Great Pose

I'm that guy...

Recently I was in our local feed store West Bear Creek which also doubles as a clothing store. I was looking around and visiting and I ran into one of our local bankers.

Brian said, "hey brother Jim I heard a good one about you the other day".

I responded, "O really what was said?"

"Well, Bronc was trying to tell someone who you are and said "you know, that guy who's always talking about Jesus."

I thought that was great. Bronc is a four year old in our congregation who is one of the neatest kids I know. I was pleased to know that is how he views me. Shouldn't we all as Christians have Jesus on our lips all the time. I just wish it were really true about me.

Mignon News

Mignon's beloved baby sitter Aunt Jean retired so today was her first day in daycare. She wasn't to happy to be left this morning but as soon as I was out of sight she calmed down.

She had lots of fun and even made a new friend.

Midweek Devotion Prayer

What is quality prayer time? It is time when you get alone with God for the purpose of fellowship and worship. Jesus himself would go to a solitary place to spend time in prayer. Why do you think that he found this necessary? Following a busy day and before another day began I believe that Jesus was seeking focus, and was recharging his batteries. However it seems like he didn’t go far enough. The disciples found him and reminded him that there were many waiting for him.

How often do we begin to pray and then allow ourselves to be distracted? Many times I will plan on getting up earlier than normal to read and pray but I end up hitting the snooze button. Or I actually make time and I read and begin to pray and my mind begins to wonder.

We all need to pray and experience the fullness of our relationship with God. We would be much the poorer to leave the development of our prayer life either to those times when we hit our thumbs with hammers, or when tragedy strikes. Though these times are times for prayer too, an ever deepening relationship with God demands a more sustained approach.

There are different types of prayer and I have come to try to be intentional in praying different types of prayers. There are prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, intercession and petition. Many of us are very good at praying for others (intercession) and ourselves (petition) but we leave out other aspects of prayer.

Adoration is praise of God and expresses our love. To adore means to be caught up with the reality of God’s nature. No matter how intensely we know, feel or discern God’s presence the reality is that God is greater than our thoughts, emotions or intuitions. God’s love is greater than any love that we could experience. God’s compassion is greater than any care we could be shown. God’s providence is greater than any generosity we could receive. In the face of such reality the only true response is that of adoration.

In times of true adoration words fall short. There are other languages we use to communicate for example, body language or gesture. When lost in adoration people use gesture as well as words in response. Luke records Peter’s early encounter with Jesus. After hauling in the miraculous catch of fish Peter falls at Jesus feet with words ’Depart from me master for I am a sinful man.’ And Matthew writes of the disciples as they met their resurrected Lord: ’Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.’ (Mat 28:9 NRSV). Other forms of gesture indicating adoration are bowing, kneeling, and closing our eyes. That is one reason we offer the gestures we do in worship prayer is more than words.

Adoration is about losing oneself in the awe and wonder of God, but this response does not mean that we become insignificant as a result. The New Testament tells us that in losing ourselves we find ourselves. This is the way to find one’s self; beginning a relationship of adoration of God.

Midweek Devotion; Why do we follow Jesus?

Following

Often people today follow Jesus for selfish reasons. There is a brand of theology out there called “prosperity theology” and if you’ve ever watched the religious channel you’ve seen it. It’s a theology that says if you come to Christ, He will take away all of your troubles. If you want to be healed, follow Jesus. If you want to take care of your financial difficulties, follow Jesus. If you want to meet the love of your life, follow Jesus.” Now all these are true in a sense. Jesus does heal, but not all the time. Jesus often does help you in your finances, but not always; and I do think that God had a hand in me finding Laurie. But there are no guarantees that everything will be perfect.

But if this is why you want to be a Christian, then you are being a Christian for the wrong reason. The focus of Christianity quickly becomes not how can I love and serve Christ, but what can I get from Him, and the focus of Christianity is not Christ, but our own selfish desires.

You see we need to ask the question, “What happens when we follow Christ for the wrong reasons?” Often the response to that question is, we become disappointed and leave. A woman falls in love with a man because he has stomach you could iron a shirt on, but 5 years down the road when that six pack starts to look more like a keg, she’s disappointed and the marriage quickly falls apart. When I follow Christ because He will heal my cancer, or fix my marriage, or balance my check book, and when that doesn’t happen, I quickly fall away.”

And when you follow Christ for any reason other than who He is, you will be disappointed and you will say, “It didn’t work. Let me try something else.” Now, don’t get me wrong. God does heal, He does perform miracles, He does do all these things, but these are not why you become a Christian. You became a Christian because you were convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah. You follow Him because of who He is.

And that is what true faith is. It’s when you follow God not for the blessings that come with it, but from the blessing of who He is. He has taken care of our greatest need. The bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. When we were dead in our sins, Christ died for us. And when He rose from the grave and ascended into Heaven, and He left the door open for us to come in.

Off to a Good Start

Our Kids for Christ (KFC) group got off to a good start with 20 kids and some good volunteers. We had lots of fun and maybe even learned something. :)

Playing With My New Camera

For my birthday I got a new to me camera. It's a Nikon D50 and I have been taking lots of pictures. You can see some of them on my Flickr page by clicking HERE.