Two Resolutions

Making New Years resolutions? Here are some stats stolen from leadership journal…
• 45 % of Americans usually set New Years resolutions, but only about
• 8% of us are always successful in keeping them, and
• 24% of us have failed on every resolution every year. The rest of us are somewhere in-between.

My resolutions are to learn English, develop a taste for chocolate, and quit drinking. Put me in the 8%.

This year let’s do something different. Lets grow. Not just in height or the waistline or in church numbers. Lets make more, bigger, brighter glory. 2 Peter 3:18 says “You must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

Growing in grace and knowledge – this is a process that continues to bring Jesus glory and doesn’t stop until there is a flat line of the screen next to the bed. But… how do we do it?

Grace = giving joy. The definition of Grace commonly given as “unmerited favor” is too narrow to fit here. How do you grow in unmerited favor? Sin more? The word is better defined as “joy giving.” We can do that. Take five minutes to write down what would bring joy to others – your family, neighbors, co-workers, students. Do it.

Knowledge = taking the bib off. Knowledge isn’t about going to church, putting on a bib and being fed. It means to grow in practical knowledge, to make wise decisions, day to day, in accordance with God’s Word. The Pharisees knew the facts. The disciples followed the Master. That’s why Jesus had the 12 feed the 5000, and let Peter walk on water. He didn’t do ministry for them, He did it with them. We can do this. Take five more minutes to write down what you can do with Christ. Become a self-feeding Christian, and give your bib to the next person you introduce Him to.

Then, when others are watching the flat line next to our bed, Jesus will be glorified.

Prince of Peace

Have you ever broken a bone? For me it was my ankles. I broke my left one twice and right one once. It’s not weak bones, its Cooley coordination. My problem was knowing if I should go to the doctor or not. Is it broken, or isn’t it? If you choose to go get x-rays, you want it to be busted so you don’t look like a wimp. The worst was when they told me it wasn’t busted, so I limped around for a month, went back, and then they found the fracture. Ugh. A broken bone is bad enough, walking around thinking it should be OK is worse.

The word peace is from “sar” which means “person in charge.” Sar became czar and Caesar. Peace, or shalom, means “to make one again,” and was used medically for broken bones being put at peace (made one again). Jesus is the person in charge who will make things one again, He will restore our broken bones. Our problem is realizing we’re broken.

No matter your view of global warming, we can all agree this planet is broken. The song says, “no more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found…” There is evidence of the curse in the tumbleweeds in Tucson, the cancers in Canada, and the devils in Dan. We have thorns in our soil, sickness in our bodies, and monsters in our soul. Admit it. Being broken is bad enough, denying it is worse.

The Prince of Peace is our God of restoration. He wants to restore our planet (Rom 8:22), our bodies (Ps 103:3), His kingdom (Ac 1:6), and our relationship with Him. (Isa 53, Ps 23,). God says, “I'll refresh tired bodies; I'll restore tired souls.” Jer 31:25 (MSG)

Dan

The Everlasting Father

Fathers – they are seemingly never satisfied, and seldom around. So what good are they? Well…

• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
• 90% of all homeless and run away children are from fatherless homes.
• 85 % of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes
• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger, 71% of high school dropouts and 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes - as do 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions.

These statistics mean that kids without dads are:

• 5 times more likely to commit suicide,
• 32 times more likely to run away,
• 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders,
• 14 times more likely to commit rape, 9 times more like to drop out of school, 10 times more like to abuse drugs, 9 times more likely to end up in a state-operated institution, and
• 20 times more likely to end up in prison.
(Stats come from Rick Johnson’s book “The Power of a Man,” page 173, individual sources sited on that page).

Jesus is called “The Everlasting Father.” The stats show us that we need a father. We need a father who can accept us, who is satisfied - and simply there. Ps. 103 is a short psalm that illustrates what kind of father Jesus is. He is called:

• Compassionate
• Merciful
• Slow to get angry
• Filled with unfailing love
• He doesn’t deal harshly with us, as we deserve
• His love for those who fear him is as high as the heavens over the earth
• He forgives us and removes all our sins
• Tender, knowing how weak we are
• His love remains forever
• His salvation extends to the grandchildren of those who obey his commands.

That’s Jesus, our Everlasting Father. Merry Christmas.

Dan

Mighty God

Mighty God

My sister use to date this guy who loved to drive. He would put on his special driving gloves and get a spark in his eye when he settled behind the wheel. Then he'd sit up super straight when he shifted and lean in over the steering wheel like he could see better if he was four inches closer to the road. He loved to drive his… Pinto. Weird.

Joy to the World, Peace on Earth – do Christmas songs describe your life, or do you find it filled with sickness, hardship, and disappointment? God promises The Abundant life – did He exaggerate? Is God a bit like a used car salesman, where He exaggerates the car’s good points while forgetting to mention the 200k miles, burning oil and four previous car wrecks? Does Christianity sometimes seem like you were promised a Ferrari but ended up with a Pinto? Jesus came over 2000 years ago, yet our world is full of crime, war, starvation. What gives? Is He really a Mighty God?

