OITM

The greatest part of what I do as a minister is to remind people. I do not declare new things. I remind of things already been said. So, with that said I feel that I must remind you to OITM. It is easy to try to figure out exactly what the story of our life is going to look like. If we focus on making the story work out the way we want it to we are most likely going to mess the story up. OITM and the story will be wonderful. It will be a story so big that you would not have even imagined it. You may be asking what OITM means. Obey In The Moment. Just do what God tells you to do in the moment. The story will be great.

What is it you must do right now?

I'm A Genius

The first call I got on the phone Monday morning was very encouraging. The person on the other end said you are a genius. Now, those who know me best, or at all, knows that is a bit of a stretch. The caller went on to say that when I had the idea of LIFEgroups, I was a genius. Why? Because it is a place where relationships are developed, nurtured and intertwined. There is something special that happens when a group of believers, disciples, Christians, get together and eat, pray, study, laugh, and cry together. Here is the deal on my genius. If each of us would just obey Christ no matter what anyone says, He makes us look smarter than we are. He is the genius. Most of us need more than a sermon or a lesson. We need friendships without the masks.

Dot-to-Dot

“So whoever knows the right thing to do

and fails to do it,

for him it is sin.”

(James 4:17)

I had a thought yesterday that I have really never thought deeply about. There were a few situations (the good kind) that kept my day very busy. Due to that fact, I was not able to do everything I desired to do. I could not be in all the places I desired to be. So, I asked two men from our faith family to make one of the connections that I was planning to make. After the day was complete and I had the opportunity to touch base with them, it was evident that it was a God thing. There are divine appointments that we are presented with and if we are walking by the Spirit in a close relationship with Christ, we will recognize them. All of that is said to make this point. When I was a child I loved to do dot-to-dot puzzles. A dot-to-dot puzzle has a page full of dots and a number beside each dot. When complete the puzzle is the outline of something that then can be colored to make it pretty. If one dot is connected to the wrong next dot, the whole picture becomes a mess. That is often how God works. He has a plan that He has determined He wants us involved in. He is connecting dots, touch points, divine appointments. If I am not in tune with the Spirit, I mess up His plan. The great thing about God is that He is constantly recalculating for us to get to where we are suppose to be. The events of yesterday had many dots that connect to make one beautiful picture. All the dots are not connected yet, but I know that God has already put the opportunities out there and is waiting on His people to make the connection. (Here is a side thought. Could it be that all the prophesy in the Bible, as part of their purpose, are to teach us that God is connecting dots, touch points, divine appointments? Remember the story of Ruth and Boaz and Obed and Jesse and David….Jesus?) So, quit trying to figure out the picture and just connect the dots. When we begin to try to complete the picture by looking at it we connect the wrong dots. But, when we just do what is next, the picture begins to take its proper shape. Start where you are, do what you can and use what you have. Obey in the moment. Follow Christ. When it is finished He will color it in for you and present you with a beautiful picture. Chance are you have looked at the above puzzle and tried to figure out what it is. I think it is a ............ See how easy it is to get distracted by the picture.