What I heard on the radio...

I was listening to the radio in my car, when I heard a commercial:

Church is not a hotel for saints, it is a hospital for sinners.

I know, God speaks to me quite a bit thru the radio. That's ok...that's how we roll. And if you think about it, this doesn't seem very profound, until you really think about it.

If you read my post about fishbowls, you will understand how this relates. We cannot sit together holding hands, singing praises to the Lord. We are commanded to go out into the world, and save the lost. We are to find them and bring them into the church, teach them what God's word says, tell them how much He loves them....and help them go out and find more lost people. We are not to be contented to sit in our pews with each other in our happy little world. We are to go find those who need Jesus the most, and bring them in. We catch em, He cleans em. This is very true.

Casting Crowns has a new song out:


Lord I want to feel your heart
and see the world through your eyes
I want to be your hands and feet
I want to live a life that leads



ready yourselves
ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
ready yourselves
ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears


THIS is how we should think. Now, you think about that.....

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His.
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and
His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever.
His faithfulness continues through all generations.


I love this. I looked up thanks in my trusty thesaurus:to express gratitude, grateful, obliged, indebted to, appreciation, acknowledgement to, tender thanks to, bless.

Then, I looked up praise: good words, compliments, approval, acclaim, regard, respect, esteem, tribute, extol, exalt, revere, celebrate

Those are amazing words to describe how we are to approach God. When was the last time you just told Him "thank you" ? I believe that God is a happy God, otherwise it would not be the Joy of the Lord being our strength.
God is good. He loves us so much. Sit with Him today and just love Him and tell Him thanks.
Think about that......

Things God has Said

God has been speaking to me and saying different things, depending on what is going on at the time. I listen. I have learned that God is infinitely smarter than me. :)

Earlier this week, I have seen the bumper sticker: Wag more. Bark less.

This is biblical. Love each other no matter what. Forgive each other and act as though no wrong has been committed. Keep our mouth shut. Our mouth gets us in more trouble than any other part of our bodies. Speak only good, helpful, happy things about each other. Or, if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. That's biblical. I bet if we were to list all the things our mom's and grandma's taught us...most of them would be right outta God's Word.

My pastor, who is awesome, spoke last night on keeping our mouths shut. The power of life and death are in the tongue. You get what you say. What are you saying?

So, as funny as that sticker is, and even though the devil meant it to be a liberal animal lover mantra....I see it as biblical. :) So, devil, in your face....

Think about that.....

Judgment

First, let me say be careful of the words that come out of your mouth. You can be chatting on the phone with a family member in innocent conversation, when it takes a turn. Then before you know it, you have gossiped and judged someone else....it was wrong and you need to repent. (That was me yesterday. So sorry Lord)

I was reading a book, and the man could not understand why something bad happened to one of his children and he blamed God. (we all have done that at one time or another) This man was being dealt with about why it was NOT God's fault even though God was being blamed. This man was clearly very angry at God because he had no one else to blame. So, the man was given a choice to send three of his children to Heaven and two of them to Hell. The man was horrified! He could not make such a choice. He asked if he could go instead of them. It was then that the man truly understood God's love for him....that is what God did. (think on that for a moment)


In the book, the man said how can God love his daughter and still let her go thru such a horrible thing?
"He doesn't stop a lot of things that cause Him pain. Your world is severly broken. You demanded your independence, and now you are angry with the One who loved you enough to give it to you. Nothing is as it should be, as God desires it to be, and as it will be one day. Right now your world is lost in darkness and chaos, and horrible things happen to those He is especially fond of."

"This was no plan of God's. God has never needed evil to accomplish His good purposes. It is you humans who have embraced evil and God has responded with goodness. What happened to [your daughter] was the work of evil and no one in your world is immune from it."


These are good quotes. No matter what, God loves us. More than we could ever imagine. He loves us when we are good, when we are bad, and when we need a good spanking. God always hugs us and says it's ok, just don't do it again. He tells us He loves us everyday. Did you see flowers today? Did you see fluffy clouds and sunshine? Did you see birds flying overhead? God tells you He loves us everyday.

Think about all of that.....

Are we fishers of men????

I saw one of my friends on Facebook say as churches we should be fishers of men, not keepers of the aquarium. Stop and think about what that means. It is truly profound and I thank that friend for sharing it.

Not too many weeks ago, my pastor spoke about if we are to go and get the unchurched and bring them in...are we ready for what that means. He went on to say that means the homosexual, the pimp, the child molester, the prostitute.......how will we handle that? Can we love and teach without judging? Do we realize that those people will not change overnight? Well, he made a valid point. Most churches are happy with the nice congretation they have. They don't want new people because that would make them have to actually DO what the Bible says to do, that is love. We like our little comfort zone and we like the status quo. Beware, that turns us into lukewarm Christians, and you know what God does with those...the vomits them out of His mouth.

Status quo is being a keeper of the church aquarium. God likes to stretch us. God wants us to learn and love more. He can't steer a parked car. Is your church parked, or are they moving forward listening to what God wants to do? My church is definitely moving forward. God has placed many people with a vision of what our church could do and could be. Fortunately, we have a pastor with that same vision. My church is NOT a keeper of the aquarium. We know how to fish...we are in the south for Pete's sake. Ha,ha,ha.

Now, that is not to say that there are some peeps in my church that try to keep their own little aquarium. Fortunately, most of us are on the move. Jesus said we should be fishers of men. Go into all the world and preach the good news of the gospel. We catch em, He cleans em. ( I love that.)

Now, are you a fisherman or do you keep an aquarium?? You think about that.....

Child Evangelism Fellowship

Today was the 2009 CEF Spectacular. It is a Christian event sponsored by local businesses in the area, and staffed by volunteers from many different churches and other places. It is totally FREE.

• popcorn
• drinks
• snow cones
• games with prizes
• inflatables galore
• magic show/entertainment

Everything was free!! There were booths that shared the Gospel, and the entertainment was all to share God's love. I have been to several of these events, and this was the first one in the Jim Graham Building at the Fairgrounds.

It was very crowded. I don't like lines myself, but I stood in many for my children. We got popcorn, snow cones, and drinks. They jumped in some of the inflatables, and saw part of the magic show. No one in the whole place gets paid. They are all volunteers. What a great outreach to the community!

I did wish the magician was more exciting. I found it boring. (I am not a kid, even though some who know me would beg to differ) There was one lady who did sign language to songs. She did one song at a time in between magic show. I found her the most interesting, and not because I have a sign choir. She chose current songs that spoke of God's love, and performed them with enthusiasm. I think if the starters of this event had put the word out that they needed performers...they would have had many to choose from, and it would not have been so redundant.

All in all, my children had a wonderful time, and I want to say THANK YOU to the people who put on this CEF event. Thank you to the sponsors and volunteers too.