I’m currently working on a message on the body of Christ for the upcoming Walk to Emmaus.  This is a topic I love to talk about as I think it’s so important for people to understand how we all fit together to BE the body of Christ.

All too often we think, “It’s OK if I’m not there – no one will miss me”.  Maybe you’ve thought, “I can’t really help with that; besides someone else will do it.”

The truth is we are all an important part of the body.  If one part is missing it affects the rest of the body….kinda like this video reminds us:

I know I’ve posted that one before but I still enjoy it.  Who knows, I might even use it during my talk.

Of course, there are other parts of the body that are important….but we’re just not sure what they do.  One of my favorite pastors\writers Francis Chan had this to say:

So – just remember, whether you are the brain, the hand the foot or yes – the rectum or appendix – you ARE important to the body.  Find your place, serve your purpose and give God all of the glory.

I have the pleasure of getting together every Friday morning with a great group of guys for coffee, muffins and Bible study.  We are working through the Bible in a year using a reading plan from Youversion.com.

Last week we finished Exodus.  One of the things that struck me was regarding the construction of the Tabernacle.  Looking at Chapter 36 verses 2 & 3 we read:

Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

This follows what we read at the end of Chapter 35 were we read that Bezalel had been filled with the Spirit of God and how he and Oholiab were given the ability to teach others.

I really like these verses as they are a great reminder that we ALL play a part in doing God’s work and building his Church.  The Church I’m referring to here is the Body of Christ – us as followers of Christ.

You see, Bezalel and Oholiab carried out the work of constructing the sanctuary but they couldn’t have done it without the work in gathering and the giving of supplies by ALL the Israelites.

Some of us have been given very specific gifts (like Bezalel and Oholiab) that we are to use to carry out God’s work.  ALL of us have been given something by God that he calls us to contribute to accomplish His work.

You can’t have one without the other.

I’ve been reading the following verses a lot over the last few days:

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.  But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).  When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”  (Matt. 1:18-25 ESV)

I keep focusing on a few points:

• “…being a just man…“  Joseph was a Godly man; a merciful man and upright man.  He was a follower of the laws of the day – the Jewish laws of the day – the laws of God.
• “…and unwilling to put her to shame…“  Joseph would have been completely within his rights under Jewish law to have Mary stoned to death.  Instead, he initially decided to quietly divorce her.  He wanted to keep it quiet so that he would not bring public shame to Mary.  He didn’t want to do anything to hurt Mary.  I see this as an amazing act of unconditional love.
• “But as he considered these things…“  Joseph didn’t make a snap decision, he spent time thinking (and I would imagine praying) about this before making his final decision.  He thought about the impact of his words and actions.
• “…he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…“  Rather than do what the world expected, what a part of him may have even wanted to do, he did what God commanded.  He didn’t worry about what his friends and those around him would think or say, but remained faithful to God.

What if we as men followed the example of Joseph?
What if we as men stood beside our wives and always showed God’s unconditional love?
What if we thought before we acted…really thought and prayed about whatever we do?
What if we didn’t listen to what the media and the world tells us is right or OK?
What if we did what God commands us to do and loved our wives the way Christ loves the church?

What do you say, guys?  Let’s be more like Joseph!

So, last night was the Women’s Connexions retreat.  The theme verse for the retreat was Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” They started the evening with a potluck dinner.  In addition, each person that came also had an opportunity to submit a chocolate dish to be entered into a “Chocolate Recipe Showdown”.

Now, as the husband of one of the event organizers I thought I’d be nice and volunteer to help in the kitchen and to run the tech\sound for the worship time and speakers.  There were three other husbands that also volunteered.  As a “thank you” for this we were told that we would be the judges for the chocolate showdown.

