Monday “I Needed That” Moment

...now browsing by category

 

#GreatDay!#PraiseSong

Monday, January 11th, 2021

As many of you know I have have Covid since before Christmas. I tested the Monday before (the 21st) and received a positive call on the 23rd. I stayed in jail, I mean quarantine, until Monday, the 4th, even though I was done on December 30th. Just wanted to be safe. It sapped all my strength. I slept more in one night than I think I had the previous year.  (Yeah…slight exaggeration but it sure felt like it).  Anyway, there are some symptoms that have “hung on” that have made life a bit uncomfortable at times. But Saturday I had had enough. I put my bike on my inside trainer and rode for 30 minutes. I think for the first time in weeks I felt alive.

It was during that ride that I ran across a song which literally rocked me. I was about 20 minutes into the ride when a song came on my Spotify playlist, one I had never heard before.  As I rode my bike tears flowed and my hands were raised to the Father in absolute wonder and praise. I though I would start your week off with a good song to fill your heart and mind with. Enjoy!

And here is the song:

Posted in Doctrine, God, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Music video, Opinion, Pick me Up, Worship | 10 Responses »

Different

Sunday, April 29th, 2018

I’m taking a different tack this post. It has been my practice since the first of this year to post a song and often a video of that song to help you start your week out right and hopefully give you something to sing along the way. I’m doing something different this week.

This past Thursday I was the guest of The Connection-A Community Church and their two pastors, Charles Townsend and James Owens, on their podcast. The Connection is only a couple of years old and we have become friends. I see them as very dear friends and also great allies in the desire to see Spencer come to know Jesus. Except for a few minor details (they are Calvinists and I am not)  🙂  we are brothers in this battle.

I’d like to invite you to join in listening to the podcast. Many of you have wanted to know more about me (and some could care less… 🙂 ) and this podcast will give you a good insight into me and my heart. We laugh a lot so don’t expect a totally serious listen. Just an informative one.  Here is the link to the podcast.  When/if you listen would you mind  coming back to comment and let me know what you think? James also gives their website for you to comment.

Oh…thanks for listening.

Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Guest post, Little Bit of Fun, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Opinion, Pick me Up | 4 Responses »

Chew

Sunday, July 9th, 2017

Chew on this some. Jo read it to me first and I asked her to email it to me. It is from Ann Voskamp:

I don’t have much to say or to add. I’d just like for you to chew on this for awhile. Then if you care, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.  And sorry I couldn’t edit out the header and junk at the bottom.

Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Grace, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up, Sunday Meanderings | 10 Responses »

Evolution

Sunday, April 2nd, 2017

In my last post, I showed  a picture of my new steed. 

Two items are in that picture. Yes, the new bike but please take note of the T-shirt. Last November I was hit by a car while riding. For Christmas my daughter, Tami, bought me this shirt. Actually, she had it made just for me. She thought she was being funny. (In reality, I gave the okay). 🙂

Then on Friday, February 17th, I had another accident, an accident of the I-don’t-know-what-happened variety. I did a face plant (I split my helmet in three places); broke my collarbone in 4 places; broke 3 ribs, suffered multiple contusions; and still am dealing with a huge hematoma on my right hip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But all is well and healing. I still do not know what happened. Shortly before the accident Tami had ordered me a new T-shirt made by the same people. She ordered one (hi-viz yellow) and I ordered one. The hi-viz green one had some stitching issues so she ordered another. Here is the green one:

But Tami’s “evil” friends were not done. Along with the hi-viz green (sense a color scheme here?) T-shirt they sent another one. “Tami, your dad seems such a good sport we wanted to make a T-shirt for him.” And below you see the T-shirt my daughter and her evil twins designed for me.

This was following my opening the package.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The is a better picture after I “settled” down and got the look off my face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, I think it is funny. Laughter is good medicine. I certainly can’t change what happened for either accident. So…I can choose to wallow and whine or laugh. I choose the latter. I’m wearing the “stunt” one to preach in this morning. Might as well get others to laugh with me (and they will).

And one final message for my daughter and those “evil” twins. I know where you live Tami. Thanks for being good sports. And I wear a lot of T-shirts so keep the cycling ones coming. 🙂 🙂

Posted in Cycling, Family, Friendship, Health, Little Bit of Fun, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up, Uncategorized | 18 Responses »

SpringKeeper

Sunday, September 18th, 2016

My next couple of days will be filled with various meetings plus a visit to the friendly, neighborhood hospital for a procedure on Tuesday so I thought I would give you a general post to consider. I used this illustration Sunday to close my message on Compromise.

