The Rain

I love the rain. One of my favorite months of the year is April, and not just because I was born in April, but because of the April showers!

I love the rain for many reasons:

1) It's cleansing!
2) It's refreshing!
3) It's clean!
4) It's pure!
5) It reminds me that spring is here, and summer is coming!
6) It's nourishing!
7) My daughter likes it because it reminds her of God's love for us.
8) I love the sound!
9) It's peaceful, powerful, romantic and mysterious!
10) It's out of our control!
11) It's a great backdrop for reading!

I am sitting in a lawn chair in my backyard watching the kids play and the temperature has dropped by at least 20 degrees and a cold wind is coming in from the north and clouds are moving in and the sky is turning an eerie greenish color. I love the rain ... I love stormy weather!

Christian Atheism

A.the.ist - a person who does not believe in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Chris.tian - a person who exhibits a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ. Christ-likeness.

I have been a Christian most all my life, didn't live like it through much of my teen years, yet today I love Jesus Christ with all my heart (at least I feel like I do.) We all have times and seasons in our lives when we are more "on fire" for God, to use an old 80's churchy word, and times we are but cold embers.

As a pastor I am seeing more and more "Christians" who are acting like they are Atheists.

I am of the persuasion that if belief doesn't result in action, then do you even believe at all? I seriously wonder.

And sadly this is what I see running rampant in today's culture, Christian Atheism; People who claim to believe in Jesus, God, the teachings of scripture, yet live completely counter to His teachings.

God help us all!

No Money Worries

Have you ever driven through those neighborhoods that make you ponder the question; “what do these people do for a living? … cause it’s not what I am doing.” Or, “what would be like to have no money worries?” Have you ever wondered what it would be like to need something and be able to just buy it with no concern of being overdrawn? What would it be like to have more than enough for anything you need or want? What would it be like to not force your son to wear his older sister’s pink soccer cleats because you don’t have the $50 for real football cleats? Or what would it be like to not depend on your tax return to be able to afford a vacation? What would it be like to take the family to Disney World without having to sell one of the kids in order to pay for it? Lol!

I think this is where many of us live. And if we are honest it’s our own fault for the most part. Certain decisions we made along the way have brought us to the very spot we are … and it’s not where we necessarily want to be, but we’re here. So now what?

The difference between those of us who must budget very carefully the little we have and those who HAVE budgeted very carefully and now have lots of money in their budget is that they have been very smart in how they have managed their money – they are what we call financially savvy … or maybe just lucky (like a wealthy friend of mine who happened to be at the right place, in the right business (.com biz) back in the early 90’s and hit the jack pot when Al Gore invented the internet (lol!)) or maybe they’ve been extremely frugal (living below their means – like Dave Ramsey teaches.) I also feel that God actually blesses some people with a gift to earn lots of money. Money that I hope is used for Kingdom purposes.

Here is another thing my millionaire friend said, “Timmy, more money sometimes just means more worries!” So true.

I will add this, whether you have a lot of money, or a little money we are all STEWARDS of what we have. God has given each of us the ability to earn what we earn, now the real question is; ARE we stewarding it well? Are we giving to God through the local church? Say what you want, think what you want, go ahead and justify however to make you feel better about what you are doing currently with your money… it doesn’t change the fact that as Christians we are to be generous givers! I am convinced that many, if not most of the wealthy people are generous givers (I know several millionaires and every one of them are very generous.) I believe there is a lesson for each of us to learn about wealth.

Let me close with this scripture … one of my favorites! I think it sheds some light on the subject of MONEY WORRIES … worry comes from a lack of trust, when we trust someone, or something we do not worry! And in the below scripture God is saying that we should trust Him fully and not worry … then down in verse 9 we see that one way we show our trust in God is by honoring Him with our wealth, whether that’s $1.00 or $100,000,000.00.

It’s nice to be in a place of trust rather than in a place of fear and worry! Trust Him today!


