Category: Faith

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An Ordinary Day

You probably have heard the news about the US Airways plane that crash landed in the Hudson river. It happened on Thursday January 15th. As I heard the reports and listened to the story I was drawn in. It is rare to hear that all the passengers survive a plane crash. So many things had to happen just right for this to not be a tragedy. From what I have heard the pilot had a lot to do with this outcome. He had a lot of experience and was actually an instructor on safety and even had his glider license.

The pilot was doing his job, and very well I might add. All of the training and practice he had done prepared him for that moment. God had him in that plane, on that day for a reason.

I also had to think about all the people on board that plane. What do you suppose they were thinking about when the pilot told them to brace for a hard landing? At that moment they had to be thinking about their family, loved ones and many I am sure were praying.
Stories like these should make us pause and examine our lives. Things can change in an instant, we don’t know what tomorrow holds. A phone call could change your life forever. It also reminds us that we need to be prepared for when we are needed to make a difference. When we have the ability to make a difference in peoples lives, we need to take the initiative. What is God preparing you for? What are you doing today that will make a difference in the future.

You see I believe that today matters. The things we are doing today are setting the stage for things we don’t even know about. God has the bigger perspective. He knows what is going to happen and he usually uses people to make a difference. He places us in the right place so that we can make a difference. When you are faithful in the little every day things, it prepares you for the bigger things. It may be as simple as calling someone that comes to your mind to encourage them. That may be exactly what they needed that day.

The pilot and crew and all the rescue workers did a tremendous job. They did what they had prepared for. They worked together to make a difference. An ordinary day turned into an extraordinary day in a moment.

Are you prepared for your next God moment? Are you ready to step up when prompted to do something extraordinary?
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Why Change?

I was reading today and came across this quote. It really resonated with me and challenged me. I hope it does the same for you. This is from “How People Change” by Timothy Lane & Paul David Tripp.

“Making us holy is God’s unwavering agenda until we are taken home to be with him. He will do whatever he needs to produce holiness in us. He wants us to be a community of joy, but he is willing to compromise our temporal happiness in order to increase our Christlikeness.”

“God is not working for our comfort and ease; he is working on our growth. At the very moment we are tempted to question his faithfulness, he is fulfilling his redemptive promises to us. Change is the norm for everyone, and God is always at work to complete this process in us.”

If you are a Christ follower, you are in process. God is at work in every area of your life, pushing for holiness. He is drawing us to him, so that we can become more like him. He won’t force it on us, but his desire is for us to be holy like He is holy. Are you holy in your relationships, your work, your family, your finances, your Internet activity, your conversations, your days off, your vacations? Where is God working on you? Where are you too comfortable? How are you changing?

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God at Work

Today I had a really cool story happen right in front of my eyes. This past Sunday at church someone stopped me and said he would like to donate a car to a needy family. I told him that I did not have anyone in need of that right now, but that I would let him know if I came across anyone with that need.

Well today it happened. I got a call from a single mom on disability. She was very stressed out, because she had lost her child support, because her daughters father had lost his job. That had put her behind on all her bills. She had bought a cheap car recently, only to find out it needed a new computer. The cost was half of what she paid for the car, and she still owed money on the car.

I told her I may have another option for her. She told me she had been praying a lot lately and had been going to church and trying to do the right thing, but things only seemed to be getting worse. I called my friend and told him the situation and he said that is exactly what he was looking for. He said he would have the car ready in a week.

When I called her back with this, she was blown away. I could hear a difference in her voice. I believe it was a faith building moment for her, a defining moment. I will be working with her on some other issues as well, but I believe that God is already working in her life. My prayer for her is that her personal relationship with Jesus Christ gets more intimate through all of this. This act of compassion and kindness could be what she needed to break out of the problems she has been facing. She still has some work to do, but this helps big time. God is good.

God works through people, what story is He writing through your life?

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Here and Now

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3

I love to talk and write about spiritual growth. Many of my posts talk about how to grow in all areas of our lives. This passage of Scripture gives some great insight into how that happens. You see, the power to grow doesn’t come from us, it comes from God. Peter talks about having everything we need for life, but then adds and godliness. The second word is meant to qualify the first. It might have been easy for us to interpret this as eternal life, if the “and godliness” had not been added. I believe he is talking about this life, right now.

Godliness is a God-honoring life from the time I make a commitment to Christ until the time I die. Until we fully understand what Jesus did for us, we cannot fully live life with godliness. This provision is more than following commandments, applying principles and claiming promises in Scripture. God’s provision for a godly life now, is Christ himself. He gave himself, so that we could be like him.

