Keep On Reaching

I Didn't See That Coming

2012-02-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been to a meeting expecting one thing or one response and it was nothing like what you expected? Or maybe it was just a chance encounter and you thought the conversation was headed in one direction and then "bamm" out of the blue the direction changed to something very serious.

Today was one of those days, it was a fairly trivial, yet very polite conversations about the day to day things we were dealing with in life and this in exactly 19.2 seconds (or close to that) we were into a full blown conversation of life, death, pain and suffering, tears and all. To quote the famous American Christmas philosopher Clark Griswold, "I couldn't have been any more surprised if I had awoken with my head sown to the carpet." I sat quietly listening to others talk for a moment about why there was suffering in the world and why God allowed it. The person raising the questions claimed to be a believer in God, Jesus, the afterlife in heaven and yet was really struggling. I finally interjected the reality of living in a fallen world, which was met with a sudden strange silence.

Then it hit me it is the silence or lack of explanations that accounts for many missed opportunities if sharing our faith. It was Peter who told us, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." (1 Peter 3:15) I am intrigued by the whole concept that Peter introduces. Three major issues are involved here. First, is "always being prepared". God is going to throw open some doors in your life when He is counting on you to be the voice of truth and light in the darkness of someones deepest despair. As followers of Christ our DNA would indicate that we will be ready for that open door so that we can share Christ. Second, is that we would be ready or prepared to bring hope into an otherwise hopeless situation. People are looking for hope to get them through that next day or maybe even that next moment. If sharing Christ is going to be so much a part of DNA that we are always prepared then that looking of rotten fruit and pickle juice that we often carry on our faces has got to go. We are messengers of hope not doom, joy not gloom! Third, we must be ready to share the hope of Christ with gentleness and respect. The attitude that we have all the answers and people can just go to hell if they don't believe exactly like we do has no place in a community of changed lives who want to have an undeniable influence.

When do you think your next opportunity is coming? That's just it, when it does happen and you are looking back at it afterwards, chances are your one of your first thoughts will be "I didn't see that coming!"

A Flash from the Past

2012-01-27T19:06:00.000-05:00

I guess any time a person has surgery they are forced to do a little self-inspection. After sleeping most of the afternoon thanks to the wonderful pain medicine I was sent home with I decided to check my social networks and see what had happened while I was away. I found this picture from thirty-two years ago. We were actually studying (sort of) for Bible Bowl with our youth ministry intern David Mabon. I know how old I am, so he must be really old since he was already in college. Those were such great times at Southern Acres! Growing up with great youth ministers like Larry Green and Russell Johnson and several fun interns like David and Mark Snavely and others. Today as I reflect on life I sure am thankful for this part of my heritage!

Thankful for Friends

2012-01-26T19:21:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a week. The long awaited knee surgery is over and now the recovery process begins. I have been blessed with great friends throughout this ordeal as well as the doctors and nurses who have been so caring. Of course, the best nurse is the one I have had with me for 25 years now. I can't wait to see what I can do when everything is healed. I had really hoped to be able to write a lot during this time, but focusing is a little hard right now. I have learned so much already just going through the journey. I know every time we find ourselves in difficult situations we want to say the right thing and often don't know what that thing is. Let me make a suggestion while it is fresh on my mind that I am going to try to live by. When someone is facing surgery, let's not wish them good luck, because as a believer I don't want to count on luck I want to count on God. Let me suggest that we encourage people to "be blessed", instead of wishing them good luck. I know everyone has the best of intentions when they say good luck, but "be blessed" seems more in line with what I believe is the desire of Christians.

The other lesson that I continue to learn is honesty. I make so many mistakes on a daily basis with the things I mis-state and with the some choices I make. I want to be the kind of friend that always comes clean with those things and makes things right with my friends. If we could all learn to be honest in everything we say we would never have to cover our tracks, remember what we told someone else, because it would always be the truth. The best kind of friend you can have is that one that will always be straight with you. If you have someone like that in your life thank God for them, if you don't you start the process by being like that with someone else. Friends are a beautiful thing! I thank God for mine!

It's Coming - Are You Ready

2012-01-12T19:26:00.002-05:00

Our physical DNA defines who we are as an individual. We believe that there are several markers for those that are truly striving to follow Christ that make up their spiritual DNA. Who are you? What do you look like? Can people see Christ living in you? How are you going to live?

I have become so convinced that there are certain markers in our spiritual DNA that define what we look like as a Christian as much as our physical DNA defines us in our physical appearance. We are working hard to define and package these in such a way that they can help those who call themselves Christians to evaluate if they are really "All In" for Christ. If they are these markers will stand out so that the world can see a difference. Not a bizarre weirdness, but an inexplicably peace that passes all human worldly understanding.

We are going to start unpacking this on February 26 at Shelby Christian Church. Mark your calendar and join us Feb 26 at 9:30 or 11:00 a.m.

What Are You Reading?

2012-01-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

I am always trying to read more and more and never seem to have enough time. How about we share things we are learning through our individual reading and maximize our efforts. I am currently reading two books. The first is You Lost Me by David Kinnaman. It describes research about the generation of young adults that find themselves wandering and the church at large not knowing how to find them or in many cases not even willing to look. Kinnaman divides those young adults in the Mosaic or Millennial generation who have lost touch with the local church into three categories. Nomads who think of themselves as Christians but who have drifted away from the church of their parents. Prodigals are those who have given up on the faith of their childhood. Exiles feel stuck between the idealistic world of church and the real world they find themselves living and trying to survive in. I am finding the facts recorded from surveys amazingly on track with what I am experiencing with the high school football players I work with on Friday night and the thoughts of my own children. I hope that I can lead our church to finding these valuable young adults.

The second book that I am reading is actually a reread of Timothy Keller's book Prodigal God. I use that in our leadership training group every year to set the tone for a church that cares about those that may have lost their way. Keller has such a wonderful view of the church's role as the older brother who needs to be out looking for the lost brother rather than relishing in staying home and then complaining when the lost one finds his way. Much to think about in that concept.

So what are you reading and what is that book causing you to think about?

New Year, New Thoughts

2012-01-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about what God has in store for this new year! 2011 was a great year for learning about God. He proved himself faithful to my physical family with healing and restoration. He proved himself faithful to our spiritual family on the hill with new excitement, new energy, changed lives and financial blessings in the last three months. What does He have in store for this year.

We had a great time of worship and teaching on "contentment" on Sunday. Contentment is such a great concept and yet it may be one of the most difficult things to achieve in our current climate and culture. God proves Himself so faithful and what do we seem to need ... "Just a Little Bit More". I wonder why? I have known the words of Phillipians 4:8-13 for a long time, but still struggle living it out. Read these words from Paul as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message,
^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. ^10-14I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

I have a lot of hopes and dreams for myself, my family and my church ... but my biggest goal for right now is to be content with what God has in store for me and not to run ahead of the one who created and me and let His Son die for me. What I deserved was hell, but God stepped in! So my prayer for you is that you will dream big dreams, lift them up to God in prayer and then be content with His response.

I Think We Are All Hoarders

2011-10-25T10:59:00.000-04:00

I have to admit I have never watched, nor do I plan to watch more than 5 minutes of that show on television. I feel sorry for the families involved and don't need to see it to know that it is a very real problem. In fact, I really can't find any redeeming value to showing it on TV.

Hi, my name is Dave and I am a hoarder! Not in the way those folks on TV are depicted but I hoard my time, my thoughts, my feelings. I don't really hoard my money, but I know a lot of people that do. I know some that hoard relationships, opinions and even prejudices.

Why can't we all just let things go and focus on things that really matter and that will make a difference in the time we have here on earth and beyond? What are we holding onto and why are we squeezing so tight?

Seriously do you think heaven is segregated? Of course not, then why do we hoard our biases and personal prejudices here on earth. The time is coming when they are going to get thrown away. What about that money? How many times do we have to be told we can't take it with us? Churches, colleges, orphanages and every non-profit organization I know are struggling for funds and people are saying we can't give because of the recession, but they have been to see Mickey Mouse in that land wonderful kingdom three times this year.

I admit it there are still a lot of things that I hoard, and a lot of them I need to get rid of. I need to get one of those huge garbage dumpsters and park it at the front door of my heart and start loading stuff in. My fear is that I would have to have it towed away and emptied multiple times before I really get everything cleaned out. Luke 17:31 says, "When the Day arrives and you're out working in the yard, don't run into the house to get anything. And if you're out in the field, don't go back and get your coat. Remember what happened to Lot's wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms."

I really do want to live life on God's terms and quit worrying about what the world says. So I'm trying to decide daily what to hold onto in this world. I hoard my time with my family. I know I was blessed into this world with a wonderful family, with great parents, a brother and sister in law and aunts and uncles and a wonderful heritage. I married so far over my head with a godly wife who amazes me daily with her knowledge of God's word. I loved her parents so much and miss our trips to Tennessee. God blessed me with beautiful daughter that will always be daddy's little girl. She is incredibly witty and just as beautiful on the inside as the outside. God gave me a son whom I dearly love. The last five years have been a struggle, but I have learned so much about grace and forgiveness, and I understand Luke 15:20 on a completely new level. I am so proud of where he is now but know that the battle is still on. I get to be a "Poppy" to two beautiful granddaughters who may have been unexpected, but are dearly loved. So as I start throwing things away, these are the things I will be hoarding as long as God gives me breath and allows us all to live.

The rest of the stuff ... you can have it ... well except for ... just kidding take it all

Different Doesn't Have to Be Weird

2011-10-23T17:29:00.000-04:00

Don't be conformed to the ways of this world. - Romans 12:2 Don't be just like everyone else in the world. Be different from the rest, walk to the beat of a different drummer, go to the deep end when everyone else wants to stay in the shallow end with their spiritual floaties on. Over and over again Paul pushed people to spiritual transformation, but that real trsnformation didn't happen by just doing the same old thing in the safe places of our life. It is a challenge to go deeper, to get out of your comfort zone, it's a call to be different.

But being different doesn't mean being weird. Christians need to be different than world, but still be able to relate to the world. In the world, just not of this world. In a effort to show their commitment to Christ, I see far too many people being weirdly different from the world. So much so that they aren't drawing people to Christ, but repelling them. I will never be able to give up the thought of Ghandi saying after his time in America, that he would have no doubt been drawn to Christinaity if it weren't for Christians.

Spiritual transformation happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our life with no pride for who we are and nothing but respect for who Jesus is. It is the process of sanctification that allows us to continually become more and more like Christ. Jesus was so different from the world, but in a way that drew people toward Him. The only ones that left were the Pharisees who felt threatened and some disciples in John 6 who thought that the teaching was too hard. Everyone else was drawn to Him.

Why in the world would a man light a candle and then hide it under a basket? What are you doing with your candle? Different doesn't have to weird, just the result of a changed life. How has God been changing you one choice at a time?

Pleasing God

2011-10-19T10:09:00.000-04:00

This Sunday I will sharing the fourth sermon in our "How Should We Live" series from 1 Thessalonians. This week's theme is "Live to Please God". We sing a song that says, "For the praises of man I will never ever stand." In theory we know that we live to praise God with our life, but something interesting occured to me as I reread this passage in 1 Thessalonians again and again. How we treat our fellow man affects how pleased God is with our lives. This is especially true when that fellow man is a fellow follower of Christ. Sometimes Christians say the meanest things and it usually happens when they don't get their way. It is so easy to criticize the other person for not doing something that you yourself should be doing as well and not even realize it.

Somebody ought to clean up that mess in the lobby of the church! Somebody ought to start a ministry for single moms! Somebody ought to go and visit the senior citizens in our church! I sure wish I could meet "somebody". Are they a real person? Did their mother really name them "somebody"? If so they sure are going to be busy all of their life, because there sure is a whole lot of stuff for "somebody" to do.

In verse 9 of this chapter Paul talks about "brotherly love". He uses the word "phileo". In its original use outside of the New Testament it meant the mutual love that children of the same father had for each other. Maybe they didn't always agree but they were family and because of that they always had "bortherly love" for each other. In the New Testament it became the term used for the love between fellow believers in Christ. I wonder if "somebody" is receiving "phileo" from those who so easily use his name in a negative way.

The realilty is everytime we use the word "somebody" we have a face in mind. At home we want "somebody" to clean up this room, at work we want "somebody" to finish this project, at church we want "somebody" to care start a new ministry or care for the hurting. I would love to suggest that, you go ahead and get that picture of "somebody" find a really nice frame for it and have it around the house so that you will always know who that "somebody" is. But if you really want to please God with your lives, right before you hang that picture on the wall ... you replace it with a mirror.

