Character

Just Thinking Out Loud

Character…what is it and what does it mean? As a person I want to be known as a man of good character. As a father I want my children to have strong character. So what are we saying when we make these kinds of statements?

Character is what we do when no one is looking. What we do when the lights are off, and no one will find out. It guides our choices…and is a key factor in our decision making process. Our choices determine our future, and our children’s choices determine theirs. We try to make good choices, and we want our children to make them as well. The goal is to avoid as much trouble and tragedy as possible, but crisis comes anyway.

Our character is not something that is made in crisis, but it is revealed by it. When something happens we will respond either by growing our faith or becoming angry at God…our choice. Truth is that bad stuff is going to happen, period. What we do and how we respond depends on strength of our character. A character based on the Truth of God’s Word is hard to shake.

Character is the strength to decide to do the right thing regardless of feelings, regardless of what others think. Character considers consequences. Character matters:  

“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

 

Character building is important, and is constant. We are all in a place where we need to make choices daily, and these choices will have consequences. We are living in tough times, and people are watching the choices we are and will be making. God wants to help, and fortunately has provided tools to do so, so look to and rely on Scripture to help guide our lives and our choices going forward. 

In His service,

Pastor Pat

Rock ON!!

The Prayer Rock...

This Prayer ROCK is more than it appears. It is an outward expression of unconditional “Agape” love when used properly. Unconditional love is hard to express or find in this day in age, and this Prayer ROCK can be a way to both find it and share it more regularly.

This Prayer Rock is first an opportunity…in its simplicity and purpose:

Reminds us to stop

For…

One moment of prayer

To…

Communicate unconditional love

And then the…

Kindness to pass it on

Take this little Prayer ROCK and start the tradition in your family or a specific circle of friends. Pray specifically and intentionally for someone in your circle you have chosen- family member or friend. Then leave this Prayer ROCK where they will find it, accepting that the “who” left it matters not, but more importantly letting them know someone has stopped their day to pray for them…unconditionally. Then as instructed it becomes the finder’s responsibility to pass it on in the circle…and so on, and so on, and so on…without end.

The experience will bless you and those in your circle beyond measure, as well as be a source for conversation and encouragement…May God Bless you as you ROCK ON in your circle…

Yesterday a friend of mine died and went home to be with Jesus. Knowing where he is because of his faith is comforting, but it still hurts. I am going to miss a friend, and the ministry will miss a servant who walked away from a secular life we might all envy to follow a calling in his - a life dedicated to helping get food to the needy...he will be missed.

It got me thinking again about legacy. What imprint or legacy will be left when you are gone? And where and with whom will you be missed? Will you have made a difference in the lives of others, or just your own? We all want to live 'better", but what does that mean if we can take no part of "better" with us when we die?

When faced with the reality that life is fragile and all too often shorter than we would have it, we are forced to reflect. Reflect on the difference we have or are making in this world. The plain truth is that we are all going to have an appointment with death, and there is no avoiding it. So what then are you living for?

God's Kingdom is not simply a final destination for good people...it is here and now!  God wants, more than wants, He desires for us to experience His Kingdom here and now! All we have to do is accept His gift of Jesus, period. Then things change...everything changes! We stop living for ourselves and we start living for others...and others become what is most important. Then we see people how Jesus saw people - through the eyes of love.

Maybe it is time we stopped trying to change our tomorrow, and started trying to change someone else's today? This would be a very different kind of world...Just thinking out loud...

In His service,

Pastor Pat

I have these two words written on a card and stuck on my visor: compel or repel, and this morning as I drove my kids to school my daughter asked me why...

I told her they are there to remind me every morning that living my faith out is a choice, and that my choices might affect how someone sees if I truly live out what I say I believe. Then I asked my kids this question - what does your faith do? Well, that got me thinking...

What matters most? What are your priorities? I all too often get confused between what I believe the "best" way to get something done is and really the "right" way...let me explain a little.

When I believe (key word here) I know what is best I automatically jump to the fact that is must also be the "right" way too! Anyone else? Come on...I know I am not alone here, work with me. This in simple terms is pride. Pride says "I know best"...Pride then says "Therefore I am right". And guess what...we do this with our faith and our Christianity as well.

I serve in a ministry...I tithe...I read the Bible...I go to a Small Group...I - I - I. "I" seems to be the common word here, and although all of these things are a healthy part of a Christian's walk of faith...they are not the point...Jesus is the point. In John's Gospel (Ch.14) Jesus explains He is about to leave and that He is going to go and prepare a place for them in His Father's house, and that they know the way. Confused they spoke out, and Thomas stated that they don't even know where Jesus was going, let alone how to get there!. But then Jesus answered,

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Simple...wherever Jesus was going they could go because they knew Him...

It is Him that is the way, not my best way to Jesus, or my best way to present Him, or even my best way to explain Him...just Him, period. It is all about Jesus, no more no less...and THAT is enough. We get so distracted by what we believe the best way to be Christian we lose what is right. Here is the check-up question you can ask to see if you got the right way - "Is what I am about to do, or say, or participate in, or avoid, or walk by, reflect my "belief" in Jesus?" In other words - When I feel I have done enough or said enough or taken enough I can compare it to the model of Christianity - Jesus, and see how it stands up to the "enough" He gave once for all. OUCH...that is an impossible standard...yes it is. But Jesus makes the impossible possible.

I don't know about you, but if I would consider what has been given to me before I act or react I would act and react a little differently sometime...and maybe compel people to take another or maybe a deeper look at this Jesus fellow that I claim to follow...You then become a light for Him, a beacon into darkness.