Where Did Summer Go?

I haven't blogged in quite a while so I thought I would write a short one. About time right DP?
Seems like I have been busier than ever. Don't know if I really have or I am just older and get tired quicker.
It has been a good Summer. Hot but good. We took our annual family beach trip and enjoyed it immensely. I did some serious reading and had some great time with the Lord. No cellphone. No computer....I needed that. Probably need a lot more of that.
Jordyn and I have not played much tennis this Summer. She is a busy girl...working and everything else and it has been super hot outside. We did go to the court this past Sunday night and played a set. It was so fun.
Maybe we will get some time in when the weather breaks a little but since she is starting college that could be a challenge. Oh well. There are certainly more important things than tennis.
Every year about this time I get a little sad that Summer is winding down and this year is no exception but I am excited that Beck and I will celebrate 20 years of marriage this September! I love that woman. She is simply the best! And she is my wife. Wow! God is so good to me!
Amanda has been here most of the Summer while Josh serves in Afghanistan. We have enjoyed spending time with her and our granddaughter Jaelynn.

CCF is always cool. I love being a pastor!
God is always working and we have been blessed to see Him continue to move and work in Community Christian Fellowship. We love our family in Christ and look forward to seeing what the Lord will do next in and through the believers of CCF.
So that is about it for this one. Did not have any philosophical comments or observations on my mind. Just checking in. Sometimes it's cool to go back and look at old posts. Kind of like a journal. Man I wrote some lengthy ones in the past. Once I get started sometimes I can't stop (just ask the people I preach too!)
See you soon!

In The Clouds

Beck, Jordyn and I had the opportunity to travel to Colorado Springs last week and we were amazed at what we saw. First, the reason why we went: Amanda had a baby! Yes, I am a grandfather...kind of freaky.
It is another one of those milestones in life that reminds me how fast time is flying and how fleeting this life is.
I can remember like it was yesterday, the first time I met Amanda. I went to see Becky (I was in love...still am) and she crawled up on my lap, looked me dead in the eye and said: "Are you Jim Burton?" She was 2. That was 20 years ago.
Now Amanda is a mother!
Her daughter's name is Jaelynn Isabella Rivera and she is beautiful and healthy, by the grace of God.
For more pics of our trip and to see Jaelynn click on my wife's blog: http://www.beckums.blogspot.com/
Amanda and Josh (her husband) are doing well. Josh is an officer in the Army and currently stationed at Fort Carson. They hope to be moving much closer to Virginia before too long but for now they live in beautiful Colorado Springs so we got to go there.
So while we were in Colorado Springs last week, we visited a couple of popular sites. Garden of the Gods and Pike's Peak. The above picture was taken from about 13,000 feet, near the summit of Pike's Peak. In the  clouds. It was awesome. 
We were "in the clouds" all week, literally, spiritually and emotionally. God is awesome. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1: "His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."
He made it all. Pike's Peak. The Garden of the Gods. Amanda. Jaelynn. Me...and you. He made it all and it (you and me included) all belongs to Him. Psalm 24:1
"The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
   the world and those who dwell therein."
Have you acknowledged your maker? The One by whose will you live and move and have your being? This awesome Creator has revealed His eternal power and divine attributes in the things that He has made and He has revealed His divine love through His Son Jesus Christ.
Even though mankind saw the mountains, the sea, the stars and the miracle of  new life, we rebelled against God. 
We all went our own way. We all broke His Holy Laws. We all alienated ourselves from the very God who created us...but He still loves His creation so He made a way for us to be reconciled unto Him.
Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through Me." 
The Bible says there is no other name given under heaven by which men might be saved other than the name of Jesus. 
He took our sins. He took our rebellion. He took our shame. He took it upon Himself and went to the Cross. Laying down His life. Shedding His blood. Dying a criminal's death and paying our price. He rose again on the third day, defeating death and He has ascended into heaven and has all authority in heaven and on earth and one day all will know this. 
The Bible says that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. The One who made those peaks. The One who knit together Jaelynn in Amanda's womb. He is coming. What will you say when you stand before Him?
Look at His creation. Look at your life. Look at your heart. Confess your sins and your need to be forgiven. Repent and trust Jesus to save you. He will lift you from the pit into the clouds! 

Investment Strategy

Have you seen any of these commercials recently about buying gold? They warn of the falling dollar, rising debt and volatile stock market while talking about the solid value of gold.

