Opportunities for Obedience

2 perspectives on being obedient to God:

1. "I have to be obedient to God & follow his rules or else..." (Obligation)
2. "I get the privilege of being obedient to God when He gives me opportunity" (Opportunity)

Which line of thought do you usually take?

Let me give an example:

I was talking to J on the phone this morning (he's a young crop farmer in our church). He was so excited to tell me something that happened to him yesterday. One of his farm hands (an 82 yr. old man) lost his last sibling the other day & had been down & disturbed by it. J was talking to him about it & felt compelled to ask whether he ever trusted Jesus w/ his life. The man said no but wanted to & right there on the farm prayed & trusted his life to Jesus. J not only encouraged him to share his good news w/ the other farm hands but J is going to church w/ him on Sunday & walking w/ him to publically profess his faith in Jesus.

J never said he felt the pressure of obligation, but rather became aware of the incredible opportunity God gave him to be obedient. When we see God giving us opportunities to be obedient & respond rather than only feeling the guilt of obligation to be obedient, it will not only change our perspective but begin to revolutionize our relationship with Jesus.

Pay attention today for the opportunities of obedience God will give you.

Our Little Leprechaun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Molly's feelings would be hurt if we left her out of the fun!

Amazing Grace

Watch one of the most beautiful performances of one of the greatest songs ever written.



http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271552717/bctid1913313052

5 Month Pics

Since Cade turns 6 months old in 48 hours (Wednesday) I thought I had better post these 5 month pics so I can post the 6 month ones after that. He hasn't changed a whole lot in appearance other than maturing some in the face & obviously getting bigger. He smiles & laughs all the time. He loves playing on his activity mat rolling over & back. He's not showing much interest in going anywhere while on his tummy, but his arms & legs are getting stronger. He's not quite sitting up yet on his own, but is getting close. We had a pretty quick & easy time getting these pics. You can see his left wrist is wet b/c he keeps his hands/wrists in his mouth all the time.

He takes up more of the chair than he used to. Smiles & giggles are much easier to come by these days.

"Hey, this chair is pretty comfy, I'll just prop my arm us & relax."

He took his hand out of his mouth long enough to laugh at silly mommy making funny faces & weird noises.

"This photo shoot is getting boring, I'll check out the colors on this pillow."

Valentine's Day

Last weekend was a busy one for our family. Saturday was my birthday so we celebrated that & Valentine's Day together (it happens every year). My sister's family came to visit for the 1st time & got to see what life is like for us in LA. In the midst of all that we had a "Dinner & A Movie" night at church on Valentine's day. We had about 140 people attend & had a great night together eating, fellowshiping, & watching a movie. It was a good outreach event for our church.

Cade had his 1st Valentine's Day, but he didn't seem to notice it being any different than any other day. He did get his 1st Valentine in the mail from Erin's parents. Below is a 3-picture progression of his response. He also got a singing bear that he's not so sure about, he just looks at it funny as the ears wiggle.

I discovered this year a few more people who share the same birthday as me. Two other young men in our church are cupid babies like me. One of them was at the dinner & movie so his wife & Erin ordered a cake so everyone could celebrate. It was the biggest birthday party I've ever had (even though it wasn't really a party for me). My mom came to town on Monday & stayed a couple of days. She brought Cade's valentine gift & he will enjoy the new clothes & blow up toy real soon. (Sorry no pics mom, but we took them w/ your camera).

Entering His World

When was the last time you completely put yourself aside & entered another person's world?

Friday night I was home w/ Cade while Erin has a ladies party at the church. I had been w/ him all days as I was off & Erin was substitute teaching. That evening after dinner I decided I was completely devoting myself to Cade. I turned off the TV. I didn't pick up my book. I didn't do dishes, laundry, or anything else. I entered Cade's world. He played, stared off into space, drooled, laughed, babbled, drooled some more, kicked me like 100 times. I watched his facial expressions, tried to figure out what he was thinking or saying. I paid attention to nothing else but him. I did my best to determine what he wanted. I changed him, fed him, & then put him to bed.

After all this I began to think about my day. All day long, though I was taking care of him, I was doing the things I needed to do or wanted to do & brought Cade along w/ me. He sat in the high chair while I did dishes & ate lunch. He played on his activity mat alone while I put up laundry. I realized though I was w/ him all day I was forcing him mostly to surrender to my agenda rather than trying to understand his. The most meaningful part of my day was the time devoted completely to him.

Our marriages would be better if we intentionally devoted time completely to our spouses. No distractions. No implementing our own agendas or leading the conversations.

Our parenting would be better if we intentionally devoted time completely to our children. No distractions. No dragging them around & forcing them to meet the demands of our agenda but rather submitting to their agenda.

Most importantly, our spiritual lives would be revolutionized if we devoted time each day competely to Jesus. No distractions. No trying to fit Jesus into our plans or agendas. Not trying to get him to meet our demands, but rather discovering his desires for us & going along w/ it.

Super Sunday & Sad Monday

We had a great time in worship yesterday as a church. We were down a bit as far as attendance numbers, but the spirit was high. God's presence was truly among us as I believe God began to lift some heavy burdens off the hearts of many who surrendered to Him. We're still experiencing a great number of visitors & hopefully we can get 'em back & keep them. We also had about 40 women register for the new women's discipleship study on Esther by Beth Moore. We're spending a lot of time planning & implementing change that hopefully will bring growth.

Last night we has Super Bowl parties all over town in various locations. More people participated than usually attend a typical Sunday night worship service...hmmm...funny how that usually happens. It was great times fellowshiping together, eating together, & building relationships. The only non-Super thing about yesterday was the Steelers won. Everyone in the media wanted them to & I guess the officials did too b/c for some reason they didn't review the last fumble. If it was ruled incomplete & the penalty on the Steelers was inforced it would have been one more play from the 29. (But hey, that's not really all that important)

Today is sad Monday because we took Cade to the babysitter for the 1st time. Erin has began substitute teaching & will be all week long. She really wants to be home w/ him full-time but she is teaching a few days here & there to help w/ the family finances. It also gets her out of the house. I can only imagine how sad it will be once he trots off to school for the 1st time. He will be 5 months old on Wednesday. Parenting is great. Pastoring is great. All because God is great!

Have a great Monday.