Life Change Doesn't Happen Over Night

2011-10-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

When I was in graduate school I was an assistant basketball coach at the college I had attended. We were on our way home one night after an out of state game as we crossed the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina we found ourselves snow bound at the top of a mountain in over a foot of snow. It was bizarre because there was no snow at the bottom. We found a small roadside motel that looked like a place where they make movies with guys named "Bates" in it, but they had enough rooms for us and so we checked in. There wasn't a restraunt, so we emptied all of money into the vending machines had a short snow ball fight and went to bed. The next morning when we woke up and looked out the back window it was amazing to see the valley right behind the motel that we hadn't even known was there the night before covered in nearly two feet of perfectly, unblemished snow. It was magnificent! I still remember how can anything as bad as an unexpected snow storm that leaves you stranded create anything so beautiful. What an incredible difference a night made! It wasn't long before the plows came over the mountain and we were able to return to campus, but I still remember the difference in the feeling of going to sleep not knowing how long we would be stranded, versus waking up to the absolute beauty of the morning.

Wouldn't it be wondeful if life change in critical areas of our life happened overnight. How many nights have you gone to bed, just praying that things would be different in the morning? Would you be ready for everything to be o.k. in the morning or would you be as shocked as I was at the beauty that lay just behind that old hotel. In Psalm 90 the writer asks God for a break. He wants him to take away the pain and have compassion. Have you ever cried, "enough Lord?"

Psalm 90¹³ Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. ¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. ¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble."

The Psalmist asked more good days that would match bad years. Bad stuff is going to happen. There are going to be unexpected storms that interupt our plans for life. God loves us in the midst of the storm. Sometimes when you look just behind your unfortunate circumstances, he'll reveal a beautiful painting. Sometimes it will happen so fast that you can't believe that it is real, even though you have been praying for that very thing for years. Life change seldom happens over night, but joy does come on that morning of change! I know it does because as a parent I am living in the joy of this moment in time!

Joy - Really?

2011-10-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

James 1 ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Joy really? When we face trials? O.K. so it is probably not the joy that is seen in balloons and streamers. We all face trials, but nothing like what I watched this week as I witnessed the persecution recorded on the Voice of the Martyrs website http://www.persecution.com/ .

I just truly think that all Christians need to take some time to watch some of the videos there and find out specifically how to pray for people who are truly struggling.

I still have caught myself complaining at times, but when I do I am reminding myself of those that are being persecuted on levels that I haven't ever experienced and that allows me to be a little more joyful, knowing that things could be much worse.

Why Would They Follow?

2011-10-14T09:58:00.000-04:00

I just reread the account from Mark's gospel of Jesus calling Levi (Matthew) to be a disciple? Why would Matthew or Peter, Andrew, James or John, or any of the other seven guys just drop everything to follow Jesus? At the time he called them He was just starting his public ministry. He had done nothing that set him apart, they just followed. Some guys left the family fishing business, nets in the boat, boats in the water and followed Jesus. Why? Matthew left his collection desk. No telling how much ill gotten gain was under the table and he followed Jesus. Why?

I would love to know what it was about his character that made them want to follow. My wife pointed out a few weeks ago how people followed his instructions at the wedding feast in Galilee. The Bible specifically tells us it was the first miracle, so there was no evidence to them that a miracle was about to happen. Mary's words were remarkable, "Do whatever He tells you to do!" Why would they do that? But they did! BAM! Water into wine and the ministry is on! But why would they follow him?

Maybe the better question today is, "Why Don't We Follow?" Two thousand years and millions of life changing miracles later, either directly from the hands of Jesus or the miracle of prayer. We have seen Him work and we know what can happen and we still don't do what he says or follow his leading.

Oh when someone asks if we believe in Jesus the majority of people in the western hemisphere say yes. But do we follow? Why did those who had no clue choose to follow?

Could it be that they were at the end of their hope rope? They had tried everything on their own and they didn't know what else to try. Matthew had cheated people out of so much money that his only remaining friends were fellow tax collectors. Peter, Andrew, James and John were smelly fishermen with calloused hands and aching backs that needed some hope and relief that there was more to life than just this hard labor. The servants at the wedding feast were probably terrified of how the master would react when the wine was gone. When people come to the end of their hope rope they will do things that they have never done before. They will follow anything or anyone that might offer hope.

So how much longer can you hang on to the non-Messianic undivine hope rope you are grasping? What is it going to take to realize that your marriage will never be all that is could be without Jesus? That your children are never going to be truly obedient without Jesus? That the money will not last no matter how hard you try without Jesus? That the addiction will never be conquered without Jesus? When you have tried it all on your own and you find your loosing your grip on that hope rope, follow Jesus!

But here is the best question, why wait that long?

I'd love to hear soem stories of why you chose to follow. Or even why you haven't!

The Evidence of Things Unseen

2011-10-13T12:06:00.000-04:00

Why does life have to be so hard? Have you ever caught yourself asking that question? Maybe I should ask how many days, hours or minutes has it been since you asked that question. In this world of instant everything, some seem to think that there should be "instant peace" in the life of someone who claims to be a Christian, at least that is, if God, the Bible and Jesus are all really real.

How does that balance with Jesus himself telling us in Matthew 5 to ⁴⁴ love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? Everyone has tough times, the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous. I have learned in the midst of the storm I just want to see the outcome. How is this thing going to end? Will I survive this turmoil in my life? While that would most definitely be nice, it wouldn't be faith now would it. At the moment we know it, it is fact not faith!

The writer of Hebrews in the introduction to that great Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11 wrote ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. You and I have to believe in some things that we cannot see.

Yesterday I heard an interview with a blind cross country runner. Talk about faith in what we cannot see. This coach has to be faster than the runner and able to run just barely ahead and given commands as to direction for one who literally can't see the way. Can you even imagine running as hard as you can, even if it is not very fast by comparsion, and not being able to see what is coming, except through the eyes of someone else? Warning you to go left or right, faaster or slower, run uphill or down, watch out for that hole in the path.

Here's the deal gang, if the Bible is true that is exactly what God promises us that the Holy Spirit will do.

Nehemiah 9

¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

Isaiah 58
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will
strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

John 16
¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

The evidence of things unseen ... thank you God ... stregthen my FAITH!

I Still Don't Know What to Say

2011-05-26T14:17:00.000-04:00

I choose to believe 100% in an omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (always there) God!!! Without choosing to believe that this is nothing but and evil existence that will someday end in death for all of us. To not believe this leaves humanity to live hopeless and helpless lives. To believe it leaves humanity with some very difficult days here on this earth and yet a very bright future in the end.

But does He really cause everything that happens to happen for a reason. If he is omniscient in that he knows how I will always respond and in turn is causing events to happen to change me, then is it my free will or his. Am I choosing to follow Him or being manipulated like a puppet on a string?

Can that God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, bring good out of an absolutely horrible situation? You bet He can!!

It is amazing to me how the most painful hurts in life have taught me the most. The older I get the more I have to learn and the more I admit that I don't know. I am a whole lot more judgmental of myself than I am of others. I don't have all the answers anymore, not that I ever did but at least now I realize I don't. I have learned how easy it is to come up short and not be successful. I understand grace so much more, because I have experienced it so much more. The interesting thing is that the few lessons I have learned have almost always come out of failure on my part. Not something someone else did and certainly not something God caused to happen. You see I can't blame Him for my dumb choices. But in the midst of the storms I have seen the hand of God at work. I still don't understand the storms, but I know that he is there. I wish I knew what lesson it is that I have not yet learned, because I would sure like to learn.

I get tired and frustrated a lot and I don't know what to say, but I try to keep on reaching. Keep on reaching for answers, keep on reaching for understanding, keep on reaching for God and keep on reaching to pull others. For me I have determined that I have two hands so that I can reach out for God and reach out to others at the same time. I am reaching out for the God that is working things out for my good not causing bad things to happen for a reason. Satan keeps bringing the bad and will as long as he is loose, but God just keeps working all things out for the good based on two qualifiers from scripture. Romans 8:28 tells us He is working things out for the good of those who LOVE HIM and are FOLLOWING HIS CALLING on his life. We can't live like hell and expect God to work things out.

I Don't Know What to Say

2011-05-25T15:40:00.000-04:00

Those of you that know me, know that there are very few times in life that I can't find anything to say! I find myself though exactly at that place. I really don't know what is going on in the world. I jokingly told everyone on Sunday that I knew in my heart that Mr. Camping was wrong, but had hoped he was right. Sometimes true honestly is spoken in jest. Maybe that is exactly what I was longing for, especially after seeing what happened in Joplin MO on Sunday night.

I guess it is just because I have been to Joplin so many times in the 1980's and 1990's when I was a youth pastor and I stayed in motels on Rangeline that are gone now. I ate in restraunts that are gone now. I just spent some time on Ozark Christian College's Facebook page and though the campus wasn't effected structurally, it will never be the same. Homes of employees totally destroyed, family and friends missing, and to date one student known dead in an off campus apartment.

Last Facebook post of Natalia Puebla, the OCC student who died in the tornado: "No guilt in life, no fear of death-this is the power of Christ in me.From life's first cry til final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, could ever pluck me from His hand. Til He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I live." What gives a seventeen year old girl the courage to write that moments before Jesus welcomes her home?

I watched a YouTube video from my friend Kyle Idleman, who grew up in Joplin when his dad was president of OCC. He is in Joplin helping and posted and incredible video of a church that was completely destroyed except for the cross, which was still standing. Another picture of the Bendville Christian Church shows everything in a pile except for the back wall with the baptistry and the cross still standing.

I don't know what to say, but this is what I know, GOD DID NOT CAUSE THIS!!!! He can and will work through this but he did not cause this. If God allows me to this Sunday I will preach on the myth, urban legend, false teaching or whatever you want to call it when people say "everything happens for a reason". As if God is somehow behind this throwing tornados from the sky, tsunamis from the ocean as a punishment of some sort or even as a way to get even with a broken world. The world is broken that is why things aren't always the way we wish they were. God wanted us to live in total peace. In a world void of tornados, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, divorce, cancer, heart disease and broken families. That all changed in Genesis 3! Ever since that time God has been doing everything he can to help us make good choices even in difficult times, but he is not causing these things to happen. He didn't cause them for a reason. He can and will work things out for good for those who love Him and are following His call on them, but he is not causing tornadoes and other devastation. He works in the midst of the devastation, but he doesn't cause the devastation or find any level of joy in the devastation. But there is one who does ...

When the devastating events of this life, that were brought on as sin entered the world, happen there is one that takes great joy. He doesn't cause individual events, but the sin that he ushered into the world set a path of devastation into the world that is the result of or the consequences of a broken fallen world. Killer tornadoes and tsunamis and cancer and divorce are not part of God's plan, they come straight from the pits of hell from the moment that Satan ushered sin into the world.

I don't get it, I don't know what to say. I am hurt, I am mad, but most of all I am confused. Faith doesn't fix everything and everything doesn't happen for a reason. But in the midst of my confusion I CHOOSE to hang on to these simple truths, GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT, HE IS STILL ON THE THRONE AND HE LOVES ME WHEN NOT EVEN I UNDERSTAND WHY ... and that leaves me speechless ...

So What's a Bad Day?

2011-03-10T18:12:00.000-05:00

I have had a bad day! Really ? It's all relative!

All of us who are parents have read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, and we all somehow think it was written about us. I mean it's March Madness and "terrible, horrible no good very bad" things are already happening. Last Saturday I am actually rooting for the Birds with Teeth from Louisville and they give the game to West Virginia, that's bad. Until I watch the referees in the St. John's/Rutgers game miss two obvious fouls and run off the court with time still on the clock and then I think, no that's bad! Then I remember watching in horror with the country as a Wes Leonard of Fennville Michigan makes the winning shot for his team and then die in front of them moments later. That's not bad that's devastating!

Today was a bad day for me. I found out that the insurance company is not going to come through on my appeal for extra physical therapy although they acknowledge I need it. So I have to come up with another $1500 on top of the $4K deductible. (Thanks to a special friend who already gave me $300 to help.) That was the beginning of my bad day. Then I couldn't make good connections with my wonderful wife who is in Munich Germany because my FB and IM on my iPhone were both being screwy. The bad day continues. Then I wheeled around in my office chair and bent my flash drive. My ace tech guy says, "This is not good." In fact, he can't fix it and someone I know forgot to back up most of what was on a 16G flash drive. Am I feeling any sympathy for my day yet.

I found out last week that my dad, who is 80 years old has a clogged artery in his neck. He is my hero and is a two time cancer survivor and has lived with a 100% blocked artery in his heart for 15 years. He had to have an MRI yesterday and is facing surgery in a couple weeks. My days not too bad I guess.

