Inside Out

I get these Daily Words each day...this is the one I got this morning...


Friday, May 30, 2008
Good morning. Are you looking for advancement? Do you want a boost in life? Sometimes we need to check our giving habits. Are you an occasional giver? A systematic giver? A Tither??? Remember giving and receiving are one and the same. Giving is just receiving inside out. If things are held up in your life... Remember this principle.. Life gives to the giver and takes from the taker...

How appropriate for this weekend of commitment...

Focus

When I have a bad day, I do my best to not stay focused on the circumstances...

Keep busy, focus on others, focus on Christ, be still...

As I began to write a prayer request for myself, I felt selfish, erased it...hard to ask for help when others have it worse...

And began to pray for Linda Handy, the Gramling family, Lauren Anderson's mom, Sean Honeycutt, the children that are hungry today, those that have suffered a loss of a loved one...

I know that God always sees me through, I know the enemy is never going to relent when I am trying to be obedient and follow God's lead, to help His children, to be a light in a dark world...

And as I write this I can hear the laughter from my living room filled with my kids and their friends as they visit with a friend that was gone in the Air Force for the past year and a half...and returned safely.

I am blessed! And I must claim my new fav verse - "Rejoice in the Lord, always and again I say Rejoice!"

Say (what you need to)

Over the past few months, I have watched some of my closest friends lose their parents.
I got word today that another friend has lost his mom.
We pray for another as his mom and dad face health and life threatening issues.
I guess it is that time in our life that these situations begin to occur.

Life is a cycle, they care for us, we care for them or send them on to the Father. This past weekend, my inlaws were 4 hours away, it was a priority we go and spend some quality time with them. I lost both my parents when I was 30, so I do have empathy and know what my husband will one day have to deal with - every extra moment matters.

One of the lessons that I learned from the loss of my parents at an unexpected time in our lives is best summed up by John Mayer in his song, Say:
Take out of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all your so called problems
Better put 'em in quotations
Say what you need to say (x7)
Say what you need to saaaay...
Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead
If you could only
Say what you need to say (x7)
Say what you need to saaay...
Have no fear
For giving in
Have no fear
For getting over
You better know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Then never to say what you need to say again
Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open... wide...
Say what you need to say (x7)
Say what you need to
Say what you need to
Say what you need to say

My sister and I had sat down with my dad to say some things and hopefully find humility and forgiveness, that is not what happened, pride played a big part in why, and 2 years later as he lay in a hospital bed, he was unable to speak, I saw the regret in his eyes. God has given us the gift of words and language, we must use it to find our way to love, peace and forgiveness. We are sometimes all each other has...so say what you need to say...say what the Holy Spirit nudges you to say...do it with a heart wide open, you will have no regrets and God may just use those words to bring love, peace, and forgiveness - then HE is glorified!

Click here to see video of John Mayer's song.

At the Car Wash...

This past Saturday, we held a Car Wash at the Cooper City campus of Flamingo Road Church. We are having these car washes at all of our campuses to help children and teenagers earn money for camp. The pictures to the left are from Pastor Arturo's perspective as he drove thru and got his car washed. For only $5, his car got washed, and he played a part in helping to change a life and have a kid take one step closer to Jesus. Wow, ALL that for just $5. Thank you, Arturo! Thank you also to the other parents and leaders that brought out their cars.



The next one at Cooper City is June 7 from 9am-12noon. Doral will be having one this coming Saturday, May 24 from 9am-12noon at Ronald Reagan High School. Hallandale had one last weekend, also and I believe they are planning to do it again. Sawgrass is planning one also. (I will post the dates and times). Which ever campus you attend, check with the Student or Children Campus Pastor and go out and support the next generation!!!

Crazy Love

I am reading this new book, called Crazy Love - Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. It is written by Francis Chan. I highly recommend it to everyone. It has radically changed my way of thinking about God and His love for me. It really is hard to comprehend in my human mind, how much He loves me. I have seen in my life how He pursues me and never gives up on me. This book reasurres me and excites me for what is ahead in my relationship with my loving Father. Here are some highlights from what I have read so far:

"It is important that we not measure our spiritual health by those around us, who are pretty much like us."
"Jesus call to committment is clear: he wants all or nothing."
"For years I gave God leftovers and felt no shame...took my eyes off scripture and instead compared myself to others...the bones I threw had more meat than what others threw...I figured I was doing fine"

That is only up to Chapter 5...(I have so far to go, not just in chapters)...

