Committment

I preached a couple of days ago a sermon on marriage. This has my mind thinking on the subject of commitments. The past several months I have been working with some youth from our church. I have noticed that they do not seem to understand the importance of making a commitment and keeping it. The more I have given thought to this I have a hard time blaming these youth. Most of them have not had a good example of what it means to be a person who is committed to something besides one self. The world we live in is this way and many have adopted the world's way into their life. I really believe though that Jesus intends for us as children of God to be people of commitment. Our commitment starts with Him. We need to be sure that our lives are always totally committed to Him and His desires. After that commitment in our other relationship is some how made easier because of our commitment to Him.

Blessings

Pastor Dave

Persistence Pays Off

I was thinking a bit this morning about my college friend Thom. I haven't seen or heard from him in a while, but from time to time he crosses my mind. When I think about Thom I am reminded of the value of persistence. You see Thom was a Bodybuilder. he spent hours and hours at the gym lifting weights and doing all the exercises that allowed him to have those hugh muscles. I remember one tie I was at the gym with Thom and found out just how hard he did work at this. I could not keep pace with him for even a few minutes. Thom was persistent as he work out day after day, week after week and month after month. I have actually seen Thom since those college days on TV commericals for exercise equipment. His persistence must have paid off.

We need that kind of persistence in our spiritual lives as well. The difficulties we endure are necessary so we can grow stronger in our faith. We need to keep the spiritual workouts going too. Bible reading, prayer and a sound devotional life are all import is we intend on staying spiritual fit. Journaling helps us chart the course we have been on too. I wonder what the body of Christ (His Church) might look like if we all maintained a regimate of these daily disciplines. I bet no dude would mess with us.

Blessings

Pastor Dave

Feeling Fortunate

I was thinking today just how fortunate I really am. I have so much more than a lot of other people do. Now I am not talking about physical possessions. I have my fair share of these things, but for me the great fortune comes from all the special people in my life. I have people around me from a variety of places. I have family who cares for me, friends who keep track of me and the greatest group of Church folks that a pastor could ever want. Each of the different groups have become such a precious part of my life and have enriched me in ways that I cannot describe with mere words. I am truly a wealthy man. So fortunate to have all of these special people in my life. I wish this kind of good fortune for everyone. It is the greatest feeling ever know to mankind.


Blessings

Pastor Dave

A Lesson From Technology

I confess I am a gadget person. I love the way technology develops all kinds of gadgets for our lives. PDA's, Cell Phones, Computers, GPA systems are all wonderful. These things make life so much easier. At least when they work as designed. This past week I had an frustrating experience with some technology. Due to our ISP making some security changes we were unable to send e-mails from our office. Since I have grown dependant on e-ail services this alone was more than inconvenient. It got much more frustrating as I spent about 4 hours over three days on the phone with our ISP tech people trying to figure out the problem. Then there were all those hours after we figure out the issue resetting passwords and modems and routers and stmp servers and, well you get the idea.

When technology doesn't work life can be so frustrating. I guess though there are many things that can cause this level of frustration. As I have learned this past week the key in all these situations is how we respond. Losing e-mail services is not the end of the world. Neither are most of the things that cause frustration for us. When these things come we simply need to take a deep breath and know life for those of us in Christ is still great even with the minor set back.


Blessings

Pastor Dave