Springathon 2011 Weekend News

Springathon is this weekend in Kershaw.  An evening of carnival rides on Thursday adds to the regular schedule of a band playing on Friday and the whole shebang on Saturday.  So just in time for Springathon, we get drenched with rain.  It’s legendary that it rains during Springathon!  And we had some kind of storm last night!

The Fun Run is a walk/run 3k that Team Church is organizing for Springathon.  Be at the First Citizens on Hampton St. a little before 8 to register.  Every participant will get a medal and tshirt!  The awesome Dr. Howell is providing the tshirts.  Hopefully this fall, we will organize another run with Dr. Howell.  He loves the idea, and it will be great for the community.

Also, we will have a booth setup to meet and greet.  We will also offer free blood pressure checks courtesy of the medical folks we know.  It’s surprising how many doctors and nurses that are associated with Team Church.

But even if you’re not in the medical field, you can help brighten the day by handing out helium balloons and hanging with your friends.

And don’t forget that this Sunday we will be hearing from a missionary couple living in Costa Rica.  Please bring something extra as we will receive an offering for their work…we don’t pass a plate…but maybe we will pass around the big brown giving box, ha!

Don’t Make ‘em Like They Used To

     This is my first ever blog entry and it got me thinking about how things change. Culture has changed, movies, books, tv, and music is different from it was when I was growing up. I remember my dad would say something like,”what is that junk you are listening to?” It was the sweet sounds of Journey, Kansas, Toto, Foreigner, or Bon Jovi. Now I’m the grumpy old man asking my kids,”what are you listening to?” There is a great debate in the church over whether or not hell is a real place, and I believe there is because Jesus said so! I also believe the soundtrack playing there is Lady GaGa!

     I also believe that new things are not always bad. The Bible says that when we are born again we are a new creation, not just changed but totally new. If you are a believer you don’t have to stay the same person that you were. How great is that? Did you know that we don’t have to be slaves to sin anymore? Did you know you can be made well? Do you want to be well? That’s the question Jesus asked the man at the pool and it is a valid question. Steve really brought it home in his sermon asking, Do we want to stay where we are at or do we want to be made whole? Many times we want to stay where we are at because we really don’t want to change. We become so comfortable in our sin we can’t imagine living without it. Sometimes it becomes our identity. People say “that is just who I am.” There is a better way, I know because I have been there but I had to be willing to be made new. I had to stop using every excuse to why I didn’t want to change. There comes a time in everyone’s life when we make that choice to let Jesus make us well, to make us new. Can you hear Him asking you? Do you want to be made well?

 Although I love me some Journey I would have to say that not all change is bad and I’m sure glad God don’t make us stay like we used to be. Oh by the way, Don’t stop believin’

Faith and Action

This morning I read the following in a devotion by Frances J. Roberts, and it really seemed to underscore the sermon yesterday…
“Only as you walk will the waters of adversity be parted before you.”

“Do not judge a man by what he appears to be, but see him as what he can be if he gives himself unreservedly to God.”

This should encourage everyone to trust God in whatever He is calling you to.  The two points that I stressed during the sermon were-God can do more that you think-He can accomplish it with less than you expect.

Killing Valentine

If you’re wondering what makes a good Valentine’s Day gift, it may help to know why February 14 is a holiday at all. Like many holidays, Valentine’s Day came from a Church holy day, and it is named after Saint Valentine, who lived in the third century.

Valentine was a priest who became famous for defying Roman Emperor Claudius. Claudius banned clergy from performing wedding ceremonies. His reason was simple. Men would not volunteer to join his Roman army with wives to leave behind. Valentine would not comply with this outrageous law.

Valentine knew that God instituted the family and God’s will includes marriages. So, he kept on performing marriage ceremonies – secretly. During one secret wedding, he was caught, imprisoned and sentenced to death under the Roman law.

Who would have guessed that Valentine’s Day came from a defiant priest who loved weddings? I usually don’t even think of Valentine’s Day as being about married couples as much as it is for those who are dating. It is really interesting to see that all the candy hearts, flowers and Valentine cards all began over one man’s religious convictions that marriage really matters to God and His people—so much that he was willing to die for that truth.

