Servant Series: Servants Do Every Task with Equal Dedication

"Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities." Luke 16:10 (NLT)

Servants do every task with equal dedication. Whatever they do, servants "do it with all their heart" (Colossians 3:23 NIV).

The size of the task is irrelevant. The only issue is, does it need to be done?

You will never arrive at the state in life where you're too important to help with menial tasks. God will never exempt you from the mundane. It's a vital part of your character curriculum. The Bible says, "If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody" (Galatians 6:3 NLT).

It is in these small services that we grow like Christ.

Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath him, because he came to serve. It wasn't in spite of his greatness that he did these things, but because of it, and he expects us to follow his example (John 13:15).

Small tasks often show a big heart. Your servant's heart is revealed in little acts that others don't think of doing, as when Paul gathered brushwood for a fire to warm everyone after a shipwreck (Acts 28:3).

He was just as exhausted as everyone else, but he did what everyone needed. No task is beneath you when you have a servant's heart.

Great opportunities often disguise themselves in small tasks. The little things in life determine the big things. Don't look for great tasks to do for God. Just do the not-so-great stuff, and God will assign you whatever he wants you to do.

There will always be more people willing to do "great" things for God than there are people willing to do the little things. The race to be a leader is crowded, but the field is wide open for those willing to be servants.

Sometimes you serve upward to those in authority, and sometimes you serve downward to those in need. Either way, you develop a servant's heart when you're willing to do anything needed. Remember, "small things done with great love, will change the world."

Servant Series: Servants Serve With What They Have

"If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT)

Real servants do their best with what they have. Servants don't make excuses, procrastinate, or wait for better circumstances. Servants never say, "One of these days" or "When the time is right." They just do what needs to be done.

The Bible says, "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done" (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT).

God expects us to do what we can, with what we have, wherever we are. Less-than-perfect service is always better than the best intentions.

One reason many people never serve is that they fear they are not good enough to serve. They have believed the lie that serving God is only for superstars. Sadly, some churches have actually fostered this myth by making "excellence" an idol, which makes people of average talent hesitant to get involved.

You may have heard it said, "If it can't be done with excellence, don't do it." Well, Jesus never said that! The truth is, almost everything we do is done poorly when we first start doing it...that's how we learn.

We need to practice the "good enough" principle: It doesn't have to be perfect for God to use and bless it. Remember, small things done with great love will change the world!

Servant Series: Servants Pay Attention

"Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now." (Proverbs 3:28 TEV).

Real servants pay attention to needs. Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. When they see a need, they seize the moment to meet it, just as the Bible commands us: "Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers" (Galatians 6:10 GWT).

When God puts someone in need right in front of you, he is giving you the opportunity to grow in servanthood. Notice that God says the needs of your church family are to be given preference, not put at the bottom of your "things to do" list.

We miss many occasions for serving because we lack sensitivity and spontaneity. Great opportunities to serve never last long. They pass quickly, sometimes never to return again. You may only get one chance to serve that person, so take advantage of the moment.

"Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now" (Proverbs 3:28 TEV).

John Wesley was an incredible servant of God. His motto was:

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can."

That is greatness. You can begin by looking for small tasks that no one else wants to do. Do these little things as if they were great things, because little things done with great love will change the world.

Servant Series: Serving God by Serving Others

Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Mark 10:43 (MSG)

The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige, and position. If you can demand service from others, you've arrived. In our self-serving culture with its me-first mentality, acting like a servant is not a popular concept.

Jesus, however, measured greatness in terms of service, not status. God determines your greatness by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you.

This is so contrary to the world's idea of greatness that we have a hard time understanding it, much less practicing it. The disciples argued about who deserved the most prominent position, and 2,000 years later, Christian leaders still jockey for position and prominence in churches, denominations, and parachurch ministries.

Thousands of books have been written on leadership, but few on servanthood. Everyone wants to lead; no one wants to be a servant. We would rather be generals than privates. Even Christians want to be "servant-leaders," not just plain servants. But to be like Jesus is to be a servant. That's what he called himself.

God created us for service, not for self-centeredness. Without a servant's heart, you will be tempted to misuse your gift for personal gain or even tempted to use it as an excuse to exempt yourself from meeting some needs.

