Changing Perception

 

- personal - biblical - progressive -

back on track
Sunday, May 31, 2009

We had a great service today. Worship was great. Sunday School went well. My message went really well. Check it out here. http://tinyurl.com/lpvets

posted by Pastor Potter @ 9:47 PM, , links to this post

2nd hand Jesus
Friday, May 29, 2009

posted by Pastor Potter @ 4:48 PM, , links to this post

troubled
Thursday, May 28, 2009

I suppose from time to time I might seem a little harsh or rude. I am not trying to be at all, but I get so concerned about the way people live their lives. As a pastor it's hard to wonder what people would want me to say at their funeral. That sounds really mean, but I cannot and will not get up there and lie about a life that a person did not lead. We have all been to funerals where the pastor was talking about how great this person was and how they will be in heaven and no part of their life pointed them towards God. Is it possible they had a life change on their death bed, sure. If so, that's great. I am just so nervous about the faithfulness and lack of dedication people have to God. So if I am crazy for getting all worked up about it I am kinda sorry, but mostly I am concerned. God requires a full commitment, not a just whenever I feel like it thing. I want all of my family, friends and church to be in heaven with me. I want to do all I can to make sure that happens.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 2:18 PM, , links to this post

time flies
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

We have all heard the saying "time flies when you're having fun". I think it flies whether you are having fun or if you are not having fun. Time seems to be so elusive these days. If I am being honest I would say that I do not have a good schedule. I would like to think I am detail oriented, but I really am almost 6 months into being full-time at the church and I don't have a clear cut schedule. What I mean is I get up to the church and I have a good idea of all the things I need to get done, but they are not in any specific order or anything like that. I have re-structured my schedule now going forward to be very well detailed. I have mon-thurs. planned out. I will keep you posted on how it goes. Sometimes I think the best thing we need is order in our lives. My life can be somewhat chaotic if I don't have a planned schedule. We all have heard "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". So, I am planning to succeed in my daily schedule. We will see how it goes.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 11:41 AM, , links to this post

james 2:14 nuff said
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

The easy answer here is no. I cannot and will not. I think this goes a long way to describe the American Church. Now this sounds very harsh, but when we look at the commitment level Christ calls us to in scripture, we cannot simply say we have faith when we never use it. I believe there is a time coming when many "christians" will be scattered. Most and yes I said most "christians" cannot take persecution. We have a hard time even making it to church on Sunday. And if we do make it to church on Sunday that was definitely our godly involvement for the week. Many so called christians are out there saying they have faith and claim Christ, but deny him with everything they do. So we have a choice we can say we have faith, yet our works don't show that we do, or we can say we have faith and let our works speak for themselves.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 10:59 AM, , links to this post

competition
Monday, May 25, 2009

So for anyone that knows me, I am a competitive person. My brother came down this last weekend and almost everything we do is competitive. I HATE LOSING!!!!!! For the most part I came out on the winning end of things this weekend. Last time I was in Waterloo he beat me 5 games in a row. This time I was 5-1 against him. Must be a home field advantage. Anyhow, it was great to have them down. Speaking honestly sometimes it is hard to be so far away from family. Don't get me wrong, it has it's perks :), but sometimes I wish it were not this way. Gotta be faithful to what God has called us to. It's not easy. God is faithful to us. Just wanted to write something small on here today. I am thankful for family, even if they do beat me in competitions.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 10:16 PM, , links to this post

busy week and weekend
Friday, May 22, 2009

I have had only 3 days up at the church this week. Tuesday I went to a funeral as I blogged about earlier this week. Thursday I went back up to spend some time with my friend Sean and his brother Kevin. It was good to get out and go golfing and get their minds off of what they are going through losing their mom. We had a great time of golfing and fellowship. Both of them are believers and I am so excited to see what God is doing in their families.

