there are people that are gifted in worship.
there are people also gifted in evangelism.
i was thinking about worship and evangelism and how the two play a role in the church.
evangelism serves to bring people to a relationship with Jesus Christ. through Jesus Christ our relationship is restored with God the Father. as a result, we are then able to worship God as His children.
worship serves to glorify God the Father. however, people have no need of worshipping God until they realize the broken relationship, which necessitates evangelism.
what a day that will be when all of God’s people are brought home, being able to worship God forever! 
-brian
Met with Bob Long today during lunch to go over Snow Daze items. Looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen over the Snow Daze weekend (last weekend in January).
I’m praying for changed lives. Big or small.
-brian
Less Alcohol, More Tea
Less Meat, More Vegetables
Less Salt, More Vinegar
Less Sugar, More Fruits
Less Eating, More Chewing
Less Words, More Actions
Less Greed, More Giving
Less Worry, More Sleep
Less Driving, More Walking
Less Anger, More Laughter
Around 700 BC a Jewish prophet named Isaiah made a prophecy.
“The Lord will give you a sign… a virgin shall give birth to a son and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14)
“Immanuel means God with us” (Matthew 1:23)
700 years later, the angel Gabriel was sent by God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth (Luke 1:26)
“A virgin was engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:27)
The angel said…”Fear not, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30)
“You shall conceive and have a son, and you will call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31)
“He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest and God shall give him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32)
“And he shall rule over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom shall have no end” (Luke 1:33)
The V formation greatly boosts the efficiency and range of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird in supporting its own weight in flight, in the same way a glider can climb or maintain height indefinitely in rising air. In a V formation of 25 members, each bird can achieve a reduction of induced drag by up to 65% and as a result increase their range by 71%. The birds flying at the tips and at the front are rotated in a timely cyclical fashion to spread flight fatigue equally among the flock members. The formation also makes communication easier and allows the birds to maintain visual contact with each other.
When I was driving into work this morning, I saw the weirdest thing. Birds flying in a straight line.
And then it hit me.
It’s windy out.
Not only is nature affecting us – with torn shingles, lawn furniture being blown, downed power lines, steeples toppled…. but it’s affecting the rest of God’s creation as well.
These birds are not flying at maximum efficiency because of the strong winds.
It will take longer for them to reach their destination. They will become tired faster. The flight south will be harder this year.
It made me wonder…. where is their destination? How long will it take for them to reach it? Will they reach it?
In some ways, those birds are a lot like us. What is our destination? What pitfalls or challenges will we face along the way? Will we even reach it?
-brian
“On Monday night of this week, at about midnight, I wrote a letter to the Lord. I didn’t know where to mail it, so I put it in my Bible (laughs). And I asked him, ‘Lord, you’ve gotta do something about my heart. You know, a lot of time’s gone by since I met you. And it’s startin’ to harden up, you know. It’s kind of natural. I wanna to have baby skin Lord. I wanna to have skin like a baby on my heart. It’s starting to get old and wrinkled and callous.’ It’s not ‘cause of anything I’m doing. It’s ‘cause of a lot of things I’m not doing. And I stayed up till about 2 in the morning writing this song…”
Oh Lord, you’re beautiful,
Your face is all I seek,
For when your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.
Oh Lord, you’re beautiful,
Your face is all I seek,
For when your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.
I want to take your word and shine it all around.
But first help me to just, live it Lord.
And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown.
For my reward is giving glory to you.
Oh Lord, please light the fire,
That once burned bright and clear.
Replace the lamp of my first love,
That burns with Holy fear.
I want to take your word and shine it all around.
But first help me to just, live it Lord.
And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown.
For my reward is giving glory to you.
Oh Lord, you’re beautiful,
Your face is all I seek,
For when your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.
Oh Lord, you’re beautiful,
Your face is all I seek,
For when your eyes are on this child,
Your grace abounds to me.
What about when you die?
Do you have to stand before God?
Apparently this is something that we should know.
John 5:28-29 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.
So the question is how do we live?
John 11:25-26 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
When should we believe?
2 Corinthians 6:2 For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
If you’ve heard people talk about Jesus, and you still don’t understand, ask them about Jesus. If you do understand what Jesus is all about, what are you waiting for?
I’m taking the time to check out my ancestors. Working on the Childers family tree. Got Stephen (brother in law by marriage) interested in it and so he’s doing his tree as well. Right now reaching out to family members to record facts that we best know how. Looking forward to going to the Johnson house to look at Laura’s family tree book and record the Johnson side of the tree. It will be a nice gift to give to our future kids….
Sarah and Christine – if you want to get a link to the family tree, let me know..
-brian
Scott is blunt, but what he says is true. If you want to make your child apathetic about their faith, follow these instructions.
A number of friends that I know were involved in sports growing up, myself included, never went on to play sports further beyond college, if they ever did sports in college at all.
What’s more important? Sports or your relationship with God?
-brian
It’s a nice rainy day… went to Starbucks to focus on getting a budget done. Then working on a car. Haley is up visiting Becky Kaiser. Gotta love easy going days…