Big new - little town

Barbara and I lived in Waynesboro, VA for four years before I became pastor at Lord of Life. Waynesboro is a small town and not much of ever really happens there. But this small town has been at the front page of national news these last few days.

A sniper was shooting at cars passing by on I-64 between Waynesboro and Charlottesville. We have traveled this stretch of Interstate many, many times. This was part of Barbara's commute everyday when she attended UVA Nursing School.

We are glad that the shooter (actually shooters) has been found and that this did not turn into another DC sniper event.

I remember back the first day after the first sniper shootings in DC. I was actually in Maryland, in the exact same area where the shootings had occurred. There had been about 8 on that first day. The day after I thought, this area is probably not going to be too dangerous. This lunatic would not be crazy enough to come around again. Little did I know at the time the events that would transpire the next few weeks. That was such a relief when they caught that guy.

The world we live in is getting more and more crazy all the time. It is good to know we have God on our side.

Though I walk through the desert place

Those of you who have joined me in reading through God's Word this year have likely entered into the book of Deuteronomy. I have no idea why, but I have always enjoyed this book. It has always encouraged me even though it is a little dry.

Today we read Deuteronomy 8. In this chapter Moses says to Israelites, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or or not you would keep his commands."

God used this difficult time to build the Israelites faith and courage. At the same time it was used to build their appreciation of the land they were about to enter. It would be easy to take for granted the blessing and the bounty God would provide. But they would need do nothing more than look back at where they had come from to discover a proper perspective.

The difficult times in the desert reveal much about our character as well as the character of God. It was in the desert that God established himself as God. It was in the desert where God miraculously provided everything they needed. It was in the desert where there was no substitute for faith. Faith was all they had at times.

And God brought them through to the promised land. It was not in short order. Only 40 years! It was longer than anyone wanted. But the Israelites were all the stronger for it.

Are you walking through a desert in life now? Praise God! Because he will bring you through it stronger and more courageous than ever before.

Readings for next week:
March 30
Deut 13:1-15:23
Luke 8:40-9:6
Psalm 71:1-24
Proverbs 12:5-7

March 31
Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20
Luke 9:7-27
Psalm 72:1-20
Proverbs 12:8-9

April 01
Deut 18:1-20:20
Luke 9:28-50
Psalm 73:1-28
Proverbs 12:10

April 02
Deut 21:1-22:30
Luke 9:51-10:12
Psalm 74:1-23
Proverbs 12:11

April 03
Deut 23:1- 25:19
Luke 10:13-37
Psalm 75:1-10
Proverbs 12:12-14

April 04
Deut 26:1-27:26
Luke 10:38-11:13
Psalm 76:1-12
Proverbs 12:15-17

April 05
Deut 28:1-68
Luke 11:14-36
Psalm 77:1-20
Proverbs 12:18

Gillards leave for Uganda

My very good friend Jake Gillard and his wife Michelle are leaving for Uganda in Africa today. Jake has received a call to become a missionary there. They will be going there for a week and then return back to the States. They will be moving there full time later this summer.

Jake will be preaching at Lord of Life on July 5. If you are interested in learning more about them visit: http://ugandaconnection.wordpress.com/

Everything Glorious

Happy Holy Week! Wow! I hope you are feeling as inspired as I have these past few days. I am so excited about what God is doing. There is no doubt the last few months have been difficult. We have experienced some extraordinary transitions at Lord of Life. Feelings of doubt and fear crept in. But on Sunday morning something incredible happened that I cannot even really put into words. As I read the story of the passion God Word spoke so clearly to me that everything is going to be alright. And even more than making things alright, he will make everything glorious!

Jesus died on the cross and it was a dark, dark day. It was a day full of fear and doubt. But everything was alright. It was all a part of God's plan as he would make everything glorious. Jesus would rise from the dead. There was nothing that could hold him down. Not even the grave.

Lord of Life is a church that is on the move! There is nothing that can hold us down. There are challenges before us corporately and individually. There is sometimes a temptation at times to give up. I am sure many of the disciples wanted to give up on Good Friday (and some did), but there came the glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday.

