Dear Worshipers,
I try to play basketball a couple of times a week. While I couch it in my weekly planning as physically “sharpening the saw”, I do it in great measure because I really enjoy the game. I love making a nice pass or defensive play as much as sinking a long shot. Well, almost. [Let me encourage you to find some physical activity that you enjoy and engage in it regularly. Not only is it good for your body, it is recreative for your mind and soul as well.]
Last Friday my team was only one point from winning the game and I saw an opening that I thought I could squeeze through for the winning basket. Much to my disappointment, the gap closed too quickly and I stepped on someone's foot and really torqued my ankle. It was one of those, “O man this is really going to hurt” moments as I crumbled onto the court writhing in pain. I am not certain if the other players are faster than I think, or I am slower than I think, but nonetheless my miscalculation led to the quick demise of my ankle, and the game.
I got some ice packs and wrapped the ankle, put some compression on it and elevated it. As I lay there I thought of many things. My disappointment. My desire to finish the game. Whether some new shoes would provide more support, and maybe even make me faster. You know, delusions of a sort. I thought of how I would change that move next time. Here I was already thinking about getting back in the game, while my ankle was still swelling from the current injury.
As I got up to head to the locker room one friend asked, “So, what do you think?” To which I replied, “It's going to hurt, but I'll play again.” One of my other friends replied, “That's the spirit.” That's when it hit me. I was not going to let a setback like this keep me from doing that which I enjoy and know is good for me and those who love me.
So I ask you. What injury has sidelined you? I had someone tell me a couple of years ago that they had received so much criticism in serving the Lord that they simply stopped serving. My heart was so saddened by that, but I know it is probably the case with many a believer. Whether it is service in the church or out, let us not allow past injuries to keep us from getting back in the game.
A dear friend asked me on Sunday about my limp. When I explained the situation to him he chided me saying
that as we age we can still do many of the things that we could when we were younger, it just takes us longer to heal. Sad but true.
Some injuries make a comeback very difficult. Other factors may make recovery seem impossible. Determination is the key. Oswald Chambers said it like this, "My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest—my best for His glory.” January 1 I may be limping for a little while longer than I would have a few years ago, but I'll get back in the game soon anyway. Won't you do the same? The Coach is calling your name.
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Just Tell Everyone “Thank You!”
Dear Worshipers,
That’s what one man struggle to say as tears filled his eyes on Sunday at the close of the service at Harvest Community Church, our Alliance church plant in Martinsburg West, Virginia. He could hardly get the words out, obviously having been touched by the ministry of the Lord through My Utmost for His Highest, our recent worship musical production inspired by the classic devotional by Oswald Chambers. He was not the only one.
“That’s just what we needed!” started another lady about 15 minutes the service had ended. I thanked her for her encouragement then pressed her so as to better understand what she was saying. She continued, “Oh, the music and everything were just excellent, but the message, well, it was just perfect. It met us where we are.” Where they are is in a developing church that is still figuring out what the Alliance is. And we had on opportunity to show them on Sunday.
You see, we are the Alliance, “Living the Call Together.” They saw a powerful illustration of that on Sunday. Thirty eight people, plus those who traveled with us totaling fifty one I believe, were on the road before many of them were awake to travel to where they lived and share a message with them. It was particularly “Give your best for God’s glory”, but generally it was “we are in this thing-that is, living the call to complete the Great Commission-TOGETHER”! Give your best, because that is what we are trying to do. That is why we are here today. We love Jesus and we know you do to, so let us live together to fulfill His call on our lives.
For those of you who went, I do not have to try to describe the blessing of being used by God. For those of you who could not go, thank you for being a part of US. Though not with us in body, we took you in spirit and shared your love with those folks in Martinsburg first hand. We were your ambassadors, and they were blessed by your “sending” us. They were aware that you were probably missing us. They were aware of our glad sacrifice and your. Thanks to every one of you.
And thank you for your continued partnership with me as we live this call here in Morgantown, and listen to God’s voice to lead us down the paths that will give us the greatest opportunities to glorify His name. The next part of that looks like a patriotic musical for us collectively, but for us individually it will look different. I am more excited than I can tell you about what God is doing in our midst. Let us continue to offer ourselves to God entirely, with abandon. Giving our utmost for His highest-our best for His glory. As we do, may there be many more who those tears say, “Just tell everyone thank you!”