Proverbs 3:5-10 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

Gracious Disagreements

There are not too many things in this world more Christ-like then handling disagreements graciously. This is not the norm in the church world, from my experience.

I believe Doctrine to be vitally important in the life of a Christian, and in the life of a church. But what I have seen the more I study the scriptures is that there are many ways to interpret scripture and still love Jesus with all your heart. The more I study and read I am surprised to find out that not everyone believes just like I do, wow amazing! How can this be? How can people survive in this world not seeing everything as I see it? Lol!

I am in my 20th year of ministry this year and I am coming to understand God more and more, and at the same time coming to understand how much I do not know, and how much I yet to learn about Him! 20 Years ago I had God all figured out, knew all that I needed to know to take this world on single-handedly ... and win! Youthful bliss!

There is an area that I think all Christians can grow in, and that is how to handle disagreements graciously. I not only think this impacts our fellow Christian brothers and sisters (wow, that sounded churchy! And a little cult-like) in a positive way, but most importantly when people who are investigating Christianity see Christians getting along. When Christians are fighting or divided I know that the devil is in the middle of it ... loving it! The devil loves division, fighting, envy, strife, gossip and backbiting. I can and do have fellowship with many Christians who see life differently then I do ... this is good and healthy!

This may shock some of you, but we (Mercy Church) have conservatives and liberals attending our church ... I know, I know ... crazy! But it's true! We have all come together to worship God and celebrate His Son Jesus Christ.

"The ground is level at the foot of the cross" - unknown

Challenge: I hope that you are a Gracious Christian. I hope that you do not feel that you have the corner-market on all truth and can learn from others as well as teach others. I hope that you can love those who do not see the world as you do. And I especially hope that you can love those who disagree with you.

Much love and grace!

You Never Know

Today was (is) a beautiful day here in Kansas City so I decided to cut my day a little short and take my family to a park. And what happened next is nothing more than a God Moment.

First, the park looked like the opening day of Six Flags, packed with people, especially kids. I would assume this is because parents are wanting to give their children some playtime over Spring Break ... but get them out of the house since we've had a really long and nasty winter here.

We met my parents at the park to play a little hide and go seek ... it was fun and brought back many fond childhood memories for me. I of course hid the best and won! Just thought I'd share... lol!

GOD MOMENT

So we are walking around the park (btw - big park with a wooded hicking area, lake for fishing, tennis courts, play ground, rock climbing wall, etc.) and my wife notices a cute brown haired little girl, I'd say she was 3 years old, walking in front of us. Now remember there are hundreds of people at this park, so this little girl is one of a couple hundred of other little brow-haired little girls at the park. But for some reason Jana notices that she is walking a head of us and not really with any particular family ... she is walking past dozens of families. Not crying, not doing anything that made her look lost ... just a kid walking around a park, like hundreds of other kids.

Jana noticed that we had walked past at least 12 family groups and so did this girl, then when we were getting ready to turn the corner the girl went left and we went right, but something just wasn't right in Jana's mind ... because there wasn't any to the left. That is when she knew that this little girl must be lost. So she sent our daughter to approach the little girl to see if she was lost. And she was lost.

Long story short, this little girl had come to the park with a group of 20 or more kids (apparently NOT well chaperoned - another story all together) for a field trip of sorts. We had found her clear on the other side of the park ... like Tiger couldn't even hit a golf ball that far - other side of the park! And when we brought her back (after walking all over the park to find where she belonged) they were'nt even looking for her! Crazy!

I was thankful that God had us at the park today to save the life of this little beautiful brown-eyed girl from who knows what! Her name was Lydia, and today Lydia went home to be with her Mommy & Daddy because of my wife's watchful eye, and God's nudging!

I am telling you folks, trust me when I say, God is watching over us, and He is speaking ... are you listening, are you obeying, are you following? I hope so!

I Love It

There are so many reasons I love Mercy Church, but the primary reason is what someone told me after attending Mercy; "I love Mercy Church because I know that at my worst I would have been loved and accepted here!" And that pretty much sums it up! You do not need to be perfect, like my wife, to attend Mercy Church. (ha ha ... my wife isn't perfect, close ... but no cigar.)

