It was Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals with Dallas leading the Oklahoma Thunder 2 games to 1. Game 4 was in Oklahoma City and Dallas fell behind immediately after the Thunder hits on their first 9 baskets! But despite the great shooting of Oklahoma and the numerous turnovers by the Mavericks, Dallas goes into the locker room at half time only down by 5 points.
The second half proves to be more of the same but Dallas eventually finds themselves outplayed and down by 15 points with only 5 minutes to play. Now I am not sure if it was the cummulative effect of an exceptionally hard day at work or the satisfying carbo load of fully loaded chili dogs or a combination of both, but I decided it was time to give up on Dallas! Down by 15! Go to sleep! It is hopeless!
Oh how many times in my life I have felt that way. Overwhelmed by the obvious obstacles in front of me or the enormous odds against me, I have wanted to give up and many times did. Hopelessness is a helpless feeling. Everything inside of you crying out for some kind of break, or change, or at least a glimmer of hope. You too may have been in that place of utter despair or worse yet, you may be faced with seemingly insurmountable odds even now. But let me remind you of this; with God as our source, we are never without hope! Paul reminds us in Romans that we may be pressed on every side, but we are not crushed, struck down but not destroyed! There is hope!
Yes, I gave up on any chance of Dallas winning and I went to bed. But today I am reminded... there is always hope and just like Dallas fighting back to win the game in overtime, we too must not give up the fight!
Living Supernaturally!
Pastor Eugene
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Change
I never cease to be amazed at the way things are constantly in a state of change. It does not take a lot of effort to look back and on the last ten years and see the blur like change in so many areas! To many these changes fall into the context of progress or an improvement in the quality of life, and no doubt that would be true. In areas such as medicine and health care we have advanced to the point of finding remedies for so many things that were considered fatal only a few years ago.
Some of the greatest changes have been in the area of electronics. I can still remember the black and white television we had growing up. The turn dial on it went to 13 channels and if you wanted to watch a different channel you had to actually get up, walk over to the TV and change the channel! Today we have HDTV's in 3-D with theater quality sound systems with over 200 channels, blu-ray disc players and of course the 3 remotes it takes to control them all! Many call these advantages great progress but I see us progressing more and more to becoming lazy couch potatoes!
Where will all of this change take us? How much further can we advance in medicine, electronics and numerous other areas of constant change? In the midst of this culture of constant change, the church as we know it is also changing, and that is not all bad! Many churches have embraced the digital revolution and become effective at using the technology to communicate and minister to highly connected but busy audience. I believe that we as the church should use every tool within our ability to reach the lost!
But in some ways, change has invaded the church in areas that God never intended! There are many churches that are abandoning the power of the gospel and compromising the message to foster acceptance in a more liberal society. The end result is a church that really looks more like the world than a place of spiritual refuge. But in spite of this changing face of the church, we must remember that not all things change. Malachi 3:6 the Lord reminds us that He does not change!
God is the same yesterday, today and forever will be! In a world that changes its wants, desires and direction more times that a preteen girl changes clothes in a day, I am thankful to know that my God remains the same. No matter how much my world changes, no matter how much this society changes, no matter how much everything else changes... God remains ever faithful, ever present, ever loving, every merciful.
Love, Honor, Service,
Pastor Eugene
Some of the greatest changes have been in the area of electronics. I can still remember the black and white television we had growing up. The turn dial on it went to 13 channels and if you wanted to watch a different channel you had to actually get up, walk over to the TV and change the channel! Today we have HDTV's in 3-D with theater quality sound systems with over 200 channels, blu-ray disc players and of course the 3 remotes it takes to control them all! Many call these advantages great progress but I see us progressing more and more to becoming lazy couch potatoes!
Where will all of this change take us? How much further can we advance in medicine, electronics and numerous other areas of constant change? In the midst of this culture of constant change, the church as we know it is also changing, and that is not all bad! Many churches have embraced the digital revolution and become effective at using the technology to communicate and minister to highly connected but busy audience. I believe that we as the church should use every tool within our ability to reach the lost!
But in some ways, change has invaded the church in areas that God never intended! There are many churches that are abandoning the power of the gospel and compromising the message to foster acceptance in a more liberal society. The end result is a church that really looks more like the world than a place of spiritual refuge. But in spite of this changing face of the church, we must remember that not all things change. Malachi 3:6 the Lord reminds us that He does not change!
God is the same yesterday, today and forever will be! In a world that changes its wants, desires and direction more times that a preteen girl changes clothes in a day, I am thankful to know that my God remains the same. No matter how much my world changes, no matter how much this society changes, no matter how much everything else changes... God remains ever faithful, ever present, ever loving, every merciful.
Love, Honor, Service,
Pastor Eugene
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