Work Day

Today was quite a work day. I woke up early and made it to the office by 6:55 to study. Studied till about 8:30 and met with a man in our church. Then John and I went to St. Louis to pick up coffee house furniture. The lower level is starting to take shape. We spent the rest of the day putting baseboard on the walls in the rooms we remodeled in August. Now the entire lower level looks much better.

Four years ago the back entrance of the building was absolutely embarrassing. Now it is clean and inviting (except for a few changes that need to be made outside). When people come in they feel like they are entering a part of the building that we really care for.

Finally after the Wednesday night worship service we put up all the Christmas decorations! That was fun. It was good to work with some new people. Working together is one of the best ways to get to know people. I will try to post some pics from my phone tomorrow of the work.

Shadows and Fog Update

The message on Sunday was so important, God calls the capable, but uses the willing. God will ask you to do things that you can do. It may be difficult, and you may think that you can't do his will, but if he calls you he will make you able. However, if he calls you that does not mean he will make you willing. We have to choose to be willing or ask God to help us be willing.

Sometimes God calls the talented but they are not willing. So, God uses the less talented and then provides the power and help that make up for the natural lack in us. So again, God calls the capable, but uses the willing.

Well, here is an additional thought for the week that I did not share adequately on Sunday. If I am not willing to do God's will he will find someone else who is willing. If I don't witness to my friends God will find someone else because he loves the lost. If a church does not rise up and do the will of God as the body is directed, the Lord will raise up another church in its place that will do God's work. The title of the sermon was, "Don't Be Left Out." I really mean that, do Gods' will or the chance will pass you by and God will give the work to one who will be faithful. Of course they will gain the reward for their labor.

The great news is that God loves you and has faith in you. Yes, you read that right. God has faith in you. We usually say faith in God, but I mean that God trusts you to do his work. It is a privilege to be asked to serve the Lord. When you are willing he will make you able.

When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer themselves—
praise the LORD!
Judges 5:2

Weekend Update

I am back from Thanksgiving. We went to my family's farm for Thanksgiving. We ate a lot of good food and I went hunting on Friday and Saturday. My parents live out in the country and do not have cable or a dish, so they collect old movies. We watched a few together in the evenings.

I missed a deer with my black powder 50 cal. The deer came in on my left and I am left handed. In the process of moving it saw me and ran off. It came back ten minutes latter and I tried to shoot it right handed, I am left handed. I completely missed and it ran off again. Bambi wins!

Sunday was a fun day. Church was very refreshing! I am so proud of our church when everyone comes ready to worship. It sets the perfect tone to hear a sermon and respond to God. The Bible says we are to enter the Lords presence with praise.

Motivated by Sunday

I think that Pastor's experience all year what NFL players feel in the fall. They live all week long for Sunday. This morning I finished the details of the message for Sunday. I can't wait till then!

Thursday I am going to Thanksgiving dinner and then Friday and saturday I will be hunting. Remember that on Wednesday night next week, we will begin our Christmas series and will end early to decorate the church for Christmas.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Shadows and Fog Update

I always want to do my best to keep my finger on the pulse of our church. This week I learned a few things and had another item confirmed. On Sunday we responded to the message from Judges chapter three by coming forward and sticking it to the fat man (read Judges 3 to get the meaning). Here is what I learned.

First, when we are honest and open before the Lord we realize that we have a lot of imperfections and that God has a mountain of grace to help us grow through our tough times. 45 people came forward and stuck it to the fat man. They chose to stab their fat man by giving God their huge, super sized problem.

Here is what was confirmed to me. 12 of 45 cards stuck to the fat man pertained to money, debt, or finances. I think I know why the Lord directed me to do the series on financial success in October and November. Let's keep praying. I am trusting God for some miracles this week as a result of our commitments on Sunday!!!

Church Is Scary!

I had a great conversation today with a person in our church who brought several visitors last week. I just have to say, if you don't invite people to church, church is BORING!!! To break the boredom most Christians choose to get critical and kill each other. If we took all our critical, judgemental and bitter energy at church and directed it to winning lost friends to Jesus what would happen? Instead of hundreds of church splits we would have hundreds of church plants!

Well, here is what got me going. As they drove into the parking lot one of the kids she brought said, "Church is scary." Her son (7 years old) replied, "No this is really fun and cool." Then he went on to tell the boy why he believed in God. The mother was absolutely amazed at her son. I am so excited for this family that is growing in the Lord. The mother was baptized this summer and is growing in God.

Here is the dark side of the story. We live in a world where many children and young people think that church is scary. I heard a young woman in her 20's say, "Pastors are creepy." We have such an image problem in the church. We try so hard to have an image of piety that we end up with an image of "scary" and "creepy." I think that one of the strengths of our church right now is that we are real. Sometimes reality hurts, but it is better to hurt for a while and let God heal our hearts, than to fake wellness and really stay sick!

Let's be real. Let's be loving. Let's help the world see Jesus Christ in us without becoming some kind of creepy church hermit. Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, but let's not become spooky. Spooky is when we allow the attention to be on us rather than the Lord. Keep it simple. Keep it loving. Keep it real.

