You Don't Have To Have This, In Order To Have This!

At Ransomville Free Methodist we are blessed to have the opportunity to add Pastor Greg Harp as an Associate on staff. Together as the Pastoral Team we share responsibility for leadership and equipping responsibilities for the people of RFMC.

One aspect of our duties means being able to respond to crisis situations and those things which occur outside normal "business hours". We take this very seriously, and so added a special cell phone number for people to use. Every other week Greg hands the phone to me, and a week later, I hand it back to him. Carrying one phone is cumbersome enough, but two phones bring additional challenges.

One morning as I was leaving the house and strapping on the phones, I asked myself the question, "Why do I have this? The obvious answer came back to me, but then another thought krept in - "I don't have to have this, in order to have this". What a strange thought. But in those crucial moments it ocurred to me - it is true. The phone we use has call forwarding. I don't have to carry the actually phone to have all the benefits of the phone.

Then I had another thought - I don't have to have the tangible, bodily Christ, to have the Christ. In Scripture when He ascended He said He was coming back, but He was sending us His Holy Spirit. "I'm with you always" is a great Truth and reality of Scripture, my life, and I hope your life!

Today remain connected to the greatest source of Life!

Essential or Required

From time to time I have these spurious thoughts -- they just seem to pop up without provocation. Early this morning as I was engaged in my Sunday morning routine, a thought leaped into my head. I have gathered with others for the purpose of worship, almost every Sunday I have been alive -- that's a lot of Sundays! I am currently 50, so todate I have had 2600 plus Sundays that are possible. I am guessing , but I think I have missed no more than 30. If my math is correct, than I have been in a minimum of 2, 570 services. I cannot fathom, not worshipping with God's people.

In 2004 I missed the bulk of my "not-in-church" Sundays due to being ill with pnuemonia. How I longed to be in worship - I craved being with God's people.

In the midst of these thoughts I had another, is worshipping with God's people essential? I mean, is it necessary for salvation? Countless people have told me that they love God, but can worship him wherever they happen to be, i.e. golf course, camping, you get the picture.

I am inclined to agree with them -- worshipping is not essential for salvation. I believe that worship is however required.

When you get a new whatever - -on the box it says "some assembly may be required". You don't have to screw on all the parts. You may be able to use it in some fashion for a period of time, but if you want the full usefulness, the full function of your product you had better grab your hammer, phillips screwdriver, glue, and hex head allen wrench.

I recently purchased a used LaSabre. Now I don't have to take my car in for routine maintenace, it's not essential, my car still goes down the road. if however I want to get the most out of my car, if I want to be able to have dependable transportation-- routnine maintenace is required.

The same is true with the life of a Christian. If we are going to be all that God wants us to be, we cannot "forsake the gathering of ourselves together". You can still know eternal life through Jesus Christ, but you will be missing out on what it truly means to be His follower.

This next Sunday I'll be the guy getting up and heading off to worship -- not because it is essential, but it is a requirement that helps me be all that God wants me to be, and I do it because I love spending time with God and His people in worship! Come join me this next Sunday!

Did ja ever?

One of the stops on my morning preparation route is taking a few moments to check my email -- it is one stop before considering to blog or not to blog. I suscribe to a free daily email from http://www.mikeysfunnies.com/ which provides some levity to face the day. A regular feature of this email is simply called "Thot For The Day" --- today, whether it was intentional or not, it was simply blank. Does this mean Mikey isn't thinking? His mind went blank? That today he did think, but his thought wasn't funny? I am definitely going to check my mail tomorrow, Lord willing, to see if he has a funny thought tomorrow.

I can identify with my friend Mikey. Two Sundays ago I preached a sermon that I was able to hit out of the park. As I prepared for yesterdays sermon, I felt like I was going to strike out, or worse yet, take a full-blown swing only to have it come off the bat and land directly in front of the plate -- did ja ever have that happen to you?

Wrestling with these thoughts (or lack of) I did have another thought. The greatest batters in baseball don't hit home runs or grand slams each time they come to the plate. Why do I feel like each Sunday when I preach I must hit it out of the park? Why do I feel that each day has to be better and more incredible than the next? Isn't preaching more than a week by week event? Isn't life more than one day?

Preaching and Life are journeys over an extended period of time. Some of those times will be on the mountain top, but many will also be in the valley. Reading Psalm 23 today gently reminded me that it is about green pastures, quiet streams, and yes even valleys of shadowy death, and days that are lack luster. God is Lord of all of those days! Today maybe a lack luster day (Monday to boot), but God is still God and he is walking with me -- and even as I think on these things -- I think I had a thought -- God is with me and He loves me!!! WoW! Did ja ever?

Post A Comment

Recently I received an email from someone who wanted to post a comment, but didn't know how to do it. Being a friend and a responsible, blogging pastor, I assured them there was a way, and I would go and discover how. When I came here to my illustrious blog I searched and couldn't find out how to connect to post.

Now I know I am male, but I do stop and ask for directions (not as frequently since I got a GPS system, but that is an entirely different post for a different day). Not wanting to let this person down, I decided to click the "help button" and search for answers. After a few minutes I realized I had not selected that feature when I set p the blog. A few moments later all was right with the blog. Now you can go to the end of each post and simply click on "Post A Comment" and in the next window, respond to your hearts content.

I was thinking - sometimes I feel like there are things I need to respond to, connect to, and yet I have no idea how to do it. I sometimes feel like I'm being asked to do something I can't do. Sometimes I feel like God is asking me to engage but I don't know where the link is.

That is the very time that I need to go to God's Word - the "help directory" and search for the answer. To my amazement I discover that God has provided the info that I need! He has already provided the means, I just hadn't discovered it or utilized it. God always provides what we need!

Take some time today to read God's help manual - The Bible! It has the answers you are looking for! And if you still can't find what you're looking for, don't hesitate to stop and ask for directions -- I'm as close as the "Post A Comment" button away.