Pastor Sheldon

2008-10-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

If you have not seen this movie I highly recommend you go out and buy it!

Grandpa

2008-09-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Just a quick note. Been busy here in Texas. I forgot what it is like having a newborn baby in the house. Things don't go as you plan. We are having a great time though. We will be flying home in a few days and even though we will miss our little granddaughter very much I am looking forward to being back at church and being with the people God has called me to serve. I hope you all have a great day and I will see you soon.

Pastor Sheldon

Waiting No More

2008-08-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

The long wait has ended. Our little granddaughter Malloree Hoffman was born about 5:30 PM Texas time. She weighted 8 1/2 lbs and was 21 inches long. Shellee is doing well. Took her a little longer to recover from the c section but she should be fine by tomorrow. We have not held Malloree yet but maybe tomorrow for that as well. Time to get some sleep.

Pastor Sheldon

Still Waiting

2008-08-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well it is almost 2 PM Texas time and still no grandbaby. My daughter is doing well but still not ready to make it happen. Could be any time. I am doing what I did when my youngest daughter was born, sitting in the waiting room. At least this time I am not asleep. Boy the last time I did this I would never have imagined sitting at a computer being able to communicate with the world. Well hopefully something will happen in the next few hours. If it does I will probably forget to blog it any way.
See Ya!
Pastor Sheldon

FYI

2008-08-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Everyone!
For those of you who keep up with my blog I just thought I would share that even though my attention has been towards the book many of us are reading (In His Steps). I wanted you to know my attention and thoughts may, no WILL shift in another direction in the days to come. My wife and youngest daughter and I will be leaving for San Antonio Texas Wednesday (August 27) for the birth of our first grandchild. My oldest daughter Shellee and her husband Richard are expecting a little girl Thursday the 28th. We are all pretty excited about the event so don't be surprised if you see a few blogs with photos of grandpa's new fishing partner.

Pastor Sheldon

Status Quo

2008-08-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

My guess is that more and a few of you who are reading this book (In His Steps) are having the same problem I am; putting it down! I am just a few chapters from the end at this point. I just have a hard time stopping. I keep wanted to see what will happen next. It is not so much that it is a wonderful novel it is just that I want to see how these characters will respond to the question "What would Jesus do?" in these various situations they are facing.

The one comment I want to make today comes from Pg. 139 at the top of the page. "In fact, I do not see how a perfect upheaval of Christianity, as we know it, can be prevented in the ministers and churches generally take the Raymond pledge (What would Jesus do) and live it out." These were the words spoken by the Bishop of Chicago. As I was reading these pages I was holding my breath because I thought that this Bishop was going to tell this pastor (Calvin) that if he chose to lead his congregation in what the church in Raymond was doing that he was going to ask him to resign as the pastor of this church in Chicago. In case you have not read this far I won't give away what happens.

My interest is in that quote. it makes we wonder if I am many others who call Jesus Lord are content with a status quo Christianity. Why bother asking the question "What would Jesus do?" aren't things OK for us right now? Why invite the consternation, the upheaval, the difficulty? Things are OK so what good is there in stirring the pot as it were?

I have to admit that as a pastor I struggle with this question. Sadly there are things I should (at least I feel I should) say about things I see in the life of the congregation to which God has called me that need to be addressed but I worry. "How will what I say be taken?" "What if they get upset and leave the church, what good will that do me?" "What if there is retaliation and it is not just one person or one family that leaves, what if many leave?" You have to face questions of the same nature if you chose to do as Jesus would do. You will no doubt risk the lose of friends. Family members will accuse you of being some sort of religious fanatic. Worst of all you will have to give up what has been a comfortable existence.

What if we chose to not do as Jesus would do? What if we chose to take a path of least resistance and just leave well enough alone? I fear that answer may already be given to us in Revelation 3: 15-19 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!¹⁶ But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.¹⁸ So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.¹⁹ I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference

These are still the days when we are called to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Will we bare the cross?