Go to http://www.crazylovebook.com/ and check out the video discussions Francis Chan does for each chapter. You will begin to see God in such a Big way, and Be still and listen, you will hear Him, also. And it will revolutionize your thinking of putting Him first and yourself second. It is a hard concept for the flesh, but it is the base of Christianity. I want this crazy love and I know this prepares me for eternity in heaven with Him! Isn't that what it is all about?

HB KIM!

Today is my life long friend's birthday. We met in gym class when we were in the 8th grade. I was at a time in my life that my parent's had just divorced and my mom was living with a guy that was pretty shady. Most of my friend's parents would not allow them over my house or to spend the night, (as a parent I agree now, it just hurt then). She was the only friend that was allowed to come into my house or spend the night. Despite my circumstances, she did not judge me. She will never know how much that meant to me. We went to our first concert together at 12 years old (Eagles, Doobie Brothers and Jimmy Buffet). Leif Garrett was the big teen idol at the time (we got jipped) and we were both fans, we followed him all over town behind the Y-100 van. We took yearbook class together. We spent many a weekend at the skating rinks. All summer long we took the city bus to the beaches and practically lived there. We once took her mother's car without asking, she never knew. We both had a crush on the same guy, she just never told me til after we were both married to someone else. We were in each other's wedding. I am her son's godmother and she is mine. We have laughed together, cried together, dealt with step monster mom and dads together, loved to go to concerts and the mall together, had fun at the 20 year class re-union together, even though I graduated from a different high school. When I was 15 and got hit by a car, she was the only friend that was still by my side 6 months later when I had to wear a body cast and didn't quite fit in with the average 16 year old. And now 32 years later, she is still here in my life, she knew me when and she still loves me unconditionally. Happy Birthday BFF or as my daughter now says, Bestie!

Injustice

I have lived in Cooper City for the past 6 years, moving here from Pembroke Lakes. I know, real far move. In those 6 years, I have never once been pulled over by a police officer. It is not because I am a perfect driver, I am not. But a friend of mine has been pulled over 4 times in the last 2 years. 3 out of the 4 times were unjustified, and this last time was just uncalled for because not only did a state trooper pull him over, the officer grabbed him and forcefully bullied him off his motorcycle. I know you think that oh, he must have done something to deserve it or provoke it, but he didn't. He just looks different than the cop and he is a minority. I do not know what this feels like to be profiled by the local police. I probably am or have been judged for what I look like, but I will never deal with this kind of judgement. I think this kind of behavior breaks the heart of my Heavenly Father. I think we will all face judgment for how we have treated or judged others that are different from ourselves. Lord, help me to see them the way you do. And forgive this police officer for his anger and resentment towards those different than him.

Loving Father Approach

So, yeah, I have been away, back, started new series here at FRC all over the past 10 days! Got to visit my sister and go to an awesome conference lead by Reggie Joiner and the Northpoint team. The conference focused on encouraging and empowering preschool, children and student pastors and leadership. So many God-things happened on this trip, in my world and ministry over the past 10 days. I will do my best to blog about them all. The conference had awesome key speakers including, Louie Giglio, Andy Stanley and Francis Chan. I wanted to share the key points of Reggie Joiner's message on the first night. The title of his message was:

Prodigal Generation

His first question was what drives some churches to be different?

Was it: strategy, truth or message, community, leadership, family, creativity, Holy Spirit

He answered, No to all of the above.

He said what makes a church distinctively different is do they treat every prodigal the way a loving father would treat his own son.

He read from Luke 15:11-31 and he also emphasized verses 1&2 in Chapter 15 that read: "this man welcomes sinners and eats with them"

2 Different approaches to sin (lost son)

1. Approach of Jesus and the Loving Father OR 2. Approach of Pharisees and older brother

Loving Father approach

1. Pre-occupied with who is missing

Want church to not be about who we want to keep, but about who we want to reach.

2. Operate from a context of forgiveness

We live in a generation that wants to feel better about doing bad stuff, let's teach them to understand change and forgiveness

3. Throw parties - smart dads know how to build ministry around forgiveness and celebration

4. Confront Older brother thinking

5. Keep the lights on for as long as it takes

Older brother approach

1. Pre-occupied with themselves

2. Operate from a context of shame

3. Throw fits - % of church has people mad about something

4. Criticize loving Fathers thinking

5. Shut the door and turn off the lights

Build people that decide to treat every prodigal like a loving Father.

Why?

1. Jesus made it a priority

2. Because you are a model and need to lead it.

3. Because you know a prodigal

Before we even ask the question about what kind of church do we attend, how about what kind of thinking do we tend to move towards personally, loving Father or older brother? We all can take steps to be more like Jesus!