Clowns and Reunions . . .

OK, today’s post is going to be a lot lighter than yesterday’s. Irene and I are going to be clowning and twisting balloons at a festival this Saturday evening at the YMCA in Travelers Rest. We have had the privilege of doing this festival with Bo and Brynda Brown for the last two or three years. It is always an enjoyable evening, but usually results in sore hands the next day because of the amount of balloons that we end up twisting. It’s always a good time because of the kids that we see, the snow cones and hotdogs that we eat and the fellowship that we share. I’m looking forward to it this year because we haven’t clowned together since July and I think we all are going into withdrawals.
This Saturday night is also my 30 year high school reunion. It really doesn’t seem like it was thirty years ago this past June that we graduated from Wade Hampton High School. It doesn’t seem that way until I walk by a mirror or I see somebody that I went to school with and see gray in their hair that I realize that the past thirty years have pasted in a blur. The school that we graduated from doesn’t even exist anymore. There is a brand new Wade Hampton in its place now. My friend that contacted me about the reunion wants Irene and I to stop by the reunion after the festival Saturday. I’m not sure that I have enough guts to show up to my reunion as a clown. But, one thing is for sure – I bet everyone there would remember the clowns coming in if nothing else.
We are now only three and a half weeks away from vacation and I can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to being able to get away and just relax. I look forward to blogging while on vacation because I think when relaxed I’ll be able to think again.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s twist some balloons for Christ.

Longsuffering . . .

You may wonder will I am posting a blog with this title. It just came to me after reading a friend’s blog. She is struggling right now. She has stepped out on faith to do something that God has called her to do and now she has met with criticism. What I have come to understand from my walk with Jesus, is that any time I step out and do what God has called me to do, I have met with some kind of criticism or interference. The strange thing is that sometimes it comes from people that will quote scripture and hold themselves up as an authority. It can hurt and it can tear you down. We need to remember something that a friend of mine keeps reminding me of – we are in a marathon, not a sprint.
The battles are tough, but we need to remember that the war is already won. Days can be long, but our reward is eternity with our King. We will get beat up, but our healing comes from the Great Physician. When we get tired, we can rest in the knowledge that Jesus will carry us when we can’t go on. Most importantly – our reward awaits us in heaven, not in this world.
According to Galatians 5:22 – longsuffering is one of the gifts of the Spirit. It is a gift that will enable us to get through all the struggles and make it to the end. It is the strength to persevere, to finish the race. The Lord is the source of our strength. What we need to do is stay faithful to the task that God has given us. We are to stand our ground. Often time that may mean a fight. What we fight for – the souls of the lost, the strength for the battle, the reinforcement of fellow believers – to glorify our Lord - is worth the fight.
It is far more comfortable to stay on the side lines and never get in the game. We can wear the uniform. We can have a comfortable place on the bench to sit. We will never mess up or fail. The problem lies in the fact that we have been called to get in the game. We are not called to be spectators. We are called to be participators – to live our faith out loud. If we are in the game, we will – get dirty, not be comfortable and sometimes even mess up. But, we have a God that will help us up, clean us up, and even forgive us when that is needed.
To my struggling friend. Stay in the game! Stand your ground! When you need support, ask for it! Know that you are doing what God has called you to do. Most importantly – keep your eyes on Jesus – the world around you can be a distraction.
Just as a final note – if you find a note and open it and it has no name at the bottom, throw it in the trash before you read it. There is no authority in a note that has no ownership. Criticism is only good if it is constructive- not destructive.

Great Blogs I have read lately . . .

I have made the statement that I read a series of blogs everyday. I was thinking earlier in the week when I was reading that maybe some that follow my blog would like to see what I read. So the following titles are links to some of the note worthy blogs that I have read this week:

Give Up to Go Up - 1 of 5 by Craig Groeschel
Give Up To Go Up - 2 of 5 by Craig Groeschel
Give Up To Go Up - 3 of 5 by Craig Groeschel
Give Up To Go Up - 4 of 5 by Craig Groeschel
Give Up To Go Up - 5 of 5 by Craig Groeschel
Are You Willing to Sacrifice by Vince Antonucci
Open Doors and Un-wise Statements by Perry Noble
Eight Things I Think Every Worship Leader Should Know by Perry Noble
Is God Worldly Because of His Creativity by Perry Noble
Lost by Vince Antonucci
Can You Imagine by Vince Antonucci
Where Do You Get Creative Ideas From by Perry Noble
Prove It by Barry Ledford
Mark by Crystal Symsick
Mr. Jones by Vince Antonucci
Five Reasons I Have Hope by Perry Noble
Protocol For Pushback by Steven Furtick

These are just a few of the blogs that I have read this week. Check them out.



Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and share Him with the world.

What is rattling in my head right now . . .

I thought that maybe some of you might be interested in what is rattling around in my head at this point in my life. So just a quick layout of where I am going in my life and in my mind:

I just finished up a couple of weeks in the book of “Mark” and have now moved on to the book of “Romans”. I love this letter of Paul’s to the believers in Rome. My life verse lies in Romans 12:1-2. The road to salvation is threaded all through this book. I haven’t spent a lot of time in this book in a while so I look forward to what God has to teach me as I study through this book once again.

I am reading two books by George Barna right now. One is “Revolution” and the other is “Habits of a Highly Effective Church”. Both are very engaging. “Revolution” is a much easier read. It is definitely hitting close to my heart right now. Both books are dealing with the transformation of the believer and the church today. “Revolution” is a great place to find a basic biblical layout of how the church was to be structured. It is also a place to see what Barna believes to be our next big spiritual revolution.

I was reading on the web this morning and found out that there is in production a 4th Indiana Jones movie due out next year. Harrison Ford is back along with the female character from the first movie. I can’t wait for this movie. The characters are great, Spielberg is the director and Lucas Films is filming it. All the parts are there for a great movie.

I’m really looking forward to this weekend. Irene and I have nothing planned and I can get in my shop and work. I am going to clean it and get it organized again so that I can get back to turning some wood. I am also going to add a couple of work benches for extra work space. The temperatures are supposed to be in the mid 80’s. This should be a great weekend.

Right now we are four weeks and two days away from leaving to go on vacation. Irene and I are getting really jazzed about this vacation. We are going to get to spend some time with our friends Steve and Kim Conley and their great kids – AJ and Molly. The food in Pigeon Forge is always over the top. The end of the week there is a weekend clown conference in Knoxville that we may pop over for. Irene’s mom and dad will be in Pigeon Forge with some friends of theirs that same week. This vacation should be over the top.

I going to take my computer to Best Buy and have them load my copy of Vista. I really like the little extras I see that you can have run on your desk top.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and keep your head in His word.

Do we assume too much . . .

That may seem like a strange question to start with, but hang with me for a few minutes. The full question is – do we assume too much when we assume that everyone knows how we do church? Granted, I grew up in the “Bible Belt” and have been around church for a long time. But everyone living in this area today was not raised in or around church. As our city has grown over the years and even explosively over the last few years, people from all over the country and the world have moved into our area.

Even those of us that were raised in and around church all our lives can be confused by different denominations and beliefs. Let me give you an example: my wife and I went to a wedding this past Saturday at a Baptist church. But, the wedding was conducted in a Lutheran format. If it had not been for the printed order of service, we would have been totally lost. They stood at certain times and sat down at others. There was time’s that the Pastor would speak and the people in attendance would respond. Being raised in a Baptist church all my life, I will admit that I was confused.

Now, let’s think about someone that is invited to attend your church and they have never set foot in a church in their life – church can be a very confusing place. The terms that we use can be confusing. The directions for getting around our church building may seem crystal clear to us and confusing to someone who has never walks our halls before.

Maybe we should take a lesson from “Carrabba’s Italian Grill”. My wife – Irene – and I met some friends there last night for supper. When we arrived, someone met us at the door and welcomed us and asked us how many would be in our party. They walked us to our table – not point and give directions – and seated us with menus. Shortly there was our waitress, along with a waiter in training (mentoring is a great way to learn your job), welcoming us a second time. They made sure that we were comfortable and found out if this was our first time to visit this restaurant. After returning with our drink order, they were able to answer questions that my wife had about terms that were used in the menus that we were given. They checked on us throughout the evening to make sure that we were comfortable and happy. I was impressed that when we wanted to go boxes for our left over food, they took our plates and put it in boxes for us. At the end of the meal they thanked us for coming to the restaurant and for the privilege of serving us.

Maybe visitors would come back more readily to our churches if we took them as seriously as our waiter and waitress did at the restaurant last night. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and spend some time with a visitor. Who knows – maybe Jesus will change their life.

Monday reflections on this past weekend . . .