Now, maybe you’re thinking, “Awesome!  I love chocolate.”  Well, I love chocolate and I love deserts…but let me tell you after you take a bite or two of eleven different chocolate dishes!  YIKES!  Now, there were a lot of amazing dishes…a LOT.  However, this quickly became a case of too much of a “good” thing.  Chocolate is a delicious treat in moderation, but it doesn’t really offer any nutrients that my body needs.  All four of us had chocolate in our eyes by the end of the tasting.

It got me thinking about what I fill my time with.  Am I filling my time with too many “good” things?  Things that I may find enjoyable, but that aren’t filling my spiritually?  Am I filling time with my family, in prayer, in God’s Word?

How about you…is there something in your life that can be considered “too much”?

A week ago today I was driving home from Tennessee through the Appalachian Mountains.  I love this part of the drive as it’s a lot of ups, downs, twists and curves.  It’s also got some absolutely amazing scenery all around.  Talk about the beauty of God’s creation.

As I was driving through the portion of I75 that runs through the mountains in Kentucky at about 9:00 in the morning this was my view:

Now, call me crazy…but I love driving in the fog.  There’s something mysterious about it.  You never know just how thick it’s going to be, how far will I be able to see, what’s ahead of me – a straight road or a curve ball, when will it end.   Of course I know what my destination is, but with all that fog in front of me I really have no idea how long it’s going to take or what I’m going to run into along the way.

Kinda sounds like life doesn’t it?  I mean – we’re on this road of life and we think we’re in control, we think we know where we’re going…but ultimately do we?  Isn’t the ultimate plan for our lives God’s plan?  Sure, we might have a clue where we’re heading, but really a lot of the time we can only see a glimpse of what’s ahead of us.  In the distance there is always that uncertainty…that fog of what are we going to run into.  It’s kind of like this picture…

We can see for a little while, but that fog is lurking in the distance.  In our lives we deal with ups and downs, just like driving through the mountains and we deal with the curves…the times in our lives when something just happens that we weren’t expecting and we have to deal with it.

Check out the first half of 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12 from The Message translation:

“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.”

I’m guessing you’ve been there – maybe you’re even there now.  Maybe it’s health problems, the loss of a job or the loss of a loved one.  Whenever we go through something like this don’t we always ask ourselves, “What now?  What’s next?”  We struggle to figure out how we’re going to deal with the uncertainty, the unknown.  All of a sudden we can’t see the road ahead of us and we realize we’re right in the middle of the fog…and it can be scary.

But there is hope.  You see, in my car I have this handy little device…it’s called a GPS.  Even in the midst of the fog, even when I can only see a small portion of the road ahead of me this cool little marvel of technology can show me a map of where I’m at, where I’m going and it will even tell me how far before I have to turn again.  If I listen to it I know I will make it to my destination eventually.  If I decide to ignore it and go my own way it will politely tell me that it is “recalculating” and then adjust the directions so that I get to where I’m going…no matter how many times I choose to ignore it!

In our lives we have something even better than a GPS to get us to our final goal – we have God the Father who directs us in our lives.  How awesome is that!  We know that even when we face the twists and curves of life, as long as we follow his Word and live according to his teachings that even if we drive into the fog of life we will come out of it.  If we decide to go our own way that God is still there – doing his own sort if “recalculating” to meet us wherever we may go and waiting to guide us back onto his one true path for our lives.  We can be assured that eventually God will clear the path before us and we will get to our final goal.

Remember that verse from 1 Corinthians we looked at…let’s look at the whole thing now:

“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!”
- 1 Cor 13:12 The Message

How awesome is that!  Whatever the road looks like before you right now you have hope because we know that God is ultimately in control and he will clear the fog away.  He will guide you through whatever you are dealing with.  He will be with you when the road ahead is straight and clear and he will be with you when the fog is so thick that it seems like it will never lift.  He will never leave you and never forsake you.

Enjoy the road, enjoy the ride, and enjoy the scenery as you drive to whatever may be your destination!

