Pastor Chuck’s Blog

2-1-2023

Chicken Pot Pie Christianity

You’re probably looking at the title of this post and thinking, “I’m pretty sure Chuck has lost it. I was concerned before, but this title pretty much seals the deal.” Before you go all in on that, let me share something with you and then you can decide if I’ve lost it or not.

When we consider Christianity, it’s important to understand that Jesus is inviting us into a Chicken Pot Pie relationship, and not a TV Dinner one. Let me explain. The world you and I live in is filled with choices and options. We can choose what we want and leave out the rest. Go to a buffet for dinner? You can peruse the offerings and choose the items that best satisfy your taste buds and leave everything else for someone else to enjoy.

Now, allow me to translate that to Christianity using the difference between a TV dinner (remember those?) and a chicken pot pie. In a TV dinner the food comes in individual compartments. That means, you can devour the turkey and potatoes and gravy, but completely avoid the brussel sprouts because they’re from the devil (apologies to those of you who love brussel sprouts). In the same way we can easily break our lives into their own distinct compartments. You’ve got a compartment for family, a compartment for work, a compartment for friends, a compartment for hobbies…..you get the idea. The tendency, however, is to also have a compartment for spiritual beliefs.

In this configuration, you could have strong spiritual beliefs that come out on Sundays but they really don’t mix naturally with the other parts of your life. Spiritual beliefs and work? Spiritual beliefs and friends? The problem with this model is that Jesus is not just interested in your spiritual life, He is interested in the whole of your life. With a TV dinner, everything is compartmentalized. But with chicken pot pie, all of the food is mixed together so there is no picking and choosing. The chicken, the gravy, the peas and carrots (and God forbid, brussel sprouts) are all together in every bite whether you like it or not.

The same is true with our walk with God. He invites you and me into a relationship with Him that touches every part of our lives. No more compartments when it comes to a relationship with God. He’s not inviting us to pick and choose. He’s inviting us to go all in. Jesus’ younger brother, James, wrote this:

So give yourselves completely to God. (James 4:7, NIV)

Not just Sundays, not just your quiet time, not just your family, not just your work……go all in. Give yourself completely. Or, to put it another way, give Him the entire pot pie of your life!

So, have I lost it? Maybe, but not here……..and when you give Him the pot pie of your life, make it the best pot pie imaginable!! (Now that you’re hungry, go ahead…..have a pot pie!)

1-11-2023

For many of us, January is a time when we reflect on our lives. We do some review of the past and we contemplate the future. And if you’re like so many people, it’s also a time when we question whether we’re fulfilling God’s purposes for our lives. Although often worded in different ways, most people have asked this question, “Why am I here?”

You may not know this, but the Bible is actually quite clear on why we’re here. You and I were created to worship and bring pleasure to God. Many people tend to think of worship as “the songs we sing in church”, or perhaps the experience of going to church itself. But worshiping and bring pleasure to God is so much bigger than the songs we sing and bigger than the hour or two we spend in church every week. Church services can be worship experiences, but worship actually takes place throughout our entire week – because God says worship isn’t what you do with your lips; it’s what you do with your life. You can sing the most beautiful songs about Jesus and about God and still not actually worship.

So let me give you 4 ways you can worship God and make Him smile:

1. You bring pleasure to God when you love Him above everything else. The two most important things in your walk with God are faithfulness and obedience. Notice I didn’t say the two easiest, I said the two most important. These two things let God know that you love Him.

2. You bring pleasure to God when you trust Him completely. You trust God completely when you recognize that He knows what’s best for your life. Proverbs 3 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5, NIV) When you do that, you begin to trust God for the impossible.

3. You bring pleasure to God when you obey Him wholeheartedly. You and I can’t earn God’s forgiveness by doing good deeds, but just like your parents smiled when you obeyed them, God smiles when we obey His commands. Obedience isn’t easy. There will be times when it’s inconvenient, even for those who have been Christians for decades. Obedience will cost you. But with obedience comes the smile of God.

4. You bring pleasure to God when you fulfill His purposes. Too many people think that the only time God is smiling on their lives is when they’re doing something religious. But nothing could be further from the truth. God smiles when we do what He created us to do. It’s like the words of the Olympic runner, Eric Liddell, who was the subject of the movie Chariots of Fire. He said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

So as you reflect on your life, reject the idea of being a “people pleaser” in this world and choose to be a God pleaser……or as I often say, “Choose to live your life for the approval of an audience of One – God Himself.”

I love you, church…….let’s put a smile on God’s face this week!!

Chuck

1-4-2023

I have no idea what 2023 holds for you. But whether it’s a year where you reach your goals or not has nothing to do with your circumstances. It’s all about your perspective.

The economy might tank. You might struggle at your job. Your family may face challenges. Yet the most important question you’ll face in 2023 is, will you look at the year with faith rather than fear? The choice is in your hands.

