S.O.A.P. God's Word

Since the challenge on Sunday to gain Godly wisdom, many have shared what God has already shown you through His Word. One grandmother told me her daughter-in-law is taking her 6yr. old twin girls through it, asking their mom to not stop reading.

I linked Pastor Wayne Cordeiro's (New Hope Community Fellowship, Honolulu Hawaii) S.O.A.P method with the parable of ten virgins (5 wise and 5 foolish). The gathering of wisdom causes our light to shine brighter and gives a never ending reservoir of wisdom's oil.

Here's the short of the message:
1. We must know the difference between planning and preparation (God plans, man prepares)
2. Preparation positions us to fulfill God's plans
3. The gathering of wisdom is a part of God's preparation for us.
4. Enter the S.O.A.P method for attaining wisdom in our lives.
Bring a Bible (devotionals, while good, are not a substitute for our reading the Word of God)
Bring a Pen
Bring a Reading Program (systematically read through the Bible)
Bring a Journal
S = Scripture: Choose a verse or two through which God is speaking to you
O = Observation: what God is saying here?
A = Application: What is God saying to you?
P = Prayer: write a prayer solidifying it in your heart.

Please share with me your stories as a result of taking this 30 day challenge through this blog, or by emailing me: daholck@peopleschurch.org

Proverbs 18:4 reads, "A wise man's words express deep streams of thought." (LB)

Be blessed! Be in God's Word. Drill deep. Be filled with God's wisdom!
Doug

It's Not about Me

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 2 Corinthians 4:5

Two Days from Here

Yesterday I had an experience that’s rocked my boat.

Carol and I were taking our friends Pastors Luiz Carlos Pinto and Fabio Leonardo Pinto to the airport for their return flight to Brazil. We stopped for a left turn signal at Cedar and Shields.

Coincidently, the center median is the stake out of a homeless American Vet.

I rolled the window down to give the guy a couple of dollars. The homeless man looked at me dressed in a coat and tie and asked, “Are you going to church?”

“No, but I work at a church.”

“Which one?”

“Peoples Church.”

“Hell! Where’s that?” (using his language, not mine)

“Back up the street at Cedar and Herndon.”

“That’s two days from here,” he replied as he took the money. Then before walking away he added. “Thank you sir, have a nice day.”

The light turned green and my mind raced forward. Wow! What a word picture. Here I am working at a church five minutes from a guy who’s two days away. No wonder Jesus said, “Go into all the world.”

It’s less of a journey for me to go and get him, than it is for him to come and get it.

Five minutes from here is two days for him!

Three Questions

Three questions:

1. Do you know how hard it is to embrace your grandchildren (or anyone else for that matter) when your arms are full of groceries?

2. Do you know how hard it is to worship God when your mind is full of other things?

3. Do you know how hard it is to have compassion for the world when your arms are clutching all you own?

Okay, question #4: What would happen if you put down all those things and with open arms embraced the one (The One) in front of you?

Unfullfilled Expectations

Before going to bed last night, I took a look out the front window. Granville Avenue was dark. Completely dark. Six to eight non-working street lights, victims of thieves who stole the prized copper wire. Now the lights stand as daytime symbols of unfulfilled night-time expectations to fill darkness with light.

After a few minutes in bed it hit me: if we're not careful (individually and corporately) thieves could steal our power leaving us as only a symbol of an unfulfilled expectation God has for His Church—to be light in the dark. Prayfully, when people look at the church they will not see us as lights out, an unfulfilled expectation.

God's Blogs

Okay, I just finished Lanny Donoho's book, "God's Blogs." I've had this book since receiving it at Catalyst in October. I started yesterday and finished it today. It's a must read. I'll not give it away but it's very creatively written. Favorite blogs: Money, Time, Preachers, Weddings, Olympics, Tsunamis. Read it all. I've not done it justice to pick these over the others.

Thanks Lanny for an awesome book and making it available, like blogs, for free (at Catalyst).

If All You can See is the Mountain, You're in Trouble

At the "Celebration of Life" Service for Rose MacAlpine, I shared the following account of a flying experiencing while traveling with our Pastor, GL Johnson, some friends and associates:

One of the memories of my time here at PC is a trip with Pastor Johnson, Ed Baloian, and a couple of others on our staff. We were flying in Ed’s plane, returning home via Arizona. In the distance I could see Mt. Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental US. The more I looked at it through the window of the plane, the more certain I was that we were going to crash into the mountain—it would be the end. Finally, trying to sound brave, but wanting to alert the pilot to the looming mountain, I said something to Ed, who was facing me. Without looking over his shoulder, he stated, “If you can see the horizon beyond the mountain, you’ve nothing to worry about. You’ll fly right over it. You’re in trouble, when all you can see is the mountain.”

Some would see death as a mountain, spelling an end. Rose saw it as a fly over point as she moved into the forever horizon of God’s eternal heaven.

If all you can see is the mountain, you’re in trouble.