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