Pastor Sheldon

Lost In It

2008-08-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Greeting Friends:
Sorry that I have not posted for a few days. To be honest I have been lost in my reading of the book. I have been enjoying it too much to stop and share any comments.

In a recent reading I found something that I find funny and sad at the same time. The writer is talking about how starstruck people are about what has been happening in the lives of these people and the community where they are endeavoring to act as Jesus would. It is almost as if these people are looked as some sort of circus side show, "Come and see what is going on in the town of Raymond."

Why is it that living as Jesus would live whether we are talking about 1908 or 2008, would seem strange to us? Shouldn't there be a note of sadness in our hearts that being like Jesus is not the norm even for those who profess Christian faith?

Pastor Sheldon

A Promise Is A Promise

2008-08-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

Well I hope your reading is going well. I know for most of you it has been impossible to not read ahead which is great! Just means you are enjoying what you are reading and that can't be anything but good. Let me encourage you again to feel free to comment on what you are reading whether it is from a portion of the book I have lifted out or something else you have found interesting.

I would like to focus this post on something that has come to my attention in resent readings. It is this thought of "Promise". One of the things that has struck me in the reading so far is that these people who made the promise to consider the question "What would Jesus do?" in their daily lives are sticking true to that promise. To me at least this idea sort of flys in the face of the modern concept of a promise. When I think of promises I think of the old TV program "Little House on the Prairie". In that show there were a number of times when someone would get something like seed to plant crops but they didn't have the money to pay but they simply promised to do so and that was good enough. Today our word can't be good enough we need to involve lawyers and contracts and even then there is no guarantee the promise will be kept. Finding some one who makes a promise and keeps it is like finding that Pearl of great price Jesus spoke of.

It would be great to get back to the place where are promise was a promise and not just a pleasantry.

What do you think?
Pastor Sheldon

To Lotto or Not to Lotto?

2008-08-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry but time has really gotten away from me. I wish I had more time to post today but I will have to make this one a quickie. I was intrigued by something the character Virginia Page said on page 18. She asked, "What would he (Jesus) do with a million dollars? She had inherited a million dollars and so her dilemma was what would Jesus do with such a large sum of money.

The reason this little question intrigued me is because of all the good Christian people (and you know who you are) who feel the lottery is a harmless, innocent game. Now I will preface the rest of this comment by opening saying that I hold great disdain for the lottery system, but I won't get into all that day. After all I promised a quickie didn't I? My question is not so much, "Would Jesus play the lottery?" My real question is "If Jesus played the lottery today, why would he?"
I think I know your answer, you would say "Well pastor Jesus would play the lottery so that he could help a lot of people with all that money." Maybe you are right, that might be what Jesus would do if he played the lottery", BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU? Why do you REALLY want to play and win the lottery? Oh it is so you could give money to the church? Really? How is it that we can't trust God with tithe on $1000 but we would will have no problem trusting Him with tithe on one Million.

Pardon me if I sound a bit skeptical but it is only because I am. Would Jesus even need to play the lottery today if his church was faithfully giving as he has already instructed? OK I better stop before I get in even more trouble.

Pastor Sheldon

A Peculiar Person

2008-08-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Good Morning All! Well it looks like folks have not found the blog yet but I am sure before long we will see a few people sharing their thoughts. I said this before but one thing I find so amazing about this book is that although it was first written over 100 years ago its principles are as relevant to you and I today as they were then. The same challenges that faced these fictitious people back then are the issues that face followers of Christ in 2008.