Cattle Crossing Moment!

As many of you know I am working on a book titled Cattle Crossing. It is a book intended to teach Biblical lessons through the experience of beef cattle farming. I think that the Christian community needs some books that relate to the hundreds of thousands of rural Christians in our nation. Most Christian book are by authors who live in a urban area and write for an urban audience. I think there is a void in the Christian publishing arena. Please pray for me to finish and get this thing going.

Well, I was sent an e-mail with this link to an audio file. It sounded like a radio call-in show. Listen to the story (Click on The Sky Angel Cowboy, and then on listen to what he had to say). This young man has some amazing insight! I wish I had a relationship with God like this while I was growing up on the farm!!!

PS
By reading the comments you can see that the radio show would like us to link to thier site. Let's respect their audio property. Thanks Mike.

Stab the Fat Man

I just put the finishing touches on the message for Sunday. It has been brewing for a while. I really think that the Lord has given me a specific word for a few people who will be at church on Sunday. I feel like one of the points of the message is a word of wisdom. I don't know exactly who it is for, or how many people it is for, but I feel an unbelievable direction in the message.

This is a great Sunday to bring a friend, especially if they are facing a problem that is big! Don't be afraid to invite a friend just because the title sounds a bit offensive. We are not talking about weight loss! The character standing against God in the story happened to be very fat, thus the title. So, if you are upset about the title, read Judges 3:12-30 and don't worry.

I am writing out more and more of my messages. I feel that I need to be more specific about what I say and don't say on Sunday mornings. I want specific direction from the Lord about the wording of the sermons. Often illustrations pop into my mind, but I am cutting back on them unless I feel a strong direction from the Lord. I always continue to need the direction of the Holy Spirit and the humility to follow.

Faith that is Fun!

I am very excited about some recent events in our small groups. On Sunday, one of the groups invited my family to their bar-b-q. It was planned for the park, but it rained and we moved inside. I gave up an afternoon of deer hunting because I was so excited about the group and being able to be with them. Thanks to LeRoy and Dee for the invite, and to Gene for some great North Carolina bar-b-q!

Next Sunday we have been invited to join a small group that is going to a concert in St. Louis! Again, I am so proud of our small groups and their ability to care for one another! These are great fellowship ideas and great small group events worthy of inviting new friends!

Weekend Rewind

What a busy week! We arrived back at our home Saturday night about 10:00 p.m. after being in Palm Springs. Sunday morning was very good. I was very excited about the first message in the Shadows and Fog series from the book of Judges.

The message this Sunday (Nov. 18th) has a title that is politically incorrect, but it fits the passage of scripture and the goal of the message. Often we create problems for ourselves by making bad decisions. Those problems get to be too large for us to handle and we are in over our heads. The large problem in Judges chapter three was a large King named Eglon. This Sunday I am going to encourage you to, "Stab the Fat Man."

Don't miss this message! If you are going to send out your e-vite and forward it to a friend, do it this week! Add link in your forward to this blog entry and let them know about the message.

More Kid Conversation

I hope you liked Stephanie's entry. I think I am going to have her as a guest writer more often.

Well, after Gabe prayed, Benjamin was worried about us not coming back. He said, "Mom, if you don't come back, I can make lunch, but I don't know how to make dinner. I can fix my own cereal."

Ben was just worried about dinner.

Palm Springs

I married the right woman!!! Stephanie landed the green from the tee on this one today and then went on to par the hole by herself, though it is a two person scramble.
This is me in the biggest sand trap I have ever seen in my life. It is about 60 yards deep, and at its widest point, it is wider than it is deep. This is the view from our room balcony. This is where we have been eating, reading and where I am currently typing. That by the way, is the 9th green.
On November 8th we took the Palm Springs Tramway up some 4,500 feet to a beautiful restaurant. We ate dinner, did some light hiking and took in the views from the mountain top. This is not the best picture, I took it by holding the camera myself, but it is me with my favorite person.

Tomorrow, we wake up early so we can sit on planes and in terminals all day. See everyone Sunday.

She will laugh at the days to come

I write this entry as the wife of Paul Scheperle and the mother of Gabriel, Benjamin and Elizabeth Scheperle. Paul asked me to speak for Mother's Day this year at which time I was feeling a sense of grief because it was becoming reality for me that we have two very strong willed children. It made it very difficult to speak to our church family. The largest sense of grief was the seriousness that Gabriel might one day not submit his will to his Heavenly Father because we were having such a difficult time having him submit to our will. For a parent, that is devastating. But God is faithful. There have been so many days of tears of grief and then every so often when the Lord must know I need to be encouraged there are moments of pure joy. I hold desperately to those brief moments.

