How Will You Be Different Today?

How Will You Be Different Today?

Daniel 1:8-16-NIV
⁸ But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. ⁹ Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, ¹⁰ but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."

¹¹ Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹² "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." ¹⁴ So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

This is part of the text the teenagers looked at Sunday morning. Daniel and his friends were plucked from their home at a young age and forced to learn a new way of life. All the morals and values they were raised with were now in question by the people who had abducted them from their homes. What makes this passage of scripture so teachable is that these young men decided to do what God wanted them to do and not what man wanted them to do.

Consider for a moment how easy it would have been for Daniel and his friends to conform to the world around them. Consider for a moment how easy it would have been for Daniel and his friends to sacrifice their integrity for the fleeting gift of acceptance. Consider for a moment how often Christians conform to the values of this world when God has set such higher standards for his people. While you are considering all of that consider these words from the book of Romans.

Romans 12:1-2-NIV

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Too often all we do is read these words without taking them to heart. Our society has become one of no absolutes; instead of black and white the world sees things in shades of gray. As God’s people we are called to something higher than shades of gray and compromising our morals. Often times I hear people try to justify their complacent attitudes by comparing our society to those of Biblical times. The justification is that we have more avenues of sin than the people of Biblical times. Not only is this justification ridiculous but it is false. We may have different opportunities to sin but the act is sin is the same as it was during Biblical times; and it is just as wrong now as it was then. When considering comparing our society to the societies of Biblical times consider the words of Peter.

1 Peter 1:1-2-NIV

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ²who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Peter was writing to people who were scattered away from their homes not by their own choice. Peter encourages these people through his letter to live a life based not upon their circumstances but upon the providence of God the Father with words like these…

1 Peter 1:13-16-NIV

13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

So, how will you be different today? Maybe you will decide to give up a worldly habit, maybe you will reach out and become a friend to a friendless person or maybe you will take a stand for God when you have failed to in the past. I can’t tell you how to be different, but I can tell you that as Christians we need to be different. The way you decide to be different today is up to you. I encourage you to prayerfully consider how you are living your life and how you can be different today.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul

Did you ever have one of those days?

Good Evening,

Did you ever have one of those days where it seemed like nothing went right? I had a day like that today. The strange thing is that nothing really went wrong. I went to the office and did my work. I had lunch with all of the wonderful people I work with. I came home and went to dinner with my parents. Nothing went wrong but I felt like I had done nothing right all day.

I have these days occasionally and I am sure I'm not the only one so it makes you have to wonder where these days come from. I definitely feel like days like today are huge weapons in the arsenal of Satan. We know from scripture that Satan likes to attack when we are weak. He attacked Jesus with temptation in the desert in Matthew chapter 4. He used things he perceived would be appealing to Jesus such as power. Satan also used what he perceived to be a weakness to Jesus in the form of hunger.

On these days when nothing seems to go right I, for one, begin questioning everything that I do. I also become moody and hard to be around. These are all things that Satan can use to his advantage if I let him. I am ashamed to say that more times than not I allow Satan to use these days against me and in turn against my relationship with God.

I would encourage you to wrestle and struggle with these days in your life. Seek out the example of Christ found in scripture and try to handle it the way he did. If you look for God on these days you will find him because he never moved in the first place(Malachi 3:6).

I mentioned having dinner with my parents earlier. It was going over to my parent's house that I realized (again) God never moved. I was still in a bit of a funk when I got there but visiting with my parents and seeing the way God works in their life encouraged me. More than that my parents shared some cards that the family here in Pearland wrote to them and they were such encouragements to me.

The next time you have one of those days when nothing seems to go right just remember to look for God. He has never moved but he may reveal himself in places you would not expect. Don't let Satan use a bad day to gain a foothold in your life. I hope this has been a blessing to you today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Coming soon

Hello Everyone,

I know it has been an eternity(okay maybe not that long) since I blogged. I know some of you were probably hoping for something new today but I am sorry to say that this blog is only a teaser for the blogs to come.

I am currently sitting in the youth and family education lab at Harding University in Searcy AR. I spent a lot of time here during my college years so this is kind of a walk down memory lane for me. The reason I am here is because I am attending the Harding lectureship. I am learning a lot in the classes I am attending and the keynote lectures I am going to as well. In the coming days after lectureship I plan to share thoughts and stories from this week. Basically if you want to know what I learned this week then you will have to check back in later.

