Continuing the thought?

Yes we have more to talk about in this verse (John 15:5). Yesterday we began looking at this verse because it is my families memory verse for the week. So thanks for joining in with us.
I think that it is very important to check out the fact that God puts us in our place with this verse.
Jesus said He was the vine or the source and we are the branches. You see we are not the source. We are not the vine. We don't need any disciples of Trent running around cause they won't have any real life if they are attached to me. They need to be attached to Jesus. So its important that we are pointing people to Jesus not ourselves.

I need to be more attached to Him. He is God and I am not.
He is my source for life and all the fruit of the Spirit. So when folks give me pats on the back - I need to point to Jesus. Glorify Him!

Swingin for the top deck
Trent

Are you Hiding?

Are you hiding God's Word in your heart or are you just hiding? My family (encouraged by Trint and Tammy Ladd) have been making sure that we are all working on a memory verse together each week. Last week was I John 3:16. I also memorized Romans 14:8 and now our family is memorizing John 15:5. "I am the vine, you are the branches. If any man abides in me, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me he can nothing."

If that verse is true (which we know that it it) what does that mean for me? Well I know that life and all the things that make me feel alive are to be flowing from the vine which is Christ. Unfortunately I tend to try to let other things make me feel alive at times. But what they are really doing is cutting me away from the vine and the real life I can have in Christ.

Beyond feeling alive there is the issue of fruit. What fruit? I don't want to be fruity do I? Well what fruit does God say He will give us? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control - these are the fruit of life that are promised through the Holy Spirit. So this week lets think about how these affect us and how they affect others. Can I really have these fruit outside of being connected and possessed by the vine of Christ?
Tune in next time!

God bless you
Trent

Am I a supporter?

Yesterday I attended our State Executive Board meeting for Colorado Baptist General Convention. It was very encouraging. We have a vision for sharing Christ and aren't afraid to put our money, time, talents etc where our mouth is. Way cool.

We also talked about the need to support the cooperative program of the southern baptist convention. The state average for percentage giving to CP is 5.3%. Praise God we as a church give a tithe! We give 10% of all undesignated giving to CP through our state and association. We also designate at least another 10% to missions to be used by our church and supporting projects and trips. Missions are key to church survival and growth. I pray that our church will continue to focus on missions and will continue to increase the amount we give and the amount we serve. Right now we are having to see if we really believe God because we fell short of our budget but some $30,000 this past year. It would be easy to say we will cut back on what we give to CP but I pray that we don't. I need to be stretched in my faith.

My prayer requests are these(beyond the 7 on the website)
1. That God would call out missionaries from our body - especially Mission Service Corps volunteers from our retired folks. They are so talented and have time to serve.

2. That our church would be an encouragement to our sister churches in our association. Pray for creativity!

I memorized Romans 14:8 yesterday in the hotel room in Denver.
"If we live, we live to the Lord. If we die, we die to the Lord. Whether we live or die we belong to the Lord."

May we act like we are His and so be passionate about what He is passionate about.

Trent

Dug out!

Well I must say it is good to be home. We barely got to go see family at Christmas due to a huge snow storm here in Colorado. Then on the way back we got snowed in due to a storm that dumped in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas. Folks are still digging out. I was very thankful for my in-laws who had a well stocked pantry and a generator. I enjoyed visiting but was very ready to get home.

I did learn some great lessons over the holidays, such as always get 4 wheel drive. But the greatest lessons I learned from my extended family and my in-laws.
While at my Grandmother's home, my parents, aunt, uncle and cousins surprised me by all deciding that we were all so blessed and that we didn't need to get presents for each other any more but would now start taking up a collection to help a needy family where ever we were meeting and to help a church do missions. Wow - I didn't suggest this but was so proud of my family.
Then while being snowed in at my wife's folks in Oklahoma I learned about being a better minister. My father in law and brother in law are both deacons at their church in Keyes. Their wives are such great helpers - you could call them deaconesses but we don't do that cause we are baptists. Anyway while all of the area was out of electricity, My in-laws called all their folks from church especially those who were elderly or sick and made sure they were taken care of with food and oxygen for those who needed it. My wife along with her mom and my sister in Law made up plates and drove in the snow storm to deliver food to those in need. Us guys delivered firewood to some and helped dig out others. Lots of other things happened too but you get the idea. I saw a great picture of Jesus from my family.

What did you see over the holidays? What picture did you present to those around you?
Something to think about.

"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." Saint Augustine
God bless your new year
Trent