Oh The Places You Will Go!

By Grace Through Faith

2012-01-31T03:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you were there or not; but I was, and I was fairly well blown away. "Where?" you ask. At the performance of our first grade choir at the Green Campus. You'll have to ask Mrs. Seacrest about the history, but somehow it became a tradition for our sixth graders and our first graders to sing and to put on a musical at Christmas.

The gym was packed with students and parents; and I was thinking, "These first graders are gonna be scared by all these people. I don't know if they'll be able sing so the crowd will even hear them. I'm not sure this is gonna work out!"

Silly me.

Not only did they sing, but they sang with enthusiasm and joy; and they filled the gym with music! As I watched them I remembered that this was the class that had invited me to their picnic just last year when they were in kindergarten. Two of the children that befriended me immediately when I started my new job were Grace and Faith from this class.

I located them in the choir and sure enough they were singing with mouths wide open, totally caught up in the message of Christmas. Faith was singing so hard that she had her head thrown back and her hands placed firmly on her hips; I guess just to brace herself, so she didn't go backwards off the risers. Amazing!

Many of us older types were wiping our eyes; you'll know why when you're our age.

It got me to thinkin' of a song and a Scripture. Amazing Grace and Ephesians 2:8-9.

Yes, our girls Grace and Faith are Amazing, but even more Amazing is God's Grace that I can receive through Faith.

Get ready for a big word kids: REDEMPTION. It means that God's free gift (His Grace) is to buy us back from being stuck in and stained by sin. We receive the gift by believing, yes, trusting our lives to the person of Jesus as the One who bought this gift by His death and resurrection.

So Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by Grace you have been saved, through Faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

Hey, Grace! Hey Faith! Thanks for the reminder!

Dear Lord, thank you for first graders that sing with all their might about Your coming to earth in the person of Jesus. We are grateful again this morning that you came to rescue us, "rob our sin and make us holy." Give us Your full Faith in Your Amazing Grace! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Fixing Wheels

2012-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

Over the fall I was watching Alexandra's dad walk through the parking lot. He had a slight limp. I asked him about his "wheels (meaning his leg)." He said something like, "Torn ACL (hurt knee); gonna need surgery." I like a man that gets to the point with as few words as possible.

As we moved from fall to winter I noticed that the limp had moved from slight to fairly major. And as he walked, I could tell by the look on his face that every step was pretty painful. It was a good-sized task to walk from the car to the entryway of the school. I hoped, as I watched, that he wouldn't slip on a slick place. Yep, you guessed it; he'd had the surgery. And now the walking was what would help him get better quicker. Boy, was he determined!

We exchanged the normal pleasantries as he walked by with his precious pre-schooler on a few occasions. Then one morning he stopped. I could tell that all this walking on a stiff and painful "wheel" had got him to thinkin', but I wasn't quite ready for how deep that thinking had been. He said something like, "It's amazing that when my knee was injured on the inside it looked normal on the outside. But for it to be truly healed, it needed to be cut open and repaired which caused a bunch of pain and a pretty good sized scar on the outside."

Wow! Does that get you to thinkin', or what?! So, for example, sometimes our relationships look just fine on the outside, but there is something that's needs repaired between friends. It takes the painful task of an apology and the granting of forgiveness for healing to take place.

Do you know who really understands this? God. God looked down at His creation and saw that they needed surgery so sin and its effects could be removed. He did the most costly and painful thing possible! John 3:16 says that He "so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." God's gift of grace was very costly; it cost Jesus a very painful death, but Jesus purchased healing and eternal life for all who believe!

Our role is to receive His gift by faith in humility. It may not be easy to admit we have the need for His forgiveness, but it is absolutely necessary in order for us to "fix the wheels" of our friendship with Him.

Let's thank God for His "unspeakable gift!" Dear Lord, we are so deeply grateful that You paid such a high price for us. Thank You for the healing and forgiveness that are ours through Your gift of love. Help us, Lord, to constantly extend Your healing and forgiveness to others with a willing heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Fully Charged

2012-01-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

This is John; I am one of those sixth graders at Chapel Hill Christian School. Pastor Wilson is letting me write in the blog today.

I really like music. Country, rock, gospel - almost anything. I have an I pod to hold this music, so I can listen to it.

The thing is this I pod is six years old, and it's almost as big as a computer (not quite, but you know what I mean). This I pod can only play two songs before running out of power. I have to constantly keep it in the charger, or it won't work.

Of course, my I pod got me to thinkin'. Without a main source of power my I pod won't work. That's like it is in our lives. If we don't stay plugged into God, our lives will start to break down.

John 15:4 says, "Remain in Me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

We don't always stay close to God. We may think we can live without Him. If we try life without Him, things will begin to fall apart. Just like my I pod without a charger, we need God's power to keep our lives rockin' and to be a light for Christ!

Let's pray over it! Dear Lord, please help us stay connected to You and learn to love You more deeply each day. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Tongue in Shoe Violation

2011-12-19T19:50:00.000-08:00

I'll tell you where the action is. Right outside my office at North Campus are the Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten bathrooms and drinking fountain. The traffic is heavy, and it can get exciting; if you know what I'm talkin' about.

One time, recently, Olivia from Preschool was coming out of the girls bathroom, and I noticed she was limping down the hall. She didn't look hurt, but foot, ankle or knee were not working right. Woops - she saw me. Without hesitation she said something like, "Hey Pastor Wilson, you better fix my shoe." She stuck it out.

It wasn't any easy fix. She had a "tongue in shoe" problem. It wasn't just wiggle the heel around; it was goin' to require the surgery of a full shoe removal and a tongue relocation, followed by "puta-shoe-back-on-icus" and a full "velcro-on-again-icus." Yep, I had to get on the floor.

In the process I memorized Olivia's name, and we became friends.

Of course, something like this happening always gets me to thinkin'. Olivia had the courage to approach me boldly with her need. Do most of us do that with people we love or with God. Well, I have to admit...not usually.

The Bible says, "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most (Hebrews 4:16)." That's a pretty awesome verse; isn't it?!

Why don't we just ask for our needs like a preschooler? Too proud or don't understand God - one or the other.

Some of us think, "I know how to do this myself; I don't need God or anyone else!" And guess what? We miss getting to know God or someone else He has sent to help us.

Others of us think, "God doesn't have time, nor does anyone else have time, to help me; I'll just suffer through this alone." Now does that sound like God or His people? No, No, No! They always want to help. In fact, they want to "get on the floor", so that in the process we'll get to know one another better.

Olivia asked for help. How about you and me?

Let's pray over it! Dear Lord, teach us to talk to You about everything. Help us to learn to just come up and ask You about things we need. We know that You present us with situations; so that when we talk to You about them, we will get to know You better and better. Thank You that You are willing to involve Yourself, and Your people, in the things that are happening to us. We love You, Lord! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Ps Hey, another milestone! We made it to 2,500! Let's get back to bloggin'!

My Running Buddy

2011-12-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

One of my good friends got sick a few weeks ago.

His name is Don; some of you know him as Dr. Lichi. Many know him as counselor, teacher, author, preacher and friend. For me he's Running Buddy.

Running Buddy is the guy who gets up at 4:30 am, so he can meet me at the trail at 5:00 am. Running Buddy doesn't care how I smell. He doesn't brush his teeth before the run, and he doesn't care whether or not I brush mine. It doesn't bother him if I puke on the trail, cuz' he knows he just might puke on the trail.

Running Buddy shares. He brings an extra bottle of water just in case I forgot (I always forget). He'll give me his other dry T-shirt after the run on rainy or very hot days. When it's dark, running buddy shares his flashlight; so we don't go splash in the Cuyahoga River. Sometimes Running Buddy buys breakfast at Hamburger Station. Yes, he even shares his vaseline if necessary; that's true friendship! (you'll know why that's important once you are forty).

My Running Buddy gives sacrificially. If I can't make it all the way, he runs to the car and comes back to pick me up. He runs on days he doesn't really feel like it, because it'll make me and other friends run too. Running Buddy never quits. I told him it would be wise to do so a few times - not my Running Buddy - nope!

The fact that my Running Buddy got sick got me to thinkin'. My thoughts were not very helpful at first. I asked God just exactly what it was He thought He was doing to allow my Running Buddy to get sick.

God responded by talking to my spirit; sometimes He does that. He asked me if the Running Buddy was mine or His. I had to admit that I didn't own my Running Buddy and that God did.

Then He ask me who it was that could take better care of my Running Buddy, me or Him. "Well...You can, God, " I had to admit.

Finally, He asked me, "Would you trust Me with your Running Buddy, since I love him more than anyone else can?" "...OK," I said with some hesitation.

"After all," said God, "Wasn't I the One who gave you the Running Buddy as a gift in the first place?" I had forgotten that.

So I trusted the Running Buddy God gave me back to Him. That got me to thinkin' some better thoughts, like a Scripture verse we've talked about before. Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take."

God has really been helping the Running Buddy in recent days. And in the process, He is teaching me more about prayer, so we better have one!

Dear Lord, teach us all what it means to trust You. Help us know that You love most and best. Continue to be with my Running Buddy by "strengthening Him with power by Your Holy Spirit in his inner being." So be it, Lord! Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Ps Sorry I haven't been writing here as much over the last month. I will get back at it!

And A Prayer Meeting Broke Out

2011-11-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

Another CHCS Hoops season is complete. The Red guys and the Purple girls got the last "W" of the season - that means they won.

There was a lot of good playing by Teal and Purple in the first game. I'm really glad Leah has not challenged me to a game of one-on-one; I'm not real sure how that game would come out.

The Red against Tan game was a "nail-biter!" That means it was close. Red came out on top by one point, and they had to come from just a little behind to win in the fourth period. CJ was the man! What a great game he played, and he kept his cool under pressure. The neat thing was that CJ, Caleb and Andrew have been talkin' about winning a boys CHCS championship for three years, and they did it! Good job Red guys!

Red against Tan, like I said was very close. When a game is that close, it can also get very tense for the players, coaches and even us spectators, you know, us watching the game. When the final buzzer sounded, our ref, Mr. Calhoun breathed a sigh of relief, a few of us wept, some of us laughed for joy, some hugged and some did all of the above and couldn't decide which one to stay with.

One guy had a job to do. John P. Yep, that's what his teammates called him this year. He had decided on his own that a prayer after the game would be a good way to end the season. He had Coach Sumner call all the boys together with the coaches, and he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing for both teams. There were a lot of great feats performed in the gym that night, but that was the greatest and the hardest. It made me very proud, in a godly way, to be related to Chapel Hill Christian School!

And of course it got me to thinkin' about how I am supposed to live my life. One author has said, "With God, prayer is not everything, but everything is by prayer!" Talking with God should be like breathing. Yes, our lives should be lived like a prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 may say it best. John Stott, who just went home to see His Lord, called this passage the four alls of prayer. Pray 1) all in the Spirit 2) at all times 3) with all kinds of prayers and requests 4) for all the saints.

Thanks, John P., for letting a prayer meeting break out at the end of a basketball game. Yep, it was in the Spirit at that specific time. It was a kind of prayer and it was for us basketball saints. You got all four!

Well, since we're talkin' about prayer, we better have a good one. Dear Lord, thank You for making Yourself available to us 24/7! And thank You that before, during and after even a game of hoops YOU ARE THERE! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

PS Mrs. Calhoun wrote me today. She is asking for prayer for Mr. Calhoun. He is at the Cleveland Clinic and needs God's help in his body. Let's do the "four alls" for our favorite referee, Mr. Calhoun.

What's In A Name? - Again

2011-11-10T04:44:00.000-08:00

What a blessing it is to have the Okoye Family from Nigeria as a part of our Chapel Hill Christian School Family!