I will leave you with one funny story from this week. I went to my first class yesterday and this student handed me a survey to turn in after the class was over. This was not that unusual and I gladly accepted the challenge of sharing my opinion. Later that day I saw the same girl handing out surveys before the keynote lecture. An older man walked up and asked if he needed one of the surveys and the young lady told him he did not need to worry about that because they were just for students. So apparently this young lady confused me for a college student. It is nice to know that I still look young enough to pass as a student.

I hope you are blessed today as much as you all bless me by being my friends.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul Cartwright

A Simple Request

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when people make simple requests that it can really change your whole perspective? Today I want to share with you a simple request that really made my day and has changed some of my perspectives.

Monday evening I met a few of our young men at the building to leave for our weekly Bay Area Wide Devotional. I pulled the van out of the garage and proceeded to sit and visit with these young men before everyone else got there. In the course of our conversation these guys made a simple request for our youth group to become more involved in service opportunities and activities of all kind. They confided that they want to do fun things but they also know that doing service oriented projects could be fun as well. They further confided that they wanted to do these things so we could have a stronger and closer youth group.

To say that I was humbled would be an understatement. To hear these boys so clearly make those declarations did my heart well. In a world where teenagers are so inwardly focused to hear these young men ask to be allowed to serve God through service took me back a few steps.

My simple request today is that you would pray for our group here in Pearland. I have always believed we had the potential to do some great things and now it looks as if God is opening those doors. Pray for the zeal of these young people and pray that their desire to serve God never leaves them. I hope you are blessed today!!!

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Are We There Yet?

Good Morning Everyone,

If you grew up in a family like mine then that means most summers you took some kind of vacation. Whether it was going to Palestine to attend the world famous Crockett Road Church of Christ VBS, or headed up to Nashville so Mom could finish her education, or touring Major League ballparks we usually managed to get away for a little while each summer. The one common theme on whatever trip it was we were on was the question, usually from me, "Are we there yet?".

Yesterday I went to Angleton to attend a monthly minister's meeting and luncheon. I was driving April's car because I was low on gas and my car was sitting at the Church building. As I was driving the forty or so miles to Angleton is occurred to me that exactly a year ago that I was driving April's car on our trip from California to Texas(I'm pretty sure I asked if we were there yet a few times). It then occurred to me that this is the first time in the past two years that April and I have not been moving to one place or another.

I am proud to say that Pearland is home. We have a wonderful church family here, the working environment for April and for me are great, and we have made ,and in some cases, renewed some wonderful lifelong friendships. As I was contemplating all of these things a scripture became very real to me.

James 4:13-16
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

Life is indeed precious and we definitely not in control. We like to fool ourselves into thinking we are in charge but when all is said and done God is in charge. Sometimes we need reminders of that fact ,and when we do, God is good to give them to us, we simply need to listen. To all of you who have made our first year in Pearland the best year we have had I want to thank you. You took two people who were scarred and broken and helped us to become whole again. Today I want to leave you with the words to a song that speaks to this and will help you to keep walking with the Lord.

If You Say Go

If you say go we will go
If you say wait we will wait
If you say step out on the water and they say it can’t be done
We’ll fix our eyes on you and we will come

Your ways are higher than our ways
And the plans that You have laid are good and true
If You call us to the fire You will not withdraw Your hand
We’ll gaze into the flames and look for You

My prayer today is that we will understand that God's ways are higher than ours and that his plan is the perfect thing for all of us imperfect people. I hope you are blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul

The Long Lost Blogger Returns

Hey Everyone,

I know, I know it has been awhile but I wanted to take a moment and write a note this afternoon. The purpose of this note is to ask for prayers on behalf of an event that is taking place here at the Pearland Church of Christ tonight at 7:00PM.

As a congregation we see the need to reach our community here in Pearland. The problem is our community is so mobile that door knocking is no longer a useful means of reaching people, we have had success in the past mailing a DVD telling about our congregation to the community but we want to do more.

Our meeting tonight is to discuss congregational and individual strategies for reaching our community. We want people to know that we have a a passion for God and a passion for the lost. I am asking you to spend a few moments in prayer today asking God to bless our efforts. We can plan all we want to but if we go into this without seeking God's blessing then we are setting ourselves up for failure. Thank you all for always being so supportive and I thank you in advance for your prayers.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

What Makes You Cranky?