Yesterday Becky and I were eating supper and the TV was on when an ad for “goldline.com” came on. It depicts a professional looking couple in their mid 30’s, preparing some dinner maybe, as if they just got in from “the office.”

They are discussing money and the man says something like “Maybe it’s time we rethink our investment strategy.”

I started pondering this statement. “Maybe it’s time we rethink our investment strategy.”

The ad was obviously designed to convince people with stocks or savings of some kind to consider investing in gold but I began to think about my own investment strategy. I have no stocks to worry about or other monies that I need to be careful with but I have been blessed with very valuable commodities. We all have.

One very valuable commodity that we all are given is time. Time is so precious. We are only given a certain amount and we only have one chance to invest it.

It is not hard to see, in our day, that much time, if not most of our time, has been invested in earning money. So we can have things…more things…bigger homes…newer cars…security for the future. Is this really a wise investment of our time?

What have we sacrificed for more money? Many times we trade our one and only chance to raise our children for more money. Is that a wise investment of our time? Has this strategy been good for our families?

We sacrifice time with our spouse in this endless pursuit of money. What kind of returns have we received on this investment? Dividends of broken homes and shattered lives, but we have more money! Guess the divorce lawyers are getting that return.

 We foolishly put very little investment into the most precious of earthly relationships and then wonder what happened. Why didn’t it work? Where did we go wrong?

Marriage and children are precious gifts. We would be wise to rethink our investment strategies in these areas.

And if we are courageous enough to rethink our strategies to invest the precious commodity of time, what about our faith? How much of our time are we investing in such a precious gift as our faith?

There seems to be less and less time left in our ever busy schedules to invest in our faith these days and so many appear to be trapped in the relentless cycle of busyness. So consumed by this world.

The Bible says that our faith is more precious than gold and the outcome of our faith is the salvation of our souls. So how can we invest time in our faith?

If we really would rethink our strategies and invest less of our time in the pursuit of money, we are, at the same time, cultivating and exercising the precious gift of faith so its genuineness may be tested.

If we consider what scripture says is valuable instead of all the other influences and desires that we follow, the constant pursuit of money is just not a priority.

But what about our stuff? What about our standard of living that we have worked so hard to achieve? What about our retirement goals? Education and travel plans?

The Bible says the world and its desires are passing away but the one who does the will of God will abide forever. I believe that is why Jesus seemed to care so little about obtaining money. Why he said that God considered the successful farmer who built bigger barns to store his crops a fool. Why Jesus said not to worry about what we would eat or wear….that a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions.

Maybe that is why Jesus said even to sell your possessions and give to the poor and provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old. Treasures in heaven.

Time to rethink our investment strategies?

1 Peter 1:3-9

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The Sweetness of Unity

As a pastor of a relatively young fellowship of believers, one question that I get constantly is "How's the church going?" I appreciate the interest that people have in Community Christian Fellowship but my answer is always so inadequate. I usually answer that question with something really eloquent like "pretty good." Wow. Really? "Pretty good?"

It is really hard to articulate to someone how "the church is going" but today was a good "snapshot" of how CCF is going. Today was another reminder to me that God is indeed doing a work in our church and I have to say it is "pretty good." Actually it is better than that. It is sweet.

What happened today? Record attendance? Huge offering? New building? No, no and no. What happened today was another demonstration of love by serving one another with pure joy.

Because of the snow, we were unable to meet at our normal location or our normal time but that didn't faze the people of CCF.

"Where?" "What time?" "We will be there!"

And I am not talking people who show up, sit in a chair or pew for an hour and then go home. I am talking about people who arrive an hour or more before we start to work and work hard, and then stay after the service to serve more.

The trailer has to be hauled to the location, unloaded. Then everybody works as one to set up sound, a children's department and everything else we need in a new location that nobody is used to. Then when the worship service is over (and our worship is never only an hour!) everything has to be broken down and loaded back in the trailer and hauled away.

It requires flexibility, patience and a willingness to simply serve and it requires teamwork. I saw all of that today and more. I saw a family that God has made, not only working together, but serving Him with joy and true unity. It is so sweet.

Jesus said "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The Apostle Paul urged the believers in Ephesians to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

I love to preach but the most powerful message that is proclaimed from Community Christian Fellowship is the love for one another and unity in the Spirit demonstrated every week and magnified in challenging circumstances like today by our family in Christ at CCF! Thank you Lord!

