Monday Morning Perspective

If I write everything I want to about yesterday's sermon, I would be here forever.  SO, I think I'll just jot down the things that hit me throughout the message...
...Those in the infant stage of their Christian life, no matter their physical age, base everything on their feelings. They go from spiritual highs to valleys and life is like a rollercoaster.  They are selfish, thinking the whole world revolves around them and their needs.  They make messes, in bible study, on committees, etc.  They fuss and fight over everything.  They are easily led astray.  I know we all have days like this but God help us not to live in this stage.  You know they are the ones you see coming and want to avoid or the ones you care very little about spending time with.  Who wants to be like this?!  Praying the Lord brings all this back to my mind the next time I venture into this stage.
...Mature believers are those who move from the bottle to the battle.  They are interested in serving others.  They put on the whole armour of God and know how to do battle with the devil.  Eddie mentioned that a small percentage of believers actually read their Bible.  I know we have a lot of people in bible study but the number doesn't look so good when I look at it as the percentage of members that we have.  Praying for more to get in the Word and grow in their walk.
...I love how Eddie compared fathers in their spiritual walk to our earthly fathers.  What a great visual!  They are God-centered and so focused on Christ that the inconveniences of life rarely trip them up.  They also reproduce by leading others to Christ and discipling them.  This is the stage I long for.  It takes struggles and fighting in the trenches to get there but I'm convinced it's worth it.
I echo what Eddie said yesterday that I too look back and my biggest regrets are times I wasn't growing as I should in my walk with Christ.  Times when I got distracted with other things that seemed important at the time and now I see them as a huge waste of time.  I'm so glad that God redeems and He gives back.  I'm praying that He continues to redeem those times when I got off track.  If you missed this message it would be well worth your time to take a listen!!

Monday Morning Perspective

Yesterday's service was one of my all time favorites.  We honored our Aiken Public Safety Officers with Buckets of Hope and a standing ovation.  We are filling these buckets with different things and giving one to each member of Aiken Public Safety.  It's a small token of care and compassion and love for those who lay it on the line every day for our safety and as they hurt, we hurt along with them.
We continued our series in 1John looking at what it really means to be a Christian.  My prayer is that for those who have been unsure and questioning their salvation, they took the opportunity to nail it down and know for sure.  Praise God we can know that we know that we know we are saved.
I love how Eddie closed with sharing his biggest burden as a pastor...people who say they are Christians but live in darkness.  They listen to the world's view of things taking advice from the likes of  Dr. Phil and Oprah and psychics instead of praying and digging into God's Word.  As he said, "how's that working for you?".  So many cycling in and out of seasons of sin based on their feelings at the moment.  We are praying that  more and more Christians will live Jesus out loud and make a difference.  It's the only way to live!!

Signed, Sealed and will be delivered in August

Tuesday was a big day for our family.  Even though John had already given his verbal commitment (which is just as important), to play baseball at SMC, he signed his letter of intent on Tuesday.  He made that decision himself after weighing other options and thinking through what would be the best fit for him and praying over where God wanted him to be.  He was great at blocking out all the other noise and opinions in his ear and making a mature decision for himself. I'm so proud of him for all the different things he considered and taking his time to pray over it.  SMC is a great place for baseball players for LOTS of reasons and I'm sure it will be for him.  Stephen couldn't get away for the day with classes and practice but Jessica and Chrissie jumped in the car together and made the trek to Aiken to be here to celebrate with the brother.  It was special for him to be able to sign along with good friend Blue Sanderson. Those boys have played together since they were very young and to get to do the college thing together is extra special.
As proud of John as we all are with the baseball opportunity and the player that he is, we are even more proud of the person that he is.  Our prayer for him is that baseball will be a platform and a tool to give God much glory.  As crazed as our society is about sports, we are praying it be used as a witnessing tool at every opportunity.  For John personally, just like it was with Stephen, to be able to play college ball and yet be balanced in other areas, keeping God first and not allowing baseball to become a god, is the thing we are all most thankful for.  Keep working John, in some ways the work has just begun!!