Good Morning Everybody,

Yesterday I took 11 of our golden-agers into the Texas hill country to take a look at the state flower of Texas the Bluebonnet. We enjoyed the beauty that is God's creation and the fellowship amongst old and young. As part of our excursion we took advantage of being close to Brenham and went to the Blue Bell ice cream factory where we all enjoyed our favorite flavors of ice cream. It is at the Blue Bell factory where I saw the shirt pictured above. It never ceases to amaze me how God can use things like t-shirts to give me ideas of things to write and to teach.

Most of you know my primary ministry is working with teenagers. Any of you who have ever worked with teenagers or had teenagers of your own understand what being cranky is all about. It seems that throughout the teenager years that the slightest thing can make them cranky. What is interesting is that we all have our moments of being cranky even as adults. It was as I was reading this shirt that I began to wonder what God thinks about us being cranky.

Philippians 4:12
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

You may read this passage and say that Paul never mentions the word cranky. I would have to agree with you if that is your assessment of the situation. What you do have to admit is that Paul does use the word content. I would propose to you that content is the exact opposite of cranky. If anyone had the right to be cranky it was the Apostle Paul. Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, wrongfully imprisoned and despised by many. In this passage Paul describes almost every aspect of life, both good and bad, and yet he still is able to be content.

As we come to a close I would ask you to think about what makes you cranky. I want you to consider you last experience with becoming cranky and try to decide for yourself how you could have remained content. I hope that we can all learn from our cranky moments and use what we learn so we do not repeat them.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

p.s. I did purchase this shirt and plan on wearing it but don't read into it too much.

Showing Favoritism

Good Morning Everyone,

Sorry I have not blogged in awhile it is has been very crazy around here lately. Between launching new ministries, teaching Bible classes, preaching and traveling to perform weddings my blogging has suffered.

This morning I thought I would share a thought with you that I shared with my teenagers a few weeks ago about showing favoritism. I began class with these two pictures.

After showing these two pictures I asked the teenagers which person they would more likely associate with and invite into our youth group. After the typical funny and churchy answers it was decided the guy with the perfect teeth an no glasses would make us all feel a little more comfortable. I want to take this opportunity to thank my teenagers for being honest about how they answered this question.

After talking about the reasons for their choice we began looking at a place in in scripture where favoritism is discussed.
James 2:1-7
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

When you read this passage it kind of makes you think twice about the way we interact with people in our workplaces, in public and even in our churches. In the course of my study I was reminded of another passage of scripture that really humbled me and made me have to re-think some of my own actions.

Isaiah 53:2 (New International Version)
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

This is a prophecy about Jesus. After reading this it was clear to me that, figuratively at least, Jesus probably much more closely resembled our friend in the Ghost Busters T-shirt than our GQ model. The lesson for us is an old one but one that remains true today. Never judge a book by its cover. You never know what set of circumstances has brought someone into your life and if you are too busy looking outwardly you will forget to look at them inwardly. I hope you are all blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Your Life Is Not an ipod

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well today. I decided to do a little organizing on my ipod today. You see I like all sorts of different kinds of music. I have rock and roll, alternative, pop, country, Christian, Acappella and many other genres. Sometimes as I drive down the road I like to listen to everything but from time to time I like to be a little more specific. So today I made a playlist for all the "religious" music that I have this includes acappella type music as well as some contemporary Christian music.

As I was making my new playlists I began to think that sometimes we treat our life like an ipod. Just like on our ipods we have a place for everything sometimes in life we tend to make compartments for different things. We make compartments for God. In this compartment we go to church, participate in service activities and Bible classes. Then we have a compartment for the rest of our life where we do everything that is not associated with the God compartment.

As I was working on my ipod I was convicted that we need to stop treating our lives like ipods. Instead of trying to make a place for God in our life we need to make God our life. I don't have all the answers that is for sure. I was convicted today and I hope that I have given you something to think about. Thank you all for being a blessing to me I hope I am one to you.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Springtime Renewal

Good Morning Everyone,

I know the title of this blog may seem a bit strange seeing how it is only February, and that the groundhog saw its shadow meaning a longer winter, but as with all things I do there is a method to my madness.

This past Saturday (January 31st) the elders, deacons and ministers of the Pearland Church of Christ gathered to discuss the care of the congregation here in a planning session. The elders saw fit to give me the job of setting and keeping our agenda for the planning session.