I was reading a book recently called “I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.” You can check it out at www.lousytshirtbook.com. Anyhow the author got me thinking about Christianity and why it doesn’t seem to measure up. Here are two of his reasons why:

• 1. Christianity can turn into a religion. You believe this set of rules, behave a certain way, and life will turn out OK. That’s a religion. It’s a Pinto – it sucks. You may live better than the next guy, but there is still an empty hole in your gut. So, we decide it’s all about relationship.


• 2. Relationship, too, is a Pinto. I remember when I was dating JoLynn (now my wife), and she said those magic words, “I just want to be friends.” Bad day – a pinto, it sucks kind of day. It should have been expected, in light of my dating history, but it was bad nonetheless. She wanted a relationship – but you can have a relationship from a distance. In a relationship you can move away, grow distant, and/or keep it shallow. Christianity must be more than a relationship.

Christianity is about The Incarnation. The Mighty God put on sin and becoming human in Jesus – but it doesn’t end there. The incarnation is the beginning of the good news – Jesus came, lived the perfect life, died and rose again. The good news is now we can have that new life. The Mighty God wants to put on skin and become human in YOU. Phil. 2:13 says “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” NLT. God working IN you doesn’t make everything happy and easy. That’s our desire maybe, and one day when Christ our Mighty God returns there will be peace on earth and joy in the world. Meanwhile there isn’t justice – there is just us. God working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.

Mary was ridiculed for having a baby out of wedlock, Joseph for marrying her despite her assumed sleeping around, Jesus for His teaching. But Mary, Joseph and Jesus drove Ferraris. How many world-wide holidays are there in celebration of Pharisees? There can be peace and joy in our hearts today. One day The Mighty God will return and bring peace and joy to our planet. Meanwhile Joseph can pick up Mary in his Ferrari and drive on gold streets. Not bad.

Dan

“We are here on earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don’t know” W.H. Auden

Wonderful Counselor

Is counseling overrated? Is accountability something worse?

When was the last time you needed a counselor? Did you find one – maybe on the phone, over coffee, or going to see a professional? Did they do any good – i.e. did you change for the better? Counselors worth their salt have “the mind of Christ.” Some do, some don’t. None do all the time.

Accountability means “an obligation to account for our activities.” But I don't think the dictionary definition fits reality - at least not as we Christians use the word.. We have an anger, or gossip, or gambling, etc. problem. So, we meet on a regular basis with someone “less messed up” to hold us accountable. This “less messed up” person is a friend. They sympathize with our lack of ability to change. They are into sympathy not reality. The result? Both people end up with a problem. Maybe sin is contagious and righteousness isn’t.

We’re all messed up. We need a counselor who isn’t. We need a wise counselor who is never surprised by our sickness, who we can be honest with and who knows how to push us when we try to cover, a counselor who is lovingly, brutally honest. We need a Wonderful Counselor.

Isa 9:6 (NLT) “A child is born to us, a son is given to us… And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor.”

Dan


P.S. In the old days we didn’t have accountability partners. CS Lewis and Martin Luther had confession partners. They felt they needed to confess their sins to God in front of someone else (Js 5:16). James says this brings “healing,” and “accomplishes much.” For me having to pray and confess my sins in front of someone else would keep me in line way more than meeting them at Starbucks.

Favorite Quote of the week: Craig McWade – "Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge because you're a vegetarian."

God is good. All the time.

A year ago at Cottonwood we were stuck. Our shopping center lease was taking over 40% of our budget. We had no room left to grow. The shopping center wanted us out in order to remodel and bring in higher paying tenets. We had been praying for God to “close doors,” so we would follow Him. He did. We had only two choices. Move or die.

We called our move from the shopping center in west Albuquerque to Stapleton Elementary School in Rio Rancho Cottonwood 2.0. We saw it as the only way to follow Him. It would allow us to expand ministry, save money on property expenses, and begin outreach here in New Mexico (rather than just in Mexico and Haiti). We had no idea that moving our worship location would be more than a change. It was a whole new beginning.

Not only has our location changed, so has our church. Some friends left. New ones have come. The result is that we are a different group of people with a clear focus of living lean in order to do more for Christ. The result of living lean has given us the opportunity to do some new things in 2009. Some we might have done had we been able to stay, but all of them - NO WAY! Here is a partial list…

Some 2.0 firsts for 2009 - it was our first…

1. Mexico Orphanage Christmas box emphasis with the Orphanage Director (Leo) here to explain the ministry to us. Leo is great fun. Lord willing we will be able to deliver the boxes ourselves at Christmas 2010.

2. Haiti missions trip emphasis with the Haiti English Camp Director (Shelli) here with us to explain that ministry (found at www.heartlineministry.org). Lord willing we will have a gang going down to Haiti for English Camp this summer.

3. Haiti fundraiser supper with some Rio Rancho Haitians with us. By God’s grace we had our first Haitian visitor to Cottonwood come to church the week of the fundraiser (other than the children folks in our church have adopted). Now we have a connection with the Rio Rancho Haitian community. Who would have thought?

