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Not As Easy As You Think!

2011-12-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

Speedy Morris, Baseball coach for LaSalle University, was shaving when his wife told him he had a call from Sports Illustrated. He got so excited over the possibility of national recognition, that he hurriedly finished shaving and nicked himself in the process. Not wanting to delay the caller he ran out of the bathroom, lost his balance, and tumbled down the stairs. Limping, with blood and lather on his face, he finally got to the phone.

“Sports Illustrated?” he panted…

Imagine Morris’s disappointment when the voice on the other end of the phone droned on, “Yes it is, and for just seventy –five cents an issue you can have Sports Illustrated delivered to your door.”
Life is full of disappointments, but maybe the greatest disappointments come from those things that promise so much yet deliver so little. Each and every one of us has been on both sides of this situation. We have felt the disappointment of promises not fulfilled, and we have made promises in one way or another that have not been delivered.

As Matthew brings his account of Jesus Sermon on the Mount to a close he reminds us that it's easy to miss our way into life if we are chasing after things instead of Jesus. Things will disappoint! They will break, go out of style, wear out, or we will become disillusioned with them and want something new or better. What is worse if we are pursuing them, they will eventually lead us to the wide path and away from Jesus!

13 "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it. Matthew 7: 13,14 (NLT)

For three days Jesus pointed out choices. Now as he ends this sermon He reminds us that we can enter the broad gate, plug into the wrong source, or build on an unstable foundation. And if we choose those paths we will end up being very disappointed, because none of them deliver what they promise. The other option is to enter the Gate of Life through Jesus, Plug into the source of hopefulness in Jesus, and build our lives on a foundation that will never fail…

History is littered with people who’ve trusted something else only to find disappointment: Jones Town, Waco, TX, New Orleans, and maybe your life or the life of those you know and love. if you’re just grazing from one thing to the next… let me encourage you to focus on Jesus come into Jesus’ fold and follow Him to Life.

Pressing On,
Dale

Big Things In Little Packages

2011-12-05T13:27:00.001-08:00

When I started Boy Scouts I was in troop 61 and our troop made a point of spending at least one weekend each month camping. I was still young and had just earned my Tenderfoot badge and was going to get to go on my first Overnight camping trip. It was a great experience… setting up tents that were used by the Lewis and Clark expedition , eating food that tasted strangely like bug spray, standing around fires that were smoldering because of the wet wood we used. But the highlight of the trip came Saturday Night when I was introduced to a new way to play football. Troop 61 called it Night Football…We’d find an open field without too many trees, holes, or roots. We’d set the boundaries and make teams and play football in the dark. I was 13 and rather small but I loved the game of football and was willing to mix it up the 18 year olds in a game of night football. To this day I don’t know why but I ended up on the front line defensively and while I was giving away over 12” in height and more than 100 lbs to many of the older boys, I still tackled more people than anyone else… That night was the first time I had ever heard the phrase, “Big things come in small packages” and the funny thing is they were saying it about me!

Today I want to share with each of you a truth that has been growing in me since that night. The truth is that you can’t always tell by the outside the potential of a thing. It may look really good on the outside, but be empty and worthless on the inside, or it may look rather tiny and insignificant on the outside, but be filled with great power and value. As people we are trained from an early age to assess, judge, and assign value, but the truth of the Kingdom of God and those in it is that “Big things come in small packages”!

31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants and grows into a tree where birds can come and find shelter in its branches."
33 Jesus also used this illustration: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast used by a woman making bread. Even though she used a large amount of flour, the yeast permeated every part of the dough." 34 Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 35 This fulfilled the prophecy that said, "I will speak to you in parables. I will explain mysteries hidden since the creation of the world."
Matt 13:31-35 (NLT)

As you consdier the truth of this passage, my prayer is that you remember it's God inside of you that gives you strength, power, and the ability to accomplish great things not your size, education, or history. May amazing things happen for you, and through you as you allow God to do what only He can do... take a tiny seed and turn it into a tree, or take a person like you or me and change teh world.

Pressing On,
Dale

What Do People Think Of Your Jesus?

2011-04-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

If you were to ask the typical person what they thought about those who follow Jesus today, what do you think would come to their minds?

1) Tel-a-vangelists – Hypocrites

2) Soap Box preachers, screaming the end is near – Lunatics

3) Those who've chosen to live in isolated communities – Reject this world

4) Ned Flanders – Homer Simpson’s condescending neighbor

These images and a thousand others have lead people all around the world to a rather distorted picture of what God is like. It’s not that God is a hypocrite, a lunatic, a separatist, or is condescending it’s just that those people who represent Him often are.

With that in mind I’d like to share what I think may be one of the greatest and at the same time saddest facts about being a disciple of Jesus:

“What people see in us becomes their understanding of who Jesus is!”

