Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving Day!

The Dallas Cowboys. Turkey. Stuffing. The busiest travel day of the year. Parades. Grandma’s house. Cranberry sauce. Pumpkin pie. All of these listed and more have become synonymous with Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving did not start with the idea that we can watch parades, football or prepare for the Christmas shopping the next day. Thanksgiving started because of the generosity of the pilgrim’s neighbors.

The story is told that the first Thanksgiving Day was in 1621 when the Native Americans had a great farming season and the pilgrims were running out of food. The Native Americans had compassion on the pilgrims, so they invited them to a great feast. In this great feast they ate turkey, pumpkin, cranberries, corn, and other foods. The great feast was about sharing the blessings they had received and preventing their neighbors from starving.

In the late 1700's, George Washington declared that the third Thursday of November would be Thanksgiving; a day to celebrate the generosity that the pilgrims had received from the Native Americans. However, Thanksgiving started taking on a new meaning when in 1939, President Roosevelt set Thanksgiving Day one week earlier so that merchants could have a longer shopping season before Christmas. Trying to get back to the real reason of Thanksgiving, Congress ruled in 1941 that Thanksgiving would be the 4th Thursday in November and become a Federal holiday proclaimed by the President each year.

We all have our reasons why we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. To the Native Americans, it was about being thankful for the abundance of the crops and generosity. For the Christian, it can be about not only being generous with the blessings we have received from God, but also about how we can demonstrate our thankfulness. I suggest three ways to demonstrate your thankfulness this year:

#1. By singing: Psalm 147:7 says "Sing out your thanks to Him, sing praises to God." Nothing makes you more aware of God's presence faster than praising God.

#2. By serving: The Bible says to: “Serve the Lord with gladness.” When we serve, it puts God on display for others to see how wonderful, gentle, and caring He is

#3. By sharing: Sharing the gospel shows our gratefulness toward God for what He has done in our lives. Isaiah 12:4 says, Thank the LORD! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done….”

This year, find ways to be generous and at the same time, demonstrate your thankfulness for what God has done in your life!

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Spiritual Connectedness

I want you to know that our life does not consist of working our way to heaven, but rather being invited in because of the grace of God.

I bear fruit in my life because I love God. I do not do “works” in my Christian life because I am afraid that God will send me to hell. I do “works” in my Christian life because I am grateful for the grace, mercy, and forgiveness He has “freely” given me!!!! God will not keep the doors of heaven shut and prevent anyone from coming in if we do not keep a 40 hour spiritual work week. Those who “love” God will always be a light. Forgive often. Tell the Good News! Be commited to discipleship. Love unconditionally. Accept people for who they are. Heavens doors are wide open for anyone who accepts the gifts God has freely given.

It is not our job to be the keeper of the gate and determine who is faithful and who will get heaven. It is our priveldege to tell the powerful news of Jesus and share our testimony of what He has done in our lives.

Chuck Swindoll is a premier religious writer and an excellent speaker. Chuck gives some very good principles on bearing fruit when he/she is connected to God. The following is an article from Chuck Swindoll:

Just before His death and resurrection, Jesus revealed that the secret of growing God's fruit is in being at home with Him. That's the true definition of the familiar word abide. This is how Jesus describes what that means in John 15:5: "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

Spiritual fruit is not the result of self-effort. You grow more of God's fruit not when you try harder, but when you stay connected to the Source. When you abide in Christ, you invite Him to live with you each day and reproduce His character in you. God's character at work in you looks like:

LOVE: This is God's agape, love that selflessly seeks the highest good of the other person.

JOY: Joy as a fruit of the Spirit is a settled confidence because God controls the details of your life, you can trust Him in any circumstance

PEACE: The unshakable, inner calm you experience when your mind and heart are at rest because you are trusting fully in Christ.

PATIENCE: A fruit of the Spirit that means to be "long-tempered," the opposite of short-fused irritability.

KINDNESS: The Spirit's fruit that braids mercy and grace, humility and gentleness all together.

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian

Thursday, July 22, 2010

An Encouraging Place

We have a dog named Sox. Well, my wife has a dog named Sox! Sox is a tiny toy poodle. He is black with some white on his feet and under his chin. Like most dogs, Sox really gets sad when we leave the house and he has to stay home. Most of the time, he will crawl under the table and pout as we make our exit. At times, it is hard to leave him, because it’s like leaving one of our kids. Actually, it might be better to take Sox and leave our kids!!!!

Sox doesn’t pout for long. He will sit on the top of the couch and look out the window until he sees the car turning into the driveway. Sox runs to the door and starts jumping up and down. He barks and jumps and barks and jumps. He has the happiest look on his face. When we open the door, he goes straight for Sondra and jumps and barks. Sondra picks him up and he licks and licks and licks! It is a wonderful celebration for our dog, Sox.