4. Compassion International (www.compassion.com) emphasis with Compassion child (Peter) with us. Peter was raised in Uganda, educated through compassion, and came to the US for college. It’s amazing story you can find on our website at http://www.cottonwoodchurch.net/audio_video.htm, click on the “special speaker” block at the bottom of the page. He taught us our opening service phrase, “God is good… All the time!”

5. 24 pizza devouring business meeting. What fun, who would have thought we’d have such a crowd? It concluded with a B-ball tournament (still sore – old guys rule!), and Chess/dominoes tournament (bearded guy rules). Special communion was a tradition we must keep.

6. Portable cart crash (no one hurt)

7. Projector bulb crash (wallet hurt)

8. Breaker blown (pride hurt)

9. Jamez rappelling/camping trip. (body hurt)

10. Gather ‘round cafeteria portable baptisms – a new, really cool, Acts 2 tradition

11. Wedding proposal in the middle of a service – it’s in the middle of one of the early Heart Attitude sermons you can find at http://www.cottonwoodchurch.net/audio_video.htm,, but I can’t remember which one.

12. CareNet walk for life with Cottonwood band serenade. That was a cool day, raising over $11,000 for Rio Rancho CareNet www.carenetabq.org.

13. Christmas Angels – helping special needs and Stapleton families for Christmas. On Dec 13 we bring our gifts to the manger during the service. Later we get to deliver the gifts directly to the families.

14. Year of local/Stapleton outreaches (garage sales, jumping castle, Christmas Angels, Testing days, etc) http://www.rrps.net/NewElementa/stapleton/default.htm

15. Year to really live lean. Our property spending was under 15% of our income, down from over 40% the year before.

G is good… All the time!

Dan

SHIFT

Shift
Did you ever have a Thanksgiving where you felt like you were forcing yourself to give thanks? It feels unnatural to give thanks when the year has been more about worrying and whining than thanking. 09 has been that kind of year.

We started the year in a recession, we end it with double-digit unemployment – will I keep my job? We’ve added another trillion dollars to our debt load – how will my kids ever repay it? The flu bug packs an H1N1 double punch – should I get that vaccine? Church has new faces coming with older faces leaving – should I look around too? Public schools become more violent and less tolerant of Christian views – should I pull my kids out?

We need to shift.

We use to have an ‘85 Suburban that was as ugly as it was large. One day it started whining. Then it sounded like I’d run over a trash can full of rocks. The transmission quit working in anything but 2nd gear. So, I drove home in 2nd gear – with the engine overheating and the whining continuing. It needed to shift, but it couldn’t. We can.

This year, if you’ve been anything like me, we’ve been focusing too much on ourselves. We’ve become nervous worrying and whining humans. It’s time to shift our focus off of ourselves and on to the God who is faithful. Lets shift our focus on to the Great I AM.

Psalms 100:1-5 says, 1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. (NLT)

I AM was around before there was an earth, He is here now, and He will be faithful to watch out after our children’s children. Even after this earth is destroyed, His love for you continues. We will praise him then. We can thank Him now. Lets stop whining. Lets shift into another gear.

Dan

Heart Attitude No. 7b Follow Leaders - Inconcievable!

Titus 1:6 says “An elder must live a blameless life.” Have you ever tried? Inconceivable (with credits to Princess Bride)! If we only follow blameless leaders then church will be anarchy. Remember Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned…” Who besides Christ qualifies? If you are looking for a reason not to follow me just ask JoLynn. Or Megan, or Amanda, or… How are we to interpret such a radical command?

The Greek word for blameless, Cooley definition is “Teflon coated.” Accusations don’t tend to stick due to the person’s character. Think of past presidents. Some accusations slid of like butter on Teflon, some like gorilla glue. Some knew how to apologize, others how to spin words and make excuses. I’ve got an old rule for leaders, developed from the betrayal of Christ (and some time in Dr. Scott Peck’s wonderful book, People of the Lie). I call it the three Rs. Here it goes:

Rationalization. This is zero change after being confronted with our sin, and making up excuses why we are still OK. Remember the Pharisees? They took money from the temple (too cheap to use their own) and paid Judas to betray Jesus, they had people lie about Jesus, and then they watched Jesus be tortured to death as a result of their actions. After the event, when Judas threw the money at them and confronted them with their sin, what did they do? The rationalized, “If we don’t put the money back in the temple treasury, we’ll be off the hook for lynching an innocent man,” they thought. Weird - sick.

Remorse. This is a 90 degree change. It’s a Judas change. He felt awful about betraying Jesus – but it didn’t make him blameless. Mt. 27:3 says he felt “remorse.” But remorse doesn’t lead to reconciliation, only death. It isn’t going far enough. So Judas went out and hung himself. Forgiveness and reconciliation were available, but ignored.

Repentance. This is a change of 180 degrees. It’s a change like Peter experienced. Just 50 days after denying Christ he is willing to die for Christ. This is the mark of a leader. It’s being blameless.

