Source of Wisdom

"Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe." Prov 28:26


If you google 'wisdom' (which most people would deem to be wise) the first entry is Wikipedia. The discussion on Wikipedia begins like this:

"Wisdom is a deep understanding of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to choose or act to consistently produce the optimum results with a minimum of time and energy."

But I guess my question from this definition is: Where does wisdom come from? What's the source of this deep understanding. In our world the answer is 'from anywhere.' Truth/wisdom is relative.

On Sunday, in talking about our families I defined 'wisdom' as simply: The practical application of God's Truth in our everyday lives.

If you weren't there on Sunday I encourage you to listen or watch the first message in the Family Health Plan series (Audio here . . . Video here).

It seems to me that if any ole' wisdom would do the trick, then we wouldn't have all the family issues/crisis' that we do? Maybe God's wisdom is the place to start?

Thankful

We all desire God's best for our children. First for them to walk with Him . . . and to do so with integrity in every area of their life . . .

Thankful for the acknowledgment the girls received this weekend of their diligence and perseverance in soccer . . .

The Caller Times article is here . . . Laura was named All-South Texas Defensive MVP and District 27-5A Defensive MVP. Sarah was named District 27-5A All-District.

Also proud of Luke who is a Freshman and after the Freshman baseball season was over last week was one of a few guys that was brought up to Varsity for the rest of the season and the playoffs.


I pray that they walk in His power with the same dilegence and perseverance.

4 Friends

"Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ²Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men." (Matt 9:1-8)

As I read this morning it struck me that this paralytic must have been a great friend. The entire story happens because this guy has 4 friends (Mark 2 tells us '4'). Mark 2 also tells us that they the friends braved the ridicule of the crowd and an impossible situation to lower their friend through the roof!

This guy was paralyzed. No way to help himself. But there were 4 guys who did what he couldn't do.

Not many of us will find ourselves physically paralyzed in this life, but many of us find ourselves emotionally or spiritually paralyzed at times. I do. It makes me wonder, do I have four friends who I've been a friend to?

Do you have 2 friends who are willing to do for you what you can't do for yourself?

In order to grow in this Christian life we must live in authentic community. Period. But to have friends, we must be a friend.

Who are you carrying? Whose gonna carry you?

Home Health

A Health Care Plan for Your Family . . . And one that will actually work!

This Sunday I'm going to begin talking about family relationships. Any of your family relationships need work?

And how about folks around us? George Barna, a well known world-wide pollster says that 1/3 of those who are unchurched say they are willing to go to church if someone they know will just ask them! 1/3!

All the people you pass today . . . 1/3 just want someone to care enough to ask. I'm gonna challenge you for the month of May. Every one of you. I'm going to challenge you to bring 5 people with you to Oso Creek during the month of May. I'm challenging me, my wife, my kids, and you.

People all around us need a family health care plan that works. And we've got the answers!


“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.” Prov 24:3-4

August Mission!

Our next trip to Vietnam is ready to launch! Six Creekers are committed to go to Ban Ho, Vietnam on August 12-21.

One of our great leaders, Greg Richmond, is going to lead the trip . . . And there is still room for a couple of more folks . . . If you have any interest contact Greg (361.443.9991) asap.

The primary project for the Team in August will be the construction of a water line from the nearest source of water (about a mile away) to the City of Ban Ho. A line will then be run to the school where a new container for fresh water will be built and then a filter installed.

The bottom picture gives you an idea of the current water supply. This is the container for all the water at the school. The water hoses in the background are what currently carry the water from the source. Yes, water hoses (full of holes) from a mile away. And then there is no filtration system for the water. You can also notice that they are catching water off the roof and running it in to the container.

The way it works is that we partner with the government, Ban Ho and GVI. Local contractors and laborers are hired to do the bulk of the work. We provide the resources and our team jumps in with labor while we are there.

Here's the cool thing - we can resource this water supply (that will bless about half of Ban Ho) for $6,500! And a Creeker has already committed to pay up to half of the project if we match it!
So, not only can you bless a city half a world away for the Kingdom - but your resources will be doubled!

If you want to be a part of what God is doing just denote on your checks 'Ban Ho, Vietnam.'

And yes, if you can't go in August and still want to go, there's another trip to Ban Ho in October - October 14-23. Talk to me if your interested.

Break it Out . . .

Tonight (Tue - 20th) Breakthrough at 7pm at the building

It's a time to allow God to break-through into your week; or break-through junk that is holding you down; or break-through a relationship that is discouraging you; or break-through to a new level of following the Holy Spirit . . . . However God needs to break-through in you . . .

It's very simple - a couple of hours of music and prayer . . . you can come for 10 minutes or 2 hours . . . you can participate with others or hangout by yourself on your own row . . .

The point is . . . you . . . and God . . .


"How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God." (Psalm 84:1-2)

In Step

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25

The Rabbi is moving down the street right now . . . There He goes. There He is over there. Are you keeping in step today?

