"It's A Good Tired"
Get the word out. Teach all these things. 12 And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. 1 Tim 4:11-12 (MSG)
This week New Hope has been supporting a group of youth and their leaders who were doing a Mission OK (backyard Bible Club) across the street from us at Valparaiso Elementary. Our church has been involved over there in some other things during the past year as part of our ministry of service, but this was a Rocky Bayou Baptist initiated and led project that we were thrilled to be able to participate in as support staff.
Today we served all those hard working kids and their support staff lunch over here at New Hope, and I got to spend some more time with them. Friends, I never get tired of seeing people, especially young people, serving others in Jesus' name. Those kids sung, played, taught, witnessed, and puppet-ted (is that a word? :) ) for the neighborhood kids all week and then today they spent the morning ( a coolish 95 degree morning) cleaning up a disabled person's yard.
They came in dragging a bit, and we sent them out refreshed. Or at least refreshed enough to get back home to take a good teenaged nap.
At one point in the week, the adults were a little bummed out. The YMCA kids, who are at the school all day during the summer, would not be coming outside to where the Mission OK kids had their stuff set up. It was too hot. They had already been outside.
One of the youth participating took the whole situation in. Then he said:
"Why can't we go to them?"
So they did. And gained air conditioning and the use of the sound system to help do what they were doing -even better.
Someone said once "a little child will lead them."
Well, from what I saw this week, we need to expand that to include youth.
It was thrilling. I hope we get to do more with our friends from Rocky Bayou, our friends from Valparaiso Elementary, and for our friends from the neighborhood.
Please pray for our New Hope "away team" as they head to Big Creek, KY tomorrow for a week of missionary service.
Grace and peace,
David
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
http://itslikeherdingcats.blogspot.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.churchcloud.com/new-hope-valp/
Friday, June 13, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
New Jeans
Well, we've settled into summer here now with our usual heat and humidity. For those of you reading this outside the deep South and who have never been here during summer, it is very hard to describe the combination's effects. I can remember a trip I took for work to Chicago in July one year and when I got off the plane, I was shocked at how pleasant it was. It was still 80+ degrees, but the humidity was almost nonexistent.
Humidity is like that ten pounds you lost one time. You couldn't believe how good you felt without it. Well, down here, it feels like we just gained 20 pounds back.
So with the coming of summer, we adjust our clothing somewhat to fit. Granted, FL clothes are more casual anyway, but we do loosen up some more.
And I just got new blue jeans.
Hot does not begin to describe how I feel in these. I'm sitting here in my office and am strategically placed under the A/C vent. There's actually a breeze in here. But these jeans seem to radiate heat.
They replaced a well worn pair of several years that were not so afflicted. In fact I didn't wear shorts that much because the jeans were almost as cool. But a change had to come. The old ones were ripped at the knee and holes were beginning to appear elsewhere. There's no way I could wear those to church. (Yes, down here the pastor sometimes wears blue jeans to work. Not often, but sometimes.)
Now I could spend much time and energy on those old jeans.
I could wear them and refuse to admit there was a problem.
I could start trying to fix them and patch everywhere they had failed.
...or I could be thankful for what they gave me and move on.
So many people cannot seem to do that, and yet it is critical to living a healthy life, rightly related to God and to mankind. Just let it go. Think about what's coming.
8 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious— the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. 9 Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Phil 4:8-9 (MSG)
Friends, take a minute right now and thank God for what He has provided you.
Far too often we are prone to only remember the times we struggled, and truth be told, our struggles for the most part would come off as incredible luxury elsewhere.
Look to God.
Praise Him in your home, at your workplace, when you get up and when you lay down to rest.
God is good, all the time.
Grace and peace,
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
http://itslikeherdingcats.blogspot.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.churchcloud.com/new-hope-valp/
Well, we've settled into summer here now with our usual heat and humidity. For those of you reading this outside the deep South and who have never been here during summer, it is very hard to describe the combination's effects. I can remember a trip I took for work to Chicago in July one year and when I got off the plane, I was shocked at how pleasant it was. It was still 80+ degrees, but the humidity was almost nonexistent.
Humidity is like that ten pounds you lost one time. You couldn't believe how good you felt without it. Well, down here, it feels like we just gained 20 pounds back.
So with the coming of summer, we adjust our clothing somewhat to fit. Granted, FL clothes are more casual anyway, but we do loosen up some more.
And I just got new blue jeans.
Hot does not begin to describe how I feel in these. I'm sitting here in my office and am strategically placed under the A/C vent. There's actually a breeze in here. But these jeans seem to radiate heat.
