Coming Back

It has been quite some time since I have written here, and this morning, as I sat down to go over my message from yesterday, critique myself and make improvements, I saw a button on the church's web page that had eluded me until today. It shocked me to see it, to be perfectly honest with you, and I was take with its simplicity and tenacity as it has sat there for nearly 18 months without anything new added to it. I stared at it for a while, not knowing what would happen if I clicked on it, but in the end curiosity won out and on it I clicked.

To my surprise, there before me was a blog page...lonely and desolate. The date on the page was May 15, 2017. I was shocked to think that I had not posted here in that long, and so I thought to myself, "Self, you really ought to write something and publish it here. And so, that is what I am doing.

I have titled the post "Coming Back" for two reasons. First, is that I want to express my excitement and joy about "coming back" to the blog, writing out some of my thoughts and feelings for you, those who choose to follow it. I have been away for a long time, and want to come back. I do not promise that I will post every day, or even every week, but I will take the time to post something often. I do not want this page to be left as desolate as it has been for the last year and a half.

The second reason is because my family had a conversation not too long ago about the J.R.R. Tolkien classic, The Lord of the Rings. I was thinking about that conversation when my mind went to a conversation in the book between Gandalf the White and Pippen, the Hobbit. As they await what they believe will be their destruction in the city of Minas Tirith, Pippen turns to Gandalf and says, "I didn't think it would end here." Gandalf replies, "End? The journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One we all must take."

For many of us, we have suffered loss in our lives, and at this time of year, it often brings us back to those we love and have lost. But the truth of the matter is that life has a funny way of reminding us just how temporary it is. But as this quote reminds us, death is not the end...especially for the Christian. For us, death is just the beginning of an eternity with our Lord. The journey takes a different path, and we look into the face of the one who is waiting there for us.

I hope that as we enter the Thanksgiving holiday, that you will take the time to reflect on the loved ones who have gone before, the ones who are still with us, and those yet to come. Pray that God's love and grace will be enough for you and that all He has given is more than enough to sustain you through the difficult times.

God bless you this Thanksgiving!

Please feel free to comment or ask a question below.

Happiness vs. Joy--Republished from 2016

Happiness and joy. Two great ideas that go great together. But are they only available together? Happiness is something that has to do with circumstance. If our circumstances are favorable, then we are happy. Joy, on the other hand, has more to do with position. We are joyful because of who we are and who we are becoming in Christ. So let's explore this further...

HAPPINESS
Happiness is an emotion that is derived from things that are pleasant to us. When people remember you on your birthday it makes you happy (or maybe it doesn't...I guess that would depend on your view of aging). When people tell you you've done a good job on a project or an endeavor, it makes you happy. But the problem with happiness, is that it is always (ALWAYS) dependent on external circumstances. It depends on what people say or do to you or for you. It depends on your mood, other people's moods, etc. Basically, it is out of your control.

JOY
Joy, on the other hand, is that which is present no matter what. It is a constant, something that we either choose to be or not be. Joy is not defined in the circumstances of our lives, but rather in the state of our hearts. Paul was joyful, even in the midst of a prison cell, or house arrest. It wasn't a pleasant place to be and I'm sure at times he wasn't happy. But he knew how to be joyful even in the midst of such circumstances.

Do we? Do we know how to be joyful people even when we are crying because a good friend passed away? Do we know how to be joyful people even when we have just lost our job? Do we know how to be joyful people even though we've been gossiped about, lied to, cheated on, or betrayed? No matter the circumstances, Christ followers are to be people of joy. I hope that I exude joy, even when I feel tired and irritable. I hope that you can, too!

We'll see you on Sunday!

Seeing God for Who He Is--Republished from 2016

Our second challenge on Sunday centered around the way that we see God...our view of Him. Now I would venture to guess that no one reading this blog would say that they have actually seen God. We may have seen the results of His presence, or the work of God in the life of someone we know or even our own life, but we haven't seen God in the way that Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6.

Read Isaiah 6:1-8.

Now notice some things here about Isaiah's interaction with God.