I just got a call at the office a couple hours ago that a wonderful young lady with a great family in our church has cancer again. We found out about it on Tuesday and then she got more bad news today. It is so aggressive this time that treatments start tomorrow. We love you Joy! I think my day is pretty good!

I don't know what to say. I am blessed to be a husband, father, and grandfather. In the last week I have had the privilege of spending three incredible days of fun with each of my children. I have a home and a fleet of cars (btw I've got a truck I'll sell you). I have food and clothes and my wife will be home tomorrow after eleven days serving people in Romania. And when she comes home I am going to squeeze her and hold her and I don't care who is watching ... because I am BLESSED with this day!

DAYS OFF ARE SO COOL

2011-02-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

I love being at the place in life where I can start enjoying days off. I enjoyed waking up with my granddaughter on my head and getting to play with her and before I had to take her to Child Town. I enjoyed getting to work in the garage and on the driveway. I enjoyed helping Kim purge things from the house (wait until she gets back from Romania, haha). I enjoyed visiting with a two new special people in our life. I enjoyed going to Lowes to buy some more stuff to work on the deck and other parts of the house. I enjoyed getting to spend the evening calling a basketball game on the radio with one of my best friends in all the world. I enjoyed coming home to my wonderful wife after the game. I enjoyed laughing at the fact that the last thing she said before going to walk was "I promise I'll turn you on". She meant the game on the radio .... what were you thinking? I enjoy the fact that some of you including Kim can't believe I just wrote that. It makes me smile and I am trying to do that more and more.

I just enjoy that God is slowly teaching me, or better said that I am slowly learning, to enjoy life and not sweat the small stuff. Because in fifty years this body and this life will be nothing but dust to me, but what's inside of me, the part that enjoys things, will be enjoying worshipping Jesus 24/7/365 for infinity.

That's real talk for my young readers and nothing but truth for those who don't understand real talk.

Days off are so cool, because I have time to think and write about random stuff!!

Peace, remember the shepherd loves his sheep and keep on reaching!

FCA JUST KEEPS ON REACHING

2011-02-18T16:48:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest joys I have had over the last two years is the opportunity to get reconnected with FCA and serve as chaplain to the 2009 Shelby County Rockets and the 2010 Collins Titans. I thank Todd Shipley so much for bringing me on in 2009. He is a great coach and person and we definitely had an "Uncommon Season". The move to a new school this year was fun, but I sure miss Ship and the Rockets. We have two great high schools and two Christian coaches, not too many communities can say that. I love Coach Lucas and what he is allowing me to do with a group of young men that goes far beyond the football field.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes is all about life. Sports is just the arena in which its leaders teach life and most importantly teach a life with Christ. This morning I got to spend some time in my office with Steve Wigginton, the state director of FCA and Scott Long, the great wide receiver from University of Louisville. Scott had a great career at U of L, and after a stint with the San Franscisco Forty-Niners is back in Louisville trying to give back by sharing Christ. While at U of L Scott became close to FCA campus chaplain Chris Morgan who poured himself into Scott, discipling him to be a true follower of Christ. Scott is now an area representative with FCA.

I encourage you to keep up with local FCA opportunites by reading their blog at http://www.fcalouisvilleky.blogspot.com/ . There is an annual golf scramble in the summer and auction in the fall that I encourage you to get involved in and help out. FCA is just Christ extended arm of the church to young people through the arena of athletics and it just keeps on reaching. Let's help them out!

Great Morning on the Hill

2011-02-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

Twenty-five guys gathered on the hill this morning at 7:00 to start our study on 1 Timothy. It was a great time. Join us for chapter 2 in two weeks. See you on the 26th. Here is what we studied.

1 Timothy 1

1-2I, Paul, am an apostle on special assignment for Christ, our living hope. Under God our Savior's command, I'm writing this to you, Timothy, my son in the faith. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!

Self-Appointed Experts on Life

3-4On my way to the province of Macedonia, I advised you to stay in Ephesus. Well, I haven't changed my mind. Stay right there on top of things so that the teaching stays on track. Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience.

5-7The whole point of what we're urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven't the remotest idea of what they're holding forth with such imposing eloquence.

8-11It's true that moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it and to whom you say it are as important as what you say. It's obvious, isn't it, that the law code isn't primarily for people who live responsibly, but for the irresponsible, who defy all authority, riding roughshod over God, life, sex, truth, whatever! They are contemptuous of this great Message I've been put in charge of by this great God.

12-14I'm so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn't know what I was doing—didn't know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

15-19Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever. Deep honor and bright glory to the King of All Time— One God, Immortal, Invisible, ever and always. Oh, yes!I'm passing this work on to you, my son Timothy. The prophetic word that was directed to you prepared us for this. All those prayers are coming together now so you will do this well, fearless in your struggle, keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we're in. 19-20There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two of them. I let them wander off to Satan to be taught a lesson or two about not blaspheming.

That stuff at the end about letting them go to Satan to be taught a lesson or two is some heavy duty stuff!

What Do You Want To Do

2011-02-10T12:28:00.000-05:00

Samuel Johnson, the famous British author, once said, "Nothing will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must first be overcome." What is it that you want to do, but you are afraid to try? Is something in your private world, like sky diving or scuba diving? Is it something in your financial world like starting a new business or who knows maybe even tithing to God? Is it something in your work world like suggesting a better way of doing things or maybe even switching jobs? Whatever it is, it will never happen if you don't try.

Now we have to be careful not to do things on impulse just because it is something we want to do. Jesus warned us of this in Luke 14 28-29 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you." Yet many people today do not count the cost before the do things and end up paying a huge price financially, emotionally and spiritually.

However, many more people seem to spend enormous amounts of time figuring out why something won't work rather than investigating what will make it work. Then there comes the time after all has been evaluated and maybe there are some questions unanswered that you just gotta JUMP!

When I was six years old my Uncle Sam was helping to teach me to swim. I kept watching the big kids jumping off the high dive and I wanted to jump so bad. Finally, one Sunday afternoon he said let's go. Now the ball was in my court. I wanted to go jump so bad, but I knew that once I climbed that ladder and left that board there was no going back. The really cool thing that I'll never forget is that when we got to the deep end and it was my turn to go off the board he jumped in the water and swam to the middle and then said, "alright now go ahead and jump." Suddenly I knew everything was going to be alright because he was right there where I was going to land and if I had trouble he was there to save me. He is still swimming into some deep waters with me today and I will always love him for it.

Now what about you and me and the other decisions that we have to make. We don't always have an uncle out in the water waiting for us. But wait there is someone ...

Jesus said in Matthew 17:28 "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” In Matthew 19:26 he said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Before Jesus said that God reminded His followers in Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So what do you want to do that seems so BIG? Spend some time evaluating, praying, seeking advice and wisdom. Then at the end of the day, even when all the questions aren't answered, go ahead and jump and know that your heavenly Father is there to catch you!

What do you want to do?

I Gotta a Feeling

2011-02-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching the Black Eyed Peas rock Texas Stadium at the Super Bowl. Musically not the best, but that is typical of most Super Bowl halftime shows. The outfits were weird, but hey they all stayed on and there were no wardrobe malfunctions. They did bring a lot of energy and excitement, so to that extent it was a "good good night".

I am sitting here all alone now watching the rest of the Steelers and Packers Super Bowl. Far too much yellow on the field for me, but it is a pretty competitive game. So I guess that makes it a "good, good night" for us football junkies.

I am not a real fan of the Black Eyed Peas, or the Steelers, or the Packers, but I can't get that song out of my head. You'll know that "tonight's gonna be a good, good night".

Here's what I am thinking. What would it take for me to believe that everyday is gonna be a good, good day? I don't seem to have that feeling much anymore. Four years of trauma have caused me to expect the bad in life more often than the good. I am working really hard on changing that this year.

I have been constantly telling myself that it is great to be alive, that God is in control, that grater is He that is in me than He that is in the world. I know this is the day that the Lord has made and I am supposed to rejoice and be glad in it. I know that the great thinker Henri Nouwen said, Joy and resentment can't co-exist."

I gotta a feeling that the problem is deep inside of me and rest in my inner spirit. Wait that Spirit that lives inside of me is the very spirit of a Living God. A God that created the universe in six days, regardless of what Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking have to say. A God that covered the entire earth with rain, parted the Red Sea, closed the mouths of the lions, that's the God whose Holy Spirit lives in me. A God who dramatically ambushed a guy named Saul and changed his life in a flash. A God who let His Son come to live among us for awhile, then let Him die on a cross for my sin and three days later brought Him back to life to prove to Satan that there was no power he had over us that He (God) could not overcome. That is the God who allows His Spirit to live inside of me and every other blood brought believer!

So guess what ... I gotta feeling that tonight is gonna be a good, good night and tomorrow is gonna be a good, good day!! I don't know I just got a feeling ....to God be the glory ... great things He has done.

Talk About Overcoming Adversity - WOW!

2011-02-05T17:02:00.000-05:00

I have been writing about dealing with adversity and a great guy from our church has had adversity thrust on him in a mighty way over the last six weeks. I asked his permission to share a letter of testimony and thanks that he wrote for our church this week. Enjoy and be encouraged ...

I was scheduled to have gall bladder surgery on Jan 3rd of this year. On Dec 29th, I began having a sore throat and congestion. Because of my job, I was unable to see a Dr until Jan 1st. A strep test came back negative and I was put on a z-pack of antibiotic to kill whatever was going on. I was told to call the surgeon's office first thing Monday morning to let them know what was going on. They called the Operating Room and we were given the green light for the surgery.
I arrived at Jewish hospital in Shelbyville Monday morning for my surgery at 11am. As we were sitting in the waiting area, I looked up, and here came Jason Haggard (my first warrior). I was really surprised to see him. They took me back and prepped me for surgery. My wife, Nikki and Jason then came back to lead me in prayer. I was pretty anxious about the surgery (this was the first time that I had been really sick in my life) and don't really remember all that Jason said. Basically, he said "Here is your Shield!".
The surgery had lasted longer than they thought it would because my gall bladder was 8 cm long with a 5 cm stone in it and they had to widen the opening mid-surgery. After surgery, as I was coming to, I saw my second warrior, Mary Beth Eades, one of our great singers, who works in the recovery area. The first thing I remember is her in my face saying "Hey, Ken, wake up!" I went straight home and back to bed.
On Tuesday, I awoke with numbness in my feet and hands and thought that maybe it was the pain killers or from the anesthesia. Wednesday and Thursday were the same. On Friday, I went off the pain killers to see if that was the issue. It wasn't. On Friday night, we went to the ER. After 7 hours, we had no answers and were sent home.
On Saturday, the 8th, I awoke with double-vision and the numbness was now throughout about 90 per cent of my body. I couldn't feel my mouth, my mid-section and my arms and legs. The condition had crept up my body to my stomach, then jumped to my head, skipping my lungs and throat. I was unsteady on my feet and needed help just to walk from the living room to the bathroom. I guess that we should have been more concerned, but every time that Nikki and I talked about it, we always came to the same ending; God's got this!!
We met with my family Dr the following Monday and he immediately sent us the the Neurologist in Shelbyville who ordered an MRI of my head. We had to wait until Friday to get into the MRI in Shelbyville. The MRI on Friday showed no stroke in the brain stem, so another one was ordered for my neck. He was sure that it was a stroke somewhere. 41 years old and a stroke!! We were scared! The local Neurologist also referred me to the UL Neurologists because of the severity of my condition. The second MRI was done in Louisville on Monday the 17th. We met with the UL Neurologist on Wed the 19th. Again, no stroke. What was it?
The Neurologist from UL was 95% sure that I had something called Miller Fisher Syndrome, an autoimmune condition where my body was attacking my nerves and causing paralysis. It affects 1 out of 100,000 people. Normally, people who contract this condition have to be put on a ventilator because of paralysis in the lungs. The Neurologist was amazed that never happened to me. He couldn't understand why or how it crept up my body, got to my mid-section, then jumped to my head. We know, don't we?! Because of the length of time it took to get a diagnosis, there is really no course of treatment to take. I had already started to get better by the time that I was diagnosed. If the paralysis had hit my lungs, I would have died! By the time an ambulance could have gotten to our house, it would have been too late! That is probably the scariest part of this whole thing, how close I came.
I want to give thanks to all who have helped us through this ordeal. YOUR ARE MY PRAYER WARRIORS!! Our entire LIFE Group; someone was calling or e-mailing everyday to check on us and many dinners were brought by. To everyone in our church who lifted me up in prayer!!! ALL OF YOU ARE THE REASON THAT I AM STILL HERE AND CAN ENJOY MY WIFE AND 5 AND 2 YEAR OLD DAUGHTERS!! THANK YOU!! And last, but not least, my beautiful wife, Nikki. You carried me through this and I owe you big!!
As I have been contemplating writing this e-mail, I have been trying to come up with a way to express how I feel about how serious this was. As I stated before, for the entire time, Nikki and I knew that God would provide. I feel that your prayers were a huge part of keeping us calm and safe. It felt like we were in a huge field and you all sat me down, circled around me facing outward with your swords and shields and defied anything to come after me!! I know that sounds corny, but to me that has alot of power to it.
Aside from the double-vision, I am now almost completely healed and have been cleared to return to work on Feb 6th. It can take up to 6 months for all of the effects to wear off and only a 3% chance that it will happen again.
I ask for one more prayer from you all. Please pray that God will show me why he saved me. There is something that He wants me to do, and I pray for the wisdom to know what His plan is.

