1+1=1, the relationship equation

during february, we will uncover this new math at bethel church. join us on Sundays @ 10:30am.

the delight challenge

I want to encourage you to take a personal challenge with me. Over the next four months, beginning in February, take "the delight challenge" to read one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening from the Bible (New Testament) for each month. I have listed a schedule below to follow. I will be speaking in series of messages that will reinforce what you are reading over the next four months at Bethel Church if you are interested. By the way at the end of the four months you will have read all of the New Testament except for one book, Revelation. We can throw this in too and have it all read - and according to Psalm One, we will be blessed!

the delight challenge…

“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law (word) he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers…” Psalm One

*Read one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening for each month.

February challenge…
Morning chapters: John (21 chapters), 1 John (5 chapters), 2 John, 3 John
Evening chapters: 1 Corinthians (16 chapters), 2 Corinthians (13 chapters)

March challenge…
Morning chapters: Luke (24 chapters), Philemon, James (5 chapters)
Evening chapters: Romans (16 chapters), Hebrews (13 chapters), Jude

April challenge…
Morning chapters: Matthew (28 chapters), 1 Peter (1, 2)
Evening chapters: Galatians (6), Ephesians (6), Philippians (4), Colossians (4),
1 & 2 Thessalonians (8), 1 Peter (3, 4, 5)

May challenge…
Morning chapters: Acts (28 chapters), 2 Peter (3 chapters)
Evening chapters: Mark (16 chapters), 1 & 2 Timothy (10), Titus (3)

a new season

a new year, a new opportunity...a new season! we can easily be excited about entering a new season in our lives and God gives us new seasons. what we miss is what it may take to enter a new season. we must release our past to enter a new season. we must leave our present to enter a new season. we must surrender our future to enter a new season from God. wow. it is not so easy after all.

a new season brings growth which we don't often have in our current status. a new season takes effort - releasing past, leaving present and surrendering future. a new season brings moments and memories with God that we have not had before and that we will cherish for a long time.

i'm ready for a new season. just like Isaiah 60, i am ready to arise and shine in '09!

(other passages to consider: Daniel 2:21; Philippians 3:12-14)

Let’s Go Rays!

Here is a team that is:

Playing with a history of multiple failures
Playing in a stadium they don’t want
For some of them, playing for team they did not want to play for
Playing in a division they would not have chosen
At times, playing before a slim crowd in comparison to others
Playing for a manager that’s never managed before
Playing for a team salary that is among the lowest in the league
Playing as one of the youngest teams in the league
Playing with a pitching staff with very little major league experience
Playing with most of the baseball world believing they could not make it this far
Playing knowing they have never won more than 70 games in a season
Playing knowing they have never played in a postseason game
Playing knowing their opponents have in their history won the world series
Playing knowing last season they were the worst team in the league
Playing knowing they have been in last place in nine out of ten seasons of their existence

…and the list goes on…

However, they are playing in the world series of baseball… America seems to have jumped on the Rays wagon… I have been riding the Rays wagon for almost 10 years now…Let’s Go Rays!

What causes a team or individuals to do the seemingly impossible? What causes them to rise above all the challenges of their present and historical circumstances? What causes them to believe what no one else can?

It might be summed up in the Ray’s manager, Joe Maddon’s response to the question, if you could sum up in one word what would describe this team after winning game seven of the American League Championship Series and earning the opportunity to play in the World Series, he said, “Heart!”

It sounds like the Rays may have had heart surgery. They did take on a whole new image.

Hearts can be deceitful, hard, broken, empty, set in its ways…

That’s why I am glad God says in his word, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

God wants us to have a new heart. With so much history and influence in our lives over time, a new heart is all that will work – the old one is just not repairable. The new heart is just that, new. It’s a heart of flesh. It is something God can work with.

I say, give me a new heart Lord! Work with, in and through me. Have a blessed day!

Here we go...

Thanks for checking out my blog. I wanted to offer a weekly encouragement for friends that you could readily access no matter where you are in the world. Hopefully, this will be the beginning a great journey together. Have a blessed day!