Yesterday was a day of powerful worship, the obvious presence of the Holy Spirit, many who made a commitment to get ready for the power of God in their lives and a day with very low attendance. As for my musings …

-Began a new sermon series yesterday entitled “Powered by God”. This will be a theme and focus for us this year.

-This new sermon series is born out of my personal frustration with the lack of power in my life and the life of my churches. As I read scripture I see the results of God’s power and I see the promises of God’s power and I know that these promises are still true. I want God’s power to be regularly evidenced in my life and the life of my churches. I am excited for this series, especially after seeing so many people respond that they want this in their life and are willing to get ready to receive it.

-The weather people had predicted a major ice storm for our area all weekend. It never came. But evidently many people believed the forecasts and did not step outside to see that it never arrived. Attendance was very low at my 10:30 church and it was down at my 9:00 church.

-There was such a sweet and powerful spirit in our worship services yesterday. There was a brief time of spontaneous praise in each of my churches. There were many tears of joy during the music. The prayer time was wonderful and people were very engaged during the sermon.

-Immediately after the last worship service my wife and I headed to a hospital about 40 minutes away to visit someone who has not been doing well. Had the situation, love being able to minister.

-Mondays are often difficult for pastors. After all the preparation for Sunday and the emotional energy spent on a Sunday there is an expected let down. Some Mondays are not so bad, and some just seem to beat you up. This Monday is the latter. But I have enough experience to know what it is and that this too shall pass.

-I began reading a book recently that is fascinating. It is not written with pastors or churches in mind. It is a book about communication. The tagline of the book is “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear”. As a pastor, I have many conversations throughout the year with people who heard something very different than what I said. The clearer I can preach, and communicate in general, the more impactful my ministry and life can become. I am always seeking ways to communicate better.

-I continue to be amazed at how much prayer changes things. As I give myself more and more to specific and sincere prayer God keeps showing up in ways I didn’t imagine. Prayer changes things, especially the one who prays.

-Excited about the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of some fathers. Got confirmation today about something that has been in the works for months. Will share more as the journey begins. But you can go ahead and get excited, I am.

-Praying a lot for many pastors I know. With some I know what they are facing, with some others I don’t know what they are facing but God has placed them on my heart.

-This afternoon I got more confirmation that God is up to something special in our community. Awesome!!!

Here’s hoping that you sense God’s presence in your life.

Dennis

Sunday was a much better day than last Sunday feeling better had a lot to do with that fact. It has taken a week and I am almost back to normal. Whatever the bug was that bit me early last Sunday morning it knocked me down for 2 whole days and has kept messing with me all week.. As for my musings …

-I preached the “New Year’s Day” message I had prepared for the week before. It was well received though I did not feel like I delivered it well. As always God came through, in spite of me.

-Early Monday morning I traveled 3+ hours to take my oldest grandson to the airport so he could return to college. It was great to have him around for a few days and to hear stories of him staying with both of my daughters and their families over Christmas break. I am so proud of the Godly young man that he is and am humbled by all that he is planning to do for God.

-Our attendance was not good at either church.

-We have had a lot of people in both churches with very serious physical issues the past 2 weeks. Not sure what is going on but as far as I am concerned it can stop.

-Over Christmas all our stateside family, minus one son in law, came to our house for a couple of days. On one of those evenings we skyped with my son and his family in Africa. Since they are now serving in a very rural area the connection was very slow and somewhat fuzzy. But it was great to see their faces and hear their voices for a little while.

-This Sunday I will begin a new series that will introduce our focus/theme for this year. We are going to be looking at the power of God. In recent weeks, I have become very disgruntled with the lack of God’s power in my life and in the life of my churches. It is not because God is no longer powerful. It is not because God is no longer willing to work powerfully in and among us. That leaves our side of it. This will be our focus.

-It took about 8 days for whatever I had to completely get out of me. I am hoping that this is my total illness for the winter.

-Going through another Christmas season with family on the mission field has come and gone. I support what they are doing and agree with their call to missions. However, it always creates an ache at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our family always has such a great time when we are all together and though we are very competitive with each other and though we never hesitate to laugh at each other we know we are loved by each other. I pray for them each day, even multiple times a day. If you think of it pray for those who are serving a long distance from their families.

-I was encouraged on Sunday because there were a good number of people who took a Bible reading plan. I always encourage people to attempt to read through the Bible in the year. This is the largest number of people I have ever had say they are committing to it. Only good things can happen when we read God’s Word.

Here’s hoping you are feeling good and that you see some evidence of God’s power this week.