It never seems like I have enough time to just sit and just think about what happened on the weekend. Sometimes you really just need to stop and reflect on what happen over the last couple of days. Just thinking back – these are a few things that come to mind:

Worship doesn’t happen at church if you have not worshipped all week long in you private time with God. Sunday’s worship is supposed to be an overflow of our lives during the week. The speaker Sunday morning – Rev. Floyd Parker – said that we will live out what we believe. I would go one step further and say that we will worship on Sunday the way we worship during the week.

I am thankful for people that want to see our church grow and have a burden for that. They are an inspiration to me.

A big thank you to Boomer, David and Jane Baldwin for going out to eat and to Heritage Park with the youth last night with Irene and I. Your company and fellowship was appreciated. I love to be around people who enjoy being around teenagers.

A big pat on the back to Lyle Watson for bringing a great message last night to the church. His sermon brought out the wisdom that in order to move forward we must look back to the cross. You did a great job.

I am excited that the man that may become our interim pastor is going to be preaching this coming Sunday. I am anxious to meet him and hear him bring a word from God.

I really thought that it was cool that Newspring Community Church in Anderson baptized over 500 this past Saturday. They are really getting in done in Anderson.

I had the privilege of spending some time with some of my best friends at a wedding Saturday evening. It is always good to spend time with good friends.

When we have business meetings in our churches – why don’t we celebrate the number of people that have been saved in the last month? Isn’t that the business of the church? I understand that we need to take care of the money issues and month to month business – but if the church’s real business goal is to reach the world for Christ – you would think we would celebrate the salvations that have happened in the last month. Maybe we would look forward to the business meetings a little more.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and spend some time worshipping with God on your own this week

What This World Needs – Part 2 . . .

Ok. Here it is finally – the scriptural follow-up to the What This World Needs post. If you missed that post click the title in the sentence just before this one and it will take you to the post. Enough said – let’s jump right in!!

Matthew 7:1-3 - don’t judge because you will be judged in the same way. We don’t need to worry about another person’s problem until we have taken care of our own problems. I personally have enough problems in my own life to deal with that I don’t have time to deal with someone else’s – just being transparent.

John 7:24 - we never need to judge on someone’s appearance. If we are going to judge, we need to judge by the condition of the heart. That means that you have to get to know someone to get to know their heart. Some of the most sold-out Christians I have ever been around were some of the most different looking people that I have ever been around.

Romans 16:17-19 - watch out for people that cause divisions within the body of Christ and upset people’s faith by teachings contrary to the gospel. They are serving their own personal interests and agendas. They deceive innocent people by smooth talk and glowing words. They have no intention to live for the Master.

Philippians 3:18-20 - there are those whose conduct shows that they are really enemies of the cross. They brag about shameful things and they dwell on life here on earth.

Romans 12:9-21 - don’t pretend to love, really love one another. Hate what is wrong and hold tight to what is good. Love one another with genuine affection.

These are a good start. Let me encourage you to look these scriptures up in God’s word and study that scripture for yourselves. There are other scriptures that I have not had a chance to finish studying. I try to post about them later.

Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and spend time with God in His word.

Breakfast, Good Friends, and a Multi-post day . . .

Ok, I know that I said that I would get the scripture that goes with the song “What This World Needs” by Casting Crowns posted today – and I will. Just not in this post. To be honest I forgot the journal that has my notes on the dining room table at home, so that post comes later today.

I really like breakfast. Not so much that stuff that they call breakfast – donuts, sweet rolls, cereals, etc. – you get the idea. I like real breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, biscuits, gravy, grits, potatoes, pancakes, waffles, etc. That is one of the reasons that I look forward to going to Pigeon Forge every year – we will eat at the Apple Barn almost every morning. Their breakfasts are over the top. I like Friday’s breakfast the best because for the last nine years I have had a breakfast date with my wife. Sure there have been a few dates that we missed, but only a very few. This morning I had the opportunity to start breakfast with a good friend – Toby Dix – before Irene came and joined us. Toby and I have been friends for a quite a few years now. I value Toby as a friend for many reasons, but the main reason is that he strives to be a bold man of God. He really wants to be real in all that he does. I know that if I am doing something that is not in line with what God’s word says he will hold me accountable. He and a few other close friends have helped me over the last few weeks get through a hard and confusing time. For that I will be forever thankful.

Sometimes I think we take our friends for granted and that is a bad thing. I figure that if God felt it important enough to talk about in His word we should take it seriously. People that we call friend is talked about in God’s word and God gives us great guide lines for choosing our friends and what makes a good friend. A true friend will even get in your face if that is what it takes to keep you on track. To all those that I call friend – THANK YOU!! I can never say that enough. To my beautiful wife Irene – whose is the best friend I have – I LOVE YOU!!

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and hold your friends close.

Brain in over-load . . .

Am I the only one that feels like their brain is in over-load? I feel like I have contracted some kind of attention disorder. Before anyone gets their nose out of joint, I am not making fun of someone who may have that kind of disorder. It’s just, lately, I can’t slow my mind down. I’m sleeping fine, but if I’m awake, my mind is running 1000 miles and hour. Just a few quick things that maybe, if I can get these out, I can slow things down:

A shout to my friends Spencer and Janet Ledford. God has answered your prayers and given you a church to minister in. Minister in His strength and His direction. The church will give you a pay check but you work for our Father in heaven. Please Him and a true believer will be pleased with what you bring to your church.

To the students at New Hope – study so that you understand what you believe. Remember who you are and whose you are!! If you don’t understand that last statement, then see me or my wife and we’ll explain it to you. One, more thing – how is the book of Mark going?

To my friends that are starting Metamorphosis Community Church – I am praying for you and excited about what God is going to do through you in this church plant. We miss you!! Keep us posted on how things are going.

I can not get enough of God’s word lately. Everything I do triggers something that I want to look up or study about. I wish everyone felt like I do about God’s word.

Students – See You at the Pole is coming up Wednesday the 26th. Are you preparing to be at your school to pray with your friends? We will be going to a rally at Chick-fil-a that night instead of our usual youth bible studies. Make plans to attend prayer time at your schools and let’s celebrate what God does that night at Chick-fil-a.

I am 5 weeks away from our anniversary trip to Pigeon Forge. We are going up on Friday afternoon so that we can spend some time with some friends that live in TN. I can’t wait – good friends, good food (The Apple Barn, The Old Mill, Alabama Grill, The Alamo steak house) and good rest. Maybe a little shopping to be thrown in on top. It can’t get here quick enough.

I’ll post the second part of the “What the world needs . . .” post tomorrow.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and can someone please slow this ride down??

What this world needs . . .

A quick shout to Ms. Mary Roach who prepaid for me and several others to get a copy of Casting Crowns newest CD – “The Altar and The Door”. Ms. Mary you are da’ bomb! This collection of songs is incredible!! If you don’t have this CD yet, run – do not walk – to a store and buy it.

I have realized while typing this that this post will need to be in multiple posts to keep it form being too long. With that being said - on to the post. The title of this post is the first track on the new Casting Crown cd “The Altar and The Door”. This song is beyond great. It hits me in the heart – right where I am living right now. After listening to this track over and over I decided to go to the Casting Crowns website and do a little research to check out the back ground on this song. The following is what I found:

Galatians is the main basis for this song.

False teachers were slipping in and adding to the Gospel. Jesus + being good = the believer’s life. Paul builds in a foundation for the Galatian people that it is by faith in Jesus that we are saved.

Even today, we, the church, are in danger of adding to the Gospel. Jesus plus my denomination. Jesus plus our style of worship. Jesus plus good behavior. We must be careful not to strap ourselves to the Gospel.

The last statement that is made – “we must not strap ourselves to the Gospel” – really took some chewing on for me to understand what is being said. The conclusion that I came to is this – if we strap ourselves to the Gospel we bring ourselves – our preconceived ideas, our agendas, our likes and our dislikes to the Gospel. What we need to understand is that the Gospel stands on it own – without our help. God does not need us for His Gospel to do its work. God allows us to be a part of what He is doing – it is our privilege granted by God. The Holy Spirit makes the changes in people’s lives – He does not need not our rules, demands, or preferences.

One last thing to finish today’s post – the following is from the song – spoken by teenagers, from the sound of their voices:

“People aren’t confused by the gospel they are confused by us
Jesus is the only way to God but we are not the only way to Jesus
This world doesn’t need my tie, my hoodie, my denomination or my translation of the bible,
They just need Jesus
We can be passionate about what we believe but we can’t strap ourselves to the gospel because we are just slowing it down
Jesus is going to save the world but maybe the best thing we can do is just get out of the way.”

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and watch the Gospel change lives.

What does it mean to be a disciple . . .?

Sorry this post was supposed to be posted yesterday, but we were having computer problems - so here is my Sunday post.