Being blameless isn’t being perfect. It’s being repentant. It’s living differently after being confronted with our sin. It’s closing the loop, cleaning up after we mess up. Repentance puts a Teflon coating on our character.

Inconceivable – that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Dan

Heart Attitude No. 7 Follow Leaders

I WILL FOLLOW MY LEADERS WITHIN SCRIPTURAL LIMITS AND MAKE IT A JOY FOR THEM

Do you remember the 55mph days? It was a law made to hate. Then Paul has to go and write,"Everyone must submit to governing authorities..." Rom 13:1-2. Why couldn't Paul have stopped after chapter 12? Romans 13, the unlucky chapter. They were tough days in which to drive a 240Z. But, I still wanted one...

Paul wrote this during a time when Christians weren't fined for driving too fast. They were taking their life into their hands by simply living out their faith. Those who have a hard time with Obama would have flipped over Nero - the antichrist born before his time.

We must obey God before man, but if the authorities over us aren't breaking Scriptural limits, we are told by God to obey them. There is no alternative. God wants us to obey our parents, our boss, our government, and our church leaders. He even wants Christian slaves to obey their masters. Remember that first Heart Attitude, "I will put the goals and interests of others above my own?" This is when the going gets bumpy. But God isn't messing around here...

When the Isralites didn't want to follow Moses, God burned some alive! Num 11:1-2. God gives us another warning in Heb. 13:17 nlt "Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your sould, and they are accountable to God. give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit." Let God hold your leaders accountable, that isn't our issue. Our issue, our questions is...

"What can I do to make it a joy for ______ (my parents, boss, church leaders) to lead me?

Dan

Heart Attitude 6b Using My Spiritual Gifts

I WILL PARTICIPATE using my sp gifts

I would use my spiritual gifts if I knew what they were. It’s not just wondering what my gifts are – but what are spiritual gifts in general. In scripture they included signs and wonders. Are those gifts still around? If so, I want one. I wonder - do people really get healed anymore? Rise from the dead? Sell houses to help the poor? Speak in languages they never knew? Understand languages they have never heard? Heard any prophecy without error recently? Or – is everything we see today fake?

And, IF signs and wonders aren’t happening around us, are any of the other gifts like administration, teaching, helps and giving happening anymore – or are they all fake? Is our teaching any more Holy Spirit energized then the average instructor at UNM? Is our giving to charitable causes any more sacrificial then our neighbors? Could our service be done out of physical talents instead of supernaturally given gifts?
Which makes me wonder; do we confuse gifts and talents in order to say we have spiritual gifts today? In the Bible there seems to be a clear difference. Here are some differences from I Pet 4:10:

· Anyone can be talented, but only Believers in Christ have Spiritual gifts
· Talents you are born with, gifts begin when we are born again in Christ
· Energy for talents comes from within, gifted energy comes from God
· Talents are to win, gifts are to serve the church
· Talents bring glory to us, gifts bring glory to God

That helps, but I think there is a bigger difference here. I think that, if God wanted to show that gifts come from Him and not from us, that He would gift us in areas where He has NOT made us talented. I think the Bible gives us some examples of that:

· In Ac 4:13 the Pharisees are shocked at the teaching and boldness of a couple fishermen (Peter and John). Not their normal occupation.
· Moses the stutterer and fugitive became the spokesperson to lead Israel out of Egypt.
· Paul the Jewish rabbi became the apostle to the Gentiles.
· Nehemiah the wine taster became a builder and leader.
· Sampson the wimp tore down the city gates. OK, my assumption.

Some churches get too wrapped up in spiritual gifts, however, there are too many passages to simply ignore the topic (Rom 12:3-8, Eph 4:11-13, Heb 2:4, I Thess 5:19-22, I Cor 12, I Pet 4:10-1). Here then are my questions and thoughts.

1. Are all gifts still given today? God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants. There is a reason He is called the Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind. So, much of what I have seen may be fake, but that is NOT to say it all is fake. Plus, what have I seen in comparison to what is happening all over the world all the time? We may be missing it. Since Scripture has many passage about spiritual gifts, and they are never said to have stopped (no, not even in I Cor 13:8), there is no reason to assume they are over.
2. Why did He give me this gift? God gives us the gifts He wants to give in order to accomplish what He is doing. Sometimes languages, sometimes bringing the dead to life, sometimes selling a house in order to give more.
3. Do I have one gift for all time? It seems the OT builders were gifted by the Holy Spirit for that specific task. The same could be said of those inspired to write the bible. Tongues and miracles throughout scripture seem to be for a specific reason at a specific time. I suppose it depends on how long God needs you to do what you are doing
4. Can my talent my gift? God may gift us in our area of passion, but I believe usually NOT in our area of talent.
5. Can a spiritual gift test tell me what mine is? It seems to me that the body of Christ, (your local church) is best equipped to tell you if you are an ear or a foot. Some spiritual gifts tests use others to evaluate you – a cool idea. However, even then we aren’t instructed to look for our gifts, but to serve and our gifts will come to the forefront. But, for those type A among us who get their kicks out of taking assessments some can be found at http://www.oneishy.com/; http://www.allthetests.com/; and http://www.churchgrowth.org/.

These are my thoughts for now. Take me out for Starbucks and you may change my mind. Meanwhile lets get serving somewhere.

Dan

Heart Attitude 6 Participate in Ministry

I WILL PARTICIPATE IN MINISTRY


I don’t like ministry – the word. It’s one of those Christian only words. What does it mean to “participate in ministry?” Do I have to preach? Change diapers in some church nursery? Wave my hands and sing? Become a missionary in Pakistan? Get plastic hair and ask for money on TV? Go with Rochelle to Haiti? Give 10%?

According to my online English dictionary, the word “ministry” means “the act of serving.” My Greek dictionary tells me the Biblical word translated minister, deacon, and serve are often the same root word. So, ministry is serving. Lets change this heart attitude.

I Will Serve Others. Much better. A simple Heart Attitude for a simple mind. You can serve here as well as in Haiti. You can serve with time as well as with money. You can serve with your actions before your sermons. You can serve in church, home, school, etc. But – if I live my life serving others, what’s left for me? Where is “freedom in Christ” if I’m serving others?

Galatians 5:13 says “You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.” We serve one another, not because we have to, not because it’s some church’s heart attitude, but because we want to. We use our freedom to figure out how to serve, and we have the freedom to enjoy serving each other. We’re free to fill a need, or serve where we are gifted, to use our talents. All of this we do because we want to serve others. But this brings up other questions.

How do I know what God wants me to do? What’s His will for where I should serve? Am I talented, or do I have a spiritual gift for fixing Fords? What’s the difference between a talent and a gift? We’ll tackle those questions next week. For now, feel free to serve.

Heart Attitude 5 Support my church family

I WILL SUPPORT MY CHURCH FAMILY
By praying, attending, inviting, and giving

Why should I support my church family? Church will go on just fine without my support. I know – it has in the past. Here’s the deal…

Prayer is a waste of time. Can’t God do whatever He wants anyway? Won’t He? What kind of a God am I praying to if He needs my advice? As for church…

Why attend - what good does it do me? The music is too mellow, the sermon I’ve heard before, and the youth get to the best bagels before I arrive. It’s frustrating. Invite others, well maybe if it was a Lobos game. And then there is…

…giving. Does God need my money? When did He go broke? Here’s what I do. I throw up my cash for the week. What God wants He takes. I get the rest.

Support comes from the Latin meaning both "sub" and "to carry" – giving the idea of carrying something by supporting it from below. Some definitions are: 1. To bear the weight of, especially from below. 2. To keep from falling, sinking, or slipping. 3. To provide for or maintain, a. To aid the cause, policy, or interests of:. b. To argue in favor of; advocate: 4. To endure; tolerate: 5. To act in a secondary or subordinate role

Supporting our local church is all of the above. Does God need our prayer or our money? Of course not. He could squish me whenever He wanted and take my money and my Jeep. Sad. Praying is for me – it brings my mind in tune with His. Giving is for me – it brings my heart in tune with His - “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God expects us to support our church because He wants us to grow up. He wants us to become like Him.

As for inviting and attending church, those two areas are not primarily for me. The one clear passage about attending church says Heb 10:25 (NLT) And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Maybe attending church is more about encouraging others then getting the music and teaching I want. Maybe Christianity is more about becoming a self-feeding follower of Christ then being fed.

Heart Attitude No. 4 Clear Up Relationships

I WILL CLEAR UP RELATIONSHIPS

Lucy called Charlie Brown a Blockhead. Calvin’s babysitter is a Cretan. My old favorite was, “You’re a gravy-suckin’ pig.” Amazing how creative we can be when we can’t cuss.

Jesus said, “If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone you are in danger of the fires of hell.” Mt. 5:22 I’m doomed.

But hey, at least I’ve got you with me. I’m sure glad for those words “are in danger of.” Beats “will be going to….”

The rest of the passage, vs 23-24 tell us to go to the person who holds something against us and try to make things right. In other words, when we mess up we need to clean up. Otherwise HE may get involved. I’d rather keep HIM out of it.

What I don’t want to do is be guilty of one of those false apologies. You know, “It was stronger drink than I realized… I’m sorry you got bent out of shape when I slept with your best friend… I’ll start with a wimpy apology and then do another one if this one isn’t enough… FORGIVE ME!!”

Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas have a book out called “Five Languages of Apology.” Here are the five languages as I remember them (sorry if I mess them up a bit). 1. Express Regret, 2. Accept Responsibility, 3. Make Restitution, 4. Repent (ie change and don’t do it again), 5. Request forgiveness (but don’t demand it).

Cretan Cooley

Heart Attitude 3, Humbly Give and Receive Scriptural Correction

THE DAY DIRT ATE PEOPLE
I'm in the process of writing my next "Bizarre Bible Stories" book, and I'd like help with a story about the earth eating people. It goes along with our third heart attitude.

Our third heart attitude says "I will humbly give and receive scriptural correction." I'm not sure if it is harder to give it or to receive it. But to not receive it can kill you. Here's how the story starts. Remember - it's a kids book!

