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December 18

Monday, December 18th, 2023

It used to be that one blogger would feature another blogger for the purpose of helping the other to be “heard.” I also had another reason: I felt what the other person said was worth others hearing it. I used to read a blog which has since almost ceased due to a lack of readers (I just may be including my own in that statement). 🙂  Her name was Diane Ronzino and she blogged at Hadarah. Today (Monday) she emailed me to tell me Merry Christmas but also to let me know of a blog she published. Now…for some reason Feedly does not include her blog in any feed to notify me of a new one and there is no place to sign up for an email from her. But this time Diane personally emailed me. I went to her blog and read her post. It was beautiful and since I am not a poet, it struck me even more. I’d like to ask you to head over there to read her post. You can find it here.

The Role of a Lifetime

Thursday, December 14th, 2023

 Aspiring actors and actresses are everywhere. I went to high school with Jeff Goldblum. My senior picture is on the same page in our yearbook as his. I had no clue Jeff would leave our high school and head to New York for the stage and ultimately to a TV show named TenSpeed and Brownshoe, and then on to Jurassic Park, Independence Day, multiple other movies, and finally back to TV with Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

For every successful actor there are hundreds, maybe thousands who never make it. At best, they are two-bit players. Truthfully, some people are looked at that way. Many overlooked. Many seen as hacks. It happens all the time, in every profession. Sunday’s sermon will be dealing with two groups of people. One, is seen as little people. The others are seen as big people. Well…at least as the world looks at them that way. But in God’s eyes, there are no little people and there are no big people.

Shepherds and Wise men. The have’s and the have not’s.  The clean and the unclean.  The “welcome-to-my-world” versus those who are “not welcome anywhere.” The stories are familiar but I will be praying we all might learn something new this week. I look forward to seeing you in person at 9:00 and 10:45 or via live stream.

#DislikedWord

Thursday, August 17th, 2023

Talk about God and we like to speak about His love, His grace, His faithfulness, and so on. All positive attributes of a God who is beyond description. But there is one word associated with God we DO NOT like to talk about.

WRATH

Say what? You get the point I’m sure. The last thing we want to talk about is that God is also a God of wrath. Of all the topics and discussions about God, the wrath and judgment of God are probably hands down the most avoided. We want to put it on the backburner of “things we don’t want or like to talk about.”

IT. IS. UNAVOIDABLE. when talking about God. To leave it out is like leaving a lop-sided God.

This Sunday my sermon from Revelation 11 is entitled The Word Everyone Dislikes. I’d like to invite you come visit us in person or online via live stream. The church’s website http://ovcf.org has the links to the Facebook page or YouTube if you prefer that medium. We meet at 9:00 and 10:45.

 

#HereComestheUmbrella!

Thursday, July 20th, 2023

Perhaps you have seen it. I can’t say I have heard it since I turn off commercials. One I saw recently and can only guess what it said 🙂  was one for an insurance company.  It began to hail and while others were lamenting the state of their cars, this particular man was driving through the hailstorm under the covering of a roof. The point was obvious, even from a silent screen: “Get our insurance and you are covered.”

I also read about a boy who was bullied by an older kid on the bus. This older boy grabbed the boy’s papers and notebook and wrote some vile things on them. That evening at supper his dad asked for his papers and he hesitated. When his father pressed the issue, he brought his papers and watched his father’s facial features change. When his father wanted to know more and who wrote those words, the boy told his dad everything. His father quietly got up from the table and told his son to get in the car and drove to the other boy’s home. He purposely left the window down, knocked on the door and told the boy’s father that if that ever happened again he would be coming after him. The  man wilted under that father’s strength. As they drove away, they heard the boy’s father making sure it would never happen again.  It never did.  That boy knew his father had his back and he was under his protection.

Revelation 7:1-17 shows us that without question we are under God’s protection, His umbrella. To borrow a phrase from the chapter, we are under His seal. What exactly does that mean and what does it tell us about God?  Tune in this Sunday in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45 to find the answer.

 

#TheStingofFailure

Thursday, March 9th, 2023

Quick: Word association. Disciple of Jesus. Failure:

PETER

It is hard to disassociate Peter’s name from failure.  But the fact remains: all of them failed. All of them ran. Peter gets notoriety because his was so public. Brash. Bold. Boisterous. Braggart.

