Sunday School has been awesome for me the last few weeks.  I have enjoyed studying James 4, and God has shown me some areas of weakness in my personal life.  I tell you guys often, I teach to me and I hope you’re able to get something as well.

This week we camped out on verses 4-6.  We began by reiterating something from last week.  Verse 4 opens by calling us “Adulterers and Adulteresses”.  That’s pretty powerful language, and it’s not a very flattering picture of us (me).  However, I believe once you overcome the shock of the words, it is a very accurate picture of where we are as a culture and in most “saved” peoples lives.  We talk a good game – maybe even a great one, but the truth of Jesus Christ making a difference in my life is not there.  I do the right stuff for everyone to be impressed, but I’m standing on the street corner, selling my soul to whoever will give me some attention and make me feel good.  Ouch!

Verse 5 talks about the “Spirit that lives within us yearns jealously”.  The phrase calls to mind a deep, personal relationship.  I want the attention and time of my “best friend”, girlfriend/boyfriend, or family member.  I’m not jealous in the sense of not wanting them to speak to anyone else or look at anyone else, but I’m jealous in the sense of wanting their full attention and focus.  Jenny and I go our separate ways in the mornings.  She heads to teach 8th grade Language Arts and I head to church.  She interacts with lots of people every day.  That is fine, but when I see her in the evening and we sit down to eat a meal or get the kids settled, I want her attention.  She wants my attention.  We need time to talk about our life, where we are headed, how we are getting there, and we need to be honest with each other about our struggles and issues.  I don’t want God to have to be jealous of my time spent on other things.  I want Him to get the time He deserves and desires.

Verse 6 talks about His grace that is shown to me even when I don’t give Him all He deserves.  I’m thankful for that grace!!!  It also ends with a huge challenge – “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble”.  I want to be humble and receive His grace.  I do not ever want it to be said that God “resisted” me because of my pride.  I don’t want my humility to be just words – I want it to be my real heartbeat.  I’m nothing outside my relationship with God himself!  There, I said it.  Now that feels better!

I love you all very much, and I’m grateful to see what God has in store for us!

WG

Tonight was relationship building block number 2 – Forgiveness.

Every relationship on the planet will require forgiveness at some point.  The reason is simple – every relationship is comprised of imperfect people, so the relationship is flawed. Forgiveness is essential to our lives.  We crave it to be given to us, but hold on to it when others need it.

Here are the scriptures we used tonight.  Romans 12:17-21, Matthew 6:14-15, John 8:7, and Matthew 18:21-22.  The challenge in Romans 12:20-21 is a difficult one.  We should treat our enemies like we treat those we love.  We are to forgive others when they do wrong to us because we are told to do so.  We were shown mercy and grace by a loving God, and we should show it to others.

Fear and Misconception are the obstacles to forgiveness.  

We fear losing:

• the energy that anger produces
• leveraging
• hope for a better relationship
• power and control

The common misconceptions we have about forgiveness are:

• It is not condoning the behavior
• It is not forgetting what happened
• It is not restoring trust in the person
• It is not agreeing to reconcile
• It is not doing the person a favor
• It is not easy

Read through these scriptures and look over the list of the obstacles.  Let me know what you think.

WG

During Bible study last Thursday night we took our first dive into Relationships!  The purpose of the series is not give specific advice on every possible type of relationship in our lives, but to build a foundation of basic principles for ANY relationship.

The first building block is Peace.  I have a strong conviction, that according to God’s Word, our definition of peace is way off base.  If I have to be totally honest with you, my personal definition of peace is the same as most folks.  Peace is the absence of trouble, stress, and problems in my life, my immediate world, and the world as a whole.  I can feel peaceful at times – usually brief moments – but peaceful none the less.  I enjoy those brief moments of the absence of trouble, but if I want a life full of peace, I need more than just glimpses of no trouble.

God’s definition of peace is His presence.  Verses like Romans 5:1, Psalm 122:6-9, and Philippians 4:7 give us a clearer picture of God’s peace.  It is found in one’s relationship with Him and Him alone.  It exists in the midst of the troubles, stresses, and problems of this world because He has overcome the world and it’s issues.  Knowing Him is knowing peace.  The peace is there immediately in your relationship with Him, but the difficult task of the Christian is to seek God’s peace instead of the peace of the world.  Learning the difference is a process that begins at salvation and continues through life.

