Day 8 of 40 Days of Love

Yesterday, we had an awesome time in the Lord, from intercessory prayer @ 830 to 4:30 small group bible study. I’m getting back in the habit of meeting with the prayer warriors on Sunday morning for intercessory pray for our worship experiences. There are only a few but they are committed to welcoming the Holy Spirit into the building and faithfully praying for the souls who will attend the experiences. Our 9am bible study is growing as we continue to share God’s Word, during the summer we focused on God’s Amazing Grace as a prelude to our series on Love. Rev. Terry Buxton of the Agape Bible Fellowship Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma was our 46th Birthday celebration speaker. Rev. Buxton has been a friend a long time and while in college I invited him to come and preach. He’s also married to a childhood friend from the Fairview Church. Reverend quickly felt comfortable and relaxed and gave us a solid word from Mark chapter 5. The Buxton’s have a young ministry in Tulsa that have just celebrated their second year but just purchased a church in a fast growing area of Tulsa. They’re doing some very exciting things and we connect at so many levels that we simple talked for hours about what God is doing, able to do and will do in these two churches.

Today, we started week 2 of “40 Days of Love,” this has been both a struggle and blessing. It is amazing how God will open your eyes when you give concentrated and intense study of a particular subject. This has been a practice of mine since our first spiritual journey, to simply just saturate the congregation with that which God is saying whether it’s worship, tithing or fellowship. The Buxtons asked if there was one thing that I could contribute the growth of the church to what would it be. It was simple, concentrated focus…in my preaching I am primarily a series preacher [that means each message I preach connects for at least 4 or 5 weeks]. I find that people relate and respond better, when number one they know what to expect Sunday after Sunday and two they are excited to know more about deepening a subject matter. The struggle has been there are so many hurt people that have come to church for years and never ever been healed. The level of bitterness, anger, fear, brokenness and unforgiveness is almost suffocating. In writing this I’m reminded of the man with the evil spirit that attended church every week but until Jesus stood up and preached the spirit was comfortable in [Mark 1:21-28]. The moment Jesus spoke the spirit recognized the authority of Jesus. 40 days of love has actually exposed something in all of us. Love is one of those things we say we do but our English vocabulary has limited the meaning and definition of love…we love everything from peach cobbler to our favorite team to hobbies to people.

In week one we learned that love is life greatest lesson to learn and that God commands us “to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and all our strength and love your neighbor as yourself”. This week we’re learning to love like Jesus loves… “a new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Today’s thought was “Jesus doesn’t want us to try our hardest [in loving one another], he wants us to learn to trust in him.”

This week’s memory verse: “Love is patient, love is kind” 1 Corinthians 13:4

Pray for the Greater Bethel Church as we seek to destroy these enemies: bitterness, anger and unforgiveness as we learn more about loving like God loves.

Day 1 of 40 Days of Love - I Got The Scars To Prove It

Life is a series of ups and down; ins and outs, and highs and lows – I got the scars to prove it! Yesterday, we began our 5th spiritual growth journey at the Greater Bethel Church. Have you ever knew God was about to do something so big that you could hardly wait to see when, where and how he was going to do it? Well, that exactly how I’ve been feeling. Now let me quickly say that’s not the only feeling I’ve had. Too be blunt I’ve been nothing but a ball of emotions for nearly a week. After having what seemed to be a very good solid three or four weeks of ministering God’s Word. Welcoming the opportunity to expand the boards of my personal ministry…excited and scared to death…but trusting God for whatever He wanted to do. Things quick made its way from the mountain top to the deepest darkest valley. After regaining my composer I had to get past “WHY” to get to “To What End.” GOD IS SOVEREIGN…either causing things or allowing things to happen. So when stuff happens you have to ask “to what end” or “what for.”

Here's "to what end." With the challenges of building a new church, writing the letters, sermons, recommendations, making every appointment, touching everyone who wants to be touched, keeping every one happy, keeping the budget, health, marriage, family and a myriad of other things that for the lack of space I will not try to mention – it get tough. To make matter worst when you seek to raise the level of spirituality and conscience of a people – as God leads you – its almost like stepping in a bear trap. I’m a movie watcher so you ever seen the movie “The Bodyguard” staring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston where Kevin plays a former secret service agent who take the job of being the bodyguard of a pop singer played by [you guessed it] Whitney. The movie ends with Kevin jumping in the way of a bullet meant for Whitney. He sacrificed his body to protect her body. Welcome to the life of a pastor – less I sound like a martyr that far and in between, I would be taking too much credit by saying that everything that comes my way is because I’ve done everything right. Much of what I experience is my own doing but there times when after the dust settle you realize that this is much bigger than you and time is always a dead give away.