Also, please know that any time that you need a prayer, I am honored to be considered YOUR prayer warrior!

We have seen so many examples in the past couple of years how God takes care of us, I just wanted to add my story.
Again, sorry if I rambled, and that this was so long!
Thank you,
Ken Canterbury

Does God Have Faith in You?

2011-02-05T00:10:00.000-05:00

I heard a really interesting comment this week at a funeral that I haven't been able to get out of my mind. The pastor at the funeral said, "When God takes your troubles away it develops great faith in Him. When He doesn't take them away it shows His faith in you." Wow! What an idea? Could it be that God might have faith in us to be able to handle some of our own troubles. It is easier when He simply takes the troubles away, but maybe it is more beneficial when He allows us to go through them because He believes we are ready to deal with them.

I remember hearing Dave Dravecky, the great pitcher who broke his arm throwing a pitch and after a comeback eventually lost his arm. Dravecky said that after he lost his arm he went on a trip to the middle east and found Christians who didn't pray for God to takeaway their troubles. Instead they prayed that he would give them the strength to endure.

On my way to the funeral I heard an interview with Chance Anthony, a young man from Breckinridge County, Kentucky who won the high school "Rudy" award for overcoming adversity. We played them this year and he was incredible. This young was born with only one full arm and hand. His right arm stops just below the elbow. At 5'10" and 160 pounds he bench presses 235 pounds and get this plays wide receiver. In the first quarter of our game this year he made an amazing diving backhanded catch ... did I mention he has only one hand. It was incredible to watch his young man get hit and bounce right back up, but it was inspirational to listen to him talk about overcoming adversity! God must really have faith in him.

My wife and I have lived through the hell that many parents do of having a teenager that is struggling in life and there is nothing yo can do to help. We pray and things are still a struggle. Does that mean God has faith in us to be able to deal with it. It sure doesn't feel that way most of the time. Many a day I have cried out O.K. God enough is enough.

I want to be able to go through the storm everyday and say "Still I will praise you." Is God letting me down by not answering my prayer? Or is He answering by saying "I have faith in you", "You can handle this", "I've got your back", "Just keep going."

Sometimes I think I am a pretty smart guy and I think I understand what faith and trusting God is all about. Then like a climber trying to scale Mt.Everest every time I think I have gone as far as I can go, He says, "No we have to make the next summit." I respond I am so tired of climbing ... could He be saying, "I know, but I also know that you have a little more in you ... let's keep on climbing ... let's keep on reaching."

I Want More ... Immeasurably More

2011-01-22T10:57:00.000-05:00

I grew up believing that God would take care of all of our needs out of the abundance of his glorious riches. So like most parents I tried my best to teach my children the difference between needs and wants. One got the lesson the other one, not so much. Isn't that the way it always is. One child gets it the other doesn't. If they all got it we would be perfect parents and teachers, but I haven't met one of them.

Back to my original thought ... I believed for a time that ALL God would take care of was my "needs" and that all the "wants" were all on me. If I worked extra hard, saved and pinched pennies that I might be able to have some of my "wants".

Then I began to realize that God was much bigger than I had been giving Him credit for and that when I learned that I must admit I became even more confused. Why some "wants" and not others? How does He decide which? I know I am supposed to constantly be thinking on heavenly things and not earthly things, but sometimes I want, "not need", some earthly things that I really believe might then be able to help someone. So does that make it a "need"? Like Vinnie Barbarino on Welcome Back Kotter, "I am so confused". Can you relate to that?

Then I was reminded that God has great plans for me (Jer. 29:11) and that He wants big things "for me" as well as "from me". So I started digging through scripture reading about the "mores" that God offers. There was a time when I had some really BIG dreams I thought. In fact I wasn't sure that maybe my dreams might not be too BIG for God. Were my dreams solely based on "wants" and therefore out of the realm of what God might bless. It wasn't long before I began to settle for smaller dreams, they were still dreams but not what I once considered dreams. Not the crazy stuff that guys right out of seminary dream about changed lives and building churches that would bring thousands to Him.

Then I found it. The passage that I needed to see and understand about God!

Ephesians 3 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

God is not just "OK" with me wanting more, He wants to give me "immeasurably more". He is the one than can "do immeasurably more" than I could ever ask or imagine. God can dream BIGGER than I can ever possibly dream!

Then Eugene Peterson explained it to me even more when he translated those verses this way in the Message.

Ephesians 3 20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. (The Message)

God can do ANYTHING but He is not going to force it on me, but "gently" nudge me to dream those dreams! God I don't want a nudge, barrel through me with the bulldozer of your love and dreams! OK not my will but yours ... but now know you want "more", "immeasurably more"!

Why do I forget that so easily? How does Satan get me off track with the daily battles? God help me from this day forward to never again lose sight of this truth. It's OK to want "more" ... even "immeasurably more" ... a long as it is in YOU!

Focus on God

2011-01-16T20:45:00.000-05:00

This morning we prayed these simple 31 prayers to remind us to focus on God each day of the month.
1. God Our Creator – “Creator God, “I praise You because “You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” (Neh. 9:6)

2. The Only God – “God, I praise You because You are the Lord and there is no other; apart from you there is no God.” (Isaiah 45:5)

3. The Almighty God – “O Lord, God Almighty, who is like You? You are mighty, O Lord, and Your faithfulness surrounds you.” (Ps. 89:8)

4. The Everlasting Father – “I praise You, Lord, as ‘the Ancient of Days’ (Dan.7:9); the ‘Everlasting Father’ (Is.9:6); who lives forever and ever.”

5. A Loving God – “I praise You because You are a loving God, whose very nature is love.” (1 John 4:16)

6. A God of Justice – “Lord, I praise and magnify You, who is just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Rom.3:26)

7. A Faithful God – “Heavenly Father, I give You my praise and adoration, because You are a ‘faithful God, keeping Your covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love You and keep Your commands.” (Deut. 7:9)

8. A Merciful God – “You are a gracious and merciful God, and I praise You for Your great mercy.” (Neh. 9:31)

9. God, My Refuge, My Fortress – “I praise You, Lord, for You are ‘my mighty rock, my refuge.” (Ps. 62:7)

10. A Patient Persevering God – “Father, I praise You because You are patient with Your children, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

11. An Eternal Saving God – “I give You praise, Father the only God our Savior. To you be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore.” (Jude 25)

12. The Holy One – “Holy, Holy, Holy are You Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev. 4:8)

13. A Personal God – “I praise You, God, because You are a personal God, who gives me the honor of knowing You personally, even inviting me to a feast at Your kingdom’s table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Mt.8:11)

14. A Giving God – “All praise and honor be Yours, O God, because You are a generous God, who did not even stop short of giving Your own Son.” (John 3:16)

15. A Provider God – “I praise You today, Lord, as my Jehovah-Jireh, who makes all grace abound in me and generously provides all I need.” (2 Cor. 9:8)

16. God, My Shepherd – “I bless Your name and praise You as my Jehovah-Rohi, who will shepherd me and guide me in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake.” (Ps. 23)

17. God of Victory – “Praise to You, my God, because You are Jehovah-Nissi, God my victory, who always leads me in triumphal procession in Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:14)

18. God of Peace – “I praise You with all of my heart, Lord, because You are my Jehovah-Shalom, the God of peace who will soon crush Satan under my feet.” (Rom. 16:20)

19. The God Who Heals – “Father, I praise You because You are the Lord who heals me.” (Ex.15:26)

20. The God of All Comfort – “Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” (2 Cor. 1:3)

21. The God of Miracles – “Lord, I praise You because you are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” (Ps. 77:14)

22. A Forgiving God – I want to bless You with praise, Father, because you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” (Neh. 9:17)

23. The Burden Bearer – “Praise be to the Lord, to God my Savior, who daily bears my burdens.” (Ps. 68:19)

24. A Faithful God – “I praise You because your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies and great is your faithfulness.” (Ps.36:5/Lam.3:23)

25. King of Kings, Lord of Lords – “All honor and praise be to You, my God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light.” (1 Tim. 6:15)

26. God the Liberator – “I will praise You because you are my help and my deliverer; O Lord.” (Ps.70:5)

27. The Lifter of My Head – “Father God, I praise you because you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head when I am weary or despised.” (Ps.3:3)

28. The God of Light – “I praise You, Lord, because You are my light and my salvation, and because You know what lies in darkness, and light dwells with You.” (Dan.2:22)

29. The God of Joy – “I give You praise, O Lord, because you have granted me eternal blessings and made me glad with the joy of your presence.” (Ps. 21:6)

30. The God Who Answers Prayer – “I praise and honor You, Father, because You are a God who loves to answer prayer and who begins to answer even before I pray.” (Is. 65:24)

31. The God of All the Earth – “I praise and adore You, Lord as the Holy One of Israel … my redeemer … the God of all the earth. Help me focus on You!” (Is.54:5)

Excerpted from Pray! Magazine – Issue #12 @2002 by Robert R. Hostetler

PRAY AWAY AND STAY FOCUSED ON GOD!!!!

2011-01-14T10:27:00.001-05:00

Be careful what you say! Just walked into a business to find a member of our church really hurting because of the way he had been treated by a customer. Worst part of the problem was the employee knew the customer also went to our church. :-(o

It's Great to Be Alive

2011-01-14T00:55:00.000-05:00

Isn't this an incredible view! Not the big bald guy (although he is cute) but the view from the top of Clinch Mountain is breath taking. Standing there with my lovely wife is one of those times when you think it just doesn't get any better than this. I got to cross this mountain many times in the 1980's as I traveled back and forth between Lexington and Milligan.

While I was at Milligan I met a friend for life. When we were freshman his favorite words were "It's Great to Be Alive". Tim Brokaw must have said that a million times that year. Here's the deal, I never heard him say that while we were standing on top of some beautiful vista like this one. In fact many times it was just before, during, or after he had put smelly sweaty basketball gear in to wash as the manager of the basketball team. Tim was a great manager because he just wanted to do everything he could to help make the team better, even when it included sweaty, smelly laundry. But those kind of jobs rarely get recognition, yet everytime you asked him how he was doing, his response was "It's Great to Be Alive".

It was thirty-one years ago that I first that I first heard Tim say that and I am just now starting to really understand what it could mean and learning to believe iteven when I am dealing with smelly stuff. It is easy to stand on the moutain top and breathe in the fresh air and say "It's Great to Be Alive". It's much harder to believe that when your child is running around out of control making questionable life decisions. It's hard to say that when your marriage is really struggling, or your finances are out of whack, or you hate your job, you fill in your own blanks

I want to spend my life on the mountain tops breathing in fresh air and looking over a beautiful view. However, it's only by living through some dismal valleys that we can really recognize the beauty of the mountain top. Jesus reminds us in the Sermon on the Mount that "your Father in heaven, causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

It has been critical for me to realize over the last few years of struggling that God loves me in the valley just as much as he does on the mountain top. He loves me when the sun is shining as well as when it is raining. He loves me when I am following Him as closely as I can as well as when I am going my own way.

What I have learned is it's great to be alive when I choose to believe it is great to be alive! It's my choice! I'd like to live on the mountain top, but I'm trying to choose to be happy even when it's raining!

2011-01-14T00:10:00.001-05:00

Learning new technologies. Can post to my blog by text. Probably getting Iphone tomorrow. Thinking stating with 3G since I don't need a lot of apps and power.

Do You Want to Get Well?

2011-01-12T23:16:00.002-05:00

There is an interesting story about a man who had been sick for years that Jesus comes upon.

John 5:5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

At first reading it seems like such a silly question. Of course, he wanted to get well. Who wouldn't want to get well. But the man never really answers the question, he just begins explaining why he can't get to the place of healing. In his own way, he was saying I would love to be healed but it is someone elses fault that I can't get there. The blame game seems so unfair, and yet it is so real ... today.