This morning was our first Sunday with Pastor Chad and Robbie. The early service went very well. Lyle, Ms. Terry, Mitchell, Crystal and Ashley led us in three worship songs – they did a great job. Rev. Ron Davis the DOM of the Greenville Baptist Association brought a great message to our church – it was on what it means to be a disciple of Christ. It was wonderful to sit and listen to this man of God bring a message that hits so close to where my heart beats. He even referred to our students as missionaries to their campuses. The following are the notes that I took form this morning’s sermon:

- Jesus never called us to go into the world and be good church members – he did call us to go into the world and be disciples.
- John 8:31 – a disciple will hold to the teaching of Jesus. We are not only to believe in the doctrine – the sound teaching from the word of God – but our lives should give forth the actions that comes from that knowledge.
- John 13:34 – a disciple will love others. Jesus says that others will know that we are His followers by our love for one another. We were cautioned that when we quit loving others we begin to judge others.
- John 15:8, 16 – a disciple bears fruit for our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not talking about the fruits of the spirit. A disciple bears fruit by producing other disciples.
Rev. Davis left us with one last challenge – that during this time of interim – without a Pastor to guide us – we should strive to grow.

There was a wealth of wisdom in this sermon – if we will take it to heart. There is a cost in being a disciple. Jesus said that if we are to follow Him, we are to take up our cross daily. That is to say that we are to die to ourselves – our preferences, our desires, our agendas – in order that the most important mission we have as Christians be moved to the front of everything that we do – to carry the gospel to the world.

Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and lets make disciples.

Who do people see . . .

It always amazes me how good God is. It should not, but it does. I really wanted to talk with a friend of mine in TN last night. I was on the way to the bank to deposit my check and talking with Irene, asking her for a phone number for my friend. We had basically decided that it may be too late to call and a call came in on my other line. When I picked up it was my friend. God knew how much I needed to hear his voice and to be able to talk with him. My friend is in a church plant in TN and he has been on my heart the last couple of days. I also needed his wisdom in things that I am praying about. Through that phone call it got me thinking back to clown camp in July – which was the last time our families had anytime to spend together. What it actually triggered was meditation on the verse that was used as the focus for our week at camp this year – II Corinthians 3:18.

This verse talks about the believer being the reflection of our God. Sometimes I think we do a very bad job of that – at least I know I do. One of the things that I try to teach our students is that people around us should be able to see Jesus through our life by the way we live and conduct ourselves everyday. If we live our faith out loud – that is – we are a reflection of our Savior; that is the greatest witness that we can have. We should always be prepared to share the gospel, but our lives should be the greatest witness we can offer. It is easy to tell people what we believe, but what we live comes from our heart. I challenged our students to pray that God would give them the opportunity to share the gospel with at least one person everyday. That should be in all of our prayers – whether young or not so young. I believe that those opportunities will come when people around us see more of Jesus than they see of ourselves.

My question to those that read my blog is this – when people look at you – who do they see? My prayer for myself and you is this – that people who come in contact with me everyday could see more of Jesus and less of us. God grant that prayer. Help me die to myself so that you can live through me.

A quick shout to the students that read this blog – read and study this scripture – you may hear it again real soon. By the looks of the votes on the poll, I would say that most of you get it.

Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and let us be a reflection for all to see.

What are you willing to do ? ? ?

That was my question to our students this past Sunday evening. The question actually went something like – what are you willing to do to get someone to Christ? This questions stems from the scripture in Mark 2:1-12. If you have been in church for any length of time, this is a familiar story. This is the story of four men who brought a man to Jesus but could not get into the house where He was teaching. These men had brought someone to Jesus so that his legs could be healed because he could not walk. Since they could not get into the house because of such a large crowd, they changed to a more radical plan – they tore the roof off and lowered the man down into the room where Jesus was teaching. They did what ever it took to get this man to Jesus.

My question to our students was, once again, what would they do to get someone to Jesus? Sometimes I think that we will do whatever it takes as long as it fits in our schedule, or it’s not to inconvenient. Yet the example set in the scripture involved hard work. Chances are it did not fit into their schedule, since this meeting happened when people found out that Jesus had returned. It was a spur of the moment, it brought about a change in plans. These men had an urgency about what they were doing, since they actually tore up someone’s house. It does not say in the scripture, but they probably had to repair the house after the man was healed. The point is that they were willing to do whatever it took to get this man to Jesus.

So, once again – what are you willing to do? Are you willing to invite someone week after week until they say yes? Are you willing to get others involved to get that one person to Jesus? Are you willing to pick-up the tab for lunch to get them to church? Are you willing to change your schedule, to be inconvenienced, to work hard, to get someone to Christ? Are we willing as followers of Christ to set aside our personal preferences in order to see people accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. What I truly believe is that when we get to the point of understanding that what we are called to do has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus, we will do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus.

The mission that we have been called to do, is the last words spoken by Jesus to His followers in Matthew 28:19-20. These are the marching orders of the believer. The work is laid out before us. So my question to you is – what are you willing to do?

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and do what ever it takes to get them to Jesus.

A vision from God . . .

I am often confused by people that profess that they are believers in Christ but have a problem when someone tells them that they are doing something because God told them to. Someone feels lead to attend another church and everyone wants to know who made them mad and why they are leaving. No one made them mad and they are following God’s leadership never seems to be the answer that people want to hear. Leaders leave by the direction of the Holy Spirit and yet people will not accept that response.

What I have come to the conclusion about is that some people have a problem with leadership from God. A leader receives a mission from God – a vision – something only seen by the one God gave it to. Since that vision does not take into consideration others personal preferences, they have a problem with this call from God. What we need to understand is that God is not really interested in our personal preferences. God is concerned with what He prefers. Our personal preferences should never hinder the will of God.

Often times a call from God will bring about a change of course. We need to understand that if we keep doing what we are doing we will keep getting what we are getting. If we are not actively seeking what God wants us to do – the direction - the vision that He has for us, then we are not actively seeking God. God was constantly changing the way that He did things throughout the Bible. Change can be both scary and exciting – most rest in the area of scary. Most change will cause us to be stretched and carried far outside our comfort zone – that is the way that we grow in Christ. Some may feel that they can not offer God their best if they are not comfortable with what they are doing. I believe that God ultimately receives our best when we are relying on Him the most. This will often cause us to work harder. Often to change the way we think. It may cause us to stop doing something that we have been doing the same way for years. That is OK. The manner of doing God’s work may have to change to do what God has called us to do, but we need to understand that the mission – to carry the good news of Christ to the world – will never change. We need to remember that what we are supposed to be doing is reaching the world one person at a time.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and thank you to Rev. Ken Forester and Rev. Johnny Hunt for their obedience in bringing a word from God.

GodStock

It’s Friday night and we’re running on a low hum. Anxiously waiting for Saturday. It cannot get here soon enough. We’re waiting to see what God has in store for us. We know that He wants us to take our schools back, but somewhere deep down in the dark corners of our heart; we have a wee little bit of doubt that it is going to happen. All of the worries of where the money is going to come from are quickly fading away as God has already supplied for the needs and wants for this event. Now comes the God sized task. We’re praying for at least 1,000 students to show up and for at least 300 salvations. We’re also praying for the students to gain boldness to witness to their families, friends and teachers. We’re praying for a host of angels to surround the field and everyone as they travel in. We are asking God to bind Satan and his army, to keep him away from His event. We are praying for a good night’s rest, a cool breeze on Saturday, and no rain until we have cleaned the field. We are making out a list of last minute things that need to be done in order to help make this a “Giving God ALL of the praise” event. Now it’s time to get some sleep.

It’s Saturday morning, the day started at 6 a.m. Arrived at the church around 7:20 a.m. to meet the folks who brought in two trucks to make the stage. Thanks to EISI for the use of the trucks. Left for Hardee’s for breakfast, and then picked up the snow cone machine. Just praying for God to supply all the ice that we need, and then headed off to Sam’s. It’s about 11:20 now and the sound & lights are in the process of being set up. Drinks are in the refrigerator being cooled down. Some of the students are here helping out. Just waiting for rest of the folks to come and help.

“God, it’s all about you, not NHBC and not the students. Just show up and show out!”

It’s now Sunday evening, 24 hours after the event. We’ve had a good night of rest, worship services and a Sunday afternoon nap. Now we can reflect on what God has done.

Earlier, it was stated what the purpose of the event was for, through God’s divine power, that was accomplished. A young man gave his heart to Christ. That’s one more student that will be on fire for God and one more student for God to use in taking back our schools. It only takes one to reach one and the domino effect will take place as long as we do not stand in God’s way.

