Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. – Psalm 107:2 (KJV)
Have you been redeemed? What does it mean to be redeemed? From what enemies have you been redeemed? How have you let others know about your redemption?
At the Flint River Presbytery’s “Celebration of Faith” we had a wonderful time. Lloyd Ogilivie did a wonderful job sharing the Word of God with us the three days he was there. The people there (me included) were inspired, moved to action, able to know themselves as loved, and God knows what else, as Ogilivie’s deep voice shared with us the words God had written upon his heart.
By the final morning of the Celebration of Faith we were prepared for an excellent sermon. That is the thing about excellence, it prepares us for more excellence (there is a sermon in that statement for a later time). We were not disappointed! An excellent sermon came from the mouth of this man of God as he sent us off with a hope that the Spirit of the ever-living Lord imprinted upon our hearts.
When he was finished he began to leave the stage. I thought to myself, “Garrett start clapping, that was great, God has been here, we must acknowledge it!” I looked around to see if someone else would begin clapping. Soon it was too late, Ogilivie had left and we did not applaud the joyous words of God we had heard.
At the Sunday school I was teaching after the service a woman said, “I wished we would have clapped when Dr. Ogilivie was done.”
Another person said with pride, “I almost did!” forgetting that almost means he did not. And so the conversation went for a moment. Here we were, a room full of people wishing that we had acknowledged we had been in the presence of God, and yet we did nothing.
Each one of us knows how good God is to some degree! Each one of us has experienced the redemption of the Lord at one point! Each of us has felt entrapped by enemies of all kinds and felt the hand of God grab onto us and redeem us. Yet there have been too many times we said nothing. Today let us decide to say something, to applaud the God who creates, the Jesus who saves, and the Holy Spirit who still moves everywhere sharing the good news with us! At the end of our Sunday school time that day we applauded, and somewhere God smiled that we learned our lesson. “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so!”
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Someone to Trust
“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” – Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV)
Do you know your God as a faithful God? How has God kept his covenant of love in your life? How have you kept God’s commands? When have you called upon God in your time of need? What happened?
While Melinda and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, one day Melinda called me when she was in San Francisco working. She had just gotten back to her car and discovered that it had been broken into. The thief had stolen her stereo, and CDs, and whatever else he could get his hands onto quickly. It was the middle of the day and on a busy street with people walking by the whole time. Either no one noticed, or no one cared.
She called the police and she was told that they could not do anything. “Your stuff is gone and we don’t have any resources to devote to that kind of thing,” she was told. It was discouraging, but we accepted such things as the way they were.
When we moved to Albany it wasn’t four days before my car was broken into. I blamed myself because I apparently had forgotten to lock the door. Everything had been taken. We didn’t call the police because we thought nothing would happen, but people kept telling us to call the police so we did. And wouldn’t you know it, an officer showed up, finger printed the car, took a report, and a couple of days later the guy was caught and everything was returned.
The moral of the story is just because some people we trust fail us, doesn’t mean everyone will fail us.
A lot of people don’t have many reasons to trust anyone. Many have experienced the heartbreak of watching parents abandon them in various ways, friends not come through on promises, government officials demonstrate more concern about keeping power than doing what is right, and countless other such things, and then decided that they couldn’t trust anyone. But we have a faithful God! A God who keeps his covenant of love! We have all heard testimonies from people who know that God has been their help. It may be hard to take that leap of faith when everyone else has seemed to fail us, but know this, God does not fail those he loves and God loves you!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Do you know your God as a faithful God? How has God kept his covenant of love in your life? How have you kept God’s commands? When have you called upon God in your time of need? What happened?
While Melinda and I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, one day Melinda called me when she was in San Francisco working. She had just gotten back to her car and discovered that it had been broken into. The thief had stolen her stereo, and CDs, and whatever else he could get his hands onto quickly. It was the middle of the day and on a busy street with people walking by the whole time. Either no one noticed, or no one cared.
She called the police and she was told that they could not do anything. “Your stuff is gone and we don’t have any resources to devote to that kind of thing,” she was told. It was discouraging, but we accepted such things as the way they were.
When we moved to Albany it wasn’t four days before my car was broken into. I blamed myself because I apparently had forgotten to lock the door. Everything had been taken. We didn’t call the police because we thought nothing would happen, but people kept telling us to call the police so we did. And wouldn’t you know it, an officer showed up, finger printed the car, took a report, and a couple of days later the guy was caught and everything was returned.
The moral of the story is just because some people we trust fail us, doesn’t mean everyone will fail us.
