The Hanky Panky Challenge

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I was going to wait to issue the “hanky panky challenge” live at our church on Sunday, February 1st for the kick off our new series – It’s a Wonderful Marriage, but due to the media attention we have been receiving I felt I better get this out to you now.

The challenge is for married couples to engage in Hanky Panky everyday for the entire month of February. Now, I looked up the definition of “hanky panky” and it was not the definition I was hoping for … so I thought I should clarify what we mean by hanky panky.

HANK PANKY CHALLENGE

For the guys it means one thing, and for the girls it may mean yet another … so let this be your guide … we are encouraging couples to take the month of February to focus on their marriage by creating moments of intentional intimacy “hanky panky” with each another everyday. Making time to connect, whether that is pure sexual intimacy (intercourse) which most dudes are probably hoping for – you are welcome guys!, or lots of kissing, touching, tickling, loving massages, foot rubs, taking a bath together, washing each others hair, pillow talk, praying together (for each other and your family), read the Song of Songs, try reading a romantic book together, watch Dr. Phil – sorry, just kidding … watching a romantic movie (not Texas Chainsaw), cooking dinner together, talking a walk together, write a meaningful note to one another and read aloud, go on a romantic date … basically go back to what you did when you first met and fell so madly in love with each other!

Side note here; many times this is what I see failing in marriages … everything that I have mentioned above many times stops after a year of marriage sadly. Simply, we take each other for granted, we are too busy (or we feel we are too busy). Yet when I talk to couples about their schedule I see that there are many many opportunities in their “busy schedule” for intimacy, but it’s filled up with TV, Sports, Hobbies, Kids stuff (nothing wrong with that, but honestly how many activities do your kids really need to be in? I mean seriously! Is it worth losing your marriage over? Not a win for your kids!)

I will blog more … I just had to rush to get something up here so if you heard something on TV or Radio you’ll know what it is all about!

Happy Hanky Panky!

Gaza

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We recently had a special speaker in to speak about Israel and the current conflict in Gaza. I am sure you have heard about the stuff going on there in the Middle East since it is all over the news these days.

I will be straight up with you - I am not well versed in Middle East issues. And I understand that it is vast and complicated! And what little I do know is from what I hear from the news and others … so when I received a comment card this past Sunday that asked for us to invite someone in to give us a “Palestinian” view I guess in their mind the speaker we had in was one sided, siding with Israel.

Now this is my assumption, or at least how I read the comment and needless to say they did not leave their name on the comment card for me to further investigate their comment … I normally do not even give “nameless” comments my time … but this one I felt deserved a reply.

So, here is my attempt to address the “no name” comment:

I hear people who stand on one or the other on this whole “Israel/Palestine” conflict … there are people who feel that Israel is acting like terrorists and the Palestinians are the victim. Then on the other side you hear those who are in total support of Israel’s actions saying that they should retaliate and that they are the victims here. So basically what I am hearing is one is right and the other is wrong. And this is just scratching the surface … I believe there are many layers to be peeled away … and I do mean layers of spiritual content.

Personally I am pro-people! Palestinian, Israeli I don’t care, and I believe that God is also pro-people… this is clear in scripture as we see in John 3:16 “For God so loved the WORLD…” that leaves no one out. I actually talked to Darren (our special speaker) about this and he agreed 100% and wished he would have had more time to clarify. And in his comments to me he said, “Timmy the Palestinians are indeed the victims of the Hamas terrorist group … it’s a terrible situation and very unfortunate for all involved.”

Let’s be honest here … just like in any war or conflict there are always two sides and blame often falls on both sides.

Okay, now I just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t mention that scripture does seem to show a special favor on God’s chosen people the Jews; Abraham’s seed. Now listen, I did not write the Bible so you can’t take issue with me over what the Bible says … you would need to take that up with the Lord.

I don’t fully understand it all … hence the reason I brought in a special speaker to talk about it.

