You are looking at posts that were written in the month of June in the year 2006.
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I just bought a new book. I got some money for Father’s Day and it was crying out to be spent. So, I bought a new book.
Unfortunately, my desk/ backpack/ laptop bag/ book shelves/ and other places that store books are normally full of books bought but yet unread. It’s not that I don’t like to read, it’s just that I sometimes lack follow through or more likely, another book comes along that grabs my attention.
Currently on my reading list:
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders by Reggie McNeal
I tote these books around in a backpack just about everyday. At any opportune moment, I’ll grab one and read as long as I can.
I’ve got to stop this schizophrenic book obsession and just settle on one to read. The problem: There are just so many out there that have so much good to say.
Did I mention the fact that I am doing my best this year–the best I have ever done–to read from a daily chronological Bible? Yes I like to read. And then there is the current novel and the daily newspaper…
But I digress. I bought a new book today. And it might just be the book that makes me forget about the others until this one is done. Not A Safe God by Tim Riter
Take a minute to read a part of his introduction:
Contemporary Christianity has focused so much on God’s goodness that we’ve forgotten that he’s a lion. He’s not safe; not safe at all. He demands much of us and throws down the gauntlet to the fatal disease of complacency that infects us. We’ve made God comfortable for us. But if we take him seriously, he’ll overturn our current lifestyles.
Symptoms of complacency abound in the lives of those who claim to follow Jesus. Church attendance continues to decline. Sharing our faith has become rare. Prayer has all but faded out of the daily practice of most Christians. The ethical and moral behavior of Christians doesn’t stray too far from that of unbelievers in general, whether we look at divorce rates, pornography consumption, or premarital sex. Churches struggle to get enough members to serve in Sunday school and other ministries. Congregations find themselves in competition for the best worship services, with people flocking to those with the music they favor. We’ve evolved into a church full of self- serving people, with little desire for commitment or sacrifice.
…only at our peril do we think of God as a tame lion.
Ouch. That hurts. But I can’t wait to read more.
I pray that God use whatever means necessary–including this little book–to help move me from complacency to a vital and authentic Christianity. Christianity not practiced in a church building but one that connects with my world.
I believe I am on a journey. Care to join me?
Les Ferguson, Jr.
One of my favorite songs by Michael W. Smith is found on his CD entitled Worship.
The simple lyrics of Let It Rain get caught in my head and repeat themselves over and over again.
Let it rain. Let it rain. Open the floodgates of heaven. Let it rain.
Today is the second straight day of rain. And I am thankful. We have gone from hurricane to drought and now blessing again with the refreshing of God.
Being some twenty inches short of rainful, I will continue to pray for rain. But more importantly, I will pray for reign.
As in God’s reign in my life.
As in God’s reign in my heart.
As in God’s reign over my will.
As dry and arid as we have been here in south Mississippi, it is nothing compared to the spiritual dryness that arises in the lives of men.
In my life…
Let it rain. Let it rain. Open the floodgates of heaven. Let it rain.
Les, Jr.
Truly we live in a beautiful world.
Case in point? The picture above.
William Casey Ferguson.
Fifteen weeks old today.
The joy of his mother.
The pride of his father.
The love of his family.
The Bible tells us that God in his abundant love adopts us as his children.
I always thought I understood.
But now I know I do. O How I know!
Les, Jr.
It’s time to go to bed, but I am sitting here enjoying one last cup of coffee for the day. Truth to tell, it’s just heated up leftovers from earlier–but it sure is good with the homemade brownies dropped off by a dear sister earlier in the day.
As my day comes to end, I pray the very best blessings of God on all my friends.
"The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. "There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’
Proverbs 30:15-16 NIV
Greed, like a leech, never knows when to quit. And so we read of four different things that are greedy by nature: the grave which is always looking for more dying and death, the barren womb which can never be satisfied by its barrenness, land which will eventually need more water, and fire which consumes all it can get.
What if we took this imagery and applied it not to greed, but to today? Today. As in how we have lived life this very day.
What if we lived today in such a way that spiritual dying and death was all we could accomplish?
What if we lived today in such a way that nothing could ever really satisfy us?
What if we lived today in such a way that gulped every ounce of life giving water we could drink?
What if we lived today in such a way as a fire of anger and bitterness and despair that consumed everything before us?
Only one of those days would really be worth living…
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Revalation 22:17 NIV
Today…
"To market, to market to buy a fat pig
Home again, home again, jiggedy jig
To market, to market to buy a fat hog
Home again, home again, jiggedy jog."
At some point in my childhood, the phrase became greatly entwined into my vocabulary. As a 44 year old man, with four children of my own, that phrase seems to come out involuntarily whenever pulling back into the driveway after a long trip.
We are back. Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. Camp was a great week of fun. Thirteen precious souls put their Lord on in baptism and a good number of adults reconnected in a meaningful way with their spirituality and relationships in the Lord. Around 97 kids and 41 adults made memories that will last a lifetime.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
While camp was great fun, it ended for the Ferguson family in dramatic fashion. Conner fell and broke his arm quite badly Friday evening. It was a trying time for Mom, Dad, and Son. At any rate, Conner is home with prospects of a greatly diminished summer ahead of him. See picture below!
Blessings,
Les, Jr.
There will not be much activity here this week. I’ll be at Gulf Coast Bible Camp until late Friday night or early Saturday. Depending on when I can make my escape. I’ll be teaching a staff class everyday from the book of Ephesians. I hope to use that time to jump start some sermon ideas. In the meantime, keep the faith. Look at your life this week and see where you can be not a church member, but a part of a movement seeking to seed every nook and cranny of your world with the message and image of Christ. Be a part a movement, not an institution… Blessings on your week, Les, Jr.
It has finally arrived. You don’t know whether to hold your breath or stick your head in the sand. Today is June 1st and those of us on coastal waters–particularly here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast know that between now and November 3oth we could either experience nothing untoward or utter chaos beyond comprehension. 2005 was choas. And it is still unbelievable. Ride down US Highway 90 and the destruction still takes your breath away. And so we pray. We pray that we not have a repeat of last years hurricane. Ever. Hurricane Katrina has fundamentally altered much in our lives. Recovery will be ongoing and long standing. We still need help. We crave your prayers. We plead for God’s blessings. And He is good. We see the evidence everywhere! May God bless us all! Blessings, Les
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