Now I know that this guy was crippled, but it doesn't seem as if he attempted to make any preparations for receiving the cure he so desperately needed until the time was upon him. The water in the pool stirred signifying that a miracle was about to take place. A panic came over the one who couldn't walk or possibly even crawl for that matter, because he had no way to get to the water. Here's my hint, "when the water stirs, it's too late to do anything othr than jump, or fall, in."

I wonder if it ever dawned on him to get closer to the place of healing when everything was quiet. Doesn't seem like it? But what a break ... the ultimate healer happens to walk right up to him. Even though he was in the general neighborhood of healing, he wasn't near the place of supernatural healing, but the healer came to him and ambushes him with his healing touch.

I am learning more and more that God can do anything He wants to do and He typically ambushes me with his love when I least expect it. (thus an ambush) But I am also learning that life tends to go much better and God can work more in my life the closer I am to where He really wants me to be. Unfortunately, like this man I find myself close but not close enough.

Here's my thought. I see a lot of people continually doing the same thing and expecting different results. Always kind of close to where they need to be, but wanting something different to happen without moving even closer to the "pool". "If you keep doing what you've been doing you are going to keep getting what you have been getting."

Do you want to get well? Why not get as close as you can to the pool, so that all you have to do is fall into Jesus arms.

Can You Fix It?

2011-01-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

Today I was asked to share the two most important lessons I have learned over the last twenty-eight years of ministry. The more I thought about the question the more I realized that the most important lessons that I have learned, I have learned in just the last few years, maybe even the last few months.

The last class I took in my masters program was a course in Crisis Counseling. The final was a mock counseling session with the professor being my client. After going through all the things I could think to ask and listen to I suggested some steps to deal with the imaginary crisis in her life. Later as we reviewed my exam the professor looked at me and said, "You are never going to be very good at this." How do you respond to that? Thank you maam, may I have another? Instead after the initial shock, I asked the pressing question "why?". She looked at me and said, "because you want to fix everything and some things just can't be fixed."

My beautiful wife had been telling that for years, when rather than just listening to what she was upset about, I started calculating a plan to fix it.

Over the last few years, I have been forced to deal with a lot of things I just couldn't fix. Even though I said the words, I kept trying to fix things. When I did give those things over to God, it wasn't very long until I started taking them back. I am finally getting it.

So when I was asked what the two biggest lessons were, I thought for a moment and said the first one has been a long hard lesson. Lesson one was "I can't fix everything."

Lesson two has just hit me in the last couple of days, "I can't fix anything!" Not the kind of things I have been trying so hard to fix. That's why Jesus had to die. He died to fix me, and everyone of us with sin debt so big that only he could fix it.

Eddie Carswell and Michael O'Brien have written a song that says, "So before the day slips away and want to stop and say I love you and be still and know that you are God!"

So now I am trying so hard, not to try so hard.

The Basement or The Penthouse Vol.2

2011-01-08T22:45:00.002-05:00

Joshua said, "Make a choice today who you will serve, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." So we are back to choices. Imagine you are in the "elevator of life" and you have 100 buttons in front of you each representing a level of life from the basement to the penthouse. Which button are you going to push?

You might think the choice seems obvious, but not for everyone. It seems that although there are more rewards the higher you go, there are also more expectations. So what will you choose? You can have the best that this has to offer, but there will be expectations. Many choose to settle at this point. So what will you choose?

Have you ever been on a real elevator and thought you were going up only to have the doors open and realize that you had gone in the wrong direction? Or maybe you have just not been paying attention and when the doors opened you hop off only to find out you are on the wrong floor. I have done all those things on real elevators and on that imaginary spiritual elevator as well. Sometimes I mean to make the right choice, but I make the wrong one.

Then the hardest thing is when you make the right choices and still things don't go as you plan. Thieves tend to want to break into penthouse homes more than they do basement apartments. Jesus said that we face a thief that wants to steal from us, kill us and ultimately destroy us. The reality is that there will never be ultimate peace until we are in the ultimate penthouse of heaven at the feet of the Father.

I want to make the best choices I can until I get there. I never met Sharon, but I know her grandparents and I sat in their kitchen this morning listening to great stories of the choices she made to live in the penthouse with Jesus. This morning at the age of twenty-four leukemia took her life here, but allowed her to move into the penthouse permanently. Some will say it is a tragedy. The real tragedy is for those who come to the end of life at whatever age without choosing to live with Jesus. I am so sad for Bill and Wanda and their family, but Sharon chose the penthouse and she only had to wait twenty-four years to get there. What are you going to choose?

The Basement or The Penthouse

2011-01-08T00:11:00.003-05:00

You are moving into a new high rise apartment and the manager says you can have your choice of a basement apartment or the penthouse for the exact same price. Which apartment would you choose? The choice may seem obvious, choose the penthouse. But not everyone would make that choice. I wonder why would someone choose to live in a dark gloomy basement, when they have the opportunity to live on top of the world with a bright great view.

In an interesting translation of John 10:10 we might hear Jesus say, "There is a gloomy slum lord that wants you to live in the basement of this world so that he can steal from you, kill you and ultimately destroy you, but I have come to move you into the penthouse so that you can see forever and keep on reaching higher." It's your choice! What are you going to choose?

I struggle sometimes to keep on reaching higher. Sometimes Satan wins the battle and I find myself settling for the life that he wants rather than the life that Jesus came to give me. The abundant life that is available in the penthouse! Abundant life! Jesus wants you to live life abundantly, to the fullest, in the penthouse!

Where do you want to spend your life here on earth? In basements or in penthouses? It's your choice!

What is So Amazing About Grace

2010-06-22T08:04:00.003-04:00

I received an email this week that asked me for some thoughts about grace and "Why" its even available. I so love sharing grace with people, mainly because I love having received it and continuing to receive it from a loving God that understands my shortcomings. However, like most people I really struggle with the why sometimes. When I see what a mess we have made of God's love for us I sometimes wonder how long He can put up with it. Without sounding too cliche-ish I guess that is why they call it AMAZING. None of us in our human selfishness and pride would ever come up with the concept and definitely couldn't pull it off. Yet, the creator of the universe says I don't care where you have been or what you have done or who you have done it with I still love you enough to give you my son. After wrestling with the concerns of a parent for a struggling child for the last four years I am even more amazed by a God that would give up a son for people who seemingly don't care on most days. The thought of losing my son is almost paralyzing and I surely can't imagine giving him away without a fight. How did Abraham have the faith and courage to trust God on Mt. Moriah. I haven't been able to completely lay my Isaac down yet, but God is teaching me about faith, and grace and HOPE! Romans 5:8 has become my favorite verse of scripture as God has taken me through the journey of the last few years. "And this is how God showed his love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." That part "while we were still sinners" is what comforts me and perplexes me. We don't have to become perfect and can't become perfect on our own. That's what makes grace so amazing, in fact that's what makes it grace.

Screened In Porches and Cool Summer Nights

2010-06-07T22:18:00.006-04:00

It's nearly midnight and I find myself in my personal sanctuary reflecting on the day. It was just a routine Monday, which happens to be my day off. Nothing really special about today, but I have spent quite a bit of time here in my personal sanctuary, working on my sermon for Sunday, writing some articles and beginning the early stages of a couple books and potential business ventures. Now at the end of the day I find myself looking over my schedule and to do list and realizing how peaceful it is in my personal sanctuary.

My personal sanctuary is just a simple screened in porch in back of the house. The couple we bought the house from had it built and even wired it with cable (Thank You Ed). I've made a couple of revisions and added some lighting, but it is nothing that impressive. It will never make it onto HGTV or Cribs or anything like that, but it is my place, my personal sanctuary. It is amazing how calm and quiet it is, even in the middle of the day, but especially at midnight.

So as I sit here in the quiet I found myself thinking about how lucky I am to have it. Life is hectic. Some days seem almost unbearable at times, but then I can go to my sanctuary and most nights it's just me ... oh and God.

I find myself writing or at least developing most of my sermons here during warm weather months. Some of the most intense times of prayer in my life take place in my personal sanctuary. Other times I just sit and think in my personal sanctuary. I sure am glad I have this place.

What about you? Do you have a personal place where you can meet God at the beginning or end of the day? I'd love to hear about it.

John Wooden and Other Legends

2010-06-05T09:04:00.002-04:00

As a child I remember watching John Wooden lead UCLA to records in college basketball that will live forever. All I knew was that he was the best basketball coach ever. Later in life I found out about the person John Wooden. He was a great coach, but it is the person John Wooden that will be remembered as the legend.

I had a great trip to California a few years ago to spend some time with Coach Wooden's pastor and some other ministers. Unfortunately there was a personal emergency of someone close that took Coach Wooden out of town at the last minute and prevented him from attending the dinner he was supposed to come to with eight preachers to talk about life. Instead he sent autographed books, that just became more of a treasure. I read one of them on the flight home. When we went to church at Shepherd of the Hills on Sunday, there he was, where he was every week he was in town. I was fascinated listening to Dudley tell stories of the legend. One story I remember was about Dudley walking into a Sunday night youth service full of hundreds of teens and modern worship music and seeing Coach Wooden on the back row. Dudley ask him why he was there and Coach said that he was out of town that morning and he just needed to be in worship. Oh by the way, he was 91 at the time! WOW! I sure wish that I had gotten to meet him.

So this morning I am thinking about life and the end of life and what attributes make someone considered a legend. I would love to hear about some other people that you have met (or almost met) who you would consider to be legends and why you feel that way about them.

Would You Be Interested?

2010-05-27T10:37:00.002-04:00

Kim and I are considering a new ministry opportunity to parents. We are now transitioning to the empty nest stage of life and feel we have learned many lessons about parenting over the last ten years. If we started a daily blog just for parents and dealt with lessons learned both good and bad and advice from the school of hard knocks, would you be interested enough to follow a blog like that.

Secondly, what are some questions / issues you would be interested in interacting about?

Ukraine Day 10

2010-04-14T02:42:00.002-04:00

We have finished the 15 hour train ride and I am writing this from an Internet cafe at the airport in Kiev, Ukraine. We board our first of three flights at 5:55 a.m. EST, land in Paris for an hour to switch planes, then on to ATL arriving at 8:10 and leaving at 9:35 and finally arriving at Louisville at 11p.m.

This has been an incredible experience. I have seen many things that I wish I had never had to see but I am so glad that I did. We are so blessed! Even in the midst of difficult times and even heartbreak we are blessed beyond our wildest imaginations.

I can't wait to hug my wife and kids and of course my little MaLeigha. Popi is on his way! See you guys in KY in a few hours.

Ukraine Day 8 & 9

2010-04-13T01:39:00.002-04:00

It is 8:45 a.m. Ukraine time as I sit to eat my last breakfast before the long journey home. Yesterday we made two more visits. We went back to the center Project Pilgrim. We played basketball, ping pong, billards and rode a bicycle with the children. The billards are very difficult as the ball is 25% larger than ours and the pockets are 25% smaller. The children that come there after school are so incredible and have such difficult lives and yet they smile so much!!!

Earlir in the day we went to the final foster home. The home of Galina. She is a single mother who raised her own two children who are now grown. She now has six foster children that she is wonderful with. They are so talented. Many of them sang for us yesterday and you can see evidence of that on Phil Roberts sight at www.ukrainetrip2010.com Two of them are very very talented.

We will begin our travel home at 4:30 local time as we board the train. That will be 9:30 am at home in Kentucky. We will start our three flights home beginning in Kiev at 12:55 tomorrow afternoon Kiev time and finally arrive in Louisville and 11pm Wednesday night. I look forward to seeing my family tomorrow and my extended SCC family as soon as possible.

Please be praying for our travel today as well as Rhonda Souder and Mary Gonda Chandler as they return from Kenya today. Also our team leaves on the Romainian Medical Mission trip this morning with Linda Cain, Dave, Linda & Hannah Jones. They will be conneting with the Sweitzers for a total of 17 people to help people in the remote Romainian villages.

I am ready to hit the road, see you soon. i love you guys!!

Ukraine Day 7

2010-04-11T13:19:00.002-04:00

Today was a relatively slow day, but a wonderful day! We went to church this morning at Simferopol Christian Church. There were 50 people there but an absolutely wonderful spirit. I preached with an interpreter. Inga did a great job of keeping up with me. The praise team had four singers and a guitar and keyboard. They were really good and even sang two songs that I knew, How Great Thou Art and Shout to the Lord.

After church we went to lunch with the Ukrainian director of Mulberry Kostia. We had a wonderful home cooked meal with Kostia, his wife Valya and their son Zhenye. It was a wonderful meal of chicken and pototoes and salads and an incredible cake for dessert.

The rest of the day was just to catch up on sleep and rest for two more days visiting before we get back on the train Tuesday afternoon for another all night ride back to Kiev and our return flights home.

