A Call to Action

I was having lunch with 2 good friends yesterday and we got to talking about how we know when we have fullfilled our calling.

I may be totally wrong in this, but something in my gut says I'm not.

I don't think we are ever done with our calling and if we think we are, we aren't looking hard enough.

Anytime there is a need, are we not called to fill that need?

My office is about half a mile off I35. For those of you not from the south, I35 is the main highway between Dallas and Oklahoma City and connects to I40 which will take you across the US while I35 will take you straight up from Mexico almost to the Candian border (you hit a great lake before the border though!).  I say all this to say I work just off a major highway and there is a gas station on the other side of the highway so we get a lot of on-off traffic at this particular exit including trucks due to a distribution center next door as well.

Recently we have had a couple that has shown up on the southbound exit. One of them will stand there at a time, with their van on the off ramp, usually with their dog in tow (or if it is the lady inside her shirt sticking its head out out), holding a sign saying they are broken down and don't have enough money, please help.

I noted how they would be there for 2-3 days at a time, dissappear over the weekend, and then they had reappeared the next week in the same spot, althernating between the woman and the man.

My point was, I feel called to do something, not necessarily give them money but to do something, even if I don't (which shamefully I usually don't). I have given them a bag of food but that is about it.

Everytime we are called to serve, we are supposed to serve. We, I, rationalize it away saying "oh, I don't know what they will do with it," or, "they are just scamming for money." Who am I to judge their actions? I haven't spoken with them long enough to know their story. What I know is what I have observed.

So we aren't ever done. As long as we are here, we are to keep our eyes and our hearts open, to go where we are called and to serve where there is a need.

Even when it isn't convient for us, even when it makes us uncomfortable, even if I just don't want to. I am call to, and I hope that I can and will make the right choice and listen to God next time I see a need and I will be HIS hands and feet. Will you?

Ladies Day

This was a mulitiple part lesson that took place at Memorial Road on Monday morning. We met at 7:30 at our church and carpooled up, taking 3 seperate vehicles, we had a total of 6 that came for the main day lectureship. Here are some of the notes from the Ladies Day.

Donna Smith from Bixby C of C
Preparing for the future by looking to the Past

Hebrews 11

11.1 Confidence and conviction- acting without seeing results or acting in ways that are inexplicable to those without faith.
Windshield and rear view mirror. Are you so focused on the past that you can’t see where you are heading or are you so focused on where your going you pay no attention to danger that could have been avoided? We have to have balance, not forgetting, but looking forward.

From rubble came rubies- Bathsheba and Rahab were in the lineage of Jesus. Mary was shameful even though she had done nothing wrong.

Sarah Andrews missionary in Japan in 1916 and many people today still credit their Christianity to Sarah reaching their parents or grandparents, she went through all kinds of persecution including prison.

Irene Gatewood missionary in Germany 1948 founded Gamunden which is still used to this day as a retreat facility for the church all over Europe (I have been many times!).

Ephesians 2:10

Hebrews 12.1-3 cloud of witnesses

Psalm 23

Use the past in the present to impact the future. Share your story. It is yours to tell and no one else’s.





Phyllis Allen Memorial Road C of C

Preparing by embracing our roles in the church

 Jesus had a special bond with many women- Mark 16.9 he drove the demons out of Mary Magdalene.

Jesus used women in illustrations all the time and wanted them to hear his teachings.

He engaged women in their place- he met them where they were and helped them to serve. He saw women as having high value with unique gifts.

1 Tim 2:11-12
A woman should:
    Learn in quietness- does not mean silent but don’t be protesting or quarrelsome- no gossip or slander but serious studies.
    Not teach men in worship- not silent but not asserting authority.
    Not have authority over a man in worship. Titus 2:3-4 2 Tim 3.14 teach at home and teach younger women. Don’t overstep the men. Women are not meant to take over Gal 3.28 we are all equal in Gods eye.

Isaiah 58.8 Got has a plan and he’s got it all worked out

Find ways to serve where you are and with what you are already doing. There are always things that need to be done.




