Potato Plants and Church

A few years ago, my father planted his whole garden in potatoes.   He came to this decision after realizing that every meal must have "meat and potatoes".              And since he is one of the healthiest guys I know, who am I to question his theory?

After a short time, dad had the most healthy looking potato plants.  They were knee high and bushy.  To the eye, they were healthy and prospering.

It was pure torture to patiently wait till harvest season to see the fantastic potatoes maturing under the beautiful plants.

"D-Day" (dig'em up day) arrived and we converged with shovels and gunny sacks in hand.  And to our surprise, virtually nothing grew under those monster plants.  Someone suggested we should harvest the greens and use them in salads.  Which was just silly-talk because everyone knows the Moffitt boys wouldn't be caught dead eating salads. When Moffitt boys eat a salad, they put enough dressing-goop on, so it has the texture of Claim Chowder. 

Too often church health is judged by their large bushy green tops.  The question is:  "What is growing under the beautiful bushy green tops at our church?"

Are we growing large healthy fruit that pleases God or are we simply healthy in appearance?

Are we a mile wide and an inch deep in our walk with God or have sunk deep roots into the Presence of God and His Word?

Luke 2:41-52

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he meant.

Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

Luke 2:41-52

Talking to Dogs

This morning as I attempted to make coffee and fix breakfast, my pugs remained underfoot. They were like VISA, they were everywhere I wanted to be.

I found my vocabulary limited to, "Stop", "Move", "No", and "Don't even think about it". As the morning wore on, our conversation remained the same, the words were just in a different order. At some point, after stepping on Bubba for the forth time, I used a unique combination of all the words in one long run on sentence. Which he failed to understand the language but fully grasped the concept.

Daisy on the other hand, believes that she is more devious. Of course her devious is what I call obvious. She is terrified that a tasty treat will fall from my hand and land close to Bubba. Which would put her at a disadvantage, causing her great consternation. I actually believe it keeps her up at night, fretting about this injustice.

So what gem of truth, does talking to dogs while preparing breakfast, hold for a dreary Monday morning?

Welcome to the world of Pastor Shane....

Ask yourself this: "Out of Almighty God's vast limitless vocabulary, how many words does He use to communicate with you?"

Do you take the time to have conversations with God?

Are your conversations, one sided, where you do all the talking?
Please tell me that this question disturbs you on some level.
A one sided prayer is like going to the greatest counselor on earth and spending the whole time talking about yourself and never giving him an opportunity to get a word in.

Or do you find your conversations with God more like my instructions to my pugs. One word and to the point.

Do you desire to know Him better? Do you desire to know what God's opinion is? Do you desire to know what God hates? Do you desire to know what makes God smile?

How do you expect to find this out if you are the only one talking or limit the conversation to 30 second sound bites?

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.
But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!
There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42