Sundays sermon

....was on the parable of the Good Samaritan. Pastor Shaylon presented the thought..."The question isnt 'Who is my neighbor?', rather it is, 'Whose neighbor am I?'" Food for thought.

Job 39:19-25 (New King James Version)

Glen Coffee of the Alabama crimson Tide uses this verse as one of the themes of his life....

19 “Have you given the horse strength?
Have you clothed his neck with thunder?^[a]

20 Can you frighten him like a locust?
His majestic snorting strikes terror.

21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He gallops into the clash of arms.

22 He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;
Nor does he turn back from the sword.

23 The quiver rattles against him,
The glittering spear and javelin.

24 He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;
Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.

25 At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’
He smells the battle from afar,
The thunder of captains and shouting.

Romans 13:12

"The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light." (NIV)

A nugget...

from Sunday's sermon.

Value Character and process over charisma and event.

A few thoughts.....

....from today's sermon at The Crossing

1. The enemy does not hate our rebuke as much as he does our worship, repentence and obedience.

2. God requires the best because He gave his best.

3. We were created to be worshippers and warriors, giving God total devotion, obedience and repentence.

Pastor Michael Sharp.

A Reminder

I found thnis quote in a daily devotional I get from beliefnet. It reminded me of things Al Baker, my college pastor, taught us about social justice. We must always remember to never look down on anyone. The ground is always level at the foot of the cross.

Justice demands that we seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner, and comfort them and offer them our help. Here lies the holy compassion of God.
-Mechtild of Magdeburg

Peace in the Storm

Pastor Buddy Gray of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover, Alabama had two children who lost practically everything in the tornado at Union College in Tennessee. They were in a safe place and survived.

When asked about the situation he pointed to Job 1:21 which says, "the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

He said that is not being fatalistic it is based on trust and assurance of knowing that God is in control. That really is so true and it really carried a lot of meaning for me personally.

Disciple- Things Left Unsaid/The Wait is Over Live

A thought.....

....from How to be a Man of character in a World of Compromise; Insights from the Book of Proverbs by Richard Exley

"Adversity tests a man's character, his ability to hang in there when times get tough. Success, on the other hand, tests a man's integrity, his ability to remain true to himself, morally and ethically pure." (p.167)

A Godly response to tragedy

Quotes from Rick Burgess regarding the death of his precious two year old son, Bronner.

Satan made a huge mistake attacking my family. He miscalculated greatly.

So many lives have already been changed because of the appointment God had with him.

The biggest injustice you can do to my son, to my family, to God, is to leave here unchanged.

Bronner is in the care of the only Father who loves him more than me, the Father who he really belongs to.

Satan you have kicked up a can of worms

The fight is on.

Bigger than Before

The above is the title of a sermon preached by our Associate Pastor Shayl0n Sharp. Below are some notes from that sermon.

Some of the church staff went to a seminar on the universe. After they walked out they realized God was bigger than before. It hit them anew that God was the creator of it all.

Psalm 19 -"Unspoken truth is spoken everywhere."-(Shaylon read this particular quote from The Message.)

So often we make Him to0 small. We are like Him but He is not like us.

If we are the center of the Universe it is too big but we're not.

All of Creation is about God.

The Milky Way is so big if we counted 1 star per second it would take 2500 years to finish counting them. Yet Isaiah says God calls each by name.

Again, we tend to undersize God.

In comparison to the Milky Way, the solar system is like quarter laying on the North American Continent.

Sometimes we think too much of ourselves and not enough of God.

Who are we to tell God what we will believe and how we will live?

One irony: The creator of the world chose to hang from a cross made from trees HE made.

Shaylon said all this to say this. He is bigger than your sins or problems. Remember how great God is.

"Things Left Unsaid" - Disciple

Powerful song...maybe I can post a YouTube video soon..

Just a matter of time a few days ago,
I saw you you were fine
Remembering what you said
About the book you read
The one I got you the begining of the end
Oh how we talked, for hours upon end
What I would give just to do it again
Your lying there in this hospital bed
Wont you open your eyes
And lets talk once again.
If you fly away tonight, I wanna tell you that I love.
I hope that you can hear me, I hope that you can feel me.
If you fly away tonight,
I wanna tell you that Im sorry,
That I never told you
When we were face to face.
Well Ive been here all night
And Im watching you
Breathe in and Breathe out
Is it really you or just a machine
Thats giving you life and
Making it seem that there could be hope
I could say it to your face?
If it werent for you then
There would be no grace
Thats covered my life.
You took the time to speak into my mind
And my harsh words were lies
If you fly away tonight
I wanna tell you that I love you
I hope that you can hear me
I hope that you can feel me
If you fly away tonight
I wanna tell you that
Im sorry
That I never told you
When we were face to face