CHAPTER 1: THE DAY DIRT ATE PEOPLE

Scripture Passage: Numbers 16
So What? So be careful who you follow – it’s never too late to turn back!
For Parents: [Anything in brackets]

Introduction
This story is about jealousy. Do you know what jealousy is? Can you give me an example of someone being jealous? [Practical Word Studies defines it as “wanting and desiring to have what someone else has. It may be material things, recognition, honor, or position.” (PWSNT #2200)]

Before we find out about the time when the earth ate people, we have to learn about the bad guys in our story. These guys were behaving badly because they were jealous. Their names were Korah – he’s the leader - and Dathan, Abiram and On. How would you like the name On? At least it’s easy to spell! And somehow it sounds better then being named Off. Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On were jealous of Moses. Can you think of anything Moses had that these guys might have wanted? Was he super smart? No. Did he have lots of money or a nice car? Nope. Do you have any other ideas?

These guys were jealous of Moses because Moses was the leader of the country of Israel. He was like a king, but he wasn’t rich or called a king. He ruled over more than two million Israelites. That’s like… [For us it’s like four Winnipeg’s put together- maybe you can figure out how big it is compared to where you live.] So Moses was in charge of lots of people. He would talk to God (maybe about where to get food, or where they were going to travel), and God would tell him what to do. Moses would come back from talking to God and say, “Hey everybody, we need to go over here next.” And off they would go. He was in charge. And Korah and his three friends didn’t like it. Then didn’t like it one bit. They wanted his power and fame.

Korah and his buddies were also jealous of Aaron. Aaron was Moses’ older brother and the high priest. In those days, the high priest was kind of like a pastor in charge of all the other pastors. It was a very important position, and Korah and his friends were jealous of Aaron’s position. They wanted to be high priests. And they were jealous of Moses; they wanted to act like a king. They wanted to be the leaders of both the church and the nation. [This often seems to be the way Satan controls people; he wants both spiritual and physical leadership. From Caesar to Stalin to the Antichrist, Satan desires total control.] Of course Korah would have been the real king. The other three were following him.

Korah and his friends were jealous of Moses and Aaron, but they were also afraid of them. When bullies are afraid of those they want to challenge, what do they usually do?

Korah and his jealous friends were afraid of Moses and Aaron, so they worked at getting more people on their side. Jealous bullies work best when they’re in a gang. They don’t want a fair fight. So they searched around the two million people of Israel to find others to bully Moses and Aaron. In time, they found 250 people who had money and power who wanted Moses out of the way. [The NIV calls them “250 other prominent leaders, all members of the assembly.” (Numbers 16:2) If you’ve seen church control fights, this story will sound all too familiar.] Now Korah had over 250 angry, bitter, jealous people who were glad to blame Moses and Aaron for all their problems. This would get them in a lot of trouble - be careful who you follow!

All 250 some of them came together against Moses and against Aaron and said, “You’ve gone too far!” What they meant was, “You think you’re so hot! You have too much power! You shouldn’t be in charge! God is with all of us. So how come you’re ruling us? Who do you think you are anyway? We don’t want to follow you anymore!”

Then Moses told Korah and his friends they had, “gone too far.” Do you ever fight like that? “You think you’re so big!” “No I don’t, you think you’re so big!” “Do not!” “Do so!” Have you ever been in an argument like that when you knew you were right, but you couldn’t win? That’s where Moses was, and that’s how he must have felt. He couldn’t win because Korah was accusing him - of what Korah was doing! This is how people – maybe even us sometimes – try to cover their sins. If someone lies a lot, they may accuse you of lying. If they’re cheating by reading off your paper, they may accuse you of cheating. If you argue with them, you’ll never win. It’s your word against theirs. You can’t always prove you are right. When that happens, you have to give the argument to God, and believe He will make things right in His time. You can’t win, God can.

Have you ever had someone accuse you of doing something wrong [i.e. cheating, lying], when they were the ones doing it? How did you feel? What did you do?

Moses knew this was a dangerous time. What should he do? Rather than trying to defend himself, Moses said, “We’ll let God decide who will rule Israel.”

In the days when Moses and Aaron lived, those who loved God worshipped Him in a building called the Tabernacle. It was a gigantic tent, and was used kind of like a portable church. Sometimes when the priests would pray for the people, they would put fiery coals and/or incense into brass pans. The pans looked kind of like a large frying pan, but without the handle. [They were called censors.] The smoke coming up from the fire was a picture of their prayers going up to heaven. You could try something similar with your parents when you say your prayers tonight. Sometimes it’s hard to know that God really hears our prayers. You could have your mom or dad light a candle in your room. After you pray, blow out the candle. You’ll see the smoke going up like your prayers went up to God in heaven.

Moses told Korah, “Show up tomorrow morning at the Tabernacle with pans full of coals of fire. God will decide if you and your followers should be leading Israel – or if Aaron and I should continue. It’s you who have gone too far!”