Mary Brookman Memorial Rd C of C
Preparing for the future by preparing through our children
Deuteronomy 6.5-7 Love with all your heart and your strength. Take care of your own faith first, model it before you teach it.

Exodus 3.4, 11.14 Become a “yes” woman. Saying yes to God is saying no to self and God has bigger plans than we do.

Learn to LET GO.

1 Sam 1. 27-38 Give them back to God, children are gifts from God but they are still his, we are stewards of them not owners.
Hebrews 11.13-16





Nancy Hartman Memorial Rd C of C
Preparing for the future by preparing through our children pt 2

Everyone needs to know how to process life. Life will be disappointing, unfair and hard. Teach them to look up to God and know they will get through.

Help them thing through the why of things happening even in the bible stories, how did these people feel in this situation.

Teach them to look in at their own hearts and their own motives- how am I spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

Talking to Brick Walls by Mike Donahue

Empowering youth to face battles- make sure they can share without fear, make sure they know who they are in Gods eyes. Who and whose they are.

Teach them to look out for others- make sure the older ones look out for the younger ones. Walk alongside them.

Make sure you and they know there is no failure beyond what God can use.





Barbara Duncan Memorial C of C Houston
Preparing for the future by doing battle with the devil

Ephesians 6.10-18

Secularism is a world without God which is chaos.

Busyness takes over and the devil flies in.

Stay focused on God and his will.

Don’t let any seeds of doubt grow.

 “The good is the enemy of the best” NT Wright

We must educate ourselves about Christ.

Do you know where you’re going and do you want to know?

Apathy or lack of concern- if we don’t care than someone else who does will come in. We must be joyful and faithful.

We must desire for others to be with Jesus too.



Monday was a great day of fellowship- I was able to hear some amazing stories of how and where God is working. I look forward to seeing what else he has in store!

OC Lecturship

Sunday Night Kent Allen was the keynote speaker, here are a few notes from his lesson over the past, present, and future of the church.
1.) Minister in the Holy Spirit- persue him and his will Acts 4: 8-13 Acts 4
2.) Maintain a warm fellowship Acts 2.42-47 Acts 2
3.) Small groups Acts 2.46-47. They geniuenly enjoye being together and were able to grow be inviting people not to a "service" or a "tradition," but rather into their homes, into their lives. Be open about your faith by being open about yourself.
4.) Enlarge our vision of God Acts 4.24-26 God can do anything, we are the ones who put the limits on Him. Let Him work and get Him out of the box.
5.) Understand there is power in prayer. In the book of Acts it says "they prayed" 48 times. We must maximize our prayer and be generouse with it Acts 4.31.
6.) Equip and empower every member for ministry. If a church isn't growing it isn't healthy and there will always be problems. People have to be mobilized to serve. God exspects more out of us than to show up and give. We are not an audience, we are an army. Acts 6.1-6 Acts 6
7.) Advance with God's mission in ministry. Remember the commission and have a calling to share the faith. It took persecution in the early church to send people. Jesus came to give life, not have meetings. Work and family are the 2 places we spend the most time and those are both the largest fields we are calle to. It isn't "come and hear" but rather "go and tell". It will always boil down to telling someone about Jesus. Let your light shine. Acts 8.1-4 Acts 8

I've had it all wrong....

Yesterday I was able to attend the Oklahoma Christian University (OC) Lectureship and what a blessing that was! But shamefully, I feel I need to admit, what I was looking forward to the most was the guest speaker that evening, Missy Robertson. You see Missy is the wife of Jase Robertson one of the many stars of the hit reality tv show Duck Dynasty. There was a lot of buzz about her coming and I was excited to hear what she had to say.

Missy was coming for dinner, She Speaks. I made a sign up on the church bulletin board, if you wanted a spot you have to sign up because they would sell out. Sell out they did, but not before I had our 16 tickets reserved.

