It’s Opening Day!!!

Baseball season is officially back!!!  I’m excited about the new year and wondering if my Cubbies will be able to make it to the post season.

(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) - Zambrano opened today and the game is still scoreless in the bottom of the eighth.

Anyone else excited about the new season?

God Is An Engineer

We always give God creative, descriptive titles like the “Great Physician”, the “Great Creator”, the “Great Teacher”, the “Great Provider”, etc. Today, I want to add to that list.

God is the Great Engineer.

Okay, for those of you who know me, I am schooled in the sciences of mechanical engineering. God wired me to be me and with that I simply love being an engineer.

Now I know some of you are asking yourselves “but you’re a pastor, don’t you want to work full time in the ministry?” Yes. The answer to that question is yes, but like I said the realm of physical science just ‘pops my cork’. So now that is out of the way, let me show you one simple way of how God brings those two worlds of mine together.

On Friday, a bunch of my coworkers and I were talking about cars, gas prices, new technology for transportation, new forms of energy, etc. As we were talking about energy, we started discussing the more detailed aspects of energy (i.e. potential, kenetic, and perpetual motion, etc.) At that point God revealed some crazy stuff to me. Follow me here…

Energy is defined as the ability to do work. Potential Energy is defined as stored energy in a system. If you hold a ball in your hand at waist level, that ball has potential energy. Why? Simply because gravity is pulling downward, but your hand is holding it from falling. There is potential energy stored in the ball. Now, on the same token, hold the ball above your head. The potential energy has now increased. It has the ability to do more when elevated.

Now let’s insert the spiritual connection. You are now the ball. The closer we get to God (upward), the more potential you have. By increasing your potential I’m saying that you will begin to better know your Creator as father and friend, you will love others more like Jesus did, and you will be living life more of the way God intented. That is your potential! Literally speaking, the sky is the limit!

Cool!!! So what’s the catch?

Yes, there is a catch. In order to store up potential energy in a system, work has to be put into that system to create potential energy. Work is defined as force multiplied by distance. Your arm lifting that ball above your head is called work. We have to work at growing closer to God. It requires time, effort, and discipline. We need to pray, study, and fellowship together with God. We have to work to build up the ‘potential energy’ in our God ‘relationship system’.

I’m not done yet.

So you’ve done the work to store up potential energy in your God ‘relationship system’. Now what? At this point, you are in a place to convert your potential energy into kenetic energy. Kenetic energy is defined as anything in motion. Potential energy makes kenetic energy possible. Therefore, the more potential energy you have, the greater kenetic energy you will have when released. Your kenetic energy will be the impact you have on God’s Kingdom. You can input a lot of work into increasing your level of potential energy, but in the end, God wants you to use it. He wants you to release it. He wants you to be a force for Him.

Conclusion.

You’ve got to work to build up your potential energy with God. Then you can release your potential energy to become kenetic energy of God. Then your kenetic energy will be the impact for God! - Jonathan Ellis

I have learned that God is very consistent in all that He has created. Should we be surprised that the One who invented physical science could be described with it? I think it’s pretty cool, but I’m kind of a nerd (technically speaking). What do you think?

What A Great Day!

Besides having a wonderful morning at the church and a great lunch out with friends, this advertisement was on my Yahoo! home page just as I logged on a few minutes ago…

Good stuff!!!  Can’t wait for that to release in the summer.

So anyway, after this morning, I’m really excited about our connect group this coming week.  There are so many who are interested in joining and that just pumps me up.  The book we’re digging into is a good one.

Next, I want to say thanks to all the volunteers who continue to make the gears of our church turn and churn.  You all really make it happen and I am so proud to work side by side with you.  I love you all.  We’ve got something planned for each of you real soon.  Stay tuned in.

And for everyone, remember….don’t settle for mediocre!!!

Orange for Today

Changing the blog header to the color orange today in honor of the Tennessee Volunteer’s who got spanked by Louisville last night.  It’s gotta be tough to win ‘the big dance’, but Bruce Pearl and his team had a great season nonetheless. 

You’ve Got To Make Time To Rest

Yep, that right.  It’s biblical.

For pastors and church leaders, it’s so easy to fill up your time with ministry work.  This I know first hand.  Especially being apart of a new church plant that does the set up/tear down week in and week out, I know how it feels to be busy and tired.  I’ve learned over the past year how to use my time more wisely and carve out more time for things other than ministry.  In the grand scheme of things, God wants us to rest.  By his example, He rested on the seventh day.

Hebrews 4:10  ”for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. “

Its important to take time to rest.

Just Sharing

I read this verse this morning and just thought I would share…

James 2:17 - “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

It’s about more than just believing it.  If we believe that Jesus is alive and alive in us, let’s show it.  People (except those on 1-800-psychic) can’t read minds so we have to give them a reason to believe it.  The only way people know that we believe in Christ is if we show them or tell them.  Simple but am I right?

Connect Group

We’ll be starting a new study next week in our Connect Group.  It will be based on the latest book by John Ortberg, When The Game Is Over, It All Goes Back In the Box. 

The books arrived in the mail early this week and I’m excited about getting started.  We will start in a fun and creative way, so don’t miss it.

 If anyone has any feedback on this book yet, I’d love to hear about it.

Are You Paying Out the #?* For Gasoline?

I just got back from lunch.  While I was out, the truck needed a fresh drink of liquid gold (a.k.a. unleaded gasoline.)  If you have a family like ours where both husband and wife commute to work a good 20 miles or more each, then the part of your budget for auto fuel is an ever growing piece of your monthly pie chart.

Tips to stretch a tank:

Drive Sensibly

Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.

Observe the Speed Limit

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.

As a rule of thumb, you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas.

Observing the speed limit is also safer.

Check & Replace Air Filters Regularly

Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your car’s gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.  Your car’s air filter keeps impurities from damaging the inside of your engine.  Not only will replacing a dirty air filter save gas, it will protect your engine.

Keep Tires Properly Inflated

You can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure.  Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure in all four tires.  Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.

If push comes to shove, you can eventually buy one of these.  So sweet!

Can Someone Explain?

Why does Jacob have a hard time getting up at 7 am on the weekdays but is ready to go well before 7 am on Saturday?  Can any other parents sympathize?  Is this simply cruel irony?  Good ol’Dad would love to get an extra hour on the weekends.

Importance of Giving (Part 2)

When you give, you allow yourself to be more like God.  Let me quickly explain myself.  Do you remember in math class, the simple logic behind “if A=B and B=C, then A=C”?  Follow me on this…

If A=B…  We are made in His image.

Genesis 1:27 - ”So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

and B=C…  God is a giver.

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

then A=C.  We should be givers.

Act 20:35 - “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ “

So if we are made in His image and He is a giver, then we should be givers, right?  The old A=B=C routine.  By choosing not to be the giving type, your not allowing God to truly live in you and take over this very important part of your life which reflects so much about you. 

Can you see the engineering mind weaving through this one?