Caught these the other night with a guy from my church. They were 4 1/2, 8 1/2, and 9 1/2 pounds.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Lobster Anyone?
Caught these the other night with a guy from my church. They were 4 1/2, 8 1/2, and 9 1/2 pounds.
Down IN The Valley
Greetings Everyone!
Have you ever climbed to the top of a mountain? My older brother is quite an avid hiker and I have had the privilege of hiking to the top of a few mountains with him. In fact I am looking right now at a photo that was taken of me in 1984 at the top of a mountain I climbed with him called Mt. Elbert. Now that will not mean much to you unless you are also a hiker, if you are then you know that Mt. Elbert is the second highest mountain in the lower 48 states. Mt. Elbert is 14,433 feet above sea level it is second only to Mt. Whitney as the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Let me say it was quite a thrill to reach the top of that mountain especially considering how out of shape I was at the time.
Well why all this talk about mountains? Well it is not to brag (although I will confess to some pride in the accomplishment) rather it is to make a point. If you have ever been to the top of a mountain even if you reached it without climbing you know it can be an exhilarating experience. It is an awesome sight to look back down over the valley you came from to reach that mountain peak. You get to see all sorts of things you never saw while you were on the valley floor, but guess what? You and I were not made to live on the mountain tops. We visit them for a while, a short while at that and then we go back into the valley where we live out most of our lives.
This same principle holds true for our spiritual lives. In our walk with God we also get to enjoy mountain tops once in a while and they are great aren't they? Isn't it wonderful when your marriage is great, the kids are getting good grades, the bank account is full and the car has no mechanical problems? Oh yes we love those times but you know don't you that before long strife will occur in your marriage, the kids will get a "D" or worse they will funk a class. The bank account will go bankrupt and the car will break down. We all know don't we that it is in these times that we discover just how mature we are in our walk with God. I can be a Great Christian when all is well and life is good, but what am I like when I walk the valley floor? Remember the story of the Mt. of Transfiguration recorded in Mark 9? Peter and John are with Jesus when Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. Peter being the man of great depth and maturity said (I paraphrase) "Lord, this is awesome!" "Let's build a church and stay here." God then spoke and told Peter to listen to His son, the next thing we see is them going down the mountain where a demon possessed boy needed healing.
I think that story is a reminder to us that we can have wonderful experiences while we are up on the mountains but we are not designed to stay up there but we are designed by God to spend most of our time down in the valleys serving those who need the touch of Jesus that we received while we were up there on those mountain tops. If you are on a mountain top today I encourage you to enjoy the experience but to remember that this is not where God wants you to stay. Take the joy and encouragement His gives you while you are up there and share it with those who are down in the valley. If you are in the valley now and you are in a difficult period then I encourage you to remember what you saw on your last mountain top. Remember what it was like to look back over those things you couldn't see when you were in the valley. Remember how God was faithful to you, remember how He lead you through and remember He will lead you through again.
Let me stress just one more thing. God will lead you through but He will not lead you out. We want "out" of our valleys but God wants to lead us through" because it is going through them that grows us and makes us more effective in service to our Lord.
God Bless You!
Pastor Sheldon
Have you ever climbed to the top of a mountain? My older brother is quite an avid hiker and I have had the privilege of hiking to the top of a few mountains with him. In fact I am looking right now at a photo that was taken of me in 1984 at the top of a mountain I climbed with him called Mt. Elbert. Now that will not mean much to you unless you are also a hiker, if you are then you know that Mt. Elbert is the second highest mountain in the lower 48 states. Mt. Elbert is 14,433 feet above sea level it is second only to Mt. Whitney as the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Let me say it was quite a thrill to reach the top of that mountain especially considering how out of shape I was at the time.
Well why all this talk about mountains? Well it is not to brag (although I will confess to some pride in the accomplishment) rather it is to make a point. If you have ever been to the top of a mountain even if you reached it without climbing you know it can be an exhilarating experience. It is an awesome sight to look back down over the valley you came from to reach that mountain peak. You get to see all sorts of things you never saw while you were on the valley floor, but guess what? You and I were not made to live on the mountain tops. We visit them for a while, a short while at that and then we go back into the valley where we live out most of our lives.
This same principle holds true for our spiritual lives. In our walk with God we also get to enjoy mountain tops once in a while and they are great aren't they? Isn't it wonderful when your marriage is great, the kids are getting good grades, the bank account is full and the car has no mechanical problems? Oh yes we love those times but you know don't you that before long strife will occur in your marriage, the kids will get a "D" or worse they will funk a class. The bank account will go bankrupt and the car will break down. We all know don't we that it is in these times that we discover just how mature we are in our walk with God. I can be a Great Christian when all is well and life is good, but what am I like when I walk the valley floor? Remember the story of the Mt. of Transfiguration recorded in Mark 9? Peter and John are with Jesus when Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. Peter being the man of great depth and maturity said (I paraphrase) "Lord, this is awesome!" "Let's build a church and stay here." God then spoke and told Peter to listen to His son, the next thing we see is them going down the mountain where a demon possessed boy needed healing.
I think that story is a reminder to us that we can have wonderful experiences while we are up on the mountains but we are not designed to stay up there but we are designed by God to spend most of our time down in the valleys serving those who need the touch of Jesus that we received while we were up there on those mountain tops. If you are on a mountain top today I encourage you to enjoy the experience but to remember that this is not where God wants you to stay. Take the joy and encouragement His gives you while you are up there and share it with those who are down in the valley. If you are in the valley now and you are in a difficult period then I encourage you to remember what you saw on your last mountain top. Remember what it was like to look back over those things you couldn't see when you were in the valley. Remember how God was faithful to you, remember how He lead you through and remember He will lead you through again.
Let me stress just one more thing. God will lead you through but He will not lead you out. We want "out" of our valleys but God wants to lead us through" because it is going through them that grows us and makes us more effective in service to our Lord.
God Bless You!
Pastor Sheldon
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Everything means EVERYTHING!
For those of you who have been checking out my weekly blog I apologize for not posting the last two weeks. One of those weeks I was on vacation, but last week I just kept forgetting to get it done. Hope I didn't discourage too many of you from visiting. Here are my thoughts for this week.
Does everything really mean every thing? A few weeks ago in my men's Sunday school class we were talking about finding balance in our financial life (the preachers favorite subject don't you know). In our discussion the scripture of 1 Chronicles 29:10-14 came up. Let me just give it to you here.
David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
Does everything really mean every thing? A few weeks ago in my men's Sunday school class we were talking about finding balance in our financial life (the preachers favorite subject don't you know). In our discussion the scripture of 1 Chronicles 29:10-14 came up. Let me just give it to you here.
David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
"Praise be to you, O LORD,
God of our father
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
One of the things I always communicate to my congregation about bible study is to always look for things that are repeated. I think it ought to be obvious to us that if God felt it necessary to repeat something in His word to us then this is obviously something that is important to us, or at least it should be. Do you see any words repeated in these verses? Here it is "Yours or Your". Those words are repeated six times (according to my count) in the NIV translation. It certainly seems that God wanted to understand something about this life. I think it is clear God wanted us to understand that EVERYTHING was from Him and we are merely stewards or borrowers of His things!
As I look at those verses it seems almost audacious for me to talk about "my job" "my house" my money" "my time". If I truly believe the words God gave me then these are not "mine" they are HIS and I am to use them for HIS glory.
Maybe these are some verses we need to tack up on our refrigerators to help us remember that ALL we have belongs to God and we are stewards of HIS resources. Are we being good stewards or are we misusing or abusing His resources?
Have a Great week!
Pastor Sheldon
Monday, September 10, 2007
Say What!