God often tests our hearts by asking us to serve in ways we're not gifted. If you see a man fall into a ditch, God expects you to help him out, not say, "I don't have the gift of mercy or service."

While you may not be gifted for a particular task, you may be called to do it if no one who is gifted at it is around. Your primary ministry should be in the area of your giftedness, but your secondary service is wherever you're needed at the moment.

Your gift reveals your ministry, but your servant's heart will reveal your maturity. No special talent or gift is required to stay after a meeting to pick up trash or stack chairs. Anyone can be a servant. All it requires is character...the character that comes from maturing walk with Christ...the suffering servant.

It is possible to serve in church for a lifetime without ever being a servant. You must have a servant's heart.

How can you know if you have the heart of a servant?

Jesus said, "You can tell what they are by what they do" (Matthew 7:16 CEV).

Servant Series: Servants Make Themselves Available

"No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Timothy 2:4 NASB).

Real servants make themselves available to serve. Servants don't fill up their time with other pursuits that could limit their availability. They want to be ready to jump into service when called on.

Much like a soldier, a servant must always be standing by for duty: "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Timothy 2:4 NASB).

If you only serve when it's convenient for you, you're not a real servant. Real servants do what's needed, even when it's inconvenient.

Are you available to God anytime? Can he mess up your plans without you becoming resentful? As a servant, you don't get to pick and choose when or where you will serve.

Being a servant means giving up the right to control your schedule and allowing God to interrupt it whenever he needs to.

If you will remind yourself at the start of every day that you are God's servant, interruptions won't frustrate you as much, because your agenda will be whatever God wants to bring into your life. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving.

The Mystery of Grace

"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us." - Anne Lamot

Faith is Something We Do

“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16 NIV).

Faith is more than something you just feel. Many people confuse emotions and feelings with faith. They come to church and they’re moved emotionally, they're inspired, and they're stimulated. But that doesn’t mean they’re walking in faith.

The Bible says faith is something we do, not just what we feel: “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” (James 2:15-16 NIV).

In other words, faith is not mere sentimentality. Let’s say I go out on the street and I see someone who is homeless and destitute. I see that person is hungry, cold, in need of clothing and shelter or in need in some other way. Would I be showing great faith if I walked up and said, “Cheer up! Don't worry, be happy! Feel good! Put on a happy face?”

It doesn’t take much faith to do that. Faith carries compassion and compassion is love in action! Faith says, “I’ll do anything I can to stop your hurt.” Throughout the New Testament, the witnesses say Jesus was moved with compassion for people. Jesus showed us that faith is practical.

When we see a need, we do something about it. We don't just toss out a quick --“Well, I'll pray for you.” Faith also doesn't judge. Jesus never commanded us to "evaluate" the situation before showing compassion. We are commanded to be faithful and God is responsible for the results. The Bible says, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.” If we see a Christian in need, we respond because that brother or sister is part of our family.

When you become a believer, you became part of God’s family. And as a result, you have some family responsibilities: You care when other Christians are hurt, or in pain, or in grief, or in sorrow, or in need. You show your faith by what you do.

It’s easy to think, ‘But I can't meet everybody's needs!’ That’s right. None of us can. But we can meet some. What we can do may not make a difference to everybody, but it will make a difference to those we help.

Think of it like this: When the tide went out, hundreds of starfish were stranded on the beach. A little boy began to pick them up and throw the starfish back into the ocean.

A man came along and asked, “What are you doing?” The boy said, “I’m putting the starfish back in the ocean.”

The man said, “But there's too many! You can’t make a difference for all of them!”

The boy tossed another starfish into the water, and said, “I bet it makes a difference for that one.”

One-by-one. Great opportunities to serve God often come as small opportunities to serve those right here in the greater Granbury area who are in need.

Love Is...

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. ~ Luke 6:32-35

"To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name." - Thomas Merton

All that and a Bag of Chips!

We had a great time this weekend with our first Love Granbury servant evangelism project of the fall. We had a great turnout and it was a huge success. We had hot dog cookouts at three different locations yesterday...two at the Granbury City Park and one at the Granbury Middle School football stadium.

We were able to give away over 700 free hot lunches to people who were out at soccer, baseball and football games at those locations on Saturday. With every free lunch, each person was given a "kindness card" expressing to that individual that just as the hot dog lunches were absolutely free, so is God's love! How awesome that a hot dog, a bag of chips and a bottle of water can be such a tangible expression of God's love! So more than 700 people were told yesterday that God loves them freely and without condition.