Dennis

Yesterday was a surprisingly good day in both of my churches. The surprise was because it was -3 degrees with a wind chill of about -20 when church began. Also, we had some freezing rain on Saturday and there was a light coat of ice on sidewalks, driveways and parking lots. We spread a lot of ice melt and made it possible to use sidewalks and parking lots. As for my musings …

-The Children of both churches shared the Christmas message in worship yesterday. The kids did great at both churches. We had 9 or 10 kids who shared at my 9:00 church and 20+ were involved at my 10:30 church. I love watching kids get up front and share. Some did it confidently, some were shy and some were scared. But all of them came through. We also had some ad-libbing and some who wandered around a bit.

-It is always fun to watch the parents and grandparents of the kids. You can see the joy and pride in their eyes. You can also see them mouthing the words that their kids and grandkids are saying or singing up front. In most cases the parents are more nervous than the kids.

-Many people did not make it out in the cold and slippery conditions. Even with the difficult weather we had reasonable attendance. There were many churches in the area that cancelled services yesterday.

-It is always difficult to prepare for my part on Sundays like yesterday. When I don’t know how much time I will have it is tough. I am also aware that the visitors who come on Sundays when the focus is on the kids did not come to hear me. They will give me a little time, and if I can grab their attention they will even listen. But I would much rather have them consider coming back for another Sunday than to try and dump a big message on them when they are here for the kids.

-This morning I am heading to a memorial service for the adult daughter of one of my older couples. As the father said to me while visiting with him this past week, “A parent isn’t supposed to bury a child”. Praying that God’s comfort will be powerfully evident for them today, and in the days to come.

-Spending time in prayer and preparation for our Christmas services this coming weekend. Praying that there will be several who will choose to embrace the Peace of Christmas and accept Jesus as their Savior. What a great way to celebrate Christmas.

-Excited to spend some time with our oldest grandson this next week. He has completed his first semester of college. Our winter temperatures may be quite a shock to his system after 3 years in Kenya and 1 semester in California. Flip flops wouldn’t cut it buddy.

-Looking like this will be a Christmas of grabbing brief moments with our stateside kids and grandkids. Schedules are just not cooperating this year.

-Spending a lot time processing this truth in recent days. God loves to fill empty spaces. I have been creating a list of moments in scripture where God filled empty vessels. It is inspiring. I suspect it will develop into a sermon series that will surface around here in 2017.

Here’s hoping that you see Jesus as you head toward Christmas.

Dennis

Yesterday we enjoyed our first snowfall of the year and we received at least 3 inches of beautiful snow. It arrived in huge flakes that fell softly. The fact that the snowflakes were falling as people were getting ready to head to church certainly had an impact on attendance. As for my musings…

-Yesterday was a difficult day for me. There were several things that did not go as planned and some of them forced me to change my Sunday morning preparations. I am generally a flexible person so it bothered me how much this bothered me yesterday.

-I was both very excited and very burdened about yesterday’s sermon. I was excited because it was one of those times where I felt I really heard from God during my study time and knew that this message was very applicable for many people. I was burdened for how relevant this message was for people and I desired for people to hear and engage with this message. I was pleased with how well people were listening and with some conversations about the message following both worship services. I was disappointed not to see some specific responses to the message. But my call is to present and attempt to persuade, I cannot choose for others.

-My wake up time the past 3 mornings has been 3:30, 2:30 and 4:30. These times were earlier than my alarm was set. On 2 of the mornings I did get back to sleep for a few minutes, after going out to the living room. All 3 of the mornings were times when I woke up suddenly with eyes wide and mind racing. I did not enjoy it at all. Here’s hoping that trend ends tonight.

-I am broken by the large number of people I know who are going through difficult family turmoil. It is magnified because it is taking place during the Christmas season.

-My fantasy football team won this week. It still looks like I will be on the outside looking in for the playoffs.

-My wife is awesome.

-This year I am praying for something I have never prayed for, a grandson as he takes his college final exams for the semester. How did he get this old? Especially considering I am not aging at all. (Yes, I am delusional at times.)

-Our new church website is almost ready to go live!

-A unique experience for me this year will be having a Christmas Eve service at my 9:00 church and a Christmas Day service at my 10:30 church.

-I was a part of a District wide strategy meeting on Church Planting. It was exciting, humbling and it prompted a lot of thoughts for the future.

-My clothes have convinced me that it is time, more accurately it is past time, to make some changes concerning my food consumption and the quantity of my movement. I am going to ask some pastor friends to hold me accountable and join me if they feel so challenged.

-From my reading and prayer time this morning, “One of the great dangers we face spiritually is learning how and forgetting why.” (Mark Batterson in Draw The Circle)

Here’s hoping that you remember your “why” this week and pass it on.

Dennis