Hey all..thanks for reading...it really has been a long time since my last post. I am not really sure it is because I haven't had anything good to write, but that I have had not had the time to sit and write. It has been a very busy year. Right now it is 5:30am and I am writing. Well let me just get to it:
Yesterday was a huge day in the life of St. Louis Cardinals baseball fans. Our Iconic first baseman Albert Pujols signed a HUGE contract!...with the Anaheim Angels. Yes, that is right, we lost possibly the best player in baseball to a huge contract. $254 million dollars over 10 years. Holy cow that is a lot of money. Many people including me had some initial reactions to that signing. Greed and betrayal were words being tossed about. My thoughts were not totally about greed (although I did believe that was part of the motivation). I began to think of potential pitfalls of this deal for Albert. He his a professing believer and by all accounts both public and private (by individuals I know and trust who know him) he is genuine. I thought of Scriptures like 1 Timothy 6:10 where it talks of the Love of money being the root of evil. That is a reasonable and fair Scriptural warning about the dangers of wealth. And I think they still apply. After all this deal had to be all about the money...right? After all he did say in February of this year he wanted to be a Cardinal for Life...right? So what changed? Is he greedy or just a liar?
Well, maybe not either. Here is what I am thinking and you may not agree but as I tell people all the time, "you have the right to be wrong if you want" :-). I want to relate this to you and I believe God has shaken it out in my mind so bare with me, I am really not just rambling, but remember it is 5:30am!
In January of 2000, Joann and I were called to serve the Pilgrims Rest Baptist Church in Ware Missouri. It was my first Pastorate, I was excited. When we arrived on field my wish and my desire was to serve there until I retired. I can recall making several "public" statements to that fact. I had no intention of moving anywhere else. We were home and we loved it there. Well it is 2011 now and I am writing from my living room in Wright City, Missouri. I am now the pastor at the First Baptist Church in Wright City (where I fully intend to serve until I retire). Did I lie then? Am I lying now? NO!! In late 2007 God began to do some things to cause me unrest in a position in which I was fully satisfied and happy. He did all that to move me to this town and this church. I have no doubt in my mind that I am where God wants me to be! Some very painful things had to happen in my life to make me willing to move to make me want to move and God made those things happen to get me where he wanted me. Now we didn't leave for Millions of dollars, in fact it was what many would call a "lateral" move. The new church was about the same size as the old church and our salary was about the same. God just had to make me so unhappy I had to move and he did! And I am thankful! What does it take to get any of us to leave a job we love? More money? Better Benefits? Better Schools? More opportunity? Just being generally unhappy? What does it take?
Now back to Albert...was he lying in February when he said he wanted to be a a Cardinal for life? Maybe not...let me ask a question if it is true that Albert loved St. Louis and believed it was truly the best baseball city in America and he wanted to stay here for the rest of his career and it is true that Albert loves the Lord and is a man of prayer and God wanted him to move to LA, what was it going to take to make that happen? Could it be $254 million dollars? I mean Miami came in and offered Albert 10 years Over $200 Million and he didn't jump. I mean to get him to leave this city was going to take a TON of money. This team in LA to come in and offered an astronomical amount of money that the Cardinals would not match and could not match. Could it be that God simply used this contract situation to take another one of his Kingdom assets and move it where He wanted it to be? Let's be honest LA isn't exactly overflowing with influential Christians. Maybe, just maybe God wanted Albert in LA and has arranged the details to make that happen. Does that stink for us here as Cardinal fans? ABSOLUTELY! But in the grand scheme of things we are really talking about eternity!
Just a thought...thanks for reading my rambling...
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Pastor Chad
Friday, December 9, 2011
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Time Sure Flies
Today I came to the realization that this month..June 2010 marks 18 years of ministry for me. I don't feel old enough to have done anything for 18 years but it is true. I began to think of those people that God has allowed me the honor of serving with for those 18 years and I decided to offer Him praise by honoring them. Here is my list of many (not all) of the men and women I have been blessed to serve alongside and under during the course of my 18 years of Gospel Ministry...it is a long list but not complete...these are not in any particular order of importance...if you do not find your name on this list it is not because you were not significant but because I am flawed in my memory....I thank God for each of you...you have shaped me and blessed me by your walk with God and I am truly blessed to have known and served with all of you...May our God be richly praised by my honoring you all!
Rick Ferguson, Kathy (Ferguson) Litton ,Duane Arlege ,Summer Arlege, Rob Works, Larry Gingrich, Brad Newbold, Nathan Cothen ,Brad East, Karen East ,Richard Adams ,Jerry Frazier ,Willie Isaacson , Donna Isaacson, Jim Plymale ,Ray Shumake, Rick Auxier ,Gary Taylor (both of them) ,Gerald Davidson, Bill Curp, Scott Lee, Ernie Downs, Randy Wigger, Ed Brinley, Jim Shockley ,Jasper Rains ,Rick Tucker ,Gary Gann ,Aaron Sutton ,Kerry Skinner, Tom Bray ,Marvin Nobles, Dennis Bradley, Curtis McClain ,Dale Allen ,Andy Chambers, Terry Chrisope, Steve Harter, My Parents (Steve and Barb Hodges) ,My beautiful Wife Joann ,Kelly Green ,Ronnie Hill, Steve Holdaway,
As I sit here and write I can think of dozens more...some I cannot even remember their names...but people who have profoundly impacted my life. For all of those listed I praise God for you! I am blessed to know you and to call you brothers and sisters and fellow laborers for Christ's sake..
"To God Be the Glory, great things He hath done and great out rejoincing thro Jesus the Son; But purer and higher and greater will be Our wonder, our victr'y when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father thro Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done."
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Rick Ferguson, Kathy (Ferguson) Litton ,Duane Arlege ,Summer Arlege, Rob Works, Larry Gingrich, Brad Newbold, Nathan Cothen ,Brad East, Karen East ,Richard Adams ,Jerry Frazier ,Willie Isaacson , Donna Isaacson, Jim Plymale ,Ray Shumake, Rick Auxier ,Gary Taylor (both of them) ,Gerald Davidson, Bill Curp, Scott Lee, Ernie Downs, Randy Wigger, Ed Brinley, Jim Shockley ,Jasper Rains ,Rick Tucker ,Gary Gann ,Aaron Sutton ,Kerry Skinner, Tom Bray ,Marvin Nobles, Dennis Bradley, Curtis McClain ,Dale Allen ,Andy Chambers, Terry Chrisope, Steve Harter, My Parents (Steve and Barb Hodges) ,My beautiful Wife Joann ,Kelly Green ,Ronnie Hill, Steve Holdaway,
As I sit here and write I can think of dozens more...some I cannot even remember their names...but people who have profoundly impacted my life. For all of those listed I praise God for you! I am blessed to know you and to call you brothers and sisters and fellow laborers for Christ's sake..
"To God Be the Glory, great things He hath done and great out rejoincing thro Jesus the Son; But purer and higher and greater will be Our wonder, our victr'y when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father thro Jesus the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done."
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
When Life Becomes Stormy!
Today I sit in my office and try to process the events of the last several days. It is January 6, 2010. We have celebrated Christmas, welcomed a New Year and yesterday my family buried my Uncle Earl Hodges. What a swing of emotions! And so for my first blog of 2010 I want to tell you a bit about the amazing man that was laid to rest yesterday. I hope I don't bore you, I just think I need to write a bit to process my feelings.
To begin with I think it is important to mention the unique family connection. Earl was my Dad's brother as well as my Mother's sister's husband. To clarify a bit my Dad and his brother married sisters. So Earl wasn't just my Uncle, he was my double Uncle. The reason that is important to note is because it means that Uncle Earl and my Aunt Diana were at all family functions we had growing up. If we had a get together with my mom's side of the family...they were there. If it was my Dad's side...they were there. We always seemed to live near each other, within usually a mile or two and when we didn't live that close we were always at their house or they at ours.
Uncle Earl and Aunt Diana are more like "other" parents to me. I wish I could put into words (and still be able to see my screen through the tears) all that he meant to me. Losing him was very much like losing a parent for me. It is going to be hard to imagine life without him, because I have never known life without him.
I had the amazing privilege of being his Pastor for about 8 years. Which I admit was a bit strange to look out as your are preaching and see people who once changed your diapers. But the truth is he always looked so proud. I used to say I didn't know if it was pride or boredom, but the truth is I know it was pride because I felt it and he told me from time to time. But it is here in this relationship that I find the blessing of it all...Earl Hodges was a child of God by virtue of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He has truly gone home to be with the Lord.
I shared briefly at his graveside yesterday a few words of hope to my family and now let me share them with you. Maybe, just maybe they will bring hope to you if you will allow them. We have just celebrated Christmas. In the book of Isaiah Chapter 7 we find these words "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (v. 14 NKJV) Now I can tell you that the word Immanuel in Hebrew means God with Us. but rather than me tell you and hopefully you think I am smart enough to know that, let me take you to yet another passage that confirms that statement...Matthew 1:22-23 ( NKJV ) 22So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”£ which is translated, “God with us.”
I find that incredible...God with Us. God is not some distant being watching us from a distance and Bette Midler tries to suggest. He is right here with us. He came to earth in the form of a man and lived among us. After his death, burial, resurrection and ascension He is still right here with us, we are not alone!
There is one other verse I shared with them, I have written about it before so let me just offer it in passing and if you want more just look for my previous post on it...Zephaniah 3:17 ( NKJV ) 17 The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Hold on a minute while I SHOUT! This verse tells us right from the start where God is...He is in our Midst. As if that were not comforting enough...we are told that He rejoices over us! You know on December 30 when my uncle left his physical body (at 59 years of age) to become present with the Lord there was great rejoicing in heaven and some of it even came from my uncle, but I suggest that most of it came from the Lord as He rejoiced over Earl with gladness and singing. Oh, what a beautiful song that must be! Imagine!
I will miss him soooo very much, but this is not the end for Earl Hodges it really is the beginning! I love you Uncle Earl, I will miss you...but thanks to Jesus we will meet again!
Thanks for listening!
Bro. Chad
To begin with I think it is important to mention the unique family connection. Earl was my Dad's brother as well as my Mother's sister's husband. To clarify a bit my Dad and his brother married sisters. So Earl wasn't just my Uncle, he was my double Uncle. The reason that is important to note is because it means that Uncle Earl and my Aunt Diana were at all family functions we had growing up. If we had a get together with my mom's side of the family...they were there. If it was my Dad's side...they were there. We always seemed to live near each other, within usually a mile or two and when we didn't live that close we were always at their house or they at ours.
Uncle Earl and Aunt Diana are more like "other" parents to me. I wish I could put into words (and still be able to see my screen through the tears) all that he meant to me. Losing him was very much like losing a parent for me. It is going to be hard to imagine life without him, because I have never known life without him.
I had the amazing privilege of being his Pastor for about 8 years. Which I admit was a bit strange to look out as your are preaching and see people who once changed your diapers. But the truth is he always looked so proud. I used to say I didn't know if it was pride or boredom, but the truth is I know it was pride because I felt it and he told me from time to time. But it is here in this relationship that I find the blessing of it all...Earl Hodges was a child of God by virtue of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He has truly gone home to be with the Lord.
I shared briefly at his graveside yesterday a few words of hope to my family and now let me share them with you. Maybe, just maybe they will bring hope to you if you will allow them. We have just celebrated Christmas. In the book of Isaiah Chapter 7 we find these words "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (v. 14 NKJV) Now I can tell you that the word Immanuel in Hebrew means God with Us. but rather than me tell you and hopefully you think I am smart enough to know that, let me take you to yet another passage that confirms that statement...Matthew 1:22-23 ( NKJV ) 22So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”£ which is translated, “God with us.”
I find that incredible...God with Us. God is not some distant being watching us from a distance and Bette Midler tries to suggest. He is right here with us. He came to earth in the form of a man and lived among us. After his death, burial, resurrection and ascension He is still right here with us, we are not alone!
There is one other verse I shared with them, I have written about it before so let me just offer it in passing and if you want more just look for my previous post on it...Zephaniah 3:17 ( NKJV ) 17 The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Hold on a minute while I SHOUT! This verse tells us right from the start where God is...He is in our Midst. As if that were not comforting enough...we are told that He rejoices over us! You know on December 30 when my uncle left his physical body (at 59 years of age) to become present with the Lord there was great rejoicing in heaven and some of it even came from my uncle, but I suggest that most of it came from the Lord as He rejoiced over Earl with gladness and singing. Oh, what a beautiful song that must be! Imagine!
I will miss him soooo very much, but this is not the end for Earl Hodges it really is the beginning! I love you Uncle Earl, I will miss you...but thanks to Jesus we will meet again!
Thanks for listening!
Bro. Chad
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Is it Meaningless?
Wow! It has been a long time since I have had a good thought! I can't believe I have not posted an entry since February. Life has been busy and God has been good. I hope this thought is worth posting.
I just finished having lunch with a Church Planter in our area. It was great to sit down and visit with him for a while. He and I had some Seminary classes together and we knew each other by name, but what a blessing to get to know more about him and his vision for the church he is trying to build.
As we talked and shared about ministry, vision, church planting, theology, evangelism and so on (we talked about a lot) one theme became apparent. One source of absolute agreement and solidarity popped up (and we did agree on much more than this, but this is the pin that holds it all together). Our world is LOST! People need Jesus!
I have been studying from the OT book of Ecclesiastes this week, preparing my message (God's message) for Sunday morning. The book of Ecclesiastes is kind of a "memoir" of King Solomon's life and adventures. His search for significance and meaning in this life. And the funny thing is this King who is said to have been the wisest man of all time, who had all the wealth and fame and pleasures of life still felt empty. Listen to how he opens this book:
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 ( NKJV ) 2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
Other translations use the word "meaningless". This word can mean many things, but ultimately it means unsatisfying and fruitless. This book chronicles for us the search of one man for "meaning" in life. And each new adventure, each new investment produced the same result, meaninglessness (I am not sure if that is a real word not not, but let's go with it). He searched for satisfaction in wealth...meaningless. He searched for satisfaction in women (about a 1000 of them between wives and concubines)...meaningless. He searched for significance through work, the labor of his hands...meaningless. Everything was meaningless.
Have you ever felt that way? No matter how hard you work, how much you have, how good your family is...everything leaves you feeling a bit empty. A bit unsatisfied. I think our world and more specifically our community is that way. We search and we search for meaning to this life for significance in this world. Our efforts produce everything but what we are looking to find.
Well, then is it all meaningless? Yes and No. The search for significance and meaning in things or in people is meaningless and the best it can hope to produce is heartache! But, listen to Solomon's conclusion after a life of searching he finally returns to this:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ( NKJV ) 13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Fear God and Keep His Commandments for this is man's all. It all comes back this, LIFE IS MEANINGLESS APART FROM A DEEP, ABIDING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
Jesus said it best... John 10:10 ( NKJV ) ... I have come that they may have LIFE, and that they may have it more abundantly. (emphasis mine).
John 14:6 ( NKJV ) 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (emphasis mine)
I could list more...but there in 2 verses Jesus tells us, that LIFE, real LIFE only comes through HIM!
So life outside of Christ is indeed meaningless. It is a search that will never end and never satisfy.
BUT life IN Jesus is ultimate. It is fulfilling in every way. It is satisfying to the core. IT is MEANINGFUL!
Pursue meaning, pursue satisfaction, PURSUE CHRIST!
Just a thought!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
I just finished having lunch with a Church Planter in our area. It was great to sit down and visit with him for a while. He and I had some Seminary classes together and we knew each other by name, but what a blessing to get to know more about him and his vision for the church he is trying to build.
As we talked and shared about ministry, vision, church planting, theology, evangelism and so on (we talked about a lot) one theme became apparent. One source of absolute agreement and solidarity popped up (and we did agree on much more than this, but this is the pin that holds it all together). Our world is LOST! People need Jesus!
I have been studying from the OT book of Ecclesiastes this week, preparing my message (God's message) for Sunday morning. The book of Ecclesiastes is kind of a "memoir" of King Solomon's life and adventures. His search for significance and meaning in this life. And the funny thing is this King who is said to have been the wisest man of all time, who had all the wealth and fame and pleasures of life still felt empty. Listen to how he opens this book:
Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 ( NKJV ) 2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
Other translations use the word "meaningless". This word can mean many things, but ultimately it means unsatisfying and fruitless. This book chronicles for us the search of one man for "meaning" in life. And each new adventure, each new investment produced the same result, meaninglessness (I am not sure if that is a real word not not, but let's go with it). He searched for satisfaction in wealth...meaningless. He searched for satisfaction in women (about a 1000 of them between wives and concubines)...meaningless. He searched for significance through work, the labor of his hands...meaningless. Everything was meaningless.
Have you ever felt that way? No matter how hard you work, how much you have, how good your family is...everything leaves you feeling a bit empty. A bit unsatisfied. I think our world and more specifically our community is that way. We search and we search for meaning to this life for significance in this world. Our efforts produce everything but what we are looking to find.
Well, then is it all meaningless? Yes and No. The search for significance and meaning in things or in people is meaningless and the best it can hope to produce is heartache! But, listen to Solomon's conclusion after a life of searching he finally returns to this:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ( NKJV ) 13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Fear God and Keep His Commandments for this is man's all. It all comes back this, LIFE IS MEANINGLESS APART FROM A DEEP, ABIDING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
Jesus said it best... John 10:10 ( NKJV ) ... I have come that they may have LIFE, and that they may have it more abundantly. (emphasis mine).
John 14:6 ( NKJV ) 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (emphasis mine)
I could list more...but there in 2 verses Jesus tells us, that LIFE, real LIFE only comes through HIM!
So life outside of Christ is indeed meaningless. It is a search that will never end and never satisfy.
BUT life IN Jesus is ultimate. It is fulfilling in every way. It is satisfying to the core. IT is MEANINGFUL!
Pursue meaning, pursue satisfaction, PURSUE CHRIST!
Just a thought!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Great and Mighty is He
I don't know why it takes me so long to come back here and record what I have been thinking. I truthfully don't even know if anyone is reading. But as you can see if you do read this blog, occasionally I have a good and maybe even an inspirational thought. When I do I try to record that, simply because I enjoy writing and most of all I enjoy looking back at what the Lord has been teaching me.
I remember as a teenager going to camps and we would sing a chorus, I don't know if I remember all the words (those days get further and further behind me) but it went something like this "Great and Mighty is He: Great and Mighty is He: Great and mighty is the Lord our God; Great and Mighty is He" It was a fun song.
This week in our Mid-week service I was teaching on the Book of Isaiah. And I came across an idea that reminded me of that song. Most of us are pretty familiar with Isaiah, particularly at Christmas time as we read from Chapters 7 and 9. We are familiar with other chapters such as Isaiah's vision in chapter 6. Who hasn't memorized Isaiah 40 as a young person to remind us to be patient and wait on the Lord. Then at Easter is Isaiah 53.
I came to the realization this week that I am good at compartmentalizing my favorite passages of Scripture. That is to say, I am good at taking my favorites and separating them from the rest. For example: I love Isaiah's vision of God in chapter 6, remember " In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."(NKJ)
Isn't your mind just filled with awe at the thought of such a Holy and Powerful God. Here comes the song: Great and Mighty is He...
I also love Isaiah 53 remember: "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.(NKJ)
Wow, what a savior. That Jesus would take our sin upon him. Here comes the song again: Great and Mighty is He...
Here we go and compartmentalize. Chapter 6 an amazing view of the Creator of the Universe. Chapter 53 an Amazing view of the savior. But wait let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Both of these chapters are from the same prophet. Both of these chapters speak of the same God.
Think about it the God of transcendent glory that Isaiah saw (that we all see) in chapter 6 -- the God who frightened him so much that he cried out. "... I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." (6:5) -- the God whose Words shook the foundation of the Temple is the very same God who would one day be,
...despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces... (Isaiah 53:3a RSV)
...wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed... (Isaiah 53:5 RSV)
Wow, The Holy God of Chapter 6 is the Savior of Chapter 53!! Ready here it comes: Great and Might is He... Can you feel it? Are you singing it too!
As the old preachers used to say :"If that don't light your fire, your wood's wet"
As Steve Brown used to say at the close of his radio show in his deep Bass voice:
"You Think About That, Amen"
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
I remember as a teenager going to camps and we would sing a chorus, I don't know if I remember all the words (those days get further and further behind me) but it went something like this "Great and Mighty is He: Great and Mighty is He: Great and mighty is the Lord our God; Great and Mighty is He" It was a fun song.
This week in our Mid-week service I was teaching on the Book of Isaiah. And I came across an idea that reminded me of that song. Most of us are pretty familiar with Isaiah, particularly at Christmas time as we read from Chapters 7 and 9. We are familiar with other chapters such as Isaiah's vision in chapter 6. Who hasn't memorized Isaiah 40 as a young person to remind us to be patient and wait on the Lord. Then at Easter is Isaiah 53.
I came to the realization this week that I am good at compartmentalizing my favorite passages of Scripture. That is to say, I am good at taking my favorites and separating them from the rest. For example: I love Isaiah's vision of God in chapter 6, remember " In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."(NKJ)
Isn't your mind just filled with awe at the thought of such a Holy and Powerful God. Here comes the song: Great and Mighty is He...
I also love Isaiah 53 remember: "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.(NKJ)
Wow, what a savior. That Jesus would take our sin upon him. Here comes the song again: Great and Mighty is He...
Here we go and compartmentalize. Chapter 6 an amazing view of the Creator of the Universe. Chapter 53 an Amazing view of the savior. But wait let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Both of these chapters are from the same prophet. Both of these chapters speak of the same God.
Think about it the God of transcendent glory that Isaiah saw (that we all see) in chapter 6 -- the God who frightened him so much that he cried out. "... I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." (6:5) -- the God whose Words shook the foundation of the Temple is the very same God who would one day be,
...despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces... (Isaiah 53:3a RSV)
...wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed... (Isaiah 53:5 RSV)
Wow, The Holy God of Chapter 6 is the Savior of Chapter 53!! Ready here it comes: Great and Might is He... Can you feel it? Are you singing it too!
As the old preachers used to say :"If that don't light your fire, your wood's wet"
As Steve Brown used to say at the close of his radio show in his deep Bass voice:
"You Think About That, Amen"
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
How Great is our God!
Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Apparently it takes me some time to have a good thought. Seriously, God has been doing some amazing things in our church and I have been struggling with how to put that into words. Here is my best effort. You see it in the title. "How Great is our God!"
That is more of a statement than a question at least for me. There is a song out there with that title. My wife uses it for her ringtone. Every time her phone rings, we are reminded of the Greatness of our God.
I think that is good to be reminded of the greatness of God. My question, though, is this: Why do we need to be reminded that God is great? The honest truth is that we simply forget. Don't' we? We get caught up in our living, we get consumed by the daily grind of life. We get too busy trying to fix our problems rather that doing as scripture says and start casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (I Peter 5:7 NKJV)
I don't know why we (I) think we can handle our lives problems better than God can. I am just trying to be honest here. The truth is (and none of us will admit this out loud) we sometimes think God doesn't know what He is doing. Sure we trust Him with everybody else's problems, but "Hey I can handle my own problems"
Scripture is full of reminders of the Greatness of our God. Turn to any of the 66 books of Scripture and you can find a reminder of the greatness of God!
But let's just look to one example: He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6 NKJV Emphasis Added)
I know you are thinking it so let me just say it WOW! How Great is our God! He has already borne our griefs and sorrows. He was Crucified not for his sin, but for ours (Mine). God himself paid the price that each of us rightfully owe for our sin. What more do we need to convince us of God's greatness.
I know that is an "Easter" verse and this is Christmas time, but maybe we need to be reminded that Christ, that precious little baby we celebrate at Christmas, was born to do what Isaiah prophesied 700 years earlier in the above text.
Before the creation of the World (hey there is another example!) God provided for us the plan through which we can be restored to Him. HE PROVIDED! HE PROVIDED! HE PROVIDED! Just say it over and over again. God Provided what we need most. Let's trust Him with the rest.
How Great is Our God!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
That is more of a statement than a question at least for me. There is a song out there with that title. My wife uses it for her ringtone. Every time her phone rings, we are reminded of the Greatness of our God.
I think that is good to be reminded of the greatness of God. My question, though, is this: Why do we need to be reminded that God is great? The honest truth is that we simply forget. Don't' we? We get caught up in our living, we get consumed by the daily grind of life. We get too busy trying to fix our problems rather that doing as scripture says and start casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (I Peter 5:7 NKJV)
I don't know why we (I) think we can handle our lives problems better than God can. I am just trying to be honest here. The truth is (and none of us will admit this out loud) we sometimes think God doesn't know what He is doing. Sure we trust Him with everybody else's problems, but "Hey I can handle my own problems"
Scripture is full of reminders of the Greatness of our God. Turn to any of the 66 books of Scripture and you can find a reminder of the greatness of God!
But let's just look to one example: He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6 NKJV Emphasis Added)
I know you are thinking it so let me just say it WOW! How Great is our God! He has already borne our griefs and sorrows. He was Crucified not for his sin, but for ours (Mine). God himself paid the price that each of us rightfully owe for our sin. What more do we need to convince us of God's greatness.
I know that is an "Easter" verse and this is Christmas time, but maybe we need to be reminded that Christ, that precious little baby we celebrate at Christmas, was born to do what Isaiah prophesied 700 years earlier in the above text.
Before the creation of the World (hey there is another example!) God provided for us the plan through which we can be restored to Him. HE PROVIDED! HE PROVIDED! HE PROVIDED! Just say it over and over again. God Provided what we need most. Let's trust Him with the rest.
How Great is Our God!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Friday, July 11, 2008
You Shall be Whole!
Wow, time flies when your having fun! I have now been on field at First Baptist Church for just over 6 weeks now. God is so good!
Today I want to talk about Holiness. It seems to be something I keep "bumping" into in my own study.
Holiness is such a scary word for us. It brings to mind images of sour faces and stern looks. It makes us think of people who don't look like they enjoy life. At least that is how I used to view it, until I really understood it, well at least understood it better.
You see there is a passage of scripture in Psalm 29:2 that describes the "beauty of holiness" Now the truth is I never really thought of holiness as beautiful. How could sour faces be beautiful? We try all types of ways to define holiness. We define it as "separate" or "different" "being set apart" and all of those are fine, but I think there is a better way to understand holiness.
Ray Steadman suggests to find the real meaning of holiness one must return to the original root of the word. Well when you do that you find that holiness is a word derived from the same root word from which we get a wonderful English word "wholeness"
So let me suggest that Holiness means "wholeness". At least I think that gets us a lot closer to what the Biblical writers meant. We all know what "wholeness" is. It is to have all the parts together as they were intended to be, and to have them functioning as they were intended to function.
In Leviticus 20:26 The LORD says to His people: "You shall be Holy to me; for I the Lord am Holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine."
If we dare, substitute the word "whole" for Holy, here is what we find: "You shall be "WHOLE" because I am "WHOLE"
You see there is nothing lacking in God. He is all together and functions perfectly. God is complete; he is Perfect. There is no blemish in Him. He lives in perfect harmony with Himself. He is absolutely what a person ought to be. He is WHOLE! And that is what He demands and desires for us. To have all the parts of our lives together as they were intended to be and to have them/us functioning perfectly. He looks at us in our broken state (and make no mistake about it we are "broken") and He says to us, I want you to be "WHOLE"
That is what we desire. To be whole. To be what God made us to be, with all the parts working in harmony. "COMPLETE, not lacking anything..."
When we view Holiness this way, at least when I began to view holiness this way. Holiness became precious and "beautiful" and something to be desired and not scared of.
Let me challenge you to be WHOLE, to be HOLY! It is God's command and His desire!!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Today I want to talk about Holiness. It seems to be something I keep "bumping" into in my own study.
Holiness is such a scary word for us. It brings to mind images of sour faces and stern looks. It makes us think of people who don't look like they enjoy life. At least that is how I used to view it, until I really understood it, well at least understood it better.
You see there is a passage of scripture in Psalm 29:2 that describes the "beauty of holiness" Now the truth is I never really thought of holiness as beautiful. How could sour faces be beautiful? We try all types of ways to define holiness. We define it as "separate" or "different" "being set apart" and all of those are fine, but I think there is a better way to understand holiness.
Ray Steadman suggests to find the real meaning of holiness one must return to the original root of the word. Well when you do that you find that holiness is a word derived from the same root word from which we get a wonderful English word "wholeness"
So let me suggest that Holiness means "wholeness". At least I think that gets us a lot closer to what the Biblical writers meant. We all know what "wholeness" is. It is to have all the parts together as they were intended to be, and to have them functioning as they were intended to function.
In Leviticus 20:26 The LORD says to His people: "You shall be Holy to me; for I the Lord am Holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine."
If we dare, substitute the word "whole" for Holy, here is what we find: "You shall be "WHOLE" because I am "WHOLE"
You see there is nothing lacking in God. He is all together and functions perfectly. God is complete; he is Perfect. There is no blemish in Him. He lives in perfect harmony with Himself. He is absolutely what a person ought to be. He is WHOLE! And that is what He demands and desires for us. To have all the parts of our lives together as they were intended to be and to have them/us functioning perfectly. He looks at us in our broken state (and make no mistake about it we are "broken") and He says to us, I want you to be "WHOLE"
That is what we desire. To be whole. To be what God made us to be, with all the parts working in harmony. "COMPLETE, not lacking anything..."
When we view Holiness this way, at least when I began to view holiness this way. Holiness became precious and "beautiful" and something to be desired and not scared of.
Let me challenge you to be WHOLE, to be HOLY! It is God's command and His desire!!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
It's All About Ability
These last few months have been a whirlwind. My family is now on field at our new Ministry in a new town. God has really done some amazing things in working out these details. We sure miss the folks we have been with for the last 8 years. They have really been a blessing to us.
But we are making new relationships at our new church. It is really interesting though, that even though the faces have changed and the church building has changed, nothing really changes. Church work is still church work. Preaching is still preaching and soul winning is still soul winning.
I have challenged our church in the last few weeks to consider how and why we do the work we do. There is a Scripture verse that I want to commend to you all today and it is simply this:
Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or think..."
I have found that far to often, I try to make things up as I go along. I have an idea and I try to implement this profound idea. Very rarely have those plans succeeded. I have known this for a long time, but sometimes I forget what I know, you know what I mean?
We cannot do this work alone. Jesus himself said, "without me you can do nothing" I am not sure why I/we continue to try to do things on our own. But when we remember, that without him we can do nothing and begin to allow Him, beg Him, desire Him to empower us to do the work He has called us to, and allow Him to be the source of our "Ability" it is then and ONLY then that what we call success begins to happen.
And it happens in floods. Because we serve a big God who has a BIG plan and when we allow Him to accomplish his plan the results are so much bigger than we could have ever imagined.
So my encouragement to US today is to remember that we are "disabled" but HE, Our God, is Able and He will do what we cannot!!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
By His
But we are making new relationships at our new church. It is really interesting though, that even though the faces have changed and the church building has changed, nothing really changes. Church work is still church work. Preaching is still preaching and soul winning is still soul winning.
I have challenged our church in the last few weeks to consider how and why we do the work we do. There is a Scripture verse that I want to commend to you all today and it is simply this:
Ephesians 3:20 "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or think..."
I have found that far to often, I try to make things up as I go along. I have an idea and I try to implement this profound idea. Very rarely have those plans succeeded. I have known this for a long time, but sometimes I forget what I know, you know what I mean?
We cannot do this work alone. Jesus himself said, "without me you can do nothing" I am not sure why I/we continue to try to do things on our own. But when we remember, that without him we can do nothing and begin to allow Him, beg Him, desire Him to empower us to do the work He has called us to, and allow Him to be the source of our "Ability" it is then and ONLY then that what we call success begins to happen.
And it happens in floods. Because we serve a big God who has a BIG plan and when we allow Him to accomplish his plan the results are so much bigger than we could have ever imagined.
So my encouragement to US today is to remember that we are "disabled" but HE, Our God, is Able and He will do what we cannot!!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
By His
Friday, April 18, 2008
Changes, Changes and More Changes!
WOW! Life is full of changes! These last few months for me have been truly hectic. Our family has been dealing with the possibility of changes. I have come to discover that although I always said I like change, I had no idea what I was talking about. Change is scary. There are a lot of unknowns. I guess that is why they call it change.
God has been dealing with me and my family about a ministry change. He has been calling us to a new ministry field. I think He has been trying to wake me up for some time now, but because I like the status quo, I wasn't listening.
He finally got my attention. An old college professor of mine used to say, "You can do things in life 1 of 2 ways: (1) You can do things God's Way or (2) You can do things God's Way." The truth is God's Will is going to be accomplished. Our choice really is the easy way or the hard way. Unfortunately I usually choose the hard way. You might think I would get smarter with time, but I don't and the truth is, if you are honest with yourself, neither do you.
Anyway, at the beginning of this month we were called to a new pastorate. In a new town, in a new county, a little bit further from where my wife and I have grown up. CHANGE!!!
It was difficult to tell the church I now serve that I was leaving. We have been with them for 8 years. But as I was preaching a message I thought was for them on Sunday, I realized it was for me and my family. Let me share the text with you: Isaiah 55:4-5. I want to point you to verse 5 , this is the part that really spoke to me, because we have been really scared and nervous.
Verse 5 of Isaiah 55 says: "Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you." (NKJV)
Let me just share how the Lord spoke to me and maybe he will speak to you. This verse comes just after the invitation to come to the Lord to find satisfaction. I believe this is the great commission of the Old Testament. Not only is this invitation to Come, buy an eat for us here in America or for the children of the nation of Israel (in proper context) but it is for an entire world totally unknown to the people of Israel at that time.
Isaiah 55 comes after Isaiah 53, God's great revelation of His redemptive plan in Christ. Given some 700 years before hand. God's plan for world wide missions will be accomplished in/by/through Jesus.
Now that is the proper context, this is how I related it to me. My family is being asked to go to a "a nation we do not know" to a people "we do not know". This is a new town in a new county. Now for many of you that is no big deal, but for my wife and I we grew up and have lived in the same county in Missouri our whole lives. This is a big deal for us.
It was as if God said to me, I am sending you here to these people and even though you have no idea about them or the city, I am sending you and these people whom you don't know and don't know me will come to me, because of me (the Lord your God)!
Now change is not so bad. It is still scary, but God has confirmed this is His plan. And do you know what I have found out? God's plan ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS is best!
So what Change is God calling you to make? Don't be afraid! Change, it will be OK.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
God has been dealing with me and my family about a ministry change. He has been calling us to a new ministry field. I think He has been trying to wake me up for some time now, but because I like the status quo, I wasn't listening.
He finally got my attention. An old college professor of mine used to say, "You can do things in life 1 of 2 ways: (1) You can do things God's Way or (2) You can do things God's Way." The truth is God's Will is going to be accomplished. Our choice really is the easy way or the hard way. Unfortunately I usually choose the hard way. You might think I would get smarter with time, but I don't and the truth is, if you are honest with yourself, neither do you.
Anyway, at the beginning of this month we were called to a new pastorate. In a new town, in a new county, a little bit further from where my wife and I have grown up. CHANGE!!!
It was difficult to tell the church I now serve that I was leaving. We have been with them for 8 years. But as I was preaching a message I thought was for them on Sunday, I realized it was for me and my family. Let me share the text with you: Isaiah 55:4-5. I want to point you to verse 5 , this is the part that really spoke to me, because we have been really scared and nervous.
Verse 5 of Isaiah 55 says: "Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you." (NKJV)
Let me just share how the Lord spoke to me and maybe he will speak to you. This verse comes just after the invitation to come to the Lord to find satisfaction. I believe this is the great commission of the Old Testament. Not only is this invitation to Come, buy an eat for us here in America or for the children of the nation of Israel (in proper context) but it is for an entire world totally unknown to the people of Israel at that time.
Isaiah 55 comes after Isaiah 53, God's great revelation of His redemptive plan in Christ. Given some 700 years before hand. God's plan for world wide missions will be accomplished in/by/through Jesus.
Now that is the proper context, this is how I related it to me. My family is being asked to go to a "a nation we do not know" to a people "we do not know". This is a new town in a new county. Now for many of you that is no big deal, but for my wife and I we grew up and have lived in the same county in Missouri our whole lives. This is a big deal for us.
It was as if God said to me, I am sending you here to these people and even though you have no idea about them or the city, I am sending you and these people whom you don't know and don't know me will come to me, because of me (the Lord your God)!
Now change is not so bad. It is still scary, but God has confirmed this is His plan. And do you know what I have found out? God's plan ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS is best!
So what Change is God calling you to make? Don't be afraid! Change, it will be OK.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
What's In A Name?
What kind of thought do you give to your name? Does your name say anything about you? My wife and I gave a lot of thought to the names of our children. We didn't just pick names that sounded good together, or names that you couldn't make a silly nickname from, but we thought about the names we gave to each of our 4 children.
For example, our firstborn, Nathaniel, was given his name because Nathaniel means in Hebrew "Gift from God". We had been trying for nearly 3 years to get pregnant and it seemed impossible and then God gave us a gift. Our Son! Our 1st Daughter, Abigail, was name after Abigail the Carmelitess, King David's Wife. Scripture describes her as very beautiful and describes the great risk she took to save the life of her family. We have a son named Noah, Scripture says of Noah that he was the only righteous man on earth at the time. We have a 2nd daughter whose name is Rebekah, she is named for the wife of Isaac, Scripture describes here as very beautiful and describes her servants heart in Genesis 24.
I say all that to say there is value to our names. In the New Testament, the name of the Son of God was not left to chance. Mary was told to call Him Jesus because He would save people from their sins. I could go on.
This all leads me to our verse for today Psalm 9:10 says "And those who know your Name will put their trust in you; for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you."
Those who Know His name will trust in Him. Let me ask you this, do you know God's name? When people think of the names of God almost always we think of: Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Nissi, and a few others. But you know none of those are really the name OF God, they are merely names FOR God.
God gives us his name in Exodus 3:13-15 "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers, has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'what is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the Children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. Moreover God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the Children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations."
We have a slight problem in our understanding here. You see God gives us His name here, but it is not translated into English. It is simply translated LORD. What God reveals to us here is His personal name.
You see the Hebrews felt this name far to holy to mention, so when God's name was written in Scripture they would pronounce the word Adonai, which means "My Lord" for fear that they would take God's name in vain somehow.
We have carried on this tradition. I believe we do ourselves a great disservice. You see God revealed His name to us for a purpose, because it reveals a great deal about Him. Let me retype this text again, this time using the Name God Gives Himself beginning in verse 14:
"And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM" And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. Moreover God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, YAHWEH, God of your Fathers.....This is My name forever..."
His name is Yahweh. I wish I could take time to reveal all that this means. Let me just say this. This is important because it is how God chose to reveal Himself. He has a name. He is not just a God, He is not Just God, He is Yahweh (I AM WHO I AM). This name is used more than 6800 times in the Old Testament, more than 3 times as often as the generic word of God Elohim.
This says very plainly to us that God wants to be known...not as a generic, run of the mill, deity, but as a specific person with a name that carries His unique character and mission.
So here is my challenge, when you find the word LORD in all capital letters in the Old Testament, use God's name and see if that doesn't change how you read that text.
There is so much value to a name. Let's not forget that God gave us His.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
For example, our firstborn, Nathaniel, was given his name because Nathaniel means in Hebrew "Gift from God". We had been trying for nearly 3 years to get pregnant and it seemed impossible and then God gave us a gift. Our Son! Our 1st Daughter, Abigail, was name after Abigail the Carmelitess, King David's Wife. Scripture describes her as very beautiful and describes the great risk she took to save the life of her family. We have a son named Noah, Scripture says of Noah that he was the only righteous man on earth at the time. We have a 2nd daughter whose name is Rebekah, she is named for the wife of Isaac, Scripture describes here as very beautiful and describes her servants heart in Genesis 24.
I say all that to say there is value to our names. In the New Testament, the name of the Son of God was not left to chance. Mary was told to call Him Jesus because He would save people from their sins. I could go on.
This all leads me to our verse for today Psalm 9:10 says "And those who know your Name will put their trust in you; for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you."
Those who Know His name will trust in Him. Let me ask you this, do you know God's name? When people think of the names of God almost always we think of: Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Nissi, and a few others. But you know none of those are really the name OF God, they are merely names FOR God.
God gives us his name in Exodus 3:13-15 "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers, has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'what is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the Children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. Moreover God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the Children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations."
We have a slight problem in our understanding here. You see God gives us His name here, but it is not translated into English. It is simply translated LORD. What God reveals to us here is His personal name.
You see the Hebrews felt this name far to holy to mention, so when God's name was written in Scripture they would pronounce the word Adonai, which means "My Lord" for fear that they would take God's name in vain somehow.
We have carried on this tradition. I believe we do ourselves a great disservice. You see God revealed His name to us for a purpose, because it reveals a great deal about Him. Let me retype this text again, this time using the Name God Gives Himself beginning in verse 14:
"And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM" And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. Moreover God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, YAHWEH, God of your Fathers.....This is My name forever..."
His name is Yahweh. I wish I could take time to reveal all that this means. Let me just say this. This is important because it is how God chose to reveal Himself. He has a name. He is not just a God, He is not Just God, He is Yahweh (I AM WHO I AM). This name is used more than 6800 times in the Old Testament, more than 3 times as often as the generic word of God Elohim.
This says very plainly to us that God wants to be known...not as a generic, run of the mill, deity, but as a specific person with a name that carries His unique character and mission.
So here is my challenge, when you find the word LORD in all capital letters in the Old Testament, use God's name and see if that doesn't change how you read that text.
There is so much value to a name. Let's not forget that God gave us His.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Friday, December 21, 2007
Merry Christmas!
In a day and age where saying Merry Christmas has become Taboo I say as loudly as you can in print MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
If you are like me Christmas is very busy. Very Busy! But what an amazing time of year! I am not a huge fan of Christmas Carols and the like, but believe me I am no Scrooge. What I love most about Christmas is Christ.
Now we all know that Christ was not born on December 25th. But it is the day that for centuries we have set aside to recognize the Incarnation of our Savior. What a great thought. I think the first chapter of John captures the spirit of Christmas the best. So let me just share that with you.
John 1:1-5; 14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (literally and God was the Word). He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
What a great truth. The Coexistent, eternal Son of the Living God, layed aside all the glory of heaven and put on himself human flesh so that He might redeem those who would believe.
I know it is cliche, but Jesus TRULY is the reason for the season! I pray that you would remember that simple fact this Christmas season.
From my family to yours: God Bless You This Christmas Season!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
If you are like me Christmas is very busy. Very Busy! But what an amazing time of year! I am not a huge fan of Christmas Carols and the like, but believe me I am no Scrooge. What I love most about Christmas is Christ.
Now we all know that Christ was not born on December 25th. But it is the day that for centuries we have set aside to recognize the Incarnation of our Savior. What a great thought. I think the first chapter of John captures the spirit of Christmas the best. So let me just share that with you.
John 1:1-5; 14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (literally and God was the Word). He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
What a great truth. The Coexistent, eternal Son of the Living God, layed aside all the glory of heaven and put on himself human flesh so that He might redeem those who would believe.
I know it is cliche, but Jesus TRULY is the reason for the season! I pray that you would remember that simple fact this Christmas season.
From my family to yours: God Bless You This Christmas Season!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
My Thoughts about the World of Politics
Greetings everyone! I pray that all is well with you. In this edition of my thoughts, I want to share with you my thoughts about the world of politics. Particularly the race for President. Many of you who know me, know that I am very politically informed. If you do not know me, I believe the right to vote is a valuable right and it is my responsibility to be as informed as I possibly can be.
In my position as a Pastor I try to guard my opinions very closely. But this blog is all about my Opinions and thoughts.
For the first time in my voting life I have actually decided to get involved in a political campaign. I have contributed financially to this particular candidate and I have sent emails to some of my family and close friends introducing them to him. And now I sit writing a blog proudly informing all who read this blog of my total support for MIKE HUCKABEE for president.
I was initially interested in Mike because of his Southern Baptist Faith. He served as a Southern Baptist Pastor for 12 years. But as I began to research him as a political figure I came to find out that not only does he represent my believes on the very important social issues of our day (ie abortion, gay marriage, the significance of family etc) but he also represents my views on all the other major issues of our day (ie national defense, taxes, the economy etc)
I believe we have a candidate in Mike Huckabee, who not only can win the Republican Party Nomination for President, but can win the National Election for President. I believe he will be (if elected) a president of whom we can all be proud!
I don't want to banter on here, but I would just encourage you to give Mike Huckabee a strong look. If you don't find that He represents your beliefs or is what you are looking for in a President then by all means keep researching. But I believe you will find as I have, that Mike Huckabee is the man for the job.
I don't think Mike is the greater choice of several bad choices. He is a candidate that I can fully endorse!
I have a link to his website below. Please go check it out. But by all means regardless of where you come down on this issue. Be informed and Vote your Conscience!!!
Thanks for letting me delve into a very sensitive issue! I promise we will get back to the regular thoughts very soon!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
In my position as a Pastor I try to guard my opinions very closely. But this blog is all about my Opinions and thoughts.
For the first time in my voting life I have actually decided to get involved in a political campaign. I have contributed financially to this particular candidate and I have sent emails to some of my family and close friends introducing them to him. And now I sit writing a blog proudly informing all who read this blog of my total support for MIKE HUCKABEE for president.
I was initially interested in Mike because of his Southern Baptist Faith. He served as a Southern Baptist Pastor for 12 years. But as I began to research him as a political figure I came to find out that not only does he represent my believes on the very important social issues of our day (ie abortion, gay marriage, the significance of family etc) but he also represents my views on all the other major issues of our day (ie national defense, taxes, the economy etc)
I believe we have a candidate in Mike Huckabee, who not only can win the Republican Party Nomination for President, but can win the National Election for President. I believe he will be (if elected) a president of whom we can all be proud!
I don't want to banter on here, but I would just encourage you to give Mike Huckabee a strong look. If you don't find that He represents your beliefs or is what you are looking for in a President then by all means keep researching. But I believe you will find as I have, that Mike Huckabee is the man for the job.
I don't think Mike is the greater choice of several bad choices. He is a candidate that I can fully endorse!
I have a link to his website below. Please go check it out. But by all means regardless of where you come down on this issue. Be informed and Vote your Conscience!!!
Thanks for letting me delve into a very sensitive issue! I promise we will get back to the regular thoughts very soon!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Thursday, September 27, 2007
In the Beginning............
It has been sometime since my last post. I am very sorry for that. I have had some thoughts, but have had no time to write them down. Today I am making the time.
I want to consider today Genesis 1. Genesis was written by Moses some 1400 years before the birth of Christ. The first chapter of Genesis deals with the creation of the universe by God. We all know the first words of Genesis 1:1 " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
You may have noticed my title for this "thought" "In the beginning _________" I have left a blank, not because I doubt the creation. The truth is my very existence rests within those words. I believe them to my core. But my question and my point by leaving that space blank is simply this: DO YOU?
I have left that blank because I want you to fill in the blank. How you fill in that blank is going to have a tremendous impact on your life. The Scriptures say: "In the beginning God..." If you and I accept that fact, then our whole life will be affected.
Let me also tell you this, if Satan can successfully get you to deny "In the beginning God.." then he has done all he needs to do to destroy your soul.
I also know that if you are reading this blog then chances are you have already accepted the fact of "In the beginning God..." That being the case, then we acknowledge there is a God in heaven who is mighty and majestic and He demands our loyalty and obedience. And someday we will stand before Him. That should be the guiding force that shapes and molds our lives.
I don't have to tell you (but I will) that there are many people today who say "In the beginning God..." with the minds and mouths but say "In the beginning I..." with their lives.
I just wonder which are you? Which today am I? I believe to the very core of my soul that God created everything from nothing and He is the king of the universe. May I, may we live our lives in such a way that it reflects that belief. That in the beginning God created... the heaven and the earth.
Let me make that a bit more personal. In 1972 (my beginning) God created me, He is my ruler and my king. I pray that today He has my loyalty and allegiance and total obedience! I also pray He has yours.
How do you fill in the blank?
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
I want to consider today Genesis 1. Genesis was written by Moses some 1400 years before the birth of Christ. The first chapter of Genesis deals with the creation of the universe by God. We all know the first words of Genesis 1:1 " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"
You may have noticed my title for this "thought" "In the beginning _________" I have left a blank, not because I doubt the creation. The truth is my very existence rests within those words. I believe them to my core. But my question and my point by leaving that space blank is simply this: DO YOU?
I have left that blank because I want you to fill in the blank. How you fill in that blank is going to have a tremendous impact on your life. The Scriptures say: "In the beginning God..." If you and I accept that fact, then our whole life will be affected.
Let me also tell you this, if Satan can successfully get you to deny "In the beginning God.." then he has done all he needs to do to destroy your soul.
I also know that if you are reading this blog then chances are you have already accepted the fact of "In the beginning God..." That being the case, then we acknowledge there is a God in heaven who is mighty and majestic and He demands our loyalty and obedience. And someday we will stand before Him. That should be the guiding force that shapes and molds our lives.
I don't have to tell you (but I will) that there are many people today who say "In the beginning God..." with the minds and mouths but say "In the beginning I..." with their lives.
I just wonder which are you? Which today am I? I believe to the very core of my soul that God created everything from nothing and He is the king of the universe. May I, may we live our lives in such a way that it reflects that belief. That in the beginning God created... the heaven and the earth.
Let me make that a bit more personal. In 1972 (my beginning) God created me, He is my ruler and my king. I pray that today He has my loyalty and allegiance and total obedience! I also pray He has yours.
How do you fill in the blank?
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Friday, August 3, 2007
It Is Very Good
Greetings everyone. My thought for today comes from my dear friend Pastor Peter Njuguna. Peter is pictured with me in the photos to the left. He is the Pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Kiambu, Kenya. He sent this today and I wanted to share it with you. I hope you enjoy.
It Is Very Good!
Have you ever thought of something good? I was riding on a bicycle on a country road to visit one of my friends, who is a pastor. On each side of the road was a grassland and a few people inhabited the area. There were some people walking on the same road. As I was riding, I noticed that there were many birds in the area, and they were different colors and sizes. The birds and everything I saw on the road started sinking slowly into my mind. I started riding my bicycle slowly and it took me a longer time to reach my friends home.
This was one of the enjoyable moments of my life. As I was observing for a long time, I noticed that the birds were very beautiful. And also the environment was very good. One kind of the birds had a very long tail and when one of them flew near my face, the tail made it gorgeous. They had black shining color and a beautiful white round mark like an eye on it's tail. There were other birds which were singing and the air was filled with music. It was as if they were praising their provider who is their creator. There were others eating berries from the trees, shrubs and some collecting from the ground. All the birds were beautifully marked on their feathers. This reminded me of my time in Kakamega forest which is home of many types of birds and it's beauty in western Kenya.
I thought to myself; do other people see this kind of beauty? This led me to an answer that, God is the creator of every goodness. I remembered the garden of Eden and I asked myself; How beautiful was that garden? Aha!! God loved man that is why the Bible says in Genesis 1:31 "God saw all that He had made and it was very good." There was no sin in the created man. God had fellowship with man and the animals obeyed man till the time man disobeyed God.
God is ever loving and He sent Jesus Christ to reconcile man to God through His death. This was done so that man can gain hope, peace, love, happiness and eternal life. Man can become a new creation through Jesus Christ if he trusts Him (2 Corinthians 5:17) Man's life can be more beautiful than anything in nature if has Christ in his life. He can have eternal life and walk on the streets of gold when he goes to heaven. THIS IS WHEN YOU HAVE CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOUR. This is more beautiful that the area I was riding my bicycle"
Pastor Peter Njuguna
Liberty Baptist Church
Kiambu, Kenya.
I hope you have enjoyed Peter's thoughts. Kenya may be one of the most beautiful places I have been on the face of the earth. I hope you can hear the beauty that Peter describes, but more importantly look out your window, how beautiful is the land that God has created. God is GREAT and GREATLY to be praised, AMEN? Amen!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
It Is Very Good!
Have you ever thought of something good? I was riding on a bicycle on a country road to visit one of my friends, who is a pastor. On each side of the road was a grassland and a few people inhabited the area. There were some people walking on the same road. As I was riding, I noticed that there were many birds in the area, and they were different colors and sizes. The birds and everything I saw on the road started sinking slowly into my mind. I started riding my bicycle slowly and it took me a longer time to reach my friends home.
This was one of the enjoyable moments of my life. As I was observing for a long time, I noticed that the birds were very beautiful. And also the environment was very good. One kind of the birds had a very long tail and when one of them flew near my face, the tail made it gorgeous. They had black shining color and a beautiful white round mark like an eye on it's tail. There were other birds which were singing and the air was filled with music. It was as if they were praising their provider who is their creator. There were others eating berries from the trees, shrubs and some collecting from the ground. All the birds were beautifully marked on their feathers. This reminded me of my time in Kakamega forest which is home of many types of birds and it's beauty in western Kenya.
I thought to myself; do other people see this kind of beauty? This led me to an answer that, God is the creator of every goodness. I remembered the garden of Eden and I asked myself; How beautiful was that garden? Aha!! God loved man that is why the Bible says in Genesis 1:31 "God saw all that He had made and it was very good." There was no sin in the created man. God had fellowship with man and the animals obeyed man till the time man disobeyed God.
God is ever loving and He sent Jesus Christ to reconcile man to God through His death. This was done so that man can gain hope, peace, love, happiness and eternal life. Man can become a new creation through Jesus Christ if he trusts Him (2 Corinthians 5:17) Man's life can be more beautiful than anything in nature if has Christ in his life. He can have eternal life and walk on the streets of gold when he goes to heaven. THIS IS WHEN YOU HAVE CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOUR. This is more beautiful that the area I was riding my bicycle"
Pastor Peter Njuguna
Liberty Baptist Church
Kiambu, Kenya.
I hope you have enjoyed Peter's thoughts. Kenya may be one of the most beautiful places I have been on the face of the earth. I hope you can hear the beauty that Peter describes, but more importantly look out your window, how beautiful is the land that God has created. God is GREAT and GREATLY to be praised, AMEN? Amen!!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Do I Drive or Do I Motor?
My great epiphany for this thought, really isn't MY thought at all. I have borrowed it from a dear friend of mine. In fact he is more than a friend, he is in every way that counts (except biological) my brother. This thought is found on page 109 of a book that my "brother" Gary Taylor wrote titled "For Those Who Thirst: A Parched Worshipper's Journey". If when you read this thought you find that you would like to read more of what Gary has written, I think he has a few copies of the book left. Just get in touch with me and I can try to get you a copy. Anyway, this thought is titled "Do I Drive or Do I Motor"
" I'm intrigued and challenged by the difference between "driving" and "motoring" I never gave it a second thought until I began what I now believe to be motoring in my Mini.
I must be honest and say that the marketing folks for Mini know exactly how to grab the attention of a guy who changes vehicles every couple of years. In one of the Mini Cooper promotional pieces, the marketing geniuses explain that driving gets you from point A to point B. On the other hand, motoring is the drive from A to Z. The stopping point is not the goal.
It is during the experience on the road en route to a destination that one discovers hidden blessings, scenic overlooks, and visual treasures off the beaten path.
Realizing the difference between driving and motoring shifted the focus of my prayers. I used to pray for God to move me swiftly and efficiently from point A to point B. Not a bad prayer, but I was settling for less than the best.
Now I find myself asking God to allow me to partake of the treasures, blessings, and scenic overlooks discovered by those willing to motor by faith. It only makes sense that the God Who described Himself as the Alpha and Omega, the A and Z, would want me to choose the road named after Him.
Yep, I'm a convert. I once was blind, but not I see. I once was content as a driver, but now I long to live as a motorist.
Did you know that Jesus was an A to Z type of traveler? He modeled a life of dependence on the day-to-day, moment-by-moment guidance of the Holy Spirit who led Him along roads all over the map. That's why even those towns that He was just passing through ended up being the sites of such monumental and noteworthy events.
Driving straight from A to B, from the manger to the cross, just wouldn't have cut it. He was a motorist craving the open road. He recognized than any given moment could be scenic overlook or the sovereign detour of a precious opportunity to make an eternal difference in someone's life.
Open your Bible to Luke 18:31 and begin reading Jesus' motoring logbook. In this verse Jesus informs the disciples that He is going to Jerusalem. But the next several verses are spectacular accounts of motoring through Jericho before arriving at the "destination" in Luke 19:28.
In Luke 18:40 He pulled over at the request of a blind man. In Luke 19:1 He intended to pass through, but He parked at the house of a wee little man.
In Luke 19:11 we read that although Jesus was intent on going to Jerusalem, He felt there was time to drive below the speed limit so those confused travelers could catch up. We don't read that He even saw His greatly anticipated destination of Jerusalem until Luke 19:41.
In this passage, Jesus did what all good motorists do while traveling. he checked His blind spots, kept on the lookout for little children in the street, hit the brakes for lost and wayward travelers, and then joined in the parade.
MAYBE YOU CAN RELATE...
We all have the tendency to ask God for the bottom line. "God, just tell me what your will is for my life and I'll go do it." You just sit with you engine idling at point A, awaiting that sign from God that directs you to point B. But God has so much more planned for you-A life from A to Z.
Could it be that in your drive to the destination you've missed motoring through the blessings of back roads and rest stops? Yeah, Jerusalem-or wherever God has called you to go-will be awesome. But don't overlook the opportunities off the beaten paths of Jericho.
Here's your motorist's tip of the day: Rather than asking God to transplant you safely to your desired destination, invite the Holy Spirit to guide you, prompting you to slow down for fellow motorists sharing the road.
Keep a written record of those merging onto the lanes of your life today, journaling the ways in which God moves in their lives through you. Happy Motoring."
My prayer for you as you have read this thought by my "brother" Gary is that you will become a motorist and not just a driver.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
" I'm intrigued and challenged by the difference between "driving" and "motoring" I never gave it a second thought until I began what I now believe to be motoring in my Mini.
I must be honest and say that the marketing folks for Mini know exactly how to grab the attention of a guy who changes vehicles every couple of years. In one of the Mini Cooper promotional pieces, the marketing geniuses explain that driving gets you from point A to point B. On the other hand, motoring is the drive from A to Z. The stopping point is not the goal.
It is during the experience on the road en route to a destination that one discovers hidden blessings, scenic overlooks, and visual treasures off the beaten path.
Realizing the difference between driving and motoring shifted the focus of my prayers. I used to pray for God to move me swiftly and efficiently from point A to point B. Not a bad prayer, but I was settling for less than the best.
Now I find myself asking God to allow me to partake of the treasures, blessings, and scenic overlooks discovered by those willing to motor by faith. It only makes sense that the God Who described Himself as the Alpha and Omega, the A and Z, would want me to choose the road named after Him.
Yep, I'm a convert. I once was blind, but not I see. I once was content as a driver, but now I long to live as a motorist.
Did you know that Jesus was an A to Z type of traveler? He modeled a life of dependence on the day-to-day, moment-by-moment guidance of the Holy Spirit who led Him along roads all over the map. That's why even those towns that He was just passing through ended up being the sites of such monumental and noteworthy events.
Driving straight from A to B, from the manger to the cross, just wouldn't have cut it. He was a motorist craving the open road. He recognized than any given moment could be scenic overlook or the sovereign detour of a precious opportunity to make an eternal difference in someone's life.
Open your Bible to Luke 18:31 and begin reading Jesus' motoring logbook. In this verse Jesus informs the disciples that He is going to Jerusalem. But the next several verses are spectacular accounts of motoring through Jericho before arriving at the "destination" in Luke 19:28.
In Luke 18:40 He pulled over at the request of a blind man. In Luke 19:1 He intended to pass through, but He parked at the house of a wee little man.
In Luke 19:11 we read that although Jesus was intent on going to Jerusalem, He felt there was time to drive below the speed limit so those confused travelers could catch up. We don't read that He even saw His greatly anticipated destination of Jerusalem until Luke 19:41.
In this passage, Jesus did what all good motorists do while traveling. he checked His blind spots, kept on the lookout for little children in the street, hit the brakes for lost and wayward travelers, and then joined in the parade.
MAYBE YOU CAN RELATE...
We all have the tendency to ask God for the bottom line. "God, just tell me what your will is for my life and I'll go do it." You just sit with you engine idling at point A, awaiting that sign from God that directs you to point B. But God has so much more planned for you-A life from A to Z.
Could it be that in your drive to the destination you've missed motoring through the blessings of back roads and rest stops? Yeah, Jerusalem-or wherever God has called you to go-will be awesome. But don't overlook the opportunities off the beaten paths of Jericho.
