July 14, 2011

7-14-11 Thursday, 6:04 am Springfield, 75 degrees.

Yesterday was a day full of meetings, all of them profitable and fruitful. I met with the prayer team at 9:00 am as is customary on Wednesdays and we prayed in a circle in the Gathering Area. At 10:00 I met with the executive staff and we worked on HCI items including missional job descriptions and schedules. I introduced and handed out the book The Equipping Church by Sue Mallory and described a plan for digesting it over the next 6 weeks. Audrey and I shared lunch at Arby’s, as she had a meeting at church and was working on hymn selection. At 1:00 I met with the worship planning team and worked into September, back through August and put the final details on this coming Sunday. At 3:00 I met with the pastors, and at 3:30 with the executive leadership team. At 6:30 I had dinner and a meeting with the Ozark Air flying club, outdoors at the hangar. I belong to this group in part to make friends beyond the church, which after 3 years is proving fruitful. Today my schedule is a little more flexible, with a 7:30 hospital call, a 9:00 meeting with 3 other pastors for prayer, an 11:00 meeting to plan preaching with Matt, and a 12:30 lunch with one of our pastors. It is good to be back at work, and I look forward to checking emails and writing my sermon for this weekend.

Romans 2

Verses 1-10 describe the glory, honor and peace that awaits everyone who does good, and the wrath, anger, trouble and distress for everyone who are self-seeking, reject the truth and follow evil. Upon first reading of this paragraph, it would seem that heaven is a works-righteousness system, where people are rewarded for doing good, and punished for doing wrong. As I read the totality of scripture, it is very clear to me that entrance into heaven is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (not based on works), and that for eternity, there are rewards and punishments for humans. Thus, salvation by faith is clear in Romans, as is the truth that there are eternal consequences for decisions and actions during this brief human life.

Guide me today, Holy Lord as I seek to do good, to honor your Name, to represent your love and kindness in this world.