Cooperland

I know I’m late in getting this week’s Rewind article posted, but I slept in due to being off from work this week, and I spent a few hours with my mom. Good times.  Anyway, due to the Christmas and New Year’s holidays I’m taking this week off for the Rewind post.  I’ll make it up next week.

It’s here again.  Another Christmas Day.  Another Christmas to spend with friends and family and watching your kids tear open their nicely wrapped presents.

So, Merry Christmas.  I hope and pray that you have a great day.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been giving more of a recap of the weekends’ events instead of my thoughts.  Let’s remedy that problem with another issue of the Monday Morning Rewind.

• I almost cried when I heard that two people started their journey with God yesterday at Restoration Ministries.  We should all be celebrating.
• I never knew how bad flooding gets in downtown Charleston even though I went to school there for three years.  If there was ever a reason for downtown Charleston residents to own a mid-size to full-size truck, then all the rain on Friday was it.  I was super happy that I own a Chevy Colorado.
• Be an example of Christ courtesy of 2 Corinthians 5:20 and Ephesians 5:1.  Everywhere you go you represent Jesus.  Be a shining example.
• Here’s an example of what I’m talking about from the above bullet. Friday, through all of the rain, I drove around downtown Charleston, then through rush hour traffic on I-26, then to a busy Best Buy.  I could have let my emotions get the best of me and snapped at the girl running the customer service desk, but I didn’t.  Through all of the crap I dealt with that day, I smiled and was nice.  And she smiled back in appreciation.  That’s showing God.
• Although I’m introverted, I hate being alone at home.  I guess that’s why God gave me such a wonderful wife to put up with me.
• My dad is a grill master.  ‘Nuff said.
• I’m excited about the new year.  God has some great things in store for everyone at Life-Givers, for my friends, for my family, for Bridgett, and for me.  Sure, we have to get through Christmas, but I’m ready to go now.
• We are all worthy.  Never should we once think of ourselves as inferior or lacking because someone is better at something than we are.  God created you just like he created me and everyone else.  No one person is better than another.
• Keep your friends close.  Again, ’nuff said.
• Please pray for Angelia Anderson.  She’s the administrative assistant for Greg Amos at the SCIPHC.  She lost her son this past weekend.
• Finally, please pray for the Ward family.  They lost their matriarch, Dolly Ward.  She was such a sweet lady.  I loved her dearly.

Tonight, God placed Bridgett and me in the right place at the right time (odd that he knows how to do that).  We were on our way home when a small fire suddenly caught Bridgett’s eye.  Problem was that this fire was at the back of a double-wide mobile home.  Had we been a minute earlier, then we would have never seen it.  A minute later, then the house could have been completely destroyed (there wasn’t much left anyway).

No one was home, and there were no cars on the property.  I pray that the owners/renters are found.  The address of the home is 2955 Harristown Rd, St Stephen, SC.  Please let me know if you can help.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Little Drummer Boy penned by Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone in 1958.  Here are the lyrics:

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

Why do I love this song?  Because of the meaning.  This little drummer boy wanted to give a gift to Jesus, but he had nothing but the talent to play his drum.  So he did.  And he did it well.  And Jesus was pleased.

It’s sad to hear someone say that they are unworthy of God: of his love and acceptance.  Unworthy in any way.  How are we to decide if we are unworthy.  This is a confusion of perception.  God sees us differently than who we see ourselves, and he sees us worthy of him.  That’s why he sent Jesus in the first place.  To break the barrier of sin that was keeping us from him.  So, because of Jesus, we are worthy and able to be with God.  And he’s inviting us to be with him with open arms.  And not open arms nailed to the cross.  Open arms for a hug to embrace us with love.

Update:

A video of Jars of Clay performing Little Drummer Boy live.

Luke 22 shares with us the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples before his death.  Here’s verses 31-32:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Simon is Peter, and Jesus is telling Peter that the devil wants him and wants him bad.  And I think this was Jesus’ way of telling Peter that tonight would be one of the hardest nights he would ever experience, but (and I like big BUTs and I cannot lie) Jesus also knew that if somehow Peter didn’t let this trial get the better of him, then he would become a stronger person, and therefore, he could encourage and strengthen the other disciples.

You see, the enemy would like nothing better than to find a reason to attack us or to claim false accusations against us in order to take us out of the game, but (there’s that word again) his attacks are nothing against us.  Why?  Because of the promise from Isaiah 54:17:

“no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.”

