It's Not About Me - Max Lucado - A review.

I'll be honest ... I read and have a lot of Lucado's books. Why? Because they are simple, sound, and concise.

This one took me awhile to get reading at first. Why was that? Perhaps because I'm still getting used to using and reading certain books on my e-reader. Perhaps it was too simple. Perhaps because of life itself. Anyways ... Max Lucado again writes a homerun book. A good reminder that it isn't about US, but about Him.

One of my favourite chapters was Chapter Eight. The story of G.R. Tweed hit home. As we are to be reflecting the mirror of our Lord (2 Cor. 3:16) In Chapter 9, Max Lucado shares about a European priest who gathered the Church for a special service .... in the darkness of the night ...they waited.

Soon the priest arrived. "when he reached the crucifix that hung on the wall, he lit a candle. Saying nothing, he illuminated the pierced feet of Christ, then the side, then one hand, and then the other. Lifting the candle, he shed light on the blood masked face and the crown of thorns. With a puff, he blew out the candle and dismissed the church." pg. 69

What a powerful illustration and remind that it isn't about US but about Him!!! May we be mirroring that. This book was a good reminder for anyone WHO it is all about.

The 3 Es of What the Church is to be doing.

Here is what the church needs to be doing:



I. Edify the Saints. Encourage them. Fellowship. Disciple. Telling them not to give up ..run the race, persevere .... pursue God. Be Holy.


II. Encourage non-believers to follow Jesus. From Fan to follower ..... (Part of the Great Commission)


III. Elevate the Lord. (Part of the Greatest Commandment to Love God) (Give God all the glory)

What do you think? Anything to add? How you encouraging non-believers, edifying the saints and elevating God?

Be a Fountain not a Drain.

Saw this from a church newsletter and thought to share:

BE A FOUNTAIN NOT A DRAIN

I saw a marquee in front of a church’s building that had the following on it: “BE A FOUNTAIN NOT A DRAIN”. I looked over at my wife and said, “There is a sermon in there somewhere.” Indeed, there is a lesson in this simple statement that every Christian needs to hear.
Christians will either be a fountain or they will be a drain when it comes to their responsibilities in the kingdom of God. This is especially seen in the local work of a congregation. There is no middle ground. As a member of a local church, I am either a fountain that nourishes the work or I am a drain that is depleting the energy and life from that work.

Paul expressed the ‘either or’ principle when writing about the life of the Christian. “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (ROMANS 6:16-18)
Having become slaves of righteousness, we are bound to fulfill our servanthood. Slaves have a vested interest in the success of their master. The accomplishing of the master’s desire is directly related to the faithfulness of the slave. The lazy servant fails to understand that he is important in the process of completing the task. A modern expression to emphasize this principle is, “he got skin in the game”.

Every member of a local church has “got skin in the game”. Therefore, when a member is lazy and a slacker regarding the work of the local church, they become a drain rather than a fountain of life giving water. Drain is defined as, “To deplete gradually, especially to the point of complete exhaustion.” (American Heritage Dictionary) My oldest son has a GMC pickup truck that began having a problem with the battery losing power when the truck wasn’t run for a day or so. It was determined that it had an electrical short that drained the battery. Like the electrical short in my son’s truck, a member who does not consider that they have “skin in the game” will drain the life out of a local church.
Christians often lament the lack of growth in the congregation where they hold membership. We all have known of local churches that at one time were growing but today are on the verge of death. Why do congregations find themselves in this dilemma? In my humble opinion, it is because members have failed in their servitude by losing sight of their personal responsibility. A local church’s spiritual vitality is predicated upon the individual member’s participation. Yes! Every member has “got skin in the game”!

Some will say, “I can’t do anything.” Peter says you can, and he was inspired by God to say so. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2 PETER 1:3-10)

What makes a local church grow and do the work God has assigned to it? It takes a membership where each individual member is personally involved in every aspect of its work. In this way and only in this way, will it be a living active organism.

Members who are fountains will give forth their energies to serve. Local churches that are alive and well have members who are fountains. Further, churches whose members are drains are being depleted of their life’s energy which leaves them a useless shell; an illusion rather than the real thing.
Which are you, a fountain or a drain?

From: The Pound Proclaimer is published monthly by the Pound church of Christ 9517A Orby Cantrell Hwy. Pound, VA 24279
All articles by the editor unless otherwise stated
Editor: Glen Young
http://poundchurchofchrist.org/December2011.htm

Again: which are you? Fountain or Drain? Thoughts?

