http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php?/blog/stirred/ en info@churchatcharlotte.org Copyright 2010 2010-03-10T16:11:33+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/compeled/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/compeled/ “For Christ’s love compels us…”  Those are Paul’s words in II Corinthians and I believe they represent the highest motivation a Christ follower can have. Not duty or obligation but to do something out of the love Christ has shown me. Being more Christlike then is grounded in falling more in love with the one who loved me. 2010-03-10T16:11:33+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/goodness-of-god/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/goodness-of-god/ Today has found me thinking about a simple but powerful thought - God is good. I am sure many of us would readily agree and yet there are times when that fundamental truth gets called into question. For me the times when it becomes hardest to hang on to is when the answer to my prayer is wait. It is in those times of waiting that I can wonder if God cares or if he is listening. “Lord help me to believe you are good.” 2010-03-09T15:39:51+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/need-to-learn/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/need-to-learn/ My recent trip to Ethiopia has taught me many thing not the least of which the continual need to be a learner. So often we in America think we have so much to teach the rest of the world, especially those countries we refer to as third world. My time in Ethiopia reminded me again that they have much to teach me. First is that prayer is their first option. For me it seldom comes in first and rarely even second. Here is a simple example - when we finished traveling my first impulse was to get out of the van, After all I have a large frame, with long legs that need to be stretched. While I am stretching the Ethiopian believers are in the van praying and thanking God for safety. Second lesson learned is that joy comes in spite of circumstances, not because of them. For me it goes like this “I will be joyfully if ...” For them it is “I will be joyful, no matter what, because of who Jesus is to me.” Please don’t think that believers there have reached perfection or don’t struggle with issues of sin - they do. It is just that we have much to learn from them. 2010-03-07T11:46:46+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/my-heart/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/my-heart/ “Above all else guard your heart..” - Wise words from the Book of Proverbs that still ring true. So many (truthfully all) of my choices and values flow out of my heart. I know that I am guilty of ignoring what is stirring there and just trying to make my behaviors line up, which is a huge mistake. 2010-03-06T20:55:04+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/health-care-reform/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/health-care-reform/ Health care is a hotly debated question in this country. If you want to get people fired up just land solidly on one side or the other. Flying back from Ethiopia my mind went to the lack of adequate health facilities I had just seen. An understaffed and under equipped clinic that is the only source of medical help in an 1 1/2 hour radius. Meanwhile we have spent $100’s of millions of dollars in the past few month on this issue here in our country! I couldn’t help but think how those resources could have been put to use by people who would just like health care period. 2010-03-04T11:24:09+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/enough1/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/enough1/ Enough with the snow already. I am so ready to move on to spring. Well since I have very little control over that I just have to take it for what it is. Another thought coming out of Ethiopia. It is that geography can affect where you are spiritually. It looks like this CHANGE OF PLACE + CHANGE OF PACE = CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE. It isn’t a guarantee but time and time again I have seen it play out in people’s lives, in my own life. 2010-03-03T11:55:46+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/relationships1/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/relationships1/ One of the things that has occupied my time in my 34 day absence from blogging was our trip to Ethiopia. This was my third trip there and what was so powerful to me this time was relationships. This covers a wide spectrum from the friends I am developing there to the folks we traveled with. I once again realized that so much of my life here is transactional while life there is relational. I am slowly learning that living life out of relationship is how God longs for me to live. 2010-03-02T14:22:29+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/long-time1/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/long-time1/ OK it has been a long time since I have blogged. Thirty-four days to be exact, but who is counting.  Call it blogger’s block or whatever you want - I will try and do better.  Stirred is how I would describe many of your responses to this past weekend’s sermon.  The truth is anytime we (actually God) start messing with our hearts it is dangerous. My encouragement is to stay stirred up.  Ask God to show you what needs to change, beginning with your heart. By the way if you were not able to hear the message live I encourage you to download it and listen.  Warning your heart might just be stirred. 2010-03-01T18:51:05+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/take-a-look1/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/take-a-look1/ Knowing what is in my heart requires me to look there and more than just once in a while. This is what God says to Jeremiah: “Break up your unplowed ground… Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts.” (Jer. 4:3,4) My prayer this morning is we will have the courage to look at our hearts and enter into the battle. 2010-01-25T14:21:06+00:00 http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/reminder/ http://churchatcharlotte.org/site/index.php/blog/entry/stirred/reminder/ Just a reminder that winter isn’t over and that this weekend is the elders’ coat drive. I went through my closet and found two coats to donate. I would encourage you to do the same. All weekend at all services you can drop them off and next week the elders will be distributing them. It is a simple yet effective way to give to those in need. 2010-01-23T16:59:12+00:00