It was neat to see God working yesterday. A tarp was hung over the stage as relief from the sun and from any potential rain showers. Well…..God let us know real quick that the tarp was not suppose to be there so He took it down with a puff of wind. All afternoon, the storm clouds started gathering, folks were beginning to get a little uneasy and was asking what we were going to do. At that point, I saw a partial rainbow in the sky and I knew then that God was not going to let it rain. About 30 minutes later, I saw the other half of the rainbow. I started showing it to the folks and I think they began to realize that God wasn’t going let it rain on His event. He sent the clouds to block the sun and a nice cool breeze to give us comfort to continue to do His work. He ended the evening around 9:45 pm with a new child in His family. We worshiped, we prayed and we rejoiced.

God supplied a wonderful group of adults and teenagers to do His work. He made sure that all were feeling well and ready to share the gospel at any given moment. Even had one to show up after having surgery on Thursday! Now that’s God’s work! Be sure to talk with any of the teenagers or the adult leaders to get their side of the story. Each one was able to see God work in many different ways.
“Thank you God for showing up and showing out, even when we failed to trust you completely for every little detail. We give you ALL of the praise for what You have done. It is truly all about you.”

Are You Willing to Step Up . . .

Well, the weekend is past and there was a lot that happened. Some I will post later in the week and one I am going to arrange for a guest to post about.
Yesterday was Pastor Chad and Robbie’s last day at New Hope as our Pastor and Associate Pastor. I personally am going to miss my friends. I have seen our church grow over the past year – not just in number of people coming but also spiritually. Some may not agree with that and I am sorry that you feel that way. What I see in the bible is that any time Jesus did a work where the kingdom was increased or a miracle was done there was controversy. There were people that did not like Him doing what He did. These were usually the religious people in the crowd. These were also those that should have recognized a work of God, but they missed the point of what Jesus doing. Pastor Chad and Robbie have done a great work for the Lord at New Hope and we should all be thankful that we were there to be a part of it.
I believe that God still has a great work to be done at our church. I look forward to meeting the Interim Pastor the God has set aside to help us continue to advance forward. My question to those that read my blog is this – are you willing to step up? In order for God’s kingdom to continue to advance forward through New Hope we have got to step up. We need to spend more time in prayer and bible study than we ever have. We need to invite people to be apart of our fellowship. We need to share what God has done in our lives. We need to live our faith so that the world around us can see Jesus. If we are not careful Satan can gain a foothold in our fellowship in this time of transition. But, if we step up – join God in what He has started, continue the work that He has birthed – I believe that we will see our church continue to grow. We need to keep our focus and continue to work.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and stay on the wall.

Four days til GodStock ’07 . . .

Is time going by extremely fast or am I just tied to a stump. GodStock is only (4) days away. The excitement is almost unbearable. I will send out an e-mail tonight with the line-up for the bands and our final meeting will be Friday night. Saturday will be a dead run from 10:30 am until. You may notice I did not put a finish time – some of us will be there until we are ready to have church the next day. The one thing that I am sure of is that this event is in God’s hands because He has pulled it all together.

Pray hard and don’t stop. We are praying for 1000+ people to be in attendance and 300 decisions. When that happens, I won’t be hard to find. I’ll be on my face at the stage giving God all the glory.

A note to the bands:
There will be a band meeting for all bands at 2:00 pm in the church gym. Please be in attendance. This will let you meet the sound guru’s and help getting the bands on and off the stage with the least confusion.
We ask that you bring in your band and instruments on the Golden Park side of the church so that we can get you as close to the stage as possible.
Be flexible. We are all in one spot for one reason – to see people come to Jesus.

Just a quick shout to all the New Hope students that are going to be in attendance:
Bring sun screen – it’s going to be hot.
Be flexible – we are learning and there will be problems to over come.
Have a servant’s heart – come ready to serve.
If you don’t want to sit on the ground at the end of the day – bring a lawn chair.
This is at our house – so we are the hosts. We have to work, but I will promise you, you will have time for fun.

To everyone else that is coming:
Everything is free – except: food (Chick-fil-a sandwiches, popcorn, etc.), drinks and t-shirts.
There is going to be door prizes (mp3 players, I-tunes cards, possibly a gaming system) so don’t forget to register. You have to be in attendance to win. Drawings will be the last thing of the evening for the big prizes.
There will be a lot to do – climbing wall, obstacle course, slides, bounce houses, non-stop music, etc.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and pray. I really believe we are going to see a great thing happen at our church this Saturday.

Sunday reflections . . .

Just a few thoughts from yesterday:

I now understand why Preachers don’t want to talk to people on Sunday before their time in the pulpit. Yesterday was the first time my mind and spirit was so scattered that it was hard to stay focused enough to preach. My hat is off to all pastors that suffer this every week.

It was great to see our church pray over our students and teachers last night. There is definitely something special about a time where your church lays their hands on people and commits to support them in prayer.

I really believe that we are going to see a change in our school’s campuses because of the students and teachers that are going back to school today.

GodStock is only six days away. I am really getting pumped. Keep praying – God is going to do a mighty work in front of us this weekend. He has made the arrangements – we need to be obedient.

I had the privilege of preaching the first sermon of the summer and the last sermon of the summer.

I look forward to hearing from our students and teachers about their first week back at school. I really hope that God grants them the boldness to do what He has called them to do.

I sometimes feel like Paul – is anybody listening – is any of this making a difference.

I look a churches around us and “business is picking up.” God is supplying workers for the harvest. The fields are ripe. Don’t stand back and miss taking part.

God has messed me up with this vision He has given me. My only rest is in Him and the knowledge that He will accomplish the vision – I need only be obedient with what He has given me.

Sometimes you just have to get out of the boat – even if you can’t swim. Just keep your eyes on the master and walk on top.

What I have come to the conclusion about is that anything Jesus did, He generally upset someone.

I wonder sometimes – if Jesus came back to our world, not to take us home to heaven, but just to hang out – who would He hangout with?

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and remember who you are and whose you are.

Can we afford to play it safe . . .

I was following along in the sermon this morning and Pastor Chad asked us to go to Matthew 25:14-30. This is the parable of the talents. I have been reading “The Message” lately, so that is the bible that I had with me this morning. When you read this parable in this bible and get down to the last verse or two the master refers to the servant that would not risk anything as one who plays it safe.

That got me really thinking. In the time that we live, can we afford to play it safe in carrying the word of God to the world around us. I was reading in a blog the other day where it talked about church in terms of baseball. What this blog post suggests is that the church needs to get dirty. I grew up with a brother and a dad that were both into sports, especially baseball. One thing was for sure, if they played in a game they got dirty. We need to understand that God has called us to be in the game of life, not spectators to the game of life. When was the last time that you got dirty for God? When was the last time that you did something for God that was cutting edge? When was the last time that you partnered with God in what He is doing?

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s get dirty.

Finally Friday . . .

Any of you ever have a week that just never seems to end? Well this one was one of those. Too much work to get done at all of my work places. I must say that I am sorry that I have not posted this week, so here are a few random things about myself that some of you may not know:

My favorite Movies:
Lord of the Rings (all three)
About anything with John Wayne
Chronicles of Narnia

My Favorite kinds of food:
Mexican
Italian

My favorite books of the bible:
James
Romans

My favorite things to do:
Listen to good preaching
Work with wood
Preach and teach from the Bible

My favorite preachers:
Rev. Ken Forrester
Rev. Johnny Hunt
Rev. Ron Lynch
Rev. Perry Noble

My favorite books:
Fresh Wind – Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
Lord of the Rings
Chronicles of Narnia

My Favorite Vacation spots:
Pigeon Forge, TN
Outer Banks, NC

My favorite College Football team:
University of Arkansas

Favorite Pro Football team:
Green Bay Packers

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus!

Stretched in all directions . . .

Am I the only one that feels stretched in all directions? I understand that often times when we are stretched, we are being stretched by God so that we can grow. Here lately it feels like I must be in some kind of growth spurt. Sometimes growth happens at times when we wish we could just sit still. In some ways that is where I’m at right now. New things can bring about growth and stretching. Changes can also bring about growth and stretching. I’ve been quiet about a lot of my stretching lately but I feel I need to share a little from my heart.

I have been confused and hurt and excited all at once here lately. I am hurt that I am loosing my pastor and my associate pastor. I consider them both friends. I am hurt that I will be losing their leadership and counsel in my ministry at New Hope. I am confused about God’s timing and what He is stretching me for. God has taught me so much this summer, under these two men. I am excited about their new church plant and the new direction that God is giving them. I am excited about new opportunities for New Hope and for me and my family. Saying that, here is what I know for sure – God has not told me to do anything other than keep my eyes on Him and stay faithful to the task that He has set before me and that is what I am going to do. If I have learned nothing else this summer – it is to keep my eyes on Jesus, my ears and heart open to His voice and block out every thing else. I am more open to hearing the voice of God right now and following His leadership than any other time in my life.