If you will permit me a slight detour from my usual devotional thought, this week I want to share something more along the lines of a commentary. This past weekend I took a small group from my church to San Diego to see a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park. We had a nice time aside from the two hour traffic delay due to a fatal accident, but here is what I wanted to share.
As we were going through the exhibit I was reading about when the Dead Sea Scrolls were first found and to my surprise I read these words, "Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the third century B.C.E. to 68 C.E." Now at first glance there seems to be nothing strange but did you notice the dating in this quotation? It reads B.C.E and C.E. rather than B.C. and A.D. I don't know how long I have been out of the loop but were you aware that this is supposedly the new standard in dating? We are now supposed to say B.C.E - Before Common Era and C.E. - Common Era.
I have to tell you I was appalled to read this. My question is, "Why is the world so afraid of Christ?" As far as I am concerned all this new dating is a feeble attempt to run from Christ. Are we to believe now that Christ no longer influences our world? Is this another feeble attempt at political correctness? Is this another attempt to bury the resurrected Lord? I don't know. I guess some will feel I am getting all worked up over nothing but to me it is more. It is just another way our world is trying to silence Christ, but I know he can never be silenced. His message of truth and salvation will continue to be proclaimed by all those who know and love Him until he returns again to silence all those who refused to believe.
That's my word.
Pastor Sheldon
As we were going through the exhibit I was reading about when the Dead Sea Scrolls were first found and to my surprise I read these words, "Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the third century B.C.E. to 68 C.E." Now at first glance there seems to be nothing strange but did you notice the dating in this quotation? It reads B.C.E and C.E. rather than B.C. and A.D. I don't know how long I have been out of the loop but were you aware that this is supposedly the new standard in dating? We are now supposed to say B.C.E - Before Common Era and C.E. - Common Era.
I have to tell you I was appalled to read this. My question is, "Why is the world so afraid of Christ?" As far as I am concerned all this new dating is a feeble attempt to run from Christ. Are we to believe now that Christ no longer influences our world? Is this another feeble attempt at political correctness? Is this another attempt to bury the resurrected Lord? I don't know. I guess some will feel I am getting all worked up over nothing but to me it is more. It is just another way our world is trying to silence Christ, but I know he can never be silenced. His message of truth and salvation will continue to be proclaimed by all those who know and love Him until he returns again to silence all those who refused to believe.
That's my word.
Pastor Sheldon
Thursday, September 6, 2007
More Than Meets The Eye
There is more here than meets the eye. I am sure we are all pretty familiar with this expression. It applies in an awful lot of areas. If I were to be standing before you right now I could easily say, "There is more here than meets the eye." As you looked at me you undoubtedly would formulate some opinions of me based on the way I look, but I can assure you that there is much more to me than what meets the eye. Even though what meets your eye would be pretty impressive, Just Kidding!
There is more here than meets the eye is also something that applies many times in our spiritual lives. How many times have you and I been in difficult situations or circumstances and we felt that for whatever reason God had abandoned us, that He was off in another part of the world taking care of someone else's issues? We felt that God had forgotten us, that maybe we had angered Him and so He left us, but there is more here than meets the eye. One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 4:18 which says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen in eternal." I know it is not easy to do, but if we are to live Christian lives that are filled with joy and victory then we have to live lives of faith. In a recent blog I shared with you Hebrews 11:6 which says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God..." Trusting what we cannot see is very much a part of this life of faith.
Let me share with you another great bible verse. This one comes from the Old Testament in 2 Kings 6:15-17 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. This servant was afraid because of what he saw but Elisha the prophet prayed that his eyes would be open to see the unseen. To realize that there was a greater force on his side than what his physical eyes could see.
My prayer for you is that God will also open your eyes (and mine as well) to see what we cannot see. To realize that there is more going on in our lives than meets the eye. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. As the old saying goes, "If God seems far away, guess who moved?" He doesn't move away from us but is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Remember as you go through the remainder of this week, there is more going on in your life than meets the eye.
God Bless!
Pastor Sheldon
There is more here than meets the eye is also something that applies many times in our spiritual lives. How many times have you and I been in difficult situations or circumstances and we felt that for whatever reason God had abandoned us, that He was off in another part of the world taking care of someone else's issues? We felt that God had forgotten us, that maybe we had angered Him and so He left us, but there is more here than meets the eye. One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 4:18 which says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen in eternal." I know it is not easy to do, but if we are to live Christian lives that are filled with joy and victory then we have to live lives of faith. In a recent blog I shared with you Hebrews 11:6 which says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God..." Trusting what we cannot see is very much a part of this life of faith.
Let me share with you another great bible verse. This one comes from the Old Testament in 2 Kings 6:15-17 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. This servant was afraid because of what he saw but Elisha the prophet prayed that his eyes would be open to see the unseen. To realize that there was a greater force on his side than what his physical eyes could see.
My prayer for you is that God will also open your eyes (and mine as well) to see what we cannot see. To realize that there is more going on in our lives than meets the eye. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. As the old saying goes, "If God seems far away, guess who moved?" He doesn't move away from us but is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Remember as you go through the remainder of this week, there is more going on in your life than meets the eye.
God Bless!
Pastor Sheldon
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
"I Surrender" - Do You?
Jesus said in Luke 9:23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Is this the surrender to Christ that you have made or is it something different, a facsimile maybe? Allow me to share some thoughts from my friend Dr. A.W. Tozer again with you. He said, "I have long believed that a man who spurns the Christian faith outright is more respected before God and the heavenly powers than the man who pretends to religion but refuses to come under its total domination. The first is an overt enemy, the second a false friend. It is the later who will be spued out of the mouth of Christ, and the reason is not hard to understand. Truth is a glorious but hard mistress. She never consults, bargains or compromises."
I am sure we have all had the experience of having a "false friend" someone who we trusted and believed in only to discover in our hour of need that they were not what they professed to be. Jesus had them as well. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that on that final day the day of judgement he said that many would come to him saying "Lord,Lord" but his response would be "I never knew you".
False friends, not the position you or I want to be in these last days. Jesus is coming for his bride a bride without spot or wrinkle. In the verse I quoted from Luke 9:23 Jesus said "If anyone would.." That clearly teaches us that there is a choice involved here. We need to decide whose friend we really want to be, the friend of Jesus or a friend to this world. It is the choice that only YOU can make. I hope you chose Jesus!
Pastor Sheldon
I am sure we have all had the experience of having a "false friend" someone who we trusted and believed in only to discover in our hour of need that they were not what they professed to be. Jesus had them as well. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that on that final day the day of judgement he said that many would come to him saying "Lord,Lord" but his response would be "I never knew you".
False friends, not the position you or I want to be in these last days. Jesus is coming for his bride a bride without spot or wrinkle. In the verse I quoted from Luke 9:23 Jesus said "If anyone would.." That clearly teaches us that there is a choice involved here. We need to decide whose friend we really want to be, the friend of Jesus or a friend to this world. It is the choice that only YOU can make. I hope you chose Jesus!
Pastor Sheldon
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Looking For A Few Good Men And Women
2 Chronicles 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." It seems to me that God is on a quest to find people who are "fully" committed to Him. I wonder; is He finding any success in His quest? Maybe it is just a pastor thing but it seems to me that in the 20+ years I have been a pastor it is becoming more difficult to find these people God seems to be looking for. Oh I am not saying that there is no commitment within the body of Christ, but what 2 Chronicles 16:9 calls for are those who are "fully" committed.
I fear that much of the commitment of people today cannot be classified as "full" but rather as partial or conditional. It seems to me that many people (and my focus is really within the confines of the church) are only willing to commit to ministry or even attendance within the church if it does not inconvenience us or cause us to miss something else that we would really rather do or be at. I believe that we really need to take a close look within ourselves and see if in fact we may be guilty of what the Ephesian church was guilty of in Revelation 2:4 where God told them they had lost their first love. Is God in fact our first love or just one of many other loves? If you are married do you think your husband of wife would be OK with them being one of your many loves but not your first? I sincerely doubt it so why would we settle for letting God be one of many loves instead of our first love?