Re-thinking Mission Statement.

in the process of re-thinking our "Mission statement" It is a good statement but no one remembers it. Just finished up reading "Church Unique" and came up with three words: Live. Love Long.


I. Live the Gospel - (The Great Commission Matt.28:16-20)

II. Love God and others. (The Greatest Commandment Makr 12:28-34)

III. Long for others to Follow and be Disciples. (1 John 4:7,8)

Just brainstorming. Of course next up is Andy Stanley's book: Visioneering ... But I just can't get out of my head that of Phil Vischer's speech and that "Where there is no "Vision" people perish" or rather where there is no revelation, people perish. We just need the people of God to follow the Word of God and not some business model. (End of rant and same of Phil's words too that he said in a speech in Atlanta NYWC several yrs ago)

More Suns Baseball Drama

Story


Ah, so a lease being done ... the Winchester factor ..... and the Drama begins.

Meanwhile the taxpayers paying for this and people are struggling? Something tells me

1. Either the Suns owner wants a FREE ticket to a NEW Stadium.

2. This is a joke.

3. If the Suns so profitable and wants to keep them here ...why not willing to put his own $$$ into the club?

4. Something smells fishy here ...

Baseball Controversy in Hagerstown

Municipal Stadium
has had its share of controversy.

Including:

In 2005 a movement arose to rename an adjacent street to honor Willie Mays, who played his first game at the park as a minor league rookie. The proposal, however, was shot down due to protests by various American war veterans groups who wanted to keep the original road name of Memorial Boulevard. The affair was covered by ESPN on its Outside the Lines program.

And now the controversy of

New Stadium downtown


Suns to possibly move to Winchester?


And the owner being told by the MLB and the Nats organization the stadium needed to be updated (Actually they seem to demand a new stadium)


Now here is where the rubber mets the road.

1. Why should the government be funding this?

2. What happened to past tax revenue that was suppose to be used for this?

3. What about the History of the Stadium? We forget the traditions etc. Willie Mays, (and even current super stars like Bryce Harper, Steven Strasburg) Do we destroy one landmark for something new?

(On a side and personal note it seems Washington County has already done that with several of its buildings - destory and build anew forget the past seems to be the motto from the ole Library, Hospital, Pangborn


I think we're too quick to build anew without considering the history and rich tradition in the current facility being used.

(Of course I'm still stuck on Air Canada Center and want Maple Leaf Gardens .... want where the Jays play be called the Skydome etc.)

What surprised me, as a fan, of the Suns is the willingness to just build and appease the new owners and the lack of NOISE for tradition and even that of a GREAT BASEBALL player and African American in Willie Mays.

Why is that?

Is it because the community has already been through this? Is it because the "Tension" of it and the history we have in this area (I'm reminded I like both near major Civil Wat battles: Antietam and Gettysburg), The Mason Dixon line, and that of a slave plantation Rockland Info here


It saddens me that we can so easily toss away history, have what seems like a bad business plan (Umm they already put in $$$ for improving the stadium several hundreds of thousands of dollars and just want to build a new one because MLB, The Nats, and the Owners want one? And the ole threat of "We're out of here...") Something seems terribly wrong in this situation and SHAME on everyone for being so quiet about it!!! (And I'm not even a Big Baseball fan but know this just doesn't all ADD up)

Thoughts?

What do you think?

"Celebrity" Christian Causes.

Seems a lot of people see a certain video or social network issue and have to promote or press the "Share" button. The problem is it becomes the fad or gimmick of the week. What happens next week? Who picks up the pieces?

Do we jump on the bandwagon? Or do we continue with the resources and gifts and abilities that God gives us?

Seems to me this week to week or month to month causes ...they cause confusion. The focus tends to be on the social justice issues rather than the God of Justice. We need to be careful. Be as innocent as doves, wise as serpents ...


So what is the Church to do when certain causes come up or emergencies arise?


I. Have a plan.

II. Pray

III. Respond with kindness.

IV. If people want to give, or share that is ok ... but recognize or ask are they doing because "everyone is doing it" or feel compelled because they prayed about it and are convicted to do so?

V. What happens when this Cause is over?

VI. Have a Church Emergency Plan or "Special offerings" when leaders decide what funds to help support.