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
That’s what one man struggle to say as tears filled his eyes on Sunday at the close of the service at Harvest Community Church, our Alliance church plant in Martinsburg West, Virginia. He could hardly get the words out, obviously having been touched by the ministry of the Lord through My Utmost for His Highest, our recent worship musical production inspired by the classic devotional by Oswald Chambers. He was not the only one.
“That’s just what we needed!” started another lady about 15 minutes the service had ended. I thanked her for her encouragement then pressed her so as to better understand what she was saying. She continued, “Oh, the music and everything were just excellent, but the message, well, it was just perfect. It met us where we are.” Where they are is in a developing church that is still figuring out what the Alliance is. And we had on opportunity to show them on Sunday.
You see, we are the Alliance, “Living the Call Together.” They saw a powerful illustration of that on Sunday. Thirty eight people, plus those who traveled with us totaling fifty one I believe, were on the road before many of them were awake to travel to where they lived and share a message with them. It was particularly “Give your best for God’s glory”, but generally it was “we are in this thing-that is, living the call to complete the Great Commission-TOGETHER”! Give your best, because that is what we are trying to do. That is why we are here today. We love Jesus and we know you do to, so let us live together to fulfill His call on our lives.
For those of you who went, I do not have to try to describe the blessing of being used by God. For those of you who could not go, thank you for being a part of US. Though not with us in body, we took you in spirit and shared your love with those folks in Martinsburg first hand. We were your ambassadors, and they were blessed by your “sending” us. They were aware that you were probably missing us. They were aware of our glad sacrifice and your. Thanks to every one of you.
And thank you for your continued partnership with me as we live this call here in Morgantown, and listen to God’s voice to lead us down the paths that will give us the greatest opportunities to glorify His name. The next part of that looks like a patriotic musical for us collectively, but for us individually it will look different. I am more excited than I can tell you about what God is doing in our midst. Let us continue to offer ourselves to God entirely, with abandon. Giving our utmost for His highest-our best for His glory. As we do, may there be many more who those tears say, “Just tell everyone thank you!”
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Responsibilities
Dear Worshipers,
We all have responsibilities. To our families, our spouses, our co-workers, our friends. To the gas and electric companies, our cell phone providers, our mortgages holders. To our commitments, our faith, our LORD. These responsibilities help shape our lives, giving us purpose, direction and inspiration. But they can also tie us down if we are not careful.
I recently heard one of our Alliance missionaries from Guinea recently comment about responsibilities. She said, in effect, God does not want us to be doing twenty things for Him because they are all good things. We need to pray and seek God's will about what he wants us to do, and then do those things. Sometimes we commit to too many good things and we are then constrained from doing the thing God puts on our hearts.
I have learned so many life lessons from my boys over the years. One comes to bear on this principal. They have responsibilities in the daily routine of our family. One of them is setting the table. One day one of them volunteered to do his brother's part. We were blessed to see that servanthood. A couple moments later he realized that doing that act of service was going to prohibit his doing something else he wanted to do. He found himself in a quandary and tried to wiggle out of his responsibility. We held him to it seizing that teachable moment to show him that you need to carefully consider the commitments you make. It was a lesson in self-denial as well, but my mind this was secondary.
How often do we as Christians to the same thing? Committing ourselves to a good cause before really considering the cost, or the Lord's will in it? Too often I fear. This mistake keeps us from being free to respond to the Lord. Some things are brief commitments, others are patterns of living that dominate our lives. Let us do everything we can to fulfill our responsibilities, and then carefully consider any future ones.
In that careful consideration, be certain not to be paralyzed from activity. Remember, you have made an eternal commitment to the Lord. To use the words of a song you should affirm, "I'm abandoned to the Captain of the mighty host of heaven, and I pledge Him my allegiance 'til the earth beholds His Kingdom." This is a shutting out of every other consideration, to keep yourself before God in this one thing, your utmost for His Highest.
Are you abandoned, or bound up? It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (Galatians 5:1) Be free. Free in your abandon to Christ
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
We all have responsibilities. To our families, our spouses, our co-workers, our friends. To the gas and electric companies, our cell phone providers, our mortgages holders. To our commitments, our faith, our LORD. These responsibilities help shape our lives, giving us purpose, direction and inspiration. But they can also tie us down if we are not careful.