I just got done listening to a really powerful sermon by Pete Wilson of Crosspoint Church in Nashville (and there is a GREAT story at 21:24 that I can SO relate to).  The message was from the Sunday after Easter and is called “Waiting on Hope”.  It talks about Saturday (between Good Friday and Easter Sunday) and you can listen to it (and their others) by downloading the podcast for free from iTunes.  Click HERE for this message.

One of the things that Pete said that really struck me hard, was that “True hope develops not only when you accept God’s Power but when you accept God’s timing”.

“God’s timing”

How many times do we pray for something, dream something, hope something and expect it to just happen?  We believe it will happen because we believe in God – we just don’t want to wait.

I’ve been on a journey over the last few years with regards to following God’s call on my life.  It hasn’t always been easy.  I know where I want to be, but I don’t want to wait on His timing.  A good friend of mine shared with me that as he was praying for some discernment on something he was given the word “patience” by God.

I am confident that God’s plan for my life is bigger and better than any plan I could come up with for my life.

I am confident that He can do whatever He wants in me and through me.

I am confident that everything I’ve gone through and am going through is preparing me for what it is that He has planned.

I just don’t want to wait.

But I know I have to.

How about You?

My buddy Ben put up a very interesting blog post tonight that got me thinking.  I really agree with what he’s saying.  Knowing the Word of God and what it actually says as opposed reading the Word of God and making it say what I want it to say is something that I have really been coming to grips with lately especially if you are put in a position where you are leading others (like in a Bible Study).

I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve started blogging about what God is showing me in the book of Mark.  I’ve realized that so many times in the past I have rushed through scripture instead of really trying to learn from it – understand it.  I’m sure that some of what I will blog about as I go through Mark may be ‘off’ – and that’s where I’m hoping others like Ben will come along side me to guide me away from my opinions and back to God’s truth.

As I’ve been reading through the chapters in Mark I’ve been reading them in various translations, looking up commentaries and other helps to try to understand it better.  I don’t have a vast library but that’s when I’m thankful for sites like Christianity.com where they have a number of free online resources – lots of Dictionaries, Commentaries, History, etc.

In Ben’s closing he says that we “need to be passionately engaged in the Word and considering how that Word applies to us.”  I hope that is something of what I’m trying to do here.  I’m hoping to encourage others to dive into God’s Word and hopefully see how God is speaking to them through His Word.

Finally he says, “Take teaching seriously and humbly as a gift and privilege from God!”.  One of the challenges for those that lead a Bible Study is to make the time (note I didn’t say ‘find the time’) to put in the preperation and study.  We don’t all have the opportunity to go to seminary it doesn’t excuse us from learning all we can to be disciples.  We must always give God our best in all that we do.

So, I mentioned a few days ago how I’m using Proverbs as part of my daily reading.  As I’m finishing up Chapter 27 today I read this:

“Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;  for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.  When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.  You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you and your family and to nourish your servant girls.”  (Pr. 27:23-27, NIV)

The message version starts out:

“Know your sheep by name; carefully attend to your flocks; (Don’t take them for granted;” (Pr. 27:23-24a, MSG)

These verses talk about knowing those that we have been placed in charge of – the fields, the lanbs and goats.  Each one is different, each plays an important part in the big picture and each one requires to be cared for in it’s own way or it will wither and die.  If they are tended for and cared for the family is fed.  I like how The Message says – “Don’t take them for granted”. 

This got me to thinking about the journey I am about to embark on in Rittman.  One of the things I’m going to need to start doing as I look forward is putting together teams – tech, sound, a band, small group leaders, etc.  Each one of the people that God brings forward will be different, each one of them will be unique, each one of them will have their own storys – where they came from, where they are, who they are, what their dreams, hopes and struggles are. 

As I think about this I realize that my biggest job isn’t going to be finding these people – it’s going to be getting to know them, equipping them and placing them in positions where they will be able to grow and thrive.  To build relationships with them!  To give them the ownership and the opportunity to do the things that God has made them for, that God has called them to.   It will be to care for them so that they can care for others.