The next time someone asks me "How's the church going?" maybe instead of "pretty good" I will say, "It is sweet!"

Worship In The Snow

This past year I heard a sermon in which the preacher ask a question that haunts me every time I am tempted to complain about the weather. He simply asked "who are you complaining to?" So, although this snow storm has prohibited us from having church at the school tomorrow, I will worship the Lord. I will not complain.
"God thunders wondrously with his voice;
   he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth,'
   likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour." Job 37:5-6

First Post of 2010

I realized I had not posted a new blog since last year and the fact that my wife has really been blogging it up lately, somehow compelled me to post something.

I have no deep thoughts to write tonight and maybe that is what I need to do more often anyway...just blog...period.

2010 is starting as a blessed year for sure.

This picture of Beck and I was taken on Jan. 17th at Community Christian Fellowship's 5 year Celebration Sunday. Wow! I still cannot believe it has been five years! And what the Lord has done in that time is nothing short of miraculous.

As we said from the very beginning, it is all His work, we just have "front row seats!"

Global Warming- The Real Concern

(Soren Bidstrup)

Are you concerned about “Global Warming?” Or is it “Climate Change” now? We are supposed to be concerned! Al Gore is very concerned and has been for some time now. World leaders are meeting in Copenhagen, even as I write this, formulating a strategy to stop this “threat” to the planet. Thousands are protesting in the streets of Denmark, demanding that the politicians of the world sign a treaty to “curb emissions.” Activists are also demanding that the “rich” nations pay for the damage done to poor nations by our use of fossil fuels and other climate threats like cow flatulence.

I know, you can’t make this stuff up. One of the most ironic ideas is that the world still thinks that the United States is one of the “rich” nations. Have you seen the debt clock lately? http://www.usdebtclock.org/

12 Trillion in debt…so how will we pay for “damages” to other nations?The whole thing is such a circus. I won’t even mention “Climate Gate” because it really doesn’t matter. The politicians will do whatever the politicians decide will be in their best interest and the best interest of the people and corporations that fill their pockets with money. You and I will just have to deal with the consequences.

This “Global Warming” hysteria would be funny if the consequences were not so serious.

If we go as “green” as many would like, we will all pay a lot of “green” and I personally think it is all a big lie to get whatever the power people want.

But even if the planet is getting warmer and even if man has anything to do with it, don’t be fooled into concerning yourself with the miniscule effect that we have on the climate. Be very concerned, however, with the effect the Creator will have on our climate in the future. Yes, I said the Creator. He has not gone anywhere and He is still in control. The most high minded of all elite scientists and the most powerful of all world leaders do not move Him in the least.

“The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.” Psalm 46:6

^“His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.” Psalm 97:4-5

He, and He alone will bring about some serious “Global Warming” in the future…guaranteed.

There will be no “Climate Gate” or other efforts to conceal data. There will be no more debate or conferences on the issue. There will be no more hysteria and protests over 1 or 2 degrees per quarter century. There will be no need for that, nor will there be any time for that. The Global Warming that is coming will melt everything with fervent heat. Everything. All of the elements of the world.

How can I be so sure? Because God’s word says it is coming. The word of God has never been wrong and will always come to pass. Every prophecy that has ever been uttered through the Spirit of the Lord has come to pass. Every prophecy that has yet to come to pass will.

We have been warned for centuries that the Day of the Lord would come.

The Apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter chapter 3:

“That you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will comein the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:2-13)

“Global Warming” is far from our greatest concern. Total economic collapse is far from our greatest concern.

By far, the greatest concern of man is the coming judgment of the Holy and Righteous Creator of this earth. He has made us. He has created this world for His pleasure and we have rebelled against Him. We have all been disobedient and unbelieving. By our very nature we have become objects of His wrath and when His wrath comes, it will be very, very hot.

Repent of your rebellion today. The Lord commands men everywhere to repent. Humble yourself under the Mighty Hand of God and cry out for His mercy and obey His word. He has provided the way for your escape. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, the repentant sinner can be saved from the coming wrath of God.

God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8), but you must repent and trust Jesus to save you. Then you can warn others of the real global warming threat and the way of escape. There is no other name given under heaven by which men must be saved other than the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12)

Repent and call on Jesus to save you today! The future is very hot without Him!