What is this "full" commitment God says He is seeking in His people? It is hard to qualify what this means because there is always the danger that I or anyone else will make what it means to be fully committed a laundry list of things we personally feel are important. So let me share with you some advice Suzanna Wesley (the mother of John Wesley founder of Methodism) share with her son John when he was struggling with an issue of faith. "Take this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind: that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."
I would challenge you to use this rule of Suzanna Wesley as a guideline for being fully committed to God and His plan for your life. I think it would be hard to go astray taking this godly advice.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon
I fear that much of the commitment of people today cannot be classified as "full" but rather as partial or conditional. It seems to me that many people (and my focus is really within the confines of the church) are only willing to commit to ministry or even attendance within the church if it does not inconvenience us or cause us to miss something else that we would really rather do or be at. I believe that we really need to take a close look within ourselves and see if in fact we may be guilty of what the Ephesian church was guilty of in Revelation 2:4 where God told them they had lost their first love. Is God in fact our first love or just one of many other loves? If you are married do you think your husband of wife would be OK with them being one of your many loves but not your first? I sincerely doubt it so why would we settle for letting God be one of many loves instead of our first love?
What is this "full" commitment God says He is seeking in His people? It is hard to qualify what this means because there is always the danger that I or anyone else will make what it means to be fully committed a laundry list of things we personally feel are important. So let me share with you some advice Suzanna Wesley (the mother of John Wesley founder of Methodism) share with her son John when he was struggling with an issue of faith. "Take this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind: that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself."
I would challenge you to use this rule of Suzanna Wesley as a guideline for being fully committed to God and His plan for your life. I think it would be hard to go astray taking this godly advice.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Mice or Men?
Hello Everyone! Sorry I am a little late in my post this week. I was out of my office a few days last week and didn't get around to posting as early as would have preferred. This week I am going to be completely unoriginal. One of my favorite writers is the late A.W. Tozer a wonderful pastor with the Christian Missionary Alliance Church. A.W. Tozer has written many books, one which I think is pretty much considered a Christian Classic called "Knowledge of The Holy". I can highly recommend any of Tozer's books. What I want to share with you are his thoughts from one of his daily devotional books called "Renewed Day by Day". This was a devotion from August 11th.
"The church at this moment needs men, the right kind of men, bold men. The talk is that we need revival, that we need a new baptism of the Spirit - and God knows we must have both; but God will not revive mice. He will not fill rabbits with the Holy Spirit.
We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul, who cannot be frightened by the threats of death because they already died to the allurements of this world. Such men will be free from the compulsions that control and squeeze weaker men.
This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits again instead of mascots. These free men will serve God and mankind for motives too high to be understood by the rank and file of religious entertainers who today shuttle in and out of the sanctuary.
They will make no decision out of fear, take no course out of desire to please, accept no service for financial considerations, perform no religious act out of mere custom; nor will they themselves be influenced by the love of publicity or the desire for reputation.
The true church has never sounded out public expectations before launching her crusades. Her leaders heard from God, they knew their Lord's will and did it. Their people followed them - sometime to triumph, oftener to insults and public persecution - and their sufficient reward was the satisfaction of being right in a wrong world."
I happen to believe that Dr. Tozer is correct in his evaluation of the churches need today. We need to be as the Apostle Paul was in his letter to the church at Rome and not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said the truth would set men free but before it does it will usually make them quite miserable. Until we surrender ourselves completely to God we will never know the joy of the abundant life and the power to live victoriously in this present day.
Pastor Sheldon
We languish for men who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul, who cannot be frightened by the threats of death because they already died to the allurements of this world. Such men will be free from the compulsions that control and squeeze weaker men.
This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to have prophets in our pulpits again instead of mascots. These free men will serve God and mankind for motives too high to be understood by the rank and file of religious entertainers who today shuttle in and out of the sanctuary.
They will make no decision out of fear, take no course out of desire to please, accept no service for financial considerations, perform no religious act out of mere custom; nor will they themselves be influenced by the love of publicity or the desire for reputation.
The true church has never sounded out public expectations before launching her crusades. Her leaders heard from God, they knew their Lord's will and did it. Their people followed them - sometime to triumph, oftener to insults and public persecution - and their sufficient reward was the satisfaction of being right in a wrong world."
I happen to believe that Dr. Tozer is correct in his evaluation of the churches need today. We need to be as the Apostle Paul was in his letter to the church at Rome and not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said the truth would set men free but before it does it will usually make them quite miserable. Until we surrender ourselves completely to God we will never know the joy of the abundant life and the power to live victoriously in this present day.
Pastor Sheldon
Saturday, August 4, 2007
A Bum Rap?
Here is a question that has been bothering me lately, let's see if it bothers you. I have been wondering, "Is God getting a bad rap from us?" (meaning us as His creation not just us Christians). I don't know if you ever watch the show but I enjoy watching the Seinfeld show. The other day I saw an episode where George was upset because he thought he had contracted some disease that he thought would kill him. He asked this question, "Why would God let this happen?" The person he was talking to said, "I didn't think you believed in God and George's reply was, "I do for the bad things."
I think Georges response is quite typical for most people today. What do we call an earthquake or tornado or hurricane? We call them an "Act of God". We never call them and "Act of Satan". It seems to me that more often than not whether we are talking about Christians or the average person on the street when bad things happen to us God seems to always be the focus of our blame. Why don't we ever say, "Why did Satan do this to me?" Instead of saying, "God why did you do this to me?" I often tell me congregation that my favorite "refrigerator verse" is John 16:33 where Jesus made us this promise, "In this world you will have trouble..."
I know this topic is much deeper than I have time to discuss in this blog but I have to wonder what our expectations of God really are and are these expectations realistic? Are they expectations grounded in the scriptures or in just our personal opinions and ideas about God? I am fully confident that God knows and sees what we go through good or bad, but I am not certain that I can find any scriptures to support the idea that He promised to eliminate all those problems. If I am not mistaken what He promised is to go with us through them. That is what the end of John 16:33 tells us, "..but fear not for I have overcome the world."
I hate it when bad things happen to me or when things don't go as I planned them to but I also don't think I can point my finger at God and tell Him that He isn't doing His job. We need to ask God to give us vision that is greater than two feet in front of us. We need God to help us see that there is much more to my life than what is happening in this moment in time.
Pastor Sheldon
PS. Now if I can just practice what I preach.
I think Georges response is quite typical for most people today. What do we call an earthquake or tornado or hurricane? We call them an "Act of God". We never call them and "Act of Satan". It seems to me that more often than not whether we are talking about Christians or the average person on the street when bad things happen to us God seems to always be the focus of our blame. Why don't we ever say, "Why did Satan do this to me?" Instead of saying, "God why did you do this to me?" I often tell me congregation that my favorite "refrigerator verse" is John 16:33 where Jesus made us this promise, "In this world you will have trouble..."
I know this topic is much deeper than I have time to discuss in this blog but I have to wonder what our expectations of God really are and are these expectations realistic? Are they expectations grounded in the scriptures or in just our personal opinions and ideas about God? I am fully confident that God knows and sees what we go through good or bad, but I am not certain that I can find any scriptures to support the idea that He promised to eliminate all those problems. If I am not mistaken what He promised is to go with us through them. That is what the end of John 16:33 tells us, "..but fear not for I have overcome the world."
I hate it when bad things happen to me or when things don't go as I planned them to but I also don't think I can point my finger at God and tell Him that He isn't doing His job. We need to ask God to give us vision that is greater than two feet in front of us. We need God to help us see that there is much more to my life than what is happening in this moment in time.
