My Weblog

Sticks and Stones...

 

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  We have heard it since we were children, our parents probably taught it to us when words hurt us. So let’s just be brutally honest about this old saying; it is a lie.  Broken bones will heal, but the hurt that words bring can last forever. 

Paul got it. He said in Galatians 5:15, “If you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” James got it. He said in 3:5, “Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.  Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.”  And yet our speech can also be beneficial.  Proverbs

12:18

says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

Missy and I observe what is called the “ten-minute rule.”  When we come in from work we have to take ten minutes to find out about the other person.  We need to find out what kind of day they have had, how they are feeling and what is going on in their life.  We cannot bring up any issue that might be confrontational until we know that person’s frame of mind.  If it is not good, the issue will wait; the person is more important than the issue.

May God grant that we will be counted among the wise whose words bring healing.

 

Catching Up

Man am I behind, I haven’t even done my taxes yet.  And I am way behind on this blog, so here are a couple of links that you’ll enjoy.

 

This is a link to a sermon by S.M. Lockridge, the S.M. is for Shadrach Meshach, this is about a 6 minute video clip that is outstanding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX_7j32zgNw

 

Here is a shorter version that is a little different and also great, check ‘em both out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z15FlTONVo&feature=related

 

And with baseball season upon us we need a story other than mega-millions and steroid scandals, so here it is:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/cardinals/2009-03-30-cover-pujols_N.htm

 

I guarantee you after reading the stories of A-Fraud and Clemens this one will do your heart good. 

 

So here is to a more consistent blogging April, and that is no April Fool’s joke!

Attaway Baby!

Attaway

Church

!  You have to say it fast or you don’t hear it, it’s Texanese for “That’s the way,” I always heard it in baseball as “Attaway Baby!”  Everybody needs an attaway every now and then, good praise for good service.  We’ve got a couple of attaways to throw out.

 

Attaway!  To everyone who is making cookies, pitching in and praying for the success of D-Now this weekend.  We have had a great response and have had more people open their homes to a bunch of teenagers than ever before. 

Attaway

Church

!

 

Attaway Guys!  The Mitchell Class and some others have helped drive Keith Crawford to work in

Waco

for the last month while he recuperates from surgery on his leg.  Attaway guys!  That is what church is supposed to be like.

 

Attaway Wednesday Night Gang!  We’ve got more kids than you can stir with a stick.  Attaway to everyone who has helped to build this up, and Attaway to everybody who has pitched in when we needed extra workers!

 

In case you’re not aware, that is just good stuff! Attaway to be the church that looks like Jesus!

D-Now is Here!

D-Now is upon us!  One week from tomorrow will be the kickoff night and from that point on the weekend is officially in the hands of the youth.  This is always a great weekend and I know that this one will be as well.  We have over 200 youth, 10 churches, and 21 host homes already lined up, but there are still places you can pitch in and help.  We need 80 dozen cookies for Thursday night the 26th.  You read that right, 80 dozen, yup, that is 960 cookies!  If you can help with that, get hold of Cathy Norris.  With that number of kids there are also some transportation issues to help with.  If you can drive a church van or can drive your own multi-passenger vehicle (emphasis on multi!) get hold of Davey.

 

Numbers are always nice to see, but what really matters is what God does that weekend.  The most important way that we can help is to pray for the weekend.  Pray that the schedule goes smoothly, getting out of rhythm can lead to a host of problems. Pray for the kids and churches that are coming, the families that will host for the weekend, and pray for Asfshin Ziafat.  Asfshin will be the preacher for the weekend, pray that God will use him to reach kids that have never trusted Christ and grow those who have already begun to follow Jesus.  If you want to know more about Asfshin, check out his website, http://www.afshinziafat.com   Thanks in advance for making this a great weekend!

Waiting, Patiently or Not.

I do not like to wait and I think it would be fair to say that patience is not my spiritual gift!  I am getting better at it but by no means will I claim mastery.  We have waited two years for a family with whom we will build a habitat house. Two years.  In all honesty I had pretty well given up and had begun to look at other avenues of mission and ministry for our church.  It is a good reminder that God does not necessarily operate on our schedule.

Isaiah 30:18 says, "For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!"  Isaiah 40:31 is most often translated, "those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength."  In that passage some translations render "wait" as "hope", or "trust".  Both of those renderings are accurate because there has to be some hope and trust in our waiting! There is a whole lot of waiting in the Bible. Israel waited to be freed from slavery, waited to enter the promised land, waited to return from exile (on more than one occasion!), and waited for the Messiah. In the New Testament there was waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit and still the waiting of the return of Christ.  In Thessalonica there was a group who believed Christ's return was so imminent that they quit their jobs, sponged off of fellow church members, and waited.  Just for clarification, Paul told them that was not the way to wait for Christ in no uncertain terms.

