The Power of 3

  Your pastors gather every Monday afternoon for a Staff Meeting.  We have a routine of praying together, going over the calendar, and sharing any concerns and needs within our respective ministries.  We meet to keep everyone on the same page, and to evaluate and shape the vision of the church.  Recently in a Staff Meeting we settled on three areas we consider Focal Points for RBC:  Prayer, Evangelism, and Leadership Development.

We did not sit down and say. "What three areas do we need to work on this year?"  No, we were simply talking about what we see going on in the church, and as I took notes of that conversation—Prayer, Evangelism, and Leadership Development continually resurfaced.

  How can you be a part?

  Prayer

  ¨ Commit to having a daily prayer time.

  ¨ Pray for your pastors, and volunteer church workers.

  ¨ Pray for spiritual awakening at Riverview.

  ¨ Ask God to show you what He wants you to do.

Evangelism

Begin praying for someone you know who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Pray for them every day.  As you pray ask God for an opportunity to share His love with that person, and pray for boldness, because that opportunity will arise.

  Leadership Development

  In the Church we are all leaders and followers at the same time.  We all follow Christ, the Head of the Body, (Ephesians 4:15-16) but we also lead.  I follow Jesus, yet I am also leading Riverview into the future.  The other Ministers are my co-laborers, but they follow my leadership as we serve together.  They in turn have people who follow their leadership in different areas of ministry.  Also, if you are a Sunday School Teacher or Director, or if you are a Deacon or Door Greeter—you are a leader, and people are following your leadership.  If you do nothing, or are a grumbler just know you too have followers, and by your example you are leading as well.

  

So then, pray for leaders to rise up, get equipped, and join in as we build up the body of Christ together.  (Ephesians 4:11-13)

 

 

Confession – Getting Honest About My Sin

Psalm 51:3

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

 

I bet you thought this was going to be a “confess all” blog.  Not necessarily.  I will confess to you that I am a sinner, and I do specifically and humbly confess my sin to trusted people in my life.  In fact, I am pretty open about my sin and my need for repentance.

 

But sometimes we grow comfortable with our sin, and we don’t even realize how bad it has become.  I once saw a person who had cancer on their face.  It had literally eaten off part of their face, and left a black, ragged hole right there in the middle of it.  They had grown comfortable with the disfiguration, but most people had not.  In fact, I hate to say it, but when others saw it they were pretty much horrified.

 

I am afraid this is how we often view our sin.  To us it doesn’t seem that bad, or we grow so comfortable with it we even forget it’s there.  But God has a way of bringing our sin before us, and when he does we must respond correctly.

 

Saturday morning I confessed to Dustie I was having a problem harboring anger in my heart.  I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but Ephesians 4:26-27 says that holding on to anger like that “gives the Devil a foothold”, and once you give him a foothold he has easy access to other areas of your life.

 

Saturday afternoon I saw my inner anger for what it was.  There was no explosion (which I have done), there was no wrath, but somehow God shone the light of His love in my life.  It exposed my sin (anger) and I was horrified.  Still am.  It was there all along, and I never saw it; like a cancer on my face I refused to see when looking in the mirror.

 

I thank God He brought this to my attention.  I thank Him even more for His forgiveness and restoration.  Later is Psalm 51 David will write about “being renewed with a steadfast spirit.  Renewal.  I will too.

 

God Bless - Andy

Mercy

Psalm 51:1-2

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;

According to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! ESV

When I was in college I got a speeding ticket, and had to appear in traffic court. When it was my turn to stand before the judge I confessed my crime (I was guilty), and asked for mercy. I didn’t get any. I had to pay the ticket…and justice was served.

In Psalm 51 David found himself desperately in need of God’s mercy. He had sinned, he was hurting, and deserved judgment (v.4). However, he knew God’s nature was characterized by ‘steadfast love’, and ‘abundant mercy’. So he confessed his sin to God, and the Lord forgave him.

Psalm 32:5

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"

And you forgave the iniquity of my sin. ESV

According to Romans 3:23 & 6:23 we have all sinned, and the wages (what we deserve) of that sin is death. But God is merciful, and while we were still sinners Jesus died on the cross  to bear the punishment we deserved. (Romans 5:8) Because God is merciful, it does not mean He is not just either. He is just, and the penalty of sin had to be paid, and praise be to God. He paid the price.

Andy

I love Psalm 51. This is a Psalm God used to pierce my heart, and draw me back to Himself.  The words in verse 12 -  “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” reverberated through my life; a life that had become tired, bitter, hopeless, and sad. But thank God He was not finished with me yet. Through much contemplation, prayer, and repentance He did restore to me the joy of His salvation. He “upheld” me.


The word uphold in (v.12b) means to renew or repair. It is the same word used in 2 Chronicles 24:4 where scripture states, “Joash was determined to repair the Lord's temple.”  That is exactly how I feel!  I feel like a new man. I feel like I was broken, and He repaired me.

As I fire up my blog once again, I am going to just hang out in Psalm 51 for awhile. I pray God will use His Word to convict, and restore you the same way He did me.

Be blessed.

Andy

Call Out To God

Psalm 77:1

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.  ESV

Tuesday, 8:50 AM

I just walked into my office, and my cell phone rang.  The caller ID read, "Central Elementry"  Uh-Oh...somebody is throwing up.  Nope.  To my delight I hear the voice of Son # 2.  "Uh Dad - I forgot my lunch box in the car."

I said, "No problem.  Mom will bring it when she gets Son # 3.  I love you."

To which he replied, "I love you too. Bye", and he was gone.

I immediately wondered if God delights himself in helping us in our daily difficulties the same way I delight in meeting the needs of my boys?  I wondered if God's heart melts the way mine did when my child said, "I love you."?  I'm sure it does.  I also wondered if asking for lunch or - daily bread - is trivial to God?  I doubt it.

Call out to God.  He will year you.

1 Peter 5:7

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (NLT)

See You Sunday - Bro. Andy

Pi R Not Square

It are round.  Gooey.  And in my face.

Myself, Filbeck, and David all got smacked with a pie at the annual Pie Auction & Spghetti Dinner last Sunday Night.  Mine was Cherry O' Cheese Pie.  Filbeck's looked like a strawberry cream of some kind, and David's was a blend of refried beans, blackeyed peas, and green beans - all topped with a whole can of whipped cream.  It was nasty, but that one pie raised $500 for the Youth Choir Tour.

Here is a video of the carnage.  Enjoy

What A Great Church

This is just a quick blog to let you know I am still blogging.  Kind of -  I have a really busy month or two, but hopefully I'll settle down in the near future.

I'm finishing 3 seminary classes this month, and will graduate in May.  I also have a wedding the end of may, and I plan on taking some vacation time right after school is out.

Tulakogee Children's camp is the first week of June, and I'm the camp pastor at Camp Webster in Salina Kansas the 2nd week of June.  After that I'm home and in the groove until Falls Creek, and VBS in July.  The first week of August we are going to South Dakota for Children's camp there, and when we get home...school starts once again.

That is why it is hard to blog.  Lots of stuff...all the time.

I do want to say how excited I am about what God is doing at Riverview.  I love my church, and am blessed to be the pastor here.  I love our staff, and thank God for them every day for the awesome work they do.  We have great deacons, great support staff, great members, great location, and great worship services and ministries.  It is a good day to be a part of the Riverview Family.

Sunday is Easter Sunday, so use that opportunity to invite a friend.

It's a big day.  What could possibly make it better?  A friend or family member getting saved.  Pray! Invite! Come and Worship!

See You Sunday

Bro. Andy