Pastor Sheldon
PS. Now if I can just practice what I preach.
Monday, July 30, 2007
In It But Not Of It.
That's always a tough one isn't it? Jesus said in John 15:19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. The question I am often asked is "How?" How do I live "in" the world but not be "of" the world? We know that again the bible says, 2 Corinthians 6:7 "Leave those people and be separate, says the Lord..." I can't just walk away from the world I live in, I can't make myself invisible so how do I go about living in a world I am not supposed to be a part of?
Here is how someone helped me understand this. Let's use the illustration of the scuba diver. When the scuba diver goes into the water first he suits up. He puts on a wet suit, mask, snorkel, weight belt, oxygen tanks and a few other items. Why doesn't he just jump off the side of the boat and swim down to the bottom and stay there for a few hours? It is because he is not a fish, he doesn't have the capacity to breath under water. To survive under water he needs assistance, mainly the scuba tanks. When the diver goes over board after suiting up he is now "in" the water but he is not "of" the water. He can survive in the water for a certain period of time (as long as his oxygen tanks hold out) but he can't stay there forever because he is not of the water.
As followers of Christ we live in sin sick and evil polluted world. How do we stay alive in this world without becoming corrupted by it? Well as Paul said it, "put on Christ". You and I have to survive in this world a lot longer than a scuba diver does on a single dive. We can't stay in the world for a few hours and then leave. We are here until Jesus comes. Everyday you and I have to suit up in Christ. How do we do that? Well I think Paul gives us great directions for getting suited up to face the world. We find his instructions in Ephesians 6:13-17 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
This is another reason why you and I need daily devotions. Daily we need to suit ourselves up in the Word of God and in prayer. Everyday we need to remind ourselves who we are and who stands against us. Jesus said that he who endures to the end will be saved.
Here is how someone helped me understand this. Let's use the illustration of the scuba diver. When the scuba diver goes into the water first he suits up. He puts on a wet suit, mask, snorkel, weight belt, oxygen tanks and a few other items. Why doesn't he just jump off the side of the boat and swim down to the bottom and stay there for a few hours? It is because he is not a fish, he doesn't have the capacity to breath under water. To survive under water he needs assistance, mainly the scuba tanks. When the diver goes over board after suiting up he is now "in" the water but he is not "of" the water. He can survive in the water for a certain period of time (as long as his oxygen tanks hold out) but he can't stay there forever because he is not of the water.
As followers of Christ we live in sin sick and evil polluted world. How do we stay alive in this world without becoming corrupted by it? Well as Paul said it, "put on Christ". You and I have to survive in this world a lot longer than a scuba diver does on a single dive. We can't stay in the world for a few hours and then leave. We are here until Jesus comes. Everyday you and I have to suit up in Christ. How do we do that? Well I think Paul gives us great directions for getting suited up to face the world. We find his instructions in Ephesians 6:13-17 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
This is another reason why you and I need daily devotions. Daily we need to suit ourselves up in the Word of God and in prayer. Everyday we need to remind ourselves who we are and who stands against us. Jesus said that he who endures to the end will be saved.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Which Way Is North?
Which way is north? Do you know? What would happen if I asked you to point to where "north" is right now? Which way would you point? If there were a few of us doing this at the same time would we all be pointing in the same direction? What would happen if I asked you to tell me why you pointed in the direction you chose as north? I imagine that you would give me some point of reference such as mountains or the a highway that you think goes north, but would you be correct in your assumption? What does it take to know just what direction north really is? Well if you were a boy scout you would probably know the answer to that question right away. You would tell me that you need a compass to know what direction north is.
Right you are! You really do not know which direction north is without a compass. Without a compass you are left to what?; YOUR FEELINGS! Just this week I was up in the mountains of the Eastern Sierras and as I drove along a forest rode and looked into all those trees I realized just how easy it is to get lost. When I hear those stories about people getting lost I always thought, "Well why didn't you just go back in the direction you came" but without a compass you don't know which direction that is.
As Christians we are supposed to be "Christ like" but what does that mean and how do I accomplish this? Sadly I believe that an awful lot of people both outside and inside the church are determining how to be Christ like by what they "feel" and the result is we have a huge number of people lost.
Right you are! You really do not know which direction north is without a compass. Without a compass you are left to what?; YOUR FEELINGS! Just this week I was up in the mountains of the Eastern Sierras and as I drove along a forest rode and looked into all those trees I realized just how easy it is to get lost. When I hear those stories about people getting lost I always thought, "Well why didn't you just go back in the direction you came" but without a compass you don't know which direction that is.
As Christians we are supposed to be "Christ like" but what does that mean and how do I accomplish this? Sadly I believe that an awful lot of people both outside and inside the church are determining how to be Christ like by what they "feel" and the result is we have a huge number of people lost.
What is your "compass" as a Christian to find your way to Christ likeness? If you said the Bible you would be correct! Hosea 4:6 NLT says this, "My people are being destroyed because they don't know me."
I have a great and growing concern that this verse describes all to closely much of the Christian church today. Over and over again I hear people say (not always in these exact words) "I don't see any thing wrong with it." or "I feel ..." When I ask people to defend their "feelings" or "opinions" on certain subjects that I see contradict the bible they cannot tell me where the bible supports those feelings or opinions.
How about a for instance? How many times have we heard this statement "You don't have to go to church to be a Christian." Well technically that is correct because we are saved by grace and not by going to church (but I wonder how many who use this position could even tell me where that bible verse is found), but does the fact that I am not saved by going to church mean that going to church is optional for me or that I can go whenever I feel like it or when other things I want to do more don't conflict? I am not going to list them all now because I have already made this post longer than I wanted to but I challenge you if this is your "opinion" PLEASE prove your opinion by the Word of God and not by what you "feel" or simply want to believe. As a Christian you are to be people of the Book. If the Book is not our one and ONLY compass then we are all lost and going in a direction that will ultimately lead to our destruction.
I encourage you to get into your bibles and spend time learning how to live the Holy life God calls you to.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon
I have a great and growing concern that this verse describes all to closely much of the Christian church today. Over and over again I hear people say (not always in these exact words) "I don't see any thing wrong with it." or "I feel ..." When I ask people to defend their "feelings" or "opinions" on certain subjects that I see contradict the bible they cannot tell me where the bible supports those feelings or opinions.
How about a for instance? How many times have we heard this statement "You don't have to go to church to be a Christian." Well technically that is correct because we are saved by grace and not by going to church (but I wonder how many who use this position could even tell me where that bible verse is found), but does the fact that I am not saved by going to church mean that going to church is optional for me or that I can go whenever I feel like it or when other things I want to do more don't conflict? I am not going to list them all now because I have already made this post longer than I wanted to but I challenge you if this is your "opinion" PLEASE prove your opinion by the Word of God and not by what you "feel" or simply want to believe. As a Christian you are to be people of the Book. If the Book is not our one and ONLY compass then we are all lost and going in a direction that will ultimately lead to our destruction.
I encourage you to get into your bibles and spend time learning how to live the Holy life God calls you to.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Be Encouraged!
Greetings Everyone!
I know it has been a long time since I posted on my blog and I wish I could come up with a really good excuse but since I can't I better not fabricate one. If you subscribe to our churches weekly e-mail newsletter then you know I have decided to begin making weekly posts on my blog. Each week I am going to be sharing with you at least one devotional thought for the week. I may post other thoughts I have during the week as I am reading and studying but I promise you at least one post each week. For those who are a part of the Cornerstone fellowship I will also keep posting slide shows of special events. I will try to get a slide show up of our recent trip to the Quakes game as soon as I can.
