Wow – I can hardly believe it’s a new year already – After all I was just celebrating the ringing in of 2008, which of course implied new beginings because of the number 8.  2008 was just that – a year of new beginnings.  This web page for example came up in ’08.  I purchased a new vehicle in ’08 and I started as the worship leader at New Life Community Church in Mukwanago in ’08.  There were of course many other new beginings for me and my family this year.  Even though it’s somewhat sad to see the old year go, I am excited about 2009, because it implies fullness due to the number 9.  I am excited to see what the year may bring to blossom out of all the new beginnings from 2008.  I pray that there will be a fullness to the relationship between me and my God and between me and my family and friends.  I also pray that there will be a fullness to the ministry God has blessed me with and a fullness for both those who have supported and been touched by the ministry.

Understand that I do not really support the making of New Year’s resolutions, since they can elicit feelings of disappointment when we fail and condsidering we’re human and good at failing, I prefer to live by a daily motto of “moving and improving” or what others have referred to as “constant and never ending improvement”.  Living by this motto, moves me out of the realm of setting usually unrealistic and overwhelming goals to pursing more manageable objectives.  If I can find just one thing a day that I can try to improve upon even just a little bit, then I know by the end of the year all those little improvements will add up to something larger overall.  I balance this with the knowledge that we all must have a direction or big picture for our lives but as the old saying goes “how do you eat an elephant? – one bite at a time”.

So, if you, like me, want to stay encouraged throughout the year and if you must make new year’s resolutions, please set them to be realistic and only set ones that you know what the bite sized objectives are to get you there.  Hopefully they will be spiritual and relational in nature such as spending 5 or 10 more miniutes through out the day talking with God and letting Him talk to you or perhaps saying one nice thing to the significant other in your life each day.  I believe these kinds of goals help us to be better people in general and by being better in this manner makes us feel good about ourselves, which in turn affects everything else going on in our lives.

So here’s to 2009 may it be your year of fullness in Christ!

Well the election is over!  Whew – what a ride for the last several months.  For many it was a victory and for others it was a defeat.  No matter how you feel about the results of the election, we all now have to face the facts and continue on in living our lives.  As believers, we are always inspired by scriptures, which remind us that all rulers are established (and removed) by God.  We are also encourgaged to pray for our leaders, no matter who they are or what they may stand for.  Therefore, I hope with this first day after the election that you, like me, have begun praying for our country’s new leadership, afterall they will need it as much as anyone else.

Remember too that we are to show respect and obedience to our leaders, as is fit in the Lord.  The key phrase here is – as is fit in the Lord.  For me, that means as long as leadership does not ask of us things that are in direct opposition to God and His word, we are to follow.  However, should leadership ask of us things that are clearly against God and His word, we are to stand up for God like the Hebrew boys who stood up to Nebuchadnezzar and as a result had to face the furnace.  When we stand up for the things of God, things may get hot for us as well.  Who knows if the nation’s new leadership will provide us a hot or a cool spiritual atmosphere but none-the-less, we know who controls the thermostat.  King Jesus!

That’s right – Jesus – is the one in utlimate control and as long as we remember that, the results of the election really are not that important.  What is truly important is our attitude and our response.  If we want to adjust our own climate, we can influence the temperature through prayer.  So in all things, I encourage everyone to remain faithful in praying for our leadership here on earth – all the while remembering that we live by a heavenly theocracy not just an earthly democracy.

This is my first blog and I wanted to start off by making a statement and saying that it is my desire to live not only with a form of Godliness but with the power that goes with it!

In order to clarify, I guess I must start with what is a form of Godliness?  Form to me refers to the outside/external part of us and Godliness to me means a reference to be pleasing to God.  In other words living and doing things that are pleasing to God.

However, if we only try to live with an outward expression of a love for God, it may cause us to change for the better in only small ways.  On the other hand, if we internalize our love for God and allow those internal changes to reflect externally, our changes appear even greater on the outside.  Lastly, since we are human beings and flawed creatures at best, our ability to change externally or even internally is limited by our human nature and therefore can never produce a perfect change.  Therefore, I believe in order for a meaningful and lasting change to take place in our lives we must have the Holy Spirit working within us to make up the difference.  The working of the Holy Spirit is what I will refer to as the power of God.

Hence, when some say that the Holy Spirit does not work in our lives today, I believe they have denied the power of God out rightly and there is not much more that can be done.  If this individual tries on their own to live a Godly life the result will be in form only, as certain things and abilities can only come from the Holy Spirit (such as the gifts of the Spirit but that’s for another blog).

Unfortunately many of us choose (or should I say have settled) to live with a form of Godliness but have denied the power, not because of an outright denial of God’s power to work in our lives, but I think because of the inadvertent and even subconscious decisions we make on a day-in, day-out or even hour-by-hour basis.

There are two major reasons for this.  First is simply a not knowing or understanding that God can work powerfully in every situation in our lives from the seemingly small such as “God where did I place my car keys” to the relatively large such as “God would you please heal me from the physical pain I am suffering” (I’ve personally seen and had God’s power work in both situations).  When we are ignorant to God’s ability then perhaps we simply have not asked God to display His power in our lives where we need it the most.  The best cure for this ignorance is twofold.  One we simply need to start asking God for His power in our lives and two in order to understand how God would like to display His power in our lives it would be best to see examples of how He has displayed His power in the past.  The best record for how God has shown His power is of course in His word (the Bible).  By studying the word of God we can see numerous examples of how God’s power brought about change in believers, situations, weather and a myriad of circumstances.  Since scripture also states that God does not change, the power He displayed then, He is capable of displaying today.  Therefore, take Him at His word and begin asking Him for the power for changes in your life today.

The second reason I believe we inadvertently deny the power of God is that we get too caught up in our busyness and simply forget that God can take care of many of our situations and we simply plod on trying to take care of things ourselves.  Or, we mistakenly think that God doesn’t want to be bothered by these seemingly trivial things in our lives when He’s got the whole world to look after.  However, I want to remind you that scripture says that you are the apple of His eye and that He promised He would never forsake you.  Also, scripture says we are to bring every concern and care we have to Him since He cares for us.  So the next time you find yourself in the bind of time and really could use God’s power to move in your situation, don’t dismiss the thought of asking God to intervene.  He’s waiting on you to call on Him so He can work in your life to strengthen your faith and pour His love out on you.

Therefore, I encourage everyone to pursue both a form of Godliness but also the power that will enable us to truly possess it by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

God Bless – Rick