Tonight my bro is coming down for the weekend. It is so good to have family come down. We have our church family down here which we love dearly. It is always a great treat when our loved ones come to see us. We are looking forward to playing with the kids and playing games together. We always have such a great time together. I love my family. I am looking forward to getting to hang out with them for a few days. God is good to us.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 10:43 AM, , links to this post

my friend sean
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Yesterday I was able to go spend time with my friend Sean. Sean and I met at chilis about 10 years ago. We became friends mostly through sports. We played b-ball together quite a bit, even on a couple of b-ball leagues together. We became really good friends and ended up moving in together for several years. I used to always say that Sean was the nicest guy that I knew that wasn't a believer. He is a caring guy who is completely genuine. Long story short I prayed for him for several years and last year he gave his life to Christ in Hawaii. He has been baptized and is doing great in his walk with the Lord. I am so proud of him. I was able to spend time with him yesterday as his mother Teresa had just passed away 4 days before. It was difficult as she was 58 and died suddenly of a heart attack. It was so great to spend see him, despite the situation, since I never really get to anymore since he lives in Hawaii. I am hoping to get to see him once more before he goes back home. Please keep him in your prayers and praise God for what he has done in Sean's life.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 10:38 AM, , links to this post

getting after it
Monday, May 18, 2009

We had somewhat of another busy weekend. Melissa had to work on Friday night. We had to run to Maryville on Saturday then Saturday night my father in law came in town. He brought the crib. It is becoming more and more real everyday how our lives are going to drastically change. I can't wait! Yesterday we had a young lady graduate from high school and we went to her graduation. It was a good time. We didn't get home till around 7:30. We both were zonked so we fell asleep till 9, and luckily didn't have a hard time getting back to sleep around 11 or so.

Yesterday I spoke about connecting people to God. I drew some comparisons between the phone company and the church. Not a fun message, but a necessary message. Check it out here.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 10:37 AM, , links to this post

honesty
Friday, May 15, 2009

I am going to be honest. I have been complaining about all the rain we have been getting. Especially this morning. Isn't funny how something our earth and crops need is something we complain about. I think too often we (and by we I mostly mean me) are so quick to get agrivated when things don't turn out the way we want them to, or don't look the way we want. Because of that we tend to complain and make it into a miserable day. Remember that verse that says this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. Why are we only glad when the sun is shining and it is a nice 67 degrees? The earth needs rain. Crops need rain. Rain is necessary. All to often this imitates our lives. There are things we need, but because it doesn't come in a package we like, we complain. What have you been complaining about lately? (btw I asked myself this question)

posted by Pastor Potter @ 12:48 PM, , links to this post

worst prayer ever
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

For most of my life if not all of my life, I have not been the most patient person. Things don't quite happen on the time table I think they should, especially with God for some reason. Have you ever prayed for patience? I would honestly tell you, don't pray that prayer unless you really want to learn patience. God will ruin you to teach you patience.

Several years ago I prayed, "God let me feel the hurt of other people so they don't have to go through it". If only I knew what would happen. Within 3 years my life was completely shattered. I was absolutely ruined by God. What is the result? I am still learning, but I can tell you I can certainly identify with people who have been hurt. I can walk with them and although I haven't experienced what they have, I am compassionate enough so that they can genuinely see that I care for them.

When you pray measure your words, but understand, God will answer them in a way that you would probably rather not have Him answer them. The end result though is worth it always.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 11:36 AM, , links to this post

worthy or worthless?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009

When you read Philippians 3:8 it says this "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ"

I love just the wording of this, you can definitely see the Spirit's hand in this. What is he really saying? Remember when Jesus talked about losses and gains? It went something like this : Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it Matt: 10:39. If I don't KNOW Christ it is of little worth, but if I do KNOW Him it is of surpassing worth. Paul lost a lot in following and pursing Christ, of which he counted as rubbish, in order that he might gain Christ.

If you lost everything else and only had Christ, would that be enough?

posted by Pastor Potter @ 9:20 AM, , links to this post

i'm bringing twitter back
Monday, May 11, 2009

posted by Pastor Potter @ 11:58 AM, , links to this post

mother's day
Sunday, May 10, 2009

I have two amazing women in my life. The first is my wife Melissa. I cannot begin to start talking about how great she is, I think you see it enough on my blog, but she is blessed and shall be praised.