I love our church gatherings because it is a time of celebrating our spiritual relationship with each other. We hug. Laugh. Sing. Pray. And, love! The church gatherings renew our spiritual life, strengthens our relationships, and gives us the opportunity to put into practice Hebrews 10:24, which says, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” (NLT)

When I was a kid growing up in St. Louis, the preachers would pound on the pulpits and scold those who did not put into practice Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (KJV) Preachers and elders would put a guilt trip on us if we even thought about missing a church gathering. However, Hebrews 10:25 isn’t talking about the sin of missing the church gatherings, but rather, the missed opportunity of encouraging one another so they would be prepared for the coming of Jesus.

Our church gatherings must be a place of encouragement, love, grace, hope, freedom, and laughter. A place of celebrating our relationship with God and one another. A place of joy, and peace. A place where there is opportunity to grow spiritually and be feed the Word of God. A place where everyone knows our name! A place where we get the taste of heaven so much that we want more and more of it until we actually move there!

Our church gatherings should not be a place of strict traditions, but a place where God is worshipped, praised, and glorified. A place where Christ is the centerpiece of our lives and where the Spirit in moving within us to empower us to be the encouragers to one another.

Remember, Be God Controlled,

Brian

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Reluctance

“There’s Junior’s alarm, his mother thought to herself, but I don’t hear him moving around in his room. I don’t know what has gotten into that boy.

A few minutes later, the alarm sounded again and again and again. Junior was punching the snooze button. Finally, mother busted into his room and took charge. Son, it’s time for you to get up! Two bleary eyes peeked out from under the covers. Give me three reasons, Junior said.

#1. It’s Sunday and you need to get dressed for church
#2. You’re 42 years old and you ought to know better
#3. You’re the PREACHER!

Reluctance is crippling. It keeps us wanting to hit the snooze button instead of taking on the challenges that are ahead of us. Reluctance is unwillingness or a lack of enthusiasm to take on a task.

What is the driving force behind reluctance? Fear? Apathy? Trust? Lack of Giftedness?

One of the responsibilities of believers is to share the gospel of Jesus to others? Growing up, I listened to preacher’s pound the pulpits in disgust over the fact that many are reluctant to share the Good News of Jesus. I often wondered why? I would asked myself, If it was such Good News, then why would anyone be reluctant to share it? I still have the same question today as I did as a young boy.

Roman’s 10:13-15 says, “Everyone who calls, 'Help, God!' gets help." But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? “ (Message)
A believer in Christ has a responsibility to share Christ to the world. Paul says in
2 Corinthians 5:20 that we are Christ ambassadors. This means that we are a representative of Christ. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples….” Disciples make disciples make disciples. We have the same calling and responsibility today. Don’t be reluctant to share the Good News of Jesus. Step out of the comfort zone and trust God that He will lead you every step of the way.

Remember, Be God Controlled,

Brian

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Forgiven

Has someone tried to interfere with a promotion or advancement in your company that you deserved? Has someone spread unkind rumors about you? Have you been wronged by someone in a business deal? What kind of person are you when these kinds of things happen to you?
• Vindictive
• Unkind
• Slanderous
• Insulting
• Abusive
• Cruel
• Malicious

All of these describe the spirit of the men and women inMark 14 and 15. These two chapters depict a story of hateful rage toward one man. His name? Jesus. What did he do to deserve a beating? Nothing! What did he do to deserve cruel and inhumane treatment? Nothing! What did he do to deserve spit in his face, a crown of thorns on his head, nails driven into his body and the lashes of jagged pieces of metal or bone at the end of a whip on his back? Nothing! What did he do to deserve death? Nothing!
It is God's way!

How would any of us have responded? Maybe we would have responded somewhat like the little girl in the following story: A little girl was being punished by eating alone in the corner of the dining room. The family paid no attention to her until they heard her pray: "I thank Thee, Lord, for preparing a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." While the story of the little girl's prayer is cute, it reminds us of a deeper truth: many times, we cannot see past our enemies.

When someone does us wrong, we have the tendency to strike back and try to get revenge and make them pay. But let's remember Jesus' response to his cruel and vindictive enemies: "Father, forgive these people, because they don't know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

You see, forgiveness is often not in our human way of dealing with wrongs; but thankfully, it is God's way. The Bible tells us, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong." (1 John 1:9 NLT) Jesus is the designer of forgiveness and he gives us — his "enemies" — one special thing to think about before he gives up his spirit and dies. Forgiven!

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's judgment. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.

So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God. (Romans 5:6-11)

Me? Forgiven? Yes! Forgiven!

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian