Pass this along

I thought Ron's tips on how to support your Pastor on Sunday are really good. Feel free to pass them along, share on facebook and twitter, email to your mother-in-law...etc.

Equal opportunity offender

I've decided that during our next series you're probably going to be offended. I'm a little bit offended myself. So I guess that makes me an equal opportunity offender. 

And that's exactly why you don't need to miss one week of A Fairy Tale Ending.

Offending begins Sunday at 10.

Join a group or die

I'm reading a great book that you need to read titled The Me I Want To Be by John Ortberg. It's a fantastic book. 

In my reading today John quotes Robert Putnam who says:

As a rough rule of thumb, if you belong to no groups but you decide to join one, you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half.

John follows up that quote by saying:

It is difficult to imagine anyone not interested in cutting their risk of dying in half. That is why the new motto for small groups at the church where I serve is, "Join a group or die."

I'm thinking we should adopt the same motto. :)

Can't wait to begin this on Sunday

A teaching series on marriage for singles, marrieds and single-agains.

Join us on Sunday at 10 AM at Spartan 16 Movie Theater.

Praying Scripture for your kids

One thing Mark Batterson suggests in his book, Praying Circles Around your Children, is to pray Scripture for your kids.

He tells the story of one man who, as he read through the entire Bible, prayed it for each of his kids. That really spoke to me.

But I know that even the phrase, "The Whole Bible," is overwhelming to so many of us. So let me give you another place to start.

Start with the longest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 119. 

I read it as part of my time with God this morning, but instead of reading it, I turned it into a prayer for Nathan, Matthew and Levi. 

It's a great chapter to use in praying Scripture for your kids.

Do you like God?

That's a weird question, isn't it?

But answer it: Do you like God?

The way you answer this question makes all the difference in the world with how you relate to God. In fact, I think that the reason why most of us don't spend time with God is that we don't really like him. 

I love what John Ortberg says, If I do not like being with God, I simply will not be with him much. It is good to be honest about this because if you don't like God, there's no use trying to fake him out.

God knows if you don't like him, but God wants us to like him. That's why the Psalmist invites us to Taste and see that the Lord is good.

The Lord is good.

That truth makes all the difference. That truth is the foundation of actually liking God. He is good. He's not out to get you. He is a good God.

Maybe if we start to focus on God's goodness we'll start liking him more, and in turn, instead of spending time with him out of duty, we'll start to spend time with him out of desire. 

We want to spend time with people we like. May the same thing be true for us about spending time with God.

For Parents

I came across this verse from Psalm 78 the other day and knew as soon as I saw it that I need to be praying it for my kids daily. I thought you might want to be praying it too.

Psalm 78:7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

I also like the HCSB translation: So that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands.

I want more than anything for my boys to trust in God, to put their confidence in Jesus, to never forget what He has done and to walk in obedience to His commands all the days of their lives. 

I also want to recommend and incredible resource that will help you in praying for your kids. It's Mark Batterson's booklet, Praying Circles around Your Children. It is super short and really cheap. You can read it in less that an hour, but I will forever change how you pray for your kids.

If you're like me then you need all the help you can get. Order this book today.

Don't let fear get in the way

Sometimes God asks his people to do strange things. One example of this is when he commands the Israelites to walk around the city of Jericho for 7 days. You need to read the story. It really is one of the strangest requests of God in the Bible.

Mark Batterson, in his 40 day prayer challenge, Draw the Circle, is speaking of this story when he says:

When the Israelites circled Jericho, they had no idea how God would give them the city. But they didn't let what they didn't know keep them from obeying the command they had been given.

I wonder how often we let what we don't know keep us from obeying God? In all probability, all the time.

But imagine what God might do if we just do what he tells us to do? God delivered Jericho into the hands of the Israelites all because the walked in circles for seven days, just like he told them to do.

What is God telling you to do? Is fear getting in the way of your obedience?

Trust him.

You must ask this question.

What are you trusting God with?

Think about it. What, in your life, are you trusting God with? 

I'll be honest. Most of us aren't trusting God with anything except our eternal salvation. That translates to most of us aren't really trusting God with anything in this life.

Trusting God is essential to following Jesus, growing and living by faith. 

So what can you trust God with this week? What can you trust God with in 2013?

Finances? Kids? Future? Career? Marriage? Friends? ... The list is endless. Make 2013 a year where you continually trust in the Lord with all of your heart.