Welcome to (one of) my resolutions for 2008.  I realized that the blog section of our website was a weak point because of my failure to give it some important and necessary time.  So my good intention is to keep it up on a monthly basis throughout 2008.  Resolutions are interesting occurrences this time of year.  For what ever reason, we use January 1 as a jumping point into a “life of betterment”.  Usually we find ourselves a few weeks or months down the road feeling like we just have too much on our schedule and that good intentioned resolution is the thing we added that now gets cut.  I think I’ve figured out why that happens.  We don’t understand the true definition of the concept of resolution making.

According to dear old Mr. Webster a resolution is…The act or process of reducing to a simpler form…taking something complex and making it simple…the act of answering…the act of determining.What if we were to take this year long burden and reduce it down?  Maybe to just one day at a time.  And what if we took all of the decisions and determinations and came up with an answer based on one simple overriding principle instead of numerous versions of input.  Wouldn’t that make life a lot more easy to handle?  Sure it would.  And God knew that.  That’s why he gave us the greatest resolution we could make

Joshua 24:14-15

Now fear (respect) the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

So what was your resolution this year?  It may have involved making more money, better health, spending more time developing a relationship, or giving more time to a hobby.  All great resolutions!  But before you lift one weight, walk one mile or start that new diet (all of which are important steps in the process)– how about determining to live your life as a body, created by God, in the image of God and dedicated to Him to a daily basis.  Before you spend one extra moment with that important personal relationship– choose to spend a few more moments with God on a daily basis and watch the results in all your relationships.  Isn’t it much more simple to choose God’s overall plan daily than to have to worry about an extended process of personal test and trial?  

If we will choose (determine) to be faithful and respect God’s plan for our life there is nothing that He cannot or will not accomplish. 

Let’s look forward to a great year of God grace and blessing as we choose each and every day to serve Him.

In the past few days I have been made aware AGAIN of the power of prayer as it relates to the affairs of our humanity.  Protection, provision, direction, peace and the miraculous have all been expereinced in my life just this week and I know that it has been because of personal prayer and the prayer of others connected to my life.  I thank God for that life line that is ever present and available to even the most unfocused cry.

Many times this week my prayer was for the urgent.  I needed a miracle, an answer…and either because of the severity of or the timing of the situation I needed God to respond quickly and powerfully.  I needed a miracle of healing in my family.  I needed to hear the mind of God in a decision making process.  I needed God to give my son both a calmness and an energy in a ministry situation.  And the fact that I needed those things instantly caused me to pray with more intensity.

After the urgency of those moments had cleared I began to think back on those prayers.  What if I prayed DAILY with that intensity.  Instead of praying that way only in an “emergency” what if I prayed that way for the emergent things of life. 

The dictionary defines emergent as “a tree that rises above the surrounding forest”, and “a plant rooted in shallow water having most of the vegetative growth above the water level”.  These vivid descriptions paint a great picture of our daily lives.  Many times we feel like just one of the many in the forest.  We struggle sometimes with the pace of life that seems to keep us at a shallow level of existence, just trying to cope.  As I thought about my urgent prayer life I wondered what the results would be if I prayed about my forest existence and my shallow day in-day out life with the same intensity…how tall would I grow and how much fruit would I produce? 

God encourages us that the prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with (James 5:16 TMSG).  This is not only an admonishment in the urgent, but more appropriately, this is a continual daily discipline.  Other translations use words like effectual, fervent, ernest, heartfelt, CONTINUAL and dynamic as they relate to the type of communication that should exist between us and God.  For it is in this personal atmosphere that power for growth is exemplified and the person of God is trully glorified.

What could change in our life, your family, your situation with this kind of prayer?

How much would you grow beyond the forest of life that surrounds you?  How much fruit could you produce even in a shallow fast paced environment?

Don’t wait for the urgency of the moment…let’s live and pray as emergent people.

Why? 

An amazing question that so many of us and so many of the people we know have asked.  And probably the biggest recipient of that particular question would probably be God 

Why did that happen?  Why am I sick?  Why did they die?  Why do the wicked prosper? 

I believe that God in his divine providence and knowledge has already given us the process of dealing with not only the question of why…but also provided help in dealing with the difficulty that stirred the question in the first place. 

1 Peter 5:6-11
⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.¹⁰And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 

Anne Lotz in her book titled, “Why?” says, We cannot ever stop asking these questions on this side of eternity. It is fundamental to who we are and how God has made us. What we need to know is how to live healthily with these questions. How to live in the tension of being in a fallen world, full of pain and injustice, but having hope and trust in a good God. From what we find in the above passage in from Peter’s letter we can realize that we can live healthy when we realize  

THERE IS A PREPARATION FOR DIFFICULTY 

THERE IS A PROMISE IN DIFFICULTY  

THERE IS A PRODUCT OF DIFFICULTY  A turkey and an eagle react differently to the threat of a storm. A turkey reacts by running under the barn, hoping the storm won’t come near. On the other hand, an eagle leaves the security of its nest and spreads its wings to ride the air currents of the approaching storm, knowing they will carry it higher in the sky than it could soar on its own. Based on your reaction to the storms of life, which are you?