I love what I was reading recently that Francis Chan said in Forgotten God:

"I think a lot of us need to forget about God's will for my life. God cares more about our response to His Spirit's leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. . . . It's easy to use the phrase 'God's will for my life' as an excuse for inaction or even disobedience. It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It's safer to commit to following Him someday instead of this day."

Are you getting dirtier today in the Rabbi's dust?

Moving

The below blog was on Leadership Freak and was a Guest blog by Katy Tynan who wrote the book Surviving Your Promotion.

The blog was entitled: Waiting Never Gets The Job Done

Thought there was some good insight here . . . especially for everyone over 14!

Have you ever been to a teambuilding camp? One of those retreats where corporations send groups of people to fast track their ability to work together cohesively? I used to facilitate at one of these programs, and I want to share a stunning observation.

On the first week of the month we ran a kids program. Students in 6^th-8^th grade would come and work their way through the challenge course as part of their retreat. On the second week of the month we would host corporate clients – adults – for one or two day seminars.

Time and time again as I facilitated these sessions I observed that it took the adults more than twice as long to get through each challenge.

Why?

Why would the people with more life experience, and more physical size/strength take so much longer to find a solution to these puzzles? After all, we didn’t provide any additional information or tools to the kids!

The answer is frighteningly simple. In the first 15 minutes the kids tried at least 3 different things. Most of their early efforts failed but they learned from each one and moved on quickly.

The adults spent the first 15 minutes walking around, talking to one another, and considering whether to offer an opinion or whether someone else might have a better idea.

When faced with a challenge, act. Make mistakes, learn from them and move on.

Waiting never gets the job done.

Pray . . .

Cindy and I are going to the Family Life's Weekend to Remember this weekend. It's a marriage get-away weekend where you put aside everything else and focus on one another and God's plan for your marriage.

Please pray with us. We all need a tune-up from time to time and I need all the help I can get to love my wife as she deserves to be loved.

Also . . . beginning NEXT weekend (4/25) I'm beginning a series on Family Relationships! Know any marriages or families who are in need? Any parents who could use an oil change? Start inviting!

Setting Your Mind

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5)

Back in this verse again.

In the past couple of months my reading outside of the Bible has been minimal. One of the ways that I stay fresh and challenged and even mentored is by reading. Yes, reading biblical/theological works, but also reading good leadership books, business stuff that stimulates my entrepreneur side, imaginative fiction. . . .

This morning I was thinking about how I'm responsible to keep my mind fresh and creative with all kinds of things that stimulate the creativity of the Spirit . . . And again primary is God's Word. Foundational. Essential. It is my measuring stick for everything else.

But also allowing God to use fresh thinking from many disciplines of life gives me life!

Are you still asking? acting?

Throughout our 40 Day Holy Uprising I challenged everyone to be asking God a question:

How can I best leverage my gifts/talents/passions/time/resources/experiences/etc -- for the Kingdom of God?

The 40 Days is over but the question still hangs. . . .

What are you doing about it?

Fried

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Galatians 2:20; 5:22-25

These are some of the first verses I ever memorized as a new believer. They've been on my mind a lot the last week.
The idea of crucifying the flesh is not a nice, pleasant subject. For some reason it keeps brings up the idea of 'fried' in my mind. Crucifixion is painful. Sacrificial. Self-crucifixion is crazy.

But when we seek to walk in the dust of the rabbi, and allow God's Spirit to control us, we are consciously choosing His ways and putting to death our sinful ways. Fried.

I was trying to make a decision the other day and was fighting to hear from God and not just choose what was comfortable. Someone with me asked what I was doing as we were sitting there and I was flipping through Scripture in my mind and trying to hear from God. I said: 'I'm crucifying my flesh.'

If we allow Him, the Spirit will always walk half a step ahead of us. And as followers of Jesus, we have the continual privilege of being able to choose to hang our selfish desires on the cross, and to put our feet step-by-step into His footprints.

In Accordance With . . .

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." (Romans 8:5)

Being a disciple of Jesus is about being 'covered in the dust of the Rabbi' - yesterdays sermon (audio, video). Jesus no longer physically resides on the planet, but His Spirit resides in His followers. And it's His Spirit who gets us dirty in His dirt.

And it begins with where we dwell with our mind. Do we dwell on what is 'true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. . . . excellent or praisworthy.' (Philippians 4:8)?
Or does your mind drift to whatever is convenient and comfortable?

What dust you accumulate today will begin with how you set your mind.

Great Weekend!

What a great weekend Creekers!

An awesome, reflective Good Friday Service . . .

Then we served 2,000 of our friends in the community at the Easter Festival!! Wow!
Here's some Easter Fest stats of what we gave away:

1200 Hot Dogs
1400 Sno Cones
1200 Sodas
600+ Pictures taken with the Easter Bunny
110+ Door Prized given away
4,000+ Eggs Hunted

In addition we blessed the Food Bank and those in need in our community by collecting over a ton of food!

Click here to see a VIDEO of what our guests thought about the Festival (top right).

You can also click here to check out the Caller Times article from Sunday about the Easter Festival.

And then Sunday was awesome as we had many of guests from Saturday come and Celebrate the Resurrection with us!