As I begin this new endeavor there has been a scripture on my mind for several weeks so I thought I would begin here. Let me ask you this question; how do you encourage yourself? If you are feeling down, depressed, or discouraged what do you do to pick up your spirits? Being a male I hate to admit this but I have often found that going shopping encourages me when I am down. The bad thing about that is I usually spend money I don't need to spend and the end results can be as bad as the original problem. Maybe you like to go for a drive or go play golf or just watch TV. I am sure we all have some method we feel helps to lift us out of our depression or discouragement, but I have a feeling that whatever method we might use really doesn't provide the kind of lasting results we really need.
In 1 Samuel 30 we read of a time when David got discouraged. I encourage you to take a few minutes and read that chapter to get the big picture. To put things in a nutshell David's men were upset with him and were talking of killing him. Let me tell you that as a leader few things will cause more discouragement than to have those under your leadership upset with you. You want people to be happy and approve of what you do. I have certainly had my share of experiences where people were upset with me but I have never been in David's shoes where people wanted to kill me (at least as far as I know). So what did David do to encourage himself in such a desperate situation? I think I would have been looking for a place to hide, but in a sense that is exactly what David did.
1 Samuel 30:6 says this in the KJV, "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. I take courage in the fact that what David did not do was blame and complain to the Lord. That certainly would have been the easiest thing to do but that is not the posture David took. Instead in a time of great discouragement he chose to look to the only place where he or any of us will ever find real encouragement. Now let me quickly tell you how to do this.
This really isn't hard and it really isn't anything that most of us have not heard many times before. To encourage ourselves in the Lord we need to read His word. A good novel might work as an escape for a while from our discouragement but it will not relieve our discouragement. It is reading things like this story of David that help us find the answers we need. Secondly prayer needs to be a part of the equation. Who better to talk to about our struggles than Almighty God? He has huge shoulders to carry the load we have. We are told in the scriptures to cast those cares on Him because He cares for us. Thirdly I would say, Be in fellowship. Again we see that the bible tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. I have never understood all these years I have been a pastor why I hear people tell me that the reason they weren't in church is because they were discouraged. What help can we possibly get by staying home and sulking? We need the Body of Christ more than ever when we face discouragement.
You may not be discouraged today but trust me the time is coming. I encourage you to use these three steps to find encouragement and why not share them with someone you know that is in that place of discouragement now?
God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon
I know it has been a long time since I posted on my blog and I wish I could come up with a really good excuse but since I can't I better not fabricate one. If you subscribe to our churches weekly e-mail newsletter then you know I have decided to begin making weekly posts on my blog. Each week I am going to be sharing with you at least one devotional thought for the week. I may post other thoughts I have during the week as I am reading and studying but I promise you at least one post each week. For those who are a part of the Cornerstone fellowship I will also keep posting slide shows of special events. I will try to get a slide show up of our recent trip to the Quakes game as soon as I can.
As I begin this new endeavor there has been a scripture on my mind for several weeks so I thought I would begin here. Let me ask you this question; how do you encourage yourself? If you are feeling down, depressed, or discouraged what do you do to pick up your spirits? Being a male I hate to admit this but I have often found that going shopping encourages me when I am down. The bad thing about that is I usually spend money I don't need to spend and the end results can be as bad as the original problem. Maybe you like to go for a drive or go play golf or just watch TV. I am sure we all have some method we feel helps to lift us out of our depression or discouragement, but I have a feeling that whatever method we might use really doesn't provide the kind of lasting results we really need.
In 1 Samuel 30 we read of a time when David got discouraged. I encourage you to take a few minutes and read that chapter to get the big picture. To put things in a nutshell David's men were upset with him and were talking of killing him. Let me tell you that as a leader few things will cause more discouragement than to have those under your leadership upset with you. You want people to be happy and approve of what you do. I have certainly had my share of experiences where people were upset with me but I have never been in David's shoes where people wanted to kill me (at least as far as I know). So what did David do to encourage himself in such a desperate situation? I think I would have been looking for a place to hide, but in a sense that is exactly what David did.
1 Samuel 30:6 says this in the KJV, "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. I take courage in the fact that what David did not do was blame and complain to the Lord. That certainly would have been the easiest thing to do but that is not the posture David took. Instead in a time of great discouragement he chose to look to the only place where he or any of us will ever find real encouragement. Now let me quickly tell you how to do this.
This really isn't hard and it really isn't anything that most of us have not heard many times before. To encourage ourselves in the Lord we need to read His word. A good novel might work as an escape for a while from our discouragement but it will not relieve our discouragement. It is reading things like this story of David that help us find the answers we need. Secondly prayer needs to be a part of the equation. Who better to talk to about our struggles than Almighty God? He has huge shoulders to carry the load we have. We are told in the scriptures to cast those cares on Him because He cares for us. Thirdly I would say, Be in fellowship. Again we see that the bible tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. I have never understood all these years I have been a pastor why I hear people tell me that the reason they weren't in church is because they were discouraged. What help can we possibly get by staying home and sulking? We need the Body of Christ more than ever when we face discouragement.
You may not be discouraged today but trust me the time is coming. I encourage you to use these three steps to find encouragement and why not share them with someone you know that is in that place of discouragement now?
God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Blessing
Have you ever received "The Blessing"? Likely most of us have not, in fact most of us are probably not all that familiar with what "The Blessing" is. I was not until preparing to preach a sermon I shared just this past Sunday with my congregation. What most of us would refer to as "The Blessing" would be the approval or better yet the affirmation we get from our parents or someone in authority over us or someone we look up to. There is more said about the blessing in the Old Testament than there is in the new but we do see Jesus blessing young children. John Trent and Gary Smalley wrote a book about the blessing, I have not read it but I am sure I will.
What I shared with my congregation is that there are five parts to the blessing we give to our children. There is the Meaningful Touch, The Spoken Word, The Affirmation of Value, The Spiritual Vision and The Prosperous Vision. We actually ended our worship service this past week with a blessing ceremony where I walked the congregation through each of these steps. It was the first time for me that I ever really looked at one of my children in the eye and expressed to them my pride in who they had become and my affirmation of the values I see in them. It was a very moving experience and one that I know I need to continue to practice not just once in a lifetime. I am not sure why in the instances of the blessing in the Old Testament we see the blessing usually given by the father at the end of father's life. It seems to me that the blessing is far to important and valuable to wait until we are almost dead to give. All of us no matter how young or old we are seek and need this blessing from our parents. I believe that the result of not receiving this blessing leads to negative consequences in our lives.
You may to be able to receive the blessing from your parents for a number of different reasons, but if you have children of your own you can draw that line in the sand and start a new practice in your family. I very much encourage you to do so. It will greatly empower your family and strengthen your relationship with your children.
God Bless!
What I shared with my congregation is that there are five parts to the blessing we give to our children. There is the Meaningful Touch, The Spoken Word, The Affirmation of Value, The Spiritual Vision and The Prosperous Vision. We actually ended our worship service this past week with a blessing ceremony where I walked the congregation through each of these steps. It was the first time for me that I ever really looked at one of my children in the eye and expressed to them my pride in who they had become and my affirmation of the values I see in them. It was a very moving experience and one that I know I need to continue to practice not just once in a lifetime. I am not sure why in the instances of the blessing in the Old Testament we see the blessing usually given by the father at the end of father's life. It seems to me that the blessing is far to important and valuable to wait until we are almost dead to give. All of us no matter how young or old we are seek and need this blessing from our parents. I believe that the result of not receiving this blessing leads to negative consequences in our lives.
You may to be able to receive the blessing from your parents for a number of different reasons, but if you have children of your own you can draw that line in the sand and start a new practice in your family. I very much encourage you to do so. It will greatly empower your family and strengthen your relationship with your children.