I have a wonderful mother whom I don't get to see very often nowadays. I am so thankful for the way she raised me. Because of her life and teaching, I am following Christ

Today we honored mothers at church. I am very proud of my message. It was very funny, but most importantly I taught about godly women. Listen to it here.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 7:32 PM, , links to this post

testimony
Thursday, May 07, 2009

I love testimonies. The problem with some testimonies is that they make me feel like I am doing nothing for God. There is a testimony in Crazy Love of a guy who has a medical emergency because of a tooth and has to come off the mission field. He comes back and tells his dentist to pull all his teeth because he never wants to have to come off the mission field again. WOW. I mean we have people who are looking for ways to get out of coming to church on a regular basis and this guy is willing to have all his teeth pulled so he can keep on sharing the gospel. Testimonies are a wonderful encouragement and that is what they are meant for. They are not meant to make us all feel like lousy christians or good for nothing people. We all have a testimony if we are a child of God. Some people are more willing to do things for the Kingdom and they will be rewarded by God for that. We can all do something. We can all tell someone. We can all pray for someone. We all have a testimony. When you share your testimony you are showing the power of God. You tell people what you used to be like, what happened and what your life is like now. It is powerful. Share your testimony with someone, it can change their life.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 2:02 PM, , links to this post

no change
Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Things I have learned in life and ministry

• Some people never change. It doesn't mean you don't pray for them though.
• People go to church every week and are unchanged.
• Change is easier when it applies to other people and not myself.
• Experience doesn't make people change.
• Some people wish church could be exactly like it was when they were saved.
• People read their bible and it doesn't affect the way they live.
• Revival is not a week long event, it is a change in heart and a desperate hunger to touch the King.
• It is easier to try to get our christian friends to change churches rather than bring a friend who is lost

These are just some random rants from my free time and boredom.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 6:04 PM, , links to this post

babies

I cannot tell you how excited I am for Alora to be born. I cannot wait to see what she looks like, what her personality is going to be like and most importantly if she will like the cubs and cowboys like Dad. :) jk, not really. Anyhow, I know it is not going to be easy being a dad, but it will be very exciting none the less. I know I will have to make difficult decisions, spend lots of time praying over her and teaching her to follow Christ.

Have you ever been looking for a new car? You think you know what one you want, and then suddenly you see that car at every turn. We were at the zoo the other day and I remember seeing a little girl maybe 2 or 3 with brown hair in pig tails. I just got an overwhelming feeling, that's what Alora is going to look like. Then I would see another toddler with brown hair and say the same thing. I am so excited for her to come. I know I will need grace, wisdom, patience and kindness. I can't wait for the day when she is born.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 9:14 AM, , links to this post

yowza
Monday, May 04, 2009

So over the past 10 days I have been so busy I don't even know what to do. This past week I had one day basically to prepare my sermon. Now, usually I have several weeks because we do different series, but I felt God called me back from doing two sermon series. So I got up yesterday after a great time of worship and prayer and spoke the message God put on my heart. I don't think I communicated as clearly as I could have, but I do think I got my point across. You can listen to the message here.

On Friday my sis and bro-in-law and family came down for the weekend. We had a youth retreat called iCHANGED. It went well. We had around 35-40 students here I think. God really worked on hearts. Saturday we went to the zoo in Omaha. It was a lot of fun. Yesterday we had a great service and then crashed. We had a great weekend though. God is good.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 9:50 AM, , links to this post

iCHANGED
Friday, May 01, 2009

Tonight we are having a youth retreat. We are hosting the event for iLIVE. We are bringing our kids to the event as well as inviting the community and those who are younger to experience what God is going to do in the youth of this city. We are really excited about the potential that we will have represented in the room this evening. I am writing this to have you pray for us. We as a church are starting a new ministry called Unleash. It is our new student ministry. We are launching 2 youth small groups. One in Clarinda and one in Corning. We are praying that we have a youth service by the end of the year. This can only happen through prayer and support. Please pray for God to send workers to help in the ministry. Please pray for God to give us wisdom in how to minister to the students. Pray for God's favor in getting us in the schools. WE NEED PRAYER.

posted by Pastor Potter @ 11:09 AM, , links to this post