Monday, May 11, 2009

The Greatest Advice From The Greatest Mother

In John 2:5, the mother of Jesus, Mary, gave the greatest advice in the history of humanity. If we applied it as a principle in our life we would see our lives transformed and our world impacted with the power of God. Mary gave the servants at the wedding in Cana in Galilee some powerful instructions that we would all do well to follow...

"Whatever Jesus tells you to do. Do it." (NASB)

It gives us pause to ask three important questions...

1. Am I open to do whatever Jesus tells me to do?
2. Am I listening for what Jesus wants me to do?
3. Am I willing to do what He says?

If we will follow what Mary said we may experience the miracle of God in our lives just like those servants did in the wedding at Cana.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Latest

The Watson's
  • Trish passed the GACE. She will be a teacher next year if the Lord grants her a position at Indian Creek.
  • Connor's baseball team (GracePointe) is still undefeated. We won Monday 6-2 over McCrae's Pharmacy. Connor had a good game at the plate.
  • We got rained out last night for baseball, t-ball and softball.
  • AC has been out at home since Saturday night. It should be restored today if the rain will hold off. We have a freon leak.
  • Caleb passed the test and will now be in the Quest program (gifted or something like that).
GPC
  • Our mission team is planning our backpacking to school project for the end of July. We will provide backpacks with school supplies to every student at Broxton Elementary School. Most of the kids that attend this school live in poverty.
  • The Catalyst Conference is coming up in October. I am really looking forward to it this year. The line up of speakers is great. Check it out at www.catalystconference.com.
  • Our GracePointe kids served a spaghetti supper last Wednesday to raise money for GPC Village. They brought in $559. Awesome job.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Update

It has been a while since I posted. Blogging takes discipline and creativity. I will try to ramp up these in the future for both of my readers. I thought I might just post some stuff that is going on with the Watson's and GracePointe Church (our family).

* Our kids at GPC held a spaghetti dinner last night to raise funds to payoff the debt for renovating GPC Village. They raised $558 from tips. They served us with a Christ-like attitude. It was great.

* Two weeks ago I asked the church to give money towards our food pantry which needed $750 to cover costs for food boxes and to give $40 to help a local hispanic man trying to get a landscaping business going by paying to get him some professional looking business cards. He had only handwritten cards. I asked them to pray at the beginning of the worship service what God would have them give and place it in our HOPE Box. The church responded to the Spirit's leading and gave $800.75. It was just a little more than the exact amount we needed. Way cool!!!

* GPC Men's Softball team has finally got a win streak going. We have won 2 in a row after dropping four in a row. We won Tuesday 11-7. Thanks to Matt Baker who has done a tremendous job leading the team. Our record is 3-4, I think. We play tonight @ 8PM.

* We have six people going through our 201 class.

* We are planning to baptize five children on June 3 at our baptism service. That's awesome!!

That's a little bit of the happenings.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Jesus Served Humanity

Jesus demonstrated His love for humanity through service. He was the King who became a servant to all. The kind of humility that Jesus displayed was not just submissive; it was also sacrificial. He laid down His rights. He deserved to be served, but He served the undeserved.

Jesus was a different kind of leader. He was the essence of servant leadership. His service was grounded in love. He served in submission to God and with passion for humanity. He demonstrated this by removing His rabbinical garments, which symbolized His authority, and washed the disciples feet. He did for the disciples what is typically done by servants.

The love of Christ has been shown to us in His service to humanity.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Jesus Served

If you knew you only had 21 hours left to live on Planet Earth, what would you do? Most of us, if not all of us, would not spend our time serving other people, especially ones who would let us down. We would most likely spend our last hours being served. If you follow similar questions like this on the web, you will see that people typically respond with statements like...

"I would have sex with my girlfriend all day."
"I would go to places I have never seen."
"I would spend time with my family."
"I would tell my best friend of my secret love for them."
"I would party."

and the funniest...

"I would get a second opinion."

Jesus started His last 21 hours by serving the men who would desert Him, deny Him and betray Him. Jesus had a mission statement and it is found in Mark 10:45. It says, "I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many." The fact that Jesus served rather than being served was just in keeping with His mission on earth. He came to serve. His love is demonstrated by His service to humanity.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A-Rod & Confession

Unless you have been hiding under a rock recently, you are aware that Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) of the New York Yankees admitted to using steroids a couple of weeks ago. One of the responses to this story that I find fascinating is how many people say that he would have never confessed had he not gotten caught. I say, "Well, duh!"

The truth is that most of us never admit we have done wrong until we get caught. It's part of our bent toward sin. We sin and cover it up. Adam and Eve did it. King David did it. A-Rod did it. And we all do it. I think it just makes people feel better when they act as if they are morally upright rather than be quick to confess and thus be exposed. The vast majority of us, if we are
honest and we are not, sin and cover up. What we don't like about A-Rod is true of us. We know it's wrong, but we will never own up to it. It would have been better for A-Rod if he would have confessed sooner. It is better for
us as well.

Proverbs 28:13 says: "He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

21 Hours

A couple of weeks ago I started a new series on the last 21 hours of Jesus' life on planet earth in human form. I got real creative with the series title...it's called "21 Hours." The premise of the series is to take a fresh look of the love of Christ for humanity in His last day.

I believe the love of God is ultimately displayed in full glory in these last 21 hours. What Jesus did in those 21 hours was radical and revolutionary! I will update everyone along the way.