1--He truly saw God. No filters, no veils, no nothing. He says in verse 1, "I saw the Lord..." and then he explains what all he saw as he was looking at the Lord. So many times when we come to the Scriptures (which is where we truly see God), we come with a set of filters that taint our vision of Him. We come with preconceived notions that come from our past experiences, our upbringing, or our theological bent. But God wants us to look at Him without these filters, and just see Him for Who He is. We need to truly see God...no filters, no bias...and let that change us.

2--When Isaiah saw God for Who He was, he saw himself for who he was. Notice his response to seeing all of this in verse 5: "Woe to me! I am ruined!" A loose paraphrase might be, "Oh no! I'm going to die!" Why? "I am a man of unclean lips (or a sinner) and I live among a people of unclean lips (or sinners), and my eyes have seen the...Lord Almighty!"

When we see God for Who He truly is, then we realize just how much of a sinner we truly are. When God's reality becomes reality to us, our sinfulness becomes that much more apparent. There is nothing more hideous than seeing something you thought was clean held up next to something that really is clean. You thought it was looking good, but then you see that it wasn't all that good at all.

Isaiah identified his lips as unclean. Why was that? Because he was a preacher, and had been preaching for quite a while before this particular event took place. He was struck by the purity of God and that his own words were not as pure as God's words. This caused him to think that God would strike him down because of it.

But God's mercy triumphed over judgement and he sent the angel to purify Isaiah's lips. A burning hot coal on the mouth would have been painful. But that leads to the next thing I want you to think about...

3--When we see ourselves for who we are, it brings pain. God had to purge Isaiah from his sin and so when it happened, He brought pain upon him. Friends, our sin should bring us pain. Maybe not physical pain as in having a burning hot coal touch the part of your body that is sinful, but the pain of knowing that we have offended a righteous, holy, sovereign God. If our repentance and confession doesn't bring a modicum of pain, are we truly repentant? Pain is not always a bad thing.

When I was in college I tried my hand for about a week at weightlifting. Needless to say, I didn't stick with it. But one of the things that I remember my trainer telling me was this..."Pain is just weakness leaving the body!" I never forgot that. And this applies to the Christian life as well. When we experience pain...the pain of repentance, the pain of loss, the pain of being unjustly accused and persecuted...weakness leaves us. Spiritual weakness becomes a thing of the past. We become Spiritual Body Builders that can face the toughest of challenges in the strength that we have been given from the Lord. And we remember that it is not our strength, but God's!

4--Only after his sin was purged was Isaiah ready to do the work that God had called him to do. Friend, what is it in your life that the coal needs to touch? Perhaps it is your mind harboring lust, greed, envy or bitterness. Perhaps it is your hand that reaches out to steal, hurt or hide those things that are unworthy of the follower of Christ. Perhaps it is your lips that speak gossip, slander or lies. Perhaps it is your feet that take you to places you should not be. Whatever the case is, ask God to show you Who He is so that you will have the courage to tell Him where your sin is the ripest. Then He will purge your sin...painful as it may be...and then He will call to you.

Then be ready to say with Isaiah..."Here am I! Send me!"

Feel free to comment below or ask a question. And we hope to see you on Sunday!

Mouth Issues--Part 2--Republished from 2016

Another way that our mouth gets us into trouble is through boasting. We've done it, haven't we? We have all made a statement with absolute certainty that what we have said is the truth! We say things like, "The Pirates will win the division!" or "Bob Dole for President!" or "That's the ugliest doll in the world. Who's gonna buy a Cabbage Patch Kid?" And then we find out that what we said was absolutely wrong. It tough when, as the saying goes, "our mouths are writing checks that our bodies can't cash." But we've all been there at one point or another.

When our mouths begin to boast it is most likely due to a sin of pride. Pride in what we know, what we have or what we do. It can lead us to do things that are outrageous and sometimes just plain stupid.

Jesus gives us an example of a man who boasted in the things he owned. He was a very rich farmer, and one year his crops brought in so much produce, he didn't have room for it all. So instead of giving it away and feeding the poor with it, he decided that he would build bigger and better barns to store all of his goods in. But as Jesus goes on in the story, he calls this man a fool. Why? Because that very night, God came and took him out of this life.