In a past blog entry you may remember that I got pretty excited about the real meanings of the real names of Mr. Okoye and his sons Paul and Joseph (who attend our Green Campus). I told you then that Mr. Okoye's name means the "power of God." Joe's name means God is my strength, and Paul's name means God is my guide.

Yep, I get excited just thinkin' about the sermons that could be preached from those names!

And do you want to know what else? The other day Mr. Okoye sent me an e mail that told me the other names in his family and what they mean. You want to know, right? Well, okay then, here we go!

Mrs. Okoye's name, Ifedinma, means "No one is like God's Son for He is good." Mr. and Mrs. Okoye's first child's name is Ebelechukwu Nkiruku (not even gonna try to pronounce that one for ya); it means "God is my mercy, so my future is greater." Very cool, right?

Soooo, this has got to get us to thinkin'! Let's put them all together, shall we?

If God is powerful and almighty, it is very important that He is also good. If He is almighty, but not good, you and I are in trouble. "Why?" you ask. Because the Bible says that the penalty for disobeying God is death. And guess what? You and I have sinned.

But GOOD NEWS! God is good! When His goodness and power come together, we get His mercy through His Son, Jesus. But wait, there's more! His mercy allows us to be in a friendship with our good and powerful God. And in this friendship He gives us His strength and His guidance. It's amazing; isn't it?

It is so awesome; we better just stop and pray now! Dear Lord, thank You for being powerful and good. And thank You for giving us Your mercy, instead of wrath - and Your guidance and strength. We praise You this morning! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Got Soft Hands?

2011-11-01T04:57:00.000-07:00

Felt pretty cool the other day. Cool does not happen very often once you are over fifty years of age. Wanna know why I felt cool? OK, I'll tell you.

The sixth grade boys let me in the pickup basketball game at recess. Now the problem with cool here is that I might have become very uncool. "Why?" you ask. Well, first of all, I am slow. Second, I cannot shoot anymore, and never could dunk. Third, as I have mentioned before, there is no jump left in these legs.

Good news through - I can still pass. I can make the "no-look-behind-the-back" pass. Yes I can, if I can get the ball entirely around my waist. Or a cute way to say it would be, "Get the ball around the entire 'tire'." Still one problem though - someone has to be able to catch the "no-look-behind-the-back" in order for it to be cool.

So here's the way it played out. I was dribbling with the right hand left of the key. Martice was three feet from the hole and had shaken free of the man guarding him. The ball went "around the tire" and into the air. Martice made eye contact and shot his hands out and over his head. The ball came to rest in Martice's soft hands, and he made the catch! He proceeded to soar high from the ground and make a thunderous, 360-degree, tomahawk slam-dunk (OK, I made up that part)! No, he actually scored from the left side on a two-foot layup.

The key to it all? Soft hands. Martice had to be able to catch that pass. As always, Martice's catch got me to thinkin'.

I remembered Judges 6. "Really, what's in that chapter?" you ask. Well, it's a good one to read; it's all about Gideon. It seems God was trying to get the nation of Israel's attention, but no one was listening. They were not "catching the nice lob pass" God was throwing to them. He wanted them to tear down their idols and worship Him alone.

No one was listening, that is, until God talked to Gideon. God was using the Midianites to call Israel back into a close friendship with Him. When Gideon listened, and listened closely, and then obeyed, God used him to miraculously defeat Midian's army and bring Israel back to Him.

So here's the question for us today. Are you and I "catching" the things God is saying to us? He is always talking to us through His Word, by His Holy Spirit, through His people (like teachers, pastors, parents and grandparents) and through things that happen in our lives. Hard hands or a lack of attention cause a very special pass to bounce out of bounds. God is speaking; are we listening?

Let's ask Him to help us! Lord, make our hearts soft and open to all You want to say to us today. We're listening! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Did You Hear About First Grade?

2011-10-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

Something exciting happened in one of the awesome first grade classes! "You wanna know?" you ask. OK then, I'll let you in on it!

Fortunately, it was the "get your eyes checked" day at North Campus, so for the morning I got to walk around with all of you. I walked some of you upstairs and some of you back downstairs for some of the morning.

While I was walking up or down, I don't remember which, I looked in on one of the first grade classes. Our teacher, Mrs. Seery, was waving at me to come on in. I did.

I heard a wonderful story that goes like this. It seems the kids were working on words that rhyme with "bell." Mrs. Seery was writing the "rhymers" on the white board. One word in particular got quite a bit of attention. It starts with "h" and, of course, rhymes with bell.

Mrs. Seery told us later that she sensed God's Spirit speaking to her about talking to the first grade about Heaven and Hell and how God has made a way through Jesus for us to go to Heaven. Well, first grade had some very good questions. At the end of all the questions and answers was when I poked my shiny head into the door.

By then about ten of the students were quite sure that they would like to ask Jesus into their hearts. I was so thrilled to get to pray with them right then about Jesus becoming their personal Savior! I reminded them about Jesus saying that the angels in Heaven rejoice when just one boy or girl prays like they had just prayed.

And this gets me to thinkin' about where that verse is in God's Word, the Bible. Do you know where to find it? I had to look it up again. It comes in when Jesus is telling stories about things that are lost. Jesus had three great "lost stories" in the book of Luke chapter 15. The stories were about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. After the stories about the sheep and the coin, Jesus says this very important sentence, "I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (15:10)."

Repent. That word got me to thinkin' again, because our character trait for next month is "being repentant." "What does that mean?" you ask. OK, I'll tell you.

It means changing our minds about sin and God. Instead of loving the ways I disobey God, I change my mind and hate them. And instead of ignoring God and acting like He doesn't exist, I love Him and want to obey Him and spend time with Him. It all happens when I accept the forgiveness of God through what He has done through His Son, Jesus.

Isn't it amazing? By His Holy Spirit, Jesus found some "repenters" in first grade that morning! I wonder if the angels are still rejoicing in Heaven about what happened in first grade...?

It makes me want to pray. Dear God, thank You for inviting us into a friendship with You. Thank You for looking for us while we are lost. And thank You for giving us a peek into Heaven by what Your Word says about the joy there when just one of us turns to You through repentance. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor John

What's Integrity?

2011-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Some of our sixth grade boys let me hang out with them a couple weeks ago. We got to talkin' about what it means to be a man and about things we could do to help our school.

A couple of things we decided that make a good man are 1) to see what needs to be done, make a plan and do it, and 2) to always do my part without making excuses. It's called integrity!

Several of the guys thought that starting a boys Bible study would really help the school. They started to make some beginning plans for starting the Bible study.

I'm thinkin' like, "OK... nice talk."

I guess the sixth grade boys were thinkin' like, "Let's do this thing!"

The next thing I knew, I heard that not only had they organized the Bible study; but they'd already held it twice. Yep, they were spending Friday lunch times to study God's Word together. It's called integrity!

All this talk about integrity, as well as, the acting out of integrity by the guys, got me to thinkin' about Jesus. Three times in both the book of Matthew and Mark, Jesus told His students that He was going to Jerusalem to be crucified on a cross (See Mark 8-10 or Matthew 16-20). It would have been a bit easier for Jesus to say, "OK, guys,... nice talk." And then He could have avoided going to the cross. On the very night of His arrest He said, "Father, let this cup pass from me, but not My will, but Thine be done!"

God provided eternal life to all who would believe, because Jesus did what He said He was going to do with making excuses or blaming anyone else.

It's called integrity! Kinda like those sixth grade boys - the ones we look up to.

Let's pray for God to help us. Dear Father, in Heaven, we know that we don't always follow through on our word. Give us Your strength, Your courage and Your integrity so that we follow Your call on our lives! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Leaving It All On The Floor

2011-10-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

I was watching an exciting game a couple nights ago, Chapel Hill Black against Chapel Hill Maroon. The game came down to the last quarter, and there was only a four point difference with about four minutes to go. There was a lot of excellent playing. Eric hit some one-hand jump-hooks, Jonathan had several excellent drives to the hole, Skyler got a bunch of rebounds and the Nathans (three of them (2 black team and 1 maroon team) and Kyler were hustling all over the place.

David was unbelievable. He was scrapping on the floor for loose balls. He was taking on guys way taller than him and winning the rebound battle. He was driving down "among the trees" and "kissing the rock off the glass." He had a bunch of takeaways on defense and he was shooting from inside and outside on "O."

What a game! Back in my day we would have called it "unconscious."

I sat near David's dad and mom during part of the game, and I'm not sure they even knew David had this kind of game in him. At one point I simply had to take my hat and whack David's dad over the head with it.

After the game I walked over to congratulate David, and his mom said something like, "This is David's last season to get to play at Chapel Hill (David's a sixth grader)." In other words, David doesn't want to have look back at his last season of B-ball at CHCS and think, "I didn't give it my best." He wants to leave all his hustle and effort on the floor and walk away knowing he gave everything.

A famous basketball coach named John Wooden would never let his players compare themselves to other players. He always asked them to give their own "personal best" night after night. David would have made Coach Wooden smile on Monday night.

All this "personal best" stuff got me to thinkin' about Jesus. In II Corinthians 5:21 the Apostle Paul was talking about how Jesus gave His "personal best:" "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God." Jesus died for our sin; He took on our sin; and He took all the wrath of God against sin. He did that after living a perfect life - a "personal best."

Now how should we respond to that? Sort of like - how should we "congratulate Jesus after His game?" Paul wrote about it just above the verse I was just talking about: "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us."

What's all that mean? Just this. We are to respond to Jesus by entering into a friendship with Him. We do this by accepting what He has done by His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Then we live our lives to tell others the good news of this! We are His agents on His mission!

Better pray! Dear Jesus, thank You for giving Yourself for us. And thank You for giving Your "personal best." Live inside of us and live Your life through us, so we can look back knowing we too, gave our "personal best" as a way to show You our love. Then send us out onto "Your floor to play in Your big game of life as Your player." Help us leave it "all on the floor!" In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of You,
Pastor John
PS At the end of His life Jesus prayed, "Father, I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do." Wouldn't it be great to be able to pray that?

Kindergarten "Convo"

2011-10-19T16:19:00.000-07:00

The kindergarten class let me come in to chat last week. It was way cool. I got to sit on the rocker; they all sat on the reading rug. We were rappin'! No, not nappin; that's what they did in the afternoon after my visit.

The kindergarten class had been talkin' about things like receiving Jesus and what heaven is like. Mrs. Wise invited me in to hear their thoughts and have a "convo" with them. I started in on these topics and as kindergarteners will do, they listened for a while. I realized after a bit that it was their turn to talk, because several of them had their hands in the air. They wanted the "convo" to go two ways.

Their topics for the day were not heaven and Jesus; their topics centered around the loss we experience when a pet dies and...rainbows. It may not be easy to see how those two subjects are related, but on that day they were for our kindergarteners. God seemed to be in our conversation, though, because it kept coming back to Him and his Word.

This conversation or "convo" with these awesome kindergarteners got me to thinkin' about prayer. I've been reading about prayer lately, and it may be that our kindergarteners are onto something. Prayer is not so much about coming to a talk with God with a definite set of things I need to tell Him and then walking away from the "convo." Prayer is much more two-way. It is talking and listening and listening and talking.

Prayer is not thirty-five minutes of talking over requests and five minutes of praying. It is more soaking in the company and presence of God. And prayer never ends with me as the result or focus; it always goes back to God and His will and purposes as recorded in His Word.

Soaking in the presence of these kindergarteners was the best part of last Friday for me. They had to teach me how to do it; but once I put my speech away, I saw how patient and kind they could be with me. After that it was easy - listen and talk and talk and listen.