St. Valentine was executed on February 14, 269 AD. But before his death, many young people came to the jail to visit Valentine. Most likely, he was still performing ceremonies while imprisoned. He also received a visit from the daughter of one of his jailers, and she became a close confidant. It was to this woman that Valentine left a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”

Whether you exchange cards or gifts for Valentine’s Day, reflect on the original Valentine.  Consider how much marriage means to God and His people, and perhaps it may inspire you to make some needed changes about your relationship right now. But one more word of advice: it can kind of break the mood if you bring up the cruel martyr of a Roman priest over a romantic dinner with your loved one.

You can also check out this article at http://www.theborderlinetimes.com/feb_2011/religion_02-10.html

Personal Space Message Series Begins

Personal Space begins this Sunday and here are the ideas behind this whole thing.  Actually, I didn’t even come up with the initial idea.  That credit belongs to Gordon, who rides the road from Kershaw to Charlotte deep in thought about God:

God refuses to stay out of your personal space.

He kept in the face of His people. He created the universe but didn’t leave when things got tough. He engaged people like Jacob and Moses and nation of Israel. He came as the incarnation and the creator became the redeemer embracing the mess that we made. He continues to confront us with the Holy Spirit.

This is a stark contrast from the modern life of everyone traveling in cars alone to separate cities, jobs, vacations, and surfing in solitary to virtual-world games, chat rooms, etc.

Too much personal space allows room for fractured lives to be left un-accountable and un-confronted and un-healed. The most important things in life like true intimacy, love, forgiveness, salvation and personal change are found in the struggles with people and God that we try desperately want to avoid. What to do: struggle with, surrender to and love those who are in your face.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I like to think I am not a Scrooge.  I enjoy almost every aspect of the Christmas season starting with that jam-packed plate of food on Thanksgiving Day ending with the latest BCS Champion somewhere in the second week of January.  The Whaley family packs a lot of good stuff into this time of year.  We spend a bunch of time together as a family and (most of the time) I really enjoy that.  I will admit there are some moments when we have been go-go-going for an entire day and the kids are starting the whine, that I grow a little weary of the whole deal, but those are the oddities.

But back to my first sentence.  I grow a little more alarmed at each passing year that there is something wrong with this time of year.  I could rail about the commercialism, but that has been done before and I don’t watch much TV or spend a great deal of time shopping so that really does not bother me much.  The commercialism is a choice.  So what I have growing concern over is the mad dash.  Does that ring a bell with anyone?  The mad dash is that pressure-packed feeling that so many things have to be done, so many people have to be seen, so many places have to be visited…because it is Christmas.  I could be wrong, but I am just not sure that is the right way to go about it.  You see, I realize that Christmas is a family time.  It is a time of giving.  It is a time of parties and fellowship, Rudolph and Frosty, Santa and reindeer, eggnog and fruitcake.  I know all this.  And none of these things are bad.  Not one!

But we celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas.  And that is a big deal.  But because we pack so much else in the mad dash it is hard to focus.  Christmas is like one big blast of A.D.D. for all of us.  Now I am not getting into the whole “Jesus is the reason for the season” or “Let’s keep Christ in Christmas” argument.  This is not a war against Target or Wal-Mart for not telling me Merry Christmas when I leave their respective establishments after loading up on Christmas wares.  It is more of a question.  Can I sincerely fit Jesus into everything I have to do this year?  Even if every single thing I do is for a good cause or for family’s sake, am I elbowing Jesus out of the picture?

You see, he did a whole lot for me.  And there is not a gift out there that I can bring him that is good enough for him…except my devotion.  So I am going to try to give him my devotion this year.  I am going to bring him with me to wherever I have already committed to go.  I would encourage you to do the same.  I think we will like having him around.

Merry Christmas to you all!

On the Journey with You,

Scott

Woke Up This Morning Feeling Fine

I have been sick for most of the past week and a half.  It started out as just a little stuffy nose.  I took some allergy medicine and thought that would do the trick.  By the next day my head hurt and my nose was running off my face.  The day after that brought “the cough”.  You know the one I am talking about, right?  It starts out as this nagging hack that starts to hurt after a while.  Then it progresses so that each time you cough you end up with a mouthful of lung.  And that slowly fades out till you have that annoying tickle that sticks around for days and your throat and chest hurt from coughing so much and it is painful to take a deep breath.  Yeah, you know where I am.  So then this morning it was suddenly different.  I woke up this morning feeling fine.  I even went for a good run.  The run was a little tough because I have been off with the sickness for a few days, but it still felt good.

