The Mask

Luke 12:2 (New American Standard Bible)
But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known

This was a verse from a devotional I read this morning. I know I’ve read it before, but I haven’t put much thought into it. The Message translation puts a different spin on it, that really got my wheels turning.

“You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known.” Luke 12:2 MSG

We all have a tendency to wear masks. For some of us we have a different mask for wherever we may be. Example, some of us, wear a mask at church, at work, at home, or with different groups of friends. There are only a small handful of people that I know that don’t wear any masks. They are the same no matter who they are with, or where you see them. There is one mask that we probably wear more than any other, and it is also one of the most dangerous, but hard to get rid of masks. The small talk mask. Men wear this mask most of the time.  We wear it at home whenever our wives want to talk, or with our kids when we don’t want to bee bothered, and we wear it whenever we are around other men. Men love to small talk. We small talk about sports, movies, the weather, church, our families, and even our struggles. This is exactly where the enemy wants to keep us. If we keep our small talk mask on, then we aren’t growing in our relationships with others. We are keeping others at a distance. I think we do it for a lot of different reasons. For guys, the fear of rejection. Fear plays such a big role in most of our lives, and guys don’t want to open up because of fear of being rejected. Maybe we’ve been hurt in the past because someone broke our trust. That’s happened to me a few times. Whenever we are hurt we tend to close ourselves off from others so that no one can hurt us again. It’s a natural tendency. It’s also dangerous whenever we close ourselves off, because that gives the enemy a doorway into our thoughts, and our heart. He will take that and slowly build on it, where we fear opening up. When we reach that point, he has succeeded, because the enemy wants us to live in fear. If he can paralyze us where we are at, we can’t reach where God wants us to go. Up until last year I lived almost every day wearing a fear mask. I was living in fear of everything, until God helped me to break that mask, and it wasn’t an easy thing to do.

The small talk mask is one of those masks that I am committing to destroy. As men, we need relationships with each other. We need to know that there are other men who struggle with the same things that we do. We need to have a safe place that we can go to, a safe person that can help us when we’re down. The enemy wants to keep us down! God wants us to RISE UP! We have bought into a lie that we are better off keeping things to ourselves. God wants us to expose these things to the light. As men, we have got to pull together and stop fighting amongst each other. We have to realize that there are men right here in our church praying for each other, encouraging one another, and trying to build relationships with other men. Just a little over a year ago, I was so alone. I never wanted to open up to anyone. I struggled with who I was, where I had been, and where I was headed. God has shown me through several men in this church that we are all in this thing together. Let’s pray for one another, and be there to hold each other accountable, to love each other. Let’s be open and honest with each other guys. We all struggle. There isn’t one guy on this list that doesn’t. It’s ok for us to admit that. I know that it is hard for us as men to admit that we struggle. We want to carry the burdens all by ourselves. The truth is, we can’t do it by ourselves. Walking this walk is not an easy thing to do. We need these relationships with each other and we need to know that there is someone we can talk that knows where we are at, and either has been there, or is at that same place right now.

I am praying hard this year, that God will build up the men in this church and that by the end of 2010 we will have taken those masks and smashed them to pieces. I am praying for relationships this year.

Mens Breakfast

We are having a Men’s Breakfast on March 6th at 8 am in the Parlor.  Feel free to invite a friend and please attend.  Thanks!

