Christmas Memories

I was blessed with a huge family on my mom's side of the family. At Christmas every year, everyone showed up at MaMaw and PaPaw's for Christmas Eve. There would be 40-50 people stuffed into their house in the mountains of eastern KY. We would eat incredible country cooking and then wait for my uncle Sam (a.k.a. Santa Claus) to climb in through the window with all kinds of presents. I didn't realize how much fun I was really having at the time, but I would love to be "10" again for just one of those nights!

What is your favorite Christmas memory?

Self Portrait

Samuel Butler said, "Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself." That is an interesting thought when couple with the apostle Paul's teaching that "whatever you do whether in word or in deed do it all for the glory of the Lord."

So what is it that I am doing? What is it that you are doing? Are we painting a portrait of ourself or can people see Christ through us and through what we do?

As Arsenio Hall used to say, that's one of those things that makes you go "Hmmm".

God's Financial Bailout - HUGE FAITH

Hey we just finished a great month talking about God's Financial Bailout for our life. His Bailout is to "trust him completely" for what you need in life. It was a great month and many people began making some changes in their financial life.

But how can we develop that huge level of faith that really trusts God with the big things in out life. The next two weeks we will look at what it takes to have GIGABYTES of FAITH and some constant things that God uses to grow that faith.

I would love to hear some huge faith stories from you ...

Plastic Surgery in Church

I never really thought much about having plastic surgery. Seems like there are a lot of other things I could enjoy doing more with my money. I absolutley never thought about witnessing plastic surgery and especially not in church.

Last Sunday we had a couple dozens plastic surgeries performed in our worship center. It is hard to say for sure exactly how many were done because the excess parts simply covered the bottom of the two trash cans where they were discarded. Pieces of people's past life of various shapes and colors that had made them so unhappy.

It was so amazing to see people streaming to the front of the church to give offerings to God and for some that offering was to have this surgery performed to bring their life more in line with where God wants us to be. Since then I have received emails from some who siad their recovery time was instantaneous. Truly amazing!!

Oh by the way, did I mention that the surgery was on their credit cards which were shredded at the bottom of the cans?

What is it you need to give up to God?

Don't Overlook the Obvious

This morning I began the process of trying to get the Internet fixed at home. I was prepared to sit on hold for quite a while. I had set up the laptop on the desk next to the modem and the router. Just before I dialed the phone to begin the technology nightmare that I was sure would make me look like an idiot, I decided to double check all the wires. They were fine and secure, but then I noticed and interesting button. It simply said "Internet On/Off". Ok so I felt like an idiot, but nobody had to know. But as I drove into the office I began to wonder, what other obvious things am I overlooking?

As we approach Thanksgiving I have made a commitment to myself to look for those little things that I have to be thankful for. I can usually tell you the things I would like to change or go better, but I need to see the little things that are great that I often overlook.

What about you? What obvious blessings have you been overlooking?

A Weekend at the Henry County Hilton

I just returned from my first deer hunting experience. It was awesome! I have been threatening to do this for years, because whenever I drive down the road I can spot dear, even bucks all the time. So this was it. My guide was the imfamous Sam Eyle, otherwise known as our counseling minister. A counseling minister with a lot of guns, a target range and land to hunt; what a combination.

I arrived late in the afternoon on Thursday to practice shooting the gun I would be using. Sam showed me the ropes and pointed at the target and said try your best to get it in the six inch circle. Three shots, three in the circle, I'm ready - who knew I could shoot. Then it is off to the deck to enjoy the sunset and I see 5-8 deer in a field several hundred yards away. Tomorrow is going to be such a great day. Then Sam fixes an incredible dinner with the biggest steak I have had in years and baked potatoes. It was unbelieveable. Talk for a while then off to bed early.

Alarm goes off at 5:45. I didn't realize there was one of those when the sun wasn't up. We get dressed and are in the woods by 6:30 waiting for the sun to come up. The plan is simple first doe I see and then wait for the buck. Piece of cake!

My first deer hunt was incredible. I got to spend nine hours in the woods, marveling over God's creation. I got to hunt hiding behind logs, up in a tree stand, sitting at the edge of an open field. It was incredible!