Pray with us that the seeds that were planted yesterday will be be watered and nurtured and that they will take root in the lives of these folks!

We now look forward to next months Love Granbury Fall Festivals in Indian Harbor, Canyon Creek and Comanche Harbor! Make plans now to join us for the fun and excitement of sharing God's love in such a simple and natural, yet profound way!

Neighborly Love

"The second most important command is this: 'You must love other people the same as you love yourself.' These two commands are the most important."

-- Mark 12:31 (ERV)

The second great commandment also deals with love. This time, however, Jesus focuses our attention on our love for other people -- our neighbors. In giving these two commandments -- love God and love neighbor -- Jesus has summed up the heart of the Ten Commandments Exodus 20), God's blueprint for morality. The first four commandments focus on honoring God. The remaining six focus upon treating our
neighbors fairly.

However, Jesus takes them a step deeper and makes them simpler to remember. More than honoring God and treating others honorably, we are called to love them. Our motivation and passion are suddenly at issue and not just our behavior. God made us for relationship with him and with others. Our relationships are to all be marked by our love, the same type of love that sent Jesus to the cross for us.

Love Granbury Fall Service Opportunities

Well the kids are all back in school and summer is winding down (at least according to the calendar), and Love Granbury is getting ready to kick off it's Fall and Winter schedule of servant evangelism projects! Here's what we've got scheduled so far:

September 26th 12 noon - 2:00pm
Hot dog cook-outs at City Park soccer fields, Moore Street Baseball Complex and the Granbury Middle School football field (Pee-Wee Football Assc.). Free hot dogs, chips, and soft drinks/water.

October 31st 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Fall Festival Block Parties in Indian Harbor, Comanche Harbor and Canyon Creek neighborhoods. Free hot dogs, chips, soft drinks/water, bounce houses, face painting, kids games and lots of other fun stuff!

December 19th 12 noon - 2:00pm
Free gift wrapping at Walmart. Free Christmas gift wrapping for anyone who wants to bring their purchases to be wrapped. We will also be providing free coffee and hot chocolate.

Please come out and join us for any or all of these service opportunities!

Radical Forgiveness

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, when my brother won't stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?"

-- Matthew 18:21 (ERV)

Like so many of us do, Peter wants to know the limits of the Lord's demand for radical forgiveness. While by human standards Peter's "7 times" principle is quite generous, in Jesus' Kingdom, to even ask for a limit to forgiveness is to reveal that his mind is still dominated by worldly thinking. Heavenly thinking means going to a cross and forgiving your crucifixion executioners! Jesus takes the heavenly
number of 7 and multiplies it exponentially to stress that we are to forgive as we have been forgiven and want to be forgiven. In the Father's Kingdom family, the children must forgive like the Father!

Service Gives Our Lives True Meaning

“Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body” (Romans 12:5 MSG).

We are going to give our life for something. What will it be—a career, a sport, a hobby, fame, wealth? None of these will have lasting significance. Service is the pathway to real significance. It is through ministry that we discover the meaning of our lives. The Bible says, “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body” (Romans 12:5 MSG).

As we serve together in God’s family, our lives take on eternal importance. Paul said, “I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less . . . because of what you are a part of” (1 Corinthians 12:14a, 19 MSG).

God wants to use us to make a difference in his world. He wants to work through each of us. What matters is not the duration of our lives, but the donation of it. Not how long we lived, but how you lived.

There really is no reason good enough to not be serving in some manner. Consider these excuses from scripture:

• Abraham was old,
• Jacob was insecure,
• Leah was unattractive,
• Joseph was abused,
• Moses stuttered,
• Gideon was poor,
• Samson was codependent,
• Rahab was immoral,
• David had an affair and all kinds of family problems,
• Elijah was suicidal,
• Jeremiah was depressed,
• Jonah was reluctant,
• Naomi was a widow,
• John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least,
• Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered,
• Martha worried a lot,
• The Samaritan woman had several failed marriages,
• Zacchaeus was unpopular,
• Thomas had doubts,
• Paul had poor health, and
• Timothy was timid.

That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service. He will use each of us, too, if we stop making excuses.