In Galatians 2:20, Paul says “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” The key word I see is “in”. We have Christ in us, we have become the temple where God is. He actually lives within us now by His spirit. Because of that presence in us, we have everything we need to be the person we are supposed be and do the things that God is asking us to do.

If we are not fully aware of Christ’s presence in us, we tend to live blindly. Going about our daily lives, missing much of the life God has for us. We tend to avoid hard things, and are easily overwhelmed. But if we have a clear sense of who we are, it gives us the hope and courage we need to face any challenge or temptation. When was the last time you called on the name of Jesus in the face of temptation. You have everything you need to live a godly life right now.

None of us are perfect like Jesus was, but He has given everything we need to be like him. Peter goes on to say this: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have everything we need to be effective and productive for God’s kingdom.

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Running in December

Some of you know that I have been running to get exercise. I have run in two 5k’s and am looking forward to running more in 2009. During this time of year it is difficult to get outside to run, so I have been running some on the treadmill. I am a fair weather runner. Yesterday was an unusually warm day, it was in the low 60’s here in Walnut Creek. I took advantage of the nice day and went for a run.

This was a different kind of run for me. About half way through my 2.5 mile run I started talking to God. I started talking about how I want to be different this coming year. How I want to be more like Jesus in all areas of my life. I named the roles that I have like husband, son, brother, employee, co-worker, friend, small group leader, pastor, and mentor.

We all play a variety of roles in our life. Each of those roles are important, but are not who we are. Those are the areas that we have influence with other people. I want to use that influence to Glorify God. I talked to God on that run about having a life of worship. To worship God in each of the roles that I have.

As I was running, I kept thinking that this run is the beginning of a long marathon. I asked God to help me keep running, not along the road, but in life. To run a marathon you must run patiently, and to struggle through some pain. It also takes some hard work and preparation to run a race. It is more than just jogging a few laps. The spiritual life is hard work, just like the physical life. If you want to be in great physical shape you must eat well and exercise well.

If you want to go deeper with God, you must eat well and exercise well. It takes more than just going to church. A life of worship includes things like; prayer, reading your Bible, forgiving people, giving grace, having healthy relationships, giving generously, volunteering your time, working with excellence, doing what you say, doing what is right, even when no one is looking, sharing your faith with others, living with purity & integrity. It is loving God with all your being and loving people deeply.

In 2009, I want to love God and love people, like never before. This is an adventure, a race through some rough terrain, with some rough people. It could get a little dirty and you may fall down, but the finish is worth the effort. Every time I go running, I will be reminded of the race we are all in. Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Hebrews 12:1-3 and 2 Timothy 4:7-8 for more on running the race. Start running!

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The Identity Trap

I have been studying a book on “How People Change” by Tim Lane & Paul David Tripp. I have only gotten into the first chapter, but already am learning a bunch of good stuff.

When I meet with people, I am always trying to help them make changes in their life. I love to coach people and encourage people to grow. Most often people have lost focus and perspective in their lives. They have become blind in some areas of their life. They have bought into the schemes of busyness, money, happiness and performance. I’m too busy to spend time with God every day. I don’t make enough money. God wants me to be happy. I need to perform for people to like me. Those are just a few lies people believe.

In their book, Tripp & Lane talk about spiritual blindness. The first spiritual blindness is that of identity. “Many Christians do not have a Gospel perspective on who they are.”

“This lack of Gospel identity shows up in two ways. First, many Christians underestimate the presence and power of indwelling sin. They don’t see how easily entrapped they are in this world of snares.” Read Galatians 6:1. They don’t grasp the comprehensive nature of the war that is raging within the heart of every believer (Read Romans Ch. 7:7-25). They’re not aware of how prone they are to run after God replacements. They fail to see that their greatest problems exist within them, not outside of them.”

Did you catch that? Read it again slowly. Your greatest problem is the daily struggle that goes on inside you. The struggle for your heart and mind. The stuff you think about and the stuff you believe. That is why the Bible says that the truth will set you free. Believing and thinking about what is true sets you free. Your true identity sets you free.

Here is the second way our false identity shows up.

“If who I am in Christ does not shape the way I think about myself and the things I face, then I will live out of some other identity. Often in our blindness, we take on our problems as identities. While divorce, depression, and single parenthood are significant human experiences, they are not identities. Our work is not our identity, though it is an important part of how God intends us to live. For too many of us, our sense of identity is more rooted in our performance than it is in God’s grace. It is wonderful to be successful at what God called you to do, but when you use your success to define who you are, you will always have a distorted perspective.”