My new favorite song for week is Everything Glorious. Here are the lyrics:

The day is brighter here with You
The night is lighter than it's hue
Would lead me to believe
Which leads me to believe

(chorus)
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
You make everything glorious
And I am Yours
What does that make me?

My eyes are small but they have seen
the beauty of enormous things
Which leads me to believe
there's light enough to see that

From glory to glory
You are glorious You are glorious
From glory to glory
You are glorious. You are glorious
Which leads me to believe
why I can believe that


Here are the readings for next week:

March 23 (Happy Easter!)
Num36:1-Deut1:46
Luke 5:29-6:11
Psalm 66:1-20
Proverbs 11:24-26

March 24
Deut 2:1- 3:29
Luke 6:12-38
Psalm 67:1-7
Proverbs 11:27

March 25
Deut 4:1-49
Luke 6:39-7:10
Psalm 68:1-18
Proverbs 11:28

March 26
Deut 5:1- 6:25
Luke 7:11-35
Psalm 68:19-35
Proverbs 11:29-31

March 27
Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20
Luke 7:36-8:3
Psalm 69:1-18
Proverbs 12:1

March 28
Deut 9:1-10:22
Luke 8:4-21
Psalm 69:19-36
Proverbs 12:2-3

March 29
Deut 11:1-12:32
Luke 8:22-39
Psalm 70:1-5
Proverbs 12:4

Holy Week

Sunday may have been one of the most moving worship experiences I have ever been part of. I barely made it through the reading of the passion at the end of our worship. I just broke down as I spoke the words. The story of Jesus' sacrifice is so incredibly powerful. There were no bells and whistles. Just the pure word!

Yet, in spite of the incredible sorrow of the morning, I walked around with incredible joy through out the afternoon. I can say it was definitely a spiritual high. God is moving in a powerful way.

I know I am not alone. When I spoke with a few men from Lord of Life during breakfast, more than one related how powerfully the words of the gospel had impacted them.

It was a great start to this holy week. I am looking forward to a great celebration of Jesus resurrection.

At Lord of Life, we would love to have you join us for this wonderful celebration.

Our Maundy Thursday services are at 7pm, Good Friday at 7pm, and Easter Sunday at 8, 9:30, and 11am.

Have a blessed Holy Week.

Reminders

I am very forgetful. For all of you who have ever asked me to do something and then I forgot to do it - I am so sorry. Please forgive me. Some things seem to go in one ear and out the other.

As a result, I love post it notes. Before I owned a Palm Handheld and now a Blackberry I would put post it notes everywhere. I would make little notes and post them were I could see them so I would not forget. The problem was when there got to be so many post it notes that I just started to ignore them. The other problem was when I did not write it down.

God knows it is good for us to have reminders. This week in our readings we read an interesting section in Numbers 15:37-41 where God tells the Israelites to put tassels on their garments. He says, "You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them . . . (15:39).

This all got me thinking about remembering God's Word and taking it with you throughout the day. I know there are many times I will spend time with my readings in the morning, but will rarely come back to them throughout the day. What I read goes out of sight and then out of mind.

Today, we may not put tassels on our clothes, but we might put a message on our cell phone or on your screen saver or desktop of our computer. I heard of a pastor who put a little dot sticker on his wrist watch to help remind him to be faithful in prayer. Maybe you might considering putting a sign above your television asking yourself if you re being a faithful steward with your time. Or maybe a magnet on your refrigerator reminding who provided the food inside. Or maybe you might set an alarm to go off at a certain time of the day to spend some time with God.

If you have some reminders that you have established to help you remain faithful in your walk, I would love to hear about them. I love to hear from you.

Readings for next week:

March 16
Numbers 24:1-25:18
Luke 2:1-35
Psalm 59:1-17
Proverbs 11:14

March17
Numbers 26:1-51
Luke 2:36-52
Psalm 60:1-12
Proverbs 11:15

March 18
Numbers 26:52-28:15
Luke 3:1-22
Psalm 61:1-8
Proverbs 11:16-17

March 19
Numbers 28;16-29:40
Luke 3:23-38
Psalm 62:1-12
Proverbs 11:18-19

March 20
Numbers 30:1-31:54
Luke 4:1-30
Psalm 63:1-11
Proverbs 11:20-21

March 21
Numbers 32:1-33:39
Luke 4:31-5:11
Psalm 64:1-10
Proverbs 11:22

March 22
Numbers 33:40-35:34
Luke 5:12-28
Psalm 65:1-13
Proverbs 11:23

Impossible

We will grow tired, but our strength will be renewed

I returned from the men's retreat this past weekend incredibly inspired and incredibly tired. It is now Thursday and I am just now returning to sorts.