I would be ignorant if I didn’t recognize that most the people groups we are even talking about here are ALL Abraham’s seed … Abraham did have 2 sons; Isaac (which is where we get the Jews) and Ishmael (which is where we get the Arabs). Isaac was the child of the promise that God gave to Abraham and Sarah, but God also blessed Ishmael descendants. And for whatever reason God decides to carry the promise of redemption through Abraham’s son Isaac and his descendants AND He also gives them the land (the very land that is being fought over right now). But we must remember that God made this choice not because one people group being any better than another or that God liked them more … this is what we call an act of the sovereign will of God. And this is something we can not comprehend!

Genesis 17:21 “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac…”

Bottom line: I think we all need to pray and pursue peace in the Middle East! And we should be PRO-PEOPLE!

Scriptures: Genesis 12:5-9; 13:14-18; 15:18-21; 17:21; 21:8-13. Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 11:24-25

Prayer: God I ask that you would help us all to be people who seek peace, help each of us to be seekers of truth and givers of love! In Christ name, Amen!

Economic Uncertainty – 2 of 2

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My thoughts hear are very scattered … I am all over the place here … but once you read it all you’ll get the gist!

I continue to be brokenhearted when I hear of yet another company needing to layoff employees because of a decline in company sales.

There are no easy answers here … I wish there was. BUT I do think that if WE would take control of our personal spending and live according to a budget with MARGIN we would be better off.

Many of us “Americans” live above our means, spending MORE than we make. Now, that is not everyone, but many … far more than should. I don’t see the problem being the government - which means I do not see that this is something the government is going to be able to fix for us. We must take action ourselves – personal responsibility.

Just a thought … if you and I had NO DEBT or at least limited debt (no car payment, no credit card debt, etc) and had 6 months of living expenses in the bank this current economic crunch might not hurt as bad.

Now, before you get mad at me – I am preaching to myself as well, but I think you and I need to hear the truth!

Many people have HUGE car payments, HUGE house payments, and spend a good chunk of money eating out, drinking Carmel-macchiatos, going to or renting movies, buying the latest gadgets, toys and other excesses that are not absolutely necessary for life.

I recently watched a heart wrenching video about people in another part of the world who live in little 500 sq ft huts with dirt floors that they call it “house”, eat steamed rice for nearly every meal, they have no running water, no electricity, etc. Then I think of the excesses in my life and in the lives of many Americans … truthfully it breaks my heart. I am honestly sad and distressed and wondering how I can alter my life so that I can help the less fortunate.

All this to say … we all need to make changes in our spending habits so that there are margins. And what I mean by “margins” is that we trim our spending so that we don’t spend everything we make each month buying things we do not need, getting control of our money … making the necessary adjustments in our budget that frees us up to give to God’s work here on earth.

Challenge: Sit down with your spouse (if married) and look at your budget … what’s coming in, and what’s going out and what changes can be made to match your ultimate desires for life. And make the hard decisions if necessary to put you in a better spot financially.

I wish you well!

Economic Uncertainty – 1 of 2

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2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” - KJV

I have wanted to throw out my “spiritual perspective” on the current economic state we find ourselves in but have waited to hear other people’s thoughts and perspectives before I did blog about it. Not that “other people’s perspectives” are going to change what I feel and know … but just to get a feel for the pulse of the people, if you will… And I have decided I shall hold my tongue no longer.

From the conversations I have had over the last couple months I see that there are people on the extremes of both sides; One extreme is seeing the end of the world as we know it…. A total collapse of the economy … they see only doom and gloom … they talk much of a repeat of the Great Depression of the 30’s. Then on the other extreme people have no concern for the current state of our economy, a flippant "I don't care" attitude, sloughing it off like a mere gas bubble you get after eating a chili-dog. I believe both extremes are missing it!

Now, as always I welcome your comments BUT I want to say, I am aware that this is VERY real and people are being affected in a very real way; loss of employment, your 401K is now a 201K, retirement is gone, lay offs, down sizing, business is slowing down and even stopping all together. I get it, I watch the news and hear what is going on and it is real.

But here is the deal, as a pastor, a teacher of God’s word I feel obligated, actually called by God to be a voice of God for not only our local church body (Mercy Church) but for our nation … just as the prophets of old we see throughout scripture.

