One Pastor's Perspective

Yeah, anyone who knows me knows I am a college basketball fan. That has been true since I was a kid. But this year I find myself missing college football more and more.

I watch NFL football SOMETIMES, but it is not the same. Sometimes I think the pros are going through the motions too much (and I feel the same way about the NBA). No, the college level is not like that. Every team seems to be playing for their lives EVERY TIME they play. Something about that makes their games more meaningful, more exciting . . .

How about YOU?? Do you miss college football?? Seriously, how do you play the game of life? Do you go through the motions?? Or, do you play every move like your life depends on it??

Cuz, guess what? IT DOES!

This week, as happens many weeks, I was in a discussion about life and choices with someone when I heard the usual answer about living with sin . . . Yeah, this one KNOWS he is living a sinful life and what he told me shakes me to the core, because so many “Christians” buy into this.

“I am just doin what everyone else is doin. This is the one area of my life that I am protecting from God, that I am not giving to Him. I am doing it because I want to do it, and I don’t give a s*** what anybody around here thinks about it.” (Consequently, when we don’t give a durn about what anybody thinks, we are ALSO saying we don’t give a durn about what GOD thinks.)

Oh yeah, I feel a sermon coming . . . But the short answer is that sin will RULE us and RUIN us. Yes, we are all imperfect. But if we choose to live in sin, we are giving the victory to Satan. Paul spoke much in his letters of running the good race, of fighting the good fight. Both he and James wrote of the discipline a Christian must live . . . WE HAVE TO FIGHT SIN IN OUR LIVES EVERY DAY. When we give up that fight, even in ONE area of our lives, our lives become USELESS to the Kingdom of God.

God does not desire 90% of our lives . . . HE DESIRES 100%!!! Anything less just won’t do.

~ Instead of saying, “Ho-Ho-Ho,” he exclaims “Oy vey!”
~ You recognize him as a former NFL star doing community service hours.
~ He avoids the the food court unless his lawyer is present.
~ He refers to the wishing fountain as his “tip jar.”
~ He won’t talk to the kids without a disclaimer.
~ He asks the kids to leave him milk and ATM cards.
~ He becomes the new cigarette lobby spokesman.
~ Before the kids sit on his lap he orders the elves to frisk them.

(www.mikeysfunnies.com)

Christmas time is one of the best times of the year. Yes, it is hectic. Yes, there is always the struggle to get the right gifts for your friends and family. Yes, there is more to do at a church than you can even imagine. But it is also a great month!

There is something about the Christmas spirit that softens us, that changes us for a brief period of time. We seem to get along better. I believe it is because we who follow Christ try to understand the significance of this great holiday, and it unites us. We can’t deny the true reason for the season, and for that brief period we can put aside all of our differences and focus on Him. I wish we could take THAT part of Christmas along with us year-round (and I KNOW our Heavenly Father would love that, too).

Are you ready for what God is doing this holiday season??

The walls really proved to be more of a problem than I anticipated. When you hang wallpaper on unprimed drywall, you REALLY are hanging it there for life. The problem is, when it starts delaminating and aging in a bathroom, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to remove. I mean, it WILL come off, but it brings part of the drywall with it!!

Then, you have to work and work to get a wall that looks halfway decent. And when you paint it with the kitchen/bathroom paint they recommend at Lowes, it brings out EVERY flaw even though it is semi-gloss.

In the words of Charlie Brown, GOOD GRIEF!!! Hopefully I will be able to finish everything after work tonight and get that thing put back together!! My guests are tired of having to go hide in the backyard to use the restroom!!!!

Yesterday I took a day off. I have vacation time that I will lose on Dec 31st, so I have planned to take a day here and there before the end of the year. However, there was a purpose for yesterday — A leaking toilet in our half-bath!!! FUN!! The toilet has apparently leaked since the flange was cracked on installation TEN YEARS AGO when the house was built. And, the wax seal didn’t seal. And the floor and subfloor was rotten.

Thanks to Olin Bullock (helping me with another situation like this five years ago), I knew what do to. I pulled the toilet, cut out the rotten wood, built a little more joist support for the patch, put in the subfloor, cut and replaced the flange, and then replaced the top floor. I am now waiting to finish painting the bathroom before installing the final floor covering.

Today, sanding, priming, painting, flooring, and if I get ALL of that done, I get to CAREFULLY seat the toilet back on the flange, paying careful attention to the wax seal.

Okay, if Ebenezer runs me off, I could do more than computer work.

Morris ran into Jacob while shopping at the mall the other day in front of one of the jewelry stores. Noticing a conspicuously small gift wrapped box in his hand, Morris asked if was a gift for Jacob’s wife Becky.

Jacob told Morris, “With Christmas coming up, I asked Becky what she wanted and she said, “Oh, I don’t know just give me something with lots of diamonds in it.”

“So what did you get her?” Morris asked.

Jacob smiled and replied, “I bought her a deck of cards.”

today’sTHOT============================
How does Santa Claus take pictures? With his North Pole-aroid.

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It seems our economic woes continue . . . Experts say we can look for a rocky ride into mid-first quarter of 2009. CAN WE TAKE IT?? People are really starting to sweat this one. Jobs are lost. Retirement is lost. All is NOT well.

Where will it all end?? In an article I read from George Barna, he did not have an answer, but he expects the local church to be the next to suffer. Barna claims a coming trend is that church giving will be the next cut in many minds. Some have already made that cut. Ebenezer has been fortunate to this point . . . We are AHEAD of our budget in giving, and that is a rare thing right now.

My prayer is that we will continue to be faithful, because now more than ever people need Christ. Our community NEEDS ministry. There are many people hurting, both inside and outside of our church. They need us. We need to keep our eyes focused on Christ. He will lead us through.

Where will it all end?? I don’t know, but I serve the One that DOES. And, last time I checked, He is STILL in control.

I don’t know WHAT was going on yesterday, but it was a rare day at Ebenezer. Both services felt like I was standing in front of a dark cave opening, preaching as hard as I can as the words floated into darkness with no return. I thought it was just a stinker of a sermon . . . Those DO happen, you know. Ed said he felt the same way as he led worship. It was either the rainy day blues, or one massive turkey-hangover. I have no idea which.

Add that to a sleepless night and it will be really hard to go into the office today. But, life goes on!!!