So that I don't have to keep repeating myself let me just say that the page numbers I am referring to are from my older copy of In His Steps that picked up many years ago. I think though that you who have the newer books will find the things I refer to pretty close to the same pages if not the very same page. With that said I want to refer you to page 27 when the managing editor (Mr. Clark) for Mr. Norman's paper responses to Mr. Norman's continued desire to consider what Jesus would do in all his decisions effecting his newspaper. On page 27 Mr. Clark said in response to this new direction by Mr. Norman, "But what has that to do with us?" This caused me to think about what I have been preaching about from Philippians 2:5 where Paul encourages us to have the attitude or mind of Christ. Are we to say as well, "What does having the mind of Christ have to do with me in 2008?" Were these words just for the people who made up the church at Philippi, but are irrelevant to you and I today? If that be the case then what else in the Bible is not relevant to me? Certainly if I am not expected to have the mind of Christ in 2008 then should I be expected to follow the prohibition on murder that I read way back in the Ten Commandments? If this call to have the mind of Christ is not relevant to us today then can you share with me what is relevant to us and what is not?
PS. This is not a rhetorical question.

One more thing I want to lift out of chapter three. On the same page (27) it says that after this confrontation Mr. Clark walked away from his meeting with Mr. Norman, "..feeling as if he had been in the presence of a very peculiar person." Is this not the way anyone should feel after they have been in the presence of a follower of Christ? The bible says in Titus 2:14 NLT "He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and make us his very own people totally committed to doing good deeds." In the KJV it uses the word "peculiar" where here the words "very own" is used. The word literally means, "being beyond usual". What a great picture of what Christians ought to be like in this world we live. Yes we are not to strive to be peculiar but it just seems to me that if we really are striving to live as Jesus did then we will seem very peculiar in the way we live. Sadly as this book shows we will even seem peculiar to those who profess to walk with Christ. I am sure some will disagree with me but it just seems to me anymore that it is hard to distinguish believers from non-believers in today's culture. We are called in the Bible to be Holy people which means people who are set apart but what sets us apart? If it is just that we call ourselves Christian or that we go to church two or three times a month, BIG DEAL!

OK I am starting to preach so I better stop and let you share your thoughts.

Pastor Sheldon

The Rubber Meets The Road

2008-08-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

"I hate that!" What am I talking about ? Oh I just entered a post on this blog but in making a few changes I lost it all so here I am starting over again. I do have to laugh a little though because I find myself asking "What would Jesus do?" Even though it is a little humorous I see something here that was brought up in chapter two. Towards the end of the chapter the people were asking Pastor Maxwell "How can we know what Jesus would do in the current day we live in?" "Things have changed so much, they are so different now from the day of Jesus, how do we know what he would do in our circumstances?" I really liked Pastor Maxwell's response, "If Jesus' example is the example for the world to follow, it certainly must be feasible to follow it." Isn't this the same question we will have or have already had if you have read a little ahead? I think there is a tendency in us to say, "This is unrealistic, it is too idealistic to think that we can live like Jesus in 2008." That we can make the same sort of decisions and choices he made, but if Pastor Maxwell is right that Jesus left us an example to follow isn't it right for us to believe we can indeed follow it?

There was something else that was said in chapter two that I wanted to comment on. On page 17 (in my book) Pastor Maxwell said to the group that met with him after church, "I did not dare begin it alone." Many times I have said as your pastor that God intended us to live our lives in community. We are the body of Christ and the eye cannot live disconnected from the body. We need each other to live out the commitments God has called us to. This was brought out towards the end of chapter two when part of the group decided to meet once a week to share their experiences and I imagine to encourage each other.

I know this is a book that is hard to just read one chapter at a time so if you are reading ahead feel free to comment on things you are learning.

What say you?
Pastor Sheldon

Been A Long Time

2008-08-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here we go, a great adventure into learning what it really means to be sold out and surrendered to Jesus. It has been quite a long time since I cracked open the cover of my copy of In His Steps. This morning I read the first chapter and was blown away but a book that is so old and yet so up to date. This book was first printed in 1897. Considering the fact that it was written by a pastor (Charles Sheldon) I can fully understand the insights he has into church life, especially the things he shares in this first chapter about preparing sermons and worries over what the Sunday attendance will be like. I can completely relate to something he said on pg 7 (of my book anyway). His wife had asked about the sermon he had prepared then she commented, "I hope it won't rain Sunday. We have had so many stormy Sunday lately." Then he responded, "Yes, the audiences have been quite small for some time. People will not come out to church in a storm." As a pastor I find that I worry when the weather is bad because people might not come to church in the rain and then I worry if it is sunny thinking they will prefer to go to the park or beach instead of church.

