Him in what He is doing in His world. Ministries like Southside Mission bring out the best in people, because they see a BIG VISION, which they feel God has called them to do.

People with vision are fun to be around; they talk in excited and purposeful ways about this project or that success. They share a glimpse of the plan God has given, and they understand their calling. Most are filled with hope, and they understand that they are called to serve and not to be served.

Good news for Crossroads--we are involved with many such ministries. I have had opportunity since coming on board to visit some of them, and I hope to visit all of them soon. I am drawn to people with “Vision;” I suspect you’re the same way.

I remember early in my life picking strawberries all day long so that I could help a visionary friend set up a fruit stand. I never worked so hard in my life, but I remember how much fun it was because I was part of the vision. Vision gives us life. Now this is a great place to quote a famous passage from scripture from Proverbs 29:18.  I love how the “Message” interprets this passage:

If people can’t see what God is doing,
    they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
    they are most blessed.

So do you want to be blessed? Then the answer lies in seeing and embracing the vision that God has placed before you.

See you on the journey,

Pastor Rip

Return

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit and listen to seven gifted, large church pastors speak and teach about leadership.  I would not normally sit through ten hours of preaching as a rule, but this conference was structured in such a way as to make a large impact in a small amount of time. And… it was well done.

I won’t bore you with a synopsis of their teaching. You can check that out in a more detailed overview which I will make available online later. Suffice it to say, I was stretched, overwhelmed, humbled and encouraged by all the messages. However, there was an overriding theme to this conference which centered on the question of returning to God.

Coming back home!   I thought a great deal about that during the day and tried to discern in my mind what that really meant.  What would coming home look like for me?  To be more precise, what needs to change in me to enable me to come back home?

Of course, my mind immediately went to the story of the father who had two sons. (You can read this story in Luke, chapter 15) My problem was not so much on what I needed to change before I could return...that was the easy part.  I can give you a list a mile long on things I need to work on in my life.  My problem was that this action was not what God was asking me to do.  God was not asking me to change myself; God was inviting me to allow Him to change me!

Coming home means that I return back to God with all my stuff in tow—all my baggage.  It’s realizing that I really can’t change myself and that if things are going to be different I need help.  I need forgiveness.  Ouch, there is that word again. I need the forgiveness of God in my life so that the healing which is offered is applied freely.

The liberating reality is that God planned returning home events for all of us.  And now God is wooing us back. “Come home,” Jesus says.  “Come, taste and see,” He invites.  Find rest for your soul.  Find forgiveness.

Blessings

Pastor Rip

Join with me reading the bok of Proverbs

CLICK HERE

Forgiveness continued…

As I was working on this BLOG today, I was again overwhelmed by the superiority of God’s forgiveness offered to each of us freely. Not only is forgiveness the main point in Paul’s presentation of the Gospel, but the very idea of forgiveness was the mainstay of God’s redemptive plan for humankind.

As I look around at the world I live in, (and please realize I have been to many places in the world) poverty and starvation and death are everywhere, senseless murders and rape are everyday events, countries are ravaged by corrupt governments…life in a simple word… STINKS.

We live in a broken world, but the good news is that God never intended for us to be here. God’s plan for us, as Pastor Tom has forced us to consider over the past few weeks, was a much better plan. We were created to live in paradise. However, somewhere along the way we began to think of ourselves as more in control and became less concerned with following the plan of God.  Brokenness resulted.

Psalms 130 gives an amazing picture of this forgiveness at work in us. The Psalmist says,

“Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.”

God’s plan was forgiveness--to restore us, to clean us up, and to set us again on a pathway to relationship with Him.  That is the beauty of forgiveness and the beauty of a God who loves us even when we are unlovely.

Ever feel that way?  I encourage you to return to a God who is ready and willing to receive you back home.

Pastor Rip

So I am reading through the book of Proverbs one chapter a day....Join me!

CLICK HERE to go to the book of Proverbs

I love the word forgiveness.      While this word may have many different meanings to different people, nowhere is it exemplified best than from the personal testimony of the apostle Paul.  In the book of ACTS, Paul gives his personal forgiveness inventory. If you remember this story, Paul was persecuting Christians when one day Jesus spoke to him from a bright light. Now that should get your attention, and for Paul, it did. This is what Paul says of that experience.