I have to say that everybody involved with this planning session brought their "A" game to the table that morning. We had great ideas coming from everyone and even ideas from people that surprised me. The three ideas the elders chose to go with were great ones and I believe ones that will help build up the Lord's Kingdom. If you stay with me for just a little longer I will outline those ideas that have blossomed into three new ministries here in Pearland.

1. Ministry of Prayer-This ministry is open to anyone in the congregation. We will produce prayer request cards and place them in the pews with our attendance cards. These cards will be a venue to give your prayer requests to a group of prayerful people without having to make that request known to the whole congregation. This group will meet each Sunday to pray over these requests. We see this as a great ministry for people who like to be behind the scenes doing things to help for the cause of Christ.

2. Devotional and a Dinner-If you are like me on Fridays nights you sometimes watch Dinner and a Movie on TBS. We "borrowed" our name for this ministry from TBS. We decided to put the devotional first so that we keep the emphasis on where it needs to be. This ministry will involve people opening their homes to other members here in Pearland and to people they are trying to teach the Gospel to. We will have some guided devotional topics that will make up the lesson and then share in a meal together.

3. Friends and Family Days-On the months with a 5th Sunday we will have a friends and family day. The Bible classes and sermon will be centered around a particular passage of scripture to facilitate discussion within the homes of our visitors. Following worship services we will share in a potluck meal together. After that meal we will have our usual 5th Sunday singing and then adjourn for the day. This will be a great chance to bring people you love to worship with you.

If you are a member of the Pearland Church and don't see yourself fitting into any of these ministries I would encourage you to be positive about them and encourage those who are participating. If you are not a member of the Pearland church but live in our area we would invite you to come be a part of things here. I hope you are all blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Goliath Killers-Media

Good Morning Everyone,

For the next several weeks on Wednesday evenings the teenagers and myself will be looking at the different Goliaths in our lives. It is our hope and desire that by searching out God's word we will be able to defeat our Goliaths the same way David did in 1 Samuel 17. Another component of this series will be a parent's newsletter that will hopefully spark some discussion at home as well as give our parents some resources. I will make those newsletters available on this blog. I hope you stop by from time to time and learn how to better defeat the Goliaths in your life.

This Week’s Giant-MEDIA
As parents you are fighting the battle of Media alongside your teenager every day. Whether it is the latest movie they want to see, the new MP3 they want to download or the ads they see in magazines and billboards you and your teenager are in the thick of battling the giant we call Media. Tonight in class your teen learned some ways to combat bad media in their life. I hope you will discuss what they learned with them and take advantage of some resources I am providing you with. Let’s work together and help our teenagers defeat all the Goliaths in their lives.

Be Strong And Courageous,
Paul

www.pluggedinonline.com- This Website Is A Division of Focus On The Family And Reviews All Aspects of Media From A Christian Perspective


www.lyrics.com- While Not A Christian Website This Site Can Be Used For Christian Purposes. This Site Offers A Searchable Database From Which You Can See The Lyrics Of The Music You Are Listening To

Count Your Blessings Name The One By One

Good Evening Everyone,

This is a rare evening edition of Random Thoughts From a Random Guy. I was encouraged today by my good friend Sarah Adams. Sarah was a member of the youth group here in Pearland when I got here. My loss was Harding's gain when she left to begin her freshman year. Sarah wrote a note on her blog today detailing how blessed she is. I read this note on her blog in the midst of a small pity party I was hosting for myself. I was both blessed and humbled by Sarah's note and inspired to do as the songs says and "count my blessings". I hope you will indulge me a little bit by reading about my blessings while counting your own.

1.My God-When I think what my life would be like without my God it makes me stop and have to thank him for giving me life and giving me life to the fullest

2.My wife-I am blessed that I met, fell in love with and married my best friend. Nobody on Earth understands me like April does. I only hope that all of either are or will soon be yoked to your best friend. She has been through so much with me but is always my source of strength. I fall in love with her in a different way every day because she has so much to give. I look forward to a long life together.

3. My family-April and I made a whirlwind trip to Dallas to drop off a care package to a lady from church. A hotel room was not needed because my sister and brother-in-law so graciously opened their home to us. I am thankful for them and their little girls and my brother and sister-in-law and their little girls. I have to say thank you to my parents for teaching us to love God and love each other. And I could be thankful for my family without mentioning my in-laws in Minnesota who always make me feel like I belong.