The long and short of it is that God is going do something fantastic and wonderful in the lives of the people of this congregation – I can just feel it. I hope you are just as earger as I am to see the relationships around each of us. God is going to transform our church over the next 40 days through our commitment to love Him with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength and love our neighbors as ourselves [Matthew 22: 37-39].

In Day 1 of our 40 Days of Love, we learned that “relationships are painful and wonderful” almost like sweet and sour. As we read “The Relationship Principles of Jesus” – by Tom Holladay, Jesus will deepen our understand of what our primary focus should be “love!” When asked Jesus says there is absolutely nothing more important than love. So there is nothing more important than the next 40 Days in your life and in my life.

What to know how to get the Most out of the next 40 Days?

Hear – the messages that I’ll be preaching each weekend

Read – the daily devotional from “The Relationship Principles of Jesus”

Invite – the people you love and care about to share this experience with you family, friends, neighbors, and co-works [Weekend Experiences & Small Group Experiences]

Discuss – get involved or start your own small group bible study

Remember – the weekly memory verse 1 Corinthians 14:1 “Let love be your highest goal!” (NLT)

Do – the work and apply it to your life today

I can’t wait to hear your stories of how 40 Days of Love will transform your life. So e-mail at pastorg@BethelFamilyChurch.com and simply put “MY STORY” in the subject line. It’s going to be great as God continue to “Build THE Church, while He Builds A Church!”

En•dur•ance –noun the ability or strength to continue or last, esp. despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina

We’ve all heard it, “God never promised us a rose garden.” The older I get the more I get it. Here’s another one we’ve all heard, “when it rains, it pours.” By now if you’re my age or older you’ve heard these statement all of your life. How true are they [by now you’re smiling]? We’ve all had days like that but have you had a weekend or a week. Then congratulations!!!! You’re a survivor. Even if what you must endure is God appointed or self afflicted, trouble is just flat out no fun. Now here the preacher in me…

• you cannot appreciated the sunshine until you have spent time in the storm
  
• you cannot appreciated water until you have been thirsty
  
• you cannot appreciated good health until you’ve experienced sickness
  
• you cannot appreciated the gift of friendship until you’ve been friendless
  
• you cannot appreciated the crowd until you’ve been lonely
  

I think you get the point. So no matter what you’re going through today or have to go through tomorrow know that “trouble can’t last always” [just had to throw one more in for good measure]. We all are living testimonies of the truth in that one. Be encouraged. Whoever that’s for…I say again be encourage.

The weekend was a very tough one for me. Sometime when you live your life on the stage [that what I call the life of every leader especially pastors.] I say that because when most church goers come to church they can be ministered too but what happens when the minister needs to be ministered too? What a very unique thought where does the pastor go when he needs pastoring? What happens when the shepherd that leads sheep need shepherding because the shepherd is a lamb too? Here’s what I learned he simply need to do what God has called him or her was called to do. This pass weekend the only thing that made me better is just doing what I was created to do preach preacher preach. And Sunday that just what I did, starting out at our 9am service I shared the ingredients for a successful lifetime of spiritual growth. Simple outline but might be helpful for someone.

1. A lifetime of spiritual growth requires commitment!
   
2. A lifetime of spiritual growth requires balance!
   
3. A lifetime of spiritual growth requires relationship!

At 11am I was privileged to travel to Shawnee Oklahoma to share with a brother in the ministry [a preacher from your same home church] Pastor Tony Rhone and the Galilee Baptist Church on their 48th anniversary celebration. This church has a rich history that included a time when they had thought of cashing in but trusted God and they are now in a new church building with a new pastor celebrating their 48th birthday. As I was being introduced it dawned on me that over the last 4 weeks I have had the privilege of preaching three church anniversaries the 105th church anniversary of the New Hope Church of Newark, New Jerseys [Pastor Joe Carter], 1st church anniversary of the Vision Church of Stafford Virginia and then 48th for the Galilee Church. Isn’t it a blessing to know that with all of the bedrocks of financial institutions failing and falling that the church of God is still standing strong! [Hallelujah!!!!!] I tried to share with this church a word of encouragement both for the church as well as this young giant of a pastor “Fear Not!”