I am also being stretched by GodStock. God is really teaching me about how He deals with things on His time table. Things are coming together for this event in spite of everything else that is going on. Yet I am being stretched here in ways that I did not think possible. I am being taught to rely on God and Him alone as this comes together. There is one thing for sure – when this event happens, all the glory is due God and not any of the people involved. God has put this together in a magnificent way. I will share in the future all that God has taught me through this event and where He is directing a vision for the future.

Enough said for now. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and stay at the task He has given you until He says move. Then join in with the excitement due the opportunity.

Dealing with it . . .

Dealing with what you might ask – dealing with sin of course. Romans 6:23 says that the “wages of sin is death”. You know I’m really glad that payday is not immediate. I mean, what would it be like if as soon as you sinned – you died. What I don’t think that we understand is that sin can and will lead to death if it is not dealt with. Sin is a progressive thing not an immediate thing. No one wakes up and goes – I think I’ll go out and murder someone today or I’ll go out and steal or commit adultery. What you don’t agree with this, well go look at the life of Samson. As you read and study about his life and understand who he was and how he was supposed to live you begin to see a progression of sin in his life. That is generally how it happens with us.

Understanding that sin is progressive (growing like cancer) – we can find ways of dealing with it. What we need to understand is the often times that may mean cutting something a way – like surgery. Let me give you an example: sex outside of marriage. God says that sex outside of marriage is wrong and can lead to all kinds of problems. Now, most people don’t just meet a guy or a girl and 10 minutes later they are in bed. What happens is a progression. Most relationships start with holding hands, a hug, a little peck on the cheek. That is where the progression starts. Don’t get me wrong – I am not saying that holding hands, a hug, or a peck on the cheek are sins. Often very innocent things can and will lead us to sin. What we don’t understand is that once the progression starts moving, it is really hard to stop and roll back. Once you move from a peck on the cheek to a real kiss, it is really hard to go back to a peck on the cheek. The fallacy that we live under is that we can control it. You may say that it is not a fallacy – you can control what you do. My answer to that is – possibly – but can you control what the other person is going through.

We need to understand that the father of lies – the devil – will put stuff in our heads – like “we can handle this.” Always remember that sin is a progression. Bad habits don’t start as habits. Smoking generally starts as “I’ll just smoke one to fit in” or drinking as “I’ll just have one drink”. Progressively it becomes a habit. So how do we deal with it – it being sin?

Understand the dangers. Separate yourself from the sin. You can not deal with sin if you are still participating in it. Repent of your sin to God. Have someone that cares about you hold you accountable. Do not put yourself in a situation where a progression can start. Read God’s word and meditate on it. Pray for strength and wisdom. Join a fellowship of like minded believers who can support you and you support them.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and don’t do anything that you would not do with Him sitting right in front of you – because basically He is.

Be Still . . .

Am I the only one that has a problem sometimes, just stopping and letting go of the controls. There have been times in my life (like right now) that I needed to just stop and understand that God is still on the throne and He is still in control. This morning through all that is going on in my life right now I was drawn to a passage that states that we need to be still (to let be and be still, to get out of the traffic, to stop and recognize) and know that God is still God.

There was also a word used in this scripture that I had seen, but never really thought about much – Selah. According to the Amplified Bible this word means to pause and calmly think about. Once again going back to being still. I like to fool myself into thinking that I am always in control. What I have come to realize about myself in light of who God is, is that I am not in control of anything – really. God is still in control. He allows me to decide of my own choosing if I am going to join Him in an opportunity or not. But, what I understand from my walk with Him, is that He will accomplish His goals with or without me. God does not need us, but He wants us. It should always be our greatest pleasure to serve our God.

So I invite you to be still and know that God is still in control. Whatever we are going through – He is still in control of. God promised that He would never give us a burden to heavy to bear with His help. Don’t try to understand it – just know that He is God.

Until next time – Keep your eyes on Jesus and know that He has everything taken care of.

Who Am I ?

The vision behind GodStock 2007 . . .

For me to explain what GodStock is, I have to go back to the early part of my ministry at New Hope. Early on I was sitting around talking with one of our students and he said that it would be great to have a festival so that area praise bands could come together, play to a crowd and experience the fun coming from this type of worship. Now, we fast forward to a meeting of youth workers after we had returned from Meltdown in January of this year. We were sitting around talking about what it would take to move our student ministry to the next level. I shared what that student, months before, had shared and the idea took of and the vision began to develop. That vision developed even farther through what God has been teaching me over the past four months.

God has given me a vision and a burden for the school campuses in our area. Even now, I’m not sure that it is something that can be tied to just our area. This vision is continuing to grow and take a greater form with every passing day. Anyway, I feel that God has let me know that our school campuses are ready for a mighty movement of God. That being said – it brings us to GodStock.

GodStock will be a festival setting, for praise music and activities, for students that will be taking place on August the 25th at New Hope Baptist Church. There will be inflatables and climbing walls for the students to have fun with. Even while they are having fun with all of the activities going on, there will be praise bands on stage playing music. At the end of the day, we will have one last set of praise music leading up to a time when a guest speaker will bring the gospel. This year, the last set of praise music will be led by Jonathan Elrod and the band that he will bring with him. If you have been to Meltdown, then you know how great a job they do each year. Jonathan and I have been doing things together for almost 14 years and God has had his hand on him in a mighty way and continues to do great things through him and his talents. The speaker this year will be Matthew Elrod. Matthew is Jonathan’s younger brother who has his own ministry based out of Columbia, SC. I am excited about what God is going to do through not only Jonathan and Matthew, but what He is going to do through all of the praise bands participating. We have been praying for 1000+ students to come to this event and we are praying for 300+ decisions for Christ. What we believe is that God wants to impact our school campuses for His glory.

Please be in prayer for this event. If you can help through participation, we will find a place for you to serve. If you can help monetarily, we would love to be able to do give door prizes to attract not only students that go to church, but students that don’t. Any way that you can help will be appreciated.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and hang on. This ride is fixing to get fun.

Reflections from a befuddled mind . . .

I am sorry that I have not posted in a while. Clown school took a lot out of me and between getting back in the groove at work, GodStock and several other things going on at one time – my mind has not been where it needs to be to post. The fog has not entirely cleared, but it does seem that I can see shapes now. The following are just a few reflections from a befuddled mind –

When I think about the Apostle Peter the one word that always seems to come to mind is boldness. Right, wrong or otherwise, he always seemed to be the one at the forefront of all that was happening. Sometimes that worked out good and sometimes not so good. But what I notice in studying his life is that he lived life on the edge and experienced life to the fullest. When I think of an abundant life, Peter is who I think of. Everything that Peter did, he did with passion for the Master. I love the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. Most just notice him taking his eyes off Jesus and beginning to sink and crying for help. What I notice is that he is the only one of the disciples that got out of the boat. He did not step timidly out of the boat but he jumped out of the boat. He did everything with passion. Oh, that I might have that passion and boldness.

Summer has been a blur and it is almost over. I know the students don’t want to think about going back to school, but I am excited for them. They are going to be walking back into the greatest mission field that any of them will ever visit. My prayer is that God would grant them the boldness of Peter to get out of the boat and witness to their friends. I pray that their hearts would be so heavy for the lost that they would have a hard time resting because of their lost friends.

GodStock is almost on top of us and I am freaking out. Things are coming together, but all at the last minute. If you can help, please let me know. If you don’t know what GodStock is – ask (I will explain GodStock in a post later this week.) If you can give financial support – give. Don’t miss being a part of something I think God wants to be an annual event in our area.

Sometimes I wonder if we actually get it when it comes to church. God has whipped my tail this summer and opened my eyes as never before. What He wants me to do with all this information is not clear yet. What I do understand is at times we as believers have done church very poorly. Church was never designed to be about us, it was always designed to be about God. The church’s focus should be outside the walls, not inside. We should not expect a new born in Christ to act like someone who has walked with Christ for years. Jesus died for all, not just those who look like someone we want to spend time with. Sometimes we act far more holy than righteous. Sometimes we forget that we were once lost too. It will always break my heart to hear someone say that they are happy with the size of their group or church and that they don’t need to grow anymore. What about the rest of the people around them that are going to hell, don’t they matter anymore?

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and pray for boldness. Don’t just step out of the boat – jump!!

Salutations from Clown School . . .

For those of you that may not know what that title means – greetings, hellos, alohas, from clown school. Please be in prayer for us as we seek God in our clown ministry. To those of us that are here, this is like revival. It is not only a time to get together and learn new skills and develop new characters, it is most importantly a time of spiritual reflection.

This will be a short post because one – I’m tired. I have been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night since getting here. Secondly – I don’t want to miss out on anything. I have the privilege to be at a school where we have the official artist of the Ringling Brothers Circus. I have been sitting here as I post and watching him design clown faces for people. I sat in a class earlier and listened to him teach – WOW – what an opportunity.

We have an official prayer consultant on staff this year that we can meet with and she keeps notes and helps us pray through things that each of us is dealing with. I had a chance to share with her last night and she is now praying for our student ministry and our taking the school campuses for Christ this year. This place is so cool.

