John Maxwell Gives Us Six Habits of Highly Defective People.  I like Maxwell because he challenges the way we think and gives us some tools for self-examination.  How do you rate in these areas?  I know I have some work to do in my own life.

• They have a losing attitude: People generally get whatever they expect out of life. Expect the worst, and that’s what you’ll get.

• They quit growing. People are what they are, and they are where they are because of what has gone into their minds.

• They have no game plan for life. As William Feather, author of The Business of Life says, “There are two kinds of failures: Those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.”

• They are unwilling to change. Some people would rather cling to what they have rather than embrace what might be better because they are afraid of getting something worse.

• They fail in relationships with others. People who cannot get along with others will never get ahead in life.

• They are not willing to pay the price for success. The road to success is uphill all the way. Anyone who wants to accomplish much must sacrifice much.

HT: Buddy Cremeans

Last night we had our leader’s meeting.  We had a good turn out and discussed our core values as a church.  These are the things that our ministries should value and live by.  Our goal is to work these into our ministries to give us a vision of what to focus on.

• We Exist To Imitate Christ In Our Lifestyles
• We Exist To Incorporate Opportunities For Prayer and Worship
• We Exist To Initiate Relationships With Others
• We Exist To Inspire People To Find and Fulfill Their God-given Purpose
  for Life
• We Exist To Impart Biblical Truths That Stimulate Spiritual Growth
• We Exist To Impact Our Community With The Love of Jesus Christ
• We Exist To Involve Others In The Mission of the Church Worldwide
• We Exist To Introduce People to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

I read a great article that was intended for pastors, but I think could speak to every person who teaches God’s Word.  It is by Craig Groeschel who pastors Life Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.  This article really stretched me!

Groeschel writes, “Every year, I personally mentor a handful of young speakers. Most of the speakers I work with don’t struggle with researching the text, preaching creatively, building meaningful outlines, or pointing people toward the gospel. Most of the communicators I see struggle to bring all of themselves to a message.

When you preach or teach, you must bring you. Without you in, around, and through the message, you will not impact today’s listener.

The younger audience today has a built in authenticity-meter. You can preach with passion, humor, clever points, or heart-wrenching stories. But if the scriptures haven’t touched your life, the listener will know it—and ignore your well-crafted message.

People want to know:

• How has the text affected you?
• How have you failed in the area the Scripture addresses?
• What about the text makes you uncomfortable?
• What do you feel about what Scripture is saying? (I know our feelings don’t trump scriptural truth, but talking about how we feel about the text can help engage others at a deeper level.)
• How are you becoming different because of your study in God’s word?”

"Every night I give my worries over to the Lord. He’s going to be up all night anyway."
-Mary C. Crowley-

HT: Buzzard Blog

Sunday afternoon Sonya had a pretty good scare.  We were headed to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and she could not find her wallet.  She looked high and low for it but it was nowhere to be found.  She then  thought of the last place she had it.  The last place was Wal-Mart (proof that we spend too much time and money there).

We prayed!  Sonya went to customer service at the store and asked about her wallet and they had it.  The guy at the counter couldn’t guarantee everything was still in there.  Nervously, Sonya opened it up and everything was in tact.  Nothing was missing from it.  An honest person had found it and turned it in.  There are honest people left in this world.

I know there is temptation in hard economic times.  Someone could have gladly taken the money or credit cards out of the wallet and used it freely.   But not the honest person who found it!  There are many people who are honest these days.  Do not let the news or the paper fool you.  There are some dishonest people and thieves for sure, but there are alot more people who are good and honest.  I do not know who found Sonya’s wallet, but I pray God blesses them for their integrity.

Sunday we begin our Stories Series.  I am excited as we look, not only at lives in the Bible, but also people within our church family.  What kind of stories?  Stories of Transformation.  Transformed Lives, Transformed Circumstances, Transformed Marriages, Transformed Bodies, Transformed Minds.

We have a great line-up of people sharing their stories over the next month.  They will give a ten to twelve minute “story” of what God has done in their life.  Then I will follow up with a “Story” from the bible.  Although mine will be longer than ten to twelve minutes.  This Sunday we will look at Transformed Lives (Salvation).

I am believing God to move and transform lives during this series.

Speaking of transformed lives, Sunday we will be baptizing 4 people in water.  These are exciting times at RFA!

My birthday present arrived via UPS today.  A New Bible.  I am a lover of books and a collector of Bibles.  You can never have too many Bibles if you ask me.  Sonya asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I told her a Bible.  She was shocked!  (Just kidding!)  Actually, I believe she thought, “Why do you need another Bible?”  So she told me to pick out the Bible I want and get it.

I have been looking at the Scofield Bible for quite a while.  It has been in print for a 100 years and is a quality study Bible with great notes.   It has a smaller scale of the chain reference system made popular in the Thompson Chain Bible.  Scofield’s notes give a sound background of the Scriptures. 

The thing I like most about a Bible is the quality of  the leather.  This version of the Scofield, produced by Oxford Press, has a good quality leather that has the feel of goatskin.  I was impressed!  You can’t beat the quality and the price on this!

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion, that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be out-done by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, in California an archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read: ‘California archaeologists have found traces of 200 year old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.’

One week later, a local newspaper in Texas , reported the following: 
After digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Cut-n-Shoot, Montgomery County, Texas, Bubba Rathbone, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Texas had already gone wireless.