4. My ministry-I searched for so long to finally find the Pearland Church of Christ. I work with the best kids and parents. I am also blessed to work with a great minister and supportive elders. I am allowed to work with the senior citizens and I have the best secretary anyone could ask for

5. Challenges-Life and ministry present challenges on a daily basis. While I sometimes complain about these challenges they help me grow and more than that they help my faith grow

6. Our home-Even with blue tarps on the roof, sagging ceiling in the kitchen and a few brown spots in the yard thank to Hurricane Ike I love our home. Our home is my sanctuary, place of healing and a great tool in my ministry.

I hope you have thought about and counted your blessings. More than that I hope you tell someone about your blessings and the one from whom all blessings flow.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Moving and Shaking

Good Morning Everyone,

We are as busy around here in Pearland as we ever are. We have devos and service projects and the much anticipated Men Vs. Boys Paintball. I hope you are all blessed today.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

The Great Questions Of Life

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I don't know if you are like me or not but I love questions. I love asking questions and I love answering questions. As I was sitting in my office today I began thinking of some of the great questions of life. Questions like...

Who created Stonehenge and why?

How does Jello stay Jello?

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound?

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Why do we park in a driveway and drive on a parkway?

Okay so maybe those are not the deepest unanswered questions in my brain but they are ones I think about sometimes. I started pondering great questions several weeks ago when our preacher DC Brown began a series on great Biblical questions and answers. I further began thinking about questions because of a visit I made last night as part of our Wednesday night with the Master program here in Pearland.

I met a young lady who was raised in the church and who is working with a friend who is searching for answers in his life. I gave her my e-mail address and told her to feel free to send some questions my way. I was thrilled that before I even got home my Blackberry was flashing red because I had an e-mail.

I spent the whole morning trying to answer these questions from a Biblical perspective while attempting to not give the typical "Churchy" answers. These questions challenged me, but in answering them God once again amazed me through his word. When I thought I was stuck all I had to do is look to the word and there was another answer waiting for me. I thoroughly enjoyed answering these questions. I feel one of the greatest aspects of ministry to ask and answer the hard questions.

What questions are on your mind right now? I want to know what you are thinking about. I don't care whether you are thinking about Biblical or non-Biblical issues I just want to know what is on your mind. If you have questions, ask them and I will try to give an answer. If you have thoughts and feel you need to share them but don't know who to share them with then share them with me. Feel free to comment here or send me an e-mail at pmcartwright82@gmail.com .

In other news i am happy to say that I managed to pay off a whole credit card today. One of my new year's commitments is to try to climb out from under some accumulated debt and I feel like this was a good start. I hope you are blessed for stopping by today, I know I have been blessed because you decided to.

Be Strong and Courageous,
Paul

Happy New Year

Good Morning Everyone,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year!!! I am sure you think I am being crafty by waiting this long to wish you all a happy new year but the truth is I am just really bad at updating my blog.

We spent Christmas in beautiful snow covered Minnesota. I can't say much for the state except that it is beautiful when covered in snow. While in Minnesota I was given the privilege of preaching at the Roseville Church of Christ as well as teaching their Sunday morning Bible class. And just so you don't think all I did was have fun while I was there I have a couple of pictures to share with you of me shoveling snow and running the snow blower

I have decided this year to not make any new year's resolutions. I have found that most of the time the resolutions don't happen so I am making a decision not to fail. I am however going to work on some new commitments in the new year so we will see how that goes. While I am not going to share all of those commitments with the whole world I will share that I am hoping to keep in touch with my friends from the past during 2009.

To that end Thursday night I am going to have dinner with a couple of people I sang in choir with in High School. I am very excited to catch up with them and for them to get to know April better and for me to get to know their spouses better. I am even more excited that my best friend and best man Casey Rice will be returning home from the United States Navy tomorrow as well. I am hoping Casey will decide to make the Houston area his home again and that we can catch up on old times.

Today I hope that if yo have made new year's resolutions that you will stick to them. I hope if you are like me and not making resolutions that you will at least make some new year's commitments. Let's make 2009 a great year for furthering the Kingdom of God both here in the USA and abroad. I hope you are as blessed today for reading this as I am by your reading of this.

Be Strong and Courageous,

Paul