sit back and enjoy the ride..

Gas prices are hovering around $4.00 a gallon. Food prices world wide are at an all time high. Poverty is rampant…war rages all over the globe….polygamists and teen brides on the evening news….two children named McCain and Barack throwing fits the whole world can see. Sounds like a made for TV movie huh? Seems like a Six Flags ride we can’t get off of. We used to wake up every day unsure of what has taken place while we slept….but with the internet and 24 hour news; we get it as soon as it happens. Kind of makes you anxious don’t it? Some people don’t even like leaving the house anymore. Despite it all…God still hold us in the right place. The world moving at just the right speed around the sun….. Where we don’t freeze or burn up…The sky staying right where it should be. So it stands to reason that we can trust God for all the regular daily stuff as well right? After all if he is keeping the world going then I can surely trust Him with my worries….and my kids worries….and my friends worries. You get the idea. Yet we continue to worry our selves to death so we can say we are ok. The first thing we need to realize is God is concerned with our details….. He already has that worked out and finalized. How many people woke up today ready to get on with life and go the curve ball of life? A lot of times at church we confuse suffering with blessings. It is not a matter of if…it is a matter of when. We are going to have struggles…we cant avoid them. While living in Lubbock Texas a few years back I learned about trust. A plane flight in 1995 taught me quite a few things. I flew southwest airlines from Houston to Lubbock that year. It started out ok but when we got close to Lubbock it was like I was on a roller coaster….With no brakes. Next to me was a man who was just realxing and eating peanuts. While I was sweating it out, He was calm. I asked if he was scared. “Not really” he replied. And I asked…..why is that? “Well I do this flight every week and it’s always the same. I’m used to it”. I was puzzled at first and now 13 years later I get it. He had let go of his need to be in control and he trusted the pilot. While there might be some bumps and bruises along the way He knew that he was ok. Kind of like us. There is not going to be anything new come up that is going to catch God off guard. It’s going to be the same for us. Wars and rumors of war…. Empty checking accounts…. Natural disasters and man made disasters. The truth is we are walking in a made for TV event. And we know the one who wrote it. So let’s trust in the God of all time…all the time.



Eric

come on get happy!!!

Ok ill say it. . “Hello world here’s a song that were singing….come on get happy” I love to watch the old reruns of the partridge family. Yes it is weird and geeky but I love that show. The cool tunes and the wacky adventures of the partridge family is greatness. I also loved the multicolor school bus they owned. The show was always like real life. A mom loses a husband, goes to work to make ends meet. Then the family starts out playing music and you have a bus full of kids playing rock-n-roll. Yeah…maybe not like real life. I do love the show. The opening song was “come on get happy” and for years I have tried to incorporate that into a catch phrase for student ministry. So many times I see people who are just unhappy and beaten down. They have no spark in their life. It seems there is no reason for them to get up every day. You ever get that way? Psalms 75 speaks of our great God” We thank you, God we thank you. Your name is our favorite word; you mighty works are all we talk about. You say “I’m calling this meeting to order, I’m ready to set things right.” That seems to be enough reason for us to be happy. But more comes out from the cross. Hope-victory-SALVATION! Did you just smile? The bill collectors are at the door. The family is going into the toilet. Life is hard all the time. But- God will put things right. We have been put right. get happy!

spanning the globe....

The famous words of announcer Jim McKay would led the way to ABC‘s Wide World of Sports every Saturday and Sunday…..Before the days of ESPN. After the NFL season had come to a close all you had was wide world of sports to look forward to. Where else could you find cliff diving or soccer…..or the Harlem globetrotters? It was the place to find lumberjack climbing competitions, swimming, cycling…..all kinds of sports. Now we are able to find sports scores or games at the click of a mouse …even on our phone. As we watched these Beijing Olympics every night I think of how most people would not watch diving or swimming any other time. I mean…think about it…are you really going to sit down and watch track and field on a Sunday? Most of us would rather watch a Cowboys preseason game. The dog days of summer are behind us and school is back in. We get ready for the fall and we began to get back to the routine. Has coming to church become “routine” for us? I think we sometimes view church as just another thing in our life…instead of the main thing. And I am not talking about church attendance but the impact God makes on us daily. Psalms 84 says it best.

One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship
beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I'd rather scrub floors in the house of my God
than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.

See how special it is? As the world watched these athletes compete, and all the talk of gold medals slows down, and fades out for another 2 years…..we will forget the sports and athletes we have watch so faithfully. When you start your routine again next week, remember how good it is to be worshipping with your brothers and sisters every chance you get.



Eric