Do What You Can

This morning I was reading and came across this statement:

"God never asks us to do what we cannot do. Neither does He tend to do for us what we can do ourselves. The Lord does for us what we cannot do; what we can do He expects us to do."

This is where the faith and works comes in to play in our lives. God has given us certain talents, abilities and influence. He expects us to not just sit back and wait for Him to move on our behalf. He expects us to do all we can with what he has given and blessed us with. A good friend of mine once said, "You work as if everything depends on you and you pray as if everything depends on God." It is good for us to be used by God. There is a rewarding satisfaction that comes when you know that you have done all you can and God met you and did the rest.

There are times for resting, but there are also times to move forward and do something, anything. Don't be passive, but be assertive. Play offense, go get this life before it passes you by!

Sunday

Just want to invite you to come Sunday morning to hear part two of the sermon Truly Free. Last week was on Freedom From and this week will be on Freedom To...

Podcast

Our first podcast went online yesterday. You can go to itunes and subscribe to it there. It is under Oasis weekly Message. We will try to get the most recent sermons online net week. It is a slower process than I would like, but that's OK. Hope you enjoy the podcast!

Musings

Our family travelled to Iowa this last weekend.  It was good to back close to home.  I forgot how big the old cottonwoods get next to the river and how the leaves make that rushing noise when the breeze blows through them.  A couple of times I actually felt my body just relax and exhale.

I am not a tree hugger, but I do appreciate the beauty that God has created around us.  The Bible tells us that the whole earth is filled with Gods glory.  Everything around us reflects the glory of God.  The trees, the river, the birds, the sunsets, the stars in the night sky, and the beauty of the people and how unique each one of us is.  Sometimes we take for granted the mundane things.  But behind the mundane is the miraculous.  

Where do you see the miraculous in your life today?  What mundane thing is God's miraculous waiting behind?  Look for it today.

BHAG

BHAG stands for Big Harry Audacious Goals.  What is yours?  Before you answer I want you to hear what this fellow pastor Adam Hamilton said, 

"Too many churches (People) dream safe, easily attainable dreams.  They don't risk, they don't require faith, they don't need God in order to be accomplished.  Bruce Wilkinson says God's people are expected to attempt something large enough that failure is guaranteed..... unless God steps in."

So I ask again, what are you dreaming about?  What are the goals for your life?  Are they big enough that God must intervene or else you will fail?

Adventure

God has been challenging me quite a bit lately about how I think about Him; About how I relate to Him.  Sometimes I can get so caught up in running around that I forget about how I am suppose to live my life.  

The Message says this in Matthew 25, "That's a terrible way to live!  It's criminal to live cautiously!  If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least?  Take it and give it to the one who risked the most.  Get rid of this play-it-safe who won't go out on a limb"

Pretty harsh words for those who cling so tightly to the traditional church mindset.  Those who have the attitude that risk is sin are missing the truly adventurous Christian life God wants us to live.  Our life is an adventure, a quest, a crusade to bring Christ to the world around us.

The world around us doesn't care about our traditions.  They don't care how busy you are for God.  They want to know if Christianity really works in your life and if we are really unleashing the power of God in our lives and on the earth.

Religion will not capture a person's imagination, only an adventure with God will do.  Our focus has to change from being concerned about rules, religion and retaining the status quo and move to having an adventure with God.

Is your life with Christ religious or adventurous?  Which sounds more interesting and rewarding? 

 

Book Reviewer

I just signed up with Thomas Nelson publishers to be a book reviewer for them. One of the conditions of this is that I have to review the book on my blog and also on Amazon, CBD or another book retailer. So soon you will see book reviews here on my blog. It should be fun!

Slap to the face

I have been reading a book lately that has been challenging the way I think and do things.  One of the ideas it presents is this: 

"It is no sin to consider people's feelings, but if you allow feelings to become the primary consideration when making decisions, you are following something other than Christ."

I don't know about you but that knocks the wind out of me.  I guess I always assume that we must do things that will make people feel good.  Sometimes that is not true.  Obedience to Christ is not the result of an opinion poll.  It is a matter of the heart.  If Christ would have obeyed based on how people would feel about what he said and did, he would have been disobedient to God.  We still have a lot to learn!  

What's Coming Up

I am excited about Father's Day this year. I am asking for all the men in our church that either have a motorcycle or have access to a motorcycle to ride it that morning to church. Also, they can wear whatever they are comfortable riding a bike in. No dress code. I am also guaranteeing that the service will not last longer than 1 hour. So I hope to see you there June 21st! By the way, if anyone has a motocycle they would like to donate to the cause, I have a good home prepared for one.

Busy, Busy

It has been a busy time of the year lately for me. A lot going on, a lot that God is doing right now. Enjoyed bringing the message God laid on my heart for the people in the church I grew up in. It was a surreal experience for me. I also enjoyed speaking at a Men's retreat and challenging the men to step up and be the warriors called them to be. I really enjoy speaking to men who are my fellow knights in God's army. It is a message that needs to be heard and heeded in order for us to be all that God wants us to be.

Grandmother

Last week was a hard one for my family. My 95 year old grandmother passed away and went home to be with the Lord. She left us on Palm Sunday. The last words she was able to speak to me were "I love you so much." I will miss her greatly. Her funeral was on Good Friday, one week ago today. I am thankful for all that she brought to my life. She was a part of my life from Day one. I was born on her 59th Birthday. I grew up in the same town as her. I have so many memories of her and I am grateful for every moment I spent with her. I was asked to give a tribute to her at her funeral. I was honored to be able to do that. At the end of my tribute I read a quote from a book by Mark Rutland. I read these words the day after she passed away. "Behind us, behind each of us, remaining after we make our exit, is what is called heritage, a legacy of life. Even from beyond the grave, lives can be touched, will be touched....... A life lived in the power of Jesus' life is a witness that cannot be silenced. The prayers of the saintly grandmother, the inheritance of a christian dad- these live on." These words summed up my grandma's life.

Love

I am finding that more and more I am learning to value those things that are the most important in my life. God, My wife, my kids, my family. I am not sure if it is because of my grandma's death but I see where love is absolutely the most important, central thing in my life. I read these words during my devotions the other day: Somehow we just can't wrap our minds around the idea of love. We can't nail it down and say, "There, I've got you." Love is weak yet tough, vulnerable yet strong. It chooses to lose but can never be beaten. It puts itself last yet always leads the way. It is mysterious, yet it came in flesh and stood before us. It is death- yet it is life. Must we love? It is like asking, "Must we breathe?" No we do not have to breathe, and no, we do not have to love. But the consequences of both are the same. When we choose to be hardened by the events of life we fail to truly live. I loved my grandma. Therefore, because I loved my grandma, her death hurt. If I would chosen not to love her as much, her death would have been easier for me to take. When we choose to love deeply we open ourselves to be hurt deeply. But if we choose not to love, we choose not to live and miss out on some of the greatest people and relationships God has to offer us. Especially the relationship He offers us through His Son Jesus.