Archive for June, 2009
Should We Not Love This Great City
Jonah 4
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Men of Passion
Psalm 1
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
I love Father’s Day. I absolutely love Father’s Day, but it’s not because I need another tie or gift card or anything else for that matter. I don’t need a thing. I love Father’s Day because I love being a dad, and now a grandfather. Wow, does that sound weird! How can I be a grandfather when I am so young? Ha! There is another reason I love Father’s Day and it is because it gives me an excuse to talk to men. Ladies can listen in, but on Father’s Day I get the opportunity to share God’s Word exclusively with men.
Men, I want you to know that I believe that you are the single greatest untapped resource for the Kingdom of God today. I say “untapped” because, for the most part, our influence, passion, resources, skills, time, and efforts simply aren’t being used for Kingdom work today. We have chosen to invest ourselves in other ways and in other places.
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Oh, The Goodness of our God!
Friday, June 19th, 2009Good Morning Everyone,
I woke up this morning full. Full of gratitude. Full of thanksgiving. Overflowing with an awareness of God’s goodness and mercy. Without that awareness of God’s grace, what would our days be like? I think we all know the answer to that question because if you are like me then you have made your way through many days without even a thought of how God’s provision is sufficient. Difficult days can do that to do us can’t they? Troubling times can take our eyes off of God and fix them on our troubles. I am learning, as the years rock along, that all of life is undergirded by God’s grace. The troubling times would completely unravel us if it weren’t for His grace. The tears would scar more deeply if it weren’t for His grace. The blessings of life would simply be categorized as “luck” if it weren’t for an awareness of His grace which causes us to stop and give thanks.
There is no time in life that we don’t have an opportunity to stop and give thanks. Give thanks when the sun is shining. Give thanks when the storms rage. Give thanks when you get to hold a new baby in your arms. Give thanks when you stand at the graveside of someone you love. Give thanks. Give thanks today because the goodness of our God is sufficient for every trial, every blessing, every moment of our life. Give thanks and consider the goodness of our God.
In His Steps,
Mike
Welcome Kellen and Macy!
Thursday, June 18th, 2009Hi Everyone,
Connie, Nate, and I headed out to Mercy Hospital about 4:30 am so we wouldn’t miss a thing. When we got to the sixth floor we buzzed in and told the nurse that we were there to see Rachel Hays. She said, “We’re waiting for her to get here.” You would never know we were excited would you? ha!
In just a few minutes Dan and Rachel came walking off the elevator and they both looked like the cat that ate the canary! Bob and Carol, Rachel’s mom and dad, arrived right behind them. Before they took Rachel in for her C-Section we all joined hands and gave thanks for the Lord’s great work and our finally being able to see His handiwork. I had no idea just how marvelous His handiwork would prove to be!
When Dan came and got us we walked into the room and there was our double blessing–Kellen and Macy! Kellen weighed 6 lb. 13 oz and Macy weighed in at 6 lbs. Kellen looks like an outside linebacker if I’ve ever seen one and I’m certain Annie will have a tennis racket in Macy’s hand before she can talk. My heart could not be any more full!
The gift of life is so precious. God is so good. Being a grandparent is cooler than ice cream! I can’t wait to see these little ones grow and become the young man and young woman that God desires for them to. I want to be there every step of the way to spoil them rotten! ha!
Our family wants to thank all of you for your prayers during these nine months. It is one thing to welcome a new little life, or lives, into the world. It is an altogether different thing to celebrate those lives with those you love who have prayed with you during the wait.
In His Steps,
Mike
Summer Fun in the Sun
Thursday, June 18th, 2009The pool party tour of June has come to an end as of last night. I would like to thank Mike & Debbie Sullivan, Harriet Weirich, and Dwight & Debbie Von Feldt for their willingness to serve our youth! The 20+ wild and crazy kids of BCC loved every moment. Thank you for living out our mission BCC.
Amphibious Christianity
Geneis 12:10-13
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
Just Thinking…
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009Good Morning Everyone,
There are milestones that take place in our lives that should cause us to stop and consider. I’ve just experienced one of those milestones and it has given me the opportunity to stop and look back. Nineteen years ago last Sunday I preached my very first sermon at Britton Christian Church. I checked our website and there are now 480 sermons that have been collected. That number is probably a little more than half of the lessons that I’ve taught, but the internet wasn’t around back in the “old days.”
Nineteen years! That is a long time! There is so much that has happened in my life and in the life of our church during those nineteen years. The Lord has been so faithful. He has blessed me, and us, beyond our wildest imaginations. I’ve made so many new friends, seen so many folks give their life to Christ, stood at the caskets of too many of those I’ve grown to love, prayed so many prayers with friends who were going through a tough time, held so many new babies in my arms, and much more. Can you tell I’ve been reminiscing? Through it all God has been so faithful.
It’s good to look back, but it is also good to stand on our tip toes and look ahead. Some of my friends from across the country have asked me from time to time, “Mike, what are you still doing at that little church?” I don’t hesitate to answer: “I’m still having fun. Still being challenged. Still seeing God do His work. Why would I have any desire to leave a work where God is working?” I want you to know that I mean that with all of my heart. There is no place on the planet that I would rather be than at BCC!
As I look forward, (to the next 20 years? Wouldn’t that be awesome!) my heart is so full of expectations. If the Lord allows us to keep doing what we’ve been doing for the past 19 years then I fully expect that we will be found doing what we’ve been doing for the past 19 years–teaching His Word, caring for His people, and letting His light shine in our community. I can’t think of anything better to give my life to than that, can you?
In His Steps,
Mike
A Prayer for the Misguided
Romans 10:1-4
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
Today we will begin our study of the tenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Paul begins the chapter with a prayer for his own people, people who are passionate, incredibly passionate, but misguided. Paul says that the problem is not a lack of zeal, but it is misdirected zeal. The problem is not a lack of belief, or conviction, but it is belief and passion that is misplaced. If this was a problem in Paul’s day then it is an epidemic in our own day.
As I began studying these verses early this past week I had been listening to reports that the abortion doctor, George Tiller, had been shot and killed while he was in church. Dr. Tiller was probably the most notorious abortion doctor in the nation. His clinic was the target of many protests throughout the years because he was one of the few doctors in the nation who performed late term abortions. George Tiller was a callous, money hungry doctor, who preyed on the crisis of young women, but nobody should be excited about the way in which he died.
On Sunday morning Dr. Tiller was at church when Scott Roeder walked up to him and shot him. Scott Roeder has been charged with first degree murder for killing Dr. Tiller. None of us had ever heard of Scott Roeder until last Sunday when he was arrested, but now we are learning more about his misguided zeal. According to stories I’ve read this week, Mr. Roeder was a member of an extremist group. He was anti-government and about ten years ago he became very “religious.” His ex-wife said, “He became adamant about his Old Testament beliefs and observed the Sabbath from Friday night through Saturday. Nothing could get in the way of that. Not soccer games when his son was younger. Nothing.” Time Magazine reported that he had a red rose, a symbol of the pro-life movement, painted on his car along with a “Jesus fish.”
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