Ukraine Day 5& 6

2010-04-10T12:13:00.002-04:00

Sorry no post yesterday. We haven't had internet at the hotel for two days. We are sitting in an internet cafe.

Yesterday we went on street patrol and it may have been one of the hardest experiences in my life. We saw one boy sleeping on top of pipes in a hole under the railroad tracks. He was so strung out that he didnt even flinch when the train went over. There are children as young as nine and ten sleeping on the streets alone. Dennis and Faya are the young adults who work with the street kids. They are angels. They both came from the streets and they care so much for these kids. We met two little children with a can spray paint which almost always means they are doing graffiti or sniffing or both. They were cute and laughing but ran away into an abandon apartment. Finally we went in a five story building that was never finished, but looks like it had beenbombed in a war. All that was standing was the concrete. No windows, no doors, no floors, no wiring, no plumbing. People were sleeping everywhere on everything from mattresses to tires. It was the worst human filth you can imagine.

Today we were able to drive to Sevestopol to visit a children's hospital. In Ukraine there are few nurses so when you enter the hospital in is expected that a family member will come sleep in the bed next to you to help care for you. The children that Mulberry works with are orphans and so there is no one to stay with them. Mulberry employs a wonderful lady Olya who cares for the oprhan children there. She gave us a tour of the children's unit. Unbelievable conditions! She told us that they were very concerned about not having air conditioning in the room where they store medicines for the children and as the summer approached she was afraid medicine would spoil and ruin. I asked her how much it would cost to get AC. She said far too much for them. Over $1200 grivna. We asked in US dollars and she said $150. It was such a wonderful feeling to know that I had that much in my pocket and to be able to pay for and AC unit to save this medicine. I write this not because I gave that money, but because it was so little to save so many and we don't realize how blessed we are.

The other exciting part of today was that Olya knew exactly where to the orphanage was that a family from our church had adopted a littlegirl. They had sent pictures and a note to let the orphange know how well their little girl was doing. Olya cried when she saw the pictures and is going to deliver them herself on Monday.

I am amazed and the grandness and size of our world and yet the close lines that connect so many of us through Jesus Christ.

Ukraine Day 4

2010-04-08T13:45:00.002-04:00

Kolski and Marcia picked us up at hotel at 8:30 for one hour drive to Yevpatoria on the coast of Black Sea. Mulberry has group home there. It is a former government kindergarten building that is being converted into four family units for families housing foster children. Three units are completed and one is under construction. We went to the incomplete one first. The guys who had been there a year ago couldn't believe how much improvement there was. As a new comer I couldnt believe how far they had to go. But then we visited the families in the other three units and they were amazing! These apartments have 5-7 bedrooms and they are imaculate. One family has 8 children, one has 9 and one has 11. They are fantastic. All three families have different approaches to parenting and different issues involved but they are all great.

We took a break at lunch and went to the coast to walk around a local vacation spot on the Black Sea. It was the Ukrainian version of Hilton Head or Mrytle Beach. Then we ate at unigue Russian restraunt with a Dinosaur head on the roof. It was cafe style with Russian memorabilla on the walls that more or less told Russian history.

We went back to visit some more with the families and then Kolski had to leave and so we caught a bus at the bus station for the ride home. I have now experienced it all planes, trains, automobiles and buses in the Ukraine.

Tomorrow we make a trip to central market area, back to Project Sasha and then out on street patrol tomorrow night!

Ukraine Adventure Days 1-3

2010-04-07T10:03:00.001-04:00

Day 1 - First Flight Louisville to Cincy - Easy flight except really warm. During layover we ate at max and Ermas and talked about families and Ukrainian/Russian history.
Second Flight Cincy to Paris - 3640 miles in 7 1/2 hours, almost got an entire row to mysef, but an attorney from London England sat down. fascinating chap! :-)

Day 2 - Third FLight Paris to Kiev - I got a window seat and then slept the whole way. We had a five hour layover before train ride and so we went sight seeing in Kiev, including eating at McDonalds (Big Mac Combo $19.50), mother Russia park and Painters Street market. Did I mention there was a train ride? 500 miles in 16 hours due south to Crimenan Peninsula. Arrived a little after 9 am local time.

Day 3 - Check into hotel. First visit to Project Sasha. Ministry Center that works with kids after school in youth group, athletics, tutoring, etc. The visited Shabelski family. They have been taking care of orphed children for 20 years since before there were Ukrainian orphanges. Incredible family that proves Matthew 25 kind of care for people is possible. Then we ate at a Ukrainian Cafe. I had my first "borshk" with some chicken (thats what they said it was) and mashed potatoes and desert. All of that was good. Had some Russian smoked fruit drink, not so much.
It was a good day with Constatine and Marcia. Marcia is a twenty one year old native who is our interpreter. She reminds me greatly of my daughter Evann.

I'll send more tomorrow!

Where are You God?

2010-02-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

Over the past few years there have been many occasions of contemplation about where God could possibly be in the midst of all that is going on. Yea, pastors have those thoughts too. There are plenty of times when we just want to shout out, "Hey we are on your team, we are one of the good guys." Everyone has those moments. So what do you do? I have recently found a place of escape. It is a very tiny place with a window to the world. I am sitting there now and reflecting on a good weekend and realizing God was in the details of the weekend. A great day of worship, great news last week for our daughter, a great day with our son, a great lunch with new friends and the list goes on and on.
As I sat down to write for a while I asked almost out loud, "God what are you doing right now?" As I looked out my little window on the world 24 geese flew over, heading south. God giving them guidance and direction. What a great reminder that God is in all of the details. From what is going on in our lives to the birds flying south for the winter he covers it all and he covers you too.
Where are you seeing God in the details of your life?

Wow where does time go?

2010-01-28T13:40:00.003-05:00

The last three months have been a whirlwind. I couldn't believe that it had been three months since I posted. With that in mind let me reflect a moment. James, the half-brother of Jesus, asks us what we are doing with our moments in James 4:14 "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." And Paul reminds us that we waste many of our few moments worrying about minor problems on the eternal scale. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:17

And so I wonder, what if I had been in Haiti 15 days ago and that had been my final moment ... What if that moment is much sooner than I realize ...

I'm gonna try my best to just enjoy this moment ... and then the next ... and then

The Prodigal God

2009-10-27T21:54:00.004-04:00

Every once in awhile a book really gets my attention. Earlier this year it was The Shack. Last week on vacation I read The Prodigal God. What an awesome adventure in a short easy to read book. Timothy Keller uses a very familiar parable as a background to teach an incredible principle. We are all prodigals running away from the will of the Father. Some of us have been the younger brother rebeling and running from the traditions that we feel have bound us. Others however have walked the straight line like the older brother and then have become full pride in our status and therefore running away from God in a different way. A few have even been both. Rebeling early and then becoming full of pride in our turnaround. You need to read this book and evaluate your own prodigal status.

I NEED YOUR HELP

2009-09-29T20:15:00.003-04:00

This Sunday we will be focusing on Jonah 2 as Jonah prays for his rescue. I need some rescue stories!

Please read through Jonah 2 (printed below) and think of a time when life had given you a difficult turn and you prayed for God to rescue you. I would love for you to write your own rescue Psalm and give me permission to read it annonymously on Sunday morning.

Please send me your psalm(story) by Thursday morning at dhamlin@shelbychristian.org You don't have to me a member of the church or even attend for that matter, just send me your story.

1-9 Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish. He prayed:
"In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to God. He answered me.From the belly of the grave I cried, 'Help!' You heard my cry.You threw me into ocean's depths, into a watery grave,With ocean waves, ocean breakers crashing over me.I said, 'I've been thrown away, thrown out, out of your sight.I'll never again lay eyes on your Holy Temple.'Ocean gripped me by the throat. The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.My head was all tangled in seaweed at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.I was as far down as a body can go, and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive, O God, my God!When my life was slipping away, I remembered God,And my prayer got through to you, made it all the way to your Holy Temple.Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds, walk away from their only true love.But I'm worshiping you, God, calling out in thanksgiving!And I'll do what I promised I'd do! Salvation belongs to God!"

Rain

2009-09-20T16:40:00.002-04:00

Wow! Did it ever rain hard this morning? Kim and I are getting ready for our LIFE group tonight and we are actually using Rob Bell's Nooma series for a few weeks. Guess what video one is ... RAIN. Rob does such a great job of explaining why it has to rain in our lives and how God works through the rain. Then I read my friend Brittany's blog who is serving God in Guatemala where it is supposed to be the rainy season and it is not raining. People are dying because they need the rain. I am not always the sharpest guy but I am beginning to think God is trying to teach me something through the rain. I can't wait to see my small group tonight. I missed being with them. They were such a help when we found out that we were going to be grandparents and now it could happen any day. I am not old enough to be a grandparent and Shaun and Erin aren't old enough to be parents, but it is what it is, so God let it rain!!! And I will praise you in the storm!

What a Sacrifice

2009-09-03T09:37:00.001-04:00

Let me first say that I love the interaction to this blog that appears in my notes on Facebook. It seems that is where the majority of people tend to respond.

Today I just have to direct you to Mark Batterson's blog for today ... great thoughts.

Check out http://bit.ly/1asSu6

Got to go read some word ...

Will They Ever Know

2009-09-02T10:20:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was going along just fine until 4:00. Around 4:00 I received another message from an annonymous blogger who wants to argue the validity of scripture. But yesterday as I was deleting the message as I do with all anonymous communication I began to wonder why does this individual want to argue over obscure points and miss the obvious that Jesus loves them and died for them. As I pondered that point I drove across town to pick up some things and was met in the parking lot by two very, very nice young men. They were so polite in offering to help me load my truck while dressed in their white dress shirts and ties. They wanted to know what I was doing with the heavy stones I was loading and so I told them about the time when God told Joshua to have the people build a memorial of twelve stones to remind them of where they had been. They simply responded oh and then began to explain they were missionaries. My response was great so am I. I told them that I was the preacher at a church down the road (apparently the hawaiian shirt and sandals threw them), and I invited them to come worship with us on Sunday. They remained polite, but suddenly seemed less interested. These guys were so nice, so dedicated and so deceived.

As I sat under a tree for a couple hours in the evening on the first day of dove season I missed a lot of birds because I couldn't quit thinking about these three young people that had been in my world that afternoon. One hiding behind the anonymity of a computer and the other two deceived by the teaching a man history has proven to be a plagerist. My heart hurt that they can't simply see Jesus. Not manmade credes and supposed contradictions in scripture. Just the simple truth of a creator that has spent virtually all of created history trying to bring His created beings back into a perfect relationship with him. Ultimately allowing His only Son to die for their sins.

Then the very first thing I did this morning was spend two hours on the phone with a wonderful young lady in India who was fixing the connection problems with my laptop that I am tying on right now. I was amazed she could do that and we were worlds apart. Then it hit me we were probably worlds apart on understanding Jesus.

I can't these people off my mind. Jesus died for these people just like me and every person that comes to every church on Sunday. And yet many who come every week couldn't care less about those young people. They show that by sliding in and out church whenever they want never serving, never tithing, never really loving.

So my thought what would it take for the four young people that I came in contact with to know the love of Jesus and what would it take for those of us who claim him to understand that love?

Are We Teaching Enough about Giving

2009-08-18T13:52:00.001-04:00

LIFEWAY RESEARCH – SURVEY OF 3500 SENIOR PASTORS
- 25% of pastors said their church members have a significant amount of personal debt
- 65% of pastors said they had preached on stewardship in the past year
- 6% of churches had offered a small group study on financial stewardship, money management of debt reduction.

If the pastors of our churches don't live and teach stewarship, who will. -- Joe Sangl

How Do Christians Respond to Economic Crisis

2009-08-18T13:47:00.002-04:00

Our ability to see the vision and transfer that vision to the people is the defining moment of leadership. The more valid reasons that we have to accomplish a vision the greater the chance we have to achieve it. One or two reason can get blown away. The dream is validated by the number of reasons for achievement.
YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TRANSFER FROM ME to WE!! --- John Maxwell

If you are concerned about the recession and the economy then your vision is not from God. Vision from God is recession proof. -- Brian Tome

Wow! Enough said. We trust God in everything or we don't trust him!

Bigger Than Your Life

2009-08-14T12:31:00.002-04:00

In a "me" generation how do focus on having a great life, but know that it is bigger than just our life? That will be our focus over the next six week in our series "Bigger Than Your Life". Hope to see you there on Sunday!

Great Morning

2009-07-24T11:30:00.002-04:00

What a fantastic start to the day! I was able to sit and have a great conversation with a new friend about some differences in our spiritual backgrounds and belief systems. What a wonderful way to reach understanding and common ground with such an open and frank dialogue.

