Come As You Are

(this is a long article for me but worth the read i believe)
Recently I had the opportunity to counsel with a young lady that had many questions about faith in Christ. One afternoon she came to the church office and we talked. I had never met her before but she was referred to me through a mutual friend that had been talking with her about faith as well but asked me to also talk with her. For the first part of our visit I just listened. She had a lot of great questions and I could tell she was very confused and really searching for some answers. For the most part, she had been led to believe that she was not worthy of God’s love and believed because of her rough past, she could not come to Jesus as she was. There must be something she had to do to “clean up” before Jesus would receive her she thought.

As I was listening to her story I immediately thought of my own story in life and how I must have believed the same thing in my past. The only difference in our stories is she is searching and I was not back then. After she was drawing to a conclusion of sharing her back ground, I sensed it was my time to respond. As I listened to her and at the same time thought of own story I was asking myself, “Why am I where I am today?” and “How did I get where I am serving on a church staff with my background?” You see, I believed the same thing she did growing up and yet I made it to where I am today. I was excited to share with her my story since she and I were so much alike.

I grew up in a Christian home but being the last of four siblings, it seemed we had strayed some from church and regular attendance. I don’t remember going to church much at all as a child except for special occasions like weddings and funerals. I lived a great childhood with great parents and had everything we needed, so I thought anyway. After high school however, I ended up in a rough group of guys and we did some things I would not be proud of today. We did a lot of destructive behavior and thought it was fun and cool. I wonder today how I would have ended up had it not been for my wife finding us a church. After we were married several years it was my wife that decided we needed to join a church.  Actually it was my wife and a friend that started visiting churches and dragging the two husbands along once they visited one they thought we would like. The last one we visited she really loved and I endured it. That following week the pastor of the small church and his wife stopped by our house for a visit. Long story short they led both my wife and I to faith in Christ that evening. This is what I am thinking while the young woman in my office was sharing her life story. How did I end up here as a minister with my past? That night the pastor shared scripture with us about God’s unconditional love and that you come to Jesus…as you are! 

You see the young lady in my office was confused and she had been led to believe that she was not worthy of God’s love and believed because of her rough past, she could not come to Jesus as she was. So now it was time to respond and I told her my best response would be to share my personal testimony with her. I think she really just wanted someone to say it’s all going to be ok. Little did she know we were very much alike and yet she was lost and confused and I was sitting is a nice office serving a large church with credentials hanging on my office wall. I proceeded to share my story and she became very attentive. I am sure now she did not expect my response. 

I told her that I believed as she did growing up and once I was an adult and married that I would have never believed that Jesus died for me and that all I had to do was trust and believe in him. I believed that Jesus would never want or accept me based on my past and the things that I had done. Since I believed that, I did not pursue God or church or religion or faith. I was just like this young woman in my office. After sharing my story, she and I immediately identified with each other and I think it eased her mind some as she was a little nervous coming to the church for help. I did the same thing the pastor did for me over 30 years ago by sharing some scriptures about how to trust and believe in Christ.

There was a pause in our conversations as we just looked at each other. I told her that the answer to her belief that Jesus would not accept her for her past was a lie. I then read her one more scripture. I could strongly sense that she was ready to make a dramatic change in her life. I asked if she would like to trust in Jesus and believe in him right here and now. She said yes and we prayed together. This young lady is now a Christian. 

What was that one more scripture? “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:6-8 NIV

After this verse she prayed and received Christ as her savior right there in my office, even though she was a sinner. During our conversation we had talked about Jesus dying on the cross and then he arose from the grave and is a living savior. In a few weeks we will be celebrating Holy Week or Passion Week or Easter as you may call it. For Christians, it is a time to celebrate that Jesus died for you and me, even while we were still sinners, and gave us his unconditional love. He then displayed his omnipotent power over death that whoever believes in him will have life everlasting.

Do you know someone who believes as the young woman did that day in my office? Share your story of redemption with others and watch God transform their life right before your very eyes just as Jesus did when he arose from the grave and appeared to so many! Come as you are and Jesus will receive you.

Your comments! Discussion!

The Hole Plugger

Our music minister came in my office one day and said he was giving me a new name...the hole plugger! In November my bookkeeper took maternity leave for the next eight weeks and I am the fill in guy while she is out. Keep in mind that Dec and Jan are the two busiest financial months of the year. Then in the middle of that, my Facility Manger has to have a surgery and will be out 4 weeks. I am the fill in guy for that as well. In the middle of all this we are remodeling and I'm the acting GC, General Contractor getting bids and lining up all the vendors for the projects. Then right before the holidays I'm filling a new position in the office and running ads. I was doing interviews as soon as got back in the office on Jan 6th. My bookkeeper comes back on Jan 15th so I was just seeing some light at the end of the tunnel when out of nowhere my Church Hostess passes away in her home. I am now filling her position in the interim in finding her replacement. That's me...plugging holes!