Sometimes life’s little problems are like that.  They creep up on you and you think they aren’t such a big deal at first.  Then they hit you like a freight train and everything in the world seems terrible because you can see nothing beyond the perspective of the problem.  And then you sort of get to the other side of it and the world does not look quite as stormy, but you still feel a little too wary to celebrate life yet.  Then one morning you wake up and feel fine.  You made it through.  You are OK.

Now all problems are not like that.  Some may end us.  Some may never leave us.  And some may leave such deep scars that we may never get over them.  But a lot of life is just that…life.  And as we come to the bumps in the road let us remember that we have each other and we have a Father who loves us very much.  I pray that you will wake up every day feeling fine.

On the Journey with You,

Scott

Pray for Each Other

While you are going about your daily activities, if you are at all like me, you will have things happen to you that remind you of people in your life.  You may think of someone you are currently involved with.  Or you may think of an old friend long gone.  It is funny to me the things that jar my mind into thinking about something completely different.

So that is where prayer comes in.  I am a firm believer that God much prefers spontaneous prayer.  While I am sure He appreciates your nightly prayer or your prayer with your men’s fellowship or your women’s Bible study group, I really think He would much rather it feel more natural.  I really like it when two friends just get together and pray for no apparent reason other than just wanting to talk to the Father.

So when you have these random thoughts about various people just pop into your head, instead of saying, “Where the heck did that come from?”, assume it came from God.  Even if it did not, how can it hurt to pray for someone?  So stop and say, “God, I do not know why you made me think of (insert name here), but please take care of him/her today.  I think we would do well by just praying more.  Jesus certainly believed we should.

On the Journey with You,

Scott

Defensive Driving

I just took eight hours of Defensive Driving.  No, it’s not because of a charge against me!  I am simply required by my job to take it every three years.  I have 20+ hours of training each year working for the state Department of Corrections.  Because most of the training relates directly to being a security officer (which I am not, instead I’m a chaplain) much of the training doesn’t seem to relate to my every-day work.

The driving course, on the other hand, was different.  I drive a car practically everyday, so the information was definitely relevant, and I learned some things I didn’t know.  For instance, did you know that the proper hand placement on the steering wheel is no longer at 10 and 2, like on the hands of a clock?  They changed it to 8 and 4!  Obviously, it’s nice to have a refresher.

I wonder if people think of “going to church” in much the same way.  Do they see attending as truly relevant to their everyday life?  Do they feel that it’s important to pay close attention, or is it more like punching a time clock?

In the book of Hebrews, the church there began to drift away from the truth, and from meeting together.  My prayer is that Team Church is different.  I hope that it is refreshing to everyone who attends, each week.

Come again this Sunday, and find something new!

Crunchy on the Outside, Chewy on the Inside

We are getting ready to have the exterior of our house painted.  It is going to be a different color that it is now.  To me that means it is basically a different house.  When people drive past they will think one of two things: “That house looks great now.  A new color was what it really needed,” or “Wow, that looks horrible!  Why would they do that?”  All we are doing is changing the color, but because it is the outward appearance of the house, it will be polarizing.  People will love it or hate it, except of course those that like to straddle fences who would be non-committal no matter what.

But here’s the thing: inside the house is still the same.  The rooms are still laid out in the same way.  The furniture is as beat up as ever.  There are no new dishes, pots, pans, towels, sheets, or video games.  And most importantly we are still the same people living here.  And while some of those things may change as time wears on, this house will always be the same till it dies the death that all buildings eventually do.  It still has a roof, four walls, and floors.  The square footage is always constant.  You know what I mean.

But it is precisely the inner change that is important.  I can lose weight or gain weight, start smoking or quit smoking, go vegetarian or remain a carnivore, vote Democrat or Republican, or drive a Toyota Prius instead of a Chevy Suburban and God is not super interested.  He is interested in what we do on the inside.  Perhaps we should take a page from His book and stop determining change and more importantly worth based on outward appearance.  We need to recognize that God is always working on all of us.  And we are all at different stages of handling his work on us.

So we need to be mindful of that and love each other because the only heart we can be sure of is our own.  You can pay compliment to folks on their outward appearance.  I never said there was anything wrong with that.  But talk to people about what is going on inside.  It is way more important.  And I would appreciate you remembering that when you see my newly painted house!

On the Journey with You,

Scott