God Bless!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Another Great Day!
Just a quick note to say, WHAT A GREAT DAY at Cornerstone this past Sunday. As you can see from some of the photos below this past Sunday was Family Day at Cornerstone. This is one of those special times we have together as a church family each year at Cornerstone. This year was by far the largest Family Day event in its 11 year history. I am not sure about exact amounts but I believe we were very close to 200 in attendance. Everyone had a great time I think the only complaint was that we were not able to cook the food fast enough. We just did not anticipate the large crowd so we only had one barbecue going.
We continue to have wonderful times of worship each Sunday as we continue our study on the family. This coming Sunday we will be focusing attention on The Blessing. We will even be holding a special Blessing ceremony at the conclusion of the service. If you are in town be sure to visit us or listen to the message on the sermon player at the bottom of this blog homepage.
God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon
We continue to have wonderful times of worship each Sunday as we continue our study on the family. This coming Sunday we will be focusing attention on The Blessing. We will even be holding a special Blessing ceremony at the conclusion of the service. If you are in town be sure to visit us or listen to the message on the sermon player at the bottom of this blog homepage.
God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sorry!
I apologize that I have not written a post for a few weeks. Last week I ended up being busier than I planned. With my oldest daughter arriving from San Antonio for my youngest daughter's graduation from Point Loma Nazarene University and then an all day missions convention last week i just didn't feel I had time to sit down and post, but I do have some time today so here goes.
As I mentioned my youngest daughter Sherry graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University last Saturday. She is the one in the cap and gown (just in case you couldn't tell). It was a beautiful day in San Diego for a graduation but in the shade where we sat it got very cold. She officially begins her new job as a counselor at a YWCA in San Diego working with families of battered women. She is excited about the possibilities of assisting these women and children. I am sure she will do a great job, she has a real heart for this kind of service. My oldest daughter Shellee flies back to San Antonio on Wednesday. I know we will miss not having here around. it has been good to have the kids back int he house even if it was for a short while. We've been empty nesters for so long it feels a bit weird having people in the house.
This week we our annual Anaheim District Church of the Nazarene Assembly in Santa Ana. I will be down there for an evening and then one full day of meetings and reports. This Sunday is our terrific annual Family Day event at Cornerstone. I have photos posted for a few weeks of what this days activities are like. It is always a great time and everyone is welcome even if you are not a part of the Cornerstone Church. The food and drinks are all free. Can't beat the price. This Sunday I am continuing in my new sermon series "Family 911". This week the focus of my message will be on the topic of forgiveness. This is probably one of the most difficult steps any of us must take in restoring our family relationships. it is just not an easy thing to do when we feel that someone else owes us. I hope that if you live in the chino area that you can join us for worship. If not you can always hear the sermons on our sermon player which is located at the bottom of this blog.
I hope that you all have a terrific week in the Lord!
God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon
As I mentioned my youngest daughter Sherry graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University last Saturday. She is the one in the cap and gown (just in case you couldn't tell). It was a beautiful day in San Diego for a graduation but in the shade where we sat it got very cold. She officially begins her new job as a counselor at a YWCA in San Diego working with families of battered women. She is excited about the possibilities of assisting these women and children. I am sure she will do a great job, she has a real heart for this kind of service. My oldest daughter Shellee flies back to San Antonio on Wednesday. I know we will miss not having here around. it has been good to have the kids back int he house even if it was for a short while. We've been empty nesters for so long it feels a bit weird having people in the house.This week we our annual Anaheim District Church of the Nazarene Assembly in Santa Ana. I will be down there for an evening and then one full day of meetings and reports. This Sunday is our terrific annual Family Day event at Cornerstone. I have photos posted for a few weeks of what this days activities are like. It is always a great time and everyone is welcome even if you are not a part of the Cornerstone Church. The food and drinks are all free. Can't beat the price. This Sunday I am continuing in my new sermon series "Family 911". This week the focus of my message will be on the topic of forgiveness. This is probably one of the most difficult steps any of us must take in restoring our family relationships. it is just not an easy thing to do when we feel that someone else owes us. I hope that if you live in the chino area that you can join us for worship. If not you can always hear the sermons on our sermon player which is located at the bottom of this blog.
I hope that you all have a terrific week in the Lord!
God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon
Monday, April 30, 2007
Moving Forward
Greetings Everyone!
We enjoyed another great day of praise and worship here at Cornerstone Church. I hope it was the same for those of you who read this blog but live away from Cornerstone. This past Sunday we learned about the hazards of trying to play God in the lives of others. While it is true that we have a responsibility to be discerning about things that are right and wrong we do not have the responsibility nor the right to be someone elses judge. James 4:12 makes it very clear that there is but one Lawgiver and Judge and He is God not you or I. I think that Paul summed up our role as followers of Christ in this matter when he said in Ephesians 4:15 that we are to speak the truth in love. The problem with judging is that it has that note of finality to it. When I chose to judge someone I am basically writing them off and saying, "There is no hope of change in you." If I believe that then I believe that not even Jesus is able to change that person which I wholeheartedly disagree with. I believe that no one no matter who far gone they may appear to be are beyond the reach of God's amazing grace. I do not want to be in the place of writing off another person's eternity.
This coming Sunday will be a special day at Cornerstone for several reasons. First of all this will be our annual Celebration of Ministry Sunday. This a day each year when we come together to celebrate God's work in our lives as a church over the past year. Our church year officially ended the last day of February but for the past ten years we have used the first Sunday of May to Celebrate those things God did in us and through us during the previous year. I will also be sharing the vision I believe God has given me for the coming 12 months of 2007/2008. We are continuing to strive towards the fulfillment of our vision as a church to become a people who have a "Passion For The Purposes". Our vision as a church is to become passionate about the five purposes for which we believe God has created us. Those purposes are Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism. In this report I also get the privilege of presenting the highest award our church offers, the Pastor Appreciation Award. This award goes to the person who has been the greatest support and encouragement to this church and it's pastor. I look forward to presenting that award again this year.
One of the fun things that will happen in this service is our annual power point presentation of photos from events of the last year. This is always one of the highlights of the day. We will be able to make CD copies of this presentation available to anyone who desires one this year due to new capabilities we have in our computer system.
The other special event of this Sunday will be the Special Announcement I have been talking about for several weeks now. I will be sharing that announcement with the church at the end of my message so I certainly hope that everyone who calls Cornerstone their church home will be sure to be here for that announcement. Please remember that if you ever miss on of our worship services that they are always available on our online sermon player. You can even download a copy to burn on to a CD to take with you while you are on the road.
Well this has been a little longer post than usual so I will go ahead and end it now. Good to share with you again as always and i look forward to sharing with you again.
Pastor Sheldon
We enjoyed another great day of praise and worship here at Cornerstone Church. I hope it was the same for those of you who read this blog but live away from Cornerstone. This past Sunday we learned about the hazards of trying to play God in the lives of others. While it is true that we have a responsibility to be discerning about things that are right and wrong we do not have the responsibility nor the right to be someone elses judge. James 4:12 makes it very clear that there is but one Lawgiver and Judge and He is God not you or I. I think that Paul summed up our role as followers of Christ in this matter when he said in Ephesians 4:15 that we are to speak the truth in love. The problem with judging is that it has that note of finality to it. When I chose to judge someone I am basically writing them off and saying, "There is no hope of change in you." If I believe that then I believe that not even Jesus is able to change that person which I wholeheartedly disagree with. I believe that no one no matter who far gone they may appear to be are beyond the reach of God's amazing grace. I do not want to be in the place of writing off another person's eternity.
