Live Out Your Dream

The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid. Psalm 27:1

Today I had the honor of speaking to almost 200 Senior Students the class of 2010, from Lompoc High School. What a great group of young people and administration. The school trusted me to speak to the students for almost an hour. I gave them some timeless truths on character, attitude, choosing not to be offended and carrying the weight of the past into their future. I spoke on finances, not settling for the wrong spouse and so many other life lessons. One key part was that they had dreams that needed to be released. I won’t share my whole message with you, but simply the first section.

What is the greatest asset of the Lompoc Valley? Is it agriculture? Is it Vandenberg Air Force Base? Is it Taco Bell? (remember I was speaking to High School students.)  

IT IS YOU!  You are our greatest asset and greatest hope is each of you.

But can you tell me where the richest place in the world is? The richest spot on the face of the earth?  Not the diamond mines in South Africa of the gold in the Incas of Ecuador or the oil fields in Saudi Arabia, or the Uranium in the Balkans, or the Gold in Fort Knox. The richest plot of ground is right up at the top of C Street……maybe you have been there. It is the cemetery. The graves are filled with countless unwritten songs, new inventions, unwritten poems, people that might transformed communities. Sometimes when I do funerals up there I speculate, “what might have been” as I walk over those stones and plaques with names of those deceased.

My Goal is to die empty…..I don’t want to miss out on living out my potential and purpose.

I then asked the question of the group. “You are young,” I said, “but will you add to the wealth of the graveyards?” I wonder what you are carrying inside of yourself right now. Dreams, in your hearts…..Inside you is the class you will teach, the company you will run, maybe the cures for a disease, a new social networking tool, a new computer program, a new building, the ability to be a wonderful father or mother. But remember, too many people die rich, with dreams clutched to their fingers and tucked away in their hearts. So dear ones: DIE EMPTY.

I shared with them the story of Martin Luther King Jr. and the dream he possessed that changed the landscape of our country and several other motivational stories. Then I gave them an assignment to answer the following questions. Might be good for you to do as well.

Where are you going? What is your dream? What is your calling?

I had some students share their dreams and I also comforted those who did not know at 17 or 18 what they wanted to do with the next 70 or 80 years of their lives. Some or their dreams are hidden under fear, rubble of past failure or simply not realizing that seeds of the dream are inside them. But my talk did not simply focus on the easy – I spoke honestly about hard work and determination.

There is no opportunity without opposition.

We spent a moment thinking of students no longer in the class of 2010. Some dropped out, others flunked out and still others failed out and have found themselves in juvenile hall. The pain of their friends no longer being running partners with them was a great reminder of not wasting time and not letting go of what they needed to embrace.

When opposition rises, (and it will) keep going for it and don’t give up.

Realize your fear and be courageous.

 “Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That’s not the place to become discouraged.” — Thomas A. Edison

Without giving you the rest of what I spoke about, how are you doing with living out your dreams? Where have you let go of a promise God has given to you? Where have you stopped being courageous and allowed fear to rise? Where have you begun to distrust God for your financial provision? Where have you let go of the hope He once placed in your heart and are you willing to get close to God to regain that hope again?

While it was a talk I gave to students, two faculty members came up to me and said: “thank you for speaking to us today.” I said, “you are welcome.” She said, “I meant us – the adults and not just he students, your words got through to us.” I am so grateful to God for the opportunity He allowed me to have.  What is God saying to you?

Let go of distractions and go for the destination placed within your heart.

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.  Deuteronomy 31:6

Let’s do it together – I love being your pastor,

            Pastor Bernie

We are God’s Workmanship

Yesterday, I used Ephesians 2:10 as our basis for Identity. The Lord has the power to make all things new and this includes our identity.  When we loose our way, take a look at the cross and empty tomb and remember – God really loves you and delights in the fact that there is YOU in His universe.

Here is the quote from Sunday:

Our great model for this is God himself, for he always knows just what each person needs.

He had Abraham take a walk,
Elijah take a nap,
Joshua take a lap,
Adam take the rap.

He gave Moses a 40-year timeout,
He gave David a harp and a dance,
He gave Paul a pen and a scroll.

He wrestled with Jacob,
argued with Job,
whispered to Elijah,
warned Cain,
and comforted Hagar.

He gave Aaron an altar,
Miriam a song,
Gideon a fleece,
Peter a name,
and Elisha a mantle.

Jesus was stern with the rich young ruler,
tender with the woman caught in adultery,
patient with the disciples,
blistering with the scribes,
gentle with the children,
and gracious with the thief on the cross.