I know that I am not alone. There were more than a few men who returned with the flu or a cold. There was so much invested into this weekend and it took and amazing amount of energy to bring it all together. But it was all worth it.

I sense that this is the way it will be in the near future at Lord of Life Church. God is moving in incredible ways. So many exciting things are happening.

This weekend we will gather to worship an incredible God who is mighty to move mountains, who raises the dead, who walks on the water, and who turns the hardest of sinners to faith. The best part is that we get to take part in his work.

As we move forward into the future, it will take a lot of energy. There is much work to be done. And there will be times where we become tired. But there is an amazing promise from God that he will renew our strength for the task. Read Isaiah 40:28-31:

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Readings next week:

March 09
Numbers 11:24-13:33
Mark 14:22-52
Psalm 52:1-9
Proverbs 11:1-3

March 10
Numbers 14:1-15:16
Mark 14:53-72
Psalm 53:1-6
Proverbs 11:4

March 11
Numbers 15:17-16:40
Mark 15:1-47
Psalm 54:1-7
Proverbs 11:5-6

March 12
Numbers 16:41-18:32
Mark 16:1-20
Psalm 55:1-23
Proverbs 11:7

March 13
Numbers 19:1-20:29
Luke 1:1-25
Psalm 56:1-13
Proverbs 11:8

March 14
Numbers 21:1-22:20
Luke 1:26-56
Psalm 57:1-11
Proverbs 11:9-11

March 15
Numbers 22:21-23:30
Luke 1:57-80
Psalm 58:1-11
Proverbs 11:12-13

Significant days

I write to you this week from the Lord of Life Men's Retreat in Walworth, WI. Please keep this retreat in your prayers. Pray for each man in attendance that God would speak to their heart.

We are thankful for safe travel. Shortly before we hit the Wisconsin border we hit some severe black ice on the roads. There were many cars that had gone in the ditch. But we praise the Lord that everyone from our group arrived safely and without incident.

The last two days have been significant. Today, March 1, is the first day of meteorological spring. However, when you look outside it dos not look much like spring. The snow is still deep. The temperature is still cold. But spring is here even though the evidence is lacking.

That's how it is with faith. Jesus has won the victory. He has overcome the world. Although we may feel burdened today - our prayer is answered. We look around and it seems like Satan is having his day. But Jesus has powerfully declared that Satan's day is over. It is a new beginning and a new start for each and everyone of us.

Yesterday, was leap year. Many of the men who came on the retreat made sacrifices to come. Significantly, they sacrificed their time this weekend. But we know that God always gives us back something more in return. I thought it was no coincidence that on this weekend where so many men sacrificed their time, that God gave us back an extra day.

It was a blessing as well, for many of us who might have been a day or two behind in our readings to use it as a day to catch up. God always knows what we need and he always seems to come through.

The readings for next week:

02 Exodus 15:19-17:7
Matthew 22:1-33
Psalm 27:1-6
Proverbs 6:20-26

03 Exodus 17:8-19:15
Matthew 22:34-23:12
Psalm 27:7-14
Proverbs 6:27-35

04 Exodus 19:16-21:21
Matthew 23:13-39
Psalm 28:1-9
Proverbs 7:1-5

05 Exodus 21:22-23:13
Matthew 24:1-28
Psalm 29:1-11
Proverbs 7:6-23

06 Exodus 23:14-25:40
Matthew 24:29-51
Psalm 30:1-12
Proverbs 7:24-27

07 Exodus 26:1-27:21
Matthew 25:1-30
Psalm 31:1-8
Proverbs 8:1-11

08 Exodus 28:1-43
Matthew 25:31-26:13
Psalm 31:9-18
Proverbs 8:12-13