Great

I was thinking this past Sunday night about the worship that we had at Fellowship Church that morning and how God really showed up and showed out. I love it when that happens. One of the things that hit me as I was reflecting on the service was when we sing How Great is our God are we really grasping How Great He really is. Great is such a small word when it comes to God. I think of the things he has done in my life over the past two years and where he is leading me and that is great but the funny thing is He is so much greater. Truly there is no word in the English language or any other language that can describe how great God is. I think that is incredible. All we have is the word "great". So when we sing How Great is our God or How Great Thou Art we are only beginning to scratch the surface of how to describe our King and maker. We often try to confine God to what we want Him to be and we try to handle the things we can control on our own. I use a box as an example. We tend to let God handle the things outside the box or the things we have no control over, and we try or attempt to handle the things inside the box or the things we think we control. Try letting God come inside your box and see just how "GREAT" He is. If He is not in full control of your life He is not in control, and partial obedience is still disobedience.
Also some things that are coming up, Christmas Eve we will be having two services one at 4:30 and one at 6:00. You will not want to miss these services so bring your family and a friend. Backing up a little this Friday I will be leading worship at Celebrate Recovery in Cornelia so if you are in the area come by for some good music and good teaching. Lastly the year is winding down and I believe God has some "great" things in store for 2009 be praying for direction in the year to come.

MC

Perspective

Lately I have been listening to a pastor's sermons on perspective and seeing our life in the same way other people may see our life. Click here to read some definitions on what perspective means. We live in a country that has been more blessed than any other country on the planet and right now where we stand we are in the worst time this country has ever seen. The stock market is horrible, the housing market stinks, the big 3 can't afford to operate, and so on. How we perceive who or what we are changes the way act. So many people in today's economy are being shattered by what they have lost in recent days. We have all felt the crunch of what is going on in this country. I have said since this craziness started that this could possibly be the greatest time in this country's history. The reason I say this is because it will retrain Americans how to spend money and not blow it on anything and everything they can get their hands on. My wife and I went through a financial class at our church called Financial Peace University a few months ago and it changed our perspective on our finances. We live in the wealthiest country in the world and we are daily complaining about what we don't have and it is driving me crazy. I challenge someone in the country to go to Somalia and talk to someone there about being poor. Most people in this country live off of less than $1 a day. The average American lives off of $96 a day. Something has to change and I don't think this "financial crisis" that we are in is by accident. We have to change and that starts with looking at yourself and changing.
Another way we lose perspective is with the people we are around the most; spouses, children, friends, coworkers. We look at these people and when they do something that is not such a great decision we always look at them as if they were the dumbest person on earth. I'm guilty of this, sometimes I don't understand why people just can't get it. But the funny thing is if you ask my wife she will tell you the same thing about me. We have to change the way we view other people.
Lastly one of the points the pastor made when he was preaching his messages that I think a lot of people who volunteer at churches view themselves as "just a volunteer". I think so many times volunteers don't understand how valuable they are to each church they volunteer at. How these people perceive themselves will change the way they volunteer. Instead of just being a volunteer look at yourself as "a connector to the current to the power of Christ". If we change our perspective it will change our life.

MC