Peter is not alone though. We all have failed. We all have made promises to be faithful and to stand tall, only to see ourselves do a face plant.  History is marred with failures. So is Biblical history.

But failure is not the end. You have heard it said in some way, I’m sure: “Falling is not failure; not getting back up is.”  But the great part about Peter’s failure and what he realized is that there is forgiveness in spite of failure. 

I’m guessing that no one’s failure is more highlighted than Peter’s.  I’m preaching on The Sting of Failure this Sunday. But I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of leaving Peter flapping in the breeze. Jesus didn’t and I certainly won’t. Nope…Jesus restored him and made him the leader of the ragtag band of disciple/apostles.

Please join us at 9:00 and 10:45 either in person or online as we live stream our services. I know many will be traveling this week due to Spring Break in our school system, but I hope you will join us via the live stream.

ONE MORE THING! REMEMBER TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD THIS SATURDAY NIGHT FOR DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME.

 

 

#TheLambWhoisaLion

Thursday, February 16th, 2023

The late James Montgomery Boice tells the story of a small boy who was very absorbed in drawing and coloring an elaborate picture. His mother asked him what he was doing. “I’m drawing a picture of God,” he told her.

“That’s nice,” she said. “But, you know, nobody knows what God looks like.”

“They will now!” he answered triumphantly.

I chuckled when I read that. It is true, of course, that nobody does know that God looks like. As you read Revelation you will notice John doesn’t try to describe Him either. In fact, he doesn’t even call Him “God.” He refers to Him as the “one seated on the throne” (4:2); or “He who sat there” (v.3), or “Him who is seated on the throne.” (v.10)

Revelation 5 opens with seeing God (“Him who is seated on the throne”) with Jesus standing next to Him. Then we led into worship. Someone described worship as “letting the worth and wonder of God to sink so deeply into our soul that we respond in a wholehearted reorientation of our life.” Jesus even commented to that effect when He was asked what the greatest commandment was.  His answer? “Love God first.” 

John sees a scene in heaven unfolding.  A mighty angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” Only One is worthy and only He is worthy of our praise and worship.

The sermon this Sunday is taken from Revelation 5:1-8-The Lion Who is a Lamb. This is like the opening salvo to a chapter full of worship.  Who is worthy? The Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Root of David.

Join us, please, in person or via live stream at 9:00 and 10:45 to worship with us.

 

#UnexpectedDawn

Thursday, December 29th, 2022

Every seven years it happens.  Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Sunday. So…let me be the first to wish you a Happy 2023.

I started a week later than planned on my Christmas series because I was doing a series on the Feasts of the OT and had to wait a week due to having a guest speaker. So that put me behind for the 4-week series I had planned. Rather than cut it short, I decided to run it into the new year and simply take up the first Sunday with the final one. I’ve called it The Unexpected Dawn as part of my Expect the Unexpected series.

What will 2023 bring? Of course, no one really knows. Only God does and He isn’t telling!!  🙂  There are certain things I am sure of though.

God is Present.

God is Sovereign.

God is Omniscient.

God is the One who is ultimately in control. 

We often hear people going into a new year making all sorts of resolutions. I stopped doing that years ago. I know me. I know I will break them quickly and then feel shame. So I stopped making resolutions and started asking God what He wants me to do for Him this coming year.  One way that has helped me is it has given me an “eye” for is seeing God work in ways I never dreamed of. It has also helped me to realize that “tomorrow will be a better day.”

The dawn of the coming of Messiah was something prophets predicted and people waited for.  That day finally came and sadly, many were not looking, ready for it, or denying it was here. There was a group of people who didn’t have that feeling. They saw a star and chose to follow it. We know them as the magi or wise men.  The gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were a glimpse ahead of who and what this child would become.

He would usher in a new period, a new age, a new identity, a new message of good news for all people. 2023  lies ahead of us. What message will we carry?  Please join us at 9 and 10:45, either in person or via live stream, to hear the final sermon for 2022 as we consider the Unexpected Dawn which the Savior will usher in.

Happy New Year 2023!!!

