What happens when you forget??

If you have come to this blog in the past year and wondered....Where did he go?....I'll tell you where I went.....I went to that place where you forget your password and can't reminder or didn't write down the important information in the first place.
So.....I'm back.  If you happened to miss the odd submission that I provided...I would love for you to comment that you are watching and let me know what you'd like to have discussed or posted.
I know that many of us forget much more important things than a blog password. 

• We forget that we are God's very own children with a purpose and a future.
• We forget that God's directions for life are the best directions and if followed....that information will keep us from a ton of hurt
• We forget that we need to be connected to God and to a community of followers of Jesus Christ
• We forget that the Holy Spirit is with us constantly and is in our lives to guide, correct and when necessary...discipline us.

I am actually quite happy that I found my password and now once again have access to this blog.  The question for me will be....is anyone watching or reading.  It seems like we've moved past blogs now to methods that are more instant and take a shorter attention span.
But for now...I want to encourage you to take a personal challenge.....ask yourself if you are actually loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength today!! If not....make the necessary changes to make it so.
Walk Humbly with God,
Pastor Brian

The Best of Summer 2013

I hear it all the time...."Where is the best place for .....coffee?  .....ice cream? .....a massage? ....resources on deepening my spiritual walk while I'm on vacation?...somewhere I can go for peace and quiet and read my Bible?"  Yes that's right!  Intentional spiritual growth during the summer is possible, profitable, and plausible! I just had to use the alliteration aspect of communication. With all the time that we have at our disposal now that we don't have to shovel snow or scrape windows or put on winter coats, there can be intentional focus on our nurturing and cultivation of our spiritual health. We have some flowers in our yard that I take responsibility for during the summer.....in the winter they are on their own...but the summer...I water them as necessary....I fertilize as required and remove the weeds that think they can get what I give the plants.  As I take care of them I notice something......they flourish!  They go crazy on miracle grow!  I have often thought how awesome it would be to have spiritual miracle grow!  I know...it sounds too good to be true...but it is available and possible. Let me tell you two things that will assist in your miracle spiritual growth.  They are not new but they are tried, tested and true.

#1 - Quiet time and journaling - Call it what you want but it's scheduled time to quiet before God and take notes on what you are learning and what he is saying to you.  All you need is an alarm clock....a pen, a journal and a place.  So....get up, get reading, get writing, get growing.

#2 - Listening Prayer - If you are studying and learning, it makes sense to speak and listen to the One who loves you more than you love yourself.  When you listen as you pray, just invite the Holy Spirit to be first in your life and listen to his promptings.

The Best of Summer is still available to each of us as we intentionally use our days to grow and deepen spiritually.
Blessings friends,

Pastor Brian

Looking Forward to 2013

It has been a great year at McDermot Avenue Baptist Church.  We have experienced many changes in the lives of people as they have decided to follow Jesus, dive in the waters of Baptism and begin the journey of being a Disciple. 
We concluded our teaching time on Sunday, December 30th with a look at a familiar section of scripture...Proverbs 3:5-6, English Standard Version.  It reads this way, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make straight your paths." 
It is so recognizable to us that we read through it quickly and miss the deep truth and direction for our lives.  As we approach 2013, I can't think of a better focus than to daily trust in the Lord with all that we are...heart, soul, mind and strength...and to lean on God's truth and plan rather than putting a lot of energy and faith in our own knowledge or perception of life....while our daily experience is to live with Jesus Christ at the centre of everything we do...trusting His direction, guidance, correction and care to guide our paths.
We will send off another one of our young people this week to experience a Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School time of dedicated teaching and practical application of the truth of Proverbs 3.
I encourage you to write out this verse in whatever format you want and post it somewhere you will daily look at it...memorize it....contemplate it....study it....but more importantly....live it.
Trusting you will enter 2013 walking humbly with God.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian

On a Scale of 1 to 10?

I asked that question last Sunday in regards to your personal spiritual health!  "One being sick and 10 being able to move mountains, where are you in your spiritual health?"  I gave people the task of asking each other where they were and responding with the appropicate number on the scale and then encouraged them to pray for each other about their spiritual health.   One thing I should have done was ask the following question...."What steps can you take to change your number on the scale?"
On the bathroom weigh scale I can do a lot of things to change that number!  I can eat more or less!  I can exercise or stop exercising!  I can eat healthier and cut out all the stuff that is causing too many of us to be overweight and out of shape for our own good.  So how can you and I change our number on the spiritual health scale?
It's not easy or everyone would be doing it....so they say......but I think you and I can make some changes in our lives that will make the number on the spiritual gauge go up if even only one mark. Make that your goal today...that you will do one thing that will increase your spititual health one click.  How can you do that?  That was the question I was asking myself after Sunday...I didn't give anyone practical steps to change where they were.....so here are three.
1.  To change your health...what has to be eliminated that is keeping you from walking closely with God?  Discover the answer to that question and then
2.  Eliminate those things.  It could be as simple as how you use your time.  You may waste time watching t.v. or texting, or surfing or facebooking and although they are all tools that are designed to connect you with others, they don't really help in connecting you with God.  Spiritual health has a lot to do with time with God.  Sind out what things....habits, choices, patterns, that are in your life that keep you from developing and strengthening your walk with Jesus.
3.  Start doing better things to nourish your spiritual life.  Nothing will change in your life without change!  Read your Bible...if you don't have one...get one and start reading in the gospel of John, it's a great place to start.  If you have a Bible, read through some of Pauls letters to the churches as he gives plenty of instruction of what the life of a Follower of Jesus Christ looks like...it looks like Jesus.  Or maybe Peter's letters....he has some great life instructions as well....or maybe you just need to use the book of Proverbs as a daily, read one chapter a day, kind of kick start....it's amazing how the wisdom of Proverbs is still good for today. Go for a walk and talk.  Walk 15 minutes telling God all that is on your heart, and then walk back home for 15 minutes and just listen for God speaking to you.  Any relationship that is only one person talking is not as strong a relationship as the ones where the people involved are commuicating....talking and listening.
So to recap.....Discover....Stop.....Start!
On a scale of 1 to 10 take it up one notch....one step....with God.
I pray that God finds you with friends this Sunday devoted on worshipping Him.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian

Your Focus Needs More Focus!

It's summer and with the great weather and activities on a daily basis...it's easy to lose focus as a follower of Jesus Christ. The title for this entree is from the new version of "The Karate Kid". My daughter and I were watching it a few weeks ago and the phrase caught my attention...your focus needs more focus. If you are anything like me, I start off with my focus very narrow....there is a specific target that I'm aiming for....a project to get done, an task to complete, a training program to complete, a relationship to develop...and before too long...my focus has become much broader. My focus get blurred by the activities, the distractions the things along the way that slide in on my focus.
In my relationship with Jesus, it is also possible for me to lose focus....to get distracted. I'm very familiar with the phrase from an old song....prone to wander, Lord I feel it! My focus has been receiving more attention lately as I'm looking at what is taking my time away for my desire to seek God daily, to be in His presence with a teachable attitude.
As the month of August slides past, I am determined, and surrendered to allow Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit to sharpen my focus....to make decisions that will build and develop my walk with God, and to in effect...focus my focus.
I hope you are able to do the same.
Attend a place where Bible believing worshippers meet this Sunday,
Blessings,
Pastor Brian

Summertime Fun!

We begin our summer hours on Sunday Mornings this Sunday....June 17th Fathers Day. Our services will begin at 10:30am and will continue on with our study of the Book of Romans. Currently we are in Chapter 5 of Romans and on any given Sunday, we will be looking at a portion of a chapter of Romans. The design of our study is for people to dig into the book themselves and to come studied up an ready to gain even more from the selected portion that the speaker uses for his presentation. We've designed a study guide to assist each person and they are readily available at the back of the auditorium when you arrive. Our special focus this Sunday is of course on celebrating Fathers! As a church we let the families take care of the Fathers and we look for ways as men and congregation to assist someone else on this day. This year we have chosen Camp Nutimik and more specifically, the purchase of a trailer for the use at Camp Nutimik. So everyone will come ready to give to the purchase of the trailer as an indicator of their appreciation of their father and to support the work at camp. We thought it would be something that the men of our church would be able to invest in knowing what it's like to use a new tool for God's glory. When you stop to celebrate Fathers Day this Sunday, take some time to reflect and thank our Heavenly Father for all that He means to you....and come and visit us. We're always ready to include one more in His Great Family. Blessings, Pastor Brian

It's About Trust!

Psalm 37:3 reads, "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." and then in verse 5 it reads, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun." One of the key parts to Stewardship is trust....trust in God for everything in your life. Some call it faith, some call it trust, others say it is just the reality of believing in Jesus...you have to surrender everything to Jesus. I apply trust all throughout my day...when I push on the brake peddle I "trust" that it will use the proper mechanics to slow the vehicle I'm driving in, or when I sit on a chair, I "trust" that it will not let me down. There are other levels of trust in the relationships I have.......with my wife...I trust her to be committed to me everywhere she goes, and she does the same to me. My relationship with Jesus is based on trust as well....I trust that what he said about himself is true as recorded in the Bible...and because of that...I choose to trust him with all aspects of my life here on earth and where ever eternity will be. My logical mind says...if I am trusting Jesus with my soul and life for my eternity then I can trust him to lead me and guide me here with the resources that he has given to me, better than I could on my own. By resources I mean....everything I have been given by God...mind, intellect, experiences, gifts, abilities, relationships, family, money, possessions and time. Today I'm sitting here in front of my computer trying to use all that God has provided for me....my mind,my experience as a man and follower of Jesus Christ, a teacher and pastor and to some a friend. Whether anyone reads this blog or not, I am using my resources to bring Glory to God by being obedient to his call on my life and all it's resources. Tomorrow we will look more closely at Trust as McDermot Church Family gathers to focus on God. If you want to come to a place where we are learning to trust God with all that we have...please come. We are regular people with a great God that we are dedicating our lives to Love and Serve.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian