Monthly Archives: January 2010

In this morning’s message I challenged us to spend 5 or 10 minutes at the beginning of each day and read God’s Word, asking for specific and clear direction for  the day. Then during the day I encouraged our folks to be aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence. Each evening I hope people will answer one simple (yet profound) question: did I draw nearer to Jesus today?

The hopelessness that has gripped our community- economic uncertainty, families on the edge of despair, and the physical deterioration of our bodies- can only be broken by Jesus. Only as we who belong to Him allow His presence to be read and palpable in our daily dealings can this hopelessness be broken.

I trust that you will join us in our seven day experiment. Join us in kingdom living- experiencing the victory that comes as God reveals Himself, and empowers us through His Holy Spirit to make much of Jesus!

The month of January draws to a close. How many goals for 2010 have already fallen off the to-do lists? One of my goals is to read through the NT in 90 days. I do this at night right before I go to sleep. Last night I was reading 1 Tim 4-6. I’ve been reading from the New Living Translation and this phrase caught my eye and my heart:”This is why we work and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers” (1 Tim 4:10, NLT). Paul was encouraging Timothy to develop the disciplines of godliness and then to teach them to those God had given him. Godliness…the condition of living as God would have us to live, the state of allowing God’s presence to be made real in and through our lives. Godliness is not so much a list of tasks to perform as it is a style of living…a pattern of behavior…a relationship that shapes and directs our life.

In some of the reading I’ve been doing I was challenged to try and articulate a goal for my preaching and teaching ministry. Every message, every teaching opportunity, ought to promote godliness. We at Community Baptist have agreed that God’s Word will change our world. And, of course, many of us are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever see. So, godliness is the measure of how closely our lifestyle exhibits the presence of God. Preaching and teaching- which I have been called to labor at- is to encourage, to challenge, to equip believers for godliness.

I’m still working at defining this goal. I’d love to hear your thoughts…

wcbc@qwestoffice.net

STEVE

It’s Tuesday afternoon and it has been a very bsuy three days (since Sunday…). Today is crammed with meetings and appointments as is tomorrow. Thursday things slow down a little…and next week promises to be just about as busy. As  a matter of fact the rest of the winter and spring look about this busy. Nothing wrong with being busy, I guess…but I wonder if my life is too loud? Are there too many activities and meetings on my schedule that interfere with that activity that is MOST important?

This morning one of the men in an accountability group I meet with made the statement, “we are to work from our rest, not to rest from our work.” Interesting. Genesis 1-2 point out that God created man and woman on the sixth day of creation. The very next day was the Sabbath- the day of rest. I’ve been intrigued all day about this challenge. Too often I work so that I can rest. Rarely do I rest so that I can be productive and effective at what God has called and gifted me to do. PArt of the challenge of my life this year is to find time to rest…to experience the soul rest that God’s Word describes as a result of the Spirit’s filling. Then I can work- on the tasks God assigns, according to God’s design, and taking access of all that God has for me (see Eph 1:15-ff).

The first Monday of a new year. It was hard to get up this morning. Even my wife- who normally is perky and full of energy was not all that thrilled (i.e. she woke up at 12:30am becuase she remembered in her sleep that she had failed to set her alarm- she needs to be at work at 6:30am and her alarm was set for 7:00am…so, she did reset her alarm and was up and out of the house in time for work!)

A couple of days ago I was reading Frances Chan’s book, The Forgotten God, which is a GREAT read. I am struck with his comments on pgs 106-109 about why we fail to have intimacy with God, why we often live without a sense of the Spirit’s nearness. He wonders if we are too comfortable and if our lives are too loud? (Get the book- it’s worth every penny!) To ask the question so many have asked before, if the Holy Spirit were not present, would we still do all the things we are doing? I am too comfortable and my life is too loud (i.e.too many distractions). So, pray with me that 2010 will be the year that I – and our church- will discover the presence of the Holy Spirit by getting uncomfortable and ridding our lives of the distractions that keep us from having genuine intimacy with God.

How I long for a daily intimacy with God! Long for that with me!

Pastor Steve