A lot of people don’t have many reasons to trust anyone. Many have experienced the heartbreak of watching parents abandon them in various ways, friends not come through on promises, government officials demonstrate more concern about keeping power than doing what is right, and countless other such things, and then decided that they couldn’t trust anyone. But we have a faithful God! A God who keeps his covenant of love! We have all heard testimonies from people who know that God has been their help. It may be hard to take that leap of faith when everyone else has seemed to fail us, but know this, God does not fail those he loves and God loves you!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Slowing Down
“And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”– Matthew 6:28-29 (NRSV)
What do you worry about? How has the kept you from noticing others things? What all do you think Jesus meant when he said, “Consider the lilies of the field?” Have you ever gone outside and considered a flower? What was it like?
When I was in my church’s youth group in high school, we use to go on an annual backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. One year my dad accompanied the group as an advisor. He was a good addition because he knows a lot about backpacking and staying safe in the wilderness.
All of us boys in the group always tried to make a competition out of the trip, trying to see who could get to the next campsite the fastest. While I was almost never the fasted, I tried to go as fast I could. My head would be down watching the trail in front of me. One foot plodding down in front of the other, step-by-step, huffing and puffing with the full weight of all the possessions I would require for a week bearing down upon me. It was work but by golly we got there quick, and we were always so proud of ourselves.
One day we got to the camp much quicker than my father who appeared a couple of hours after we arrived. Like any pride-filled boys we gave him all sorts of grief for taking so long. “Why were you so slow old man?” “What you can’t keep up with us athletic guys?” “If you took much more time we’d have to be getting ready to go again!”
My dad took it all with a smile and then replied, “I could have got here when you guys got here, but then I would not have seen the beautiful waterfalls, or the amazing fields of flowers, or have stopped to watch the water flow in that stream we passed, or took pictures of the tree line where it looks like God put his hand down and said, ‘Trees stop growing.’ I am sorry you guys missed all of that.”
Like I said, he knows a lot about backpacking, and I will never make the same mistake again.
A lot of times our priorities are all messed up. We are more concerned about keeping up with the Joneses, and what we are wearing, and getting to some place faster than everyone else so that we can be considered successful, all the while failing to consider the lilies of the field. Maybe we are stressed out these days because we believe we have so little time to notice how beautiful the world is. Let’s slow down and realize that life is a journey and not a destination. The journey is full of wonder, beauty, and joy we might miss if we keep looking at some destination we may never reach.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
What do you worry about? How has the kept you from noticing others things? What all do you think Jesus meant when he said, “Consider the lilies of the field?” Have you ever gone outside and considered a flower? What was it like?
When I was in my church’s youth group in high school, we use to go on an annual backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. One year my dad accompanied the group as an advisor. He was a good addition because he knows a lot about backpacking and staying safe in the wilderness.
All of us boys in the group always tried to make a competition out of the trip, trying to see who could get to the next campsite the fastest. While I was almost never the fasted, I tried to go as fast I could. My head would be down watching the trail in front of me. One foot plodding down in front of the other, step-by-step, huffing and puffing with the full weight of all the possessions I would require for a week bearing down upon me. It was work but by golly we got there quick, and we were always so proud of ourselves.
One day we got to the camp much quicker than my father who appeared a couple of hours after we arrived. Like any pride-filled boys we gave him all sorts of grief for taking so long. “Why were you so slow old man?” “What you can’t keep up with us athletic guys?” “If you took much more time we’d have to be getting ready to go again!”
My dad took it all with a smile and then replied, “I could have got here when you guys got here, but then I would not have seen the beautiful waterfalls, or the amazing fields of flowers, or have stopped to watch the water flow in that stream we passed, or took pictures of the tree line where it looks like God put his hand down and said, ‘Trees stop growing.’ I am sorry you guys missed all of that.”
Like I said, he knows a lot about backpacking, and I will never make the same mistake again.
A lot of times our priorities are all messed up. We are more concerned about keeping up with the Joneses, and what we are wearing, and getting to some place faster than everyone else so that we can be considered successful, all the while failing to consider the lilies of the field. Maybe we are stressed out these days because we believe we have so little time to notice how beautiful the world is. Let’s slow down and realize that life is a journey and not a destination. The journey is full of wonder, beauty, and joy we might miss if we keep looking at some destination we may never reach.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Minister's Minute from March Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy
Sometimes people come up to me and have a great idea. I know it is great because they tell me, “Hey, this idea is great!” And often it is a great idea. We all have great ideas at some point. Perhaps they come to us in the darkness of the night. Our hearts and minds are unable to be still because deep within us something is stirring, a great idea begging to be found out, itching to be discovered, hoping to be grasped. Other times they come to us unexpectedly, out of the blue. Maybe while driving down a lonesome highway, and suddenly there it is, a great idea. Or while out strolling around a lake, or down some street, or anywhere else really, and then like a flash of lightning we are overtaken with some great idea.
I love it when people come up to me with their great ideas. “Pastor,” one may say, “I have a great idea!”
