WAR

Written by cycleguy on February 24th, 2013

No this is not a “political rant” about the right or wrong of war. 

And it certainly isn’t a “rant” against…naaaaah that would be political.  🙂

I will be honest with you.  I am swamped.  At least for one day.  And it is the only day a preacher works!!  😀 Today is a special day and I toyed with waiting to post about it, but then began to realize that I will be one tired puppy when this day is all over and the last thing I am going to want to do is mess with writing about it.

SO I AM GOING TO SAVE THAT FOR THE NEXT POST

If you read my last post here you know the challenge being presented to the church I pastor.  What I did not mention is that at 5:00 we will be host to 75 of the greatest volunteers that ever graced a church.  We are having our first ever Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.  The meal will be catered, so these volunteers who have helped in so many different ways over the past year will not have to bring a thing.

The theme:  SuperHeroes

That theme came to me the very afternoon we began talking about it.  Diana, the secretary, had this inkling when I told her I had a theme what it was going to be.  😉

The staff will do the serving.

The people will be catered to and “wined and dined” (without the wine).

We will have some gifts to give away for young and old alike.

We will be celebrating their giving spirit to the work of God & OVCF this past year. 

I plan to make my way around all evening to each person and thank them for their contribution in helping OVCF fulfill its mission.

I also plan to reiterate the mission and vision of OVCF and challenge them to consider helping in 2013. 

We intend on making this an annual event. 

When I am done I hope to be totally spent, because I have given myself to these people who have meant so much, and mean so much to me.

SO….I AM GOING TO HAVE A PINCH-HITTER FOR ME IN THIS POST.

Greg Laurie is a man I admire.  No, I have never met him.  I wish….  But I have read his material.  Each day I receive a Daily Devotion that I find really refreshing.  One of his recent ones is this link.  I hope you will take a moment to read it and pay particular attention to the quote by G. Campbell Morgan near the end.

Thanks.  I plan for my next post to be a recap of the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.  In the meantime, what are your thoughts on Greg’s devotion?  Morgan’s quote?

 

22 Comments so far ↓

  1. floyd says:

    Loved the quote… What struck me was the line about whose turning whose world upside down… I fear our Christian ethics and church has been on the losing end of that struggle… huge bummer…

    Good for you for serving the ones who serve. Good stuff, Bill.

  2. Daniel says:

    Love the attitude that you displayed here. The first shall be last …, well we should keep that in our minds and on our hearts all the time and learn to be humble and giving even when we are “in charge”.

  3. Bill, I liked that quite so much I had to tweet it.

  4. Susan says:

    I think that part of the problem of Christians not turning the world upside down is that instead of sitting in the same big, big house at the same table we’ve all grabbed a TV tray and are sitting in separate rooms. With rifles to pick off those who aren’t us. If all of us who are Biblically centered in the Gospel joined forces with others who have a genuine relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ….

  5. David Rupert says:

    I love how you are blessing those who serve. And I hope that they bless you in turn.

  6. Mike says:

    I think it’s an awesome thing you’re doing by recognizing your volunteers. When we know we’re appreciated, we all strive harder to help.

  7. tcavey says:

    Bet you are one tired servant! What a great feeling. Look forward to hearing about the event.

    Love the quote! It’s so true. Throughout the Bible we can see God causing ripples…is the church today causing ripples or just floating down the stream?

    While God doesn’t want us to push Him down people’s throats, He does expect us to be His hands and feet, His mouth and heart. Following Christ should cause ripples…some big, some small.

    • cycleguy says:

      Yep, I was one tired puppy. i sort of sat in front of the TV and vegged with a bowl of ice cream and a DVD. And you are right about the ripples.

  8. Zee says:

    When I have read “Greg Laurie,” at first I wondered “What can Dr. House do in connection with devotionals etc.?” 😀 It took me a couple of seconds to realize that I combined two names – Greg House (the famous Dr. House) and Hugh Laurie (the actor who plays House) 😀 I need to get some real sleep tonight 🙂

    I think it is an awesome idea to have a Volunteers Appreciation dinner. Food has an incredible binding ability and there’s nothing better sometimes than just to sit together with friends and share a meal. (Especially when you don’t have to clean the dishes afterwards!) 😀

  9. What a wonderful thing you’re doing. We used to have a volunteer picnic, run of course by the volunteers. 😉 Our women’s retreat is attended primarily by the women most involved, so that’s a great time. Hope you can get some rest after all that serving!

    • cycleguy says:

      Funny Melanie- I just journaled this morning (Tuesday) that I am emotionally tired. I not only had an emotional meeting with a family last night, but I was running on adrenaline over the weekend and think it has caught up to me. I felt pretty good yesterday but today… Least it is the good kind that one can recover from.

  10. Debbie says:

    God bless you as you bless the volunteers. I know that meant so much to them! Also .. .I loved the quote too .. and am praying about what steps to take personally. Thank you!

  11. I thought for a minute that you were saying Greg Laurie was going to guest post for you, haha.
    I think the wartime ideal is a great one for us to have as Christians. We’re not put on this earth to just pat each other and the back and stay comfortable