So, try not to worry about what you’re going through right now.  We’ve already won!

I was saddened to hear that Oral Roberts passed away yesterday due to complications with pneumonia.  He was a great man, and I believe that he will be missed by many people.  Please pray for peace and comfort to his family and friends.

Since I’m only 27 years old, I don’t remember much about him, but I remember first learning about him while taking an IPHC History class.  Oral Roberts was a minister in the Pentecostal Holiness Church before resigning due to a disagreement and forming the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association.

He was someone that I wish I could have met on Earth.  The stories this man must have been able to tell, and just to be able to sit and listen like a grandchild to his grandfather would have been a wonderful experience.

God bless you, Mr. Roberts.

Yesterday, I posted part one of my thoughts on people’s reactions to all of the rain in the Charleston-metro area.  Here’s part two.

After a couple days without the sun’s light everything looks depressing.  Over time without the Son’s (Jesus) light our lives look depressing.

The Earth going without the sun’s light isn’t an option.  Without it there would be no life.

A person going without Jesus’ light isn’t an option either.  Without it there would be no life (spiritual, not physical).

Even spending time away from God is a bad idea.  The longer the time away from him, the more and more depressing life seems to be.  He is our encouragement to keep moving on.  He is our strength to endure each day.

It started raining in the Charleston-metro area on Saturday.  It didn’t quit until yesterday.  The forecast for today and tonight claim that more showers are expected.  What has amazed me isn’t the weather, but many people’s reactions to it.  It has brought to my mind two thoughts.  Here’s the first one.

Many people still allow external forces to affect their attitude.

Waking up to rain gives me the feeling of wanting to stay in bed all curled up in the semi-fetal position either watching bad TV or napping all day.  Preferably the latter.  My wife is the same way, and so are many other people.  But what I really need to do is to get out of bed to actually accomplish something.  To do that, I must change my attitude of being lazy to being productive.

The same goes for our other circumstances.  Just like the weather, we can’t control our circumstances, good or bad.  So instead of letting our attitude be controlled by what happens to us, control it yourself.  And if you’re a child of God, then use that knowledge to keep your spirits high and your attitude positive, because being a child of God is always a good thing.

After a long weekend of getting almost no sleep, here are a few of my thoughts over the past weekend.  Enjoy!

• I am very tired, but this weekend was super fun.  Two Christmas parties, LGM worship experience, and the Beyond Youth small group has me wiped out.  I wouldn’t change any part of it.
• Bridgett is mean when she cleans house.  I call it her Cleaning Demon.  But I love her for it.  When company is coming over, she wants HER house presentable and clean.  I love her so much.
• Speaking of Christmas parties, the first was on Friday for the Crossover Drama Team.  I never knew that a gift exchange could be so brutal. I don’t want to call names (ahem, Stephanie Nobles), but it was like I was watching an episode of Survivor.  Alliances, plots, and more.
• Bridgett and I had a student stay with us this weekend.  It was cool.  She got to go to both Christmas parties, and got a glimpse into our lives.  It’s cool that God uses us to be examples for our students.
• Isn’t it amazing how much grace Joseph showed Mary when he found out that she was pregnant when neither of them had slept with one another?  He could have had her tried and stoned, but didn’t.  He looked to divorce her privately.  Wow!  Not only did Jesus have a father in Heaven who was graceful, but a step-father on Earth who was a great example of grace, as well.
• The second party was on Saturday for the Beyond Youth Ministry.  It was slow to start, but we quickly got it back on track.
• By-the-way, please pray for Bridgett, Stephanie N., and Kinsey.  They were trying to be discreet, but it was painfully obvious that they were cheating at Spoons all night.  And Bridgett was the ring leader.  I’m so ashamed.
• Rusty told me, “It doesn’t look like it, but there are actually 87 people here.”  My reply, “It’s like when you’re a kid and your mom fixes you a plate of food, but you only eat half.  You scatter the food around until it looks like less than it really is.”  Sure, it was funny.  He laughed his head off.
• As for attendance, there were 6 in the Beyond Youth small group.  Not bad considering many parents were working.
• There are a lot of things that we still need work on as a ministry at LGM, but no church or ministry is perfect.  We will keep working and we will keep improving and we will keep worshipping God through our obedience and stewardship.

I hoped you enjoyed reading my thoughts.