Here's your motorist's tip of the day: Rather than asking God to transplant you safely to your desired destination, invite the Holy Spirit to guide you, prompting you to slow down for fellow motorists sharing the road.
Keep a written record of those merging onto the lanes of your life today, journaling the ways in which God moves in their lives through you. Happy Motoring."
My prayer for you as you have read this thought by my "brother" Gary is that you will become a motorist and not just a driver.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Thank You God for My Dad!
Father's Day is Sunday. This is always a difficult time for me as a preacher, because just like every holiday I am expected to preach a sermon related to that Holiday. As I was thinking about this task, I began to think about the blessing God has given me in my own Dad. In fact as I write that statement I have developed that all too familiar "lump" in my throat. I can't think about what a great Dad I have without getting that "lump".
So for this "thought" in my blog I would like to write a short tribute to my Dad! Before I do that it must be said first because it is of utmost importance. Anything good I have to say about my Dad should merely be seen a reflection upon the awesomeness of "our Father" Scripture says that "every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights..." That is what I want everyone to understand as I seek to honor my earthly Dad. Any honor given him is really an honor due to our God!
With that being said let me tell you about my Dad. Believing in God as Father was an easy thing for me to do, because I understood very well the powerful love of a father. My Dad has always been an amazing example to me of that kind of love. That is not to say that my Dad has always been a "godly" example! It will be 20 years ago this year (November I think) that my Dad gave his heart to Jesus and began serving as an example not only of fatherly love but of godly fatherly love. I will be 35 this year so that means that for the first 15 or so years of my life, my Dad did not know God! But he did model the kind of fatherly love that made it easy for me to trust Jesus almost 19 years ago now.
My Dad and I have shared many memories and I pray that we will share many more. I remember one Christmas when I was 9 or 10 years old my Dad and I "burned" up, and I mean that quite literally, an Atari joystick playing Frogger together. I remember my Dad teaching me how to fish. How to hunt rabbits (without ever shooting at one I might add, that is a humorous memory!) I remember taking overnight float trips with my Dad (something we have done with my own sons) I wish I could say all the memories are filled with Joy.
You want to know the greatest thing about my Dad? He loved me enough to discipline me. He loved me enough to tell me the truth about what he saw happening in my life. He loved me enough to make me do things that I didn't really want to do. He loved me enough to ,for a short period of time, make me "hate" him because he knew I was making some mistakes. I will never be able to express what a powerful thing that is to me today!
You never really know love until you walk in and see or hear your Dad praying for you! I have done that on more than one occasion! WOW! What a humbling experience.
I sure wish I could say I have been the perfect son, but I haven't been. But my Dad was the best Dad not because he was perfect, but because he did his best with what he had to work with (namely me)! I have a sister and she turned out pretty OK too.
Anyway, today at almost 35 years old, my Dad is my best friend. Maybe that sounds strange to you. But to me, it is just natural. I have my own family now and my dad doesn't treat me like a kid, but like a man and we sit and talk on that level. We fish together and camp together. We talk about "business" together ( we are both preachers)
Anyway, I am sure I have bored you with talk of my Dad so let me just say this in case my Dad happens to read this. DAD, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for being the greatest Dad that any kid could have. I hope my kids can have the feelings for me when they are grown that I have for you. I know sometimes you don't feel like you have done enough, but I think your awesome!
And THANK YOU GOD for my Dad! None of us derserve even the slightest blessing, but you are gracious and kind. I will forever praise you because you are worthy to be praised!
Thank you all for reading my feeble attempt to express the powerful feelings I have for my Dad.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
So for this "thought" in my blog I would like to write a short tribute to my Dad! Before I do that it must be said first because it is of utmost importance. Anything good I have to say about my Dad should merely be seen a reflection upon the awesomeness of "our Father" Scripture says that "every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights..." That is what I want everyone to understand as I seek to honor my earthly Dad. Any honor given him is really an honor due to our God!
With that being said let me tell you about my Dad. Believing in God as Father was an easy thing for me to do, because I understood very well the powerful love of a father. My Dad has always been an amazing example to me of that kind of love. That is not to say that my Dad has always been a "godly" example! It will be 20 years ago this year (November I think) that my Dad gave his heart to Jesus and began serving as an example not only of fatherly love but of godly fatherly love. I will be 35 this year so that means that for the first 15 or so years of my life, my Dad did not know God! But he did model the kind of fatherly love that made it easy for me to trust Jesus almost 19 years ago now.
My Dad and I have shared many memories and I pray that we will share many more. I remember one Christmas when I was 9 or 10 years old my Dad and I "burned" up, and I mean that quite literally, an Atari joystick playing Frogger together. I remember my Dad teaching me how to fish. How to hunt rabbits (without ever shooting at one I might add, that is a humorous memory!) I remember taking overnight float trips with my Dad (something we have done with my own sons) I wish I could say all the memories are filled with Joy.
You want to know the greatest thing about my Dad? He loved me enough to discipline me. He loved me enough to tell me the truth about what he saw happening in my life. He loved me enough to make me do things that I didn't really want to do. He loved me enough to ,for a short period of time, make me "hate" him because he knew I was making some mistakes. I will never be able to express what a powerful thing that is to me today!
You never really know love until you walk in and see or hear your Dad praying for you! I have done that on more than one occasion! WOW! What a humbling experience.
I sure wish I could say I have been the perfect son, but I haven't been. But my Dad was the best Dad not because he was perfect, but because he did his best with what he had to work with (namely me)! I have a sister and she turned out pretty OK too.
Anyway, today at almost 35 years old, my Dad is my best friend. Maybe that sounds strange to you. But to me, it is just natural. I have my own family now and my dad doesn't treat me like a kid, but like a man and we sit and talk on that level. We fish together and camp together. We talk about "business" together ( we are both preachers)
Anyway, I am sure I have bored you with talk of my Dad so let me just say this in case my Dad happens to read this. DAD, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for being the greatest Dad that any kid could have. I hope my kids can have the feelings for me when they are grown that I have for you. I know sometimes you don't feel like you have done enough, but I think your awesome!
And THANK YOU GOD for my Dad! None of us derserve even the slightest blessing, but you are gracious and kind. I will forever praise you because you are worthy to be praised!
Thank you all for reading my feeble attempt to express the powerful feelings I have for my Dad.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Ready for Rain?
Hello out there. Once again, it has been several weeks since my last "thought". The great news is I have actually had a few thoughts, I just haven't had time to write them down. But I have this one thought that I want to share. It isn't a major scriptural idea or "Bible Study" thought as much as it is just a "life" thought.
I don't know how many of you have seen the film "Facing the Giants" I have seen it 5 times now. We are getting ready to show this film to our church this Sunday Evening I(dont' worry we have purchased the public viewing license so it is all on the up and up). Anway, there is a scene in the film that I want to relate to you as my thought for this post.
There is an older gentlemen who spends time prayer walking the little Christian School that is the setting for the film. He approaches the Head Football coach at this little school who happens to be struggling just a bit. He relates to him a story about 2 farmers who happen to be praying for rain in the midst of a major drought. Both farmers were praying equally hard, but one farmer only prayed, the other farmer prayed and prepared his field for the rain he believed that God would send. The old man asked the coach a very pressing question. "Which do you think was ready when the rain came" (my paraphrase!) The answer obviously is "the one who prepared for rain." The old man next asked the most powerful question I have ever pondered, "Which one are you most like" WOW!!
That set me thinkin' "Which one am I most like?" I spend time praying for revival, I spend time praying for God to redeem people I love. I spend time praying for a lot of things, but I wonder do I really believe God enough to prepare for the answer. I wonder am I preparing my field for the rain He plans to send.
The promise of Scripture is that God will send "rain", but He sends it when He is ready. I wonder will I be ready?
I wonder will you be ready? What are you asking God for in your life? Is it revival? Is it help? Is it peace? Is it something else? Do you believe He can provide what you are asking Him for? If you answer yes, then why are WE not preparing for God to answer?
My challenge to US is to make ready! To prepare our "fields" for God's outpouring of rain. God wants to work in you and through you. Please prepare yourself!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
I don't know how many of you have seen the film "Facing the Giants" I have seen it 5 times now. We are getting ready to show this film to our church this Sunday Evening I(dont' worry we have purchased the public viewing license so it is all on the up and up). Anway, there is a scene in the film that I want to relate to you as my thought for this post.
There is an older gentlemen who spends time prayer walking the little Christian School that is the setting for the film. He approaches the Head Football coach at this little school who happens to be struggling just a bit. He relates to him a story about 2 farmers who happen to be praying for rain in the midst of a major drought. Both farmers were praying equally hard, but one farmer only prayed, the other farmer prayed and prepared his field for the rain he believed that God would send. The old man asked the coach a very pressing question. "Which do you think was ready when the rain came" (my paraphrase!) The answer obviously is "the one who prepared for rain." The old man next asked the most powerful question I have ever pondered, "Which one are you most like" WOW!!
That set me thinkin' "Which one am I most like?" I spend time praying for revival, I spend time praying for God to redeem people I love. I spend time praying for a lot of things, but I wonder do I really believe God enough to prepare for the answer. I wonder am I preparing my field for the rain He plans to send.
The promise of Scripture is that God will send "rain", but He sends it when He is ready. I wonder will I be ready?
I wonder will you be ready? What are you asking God for in your life? Is it revival? Is it help? Is it peace? Is it something else? Do you believe He can provide what you are asking Him for? If you answer yes, then why are WE not preparing for God to answer?
My challenge to US is to make ready! To prepare our "fields" for God's outpouring of rain. God wants to work in you and through you. Please prepare yourself!
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Busy, Busy, Busy!!!
I can't believe it is March. It seems that just yesterday it was January. I am sorry I haven't updated the blog lately. I have been busy, busy, busy!!!. Have you ever been so busy that you just simply lose time.
I had an epiphany the other day about busyness. A couple of young kids ran off the road into my front yard. It was late on a saturday night and it had been raining all day. Needless to say it was soggy in my front yard. I went out and tried to help these two kids get their car out of my yard. So I got behind and tried to push and the driver got in and tried to drive. He went no where.
No don't get me wrong. We were workin' hard. I was pushing as hard as I could push and he was mashin' the gas pedal as hard as he could mash it. The engine was working hard too. The pistons were pumpin' and gears were turning. Tires were spinning and spinning and just digging deeper and deeper. We were busy, busy, busy, but getting nowhere!!!
