who to thank?

Midweek meeting at church tonight; a special time every few months for small group leaders to gather for training, information, and fellowship. I am blessed to help with event logistics. So I made some forms, ordered some Marie Callender pies, and set out the coffee pots.

Here's my dilemma: I spent the whole evening thanking people and I'm not done yet.

- I thank God that I'm designed to WANT to do such a job.
- I thank Pastor Jeff for sharing the vision God gives him in such an intimate way.
- I thank Pastor Missy for 'representing' so beautifully and for telling on herself.
- I thank Pastor Gene for letting me help him when he could just do it all.
- I thank Pastor Susan for hooking me up with the resources and registration.
- I thank my friend Sue for knowing I would want to do her part while she's gone.
- I thank my husband for appreciating who I am so that I can do this all the time.
- I thank Teresa for driving across town to save me a trip in commute traffic.
- I thank Pastor Willy for walking through the messy parts of so many lives.
- I thank Pastor Rob for bridging the gaps between generations.
- I thank Kelly for seeing a need and filling it.
- I thank Joel for making it all work without ever making a fuss.
- I thank Rafael for leading his team by example and for making sure I'm not the last person to leave.
- I thank Christine for inviting a group of selfless leaders to serve tonight.
- I thank Pastor Yohn for unlocking, supplying, and relocking everything all the time.
- I thank Ashley and Ghilisa for doing whatever the moms ask of them.
- And I thank you for listening to my praises about the body of Christ.

I couldn't keep this all to myself. It's a true dilemma: a meeting about serving people in love and I'm OVERRUN with people serving in love. Father, look what You started!

as a man thinketh

I've been reading the same Bible since 1987. It's a daily Bible, divided into readings for each day. I've been fairly regular in my reading over the years, though I've certainly missed a fair share of days in the past 23 years. I've read about King Solomon many, many times. He's one of my favorite Bible characters. But, I missed some stuff until today.

King Solomon started out strong but then you know the story; he worshipped other gods and didn't follow God's commands. (1 Kings 2:11) So, God split the tribes of Israel and tore the kindgom apart; He did that Himself. Getting lost in the details of northern/southern kindgom, tribes of whatever, then he died and was buried...I just always assumed it must have been the tribes bickering about something or other that split the nation of Israel. I wasn't concerned that I didn't know exactly what caused it. Today I saw that GOD split them. (1 Kings 11:30) God left only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the kingdom of Rehoboam (Solomon's son) because He had promised David would have a descendant on the throne forever. One day, God sent a prophet to Jeroboam to tell him he'd be king of the rest of Israel. When the 10 tribes made Jeroboam king, Rehoboam was angry and wanted to go to war. Again, a prophet spoke and told Israel not to fight with their brothers in Judah. And the people listened to the prophet.

You're Jeroboam: just a worker and then the king elevates you to battalion chief, then a prophet tells you you'll be king, then you're crowned king of God's chosen people. Jeroboam definitely had favor and promotion! Then in chapter 12, verse 26, Jeroboam does what we so often do: he "thought to himself." From there on his life goes from bad to worse; he's dead by chapter 14.

Thinking isn't so bad, right? Really? Then why are we commanded to "take captive every thought," and "lean not on our own understanding"? BECAUSE THINKING KILLS. Solomon thought it would be alright to marry women from other lands. (9:24) Rehoboam thought he should go to war and restore all the tribes of Israel. (12:21) Jeroboam thought he'd avoid trouble with the tribes of Judah and make worship safer by building local statues for the people to worship. (12:26) These thoughts mark the first moments which led to the downfall of these great men.

The better alternative? Psalm 77:12; "I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds." Meditate on God's Word. Let it become your first response in every situation. Wouldn't it be great if somebody wronged you and SCRIPTURE was the first thing to fly out of your mouth? If you smashed your finger in the door, you'd let loose with a blessing? I want God's ways and words to never "depart from my mouth." That should be the only thing coming out...