“Really? What is it?” And then the great idea is explained to me. Everyone’s great ideas ooze with love and promise, overflow with hope and joy. I have heard great ideas discussed as people explain how our church could become greater yet should we begin doing… well, any number of things. Each person who has come to me with a great idea has been excited to share it with me, and I have been excited to hear what God has put on each of his or her hearts.
I always say the same thing to people who come to me with great ideas, “Make it happen!” It is then I discover something. There are two kinds of people with great ideas. Those who only want to share them, and those who want to make them become a reality. I do not know how many great ideas have died after they left someone’s mouth, but it is always a shame to hear words of promise come crashing onto the floor. It saddens me each time I say, “Make it happen!” and a look of concern goes over someone’s face. We are incredible creatures who can say so much with our faces, using no words at all. I have seen faces say to me, “Wait, I didn’t mean me.” Or, “No I don’t have the time for that, I meant that you should do that.” Or, “I don’t even know where to start, so I won’t.” Or faces that only say, “I am afraid.”
However, should God put onto your heart a great idea never let it go! It is yours, it is your calling, your vocation, your baby that you must nurture and allow to grow into adulthood. The only one who will stand in the way of your great idea becoming a reality is you. Remember that last time you had a great idea? Do you recall the joy that surged through your being as you considered the implications of seeing your great idea realized? That was none other than the Holy Spirit moving within you, letting you share in the joy of God while telling you that you have a reason to be here at this point in time.
Have you let a good idea fall to the wayside? Have you considered the work too hard? Have you let the flame of potential burnout within? I do not care what reasons we each possess that provide us the explanations for why we do not carry forth our great ideas. Reasons for inaction are as worthless as ideas that never bear fruit.
The moment we were created in the heart of God, choirs of angels burst forth songs of praise to the glory of God, for each of us was created with all of God’s glory pouring forth. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! We are miracles of grace and love. There are not enough words in all languages of humankind to explain the glory of our creation, and depth of God’s love for us. We cannot imagine our potential when the Spirit of God moves within us. The doubt we have in ourselves is evil at work in the world, telling us we are much less than we are.
If you have a great idea, make it happen! You have no idea the power of the flame that grows within you, for it is the power of God at work in the world. You have simply been chosen as the vessel for God’s work to be done. Rejoice in the opportunity and do not let it pass. You never know, your idea may change the world through the power of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ! Make it happen!
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
I love it when people come up to me with their great ideas. “Pastor,” one may say, “I have a great idea!”
“Really? What is it?” And then the great idea is explained to me. Everyone’s great ideas ooze with love and promise, overflow with hope and joy. I have heard great ideas discussed as people explain how our church could become greater yet should we begin doing… well, any number of things. Each person who has come to me with a great idea has been excited to share it with me, and I have been excited to hear what God has put on each of his or her hearts.
I always say the same thing to people who come to me with great ideas, “Make it happen!” It is then I discover something. There are two kinds of people with great ideas. Those who only want to share them, and those who want to make them become a reality. I do not know how many great ideas have died after they left someone’s mouth, but it is always a shame to hear words of promise come crashing onto the floor. It saddens me each time I say, “Make it happen!” and a look of concern goes over someone’s face. We are incredible creatures who can say so much with our faces, using no words at all. I have seen faces say to me, “Wait, I didn’t mean me.” Or, “No I don’t have the time for that, I meant that you should do that.” Or, “I don’t even know where to start, so I won’t.” Or faces that only say, “I am afraid.”
However, should God put onto your heart a great idea never let it go! It is yours, it is your calling, your vocation, your baby that you must nurture and allow to grow into adulthood. The only one who will stand in the way of your great idea becoming a reality is you. Remember that last time you had a great idea? Do you recall the joy that surged through your being as you considered the implications of seeing your great idea realized? That was none other than the Holy Spirit moving within you, letting you share in the joy of God while telling you that you have a reason to be here at this point in time.
Have you let a good idea fall to the wayside? Have you considered the work too hard? Have you let the flame of potential burnout within? I do not care what reasons we each possess that provide us the explanations for why we do not carry forth our great ideas. Reasons for inaction are as worthless as ideas that never bear fruit.
The moment we were created in the heart of God, choirs of angels burst forth songs of praise to the glory of God, for each of us was created with all of God’s glory pouring forth. We are fearfully and wonderfully made! We are miracles of grace and love. There are not enough words in all languages of humankind to explain the glory of our creation, and depth of God’s love for us. We cannot imagine our potential when the Spirit of God moves within us. The doubt we have in ourselves is evil at work in the world, telling us we are much less than we are.
If you have a great idea, make it happen! You have no idea the power of the flame that grows within you, for it is the power of God at work in the world. You have simply been chosen as the vessel for God’s work to be done. Rejoice in the opportunity and do not let it pass. You never know, your idea may change the world through the power of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ! Make it happen!
Riding the Wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
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