So how do we wait upon the Lord?  Sometimes God waits on us even more than we wait on him.  God waits on us because we are not yet prepared for what he has for us.  On February 28th I will run the Cowtown half-marathon. When I started running this summer I was not ready to run 13.1 miles, at that point I wasn't even ready to run 1 mile!  Running hurt, I couldn't breathe, my heart pounded, and my muscles hurt. On Monday I ran for one hour, Friday I will run for one hour and forty five minutes and no, I am still not prepared, but I will be on the 28th.  Preparation takes time.  It is easier to wait upon the Lord when we recognize that it is not wasted time but time that God is using to prepare us for the good works, "which he has prepared in advance for us to do." Don't waste the prep time, ask God what he is doing and entrust the time to him.

Good News!!!

Woo-hoo!!! I just got an e-mail from Gene Bauer at Habitat for Humanity.  Gatesville has selected its first family to build a home for.  This has been a lot longer process than any of us ever imagined but it is finally coming to fruition.  We will have a meeting to finalize details on February 5 at 6 p.m. here at the church.  See you then!

A Great Night

What a great evening last night was!  Josh and the choir did a great job on the Cantata and a great job on publicity.  We closed in on a full house and I know all went away inspired by a great worship experience.  One comment I got was, "Now that is what Christmas is supposed to be like!" Thanks to all who helped for the hard work and commitment for a great evening.

I know this Sunday evening will be just as great.  Plan on being here to sing Sunday night and eat afterwards.  If you haven't signed up to bring a side or a dessert yet just call us at the office so that we can make sure we have every base covered.

Thanks in advance!

The First Feast

Not a clue what the First Feast is?  Let me fill you in.  Sunday night the 21st we will sing the songs of Christmas in the Sanctuary, all of the favorites that we didn't get to sing in Advent and all the favorites that we want to sing again. Music has been a vital part of Christmas from the beginning, with Mary's Song, Zechariah's song thru The Messiah to the songs of the present.  So, we will sing, with joy and commitment, and celebration.

Then we will feast!  We will provide the smoked ham, you bring the rest.  We will have sign up sheets in Sunday School Classes and on the ministry table this week.  Come ready to sing and come hungry!  By the way, bring somebody with you, there will be plenty of singing and food!

Attaway Baby!

It is great to be proud of your church.  Friday was the annual Food for Families drive here in Gatesville.  In a tough economic year Gatesville raised 200,000 pounds of food!  That is more than Waco, Temple or Killeen and they are five times our size!  Woo-hoo!

You may not realize that the driving force behind the growth of Food for Families are two of our own, Bill Bradley and Dwain Place.  They laid the foundation for this in their hard work through the years and it has really paid off now.  Way to go guys!

We raised about $3,000 dollars which translates into 7,500 lbs. of food.  That is a fantastic contribution.  Then the next day we turned around and distributed the Angel Food order. Now that is the kind of church I am proud to be a part of.  Way to go church!

Repeat Customers

We bought Clay a rifle for Christmas.  I know that it is not Christmas yet and you think that I am spoiling the surpise but what good is getting a rifle for Christmas if you can't hunt with it for a year?  The first store I went to didn't really seem to care if they sold me a gun or not.  They hardly seemed to notice that I was there and when they did it seemed as if I were an inconvenience to them.  Needless to say, I did not buy a rifle from them.  I seriously doubt they will get any of my business in the future.  The second store was extremely helpful and even made me a deal on a rifle/scope combo.  Needless to say, they will recievemore of my business and now have a loyal customer.

The same is true of church, where people are not welcomed and appreciated they will not be back.  I think that is especially true of Gatesville. Did you know that there are 15 churches on Main Street alone?  Seven of which are Baptist?  None of us would ever intentionally exclude someone who visited First Baptist, we are just not that kind of people.  But it takes an intentional effort on our part to welcome folks to the church.  Going to our normal seat and being in our normal routine is not enough for us to be welcoming.  We have something a lot more precious than merchandise to give; it would be a tragedy if someone missed out on the gospel just because we were not intentional in welcoming them.

Well, we have a plan!  Imagine that!  On Sunday, November 30 we are kicking off a welcome team so that we can be intentional in welcoming and accepting folks.  We will meet in the church parlor at 5:00 p.m. and fill in all of the details for you.  Every one of us, regardless of age or ability can help with this ministry.  If you will help with this meet me there.

Thanks,

Steve