God never grows two people the exact same way. God is a hand-crafter, not a mass-producer.

The problem many people face when it comes to spiritual growth is that they listen to someone they think of as the expert—maybe an author or radio personality—talk about what he does and they think that’s what they’re supposed to do. When it doesn’t work for them (because they are a different person!) they feel guilty and inadequate, and often give up.

God has a plan for the me he wants me to be. It will not look exactly like his plan for anyone else, which means it will take freedom and exploration for you to learn how God wants to grow you. Spiritual growth is hand-crafted, not mass-produced. God does not do “one-size-fits-all.”  (quoted from John Ortberg – Christianity Today)

Going the Right Direction

Last week I wrote about persistence and that we must never give up on God and never give up on what you know to be right.

As I review some notes and do some writing in preparation for a motivational talk, I get to give to 180 seniors at one of our local public high schools, I am thinking about how many of them will miss their potential due to distraction. All of this got me thinking about my devotions yesterday and what I shared with our church council last night – I also share it with you.

Luke 15: 15 & 16
So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. (NIV)

LFC has a great God given potential. God will guide us. We must do our part to listen to Him and His Holy Spirit. God has placed dreams inside us and inside our church – we cannot let our past failures or our current success, steal our future. We should pray for help and guidance and God will guide us. Remember, Jesus used the potential of 12 people – His disciples – to change the world. One of the biggest tragedies is giving up on your potential.

The Devil hates what we do and knows that He cannot take away our salvation because Jesus has already secured that for us. So he wants to take away your potential and future. He wants to rob our joy and have us get stuck in areas we should move past. Satan will tell us that we do not have what it takes; we are too old or too tired. But we must not give up.

The greatest enemy of our soul is not destruction. It is Distraction.

God builds a roadway for us to all sorts of treasures and potentials. There is influence, joy and abundance along the way. But as we go along that roadway we can easily become distracted by things that take us off that road. We can end up spending our time, energy and potential off God’s road as we chase after things He did not call us to. Hopefully, we always find our way back to God’s road. If we had simply stayed on the path we would have gone so much farther and done so much more in God’s plan if we had not been distracted.

Distraction steals the potential of a God preferred future.

So why doesn’t God simply remove those distractions? Because the Devil would come up with some other distraction. And God does not want to isolate us. He wants our hearts. God wants us to see that what He has is so compelling that we will choose His path over the distractions. His will and way over ours.

Acts 3:19 “repent and return in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord”

Whenever we stray from God’s path, there are two necessary actions:   REPENT & RETURN.

The Devil cannot stop us from being saved but he can stop our influence. So the sooner we stop, repent and return, the better it is for us, for Lompoc and for the world.

We must stop ourselves before we go too far off the path and we will be better off. The Bible says of the Prodigal son. Luke 15: 16 & 17 “And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating…but when he came to his senses…” The Prodigal son had left his family, God’s path and let things become so bad that he longed to even eat the pig’s food. In other word, do not wait too long before you repent! So when is the best time for you to repent?

o        Best time? Before you reach the pigs!

May we be who follow the right ways of God, never settle, and be people who run after His heart, listening to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, give us your wisdom and the courage to obey you, to move forward, not be distracted and never give up, By the power of your Son, Jesus Christ, in us. Amen.

I love being your pastor,

            Pastor Bernie

Persistence

Persistence is the quality of continuing steadily despite problems or difficulties. (encarta)

This week I wanted to write to any of you who have felt like giving up, letting go of your dream, or even those who got some bad news recently. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9). Let us continue our lives by not quitting or giving up so easily. Some time ago, I presented a vision and direction of something I really believed in for our church. It was not a radical change and was actually a much smaller issue than say, adding a third service when we only had two. This was a simple shift. As I began to present it to some of our leaders, they too agreed with me and felt it was a great idea. I went through the normal steps of “buy in” from key leadership and if anything, I talked about it way too much. As this change rolled out, some began to speak against it, or simply ‘push back’ rather than embrace it. To be honest I became weary simply because of all the extra leadership energy I was using up to deal with the resistance. I really believed then and do today I was ‘doing good.’ Others believed it to, but for some reason weariness was popping up all over. As I prayed I sensed we were onto something that God really wanted for us to move forward with. It would have been easy to give into the resistance fighters, but we lovingly pressed forward. I am so glad we did.

Lesson: Never give up on God and never give up on what you know to be right.

