Street appeal 2

- Last Wednesday I was fixing my fence. The boards were rotting so the posts kept falling out. So what did I do? I went and got my trailer and ripped the sucker out of the ground. I had my kids pulling and pounding. It was fun.
- Then I was left with a front yard full of overgrown perennials and weeds.
- Thursday I went and got my Rototiller and tilled the entire front yard. I figured it was better to have a clean yard.
- Saturday I spent the day (+33) raking and hauling dirt. (cooled off in a lake with the kids later in the day) I got inspired and ordered sod to be delivered for Monday.
- Sunday I had the lawn even and raked, then I didn't like the way it looked so I tilled it again. This time my back was aching and I was running out of energy. Got a second wind and got it all leveled, rolled and prepared for sod.
- Monday after work I went to work installing the sod. It was cool, all of the neighborhood kids came over and started hauling sod and rolling it with me.
- An hour and a half later we started the sprinkler to water the new lawn.
- Here is a pictorial collage of us installing the sod. (I will post pictures of the lawn in daylight tomorrow.

Walking a Godly life

Why is it so difficult to live a life we "feel" is pleasing to the father? I think that as a North American Christian society we have been duped. Duped to believe that we need certain levels of approval or stature to step out in faith in God. I have been pondering this a lot lately. Why is it that we feel so held back to follow our hearts? Something is not right about this level of thinking. Christ came to give us freedom, yet so many times we feel a reluctance to step out. Often times this comes when it comes to ministering to the body, especially if your thinking is outside the box. We feel that somehow we need approval from man before we will hear and obey the spirit of God. With that said, godly counsel should not go out the window as it is vital.

I just heard a sermon from Jason Upton and he said something that stuck out like a sore thumb. He said "Yesterday I wore my Bob Dylan shirt. Why did I wear my Bob Dylan shirt? It wasn't because he was the most godly man on the earth. I wore my Bob Dylan shirt because....Who told Bob Dylan he could sing. He doesn't sound like anyone else. Nobody told him he should sing, he just did it."

Another thing that causes my spirit to stir on this is that we don't seek out approval to parent our children, choose our careers, what cars to drive, where to go on vacation, etc. If I may be so bold I would like to suggest that the North American church has planted an unhealthy view of church authority. Instead of going for the heart of the individual and mentoring them in their vision, the church has set a mentality that you cannot move out unless the church is already moving that direction. I think that we also get stuck in thinking that ministry has to happen in a church setting or a specific environment. That is why I wrote my post on painting. God wants us to live our life as a representation to his heart and mind. Our ministry should not be central to what the church has made it out to be. Our ministry needs to extend to everything that we do.
When at work we can be ministering the love of God, when with our neighbors we can be showing the heart of God, when at the grocery store we can be showing mercy.

I don't think God ever intended their to be a separate "ministry call" on our lives that takes us out of your world. This is a very critical issue that needs to be addressed as we need to begin moving out and ministering the love of the Father everywhere we go. My sister summed it up once with a very simple statement. "I want to have the fear of God in my life, not the fear of Man"

I love what Jude said

20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Street appeal

In anticipation of having my bank come to do an appraisal on my house in October, I am painting the exterior of my house. Here is the process thus far

Before

During

After



Next step...the side of the house

Go Paint

......Picture a child playing in his back yard. He comes to you and says Daddy can I play in the sand box? You say yes. Five minutes later your child comes back, "Daddy can I go play on the swings?" You say yes. Five minutes later your child comes to you and asks "Daddy can I play with my trucks?" You say yes. Five minutes later your child comes to you and asks "Daddy can I play with my soccer ball?" At this point you will say Look my child, I have given you this yard to play in. Everything in it belongs to you, go on and have fun enjoy yourself. The gates are locked so you cant get out. Go play.

...... I think that Jesus forgot to teach about the fourth servant. In the parable of the talents Jesus talks about the servant that gets ten talent, the servant that gets five and the servant that gets one. I think that there should have been a fourth person. One that gets three talents. The master comes back from his journey, goes to the forth servant and the servant replies "I'm sorry my lord, I took your talents and I took one and I tried to invest it here and I lost it. Then I had an idea to invest my talent over there and lost it there as well. Finally after a lot of searching I went and invested my talent over here and I lost that talent too. My lord I tried, I have nothing to show for it but oh did I try. What kind of response would the master have had? I think he would have shown compassion and blessed the servant for giving his best effort. Also what confidence would that give to the average Christian today who is afraid to step out for fear of trying.

...... Picture being in an art class with father God. He takes you throughout the room and shows you all of the people that are painting away. There are children, teenagers, mothers fathers, seniors. He is showing you the different pictures. You notice that they are very diverse, not one the same. God explains to you that these pictures, these precious paintings are these peoples lives. He explains to you that they are painting a picture of their life that they will someday present to him. Then he takes you by the hand and leads you to a blank canvass. He looks at you with his loving eyes and says "this is your life.......GO PAINT"