It reminded me of Paul's teaching to his young disciple Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-3 "Preach the word in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

Earlier he had warned Timothy of such false teachers in 1 Timothy 1:4-7 "These (false teachers) promote controversies rather than God's work - which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm."

I constantly run into people who want to argue scripture and interpretations. This morning was so refreshing because there was none of that. Just a simple dialogue of where we were each coming from with our understanding and I think both of us were encouraged.

Those that want to spend time arguing over this translation or that one, this interpretation or that one, or even if God is male or female are picking at the bone and missing the meat.

God loves you and he loved you enough to send his only son (Jesus, God in flesh) to die for you so that you could have a good life now and a wonderful eternity. The choice is left to us to believe that in faith or not. If you choose not to believe and it is real the result of your choice is eternally devastating!

Essential?

2009-07-22T14:02:00.003-04:00

Hey thanks for all the responses lately on FB. It is great to engage in conversation with people with questions not agendas.

Here is the next question that can be responded to either on FB or directly on the blog ...

Is "church" essential to your life? Not Shelby Christian, but "church".

Let's hear it ... remember anonymous responses are read and pondered but not printed.

Two Defining Forces in Your Life

2009-07-14T16:57:00.002-04:00

Part of a sermon on God and Country ...

Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local paper complaining about a group of F-16s that disturbed his/her day at the mall. When that individual read the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must have stung quite a bit.

The complaint: 'Question of the day for Luke Air Force Base: Whom do we thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday, at precisely 9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall, continuing west over Bell Road at approximately 500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up call, or were they trying to impress the cashiers at Mervyns early bird special? Any response would be appreciated.

The response: Regarding 'A wake-up call from Luke's jets' On June 15, at precisely 9:12 a.m., a perfectly timed four-ship fly by of F-16s from the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques. Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day. At 9 a.m. on June 15, his family and friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I'm sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the playing of taps, or my words to the widow and parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their son's flag on behalf of the President of the United States and all those veterans and servicemen and women who understand the sacrifices they have endured.. A four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air Force gives to those who give their lives in defense of freedom. We are professional aviators and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what the letter writer witnessed was four officers lining up to pay their ultimate respects. The letter writer asks, 'Whom do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and forward your thanks to the widow and parents of Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it was in their honor that my pilots flew the most honorable formation of their lives.

Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you....Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel, Jr. , USAF

Godless Chatter

2009-07-10T12:08:00.003-04:00

There are so many in the world who want to attack the truth of Jesus Christ, but are lacking the courage to do so face to face. Paul told his young disciple Timothy to "turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing wandered from the faith."

Life is so short and so precious. Why waste it with meaningless conversation with those who have agendas that want to question God, but lack the courage to sit down and discuss things openly.

So until Jesus returns to claim his bride, the church (and he is coming) I'll just put God first and keep on reaching!

What Are You Afraid Of

2009-07-10T00:04:00.002-04:00

I have been thinking a lot this week about "the fear of the Lord". The Bible talks about it a lot, but Jesus most used command was fear not. The obvious answer is that the fear of the Lord is not a scared fear, but a respect and reverent fear.

It seems to me that most people today have neither. Sunday I am preaching the second half of the God and Country series. My message asks the question, what have we done with God? It is kind of like "where's waldo?" We are so caught in self and what we want that we forget that God is even around, much less in control.

We elect leaders that swear an oath to serve with their hand on the Bible and then never open it, but rather make the decisions that THEY think needs to be made.

Then this week we watched a city spend $1.4 million on a memorial service and the Savior of the world had to be buried in a borrowed tomb. Just saying ...

I Need Your Help

2009-06-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

I am reading a fascinating book while I am on vacation called “Essential Church?” by Thom and Sam Rainer. I encourage you to read it if the church is important to you because it is very eye opening. It has raised a question in my mind for which I want as many responses as possible. So I am asking for emails to my regular email dhamlin@shelbychristian.org / my facebook email / or responses to my blog. (You can even respond anonymously to the blog – I’ll read it just not post it) All I need is your age (ballpark is fine), approximate number of weeks each month you attend worship and past church history.
Here is the simple question … Why do you or don’t you attend church? (Please be somewhat personal and don’t try to give me the “right” answer you think I am looking for.

God of Wonders

2009-06-24T10:05:00.002-04:00

As I sit on the deck at my mountain escape I am amazed at the absolute beauty of the trees and the sky. The trees are as full and green as they can possibly be and the sky is that perfect shade of blue that can not possibly any crisper. I am sorry that I get so caught up in the stress of life that I forget to recognize his beauty. The birds have just now broken into song this very moment as if to be another reminder from God of his presence. I pray that we will all be able to find something each day to remind us of God's presence.

To those who have followed our family and provided us shelter I say thank you and hope that you will comment on the wonders of God in your life.

Chapter 29 - Faith

2009-05-29T10:05:00.002-04:00

So many people misinterpret scripture and want to turn it into whatever they want. There are some things of scripture that are hard to understand because they describe things that we have never seen or imagined. Yet that is what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Our faith reminds us that God is in control even when we can't see him. The difficult thing for many men is that they are used to being in control, or at least thinking they are in control. That has been a real struggle for me as someone who likes to look at a problem and find an immediate solution and get to work on it. The reality is that some things can't be fixed here on earth. God's will has to penetrate lives to make the difference. Some will always question God's existence or at least His involvement in our lives because of the bad things that happen in our world, but God never promises us anywhere in the Bible that all things would be good. In fact, if anything he warns us over and over about the evil that is in the world and about people that will do anythign for their own self-glorification including hurting anyone who gets in there way. The encouragement of scripture is that "God is working all things out for the good of those who love him." The implication is that there will be some bad stuff that happens in our lives. In faith we trust that God has already seen that and is working things out for our good. The ultimate good is heaven and sometimes that is simply what we will have to wait for which is difficult. But if you are a blood bought believer in Jesus Christ who has accepted the forgiveness of your sins through the blood of Jesus it's gonna work out just fine! Keep the faith and keep on reaching!

Chapter 28 - Relationship with Christ

2009-05-28T11:02:00.002-04:00

I've heard people say, "The Bible says that God helps those who help themselves." No it doesn't. What the Bible does say is that, "God blesses those who are poor in spirit and admit that they need him." I once heard an old indian tale of a caterpillar inside a small ring of fire. As the fire grew and the smoke thicken the caterpillar rather than crawling would raise the front half of its body straight up in the air balancing itself with the back half, jus tlooking for a way out. I think that there are a lot of people stuck in a spiritual ring of fire and rising up to look for anyway out. Jesus said that he was the only way out and that no man would be able to see the Father except through him. So why do we try so hard to find answers in other places?

Dungy gives the following three suggestions to protecting your heart as you search for truth. First, guard what goes into your mind. As the computer world has taught as "garbage in" means "garbage out". Second, spend time in the Word of God. You have to know the word to live the word. Third, pray! Not just pray about those who are sick and dying, although you should never stop praying for them. But expand your prayer life to include the real life day to day decision making that you have to go through on your journey to have a relationship with Christ. Let him guide the way!

Chapter 27 - Eternal Self-Esteem

2009-05-27T10:03:00.002-04:00

This may be the shortest chapter in Dungy's book, but possibly the most powerful. I love the scripture that he begins with about the time God takes in creating each and every one of us. I find myself asking questions that begin with "why" quite often these days, and even when I can't see an answer I have a faith that God "knows why". I am about to become a grandfather far earlier than I would have chosen, but I am excited because I know God is knitting my granddaughter together. Every life has a purpose. Often times our choices take us down different paths than God originally had in mind. He allows us to make choices and then works to "make our paths straight" again when we step out of his will.

Jesus said that we are each far more valuable to God than any flowers of the field and yet God creates them beautiful, just as he has us. I feel so bad for those that have been so beaten up and beaten down that they feel they can do nothing. I pray that I can do a better job of encouraging those that are so beaten.

Chapter 26 - Role Model

2009-05-26T18:12:00.001-04:00

I feel so sorry for young people today who don't have readily available positive role models. My life was full of them. I remember Coach King, Coach Rose, Coach Petry and Coach Copeland who were my youth baseball coaches and taught me a lot about the game I love, and my college coach that showed me that hard work and dedication paid off in more ways than wins and loses. I remember the Brookings, Billy Pyle and Dwayne Weber that were youth sponsors who taught me so much about the God I love. My parents were phenomial as I watched my dad serrve diligently in church and my mom sitting on the edge of the bed reading her Bible and praying every morning. Now after twenty years as a parent I know who she was praying for. Now I watch my wonderful wife dig into the scripture and I long to have her knowledge and understanding of the truths of God's word.

There is a verse of scripture that challenges me and haunts me all at the same time. It is found in 1 Corinthians 11:1 - Paul says to "follow me as I follow Christ". I love how the emphasis is on following Christ, but what a challenge to show others the way.

I hope you have a role model and I hope you realize you are someone's role model. I'd love to hear your stories ...

Pardon the Interruption

2009-05-26T18:03:00.002-04:00

I will be posting twice today and wanted to use this first one to pass on some information. I apologize for the glithces over the last two weeks. Two weeks ago I had some very trying personal issues that I had to take care of and simply was not on the computer. Last week I had login difficulties. Ok better said ... I messed it up on my end. Everytime I think I have become a computer wiz, I screw something up. Oh well ...

Secondly, to my anonymous friend I have prayerfully chosen not to respond or post or even read anonymous responses. That has been my policy for years in regards to email, snail mail, phone calls etc. I will be more than happy to discuss issues in person and through the blog when people are kind enough to identify themselves. I know that when I send letters to the editor about important community events I always receive a courtesy call to make sure the letter was from me. I will follow that practice.

So to my anonymous reader, come see me and let's talk, or if you are really searching for Jesus and don't live close to us I pray you find someone you can talk to in person. Any now for the rest of the story ...

Chapter 13 - Education and Athletics

2009-05-13T08:27:00.002-04:00

As one who has been there let me simply say, athletics are far over rated. Now there are some great lessons that can be learned about working together as a team for a common goal, but too many times we lose sight of that. There are such a small number of kids who start playing city league sports that are ever able to play at the high school level. A smaller number get to play in college and almost no one gets to go pro. In fact, the percentage of college athletes that end up going pro is less than 5%.

It is interesting that Paul used athletic illustrations a lot (you gotta love the guy) because there are so many comparisons to functioning together on the athletic field and in the church. We do need to keep in good spiritual training and we need to remember that we are a team and it is not about me all the time.

So let's keep this simple. Enjoy athletics for the season and purpose and not lose sight of the big picture!

Chapter 12 - Powerful Thoughts

2009-05-12T13:24:00.003-04:00

Job said, "What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true." I could be a writer for the TV show worst case scenarios. I have to be very careful not to jump to hoorible conclusions when life takes a detour. I love how Dungy finishes page 103 - "Do yourself a favor, and don't make it any harder than it has to be. In those moments, be careful how you speak to yourself; be careful how you think of yourself; be careful how you conduct yourself; be careful how you develop yourself."

Positive thinking by itself won't do the trick. Positive thinking needs to be followed by positive actions. But without positive thinking, positive actions very seldomly occur.

Listen to the positive encouragement from Paul, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Chapter 11 - Mentoring

2009-05-12T13:15:00.002-04:00

Everytime I read or hear Dungy talk about his son Jordan I am amazed. I had never heard of children born without the ability to feel pain. I can't imagine being a child or parent in that situation. Anyone who enjoys learning from pain, has there own disability, because enjoying pain is not natural. As adults however we know the lessons that we have learned through the pains of life.

The worst thing that I can think of however is not being able to learn from your own pain. We all experience the pains of adolescents and the brutal teasing. We experience adult pains in marriage, jobs and parenting. I remember thinking that I would be the perfect parent to teenagers. As a youth minister I often was very judgmental of parents that couldn't get though to their teens. That all stopped six years ago when I became a parent of teens. There has been a lot of joy in the journey, but there has certainly been a lot of pain. The irony is twenty two years ago the first adult class I taught in Shelbyville was a class on parenting. All I had was a dog, and a bunch of other people's kids. I apologize openly for 90% of what I taught in that class. I had never experienced parenting a teen and shut have kept my mouth shut. Twenty two years and a lot of pain later, I still don't have all the answers but I coudl sure do a better job of teaching the class.

I guess the best way to finish today is to say, if you are trying to be a Christian dad and need a mentor, I might not be the best one to check with but I feel your pain.

Chapter 10 - The Power of Positive Influence

2009-05-12T13:01:00.002-04:00

Do you remember reading and discussing integrity in chapter 2? We said integrity was who you were when you thought no one was watching and the reality was that someone was always watching. Dungy shares of a new teammate who years later revealed that he had been able to stay away from the drug scene of pro sports by watching Dungy's example. We never know when people are watching how we live as Christians.