This coming Sunday will be a special day at Cornerstone for several reasons. First of all this will be our annual Celebration of Ministry Sunday. This a day each year when we come together to celebrate God's work in our lives as a church over the past year. Our church year officially ended the last day of February but for the past ten years we have used the first Sunday of May to Celebrate those things God did in us and through us during the previous year. I will also be sharing the vision I believe God has given me for the coming 12 months of 2007/2008. We are continuing to strive towards the fulfillment of our vision as a church to become a people who have a "Passion For The Purposes". Our vision as a church is to become passionate about the five purposes for which we believe God has created us. Those purposes are Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, and Evangelism. In this report I also get the privilege of presenting the highest award our church offers, the Pastor Appreciation Award. This award goes to the person who has been the greatest support and encouragement to this church and it's pastor. I look forward to presenting that award again this year.
One of the fun things that will happen in this service is our annual power point presentation of photos from events of the last year. This is always one of the highlights of the day. We will be able to make CD copies of this presentation available to anyone who desires one this year due to new capabilities we have in our computer system.
The other special event of this Sunday will be the Special Announcement I have been talking about for several weeks now. I will be sharing that announcement with the church at the end of my message so I certainly hope that everyone who calls Cornerstone their church home will be sure to be here for that announcement. Please remember that if you ever miss on of our worship services that they are always available on our online sermon player. You can even download a copy to burn on to a CD to take with you while you are on the road.
Well this has been a little longer post than usual so I will go ahead and end it now. Good to share with you again as always and i look forward to sharing with you again.
Pastor Sheldon
Monday, April 23, 2007
Simple but Powerful
This past Sunday at Cornerstone we were privileged to have with us Charlie Campbell of "Always Be Ready" ministries. Charlie is a former pastor at Calvary Chapel in Vista CA. and now has been able to commit his full time effort and energies to his "Always Be Ready" ministry. Charlie teaches on a number of different topics most dealing with Christian apologetics. This past Sunday at Cornerstone we asked Charlie to speak on the topic of "Answer to Skeptics". Charlie has written a book on this topic and also has this presentation on DVD. We were all impressed and encouraged by his simple yet profound presentation of how to answer the five most common questions that skeptics ask about Christianity. Questions like "Does God exist?", "How can you know the Bible is true?", "How can a loving God send anyone to hell?" and more. If you missed the service this Sunday I encourage you to visit Charlie's web site www.alwaysbeready.com There you will find a full listing of all the books and materials Charlie's ministry has to offer. Be watching your calendars because we are definitely planning on having Charlie back with us again probably in the late summer of early fall.
Well it would seem that many of you are quite anxious about this "Special Announcement" I mentioned on Sunday April 15th. Well you will have to wait to find out what it is but if you want to know when it is going to take place just scroll down a little on this blog and you will find a counter that is counting down the seconds before I make this important announcement. I hope that you will plan to be with for Sunday May 6th when this special announcement is made. It will certainly be an exciting time here at Cornerstone.
These continue to be very exciting days around the Cornerstone campus. If you live in the Chino area and are looking for a great church to be a part of I encourage you to check us out. Our web site is listed on my blog so you can find out more about us there. You can also listen to one of my recent sermons by going to the bottom of this blog and selecting one of the sermons on our sermon player.
This Sunday at Cornerstone I will be sharing a message entitled, "Are You Playing God?". What is it that Christians do when they try to play God in people's lives? That will be the focus of our attention this Sunday so I hope you can join us. If not be sure to check out the message on the sermon player.
Until next time. Have A Great Week!
Pastor Sheldon
Well it would seem that many of you are quite anxious about this "Special Announcement" I mentioned on Sunday April 15th. Well you will have to wait to find out what it is but if you want to know when it is going to take place just scroll down a little on this blog and you will find a counter that is counting down the seconds before I make this important announcement. I hope that you will plan to be with for Sunday May 6th when this special announcement is made. It will certainly be an exciting time here at Cornerstone.
These continue to be very exciting days around the Cornerstone campus. If you live in the Chino area and are looking for a great church to be a part of I encourage you to check us out. Our web site is listed on my blog so you can find out more about us there. You can also listen to one of my recent sermons by going to the bottom of this blog and selecting one of the sermons on our sermon player.
This Sunday at Cornerstone I will be sharing a message entitled, "Are You Playing God?". What is it that Christians do when they try to play God in people's lives? That will be the focus of our attention this Sunday so I hope you can join us. If not be sure to check out the message on the sermon player.
Until next time. Have A Great Week!
Pastor Sheldon
Monday, April 16, 2007
Virginia Tech
I am copying and article I wrote for my churches weekly newsletter. Those who happen to read this blog might find some help in these words.
I know that you will not receive this message until Wednesday evening or Thursday but as I write for this weeks newsletter I am still somewhat stunned by the events at Virginia Tech University. We will be holding a special time of prayer on Tuesday evening for those who lost their lives and their families. This is a tragedy beyond comprehension. I think that only thing that comes close are the attacks of 9/11. How can any individual walk into a room full of people, innocent people and open fire indiscriminately killing all they can? It just doesn't make sense. Yet it happens and even though it does not happen on quite the scale of this sadly this is not so much of an isolated event.
I am sure that the question will be asked, "How could God allow this to happen?" Or stronger yet,. "If there really is a God how could He allow this?" Honestly the answer is not hard but it is not the answer that many want. The answer is that although God has not set this world spinning and then gone off to attend to other business or worse yet, gone to sit in His recliner watching it spin out of control. God is not off on that "distant star" but He is an intimate and involved God. Unfortunately in some ways for us God has chosen to make us people with a free moral will. That simply means that as much as these events break the heart of our Creator He cannot manipulate events without turning us into a huge miniature train set. If God removed our free will we would just become nothing more than a model train set that God used for His amusement. That is not what the Bible teaches us. From the very beginning He has given us the right to chose to ignore Him and to do whatever pleases us no matter how wrong it might be. But He has also given us the capacity to chose to do what is right and to honor and glorify Him. Of course this cannot happen apart from a personal relationship with His son Jesus Christ. You see, the hope of our world is still Jesus. I am sure that in the aftermath of today's crisis there will be calls for more gun legislation. Sadly there are those who mistakenly feel that more laws will change people's behaviors, it will not. Those who chose to live moral and ethical lives don't need more laws, it is the law breakers who need the laws and yet they are the ones who ignore those laws that were made to curb their sinful lives.
I know that it will sound far to simplistic for some but I will say it again, Jesus is the Answer! I think it was St. Augustine who said that our hearts cannot be at rest until they find rest in Him (God). People will go on senselessly killing others with guns or words until the sin that invades our hearts is removed and only Jesus Christ can effect that removal. Until then we as God's people must continue to be the salt and light of this world. We must continue to, without shame or reservation proclaim the saving power of Jesus to a world desperately lost in the darkness.
I am sure that everyone reading this has already, but will continue to join me in prayer for those who are left behind to deal with this most tragic lose. Even in this God's grace is sufficient. As I have been saying repeatedly the past weeks in my preaching, "For every human need there is a supernatural resource to meet that need." God is that resource and He wants to make Himself available to all who need Him.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon
I know that you will not receive this message until Wednesday evening or Thursday but as I write for this weeks newsletter I am still somewhat stunned by the events at Virginia Tech University. We will be holding a special time of prayer on Tuesday evening for those who lost their lives and their families. This is a tragedy beyond comprehension. I think that only thing that comes close are the attacks of 9/11. How can any individual walk into a room full of people, innocent people and open fire indiscriminately killing all they can? It just doesn't make sense. Yet it happens and even though it does not happen on quite the scale of this sadly this is not so much of an isolated event.