I recently heard one of our Alliance missionaries from Guinea recently comment about responsibilities. She said, in effect, God does not want us to be doing twenty things for Him because they are all good things. We need to pray and seek God's will about what he wants us to do, and then do those things. Sometimes we commit to too many good things and we are then constrained from doing the thing God puts on our hearts.
I have learned so many life lessons from my boys over the years. One comes to bear on this principal. They have responsibilities in the daily routine of our family. One of them is setting the table. One day one of them volunteered to do his brother's part. We were blessed to see that servanthood. A couple moments later he realized that doing that act of service was going to prohibit his doing something else he wanted to do. He found himself in a quandary and tried to wiggle out of his responsibility. We held him to it seizing that teachable moment to show him that you need to carefully consider the commitments you make. It was a lesson in self-denial as well, but my mind this was secondary.
How often do we as Christians to the same thing? Committing ourselves to a good cause before really considering the cost, or the Lord's will in it? Too often I fear. This mistake keeps us from being free to respond to the Lord. Some things are brief commitments, others are patterns of living that dominate our lives. Let us do everything we can to fulfill our responsibilities, and then carefully consider any future ones.
In that careful consideration, be certain not to be paralyzed from activity. Remember, you have made an eternal commitment to the Lord. To use the words of a song you should affirm, "I'm abandoned to the Captain of the mighty host of heaven, and I pledge Him my allegiance 'til the earth beholds His Kingdom." This is a shutting out of every other consideration, to keep yourself before God in this one thing, your utmost for His Highest.
Are you abandoned, or bound up? It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. (Galatians 5:1) Be free. Free in your abandon to Christ
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Pass It On
Dear Worshipers,
Do you remember that commercial from a few years ago which said, “Milk. It does the body good. Pass it on.”? That came to mind as I was drafting this communiqué to you, but with regard to blessings. My encouragement to you today. “Blessings. They do the spiritual body good. Pass them along.”
We are so blessed. Many of us take for granted our orchestra, choirs, soloists, ensembles and narrators who the Lord uses so beautifully, particularly this past Sunday as we shared My Utmost for His Highest. When you take something for granted, for cease to be thankful for it, feeling as though you expect it or deserve it. But not everyone feels that way. I received an email from one congregation member which started, “WOW! How can I put into words the inspiration your crew provided on Sunday...you were truly a blessing to the congregation.” The truth is we were blessing bearers and it was only our close proximity to the blessing that made us appear to be the blessing.
What struck me about the email was the thankfulness of it. I got myself on Friday thanking a bunch of people for making the seminar at church come off so well due to their preparation and excellence in hosting. A couple of them seemed surprised that I would be thanking them. I had to remind myself to do more of this, but then I realized it probably had more to do with the fact that people are not appreciated very much.
Here is where I am going with this thought. We are so blessed, and most of those blessings find their way to us from the hand of God, through a channel of some sort. This Sunday morning it was the choir and orchestra and supporting “crew”. For the people who scoffed up ALL the devotionals at the end of the service I trust it will be the words of Chambers. For others it will be something else, something seemingly insignificant, that will carry their blessing to them. How they respond has a lot to do with their perspective on the blessing and of course the Blessor, meaning the Lord.
Where are you today? Do you realize that you are doing far better than you deserve to be? Thank someone around you who is a part of your good condition. Thank the Lord for them and a million other blessings. Pass the blessing along through words of encouragement and acts of kindness that your good deeds may “shine for all to see [men and women, boys and girls] so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16, amplification mine)
That is a life of worship. That is a life of blessing. That is a part of giving your utmost for His Highest.
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
Do you remember that commercial from a few years ago which said, “Milk. It does the body good. Pass it on.”? That came to mind as I was drafting this communiqué to you, but with regard to blessings. My encouragement to you today. “Blessings. They do the spiritual body good. Pass them along.”
We are so blessed. Many of us take for granted our orchestra, choirs, soloists, ensembles and narrators who the Lord uses so beautifully, particularly this past Sunday as we shared My Utmost for His Highest. When you take something for granted, for cease to be thankful for it, feeling as though you expect it or deserve it. But not everyone feels that way. I received an email from one congregation member which started, “WOW! How can I put into words the inspiration your crew provided on Sunday...you were truly a blessing to the congregation.” The truth is we were blessing bearers and it was only our close proximity to the blessing that made us appear to be the blessing.
What struck me about the email was the thankfulness of it. I got myself on Friday thanking a bunch of people for making the seminar at church come off so well due to their preparation and excellence in hosting. A couple of them seemed surprised that I would be thanking them. I had to remind myself to do more of this, but then I realized it probably had more to do with the fact that people are not appreciated very much.
