2010-04-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hey church family,

Last Sunday, many of you heard me tell about my “adventures” in doing some work on my lawn mower before I could begin cutting my grass this year. I had to disassemble the deck from the mower, change the deck belts, change the blades, (3 blades—46” cut) change the oil and sparkplugs, put in a new air and gas filter, change the drive belt, pump up the tires and then reassemble it all back together. Now I know for most of you guys that are good with tools, that doesn’t sound like very much. But for “mechanically challenged” me, it was as though I had been taken prisoner and placed on a deserted tropical island with no hope of getting off. But with a little help from Michael, my son-in-law, (he helped with the drive belt) I was able to get it all done and put back together only to discover that I had put the blades on upside down and had to pull the deck again and fix that. But Praise the Lord, after three days of rolling around on the ground (that was easier than getting up and walking so much—bad knees you know), it’s all running properly and I’m back in the grass cutting business again. It’s like brand new again—the engine is purring, the new drive belt has it moving at the speed it moved when I first bought it. The blades were sharp and were cutting down the small trees (yeah—my yard had grown up pretty good—ok not trees, but really thick grass). I am so glad I decided to do some major maintenance rather than just try to get by another season without giving the mower some attention. It probably could have made it like it was for another year—but I would have fought it all summer long.

But after I finished with the grass cutting yesterday, I sat on the porch drinking a bottle of green tea, admiring the lawn, and I began to think about all that had happened over the last few days. As I pondered over everything, the Lord gave me a beautiful insight into our spiritual lives. We are so much like that lawn mower. You see, I had that lawn mower for 5 years and I had never changed the oil. Nor had I changed the gas filter or spark plugs. The belts and blades only got changed when they broke or quit cutting. The tires were usually flat most of the time and the air filter got my annual “rap on the side of the shed” treatment to get the large boulders out and then back into service for another year. To say I had neglected my mower through the years was a gross understatement. And we all know better than that—we must do regular maintenance or eventually it will get beyond the point of return and become a heap of metal on a scrap pile. What a tragedy, when a little regular maintenance can get so much more out of the life of the mower.

I wonder how many of us, who call ourselves by His name, Christian, aren’t guilty of the same thing. We get saved and we’re fresh and new and ready to take on the world for Jesus Christ, just like that new lawn mower, on the day I bought it from Home Depot, was ready to take on new lawns for Jimmy Fuller. We have found our purpose in life. But somewhere down the line we begin to neglect regular maintenance. We neglect our daily time alone with God. We neglect the daily reading of the Word. We neglect prayer. And before you know it, we find excuses to neglect Sunday school and Worship services. And our lives begin to reflect and resemble the lack of maintenance and attention we should have given them. We’re no longer functioning at the peak of our abilities and we lose sight of our purpose and we can’t help but slow down. The filters have gotten dirty and have let junk get into our lives. Our blades are no longer sharp when it comes to seizing opportunities to share the Gospel.

Here’s what I’m saying—don’t neglect regular maintenance in your spiritual life. If you do, it is certain that one day you will just fall away from Christ and stop functioning with the purpose you were created for. We need the Word and Prayer daily. We need fellowship daily. We need corporate worship. Regular maintenance is what keeps us operating smoothly and doing what we were designed to do at the very highest level we can do it. If you have neglected these things, then today, get started again!

Love ya—Mean it
Pastor Jimmy

2010-04-05T08:25:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

What a great Easter Weekend we had! Friday night’s Musical and Drama was awesome and the church was full. Thanks to Tony and the choir as well as Angela and all the cast and crew on the drama team. Your labor was not in vain, because at least 10 people were saved!!! PTL!!! And a special thank you to Roy and Susan Branton; Susan and all her gang for getting those beautiful costumes sewn and Roy and his gang for preparing for and setting up the cross scenes in the play. Both of those were enormous tasks. I believe that God was well pleased with all our efforts for His glory that night. Now, you all have a month or two to rest and then we start on the Christmas production. And everyone said Amen, Praise the Lord and Hallelujah!!! By the way, we have a DVD available if anyone would like a copy. Just let me know and I will get it to you at no charge.

Well spring has finally sprung as they say and we’ve had some awesome weather over the last few days. March madness is finally over and Braves baseball is now upon us. We’ve got a new outfielder named Heyward, (I think), 20 years old and blasting out enormous home runs in spring training. Bobby Cox says this may be just what they need to get the Braves back to the play-offs. I’ll be pulling for them to get there. Get out and enjoy some of this great weather and mild temperatures because you and I know that in just two or three months it will be too hot and humid to even be outside.

As I write this, the Masters Golf Championship is taking place this week in Augusta. I love to watch the Masters on television. I’ve had the opportunity to go to Augusta a few times to watch live and walk the course. There may not be a more beautiful spot on earth than Augusta National Golf Course during Masters week when the azaleas are in bloom and the fairways and greens are perfectly manicured. Of course all eyes are on Augusta this week as Tiger Woods plays his first tournament after a 5 month layoff resulting from his marital infidelity being made public. I pray that it will not become a “Tiger Spectacle” and that other golfers are not adversely affected by all the attention that Tiger will receive. There is no doubt that Tiger has lost the trust of not only his wife, but the American public as well; especially the dads who were pointing to Tiger and telling their children to follow his example. Tiger has lost that “great role model” title in the eyes of many Americans. Unfortunately, and contrary to what many will say, you cannot separate character and leadership. Character does matter at every level of life. But before we hammer Tiger beyond recognition, let’s not forget that our job now is to pray for him. Remember that forgiveness thing…God meant it. In his private life he and his wife have to sort all of this out. That is none of my business. In his public life, we must all be willing to forgive and allow him a “do-over” just like we have all had on many occasions. If you pray for Tiger, pray for his salvation. He is an avowed Buddhist. His highest hurdle to jump over is the lie that he is confronted with in Buddhism. Pray that someone will share Jesus Christ with him so that God can truly help him with al of this. I for one will be pulling for Tiger and praying for Tiger this weekend. Not so much for his golf game…but for his salvation.

It’s time to cut the grass again and I know that Wes would like to get some more help this year. If you can be a part of our grass cutting and trimming/edging team this year, please let Wes know as soon as possible. He will put you on the list. If we have enough people sign up, perhaps we’d only be obligated for a couple of times during the whole summer.

Consumed By His Call,
Pastor Jimmy

The Pastor's Pen