So my question for you today is this, who are you? Do you view yourself through the lens of the Gospel or through the lens of this world? Have you underestimated the level of sin that lives in you and the daily battle you are in? Have your problems become your identity? Maybe your work or ministry has become your identity?

The best gift you will ever receive is your true identity as a child of God. Having that identity will change your perspective and change your life. Keep growing in your faith, character and leadership.

Merry Christmas.

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Tribute to Grandpa

I grew up in a Christian home and have been blessed to have Christian parents and grandparents. On my mom’s side, both grandparents have passed away. On my dad’s side both grandparents are still living. David & Erma Stutzman have been married for 66 years. For most of those years David was a pastor, working a full time job, raising a family and pastoring a Conservative Mennonite Church. My grandpa was also an entrepreneur, as he started a Christian books store in Sugarcreek.

I appreciate the Christian heritage that has been passed down from one generation to the next. The more I see other families without that heritage, the more I appreciate where I came from. Christmas is always a special time for my family, as we don’t get to see each other as often as we like. For Christmas this year my Grandpa & Grandma sent a Christmas card to Vikki and I. In that card was a letter from Grandpa. He loves to write and to read, maybe that is where I get my love of writing and reading books. I also share that entrepreneural spirit and love of shepherding God’s people.

I wanted to share some of that letter in my Blog:

“Jesus met them saying, All Hail. (Matthew 28:9) The angel had informed the woman that He is risen, come and see, they came and saw. With fear and great joy they ran to bring the disciples the wonderful news. That’s when Jesus met them. Imagine the thrill of meeting him and hearing His; “All Hail”. What a contrast to what they saw on Mt. Calvary. They fall down at His feet and worship Him. A most wonderful experience. I long for that, come and see, day when I can fall down at His feet and worship Him with thanksgiving. Just maybe hear, “all hail”.

The all hail is possible because in God’s eternity past, through His determinate counsel, He sent His son, not only to Bethlehem, but to Calvary. (Acts 2:23) God through His foreknowledge knew man’s need. He also knew there was only one way to redeem mankind. So God’s determinate action sent Jesus to Bethlehem, Calvary, the empty tomb, and seated at the Father’s right hand. That made complete redemption for mankind possible. That thrills me!

Another “All Hail Christmas Season” is upon us. The angel said to Mary “Hail”. (Luke 1:28) The year 2008 is slipping away. As we celebrate the season, let’s retain that all hail spirit. Its fullness date may be nearer than we think. That will be a thrilling moment.” (David Stutzman)

Grandpa then shares some things about how they are getting along and how thankful they are for family and friends that help them as they grow older. Their health is slipping, but their spirit is strong and their focus clear. Here are some more quotes from his letter that I treasure:

“God knows what He wants to accomplish in our lives and He knows what it takes to accomplish those goals. He never wastes any suffering. If we trust Him, He will bring some good out of all our varied experiences. That’s one of the blessings of following Jesus.”

“In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Paul says that afflictions work for us while we look to the eternal. So let’s hold lightly everything that is not eternal. Through our affliction times let’s retain that eternal focus and gain that exceeding and eternal weight of glory. All Hail, I’ll go for that!”

“We have done a lot of traveling in our days, but our traveling days are over. However, we have one more special trip planned. The date is uncertain, the one way ticket all arranged, the arrival is safely guaranteed, the destination, our eternal home. So until then, let’s keep our chins up, our knees down and our eyes focused on the eternal.” (David Stutzman)

Thanks Grandpa, that is the best Christmas present I will get this year. I love both of you.

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Salt Shaker

I have been reading the book of Mark. This is the shortest of the four Gospels. Mark is writing to Roman Christians, trying to show them that Jesus was the Messiah. He talks a lot about what Jesus did and basically shares the important highlights of Jesus’ ministry.

At the end of Chapter 9, verse 50 really jumped out at me. I have been thinking about this one verse for several days now and thought I would write about it.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Jesus

Jesus was the best, at saying a lot in a few words. Many preachers today say a lot of words and but don’t say a whole lot.

Just before this quote from Jesus he was warning his disciples about temptation. He was telling them to get rid of anything that may cause you or even tempt you to sin. Even to the extreme of cutting off your hand or plucking out your eye. I guess He wanted us to get the point.

He concludes by talking about salt. Salt is good, because it adds flavor to food and it counteracts decay in food. But if salt gets stale and loses it saltiness it is of little value to add flavor or preserve food.

