double the joy, double the love

Years ago Wrigley Candy Co. had a slogan for DoubleMint Gum and it was as follows, “Double Your pleasure, Double Your fun with Doublemint Gum.” That gum had two different flavors of mint combined to form the unique taste they were pushing at the time. I don’t think people really thought about what the ad said after a while; they just liked the ring of it. But the truth was they had a found a brand new taste that was doubling the amount of mint that their competitors were distributing. They took the market by storm and people were drawn to DoubleMint Gum without knowing all that it took to make it new and unique. In other words, the truth of the science of the gum and all the sacrifice was forgotten and reduced to a mere slogan.

Year after year we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with wonderful slogans that stir our hearts and cause us to reflect on God, family, church and the brevity of life. Those slogans, as good as they are, can never capture just what happened in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. The Son of God was born…not a favorite Christian slogan, but a truth. It happened! God was born to a human in a humble setting, probably a hay stall or manger…not a favorite story, but a truth. It happened! Because of that our joy and our love should be doubled, or tripled, or whatevered. Like DoubleMint Gum we have a great opportunity to “double our pleasure, double our fun” but our slogan is double the joy, double the love. Take note of 1 John 1:1-4 (The Message) below.

Our love for God should be premium as we think about the upcoming Christmas celebration. Our joy should be doubled as we absorb all that God did through the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Listen to John 1:14 (The Message): “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” Instead of“there goes the neighborhood”, it should be “love your neighbor like you love yourself.”

Get the real meaning of Christmas. Not this year, not this month, not this week, not this day, NOW! Jesus is IN THE HOUSE. Let Him double your joy, which will double your love. That kind of love carries the message to the masses and changes lives, and that is what we are all about.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!

1 John 1:1-4 (MSG)

GPS: God's Perfect Spirit

Moving in the right direction is a major priority in a believer’s life. We use words like following God’s will, seeking His direction and others to emphasize just how much going the right way makes a difference for each of us. As a Christian it is imperative that we seek His Way, so that we match up with God’s direction for our life. God has an awesome way of giving us direction through the Holy Spirit. When we study God’s Word, interact with God through prayer and counsel with other believers an amazing thing happens, we start getting signals from God’s Perfect Spirit. This isn’t the only time that happens, but it seems to be an optimum time for God to reveal Himself to us in a very personal and unique way.

When Jesus promised the Holy Spirit in John 14 He shared that those who love Him will FOLLOW His ways by obeying His commands. Then He goes on to tell us that the Holy Spirit will come and be the Counselor sent in His name. That Counselor will teach all things and remind them of everything He has taught and said. Why do we need the Spirit to remind us of everything He has taught and said? Because we lose our way. We forget those things that we must remember to continue moving in the right direction.

When we lose direction it is because we are not following God’s GPS, or God’s Perfect Spirit, and the end result is confusion and fear. In John 14:27 Jesus says, “Peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.” He gives us the right direction and that direction is filled with His peace. The world gives us direction and that direction is imperfect and compromised. Tap into God’s direction and God will show you His way, and His way is perfect.

Thank you, Music Camp 2009!

Another GPS, God’s Plan of Salvation, was seen this past Sunday through the musical presentation of the children who attended Music Camp 2009. All were blessed as our children shared the salvation message through song and drama led by Allison Jordan and her leadership team. Approximately 850 people were in attendance, and the witness on the campus of UNCW by our children was felt by all. Please tell Allison, the workers and the children how much that effort meant to you and how much it inspired you. Music Camp 2009: a great success and a great time of spiritual growth for all involved. Thank you to all and praise God!
David Warren
Worship Pastor

pound for pound...

I got on my scale to check my weight a few weeks ago and when I got on, I thought, “Wow, I‘ve really lost the weight!” I had actually lost about 10 lbs and after jumping up and down for about a minute I noticed something funny on my scale. The starting point of the scale had mysteriously gotten bumped back so that it was 10 lbs. lighter than the true weight. Well, of course, I stopped the jumping part and got on my hands and knees and readjusted the starting point to 0. After doing that I crawled back up on the scales and read the figure. I had still lost 1 lb, but the readjustment to reality was very eye opening and the falsehood about my actual weight loss couldn’t be denied.

Sometimes I think we do that in our Christian walk. We coast along and things are going pretty normal. We don’t really step out in faith much, or dig deeper into God’s Word, or serve in a progressive ministry…we are just kind of here. We look at ourselves through our own eyes and everything looks pretty good, even better. That’s when we get the false reality that coasting is okay and just making due is acceptable, and well, you get the picture.

Then we make the mistake of checking the standard on the scales of God’s plan for us and suddenly reality hits. Instead of the finely tuned machine we think we are, we have become fat and idle and didn’t even know it. If we could only measure our Christian walk by how big we have become. In reality, God uses us more when we become smaller and He becomes bigger in our life.

So, pound for pound, how big do you perceive yourself to be? Be sure and dial in to God’s standard before you look at the scale. Then you will be able to realistically approach the throne when spending time with God in worship. He is always growing us to be more like Him, but we need to see just how little we need to become so He can grow us up in His grace and power.


The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

mainly mentoring...

Mentor -- a wise and trusted counselor or teacher 

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.--Proverbs 27:17

To share ourselves with those who are younger or less experienced is an often overlooked ministry in the church today. The ministry called mentoring is the oil to the wheel of progressing closer to God as individuals and as a church. The wheel is our spiritual walk with God. That walk is a growing walk that affects both individuals and the church as a whole. To share of your life with someone else is probably the most effective tool for the church to have spiritual children and grandchildren that make an impact in the world. To have someone invest in your life will change you forever and stimulate you to do the same with someone else.

Accountability groups will usually be the next step that follows a mentoring ministry. Groups of people who allow themselves to be held accountable to keep a current walk with the Lord through commitment and interaction with trusted friends who are growing in their relationship with the Lord. I believe accountability groups cause a close fellowship in a church family and keep us upright in our attitude and about others and ministry.

I want our Worship Ministry to take this next step in ministry. In the future, I will be sharing a creative, concise way for us to establish a mentoring ministry in the choir that will be enhanced by accountability groups within our choir fellowship. The end result will be a choir more focused on living a life that is an example of Christ and a life that is a total life of worship. The ministry of our choir will continue to improve and grow as each of us help each other draw closer to the Lord. Sound exciting? That’s because it is! Just think about it: God drawing us closer and closer together through His Word and through our interaction with each other. We are totally qualified to have this kind of fellowship and should run to it.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.--Galatians 6:10

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

internal medicine...

As we think about the upcoming health needs of our country and all that is going on to make sure we get good medical care, it brings to mind the Great Physician and His health care plan and the benefits of His great care. Even though He is our healer in the physical needs of our body, His greatest healing comes on the inside. The part that everything else rotates around is found in our internal organs. Those are the heart, the soul, the mind and the spirit. In Luke 10:27 Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’” When all of our inner being is focused on loving God, our outward expressions will mirror His great love for us.

My oldest son is a doctor and when looking at the field he would pursue in medicine, he thought a lot about internal medicine. When talking to him I remember him saying that he would be working on the part you only see when you make an opening and go inside. Or, in other words, you work on those parts of the body that are only seen when an incision is made. He didn’t go into that field, but it helped me realize that God sees the deepest part of each of us and knows what we need and how we tick. He takes that which no one else can see or understand and makes sense of it all by daily drawing us closer to His image. He changes us from the inside out.

Our worship will always be more God-centered when we respond to the God of internal medicine. Get in on God’s health care plan and allow Him to work His great healing in your heart, your mind, your soul and your spirit. If he is working on those areas every day, the outward result will be a person who is whole and healed.The Pilgrimage continues....

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

Which able are you?

I had someone ask me about taking on a fresh new ministry area a few years ago. As I was talking to them, I made the comment, “I’m available, but I don’t know if I’m able!” This person in turn said, “If you are able, then you try to be available.” I thought about that one for a while and I came up with some good excuses from past books I had read about being overcommitted and burned out. I pretty much stopped myself from falling into the trap of being too active for Christ. Whew, that was close. I almost became a living sacrifice for Christ! Wait a minute…

It can happen to the best of us. We know God has equipped us for a specific task or ministry effort and then we pull out the list. You know, the list of reasons why I’m not available for this specific ministry that I am perfectly fitted for by God. Somewhere on the list I find the one that takes away as much guilt as possible and then I log it in my memory and get on with what I want to do. Mission accomplished, I have found a good way to say NO on just about everything God has uniquely equipped me to do. But now who’s gonna do it? Oh, someone will…won’t they?

The truth is that the “fearfully and wonderfully” made part in scripture is actually talking about uniquely gifted people God has made to serve Him. It’s a great reason to be against abortion, and also a great reason to allow God to use your gifts for His plan. If we celebrate the essence of life, shouldn’t we also celebrate the presence of life given by God to EACH of us by serving Him with all our heart? I think so.

God has made each of us able to serve Him. He also empowers us to be available, the other able. So, which able are you? I hope you are both, able and available. Listen to what Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church said once, “No matter the society or culture, the city or town, God has never lacked the power to work through available people to glorify His Name.” Let everything and everyone that has breath praise the Lord, by using the gifts He has given each of us.

Let everything that has breath
praise the LORD.
--Psalm 150:6

The Pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren

continue fighting the good fight...

To continue fighting the good fight means we are in this whole thing for the long haul. It means that every day we get up, put on our battle gear and head to the battlefield. The preparation for fighting those battles is done long before walking out the door. The preparation is done in your time alone with God, our General, as we listen for His marching orders. He always has a battle plan and He is faithful to give us instructions on how, when and where to fight. To win the battles in the world, we must first win the battle of our will. The battle of the will is a battle that must be fought out before the Lord as we learn to submit to His will and battle plan. Oswald Chambers says it well – “Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God’s presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him. Until I do this, I will lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year, but that will depend on me, not God. However long it takes, I must wrestle with it alone before God, and I must resolve to go through the hell of renunciation or rejection before Him. Nothing has any power over someone who has fought the battle before God and won there.”

Submit is a strange word to some, but a must for believers who really want to get in the battle. When we submit to His will and way, we find truth and direction as never before. Some think that to submit to someone means we lose all the good things we want in life. To submit to God means we find true freedom that is centered in His word. When we follow His Word we always find the very best of life.

Is there a battle still raging in your heart? It’s time to hoist the white flag and surrender to God in everything you say and do. Take a step back and look at the things around you from His perspective. He sees all. We are too close to the problem to see the solution. Let His perspective fuel the war machine in your heart and the enemy WILL fall.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren