Stressed

Stress is a part of life. If you don’t have any stress in your life, you’re dead. You need a certain amount of stress in your life to accomplish anything. Stress is what gives you the energy, the effort, the ability to actually accomplish things. If you take a violin, you have to put stress on the strings to make music. If you stress it just the right amount, it creates beautiful music. On the other hand, if you tighten it too tight, the strings snap.

We all know that too much stress is bad for you. You’re stressed to the point you feel like, "I’m ready to pop. I’m going to explode. I’m going to fall apart." You’re stretched to the breaking point.

Paul was familiar with this kind of excessive stress and he writes about it in the Bible.

2 Corinthians 1:8 says, "I think you ought to know about the troubles we went through. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed [that means stressed to the breaking point] and we thought we would never live through it."

What do you do when you’re stressed and stretched to the breaking point?

-Release your frustration.

Stress always creates all kinds of negative emotions in our life. It creates anxiety, worry, fear, guilt, shame, and depression. It can certainly create frustration. We do not like negative emotions and often we do not know what to do with them. The most common thing we do is press them down or push them down inside, rather than releasing our frustrations to God.

Some of you are professional stuffers. No matter how you feel, you push it down in your heart. You push it down, swallow it, pretend that it’s not there. You wear a mask, ignore the pain that’s going on. Some people think this is the Christian way to handle it. When you’re angry, push it down, when you’re irritated, push it down, when you’re depressed or lonely or whatever negative emotion you’re feeling, keep pushing it down. Put a happy face on your face and everything will be great and then Jesus is proud of you. You just have to walk around saying, "Praise the Lord!" all the time and that’s what God wants.

God wants you to be real. God understands those emotions. He created you and gave you the ability to feel those things. So God wants you to own up to your emotions, own up to your frustrations. He wants you to express them to Him.

Psalms 62:8 "Pour out your heart to God, for He is our refuge."

Hebrews 4:13-16 "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

The writer is proclaiming that we should just lay it all out. "God, here it is! Here’s how I feel, the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m stressed. I’m frustrated. I’m irritated. I’m angry. I’m depressed." Whatever you’re feeling, the Bible says, "Pour out your heart to God."

If you don’t deal with how you feel right now, you will eventually. We like to think that we have pushed things under the rug, but what really happens is that as we push things under the rug, a lump builds. When we least expect it, we trip over the lump. It is the person that seems quiet, but suddenly explodes. God wants you to deal with how you feel.

So what do you do? How do you deal with how you feel? You don’t repress it. You don’t ignore it, deny it, pretend it doesn’t exist and wear a mask, and you also don’t rehearse it, the idea of going over and over it in your mind which allows it to get bigger and bigger. God says, "Release it. Tell Me about it. Pour it out to Me."

Psalm 31:22 "In my distress I said, God can’t see me. But You heard my prayer when I cried out to You for help."

Have you ever been so stressed out you have wondered if God could be found? You may not feel very close to Him, but He has never left you. He sees and knows everything that’s going on. He says that if you want to get well, if you want to lower the stress level in your life, release your frustration.

Ready for South Carolina

While sitting at MCO Airport waiting for our plane to take us home, I thought I would post these observations about our church:

-You can see the impact our economy has had by our attendance and participation. This was one of the smallest groups of OB's that I can remember on the council floor.

-This was also one of the best moderated meetings I've ever attended.
Dr. Raymond Culpepper did an excellent job as our PB/Chairman and will be hard to beat in the future.

-This was also a very sobering assembly realizing how many of our older OB's have gone on to be with the Lord during the past two years. Ours is a denomination in transition in more ways than one as our older guard begin to receive their reward for a job well done.

-I am excited about our new Executive Committee. I have served in the past with J. David Stephens as a member of his Youth & CE Board in SC. I know the leadership skills he brings to the table. Mark Williams as our Presiding Bishop will provide dynamic leadership as well. M. Thomas Propes has the management skills financially to right this great vessel and David Griffis can and will continue to stress the heritage and bright future of our church. Wallace Sibley adds diversity to our leadership and these brethren have a heart for the future of our church.

Well, I'm ready to see a renewal of God throughout this great church. I'm believing it will start this Sunday in our churches.

Church of God General Assembly 2012

Some of my favorite memories as a child were at the General Assembly when we used to meet in Memphis. One of my best times was when dad took us to a Krystal not far from the auditorium after one of the business sessions. I believe they were a nickel apiece back then.

My first GA as a credentialed minister was in Dallas. I was an evangelist then and the SC State Evangelism Department gave Becky and I $450.00 to help us go. That was 40 years ago and Becky and I had just been married 6 months. That was our belated honeymoon! (LOL)

The GA this year is different for me. Becky doesn't like to come anymore because I'm tied up in the business sessions all day and she loves being at home. This will be the 12th assembly since my dad's home-going so he is no longer with me. My son has his own business now and so this is two GA's in a row he has missed. Even my mom didn't get to come this year so I'm the only one from the family here.