Dinner didn't start until 5:30 but the Lectureship was still going which meant there was a lot of great speakers I could go listen to. I was able to attend the Area Wide Teen Gathering with some of the youth from our church Sunday night and hear the first keynote speaker, Kent Allen, from Memorial Road Church of Christ. He did a wonderful job and spoke about how as a church it is our responsibility to not be an audience in our faith but rather an army. We are not to come, listen, criticize, leave and forget what we just heard that we disagreed with. We are to come, be motivated, encouraged, empowered, and then go to battle until we are together again. We are to be an army not an audience. It was a great lesson and I will post some of my favorite notes from the lectureship soon.

Monday morning they offered a Ladies Day. The entire theme of the lectureship was the future of the church, so I was fairly excited to go to the ladies day to hear more effective ways to serve. We loaded up and left around 7:30 that morning to make it up in time to start and man did we have some great speakers. Again, notes to come soon!

Some of our ladies went out and enjoyed a nice lunch and chatted then we returned to hear a few more lessons. But the big even was to come. I sat through a Restoration of the New Testament Church lessons which was interesting but not what I was really looking forward to.

The next 2 hours were Q & A so we slipped out and visited the bookstore then just chatted until it was time to find the rest of our group before the big dinner!

We got there early, eagerly waited to get our seats. Right before we began in came Missy with a small crowd around her. They ushered her in the back door where we were clearly not welcome for a few minutes and then out to their table at the front of the venue. The welcome began promptly at 5:30 and it went all right from there.

Missy gave a decent lesson, the best part was her daughter, Mia, talking about herself and then singing for us. I wasn't expecting the singing at all. It was Missy, her mother, and Mia. It was beautiful. Thank you, here's your gift bag, and they were escorted back out the same door in which they came with while we were watching a clip of next years speaker. As I was watching this clip, and being oddly hyper aware of everything going on, I realized how wrong I had been.

For well over a month, I had anxiously awaiting this dinner to hear what words of wisdom that Missy had to pass to us. I guess I had it all built up, I mean, here we have a family of Christians that have wowed the entertainment industry with their humor and faith and no one can really explain.
It was anticlimactic. But what I really enjoyed, was every other single speaker that I heard that day!

No-body people, teachers, moms, preachers, missionaries. People the rest of the world will never find important, they shared hope. They shared their hope for our church, for the future of our church. It was amazing.

So there I sat, in a gym with 800 other people, watching the lady I had been anxiously waiting to see for some time now leaving like we had the plague, and listening to Nika Maples tell part of her amazing story and realized that I had once again put my hope in man instead of in God. And yet again, I was disappointed and God made his point.

I heard some amazing lessons from some great people, I learned more in all the little speakers that were just side dishes to what I thought was the main course.

Refocus and start again. Today, I will do better.

Hallelujah

This was a post I did while I was still in Germany, you can find the original link here: http://sarahbingermany.blogspot.com/2010/08/zoti-qofte-levduar-albanian-arabic.html

This was a neat deal then and I thought I would share it with you now- enjoy!


zoti qoftë lëvduar Albanian
هللويا الشكر لله Arabic
Алелуя Bulgarian
哈利路亚 Chinese
aleluja Croatian
aleluja Czech
Hallelujah Danish
Hallelujah Dutch
hallelujah English
halleluuja Estonian
hallelujah Filipino
Hallelujah Finnish
alléluia French
Halleluja German
αλληλούια Greek
הללויה Hebrew
हलिलुय Hindi
Алелуя Hungarian
pujian kpd Tuhan Indonesian
hallelujah Italian
ハレルヤ Japanese
할렐루야 Korean
Halleluja Norwegian
هللویا Persian
Alleluja Polish
aleluia Portuguese
Aleluia Romanian
аллилуйя Russian
алелуја Serbian
aleluja Slovak
aleluya Spanish
Haleluya Swahili
halleluja Swedish
คำอุทานสรรเสริญพระผู้เป็นเจ้า Thai
elhamdülillah Turkish
алілуя Ukrainian
bài hát ca ngợi Vietnamese
haleliwia Welsh
כאַלאַלויאַ Yiddish

a shout or song of praise to God.

Its nice to know no matter the language, the meaning of the word is the same

YOLO/Carpe Diem

This is your shot.

This is your life. This is your one chance to change the world. To allow Christ to work in you and through you to change the world.