^{Acts 26:15  “}Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

(For a full understanding of what happened in Paul’s life, check out chapter 9 of Acts)

There are a couple of things that stand out to me in this recounting from Paul. First, God came to set him free. That is what God does for us in Christ Jesus. Jesus confronts the bully in us. Have you ever faced your biggest fear only to discover that in reality there was nothing to fear in the first place? Jesus comes to us to help us realize that we can have something really great if we would trust Him to make it happen. Paul did not change by his own power; he received forgiveness.

Then he received an appointment. That’s the great thing about forgiveness; God chooses to use us who are less than perfect to accomplish that which is about Him. The perfect God uses imperfect people to demonstrate His forgiveness in action.  How cool is that!

You see what this means is that, now, we have a story that we can share with others. The power of our stories can be the catalyst for life-change in another person just as it was in the life of Paul and in countless Pauls since that time.

Why did God forgive you? To set you free from the powers of darkness so that through you the light of redemption might shine into others.  Put that way, forgiveness is a really cool thing.

Blessings,

Pastor Rip

Green Socks

OK, I had green socks and blue slacks on today. As you can tell, my wife did not dress me! Actually, I thought when I selected my socks that they would coordinate.  Yet in the light of the day, I realized that it was not really a good match. All day long I was going around hoping that no one would notice until I could make it home and change before an evening meeting.  However, things did not work out that way so all through the meeting I kept looking at my socks and wondering how many others were looking as well.

Truth be told, I’m not sure anyone really cared or noticed, but still it was glaring to me. One of the truths of life is this.  When I do something wrong (i.e. Sin), I have that same conscious reminder that things are not the way they are supposed to be. What happens is that the Holy Spirit is speaking into my life reminding me that God created me to be better than that.

Sin is like a pair of socks that don’t fit with the rest of my ensemble, and that I am keenly aware of.  It is right that sin is that to me.  Others may not notice the sin, and my problem is that even after a while I get calloused to sin.  It no longer bothers me. Nonetheless, it is still there, and it separates me from what God intends for me to become.

The problem is clear:  if I wear green socks and blue slacks every day, I begin to think that is what I am supposed to wear. It’s all right, and in fact, people may just accept me as the green sock guy I am.  I can even find comfort in the fact that I am accepted as the guy with the green socks.

But my question is this…What if I was made to wear socks that fit with the rest of the ensemble so that the image I presented to others and myself was a true reflection of the person God intended me to be?  What if I were made to be a blue socks-blue slacks type of guy, and when I live the way I am supposed to live I discover that I am not controlled by being exposed because of my flaws?

A good friend responded to yesterday’s BLOG reminding me of these verses,

Psalms 139:13, 14

“For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful”

God has created us to be fearfully and wonderfully made.

Thanks God for your gift.

Pastor Rip

Yesterday

So yesterday was one of those days. I got busy and by the end of the day, I realized that I had forgotten to pray. I had great intentions. I was up early, had my first cup of coffee and then got busy, not bad stuff, just with things that needed to be accomplished.  I was behind on some house chores, and I needed to fix my lunch.  I talked with my new neighbor, and on and on it went, all good stuff.  However…

Now I commune with God through the day; we spend time together.  I would not go long into the day without turning to my creator and giving my thinks. But yesterday did not start the same way. I missed that time with God, and every time I miss that morning opportunity I lose a vital link in my life. Here is the key. Everyday should start out with time devoted to God.

Here is the great thing about God. He did not miss the opportunity to think about me. I am convinced through scripture that God was thinking about me when I awoke.  He was thinking about me when I was working; He was thinking about me at meal times; and He was thinking about me when I was sleeping. God has directed Himself to think about me, and the good news is that He is thinking about you as well.

I love how Psalms 139 describes how God is always thinking about us. The very first verse says this, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.” I challenge you to read through the remainder of this chapter and discover for yourself this God who is continually thinking about you.

So back to yesterday, I got busy but God was constant. I forgot to pray in the morning; God was walking with me throughout the day. I felt out of sorts; God was calling to remind me He was in control. I need to remind myself that I should never be too busy not to pray.

So here is a prayer that I want to share with you today…

Father God, I thank you that when I am too busy, you are still waiting to hear from me. I am thankful that you offer me the opportunity to come to you whenever, and you are always ready and willing to hear from me. I am thankful that you think of me and that you are always thinking of me. Help me to always think about you as well. Amen.