Accepting Children

"If a person accepts a little child like this in my name, then that person accepts me." -- Matthew 18:5 (ERV)

There are two key thoughts here. First, Jesus is talking about actual
children. His rebuke of the disciples when they didn't welcome children, but pushed them away, is clearly an example of that.

But, there is a deeper issue that will dominate the rest of the chapter. Because children in Jesus' culture were powerless, without rights, and vulnerable, they became the symbol for people who are powerless, without rights, and vulnerable. On the surface, they may not have anything to offer the community. But Kingdom thinking is upside down to "the way men think."

To be on the side of God means to be on the side of welcoming, accepting, and receiving "little ones" whether they are actual children or simply people who are little in the sight of the world. Because Jesus adamantly rejects the normal channels
to fame and fortune and instead walks the way of the cross -- the punishment reserved for the powerless, those without rights, and those who are vulnerable -- his disciples should welcome and care for those like their Savior!

A Christian Who Doesn't Serve is a Contradiction

The Bible says, “He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose” (2 Timothy 1:9 TEV).

Peter adds, “You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you” (1 Peter 2:9 GWT).

You are called to serve God. Growing up, you may have thought that being called by God was something only missionaries, pastors, nuns, and other full-time church workers experienced, but the Bible says every Christians is called to service (Ephesians 4:4–14; see also Romans 1:6–7; 8:28–30; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 9, 26; 7:17; Philippians 3:14; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3).

Anytime you use your God-given abilities to help others, you are fulfilling your calling. The Bible says, “Now you belong to him . . . in order that you might be useful in the service of God” (Romans 7:4 TEV).

How much of the time are you being useful in the service of God? In some churches in China, they welcome new believers by saying, “Jesus now has a new pair of eyes to see with, new ears to listen with, new hands to help with, and a new heart to love others with.”

Giving Respect

In community outreach, there are many variables that can determine success or failure in terms of our effectiveness. One of those variables is attitude. The attitude of the one serving toward the one being served can either be the "attraction" to Christ's message of unconditional love, or the "distraction" from that same message. Simply put, our attitudes many times determine the results of our outreach. One component of our attitude is respect...respect for those we encounter during the course of our outreach. Many times you'll hear the saying, "respect has to be earned." However, Christ's example shows us a different way.

Respect is given automatically, it is not earned.

When we set ourselves up as people that insist on having others earn our respect we are not living in a serving capacity. If we are living from that perspective we are really asserting that all others serve us. We are living from the vantage point that it is within our capacity to discern the motives of people. I in fact don’t understand the motives of those around me very well at all. I am pretty well convinced that this level of discernment is better left in the hands of God.

I don’t know about your life but mine happens at a rate that is so fast that I can’t manage to keep ahead of the pace of things in such a way that I can conceivably make people earn my respect. I meet a lot of people. I am therefore more or less forced to believe the best about people on a regular basis. If it were necessary that I had to make each person earn the right to be respected there would be very few functional relationships happening in my life. Most people would never know where they stood with me because they would be waiting for me to let them know that they had earned my respect. What a horrible, arrogant way to live.

I figured out a long time ago that I must defer to people, even when sometimes those people don’t seem to have the same values as me. Sometimes the differences are even more subtle. We can differ on the grounds we come from different backgrounds, thus we don’t communicate in the same way. When we get to heaven some of us are going to be dismayed to discover that the people we categorized as being unworthy of our puny respect were great in the eyes of God.

As we serve people is it essential that we show respect to every single person we look to serve. We don’t have the time to play a game of “Who is worthy” and who is not. If we were to wait until all earned our respect before we gave it, life would look quite odd. We would live standoffish lives that would hold off from getting involved with others until we felt they were somehow worthy of our little bits of respect and adoration. Life moves at a rapid pace. As we give respect to all, we are behaving like Jesus. We are assuming the best about the person in question and we are not placing ourselves above that person as their judge. Truly, the last place in the world a person needs to be who is jaded is involved in outreach. We need to assume the best about others before we connect with anyone.

The question comes up “Is it ever appropriate to use the term ‘respect’ as something we earn?” I want to suggest this is entirely the wrong word to use. Most of the time when people use this word they are really searching for the term “trust.” One can speak of having a relationship of high “trust” with someone else and speak in truthful, healthy communication. To have that is to possess a beautiful and rare thing. When that is called for, use it, but realize it is going to be the occasional relationship, the rare connection. That type of relationship is so rare, you will only experience it during a handful of occasions in a lifetime.