Edgar Allen Poe, of all people, said …Never to suffer would never to have been blessed. 

If you would like to listen to the sermon versions of this blog go to the sermons page and choose the Sunday morning sermons “A God Sized Question” – parts 1 and 2.”

When I was running on a more regular basis, I had a friend who would call me at random and ask me…”Hey, what kind of day is it?”  The first few times I had to stop and think because my immediate reaction was to look around me at my current circumstances and reply, “it’s hot, it’s windy, its a good day, or man it hasn’t been a good day for me”.  After a few times of feeling a little slow on the draw I realized what he meant.  There are only two types of days…days you run and days you don’t.  There are really no other factors, or variables to it.  When that question was posed to me it never included bringing in outside influences or current circumstances.  It was a simple question with a simple answer.

The more I think about that question the more I realize how far reaching those few simple words are as it applies to life…especially a life with Christ.  The bible records questions very similar to this coming from Jesus.

“Follow me” - Will you follow me?

Who do you say that I am?

 Do you love me?

Do you believe?

In other words…What kind of day is it?  And the simple answer is it either a day we live for Christ or a day we don’t.  Is it a day we follow him, love him, believe in him or is it a day that is based on the current circumstances or our personal plans.  Let me encourage you that, “It’s that kind of day”.  Let today and every day be a day that you live in the amazing fulness and grace of a relationship with Christ.  It is a friendship like no other.

2 Corinthians 6:2,3 (the Message)

God reminds us,

I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help.

As many you know, public speaking is not my gift.  Just the idea of it causes my stomach to rumble.  Many times though, I feel God dropping a thought or idea in my head and I thought perhaps a blog might be the perfect way for me to communicate my thoughts and Mother’s day seems to be a great way to start. Recently our small group met at our house and the discussion of the night was true spiritual connectivity. Our topic is on marriage and so the direction of the discussion went pertained to our spiritual connectivity with our spouse. Studies show that a union that has a spiritual connection is a stronger union.  This got me thinking about my relationship with my children and how it affects their relationship with Christ.  

You may be asking yourself, what is she talking about?  What does spiritual connectivity even mean?  We all have different ways that we connect to God, different styles that allow us to really feel and experience God is a tangible way.  The author discusses several ways that we can connect to God: Tradition, Vision, Relationships, Intellectual Thought, Service, Nature, and Worship. The most important thing is that we actually connect with God and have the ability to share that with the people we love.   As a mother, from the moment our children are born, we love them immediately, we are connected to them in a way no one can truly understand, we want everything for them, we protect them with our life.  As moms we want success for our children.  What will they become, will they have love and happiness?  These are the things we desire for our children.  These are all wonderful things but I write today to ask the question: What about their relationship with Christ and their eternal destination?  If we truly love them, shouldn’t the most important thing that we do for them be helping them secure eternal life and model what a true, real relationship with Christ is supposed to look like? 

I believe our greatest job as a mother is to be spiritual connected to our children and lead them to a personal relationship with Christ.  This needs to be shown to them not just by what we say but what we do and how we live and how we prioritize our life and theirs.  We show our children what we value by what we give time to.  How much time do we give to God?  When time conflicts arise, what do we choose-time with God or numerous other activities that fill our lives?    I think back to my own childhood.  I know my mother has a personal relationship with Christ.  She doesn’t have to tell me-she shows it every day.  My mom accepted Christ when I was a child.  From that point on-she took us to church every week, twice a week at least.  If there was something going on at the church, we were there.  If there was church camp, or youth convention to go to and pay for, she found the money and we went.  If there was a youth activity, she drove me there and picked me up.  I was very involved at school, but when things conflicted with th e things of God-we chose church and the things of God.  She modeled Christ’s love in our home. She gave of her time to serve others so that they would know Christ.  She prayed for her children on a regular basis.   

Even as a pastor’s wife it is not enough for me to bring my children to church.  It is my responsibility to talk about God, and be transparent in my relationship with Christ.  I can’t be hypocritical and need to be real when I am having spiritual struggles.  Our children need a real model of what Christ’s love can do.  I challenge each of you to consider what your children see and hear and know about your relationship with Christ. Keep praying for your children…God sees and know the desires of your heart.

This article was written by Brooke Kendall (Senior Pastor’s wife) and used in May’s Mother’s Day sermon

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