I am up before most of you guys today (4:30am) and getting ready to head out of the door. But, in my prayer time this morning, I prayed a prayer from an awesome little book my friend Travis gave me called "The Valley of Vision". These are prayers from the Puritans and show a depth and relation intimacy with God.
But here is my morning dedication. Feel free to make it yours as well.
Almighty God, as I cross the threshold of this day I commit myself, soul, body, affairs, friends, to Thy care. Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me. Incline my heart to thy ways. Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms clay. May my lips be a well-tuned harp to sound Thy praise. Let those around see me living by Thy Spirit, trampling the world underfoot, unconformed to lying vanities, transformed by a renewed mind, clad in the entire armour of God, shining as a never-dimmed light, showing holiness in all my doings. Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands. May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain. In needful transactions let my affection be in heaven, and my love soar upwards in flames of fire, my gaze fixed on unseen things, my eyes open to the emptiness, fragility, mockery of earth and its vanities. May I view all things in the mirror of eternity, waiting for the coming of my Lord, listening for the last trumpet call, hastening unto the new heaven and earth. Order this day all my communications according to Thy wisdom, and to the gain of mutual good. Forbid that I should not be profited or made profitable. May I speak each word as if my last word, and walk each step as my final one.If my life should end today, let this be my best day.
Having My Best Day Ever Today and Every Day, Pastor Phillip
The following is something I came across and thought it was really interesting. We do tend to focus on numbers in our churches today. Do we really think God is more concerned with how many people we have sitting in pews, or is He more concerned about the hearts and souls of those people? Is He more concerned about how many showed up to an event, or how many lives were actually changed because He was a part of that event? I think it's time we focus on God and not on how many bodies we can get to show up for entertainment. I realize bringing people in is a way of getting the gospel to them, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with a huge crowd, but that should not be our focus. I'm praying that God will help me see the needs of others and help me grow to minister to others. I want to be a part of God's work in bringing glory to Him and seeing lives changed! Can't think of anything more exciting than that!
WHAT A WEARISOME YARDSTICK-
J. Grant Swank, Jr., of Windham, Maine, once wrote an article
for "Christian Clippings" which he entitled, "Frankly, I Don't
Care How Many Are In Your Sunday School."
He began the article by remembering minister friends who
seemed to love to tell how many they had in Sunday School
the day before, as if that was the only criterion to be used in
measuring the effectiveness of a church. He wrote, "Finally,
when the dust of planet Earth will have settled and souls will
have departed, who will care how many we had in Sunday School
and how many bucks were deposited in the plate?"
Swank went on to list what he called "the yardsticks of the
church":
-How many were in Sunday School?
-How many showed up for worship?
-How much money came in?
-How many buses do you have running?
-How many are on your staff?
-What programs do you have for my kids?
Then he wrote: "But what a wearisome yardstick. There is
definitely a self-centeredness about it. And it smacks too much
of the business syndrome of success. Further, I do not have an
easy feeling about it in that it does not seem to have biblical
support. Instead, it appears to be more "wood, hay and stubble,"
than "gold, silver and precious stones."
He continued: "One of these days I just know it has to happen --
someone is going to approach me with these questions:
-How much unity is there in your church?
-Is there real love there?
-Do your people have an excitement about the Bible?
-Do your parishioners know how to pray?
-How solid are the Christian families in your congregation?
-How much time do the fathers of your church spend with their
children?
-Does your church allow much time for people to be away from
the church building in order to build their homes?
-Are new people coming to know Christ personally?
-Have the households of your congregation given up the notion
that the church program should baby-sit their offspring?
"Well, if that miracle does not take place soon, I just may plant
a zinger the next time one of my colleagues starts in with,
'How many did you have in Sunday school yesterday?' That
is, playing deaf to the question, I may ask, 'How strong are
the marriages in your congregation?'"
"Interestingly enough -- and logically enough - that could also
go for our annual reports to the congregation, the district and
general levels of the denomination. Instead of reporting the
number of heads and dollars for one year, what if each pastor
gave an honest accounting of the oneness, caring and strength
of his/her congregation. It would not be as easy to feed into
the computer, but it just might have more value in the sight
of God." -The Timothy Report
What are your thoughts about the way we measure success in church? Is this better criterion? Thanks to Diane for posting this! It was very challenging for article. Pastor Phillip
This few days have been awful. We got hit with a fairly massive stomach bug. I will spare you all the details because we all pretty much know what is involved. But, it all started with Rebecca getting sick Friday afternoon. Well, later Friday night Cason feel victim. I started to become very scared, two vomiting, so I called for help and my mom came down that night, thanks mom! I felt good Saturday, but Sunday morning 2:45 it hit me. I had to call Kyle at 3 am and email him my sermon so he could look it over and preach it (I hear he preached it far better than I would have anyway!) So, Sunday with Rebecca and me both sick, we called her mom to come pick up Cason and get him out of our mess as he was feeling better. About that time we find my mom is sick. Well, then Rebecca’s mom after keeping Cason got sick. This morning my sister is sick. Rebecca and I feel better but feel awful about the aftermath we have left. We never intended to make everyone we love sick.
You know there is a spiritual truth here as well. We cannot control how far reaching the effects of our sin are. We sin and we think no one will know, or if we get caught it only hurt a few people. We are deceiving our selves. The effects of sin hurt everyone who is near and dear to you in life. Don’t but the myth of a “private” life, as we all interconnected and either by our actions and obedience to God will bring happiness and blessing or heartache and curses to those around us. So, live a holy life and think through all your actions as you can never and foresee what those unintended consequences may be.