We need to keep a tight reign on our mouths when it comes to boasting. I know a time in my own life when I felt like a fool. I was watching a football game with a friend of mine who happened to be a Ravens fan. The Ravens were playing the Steelers in a Monday Night Football match-up. The Steelers were up by two touchdowns with just over two minutes to go. I was going on and on to my friend about how sorry the Ravens were and how they were going to go down this year. But when the Ravens got the ensuing kickoff, they marched right down and scored in 46 seconds. They then tried an on-sides kickoff which they recovered. They then marched right down the field again and scored another touchdown with 5 seconds left on the clock. They'd tied it up. I was feeling brought a bit low, to be sure. I was so certain, that I didn't even think that about any other option.

God wants us to be careful that our words don't cause us to have to eat them later on. So when you speak, make sure your words are sweet, for in due time, you may have to eat them.

Share a time that you had to "eat your words" by sending me an email or commenting below. God bless you today and we will see you on Sunday!

Celebration--Republished from Thanksgiving, 2016

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Here are a couple of great old Thanksgiving Hymns for you to enjoy this day of Thanks!

Mouth Issues--Republished from 2016

This week we return to talk about the tongue. James, for all of his concern about how we live our lives in this world, speaks an awful lot about keeping track of the things that come out of our mouths. In chapter one, he speaks to us about the fact that our tongues can disqualify our religion. This is because we need to avoid hypocrisy...the leading killer of testimonies in the world. In chapter three, James picks up on this and really fleshes it out for us. He tells us that the tongue (or our mouths) can get us into so much trouble because we say we love God, and then we turn around and say we hate our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is not what should be going on in the life of the true believer.

Now James gives us some direct examples of the kinds of sins that we might expect from our mouths. Namely slander, judgment and presumption. All three of these are issues of the mouth that need to be addressed if we are going to be holy lights in an unholy world. But to keep from giving away my entire sermon for the week, I'd like to take us to a couple of the issues of the mouth that are not addressed in this passage in James.

Let's talk about gossip today. No, I don't have a juicy story about someone for you to pass on, because this is exactly the kind of issue that God wants us to avoid. Gossip tends to hurt the person who is being talked about. And it can also be cleverly disguised, especially by Christians.

"Hey, I want to share a prayer request about so-and-so." That's probably the most used in the church...perhaps you've even used that one yourself. It sounds so spiritual, doesn't it? But it's really gossip cloaked in a false veneer of piety. What should be your answer when someone says this? Here's my usual response: "Did they share this request with you personally?" If the answer is anything but yes, I walk away. And I also make sure to let the person know prior to their "sharing" that I will be contacting so-and-so to let them know that I am praying about this thing. That usually stops it in its tracks.

Another way we gossip is simply by talking about someone else's problems. If someone hasn't given you permission to talk about their problems with someone else, then it is gossip. So just don't do it.

Yes, our mouth can get us in a lot of trouble, and we can even candy-coat our sin to make it more "easy to take." But it is not good for us, for the church, or for the people we talk about. So let's make a commitment today to not gossip.

Share with me ways that you try to stop gossip before it starts. Comment below if you can, or shoot me an email at jim.augustine1970@hotmail.com and we'll talk. And we'll see you on Sunday!

An Apology and an Announcement

Since the last time this blog posted, three weeks have gone by. For the lapse in anything new, I want to sincerely apologize. The fact of the matter is that my life and ministry over the past three weeks bears a striking resemblance to Six Flags or Cedar Point (let the reader understand…or Google it). Suffice it to say that Ian still trying to get back to “normal” and write something new.

That being said, I invite you to enjoy these past blog posts for the next few weeks as we try to get back on track. These will start tomorrow and continue for at least two if not three weeks. I mad once again sorry for the lack of anything new, but God knows and I am trusting in Him. Until then, thank you for your love and for following our blog.

Think about that today, and God bless you!