1. We don’t have to fear because God’s Presences is watching over us!
   
2. We don’t have to fear because God’s Purpose is working in us!
   
3. We don’t have to fear because God’s Place is waiting on us!

I guess it really didn’t matter that I as really preaching to myself [bet you thought was going to leave you’ll hang on the question of what does the shepherd do when he needs a shepherd]. We’ve all heard it “what good for the goose is good for the gander.”

So whatever you’re going through right now in your life “endurance” is the word for today! Push, Pray and Persist. And always remember that tomorrow is always full of new possibilities.

Hang in there. It’s going to be ALLLLLLLLLLL Right!

He [GOD] Neither Slumber nor Sleep

Hopefully the end of a pretty rough and tough week, Sunday evening after preaching in the pulpit that I has been absent from for several week. I found myself relaxing but feeling a bit under the weather. Hoping it was nothing more than sinus trouble [which I’m simply pledged with] I lay down for the evening. Tossing and turning all night my breathing began to become more laboring by the hour. As the sun peeked through the night I was up trying to make arrangement to see my doctor. The staff works me in to my surprise it was an upper respiratory infection which in the pass not discovered early put by health in a very dangerous situation. So after being out nearly two weeks, preaching Sunday, I am now grounded again. And, anyone who knows me knows that doesn’t wear well for so long. I’m given a shot, antibiotic, preventive medication and order to stay home and get rest.

I break out Thursday after a morning meeting around 1pm and worked until nearly 1am [something you have to handle after being on lock-down.] I’m up early Friday 5am to do what I do [message writing day], after about 6 solid hours, its time to do something else. I swing by the office head to a very important meeting – meeting went extremely well. I then was summoned by the suggababies [grand babies] that a trip to Chuck E. Cheese is in order. Anybody crazy enough to take three little ones to see Chucky at dinner time has got to have a few nuts loose. Again not one of the smartest things I’ve done. I’m still struggling with the URI decide I’m going to beat the coughing all night by taking a sleeping medication.

Sound asleep I am, when I hear my daughter scream. It takes me a moment to gather myself, while she is scream somebody is trying to break in. The next few minutes were helter skater by the time I make it outside the person is gone. I call 911 police and helicopters are every where they catch the person. I began to assess the damage and discover both vehicles are damage severely. Jack-up rather than saying what I want say but you get the drift.

What do you do when things like this happen? Become angry! That’s a good one tried it didn’t really fit. Sad! That’s a close second but in light of the fact that everybody was safe and I was home…it didn’t really fit either. Then I thought rather than being angry, mad, sad or a myriad of other emotions, why don’t I count my blessing.

1. Thank God “indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Psalm 121:4 (NIV)
2. Thank God, I was home to protect my family
3. Thank God, Nobody was harmed
4. Thank God, for insurance
5. Thank God, The person was apprehended
6. Thank God, The police dog bit the person in the ass
“No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Living)

Wrapping Up East Coast Trip

1. Rev. Ron Willis, pastor of Vision Church Stafford, VA

2. Elder Jame & Cathy Booker, Jame Jr. & Carmen and the babies
3. Aunt Cathy, JJ & Uncle Jimmy
4. Janice, Cathy, JJ & Jimmy

5. Jason, Jimmy, & Cathy

Wrapping Up The East Coast Trip

1. White House

2. White House
3. Washington Monument















4. The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City

1. Washington National Brand New Ballpark

2. Justice Thurgood Marshall grave site Arlington

3. Actual place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I have a dream" speach on the mall

4. Lincoln Memorial

5. Vietnam Veterans Memorial found a Ralph Gaddis

Here's The Wrap Up Of Our East Coast Trip

1. B. Smith, Me, Janice

2. Vision Church of Stafford, VA Women's Ministry (SPA)

3. Janice @ Arlington National Cemetery

4. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's Grave in Arlington Cemetery

5. Eternal Flame for JFK's Grave