#Feasts#Reminders

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022

None of you are as old as me who read this. That means I am as “old as dirt” to quote someone recently.  It also means that I need reminders from time to time. I have noticed that I tend to write things down a whole lot more than I used to.  I am so thankful for post-it-notes! 🙂

We all need reminders from time to time. Forgetting is not something relegated to older people.  Going into a room and not remembering why you went there is not cordoned off for just old people. If that happens to me, I just go back out and then hope I will remember. Or sometimes I look around the room hoping it will jog my memory. “Tricks of me trade my boy, tricks of me trade.”  I heard that once. Oh yeah, on MacGyver (the original).

The two feasts we will be looking at this week are feasts of remembrance. Yom Kippur (aka the Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (aka the Feast of Booths).  Both feasts played a big part in helping the Jewish people to remember what God had done, how faithful He had been.

My desire this week is to show why these feasts held such a prominent place in the lives of the Israelites and how they can serve as a reminder to us of God’s faithfulness and forgiveness.  I think they fit nicely into the whole idea of being thankful (which this Thanksgiving holiday is all about).  I hope to see you in person at 9 and 10:45 or, if not, then via live stream at the same times.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

#RealRevival

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022

I also posted a good part of this on my other blog, Living in the Shadow, but I have made a few changes to this particular post.

Very recently I read an exciting and interesting new book by Pastor Greg Laurie. It is called Lennon, Dylan, Alice and Jesus.

Lennon, Dylan, Alice, and Jesus: The Spiritual Biography of Rock and Roll

To borrow from Bill and Ted: “It was a most excellent book.”

Strange name I know, but it was a book about those three musical icons, their contemporaries and how they felt about Jesus. Pastor Greg also wrote about other rock icons-Morrison, Hendrix, Joplin (who were all part of the dubious 27 Club because they all died when they were 27 years old), as well as others. He wrote about Jesus’ influence on different rock and roll artists- their acceptance, rejection, falling away, and embracing-of Jesus.

After reading that refreshing, sometimes sad, but still refreshing book, I decided to go back and read again another book by Greg which I had read back in 2018 called Jesus Revolution.

Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today

I only started it last night so I can’t say much about it. However, chapter 1 began with this quote:

There can’t be any large scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level.  it’s got to happen inside first.

Who said that? Hold onto your hat when I tell you. Jim Morrison.

Shocked? Yeah…me too.

Sounds like some religious jargon doesn’t it? How many times have you heard or said something like, “Real revival must start with me.” It’s true. Real revival, real renewal, must begin within each one of us, starting with me. Real revival is a revolution, a radical changing of my heart and mind to being conformed to the image of Christ. To borrow and reword Jim Morrison’s words: It’s an inside job.

You see, I think the world (and the church to some extent), has seen enough of, and had enough of, fake “works of God.” I know I have had enough of pretenders (and that includes me from time to time).  We see the garbage and hucksterism on TV for what passes for faith, and we hear of crusades (not Harvest Crusades put on my Greg Laurie) with all the showy junk, that we are literally sick of it. 

I know I’m sick of what passes for “God’s work” and “God’s words.”  Sort of makes me sick to my stomach.

Revival, or a move of God, is much more than “You don’t do this” or “You don’t do that” or “You must act a certain way” or “You must belong to a certain political party.”  No. Revival is a radical change within a person’s heart. THAT is what the world wants and needs to see.

Jim Morrison was right. We need Someone to light our fire. It’s not a baby (babe). It’s the King of kings setting us on fire with a fire of epic proportions. That is one that will set the night on fire by bringing the light of Christ to its darkness.

That the real thing. Authentic. Life-changing. White hot change-maker.

“Start with me, Father. Set me on fire.”

#Faithfulness#Won’tStartNow

Wednesday, April 27th, 2022

Last week I post a song by Arrows entitled The Lion Still Roars. You can see it here. It a great song to begin the day with. I have actually found myself listening to it during my workout at the Y.

Well…here comes another song which is totally different. It comes from a group called Honor and Glory, which features several members of the Christian rock band, Disciple. But before that turns you off, give this song a listen. I do believe you will be pleasantly surprised.  Honor and Glory is the name of the band consisting of a few members of Disciple and others who play or sing in their worship band in their church. They decided to get together to do a worship album. Phenomenal album!  This song is one of my favorite cuts, largely due to the power and truth of the lyrics. Another song, Jesus We Love You, will bring you to worship.

Anyway, here is the song Won’t Start Now by Honor and Glory. Let me know what you think.  Sorry there is no version with lyrics but I’m pretty sure you won’t need them.