I wonder, what would we do? What would our response be if a person like the man described in this book entered our church (or your church if you do not attend Cornerstone)? Would we steer clear of him, not wanting to smell his odor or be afraid of catching some disease or something by allowing him to get to close? Would my ushers usher him out or watch over him to make sure he didn't get up in the service like this guy did?

Oh I know what the correct answer but what is the real answer? I would love to hear your thought!

Enjoy the next chapter!
Pastor Sheldon

In His Steps - Introduction

2008-08-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings:
Yes I know, "You said you were going to start up this blog way back in March." Of course you are right, I just couldn't get the inspiration. I would say I didn't have the time but that excuse really doesn't work anymore. So why am I blogging now? Well probably for most folks who will be visiting you know that a small group of people from my congregation took a challenge to read the book by Charles Sheldon called In His Steps. It is where that expression "What would Jesus do?" comes from. We have decided to use my blog as a meeting place for sharing ideas about what we are learning and how we are applying those things we are learning. Now if you are visiting us from out there in cyberspace "Welcome!". We would love to have you join us. If you do not have a copy of this book I am sure your local Christian book store has one. They are pretty inexpensive so stop and get one. The check back regularly to see what is going on.

Now for those who already have your book you know that the reading schedule I have set up for this week has us reading chapters 1-6. I highly encourage you to at least stay in step with everyone. For many of you it will be difficult to not read ahead. That is perfectly OK, feel free! You will probably gain even more if you can read and then reread. I think you will surprised at all the things you see your second time through.

OK this will be my introduction. I will make another entry today for the things I want to share with you out of chapter one.

Stay In Touch!
Pastor Sheldon

Fresh Vision

2008-03-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of getting away with my church leadership team for this new church year at Cornerstone (2008-2009). It has been a while since I have done this with my leadership teams but it is something I feel is worth while and something I felt was needed for this time in the life of our church.

I was VERY encouraged by the discussions I had with my leaders. It seems that we are all hungry to see God do new things in our lives as a church body. I shared a devotional thought from Deuteronomy 1:6 where God said to Moses and the children of Israel that they had stayed at Mount Sinai long enough, that it was time to break camp and move on to receive God's promise for them. It is SO easy for all of us to get comfortable with where we are, to allow "good enough" to be good enough. I am sure that the Israelites felt that even though Mount Sinai was not exactly paradise that it was good enough. They were not living in the lap of luxury but they had what they needed. Things were OK, but God had so much more for them and the only way they could receive it was to take a risk and move on to new places.

I think these next 12 months and beyond will be exciting times at Cornerstone, but I am sure they will be challenging and probably a bit scary at times as well. If the definition of insanity is correct, "To keep doing what you have always done but expecting a different result" then I do not wish to be insane. Change for the sake of change is not good but change for the sake of reaching new places in our relationship with God and in our ministry as a Church body is necessary. I look forward to see what God has in store for me personally and us as a church here in this community God has called us to serve.

Pastor Sheldon

John 3:16

2008-03-10T13:01:00.001-07:00

Well it is Monday morning and I have been working on my sermon for Easter. It's a little unusual but I like to have my sermons done two weeks in advance. This allows time for my worship leaders and myself to consider the theme of the day and how to structure the service and its elements to most effectively reach the people who attend.

This Easter I am preaching a very simple message from a simple yet profound passage, John 3:16. I am pretty sure that John 3:16 is the most well know verse in the entire Bible. We see the verse all the time at sporting events like this guy. But do we really understand the magnitude of what God is telling us in John 3:16? I am not sure that we do so I hope that through this message I will be able to share this profound truth of God's love for ALL OF US in such a way that people who come to our Easter service this year will understand this love and open their hearts to Christ. I hope that all of you who read this and attend other churches will also see those you care for come to Christ this Easter.

God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon

A Beautiful day!

2008-03-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Well it is another beautiful day here in Southern California. The only problem with today is that it is daylight savings time and because we are supposed to set our clocks forward this is the one Sunday of the year when a lot of people tend to miss church. They forgot to set their clocks or they stayed up to late last night and losing that extra hour of sleep just is too much.

I am anticipating a great day of Worship! Today I am preaching from Philippians 1:10-11 and looking at the results of our spiritual growth. According to Paul those results should be Discernment as we noted last Sunday then today we will explore the three other things Paul says will result in our lives as we grow in Christ. If you are visiting my blog from out of this area you can hear my sermons by scrolling down to the bottom of this page and clicking on our Sermon Player.

I hope that where ever you are today you find yourself in a worship service celebrating God's goodness and grace and that as you leave you find yourself better prepared to share this good news with others as you enter this new week.

Have a GREAT day!

Trying To Get Back In The Saddle

2008-03-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!
Well I sure haven't done well keeping my blog up to date. I guess I just lost interest, but like it or not I am going to see if I can get things back up and running again. I guess posting the great video World Vision did for us with our Faith In Action Sunday in November 2007 inspired me to get back in the game. I don't know that I will have a post every day but I hope to make several posting each week so if you can stop by now and again to look and see what's up.

I hope you all remembered to set your clocks ahead since we have daylight savings time coming a bit early this year. Of course if you didn't then you got to be really early for church which is always encouraging to us pastors!

If you haven't been by my blog lately and are not a part of this church then you may not know that for the past eight weeks we have been in a sermon series in the letter Paul wrote to the Philippian church. This is a series with a start date but no real end date. I am not going to force this series through in 8 or 10 weeks (obviously). Instead we will just take our time and learn all we can from this great letter. If you want to hear or read one of these sermons go to the bottom of this blog for our sermon player. There you can hear a sermon or even download a hard copy of my manuscript.

This week (March 9) we will continue looking at what I believe Paul said would be the results of spiritual maturity in us. Last week I talked about this "discernment" Paul mentioned and this week we will see what he meant by Purity, Blamelessness, and the fruit of righteousness. Be sure to listen online if you can't attend. I am having a Great time preparing and sharing these messages. This series has given me a new passion and excitement for sharing God's word.

Have A Great Day!
Pastor Sheldon

Be The Church

2008-03-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

In November 2007 my church along with New Hope Christian Fellowship and Valley Christian Church here in Chino got together to cancel our regular Sunday morning services to go into our community and Be The Church. This video produced by World Vision is the result of that days ministry to our city.

Lobster Anyone?

2007-10-13T15:56:00.001-07:00

Caught these the other night with a guy from my church. They were 4 1/2, 8 1/2, and 9 1/2 pounds.

Down IN The Valley

2007-10-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings Everyone!
Have you ever climbed to the top of a mountain? My older brother is quite an avid hiker and I have had the privilege of hiking to the top of a few mountains with him. In fact I am looking right now at a photo that was taken of me in 1984 at the top of a mountain I climbed with him called Mt. Elbert. Now that will not mean much to you unless you are also a hiker, if you are then you know that Mt. Elbert is the second highest mountain in the lower 48 states. Mt. Elbert is 14,433 feet above sea level it is second only to Mt. Whitney as the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Let me say it was quite a thrill to reach the top of that mountain especially considering how out of shape I was at the time.