Later Moses tried to talk to Dathan and Abiram, but they were so rude they wouldn’t even talk to Moses. All they wanted to do was lie about him. Do you remember the other jealous guy named On? He isn’t mentioned again in the story. We don’t know what happened to On, he just drops out of the story here – which, if you were On, is probably a good thing. Maybe he realized his jealousy had gone too far, so he quit following Korah. It’s never too late to turn back when you’re doing something wrong. Don’t keep going on and on and on!

The next day, Korah and his followers showed up at the Tabernacle. His 250-some jealous leaders had been saying bad things about Moses and Aaron to the people – and the people believed them! It looked like it was Moses and Aaron against everyone else: two against two million! Everyone was standing around the entrance to the Tabernacle to see what would happen. The leaders picked up their pots of fiery coals.

Then God showed up.

Have you ever looked up at the sun on a bright day? What happened? If you look too long it can damage your eyes. Sometime you may get the chance to see a solar eclipse. Do you know that that is? [The moon blocking out the sun – if you’ve seen one, describe it to your children.] To watch a solar eclipse you have to wear special sunglasses. Can you guess why? [If you look at the eclipse without them, or with regular sunglasses, you can be permanently blinded.]

Then God showed up – but not in all His glory. No one has ever seen God outside of Heaven and lived [Jn 1:18, I Jn 4:12]. They all saw God like we see the sun. They got a glimpse of His glory and it was all they could take. He let them see as much of His brightness as they could stand to see and still live. What do you think He looked like? One day we will get to see God, and He won’t be too bright for us then [Job 19:26, Mt 5:8].

Then God told Moses to tell the people to get away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. "Quick!" he [Moses] told the people. "Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and don't touch anything that belongs to them. If you do, you will be destroyed for their sins." [Num 16:26] So everyone backed away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Then Moses said, “If these men die a natural death, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord performs a miracle and the ground opens up and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord.’ He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them. The earth opened up and swallowed the men… The earth closed over them, and they all vanished” [Num 16:29-35] As if that wasn’t enough, God sent fire down from heaven, probably something like lightening, and the fire killed the other 250 leaders who were jealous of Moses and Aaron. This was the day the earth ate people – complaining, jealous people who followed the wrong leader.

Do you think God was too hard on Korah and his friends? What would have happened if God had let Korah and his friends take over? [What would have happened to Moses, Aaron, and the two million people?]

God loves us, and He wants us to be careful who we follow. He knew if Korah and his buddies ruled Israel, Israel would be ruined. God put Moses and Aaron in charge because they were humble, not jealous. God wants us to follow people who lead in the right direction. When people are continually jealous and angry, we have to separate from them and find other friends – or we will be destroyed along with them. Of course the earth probably won’t open up and eat us, but we will feel pressured to follow those friends away from God. That pressure always leads to destruction. On had the right idea and he turned back before it was too late. If you turn back on sin and follow God - someday you will really see Him!

Remember – On Had God’s Word on It!

Matthew 5:8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

Deut. 8:19 I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed.

3 John 1:11 Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

Micah 4:5 Even though the nations around us worship idols, we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

Job 19:26 After my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God!

It's Just Us

JUSTICE IS JUST US

Bob Pierce founder of World Vision prayed “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of G.” Tough prayer.

You never know what to expect being a pastor. One day I was called out to help a single mom (not from Cottonwood) with a broken door. The place was… filthy. My levis were dirty, but her sofa was worse, and there was no way I wanted to drink out of one of her glasses. Here’s the deal - I felt used to help someone who didn’t even keep her own place clean. So how’s that fit with our Heart Attitude “I will put the goals and interests of others above my own?”

We should name them, “The Hard Attitudes.”

Are the poor just lazy? Proverbs 23:20, 20:13 says some are poor due to overdrinking, overeating and oversleeping. Must we help them? Is that enabling? How’s your diet coming?

Most of the world’s poor are there for other reasons. Some are poor due to lack of opportunity or education, war, natural disasters, HIV, location, greed/politics, wrong choices, addictions, even choosing poverty to serve God. I wonder if we must to serve all the poor, or can we pick and choose a bit? Could we serve all the poor even if we wanted to?

I remember being in Nogales Mexico visiting folks in a massive squatters village. Homes there are one room huts made from cardboard and tin and whatever else they can find, with dirt floors. Most held one small (twin) mattress with about the room of another twin mattress to walk around. Cooking and bathrooms duties were done outside. Water came from the river/sewer. Visiting one hut I was shocked to see a woman and her four kids from church the day before. Somehow I had always separated those in church from those in the squatter’s village. Odd.

We often say “getting saved” is about giving our lives to Christ. Jesus said He came to “bring good news to the poor.” Luke 4:18. He will one day return and bring justice. But, until then, it’s just us. How well am I following? How much of my life have I given?

Proverbs 19:17 says “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you!” Cool. I wonder how.

Heart Attitude No. 2

I will live an open and honest lifestyle.

Ever spend time with someone who was a bit too open and honest - too much information? How do you stop them? It's AWKWARD! Which makes me wonder, What’s the open and honest limit? How much is too much?

