Weather Watcher

I admit it. I’m a weather watcher, especially when I have something planned to do outside. I even have my little rain gauge to tell me about how the weather has been, and my little outdoor thermometer to send a radio signal inside the house to tell me the current temperature outside. I could see […]

I admit it. I’m a weather watcher, especially when I have something planned to do outside. I even have my little rain gauge to tell me about how the weather has been, and my little outdoor thermometer to send a radio signal inside the house to tell me the current temperature outside.

I could see myself setting up one of those weather stations in my yard.

Jesus talked about the weather watchers of his day. They did a pretty good job of reading the weather indicators, but a very poor job of reading the indicators of more important matters.

Watching the weather has very little, if any, importance in the things that matter.

But watching myself has been a warning from God since creation. Watching myself has eternal consequences.

Am I watching to make sure I am constantly and continually “about my Father’s business” as Jesus was?

Am I watching the path I’m walking to make sure I stay on the straight and narrow path of God’s will and truth?

Do I give all diligence to watch my heart and mind because from my thoughts and desires come all of the issues of life?

Do I watch myself to make sure that every part of me is being offered as a sacrifice to God in order to do his will?

I need to be a watcher, but of more important things than the weather.

Community Connections

A couple of weeks ago, I shared two opportunities that we had to connect with people in our surrounding communities. We had booths representing the church at “Hay Hoover” and Pelham’s “Fall Fun Day.” By taking advantage of these opportunities, we were able to connect...

Permission to Wonder

In the 6th grade classroom there is a large metal envelope hanging on a bulletin board, and the students know that during bible class, anytime they have a Bible / religious question pop in their mind (whether related to the topic of class, or not), they can go and...

Kidmin 101

This past Sunday night, I shared five core values that our Children’s Ministry is founded on. These values are what helps keep each event, activity, and class in line with our overall mission. The core values are: 1. Know: Our children will learn to know God and the...

Faith On a Shelf

I have this hat that my dad brought back to me from a business trip to Atlanta when I was 9 or 10 years old. You can see that I’ve worn it a lot. In fact, I wore it to just about everywhere I went during the summer when I was a kid. Church camps, grandparents’ house,...

“Jesus Loves Me”

After being led in this song by two of our young men Sunday night, I was reminded of a quotation from Karl Barth. On April 23, 1962, Karl Barth (the renown 20th Century Swiss-German, neo-orthodox theologian) spoke at Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University...

That’s Not a Candle

Several years ago, there was story shared about a woman from Connecticut whose power had gone out during a storm. She left her house to go to a local hardware store to purchase some flashlights, but the store was closed. She returned home and found what she thought...

The Post-Christian Problem

I attended the New Day Conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at the end of last week with a small group from Riverchase. It was a good conference and I left encouraged about the opportunities we have to fulfill the call of Christ to make disciples. On Friday evening,...

Josiah’s Reform

In the thirty-one years of his rule, King Josiah proved to be a faithful man of God and a great king of Judah. He served God from the beginning as a young king and grew into a greater understanding of God’s will and a determination to follow that will. He made a...

You Are What You Eat

You Are What You Eat You’ve heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” Simply defined, it means that you should eat healthy if you want to be healthy. This phrase can trace its roots back to the early 1800’s. It came from the 1826 work The Physiology of Taste, in which...

It Is Well

Above the piano in our house is a large wood sign with the phrase, “it is well with my soul” on it. Kimberly and I purchased it during a season of our life together where we were not completely sure what the future had in store for our little family. Since then, the...