The Motions: Yesterday at church I showed a video of Matthew West's song "The Motions".

Matthew West has a site to log your resolution of not going through the motions. Today I wrote down my resolution and I encourage you to listen through that song several times and then ask God what resolution does He want me to make.

For me I realize that I have not always given everything and I want to give my everything. I do not want to live life with regrets. This is not an easy thing because it becomes an everyday thing. Unless I keep that passion fresh and alive in my heart it is so easy to begin to go through the motions once again.

Lord I ask that You help us to live our lives wholly for You all the days of our lives.

It is all about Jesus

This morning I read an article in World Magazine by Tony Woodlief "The church Jesus left". Within this article he writes why he and many others have left the church. He also quoted from Ed Chinn's book 'Footprints in the Sea'

“When religion looks up,” he writes, “it is helpful in translating the mysteries of Heaven for those on earth. However, when it only looks around on a horizontal plane, it stops being a response to Heaven and inexorably degenerates into a self-centered, self-serving arrangement.”

Is it any wonder why some people have left because they have not been able to connect with God in a genuine manner. If the perspective of some people is that the church is self-centered, and self-arrangement then the church loses it voice and authority on heaven and spiritual matters.

I bring that up today to help us to see the need to make sure that we do not make the church all about us but all about Jesus. It is important to create an atmosphere where Jesus is welcome to dwell and not only dwell but to be the Head of the church as scripture states that this is His role within the church today. In the natural world we send people to the doctors when the body does not cooperate with the head because we know that there is a problem.

Let it be known that Jesus is welcomed in your heart and you are willing to do the things that please the heart of Jesus. At Bethel we desire and pray for the manifest presence of Jesus to be with us when we meet together.

Let us remember it is all about Jesus.

The Motions

Every now and then there is a song that comes along that I am excited about and cannot hear it enough. That song for me right now is by Matthew West "The Motions". It may have something to do with what is going on in me or it just might be one of those God songs that ought to penetrate the church world to help people think in what is going on in life. The essence of the song is the need to change and instead of going through the motions of life what if I gave Him everything. It is a thought that would be worthy to think about because we only have so many days to live and what have I done for the Lord during that time.
May God help us to have a heart of wisdom to know and to understand the good things He has planned for us to accomplish for Him.

Pastor John