However, I'm here to do the business of the church. Just as my grandfather did years ago, just as my dad before me, I hope to keep their heritage alive by being a part of the decision making body. I've had to have surgery the week before the past two Assemblies, but I made the effort to come because even though we are slow to implement change it's important to be a part of the process.

I love the Church of God and hope to have this privilege for many years to come.

General Assembly 2012

Many of us have gathered in Orlando this week for fellowship, worship, and to take care of the business of the church. This is not a vacation for the Ordained Bishops or delegates who have come to set the path for the future of our church. Hopefully after today's elections we have set a track in motion for the next four years.

Is the Church of God still relevant after all these years? I believe it is and will be for years to come. We are not a perfect denomination, but God uses imperfect things to do his work. Let us pray that God will continually remind us that that we are a healing station for sinners and not just a hospital for saints.

Like a mighty army moves the Church of God!

When times get tough-trust God!

That's easy to say when you're not going through a storm, but not so easy when you are in the midst of it. After seeing the news this morning and realizing again how sin-cursed and evil this world is you wonder how any of us can make it.

These are tough times morally, spiritually, and economically. I worry if the Lord tarries much longer how my grands will survive. But then I remember who is with me in the storm.

He is Alpha and Omega.
He is the beginning and the end.
He is the first and the last.
He is the Great Shepherd.
He is the Rock of Ages.
He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
He is omnipresent.
He is omnipotent.
He is omniscient.
He is my Shelter.
He is my Hope.
He is my peace.

So when times get tough trust God. It's not as hard to do as you think!

Five Seconds

Monday through Saturday morning I spend about 90 minutes daily exercising this aging body of mine. I do so in hopes of keeping this collection of blood, skin, muscle, and bones healthy and strong for the rest of my time here. It's been extra tough since my accident in 2003, but I push myself to keep it up hoping to get all I can out of life.

 

When it comes to exercising my soul, however, I know that a daily morning workout just isn’t enough. Our souls are ageless and eternal. They can fill us daily with energy, vitality, love, joy, and light, but to keep them in shape we need to exercise them often. Don’t worry, though. Exercising your soul doesn’t require heavy weights, expensive machines, or a YMCA membership. It just requires a willing heart and a giving spirit. In fact, some of the best soul exercises I know can be done in 5 seconds or less. They always leave you feeling better than when you started them and they can be done anytime of the day as well. Best of all they help get your soul fit not just for here but for Heaven as well.

Here are just a few of my favorite 5 second soul strengtheners. Feel free to try them all and then to try out some of your own as well. There is no limit to what you can do to build a healthy soul. You can:

-give someone a hug

-share a smile

-hold a purring cat

-pet a friendly dog

-glance joyfully at the sun setting over the hills

-hum a happy song

-read an uplifting passage from an inspiring book

-smell a flower

-listen to a bird sing

-jump in a pile of Autumn leaves

-share a kind word

-think a positive thought

-pray for someone

-wave at a neighbor

-laugh at a good joke

-tell someone you love them

-tickle a child

-smell a baby’s hair

-put some money in a Salvation Army kettle

-touch a loved one, look them in the eye, and listen to them.

 

Most of all you can take those 5 seconds to say, "I love you God and I thank you for my life here." Have fun exercising your soul then. Five seconds may not seem like a long time, but it is long enough to share some love, spread some joy, change a life, and make Heaven smile.

I Always Wanted To

An old prospector wandered into a small town where he was accosted by a loud, obnoxious and quite drunken cowboy. The cowboy pointed his six-shooters in the old miner's direction and asked, "Old man, do you know how to dance?"

"Nope," the prospector replied.

"Maybe you'd better learn," said the cowpuncher. Hot lead kicked up dust around the old man's feet and he began to dance.

Soon, however, the guns were empty. Now the old prospector reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun.

"Son," he said, "you ever kissed a mule?"

Looking first at the shotgun, then at the spot where the mule's tail is attached to its body, the young cowboy got the message. "Nope," he answered, "I never kissed a mule. But I always wanted to!"

Most people want more out of life and work to do something to change their situation. In real life, that desire to change is not something that can be given by anyone else. If there is something you want to do, it is probably not because somebody is holding a gun to your head. You just want to do it. Your want to, your desire, comes from inside your heart. You're the only person that can make your dreams and visions come true with the help of the Lord.

If you decide you want to improve your condition, if you want a meaningful relationship or more fulfilling work, if you want a rich spiritual life or a healthier body, then the desire must come from your own heart. Nobody can make you want those things. They can support you, inspire you, even give you instruction, but only you can make it happen.

There may be a hundred reasons we think we can't be the people we want to be. But there is really only one. We don't want it badly enough to make the changes necessary to see it happen.

George Washington Carver, an African American who probably did have a hundred reasons not to change his circumstances, who a century ago said, "Most people search high and wide for the keys to success. If they only knew, the key to their dreams lies within."

Ask yourself today-What do I really want to do? Once you convince yourself and seek the Lord's direction go for it. Nothing beats a failure but a try. So try, try, TRY!