I'm Beginning to Understand

There are some great stories in Mark 6.  I was reading this chapter today and some points jumped out to me.  


First of all, Jesus sends out the apostles and gives them authority to teach and over evil spirits.  "They went out and preached that people should repent.  They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them."  (vs. 12,13).  Then, after they have sought out a solitary place, the crowds find them and want to hear from Jesus.  He teaches them, and then the disciples decide the crowd should be sent away to find food. "But he answered, 'You give them something to eat.'" (vs. 37)  The apostles protest that it would cost too much to feed the crowd. Jesus answers, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see." (vs. 38)  Of course, they fed 5,000+ people that day with 5 loaves and 2 fish - and had leftovers!


Immediately, Jesus sends the apostles back out on the water to cross the lake.  He is walking past them when they see him, and "they thought he was a ghost.  They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified." (vs. 49-50) "They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened."  (vs. 51b-52)


Let's recap: the apostles teach, heal, and cast out demons; they see him feed 5,000+ people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish; they see him walk on water - but their hearts were hardened.  It's easy for me to read this and think "what kind of morons were these guys?"  But then I catch myself and think, "how many times have I see God working in my life, but I can't put 2 and 2 together and understand His goodness and love because my heart is hardened?"


Lord, open the eyes of my heart so I can see where You are moving and working so I can understand Your great love and power.  "I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms."  Ephesians 1:18-20 (NLT)

Is He listening?

These verses really encouraged me this morning in my quiet time.

"To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me.  For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.  Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help; as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.  Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."  Psalm 28:1-2, 6,7

I am so encouraged to know that God hears my prayers and my cries for mercy.  He is our strength and our shield.  Trust in Him.  Be joyful.  Give thanks to Him in song.

The Space Between...

Wow!  I've just read a great post from Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing.  He's a blogger I regularly read.  Here's the link.

Read the post and then tell me, how about you?  Can you live in the space between the stimulus and the response?  I'm working on this one, too.

Key Item I'm Working On

A key item I'm working on in my life is to have the courage to trust God.  I know He's faithful and true, but sometimes my doubts creep in and I trust myself instead, and end up regretting it as I crash and burn.

I read these verses this morning - "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  I trust in you, my God!  Lead my by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.  All day long I put my hope in you."  Psalm 25:1,8

I can put my trust and hope in God.  He leads me by His truth and teaches me, and He is the One who saves me.  I'm trying to re-train certain thought pathways in my brain to think these thoughts first instead of doubting.  I think I'd better memorize them and meditate on them!

Here we Go!

2011 is off to a great start!  I'm still writing 2010 on some things, but hopefully that will pass in a few weeks.  We have some great service opportunities to start off this year - serving our refugee communities in the park on Monday, January 11; and then a "mini" Serve Sunnyslope on January 22.  Click here to go to our website to see more information about these opportunities.

We have several Winter Camps coming up for HS, JH, and elementary ages.  These are great opportunities for growth for your kids - make sure they're signed up here.

Our next First Steps class is on January 23rd, and we've completely revamped our material.  If you're new to FCC or even if you've been here awhile but want a refresher course, I'd love to see you there.  Click here to sign up.

My youngest son and I will be travelling to Missouri later this week for my Dad's 80th birthday.  All my siblings will be there, and I know we'll have a great time celebrating with Dad.  He is one of my heroes and has been a great role model to me.  I'm so glad I get to join him and the rest of my family for this great occasion.

I've been working on establishing some personal goals for this year.  Not resolutions, but goals.  I spoke about this idea of goals vs. resolutions on January 2nd.  You can click here to launch the media player, and go to the January 2 message to listen.  I'm retraining some negative pathways in my brain to discipline myself to accomplish great things this year.  What about you?  Any big goals for the year?  Let me know!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to one and all!  Remember, we have changed the times for our Christmas Eve services to 5 and 6:30 p.m.  I hope to see you at one of those services.

I'd like to share a few holiday videos with you for your viewing and listening pleasure.  These first two are from Northpoint Community Church and feature their band playing these songs entirely on iPhones and iPads.  Pretty cool what you can do with them!





This one is from Selah, and is one of my favorite versions of Silent Night.  We might be doing this on Christmas Eve.



Again, Merry Christmas to all, and thanks for a great 2010.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for us in 2011.

Like a Good Neighbor

I love this time of year, with Thanksgiving next week and Christmas close behind.  It does, however, still feel odd to see Christmas decorations and gifts in the stores at the end of September and in October when it can still be 100 degrees outside!

Each year, usually right before Thanksgiving, we get together with our neighbors for a light breakfast (okay, so neighbor Chuck's queso dip isn't light), and then the men go house to house to help put up Christmas decorations.  Then, later that afternoon, we all gather in the cul-de-sac for a pitch-in and cookout.  After eating we usually sit around the fire pit and catch up on each others' lives.  We see and talk to each other all through the year, but I always especially enjoy this event.  We try to be intentional about building community in our little neighborhood.

Do you have any neighborhood traditions?  Maybe a 4th of July cookout?  An Easter egg hunt?  A Labor Day pool party?  Do you take time to get to know your neighbors, and do you know if they have any needs?  Is there any way you can serve your neighbors?  Any single moms or widows in your neighborhood you could help or check in on regularly?  Comment below to share any neighborhood traditions or how you serve your neighbors.

Jesus said we are to love our neighbors, and that means knowing them, spending time with them, and even serving them.  Read Luke 10:25-37 and consider how you can be a good neighbor.