Monday Morning Perspective

Yesterday was one of the best days at Fairview yet. I know I say that a lot but this time I heard others say it as well. Usually when so much is going on in a worship service it can feel choppy. Not so yesterday. We had baptism, AGAIN,YAY! We had summer camp video. We had John and Justin read Jonah 1, to music which was beautiful! We had amazing worship led by our band and the message from Jonah 1 was exceptional. Everything just flowed which isn't the most important thing of course, but it sets such an impactful tone for worship. It could only be the Spirit that does that and it helps to have people, from stage people to those in our booth working together well as a team! We also voted to call Dr. Wilson Nelson and his wife Mary Winn to serve our seniors along with doing counseling and care. We had a standing ovation and a vote of affirmation to begin our new campus Fairview East! There were cheers and tears after that service. I think we are just all overwhelmed at the goodness of God to allow us to serve Him and for all of those He continues to add to our number. 

So! Jonah 1! Eddie gave the importance of 3 cities and what they represent. Joppa is the city of decision. We all stand on that dock every day. We decide whether we are going to do what God says or not. Nineveh is not inviting but it's the place we need to be where we find purpose. Tarshish is comfortable and attractive but if that's our choice, we are going down. 

Eddie pointed out that disobedience leads to consequences and causes others to suffer. The most exhausting thing we can do is run from God. Disobedience also brings wake up calls but Jonah chose to ignore those until he hit rock bottom. Disobedience can lead to disaster. Jonah thought going overboard would kill him, but it got worse. Maybe he thought he had survived that so he was good but then the fish came and swallowed him. 

The greatest reminder Eddie gave us was that when a storm comes it's not for pay back, it's to bring us back. May we not have to hit rock bottom before we turn back! 

Tug of war

I have no idea what brought tug of war to mind this morning. My kids used to love to play. We played countless games of it at beach camp with students. I always hated playing. The rope burned my hands. My arms grew tired. Losing and getting dragged across the ground or sand was not my idea of fun. 

The Christian life can be a lot like tug of war. We get burned by people. Our arms grow tired of serving and giving. Sometimes we feel like we are losing ground and we get dragged around, bruised, scarred and bleeding. Sometimes we drag others. At times we hold firm and we even catch other people's slack. And other times they catch ours. Hopefully we aren't the slackers all the time. But we need others to walk through life with us. To sometimes catch our slack or pick us up or heal our wounds. And we need to do that for others. We don't always need to be the one who needs lifting, we need to do our share of lifting. Sometimes we feel those on our team let us down and costs us a victory. But here's truth we can always rely on...God will never slack on us! His arms never grow tired. He won't burn us and He won't cost us victory. He will always pick us up and heal our wounds. He will always want us on His team. We can always count on Him. He's no slacker. Deuteronomy 7:9 says "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the FAITHFUL God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations." Isn't that the best news?! If you read on vs 10 says that he will not be slack with one who hates him. He will never slack. He will keep his covenant with those who love him and he will repay those who hate him. He's never slack in any way. He is just and righteous and faithful. May we be faithful. May we not be caught slacking as we love Him and serve Him by loving and serving others. We see in the call of Saul of Tarsus when he asked Saul why he was persecuting Him that He takes it very personally when hurt comes to His own. Saul was persecuting believers. And Jesus said he was persecuting Him in doing that. Let's not be guilty of causing that hurt. Let's be faithful and hold our end of the rope and help those along the way who have been hurt or struggling in the tug of war of life. 

Monday Morning Perspective

Flee or Follow                                      We didn't just start the Jonah series yesterday, we charged into it. It was probably one of the greatest sermons I've heard my husband preach and I know I say that a lot. This is going to be an amazing series! It's going to be a short one, but packed with good stuff. Please invite others or better yet, bring them. And commit to not missing a single one. If you missed the first one, take time to watch online! 

Just a few highlights in case you missed...

...Jonah knew exactly what God called him to do, he paid the fare and went the opposite way. 

...if you want to sin against God, Satan will be happy to provide the means. 

...the costliest thing we do is sin against God. 

...if we get back to God he'll take care of the rest. 

...Jesus paid the fare for our sin on the cross. We don't have to, actually we can't. 

This doesn't even scrape the surface. Get online and watch!! Have a favor-filled week doing those things God has called us to do.