Footsteps In The Water

I saw His footsteps in the water
When Jesus walked up to me
Amid the storms of my life
Upon this worlds raging sea
His wounded hand reached down for me
As He looked into my eyes
The windows to my soul He gazed
For nothing could I hide
He searched my heart for truth
Where even I was not allowed to go
And in the many storms of life
Great love and mercy He did show
He said my truth I see within you
But from me you’ve been apart
Return to me my child
And I’ll create in you a clean heart
Forgive me of my past dear Lord
And help me to start anew
Renew a right spirit within me
And help me to live for you
Help me to walk in newness of life
More by faith and less by sight
Amid the raging storms of time
Eternal truth shall be my light
He said everywhere you go
I’ll be watching over you
My footsteps will be in the water
Through the storms I’ll walk with you

Inspired by My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
To him I give all the Glory Honor and Praise
George L. Fields, Ephesians 2:8-9
01/28/2010

A Revolution of the Heart

Have you ever been around someone who makes you feel excited about being a part of the kingdom of God?  Just being near this person makes your spirit soar, and you can’t explain why?  Maybe you have felt that way just being in the Lord’s presence, or reading His Word.  I am excited.  Every day is a chance to rejoice in the Lord for what He has done for us, and what He has given us.  Guys, God is moving in so many ways right now, we honestly have no clue about all of the things he is working in the backgrounds of our lives right now.  The most awesome times are when He gives us just a glimpse of what He is doing in our lives, or the lives of others, and whenever I get to experience that, I am always humbled at how great of a God we serve.  My wife says that God is the ultimate multi-tasker.  I believe that.  It amazes me how He works, how is He is constantly wanting to be involved in every detail of our daily lives.  He loves us that much!

He has brought about some things in my own life during the month of January, that I wasn’t aware of.  He showed me how important obedience is (again), how that even when we fail, He loves us so much, that He is right there to pick us back up again, and put us on our feet.  For months now I thought I had lost my mind. I want nothing more than to serve the Lord with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind.  I want to reach out to those who are both in the church and outside the church, and bring the church to them.  There are people out here in our community who may never step foot inside of a church for many different reasons.  Maybe they’ve been hurt by a church, or others in a church.  They may not understand this whole ‘Christianity’ thing.  They might even think that there is no way that God could love them.  There are so many people out there without the Hope and the Joy that the Lord gives us.  It truly breaks my heart for them.  We have an awesome responsibility to bring the church to these people, by living it out in front of them.  The enemy has got most of us so busy with day to day things, church things, all of which are good things, but he’s kept us so busy doing good things, that we are too exhausted to even think about doing God things.  By the end of the day we are beat.  We feel as though we’ve done our part.  I believe that God has so much more in store for our lives than what we are experiencing. Getting outside the doors of our church where we feel safe and comfortable and getting involved in the community around us, sharing the gospel with others, when sometimes that may mean we don’t even have to say a word.  Loving those that others would consider unlovable.  Serving the people that others don’t want to serve.  Being the hands and feet of Jesus to those people outside the walls of our church.

You can call it a revolution of the heart if you want, but honestly it’s what God is already calling us to do. I love our church, and the relationships that we have built with others in it.  But we are safe there, we are comfortable doing our time so to speak on Wednesdays and Sundays.  God has so much more for us.  The message series that Brother John has been teaching on about the Early Church and how those people lived is a biblical example of how we are all called to live as believers.  I am so excited about what each day has for me, and I look forward to seeing how God is working each and every day.  I’m excited about how he is changing lives every day, and ultimately drawing us closer to him.  He has set us free!  I feel like we are wasting so much time, and we are not living as though we’ve been set free.  Satan was defeated over 2000 years ago at the cross!  He may prowl about like a roaring lion, but in reality he has been de-clawed and de-fanged. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? I hope each of you has a blessed day!

31 Questions

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you “Consider your ways.” Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What’s the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what’s one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What’s the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What’s one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What’s one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What’s the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What’s the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

A Clear Stellar Night

A Clear Stellar Night
On a clear stellar night a long time ago
The exact day and time no one really knows
During the Feast of Tabernacles in the cool of eve
A child born of woman by man she did not conceive
Almighty God became a humble earthly man
Born of a virgin according to His plan
In the silence of night He was born of flesh
He who made the mountains drew His first breath
The Angels proclaimed across the land
That Jesus was born in Bethlehem
Born of a woman as many babies before
The pains of birth only a mother endures
This new life made the heavens to sing
Announcing the arrival of the new born King
From His manger bed His path was made
Carried from the cradle and carried to the grave
Christmas time brings much joy to me
I look beyond the manger I look at Calvary
Thank you Lord for your Blessings so kind
Your sacrifice of love for all mankind
The greatest present that God can give
Is His Holy presence in the life you live
Your hearts desire can be fulfilled
By patiently waiting and trusting in Him
Oh! what can I give Him for Christmas today
He’s the source of life He is the only way
For He’s the one who endured the cross
I’ll give Him my life I’ll give Him my all
Inspired by My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
To him I give all the Glory Honor and Praise
George L. Fields, Ephesians 2:8-9
12/11/2009

Socks for the Homeless

I am going to be taking up donations for socks for the homeless and needy.  Socks are one of the biggest needs during this time of year.  I will be accepting the donations for new socks until December 20th with plans to distribute them the week of Christmas to those who are in need.  If you would like any more details about this, let me know.

email: whittmadden@gmail.com

• What is needed:  Packages of new socks for men, women, and children who are without.

I need these turned in by December 20^th

Psalm 37:23-24

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand.

Hebrews 11:6

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him

Crazy Love Study Guides: Chapter 9 and 10

Crazy Love – Study Guide Chapter 9: Who Really Lives That Way?

Last Chapter’s Key Thought: Examine my obsession with Christ.

Key Thought for This Chapter: Examine my obedience to Christ.

For Your Mind
1.  Write down the main point of the chapter.

2.  In your opinion, what were the most “amazing” testimony and the most “surprising” testimony from chapter 9?  Why?

3. Read 2 Corinthians 11:22-33. 
a. In verse 30. Why does Paul want to boast in his weakness?
b.  What can a believer learn about Paul’s obedience to Christ from his life?

For Your Heart

Pick one person from the different testimonies shared in chapter 9.  Place yourself in that person’s shoes and circumstance.

Make a list of all of the things that went through that person’s mind, or things the this person may have read or heard from others on why he/she should not do what he/she felt God was calling them to do.

For Your Life

What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?  What do you want to be known for?

Challenge for this week

Think of someone in your life that you haven’t been in contact with for a while.  Pray for them, and call and encourage them this week.

Crazy Love – Study Guide Chapter 10: The Crux of the Matter

Last Chapter’s Key Thought: Examine my obedience to Christ.

Key Thought for This Chapter: Examine my commitment to live for Jesus.

For Your Mind

1.  Write down the main point of this chapter.

2.  What comes to mind when you look back on the book and study?  Francis writes, “My hope and prayer is that you finish this book with hope, believing that part of your responsibility in the body of Christ is to help set the pace for the church by listening and obeying and living Christ”

3.  God has challenged you to examine your relationship with God and how it is impacting the way you live your life.  Our hope is that the changes you have made will not be temporary, but life-long.  The Apostle Paul wanted nothing more in life than to know Jesus Christ crucified.  It was the gospel that changed his life and gave him the power to live each day for the glory of God.

1. 1. Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5.
   2. From verses 1-2, what did Paul proclaim to the Corinthians?
   3. List what Paul’s life was like when he visited and shared with the believers in the city of Corinth. See verses 3-4.
   4. What does a believer need to remember from verses 4 and 5 when serving God

For Your Life

Read Romans 14:10-12. If the Lord was to take you home tonight, would you be able to say that you did not waste your life, but lived it for God’s kingdom?

For Your Heart

What are some of the truths that have made an impact upon your life through this study?

Challenge for this Week

Doing a study can present a lot of great ideas to us.  Most studies, the application part will typically last for about 3 months before we start slipping into our old habits again.  How can you actively apply what God has shown you through this study?  How can you stay refreshed?  Remember that studies only present the material, it is up to us to allow God to work and change our hearts so that we can apply what we’ve learned.