After we finally called somone to come tow them out and I was sittin' in my "lazy" chair wondering if I would have a heart attack from all that pushin', I had a thought. Here it is: My life has been like that car stuck in the mud. I have been busy, busy, busy. Pushin' and workin'. I have had my time fully occupied. I have wasted very little. But when I looked back on the last several weeks I had gotten nowhere. I had just dug deeper ruts. I needed someone to pull me out cause I was stuck and getting nowhere fast!
Let me just share this scripture thought with you. Jesus said in John 15:5 ( I know I have already used this one, but I just can't get away from this thought!) "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, BEARS MUCH FRUIT; for without Me you can do nothing." NKJV (Emphasis Mine)
Now there is nothing wrong with working hard, but what this verse tells me is that much of what I call work is just busyness. This Scripture says that whoever "Abides" or resides in or rests in Jesus will be productive.
So I ask myself, am I producing fruit or just digging ruts? Am I abiding in Christ or just spinning my wheels trying to look busy?
So what about you? Are you productive or just busy?
That's my thought for today. Think about that for a bit and I bet it will change your life because it has mine.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
I had an epiphany the other day about busyness. A couple of young kids ran off the road into my front yard. It was late on a saturday night and it had been raining all day. Needless to say it was soggy in my front yard. I went out and tried to help these two kids get their car out of my yard. So I got behind and tried to push and the driver got in and tried to drive. He went no where.
No don't get me wrong. We were workin' hard. I was pushing as hard as I could push and he was mashin' the gas pedal as hard as he could mash it. The engine was working hard too. The pistons were pumpin' and gears were turning. Tires were spinning and spinning and just digging deeper and deeper. We were busy, busy, busy, but getting nowhere!!!
After we finally called somone to come tow them out and I was sittin' in my "lazy" chair wondering if I would have a heart attack from all that pushin', I had a thought. Here it is: My life has been like that car stuck in the mud. I have been busy, busy, busy. Pushin' and workin'. I have had my time fully occupied. I have wasted very little. But when I looked back on the last several weeks I had gotten nowhere. I had just dug deeper ruts. I needed someone to pull me out cause I was stuck and getting nowhere fast!
Let me just share this scripture thought with you. Jesus said in John 15:5 ( I know I have already used this one, but I just can't get away from this thought!) "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, BEARS MUCH FRUIT; for without Me you can do nothing." NKJV (Emphasis Mine)
Now there is nothing wrong with working hard, but what this verse tells me is that much of what I call work is just busyness. This Scripture says that whoever "Abides" or resides in or rests in Jesus will be productive.
So I ask myself, am I producing fruit or just digging ruts? Am I abiding in Christ or just spinning my wheels trying to look busy?
So what about you? Are you productive or just busy?
That's my thought for today. Think about that for a bit and I bet it will change your life because it has mine.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Bro. Chad
Friday, January 12, 2007
It's NOT about Us!
Life can get real frustrating when you have 4 children. They think the world is all about them. Everything we buy should be for them, everything we talk about should include them. When it doesn't you would think the world is about to come to an end. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I would do almost anything for them, but there are times when I just want to have a conversation with my wife ALONE. So to do that we might go into a room and close the door. When those times occur, as rare as they may be, we had better talk fast because it won't be long until the kids realize that something is happening that doesn't include them. KNOCK, KNOCK "Mom, Dad are you in there? What are you talking about? Can we come in?" How frustrating!
The interesting thing about being a parent is that I have learned a multitude of spiritual lessons from watching the frustrating behavior of my children. You know the truth is we all treat God, our Heavenly Father, the same way. Everything God does must be about ME (US). We feel that "I" must be the very center of God's world. When we go to church our mentality is "What is God gonna give ME?" "What can I get out of this service?" "What can God do for ME?" We are very selfish when it comes to our relationship with God. In many ways our relationship with God is all about ME!
On my desk I have taped up a sign. It says "It is NOT about us. It is ALL about HIM!" On that sign there are 2 Scripture references: Galatians 2:20 and John 15:1-5. Let me just share those Scriptures with you. Paul wrote to the Church at Galatia in Galatians 2 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." NKJV
The Apostle John wrote in his gospel chapter 15 "I am the vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing." NKJV
What powerful truth! Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ..." I don't believe we really know what it means to be crucified. Do you know what it means? It doesn't mean just set aside, it means something is killed. In this case that something is me. In a very real sense when I came to Christ, I died. The "old" me that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5 has died and now it is not me who is doing the living but Christ who is IN me. So the life I live everyday is (or at least should be) ALL about HIM, because it is (or at least should be) Him who is doing the living.
The Apostle John also makes a powerful statement in John 15:5 he says that I can't do anything without HIM (Jesus).
So the way I see it is that my life is not about me, the glory I may receive or even the blessings I may receive. It is ALL about HIM! The glory HE receives, the Blessing of His name. When I sit and think about that it challenges me to live my life differently because it is not just ME that my choices affect, but HIS glorious name.
Think about how you live today. Who are you living for? You or HIM?
Pastor Chad
The interesting thing about being a parent is that I have learned a multitude of spiritual lessons from watching the frustrating behavior of my children. You know the truth is we all treat God, our Heavenly Father, the same way. Everything God does must be about ME (US). We feel that "I" must be the very center of God's world. When we go to church our mentality is "What is God gonna give ME?" "What can I get out of this service?" "What can God do for ME?" We are very selfish when it comes to our relationship with God. In many ways our relationship with God is all about ME!
On my desk I have taped up a sign. It says "It is NOT about us. It is ALL about HIM!" On that sign there are 2 Scripture references: Galatians 2:20 and John 15:1-5. Let me just share those Scriptures with you. Paul wrote to the Church at Galatia in Galatians 2 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." NKJV
The Apostle John wrote in his gospel chapter 15 "I am the vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing." NKJV
What powerful truth! Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ..." I don't believe we really know what it means to be crucified. Do you know what it means? It doesn't mean just set aside, it means something is killed. In this case that something is me. In a very real sense when I came to Christ, I died. The "old" me that Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 5 has died and now it is not me who is doing the living but Christ who is IN me. So the life I live everyday is (or at least should be) ALL about HIM, because it is (or at least should be) Him who is doing the living.
The Apostle John also makes a powerful statement in John 15:5 he says that I can't do anything without HIM (Jesus).
So the way I see it is that my life is not about me, the glory I may receive or even the blessings I may receive. It is ALL about HIM! The glory HE receives, the Blessing of His name. When I sit and think about that it challenges me to live my life differently because it is not just ME that my choices affect, but HIS glorious name.
Think about how you live today. Who are you living for? You or HIM?
Pastor Chad
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Out of the Mud.
Did you ever play in the Mud? I used to love to play in the mud. My mom hated it, but I loved it. Mud was fun. It was slippery, wet and it got you dirty. What a great combination. Then there came a time, when I realized mud wasn't much fun. It got me dirty and slimy and wet and whats worse is you can get stuck and I mean really stuck in the mud. Now I am not talking about stuck in the mud in a car (which is bad). I mean stuck in the mud at your feet.
Have you ever been stuck in the mud by your feet? It is a strange feeling. There you are playing and having fun and all of the sudden you feel a suction on your foot and you try to move it and get it out and all of the sudden you feel that foot sink deeper and your other foot begins to feel that suction. Before you know it, you're stuck. You can't move and the more you wiggle the "stucker" you get. All you can do is cry for help and hopefully someone hears. That is when mud stopped being fun for me.
The Bible tells us that a life outside of Christ is a life lived in the mud. It is fun for a while. But then something happens to that "fun" mud. We get stuck and before we know it we are in up to our nose in mud.
As I think about mud Psalm 40:1-3 comes to mind. Listen to what it says: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth--praise to our God..."
Here we are, all stuck in the mud and some of us have realized we are stuck (and some haven't) and we cry out hoping someone will hear us. The Bible says, God heard. He "inclined" to us. That word "inclined" can mean a few things, but primarily it means to stretch out toward something or to bend down to something. So God heard my cry and He bent down toward me and He didn't bend down to ridicule me for being stuck but this Psalm tells us why He bent down. He bent down to bring me out of the mud and set my feet on firm ground and not just set me down on firm ground but He establishes our steps. That means as it says in Proverbs 3: 5 He directs our path.
Mud used to be fun, but I realized that mud is sticky. I was stuck! But Thank YOU GOD, I realized I was stuck and called out for help and HE heard me and bent down and pulled me up and set me straight.
How about you. Have you realized your stuck in the mud? And if you know your stuck have you realized that you need help getting out. My advice to you is just cry out and He will hear you and pull you out and set you straight.
What a Great God we serve!
Pastor Chad
Have you ever been stuck in the mud by your feet? It is a strange feeling. There you are playing and having fun and all of the sudden you feel a suction on your foot and you try to move it and get it out and all of the sudden you feel that foot sink deeper and your other foot begins to feel that suction. Before you know it, you're stuck. You can't move and the more you wiggle the "stucker" you get. All you can do is cry for help and hopefully someone hears. That is when mud stopped being fun for me.
The Bible tells us that a life outside of Christ is a life lived in the mud. It is fun for a while. But then something happens to that "fun" mud. We get stuck and before we know it we are in up to our nose in mud.
As I think about mud Psalm 40:1-3 comes to mind. Listen to what it says: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth--praise to our God..."
Here we are, all stuck in the mud and some of us have realized we are stuck (and some haven't) and we cry out hoping someone will hear us. The Bible says, God heard. He "inclined" to us. That word "inclined" can mean a few things, but primarily it means to stretch out toward something or to bend down to something. So God heard my cry and He bent down toward me and He didn't bend down to ridicule me for being stuck but this Psalm tells us why He bent down. He bent down to bring me out of the mud and set my feet on firm ground and not just set me down on firm ground but He establishes our steps. That means as it says in Proverbs 3: 5 He directs our path.
Mud used to be fun, but I realized that mud is sticky. I was stuck! But Thank YOU GOD, I realized I was stuck and called out for help and HE heard me and bent down and pulled me up and set me straight.
How about you. Have you realized your stuck in the mud? And if you know your stuck have you realized that you need help getting out. My advice to you is just cry out and He will hear you and pull you out and set you straight.
What a Great God we serve!
Pastor Chad
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