(adapted from Steve Sjogren's "Serve" E-Zine)

More Healthy Kids Praises

From Thursday, June 4th through last Friday, August 7th, a total of 29,561 hot, delicious, and nutritious lunches were served to the children of the greater Granbury area!

A very sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you and your volunteers who worked to deliver and distrbute the lunches, to Alicia Hernandez and her amazing Child Nutrition Department at Granbury ISD, and to all the rest of you who supported the effort through your prayers.

Many of our churches have committed to the extended summer program and will be preparing their own lunches and delivering them to their respective lunch sites for the next two weeks before school starts. Please pray for these churches and their volunteers as they continue the work of Healthy Kids. God bless.

Here are the final numbers for each of our four Healthy Kids lunch sites for the "official" Healthy Kids Summer Lunch program:
Brazos River Acres (Triple Cross Church) 5,081
City of Granbury City Beach (St. Francis Cabrini) 1,475
Oak Trail Shores Pool ( First Baptist Granbury) 1,759
Oak Trail Shores Ruth's Place (FUMC Granbury) 2,226
Montego Bay (Acton Baptist) 1,268
Sky Harbor (First Baptist Granbury) 983
Whippoorwill Bay (First Baptist Granbury) 846
Arrowhead Shores (FUMC Granbury) 1,416
Rancho Brazos (Acton UMC) 2,311
Sandy Beach (Acton UMC) 746
City of Granbury City Park (Granbury COC) 1,631
Lake Granbury Harbor (Granbury Baptist) 3,843
City of Granbury City Beach (First Presbyterian) 1,039
Indian Harbor Teen Center (Lakeside Baptist) 937
Comanche Harbor (Lakeside Baptist) 1,548
Canyon Creek (Lakeside Baptist) 1,382
Indian Harbor Pool (Lakeside Baptist) 1,070

If you or your church would like to volunteer to work with Healthy Kids this summer, you can contact Micky Shearon at 817-408-5273, or Norma Wright at 817-279-0313, and for further information you can visit the Granbury ISD web page or the Love Granbury home page.

Redemptional Wisdom

Then Jesus said to his followers, "If any person wants to follow me, he must say 'No' to the things he wants. That person must accept the cross (suffering) that is given to $him, and he must follow me. The person that wants to save his life will lose it. And every person that gives his life for me will save it. It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he loses his soul. A person could never pay enough to buy back his soul." -- Matthew 16:24-26 (ERV)

Up is down. Down is up. The high cost is cheap. The cheap cost is high. First will be last. Last will be first. The least will be greatest. Jesus preached an upside down Kingdom. In many ways, his values are against "Conventional Wisdom." Instead, Jesus teaches a "Redemptional Wisdom" -- a wisdom that calls us to surrender our lives to the will of God, live for him, and serve others. It is in giving up our lives for something and Someone greater that we truly find life.

There are so many things we can invest our lives in that ultimately become our masters. The harder we work to attain them, the more we find we have lost that vital essence of living that is God's gift to us. The radical example and call of Jesus is to follow him in laying down our lives to honor God and redeem others -- there are no short-cuts.

God's Economy

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received ... but only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.

- St. Francis of Assisi

Tell It Like It Could Be

"Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you;' and their sight was restored” (Matthew 9:29–30 NIV).

You can set people up for success or failure by your expectations.

People tend to become what they think we expect them to be. If you communicate to the people around you that you expect them to be lazy, uncreative, and negative, that’s probably how they will respond to you. On the other hand, if you treat people like winners, they’re likely to become winners. In the same way, if we treat people like they are unimportant and don't matter, they will respond in that manner. Psychologists call it “The Pygmalion Effect.”

• The best salesmen expect customers to buy their product.
• The best executives expect employees to have creative ideas.
• The best speakers expect audiences to be interested.
• The best leaders expect people to want to follow.
• The best teachers expect students to learn.

Would you like to bring out the best in those around you? Here's the key: Treat them the way they could be! Don’t just “tell it like it is.” Tell it like it could be.

Jesus said, “According to your faith it will be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV). What are you expecting this week from yourself . . . from others . . . from God?

