Current Series: "The Heart of..."

Examining the spiritual conditions of our hearts can be a painful procedure. It's also a vital necessity. Even King David, a man after God's own heart,prayed: "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

That prayer of openness and vulnerability before God has been the blueprint for JLM as we have continued looking at the issues of our hearts over the past few weeks. A vital necessity? Absolutely. At the heart of many of our battles are unresolved issues of the heart. And enemies of the heart work their way in through issues of the heart that were never worked out.

This prayer: "Search me, O God, and know my heart..." is one of those prayers that God is ready to answer instantly. I encourage you to pray it, but be ready for the things that will be illuminated in the dark corners of your heart as God shines His light on them. Pray this prayer when you mean it, and God will respond much quicker than you might expect.

During this series, I have been behind the pulpit preaching the messages, but I have not been immune to the conviction and challenges of the Word of God. I have felt God stirring my heart and revealing things that He wants to minister to; areas that I have put band-aids on instead of allowing a complete healing.

How about you? Are you ready to open up to God's close scrutiny? Are there childhood wounds that have dictated the course of your life? Are there old hurts that still cause pain and dominate you? Do you have unresolved issues in your heart that you keep running from or trying to camouflage? One thing I have become more aware of over the past few weeks: God never intended for us to be held captive by these wounds within us. Freedom from them is possible. It begins with vulnerability and humility in the presence of the Beloved Physician.

Coming Up...Road Work Ahead

A new series will start soon at Joyful Life Ministries, as we look at the road we're on, toward Christ or away from Him. What are the curves in the road? Do we have barricades to stop us from veering into danger? What about all that traffic going the other direction? Check out the Joyful Life Web site to get updates on the new series starting dates: www.JoyfulLifeMinistries.com

Boxes

We've had a powerful month at JLM as our series on "Boxes" covered the strongholds we have in our lives, our minds, and our community. As we head toward this month's Life Group meeting, we're preparing to discuss the "House Made of Thoughts" and the potential strongholds that physical struggles present in our lives.

If you'd like to catch up on the previous messages in this series please visit the JLM site on iTunes or listen online at the church Web site: www.JoyfulLifeMinistries.com

One Body

I'm so proud to see what JLM is accomplishing as a church. The relationships that are forming confirm that we are helping God build a great place to bring people together. Several of us come from different backgrounds and it's amazing to see how God combines us into "one body." In November, we'll rebuild and invest in a ministry that will expand these relationships even more!

Children's Ministry 101

I'm really excited about our next service at JLM! On Wednesday night we'll have the first course in our new Ministry Development training series. CHM 101 will kick off our training series with three Professors who will share some insight into The Power of Sunday School, Reaching Out to Kids, and The Ingredients of Children's Ministry.

I plan to turn our usual Wednesday night schedule on its head: participants will each take part in the course topics in a few unique ways, requiring them to return to their childhood for an evening as we prepare to reach kids for the Kingdom. Imaginations will be reignited. Silly hats will be worn. And no students will receive their official Certificate of Completion for the course until they have successfully sculpted a balloon animal dog!

Rick McGee, Pastor
Joyful Life Ministries

Kids Say the Most Memorable Things

We're about a week away from our Kids Krusade service at JLM and the preparation has caused me to think back to other opportunities Becki and I have had in children's ministry. Anytime we talk about Sunday School and Children's Church we have to mention Nathan. If there was real-life version of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, it was Nathan. He was in our Sunday School class when we worked as youth ministers and Sunday School teachers at a home missions church in Indianapolis. It was Nathan who tied his own shoe laces to the table; just for kicks and just to make our lives more interesting.

It was also Nathan who provided one of the funniest moments in that church's history:
One of the usher/deacons was the keeper of the peace at the church. Nathan never made that easy. One particular service, while all the Sunday School classes were in the sanctuary with the adults, Nathan caused enough commotion to catch the usher's eye. The church sheriff headed for the seven-year old lawbreaker. He got Nathan out of the pew and into the center aisle. As he marched him down the middle of the sanctuary, Nathan looked up at him, and with complete sincerity said, "What are you gonna' do? Kill me?"

It took great will power to not laugh out loud in that moment. I will always believe that the usher cracked a smile, just for a second, before putting on his tough face again. I'll always remember Nathan's words in that moment. I hope he remembers some of ours.

Detour

We just finished our latest series at JLM. Detour was one of our longer series and I really enjoyed taking a closer, and sometimes humorous, look at the paths we take in our lives. The series tag line: Get off the Wrong Road...Stay on the Right Road...in Your Life summed up our goal to make sure we take the good detours and ignore the bad detours. I'm so thankful that God offered me a detour off the road that I was traveling when He found me. And I appreciate that He has kept me from taking the detours that the enemy has tempted me with since then.

How about you? Are you traveling the path that God first called you to travel? There's still time to recognize that you took a detour into bumpy territory. There's time to follow the sign that God holds up; the Detour sign that will point you back to the right road.

I appreciate the comments and feedback from the members of JLM that helped us dig deeper into this series and helped us make it relevant to our situations.

Bro. Rick McGee

Pastor

Joyful Life Ministries