For now – keep your eyes on Jesus and let us all reflect Jesus in all that we do.

THOUGHTS FROM MR. DAVID..............

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those adults involved in pulling off another successful LOCK-IN. You guys are the greatest!!! This event as well as others would not be possible without you. I thank GOD every day for putting you in my life.

Youth Group what an awesome turn out!! You guys really stepped up!! I am impressed. I can only imagine how GOD must feel. This is what it is all about. Reaching out, sharing Christ and having FUN doing it!!! One last thought before I move on. I just would like to say "What is up guys?" I have never heard so much "SMACK" talked by a group of girls. I mean I literally was embarrassed for you guys when I had the opportunity to talk with some of the girls that actually out ran, out drove, and from the way I see it out classed you on every GO-Kart track you were on. Not to mention those of you that actually were put in the wall by some of these girls. I know.. I know.. I heard some of the excuses you guys came up with "You didn't want to wreck a girl, You didn't have a fast Kart, Your Kart was a piece of junk!!!... well don't worry I'm sure that is what the Indy drivers say when Dana Kirkpatrick blows by them too!!!!

Thank you for the opportunity to speak last night as we continued our "Summer Series Sermons" Your attention and participation in small groups was amazing. You guys will never know how much you impact my life and my ministry for God.

One Last thing...God has laid something on my heart I would like to share with you, especially after last nights sermon. I am praying that one of you will step up for Christ. Become a leader, be that person among your piers to be on FIRE for CHRIST. A Student Leader that not only can be EFFECTIVE among the youth group, but can be EFFECTIVE on their campus. (Romans 10:14-15). So STEP UP, QUIT turning EXCUSES into REASONS, and lay it down for CHRIST!!!!


NEW HOPE....HOLLA!!!!!

PEACE OUT!!!
Mr. David-

Thoughts at the end of a tiring day . . .

I am sitting here in the lobby of the Georgia Baptist Conference Center at 9:00 pm at night, blogging on three hours of sleep. We got here at about 3:00 pm this afternoon, got the trailer unloaded and now I have a few minutes to myself. The staff is here for the clown school and we have begun to re-connect with some special friends. I am really excited about the leaders this year. Now don’t get me wrong, our teachers are always the best but this year seems to be a little bigger and a little better. One of our teachers is the official artist for Ringling Brothers – I can’t wait to sit in his classes. But the greatest thing about these men and women is their testimonies for Christ and what He has done in their lives. Anyway, enough about where I am – I will talk about that all week long – just a few thoughts at the end of a long day.

First off – my hat is off to all of the adults that made the mid-summer lock-in a success. Since coming to New Hope I have seen something happen that I had never seen in any of my other ministries – students getting saved at a lock-in. The first lock-in that we did was back in December and we had four students accept Christ that night. Last night we had one student accept Christ as Lord and Savior and other students that dealt with some serious issues during the lock-in. That is the only reason that we do lock-ins. The further I go in ministry the more I realize that an event for the sake of church kids getting together for another Holy Huddle is not what God has called us to do. I really want to see God show up and change lives. I am blessed to have two leaders who head up this lock-in ministry and they are over the top because they want to see students not just gather together but to see changed hearts for the kingdom.

To all the students that invited your friends, thank you. Between adults and students we had 58 in attendance. We heard some great music from Willey Lipsey who is always over the top. Then we heard a testimony from Brian Tillotson who played football for Clemson University. Brian is a big guy who played big football, but he has an even bigger testimony. Brian – you are over the top and we pray God will use you up for His glory. We then had the priveledge of hearing Jason Patterson. All I can say is WOW!! What a message from God.

There was one thing that I guess will always bother me about an event like we had last night – that’s when I have a student look at me and say that they feel left out and like an outsider because no one is talking with them. I understand that God is still working on our group and I understand that we all have those certain special friends, but I would hate to think we miss a life for Christ because we don’t do something as simple as speak to someone and make them feel a part of something bigger that themselves. All in all the lock-in was a great success.

Enough about all that – I’m tired, so – keep your eyes on Christ and keep you eyes open for an opportunity to make someone feel special and a part of the group.

The Next Inductee to "The Core" . . .

Let me remind you what “The Core” is – it is people who make up a special group of students and leaders that are willing to fulfill the fifth step in the purpose of our student ministry – that would be ministering to the world around us in love. This is an incredibly important part of what we do because it shows that we are following the example that Jesus set for us. The first two inductees were Ashley and Rachel Runyan for the volunteer work that they do on the weekends at a retirement home in our area.

The newest inductee to "The Core" is a young lady who has stepped out of the boat and into the water in a big way. She blogs her devotion almost everyday so that anyone who reads her blog can see her walk with God. She is a motivating factor in compelling her family to be in church. She loves music and she loves her church and she loves her youth group. She is willing to step up and step out when she is called upon to serve. I am very proud to have her as part of our group and more importantly, part of a ministry for God. Crystal Symsick is the third inductee into "The Core".

Until next time - keep your eyes on Jesus and look for ways to serve our Lord in the world around us.

What the "French Toast?"

First and foremost I would like to thank Mr. Allen for allowing me the opportunity to post on this blog site. Most of you know that I am pretty much an "idiot" when it comes to computers. It was a task to just get me set on the account to even be able to blog, but thanks to Mr. Allen and his technological skills here I am, even though I did have to retrieve my password that I forgot. (I know Mr. Allen you told me I would lose it!!!) The problem is when I get ready to use it again will I remember where it is!!!

I would like to share a question that someone asked me recently. "What is God calling you to do?" One year ago I couldn't answer that question as humbly and earnestly as I am able to today. When God placed the calling on my life to be a minister I really didn't know exactly the where, how, what, and the whys. Even though I still don't know all the answers, God has really been working in my life to show me the direction HE wants me to take. So, here is my answer to that question. God has given me the heart and desire to reach the lost, the unchurched, and the unsaved. I know what you are thinking, "That is what we all should be doing" but realize this I think we fail horribly at this. We tend to get wrapped up in our own "LITTLE SELVES", our own "LITTLE LIVES" and own "LITTLE WORLDS" becoming numb to those who are lost around us. You see, GOD has instilled in me the love for these people, and yes it is an ugly world, and yes it is frustrating at times, and yes I lose sleep over it at some nights (OK, allot of nights), but the passion that GOD has placed on my heart for these people is undeniably one of the greatest callings one could ever experience. Remember guys, we were ones of those people at one time, and someone stepped up and shared the gospel with us!!! GOD validates this calling every day in my life, all I have to do is ask and trust GOD for HIS wisdom and HIS desires and for HIS courage to reach a lost and dying world.

Where is GOD leading me? What is GOD going to do with me? How is GOD going to accomplish things through me? I still can't answer those question, but that's OK, because I know that GOD is going to break down denominations, change lives, and resurrect a falling world by using me as a vessle. ( NOW THAT'S GOOD STUFF)

So the next time you feel like asking GOD, "WHAT THE FRENCH TOAST?" Hang tight, be still, and listen HE will reveal HIS plans for you!!!!

PEACE OUT!!!!!!

Reading, listening, and thinking . . .

God is really good when He only speaks in short statements. Let me explain – as I stated yesterday, Ms. Mary bought me a new book to read by Mark Hall who is the lead singer for Casting Crowns and just happens to be a student pastor that gets it. (By the way, if you don’t have this book, go get it and read – the name is “Lifestories”.) As I am reading this book about the stories that led up to Mark writing the music for the group, God begins to speak in little short statements. Short statements are good because long and drawn out can be overwhelming. Through all of this I now have a couple of new favorite songs and concepts for some great messages from God and His word. I am now going to borrow from one of my students, Crystal Symsick, and talk about music.

The first song is “Does Anybody Hear Her”. This song has been haunting me since I heard it for the first time. Being the introvert that I am, I have a tendency to study people and how they react to those around them. My question is – have we, as the church, become the church that is pictured in this song? Are we so wrapped up in our group and our friends that we don’t even notice the hurting world around us or worse yet do we only give the lost negative attention? I know that I work with a great group of students, but I also know that I have watched visitors walk in and not have any of these students speak to them and they leave without a touch from a friendly person. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that we all have our friends that we want to spend time with when we come to church. What I also realize is that when we leave, those people will still be our friends. If our focus is only on those that are close to us, our family, friends, those we have things in common with, we miss those that pass us on the streets or in the halls at school. If we become so wrapped up in our own little world that we never make eye contact with those around us, we will never reach those that are lost around us. If we look down our noses at those that don’t fit in with our group are we any better than the exclusive country club? If we go through life surrounding ourselves with people that are saved how will we ever be salt and light to a dieing world.

