This morning I read Mark 4:10-20 and spent a few minutes and reflected on it in my journal.  I thought I’d share my thoughts.

“After hearing Jesus’ parable regarding the sower, the disciples approach him in private and asked him what it meant.  Listen to how Jesus responded, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of G0d, but for those outside everything is in parables.”

We have been given the “secret of the kingdom of God”!  We know about Jesus.  We know he’s the Son of God.  We know he’s the savior of the world.  BUT what are we doing with that secret?  The reality is that this “secret” must be and desperately needs to be shared.  We can’t keep it to ourselves.  Part of loving God is also loving others.

Think about the farmer or sower in the story.  He sowed seed in four different places: path, rocky ground, among thorns, and on good soil.  The question that comes to my mind is what kind of farmer does that?  Well, not a single one!  But the point of this story is spiritual.  When it comes to people, we don’t know what kind of soil they are.  We don’t know if the seed will grow or not.  The final truth is that this secret must be shared everywhere we go.  The “secret” goes with us everywhere we go.  The light that we have must be taken to a dark world.  Is it a coincidence that the very next story in Mark’s gospel is titled “A lamp under a basket”?  Definitely not!

So what will I do with the secret that’s been given to me?”

What will you do with that secret?  You have no idea when that seed will fall on good soil.

Or have you ever asked Jesus to come into your life, and forgive you of your sins?  If not, I want to urge you to do that today.  Don’t put it off until tomorrow!

Tommy

Check out these great words from the first chapter of Acts:

5 – …but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…

8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

14 – All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Here are a few reasons why these are great words:

1. All followers of Christ have the Holy Spirit.
2. The Holy Spirit gives followers of Christ power.  No need to be fearful or shy away from God’s leading in our lives.
3. The disciples were unified.
4. The disciples devoted themselves to prayer.

This afternoon I find myself dreaming.  No, I wasn’t sleeping.  I was dreaming about the future, about potential ministry opportunities, about River Oaks.  I don’t know what God has in store for us, but I’m praying for God’s best.

Let’s passionately pursue God together.

Let’s offer ourselves up to him, allowing him to use us to help others come to Christ, grow in their faith, and make a difference in the lives of other people (many of you would recognize this as Go Grow Show).

What are you dreaming about?  When was the last time you took some time to pursue God and listen to what He has in store for you?  If you do this, you may not get all of the answers right away.  I certainly didn’t, but in the meantime I’m going to continue to be faithful to what is directly in front of me and leave the future to God.

Tommy

This morning I came across some refreshing words from Psalm 63 that I want to share with you.  Before you read on, I want to encourage you to pray a simple prayer from your heart.  Something like this – “God, as I read these words, open up my heart to them.  Use them to draw my heart closer to you.”

Now take a few minutes to read and meditate over these words.  You may even need to read them over a few times to let it sink in.

O God, you are my God;

earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

- Psalm 63:1-4 (ESV)

Dear God

Help me to seek you with everything I have.  May my soul thirst for you.  May I bless you as long as I live.  God, I chose you.

What will you chose today?  Who will you pursue?

Tommy

This morning I entered the office and resisted the phone message…resisted opening my email…why – well because of “My Rule of Life” (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out these two posts: New Beginning: A Rule for Life and My Rule of Life).  Wednesday is a day where I make sure I spend time with God before anything else.

Well in my time I came across a cool verse:

Proverbs 11:14 (ESV) – “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”

One of the reasons this verse stood out to me is because of my role as a pastor.  I want the people God has entrusted to my care to be safe.  I don’t want them to fall.  So what needs to happen.  Beyond making sure that I’m depending on God, I need to have a group of counselors around me.  People that I can talk to.  People that I can bounce ideas and situations off of.  I’m glad to report that I have people like that in my life.  But at the same time, I feel like I need more.  I also feel like I need to be more intentional with those people.

What about your life?  Do you have counselors in your life?  If you think you do, are they people who are close to God and can offer wise advice?  That’s the kind of people you need.

T

Well before I get into sharing my rule of life, I want to explain a couple of things:

First of all, there is no “right” rule of life for everyone.  Every on is different, and some of the things that work for me may not work for you.

Secondly, this is my rule for now.  Most likely it will get tweak along the journey.