Most of us spend an inordinate amount of time seeking “peace” in our relationships.  We want relationships that bring us joy, comfort, and benefit our lives.  Sounds great!  The problem is those relationships don’t exist in the real world.  No relationship is free of problems or stresses.  My key is to place God at the center of my relationships (all types), and allow Him to bring His peace to the people involved.  My relationships are imperfect because they involve imperfect people.  Peace can still be found in my imperfection because it exists in God and doesn’t depend on me.  I just have to seek His peace.  It’s already there, and He desires for me to use it in my relationships.

Who’s peace are you seeking?  The world’s or God’s?  Do you just want a stress free day, or life that is unshakeable because it is built on the foundation that Jesus loves me and gave Himself for me, and because of His sacrifice for me, I have a personal relationship with the God who IS peace.

I’d love you to throw in your two cents!

WG

Sunday School today was focused on James 3:13-18.  

We started by giving our definition of Wisdom.  The simple definition is:  the ability to apply the knowledge you have.  Knowledge is great, but without the ability to apply it, it is useless.  We all want wisdom, but God’s instructions are clear about wisdom.  It should be used with gentleness, and it is pure, peace-loving, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism, and without hypocrisy.  He is also clear wisdom that contains bitter envy and selfish ambition is earthly, sensual, and demonic.  

In my simple brain, all that means wisdom can either be full of stuff God hates (favoritism, hypocrisy, envy, and selfish ambition, or it can be full of things He loves (purity, peace, gentleness, compliance, mercy, and good fruit.  I choose which type of wisdom to pursue.  One of these types is the “trademark” of a godly life and the other is the “trademark” of the world’s system.  

How do we ensure the wisdom we pursue is the type God wants us to have?  How do I keep my life free from the things God hates?

Let us know what you think?

WG

Tonight, August 7, 2014, was amazing.  I was given an opportunity very few pastors, let alone Christians in general are ever afforded.  We hosted over 40 of the most incredible young adults in our home.  We ate together, laughed together, sang together, and spent time in The Word together.  I stood in my kitchen and watched my living room come alive with praises to God.  It was truly one of the most humbling experiences of my life.  Right on the heels of this awesome time of singing, a thought occurred to me.  God knew the day we moved into our home in July of 2009, this night would come.  He had prepared the living room specifically for this night.  He has brought hundreds of people through our home over the last 5 years, and every one of them has left their unique impression.  However, tonight was special!  The loud voices, the raised hands, and the genuine hearts lifting praise to the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of us, left an indelible impression on me.

We began a new series tonight.  I love teaching series.  I feel like I get more accomplished in the methodical study of a specific passage or topic.  We are talking about relationships over the coming weeks.  I usually don’t put a time limit on a series.  I don’t want to force it too long because that’s a waste of people’s time.  I don’t want to cut it short because I want to say what God wants said.  I’m guessing this will be about 8 weeks total.  

Tonight’s study allowed us some time of introduction to the idea of “relationships”.  I don’t intend to spend much time discussing the ins and outs of each type of relationship in our lives.  Instead, I plan to go through the essential components of any Christian relationship – friend, parent, sibling, classmate, teammate, student, boyfriend/girlfriend, acquaintance, etc.  The core values God intended to be present in any relationship do not change.  

We will look at the following pieces: Peace, Forgiveness, Trust, Loyalty, Compassion, Service, and more.

We ended tonight by spending some time in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  We looked at the most basic, comprehensive list given in scripture of what Christian love should look like.  The last phrase in the list says, “and love never fails”.  A more powerful statement has never been written.  “And love never fails”, says to me if my love follows the example set before me in the preceding verses, then it can not fail to accomplish God’s purpose.  People today want big, bold guarantees.  Well, that’s a guarantee the whole world needs to know.  When we love people with the genuine, sincere love of Christ, it WILL NOT fail!  It will do what God intends for it to do in that life.

God, help me today to love people you bring into my life the way you want me to.  Help me to focus on you and your purpose for my life instead of my selfish desires.  Give me the ability to see my world and its occupants the way you see them.  May I love those who love me and those who do not equally.  

WG