Thoughts for Today

The elections are over and I for one am thankful. I wish those that won election or re-election the very best and my prayer is that each one will seek God's wisdom each day. Some of the greatest days of my life were in the 80's. It seems that everyone was working hard and with pride to make America the greatest place in the world to live. I pray that those days return where we can all work together and bring unity to our great land. I am deeply passionate about the direction our country is going and I plan on staying engaged in the process to make the United States of America a better place to live! I do think that our country, no matter who won the election, is in a mess and confused about its priorities. It is going to take a lot of hard work from us to make it a better place to live and to raise our children. We need to be responsible citizens, working hard in our own lives and in our communities. I loved this line from JFK in 1961: No matter how bad we think our co

We can have friends and relationships with those that are different from us! God takes great interest in breaking down walls that separate groups and people from one another. That is one reason He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to our world. God wants us to be ONE, especially in the church that Jesus died for: Ephesians 2:14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. The aforementioned scripture is mainly written about the relationship between the Jews and the Gentiles. They were so different in their traditions and their

Ogden Nash once wrote this little couplet: There’s only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, And that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all. If you would do a GOOGLE search for the word GUILT, the first articles and links that you will find are about Jerry Sandusky being found guilty of child molestation from Penn State University. The fact is that Mr. Sandusky was found guilty because he is guilty. However, will he feel the guilt of his crimes? Some folks do a great job of getting rid of guilt by covering their lives in deceit.  If Mr. Sandusky does feel the shame and pain of guilt, what can he do about that?  Here is what our friend, Mr. Wikipedia says about guilt:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilt King David was a man in the Bible that was guilty of some hellish sins. David was brought to the place that he needed relief from his sins and the only way to find this relief was to come to God and confess his faults

LIST OF PHOBIAS: There are so many phobias in America today there is even a website - www.phobialist.com- that lists more than 500 human fears that people actually experience. In fact, it is estimated that there are about 50 million people in the United States who actually suffer from some type of phobia in their lifetime. You won't believe some of the fears that I have found. Some of them you will recognize. Claustrophobia - The fear of confined spaces. Dentophobia - The fear of dentists Pentheraphobia - The fear of your mother-in-law (several men confessed to this one!) Homilophobia - The fear of sermons Arachibutyrophobia - The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Luposlipaphobia - The fear of being pursued by timber wolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a freshly waxed floor. WOW! I never knew there were so many phobias. However, even thought Wikipedia lists all the phobias that we either have or could acquire, the Word of

Sunday, June 24 at United was one of those days that all pastor's crave. It was a day when God's presence was everywhere and worship was fluid and powerful. All I can say is send the rain! Both services were very well attended. Our focus was a new focus for the summer: NO FEAR! The text that was used was Psalm 23: 1-4 :  1 The Lord is my shepherd;     I have all that I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows;     he leads me beside peaceful streams. 3     He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths,     bringing honor to his name. 4 Even when I walk     through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid,     for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff     protect and comfort me. Our focus was particularly in the  area of not having a fear of death, but trusting God, the Good Shepherd as He walks with us through the trials of life. At one point, I mentioned that during a 13 month period of my life, I was with a total of 16 people as the

ARE YOU A DOORMAT? Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek (gentle, humble) for they shall inherit the earth" We have been working through a sermon series called "Staying Positive Under Pressure." Many times when we get under pressure we think that we should just fold up like a tent and become a doormat for others to walk on. In this, we sometimes think we are fulfilling the role of biblical "meekness" and somehow we will be blessed, just like Jesus said in the quoted verse of scripture. I shared an acrostic that is a symbol for the "Meek Club of America"...here it is: "Dependent Order of Really Meek and Timid Souls"? When you make an acrostic of the first letters of its name, you have the word "Doormats." The Doormats have an official insignia—a yellow caution light. Their official motto is: "The meek shall inherit the earth, if that’s OK with everybody!" Here are some takeaways from the message on Sunday at Uni

Can God Trust You? 2 Corinthians 12:1-- This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. 5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Sat

Forgiveness was the word of the day at United Wesleyan on Sunday morning. I really believe that God did His work as several released their "Judas" to the Lord and walked away without the burden of bitterness and un-forgiveness. It was awesome to see and to hear even later in the day how releasing their "Judas" to God has given victory and peace. We explored the fact that Judas betrayed Jesus in such as way that it eventually put Him on the cross. Even on the cross, it was Jesus that said: "Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they are doing." Now, I will admit that many of our Judas' know exactly what they are doing at the moment, but perhaps they are deceived and even ignorant to what they are doing to themselves spiritually. I really love what Buddy Hackett said about forgiveness: "I never hold grudges, because while I am stressing about what they did to me, they are out there somewhere dancing!" I also love the s

Yesterday was a beautiful day and a great day for Easter worship. God continues to show us here at United Wesleyan that He is leading and blessing our congregation. A full parking lot is a good problem to have in the life of the church and that is what we were dealing with on Sunday.  However, the highlight of the morning for me was when I asked the congregation a question: "What was the signature dance of your generation?" Wow, you should have heard the answers! Carolina shag, Funky chicken, Duggie, Wobble, Macarena just to name a few! I threw in the only dance that I knew, The Hokey Pokey!  We realized that all these dances have something in common: The participant must constantly change directions! Do you realize this is what Peter said during the first sermon after the Day of Pentecost? When asked what they must do, Peter said: "Repent (change directions) in the Name of Jesus Christ!" I am praying that many people at worship services all around the world chan

John  19:23–24: When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” So this is what the soldiers did. My question this morning is what in the world made these soldiers do what they did at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ? At the time when Jesus was giving up his life so that normal people like you and I can have a way for the forgiveness of our sins and eventually spend eternity in heaven, these men were gambling to see who would walk away with a prize: The seamless garment that Jesus was wearing. BEING TO FAMILIAR? Perhaps these soldiers were so familiar with crucifixions that it no longer moved