Some of you may have been praying for family members for years and your prayer never got answered. Please do not give up! Keep praying for them. Some of you may have been fighting to do what is right and you keep getting pressed back and falling – don’t give up.

Listen, Paul never gave up. The Holy Spirit warned him not to go to Jerusalem where bondage and afflictions were waiting for him there. But He was persistent and went. And this is what he said, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24 NIV).

• Don’t give up short – you may be so close to victory.
• Don’t let discouragement cause you to let go of your dream or your hope.

What do you need to do that’s just one step away? Is it asking for forgiveness? Or extending forgiveness to someone else? Is it picking up your heart and getting after it again? Is it picking up your vision that others have trampled on? As a parent, what is God asking of you for your children? You’ll know in your heart. Just cast your doubts aside and place your trust in God, once again.

Imagine if Jesus who was struggling in the garden of Gethsemane decided he didn’t want to suffer anymore? Or when He was being whipped and spat upon decided He didn’t need that kind of treatment and walked away from it? What if Jesus thought to Himself, who wants to be crucified for someone else’s sins? And then walked away from being crucified? I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine where we would be today. Amazingly and for our benefit, Jesus persisted and took that one step. Because He did, we get to be free and have eternal life. When Jesus made that one step, He gave us a future and a hope!

So please don’t give up! It may be just one step away. Let us continue to live by what we know and not by what we feel. To live without regrets by disregarding doubts. Let us live with persistence. God has a great plan for you – I believe He wanted you to read this and so you remember.  

Let’s go for it.

I love  being your pastor! 
 Pastor Bernie

Good Friday

Thanks to Jesus for going the distance for us and reminding us we are worth it.

Thanks to Jesus for taking on our sin – becoming desolate, and even for a time deserted from God (why have you forsaken me?) and then destroyed for us. All because of our sin.

Thanks to Jesus for rising again – that same power that caused Him to rise, can live in us and rise us up to worship and serve Him.

Thanks Jesus!

God Loves Us – He Really Does!

There is so much excitement in the air for Easter and in just an hour our team will be here to do our Easter run-through. Others are making food preparations for our “more than continental breakfast” on Sunday and beverages and fresh cookies on Saturday Night. We will begin a new series on Easter: By His Power – He Makes All Things New. This series we will keep the theme and power of the resurrection with us for several weeks after Easter. I am hopeful you are praying for us and other churches as well and for those who have been invited to attend along with you.

In the 27^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel we find the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross.  “They stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him with words and no compassion;  ”Hail, King of the Jews!”  They spit on Him, and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again (verse 27 – 30). We are told how Jesus was crucified with common criminals even though the leaders of the day could “find no fault with Him.”  Matthew goes on to report: Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left (verse 38).  One robber extended their faith in Jesus, the Savior who died on the Cross. He said, “I believe you are the Son of God and Matthew reminds that: “Surely He was the Son of God!” (verse 54).

In my over 30 years of ministry I have seen lots of people die. Some I knew well and others I just met minutes before. You can tell a lot about a person by the way that they die. People are very open and real in the final minutes of life. When a person knows the end is near, only what is important surfaces. Death distills everything so that all that remains is what matters most. On the cross and in Jesus’ last moments he spoke: “Father forgive them.” In these words we capture what mattered most to Jesus and what the heart of God’s plan for the world was – for us all to be forgiven.

Jesus left Heaven and became our Savior giving His life on the cross and revealing to us the heart of God  – a heart of love….love that led Him to give His Son Jesus to us and for us and to take our sin upon Himself so we who were far from God, due to sin, could draw near to Him.
In great anxiety He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me.” Jesus did not fear the beatings and lashes that He would receive. He wasn’t trying to avoid the pain of the nails that would soon pierce His hands and His feet. It wasn’t even that He feared the unbelievable agony He would face as He was executed in the cruelest of all deaths. Jesus dreaded the one thing that He knew would break the Father’s heart: sin…the one thing which Jesus had never known.

The nails didn’t hold Jesus to the cross. It was His love for you and me that allowed Him to die on the cross and rise again on Easter.
Forget any suggestion that Jesus was trapped by Jewish religious leaders of His day. Erase any theory that Jesus dying on the cross was a sign that Jesus was in trouble.

Jesus died on purpose….no surprise…no hesitation…no faltering. The way Jesus marched with focus to His death…leaves no doubt. Jesus’ death for you and me was no accident. It was God’s plan all along. As Jeremiah 31:3 says God has, “…..loved us with an everlasting love!”

You are loved.

Pastor Bernie