Think About It

There are only 2 reasons everyone is not a christian: 1) They do
not know a Christian or... 2) They do.

Sunday...assemble...Body of Christ...the Church...Sunday...worship...discipleship...service. This Sunday, as we assemble as the Body of Christ...the Church...may we focus on our corporate worship of the God who loved us so completely that He literally laid down His own life for us. May the realization of that great love move us to a deeper level of discipleship-desiring to know more intimately this God who so passionately and radically loves us. And as we come to know him more intimately, may we be moved to a life of service to others as we realize that God's most intimate desire is to love others through us...so that they will come to know Him. Enjoy your Sunday!

Capitalize What We Prioritize

Have you ever wondered (like me), why the English language capitalizes the word "I" and lower-cases the words "you" "they" "we" "us"? Could it be that we capitalize what we prioritize? Just sayin'. :-)

Ruined for Love’s Sake

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

- Hosea 6:6

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we as Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined.

- Søren Kierkegaard,
Danish philosopher, theologian, and ethicist (1813-1855)

Significantly Insignificant

Then turning toward the woman, [Jesus] said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

- Luke 7:44-47

Every spiritual master in every tradition talks about the significance of small things in a complex world. Small actions in social life, small efforts in the spiritual life, small moments in the personal life. All of them become great in the long run, but all of them look like little or nothing in themselves. One of my favorite writers, Steve Sjogren, says that "small things done with great love will change the world." So whether it's quietly and anonymously picking up someone's check at lunch today, lending an ear to a friend who has a problem, or just simply holding the door for someone, remember that small, seemingly insignificant things become holy moments in time when done out of a heart for Christ.

Blessed to be a Blessing

Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. Jesus took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. Then Jesus gave thanks to God for the food. Jesus divided the food and gave it to the followers. The followers gave the food to the people. All the people ate and were full. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. There were about 4,000 men there that ate. There were also women and children that ate.

 

-- Matthew 15:35-38 (ERV)

                     
 

Jesus gave directions, gave thanks, and gave food so the disciples could give what the people needed to be filled and satisfied. These are wonderful blessings that Jesus gives. When we look to him and seek to really serve him, he blesses us with power and ability above our normal human capacity. This zone of blessing and ministry can also be ours if we will offer Jesus ourselves and remove the things we allow to get in the way of our faith in him. Bless you as you go through your day today quietly being the hands and feet of Christ.

Did you ever stop to think about what a worshipful experience it is to sit and watch the weather channel? Our God is an awesome God indeed!

Love Granbury May Project Report

What a great time we had this morning during our May Love Granbury service project.

This month we were asked by Mission Granbury to assist one of their clients in getting his property cleaned up around his house. It seems the elderly gentleman has fallen on some pretty tough times the last year or so. In fact, he just got released from the hospital a couple of weeks ago after suffering a mild stroke. His property had become so littered with trash and debris that the Hood County Health Department was getting ready to condemn his home...which would effectively evict the man from his home, making him homeless.

So this morning, the Church stepped up and showed up to be the hands and feet of Christ. On Friday afternoon, we had a 30 yard capacity trash dumpster delivered to the man's home, paid for by Mission Granbury and the Love Granbury ministry at Lakeside Baptist. In a little less than 2 hours this morning, our crew had completely filled the 30 yard dumpster.

While we didn't finish the project today, we made great progress! The man was so excited and happy! He just kept saying over and over again, "thank you so much for all you're doing." On Tuesday, the filled trash dumpster will be picked up and an empty one delivered. We are planning on returning to the man's home next Saturday, May 30th to finish the job.

If you'd like to join us and help out, we will be meeting at Lakeside Baptist at 10:00am next Saturday morning. What an incredible privilege to serve others as Ambassadors of Christ!

Kindness Explosion 09 Wrap Up

"This was so much fun…I want to do this every week" was what one participant of Kindness Explosion 09 had to say during the closing testimony time on Saturday afternoon. That pretty well summed up what most people said was by far the best Kindness Explosion yet. Twenty churches, hundreds of Believers from all different denominations, all coming together for the purpose of worshiping God and loving the community in His name.