Let's pray about prayer! Dear Lord, make us people of prayer. Instead of "request-ers", we want to be "pray-ers." Thank You for being patient and kind with the praying we do now, but don't let us get stuck just speaking at You. Help us learn to converse with You in awe and wonder! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Soccer Invitational

2011-10-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

Yep, they let me in the soccer game this week. This was no ordinary game of soccer; this was stereo soccer. I want you to imagine it! There were two games of soccer, one a fourth grade game and one a fifth grade game, going on on the same field! But that's not all; in the northeast corner of the same exact field a very active game of kickball for all comers was going on as well! Rumor has it that sometimes, just sometimes, a game of sixth grade football breaks out in the midst. Oh my!

I watched for just a little while, and noticed that the fifth grade boys were letting two girls play. I thought, "Wow, that's nice of those boys; maybe I'll join the team the girls are on to help them out just a bit."

Guess I was about to be "schooled." I should've watched a little more closely. These girls didn't need my help. Oh yeah, sure, they let me play and kick around with them, but they didn't need me on their team.

Yep, Kenzie and Claudia didn't need me to play, but they wanted me to play. Sure, they could stop the ball on a dime and change directions, and they could pass directly to each other's feet. They could, while moving quickly down the field, fake a kick, moving the goalie to one side; and then put the ball in the net. While I'm the type that shoots the ball directly at the goalie's chest, so that if he remains perfectly still and closes his eyes, he will typically stop my shot. Even so, Kenzie and Claudia, George, Nick and Aaron invited me to play.

This got me to thinkin' about the wonder of God inviting us to do His work. Did you know that God, who has all power and knowledge and who is everywhere at all times, doesn't really need us to do His work. Even though He doesn't need us, He invites us to join Him in the marvelous things He is doing. Some of the great things He is accomplishing are going on right here at Chapel Hill Christian School.

Do remember when God was teaching Moses about humility and honesty? Moses asked God what His name was. God said, "Tell them I AM THAT I AM." Do you remember the three things we talked about that this name means? 1) God exists. 2) God exists at all times. 3) God exists by Himself or without help.

No, He doesn't need you and me, but because He loves us He invites to be in a friendship with Him and to join Him in all the amazing things He is doing. Isn't that awesome?!

Let's thank Him for that this morning! Dear Lord, Thank You for the invitation of Your love. Thank You for allowing us to join You in the great things You are doing. As another group gets ready to go to Guatemala, we pray for the members of the team for protection and for a sense of joy that each one is getting to work with You in all You are doing there. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Mas Hoops

2011-10-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

Well, you had to know that sooner or later I'd come back to basketball. Those Chapel Hill teams are just about to finish up their regular seasons, and some pretty exciting things have been goin' on on the court!

The most exciting thing for me, personally, was that Coach Sumner needed a substitute for one game. Yep, you guessed it; I got to sit on the bench with the Tan Titans. I hadn't coached for a long time (four years), so Julie Schipper volunteered to be my assistant coach.

The Tan Titans, however, did not need much coaching. "Why?" you ask. Well, one of several reasons has to do with two players and three words. "Explain!" says you. OK. Decatur Brothers Defense or DBD. Yep, Miss Julie and I basically had very good mid-court seats for the game because of DBD.

What is DBD? Well, you may have to see it to believe it, but it works kind of like this. If someone tries to dribble, like a flash DBD steals the ball. If someone tries to pass, DBD intercepts. If the ball gets loose on the floor, DBD get there first and moves immediately from defense to offense. And if someone from the opposite team stands still with the ball, Oops, DBD has stripped him clean and is goin' the other way with the "rock."

Sitting on the sidelines speechless, I got to doin' some serious thinkin'. "What kind of defense are we supposed to be playing in our friendship with the Lord Jesus?" I asked myself. You didn't know we were supposed to play defense. Yep, it's called "standing firm with armor or SFWA." Wow, sounds pretty cool; you want to know more? OK.

You can read all about this in Ephesians 6:10-18. These Bible verses tell us that we have an opposing team to our friendship with Jesus. The verses call him "the evil one." God has given us a plan for our defense to deal with him. Let's make a list. First, we have to recognize that we have an opponent (verse 12). Second, we must make a choice by our will to "be strong in the Lord and His mighty power (verse 10)." And third, we must put on every piece of the armor God offers to us (verses 13-18).

"What armor is God handing out?" Let's make another list. 1) Being truthful and honest, 2) Living by God's right rules given in His Word, 3) Keeping Jesus' command to go tell others the Good News about Him, 4) Believing in faith that all God's promises are true, 5) Keeping our minds set on God's free gift of eternal life through Jesus' death at the cross and coming back to life, 6) Using God's Word to destroy any arguments of our enemy and 7) Talking to God all the time through prayer.

SFWA (standing firm with armor) always works. It will protect our friendship with Jesus and allow it to grow stronger each day. Now, armor pieces one through six all go to work for us when we do armor piece number seven. So let's pray!

Dear Lord, we thank You that You've given us a great defense. We choose to live this day by the strength of Your mighty power. We take up the armor You are offering to us, yes, every piece of it. And we will keep the lines of talking with You open all day through prayer. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

MAS RAKSAB

2011-10-17T03:36:00.000-07:00

Well, all of you take Spanish, so you know that "MAS" means "more." So what's happened is I have another really cool example of a Random Act of Kindness or a Senseless Act of Beauty that I wanted to tell you about.

Yep, someday, you don't have to worry about this yet, but someday you'll get a new job. When you do, you'll wonder if you're doin' your job well. You may even worry about it some. It may cause you to stay awake just thinkin' about it. This kind of thinking will cause you to pray (the Bible says to pray with thanksgiving) and quote God's Word in your prayers. That is the only thing that seems to help (Philippians 4:6-7).

Well, I was thinking thoughts like this about a month ago, and guess what happened? A RAKSAB that's what! A girl named Myra, who is one of our awesome fifth graders, sent me a note. The note included some of her art work. The words she wrote down there were very special to me.

She told me that she really appreciated all I was doing to make our school a good place. She also said that she thought I was doing a really good job. So Myra's note was a gift from God to me and an answer to my prayers, because it talked about exactly what I had been talking to God about. A RAKSAB from Myra and a RAKSAB from God all at the same time!

Now if you've read other blog entries at this site, you know that this kind of thing gets me to thinkin' about God and His Word. So I got to thinkin' about verses in Proverbs written by King Solomon, who was very wise. He wrote a lot of verses about the power of words that help us think before we speak and then use our words for God's purposes.

We can always ask ourselves, "Are the words I am about to say or write kind?" If we would just ask this simple question, we wouldn't say anything hateful or mean. Proverbs 12:18 and 25 go along with this; listen: "Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing." And "Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up."

You see how it works? Myra wrote kind words to me, a RAKSAB. Her words were used to encourage me and build me up. They are the kind of words that help someone keep going if he or she is tired or discouraged.

So here's what I want you to do: speak or write something kind to someone today or tomorrow. Can you do it?

Let's pray that we will! Dear Lord, will You bring someone across our paths that needs to be encouraged? Then give us the courage to speak kind words into his or her life. And remind us Lord, to always ask, "Is it kind?" before we speak, write or type. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Got "RAKSAB-ing?"

2011-10-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hey before we get going today, I have an announcement. We reached 1,000 together! Sometime over last night "O The Places You Will Go!" blog site was clicked for the 1,000th time. Thanks for joining me here. I am hoping you've smiled, been made to think and come to know our Lord Jesus better because of the time you've spent here meeting me and meeting one another.

Well, I'm wondering if you've RAKSAB-bed lately? You don't know whether you have or not, you say?

Why don't you know? Well, cuz' you don't exactly know what it is, you say?

You want me to tell you? You don't know, cuz' it sounds kind of dangerous, you say?

I'll tell you what; let me tell you a little story about it, and then I'll tell you what it is - OK?

I've been making friends with Devin. He's one of our awesome third graders at North Campus. Well, we were "hanging out" on the gym floor in afternoon daycare a couple of days ago. We weren't talkin' about much. You know the kind of talk: "How ya doin' D-Bomb (I call him that sometimes)?" "Pretty good," he answered. "Anything goin' on?" I asked. "Not really," said he. "Had a good day, bro?" I keep trying. "Not too bad," said the D-Man.

Then it happened. Devin pulled out a three inch salamander. No, not a live one, but one he had been very careful to make out of clay. It was brown with a definite tail, head and body. Yes, it had all four legs. But the most awesome parts of his brown salamander were its huge fluorescent green eyes.

"What ya' got there, bro?" "It's a salamander I made for you" comes back Devin. "For me; are you sure?" I asked. No answer. He just held it out for me to take it.

That is a RAKSAB! Is it dangerous? Well yes, in some ways. It is the risk of making friends. Could you be a friend to someone like Devin was a friend to me?

What happens if I try, and the person to whom I'm trying to be nice doesn't be nice back, you ask? You may never know unless you try by taking a risk to be kind.

So what's a RAKSAB anyway, you ask? A Random Act of Kindness or a Senseless Act of Beauty. Acting out love for someone expecting nothing in return - that's what it is!

Devin did a kindness for me without any thought of getting something from me. Now - have you RAKSAB-bed lately?

All this talk of RAKSAB-bing has got me to thinkin' about the greatest RAKSAB ever. God gave His one and only Son to die on a cross so that you and I might live forever with Him. While Jesus was dying for us, He looked down upon those responsible for His death and said these words, "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing." Yep, RAKSAB all over the place!

When Jesus lives inside of us by His Holy Spirit, we'll find ourselves RAKSAB-ing all the time. And guess what? We won't be afraid. Why not? I John 4:18 that's why! His "perfect love" in us "expels (gets rid of) all fear."

Better pray! Dear Lord, thank You for loving us perfectly! Fill us with yourself, so that we will RAKSAB without fear. Then give us the pure joy of serving You and others freely without looking for anything in return! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

What Happens When You Go "Bump"

2011-10-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

Alexandra and Malik were running around in the same group in after-school daycare. After all they’re both in Mrs. Truthan’s preschool class, which is totally awesome. By the way, have you seen their cool t-shirts? I want to get one of those!

Well Malik was running around one of his preschool friends one-way, and Alexandra was running around the same girl the other way. BUMP! They smacked right into each other. Malik stood there kind of stunned; Alexandra went backwards and bumped her bottom.

Malik immediately tried to comfort Alexandra with a hug. By this point in the day Alexandra needed a big person, so I elected myself to pick her up and go for a walk. When she had cried out most of her shock from the bump and her exhaustion from the day, I walked her over to Malik. In his very kind voice Malik told Alexandra that he was sorry for the bump.

Guess what happened? Alexandra and Malik were ready to play together on the playground!

This got me to thinkin’ about how we all should act when things do not exactly go our way. You know – when people or the things of life “smack right into us,” how do we act? What comes out of you and me when we are “bumped?”

Well it’s always important to have a goal so you know where you’re goin’. Then you can figure out how to get there. What’s the goal when I’m bumped, you ask? The Apostle Paul wrote it down for us in the Bible. He said, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2-3).”

The goal is unity or, as we would say in preschool, to be able to be “kind to our friends.”

When anger or “playing get backs” come out of us when we’re “bumped,” we usually say or do things that keep us from the goal.

God has given us one another as a gift to make us more like Jesus. Maybe we should take a lesson from Malik and Alexandra.

If we “bump” or get “bumped”, 1) first, we should try to comfort one another through the tough time. Next, 2) we may need to have a good cry with a friend to let out the sadness. 3) Then it may be time to apologize and offer forgiveness. We do all this so we can get back to the serious business of playing on the playground together. Bigger people might say, “4) So we can live together in harmony.”

Let’s ask the Lord to help us: Dear Lord, we know that You died for us on the cross, so that we could not only be forgiven, but so that we could forgive one another. Help us remember that “bumping” is going to happen; but when it does, we can still be friends (have unity) through the kindness of Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Under-Doggies

2011-10-11T04:46:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of being at school is the swing set. Every-once-in-a-while I take a break from paperwork and go out to the playground to push some of you as you swing. Yesterday during afternoon daycare was one of those times.

“Smaller children get to swing first” is the rule. Malik, Kaitlyn and Jonas were “up to bat.” One problem though: they can’t quite get their bottoms up to the level of the seat of the swing yet. Yep, they have to “belly swing.”

There are a couple problems with “belly swinging.” First, you don’t get very high and you’re always lookin’ at the ground. That’s right; you don’t get the feeling that you’re about to take off into the big blue sky.

The other problem is that when you do try to go high, a lot of times you’ll find yourself too far forward on the swing. What happens next is not too good at all. Yep, you go head first off the swing. And while you’re happy that the rubber mulch is there, you didn’t really want to eat it for your after-school snack.

Malik, Kaitlyn and Jonas were all smarter than to involve themselves in the problems of “belly swinging.” “Hey Pastor Wilson,” they called out, “Give me a push! I wanna’ go high!” Next thing they knew they were laughing with their eyes wide open lookin’ up into the big blue sky. They had been given an “Under-Doggie.” You know the kind. It’s when someone pushes you and runs underneath your swing, so you can get really high. And of course, when they started to slow down, only one word was necessary, “Again!”

“Belly swinging” and “Under-Doggies” got me to thinkin’ about our friendship with God. So often we try to be to be friends with God in a silly way. We don’t talk to Him like He is a person, so we leave Him out of the friendship. Yes, yes, we may be going to church and to Christian school to learn about God, but are we really getting to know Him?

God wants to be involved in every part of our lives. We let Him in by talking to Him. The Apostle Paul wrote this down in his letter to the Ephesians: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).”

Now when we let God into every part of our lives, we have to remember who He really is! He has all power; He is everywhere at once; He knows everything! And He wants to share all He is with us!

None of us want to be in a friendship with God that is like “belly swinging.” You know - always looking at “earthly things”, not feeling like we’re getting very close to Him and worried constantly about falling out of our friendship with Him.

No! We want to ask Him for His life in every part of our life, so that we “soar high” with our eyes looking ahead to being with Him in Heaven! He is willing to give us His strength; all He asks is that we talk to Him in prayer.

Yep, sort of like asking for an “Under-Doggie.”

Let’s talk to Him about it. Dear Father, thank You for wanting to be in a friendship with me. I want to include You in every part of all I do. And while I know that You may “push me high”, I ask You to give me Your power and Your love and Your thinking so that I can “soar high” with You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of You,

Pastor Wilson

PS: some good verses: Isaiah 40:31, II Corinthians 12:9, Colossians 3:1-4

For God SO Loved

2011-10-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

McKenna came to Green Campus Chapel on Friday, September 30th. It was a big day. One of our armed servicemen was being honored and welcomed home from Iraq. It was also Zoo Day for several of our classes, and we were handing out awards for Entertainment Book sales. The school was buzzing with activity.

In the midst of all the excitement, McKenna wanted to talk with me about something she'd memorized. Now most two, three and four year olds are just a bit (and some are "a lot a bit") shy of bald-headed guys who are school administrators. Not McKenna. She confidently recited John 3:16, not just in words but in song as well. "WOW!" I thought, "That was awesome!"

I decided to "press my luck" with McKenna. I mean after all she wasn't hiding behind her mom or dad like most small children, so I popped the question. "Hey McKenna," I asked, "What would you think about singing your song for the whole school?"

She looked at me for about two seconds, and then surprised me by agreeing to do it! We worked it out about me picking her up, so the other kids could see her. She also agreed to sing straight into the microphone.

The moment of truth came, and there we were in front of about 250 people at chapel. McKenna belted it right out: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

And of course, all this got me to thinkin' about a verse from the Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes... (Romans 1:16)"

So here’s the question: “Why do we adults and teenagers become so hesitant about sharing the Good News (Gospel) about Jesus?” Maybe, just maybe, we begin to value what other people think about us, more than what is true and more than what God has done for us in Jesus.

What’s that mean? Just this: we start thinking it’s more important to be liked and comfortable than to be honest and Christ-like. Now there are a couple of things that happen when we start to think like this.

First, we become selfish with what God has given us in our friendship with Him through Jesus. In other words, I care more about me than I care about you. I think this really silly thought, “As long as I have my friendship with God, it doesn’t matter if He loves anyone else or not! And it doesn’t matter if anyone else knows about Him or not!” This idea is the beginning of all kinds of wrong thinking and wrong behavior. The idea is called: self-centeredness. It means that I act like I am the center of everything

But, there’s a second problem too: we begin to be afraid. Yep, we start to spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think of us. This can really get in the way of being interested in what God thinks.

WOWIE! How do we stay away from those two really horrible problems? Simple! Remember McKenna’s Song, and “sing it out loud” like she did! We have to live as though what God has done for us through the gift of His one and only Son, Jesus, is not only true, but also that it is the most important thing. Read Hebrews 12:1-2; it says that we are to “fix our eyes on Jesus.”

We’ll need help to do this, so let’s pray about it! Father, in Heaven, we don’t want to be selfish and afraid. We admit that sometimes we are. Forgive us. Help us live today thinking about Jesus who died at the cross so that we could be in a friendship with You. And help us, dear Lord, to share, by how we live and what we say, that You are the most important thing! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

PS: Hey McKenna, thanks for the song!

Stuck on Hoops

2011-10-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I’m talkin’ CHCS Hoops this week. Well, I would, because games have begun, and next week I get to be a substitute coach for the tan team. I even got to practice with the tan team this week. And I noticed a couple things during practice that I found interesting.

Number one: It doesn’t look like I am ever going to dunk. I always thought that if I would just grow a few more inches or improve my vertical leap about a foot that I would jump from the floor and “bring the thunder” with a smashing dunk. I don’t think so. I would be hard pressed to slide a piece of notebook paper between my sneakers and the floor when I’m really jumping these days.

Number two: “I got no shot.” I can barely hit the backboard, much less the rim. Putting the ball in the hoop? An impossibility. During practice I was what I refer to as an “o-fer”. That means I put zero shots in the basket for however many I attempted to shoot.

Codie, one of our tan team players, however, couldn’t seem to miss. While I was hard-pressed to get the ball anywhere near the backboard and rim, Codie was scoring from everywhere. He made layups; he hit short shots; he scored from fifteen feet away; he was on fire from 3-point land. I said, “Yo Codie, you’re unconscious, dude (cool hoop lingo).” He was experiencing what basketball players call being “in the zone.”

Thinking of the “Codie-zone,” I couldn’t help but get to thinkin’ about the “God-zone.” Oswald Chambers, in his classic devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest, wrote about the “God-zone” when he was discussing the prophet, Isaiah. In chapter six of Isaiah’s great book of the Bible, he stepped into the presence of God, and some unbelievable things happened. He saw God sitting on a throne and large birds were flying overhead and they were calling, “Holy, Holy, Holy…! And, finally, the floor started to shake and the room filled with smoke.

Isaiah responded by confessing his sin, receiving God’s forgiveness and asking to be sent out as a person who speaks for God! Wow, a lot happened in the “God-zone!” The idea of being “In the zone” in the Bible is not quite like basketball. It’s not about just every-once-in-a-while a player shoots the ball better than he normally would. God would like for us to live our entire lives in His zone or in His presence.

Jesus talked to His students about “abiding” in Him in John 15. Listen to this: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man abides (or remains) in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).”

Now why couldn’t I make a shot a shot at practice this week? Easy – I haven’t practiced shooting for the past thirty years. Codie, on the other hand, has obviously been “throwing the rock at the hole” pretty often lately.

God wants us to “practice His presence” or live our lives “trusting in Him with all our heart” and “acknowledging Him in all our ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).”

Let’s ask Him to help us: Dear Father in Heaven, we confess that we get distracted from living in and practicing Your presence. Thank You for making Yourself available to us every moment of every day. Strengthen us, dear Lord, to stay at the source of our strength – YOU! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Shot to the Face

2011-10-06T04:41:00.000-07:00

As I was saying, I love to watch Chapel Hill Christian School basketball. I was watching the purple play the orange the other night. It was a fun game. There were really good players on both teams.

One of our sixth grade girls named Maddie obviously loves to play. Whenever she is on the floor, she has the biggest grin on her face. It didn’t seem to matter what was happening in the game; she was enjoying it. She could be scrapping for the ball on the floor, shooting a layup or taking a hard foul; it was all the same: smiling!:)

Along about the third period Katie, one of our fifth graders, was in for the orange. She was fighting under the board for a rebound; yep, she was fighting pretty hard. Then it happened – a “shot to the face.” Not on purpose mind you, but it was a hard shot nonetheless. Down on the floor she went, and I thought, “Nope…don’t think poor Katie will come back from that one.” I’m pretty sure stuff was running out of her eyes and nose. What stuff? You know the stuff; it’s the stuff that comes out when you take a “shot to the face.”

But then she began to move and got knee high off the floor. Shortly she was waist high. And wonder of wonders she stood to full height! Right after that Katie was given a technical foul shot. You know the kind. It’s when they clear the floor, and you get to shoot one by yourself. Guess what?! Katie’s face looked like Maddie’s face :)!

Of course this got me to thinkin’ about Rocky Balboa, who said: “It’s not about how hard you can hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep movin’ forward!”

Jesus’ brother, James, said it even better in the Bible: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds (take life’s “shots to the face”), because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Let’s look at it backwards. If we want to be “complete” in our friendship to God, we have to keep trying and not give up. It’s just like getting up after a “shot to the face” or movin’ forward after getting hit. In this life we will take many “shots to the face.” If we remember that these tests will make our friendship to the Lord more complete if we go through them, we can have joy in the midst of the trial! Or, like Katie, we can stand at the free throw line and grin.

Can we pray about that? Dear Lord, we all go through hard things. Some of us are going through something difficult right now. Will You, even today, begin to show us how this particular trial is drawing us closer to You? And as our friendship to You becomes more complete, could You give us Your joy in the midst of the struggle? In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

B-Ball Grace

2011-10-05T04:37:00.000-07:00

I went to the basketball games at our Green Campus last night. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed watching Chapel Hill b-ball. As I recall, and I don’t recall much, I sat on the bench coaching basketball teams at CHCS five or six times. What a blast!

All the teams have really good players, and the players who are learning how to play this year are really trying hard. Everyone played with enthusiasm, heart and kindness.

I loved our referee Mr. Ernie. He was careful not to call everything. Sometimes he let a double dribble or a travel just slip by his whistle. He let the ball bounce off the ceiling several times without stopping the game. “Why?” you ask. Grace.

Mr. Ernie knew that if He called everything, we would’ve been at the Green Campus gym all night. Why? Because he would’ve had to blow his whistle about every fifteen seconds. He also understands that in order for the game to be fun, and in order for the girls to learn how to play, he has to let the game keep moving. A game filled with judgment, criticism and starts and stops, to talk about rules too often, means no fun and no learning. In effect – no b-ball.

Mr. Ernie, on the other hand, smiles a lot and gives the girls compliments. Ya’ gotta’ like that. He created a combination of learning and discipline mixed with the joy of getting to play.

It got me to thinkin’ about how God treats us. He has given us His Word as a love letter with instructions. He doesn’t come into our lives each time we make a mistake to criticize us or shout at us about what we’ve done wrong. Instead, the Bible says that God unconditionally loves us, that His mercies are new every morning and that His faithfulness is great! When we are in error, He simply asks us to tell Him about our sin, to turn away from it and to trust Him for forgiveness.

Further, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For you are saved by grace through faith – and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8).” I like the acronym that many people use: G.R.A.C.E.: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. God chose to apply the penalty for our sin to His Son. That’s what is meant by “Jesus died at the cross for our sin.”

This gift is offered to us for free. We do not pay or work for it. We receive it by faith or by telling God that we believe in what He has given us. That’s grace! The Bible says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God… (John 1:12).”

Wowie! We ought to thank God for that, huh? Father in Heaven, thank You for not giving us what we deserve for our sin, but for applying that penalty to Your Son, Jesus. Thank You for giving us the gift of grace by forgiving us and giving us life that lasts forever with You in Heaven. We are so grateful for Your faithfulness and mercy! In Jesus name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor John

"The Queen of Iowa"

2011-09-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Do you remember John, one of our sixth graders? He likes to think up ideas for the blog and then work on the scriptures and prayers to go with them. Those Chapel Hill sixth graders are something, aren’t they?

Well, John and I have both been listening to the music of a Christian singer named Andrew Peterson, who, by the way, I highly recommend. Mr. Peterson writes music that tells some kind of story about the Bible or about his own experiences with Jesus.

One of his songs has the title “The Queen of Iowa.” It’s about a woman from Iowa who was at the very end of her life. The song finds her lying on her couch, and Andrew and his friend, Ben, are singing songs to her.

Now I need to tell you that what Andrew and Ben noticed as they sang their songs to the “Queen of Iowa” is very true. I have seen the same thing many times when I have visited people in their homes or in the hospital that were getting ready to meet Jesus in Heaven. Andrew and Ben noticed that even though the “Queen” was about to give up her very tired and sick body, she was becoming more alive in her spirit than ever before.

A part of one of the lines in the song says, “…she was more alive than the others.” So those words got John and me to thinkin’. We were asking the question, “How can someone who is dying be more alive than the people who are going about their normal lives?” Only ONE way! John, not the sixth grader, but one of Jesus’ students, wrote this, “In Him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5).” Again he wrote, “I (Jesus) am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).”

When we know and love Jesus, we look forward to seeing Him. The truth of the wonderful hope we have in our friendship with Jesus is that we will live forever in a place called Heaven with Him! Several of our first graders understood this for the first time this week when they asked Jesus to come into their lives and be Lord.

Can we thank Jesus? Lord Jesus thank You for Heaven, the place where we will always get to be with You! Thank You that we can become more and more like You as Your life takes over our lives. And thank You so much that many of our CHCS students are asking You into their lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Mending Fences

2011-09-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

If you can remember many stories ago, I was telling you about my very big black dog named Hoss. Do you remember him? That’s right; he’s the one who runs around in his new fenced-in backyard. He is the best dog we’ve ever had even though I have to clean up after him before I cut the grass. Yes, he still leaves his piles for me to pick up.

Well, Hoss has been walking around testing his new fence. He’s been trying to see if there is any way he could get outside the fence into the woods behind our house or into the yards of our neighbors. And guess what? Hoss found one loose board along the picket fence in a corner of the yard we cannot easily see from the house. He must have pressed against that board pretty hard with his nose or with his big paws, cuz’ he knocked it completely off and got out.

Now, I can’t imagine how Hoss got out, cuz’ the hole seemed too small for his very big, wide body. But he did. I went looking for nails, but couldn’t find the right size. This gave me an excuse to go where all men secretly want to go: Lowes. I found my nails (and a few other things I did not need), and started across the back yard with my trusty hammer in my hand.

I was so set on the job at hand that, of course, I was not watching where I was walking. Yep, I stepped in one of Hoss’s piles. This is the only time I become mad at Bill Bowerman, the inventor of the waffle sole for running shoes. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t get all the dog pile out of those “nooks and crannies.”

While I was pounding nails into the fence for Hoss’s protection, I got to thinkin’. I remembered that we had compared the fence to the rules or commands God gives us in His Word. They allow us to be free, as long as we stay inside them.

When we start to test God’s rules, He will come along and remind us of His Words with love and discipline. Many times He uses parents and grandparents or teachers to “mend the fences” of His rules for us. But in the end we have to choose to stay inside the love and protection of “His fence.”

And another thing…when we break God’s rules, or break through “His fence”, it won’t just hurt us. It will hurt the people around us. Our friends and family members, who love us, are always hurt by our sin. As they try to help us follow God or follow our example and break God’s rules themselves, they may step into the messes we’ve made. Sometimes these messes are difficult to clean up.

Best idea? Stay inside the fence of God’s love and protection by knowing and following His Word and by listening to the leading His Holy Spirit. And remember: God is using your parents, grandparents and teachers as those who are showing you what His Word and Spirit may be saying to you!

I like John 10:27-29 when thinking about His love and protection: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, for My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”

Can we pray about it? Dear Father in Heaven, thank You for loving me. I know I test Your rules over my life at times. But I want to live inside the “fence” of Your love and discipline, so that I stay in a close friendship to You at all times. Keep me in Your powerful hand! In Jesus name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Talkin' Names Again

2011-09-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

Were you at the Green Campus picnic? That was a pretty fun night! First, there was a whole bunch of us there. Second, there was a really cool playground at the place where we had the picnic. Third, the parents seemed to really enjoy meeting each other and talking. It seemed like some of us would have stayed all night if we had been allowed…like a campout or something.

Well, at the picnic I met a new friend who has two boys at our Green campus. The friend I met is Ike Okoye. The boys’ names are Joe and Paul.

But can I tell you something really cool about these three new friends? These names are ones they use for us, so we can pronounce them. They have super cool names that come from a country in Africa called Nigeria. Do you want me to tell you the real names? I’ve been very excited to tell you these names and what they mean!

Well, Mr. Okoye (pronounced “okoyay”), that’s the dad, does have the name Ike, except they don’t say it like we do. They pronounce it “eekay.” And in Nigeria they can add a word onto their first name that makes it mean something very cool. So Mr. Okoye has added the word for God onto his name, which is “Chukwu.” His full name, then, is Ike (eekay), which means power, and Chukwu, which means God. Ike Chukwu: The Power of God! Is that cool or what?

Now if you’re like me, you can’t wait to know what Joseph and Paul’s names really are, right? Ebuka (pronounced “aybooka”) Chukwu and Nedum (pronounced “naydoom”) Chukwu. You want to know what those names mean, right? They mean “God is my strength” and “God is my guide.”

Could this get me to thinkin’? You better believe it! From the power of God we get God’s strength and way for our lives. Our school verse talks about this perfectly: “But they who trust in the Lord (the One who is almighty) will find new strength (God is my strength). They will soar high on eagles wings (with God as my guide). They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).”

That is so awesome that we better just have a good prayer! Father in Heaven, by your power, bring Your strength into our weakness and bring Your direction for the path upon which You want us to be running and walking. Thank you for prayer, because when we simply ask You, You promise to help us! In Jesus name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Name Recess

2011-09-22T04:32:00.001-07:00

I was got to be out at recess for a while last week. “Recess” is the word that most of you say when I ask you that question, “What was the best thing about your day?”

But remember, after you say, “recess”, I will always ask, “Yeah but how about the best thing that happened in the classroom?”

A lot of really great things happened at recess. I got to swing, play kickball and talk to a lot of you. I noticed during pre-K and kindergarten recess that playing chase is a pretty big deal. It was mostly girls chasing boys; that may change some once you get to high school.

I met Gavin on the playground. He makes very good conversation for a pre-K student. In fact, he was able to tell me the names of everyone that was playing chase on the entire playground. That wasn’t the amazing part though. After he told me the names of everyone in his class, he was able to tell the names of all the people in other classes as well! Then he proceeded to tell the names of the big brothers or big sisters of those people too!

When I attempted to go onto the next thing, Gavin drew me back into playing “name recess” by saying, “Pastor Wilson, I don’t think you know this person yet.” Then, of course, he’d walk me over to introduce me to another one of his friends that was chasing or running away.

All this naming at recess got me to thinkin’ about a very important name in the Bible: Jesus Christ. Jesus is a man’s name that means “savior.” So Jesus was completely a man, so He could save us by taking the penalty for all the sin that has been done by men and women.

Christ is the name that is written in the New Testament for the name Messiah. Messiah means “anointed one.” That means that Christ was the Son of God, which means He is completely God too! Completely human and completely God!

This is hard to understand but very important. Since Jesus Christ was God, when He died on the cross for our sins, His death counted for the payment for all the sin ever committed by any person. And the amazing part is that God gave Jesus’ perfect “rightness” to you and me!

The Bible says it this way in II Corinthians 5:21: “He who knew no sin, became sin, so we might become the righteousness of God!”

That name, Jesus Christ, is so awesome that we better pray about it, huh? Lord Jesus, thank You for Your name. Thank You that Your name means I can be forgiven and be friends with Your Father, God, who is in heaven. Thank You that the meaning of Your name gives me life that lasts forever with You in Heaven! I love You, in your name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Still Coloring the Bible

2011-09-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

You know, I'm still thinkin' about "coloring the Bible" with Zaire, Josh and Leigh. Maybe it's still on my mind because I haven't colored in so long. Or maybe I've been thinkin' about Zaire's big yellow rock flying toward Goliath's head. Or maybe it's all about Goliath's hair getting colored orange (the same color as my son, John's). Or maybe I'm remembering that when John "colored the bible" he asked Jesus into his heart. Who knows? But I'm still thinkin' about it.

I know! It's because I love the story of David and Goliath. You know that one, don't you? David goes to visit his brothers at the battle, and they made fun of him because they thought he was just trying to act big. He volunteers to fight the Giant, Goliath, so King Saul tries to give him some armor. After everything David decides that he'll fight Goliath the way God has taught him to protect his sheep: with a sling and a stone. And David comes out on top!

Is this just a story about the little guy whipping the big guy, or is there something more to the story than that? Yes, we all love it when the bully loses, but is that all this is about? Let's look closer!

How did David really beat Goliath? Why don't we ask him?

Come on Pastor Wilson; David lived about 3,000 years ago. Yes, I know, but we can actually read what David said in the Bible! Look it up in I Samuel 17.

Goliath was trying to scare David when he said, "Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?"

David talked right back to that giant and said, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ...All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give all of you into our hands."

How did David do it? By the power of God! How do we gain the power and wisdom of God? By asking Jesus into our lives and by allowing Him to be our Lord.

Mrs. Truthan told her students this great story after we "colored the Bible." One of my coloring partners, Josh, really understood all of this. He took the story home and told his family about it. He also prayed about asking Jesus into His life just like my son John did when he was coloring 15 years ago! Isn't it great to "color the bible."

Let's thank the Lord: Dear Lord, thank you that Your word is so powerful. Thank you that it is all about Jesus and that all the stories lead us to know Him and to want to tell others about Him. And thank you that boys and girls can ask you into their hearts; and when they do, You come in by Your Spirit and live in them! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

More Porpoises

2011-09-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

I keep trying to write about large fish, but what I really mean is purposes.

So today I need you to remember two people from other blog entries: Mrs. Ausbury and one of our sixth graders (the students we look up to) named John. Mrs. Ausbury was talking to us this week at north campus about finding our purpose. John has good ideas for the breakfast blog. His last idea was about his sister, Laura getting poison ivy...you remember?

John is a bee keeper. Yes, he really keeps bees in his backyard. He keeps these bees not because he likes to get bee stings or because he likes the color yellow or because he finds flying insects particularly interesting. He keeps bees for one purpose and one purpose only: honey.

He told me that bees have one purpose. The result of all their building of hives and moving pollen about is honey. I've actually tasted some of John's honey on my morning toast. It was delicious!

All this talk of purposes and bees got John and me to thinkin'. If we were to try to reduce our purposes down to just one, what would that one purpose be? Well, Jesus said His goal was to glorify His Father in Heaven. In John 17:4 Jesus prayed, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do." The Apostle Paul said it this way, "So we make it our goal to please Him (the Lord), whether we are at home in the body or away from it (II Corinthians 5:9)."

