From New Orleans

I am in New Orleans at the seminary and what a delight to be back on campus where my family and I enjoyed a wonderful time of our life.  The only sad thing is to realize it was 21 years ago when we last lived here - ouch.

I am here with three of our church members who are looking at the seminary and praying through decisions about education.  This is a true delight and a fulfilling of my role as pastor to see these young people seek God's will concerning training for ministry.

We arrived yesterday and after a quick car tour through the seminary, we went downtown.  We walked through the French quarters, had bignets and tried to eat at my favorite restaurant but thanks to Starbucks Convention in town, they had bought out the restaurant for both Monday and Tuesday nights - so Hard Rock Cafe was our second choice.

These guys officially tour the seminary today including meeting with the Dean of Leavell College and sitting in one of his classes (which I plan to do as well).  We will attend chapel later this morning and I definitely will slip into the library for some time - I just may not leave (haha).

New Orleans is definitely rebounding and the evidence is all around.  But there are still many, many places that are boarded up, filled with debris and no signs of recovering.  One thing Katrina did not take away from the city - its unique smell.  But that why there is not another place on this earth like New Orleans.

Odds-N-Ends

The election is just days away.  The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission publishes instructive guides to informed voting.  You may view it here.

One wise pastor once said, "Most people either come out of a life of deep sin or out of a life of deep self-righteousness."

"Someday you will understand that it was all just Jesus, and then you will understand."  Martha Wing Robinson

Some quotes from the Neil Anderson conference back in August:

"Conviction comes with the power of change - the grace to achieve change.  Condemnation leads you further into the depth of sorrow and guilt."

"The moment you can not do what you are doing without violating the fruit of the Spirit - you are working in the flesh."

"People are not in bondage to past issues, but lies about their past issues."

Get Back Up written by Pastor Steve Pochop

(The following is the weekly devotion of 10-9-08 from my friend Pastor Steve Pochop, Pastor, Abundant Grace Church, Sheffield, AL.)

How many times have we as Christians fallen down. I am not talking about literally falling down, but stumbled in our walks as Christians? PROVERBS 24:16, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity." Why is it that we as Christians rise back up? It is because the Lord is our helper. The wicked have no one to help them up.

That is the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous. We know where our help comes from. Our help comes from the Lord. Far to many folks are trying to accomplish life by their own standards and their own strength. They are trying to reform their lives, instead of transforming them. In prison, the warden or counselors would tell us that they were going to rehabilitate us. The word rehabilitate means to "restore to former capacity", or "its previous condition." A Christian cannot be rehabilitate! They can however, be transformed. This is what Jesus offers. Sure we may fall in the process of being transformed, but Jesus will help us up. The wicked on the other hand, will only get up in the same manner in which they have fallen. In their previous condition or former capacity! That is why I ended up in jail and prison so many, many times. I was following the rehabiltation process. It never works!

This is what is wrong with many who try to quit smoking, drinking or doing drugs. I can name many others, but these are the most obvious ones. They try to reform themselves by quitting in their own power. Your power and my power isn't good enough to combat the forces of evil that deceive us. The power of God is what is needed to transform us so that we can stand in opposition to the lies of the enemy who incessantly attacks us. When we are apart from God's righteousness, we can only rely on the rehabilitating process or the reforming process. This never works! It may for a short period, but it is only by the grace of God that we can overcome these battles and be delivered! PSALMS 37:24, "though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand."

What a thought! When the righteous fall, God is holding our hands to lead us back into the transformation process. When the wicked fall, they fall back into the hands of a task master who doesn't want them to change, but only makes them worse. Only Jesus can bring about constant and consistent change in a person life. We may get knocked down, but we aren't knocked out! Jesus is holding us and encouraging us to get back up. Satan, on the other hand, wants to keep us down. If he can keep us down, we never reach the potential Christ has for us.

I encourage you today, to trust in Jesus. He will transform you into His image. It is a process, but it is well worth the journey. Christ wants us to be conformed into His image. This is only accomplished as we allow Him to take the reigns of our lives. Jesus is for us, not against us! Give your heart to Jesus today. You will never be sorry that you started the transformation process. You won't need any rehabilitating or reforming. Christ will mold you into His image. What a thought! God Bless. Pastor Steven Pochop

Servants Finish Their Tasks

Servants Finish Their Tasks
by Rick Warren

“Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” Matthew 25:23 (NLT)

Real servants are faithful to their ministry. Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don’t leave a job half undone, and they don’t quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable.

Faithfulness has always been a rare quality (Psalm 12:1; Proverbs 20:6; Philippians 2:19–22).

Most people don’t know the meaning of commitment. They make commitments casually, then break them for the slightest reason without any hesitation, remorse, or regret. Every week, churches and other organizations must improvise because volunteers didn’t prepare, didn’t show up, or didn’t even call to say they weren’t coming.

Can you be counted on by others? Are there promises you need to keep, vows you need to fulfill, or commitments you need to honor?

This is a test. God is testing your faithfulness. If you pass the test, you’re in good company: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Timothy, and Paul were all called faithful servants of God.

Even better, God has promised to reward your faithfulness in eternity. Imagine what it will feel like one day to have God say to you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” (Matthew 25:23 NLT).

By the way, faithful servants never retire. They serve faithfully as long as they’re alive. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.

Servants Serve with What They Have
by Rick Warren

If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Ecclesiastes 11:4 (NLT)

Real servants do their best with what they have. Servants don’t make excuses, procrastinate, or wait for better circumstances. Servants never say, “One of these days” or “When the time is right.” They just do what needs to be done.

The Bible says, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done” (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT).

God expects you to do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are. Less-than-perfect service is always better than the best intention.

One reason many people never serve is that they fear they are not good enough to serve. They have believed the lie that serving God is only for superstars. Some churches have fostered this myth by making “excellence” an idol, which makes people of average talent hesitant to get involved.

You may have heard it said, “If it can’t be done with excellence, don’t do it.” Well, Jesus never said that! The truth is, almost everything we do is done poorly when we first start doing it — that’s how we learn.

At Saddleback Church, we practice the “good enough” principle: It doesn’t have to be perfect for God to use and bless it. We would rather involve thousands of regular folks in ministry than have a perfect church run by a few elites.

Real Servants Pay Attention
by Rick Warren

Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now. Proverbs 3:28 (TEV)

Real servants pay attention to needs. Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. When they see a need, they seize the moment to meet it, just as the Bible commands us: “Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10 GWT).

When God puts someone in need right in front of you, he is giving you the opportunity to grow in servanthood. Notice that God says the needs of your church family are to be given preference, not put at the bottom of your “things to do” list.

We miss many occasions for serving because we lack sensitivity and spontaneity. Great opportunities to serve never last long. They pass quickly, sometimes never to return again. You may only get one chance to serve that person, so take advantage of the moment.

“Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now” (Proverbs 3:28 TEV).

John Wesley was an incredible servant of God. His motto was:“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”

That is greatness. You can begin by looking for small tasks that no one else wants to do. Do these little things as if they were great things, because God is watching.

Servant Articles to be posted

I shared in a previous post that I had several things I wanted to share with you. One of those things is a series of articles by Rick Warren on servanthood. I will share these four articles in the next four posts.

Servants Make Themselves Available

Servants Make Themselves Available

by Rick Warren

No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:4 (NASB)

Real servants make themselves available to serve. Servants don’t fill up their time with other pursuits that could limit their availability. They want to be ready to jump into service when called on.

Much like a soldier, a servant must always be standing by for duty: “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4 NASB).

If you only serve when it’s convenient for you, you’re not a real servant. Real servants do what’s needed, even when it’s inconvenient.

Are you available to God anytime? Can he mess up your plans without you becoming resentful? As a servant, you don’t get to pick and choose when or where you will serve.

Being a servant means giving up the right to control your schedule and allowing God to interrupt it whenever he needs to.

If you will remind yourself at the start of every day that you are God’s servant, interruptions won’t frustrate you as much, because your agenda will be whatever God wants to bring into your life. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving.

Columbus Day Update

It has been too long since I've added an entry and for that I apologize. So let me catch up:

* September was a very busy month. To give you an idea, I went three weeks without an off day so may be that tells why I've not be blogging.
* Spent six days in Honduras with Bro. Bobby Gibson doing a Pastor's Conference. Most delightful and it was a great joy to see the ministry there rebounding after some tough days.
* Reagan McBride had her halo removed and was able to be at church for the first time since April. Her mom and dad also spoke giving their testimonies to a tearful church family.
* Reagan is also being weaned off the trek.
* Mrs. Gail Stokes is improving in the Heart Transplant Intensive Care Unit at UAB. They are also beginning to wean her off the trek.
* Our oldest son bought a house in Glencoe this month and moved in last week. We are going to have a wedding next summer and we are excited. And our youngest son did move in with him so they are still living together until at least spring.
* The new church building is looking awesome. It is so exciting to see it coming together. The auditorium is looking better than expected. Items left to be done: minor painting, cabinets installed, kitchen equipment to be delivered, paving, carpet laid, ceiling hung and ac finished installed.
* Roxanne and I celebrated our 28th anniversary with a few days off. Mainly it was spent in Gadsden with our boys trying to get them moved into their new home.
* Our church ordained Lin Liles yesterday as a new Deacon. What a great day for our church. We have ordained four new deacons in the past 13 months and for that I am grateful for the young men in our church who are showing such great Christian maturity.

I have alot of material I want to share with you so hopefully I can get back to blogging on a more regular basis.