Riding with God.

This morning, I rode the motorcycle to work. One of the benefits of doing so that is different from all the normal ones you hear about is that there is no stereo. Yes, I realize that some higher end bikes have systems in them, but mine is a cheap 500 Kawasaki Ninja with no frills. So why is a lack of stereo a benefit? It gives me some great time to pray! God and I can talk uninterruptedly through my commute to work! It is great! Yes, I know I can just turn the radio off in my truck and do the same thing, but there is something about riding a motorcycle that just puts you in the mood to pray. From what I hear, bike riding atheists even pray from time to time. There were no near death experiences, it was just a beautiful ride down the country lanes I commute on. Somehow, God's creation seemed even more beautiful from the bike seat vantage point. It just seemed natural to talk with Him and thank Him for all that He does in my life and all that He is! God is awesome and He makes a great riding buddy! Next time you are out for a ride, try riding with God. (And if you don't have a motorcycle, I am sorry, but you might just have to make do with turning off the radio in your car or truck.)

A Wednesday Night

Last night, we celebrated the Lord's Supper at church. That in and of itself is always an amazing event as we remember the sacrifice that Jesus made of Himself for us. This one was special. Almost all of the 100+ people in attendance had spent the day fasting for our egg drop event that is coming up on Saturday. Having over a hundred people, who have spent the day praying, come together for a time of worship and sharing in communion was an incredible way to break the fast! The idea of corporate fasting is honestly new to me. I am sure many other churches have times when they fast. The Roman Catholics give up stuff for Lent which is sort of like fasting. But having a large crowd of people who show up ready to worship the Lord, and who are already focused on God made the worship time something extra special last night. Hopefully this encourages you!

Fun Times!

Yesterday, we baptized 34 people! It was a great service! The number 34 isn't necessarily important, but it represents people with souls who have now publicly declared their allegiance to the one and only God, The Lord Jesus Christ! That number represents people who are growing in their faith and contagiously telling others about how God has changed their life for the better! Some of them were serious sinners, and others were fairly good people who just didn't know Jesus as their Savior, but all of them have turned from the sinful life they led and have connected with Jesus, asked for His forgiveness and want everyone in their lives to know about it! One really cool example is that we had two couples that wanted to get baptized together. I don't mean one after another, I mean together....at the same time! So, as they linked arms, two pastors dunked them. They proclaimed together their new faith in front of family and friends and the whole world, (Since you can watch our services online.) It was an incredible day as people from retirees to kids told their testimonies and made a public declaration of faith! God is doing awesome things!

In Sickness and In Health

The last couple days have been wonderful, yet trying. I have been more sick than I have been in quite a few years. In the midst of that, I find God's creation amazing! God created our bodies to be able to fight off sickness and come back to a fully functioning form! While I am not personally back to that fully functioning point, I am up enough to be seated at a computer having just checked my neglected e-mail. God is awesome! I sit amazed at the complexity of the human body to be able to fix itself with such simple remedies as sleep, rest and lots of liquids! I wish the computer would be so easily fixed. Just turn it off for a day, pour some water into it, and poof! All fixed! See, man's best technology can't keep up with something God designed thousands of years ago! Praise the Lord!

Five Points of the Church

If you are a pastor, you most likely at some point back in Bible College or Seminary studied the five reasons for a church’s existence -- Discipleship, Worship, Ministry, Fellowship, and Evangelism. If you didn’t go to Bible College, maybe where introduced to these fundamental truths through Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Church. As time goes by, has your church continued to work in all five areas? Are you really good at Fellowship, but maybe haven’t reached out in Evangelism in a while? Or maybe Evangelism is your focus! But somewhere the Discipleship got left out.
Before you start beating yourself up and feeling like this is going to be one more thing you read which shows you how or why your ministry is failing, remember the words of Paul in I Corinthians 12: 12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.” You, as a pastor or leader in your church cannot fulfill all of these roles by yourself. WE as the whole body of Christ work together to create the community that is the Body of Believers.
This blog is just a reminder that as we constantly seek to improve our walk with the Lord and to improve our churches we can get back to basics. We can ask ourselves five simple questions that may need more than just simple answers.
1. Am I working to disciple one person?
2. Does my life worship God?
3. How am I ministering to others?
4. Have I spent time with another Christian sharing with them and uplifting them?
5. How have I shared Jesus with someone recently?

Have fun and enjoy serving the Lord!