If we were only allowed to have one purpose, it would be to please and bring glory to God.

How do we do it?

Jesus said He met the goal by completing the work God gave Him; it's called obedience. The book of Hebrews says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Obedience and Faith! So our porpoise, no I mean purpose, is to obey what He is calling us to be and to do. Then we must have faith in Him for how He chooses to respond to our obedience. Now that is an awesome purpose!

Could we pray about that? Lord Jesus, would You give us the courage to obey You, so that we could bring You glory. Then will You give us Your faith, so that we can trust You for the wonderful things You want to do when we obey. In Your Name, Amen.

Proud of You,
Pastor Wilson

Coloring the Bible

2011-09-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

I haven’t colored with crayons for quite a while, but this morning Zaire shared his big bag of crayons with me. Josh and Leigh shared some of their colors too. If one of them had a shade that just a bit different than one of Zaire’s crayons, he wanted me to try it out.

Sharing crayons is kinda like sharing tools or fishing lure’s for big people. You know...you can only share them with good friends, so I was feelin’ kinda special.

We were all working on the same picture. In the front of this coloring book page was the giant head of Goliath, who was holding his very large spear. In the back of the picture stood David, who had just released a stone from his sling.

We decided that Goliath should have orange hair like my son, John. Goliath’s spear was a few shades of red since Zaire, Josh and Leigh all have a little bit different shades of red. I got to color the grass green, and our river ended up not blue but black. Between David and Goliath there was a stone, which because it was in the sky, reminded us of the sun. We made it bright yellow and got a little wide of the lines to show movement, or maybe size(?); cuz’ as you know, it was sailing toward Goliath’s head.

In the end it all got me to thinkin’. I was reminded of my son, John, who at the same age as Zaire, Josh and Leigh, was coloring in the Big Bible Coloring Book at around easter time. His page was a picture of Jesus on the cross. Last week John was telling this story to a group of high school kids as his testimony.

While he was coloring, he asked his mom about what was going on in the picture and why the man was on the cross. His mom explained the simple story of Jesus’ death on the cross as the payment for the forgiveness of our sins. She told him that Jesus loved us so much that He took our place on the cross. That night we also told John that Jesus did not stay dead, but He came alive again. John knelt down by our couch and asked Jesus to come into his heart on the night he was “coloring the Bible.”

Isn’t a blessing that Mrs. Truthan and Mrs. Cochran can hand out Bible pictures in their classroom for the children to color? The Bible says that “the Word of God will not return void.” What does that mean? Just this: when we are reading or being reminded of God’s Word, God Himself, speaks to us and we have the ability to speak back to Him. It’s called prayer.

Who knows? Maybe God was speaking to three boys this morning while they helped me color David and Goliath. More tomorrow on “coloring the Bible”, but right now we better pray.

Father in Heaven, as we learn Your Word in our Bible times, our chapels, our art and in all our school subjects, make us wide awake to all You are saying to us. Thank You for using all these ways, including “coloring the Bible,” to talk to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Correcting for the Wind

2011-09-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

I got to play at recess for just a little while yesterday. I was throwing a red football with David; he’s one of our fourth graders.

David’s is a pretty good passer, and he can catch pretty well too. But… it was pretty windy yesterday, and the ball we were throwing was one of those light nerf blow-up jobs. We were passing the ball with the wind blowing across the path of our passes.

The problem was that if I directed my throw right at David, the wind would blow the ball off course about fifteen feet to the right every time. David would have to make a scrambling catch, which, by the way, he did many times.

So I began to correct my throws for the wind. I pointed my pass ten or so feet to the left and the wind would blow the ball right into David’s hands.

This, of course, got me to thinkin! Jesus got out in the wind with his students (disciples) a few times in the Bible. One time the wind and the waves were so bad that Jesus’ students thought that they’d all be swept away. Jesus was resting in the boat. Yep, see the difference? Disciples – worrying, while Jesus was at rest.

When His students woke Him up, they had been wondering why Jesus didn’t care whether or not they lived or died. They asked Jesus about it. He simply responded, “Oh you of little faith.” Then He said to the wind and the waves, “Peace! Be still!” He made a “correction for the wind” and it stopped blowing, and the sea became quiet.

Sometimes “wind”, in the form of life’s difficulties, illnesses and struggles, blows into our lives. Jesus is the “correction for the wind.” He doesn’t promise that there won’t be wind; He promises to walk into and through the wind with us!

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).” When the wind of life starts blowing, it is time to go to Him. It will be in our friendship with Him that we find rest; nothing else works.

Let’s pray about it, can we? Lord, Jesus, thank You for going to the cross for us not just because You purchased the forgiveness of our sins. But thank You for making Yourself available to be always with us no matter what “wind” begins to blow. In Jesus’ name with thanksgiving, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Porpoise

2011-09-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Porpoise? You mean the big fish? No, I guess I meant to say purpose. Yesterday at our North campus Mrs. Ausbury brought her two puppies: Domino and Audrey. She told us that they both have a purpose. Domino's main purpose is cuddling and chewing and Audrey's purpose is running and watching.

Mrs. Ausbury was teaching us that everything God created has a purpose. That means you and I have a purpose. The question is: what is my purpose? And if I don't know my purpose, how do I find out what my purpose is.

Four things that always work, if you keep them in order:
1) Pray: ask God by His Holy Spirit to show you your purpose.
2) Read God's Word: ask God to show you your purpose as you are reading His word. Remember His Word and His Spirit never disagree.
3) Ask people who love you and love God to pray with you: then ask them what God is telling them about your purpose.
4) Watch for the things you love to do and how God moves in the situations of your life.

All of this got me to thinkin' about a verse in Ephesians: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (2:10)."

Like Mrs. Ausbury said yesterday, "God has a plan and purpose for every one of us." He has even planned specific tasks for us to accomplish. When we listen to Him through prayer and His Word, we can know our purpose. And when we are working within His purpose for us, we experience joy and we glorify Him!

Let's pray: Thank You, dear Father in Heaven, that You made each one of us special and that You love us very much. Thank You for making our lives with a purpose so that we can serve You and bring joy to Your heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Still Shinin' Like Stars

2011-09-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

We are beginning the third full week of school! Do you remember our theme or banner for the year? Yep, it is “Shine Like Stars.”

All you have to do is walk around in the halls to see the poster up. You know the one. It is a picture of a boy dressed in what looks similar to a Chapel Hill Christian School uniform except for one difference: he is wearing a cape with a big white star on it.

His arms are spread out and it looks like he’s getting ready to take off and fly over the road upon which he is running. Our verse for the year is written on the poster: “…Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

It got me to thinkin’ about another verse: “But those whose hope is in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint.” That’s our school verse and where Regal the Eagle comes from.

In order to “shine like stars” we will have to wait on, hope in and trust in the Lord. When we “soak in Him”, He gives us His strength. It is only when we have His strength that we will “shine” and “soar”.

Wow! That makes a nice little sermon with words that all begin with “s”. If we “soak” (spend time with Him), we will receive His “strength”. With His “strength” we can “soar” and “shine”.

Why don’t we pray that little sermon? Lord Jesus, teach us to soak in You; and as we do, give us Your strength. And with Your strength and Your light in us, help us obey You so that we soar and shine for Your glory! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Runnin' Right Roads

2011-09-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

One of our sixth graders, the students that help lead the way for all of us, is named John. He has some great writing ideas for the “breakfast blog.”

Yesterday he was telling me about his sister, Laura. It seems she likes to run. In fact, she was a cross-country runner at CVCA. Runners like to go “off-roading.” Which means they like to get off the track and off the street or sidewalk, in order to find something like a path through a woods.

Well, once John’s sister, Laura, was in the mood for one of these “off-road” runs. She found a trail sure enough. But then things went haywire. She had to make a choice to stay on course or take an even wilder looking course. Yep, you guessed it; she got further “off-road ”

The problem with going further “off-road” is it’s hard to say what you’ll find ahead on the path or if there will even be a path at all. Laura, John’s sister, found something she didn’t like down the path she chose. You guess….

Did you guess? She found poison ivy! And she got a pretty bad case of the itches. Her itches were so nasty that she had to report to her doctor for, yep, a dreaded shot!

This got John and me to thinkin’ about a verse that appears in one of Jesus’ sermons: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).

I agree with John's sister, Laura; if you're out for a run, find a cool path. But life doesn't always work this way. There may be some path everyone seems to walking on like sassing parents, watching too much TV or watching TV shows, movies or video games that aren't good for you. The Bible says that those things are the broad road that leads to destruction. It's kinda' like a path that leads to poison ivy. Don't GO!

Instead, continue to follow the Lord and His path for your life. Jesus' sermon says that not a lot of people will be going down that road, but it is a road that leads to life. Remember, the life Jesus gives lasts forever (read John 3:16-17 again).

Can we pray about that? Lord Jesus, you called people to follow You, so You could make them fisher's of men. Not many people followed You all the way. But I want to be one who stays on Your narrow road. I give You permission to lead my life. In Your name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

"Hoofies to the Quick"

2011-09-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

One of my parents, I don’t know which one, mom or dad, used to say this little phrase when she or he was talking about working very hard. It became a regular phrase in our home. Someone would say, “I was working my little hoofies to the quick.” I think it means that someone is running around so fast while they are serving or working, that his or her feet are getting worn down.

I saw “hoofies to the quick” recently. It was at the faculty breakfast before school started. Some of our moms and dads came to serve the breakfast to all the teachers and staff from both campuses. There was a lot of breakfast being “chowed down”!

The thing no one expected was that the three or four sets of mom and dads who came to serve brought their girls, who are CHCS students, to help serve as well. These girls actually ran around pouring coffee, juice and water. They carried seconds of food to our teachers and staff, and they picked up all the trash. By the time we were done eating, the whole cafeteria was “spick-n-span” (super clean).

These girls worked their “hoofies to the quick”. And they did it all without complaining or arguing; they did it with the very Spirit of Jesus. They were "shining like stars!"

Watching them got me to thinkin’ about a verse: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name (or nature) of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him (Colossians 3:17).” They had served all of our school’s faculty and staff with the nature of Jesus and had been thankful to do it.

So many times when we’re asked to help or work, we whine about it. But God looks at work differently; He has given it to us as a gift. We shouldn’t worship our work, but we should see it as a way to thank and honor God.

Let’s ask God to help us with this, OK? Lord Jesus, help to have Your attitude about work. Help me to be like these girls, who worked, yes, worked hard, and found that their work was Your gift to them. In Jesus name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Kiss and Kissa

2011-09-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

Chris and Krista were home this weekend. Krista is my 21 year old daughter, who is married to Mr. Chris Thomas. It's unbelievable isn't it?! What's unbelievable? ...That I could be old enough to have a daughter that is already married. Well, it's true.

They live and work and go to school in Chicago at Moody Bible Institute and the University of Illinois. Yep, seems unbelievable. Chris and Krista have a little friend in Chicago that can't pronounce their names together. When he tries, he says, "Kiss and Kissa."

When "Kiss and Kissa" come home a wonderful thing happens. They hug their brothers and sisters with very long and strong hugs. They really enjoy telling each other what is happening in each of their lives. They laugh a lot.

It got me to thinkin'! So I wanted to ask you a question about brothers and sisters and friends at school. Do you take time to enjoy them now? Do you talk to them? Do you give them long, strong hugs? It's important you know.

A day will come when these people won't be around everyday. You will miss them just like Johnny and Emma (the two kids still at my house) miss "Kiss and Kissa." The Bible teaches that we are to love each other just like Jesus loved us. In John 13:34-35 Jesus said, "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Would you start to love your brothers and sisters and friends like this? I think if you will, you'll be so glad you did. Guess what else? If I do this, I will be glad I did too!