Ever lie? Yeah, you lie lots.

Sometimes we lie nice. Truth is, we are more concerned with being liked then being nice. We say, “I don’t care where we eat. You haven’t aged a bit. No, I didn’t see that cheese hanging from your chin all night...” We aren’t open, we aren’t honest. I'm not even sure we are being nice.

Sometimes we lie mean. Often it's by our silence. We’re so concerned with being liked that we allow our friends to sink into sin without warning. James says “If someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.” James 5:19-20 nlt.

Is it open and honest to stay silent when a friend is slipping into sin? How about if they aren’t a friend? What if the sin is gambling that's breaking the family finances? Drinking? Sleeping around and the spouse doesn't know it? Anger? Gossip? What’s the limit? What if they react badly? Is it worth it? Ezekiel has some scary words on the topic in Chapter 3 verses 16-21. God says “If you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.” Wow. But… I want to be liked. How about you?

Dan

Heart Attitude No. 1

Heart Attitude #1: I will put the goals and interests of others above my own.

Sure you will.

Ever have a default setting change on your computer? Somehow it gets stuck printing landscape instead of portrait, or prints out 53 copies before you realize it instead of one. Worst of all it defaults to the blue screen of death instead of windows. AAGGGHH!! You Mac users wouldn't understand.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and others. Right - how do we do that? How do we know if we have loved God and others? If we think we are doing well, would our co-workers agree? Our spouse? Our…

A Heart Attitude is an internal default setting we develop in order to put love into practice. It gives us a way to measure how we have done, are doing, and where we are going. We don’t always like them, but we at Cottonwood agree to work towards them.

The first Heart Attitude pretty much encompasses them all. It says, “I will put the goals and interests of others above my own.” Well, sometimes. And...

Even if you wanted to - could you? If I always looked after others, how would you live own life?

Truth is, we have to care about our own lives if we care about others. Suicide is one of the most selfish acts possible. We need to take care of ourselves if we care about those who depend on us.

When the Philippians were caught in a selfish mess, here is what Paul wrote about Heart Attitude #1…

Php 2:5 (NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. 14 Do everything without complaining and arguing…,

In-your-face Paul made it clear. It's not about me.

Dan

Does God Care About Church Pt. 3

Does God Care About Ch Pt. 3

God tells us to worship Him. Together. In weird ways. Why does he do that? For instance…

Why can’t we just worship Him alone?

Can the simple addition of more bodies worshipping together really change our soul and therefore our worship? Really? Why does God keep insisting (in the Psalms, Hebrews, Revelation) that we worship together? How about we sleep in on Sunday, read the Bible over breakfast, sing in the shower, and send my money to the needy and skip being with others. We would save a ton of money on carts and video projectors. The question is, why does God insist on being together? Are we that interconnected? Does He know something we don’t know?

While we are on the topic, do we have to raise our hands? Honestly, what difference can it make? And kneeling. Can’t God hear our prayers when we sit? And standing. Is that just to keep us awake while we sing?

Do we, in truth, believe a simple change of posture change our souls and therefore our worship? Are our bodies and souls that tightly connected? Does He know something we don’t know?
Does the most powerful Being in the known universe really need our worship? Isn’t that a bit over the top? I mean, He is already God, why does He need us to tell Him what He already knows?

Or is worshipping Him, not really for Him, in the end?

Does God Care About Church Pt. 2

Does God Care... About Church? Pt.2
Odd couples - do you know any? You know, the young classy wife married to the loud red-neck with Jr. Hi. humor, or the heavy, smelly bride married to the tall, emaciated, perfume salesman. It just seems odd. I mean, sometimes it's not even about money.

And then there's The Bible Story. The richest, most powerful, all-knowing God in the universe caring about... red-neck us. If He truly loves us, can He really be that smart? Is that an oxymoron in a sentence? Does He have lousy taste?

We are an odd couple - us the lucky smelly bride with the Perfect Husband. Then He died so we would no longer stink Eph 5:25-27. Maybe He knows more about what you can become than you do.

Such a deal.

And it's not only about God and us, it's about us and each other.

Eph 5:25 (NLT) For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

Dan

Thought of the week: "Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" 2 Cor. 5:17

Does God Care About Church Pt. 1

Does God Care... About Church? Pt.1

Statistics tell us thousands of people are giving up on church every year. One has to wonder if God will join them.

Church life reminds me of my Jeep. My '95 Wrangler lives in a constant state of repair, limping on a few cylinders between rebuilds. Last weekend I repaired the wiring harness. Next on the list is tie rods. I have a few exhilarating days every year when it runs with the engine light off. Why love it?

It's the removable top and doors, the 4wd low range, the weird way it handles, and how your innards bounce out on washboard roads that make it loveable. The rattles, leaks, and windy ride are part of the love affair.

There is nothing quite like church. It may leave spots in your driveway, but the wind in your hair is unstoppable. :)

I love Cottonwood. Set up comes early some Sundays, and the preacher can be long-winded, but God isn't giving up on church. I'm not either.

Dan
Thought of the week: "I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." Psalms 122:1