They replaced a well worn pair of several years that were not so afflicted. In fact I didn't wear shorts that much because the jeans were almost as cool. But a change had to come. The old ones were ripped at the knee and holes were beginning to appear elsewhere. There's no way I could wear those to church. (Yes, down here the pastor sometimes wears blue jeans to work. Not often, but sometimes.)
Now I could spend much time and energy on those old jeans.
I could wear them and refuse to admit there was a problem.
I could start trying to fix them and patch everywhere they had failed.
...or I could be thankful for what they gave me and move on.
So many people cannot seem to do that, and yet it is critical to living a healthy life, rightly related to God and to mankind. Just let it go. Think about what's coming.
8 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious— the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. 9 Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
Phil 4:8-9 (MSG)
Friends, take a minute right now and thank God for what He has provided you.
Far too often we are prone to only remember the times we struggled, and truth be told, our struggles for the most part would come off as incredible luxury elsewhere.
Look to God.
Praise Him in your home, at your workplace, when you get up and when you lay down to rest.
God is good, all the time.
Grace and peace,
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
http://itslikeherdingcats.blogspot.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.churchcloud.com/new-hope-valp/
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Signal to Noise
Free Wi-Fi, get your free Wi-Fi here!
I was just working on our wireless network here at New Hope, swapping out an older and slower piece of equipment for a newer and faster one. Sometimes it is hard to believe how far we've come with all this technology. I've been walking around outside for the last few minutes doing my best Verizon guy impersonation (without the annoying "can you hear me now?" part).
So I'd get 100 feet away and still be surfing the web, but turn a corner and find that I was fading out, turn another and it was "internet? What Internet?" In terms of distance from the broadcast point, I was actually closer. What gives?
Turns out I was also close to another wireless network, blasting away on the same channel.
So my poor little Thinkpad didn't know who to listen to. When I checked what was happening with a cool program for that stuff, turns out that as I got closer to the other guy's place, the "signal to noise ratio" kept dropping. Now my guess is that the higher the noise gets, the less of the signal gets through.
It dawned on me that this wasn't the first time I have faced that problem.
Churches face it all the time as they try to reach their neighbors and friends with the "signal" of the good news about Jesus. But blasting away on the same wavelength are those of us who are not living out our faith in our everyday relationships with people.
That kind of "noise" is real loud. And it can have really serious consequences. Ghandi was employed by a Christian couple when he was working on his education in South Africa. Their coldness and harsh manner with anyone who wasn't exactly like them caused him to reject Christianity even though he professed great admiration for what the teachings of Jesus said.
You probably know someone who calls all Christians hypocrites and refuses to listen. Too much noise!
So friends, we have to really focus on being like Jesus in our relationships with the people God places us in contact with. Here's a great couple of Scripture verses from the Message paraphrase to remind us.
8 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. 9 That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless— that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8-9 (MSG)
Our job - to bless those God placed around us. To Him be the glory.
Grace and peace,
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
http://itslikeherdingcats.blogspot.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.churchcloud.com/new-hope-valp/
Free Wi-Fi, get your free Wi-Fi here!
I was just working on our wireless network here at New Hope, swapping out an older and slower piece of equipment for a newer and faster one. Sometimes it is hard to believe how far we've come with all this technology. I've been walking around outside for the last few minutes doing my best Verizon guy impersonation (without the annoying "can you hear me now?" part).
So I'd get 100 feet away and still be surfing the web, but turn a corner and find that I was fading out, turn another and it was "internet? What Internet?" In terms of distance from the broadcast point, I was actually closer. What gives?
Turns out I was also close to another wireless network, blasting away on the same channel.
So my poor little Thinkpad didn't know who to listen to. When I checked what was happening with a cool program for that stuff, turns out that as I got closer to the other guy's place, the "signal to noise ratio" kept dropping. Now my guess is that the higher the noise gets, the less of the signal gets through.
It dawned on me that this wasn't the first time I have faced that problem.
Churches face it all the time as they try to reach their neighbors and friends with the "signal" of the good news about Jesus. But blasting away on the same wavelength are those of us who are not living out our faith in our everyday relationships with people.
That kind of "noise" is real loud. And it can have really serious consequences. Ghandi was employed by a Christian couple when he was working on his education in South Africa. Their coldness and harsh manner with anyone who wasn't exactly like them caused him to reject Christianity even though he professed great admiration for what the teachings of Jesus said.
You probably know someone who calls all Christians hypocrites and refuses to listen. Too much noise!
So friends, we have to really focus on being like Jesus in our relationships with the people God places us in contact with. Here's a great couple of Scripture verses from the Message paraphrase to remind us.
8 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. 9 That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless— that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8-9 (MSG)
Our job - to bless those God placed around us. To Him be the glory.
Grace and peace,
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
http://itslikeherdingcats.blogspot.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.churchcloud.com/new-hope-valp/
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