Friday night's Kick-off service really set the tone for the weekend as Lincoln Wiseman and his band led in worship. The Rev. Tim Adams, who drove all afternoon through torrential downpours from San Antonio, delivered an inspiring message about the Good News that we have been entrusted to share and the power that it has to not only change individual lives both spiritually and physically, but to renew and transform entire neighborhoods and communities as well. Especially when the Body of Christ comes together to join our hearts, our hands, and our resources!

Then on Saturday morning, under cloudy and threatening skies, the Church went out to blanket the entire community with the love of Christ. What an incredible day it turned out to be in spite of the weather…which by the way, turned out to be not so bad. Well over 1,800 hot dogs, over a 1,000 bottles of water, hundreds of soft drinks, nearly 100 dozen homemade cookies and brownies, dozens and dozens of cars washed, dozens of bags of trash and litter picked up, countless smiles, and so many other acts of humble service done in the name and kindness of Christ…all with no strings attached!

Then after the Kindness Explosion ended at 2:00 pm, the Church came back to Granbury Baptist for an "agape feast" of food donated by numerous local eating establishments. Already the stories about the day were beginning to pour out as we gathered around the tables to eat. After lunch, everyone gathered in the sanctuary to hear the reports of how God worked throughout the day. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing some of those stories with you on this blog, so stay tuned!

I just want to thank all the congregations that took part in this year's Kindness Explosion and I hope you truly received a blessing for taking part. If you were a part of Kindness Explosion, be sure and spread the word about your KE experience to your brothers and sisters in your congregation and start encouraging them even now to plan on being a part of Kindness Explosion 10. Speaking of, be sure to go ahead and mark your calendars now with the dates for Kindness Explosion 10. Kindness Explosion 10 will take place on Friday, April 16^th and Saturday, April 17^th, 2010.

The Church has left the building!

 

Gas, Groceries and God’s Love

"Looks like you guys picked the wrong day to be out here," was the first remark we heard this morning a little after 9:00 AM as we gathered for our January Love Granbury service project. The temperature was a crisp 25 degrees and the wind chill was down around 15 degrees as we arrived at the Brookshires Gas Station on Morgan Street to pump gas and the Brookshires Supermarket to bag groceries and do carry out and cart return.

 

And even though it was pretty chilly, the look on people's faces when confronted with the unconditional love of God was more than enough to keep us warm. The people's reactions were varied…ranging from "I can't believe you guys are out here today," to "Why would you do this on such a cold day?" One of the students in our group had a great response when asked why we would be doing this on such a cold day. He simply replied, "hey, anybody can pump somebody's gas when it's sunny and seventy-five, but it really means something when it's cloudy and twenty five."

 

It never ceases to amaze me how God's love can be shown and shared through something like pumping someone's gas or bagging their groceries and carrying them to their car.

KE09 First Organizational Meeting

We are going to be having our first organizational meeting for KE09 on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 11:30 AM. We will be meeting at the Hood County Justice Center, located at 1200 W. Pearl Street (right next to the Granbury City Park) in the Hood County Court at Law jury meeting room. Just come in to the Justice Center and we will have signs and directions for where you need to go to find us. Also, we will have a light lunch provided for you at the meeting at no cost to you.

We are so excited about this year's Kindness Explosion. Every one of the congregations who participated last year have already indicated that they are going to join us again this year, and we know of at least several new congregations joining us this year! That's one of the most exciting things about Kindness Explosion - seeing God bring His church...His Body - together in unity and in love to reach out in His name to the greater Granbury/Hood County area.

We look forward to seeing each of you on Tuesday, January 27th at 11:30 AM.

Love Granbury Announces Host for Kindness Explosion 09!

Love Granbury is excited to announce that Granbury Baptist Church will be our hosts for the third annual Kindness Explosion 09, April 17-18, 2009!

Granbury Baptist is one of the fastest growing churches in Hood County and they have a tremendous passion for reaching out to the community, and we are so excited that they have agreed to host this years event.

The Kindness Explosion is a two day event where local churches of varied denominational backgrounds come together to worship and pray together, and then go out into the community and serve the community as one church - all to the glory of God! We believe that there is no greater witness than the church, as one unified body of Believers, reaching out in genuine love and compassion to the community through humble acts of kindness. We seek to redefine the church in our community by actively planting seeds of God's unconditional love in the hearts of every man, woman and child in this community.

Stay tuned for more details about KE09 coming in the next few weeks!