Archive for September, 2009

In Season– Spring

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

I love that “new car smell.”  I’ve probably enjoyed it more in friends’ cars than in my own, but regardless… that awesome new-car-small is unmistakable. 

The smell in my current car is not so new – too many of the kids’ old cheerios were lost in the backseat, Capri Suns spilled on the floorboard, french-fries hidden under the seat.  These odors blend in with thousands of miles of faulty emissions that have leaked into the interior by way of a gassy cloud clinging to the carpet.

So, is it possible for those of us with a few miles on our physical and spiritual odometers to experience the smell of “newness” in our journey?  Join me tonight as I park my old car near our Davis Islands campus to renew my quest for a new-Christian-smell that God offers us in the springtime seasons of life.

See you tonight at 7:30,

gary

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In Season– Winter

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Winter.  If you’ve yet to live north of the Mason-Dixon Line, this will need a little explaining.  When I refer to a “cold” winter, I’m not talking about what we get down here when our wimpy, thin-blooded selves shiver for those two days in February where the temperature plummets to 52.  Spend a week in Wisconsin or Buffalo, wading through feet of snow, scraping inches of ice off your front windshield, stepping into ankle-deep slush puddles hiding in downtown potholes. 

That part of winter “ain’t so fun.”  To paraphrase a line from Narnia, there are those seasons in life when it feels like it’s always winter, but never Christmas.

So when we hit the cold and dark and dreary season of winter – whether it’s spiritually, emotionally, relationally, or vocationally – is it possible to ever have a “Christmas”???

Bundle up for the service tonight – we may crank the A/C to get us in the mood.

See you at 7:30.

gary

97 Biscayne Ave., Tampa, FL 33629

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In Season – Autumn –“Change”

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Remember as a kid crossing the monkey bars during recess?  It begins by climbing the ladder until you can grab that first rung.  Next you swing forward, ape-like, grabbing rung number two.  With your feet dangling far above the playground woodchips, your arms are stretched in two different directions – the forward hand having reached out, the back hand not wanting to let go of the security of that first rung.

It’s now the moment of truth.  Do you go back to the first rung, planting your feet on the security of the ladder?  Or, do you let go, move forward, and transition to the other side.

The Christian journey (and really any journey worth taking in life) is one of reaching out but also letting go.  It’s a season when you must cross through the “not yet” in order to attain the “hoped for.”

Join us tonight at 97West as we talk about autumn – the season of transition, change and waiting.  It’s likely not your favorite season of life, but it’s vital to your rite of passage.

See you at 7:30.

gary

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“In Season-Summer”

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Death is not optional, but living is.

Let that sink in for a second or two.  You cannot avoid dying.  None of us can.  I’ve read that 100% of all people eventually die.  Which leads me to pose this question:

Will you be counted among the percentage of people who actually LIVE?

By “live” I mean much more than “being alive” – that state of breathing and having a steady pulse.  My question is deeper and more compelling.  In fact, it’s a question that you may ask yourself when mired in the ordinariness work, or battling blah feelings of a once-vibrant relationship.  For that matter, maybe you have transitioned from a rush pertaining to a Tuesday night 97West experience to the coma of apathy, and you ask yourself a simple question: “Is this all that life is intended to be?” 

Between birth and death are many seasons.  Tonight we talk about what it’s like to really live before we die.  You need only show up with breath and a pulse.  My prayer is that you leave with the hope of LIFE.

Gary

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“Over Your Head”

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

So when you go to a public swimming pool, what would you hope to hear???  Would it be, “Nice Tan!”?  Or perhaps, “Hey, you look like you’ve lost weight!”  The older I get, what I enjoy hearing the most at a swimming pool is, “Adult Swim!  All kids out of the pool!!!”  That’s the point at which I can enjoy life in the deep end.

When you are about to get into a swimming pool, do you walk in via the concrete stairs, slowly wade in the “zero entry” slope, or are you the type that jumps in all at once?

 Feel free to wear your swim goggles tonight as we look at a rather obscure passage in Ezekiel.  Regardless of where you may be on your spiritual journey, you will discover there is an ideal entry point that will lead you to deeper waters.

 See you at 7:30!

Gary

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