It’s great because God has trusted His followers enough to give them the awesome responsibility of being His representatives to this world. It’s scary because more often than not we don’t do a very good job of representing Him. The only way anyone can truly represent Jesus to this world is if they are willing to leave all those things that seem so important behind and allow Him to reshape us into his image so that we can truly represent Him

2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. Rom 12:2 (NLT)

Most of the time when we hear that we have to leave everything behind we think of things like money, possessions, and stuff. But I think it’s a whole lot more than stuff: We have to be willing to leave behind our security, our self image, our reputation, our sense of purpose, and even our wills and be willing to allow Jesus to reshape us into His image. It is then and only then that we can truly become a follower of Jesus… You see there is a war going on and you and I are the objectives. Both sides (Jesus / satan) desire to shape us into their image, there is no middle ground people are either on one side or the other, and the only real choice any of us really have is who are we going to follow.

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers-- Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew-- fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!" 20 And they left their nets at once and went with him. 8 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. Matt 4:18-22 (NLT)

Jesus early followers left everything to follow Him, to learn from Him, and try to imitate Him. Not only did this surrender change them, but in turn it changed their world. The question I'd like to leave you with today; is when people examine your life what will they think of the Jesus you are showing them?

Pressing On:

Dale

Faith In Action

2011-01-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

In April of 1988 on the evening news there was a tragic story of a Skydiving Photographer. The story centered on a jump that had been planned with the Photographer and several of his friends. He was filming as they jumped out of the plane and preformed several skydiving maneuvers. The big finish was to be each of the skydivers opening their chutes in turn and landing near the runway where they took off. One by one they opened their chutes until the last one discovered an almost unbelievable mistake. This last skydiver had failed to put his chute on before leaving the plane.

This last Skydiver had placed his confidence in his parachute, but he had failed to put it on. Everything had gone well with the jump up till that point... the plane ride was good, jumping out of the plane was exhilarating, the acrobatics went as planned, and everybody else's chute opened without incident. In fact the last skydiver had packed his chute perfectly and had it sitting beside him in the plane his fatal flaw was that he hadn't put it on before he left the plane. The problem wasn't his chute, his trust, or even his ability... he just didn't do what he needed to do.

As followers of Jesus we know that we need to put our faith / trust in Him. In fact you will often hear followers of Jesus say that trust in Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. The question is what does “trusting in Jesus” mean? While the bible is full of teaching about the necessity of faith in Jesus, the book of James gives us a bit more practical explanation of the kind of faith God wants to see in those who are going to follow Him.

14 Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, 16 and you say, "Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well"-- but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all-- it is dead and useless.

18 Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." I say, "I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds." 19 Do you still think it's enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! 20 Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless? James 2: 14 - 20 (NLT)

It would seem that James is saying that if your faith doesn't change your life perhaps you should consider changing your faith. If what you have put your faith doesn't really affect anything in your life then one of two things would seem to be true: 1) What you put your trust in isn't really worth trusting. 2) Maybe you are just fooling yourself into thinking you've put your trust in something when you really haven't. In either case the result is the same, your faith will disappoint. My hope is that you have discovered or are discovering that Jesus is worth trusting, that following Him is in your best interest, and that when you do things Jesus' way your life and certainly your future will be the better for it.

Pressing On:

Dale

Are You Really In Control?

2010-12-29T13:05:00.000-08:00

Several years ago a speedboat driver, who survived a racing accident, gave his account of his brush with death. The race had gone well and he was running at nearly top speed (well over 100 miles an hour), when his boat veered slightly and hit a wave at a dangerous angle. Between the combination of the speed, the wave, and the angle the boat went spinning like a dust bunny caught in a tornado. The boat rose to a height of over 30 feet above the water, and finally the driver was thrown from the boat and propelled deeply into the water. He was so disoriented and so deep that he really didn't know which way was up. Instead of just swimming he decided to wait a bit for his life jacket to start pulling him toward the surface. With the direction of the life jacket he was able finally able to swim to the surface

In our day one of the most pressing problems faced by people is one of control. People are either tired of feeling controlled: The cost of living, health care needs and concerns, political issues, their jobs, their kids and their schedules, their addictions, and even their spouses. And if they aren't tired of feeling controlled they are trying to control: their weight, looks, bank account, retirement funds, relationships, health, and even those people around them. All this has lead to two very real and dangerous attitudes: 1) Isolationism: finding control by removing ourselves from everything and everybody. 2) The illusion of the self made individual who has everything under control.

Like the speed boat driver there are times when every one finds themselves in a situation that is out of their control. The options for every one are the same: 1) We can take control and live with the consequences of our choices. 2) We can allow the people and situations around us to control us and live with the choices of others. 3) We can wait for God's guidance to start pulling in the right direction and join Him. The question is basic who is really in control of our lives, who have we put on the throne to call the shoots, whose voice have we chosen to listen to when everything seems out of control?

James shares with us three specific areas where God's control is not just helpful, but necessary if we are going to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him: Human Relationships, Life Choices, and obedience to God's word!

