Coming Back!!

I know its been a while, but (hopefully) this will be the first post in me getting back to writing on a regular basis.  I have to admit that it is something that I’ve missed over the last several months.  Have you ever wondered why this is the best time of year to start something new, or in my case, re-start something?

I think there is a good reason for that, that is only partially because it is the start of a new year.  This is also the time of year when the days are starting to get longer……I know, it’ll still be a couple of more months before we really see that change.  However, it’s still important to know that the change has already started.

Yesterday, I was preaching on John 1:18, and there was one part that I was really paying attention too.

4through the Word was life, and the life was the light for all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.
–John 1:4-5

We celebrated the light of the tiny Christ child coming into the world.  This is good news for us, because the light will always find a way to shine, and that’s just what we need.  That being said, it takes some work for us to really understand what the light means, and how we live in response to it.

What we need is time to figure it out.  That’s what makes this time of year so good!  It gives us time.  The light is growing longer as time goes on, and that helps us set a good pace for doing something new.

What I want you to do, is to take a chance.  The light is shining, but we have time to get used to it.  What is it that you’re being called to do?  Each of us has something.  Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be something “churchy” either.  God doesn’t just use the churchy parts of ourselves to do his will.

What is that thing that you’ve been waiting for the right time to do?  It may be the typical things we see at this time of year: lose weight, manage our finances better, read that stack of books, be a better parent, be a better kid, reconnect with others, etc.  It could also be more churchy or faith related things: pray more, read scripture more, find other ways of serving, increase giving, etc.  All of these things, and more–God uses for his purposes.

Keep in mind that some of God’s purposes are for us.  When the light shines, it doesn’t just shine in certain places, or on certain people. The light also shines on us.  God doesn’t just want more from us, but he also wants more for us as well.  Take some time over the next  few days to see what God wants.

Then find ways of starting small.  You don’t have to start at the end.  We have the time, as the darkness is getting shorter to figure it out.  Take the time, find the way, and see what God is doing.

The Simple Life: Stay in love with God

Start by reading 1 John 4:11-21

This is the last lesson in this series, and I think its the most important.  When John Wesley was talking about this rule he said to “attend upon all the ordinances of God.”  That may not be an exact quote, but its pretty close.  In his book Rueben Job changes that last rule to something more familiar to us.  For that third rule he says, instead, “stay in love with God.”

I like this statement of it.  There’s not many of us that use words like ordinances in that context on a regular basis.  But love, that makes sense to us.

The Simple Life: Do all the good you can

Start by reading 3 John 1:9-11 and Romans 12:6-21

So we all know that we’re supposed to do good things, right?  I think that’s probably something that we can all agree on.  What we may disagree on is in the ways that we do those good things.

The other thing is that we work really hard to fit those “good things” into our already busy schedules.  And there’s not anything wrong with that, but that also means we have to figure out why we do good things.  Any time we have to fit something into our schedule, then it means that we have to have a good reason for it.  This is why so often we pass up opportunities to do good because it doesn’t fit with our lives.

More Than Just Cotton Candy

Start by reading John 6:24-35

Do you know what one of the biggest disappointments of the food world is?  Wait for it…..

Cotton Candy

So that’s probably not what you thought I was going to say.  You’d be right about that.  But stop and think about it for a second.  Cotton Candy is very good, but as soon as it hits your mouth, it disappears.  What cruller trick is there to play on someone than to give them sugary goodness, only to have it melt away in your mouth.  Of course, I suppose the trick works, because it keeps us going back for more.