• Associate Pastor of Administration and Operations - hat number 1
• Bookkeeper - hat number 2
• Facility Manager - hat number 3
• General Contractor - hat number 4
• Food Service Director - hat number 5

 Are we having fun yet?

Comments? Discussion?

Luijarick

Maternity Leave Blues

This is the first of a series of blogs about when my bookkeeper was on maternity leave for EIGHT WEEKS and I am filling in mostly. I did have a girl coming in each week to help with the big stuff though. However, nearly every day I was in her office sorting and posting and getting things ready.

The first week I show up early at the office to get all set up for the Count team and be ready. I arrived an hour early and went straight to her office. I went to open the safe and did not have the combo. I have it written down on a small piece of paper that I keep in my wallet. It was missing! I remembered that on Friday I opened the safe and in a hurry I placed the small paper with the combo... in my shirt pocket thinking... I will place back in my wallet later. Guess what?  I never did that. Now I have no way to open the safe. I texted my bookkeeper (it’s week one and I am already texting her) and she did not respond right away. Running out of time I drove all the way home to check my shirt pocket praying the paper was there. Right when I arrived back home I got a text message from my bookkeeper. I keep the combo written down in the office. Great! I am already all the way back home. I drive back to the office, now late, and rush around getting all set for the counters. Whew!

Comments? Discussion?

Luijarick

Missing Person Alert at Church

Every Wednesday night at church for dinner I looked forward to getting my meal and sitting down with Albert. He and I have eaten dinner together for the past year and enjoyed fellowship and getting caught up with each other on the activities of our week. Albert was a school teacher for 51 years and was retired but still substituted at the high school. I always arrived at 5pm when dinner started and Albert would already be there eating. As I got my meal and joined him I would always ask where he substituted that day. It was fun hearing the classroom stories and how his week was going. He informed me one Wednesday he was having open heart surgery and would be missing dinner for a while. Albert had the surgery and I visited him after and he was doing well. The surgery seemed a success. After a few days he went to rehab and things seemed good there too. Suddenly I received word he was back in ER with some complications and the next thing I know he was gone. Albert passed away on Dec 20, 2013. Now my friend and meal companion was gone.

Every Wednesday at 4pm I would leave my office after a crazy long day and go to the church kitchen to get a glass of tea before dinner. I would visit with the kitchen staff and Naomi, our Food Service Director, would be there with the volunteers. We joked and laughed and talked about a variety of topics. Naomi was there at church just about every day even though she was a part time employee. Serving was her life and spiritual gift for sure. Just about every event we did would involve food and so that meant Naomi was there helping.  We ministered together. I got a call on Friday, my day off, on Jan 2^nd from the Waco police that they were there at Naomi’s home and that she had passed away in the night totally unexpected. I was shocked! My wife and I made the visit right away to her home and met with family. This made no sense!

I attended Albert’s memorial service and learned many new things about my friend Albert that I had never heard. Many testimonies from the school and students gave me new insights into Albert’s life that I wished I had known. I spoke at Naomi’s memorial service being her supervisor I wanted to be a part of her service. While visiting with the family the night before I learned so many great things about Naomi I wished I had known.

I have come to realize that a funeral or memorial service is not the best place to learn about a person’s life accomplishments, joys, likes, and personal history. I found myself thinking in my mind that I wished I had spent more time with Albert and Naomi getting to know them and their life. That was the message I got from each service. Yes we celebrated their lives but I could have known them better if I would have taken the time. I have known Albert and Naomi for over six years. Naomi and I worked together, yet I really never took the time to really get to know her. I wish I would have! Both Albert and Naomi were amazing people had I known them better I believe our time here on earth would have been even better.

My Wednesday nights at church will not be the same for a long time!

Here is the real lesson to learn from all this! Take the time to get to know those around you while they are still alive. Celebrate life together, pray with each other, and listen to their story. Everyone has a story to tell! Make time to hear their story! Share YOUR story!  Don’t wait until they are gone and then wish you had known something about them. Learn it now and have fun with it!

Comments?  Discussion?

Luijarick

Avoiding Cyber Fraud

That's a big topic today being there is so much of that happening in the cyber world of on-line everything. What is amazing is the fact that with so much fraud in the system, we keep moving further and deeper into internet life. I have to admit I am one of those! I find my self enjoying the ease of Amazon one-click ordering from my cell phone and using debit cards more and more. However, I am moving in the direction of this cyber mentality with greater fear every day as we here reports of internet hacking. Just this week Target Retail announced their system was hacked and thousands of credit card holders info was stolen. So, what are we supposed to do? here are a few ways you can avoid fraud. Note the word choice of my word "avoid" and not eliminate!

1. Never let go of your debit / credit card. I mean when you shop and use plastic do not let it leave your sight. This will be especially hard when eating at a restaurant. I'll cover that a little later in this article. What could happen when your card leaves your sight? Some are taking pictures with a cell phone of the front and back of the card and then using that for making fake cards or just having your info to use or selling the info. Your 3 digit code, name, and card number is someones hands now. Some are using the cards in their hands for purchasing on the spot from their cell phone. The fact is when the card is not in your sight, you do not know how its being used.

2. Don't use credit cards anymore. I know that sounds crazy but Dave Ramsey says only use cash or debit. In response to the restaurant question above, I always pay with cash so I don't have to allow my debit card to leave my sight when eating out. Using cash eliminates the chance of fraud at restaurants. It also helps you budget and not overspend.

3. Only use a couple cards. Yes that's right, I do not have or use credit cards. the fact is, the more of those you have the increased chance of fraud may happen. You are just giving the hackers more to hack by having multiple credit cards. I use two debit cards. One for daily use like at the gas station and the grocery store; places I know and trust. The other one I use for on-line ordering. I keep a small balance in that account so if hacked, the lose is less. That's it! Just two chances of my plastic being stolen.

Ok! There is plenty more ways to avoid fraud but these are quick and easy steps you can take now. If you feel your cards have been used all over the internet too much, then call and cancel your card and request a new one. then protect the new one and use the 3 steps described here.

Comments? Discussion? Ways you avoid fraud?

Luijarick

5 Things My Office Phone Does For Me

We just made a monumental leap in the millennium with our new office phone system. I think we went from 1970 to 2015 in terms of what it looks like and what it does. First of all kudos to our IT guy  for spending the time to find this new system and get it for me allowing me to be more productive. You rock!

There are a lot of new features, but these are the 5 that I love the most!

1. Tells you when I am out of the office and lets you know what to do and who to call for immediate assistance. I now have four (4) out of office options to choose from. I'm putting in the office and can't catch the phone right now; I'm not even in my office today; I'm not going to be in the office this week; I'm gonna be out of the office for an extended period of time so leave me a voice mail.

2. Tells me on my computer screen who is calling and from where and what number. So if you're a sales person trying to pedal your wares to me or something, can we say voice mail! If your a constant complainer church member (not that we have any like that), can we say voice mail! If you have already called me once that day, can we say voice mail!

3. The new phone is completely hands free operating through my computer like Outlook. All I have to use is my mouse or keypad. Its just another icon on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen so I can answer your call, and then click back over the tab I was on when you called. No problem!

4. If you leave a voice mail, I get a notice via email and can listen to the message wherever I may be, in or out of the office. I find this feature greatly useful, not having to be in the office to conduct my business.

5. Last but not least I have a contacts list on the screen that all I have to do is click with my mouse and it rings that person instantly. No strenuous dialing or pressing those heavy phone buttons. My fatigue level has gone way down with this new phone.

There you have it! This new phone system is going to revolutionize the way I work. I want to say thanks again to our IT guy for installing this new system thus giving me so many new features.

Leave me a voice mail, Luijarick

What does your phone system do for you? Comments? Discussion?

All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go

They say that clothes makes the man! I bought a tuxedo many years ago and I am always trying to find an occasion to wear it. I have discovered finding events for a tux is not so easy  My first time to wear it was for a staff Christmas party that stated "dressy attire" but I was the only one there with a tux. Go figure! My last time to wear it was a couple years ago on a cruise for dinner one night. I got a lot of looks and stares from the crowd but it was fun doing it. Mine is a solid black tux, with white shirt and red cummerbund and bow-tie. Perfect for the holidays! Just in case I also added a black bow-tie and cummerbund for that James Bond look.

Well, here I am again looking for an occasion to bear by tux to all! Surely the holidays and festivities will afford me an opportunity I need to dress in full tuxedo attire down to the shiny black shoes. If you have a lead for me that would be great!

Luijarick

Do you have a tuxedo? Comments? Leads?