This is a great analogy for Christians. Christians are supposed to add flavor to the world around them. In other words, we are to influence the world for Jesus Christ. We also are here to prevent moral decay in the world, by living right lives and honoring God with all we do. By loving other people, even the unlovable ones.

So why do many Christians lose their saltiness? We drift, we get lukewarm, we lose our focus, we get judgemental, we get busy and distracted.

Imagine a salt shaker on your table. It holds the salt, but the salt can only get out if someone shakes it. The local church is the salt shaker, this is where the salt can come and rub up against each other and get salty. It is a place to be encouraged, challenged and refueled. It is a place to build community, serve, give and care for each other. Then the Holy Spirit does the shaking and gets the salt out into the world. The church with the strong hand of the Holy Spirit, shakes the salt out into the community.

The salt does no good, if it stays in the salt shaker. It needs to get out of the bottle and into the world. It is the same in the local church. Each person that calls themselves a Christian needs to get out into the world and be an influence. It means living righteous lives and loving God with everything we have seven days a week. It means loving other people as much as we love ourselves and God. It is having our actions match up with our words.

Jesus tells us to have salt in ourselves. How salty are you? Are people influenced in a positive way when they come into contact with you? Is your personal life decaying? Are your relationships decaying? What flavor are you adding to the relationships you have?

Got Salt?

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Serving Food

I am on the board of the Greater Dover/New Philadelphia Food Pantry. The Food Pantry started this year by combining some existing church food pantries into one. The neat thing was how many local churches joined in this effort. We now have over 20 churches that are supporting this pantry in some way. Some provide volunteers, some provide food items and many give financially. The need for an organized local food pantry is greater than most people realize. There are many people in our community that have a very hard time getting enough food for their families. I have met single parents, grandparents and people that have lost their jobs recently. All are grateful for a local pantry to get emergency food items.

Over the past few months we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people seeking help. I have noticed this at the Church as well. The Pantry had been housed in the Salvation Army Church in Dover. They had been running a food pantry, and agreed to allow the new pantry to use their facility and roll their pantry into the new one. The Salvation Army has moved into a new building and had offered space there, but we needed a larger area to grow and serve more people. I want to thank the Salvation Army of Dover for their generosity and help in getting this pantry going.

This past week we moved into the old Buehler’s building in Dover. The Church of the Harvest owns the building and was not using the back part. It has a loading dock and ample space to store food. Many volunteers worked hard to get the space ready for Friday’s distribution. The Church of the Harvest graciously has allowed us to move into this space. We are paying for the extra utilities and for the improvements and repairs, but no monthly rent.

The best way to support the pantry is by giving money or volunteering your time. They are able to buy large volumes of food from the Akron Food Bank for penny’s on the dollar. We recommend instead of bringing in food items, that people donate money.

Every Friday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm we distribute food. We are expanding that to Thursday evenings in 2009 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. My wife Vikki and I went and helped serve on Friday. It was NewPointe Community Church’s turn to provide volunteers. I took some pictures to give you an idea of how the operation works. We served 150 families in two hours. People can only come once per month right now, so that translates into nearly 600 families a month that are being served food through the Greater Dover/New Philadelphia Food Pantry.






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Close Call

I just finished a short book called “Drawing Close” by Graham Cooke. This is the second book I have read by Cooke. The first was “When the Lights Go Out”. Both of these books have been a great help to me. The book helps you to have a new perspective on “being with” God. No matter what is going on around you, you can always be with God. Cooke reminds us to be like Mary, not Martha in how we approach and spend time with God (see Luke 10:38-42). He talks a lot about how to experience peace, even in the storms of life.

Here are some quotes I really found challenging and helpful:

“What you take in with you comes out and is distributed. If you enter a room with bitterness, bitterness is what you distribute. If you enter a room with peace, peace is what is given away. Whatever is in you comes out.”

“God likes to hide-in fact, He invented the game of Hide and Seek. In certain seasons, He will reveal Himself to us; in others, He will hide from us. God only hides because He wants to teach us to look for Him. We all want Him to be manifest in our lives, all the time, but God sometimes wants to hide and draw us deeper into His presence.”

“God is hiding in plain sight, teaching us to look for Him in different ways. God is unpredictable but completely consistent. We always know where we are with God because He never changes, but we seldom know what He’s going to do next.”

“God hasn’t called us to do the reasonable, the possible or the attainable. He has called us to do the outrageously impossible.”

I hope those quotes inspire you today to go deeper with God. He is waiting for all of us to get closer to Him.