Let's pray: Lord Jesus, teach us to love brothers, sister and friends like You do. Help us talk together, laugh together and play and work together. In Your name we pray, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Labor Of Love

2011-09-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

Our school was one of the sponsors of the Labor of Love Run which happened this morning. About 500 people entered the one mile fun run and about 500 entered the 5 mile run. I was entered in the five mile run.

The Labor Of Love Run happens every year on Labor Day, the first Monday of September. The money raised through the entry money everyone pays goes to help ladies who are pregnant and are having a difficult time while they are pregnant. It encourages these ladies to be able to have their babies and either bring them home to live with them or let some nice family adopt the babies. It's a very good idea!

The five mile run was not very fun; because I am not in very good shape, and I ran very slow. But I decided to jump in on the one mile fun run, and that was very fun. Cuz' guess why? I ran into Gabe and Jack and Julian. They were running too! Julian was running with his mom, so Gabe and Jack and I got to run together. It was fun, because why? Because we got to run together and talk and encourage each other to keep going.

During the five mile run I was by myself most the time - no fun. This got me to thinkin'! Going through hard things is always easier when we go through them with others. This is the purpose of the Church or what the Bible calls "the Body of Christ." Proverbs 27:17 says, "as iron sharpens iron so one person sharpens another." This means that we can help each other be all God intended us to be; we can help each other run the race of life well.

Hebrews 3:13 says, "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." When we tell each other to keep going in our walk with Christ, it makes it more likely that we will continue to follow Him. Our Christian life was meant to be lived together!

Let's ask the Lord to help us: Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for reminding me that it's easier to keep going when I let others help me. Thank you for the example of Gabe and Jack today, and how we helped each other to make it all the way to the finish. Help all of us to remember to reach out to encourage each other as we draw closer to the day we will see You! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Hoss's Backyard

2011-09-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Like I was saying, I have a big dog, no, a really big dog, named Hoss. Hoss is the best dog we've ever had.

He is friendly; Sprocket, our last dog liked to bite people.

He does not eat our house or furniture; Mookie our second to last dog, liked to tear into the flour and shake it all over the house. Mookie ate my running shoes the day before I was to run a marathon.

Hoss always acts the same - just like a big friendly Hoss. Magee, our third to last dog, was not always in right mind. Magee would wag his tail in a very friendly way while he was showing his fangs and growling. Who knows what he was thinking...?

Hoss has always had to be on a leash when he was outside, because he liked to run up and down our street visiting people and other dogs. Now he has a fenced in backyard.

He just goes out into the yard and chases squirrels and possums and birds; but he is safe, because there is a fence that keeps him out of the street. The only place he can go is back into the house.

I got to thinkin' about Hoss's fenced backyard, and ya know, it's kinda like rules that parents, grandparents and teachers make for us. Rules are important, because they keep us safe, but they also keep us free. As long as we keep the rules set by God in His word and set by godly parents and teachers, we will experience safety and freedom. This gives us the feeling of joy! Everyone wants to know joy, especially God's joy!

What is the greatest rule? Jesus answered this question in Mark 12:30-31 when He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Then He said that there was a second rule like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

When we keep these two rules, we are in the fence of God's love. We will put Him, and His way, first, and love those people He brings across our path.

Let's pray about stayin' in the fence: Lord, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, help us obey Your rules, so that we will know the joy of Your freedom.

Proud of you,
Pastor John

Pick Up Now or Later?

2011-08-31T16:33:00.000-07:00

I've been telling you about my new, shiny red Troy-built push mower. Like I said, I mowed the grass this weekend. But what Ididn't tell you is that I have a dog named Hoss. Stop and ask your parents about the "Ponderosa" right now, and you will know how big my dog, Hoss is.

Allright I'll tell you. He is a big friendly Black Labrador of about 110 pounds. Now Hoss leaves piles in our yard; they are not small piles, since Hoss is not a small dog. But in my wisdom I thought, "I'll pick up the piles after I finish mowing." After all I was really excited to use my new, shiny red mower...Not a good idea.

First, I ran over a pile and mulched it with my new mower. By the way, mulching a pile makes it way more difficult to pick it up later. Moments later I stepped in one of Hoss's piles. Yep, stepping in a pile makes it way more difficult to pick up later too.

So guess what? I got to thinkin' and I realized I was wrong about piles. I should always pick them up first.

Sin, disobeying God, is like this. So often we try to just go on without admitting what we've done wrong. The problem is we keep stepping into the wrong stuff we've done or avoiding the wrong. When we don't deal with it, sin becomes more difficult to deal with later.

How do we pick it up now? The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9)," Sooooo, if we tell God we are wrong and we are sorry and if we apologize to those we've hurt and ask their forgiveness, we can receive the forgiveness Jesus purchased at the cross for us. This allows us to move ahead freely! It's like mowing in a clean yard!

Can we pray that we'll learn this lesson? Dear Lord, sometimes it's hard to admit we're wrong, but we want our life to be clean. Will You help us turn away from the wrong things we do by admitting we are wrong, when we are, and by accepting Your forgiveness. Thank You for being a forgiving God and thank You for providing forgiveness through Jesus! In Jesus name, Amen.

Proud of you
Pastor Wilson

Got "Go Bar"?

2011-08-31T06:31:00.000-07:00

The grass was getting very long over this past weekend, because we didn’t have a lawnmower at our new house yet. I finally broke down and went mower shopping. At about the sixth stop I found a shiny red, Troy-Built push mower that was significantly marked down in price. The sales lady was able to mark it down another twenty dollars, and it came home to live with me.

I wanted to try it out right away, but there was a pretty big road block in my way. The bar that you must hold down to start the mower was missing. Even if I could start my new shiny red Troy-Built, it would have been tough to keep it going.

Of course, I got back in my car and drove across town to see if a sales person at the store would give me a “go bar”. Guess what? They called a man in the back, and he knew all about the problem. He had given the “go bar” off my shiny red Troy-Built to someone else who needed one. He said, “No problem; we’ll just take one off of this other mower and give it to you.

Lickety-split I was out of the store, arrived at home, installed my new “go bar”, gassed up my mower, and I was cuttin’ grass! Of course, I got to thinkin’…

What is the “go bar” in my friendship to Jesus and how do I maintain that friendship once it gets started? John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” The “go bar” is God’s love. Your friendship with Him begins with the fact that He loves you.

John 1:12 says, “But to all who believed in Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God (NLT).” We continue our friendship to Him by believing in Him in every part of our life: family, church, school, friendships and how we spend our time.

Have you pressed the “go bar” and held it down so you know God’s friendship all the time? You can, you know! It all starts by understanding God’s love to you through His Son Jesus.

Can we pray about it? Father in Heaven, thank You for loving me through your Son, Jesus. I accept Your love for me and will continue to accept Your love in every thing I am and do and learn. I want to press the “go bar” of Your friendship to me and hold it down by walking with You in each and every event in all of my days.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

I Got It In My Eyes

2011-08-30T04:55:00.000-07:00

I have to wear reading glasses nowadays. The deal is that if I’m driving or trying to see things far away, I am A-OK. But if I’m trying to read things close up, they get blurry; so they have to be magnified by my glasses.

I forgot my glasses at home today. Guess what – I couldn’t read a thing!

Sometimes in the morning I forget to take off my glasses after I read my devotional book and the Bible. I proceed to brush my teeth and shave with my glasses on. Not a good idea on one particular morning…

I was starting out a new can of shaving cream; I use the gel kind that turns into foam after it touches my hand. Well, this new “can of cream” must have been under a great deal of pressure. I pointed the nozzle into my hand and pressed the button gently and WOW! The gel came out with such force that it bounced off of my hand, filled up my eyes and part of my nose and then ricocheted all over the mirror! And yep, it turned to foam in my eyes and up my nose.

I stood there in shock for a little while and hoped no one was watching this disaster. Then I removed my glasses and began to clean up the mess; and of course, I had to blow my nose.

I got to thinkin’ about this yesterday when I was writing about Andrew being able to see so clearly. I, on the other hand, couldn’t see at all. My glasses were full and my eyes were running, because my nose was full.

Sometimes we feel such pressure from the things or people around us or from the feelings within us that we just can’t see straight. Like yesterday, I’m talking about “the eyes of our heart” or the way we are able to understand what God is saying to us.

Today a North Chapel I was talking about being honest about idols or “dirt” in our lives. God wants to clean that stuff off, so we can see. Yes, so we can see Him more and more clearly. The Bible doesn’t tell to focus on the world, in fact, it tells us that if we love the world and the things in the world that the love of the Father is not in us. If our focus is the world, we’ll see about as good as Pastor Wilson with shaving cream in his eyes and nose.

The Bible says, …”Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith... (see Hebrews 12:1-3).”

Let’s have a good prayer: Lord, will You help us keep our eyes off the world and help us keep them fixed on You? Don’t let the junk of the world fill our eyes so we can’t see You, but let us look clearly into Your face, so that we may know You (Philippians 3:9-10).

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Andrew's Eyes

2011-08-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Andrew; he’s one of the sixth graders we look up to. He just got new contacts. For those of you who don’t know, contacts are like glasses; they help you see. The difference is you can’t see them from the outside, cuz’ they lay flat against Andrew’s eyeballs.

Sometimes it takes a person a while to get used to their contacts. Their eyes can be red and watery, until the feeling of a small piece of plastic lying on their eye becomes normal. Not Andrew; he’s already got the routine down.

When I got to thinkin’, I remembered a verse about seeing like God. Paul was praying for the Ephesian church when he said, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead… (Ephesians 1:18-20)”

He used the words, “the eyes of your heart.” These are eyes that other people cannot see on the outside, but that we use to understand what our God is saying to us. Paul said that the eyes of our heart could be “enlightened.” Our “heart eyes” need to be called from sleep into alertness! Notice the things God can make us understand: His hope, our inheritance and His power at work in us!

How does this happen? When we ask Jesus to come to live in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, He makes us awake to God’s thoughts. We actually begin to see with His eyes! No, we don’t see with red, scratchy eyes or with watery eyes, but we are able to understand the things God is saying with His very clear eyes.

Let’s ask Him to help us with that today: Dear Jesus help us in this day to see the way You see. Help us to notice the sad or lonely person. Help us to understand chapel and Bible lessons the way You do. And Help us to listen to Your instructions about how You want us to act toward others all day. In Your name, Amen.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

BLAZE!

2011-08-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

By the title of this post you'd think I would be talking about fire or even "shining like stars," our banner for this year. Nope.

I want to tell you about a boy I met this week named Blaise. Now that's a cool name! There is a famous philosopher and mathematician named Blaise Paschal. Maybe Blaise is named after him...?

Anyway Blaise was hanging out in the lobby at the North Campus of our school. He was waiting while his mom shopped in the school clothing store. He informed me that his little brother would be starting school. His brother couldn't quite fit into Blaise's handed down uniforms, and Blaise, himself, had grown out of most of his own uniforms. Blaise talked to me like he was an adult in a boy's body; I liked him right away.

But of course, he got me to thinkin' that all of you are going through the changes that growth brings. It is fantastic, but it can be a little scary at times.

Joshua was going through growth one time. Moses had left him; God wanted him to be the leader of about two million people and a bunch of animals as well; and he was facing a fierce enemy. In Joshua 1:6-9 (look it up and read it) God finished talking to Joshua by saying, "Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (NLT)."

When you experience changes like a new teacher or grade or classroom , or even if you meet new friends, remember God, Himself is going with you. You can talk to Him - it's called prayer. You can tell Him how you feel - it's called prayer. And you can ask Him to show you what to do and how to act - yep, it's called prayer!

So let's pray: Lord go with each of us, including me, as we experience new things together. When we grow, help us not to throw away what you've already taught us like clothes that don't fit anymore. But help us take all that You've taught us and all of Your presence into every growing time. In Jesus name, amen.

Ephesians 6:18,
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Pure JOY!

2011-08-24T13:29:00.000-07:00

I ran into Natalie and Leah the other day at school. They were helping their mom set up her classroom cuz’ she’s a teacher at CHCS. While they were takin’ a little break, I thought I’d try to strike up a talk with them.

I wasn’t sure, but I thought they might have just been on a trip to Guatemala with Mrs. Hall and their mom and dad. I ask them about it.

Yep, they’d been there all right, cuz’ their faces started to beam when they started talkin’ about it. I asked them, “What was most important thing you got out of your trip?”

Smiling from ear to ear they said, “The people we met there were so full of joy. They have so little, but they have so much joy.”

Of course, then I got to thinkin’. Does the addition to our lives of things like TVs, video games, toys (for little people or big people), other possessions and money take us away from joy? Where does joy come from anyway?

The Bible says, in John 15, that joy comes from remaining in God’s love. It comes from living connected to Jesus in such a way that we are like a branch connected to tree. We get all our life from Him, and without Him we can do nothing!

Soooooo, it’s not the things that are bad; it’s when we let the things separate us from our deep friendship with Jesus. Joy comes from being so connected to Jesus that we use the things He gives us to please Him. We should never let our things use us in a way that keeps us from being friends with Jesus.

School is about to start and I hope you are as excited as I am! Let’s stay connected to Jesus all year long; so no matter what we have or don’t have, we will have His JOY!

John 15:11,

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson

Still Moving!

2011-08-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Can you believe we're still moving? I think we're getting really close to loading a big trailer that's parked in our yard and taking all our things to a house in Munroe Falls. We can't wait to get settled in.

One problem: the vacuum stopped working. That's not a good thing, cuz' you have a lot of old dirt to clean up when you're moving. Every time we pick up something that hasn't been moved for a while we find dust, dirt and dog hair: the "three Ds".

The "three Ds" don't break the vacuum though. When I took the vacuum apart to see what was wrong, I found other things. Yep, there were rocks, airsoft gun pellets, Christmas tree needles, small nails, pins and of course plenty of the "three Ds". While I'm sure the vacuum doesn't like to suck things that are other than the "three Ds", when we tried to suck up a lot of pine needles, pellets and pins, it simply said, "Nope, I quit!"

So I spent 30 minutes taking the vacuum apart and 30 minutes digging the "three Ds" and the "three Ps" out of the little hosy thing that goes from the vacuum sucker to the vacuum bag. And guess what? The vacuum is back in action!

Then I got to thinkin' that vacuum is a lot like my mind. If I put things in it that work and that it can easily think through, it works fine. When I try to put things in it that don't belong there, I just don't work right. Do you know what I'm sayin'?

That's why I've always liked Philippians 4:8, which I think I memorized in 5th grade at CHCS. This is how it goes; let's see if I can still remember: "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Yep, I still remember.

Hope you are thinking good things!

Looking forward to seeing you in 16 days!

Lord, Help us to think of You and Your goodness and grace as we get ready to be back @ school. And let us take every one of our thoughts captive and make them obedient to You!

II Corinthians 10 :3-6

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

"He Came From Heaven To Earth..."

2011-07-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

How many of you like to move? Most of us are like, "NO WAY!" or "FGEDDABOUDIT!"

We're moving. Yep, we're boxing up all the stuff we're going to keep and putting it either in our garage or on a trailer, cuz' over the next couple weeks we're supposed to move into a different house.

Most of us, if we're honest, like things to stay the same. But there seems to be just one thing we can be sure of in this world: things will change. You'll be in a different grade this year with different teachers...your old computer won't run your new programs...your old x box won't play your new games...your little teeth will fall out and your big teeth will grow in, and then those teeth will eventually fall out as well, and the dentist will give you some teeth that aren't yours. Oh yes, things are changin' all the time.

There are changes that make us feel good: we get bigger and stronger. But there are some changes that are just hard to swallow: friends move away, loved ones get sick and sometimes people that are close to us die. Oh yes, even things that are important change.

Some of the kids at camp were singing the song "Lord I Lift Your Name On High." And I got to thinking, "Wow, Jesus went through unbelievable change: 1) He came from Heaven to Earth to show us the way, 2) from the Earth to the cross, our debt to pay, 3) from the cross to the grave, 4) from the grave to the skies..."

How did He deal with these huge changes? Read Philippians 2:6-11. First, Jesus didn't grasp what He was; instead He became all that God had in mind for Him.

Second, He came to serve. He found the work God had prepared for Him, and He did it to the glory of God.

Third, He obeyed God no matter what it cost. Don't forget; Jesus' obedience cost Him His life!

Finally, He trusted God, the Father, to reach down and take Him out of "the grave" and exalt Him to "the skies". Was God faithful? You better believe it! The Bible says that we will all bow before Jesus and say that He is Lord.

Philippians 2:5 says that I should let Jesus' mind be my mind! Hey, cool, huh? Moving is a good chance for me to try out becoming more like Jesus!

Let's have a good prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us the way to go through changes. Things change so much, Lord!
We give You permission not only to show us how to go through change, but to live Your life out through ours. Sooooo that as things change around us, we can impact the world for You to Your glory.

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Slip n Slide II

2011-07-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

No, this is nothing like Toy Story II or Shrek II...this is something entirely different.

This is using the slip n slide idea but seeing it from a completely different angle.

Skyler, Josh and Mary Ann had thoughts that were totally different from mine when we were trying to invent a devotional thought from slip n slide.

Of course, they all thought it was funny when I belly flopped and stuck to the slide. Yep, its always a bit funny to see teachers or pastors get dunked in the dunking machine or wipe out in the inflatable moon bounce (which I also did last week). When I smacked my head against the moon bounce floor, everyone stared in shock; but once we all knew that I wasn't hurt, we were rolling around laughing.

So Skyler's devotion is simply this: "get up and keep trying!" If you belly flop or smack your head, which we all do at times, get up without whining and give it another go.

The Bible has a lot to say about a big word called "endurance". Hebrews 12:1-3 teaches us to "strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (NLT)."

Notice that the Bible doesn't just say, "Hey, quit being such a sissy! Get up off the ground and keep trying." It doesn't even say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

No, the Bible teaches us to focus on Jesus. He is the One who started our faith, who gives us faith and who perfects our faith. In other words, to "get up and keep trying" we must focus on the One (Jesus) who allows us to believe. Can you do it?

Let's pray about it!

Prayer: Lord, you know we will all fail, yes, do a complete belly flop. In fact there are times You build things around us in such away that we learn to look to You and trust You. But teach us, dear Lord, to keep looking to You when things are hard so that we can "get up and keep trying." In Your Powerful Name, Amen

Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Slip n Slide

2011-07-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you ran at full speed toward a sheet of plastic covered with water?

We got to play on a slip n slide just this past week at camp. My first trip wasn't very successful, cuz' I wasn't wet yet. I flopped on my belly and just stuck to the slide.

I quickly asked myself, "Are you hurt?"

"No, just having a little trouble breathing," I answered, "but I definitely don't want to show that; I just need to get up and try it again."

My next trip was quite a bit better. Ran fast...kicked my legs out in time...slid on my bottom off the end of the slide and made it out onto the grass about four feet. Almost as good as Skyler...well, not quite.

Only one problem...when you make it all the way to the grass you get mud and grass stuck to yourself in places that you couldn't believe!

And I got to thinking...that there are many slippery places in life. You know... places where if you step on the "wet plastic" with both feet you are going to fall. These places are things we allow ourselves to watch that are not good for us: wrong TV programs, wrong video games, wrong internet sites. They are slip n slides. There are slip n slides with wrong conversations: times when we talk badly about someone else or listen to lies or gossip or times we complain. Slip n slides also come in the form of wrong acts like fighting or disobedience to parents or teachers.

Many of these slides end in something called sin. Its sort of like getting covered with mud and grass you can't get off. The only way to be rid of sin is to ask Jesus to forgive it through the gift of His death on the cross. He died to take our punishment for sin!

When we stand on Him and His gift of love for us, we are not trying to stand on a slip n slide (which is almost impossible). No, the Bible says standing on Him is like standing on a rock. Listen to this from Psalm 62:2: "He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."

No slipping...No sliding! No mud...No grass! Solid Rock!

"On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand" (or slip n slide)!

Proud of you,
Pastor John

Genesis 1:1

2011-07-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

Well, we all know that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Well, at least most of us think that, don't we?

Well, I hope you believe that!

Some people have other ideas about how it all got started, but I was with a group of you the other day who all thought it happened like it's written: "In the beginning God..." So I had this really hard question: "Why is it so important that we believe that God created the heavens and the earth?"

I was hoping that one of you kids had a good answer, because I wasn't sure I had an answer myself...at least not one that everyone would understand.

No one raised their hand. I started thinking, "Uh oh." But I sucked in a deep breath and asked my really hard question again.

Katie raised her hand. I blew out the breath I had sucked in and called on her. She said confidently with a very thoughtful look on her face, "Well, its important to know who created you; because if you don't, you won't have a real purpose for living. And if you don't have a purpose for living, well, everything will just be chaos."

WHOA, you better read that answer again!

Class dismissed, cuz I simply can't improve on that!

Prayer: Help us be thankful today and everyday that You created us...and all we see and know. Thank you for giving us the purpose of glorifying you with our lives. Help us to know how to do that by listening to Your Holy Spirit and reading Your Word. And thank you that instead of living in and feeling chaos all the time, we can know Your "peace that passes understanding."

Philippians 4:6-7,
Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson

Bumper Boats

2011-07-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

Have you driven a bumper boat? Matthew and I drove one recently.

A bumper boat has two buttons. One is green for "go". The other is blue for "shoot". Shoot a stream of water, that is. I was operating the green button; Matthew had the blue.

The trouble came in when I couldn't get the green button to make our boat go straight. Matthew, who was pushing the blue button for all he was worth, was struggling to do much more than shoot water. He wasn't really making many direct hits on other boaters. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the idea is to "super-soak" your friends who are driving the other boats?

On the other hand, Alex had learned how to get his boat to go in the direction he wanted it to go. By using his blue button, he was able to send a waterfall our way that landed directly on my forehead. Yes, I was "super-soaked"!

It reminded me of some verses in the Bible from Psalm 25:4-5: "Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You."

When we walk on God's straight path and put our trust in Him, the actions of our lives will not "miss the mark". We'll be "on target" and please God by letting Him lead us and teach us.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for showing us the straight path. Give us courage to walk with You by letting You lead and teach us each day. Then the things we do and say for You will be "right on target" and please Your heart.

Proud of you!
Pastor Wilson

Hey Hanna!

2011-06-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

There's a beautiful girl named Hanna attending summer camp this week, so this morning for devotions we talked about Hanna from the Bible. You can read the story in I Samuel 1-3. Hanna was sad because she couldn't have children. Instead of whining and complaining over her sadness, she decided to pray to God. She prayed an awesome prayer that was written down in the Bible! Hanna was faithful, soooo...

God gave her a son whom she gave back to God. His name was Samuel. He served God at the temple. When times became hard, Samuel continued to serve God. One night God called on Samuel, and Samuel said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." After that Samuel became God's prophet - a person who speaks God's truth. Samuel was faithful, soooo...

My question is: am I faithful to the Lord like Hanna and Samuel? Boys and girls, do you and I pray rather than complain? Do we listen to God and obey, even when its not easy? And isn't it interesting that Hanna's faithfulness was passed on to her son, Samuel? That's what I'm talkin' about!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach us to pray and obey and always follow Your way!

Proverbs 3:5-6
Proud of you!
Pastor Wilson