One such moment was Wednesday in our truck on the way to the airport. Paul and I were leaving town together for a few days without our children. Somehow the discussion, as it is constant with two five year olds, got around to airplanes crashing. I told Gabe that we really do not want to think about them crashing. He reassured me that it would be okay because he would "just" put on his airplane suit and jump out before it crashed. I told him that I did not have an airplane suit. He told me to "just" go to the store and buy one. I told him that we just need to pray that the Lord keeps us safe. That seemed to have settled the matter because Gabe became silent and Lib started to reiterate everything Gabe just told me in her two and a half year old way. Then I heard Gabe say, "Dear God, Please get mom and dad safe to California. (pause) And please don't let the plane crash. (pause) (and then quite confidently and extremely matter-of-fact) Amen." I couldn't believe it! I did not intend for us to stop and pray together as a family at the point that I had said, "we just need to pray...". But Gabe did! On his own. And so full of faith that was made evident in his "Amen".

God has such a sense of humor. For some reason, when Gabe prayed, the first thing I thought of was what I was feeling during my sermon preparation for Mother's Day and the verse in Proverbs that ends "she will laugh at the days to come." I had been crying so much for my son that I wanted so much to feel like I could be able to "laugh at the days to come". I could laugh because Paul and I are training our children in the way they should go and God gives us something so precious like this conversation to let us know he will accomplish the rest.

Next Sermon Series

The next sermon series is "Shadows and Fog." It is a title that I copied form a Woody Allen movie. I understand that the movie is in black and white and it is about the lack of clarity in society and morals. There are so many shadows and badly lit scenes it is often difficult to make out the characters. The story is twisted and confusing. Often we find ourselves in situations that seem difficult to navigate morally. Fewer people today see moral issues as black and white, right or wrong, but as gray.

In this series we will look at some extremely confusing Biblical situations from the book of Judges. By looking at these complex and confusing situations we will gain the necessary thinking and discernment skills necessary to navigate morally gray areas.

Just to give you a bit of a taste of where we are going, here is a thought. Is the complex issue that you are dealing with complex because you made it complex? What I mean is, often times we live in such un-thinking ways, that we work ourselves into a corner that is hard to get out of without doing something drastic. Thus, we look for some middle ground, less drastic, solution that we think we can live with.

Why settle? Why not do whatever is necessary to live perfectly pleasing to God!

The book of Judges is a book about lots of little decisions that created big problems. It is about the way we twist our logic, and our emotions, into something we think pleases God. It is a book that makes us ask ourselves, "Am I lying to myself to get what I want instead of what God wants?"

P.S.

When you get your e-vite be sure to send it to all your friends! This will be a great series!

More Vision For Life

I preached this message on Sunday for one primary reason. I see young people in Franklin County who have no life goals, no dreams, no aspirations. Because they lack a God given goal they have difficulty making decisions.

For instance, if you know that you are going to strive for the goal of being a police officer or State Trooper in your future, there are certain things you will not do because it would hinder your possible career. Often we find ourselves so bored, discouraged and under motivated that we make foolish daily choices. However, if we are motivated by a big goal and a future dream in our life we will make more careful decisions. Having a vision for your life gives you energy. without a vision you will lack energy and motivation.

Keep praying this week about the vision that God has for you. Remember, "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Let's not work against God. Let's work with God.

Off to California

Tomorrow we will leave early for Palm Springs California to attend the Fire Bible Summit. It is just Steph and I going. I am looking forward to alone time with my wife for a change. The great part about the Bible Summit is that it includes two days of golf. It looks like the weather is going to be perfect. We will be back late Saturday night.

First Angel Food Order

Our first Angel Food Ministry order is going out in a few minutes. We had a flood of people who made orders on Sunday. I was stunned! We also received orders last week from the community. I have no clue what to expect, but next month we may have 80 to 100 orders! Lord give us strength and wisdom to serve you and people you love.

H. Night

Just a quick note on Hallelujah night. I think that we did the best job ever on this years H. Night. The theme was good and we had more activities than ever before. We mad a lot of great contacts with people throughout the night. That is what matters the most.

In the near future Pastor John and Charles L. will post some pictures of the fun on our church web site.

A Vivsion for Life

Sunday I spoke about, "A Vision for Your Life." (clik to listen) Using the Apostle Paul as our example we considered his life-long calling to serve the Gentiles the Gospel. In Acts 26:19 he says, "I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven." NIV.

Let's live our lives so that at the end we can say, "I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven," for my life. We all have general purposes. We are called to worship, love people, grow in Christ, serve others and spread the news about Jesus. Though we are all called to these general purposes, you must survey your personal gifts and talents and get a vision from God for your life that is uniquely yours.

After church several people asked about their personal vision and purpose for their life. It was like people felt a direction from God, but wanted the approval of their pastor, or some confirmation.

Here are a few test questions I thought up last week, but did not have time to preach on Sunday. These will help you determine if you have a vision for life.
1. Is it big enough? Is it big enough that you have to depend on God? Is it big enough to take up the rest of your life?
2. Does it have a goal that builds God's kingdom or your own? Or, stated another way, is it self-serving or does it serve the world outside your family and people who love you?
3. Does is allow you to invite other to work with you and work alongside others?

These are questions that will help you hear from God in a way that gets you out of your comfort zone. God usually will not give us a mission that is comfortable.