Thanks Sam for the incredible weekend at the Henry County Hilton.

Oh by the way - I didn't see one stinking deer on the hunt! Oh well.

Yellow Wired

I am sitting at a Surviving Leadership retreat at Northside Christian Church with John Walker from Blessings Ranch. The concept of the day is are you "yellow wired". "Yellow Wired" is when you bypass the designed wiring to cross a circuit and ignore the planned wiring design.

It is an interesting thought as it pertains to ministry. It implies that you are bypassing important issues and decisions because to the difficulty of plowing through the issues.

So I am now trying to decide what areas I am yellow wiring. What about you?

Character

I just returned from a rally with Laura Bush. I have to admit it was my first such rally, but when Senator Gary Tapp who is a member of our church invited me I jumped at the chance. It was a rather long event with several elected officials and candidates speaking before First Lady Bush arrived. Then there was the long wait as secret service cleared the building and got the First Lady headed back to the airport.

The wait gave me time to think about the day. It dawned on me that the thing that stuck out most in my mind as I listened to poeple speak was "character". Every candidate and elected official that was there talked about their faith. Gary even quoted from the sermon at church yesterday. In fact several talked about their faith and mentioned by name people they were praying for that were going through difficult times.

Then as I reflected on Mrs. Bush and why everyone likes her so much, I realized it is her character. When she talks you believe her and even more important you realize that she believes what she is saying and is not just saying it.

One of the speakers spoke of a candidate that I won't mention by name, but he made this comment. He said, "He is a SELF-MADE man and he worships his creator." If you are not careful the impact of that can slip right by you. A self-made man who worships his creator, worships himself. There is not much "character" in that, just ego.

I do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, but the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills does and he has it all under control, regardless of who we elect. He just may have to work harder in one scenario than the other.

It's Time to Pray

It's about 8 days until our country steps into the polling booth and cast our votes for the next president and several other important positions depending on where you live. The rhetoric has been going on for months. If you were able to put a meter on it you would probably find that none of the candidates are completely truthful or forthcoming.

So what are we going to do? It is time to PRAY! 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us that God is willing to help and heal our land, if we are willing to pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. It starts with prayer and simple prayer that asks God to help you with the rest of what he asks of us. Prayer is the beginning of seeking His face and the beginning of turning from our wicked ways.

Chuck did an awesome job today of reminding us that God is pro-life and all that this means. It is much bigger than the Roe v. Wade decision although that is a huge part of this campaign. It goes to the very meaning of life and how we are going to live it.

I would like to encourage Christians to spend next Monday fasting and praying not only about how you are going to cast your votes but for the will of the Lord to be done. We will be having a group prayer time at church this Wednesday night and the building will be open for prayer from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. next Tuesday if you would like to stop in and pray before going to cast your votes!

Praise You for the Rain

We never know when God is going ot answer our prayers. Many of us have been praying for rain for weeks. I've got to be honest driving from Knoxville to Frankfort in the rain today wouldn't have been my first choice for a trip home from the mountains, but as I recall I didn't say anything about the timing of the rain in my prayers. Not that it would have made any difference in when God sent the rain. Now that I am home I am just glad that it rained.

I am sorry we had to postpone the Impact Service Day tomorrow, but I am glad that it rained.

When was the last time you realized that your prayers had been answered in a way other than what you thought was best?

By the way, if you still really want to work in the cold and rain tomorrow, I'll be in the garage! (At my house)

The Beauty of God and Friends

I am in East Tennessee for a trustees meeting at Milligan College and yesterday before the meetings started I got to experience the beauty of God and a friend. The beauty of the East Tennessee hills in the fall is breathe taking. As I rode to each new vantage point I was able to see another panoramic view of God's wonderful creation. - OK - I was on a golf course, but it was still beautiful, which brings me to the second beautiful thing.

I got to spent the morning playing golf and talking one on one with a dear friend and mentor Dennis Bratton. Dennis has done an amazing job of leading Christ Church at Mandarin into a multi-campus mega church. The beauty is that he cares enough to engage in time and conversation to help me learn to be a better leader.

This caused me to consider how blessed I have been to have Dennis and other men like him that have shared their wisdom with me and to pray that I will be able to pay their kindness back by investing my life in the lives of others that come behind me.