The Israelites had the same choice in Numbers 13, a story most of us are familiar with. Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt, where they had been slaves for 400 years. They had already spent two years in the desert. Moses then sent 12 spies, one from each of the tribes, into the Promised Land to see what was in store for the Israelites when they arrived.

Ten of the spies came back with reports of fear. They told the Israelites the land was full of enemies the Israelites couldn’t beat, whereas, in reality, the Promised Land was as incredible as God had promised, truly a land “flowing with milk and honey.”

Only Joshua and Caleb returned with reports of faith. The Israelites chose to believe the majority of the spies rather than the two who looked at their future in faith. Because of those responses, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones of their generation who were able to enter the Promised Land. The rest of Israel would die in the wilderness.

Just like the Israelites, you are heading into the unknown. None of us know what to expect in 2023. We can either look at the future in faith or in fear.

Maybe you have people in your life you love dearly who are constantly making bad choices and walking further and further away from God. You’ve been praying for them for years, and you’re afraid they’ll never turn to God. Maybe your marriage is falling apart. You don’t dare let anyone know, but you’re afraid divorce could be around the corner. You’ve got the same choice as the Israelites in 2023—look at your future in faith or fear.

When we look at our future through the eyes of fear, we can expect to have a miserable year. Or you can choose to be like Joshua and Caleb. You can look at your future in faith and not fear.

How do you get started? One step at a time. We defeat our fear with movement. You can’t argue away your fears. You can’t discuss them away. But you can take a step against your fears. Take the step forward. Refuse to let fear dictate. Decide right now, “I’m going in to take the land!” That’s the first step. Then, keep putting one foot in front of the other and watch what God will do.

Moving forward with you, church!

10-19-2022

As a teenager, Luciano Pavarotti had more than one good idea about his future, and more than one option to pursue. He loved sports, and dreamed of being a football goalkeeper (what others would call a soccer goalie). He loved teaching, and was attracted to the security this profession offered.

And, of course, he loved to sing.

When an elite professional tenor offered to take him as a student without cost, Pavarotti faced a decision: Which future should he choose? His father said to him, “Luciano, if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.”

Pavarotti later told Guideposts: “I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book — whatever we choose — we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.”

Of all the words written by the Apostle Paul, perhaps his most powerful phrase is: “But this one thing I do.”

Everything about Paul’s life pointed in one direction. Everything he did led him to one chair. His prize was doing what God had called him to do — to know Jesus and to make Jesus known.

Life is a reverse of the game Musical Chairs, in which there are more players than places to sit. You have lots of chairs to choose from. Those who live life best are those who have the courage to choose one chair.

Have you chosen yours?

10-5-2022

On November 13, 1946, a plane took off from the Schenectady County Airport with a rather unique payload—six pounds of dry ice. Its mission? To seed the clouds with solidified carbon dioxide, in hopes of creating enough condensation to cause precipitation.

Upon takeoff, the pilot flew his single-propeller plane into a cumulus cloud and dumped the dry ice. Eyewitnesses on the ground said that the cloud seemed to explode. The subsequent snowfall was visible for forty miles.

The science of seeding clouds may be a modern-day marvel, but the idea is as old as the prophet Elijah. After a famine that lasted three and a half years, Elijah seeded the clouds with a brave prayer. Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed.

When was the last time you found yourself doubled over in prayer? The posture that Elijah assumes indicates profound humility and extreme intensity. He’s not just praying; he’s believing God for a miracle. I have no issue with short blessings before meals because I believe in eating food while it’s hot. That said, there are moments when we need to press in and seed the clouds with deep prayer.

We tend to be good with the simple prayers, “God, keep the light green for me,” “God, I’d really like for him to call me again,” “God, help me get this new job.” We should pray those prayers, but we shouldn’t stop with the simple things. The Bible tells us that, “God is the same yesterday, today and forever”. That means He still does miracles today just like He did way back then. So pray, because the more you pray, the bigger you dream. And the bigger you dream, the more you have to pray!

Let me double back to Elijah one more time. At first, there was no visible evidence of God answering his prayer for rain. That is when most of us give up, but Elijah doubled down.

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

The greatest tragedy in life is that prayers go unanswered because they go unprayed. God won’t answer 100 percent of the prayers you don’t pray! While we’re on the subject, you won’t accomplish 100 percent of the goals you don’t set. But let me flip that script. Prayer is the way we write history before it happens! It’s the difference between letting things happen and making things happen. If you want to win the day, you can’t wish upon a star. You have to seed the clouds with brave prayers!

Don’t underestimate the power of a single seed, a single prayer! It has the power to change anything, change everything. The same goes for the seeds of faith, hope, and love. Don’t worry about the outcomes; focus on inputs. We plant and water, but God gives the increase!

Never despise the day of small beginnings or clouds the size of a man’s hand. God can move mountains with a mustard seed of faith!