11 Don't speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God's law. But you are not a judge who can decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. 12 God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor? 13 Look here, you people who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit." 14 How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog-- it's here a little while, then it's gone. 15 What you ought to say is, "If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that." 16 Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. James 4:11-17 (NLT)

Pressing On:

Dale

What Does It Matter?

2010-12-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

Not long ago I read a statement that really caused me to rethink how I look at life and the things I’m involved in. I can’t remember who said it, or where I read it, but this is what they said, “Our greatest fear shouldn’t be of failure, but of accomplishing something that doesn’t matter.” What a powerful idea! It challenges us to leave our fears behind and take chances in order to accomplish something meaningful, something of significance, something of eternal value.

It’s possible for all of us to be really busy and have full lives. Our calendars can be filled to the last second of every day with activities. Our checkbooks can be riddled with entries for things we’ve spent resources on. It is possible for all that to happen, but to have done nothing that mattered. In the end each of us need to know the answer to this question “Did we use what God gave us to make a difference?”

Did the way we spend our time positively effect the lives of other people. Did that time make life easier for someone coming behind us or was it all about what makes our lives safe, secure, and satisfied? Did we use our financial resources to aid others, help other people in times of need, or was it simply to provide for ourselves and our wants?

Do you remember hearing about the conversation between Steven Jobs, former Chairman of Apple Computers and John Sculley, of Pepsico. After a seemingly failed attempt to persuade Sculley to leave Pepsi and help him run Apple computers. Jobs said, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?” Another way of saying that is to ask, is what your doing with your life really making a difference? Sculley must have decided it wasn’t, so he joined the Apple team and the rest is history…

Jesus said the same thing to His followers when He said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” Matt 10:39 Was He was saying that if all we do is care about ourselves we will ultimately have lived a life that doesn’t matter? It's my hope that you've come to understand that your life is of priceless value and that you are using it to make a difference that really matters!

Pressing On:

Dale

The Other Jesus

2008-01-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

In his book The Other Jesus Lloyd J. Ogilvie describes Jesus this way:

“Who is this other Jesus? He is not a different Jesus; rather, He is the forgotten, neglected, overlooked Jesus. This other Jesus is often a stranger to our self-concerned, narcissistic, me generation. He is not the Jesus we have created of our own making and faking – an easy going, good natured Jesus who’s on call when we want Him to help us deal with our personal agenda. Having only this culturelized, benevolent, but somewhat weak “errand-boy” Jesus stunts our spiritual growth.

The other Jesus is the biblical Jesus – the robust challenging Jesus who is more than just a comforter. He also confronts us, and He will not accept second place in our lives. He calls us to an exhilarating adventure of dynamic discipleship. Though He meets us as we are, He loves us too much to leave us as we have been.

The authentic Jesus tenderly cares for us when we hurt, but He tenaciously exposes anything that keeps us from being His faithful servants. His love and forgiveness are unqualified, but His demands are unequivocal. He is the Master who holds the mandate for the King and the Lord of all life who calls us to commit all we have to Him.”

I just thought this was worth sharing. I hope your Jesus is having His way in your life!

Pressing On:
Dale

Intamacy Issues

2007-04-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I made one of those classic preacher bloopers. You know the kind of thing that comes out of your mouth seeming so innocent, but makes your face turn the color of a fire truck when your brain realizes what you just said. The text for the day was Matthew 5 and we were talking about safeguarding our marriages so we would be the salt and light Jesus instructs us to be in our worlds.

I had been working on an acrostic for the word GIFTS as something spouses could give to each other. I had good ideas for G, F, T, & S, but was stuck on the “I”. My wife and a friend were in the office doing some work for an upcoming event and I asked for their input. Immediately my wife’s friend, Ann Marie, suggested Intimacy for the “I” of my acrostic. I was overjoyed having completed the acronym, and thanked them for their help. That Sunday as I got to that part of the talk, I wanted to give credit for the help I had been given so I thanked Ann Marie for her help in filling out my acrostic. If I would have stopped there, things would have been fine, but I didn’t. When I got to Intimacy in my acrostic I said, “And I’d like to thank Ann Marie for giving me Intimacy this week.”

You could have heard a marshmallow fall into a down quilt. It was so quiet every where except inside my head. A moment later I tried to back up but it was too late the snickers started and they gave way to laughter and in short order I just had to move on to the “F” as there was no hope of redeeming anything from Intimacy, at least in that moment and with that group of people

Well here’s my point in all this…it’s what I didn’t get out (I was too busy laughing myself) about intimacy. The idea behind the word is having nothing between two people. It means not wearing a mask, putting up a barrier, or placing anything between you and another. While it’s not practical or even wise to have this kind of emotional transparency with everyone, it should be the goal in our marriage relationships. Unfortunately too many people wear too many masks, have too many barriers, and have placed so many things between them and their spouses that there is little if any real chance of intimacy ever taking place.