So here is the question. What do you have to share with someone that you could mentor and who will that person be? Why not start today?

God First - Even in Politics?

We have spent this year focusing on two words at our church, "God First". We have spent a lot of time suggesting what it means to put God first in every area of our life. First in our family, first in our finances, first in our thoughts, first in our jobs, first in our relationships; in other words we have realized that God wants to be first in all areas of our life.

We are even talking about putting Him first in our political views by having a Biblical Worldview in every area of our life. So we know what He wants - to be first.

But I am not sure we know how to put Him first. I am not sure I always know how to put Him first. We all seem to have certain closets or drawers that we want to keep for ourselves, while turning the areas we have don't struggle with over to Him. What makes the "how" so hard is the drawers are different for everyone of us.

So here's my first thought putting "God first" in our lives starts with deciding that is truly what we want to do and telling him through prayer that this is our desire and then patiently letting the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

Paul told the Philippians that God would see the good work in them through to completion. So how about it are you ready to open some closet and drawers and allow God to be first in your life.

I Love My Life

Last Friday night Jason and I went to Big Blue Madness (UK ROCKS!!!) It was so much fun getting to dream about and anticipate another year of Kentucky basketball. Before the events began Evann (my daughter) came up to sit with us in the nose bleed section. She had great seats because she now works in the UK Sports Media office. Just as the team was about to be announced Evann made her way back down to the good seats via the actual Rupp Arena floor, where she convienently made her way to a corner and stayed. Right next to where the players were coming out to be introduced. Several times, she texted me with these words, "Did I mention I love my life!" I have laghed about that several times this week, but today I paused to remember how blessed she is to have her life and how blessed I am to share it with her.

December 7 of last year Evann could have easily been killed in an accident on I-75. Since that time she has taken on a new appreciation for life and so have we.

So here is my question ... what does it take for us to love our life?

Did You Give God Your Best

This morning as we were worshipping I could sense God asking me, "Are you giving me your best?". I listened to even closer to the words we were singing in the songs Mighty to Save and God of This City. It made me realize all that God was doing even when I don't realize it and how much I have been forgiven of throughout my life, including today. It made me want to sing with everything that I could muster so that the whole world would know. So I began to wonder why don't we give God everythign we have everytime we worship. Any thoughts?

Do the Right Thing

Last week a young lady at our church was competing in the regional golf tournament. The team celebrated as scores were posted and showed the team winning the region by 19 strokes and going to state. But Michaela realized the posted score was not her correct score and that she had signed an incorrect score card. Without hesitation Michalea went to the scorers table and disclosed the mistake. She was disqualified and her score was thrown out and replaced by the score of the number five player, a sixth grader who had never broken 100. That day Madison shot a 99 and when her score replaced Michaela's the team was still ONE STROKE ahead and won the region. Shannon played really well and Candice won the region with a one-under par and a hole in one. I am so proud of these girls who stepped up, played awesome golf and to Michaela who in a world of people who cut corners, she did the RIGHT THING!!!

Creating Our Own God

My wife and I were having a discussion as we got ready this morning in which she made a very interesting observation. We often think of false gods as being idols, such as people or things. But anytime we try to alter the character of the God of the Bible to anything other than what scripture teaches we are creating a false God. We do that anytime we make comments that begin with words like, "Well I know the Bible says God is ______, but ..." As soon as we add the but and interject our personal opinion we either have created or are dangerously close to creating a false god. I wonder why people can't just read the Bible and accept God for who He is rather than trying to create a god that fits them? O yea, I forgot, it's Satan tempting us ...

Beware of False Prophets

2 Peter 2:1 says, But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

One of the most disturbing things that I see happening today is the introduction of new age theology by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has gained such a high public profile and is a good enough person that many are willing to take anything from her as gospel.

Oprah has had her book club for years and this year to two primary books are A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and A Course in Miracles by Marianne Willliamson. Both are deeply entrinched in the new age philosophy that we each become our own god. Williamson says, In the end, you will have become your own Teacher, with your own path toward peace, wholeness and love.

Beware and watch for my posting next week of the Keep on Reaching weekly enews available at www.shelbychristian.org