We began by singing the song “There Shall Be Showers Of Blessing”. One of the members of the church gave the opening prayer then the preacher made announcements. He asked how many people remembered the magazine edition of TV Guide. He read a poem titled The Holy Bible and the TV Guide which can be found at http://www.shoptcs.com/cjp/pom/1.htm. He asked if there were any prayer requests and then prayed for the requests and the service. James (the song leader) lead us in the singing of “When I See The Blood” and “Tell It To Jesus”. James then sang a special song called “I Rest My Case At The Cross”. The preacher came up and said that John Shackleford had come to him and offered him the night off from preaching and would preach in his place. John came up and said good evening. He thanked me for coming. John is the minister/leader at the Association of Baptist Students at SFA. John said that he wanted to share a few things with us. He said the more he studies God's word, the more he knows that he needs adjustments. He mentioned a tiller that he used onetime that said lazy boy on the side. The tiller always took some adjustments to get it right. He asked when the last time we made adjustments for the Lord was.
Following are notes from his sermon: John said that sometimes things come up and it is hard to do something nice for Pastor Roberts sometimes and he thanked him for the opportunity to speak and said that Pastor Roberts was very giving. There is a law of navigation that we can follow when serving Christ. Moses had some major changes he had to make in his life. We read from Exodus 5:1. Moses made some excuses at first: What if they don't listen. John said he has a two year old at his house and he has to repeat things to him over and over again because his son won't tune in to him. Are we really tuning in to God, he asked us. He gave us a plan for navigation which included:
Predetermine Your Course Of Action
Lay Out Your Goals
Adjust Your Priorities
Need to notify key personal
He asked if we really know what God is wanting us to do. We should commit to doing something everyday for God. This can include praying, reading the Bible, and sharing Jesus. Every Monday at the ABS we do check-in. All of us have something going on in our lives. We are challenged to study the Bible and pray, not out of duty but because we should want to. John really wants to study. He is currently reading a book by Zig Ziglar about how to sell. In the book it talks about integrity and being honest. Are you 100 percent honest all the time. We need to predetermine that we are not doing to lie. We shouldn't have a problem telling the truth.
The second part was to Lay Out Your Goals. Do you have goals for God? It takes time to prepare. It you aim at nothing you will hit it every time. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul talks about living life for Christ as if it is a marathon. The third part was to Adjust Your Priorities. We spell love T.I.M.E. John had to adjust when he had a new baby. Sometimes we are called to lay aside something for the LORD. He quotes Matthew 6:33 which says to seek first the Kingdom of God. The forth part was to Need to Notify Key Personal. He said that he shares with his wife his plans to share Jesus. Are you planing to invite someone to church? When we invite someone to go it should not be out of duty but because we want to. They may not come for the right reason, for example there may be girls there, but God will work on them. He mentioned how Mahl has had the same pastor for a long time and that the members of Mahl are very forgiving, loving, and generous people.
The next part includes ahead, as in plan ahead. The A stands for Allow Time For Acceptance. He mentioned how he was invited to go to Thailand to teach the English language at a University. We need to pray for a divine appointment. The H stands for Head into action. In other words, take a step. The E stands for expect problems. His father in law asked John what he did for a living and was shocked to discover that John did student ministries. John said that he couldn't do anything else and sleep at night. He used to work at a plant in the summer for his dad growing up for six weeks out of every summer. He would try to witness to people at the plant. He felt like a failure because at the time nobody was coming to Christ. At his father's funereal, he said that the one thing people could do for his father was to repent and turn away from their sins. After the funereal, a man told John that he has accepted Christ three weeks before and his family had too. This was a man who worked at the plant.
The A stands for Always Point To Your Successes. He read Psalms 37:3-4. We don't need to be weary in doing good. Righteousness will be known. The D stands for Daily Review Your Progress. Growing up in school, progress repents were sent home from the school to John's parents. At one point he was told that he had a half semester to get right or fail. Most people do a progress report yearly in the form of new years resolutions. We need to do daily progress reports. John said he was the student who caused problems and disrupted the classes, yet he always had respect for his elders in that he said Yes M'am and No M'am. He said sometimes he needed to do hourly progress reports. We should write out our goals for the day and do a progress report the next day. The trustees give evaluation or progress reports for the ABS when needed. We are only young once, but can remain immature the rest of our lives. Doctors often give progress reports. God's progress report is in his word. Does what we are doing line up with the scriptures. How do we know if we don't read them? He said that when he buys something new he often throws the instruction book aside, but often fails at putting together the thing he is trying to accomplish. The more we grow up, the less we blow up. His son often throws a fit if his veggie tales shows won't play. Sometimes John can blow up when this happens. John had never been around children much, but his wife had. She encourages John not to blow up.
We should not be like the wheelbarrow, which has to get pushed around and is easily tipped over. How do you know if you have a heard heart? There are five symptoms. There include: Complain frequently, Compare with arrogance, Criticize, Compromise our morals, and We can't see God at work. If this is happening we may need to have some softening. He gave us the formula for performing heart surgery. First, You Select what is valuable and what is vulnerable. He said that he had a letter jacket that he considered very valuable when he got it, but now he uses it as a rag. The O stands for Openly admit a hard heart and ask God to soften it. He asked what is really valuable to you right now. He said that anything we place above God is an idol. We suggested reading Psalm 139. We may have been burned in the past which keeps us from helping others. He reads Psalm 51:10. The F stands for forget. We should forget about the things that we have no control over. He read Philippians 3:13-14. When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. The T stands for Tune into a consistent time with the Lord. John had a hard boss at one of his previous jobs, but he knew where he was at in his behavior. Do you know what God thinks of you? He loves you. John quoted Matthew 6:6. We should find a quiet place and talk to God and share with him our lives. The E stands for Enlist the help of others. He reads James 5:16. We should confess our sins to each other. You cannot be a lone ranger Christian. You should however, be careful who you confess too because it could wind up in the bulletin the next week. Most people don't trust anyone. The N stands for Never underestimate the cost of spiritual intimacy. When you put a rock in an oil pan it causes many problems. He said that a little leaven levels the whole lump.
All of us have at least one thing God would have us do differently. John prayed and asked us if we would be willing to say to God that we want to be the best for God. Jesus said that he would rather us be hot or cold than lukewarm. We should be willing to give 100 percent.
We sang “Just As I Am”. Pastor Roberts then thanked us for coming and invited us to come Wednesday night. He asked for prayer for his health. He said we should ask God to give us someone to talk to and invite to church. He said we should tell someone about Jesus. He asked Brother Wesley to close us in prayer. Wesley prayed and we were dismissed.
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