I am praying that God will bring new things into my life this year. New things? New friends, new donors for BUA, new things. New dreams, new challenges, new opportunities. I am praying for God to be active in my life, to continue to call to me and use me. I don’t want to be idle or content, I want to serve and give, I want new things to happen in my life.
This is a new year, a new day, it is time to move on and look for God’s hand in my life with a newness, the old is gone the new has come. I need to stop looking at the past or at things I have done. I need to start looking at new days, and new ways. I need to keep praying and asking for God to do new things in my life.
Praying for new days!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:30-31 ESV
I cannot believe it has been three years since my earthly father passed away. I miss him dearly and think of him often as my dad.
But even more I miss him as my “guide” and wish he could, once again, “come up and sit with” me and open the scriptures with and to me.
That is especially true as I am serving as the interim pastor of my home congregation, First Baptist Church of Castroville. As I have the opportunity to “guide” each week I am often reminded of my dad’s second career (after retiring from teaching and coaching) as the pastor for 27 years of Iglesia Bautista Ambler in Abilene, Texas.
He loved the church, but most importantly he loved being the shepherd, the pastor, a guide to his church members. Weekly I am amazed at the love and care, the patience and endurance, and the call and commitment he exhibited as a pastor.
I appreciate it even more since God has blessed me in the preaching of His Word, I am energized and renewed each week, and once again so grateful for my dad’s wonderful example of serving Christ.
The call to pastor and preach is a special summons and responsibility. A faithful response to that call requires a willingness to serve and care for the body of Christ. Obviously, at times that can be very demanding and draining. Yet, as I watched my dad for years, he was compelled to preach, and compelled to shepherd the church.
Like Philip, God sometimes takes pastors to unusual places to have unusual encounters, God moments, that God prepared for that pastor and that church. What an incredible calling, to serve and lead, and guide the body and the bride!.
As you start this new year I pray that you will be mindful of the shepherd God has sent to your church. Be mindful of God’s call on their life, mindful of their call to preach, and mindful of their desire to guide and be a shepherd.
Texas Baptists are blessed to have had so many excellent preachers and pastors over the years. , Maybe a wonderful pastor serves your church right now. Maybe your pastor has served faithfully, maybe your pastor has guided you, has explained the gospel to you. Maybe God has blessed you with a wonderful shepherd.
Don’t wait for pastor appreciation month to show your gratitude. Start the year out right now by thanking God that He has sent someone to guide you. Start the year out by telling your pastor, “I’m grateful God sent you to pastor our church.”
I am so grateful that my earthly father was a wonderful example of how to pastor a church. Because of that I have a greater understanding and appreciation for pastors in our Texas Baptist churches.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. Acts 8:35 ESV
James 2:1 NCV
My dear brothers and sisters, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, never think some people are more important than others.
Many times we show signs of favoritism in our lives. We say or act or do things to favor some people and not others based upon the crowd we are in or what we want to gain. Why should it surprise us when the world shows favoritism, or regards some greater than others, isn’t that natural for our culture, isn’t it natural for us and our human nature to judge and sin?
It is sin when we treat one person more important than another. The scripture says, if we really keep the royal law, “love others as you love yourself”, then you are doing right. Scripture goes on to say, mercy wins over judgement every time.
I am thankful that God used the NBA to remind me of the many times I show favoritism and judge. As a follower of God, right actions and right thoughts, are a natural by-product of true and genuine faith.
Lately I have heard so many people talking about changes. Nobody likes changes. Changes can sometimes be unsettling, they take us out of our routine. We have been comfortable with the way things have been, it’s familiar, it’s easy, it’s the way it has always been. “I don’t want to change,” especially as we get older we like the way we have always eaten our eggs, made our coffee, sat in the same chair, and listened to the same music. We don’t want change to come into our lives.
But I am also reminded that Jesus brought change. It’s says in scripture, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and the Magi where asking where is the king of the Jews, King Herod was disturb and all Jerusalem with him. Even as a baby, Christ brought change and brought a disturbance. Later he told some to follow him, and they left everything including their families to follow. Christ even told His disciples that if you want a change in your life you will have to deny yourself and take up the cross. Jesus brought change, He brings changes in our lives daily. Sometimes we embrace those changes like when we get what we want, other times we avoid them and cry out, “why me”?
I do believe that change is God’s way of bringing newness in our lives. Every time God has brought change in my life, He continues to grow me, expand me, and develop my follow-ship of Him. It is a matter of trusting Him in that change.
It is like medicine, I don’t always like it, but it has made me better. I am also reminded as I looked in the mirror this morning that I am changing…changing from this life… to the next.
Change is coming!
Just recently I had the opportunity to spend three days with my mom all by myself. I know this is not a long time compared to my sister who lives with her, but for me, it was the longest time I had ever spent with her by myself.
She turns 90 in a few months, her arthritis keeps her in pain, she battles with her hearing, and these particular three days she had a cough and sickness coming on. We were not just together, we were traveling, traveling to see her sister and then driving her back to her home. Two of the three days we were on the road but I treasured every moment with her.
