What’s up with this crazy weather? I will be honest…I love it when the day gets up in the 60’s, the sun is shining and I can see the mountains to the north. But lately it seems that the weather changes to the next extreme the following day. You know, overcast and cold. You know what really lifts my spirits on days like today? I’m glad you’re interested. (And still reading!) I just sit down at the end of the day and watch the 10 o’clock news from Chicago, and when the weather report comes around I am thoroughly back on “cloud #9.” In fact, last night (Monday) they were having heavy snows and it was really cold! Praise the Lord we’re in the good old South!

Now, you may be wondering what all this has to do with anything. I’m glad you’re wondering that. Too often I allow circumstances (i.e., weather, day at the office, car problems, how other people treat me, etc.) to dictate my mood and level of joy. Sound familiar? You too? Good, then we’re on the same page. What I fail to realize is that God’s love for me is constant; it is unchanging; it is unmatchable; it is unsearchable. That realization helps to keep me from being knocked off center. God’s unfailing, eternal love is my compass that points my life “True North.”

Paul wrote, ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 38-39 NIV)

Remember this the next time you are “down” or discouraged. Truly if God is for us who can be against us!

Grace & Peace,

We are going to spend the winter months unfolding God’s vision for our lives and His church. It is absolutely imperative that we not waste time by chasing after our dreams; we must be pursuing God’s dream for us! I believe His vision for us and Calvary can be summed up in a simple way…

Glorify God!

The complex part of this purpose statement comes when attempting to define how we are to honor God with our lives and in His church. The answer is as diverse as we are. How I glorify God in my life, with my family, and through my ministry is unique to me. Long ago (way back in the fall of 1981) God used a verse in His Word to center my life.

Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)

This verse has sustained me at every turn and decision I have ever made. It is, as some would call it, my life verse. It has helped me when I was discouraged or overwhelmed. When the occasioned called for a long study time late into the night (or early evening) this word from God kept me going. I really every one of us should have a verse like this…a verse that keeps us centered in life…a life verse.

If you don’t have one ask God to speak to you through His Word and lead you to something you can “hang your hat on.”

Honoring God involves discovering His picture or vision of what our lives could and should be. Glorifying God involves discovering what we could and should accomplish. We were created and re-created with His purposes in mind. And until we discover His purpose—and follow through—there will always be a hole in our soul.

I Love You So Much!

Did you get your Christmas shopping done yet? Me? NO! Barb and I have started well and we hope to finish strong! Nothing like spending your busy nights at the mall. And this brings me to what I’ve been thinking about…finishing strong!

The messages on Sunday morning have been from the book of Galatians. The study of these four verses in chapter four has been intentional. The beginning of Galatians Four is a foundation for us to understand why God sent His Son and what takes place in a believer’s heart when we receive redemption. The background of Galatians is “legalism.” The religious Jews were promoting the view that the way to get to God was through keeping The Law, and the way to stay close to God was through the same process. Paul wrote Galatians to refute this error. Two verses come to mind,

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
(Galatians 3:3)

You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? (Galatians 5:7)

Remember: The way we got in is the way we stay in! That means that if we are saved by grace through faith then that is the way God wants us to live. He doesn’t want us to revert to some list of rules or “badges” that we wear. Yes, the works are important. But they are only important in that they point to the reality of our faith in God’s amazing grace!

If we revert to keeping the law in order to be accepted by God then we make the grace of God cheap and we make the death of Christ empty. Why? Glad you asked. If we can keep our salvation by keeping the rules or wearing the right “badges” then Christ really didn’t have to come and die on the cross. The whole of Christianity is then not something God did when He sent Jesus to be born in a cradle and end up on a cross; the whole of Christianity is women and men scratching out eternal significance on their own. It becomes our religion and not God’s relationship with us.

So, let’s not cheapen God’s grace by making it performance oriented…it must be grace oriented. We do what we do because we are God’s children and we want to finish strong!

Grace & Peace, Scott