If you think that maybe you see a little frustration in the previous paragraph, you do. The church should be a place where the hurting and the lost can find healing, not condemnation. We need not be surprised by the conduct of those that are lost; they don’t have a relationship with Jesus, their still lost. We need to remember that except by the grace of a loving God, we are all those lost and hurting people. We were all once sinners that are now saved by grace. We understand what the need is and how it is fulfilled. That hole, that hurt, can only be fixed by a relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that we would all be aware of those around us, that God would open our eyes and our hearts to the lost in the world that we live in and that God would give us the opportunity to do the work that He has set before us – to reach the lost through His gospel.

For now, I’m done. I’ll write about my other favorite song in another post. Keep your eyes on Jesus and be aware of those around you and seek an opportunity to touch someone for Him.

Does Anybody Hear Her . . .

Reflections, Pain and Enlightenment . . .

You may think this is a strange title for a post, but bear with me for a few minutes and I think that you will understand. I was reflecting on this past weekend. It was a really good weekend in a lot of ways. I had a blast watching our teenagers at sliding rock and then we moved on to one of our favorite past times – ice cream. Then Sunday came and it was great. The praise band did an awesome job. They get better every time they lead us in worship. Their focus on what matters – worship - is incredible. Pastor Chad is preaching the best sermons that I have ever heard him preach and God is at work in our church. Then Sunday evening Barry Ledford brought us a word from God about friendship. I said it that night and I will say it again – I am the luckiest youth pastor around to have men and women who want to work with our students and can step up and share from their hearts about things that God shows them in His word.

I am also reflecting on pain. I have some back problems that I am dealing with right now. I went to the doctor and he sent me to physical therapy. I have never had to deal with this before, but as I sit and think about what God is trying to teach me I am thankful for the doctor that God has placed in my life and people that are willing to be trained to help people that are dealing with physical problems. It has also slowed me down to the point that I am now more receptive to God’s voice and His teachings. Maybe this is my time to be still and know that God is still in control of everything.

Let me just take a minute and say that Ms. Mary Roach is that bomb. She bought Pastor Chad, Robbie and I a book by the lead singer of “Casting Crowns”. Along with that we will get the new “Casting Crowns” CD when it comes out at the end of August. As I sit and read, I find a kindred spirit in the author of this book. I did not know that the lead singer and author of their music is actually a student pastor in the Atlanta area. One thing I know from reading about him and his music is that he gets it. He understands what God wants us to do as followers of Christ. This group’s music paints some of the greatest pictures I have ever seen in print. This book has also given me the idea for a great sermon series for this fall. As much as I love the listen to Eric, Barry and David speak and appreciate their willingness to step in and do what God has called them to do – I can’t wait to get back to preaching on Sunday nights again.

But until that time comes, keep your eyes on Jesus and hang on, business is fixing to pick up.

Am I the only one that gets surprised . . .

After a week of what seemed to be absolute silence form God, am I the only one that was surprised when God showed up and spoke? You may think that is a strange question, but let me recap yesterday. Yesterday morning was great. When it seems like God has been quite and you have a great worship service like we did yesterday it changes your whole perspective. To all who had a hand in yesterday morning’s service, it was awesome. The music was over the top as always, but Pastor Chad’s sermon was the bomb (I’ll write about it later in the week when I have my journal.)

After church Irene and I went out to eat with some friends. That is something that I really needed. One of our friends that we ate with is a counselor. We were able to talk over our meal and she was able to pose questions that helped me verbalize some things that I have been struggling with in my own head. Now I understand why time with a counselor can be so important.

Then last night’s youth service time finally came. I don’t know if everyone misses those services when they don’t happen, but that was what had been missing in my life over the last couple of weeks. When I first got there we got off to a stumbling start. The music wasn’t ready and we seemed a lot scattered. Now, granted we have not had youth services for two weeks. We finally made it out to the field for a game of “Soft Base Tennis Ball”. During the game a visitor came walking up about the time we were finishing up. When we headed in, Thomas stepped up and did a song from Family Force Five that was great to get us started. Then Willie and Crystal got up and did a song each to set up the service. Mr. David then brought a message from God. I am really blessed to have guys like David, Barry, and Eric that can bring such powerful messages from God. David’s message was about Drug abuse and what God’s word says about it. It was incredible what happened after the message. The youth group headed over to a home to have some food and fellowship when I notice David sitting with the visitor talking. I asked David if they were going to follow us over and he said yes, so we left. David shows up about 30 minutes later and tells me that he had the honor of leading this young man to the Lord. WOW!!! God showed up and a life was changed forever. Why is it we are surprised when God shows up? Why don’t we expect Him to show up and change lives when He does?

You know, I should know better and yet I get surprised. My faith is still under construction. I should realize that God is still active and working. After last week, this week sure does look different. A little brighter, hope a little greater, attitude a lot better. Let us all be on watch to see where God is a work. Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and watch for the surprises.

Listen for HIs voice . . .

Is it just me or is it really quiet . . .

Maybe I’m just brain dead but in my life right now God seems to be really quiet. There was a time recently when God was speaking clearly and so often that I felt like I couldn’t keep up with all that He was saying and teaching me. Now there is just quiet. I really miss His voice. Usually this happens when I have gotten so busy that I let everything else take up space and make noise. In reflection, last week was a very busy week: Stone Mountain, Six Flags, VBS, and work on top of it all. Now my attention is turned to the balance of the summer and GodStock in August. It just seems like there is a lot of noise that I am trying to get through just to hear that special voice that I want to hear so much.

Pray for each other. It seems that Satan has gained a foot hold in our group some how and there are quite a few struggling spiritually. Pray for a fresh word from God as we move into the middle of the summer and pray as I now begin to look at next year as I look a putting together a budget for next year. I really feel that the best is yet to come this summer.

I am excited about one thing; we now have a speaker for GodStock – Matthew Elrod. I am excited about him coming and bringing a word form God. I am going to try and meet with Pastor Chad and Robbie next week and talk over some things because promotion time is coming up fast.
I am really looking forward to this Sunday evening, being back to normal schedule. David Roach will be bringing the word God has placed on his heart. Invite your friends and let’s pack the place out.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and listen for a fresh word – it’s coming.

A Great Week . . .

This has been a great week. It has also been a tiring week – but if I am going to be tired, I would just as soon be tired from doing things for my Lord – Jesus. This week has been VBS week and it has been a great week. Just a few thoughts from the week as it stands right now . . .

Tonight is the last night. How can a week go so fast.

Dan Carroll is the bomb. I have known Dan and his wife Kelly for about 12 year now. I love to watch him worship and I love to listen to him teach. There is no doubt that God has His hand on him and his ministry.

I will not plan a trip out of town the weekend before VBS next year. Unless it is a really good trip.

The students have definitely stepped up this week. I have watched as they stepped up to lead in worship through singing and playing their music. I am very proud of our students. They use the talents that God has given them for His glory.

God is giving me great ideas for this fall.

Soft base tennis ball is a game that everyone enjoys. Now I have to find a tennis racket that we can keep at the church. Kick-ball with a big kiddy ball is fun. I’m getting lots of new ideas for games.

We’ve been in the celebration time with the younger kids at the end of the night. I think that Mr. David is going to have girls throwing water balloons at him. I think I need front row seats for this.

I’m really looking forward to getting back to a normal schedule again.

I need to say I’m sorry to Crystal. I started something with a red pen that Mitchell (you need to say you’re sorry too) took over. I should not have started that – but it was fun. I’m sorry.

I don’t get to preach again until August.

Dan has challenged us about what we do for Jesus. He asked us what our passion is. So what is your passion and how are you using it for Christ?

I’m really tired, kind of. Physically tired – spiritually and mentally I’m supercharged. Now I just want some study time to spend with God and His word.

Well, I need to stop. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s get passionate for Christ.

Why Don't You Share Your Faith . . .

Monday morning and brain-dead . . .

I don’t know about the students that I was with this weekend, but I am tired and brain-dead this morning – so I will post just a few thoughts that are rambling around in my head this morning.

I really enjoyed Stone Mountain. It was my first trip there and now I want to go back so that I can see everything they have there. We went to the 4D theater – it was awesome. The effects were great and it sprayed water in Crystal’s face. We took the cable ride to the top of the mountain (I want to do that again and walk back down – maybe in the spring so that it is not so hot.) The laser show and the fireworks were the bomb.

The students and adults enjoyed Six Flags as always, although I think I will always miss the Six Flags that I grew up with. The lines were not as bad as I have seen them and it was warm but not extremely hot. Mitchell saw the inside of first aid a lot (I would had paid to nap in a 65 degree room) but the park gave him and Rhonda tickets to come back since they didn’t have the great time they were hoping for.

Sunday morning worship was great as always. Pastor Chad preached about what God expected of parents – great message. The music was over the top as always.

