A Belt and Shoes

The other day I left the house and I forgot my belt. Now, for those of you who do not wear a belt EVERY DAY this may not sound like such a travesty. But, for me, it was!

I did not necessary NEED a belt, my pants seemed to fit just fine (in fact all of my pants seem to be getting snugger these days). So because I did not NEED my belt that morning, I simply forgot to put it on.

And I had no time to return home to get my belt. You see, I was out visiting with members of our church and members of our community and I had no way to return home to grab a belt. So, throughout the day this lack of belt was all that I seemed to think about. It was as if my entire day was thrown off simply because I did not have my belt on.

As soon as I returned home that evening I quickly went into my closet to get a belt and I put it on. Taking a deep breath of relief I was able to go o with the rest of my day knowing that all was well.

The next day, when I opened my closet, my belt was not hanging in its normal spot in the closet. Looking to the floor I saw that it had fallen down next to my shoes. That's when it hit me, I would never forget my shoes!

You see, shoes are a necessity (for me). If I leave my house without my shoes on, I quickly realize it and I return to my closet to slide a pair on. And there is the real truth, there is a huge difference between an accessory and a necessity.

This drew my mind to Ephesians chapter 5 and the "full armor of God". In Ephesians 5 Paul urges the church the put on the full armor of God, one item being the "belt of truth". We are to put it on simply because it is a part of the "full armor of God".

So, are you wearing the "full armor of God"? Is is an accessory in your life or is it something that is necessary to your daily walk - your daily battles?

2015 Preaching Calendar

Well, another year of preaching is in the books! I am humbled and honored whenever I consider the reality that I speak on behalf of God on a regular basis. It is beyond comprehension to me that God has counted me worthy of His name and that people listen (sometimes intently) to the words I speak.

In 2015 our church family decided to use a whole-church curriculum, implementing it in our children, youth, and adult classes, small groups, and sermons. This was particularly strange to me as it (broadly) dictated what passages I preached from each week. Because I could never preach another person's sermon, nor would I desire to, I developed a preaching calendar based on the 31 chapters (plus one for Easter) of The Story. I am a series preacher and found that planning our specific series helped me in the preparation of the sermons because I had a focused theme to concentrate on. I also believe that preaching various sermon series over the course of 32 weeks helped keep our church family to stay better connected to the themes. Likewise, I found that developing six different series kept the church family from getting bored because the images and illustrations used changed from month to month and (sometimes) week to week.



I tried my best to keep a flow from start to finish of The Story. Yet, for those who did not recognize the theme, I thought I would share what the plan looked like in my mind more than a year ago. And, where I failed to adequately convey the theme or the subject matter, you have the outline before you and, perhaps on paper it will make sense.

Clean Bath Tub

I cleaned the bathtub today. I typically clean the bathroom once a week and wipe the tub out every other week. But today, I deep cleaned the bathtub to get all the soap scum and hard water deposits off. 

I knew that this task was overdue and that it was something that needed to be done after several months. However, I did not realize until I started just how dirty the bathtub was. With every swipe of the Magic Eraser I was taking off layers of soap scum. 

I was not looking for any praise for this completed chore, however, after my wife saw the tub, she thanked me for cleaning it and told me just how nice it looked. 

Then it struck me, the cleanness of the tub was obvious, she did not need a before and after picture. I thought, "we don't realize the filth that we're sitting in until after we see it all stripped away".

And isn't this true of our lives as well? Most of us sit for years in our own "filth" - whether that be an addiction, abuse, depression, worry, or many other things. And, for most, we do not realize the extent of our filth until it has all be striped away. Month after month - year after year - we allow the feelings of sorrow, hatred, worry, or doubt to accumulate. Every month that we sit in our " filth" makes cleaning it up more difficult. And, for some, they never see the beauty of a clean, healthy life. 

The great news for us is that we do not have to clean up our "filth" ", we simply have to turn our lives - our past, present, and future - over to God. He filters our "filth" through the sacrifice of Chrst and sees our beauty, cleaning out "filth" up and helping us see the beauty around us and allowing us to live a clean life in Him.