I would echo Dave Ramsey’s words when asked recently about the current economy, “What should we do?” he said, “Just Breathe”.

Here is what I do know – God has not given us a spirit of fear, and that is what I see running rampant right now. People are scared! I know how they feel!

I recently had a brief moment to watch CNN or one of the news channels and within a few minutes I felt short of breath, and felt compelled to take all my money out of the bank and stuff it in my matress, and buy a bunker in the mountains of Montana. Then the spirit of the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “do not fear, for I am with you…” Then as I reflected on what I was experiencing it was a “spirit of fear”. And I know scripture well enough to know that fear isn’t from God! Nothing wrong with a “healthy concern” … but there is a HUGE difference between the two! Fear makes you do some nutty things!

Example: Fear of driving a car keeps you from being in a car. A healthy concern about driving leads you to wear your seat belt and be attentive. HUGE difference!

I will blog more next week about this topic …


I leave you with this:

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Salvation

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Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

There is definitely a misconception about the word “salvation” in Christian circles. Many times Christians (this would include me) feel or think or believe that Jesus came to just save our soul. And the truth is that YES He did come to save our soul, but He also came to do more than that … He came to SAVE us from all our brokenness.

The word “save” in Jesus day had a lot more meaning then just “saving souls”, Jesus came to rescue us from all our brokenness.

Let’s be honest, I know a lot of people who are “saved” but they are broken. They have broken marriages, broken emotions, broken friendships, broken hearts, broken lives … and I believe that Jesus can help to put the pieces of our broken lives back together again.

It starts with being honest with ourselves and with others about our brokenness … and giving the broken pieces of our lives over to Christ to do His work.

Church in a School

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We’ve been doing church in a school for 6 years now and though there are obvious challenges to not having our own place to worship ... there are many positives as well.

1) We have no large “facility mortgage payment”, that can strain a young congregation. (Not just young in age of the people attending, but young in years the church has been around).

2) There is a clear message communicated that “the church” isn’t a “building”, it’s the people. (If you have a building with a steeple but have no people, what do you have? A building with a spear looking thing-e sticking out of it … but it’s not a church … it’s a building.)

Mathew 16:18b Jesus said, “…I will build my church…”

Jesus wasn’t referring to piling bricks on top of each other; He was referring to building people!

Lastly,
3) People who are coming to Mercy Church are not coming because of a cool building (obviously), which would be a shallow reason to attend church if you ask me. (Now this statement shouldn’t surprise you since we don’t have a “cool” building that is attracting people and someday we will (God willing) but until then what we have to attract people is the unadulterated message of hope through Jesus Christ.)

This blog is for all the people who attend “churches without a building” … don’t get hung up on “a building”, Jesus didn’t, the disciples didn’t, the early church didn’t … focus on the church … which is the people who gather together to worship and grow in their faith!

Shalom!

Trust vs. Suspicion

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In my 20 years of ministry I have learned many valuable lessons and one of the big ones is that I have 2 choices when it comes to my attitude towards leadership with whom I serve; I either trust them, or I am suspicious of them.

Isn’t this true even at your job? You can either trust your boss or be suspicious of her. You can either support her, or undermine her with your words to others in the company.

I was told a story about a woman a few years ago that gave me a certain “perception” of her. I was told she cheated on her husband; she stole money and so on. So when I met her face to face I looked at her and felt toward her a certain way UNTIL I heard her side of the story … then my eyes were open to the truth, not just a perception (which was a distortion of the truth) that had been formulated in my mind by the words of others. This is exactly what Satan did to Eve in the Garden when he said… “did God say …” he was planting doubt in her mind … to get her to be suspicious of God … to crack at her trust in God … and look where that got her and Adam.

All that said I encourage you who work with many people to be a person who fully trusts co-workers and or your boss until you are given a factual reason to be suspicious. And by “factual” I mean you have heard it from the horses mouth or have seen it with your own eyes … not a he said she said type deal … that is called gossip! And gossip is very very dangerous to relationships!

And let’s be real here … if you are suspicious of someone at work, go talk to them directly and tell them your concerns (this would be the Biblical approach) and see if your perception doesn’t completely change.

Good day!