I am sure that the question will be asked, "How could God allow this to happen?" Or stronger yet,. "If there really is a God how could He allow this?" Honestly the answer is not hard but it is not the answer that many want. The answer is that although God has not set this world spinning and then gone off to attend to other business or worse yet, gone to sit in His recliner watching it spin out of control. God is not off on that "distant star" but He is an intimate and involved God. Unfortunately in some ways for us God has chosen to make us people with a free moral will. That simply means that as much as these events break the heart of our Creator He cannot manipulate events without turning us into a huge miniature train set. If God removed our free will we would just become nothing more than a model train set that God used for His amusement. That is not what the Bible teaches us. From the very beginning He has given us the right to chose to ignore Him and to do whatever pleases us no matter how wrong it might be. But He has also given us the capacity to chose to do what is right and to honor and glorify Him. Of course this cannot happen apart from a personal relationship with His son Jesus Christ. You see, the hope of our world is still Jesus. I am sure that in the aftermath of today's crisis there will be calls for more gun legislation. Sadly there are those who mistakenly feel that more laws will change people's behaviors, it will not. Those who chose to live moral and ethical lives don't need more laws, it is the law breakers who need the laws and yet they are the ones who ignore those laws that were made to curb their sinful lives.
I know that it will sound far to simplistic for some but I will say it again, Jesus is the Answer! I think it was St. Augustine who said that our hearts cannot be at rest until they find rest in Him (God). People will go on senselessly killing others with guns or words until the sin that invades our hearts is removed and only Jesus Christ can effect that removal. Until then we as God's people must continue to be the salt and light of this world. We must continue to, without shame or reservation proclaim the saving power of Jesus to a world desperately lost in the darkness.
I am sure that everyone reading this has already, but will continue to join me in prayer for those who are left behind to deal with this most tragic lose. Even in this God's grace is sufficient. As I have been saying repeatedly the past weeks in my preaching, "For every human need there is a supernatural resource to meet that need." God is that resource and He wants to make Himself available to all who need Him.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sheldon
Real or Ideal?
James told us in his letter that we were to consider it all joy when we encountered various trials or trials of many kinds. Is that what is "real" for us as Christians (because they were the ones he was addressing) or is that merely the ideal we are supposed to "shoot" for? I propose that it is the "Real" and not the "Ideal" as some may propose. We are treading on dangerous ground when we put ourselves in the place of determining whether or not God really meant what He said in the Bible. I am not sure that I am qualified to say to God, "You really didn't mean that so I can ignore what those verses say to me." When we start take that that sort of position in regards to the Bible then where does it stop? Does that mean that when Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again that maybe God really didn't mean that either?
I will grant you that finding joy in the middle of problems or trials is certainly not easy or automatic, but I am fully convinced it is not only what is possible it can be a present reality. This was the topic of my message on Sunday April 15th. If you were not able to be in the service with us or are visiting this blog from "afar" I encourage you to check out our sermon player at the bottom of this blog. From there you can listen to this message, download it and burn a CD, podcast it, or even print a hard copy. it is quite a versatile tool. You can also listen or the other things I mentioned to previous sermons.
This coming Sunday at Cornerstone we will be having a special guest speaker. His name is Charlie Campbell and he comes to us from Calvary Chapel in Vista California. Charlie has a ministry called "Always Be Ready". He will speaking to us this week on the topic of answering the questions of skeptics. He has written a marvelous little book entitled "One Minute Answers To Skeptics' Top Forty Questions". He will be speaking in our morning worship service that begins at 10:45 AM. We will be giving away a copy of his book to each person present so we encourage you to come and to bring a friend.
If you live in the Chino area and wish to know more about Cornerstone I invite you to attend a class I teach called C.L.A.S.S. 101 - Discovering Cornerstone. In this class I teach the core values of our church and what our vision is to fulfill The Great Commission in the Chino area and beyond. The class lasts from 4:00 - 7:30 PM with a full dinner served midway through the class. If you would like to attend this class please contact my office as soon as possible this week so that adequate preparations can be made for each person attending. You can get all the contact information you need from our web site which is listed on the right hand side of this blog. Also if you need child care let me know and we will also make arrangements for that.
Have a Great Week in the Lord!
Pastor Sheldon
I will grant you that finding joy in the middle of problems or trials is certainly not easy or automatic, but I am fully convinced it is not only what is possible it can be a present reality. This was the topic of my message on Sunday April 15th. If you were not able to be in the service with us or are visiting this blog from "afar" I encourage you to check out our sermon player at the bottom of this blog. From there you can listen to this message, download it and burn a CD, podcast it, or even print a hard copy. it is quite a versatile tool. You can also listen or the other things I mentioned to previous sermons.
This coming Sunday at Cornerstone we will be having a special guest speaker. His name is Charlie Campbell and he comes to us from Calvary Chapel in Vista California. Charlie has a ministry called "Always Be Ready". He will speaking to us this week on the topic of answering the questions of skeptics. He has written a marvelous little book entitled "One Minute Answers To Skeptics' Top Forty Questions". He will be speaking in our morning worship service that begins at 10:45 AM. We will be giving away a copy of his book to each person present so we encourage you to come and to bring a friend.
If you live in the Chino area and wish to know more about Cornerstone I invite you to attend a class I teach called C.L.A.S.S. 101 - Discovering Cornerstone. In this class I teach the core values of our church and what our vision is to fulfill The Great Commission in the Chino area and beyond. The class lasts from 4:00 - 7:30 PM with a full dinner served midway through the class. If you would like to attend this class please contact my office as soon as possible this week so that adequate preparations can be made for each person attending. You can get all the contact information you need from our web site which is listed on the right hand side of this blog. Also if you need child care let me know and we will also make arrangements for that.
Have a Great Week in the Lord!
Pastor Sheldon
Sunday, April 8, 2007
A Great Day!
What a Wonderful day of Worship we had at Cornerstone today. It was wonderful to see so many new faces in our congregation. We continue to see God send new families to our church. I have been struggling through a battle with allergies the past few days and I was not feeling very well today. Between my stuffy head and constant cough I wasn't sure how well my voice would hold up but God helped me through that as well. We had a few people respond to the invitation to know Christ so we thank God for those transformed lives. Now we need to help these new believers get their feet on solid ground by helping them in some basics in Discipleship.
Next Sunday I will be sharing a message about how God's word shows us that we can actually profit from our problems. James tells us to consider it pure joy when we encounter problems. Not something that is easy for us to do but God tells us it is possible so we will explore His word to see how and why.
I hope you all have a great week in the Lord!
Pastor Sheldon
Next Sunday I will be sharing a message about how God's word shows us that we can actually profit from our problems. James tells us to consider it pure joy when we encounter problems. Not something that is easy for us to do but God tells us it is possible so we will explore His word to see how and why.
I hope you all have a great week in the Lord!
Pastor Sheldon
Friday, April 6, 2007
Easter Greetings!
Greetings everyone! HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! Here we are again at the special time of the year for all who call Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. I hope that everyone will take the opportunity to find yourselves in a worship service some where this Easter and that you will take an unsaved friend with you. As with Christmas, Easter is one of those times when people will go to church who will not normally go. So this is a great opportunity to take them to church with you so they can hear the good news of the resurrection and find Jesus as their savior. At Cornerstone Community Church where I am pastor I will be sharing a message about the second chance God gives to us all. The resurrection really speaks to a second chance at life. My prayer is that people who only come to church at Easter time will hear God giving them another chance to know him.
I have been off the blog for a while because the last time around the comments were a little more than I cared for. I hope to make this blog an enjoyable non-controversial blog so if that is what you are looking for when you blog then i hope you will stop by often.
Pastor Sheldon
I have been off the blog for a while because the last time around the comments were a little more than I cared for. I hope to make this blog an enjoyable non-controversial blog so if that is what you are looking for when you blog then i hope you will stop by often.
Pastor Sheldon
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