You could be the next one to die in this church. At your school. In your family. In this room. You may not be. It doesn’t really matter does it?

Revelations 3:1-6 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

⁴ Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. ⁶ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
 

The church in Sardis was active, that wasn’t the problem, it was where they were with God. It matters where our hearts are. We can do all the service in the world, but if we are dead spiritually it doesn’t matter. Find those who are like minded and bond together (your peers) and make a pact to grow together and share Christ’s love.

What you do today makes a difference, someone is watching. Your peers, your family members, your neighbors. But it’s not only about being a nice person, you need to be able to share the gospel with them as well.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15  their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

It isn’t only ourselves we need to worry about. We have to realize that today could be it. We have to believe it enough that it changes how we live.

Think of life as a movie. You aren’t the star, God is. You are but a minor role in the big picture. You are the back of a head in a blip of a scene. Never the less, you play a MAJOR role in the here and now. You are in the movie. You need to be there/here to make the whole thing flow.

We aren’t here today to feel warm and fuzzy. We are here because it is too important not to be. We come here to be energized, revived, restored, and renewed. This is your core group ladies, the ones sitting here are this table. These are the people you talk to when you need to vent, when you need encouragement. These are also the ones who you will change this church with. The ones you will change this city with. God is already working in you and through you, allow Him to use you in every aspect of your life.

All that said- how are you living your life? What statement is your life making? Are you making an impact?

What are some service ideas you have? Who are they going to benefit? I can give yall things to do all day long, but I want you to do something you feel like your making a difference with.

Who can we help?
What will we do?

What will it do for them?
What will it take to do it?

How to study- Intro to Luke

Our lesson on Sunday was about faith- is faith enough for our Christian walk? What about actions, if we do good deeds our entire life is that enough for our Christian walk? Why do we need both?

We have to have a balance of faith and action. You can argue the bible until you are blue in the face, but if you are a jerk about it or you are trying to prove a point (even if you are right) you have already lost that battle.

What about if you have a life of action- why do we do good work? What is the point? Are you doing it because it is the right thing to do? How about because it’s what Jesus would have done? What is your answer when someone asks why you have done something good? What about when they call you out on something you shouldn’t have been doing?

We need to have a balance of faith and knowledge, it doesn’t matter if you have all the right answers if your actions don’t follow your teachings, and vice versa, it doesn’t matter if you do all of the good in the world if your faith isn’t there.

The Bible as a whole is an onion, every time you read it you are going to pick up something new from it.  Something is going to speak to you.  The goal for our new study is for you, each of you, to be able to read a scripture, understand it, and then explain it to someone else in a way they can understand. And yes, we are going to practice!

So lets get going- we are going to pair off and I’ll put you in pairs. I need everyone to put their phones up here please.  I’ve put some out some Bibles, reference books, articles, and fact sheets to help you- you can use anything you can find in here to answer your questions except each other! Now sharing answers yet! Team that finds the most right answers first wins!

I printed out a seperate sheet with each of the questions (no answers of course) and had enough for all of the girls to have a copy. At the end we went through the answers and how they found some of them.

Who is Luke, give some background?  Doctor- never married- not an apostle

Why is the book of Luke included in the gospels? When was it written? Includes the most details and before 70AD but exact time not known.

What are some of the stories that are only in Luke and not in the other gospels?  

What are some key verses (scriptures) in Luke?  

Who are some of the main people in Luke (Jesus is not the correct answer….)?

What makes Luke different from other gospels?

What is Luke’s emphasis in his gospel? Jesus’ humanity and his relationships with people.

What was Luke’s favorite term for Jesus (how did he refer to him the most)? Son of Man

What verse sums up the first thirty years of Jesus’ life? Luke 2:52

Who is Barabbas and what is his significance? The one who should have died instead of Jesus, guilty of the same crime Jesus was accused of.  

Approximately how much of the book of Luke is unique to Luke? 50%

Recap: Okay so we did this lesson last night to kick off our new study in Luke and the girls absolutly loved it! They were asking all kinds of questions and amazed at the information they were able to find! I have high hopes for this study not to mention it was really exciting to see the girls actually excited to learn and being proactive about it!