Here is where I am going with this thought. We are so blessed, and most of those blessings find their way to us from the hand of God, through a channel of some sort. This Sunday morning it was the choir and orchestra and supporting “crew”. For the people who scoffed up ALL the devotionals at the end of the service I trust it will be the words of Chambers. For others it will be something else, something seemingly insignificant, that will carry their blessing to them. How they respond has a lot to do with their perspective on the blessing and of course the Blessor, meaning the Lord.
Where are you today? Do you realize that you are doing far better than you deserve to be? Thank someone around you who is a part of your good condition. Thank the Lord for them and a million other blessings. Pass the blessing along through words of encouragement and acts of kindness that your good deeds may “shine for all to see [men and women, boys and girls] so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16, amplification mine)
That is a life of worship. That is a life of blessing. That is a part of giving your utmost for His Highest.
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Our Reach Must Exceed Our Grasp
Dear Worshipers,
This can be a frustrating thing. Reaching out for that thing that lies a little beyond your grasp. It is our nature to become comfortable with what we have already attained, no matter what that is. It is very easy to settle for less than our highest aspirations, then slowly to become accustomed to what we have reached, until ultimately we forget that there was anything else.
Maybe you have experienced this in this way. You set a goal, like reading the Bible in a year. You begin with a disciplined schedule but somewhere along the way become distracted. You get to the place where you are reading only a little, but still every day. You get up late a few mornings and miss a few days. No you are reading every few days, but there is still something wonderful for you there every time you open the Book. Ultimately, you find yourself having to brush the dust off before you read looking for some verse to help you through a crisis. Partly out of guilt you return to the source of your hope, partly out of desperation, and as you hear God speaking words of comfort to you, you realize how must you have missed the comfort only He affords, which you were trying to find every where else. This can be s discouraging revelation, or one that motivates to a pursuit of more.
In our spiritual lives we can never become complacent. We must always be reaching for that which lies just beyond our grasp. That is what Oswald Chambers is saying today. He quoted Paul from Philippians 3, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on…”
He went on to say, “If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing. But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience.” This weekend when we share the musical, I am longing for more than an experience. I pray that all with ears to hear will hear what God is saying and see what He is showing. I pray we will see a vision of God and of our lives that will require radical transformation. I fear we have become spiritually relaxed. Chambers said, “BEWARE!” of spiritual relaxation.
Join me in praying that God will stir our hearts for His glory that we will offer our utmost for His highest, Sunday and forever! Let us reach beyond our grasp forgetting what is behind and pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 3:14)
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
This can be a frustrating thing. Reaching out for that thing that lies a little beyond your grasp. It is our nature to become comfortable with what we have already attained, no matter what that is. It is very easy to settle for less than our highest aspirations, then slowly to become accustomed to what we have reached, until ultimately we forget that there was anything else.
Maybe you have experienced this in this way. You set a goal, like reading the Bible in a year. You begin with a disciplined schedule but somewhere along the way become distracted. You get to the place where you are reading only a little, but still every day. You get up late a few mornings and miss a few days. No you are reading every few days, but there is still something wonderful for you there every time you open the Book. Ultimately, you find yourself having to brush the dust off before you read looking for some verse to help you through a crisis. Partly out of guilt you return to the source of your hope, partly out of desperation, and as you hear God speaking words of comfort to you, you realize how must you have missed the comfort only He affords, which you were trying to find every where else. This can be s discouraging revelation, or one that motivates to a pursuit of more.
In our spiritual lives we can never become complacent. We must always be reaching for that which lies just beyond our grasp. That is what Oswald Chambers is saying today. He quoted Paul from Philippians 3, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on…”
He went on to say, “If we have only what we have experienced, we have nothing. But if we have the inspiration of the vision of God, we have more than we can experience.” This weekend when we share the musical, I am longing for more than an experience. I pray that all with ears to hear will hear what God is saying and see what He is showing. I pray we will see a vision of God and of our lives that will require radical transformation. I fear we have become spiritually relaxed. Chambers said, “BEWARE!” of spiritual relaxation.
Join me in praying that God will stir our hearts for His glory that we will offer our utmost for His highest, Sunday and forever! Let us reach beyond our grasp forgetting what is behind and pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 3:14)
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
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