Friday, April 18, 2014

I will give you rest



“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 
Matthew 11:28


As I was working on the message for Easter, and our new series titled Got Junk, I came across this. Richard Clancy, lead pastor at Daystar Church in Georgia, wrote it.
He gave us something to think about.  We all want to come to Jesus, right?  I’m assuming if you’re reading the blog of a pastor, you probably want to either be with Jesus or learn more about how to come to Jesus.  I was preparing the message for church on a Sunday morning, on Easter morning, and i was thinking that certainly if someone comes to church on Easter it’s because they want to come to Jesus, or at least learn more about coming to Jesus.   
But Clancy said that maybe you think that you’ve got all these burdens; and you need to lay them at Jesus’ feet.  But Jesus said, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  So think about it this way, if we have come to Jesus, then He has already given us His rest.  So if you have no rest in your life, maybe that’s a sign that you have no Jesus in your life.  Maybe it's a sign that you really haven't come to Jesus yet.  
I was convicted by this.  Especially the days and weeks leading up to Easter, things seem to go by so quickly, and we're, and least I, am so busy.  But if you're convicted by this too, I encourage you give this some thought.  Reflect on it, pray on it. And leave a comment.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Is it really yours?


I heard the story of a woman who had finished shopping and returned to her car. She found four men inside the car. She dropped her shopping bags, drew a handgun, and screamed, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car." Those men did not wait for a second invitation; they got out and ran like crazy.

The woman, somewhat shaken, loaded her shopping bags and then got into the car. But no matter how she tried, she could not get her key into the ignition. Then it dawned on her: her car was parked four or five spaces away! She loaded her grocery bags into her own car and then drove to the police station to turn herself in. The desk sergeant to whom she told the story nearly fell off his chair laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four men were reporting a carjacking by an old woman with thick glasses and curly white hair, less than five feet tall, and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed.

You see, she thought it was her car, but it really belonged to someone else. We think our lives are our own, but they really belong to God.

—Greg Laurie, "A Time to Worship,"

What is the Church?

The Apostle Paul would whole-heartedly answer that question as the Body of Christ.   And I think that all of us would agree with him But ...