Third, if and when you decide to establish a rule of life for yourself be realistic and at the same time stretch yourself.  People typically go way over board (ex: read the Bible through 3 times a year, pray for an hour on my knees everyday at 4am, and so on…) and fail, or make it too easy (ex: read one verse a day).

So there are a few thoughts.  Now to my Rule of Life…as you’ll see I’ve broken it up based on things I’d like to do weekly, monthly, and yearly.  I’ve also tried to be specific about when I’m going to do things and where.  If not, a busy life of marriage, kids, family, friends, and work would set me up to fail.  So here goes nothing: (more…)

Over the last several weeks I have felt a need for a new beginning in a few areas of my life.  One simply has to do with my office.  I’m moving down the hall.  A couple friends of mine are going to help me do that today!  Yeah, I’m pretty excited about that.

Secondly, and more importantly has to do with my spiritual life.  Why is it that when life gets busy, it’s our spiritual life that gets squeezed out?  Check out this quote from Dallas Willard, “Spiritual life is one of interaction with a personal God and it is delusion to think this can be carried on sloppily.”  Did you catch that?  It’s delusional to think that our spiritual life can be effective if it’s carried out “sloppily.”

Ruth Barton also said, “if we look closely at the way we live day to day, we may well notice that our approach to spiritual transformation is much more random and haphazard than our approach to finances, home improvements and weight loss!  Many of us try to shove spiritual transformation into the nooks and crannies of a life that is already unmanageable, rather than being willing to arrange our life for what our heart most wants.  We think that somehow we will fall into transformation by accident.”

Well I certainly don’t want to approach my spiritual life with God “sloppily.”  That is why I have developed “A Rule for Life” (this term isn’t original to me).  It really is a “Rule.”  Not because my faith is about rules and regulations, but because I want God to be a priority in my life.

Tomorrow I’ll share with you my Rule in hopes it will help you begin to establish one for yourself.

Last night I finished a book called Monk Habits For Everyday People.  It was an interesting book and had several great things to say.  One of the main things that stood out to me was this quote:

“Live simply so that others may simply live.”

What an amazing quote to think about?  Too often we can fall into the trap of living our lives focused on ourselves and fail to take the needs of others into account.  Check out this story (also in the same book):

“Years ago, when Apple began producing personal computers, one day I raved about the features of the latest Mac that I coveted while a friend prepared a meal for us in her kitchen.  Finally she stopped peeling potatoes, looked up, and asked, ‘And how will this serve the kingdom of God?’  I never purchased that computer, and I thank my friend for her gentle reminder.”

How would our lives changed if we viewed everything we want through

the lens of “how will this serve the kingdom?

Tommy

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you’re constantly reminded that you need to depend on God.  Well it’s been one of those weeks for me, which is coming right after a very busy weekend, but good one at church.  It’s as if Satan’s trying to put obstacles in my way to take my eyes off of God, but I’m not going to allow him to prevail.  I will choose to depend.  I will choose to let Matthew 5:3 ring true, which says “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs” (New Living Translation).  Most versions say “poor in spirit.”  The idea here is that God blesses people who realize that it’s not all about themselves, it’s not all about their gifting.  It’s all about God.  They are people with poor, lacking spirits.  They realize that they need God.

Well I need God.  I’d appreciate your prayers especially over the next couple days.  Thanks!

Tommy

“Will you rub my back?”

“Yeah as long as you rub mine.”

Have you ever had one of those conversations?  I know I’ve had many of them.  At times Karissa will ask me if I will rub her back, and honestly I have to admit that at that moment I’m thinking “Yeah, if you rub my back.”  But what does that attitude say about me?  Does it display the kind of love God calls me to have for my wife?  Does it display sacrificial love?  Certainly not!

In Luke 14:12-14 Jesus says something very interesting to a man who invited him to a banquet.  Check it out:

“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.  You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Kind of interesting huh?  When was the last time you did something for someone who couldn’t repay you?

On May 21-22 our students will be participating in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine.  This is an event where our students go 30 hours without eating to raise awareness for world hunger and seek to raise money to help “feed the hunger.”  This is a great opportunity for them to do something for someone they don’t know.  Someone that can’t repay them.  Someone that they won’t meet this side of heaven. 

So what can you do today for someone who won’t be able to repay you?  Maybe it will be as little as giving someone you love a back rub without expecting anything in return.  Maybe it’s something bigger.

Tommy