I am looking forward to getting to know these people - whoever they may be – and watch how God uses us to feed HIS family!

So, I’ve been thinking about this passage from Sunday some more and the whole net vs. hook thing.  While thinking about it something else occurred to me.

A net is useful to catch a lot of fish all at once.  When you’ve just gotta “catch ‘em all” (sorry for the bad Pokemon reference).  You throw the net in, let it sink and pull it up.  No matter how bad a catch your get, you’ll probably get at least a couple.

Then there’s the line and hook.  It’s designed to catch one fish at a time.  It’s a slow process, a deliberate process, often taking hours upon hours with almost nothing to show for it.  When you finally land one it feels good and if everything played out as you hope you’ll have caught yourself a keeper.

Looking at the ministry of Jesus there were times when he used the net approach – teaching the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-9), teaching the five thousand (Mark 6:30-34), when he taught from the mountainside in Matthew 5 – 7.  Thousands of people heard The Good News – some may have even chosen to believe it.

But there were other times when Jesus used the line and hook.  He spent time with individuals, investing the time and patience to work with them to better understand what it was he was telling them.  He spent time with his disciples and with people like Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), and Mary who sat at his feet (Luke 10:38-42).

It’s the same with us and our relationships.  We need to ensure that the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed in our daily lives – how we conduct ourselves at work, at the ballgame, when we’re out with our friends.  These actions in group settings are like casting out a net – you may catch one or two.

However, we need to ensure that we are taking the time to drop a line in the water with certain people.  Build authentic relationships, create trust, find someone to share your heart with, that will hold you accountable.  Invest in someone – maybe it’s a peer, maybe it’s a youth or an older adult.  It could be someone new to the faith that needs a guide, or it may be someone strong in their faith and their walk that can mentor you.  Either way, it takes time.  You have to be persistent, deliberate and intentional about it.

So, how will you fish this week?

Beth and I had the opportunity today to visit the Methodist Church in Rittman and hear a message from our friend Pastor Chuck.  He spoke on Mark 1:14-18 – The story of Jesus calling the first disciples.

One of the things he mentioned was that Simon and Andrew were fishing with nets – a very common practice at that time.  He talked about how a fisherman that uses a rod and a hook is really trying to trick a fish into taking the bait, hoping that the promise of a tasty morsel will convince the fish to overlook the line and hook that it is attached to.

This got me to thinking about how I reach out to people.  Am I casting a single line out there – baiting it with a facade of smiles, good words, bible quotes, service, worship leading – using all of that to hide the ugly, dirty hook of sin that is inside of me?  To hide my hurts and fears, my doubts and questions, my real feelings on things?  Sure, a single line is easy to handle, lightweight, I can throw it out, reel it in and change the bait depending on the situation.  But what am I going to catch with it?  And what happens when the bait falls off and the hook is exposed?

Or am I throwing the net of my entire life out there, a wide reaching view of everything that I am made up of.  Letting people see through all the holes to the center of who I really am?  To see the knots that are there that I struggle trying to pull apart, the patched ropes.  What about the strong bonds of it all that work together to make up the entire net.  The net is heavy, it’s hard to handle with just one person, and can be incredibly cumbersome – but look at how much more you can catch with it.

I think as we live our lives as an example of who Christ is in us we need to have real authenticity with one other – real community – and to let people see what Christ is really doing IN us.  We need to use the net.  Be open and honest with people.  Let them see all that we are.  Don’t hide things – the bait is slippery and will  off.  The easy thing to do is throw that hook up there and cover up the hurt and the sins we struggle with under a tasty morsel, and I’ll admit there are times when I’ve done that.

Once you start using your net it will get easier – you’ll see more results and you’ll be streghtened by those you “catch” when they start to help you carry the load of your net and you help them with theirs.