There Is Hope (2)

At First Farragut we've had two Sundays now of "There is HOPE". Hope in Church and Hope in Christ have taken us through the first chapter of Colossians. My plan was to write a blog entry after each session of "There is HOPE" to be done by the time the "By the Way" (First Farragut's weekly newsletter) goes out on Wednesday. I've not been able to do it this week. It's not that I don't have anything to say, but because someone else already said it better than I ever could. Amanda Cleveland, a First Farragut youth, writes some incredible blog entries and she has one from Sunday. Check it out!

BIT: Hope isn't a fairytale, it's a promise. Thanks Amanda!

Update: 50 in 5

Yes, I know that I have not been doing regular updates on my 50 in 5 challenge. If you've not read the previous post ... I'm trying to lose 50 pounds in 5 months. It started on July 1 and runs through November. If your a math genius, you know that the average I need to lose is 10 pounds per month. It has been a month and a half ... so to be on target I would need to have lost 15 pounds.

[Scene cuts to John eating at the All-You-Can-Eat Seafood Buffet at Seafood World in Myrtle Beach] As we all know John struggled in July with his challenge as he was on vacation and tempted by all the wonderful food of Myrtle Beach. [Scene cuts to John walking around Pirate Land Family Campground] But he was no slouch either, regularly walking in the mornings even while on vacation. Did John exercise enough to be on his target loss or did he eat away all of his loss?

Well, for the first two weeks of July (before vacation) I did lose 5 pounds. Then two weeks of vacation, where I LOST 1 pound. Not the loss I wanted, but a loss while on vacation is a keeper. Then two weeks in August, back on the walking trail, and I lost another 4 pounds. My update is that I have lost 10 pounds (and am 5 pounds behind my goal).

But there is good news. I had my 3 month check up (which was really 5 months, but Dr. Ken didn't mention being 2 months late so we're going with it). My cholesterol came in at 199 -- below 200 for the first time since I've been testing. My sugars were down. My blood pressure top number was down 30 points (it's still high, but 30 points!).

I'll update you at the end of August. Maybe I can make up two or three pounds? Who knows.

BIT: I just wanted to share "The Call to Prayer" for my morning time with God. It is from Psalm 147:1. "Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! How pleasant it is to honor him with praise!"

There Is HOPE

Have you ever listened to a song over and over again and then all of a sudden you are hit with this deep meaning spiritual moment? I have the album "Hawk Nelson is My Friend!" on my ipod. I listen to it when I'm walking (as part of my 50 in 5). It's fast paced and it inspires me to go faster and further. My favorite song on the album is Let's Dance, but I listen to them all. So, I've listened to One Little Miracle more than a few times. Nothing had really jumped out at me. A lot of times my mind is wandering when I'm walking (with an occasional run here and there) ... thinking about God, my next sermon series, what's going on in the life of my family, etc. Or, the voice of Jillian Michaels is screaming at me "Run, fat boy, run" (which we'll leave to later blog). I'm not always paying attention to the lyrics of the songs I'm hearing. But this morning, as I rounded the turn for my 4th mile, I was on Union Rd behind the Church (which is narrow and scary), that song came on and it was like the words and music were speaking just to me.


Perhaps I was more attune to the topic of hope because of our new worship series "There is HOPE (Colossians @ First Farragut). Usually my walks fill me with dread and pain, but this morning I was filled with God's reassuring hope as I listened to One Little Miracle by Hawk Nelson.

BIT: I "hope" you're being filled supernaturally by God's hope this week and/or sharing God's hope with someone who needs it. There is HOPE in Church!

50 in 5

No, I'm not turning 50 in 5 days. That's way, way, way off. It's my new goal. Today is July 1st and half of 2010 is gone. There's been something on my "to do" list for far too long. So, I've decided to finally go for it. Do it! Lose 50 lbs in 5 months. Why 5 months? Well, that would take me to Thanksgiving. What a Thanksgiving I will have if ... no, when ... I reach my goal.

I started today with a 3.5 mile walk. My plan is to blog on my progress on the 1st and 15th of each month (accountability).

