Eyes to See and Ears to Hear

Have you ever stopped and wondered is it possible to be so in tune with what the Lord is doing that you don't lift a thumb without hearing from Him first? I've not lived that way and maybe you haven't either. This I know, He is speaking, the question is are you listening. That's the challenge we face as a people and as a church. If we want to go into the years ahead of us blind, than it doesn't matter what we hear. Just think of this, what if and I mean what if, we heard Him first. What if, all that we did was a response to His voice.

I believe that many read the scriptures everyday without a clear understanding as to what they're saying. Anyone with some intelligence can read the Bible and come up with some kind of an interpretation. Is that what He's asking us to come up with, some kind of interpretation? Should we not be challenged to stop and listen, to wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to us through His Word.

If you're like me than you're tired, tired of walking without knowing is this the direction I should be going? I understand faith to be the evidence of what we don't see, which is actual the proof that what we don't see is as real as real can be. There are times that we as people of faith use faith as a liberty to be ignorant. I love believing in what is unseen, because I know in my knower that what is unseen is more real that what I actually see. What we need to see is what He sees. I want to stand along the prophet Elisha and say, "What should we do, we're surrounded by the enemy?" Than to have Elisha pray, "Father open his eyes to see that those that are with us are greater than those that are with them." With my eyes still looking at the enemy my vision begins to refocus on the horizen, there before me the army of the Lord surrounding the enemy.

May we truly beleive that God is for us!

This week in our church is a week of Hearing, Waiting and Listening. How many of us will take the time to put down the remote and listen to His still small voice, or the loud thundering boom that declares this is the way walk in it.

I for one, am listening. Sure there are a lot of needs filling the airways. Good things to pray for, to ask for and I'm not saying their isn't a time to do that. Today, I wait! Today, I put aside what I want and I listen and I listen and I allow the Spirit of Almighty God, Bigger than Life no rather the Creator of Life to speak, to speak to me.

Lord we are your children and we are listening.

Warren

Easter at the rc

Wow, what a great day with family and friends. Hanging with old friends and building new ones. When I looked out over the congregation this morning I was encouraged to see a great group of people that had come together to celebrate such a wonderful occasion.

Than I have to stop and ask myself this question, "Why can't every day be like today?" Well the answer isn't so obvious as one might think. Yeah, you could say "it should be." But in reality it's not. You may ask how does that make me feel? I would say, ask me later because right now I feel pretty good. I know that one game doesn't make a season, nor does one service set the tone for the year. There are times when one moment in time can change a life. Are we looking for those moments, are we positioning ourselves to encounter a life changing moment, I'm not sure. This I do know when I attend a church service whether it's on Easter, Christmas, November or July I anticipate something happening that day. The scripture is powerful, worship takes us to a place where we can focus on Him and sharing that with other people is a mixture that has the potential for a spiritual explosion.

Looking forward to next week, we're starting a series called "Influence or Compromise" looking at the book of Daniel. Pastor Ben is kicking things off when Daniel has to decide if he will compromise his beliefs as he engages a new culture. It's interesting when culture and faith collide. This happens in so many different areas of life, as our culture changes and puts more pressure on you to "go with the flow" (that's an 80's term), are we called to influence or be influenced. I understand that in order for us to reach our culture we need to be flexable and moldable, but at the same time truth never changes it's the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I've said this before and I'll say it again, methodology may change but truth remains the same. We struggle with culture when we think methodology is unchangeable. If we look at our personal lives how we do things now verses 10 years ago is very different. How we do church today isn't about following a receipt but rather following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I've looked in scripture and I've yet to see the outline of a service--welcome, prayer, three songs, offering, 30-45 min message, song, close. It's just not there. We can get hung up on our methodology that we become religious about something that not religious, it's just the way we've always done it. The question is, "is how we've always done it the way we should be doing it today?"

Thanks to everyone that hung out at the RC today, it was great spending a couple of hours together.

Blogging, Why?

This is not something I've been craving to do for any certain amount of time. Just thought it's about time I do it. Blogging to me was a disturbing word, for one it ment that others might actually read something you say and not agree with it. Others may even enjoy what you say. Others may be thinking why is this guy saying anything he has nothing too say. Than I thought about our next generation leaders and blogging didn't seem so bad.

Leading the Church at the River Center I thought it might be helpful for people to hear what's going on here at the RC. What I want to do with this blog is...I'm not sure what I want to accomplish other than share my thought, ideas, heart about a local church in a rural area called Lebanon. We get a lot of bang for our buck with a city called Lebanon. I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain to someone I'm not from the middle east. Look at my profile pic do I look like I just walked off the set of "Three Kings" as one of the native extra's? It's usually a laugh when they figure out our city is located in the northwest in a valley called Willamette (try to pronounce that if you're outside the state of Oregon).

I would say that Lebanon is the best kept secret in the whole state of Oregon, we're about an hour or so from everthing-mountains-ocean-big city. It's a wonderful place to live and raise a family. It's also a great place to be pastoring a church, the RC (River Center).

For those of you that will be dropping by I trust you will enjoy what's going on "Here at the RC".