I think this is so important because I was raised in a church culture that didn't welcome those who didn't fit into the little Christian box we had created for them. And this is so unlike the Jesus that I read about in the Gospels who loved and accepted everyone. I am not saying that Jesus wants us to stay where we are in our brokenness (sin.) But He does love us in spite of our broken places (sin.) AND He wants to help us be healthy people of faith. This is in fact the Gospel Message (GOOD NEWS) that we preach about ... "for God so loved the world that He gave ..."

So if you are looking for a church that will not judge you, but will love and accept you wherever you find yourself ... whether near perfect, or not-so-perfect, then come check us out.

Happy Birthday

Today is my wife's Birthday! Her name is Jana (for those of you who don't know us) I better not tell you how young she is ... that's just a cardinal rule I think with women. Lol! But she's beautiful!

I have been married to this Birthday girl for 15 years now, and all I can say is that she is the most wonderful, genuine, kind-hearted, thoughtful, sincere, generous, faithful, committed, caring, empathetic, sympathetic, loving, gracious and godly women I have ever met! Hands down! To be around her is to be in the presence of greatness, her friends are extremely blessed to even know her and have her call them "friend."

And yes, this is truly how I feel ... but more than that, it's not just how I "feel," it's the truth ... I have lived with this women for 15 years and I know her.

If I was given a thousand life's to live, I would want to spend each one with her.

21 Days Prayer & Fasting

March 14 - April 3

Here at Mercy Church we are doing our FIRST churchwide Prayer and Fasting Challenge. I am very excited to see all that God does in the lives of those who take the challenge and those for whom we pray for during this time as well.

Watch Sunday's Teaching for more information about our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting.

Additional Resources:

Online training
7 Basic Steps to Successful Fasting and Prayer ONLINE
7 Basic Steps to Fasting, Bill Bright

Books:
Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough, by Elmer Towns, Gospel Light
Let Prayer Change Your Life, by Becky Tirabassi, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Practicing the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence, Whitaker House
God's Chosen Fast by Arthur Wallis, Christian Literature Crusade

How to Change Your Life

We don't talk about Fasting all that much in the church these days, but we need it more than ever I believe. I know that I haven't taught extensively on the subject, unfortunately. And that is going to change for me, and Mercy Church. And there is one main reason: I want to see the hand of God working in my life, my families life and in the lives of those who attend Mercy Church.

Let's be just real honest here shall we, our lives left in our own hands can get off track pretty quick, and we need more than ever to be fully surrendered and submitted to God's leading in our lives. And there is no better time than right now.

I know that "fasting" can seem weird, or hyper-spiritual or even something that's only for the oober-fanatical-religious folks. It's not. It's something Jesus did, and even told His disciples that certain problems in our lives and others can only be resolved through prayer and FASTING.

So whoever you are, and wherever you are I encourage you to take a few days before Easter (April 4th) and give up some stuff - whether that is Food, Sugar, Coffee, TV, Etc. You decide. Then use that time to spend extra time with God.

RESOURCES: Click Here


Blessings to you as you follow Him!

No Steak in Heaven

So my animal-loving-vegetarian-eating daughter says, "Daddy, will people be able to kill animals in Heaven?" I said, "No! There will be no killing in Heaven" So then my son says, "You mean I can't have a steak in Heaven?" I said, "I assume only a tofu steak will be on the Heavenly menu ... but then again maybe God will just drop Filet Mignon down on our plates when it's time to eat."

WE ALL STARTED OUT VEGETARIAN

Genesis 1:28-29 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

Now, for all you meat-lovers don't get uptight, God gave us approval to eat meat, if we want to eat meat, eat it! I am not preaching against it here, simply sharing my conversation with my kids. I just can't do a To-furkey on Thanksgiving! I gotta have the real thing! Though we do special order a drug-free Turkey from Wholefoods every year.