BIT: I told my better half of my plan and goal and she has decided to join me. She also suggested that we make it a competition. Of course I laughed at her. "Haven't you watched the Biggest Loser? You don't stand a chance." After I picked myself up off the floor, we've decided on a friendly competition. So, I'll share how badly I'm beating her with each progress report.

First Fruits

This is the first year in many that the Brewster Family has had a garden. Now, it's pretty small (5 ft. x 10 ft.), but it has generated really big excitement with the kids. A little over two weeks ago, we saw our first banana pepper make it to picking stage. I thought this would be a great teaching moment. So, I took my two out to the backyard and I told the story from Leviticus 23:9-11, 14

Then the Lord said to Moses,“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf.
Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

[Yes, I know, I left out the part about offering a one-year old lamb. I just didn't think the folks of Farragut (or my subdivision) would appreciate me burning a lamb on an altar in my back yard (besides, I'm pretty sure there's a permit form for that). I know, I also left out the part about bringing a quart of wine to church as a liquid offering, but we have rules about that at First Farragut (though I may try that offering in my back yard later, I think it will fit nicely with the Farragut milieu)] Of course if you don't read your Bible, you wouldn't have known I left out that valuable info ...

... but back to the story. I told my two we would take our first fruit, the banana pepper, to church on Sunday. And we did. I had a teaching moment with the congregation right before the offering about first fruits. We laid the pepper on the altar with the offerings.

BIT: The problem came the next week when the squash I'd been eyeing ripened. My mouth was watering for some fried squash and onions ... I came home from work to find that it had been picked, so I told the family we should fry that puppy up. To my horror, my two theologians told me that since it was the "first" squash, it too would have to go to church. And so it has progressed. The first cucumber came last Sunday and the first bell pepper is on it's way.

BITTER: You know, I think my garden is growing faster since giving the first fruits. I wonder if that's in that Bible? Let me know if you find it.

Comfort

Yesterday in worship we celebrated VBS Sunday with "God's Word is ... Comforting." To be honest it was a struggle for me. The question I shared toward the beginning of the sermon was my question, "How can he [the psalmist] say that?" (the "that" being "Thy Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path," and our scripture phrase from the same psalm 119, "Your promise revives me; it COMFORTS me in all my troubles.") How can we, who are not unlike the psalmist who says he is "suffering much" and is asking God to "restore my life again as you promised ... my life constantly hangs in the balance ... the wicked have set their traps for me", find comfort in God's Word.

Knowing that so many in our congregation are struggling with some huge issues (divorce, cancer, long-term job loss, financial burdens, addictions), I was concerned about sharing that God's Word is Comforting. I personally know it to be true, but I knew I was going to have to be able to answer the question, "How is God's Word comforting?"

Well, I hope you were here for the sermon to find the answer.

How interesting it was to find that Monday's "The Refrain for the Morning Lessons" in my devotional/centering prayer time was from Psalm 71:21, "You strengthen me more and more; you enfold me and comfort me." I took it as a "God Thing" that perhaps God thought the sermon on Sunday was helpful (perhaps even on target). It was also interesting to find that today is an opportunity to remember Barnabas (whose name means "son of encouragement", one of the circle of seventy who founded the Church. He was martyred for his faith, at Salamis, June 61 a.d. Part of the Morning Lesson was from Acts 11:

"They sent Barnabas out to Antioch. There he was glad to see for himself that God had given grace, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord."

Perhaps Encouragement and Comfort are not too far apart. Perhaps God's Word is Comforting because God uses people like Barnabas to live out God's Comforting Word through Encouragement.

BIT: No, I won't leave you hanging if you missed the sermon on Sunday. My thoughts on "God's Word is Comforting" is that scripture (God's Word) is more about a personal encounter with God, than just impersonal words of information. God is more interested in having a relationship, a connection that is deep and strong. A relationship with God through Jesus Christ brings Comfort out of God's Word.

BITTER: Who will you encourage today? Perhaps it will bring someone God's Word of Comfort. "You strengthen me more and more; you enfold me and comfort me."

VBS Fun!

Tomorrow is the last day of VBS at First Farragut. It has been fantastic! Here's Wednesday's Video. We'll have another video at Worship on Sunday!