The old gentle man had been hired many years earlier by a young town  council to clear away the debris from the pools of water that fed the  lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent  regularity he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and  wiped away the silt from the fresh flow of water. By and by, the village became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated  along the crystal clear spring, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and  the view from restaurants was picturesque.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual  meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s eye caught the salary  figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of  the purse, “Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year?  For all we know he is doing us no good. He isn’t necessary any longer!”  By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man’s services.

For several weeks nothing changed. By early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools,  hindering the rushing flow of water. One afternoon someone noticed a  slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple days later the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of  the water along the banks and a foul odor was detected. The millwheels  moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left as did the  tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Embarrassed, the council called a special meeting. Realizing their  gross error in judgment, they hired back the old keeper of the spring . . . and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up.

True? I can’t say. Fanciful though it may be, it still tells a great story. The application I leave up to you.

Posted in Christian living, Church, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up, Story | 9 Responses »

TheWeek

Sunday, September 11th, 2016

Sunday I used this illustration. You may have heard it before:

Once upon a time there were twin brothers. One optimistic. One pessimistic. For the sake of understanding their differences, their mother enlisted the help of a noted psychologist.

The psychologist instructed her to put the pessimist in a room filled with various sizes and shapes of wrapped presents. The optimistic child was to be placed in a room filled with manure.

With this task done, the mother and psychologist visited the children to gauge each one’s response to his circumstances. They found the pessimistic child sitting among his presents, gazing at them in complete disbelief. When asked why he had not opened any, he simply stated, “They couldn’t possibly be for me!”

Moving on to the next child, they were a bit concerned to see no sign of him in the manure-filled room. They called for him, and his head emerged from one of the piles. When asked what he was doing, he answered, “With this much mess, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

Fanciful. Probably not true. But telling. You/I have a brand new week ahead of us. We can choose to make it a bummer of a week or we can choose to make it a week of good things.

Choose wisely.

Posted in Christian living, Little Bit of Fun, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up, Sunday Meanderings | 13 Responses »

Report

Sunday, July 31st, 2016

I thought I would bring you up to date with a report about how the week went for the group that went to New Orleans this past week. You can read about it here and here.

The week went well. Other than a few minor mishaps-someone twisting a knee playing volleyball, finding some red fire ants to be pesky, the inability to go to the Gulf due to an algae that can become a flesh-eating bacteria if your immune system is low, missing out on seeing where NCIS New Orleans is filmed due to construction-they had a fantastic time. After the hard and amazing work they all did, especially the young people who went along, they had about a day and a half of sightseeing.

Their major project was finishing a shed which another group had started. Mission accomplished. They worked even through the half day they were supposed to have in order to finish the project. Meanwhile, Jo and one of the young ladies applied their sign-making skills to doing a new sign for the front of the church building. They were in the lower 9th ward, a ward affected by a broken levee. Here it is 11 years later and they are still trying to make things happen. 2nd Rose of Sharon Missionary Baptist Church I salute you!

This Sunday many of them dragged themselves out of bed to make it for the end of our first service and then stayed for the second in order to give a short “this is what impacted me the most” contribution. They were all touched by a homeless man, William, who was a school teacher but had suffered a brain aneurysm, lost about 1/4 of his skull, was now homeless but “preached” to them about God’s goodness.

I like the way one put it: “I went expecting to bless others. Little did I know how much I would be blessed by so many people.”

They got home after midnight Saturday night and were tired puppies. But they all said they would do it again. Well done Ryan E, Ryan S, Josiah, Jo, Keegan, Aleah, MaryRose, Elizabeth and Donnie. May your life be impacted eternally (and may you have impacted others as well) with the selfless giving of your time and money to go and serve.

Posted in Christian living, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up, Sunday Meanderings | 25 Responses »

HOT

Monday, June 13th, 2016

After having a warm April and very wet and cool (some might downright chilly) May, June has finally brought the summer HEAT to our area. When I say summer HEAT I am not exaggerating. The weekend was typical August weather…except it is June. 🙂 But I am not one to complain about the weather. I decided long time ago it was not in my best interest to complain about the weather SINCE I HAVE NO CONTROL OR SAY IN IT!

I rode 24.5 this past Saturday in the heat. Some might say I am nuts. I beg to differ, of course. 🙂 🙂

I wanted to draw the line though yesterday. The past couple of weeks our main auditorium’s air conditioning has been somewhat squirrely. I came in yesterday to turn it down and the stat said 74. Early morning that is ok. When I went in about an hour or so later to practice my sermon the stat said 76. Aaaaahhhhh not good. You probably know by now…it was not working.  Our windows don’t open. Fans can only do so much when it is 88 outside.

I texted our HVAC man. He attends here. During our exchange he was talking about another church which has all 4 of their units down. Yikes! Anyway, during our exchange he told me I could possibly turn the stats down in the other part of the building and maybe that would help. I told him the nursery already gets like an iceberg. We would have kids coming out as popsicles. And here is where Mark’s “sense of humor” kicks in. He tells me how I “could talk about the nursery being comfortable as a new born-less sinner. As we get older and sin without God we are going down explaining the heat. LOL” Laughingly I told him “that would go over big!”

We had another who was putting up hay. Yeah…you know what’s coming. “You gotta make hay while the sun is shining.” 🙂

So…how’s that for a random…nonsensical post? Hey, it’s Monday. I’ve moved three rooms in the house. Shampooed two of them (the shampooer quit on the third). I’ve driven to church camp three times in a week. I have a grill to put together. I gotta have some fun somehow. Oh yeah…I do plan to ride today.

Posted in Little Bit of Fun, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up | 15 Responses »

Never Impossible

Sunday, February 21st, 2016

This past weekend I preached on an incident in the life of Jehoshaphat from 2 Chronicles 20. It was more than a sermon; it was a look back. You see, I heard the outline of this message in 1987. I attended a Pastor’s Conference in Washington state that Spring which changed my life. But not without some pain. I was attending that conference as a man who was hurting. A man who had just been asked to leave the church he had pastored for 3 years. The reason I was given was that I would not preach what they wanted me to preach and I chose to attend that conference even though they told me I couldn’t (I paid my own way). In all honesty, there was some arrogance and belligerence on my part as well.

Anyway, I heard the outline of this message while there. I saved it for 29 years in my files…looking for the perfect time to bring it out and preach it. I had tried it once before but it was a dud. A royal dud. So I put it away…until the time came when I felt God “released” me to preach it. That time is now as I come close to finishing my series on Second Chances. Here are the five steps Jehoshaphat took to make the Impossible a Possible. I’m going to “bare bones” it with the main thought and the Scripture.

I. Seek The Lord Not Men- Verses 1-4

II. Acknowledge God’s Unlimited Power- Verses 5-9.  I added Isaiah 40:12-14, 25-26, 28-31 for more emphasis.

III. Face The Task Recognizing The Hopelessness Without God- Verses 10-12.  I also used 2 Corinthians 12 for clarification.

IV. We Need to Remember Whose Battle It Is- Verses 15-17.  We get ready. We prepare but ultimately the battle is not ours.

V. Praise Him in Advance- Verses 19-22.  Principle: God inhabits the praise of His people.

It is totally possible others have used this same outline. Who says there are any original thoughts? 🙂 But I do hope perhaps it might help you or someone you know who may be facing a seemingly impossible situation.

Posted in Christian living, God, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment, Pick me Up, Scripture look, Second Chance | 16 Responses »

Envy?

Sunday, January 24th, 2016

I just began reading Craig Groeschel’s newest book, #Struggles. If the rest of the book is like his first chapter, it will be a wealth of good stuff.

Many people (possibly most of us?) struggle with envy. We have this strong drive to compare. It starts early in life and for some, it never quits. In fact, for many it becomes a stronger emotion which drives them. I don’t have all the answers to the problem but Craig gives some good thoughts on handling this problem of comparison.

First take a look at this Scripture. Andy Stanley once said, “There is no win in comparisons.” If that is the case, how do we kill comparisons (or at least stop it from dominating our lives)?

  1. Understand envy is demonic. James tells us this. Where envy is, there is disorder. Where envy is, there is every evil practice. Envy isn’t just unhealthy. In God’s eyes, it’s downright sinful. I’ve noticed when I have allowed myself to get caught up in envy, it spreads like a wildfire. It sort of feeds off itself.
  2. Celebrate other people’s successes. Instead of clamoring for the same thing or wishing you could have what they have, celebrate with them. I like the phrase Craig used: “Suffocate the flames of envy with a blanket of gratitude.”
  3. Cultivate gratitude. Envy is resenting God’s goodness in another person’s life and ignoring His goodness in our own! Let’s focus on the good things God has given us!

Have a good (focused) week!

Posted in Christian living, Friendship, Miscellaneous, Monday "I Needed That" Moment | 13 Responses »

« Older Entries