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to read the gospels

No More Games

After writing about a childhood game yesterday, I got to thinking about other games I played as a "Kid." By the way, thanks Phil, for reminding us what that game was called.

So I got to thinking; what other games I played--Red Rover, Red Light/Green Light, Simon Says, Steal the Bacon... all came to mind. There were many games we played in our youth and they were fun times we think back on now. Share with me your memories.

However, I for one am glad that we grew up out of that. NOMOREGAMES!

Actually that is not true if we are honest. My problem is that I find myself playing the wrong games. Games like...Don't face my problems, Get all the stuff you can at any cost, don’t take time to care. The list could go on and on. The adult games we play all the time do not gratify us with childlike wonder; we now discover that our adult games have become a way of life.

I was thinking about the lessons learned from our childhood games. We learned to share, to work together, to learn how to lose gracefully, to not worry when we fell down because it was all part of the fun of playing together. Granted, sometimes I wanted to take my marbles and go home, but for the most part our childhood games were more about learning life than just filling time with something to do.

So I see two issues in this. The first is; why did we lose the ability to play together? The second is, How are the games we playing today affecting our lives?

I look forward to your comments.
Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to read the Gospels

I remember as a young boy playing a game with my neighborhood friends where we would have a leader who would yell out, “baby step” or “giant step.” The purpose of the game was to get to the goal line first—an easy game to play.  However, I often had difficulty because if you stumbled you had to go back to the start and begin again.

You see the hazard of the game was that both steps had rules. “Baby Steps” had the rule that both feet had to touch, so of course you were placing one foot just in front of the other. “Giant steps” were fun because you could stretch as far as you could, but often you ended in a heap because it was easy to loose balance.

I have discovered the same game in living life, especially if we are trying to live a purposeful life.  “Giant steps” appear more appealing because all of us want to take great strides toward becoming the people God intended for us to be. However, “giant steps” are awkward at best, and most often end in a disappointed heap.

I have learned that most of life is a series of “baby steps”, slow mythological, calculated steps toward an intended goal. I believe scripture backs this idea us as well. The apostle Paul in the third chapter of Philippians gives us some great insight into this idea.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The problem I face is that I want to short circuit the process, and “GIANT STEPS” seem to be the best way to get it done. Yet “giant steps” miss the point. “Giant steps” are about me.  They say, “Hey look at what I can do.”  They are self-centered, and YES, most times we stumble on the journey with “Giant Steps.”

“Baby Steps” are not glamorous. Nevertheless, when we look back after some time in the baby step process, we discover that we have traveled forward toward our goal.

From one Baby Stepper to another…

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to go to the Gospels

Chapter 17 of Matthew has this wonderful story from an encounter of three of the closest friends of Jesus.

 Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.”

Worship is that way for me. It is something wonderful which I want to remind myself of over and over again. I will never forget the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. I had opportunity to be alone for about one hour, and I decided to sit on one of the rock out-croppings. It was breathtaking and an event which I will never forget.

What made it so wonderful? Was it the wind blowing through the canyon making an eerie sound? Was it panic pumping through my body because of the danger of where I was setting? Was it the sheer beauty of the sun glimmering on the rocks just across from me? Each one of those things made for an amazing experience; however, the thing I remember the most was the stillness of the moment.

Perhaps it was in that stillness that I heard the voice of God. God speaks that way you know. He comes and speaks to us when life is still and the shouts of so many voices fade in the background and every time He speaks it is wonderful. It should be because it is worship.

I love to sing, and Christian music is moving for me. I love the new music of our church and the message it speaks of drawing close to God. Many times you can find me immersed in music with headphones on and arms raised high because music moves my soul.  Yet, God still speaks to me in the simple quietness of every moment.  It is there that I hear most clearly.

So where do you hear from God? How does God speak to you? Share your story and encourage others who are on this discovery with you.

Blessings

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to go to the Gospels reading plan

Luke Chapter 16:9-11  Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?

Service is a word that is kicked around in the local church and for most of us it means a variety of things. However, the most striking part of the passage above is the instruction on how to serve with the use of our resources. I always get caught when scripture talks about helping others with worldly resources.  It is difficult to define this apart from anything else except our money.

Often we like to think in terms of activity or caring or supporting with our talents, and while these things are important and needed, Jesus is hitting us at the core when He talks about using our money to benefit others. Please note I am not talking about giving; I am talking about service. The key words are “benefit others,” and it comes with a promise.