The answer is learning to trust someone enough to be real in their presence. No masks, barriers, or smokescreens just being the person you are and trusting others enough to accept and love you in spite of all that you are. If we are really honest most of us would admit that we’re not transparent with people, even our spouses, because we’re afraid of how they’ll respond if we are. And the saddest truth in all this is that these feelings carry over into our relationship with God. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden we try to hide from God. We put on masks of religion, or try to distance ourselves from Him with questions, all because we are afraid we can not trust God with the real us.

Let me share a part of one of David’s Psalm’s about trust…It’s worth a read

3 But when I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 O God, I praise your word. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? ...13 For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light

Ps 56:1-13 (NLT)

David discovered that he could be totally transparent with God because God can be trusted with the real us. I hope that you discover that God can be trusted with the real you. And I hope that you discover real intimacy with those closest to you.

Pressing On:
Dale

What's In a name?

2007-02-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!”

Words are powerful things. They can give us great joy and they can cause us to feel overwhelming pain! For example if someone calls you great, wonderful, or a hero you will most likely feel pretty good about life and the part you are playing in it. But if someone calls you lazy, stupid, or useless it’s very possible that you could start feeling worthless and wonder if there is any point in continuing to live life at all.

When I was six years old my parents got divorced and by the time I was seven my mom moved my sister and I to Oregon from Oklahoma. We moved at the end of summer, so we could start a brand new year of school, and I remember being very excited about my new school and all that came with it. Unfortunately the excitement didn’t last much beyond the first recess of that first day in school. You see people from Oklahoma, even young ones, talk differently from people in Oregon which is pronounced “Oreygone” if you’re from Oklahoma. During that first recess I learned how painful words can be. I was called a hick, a hillbilly, and a couple other words I won’t put in print. What I learned was that I was different, I knew it, they knew it, and they wanted me to know that they new it. By lunch time I was completely isolated and felt all alone. Every time I opened my mouth it gave people something new to make fun of, or a new name to call me.

That night my mom told me that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” In all honesty I didn’t believe her. I wondered if she had ever been called a stupid hillbilly, or if anyone had ever made fun of the way they pronounced “Four Square” (Squair if you’re from Oklahoma). The next day was worse. Now they weren’t just making fun of they way I talked, they also made fun of the way I dressed, the way my hair was cut, and even the shape of my head. It was amazing how absolutely stupid everybody thought I was. For seven years I thought I was a fairly normal kid and now in just a couple of days I had been convinced that I was probably the least intelligent person on earth.

I might have continued feeling that way about myself if it wasn’t for a neighbor who lived across the street. His name was Mr. Stratton. He had three kids Susan, who was in my class, Sally two years younger than me, and His oldest son Jim. Mr. Stratton (Dick) became the a constant source of encouragement for me. He told me how funny I was (When I told a joke), how hard I worked, and what a good football player I was. He taught me how to play chess, asked me to join his Cub Scout pack, and even taught me how to play ping pong. Each step along the way making me feel like I really did matter and that I had something to contribute to the world around me.

Well here’s the point. Each and every one of us have different kinds of people in our lives. Some of them tear us down and some of them build us up. One of the most powerful tools used to do either are the words we speak to others. Those words have tremendous power to build us up and they have devastating power to tear us down. The world we live in wants us to believe that we are insignificant, unimportant, and worthless, but the God and creator of this world wants us to hear a different message. He wants us to know that we are loved, important, and priceless. God is telling us all that we are His kids, that we are smart, that we have value, and that we can make a difference. Listen to His words:

6 For somewhere in the Scriptures it says, "What is man that you should think of him, and the son of man that you should care for him? 7 For a little while you made him lower than the angels, and you crowned him with glory and honor. 8 You gave him authority over all things." Now when it says "all things," it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all of this happen.
Heb 2:6-8 (NLT)

I hope you have a Mr. Stratton in your life, but if you don’t or even if you do, I pray that God’s words will serve as a source of hope for you. He loves you, thinks you’re priceless, and He has great faith in you. And what’s more He’s willing to tell you so!

Pressing On:
Dale

What If?

2007-01-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

A couple of Summers ago Mary and I got to take a 4600 mile trip around our country. We got the chance to visit a bunch of very interesting places along the way, and gave our Chevy’s AC a good work out. Some of the more interesting places were, the Devils slide, Dodge City’s Boot Hill, Old town Albuquerque, the “Painted Desert & Petrified Forest”, and the Gloss mountains of Oklahoma. As we traveled across this country we saw lots of what looked as if it had been an atomic bomb test site, but we also saw some farms that were producing everything from Apples to Zucchini

These farms gave me pause to wonder about God’s family the church and how much like a farm it really is. You think about a lot of weird things when you’re driving 500 miles in a day. But what would happen if a farm was run like many modern day churches?

¨ Farming would be more about barns than fields.

¨ Farmers would stay around the barn and do almost all their work there.

¨ The best farmers would be the ones with the biggest barns

¨ Farmers would only plow and plant inside the barn

¨ Farmers could be voted off the farm just like the TV show Survivor.

¨ Wandering farmers would look for barns with no farmer in them.

¨ Because all activity is inside the barn they’d start to stink.

¨ Due to the barn focus the fields would grow wild

¨ Activity outside the barn would be more like hunting.

¨ Success would be measured by what the farmers knew about farming, not by the crops they have produced.

Ok maybe it’s a good thing farming isn’t like the church, but I think there are a number of things that we can learn from farming that will help us all be more like God’s vision of His Church:

¨ People are God’s fields

¨ God only uses good seed

¨ Our job it to plant, water, and cultivate, God causes the growth

¨ Workers are in short supply for God’s fields

¨ God prunes us to help us be productive A question we must each answer is what kind of crop are we allowing God to produce in our lives, our ministries, and on His farm? The prophet Isaiah describes God’s work this way… 2 He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with choice vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were wild and sour. Isa 5:2 (NLT). God has done is doing and will continue to do a great deal of work to produce good fruit in each of us! What would happen if we let Him?

Is there something in your life that’s keeping you from becoming what you might be? What if you let it go and let God work within you to produce something good?

What if…

Pressing On:

Dale Phipps

We All have a made by… tag on us

2007-01-16T14:44:00.000-08:00

In John Ortberg’s book, “Love beyond Reason” he tells the following story about a Fortune 500 company CEO and his wife out on a date…

The couple pulled into a gas station after their dinner and night on the town. The CEO went into the station to pay for their gas, and when he came out he noticed that his wife was engaged in a very deep conversation with the service station attendant. It turns out that she had gone to High School with him. In fact during those years she had actually dated him before she ever met her eventual husband.

The CEO got into the car, and the two drove off in silence. He was feeling pretty good about himself when he finally spoke: “I bet I know what you are thinking. I bet you are thinking you are glad you married me, a Fortune 500 CEO, and not him, a service station attendant.”

His wife responded, “No, I was thinking if I had married him, he would be a Fortune 500 CEO and you would be a service station attendant.”

Funny how many times we, like the CEO of the story, fall into the delusion that we are self made. That somehow we have arrived at our current position in life on our own. Maybe it’s pride, or self-protection, or just plain failure to recognize how many people have helped us get to where we are today. Here is a short list of the kind of people who I’m grateful for in helping me get to where I’m at today…

 My parents: who brought me into this world, supplied me with all my needs, and many of my wants. Who taught me, sheltered me, and freed me to live life.

 My Wife: who makes me better than I am by loving me, holding me accountable, and challenging me to never stop trying to improving..

 My Kids: who have given me unconditional love, and been a source of laughter in my life, and shown me why a warm plate of cookies is always better when shared with those you love.

 My Teachers: who have poured their wealth of experience and knowledge into my life. They have helped me to see life from many different vantage points without having to live so long in order to make the same discoveries on my own.

 My Mentors: who have had the wisdom to show me how to take the knowledge I’ve been given and apply it to the life I’m living.

 My Accountability partners: who have shown me grace, mercy, and forgiveness. They have helped me weather many storms in my life, and shown me that failure doesn’t have to be fatal or final if you’re willing to change and grow

 My Lord and Savior Jesus: who is really responsible for giving me the chance to make the most of all that He has provided. After all He is the one who created life that I might learn to live. He is the one who created all the different temperaments that I might live as I was designed to live. He is the one who designed all the different skills and gifts that I might fill a specific need in this world. He is the one who designed the mind that I might have the ability to use it. He is the one who came up with the idea of community that I might be a part of one. And He is the one who paid the ultimate price that I might truly live!.

When you stop and think about it, really think about it, we are all a combination of input from a wide verity of sources. There are lots of people who lay claim to the person we are or are becoming. My question is, are you willing to give credit, thanks, and even appreciation to those who’ve helped you along life’s journey to this point? Or are you really a self-made individual?

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-- and how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable!
Ps 139:14-17(NLT)

Pressing On
Dale Phipps

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

2007-01-02T15:35:00.000-08:00

Most of you reading this have probably at one time or another had some experience with a dog or a cat, and I’ll bet you have an opinion about them. Your opinion may be based on found memories of a loved family pet, a not so pleasant memory of stepping in something you had to clean off your shoe, or even the kinda weird memory of waking up from a nap to find your four legged friend asleep right next to you (or on you if they are small enough). You may, like me, have more than just a past experience; you may have a cat looking over your shoulder right now as you’re reading this, or a dog that is laying beside you hoping you’ll give it a moments attention before you go off to do something else. Regardless of your past or present experience with dogs and cats I’d like to ask you to think about them in terms of a spiritual gauge with me.

In his book “Everybody’s Normal Until You Get to Know Them”, John Ortberg Makes the distinction between approaching God and others as a dog or a cat. In a nut shell here’s the difference.

Cats: A cat looks down on you with an air of superiority, somewhere between mild to total disinterest, and as if you exist to meet it’s every need. When you feed it, clean up after it, buy it toys, do nice things for it I wonder if a cat thinks to itself, “Why wouldn’t you want to do all those things for me after all I am a cat and you are just my master. You’re so lucky to have me around, I deserve all you’ve done and more. I deserve your love and respect.”

Dogs: a dog looks up at you with love in its eyes, total devotion in its heart, and a willingness to follow you wherever you go. When you feed a dog, play with a dog, clean up after a dog, or buy a dog a toy all it wants to do is be with you. When the dog sees all these things that you have done for it I wonder if it thinks to itself, “Why would my master do all these things for me, I’m just a dog. I love my master and would do anything for them. I’m so lucky to be loved by such a wonderful master.”

Here’s an awesome truth. God loves you and me more than we know, and more than we will ever deserve. God’s love for us is nothing short of amazing. Look what the writer of Hebrews says about God and what He thinks of us.

6 For somewhere in the Scriptures it says, "What is man that you should think of him, and the son of man that you should care for him? 7 For a little while you made him lower than the angels, and you crowned him with glory and honor. 8 You gave him authority over all things." Now when it says "all things," it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all of this happen. Heb 2:6-8 (NLT)

Now here’s the tough part…When you approach God, are you more like a cat or a dog?

Pressing On:
Dale Phipps

A Fish Out of Water: a parable of modern life

2006-12-18T14:54:00.000-08:00

Many years ago in a secret laboratory in the Northwest part of Oregon several scientists undertook a very bazaar experiment. The decided to create a fish that could live out of the water. They began by taking some healthy red herring, and then they bread, and cross – bread these fish. Then they adjusted and re-adjusted the very chromosomes of the fish till they had a fish that could live out of the water.

The project director was not satisfied however. He was sure that deep down the little fish still had a desire to live in the water, so he said, “Re-educate it, change its very desires!” They worked day and night until finally they had achieved their goal. They had created a fish that would rather die than get wet. Even the slightest increase in humidity would fill this little herring with dread. The director of this project was proud of their accomplishments, so he took their new air breathing fish out on tour.

While they were on tour something horrible happened. The reports said that it was an accident, but there were many who didn’t think it was an accident at all. According to the reports, what happened was that during a demonstration in Seattle the fish was accidentally dropped into the Sound. Of course this sent the little fish into a state of panic. It closed its eyes, clamped its gills shut, and sank straight to the bottom. As it lay there hoping that someone would rescue it from its watery prison, its eyes starting to bulge from lack of oxygen the little fish knew that it must breath or die, and even though everything in it hated the idea it took a small gill full of water. Then it took another, and another, and another until it was breathing as its body filled with oxygen it flipped its tail and glided effortlessly through the water. What a feeling! There was such joy and enthusiasm the little fish had never experienced anything like this. It felt like, like, it was home. That was the last anyone ever saw of the little red herring…

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-- the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. Rom 12:1-2 (NLT)

Like the little fish we were created to exist in an environment created just for us, a world surrounded by God’s love and grace. However, there’s a project director (satan) that has been trying for a long time to reprogram each of us to believe that we were not designed to experience God at all, and if we do that we should be afraid of Him. The truth is that God wants each of us to experience the freedom and joy of living as we have been created to live. Living as His beloved children!

In closing, are you living your life like a fish out of water, or are you living the way God created you to live?

Pressing On:
Dale Phipps

Ever Lost Something?

2006-11-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

Have you ever lost anything? Maybe you lost your keys and you instantly felt panicked. You search everywhere, look in every pocket, check between the cushions of your couch, and even pick up the dog and shake it to see if good old spot has eaten your keys. Your frustration starts to mount as you can’t find the keys; you start to blame anyone and everyone for the loss; your anger and frustration continue to grow until you are ready to explode. Now you’re in full panic mode; you have to find the keys because your entire world is contained on that one little ring!

But what if you still can’t find your keys even after looking really long and hard? Would you start to have totally irrational thoughts like, maybe your keys have somehow gotten lost in that black hole that just consumes one of a pair of socks. Or maybe the CIA finally discovered your true identity as the Lord of the Dance? Or maybe someone has devised a clever way to steal your 1975 AMC Pacer and park it in your basement. No matter what you’re thinking or how irrational those thoughts seem to any sane person they cause you to break out in a cold sweat. Those keys may never be found any you don’t know if you’ll ever be the same again…

Well weather you’ve lost your keys recently or not, my guess is that at some point in time you have lost something. Maybe you have lost a possession, failed to reach a goal, or had had a favorite TV show canceled. Maybe you have had someone you love die, sever a relationship, or just disappear. No matter what kind of loss you’ve experienced; I imagine there has been some kind of pain associated with it. The more deeply we are connected to the lost item the more intense the pain associated with the loss seems to be.

I’m convinced that even Jesus experienced pain like this. In the gospel of John Jesus had been teaching some things about a relationship with God that were difficult for people to hear. Many didn’t like what Jesus was saying so they left…

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, "Are you going to leave, too?"
John 6:66-67 (NLT)

I don’t want to pretend that I understand all that Jesus was feeling during that moment, but I do know that He did some things that seemed to help Him deal with the loss. As you keep reading the account of Jesus’ life in John’s gospel, you discover that He accepted encouragement from Peter and other friends, He identified the problems in His life, He removed Himself from the stress and strain He was under for a season, He spent time with family (even though they weren’t really all that helpful), He focused on His purpose / mission in life, and he went to a party. I think that all this helped lead Jesus to a point where He was able to go on and face even greater loss and ultimately make it possible for all of us to experience our greatest potential loss with a sense of hope.

What have you lost recently and what’s been helpful for you in dealing with it?

Pressing On,
Dale

A Tough Question

2006-11-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

What’s your soul worth?

Salon.com reports that 18 year old Sterling Jones “Put his soul up for auction on eBay. Within a few days eBay removed Jones’ offer and alerted him that eBay did not allow the auctioning of human souls.”

“According to eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove, there’s no proof Jones can make good to the winning bidder. Jones would have to make a pretty strong case to us that he could deliver his soul.”

In a similar instance Wired Magazine reported that a 29 year old university communications instructor did manage to sell his soul after 10 days of bidding. His soul was sold to a New York real estate agent for $1,325.00. The seller said, “In America you can metaphorically and literally sell your soul and be rewarded for it. That’s what makes this country great.”

After I read these two accounts of soul selling, my mind started racing. I thought about all those people in the Bible who sold out cheap: Esau for a bowl of soup, Lot’s wife for a last look, the people of God because they wanted a king like everyone else, and Judas for thirty pieces of silver. I thought how silly, how could anyone sell out for so little. Then my thoughts started to get personal as I remembered all the times I’d sold out. I sold out because I didn’t want to be embarrassed, inconvenienced, or bothered. Sold out because I didn’t trust God, was being selfish, or I just plain thought it would cost me too much.

While I was sitting there, feeling a bit silly for selling out myself, I remembered something Jesus said:

26 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Matt 16:26 (NLT)

This has led me to one conclusion. God places a much higher value on my soul than I do. He was willing to pay everything He had to buy me back after I sold myself so cheaply. He was willing to give His own son in exchange for my very soul. I don’t know if I’m ever going to sell out cheap again (I hope not), but I do know this, the next time I consider it, I’m going to think first about the price that God was willing to pay for my soul before I do!

In His Grip
Dale Phipps

P.S Who’s got the title to your soul anyway?

Does the way we live really matter?

2006-11-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

We live in a world that no longer seems to have absolutes. No doesn’t really mean no. Sex isn’t sex unless intercourse is involved. It’s not cheating as long as you don’t get caught. This attitude is seen in movies, in songs, lives of public figures, and even in the way people approach their relationship with God.

The watchword for our age seems to be “tolerance”, which has lead to a popular sentiment, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe something”. But the saddest part of this is that, because there are no absolutes, what you believe still doesn’t need to have any bearing on the way you live your life, so it’s ok to believe anything you want and do anything you want and the two don’t even have to match. Is it any wonder our people are a bit confused?

The real question in all this is does it really matter what we believe and how we live? I think that if we take the Bible seriously then the answer to that question has to be a resounding “YES it matters!” Listen to God’s words to us through His servant Paul:

7 Don't be misled. Remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit..
Gal 6: 7, 8 (NLT)

I think the way we live matters to God, to our families, and to our world:

· It matters to God because he designed us, knows what’s best for us and wants us to live up to our potential. If we chose to abandon Him and His design we place ourselves in direct opposition of a God who can’t be fooled, tricked, or lied to.
· It matters to our families because our spouses and kids need to be loved, honored, and encouraged. They need to know that there are boundaries within which they can safely live and thrive.
· It matters to our world because most people are living their lives like a boat adrift. They have no real direction or purpose. They need to know that there is a safe place they can anchor, a place to be protected and given an opportunity to heal, find hope, and discover a future.

I think your life matters and if you think so too remember one final thing. Don’t allow the world around you to force you into its image. Instead we must live lives that are changing the world. As one preacher reminds us “Remember it’s not the ship in the water, but the water in the ship that sinks it. So it’s not the Christian in the world but the world in the Christian that constitutes the danger.”

Love in the Lamb,
Dale Phipps

A Wonderful Thing to See!

2006-10-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

When it was built for an international exposition in the late 1880’s, the structure was called “Monstrous” by the citizens of the city who demanded it be torn down as soon as the exposition was over. Yet from the moment its architect first conceived it, he took pride in it and loyally defended it from those who wished it destroyed. He knew it was destined for greatness. Today it is one of the architectural wonders of the modern world and stands as a primary landmark of Paris, France. The architect was Alexander Gustave Eiffel, and the tower which bears his name is still standing today.

There is another structure designed by a master architect that I would like you to consider. Jesus designed His church and from the moment He conceived it, He knew it was something special. The Church was to be the embodiment of His teachings and a place where people could encounter hope, help, and healing. Jesus turned over the blueprints for this design to an unlikely band of followers who He taught, prayed for, and defended. He gave them the incredible responsibility of following His design for this amazing structure. It was to be a structure not of wood or stone, but of flesh and bone. It was a design not located in one place but one filling every corner of the earth, touching every life with life.

Jesus used several images to help His followers understand His plans. These images help us to understand the nature of the church from Jesus’ perspective:. The Church is a family of people each connected by their relationship with God. It’s an army following Jesus where He leads. It’s a flock of sheep lovingly cared for by its shepherd. The church is a garden tended by the gardener. While there are many other images of the church, they all have one thing in common; they all describe living things that are inter connected to each other and to Jesus.

Two thousand years later we still find those faithful to Jesus’ design working to build His church. They are working to become living extensions of Jesus and His ministry on earth. They aren’t trying to build buildings, even though they do build them as tools to help do what’s really important. They aren’t trying to develop programs, even though they do as a means to accomplishing their goals. They aren’t even trying to be a political force, but sometimes they have to be if they are going to be true to Jesus’ call to make a difference in the world.

The Church as Jesus sees it is an amazing thing. It’s a beautiful bride entering the room. It’s a family filled with love, support, and healing. It’s a massive army on the move working to set slaves free and bring hope to the oppressed for a better tomorrow. The church as Jesus sees it is about people who are connected to each other in such a way that they share life together. They share its good and its bad. They support each other during the bad times and celebrate with each other during the good times. The church is a group of people working together for a common purpose. That purpose is now and has always been for each member of God’s family to become as much like Jesus in thought and action as possible and for each member of the family to help as many other people as possible discover God’s family for themselves.
Look at this description of what happened when Jesus’ followers put His blueprint for the church into practice:

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church-- about three thousand in all. 42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-- 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

Acts 2:41-47 (NLT)

The Church as Jesus designed it is a wonderful thing. My hope and prayer for you is that you discover for yourself Jesus’ design for His Church.

Pressing On,

Dale

Finishing Well

2006-10-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

When you hear the names, Richard Nixon, Pete Rose, Tanya Harding, or Jimmy Swagert what do you think of? When people talk about Nixon most people do not think of one of Americas premier foreign policy makers, or the inroads made in developing a relationship between the US and China all they remember is Watergate. When people talk about Pete Rose more often than not they don’t remember his great batting records, or his contributions to the game of baseball all they remember is his gambling. When people think of Tanya Harding their first thoughts aren’t of a very talented ice skater who was good enough to represent the US in the Olympics they think of a scandal that occupied the headlines for weeks. When people hear the name Jimmy Swagert they don’t talk about all those people he helped they just remember his visits with prostitutes.

How is it that people get off course? No one I know starts out to fail, to finish poorly but judging from the number of people who’ve started well, but ended up off course I’d say it’s a much easier thing to do than we think. It doesn’t take much to get off course, a moment of weakness, a lapse in judgment, or some bad directions and you’re looking around wondering where you are.

Everyone finishes, but not everyone finishes well. Because I think it makes a difference how we finish, I’d like to share with you one man’s plan for finishing well. His name was Paul and he was a follower of Jesus. One of his great desires was not just to finish but to finish well. Here’s his plan:

12 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Phil 3:12-14 (NLT)

Paul’s plan involved the following five steps:

He had a goal – Paul’s goal was to live as he was created to. He knew that Jesus’ life had been set before us as an example of the kind of lives we should all be living. Paul understood the goal of his life.

He knew where he was – Paul had taken an honest inventory of his life. He knew that he had not yet reached his goal of living like Jesus. This allowed him to focus on areas of weakness, deal with problems, and watch out for obstacles along the way.

He was willing to work hard – Paul said that he was focusing all his energy and straining to reach his goal. This is a picture of hard work and effort. Paul knew that to reach his goal it would require effort on his part.

He didn’t allow his past to keep him from his future – Paul knew that our pasts can act like an anchor that keeps us from moving forward. Our past failures can paralyze us into inactivity and our successes can take our eyes off the goal. Paul was focused on his goal and refused to allow his past good or bad to keep him from reaching it!

He believed the goal was worth the effort – Paul was convinced that his destination was worth the effort. In fact just before the above quote Paul said that he considered everything else garbage in comparison to reaching his goal (cf. Phil. 3: 8)

Everyone finishes this race called life. The only real choice we have is how we finish. If you want to finish well, you have to know your goal, know where you are, be willing to do what’s necessary to get there, let go of your past, and believe your destination is worth the effort.

Pressing On
Dale