In spite of her coughing and struggling to hear, it was a blessing to talk to her, listen to her, and just enjoy our time. It was a blessing to hear her talk about dad, and her family, and her faith in God. It was a blessing to see how her mind is still so sharp as she remembers names and dates so well. It was a blessing to see her care and cry over her sister even at her age, not thinking of herself, her pains, her struggles, but of others. It was a blessing to hear her laugh, and smile, and still enjoy life and family.
I learned a lot about my mom in those three days, but I also prayed… prayed I would be like her when I am into my nineties. But I also prayed that her joy and contentment in whatever circumstance would be contagious in my life.
It was just three days, but I learned so much about my mom and the person that she is. And when I finally got her home, it was amazing to see her love and care for my sister even though she was only gone three days.
This is one of our core values, it says, “we value cultural diversity as a gift from the Lord. We celebrate the multiple ethnicities that enrich our environment and our lives. We emphasize the need to understand and accept a diverse world. We affirm the need to incarnate culturally as an intrinsic part of our mission.”
I had a wonderful opportunity this week to see the embodiment of cultural competence. I took nine students from BUA with me to do a mission project this week. On one side, God placed us with 12 African-American middle school students from the inner city, and on the other side, with homeless and broken people. It was amazing to see how God used us, but even more amazing to see how God takes people from all walks of life to be joined together in community. My students learned a lot about community this week. It is more than just being a part; it is participating even when it is uncomfortable. Many times God places us in situations out of our comfort zone, this is a place I believe that God grows us and shapes us into the people he wants us to be. Into a community that the world around us sees faith, hope, and above all, love.
I am so thankful that Baptist University of the Americas has a core value as cultural competence. We do celebrate the multiple cultures around us, but we do more than just celebrate, we live, we adjust, we clash, and we struggle, and we see the need daily to accept the gift from God of expanding our lives through the cultures around us.
God not only used this week to do a mission project in a different city, He used it to enrich our lives by being connected to others. What an incredible gift, the gift of every tribe and language and people and nation.
Psalm 133:1 (NIV)
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
Sometimes we forget who we are… We lose ourselves, in life, in problems, in family, and sometimes in all that we are doing. We start to act like others, or take on the same thoughts as the culture around us. We become blinded or we lose focus. We don’t remember who we are, we are lost in our thoughts and our feelings, and our spirit.
The Bible says, we were created in His image, the image of the one true God. Yet, because of sin and way sin corrupts our thoughts, we are lost, sometimes to point of changing to be accepted by everyone else, sometimes to the point of death.
When self takes over, we no longer allow God to be in our lives, we forget that we are His creation. When we do surrender our lives to Christ, scriptures says, “he is a new creation, the old corrupt man is gone and the new has come”. It also says this about who we are, “so in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.”
My all time favorite Disney movie, Lion King, has a great scene where Mufasa appears to Simba and says, “remember who you are”. Sometimes we do forget who we are, But Christ wants to restore our identity and rightful place as children of the King…remember who you are!
This world does not identify who you are! Your identity is in Christ!
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name
Make His praise glorious
How awesome are your works
Even when life gets so confusing
When our hearts fail and wander
Even when I search for other things to take your place
You remind me you are there
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious
How awesome are your works.
My life has been tested
You have preserved my life
You have kept my feet from slipping
I know that you are not far from me
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious
How awesome are your works
How awesome are your works
That all fall in wonder of your greatness
How awesome are your works on my behalf
That you would send your Son for me
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious
How awesome are your works
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious
How awesome are your works
How awesome are your works
How awesome are your works
René Maciel
1/25/13
It has been one year! One year that he has been gone. One year without hearing voice. One year without his care for me, one year that he has been missed.
I miss him dearly, everyday something reminds me of him, or I hear him through the words I speak or through others. Sometimes as I listen to music I am reminded of his love for all kinds of music.
And even though I think of him, I am also starting to forget, forget his smile, forget his touch, forget his words, and that saddens me even more that he is gone.
I don’t want to forget all of those memories; all of those precious moments with him that now seem like they went by so fast. I want to hold onto them till I am old, till I pass. But they are slipping, they are fading, I am moving on, as I guess I should.
Life is short, although it has been one year, that is nothing to God. Don’t forget, God hold us and helps us through each day, each year.
Psalm 90:3-5
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning—
It has been one year, and for now I remember like a day that has gone by…
Last night as I was walking out the grocery store I noticed a lady who had all of the festive garb on for the season. Her bright red Christmas sweater with reindeers on the front, a green scarf that went well with the sweater, and of course the Santa Claus hat, she was ready and into the season.
But there was something missing? As she walked toward me and into the store, I noticed her spirit didn’t match her attire. Her head was down, her shoulders were drooping, and her she seemed out of touch with the season.
Why was she dressed like that if she wasn’t ready to celebrate? The season for some is a temporary celebration of parties, and gifts, and even family time. But after the season is over what happens to the celebration, where has the spirit of joy and excitement gone?
What are you celebrating? Here is a list of things we celebrate subconsciously:
- Making a yellow light
- Lunch time
- Friday afternoon
- The first sip
- Music
- Post work-out
- Getting things done
- Sleeping in
- Friendship
- Telling a story
(Marc & Angel Hack)
These are not bad things, in fact, they good, but how do we experience a true celebration in our lives? I celebrate the season of Christmas with joy and excitement, but I also celebrate every day because of Christ in my life. Come on…let’s celebrate!
God is our help 