Irene and I made a trip to Union to her parents for Father’s Day. We had a great lunch that her mom had prepared and we got to spend some time with our nephew Drake. I napped on the way home and then Irene napped when we got home.

VBS is this week. I am meeting with Dan Carroll for lunch to discuss what we will be doing with the students this week during their time in VBS. Dan is a great guy with a real heart for students and ministry.

I am praying that God gets me through this week so that I can sleep all day Saturday. That means that I will probably be awake and not be able to sleep.

Am I the only one that feels like this summer is flying by?

Anyway, that is about it for now. If I can now get my eyes to focus I have to get to work. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and ride with your hands in the air – this life is better than any rollercoaster.

A video for David Roach

Listening to yourself is funny . . .

Have to ever listened to yourself on a recording? I did that for the first time in a long time last night. I had a CD of the sermon that I preached last Sunday made and when Irene and I left the church after youth worship, I popped it in and began to listen. Now, I’m not exactly sure what I thought my voice would sound like recorded, but that was not it. When I heard my voice, I started laughing. When I would tell a joke, I would laugh – yes it is a little strange to laugh at your own jokes. I have had the Sunday evening worship services with the youth recorded since the first of the year and I have not listened to s single sermon until last night. I probably should listen to them a little more, it might make me a better student pastor and a better preacher.

The main reason that I started having the sermons recorded was so that I could have a record of what I had preached and so that I could let friends listen from time to time to help me improve the way I preach. I really need to get back to that because I really want to become better at what God has called me to.

I really hope that God is teaching all of our students and leaders as much as He is teaching me this summer. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and record yourself and listen to it – it is a hoot.

Faster than a speeding bullet . . .

This past weekend was fun. I spent a lot of time at the church and with our students. Thursday I went over to the church after eating supper with Irene and helped Robbie, Mitchell, and Matt build some new sections for the stage that we use in the gym for our contemporary service and for our students services on Sunday evenings.

Then Friday was our first Landing Zone. Eric gave us a short devotion out of the book of Psalms. The he taught us some stuff about the guitar. We also had left over birthday cake and ice cream, before settling in to play PS3.

Saturday it was back to the church to continue to work on the stage and get the gym back in order for the early worship service on Sunday. I helped Robbie, Mitchell and Matt put the stage together, get backdrops hung, stage painted, re-wire the stage area, put together our new air hockey table – you get the idea. By the way, the air-conditioning is not working yet in the gym – so it was HOT.

Sunday came and we went to the early worship service and listened to Pastor Chad preach and then after Sunday School we went to lunch and Cleveland park with some of our students. Then it was back to church for the student worship service in which Eric Spann brought a message on music and the gospel.

The first week and weekend of summer came and went in a blur. If the rest of the summer is like this past week – the students will be back in school before we can blink.

End of the Week thoughts . . .

This week started quick and ended slow, but it was all around a good week. Just a few things that I have on my mind . . .

It really blows my mind that I have had over 1000 hits on this blog. Who would have thought that there would be people that would want to see what I have to say.

I am really looking forward to Sunday. Air conditioning is looking like a real possibility. Pastor Chad will be back from vacation and I can’t wait to hear what God has for us.

A big thank you to Mitchell, Joey and Matt for helping Robbie with the building project. I think the new ideas were great and are going to look fabulous.

We are starting lots of new things at the end of this week and next week: Landing Zone (today), Wednesday night discipleship classes start this coming Wednesday; we are doing a picnic and ministry afternoon this Sunday in Cleveland Park.

We are going to Stone Mountain and Six Flags next weekend.

Are we thinking big enough with GodStock??? Does it need to feed straight into something else???

I can’t wait for school to start back. Not because I’m tired of our students or I want them to be unhappy. It’s because of all the new stuff we’ll kick off with the start of the new school year that are going to be awesome. And no I will not give clues – but it is going to be great.

WOW, it has gotten HOT quick this year. June 8th and 94 degrees already.

GodStock t-shirts will be in next week – hopefully. They will be awesome.

Eric is preaching during youth worship this Sunday night and David Roach next Sunday night – I can’t wait to see what God has given them for us.

I have listened to 13 sermons by Perry Noble and Steven Furtick and 4 commercials about youth culture. My mind is in over load with what God is teaching me this week.

I really like the song “Day by Day” by DC Talk. Old song from an even older song.

I’ve seen the music for the youth praise band this summer – I am impressed. Practice hard – the lock-in will be here before you can blink twice. Then blink twice again and it will be GodStock.

I had one of our students write about the sermon that I preached last Sunday on her blog. COOL!!

I think my wife is the greatest and I could not get what I get done without her. God knew what He was doing when he put us together. But it still blows my mind that she married me. That is proof positive that there is a God.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus – and get out of the boat and get your feet wet.

I preached twice yesterday . . .

I had the privilege of preaching twice yesterday morning. Let me start out by saying that anyone who preaches more than once on a Sunday morning – my hat is off to you. Pastor Chad (my pastor and one of the coolest pastors around) has now been elevated to hero status in my eyes. I told Irene after the first service “if I had to do this every week, I would have to loose weight and go into training.” I was exhausted after the first service and then an hour later I got up and did it all over again. I did enjoy myself a lot yesterday. I don’t know if God will ever move my calling to preaching full time but having the opportunity to preach God’s word is one of the most exciting things I do.

Another tip of the hat goes to my friend Robbie. He is our associate pastor, minister of music, minister of education, etc., etc., etc. He is truly one of the hardest working staff members that I have ever been around. I knew that he did a lot but I actually got to see how much he does yesterday. Robbie – you are da man. Superman and Batman have nothing on you.

Last night with the students we did something a little different – basically because I was brain dead. Some if it was good and some of it seemed lacking as I look back on our session together. I really want to challenge our students not to just spit out word and answers that they have heard someone else say in response to a spiritual question. I want them in God’s word so that they can say with confidence what God has revealed to their hearts and minds. When we had finished at the church; we went to Subway for sandwiches and then to Heritage Park. That was the first time I had been to that park and was very impressed. I really like hanging out with our students. That is one of the reasons that I am really looking forward LZ.

LZ (Landing Zone) is a time on Friday afternoons when we will hang out together at the church to play games, discuss the bible, play music, play video games, etc. It will be a time when we can get to know each other better (that’s called fellowship).

Just a couple of reminders of things that are coming up:

Deposits for the Atlanta trip are due this Wednesday - $25.00

Discipleship classes begin on Wednesday the 13th. This will begin at 6:45 pm in the gym. We will divide up into classes after that. Remember to bring your bibles, a pen or pencil and something to write on.

Youth group guidelines and rules will be given out and explained this Sunday evening at the end of worship. These will need to be returned to Mr. Allen with both your parents and your signatures on them. We will do this occasionally because we are picking up new members in our group.

I am looking forward to next Sunday because the youth leaders will be back from vacation and some of our missing youth will be back from vacation, yet others will be missing on vacation. Sunday will also be great in that Eric Spann is bringing the message to the students that night. I haven’t had the privilege to hear him yet and I am really looking forward to that.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and live your faith our loud – your life may be the only sermon someone ever hears.

Friday’s fall out . . .

Just a few thoughts that seem to fall out of my head at the end of a long week . . .

I am blessed to work for a great company. I may struggle with the aggravation from the work week, but I know that as long as I work hard, my bosses have my back.

I think that it is wild, that at 48 years old I’m a student pastor for the best group of students on the planet.

I get to go to Frankie’s Fun Park tomorrow with our students. I get to play video games and putt putt and maybe even eat ice cream.

I have the privilege of preaching for both morning services and the youth service this Sunday. Holy smokes – that’s two sermons in one day. Don’t panic, God’s got it covered.

We have events planned for our students all the way to next February and beyond. Boy are we going to be busy.

I can’t wait for Sunday. The music has been great and is getting better each week. I am looking forward to praising my Lord this Sunday.

Summer's here – our students are out of school and I have to work. I’m jealous!!

I have great friends. One is going to come to my house tomorrow and help me fix a ceiling fan – one of the most aggravating machines on the planet. We’ll have fun no matter what.

We have new t-shirts coming and our students are going to be blown away. I can’t wait to get mine. And yes Robbie – I got another big size for you too.

VBS is coming and I will get to hang with a good friend of mine as he ministers to our students. I can not wait – it is going to be great.

GodStock ’07 is only 85 days away. WOW!!!!!

There are a couple of big black snakes outside my office. What really freaks me out is that the skin that they shed recently is hanging on a tree limb above the walkway into the building. Now I have to look up and down for snakes.

I get to preach three times this Sunday. I am getting so pumped.

I wonder if I can talk my wife into going and getting ice cream tonight.

I’m going to miss the youth leaders that are normally at church on Sunday nights. They will be at the beach this week, along with part of our students – all separate but together is you know what I mean.

Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus.