Overwhelmed! Ever felt that way? There have been times in my life when I felt overwhelmed by problems and circumstances, things in life that were happening at such a rapid pace that I did not know what to do. I understand that kind of feeling. But the overwhelmed I am talking about is when you look at your life and see the things that you want to change and it feels and looks overwhelming. Several weeks ago I walked into the garage with the intention of cleaning it out and putting everything in its place. As I opened the door I stood there and begin to think about where I was going to put everything and how I wanted the garage to look when I was finished. As I continued to look at it I became overwhelmed, needless to say the garage does not look any better now than it did then.
The problem is I have found myself in that same situation in several areas of my life. As I stand at the door of my life and look at where I would like everything and try to imagine it everything in its place it can be overwhelming. I look in one corner and see the man that I want to be Honest, full of integrity, loyal, loving to God and others, and many more things. But what I see seems to be so far from that. Then I look in the other corner and see the husband and the father I want to be, available, loving, good listener, and again many more things. And once again I seem to be falling short. As I scan the garage I see the corner of my life that seems to take most of my time and energy, I see the pastor I want to be, loving, merciful, full of grace, studious, prayerful, a good leader, visionary and more, and once again I fall short. And last but not least I look at my own relationship with God and see where I would like to be and where I really am.
I look at all of that and at times it becomes overwhelming. In fact I struggle at times with just walking away and leaving everything how it is because I am not sure where to start. Do I start being a better man, do I start being a better husband and father or do I start being a better pastor? And then once I figure that out, what now? How do I become better at any of those things?
I think in some ways we are all like this we all look at our lives and see things that we would like to change and yet when we see how much needs changing it is like looking a Mt. Everest from the base of the Mt.
What I am learning is this. It is only by God's grace that 1) I recognize that I need to change and 2) that I will have the ability to change.
Philippians 2:13 ".....for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His great pleasure."
What that means to me is that God is working in me giving me the will, or the want to, to work for His pleasure. The very fact that I want to be better means God is working this scripture in my life. I now need to stop focusing on what I have to do and start focusing on the grace that He has given me to change. I believe that it is God's pleasure for me to be a better man, husband, father and pastor. I get overwhelmed when I feel like I have to do it on my own. When I feel like it is all on me. The fact of the matter is that God is working on me to make me like Jesus, and in the process of making me like Jesus I will be better at all the things I fall short in now.
If I only focus on what I am not and where I fall short I will never grow but if I can look at what God says about me, if I can see myself like He sees me, it will inspire me to become what He already says I am.
When you get overwhelmed the trick is not to walk away, the trick is to remember what God is doing in your life. And that God is working on you. The theological term is sanctification...it basically means that I am in the process of being made like Christ.
So next time I am overwhelmed I need to "...Look to God the author and finisher of my faith."
Pastor Tim
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Fairness
Wow, I did not realize how long it has been since I have been on here. I am going to try and put some thoughts down before I walk into service.
I was talking with someone the other day and in the course of the conversation they made the remark, "That is not Fair!" The remark was made in response to the way I handled a situation. It was clear that this person thought things should have been handled in a different manner. At the time I tried my best to explain my logic to them and I am not sure if I helped the situation or not. I walked away and as I so often do I began to think of all the things I could have said or should have said. While thinking about it I began to think about grace.
I have come to the realization that I really don't want fairness in my life. Sure I want to see others "get what is coming" when they hurt me or someone I love. Sure I feel the need for revenge, sure I at times become mean in my pursuit of justice. But when it comes to me and my faults and failures why can't everyone see that I am just human and that, although I am saved, I am still being perfected and as the old Sunday School song says, "He's still working on me."
The fact is when I feel the need for revenge and justice what has just happened is that I have forgotten the grace and forgiveness I have been given. The question that I am learning to ask myself is, "Where is "fairness" in the gospel?" When I look at the gospel I see something that is unfair, it is so unfair that at times it is hard to really believe it and grasp it. You see the gospel tells me that God came in flesh and became my substitute. The Bible says that "He that knew no sin became sin..." What is fair about that? what is fair about a man, a God-man, taking my place because I could not atone for myself?
That same scripture goes on to say, not only did he become sin for me but He became my sin, "so that I might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus." Not only did He become my sin but He gave me His righteousness. Again I ask, What is fair about that?
I really don't want fairness, because if God was fair I would be in serious trouble. What I need to remember is that because God has not been fair with me, I in turn need to be unfair to others. I think that is at the heart of learning to love like Christ loves. Can I be unfair with them?
I once heard someone say, "It is not fair that because one man sinned along time ago I am born a sinner....." My response, "It is not fair that because one man died along time ago that I am made righteous."
There is much more that I could post on this thought But I really must get ready for service.
Until The Whole World Hears,
Pastor Tim
I was talking with someone the other day and in the course of the conversation they made the remark, "That is not Fair!" The remark was made in response to the way I handled a situation. It was clear that this person thought things should have been handled in a different manner. At the time I tried my best to explain my logic to them and I am not sure if I helped the situation or not. I walked away and as I so often do I began to think of all the things I could have said or should have said. While thinking about it I began to think about grace.
I have come to the realization that I really don't want fairness in my life. Sure I want to see others "get what is coming" when they hurt me or someone I love. Sure I feel the need for revenge, sure I at times become mean in my pursuit of justice. But when it comes to me and my faults and failures why can't everyone see that I am just human and that, although I am saved, I am still being perfected and as the old Sunday School song says, "He's still working on me."
The fact is when I feel the need for revenge and justice what has just happened is that I have forgotten the grace and forgiveness I have been given. The question that I am learning to ask myself is, "Where is "fairness" in the gospel?" When I look at the gospel I see something that is unfair, it is so unfair that at times it is hard to really believe it and grasp it. You see the gospel tells me that God came in flesh and became my substitute. The Bible says that "He that knew no sin became sin..." What is fair about that? what is fair about a man, a God-man, taking my place because I could not atone for myself?
That same scripture goes on to say, not only did he become sin for me but He became my sin, "so that I might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus." Not only did He become my sin but He gave me His righteousness. Again I ask, What is fair about that?
I really don't want fairness, because if God was fair I would be in serious trouble. What I need to remember is that because God has not been fair with me, I in turn need to be unfair to others. I think that is at the heart of learning to love like Christ loves. Can I be unfair with them?
I once heard someone say, "It is not fair that because one man sinned along time ago I am born a sinner....." My response, "It is not fair that because one man died along time ago that I am made righteous."
There is much more that I could post on this thought But I really must get ready for service.
Until The Whole World Hears,
Pastor Tim
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friends
I was talking to a friend the other day and we were discussing mentoring and other aspects of friendship. Talking to him caused me to revisit some of my thoughts on this subject.
Growing up around church I have noticed great men of God that had "fallen" into sin. Pastors, Evangelists, men that others looked to as spiritually strong, giants in the faith and yet they somehow fell in their walk with God. As a result their lives were damaged, churches were hurt and many of them still live with the stain of their failure. Having seen this happen time and time again I begin to ask, Why?
Why, and how does this happen? I suppose the easy answer is they stopped praying and reading their Bible. They allowed their walk with God to lapse and as a result they fell. I understand that this may apply to some but to say that everyone of them fell this way is disingenuous, in my opinion. I do not claim to have the answer to this problem but I consider the following to be important.
In 1 Kings 19 we find the amazing story of one of my favorite characters in the Bible. Elijah has just come off of Mt. Carmel and has had a great victory in the name of God. He called down fire from heaven and slayed eight hundred and fifty false prophets. This is were chapter 19 starts. It starts with Ahab telling Jezebel that her prophets are dead and she immedieatly puts a bounty on Elijahs head. Elijah hears about it and goes into hiding.
Elijah runs and hids under a bush. While there he is so depressed that he tells God, "I've had enough, Lord , take my life. I am no better than my ancestors."
After staying there awhile and being fed by an angel he takes off again. This time he traveled 40 days to get to Mt. Horeb. While here God asks him a question, "Why are you here, Elijah?"
This question is not about location but a state of mind. "Why are you depressed Elijah? Why are you running?" The thing to remember is when God asks a question of a man it is not because He does not know the answer, it is because He wants us to realize where we are. So God asks Elijah, "Why? Why are you here?"
Elijah responds, "I have been loyal to the Lord. The people have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and they want to kill me." God then shows him some mighty acts; a powerful wind storm comes and causes landslides, an earthquake hits the mountain, a fire comes yet, God was not in any of these. After these awesome displays of power we are told that God came to Elijah in a still small voice. Again God asks him, "Why are you here?" and again Elijah tells God, " I have been loyal to you. They have torn down your alters, then killed your prophets. I alone am left and now they want to kill me."
God then gives Elijah the prescription for his problem. What is interesting is that God does not tell him to pray more. God tells him to make contact with three men Hazael, Jehu and Elisha. God tells him that, "Jehu would kill anyone that escaped Hazael's sword and Elisha would kill anyone that escaped Jehu's sword." These men would take care of Elijah's problems. Hazael was instrumental in Ahab's death. Jehu had Jezebel killed. Elisha never left Elijah's side.
God then tells Elijah, "There are 7000 more just like you. You are not alone." It was as if God was saying, "There are more like you. Your problem is you do not know them."
There are many Scriptures that refer to the power of sticking together and the importance of having people around you. In observing ministry, I have found that there is a sever lack in this area. Yes, we have friends but how many can we really be open and honest with?
We fear that if we tell someone about our battles they will look at us as if we are not spiritual or are backsliding. Or we are afaid that our secrets may get out. The truth of that matter is both of these fears are justified because we have all been in situations where this has happened. I fear this has caused a great problem in ministry. It has become a trust issue. I cannot trust you to hear me out and understand that I am a man, a human, that still has faults and struggles. I cannot trust you to keep my confidence. As a result, I hold it all inside and after time the battle begins to wear on me. I can fight for awhile on my own, but at some point I will get tired, worn out and I will lose the battle.
Friends, real friends, are something that we must have. I tell people that there are 3 types of friendship that everyone needs.
1. A Mentor: We all need someone that has been where we are. Someone that can challenge us and hold us accountable.
2. Peer Friends: People that we hang out with. Go out with.
3. A Protoge: Someone that we can speak into their lives and act as a metor to them.
All three are essential to being healthy.
In my opinion, some of the men that fell would have been more sucessful in their fight if they had someone one to turn to. After all, even King David needed help.
King David, the mighty giant slayer found himself in a tough spot. 2 Samuel 21 tells the story of David going to battle. In the battle we are told that he became tired. As he grows tired a giant by the name of Ishbi-Benob goes out to kill David and he would have if Abishai had not stepped in.
We all need an Abishai in our life to help us fight the giants when we grow weary.
Even God said, "It is not good that man be alone."
Being open and honest is not easy and perhaps that is a problem for many. But we all need people in our lives. Friends to challenge us, to be there for us and we all need to be a friend to someone else.
Growing up around church I have noticed great men of God that had "fallen" into sin. Pastors, Evangelists, men that others looked to as spiritually strong, giants in the faith and yet they somehow fell in their walk with God. As a result their lives were damaged, churches were hurt and many of them still live with the stain of their failure. Having seen this happen time and time again I begin to ask, Why?
Why, and how does this happen? I suppose the easy answer is they stopped praying and reading their Bible. They allowed their walk with God to lapse and as a result they fell. I understand that this may apply to some but to say that everyone of them fell this way is disingenuous, in my opinion. I do not claim to have the answer to this problem but I consider the following to be important.
In 1 Kings 19 we find the amazing story of one of my favorite characters in the Bible. Elijah has just come off of Mt. Carmel and has had a great victory in the name of God. He called down fire from heaven and slayed eight hundred and fifty false prophets. This is were chapter 19 starts. It starts with Ahab telling Jezebel that her prophets are dead and she immedieatly puts a bounty on Elijahs head. Elijah hears about it and goes into hiding.
Elijah runs and hids under a bush. While there he is so depressed that he tells God, "I've had enough, Lord , take my life. I am no better than my ancestors."
After staying there awhile and being fed by an angel he takes off again. This time he traveled 40 days to get to Mt. Horeb. While here God asks him a question, "Why are you here, Elijah?"
This question is not about location but a state of mind. "Why are you depressed Elijah? Why are you running?" The thing to remember is when God asks a question of a man it is not because He does not know the answer, it is because He wants us to realize where we are. So God asks Elijah, "Why? Why are you here?"
Elijah responds, "I have been loyal to the Lord. The people have torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and they want to kill me." God then shows him some mighty acts; a powerful wind storm comes and causes landslides, an earthquake hits the mountain, a fire comes yet, God was not in any of these. After these awesome displays of power we are told that God came to Elijah in a still small voice. Again God asks him, "Why are you here?" and again Elijah tells God, " I have been loyal to you. They have torn down your alters, then killed your prophets. I alone am left and now they want to kill me."
God then gives Elijah the prescription for his problem. What is interesting is that God does not tell him to pray more. God tells him to make contact with three men Hazael, Jehu and Elisha. God tells him that, "Jehu would kill anyone that escaped Hazael's sword and Elisha would kill anyone that escaped Jehu's sword." These men would take care of Elijah's problems. Hazael was instrumental in Ahab's death. Jehu had Jezebel killed. Elisha never left Elijah's side.
God then tells Elijah, "There are 7000 more just like you. You are not alone." It was as if God was saying, "There are more like you. Your problem is you do not know them."
There are many Scriptures that refer to the power of sticking together and the importance of having people around you. In observing ministry, I have found that there is a sever lack in this area. Yes, we have friends but how many can we really be open and honest with?
We fear that if we tell someone about our battles they will look at us as if we are not spiritual or are backsliding. Or we are afaid that our secrets may get out. The truth of that matter is both of these fears are justified because we have all been in situations where this has happened. I fear this has caused a great problem in ministry. It has become a trust issue. I cannot trust you to hear me out and understand that I am a man, a human, that still has faults and struggles. I cannot trust you to keep my confidence. As a result, I hold it all inside and after time the battle begins to wear on me. I can fight for awhile on my own, but at some point I will get tired, worn out and I will lose the battle.
Friends, real friends, are something that we must have. I tell people that there are 3 types of friendship that everyone needs.
1. A Mentor: We all need someone that has been where we are. Someone that can challenge us and hold us accountable.
2. Peer Friends: People that we hang out with. Go out with.
3. A Protoge: Someone that we can speak into their lives and act as a metor to them.
All three are essential to being healthy.
In my opinion, some of the men that fell would have been more sucessful in their fight if they had someone one to turn to. After all, even King David needed help.
King David, the mighty giant slayer found himself in a tough spot. 2 Samuel 21 tells the story of David going to battle. In the battle we are told that he became tired. As he grows tired a giant by the name of Ishbi-Benob goes out to kill David and he would have if Abishai had not stepped in.
We all need an Abishai in our life to help us fight the giants when we grow weary.
Even God said, "It is not good that man be alone."
Being open and honest is not easy and perhaps that is a problem for many. But we all need people in our lives. Friends to challenge us, to be there for us and we all need to be a friend to someone else.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Starting
Hello All,
I have wanted to start a blog for about a year and have had this set up for about a month and here I am finally getting started. It is not because I am a procratinator, although I can be. It really came down to not being sure I had anything to say that people would want to hear. As I am writing this I think it is ironic that the only person that will see this is my wife because she is the only one that is following me on this thing.
Another reason I hesitated was because I am not confident in my writting skills. But I finally decided that it was time rather the world was ready or not. So, here we go...
It is amazing to me how life teaches us lessons. I mean, just look at what I wrote about starting a blog. It was not a decsion that was going to change my life or affect those around me and yet I still had a hard time pulling the trigger. Why? Fear! I was afraid that I would say something that would make me look stupid and so I kept putting it off even though I wanted to do it. I finally had to tell my self, "It is just a blog. Get over yourself."
One of my favorite things to do is observe people and the sad thing is I have seen this same trait in others. We have something that we want to do. Or, more importantly something God wants us to do. We have a dream and then we get stuck. Fear paralyzes us. Some begin to think about everything that can go wrong, how it will not work, or what others my think or say. There may be many reasons why a person does not step out and start but, the fact is most don't.
I once heard someone say that the problem in today's world is that no one has dreams. I do agree that we all need dreams. We need something to work toward and to fight for however, I do not agree with that particular statement. Why? Because I believe that most people have dreams. I never remember talking to a friend when I was a kid and him telling me, "I dont want to do or be anything when I grow up." I know that some will say, "that is just a kids dream." Be careful about dismissing the dreams of a kid. After all Joseph was not an adult when he had his dreams. But I digress.......
I believe that we all at one time or another have or have had a dream. The problem is not the lack of dreams. The problem is lack of action.
I have noticed that many dreams die because the dreamer never acted on it. They never got started. I know from experience that starting can be a daunting task (after all look how long it took me to start a blog). But, I fear that this lack of courage to step out and start has hindered the Kingdom of God. How many ministries have never been started not because they were not thought of but, because no one acted on their dream.
As a pastor, I have people tell me all the time that they want our church to start a new ministry or they have an idea for something we can do better. And maybe my approach is wrong but, I believe that if God gives you a dream that dream is yours and that God gave to you for you to do something with. I have told our ministry team, "If there is something you want to do or try, if it is legal, DO IT. If you are getting out of line we will talk but, DO IT."
Too many dreams are dying because of inaction and when the dream dies the person dies. The Bible Tells us that without a vision the people perish.
If you have a dream, START NOW.........
I preached a message a couple of years ago that has come back to haunt me serveral times. I wish I could say that the thought was an original Sully thought but, it was not. I heard another preacher preach it and I stole it. Anyway, my problem is sometimes I dream so big that I don't know where to start. Ever since this message my wife, the staff and even God has had to remind me of it. It has even become the joke in many staff meetings. The basis of the message was this.
You must have a dream
When you get your dream act on it
If you dont know where or how to start
START WHERE YOU ARE
USE WHAT YOU HAVE
DO WHAT YOU CAN
If you have a dream don't let it die. ACT
I have wanted to start a blog for about a year and have had this set up for about a month and here I am finally getting started. It is not because I am a procratinator, although I can be. It really came down to not being sure I had anything to say that people would want to hear. As I am writing this I think it is ironic that the only person that will see this is my wife because she is the only one that is following me on this thing.
Another reason I hesitated was because I am not confident in my writting skills. But I finally decided that it was time rather the world was ready or not. So, here we go...
It is amazing to me how life teaches us lessons. I mean, just look at what I wrote about starting a blog. It was not a decsion that was going to change my life or affect those around me and yet I still had a hard time pulling the trigger. Why? Fear! I was afraid that I would say something that would make me look stupid and so I kept putting it off even though I wanted to do it. I finally had to tell my self, "It is just a blog. Get over yourself."
One of my favorite things to do is observe people and the sad thing is I have seen this same trait in others. We have something that we want to do. Or, more importantly something God wants us to do. We have a dream and then we get stuck. Fear paralyzes us. Some begin to think about everything that can go wrong, how it will not work, or what others my think or say. There may be many reasons why a person does not step out and start but, the fact is most don't.
I once heard someone say that the problem in today's world is that no one has dreams. I do agree that we all need dreams. We need something to work toward and to fight for however, I do not agree with that particular statement. Why? Because I believe that most people have dreams. I never remember talking to a friend when I was a kid and him telling me, "I dont want to do or be anything when I grow up." I know that some will say, "that is just a kids dream." Be careful about dismissing the dreams of a kid. After all Joseph was not an adult when he had his dreams. But I digress.......
I believe that we all at one time or another have or have had a dream. The problem is not the lack of dreams. The problem is lack of action.
I have noticed that many dreams die because the dreamer never acted on it. They never got started. I know from experience that starting can be a daunting task (after all look how long it took me to start a blog). But, I fear that this lack of courage to step out and start has hindered the Kingdom of God. How many ministries have never been started not because they were not thought of but, because no one acted on their dream.
As a pastor, I have people tell me all the time that they want our church to start a new ministry or they have an idea for something we can do better. And maybe my approach is wrong but, I believe that if God gives you a dream that dream is yours and that God gave to you for you to do something with. I have told our ministry team, "If there is something you want to do or try, if it is legal, DO IT. If you are getting out of line we will talk but, DO IT."
Too many dreams are dying because of inaction and when the dream dies the person dies. The Bible Tells us that without a vision the people perish.
If you have a dream, START NOW.........
I preached a message a couple of years ago that has come back to haunt me serveral times. I wish I could say that the thought was an original Sully thought but, it was not. I heard another preacher preach it and I stole it. Anyway, my problem is sometimes I dream so big that I don't know where to start. Ever since this message my wife, the staff and even God has had to remind me of it. It has even become the joke in many staff meetings. The basis of the message was this.
You must have a dream
When you get your dream act on it
If you dont know where or how to start
START WHERE YOU ARE
USE WHAT YOU HAVE
DO WHAT YOU CAN
If you have a dream don't let it die. ACT
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