Well why all this talk about mountains? Well it is not to brag (although I will confess to some pride in the accomplishment) rather it is to make a point. If you have ever been to the top of a mountain even if you reached it without climbing you know it can be an exhilarating experience. It is an awesome sight to look back down over the valley you came from to reach that mountain peak. You get to see all sorts of things you never saw while you were on the valley floor, but guess what? You and I were not made to live on the mountain tops. We visit them for a while, a short while at that and then we go back into the valley where we live out most of our lives.

This same principle holds true for our spiritual lives. In our walk with God we also get to enjoy mountain tops once in a while and they are great aren't they? Isn't it wonderful when your marriage is great, the kids are getting good grades, the bank account is full and the car has no mechanical problems? Oh yes we love those times but you know don't you that before long strife will occur in your marriage, the kids will get a "D" or worse they will funk a class. The bank account will go bankrupt and the car will break down. We all know don't we that it is in these times that we discover just how mature we are in our walk with God. I can be a Great Christian when all is well and life is good, but what am I like when I walk the valley floor? Remember the story of the Mt. of Transfiguration recorded in Mark 9? Peter and John are with Jesus when Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. Peter being the man of great depth and maturity said (I paraphrase) "Lord, this is awesome!" "Let's build a church and stay here." God then spoke and told Peter to listen to His son, the next thing we see is them going down the mountain where a demon possessed boy needed healing.

I think that story is a reminder to us that we can have wonderful experiences while we are up on the mountains but we are not designed to stay up there but we are designed by God to spend most of our time down in the valleys serving those who need the touch of Jesus that we received while we were up there on those mountain tops. If you are on a mountain top today I encourage you to enjoy the experience but to remember that this is not where God wants you to stay. Take the joy and encouragement His gives you while you are up there and share it with those who are down in the valley. If you are in the valley now and you are in a difficult period then I encourage you to remember what you saw on your last mountain top. Remember what it was like to look back over those things you couldn't see when you were in the valley. Remember how God was faithful to you, remember how He lead you through and remember He will lead you through again.

Let me stress just one more thing. God will lead you through but He will not lead you out. We want "out" of our valleys but God wants to lead us through" because it is going through them that grows us and makes us more effective in service to our Lord.

God Bless You!
Pastor Sheldon

Everything means EVERYTHING!

2007-09-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been checking out my weekly blog I apologize for not posting the last two weeks. One of those weeks I was on vacation, but last week I just kept forgetting to get it done. Hope I didn't discourage too many of you from visiting. Here are my thoughts for this week.

Does everything really mean every thing? A few weeks ago in my men's Sunday school class we were talking about finding balance in our financial life (the preachers favorite subject don't you know). In our discussion the scripture of 1 Chronicles 29:10-14 came up. Let me just give it to you here.

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

"Praise be to you, O LORD,
God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
¹¹ Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
¹² Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.

¹⁴ "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

One of the things I always communicate to my congregation about bible study is to always look for things that are repeated. I think it ought to be obvious to us that if God felt it necessary to repeat something in His word to us then this is obviously something that is important to us, or at least it should be. Do you see any words repeated in these verses? Here it is "Yours or Your". Those words are repeated six times (according to my count) in the NIV translation. It certainly seems that God wanted to understand something about this life. I think it is clear God wanted us to understand that EVERYTHING was from Him and we are merely stewards or borrowers of His things!

As I look at those verses it seems almost audacious for me to talk about "my job" "my house" my money" "my time". If I truly believe the words God gave me then these are not "mine" they are HIS and I am to use them for HIS glory.

Maybe these are some verses we need to tack up on our refrigerators to help us remember that ALL we have belongs to God and we are stewards of HIS resources. Are we being good stewards or are we misusing or abusing His resources?

Have a Great week!

Pastor Sheldon

Say What!

2007-09-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

If you will permit me a slight detour from my usual devotional thought, this week I want to share something more along the lines of a commentary. This past weekend I took a small group from my church to San Diego to see a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park. We had a nice time aside from the two hour traffic delay due to a fatal accident, but here is what I wanted to share.

As we were going through the exhibit I was reading about when the Dead Sea Scrolls were first found and to my surprise I read these words, "Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the third century B.C.E. to 68 C.E." Now at first glance there seems to be nothing strange but did you notice the dating in this quotation? It reads B.C.E and C.E. rather than B.C. and A.D. I don't know how long I have been out of the loop but were you aware that this is supposedly the new standard in dating? We are now supposed to say B.C.E - Before Common Era and C.E. - Common Era.

I have to tell you I was appalled to read this. My question is, "Why is the world so afraid of Christ?" As far as I am concerned all this new dating is a feeble attempt to run from Christ. Are we to believe now that Christ no longer influences our world? Is this another feeble attempt at political correctness? Is this another attempt to bury the resurrected Lord? I don't know. I guess some will feel I am getting all worked up over nothing but to me it is more. It is just another way our world is trying to silence Christ, but I know he can never be silenced. His message of truth and salvation will continue to be proclaimed by all those who know and love Him until he returns again to silence all those who refused to believe.

That's my word.
Pastor Sheldon

More Than Meets The Eye

2007-09-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

There is more here than meets the eye. I am sure we are all pretty familiar with this expression. It applies in an awful lot of areas. If I were to be standing before you right now I could easily say, "There is more here than meets the eye." As you looked at me you undoubtedly would formulate some opinions of me based on the way I look, but I can assure you that there is much more to me than what meets the eye. Even though what meets your eye would be pretty impressive, Just Kidding!

There is more here than meets the eye is also something that applies many times in our spiritual lives. How many times have you and I been in difficult situations or circumstances and we felt that for whatever reason God had abandoned us, that He was off in another part of the world taking care of someone else's issues? We felt that God had forgotten us, that maybe we had angered Him and so He left us, but there is more here than meets the eye. One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 4:18 which says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen in eternal." I know it is not easy to do, but if we are to live Christian lives that are filled with joy and victory then we have to live lives of faith. In a recent blog I shared with you Hebrews 11:6 which says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God..." Trusting what we cannot see is very much a part of this life of faith.

Let me share with you another great bible verse. This one comes from the Old Testament in 2 Kings 6:15-17 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. This servant was afraid because of what he saw but Elisha the prophet prayed that his eyes would be open to see the unseen. To realize that there was a greater force on his side than what his physical eyes could see.

My prayer for you is that God will also open your eyes (and mine as well) to see what we cannot see. To realize that there is more going on in our lives than meets the eye. God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. As the old saying goes, "If God seems far away, guess who moved?" He doesn't move away from us but is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Remember as you go through the remainder of this week, there is more going on in your life than meets the eye.

God Bless!
Pastor Sheldon

"I Surrender" - Do You?

2007-08-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Jesus said in Luke 9:23 "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Is this the surrender to Christ that you have made or is it something different, a facsimile maybe? Allow me to share some thoughts from my friend Dr. A.W. Tozer again with you. He said, "I have long believed that a man who spurns the Christian faith outright is more respected before God and the heavenly powers than the man who pretends to religion but refuses to come under its total domination. The first is an overt enemy, the second a false friend. It is the later who will be spued out of the mouth of Christ, and the reason is not hard to understand. Truth is a glorious but hard mistress. She never consults, bargains or compromises."
I am sure we have all had the experience of having a "false friend" someone who we trusted and believed in only to discover in our hour of need that they were not what they professed to be. Jesus had them as well. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that on that final day the day of judgement he said that many would come to him saying "Lord,Lord" but his response would be "I never knew you".
False friends, not the position you or I want to be in these last days. Jesus is coming for his bride a bride without spot or wrinkle. In the verse I quoted from Luke 9:23 Jesus said "If anyone would.." That clearly teaches us that there is a choice involved here. We need to decide whose friend we really want to be, the friend of Jesus or a friend to this world. It is the choice that only YOU can make. I hope you chose Jesus!
Pastor Sheldon

Teen Baptism Service

2007-08-23T10:17:00.000-07:00