The difficulty is that those that are watching sometimes only watch what they want to see, and often times are unable to see what is going on behind the scenes. Therefore many make judgments that are unfortunate because they are not completely accurate. While that is frustrating, it is what it is and we must still remain positive in how we react.

I think Dungy makes a great point as he compares the internet with interpersonal interaction. Even as I type these daily blogs I wonder how much better ideas could be communicated face to face than behind the safety of a computer screen, where it is easy to miss the sincerity or in some cases the lack of sincerity with which things are communicated. While I know that there have been many things that I have had to swallow hard and receive as criticism from hidden anonymous writers, there are also times that I misread information that would have come across much more positively if it had been presented face to face.

Reread these words from Dungy. Do you want to have a positive influence on the life of someone else? Then let me ask you ad few more questions. When was the last time you went to someone who needed a visit? When was the last time you made a call - or wrote a letter - to someone who could use a lift in his or her life? When was the last time you had a date with your spouse or a "date night" with your little girl, who adores you? When was the last time you sent flowers to someone for no particular reason? WHen was the last time you did something that will forever be a positive memory in someone's life?

Chapter 9 - Taking Counsel

2009-05-12T12:52:00.002-04:00

What great quote from Ben Franklin to begin this chapter, "Tis great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults, greater to tell him his." I am so thankful that I have a few very close people in my life, who have over and over again made wise decisions that can truly say things that I don't want to hear without being judgmental. They admit their own faults and shortcomings and realize that this journey to follow Christ is difficult at best, but is worth every heartache and struggle.

The writer of Proverbs tells us that "plans succeed through good counsel; don't go to war without wise advice." We are going to war every day. In fact, I have found that church leaders are in the sights of the assassin every day. While it is to be expected from the evil assassin it is sad when the shots come from friendly fire. So how do distinguish between counsel that helps and criticism that destroys.

Dungy says it is in being constructive. What a great encouragement to stay focused on solutions and communications. I have found the greatest help and counsel coming from those that openly talked about how life and be better, and what we can do to correct shortcomings.

OOPS

2009-05-10T07:47:00.001-04:00

Something happened to my blog from yesterday and it didn't post (surely it wasn't operator error). I'll repost it and today's this evening after a morning of worship with the bride of Christ and an afternoon with my bride.

Chapter 8 - Friendship

2009-05-08T10:21:00.003-04:00

We start our second week of the journey to be Uncommon with a discussion about friends. I found Dungy's discussion of the two-way street very interesting because I have seen many people including my own son, be much more loyal to friends than they were to him. My son has always been the champion of the underdog and unfortunately many of those friends have simply been dogs. Do you remember when that stray dog showed up at the house and your parents told you not to feed it because it would keep coming back? The reality is lots of people want to hang around for "scraps from the table", but true friends invite you to their table as well. They understand the principle of share and share alike.

The writer of Proverbs said, "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born in adversity."(17:17) He also wrote, "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."(18:24) I am so thankful for friendships that I have with the elders and staff of our church, they have truly helped me survive the last few years. I am thankful for friendships that I have with by brother and best friend from high school. Though we don't see each other as often as we should, both have proven themselves ready to drop everything and come with only a phone call.

My prayer for men is that they would have friends! Not drinking friends and gambling friends, the kind that are always willing to be around for the party, but friends that will drop everything when the phone rings anytime day or night if they are needed. There is only one way to have those kind of friends ... you have to answer the phone when you are called!

Chapter 7 - Respect Authority

2009-05-07T15:22:00.002-04:00

Following Romans 13:1-2 is really tough at times. It says, "Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished." As a young person it is hard to follow because let's face we knew it all then and didn't want anyone telling us what to do.

But as an adult when we realize we don't know everything, we do know enough to know that sometimes people in authority do things, or ask us to do things that we just can't agree with. Dungy doesa great job of describing a couple of those times in his life. How many of those times can you think of? The majority of the time, however, those in authority in the various arenas of our life know a little more about a given situation and therefore can make a more informed decision than we can.

As the father of a twenty year old daughter and nearly eighteen year old son, I had to chuckle at he comment by Dungy's daughter on page 70, "I just wish he could have made it until he was twenty, because when I was seventeen or eighteen, sometimes the things that you guys say to us didn't make sense. But about the time I turned twenty they started making a lot more sense." As I mentioned yesterday there are a lot of times that I have made harsh statements that don't even make sense to me when I look back, I just pray that as both my children age things will start to make more sense as gaps are filled in for them.

Chapter 6 - Fatherhood

2009-05-06T17:00:00.002-04:00

I love Dungy's quote on page 55, "The Bible wasn't written for those who have it figured out, but instead it is God's word to those of us who are muddling through life." I really don't know what to write today because I feel like I am muddling through fatherhood. I know I was always present in my kids life and that I knew they were watching me. I am not sure I always matched what I said and did.

I guess the one thing that I was committed to was loving the mother of my children. I think that may be the greatest gift of a father is love their children's mother, 'til death do us part. In the end we all make mistakes in every area of life and thus when it comes to fatherhood I am so thankful for grace.

Chapter 5 - How to Treat a Woman

2009-05-05T09:58:00.004-04:00

OK so it is probably time for you to get over the "head of the household" thing, because if that is the phrase you are holding onto you aren't ready to be that person. It doesn't take long in looking at the passage that a lot of women scorn in Ephesians 5 to learn that God was more concerned with men knowing how to treat a woman than a woman knowing how to treat a man. The sheer volumn holds much truth. In a very small section he speaks to wives and in a section four times the volumn he speaks to husbands. Basically if men would treat their wives the way God inspired Paul to describe their portion becomes quite easy.

The whole chapter of Ephesians 5 however is based on Christians submitting to one another. I know men who, by any standard I would use, are not even Christians that want to claim "head of the household" status and quote the Bible as if they know it. The key to the marriage relationship functioning in biblical terms is both partners (man & woman) being God followers.

That is why Paul so strongly encouraged us to not be unequally yoked which has nothing to do with race or nationality, but has everything to do with understanding who God is and what he wants for his children.

I love Dungy's challenge to read John 3:16 with your spouse in mind. I just reminded myself that "God loved Kimberley so much that He gave His son Jesus to die for her." I need to love her the same way!

Chapter 4 - Courage

2009-05-04T09:47:00.002-04:00

Well we are four days into this journey. If you are reading along with us send me a note to let me know.

Today's chapter is about courage. I needed to go no farther than the opening quote from Mark Twain to be motivated to consider how life is going. Twain said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." How many things have you dreamed of doing and been convinced that you just shouldn't take the risk?

The word fear appears 326 times in the Bible and the word afraid appears 206 times. The majority of those times it is in the most often heard command in the scripture, "Do not be afraid." Philippians 1:20 says, "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." I have found that God's promise for courage is true that when I am weakest he becomes strongest and gives me the strength and courage to endure and move forward.

So what sails do you need to open on the seas of life? What would it take for you to do that?

Chapter 3 - Honesty and Stewardship

2009-05-03T20:56:00.002-04:00

Quit tootin your own horn. Nobody likes a bragard or name dropper. My college baseball coach used to teach us that there was a fine line between confidence and conceit. Then when we would take the field he would often to tell us to walk the line. I loved Dungy's comparison of Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders. Wow what a contrast in personalities.

Matthew 23:12 tells us whoever humbles himself will be exalted, but whoever exalts himself will be humbled.

The big question that I see here is how do you walk the line? How do you balance the confidence in who you are and your abilities with the humility that God desires in your life? What are your thoguhts?

Chapter 2 - Honesty and Integrity

2009-05-02T15:36:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we talked about our character. So much of our character is determined by our level of integrity. I am not sure who first coined the phrase, "Integrity is who you are when no one is looking." I first read it from Bill Hybels 20 years ago at a Willowcreek Conference and it really stuck with me. I was thrilled to see Dungy quote it on page 12. The hardest part about living it out is to realize that there are very few times when no human is looking and never a time God doesn't see your actions. The phrase should probably be rewritten that, "Integrity is who you are when you think no one is looking." Can you think of a time when you thought no one was watching you and later found out that they were? How did you find out someone was watching?

The book of Daniel is full of stories of integrity. From Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refusing to bow to the statue of the king to Daniel praying no matter who was watching. What would you have to change in your life to live with that kind of integrity? As Tony Dungy said it is the "choice between what's convenient and what's right". Do the right thing?

Chapter 1 - Character

2009-05-01T11:13:00.002-04:00

I remember my dad telling me once that it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a split second to destroy it. Well all of us have probably at sometime or another had one of those bad split seconds. Unfortunately we have had to learn the hard way about the amount of time that it takes to rebuild character and the trust that goes with it.

In chapter one Dungy makes a comparison between a couple of players that they were considering drafting. In the end much of the decision came down to character. In the fast paced world of the NFL it was refreshing to read that at least a few teams still consider character important. We have been bombarded over the last two decades with leaders who had no character.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that "Bad company corrupts good character!" I love Dungy's quote on page 5, "What you do is not as important as how you do it." So let's ask each other as men, "How you doin?"

He is right on target when he says that our character is determined by decisions we make in challenging times. What are the challenges on your plate right now? The decisions you make determine the kind of person you are. Make those tough decisions before the challenging times come and then you simply have to hold on to what you know is right!

So what are your thoughts about character?

In Search of Some UnCommon Men

2009-04-30T10:16:00.002-04:00

Hey guys don't forget during the month of May we will be reading Tony Dungy's book UNcommon Man and dialoguing on the blog daily. Oh yea that's TOMORROW!!! Start reading and I'll comment on chapter 1 tomorrow.

2009-04-06T21:00:00.001-04:00

I've Been Working Out

2009-02-02T14:45:00.003-05:00

Today I was reading this passage in 2 Corinthians 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I love it when God shows me something. I suddenly feel stronger than ever. At least for this moment.

How about you? Feeling worn out lately ...

IT's HERE

2009-01-28T16:41:00.004-05:00

They actually got the forecast primarily right and the snow, ice, and snow is here to the tune of 6-8 inches. Trees are down everywhere and many people are out of power and its going to be a really cold night. It reminds me of the old saying, "Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it." A whole bunch of people really wanted the snow and may have not considered the possibility of the downed trees and power lines, because they just wanted to see and play in the beauiful white fluffy stuff. But after it has fallen and broken limbs and been driven on and turned black from the street sludge, it's just not that pretty anymore.

Sin has that same kind of appeal that draws us to it and then turns dirty and breaks things and causes far more hurt and problems than we realized it would when we were anticipating the joy of the momentary.

Here is to hoping you are safe, warm and have power and food. I really hope that you can get out and make to our pep rally on Sunday morning! Then after we come to church, let's go out and be the church!

Anticipation

2009-01-26T11:44:00.002-05:00

Everyone in Shelbyville is going crazy and excitement is building because snow is supposed to be coming. People are running around making all the neccesary preparations just in case it snows. We want to make sure that if the snows comes that we won't be stranded without the essentials that we need for survival.

How much more important is our eternal survival? What kind of preparations are we making for the coming of our Lord?

I love the snow and hoep that it comes tonight. I love the Lord even more and really hope He comes tonight. Wouldn't that be awesome!!!! Are you ready???

Can You Love Too Much

2009-01-23T10:43:00.002-05:00

Recently Kim and I were having lunch after church with some friends and we were discussing family members and friends that were making dumb decisions and our friend made this comment, "Anytime you want more for someone than they want for themself you are going to be hurt."

That has stayed with me and causes me too ask, "How much should I love someone?". Maybe a better question would be "What should I pray for or want for other people." Should I wait for those I care about to tell me what they want out of life and pray for that or should I risk being hurt and pray for something more than what they sometimes want for themselves?

Jesus said, to love our neighbors as we would ourselves. Where is the balance? So I ask in the middle of a 40 day journey of love. Is it possible to love too much?

How Much Do You Hate People?

2009-01-21T11:39:00.002-05:00

I would be no means endorse the presentations of Penn Jillette and his onstage partner Teller, but I was amazed at this video from Penn Jillette's daily video blog. Nearly halfway through the video he asks a question that should make all Christians stop in their tracks. Watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

A professed atheist asks, "How much do you have to hate me not to tell me about Jesus?" So I challenge you, who have you hated this week?

Christmas Memories

2008-12-19T10:54:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-09T16:15:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-04T15:09:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-25T11:09:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-17T21:41:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-11T13:33:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-03T15:52:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-26T21:02:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-24T22:14:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-23T10:35:00.003-04:00

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?

2008-10-21T23:37:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-17T14:51:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-12T21:13:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-06T18:32:00.002-04:00

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!!!