The promise is important because it defines a reality of a giving heart against a small selfish heart. If we are faithful in our service to others, we open the door to increased opportunity of more service to others. Service begets more service. Pretty simple formula, and the beauty of this idea is that it works.

So here are some action steps:

• Commit to doing a work of benefiting another person this week.  We call this a  “random act of kindness.”
• Send a letter to a college kid with some money in it to help them at the start of the school year.
• Give some worldly processions to a clothing center or soup kitchen.

The ideas can go on and on, but I challenge you to come up with your own plan to put into practice the act of service.

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to go to today's Gospel reading

I love this verse in John Chapter 15, Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

I refer to this idea as “abiding presence”. It is the practice of living within the awareness of the presence of God. I admit I am not always sure what that means, however there are times in my life when I experience such an abiding presence. It usually happens in the midst of worship or the experience of some divine appointment where you can only explain what happed as a God moment.

In reality God moments happen all the time, our problem is becoming aware of how they happen and when they happen. Jesus gives us some insight into this idea when He encourages His followers to remain in Him, and He will remain in us.

I could say a lot about that passage but there are three main thoughts which I want to discuss with you today.

The first is the practice of worship where I empty myself, where I release my anxiety and fears and come before God in awe. In worship we enter into relationship so that we can connect at a deeper level.

The second is the practice of sustained remaining. I use this term to express my belief that to really know someone you do it through the long-term. God is not into short term relationships.

The third idea is fruitfulness. Unless we are in the practice of fruit producing, (which is defined as growing in grace) we tend to lose the ability to do any of the above mentioned things.

So the question is this. What kind of worshiper are you? Do you have an abiding presence? Do you come to worship to empty yourself? Are you producing fruit?

Now granted these are sometime difficult to determine but they are marks of a worshiping follower of Jesus.

Tell me what you think.

Blessings

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to read today's Gospel.

OK, foot washing yesterday, and today I am talking about GIVING! Well, don’t shoot the messenger. I am just reading the Gospels and reflecting upon some of the directions for living life that I find there.

Today, I was struck by the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 in the Gospel of Matthew.  So cool!  However, there are some important lessons for us in this passage. Note first of all that there was very little given--five loaves of bread and two fish. Not much for even one person let alone 5000. However, I think the first lesson I get from this is that God will use whatever I give Him.

If you’re like me, I sometimes think that I really don’t have much to offer God. Truth is, I really don’t have much to offer God.  No, that was not a reprint. It is a truth which says: I would have nothing at all except what God in His mercy has provided. I guess the question I raise is this: who am I to determine how much enough is for God?  I mean, I did not create it in the first place; I am only entrusted with the power to use God’s resources wisely.

A second lesson is that God is in the habit of creating miracles. My problem is that I have little understanding of how miracles work. Apparently, so did the disciples of Jesus. I think we live in a society that does not expect much from God. We are self-sufficient in many ways and depending upon God is difficult because we tend to think it shows a lack of strength.

 My question is this: which action below requires more?  The ability to do it ourselves or  the trust/faith required to see and expect God to act?

So here is a challenge for today.  Trust God to do something out of the ordinary through you. Perhaps your act of courage might be an opportunity for God to perform a miracle. Now, how cool would that be!

Pastor Rip

CLICK HERE to read today's Gospel

 In our reading today we are faced with a real challenge.

                John 13: 12-14   When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

Before you close this page… please know that I am not going to ask you to wash each other’s feet--even though this is a practice in complete surrender and humility. I know of some churches that still practice this, and it is a very moving and humbling practice, but not here for us today…not now anyway.

 What I want you to think about is why we do service for others.  What is our motivation? In our passage above, Jesus states that it was done unto them (by Jesus) so they should do the same to each other. Service is not something we do in order to receive something back; that’s not what this says.  Service is, however, something we do to demonstrate to others a better way.

 Here are some questions to ponder: 
 What would happen if we took on this attitude modeled for us by Jesus in this act of service?
 What would your family look like?
 How would people respond to us differently at work, at school, and even at church?
 Does service make a difference, or do we continue along in our own self-serving attitudes? 
This week I am are going to look at some of the issues that affect how we usually do things and examine these issues in light of what God's word says.
I encourage you to journey along with me, and together we can learn a better way the feet of the master.

Oh by the way ….see you at the foot washing next time.

 Pastor Rip

Click here to go to the Gospel reading for today.