Ministry

STORY: A friend was in front of me coming out of the church one day and the preacher was standing at the door ready to shake hands. He grabbed my friend by the hand and said,Joe, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!”Joe replied, “I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.”The Pastor questioned, “How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?”He smiled and whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.”

It's time for the church to come out of retirement and back into ministry. God's ready to change the world and he wants to use each of us for that task. We are are all gifted in some area and we need to get busy using our gifts to build up the body. One regret I have for my life is that I didn't start serving him earlier. I got involved in ministry in my mid-twenties. I feel like I missed opportunities during my younger years. However, I'm glad I did start. Many people live their whole lives saying, "I'll start tomorrow." Well, forget about tomorrow and just start right now. It's never too late. Get involved today!

In the groove

I went to the Softball field last night with a few guys from church for some batting practice. We are playing in a softball league, which starts in a few weeks. Today, my hands are sore, my back has a little tightness and my legs are fatigued from running down fly balls. Why do I feel this way? I'm getting old is one good reason. The other reason is I haven't played softball in quite some time. It's gonna take a little practice to get back in the softball groove. It's weird how you can be in shape for some sports and get sore in others. Once you get in the groove of your current sport it no longer makes you sore, but when you do something you haven't done in a while, it makes you sore...even though it may require less energy. The different movement causes you to use different muscles which brings on the pain. Many of us our like this in our walk with Christ. We've stopped doing the things necessary for growth and when we try and step back in, it hurts. We try to start praying but it feels weird. We try to tithe but it's painful. We want to be in ministry but we don't want to give up our time. However, when you get in the groove, you're able to give God your time, money & talent without any feelings of discomfort. Then what happens? You're able to take your relationship a step further, which brings a little pain but not nearly as bad as a newcomer. As long as you keep going you can stretch yourself to great lengths for God. The moment you stop and become idle is when you open yourself to the pain. Is it time for you to get back in the groove?

Idiot

Maybe you've read these but they are pretty funny...and true.

Number One Idiot of 2006

I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at
the poison control center.
Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little
daughter eating ants.
I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there
would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed
down and at the end of the conversation happened to mention that she
gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants.
I told her that she better bring her daughter into the emergency
room right away.

Number Two Idiot of 2006

Early this year, some Boeing employees on the airfield decided to
steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in
getting it out of the plane and home.
Shortly after they took it for a float on the river, they noticed a
Coast Guard helicopter coming towards them.
It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency
locator beacon that activated when the raft was inflated. They are
no longer employed at Boeing.


Number Three Idiot of 2006

A man, wanting to rob a downtown Bank of America, walked into the
Branch and wrote "this. Put all your muny in this bag."
While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he
began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might
call the police before he reached the teller's window.
So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to the Wells
Fargo Bank. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note
to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and, surmising from his
spelling errors that he wasn't the brightest light in the harbor,
told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was
written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either
have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of
America.
Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, "OK" and left.
He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back
at Bank of America.

Have you ever done anything stupid that makes you feel like an idiot? I have many times. A few weeks ago I dropped the girls off at school and went straight to church....normal routine. I got out of the truck and noticed I had on my house shoes. Marinda got me some nice red house shoes and they are so good I apparently couldn't tell the difference from my regular shoes. Have you ever been driving down the road...listening to your Ipod and reach for the volume button on the car? It doesn't turn up the volume on the Ipod no matter how many times you turn the knob. I've done this before...actually more than once. We do some pretty idiotic things in life sometimes but hopefully they don't mess us up too much. However, as a follower of Christ I mess up all the time. I should pray for someone and I don't, I should encourage someone and I don't, I should do someone a favor and I don't...the list goes on and on. I'm always doing stupid stuff or I don't do the good stuff I need to and therefore I become an idiot.

Reputation

We all have a reputation. You may not be striving to make a reputation for yourself, but you are. We may have a reputation for being kind, caring, loving or thoughtful. However, we can also have a reputation for being lazy, mean, hateful, etc. We have a good reputation with some people and a bad one with others. Does it matter? Yes, I believe our reputation is a huge factor to our success in this world. Remember, it's not what you know but who you know. That may not be fair, but it's a simple truth that we must live with. If your reputation is bad with most people, you're going to be in trouble when you need a favor. In church we have 3 different classes of people. Wishbones, jawbones & backbones. The wishbones are always hoping and dreaming the church will grow, but without their effort. The jawbones talk a big game, but do very little. The backbones are the ones who do all the work and keep the church strong. Which bone are you and what kind of reputation will you leave?

Easter Breakdown

We had 148 on Easter Sunday. That's really good for us on Easter. Usually everyone runs off to Mommy & Daddy's or Grandmother's church. I guess that's the negative side of having a church where everyone is required to have small children...at least it seems that way. Ha! Seriously, Easter was awesome...the service went great and this series is gonna be a ton of fun. We looked at the different ways the enemy tried to steal Jesus' identity and now we will look at how he tries to steal ours. Also, the meal after church rocked the house! And James said you ladies couldn't cook...he ought to be ashamed. There was plenty of food and it was good stuff. The egg hunt was cool. Phillip handled everthing like a real pro until he gave two bikes away to the wrong age division. It's tough to take a bike from a kid after you've already given it to him. That one bike was tough to give away though. I think three people turned it down because they already had a bike. Hear ye, Hear ye...no bike will be given away in that age division next year. Gift certificates? Maybe not. I hope you guys have your calendars marked since we have some good events coming up over the next two or three months. Trust me you do not want to miss the retreats. Ladies in April and Men in May. Don't miss out! Be there! If you don't come we are not telling you all the stories. When you see us laugh in the lobby for no apparent reason...it's something that happened at the retreat...we will NOT fill you in so be there! Have a good Wednesday.

Easter

Easter is only two days from now. Have you invited your friends and family? I hope you have. We are kicking off a new series this Sunday. We will be having a meal together after the service and the egg hunt after that. Plenty of eggs and cool prizes! Also, don't forget about the community hunt which is being held beside the Brookland Elementary School building off Highway 49 North. This hunt is from 1:00 to 3:00. Wear your Crossroads T-shirt and come ready for fun. Have a great day!

Egg stuffing party

Make sure you're at the church tomorrow night @6:00 as we stuff eggs for Saturday's community hunt and our Sunday hunt. This is great ministry time and "hang out" time. I understand there will be some good prizes for the community hunt and you know we will have some sweet stuff for Sunday, so get the kids fired up and ready. Also, be sure and invite your friends to church this Sunday as we kick off the new series, "Identity Theft." We will be talking about Jesus' identity this Sunday and then we will look at some of our issues for the next three weeks. This series will be a good one!