useful or used by God

There is a fine line between being useful to man and used by God. I think we all want to try to be both all at the same time. We want to be important and useful to others but we also want to be used by God. So what's the difference?
To be useful to man is to be somewhat selfish in our desire to please others and to do for others things that make us feel good. There is nothing wrong with doing things that make us feel good that are useful to others. But, there is a problem when we are seeking that so strongly that we cannot be used by God. God calls us to follow and seek His will, not to be handy or important in this world.
Paul was preparing to go to Jerusalem at the end of his missinonary journeys and he is constantly told not to go. One of the ways they attempt to stop him is by telling him he can't be replaced. He's so important to them, and to the Gospel that he can't possibly go into an area that will surely put him to death. His response, however, was that he needed to be used by God not useful to man.
I've heard it many times, "the graveyards are full of people who thought they were irreplaceable". This is all too true. Moses was an awesome leader, but as soon as he was out of the picture Joshua stepped in and took them into the promised land. So, Moses was definitely replaceable.
Acts 21:12-14 "WHen we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, 'Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'"
Paul thought it was great to be important, but like the lilies and the stars, you are only important if you fulfill God's plan for you. He would love to stay important and useful to man and the spread of the Gospel, but fullfilling God's will for his life was first and foremost in his life.So try to shrug off the need to be important to man, and prove your useful ness to God. He has a plan for you and there is no amount of man's praise that will come close to the feeling of being inside of God's will.
Thanks for reading and have a great week! I am off to Division Finals in Georgia and hope to bring home so trophies!

Are you trusting?

Are you trusting in God to give you vision for His will for you? While you are waiting for that will are you fully trusting that it will come? When it comes are you trusting that it is the right thing for you?
These are all questions that we ask in downtime. Those times where you have been following GOd's will and doing all that He is asking of you. You're following that vision that He has given you and now you feel like you are at a crossroad. You're at a pivotal point of questioning whether you are where GOd wants you to be. Whether you are at the end of His will waiting for another boost or if you are going to fast. There are times where God gives us vision, He points out His will for us and then we take off. We take off and run and go so fast we blow right on past His true will. We feel like if we slow down, if we wait for Him to point us in the right direction we will miss something.
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil" (Proverbs 3:5-7).
Oswald Chambers advises, "Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, he puts the saint in the shadow of His hand, as it were, and the saint's duty is to be still and listen... When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."
Be still and listen says Oswald Chambers, be still and listen. THose are tough words to follow when you are so full of the Holy Spirit that you feel like you can't slow down. Be still and listen, sometimes that is our greatest sign of obedience.
There's a newer Christian song called while I'm waiting. I will worship while I'm waiting, I will love you while I'm waiting. Those are the words of the chorus and they are so important. Just worship, pray and let God direct you.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Real Hunger

Odds are the majority of us have never really been hungry. We've said we are, we've had that growling stomach or lack of energy feeling but we have never truly been hungry. Hunger is a funny word, it's a word that is used to describe all kinds of things. Hunger is a word used for motivation or a determination of how bad a sports team wants to wing. Hunger is used to do so much, yet it means to want food more than anything else. It means you would trade everything you have, everything you own for a meal, or even a half a meal. We see pictures of people in third world countries who do know what it means to be hungry, who do experience the pain that comes with starving. The lack of nutrition, lack of energy and overall weakness that is caused impairs all of the body's abilities.
I have had some fun with this through the years holding fasts in the youth group. We will set up a 24 hour time frame where the kids cannot eat, cannot have anything other than water for an entire 24 hour period. We did this back in my youth minister days and we would plan it out from noon Saturday to noon Sunday. The kids would be sitting in sunday school and church almost in pain. Looking at people chewing gum or eating candy and thinking that would quite possibly satisfy at that point. I even had a few fake going to the bathroom one year and go eat snacks with the kids in the nursery. It's hilarious to see how they deal with it.
JEsus shared about another type of hunger, a hunger for meaning in life.
John 6:35
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
These words were directly from Jesus himself, who once fasted for an entire month! Yikes, my fasts generally go a few days, never a month and certainly not in a desert as Jesus did. So, he knew of physical hunger and thirst but he was addressing our hunger for purpose in life. Everyone hungers for this whether they realize it or not and once we find Jesus, ask Him into our hearts and move on we are never spiritually malnourished again. We find ourselves full, full of the Holy Spirit and power. Full of purpose and love that can come only from knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. So today I challenge you to think about those who are unsaved, and the hunger that they face for purpose in life. I promise you they are struggling with it, they find little fulfillments, but they will be left hungry in the end.
Thanks for reading and have a great day! I had the absolute best weekend I could have had!

Heart

So I think we can all agree that the heart is one of the most important organs in teh body. People have appendix, kidneys, limbs, all types of things removed and go on living, but the heart is where the action is. Your heart makes everything, and keep going. In the ancient days they actually believed that the kidneys were the most important part and they called them the soul. Today, heart surgeons are some of the most loved people in the world, they fix blockages, rebuild veins and arteries and such so that we can live longer lives. They undo so much of the damage that our lack of exercise, poor lifestyles, and bad eating habits create.
Well, the heart is a major part of spiritual life as well. We ask Jesus into our hearts, not our stomachs, brains, kidneys or liver, the heart. Proverbs 4:23 talks about this, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
Our heart, our feelings of love and desire, dictate to a great extent how we live because we always make time for the things that we enjoy. In this verse Solomon is speaking to us about guarding our hearts. This means we need to make sure we concentrate on the things that we love, that keep us on the path to Christ. We must make sure our affections push us in the right direction, and the only way to do that is to keep our desires in check. Don't chase after everything you see, that you think you may enjoy. Instead, chase after Christ and His desires for you. Then you will see that your heart belongs to Him, and when your heart belongs to Him your desires will also.
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4, Hmmmmmm, sounds like ole David and Solomon were on the same page on this one. Your desires need to be God's desires for you, this will truly help you guard your heart.
Thanks for reading and have an awesome weekend!

ANother thing See You at the Pole fulfills

Yesterday over 800 students gathered in St. Johns county to pray around their school's flagpole. This number is actually half of what we have had in the past. But, with buses and middle schoolers that can't get rides and so on that is still a great number. With that thought, those students are working to reach this community for Christ, to pray for their school and its teachers for protection, and to invite God to be a part of their walk through student life. There is one other thing that it does that this town definitely fails at, unity.
THese are Jesus' own words: "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:23)
Jesus wants Christians to be brought to complete unity so that we can let the world know that we are loved by God. So that the whole St. Johns County area will know that Jesus came into teh world, died a horrible death, and rose again for their salvation. Unity is important, and so many churches are working so hard, yet not unifying with other believers. I feel that when St.Johns County's churches unite completely then and only then will we see a true revival in this area. And unfortunately it looks like it is going to be youth ministries that work so hard to make this happen. There is a youth minister's meeting that brings in close to 20 churches, who are working hard together. I know there are pastor's meetings that bring in more, but they aren't working hard together like the youth ministries are. It is my hope and my prayer to see our churches all unite, work together and reach this community for CHrist. I am so sick of number happiness, a feeling of "if it's going to happen, it's going to be us". This is not what God invisions at all, He invisions 10 people all from different churches working together in an inner city, 80 students from 20 different churches praying around a flagpole, and maybe 8 pastors all from different denominations working together in a homeless camp to spread the Gospel and meet the needs of our community. Then we will truly see what Jesus is talking about, a community reaching a community!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

See You at the Pole Today!

Today is the day that all youth get together at their flagpoles to pray. They do this on campus and it has become an annual thing that began as something a group of students decided to do after a Disciple Now event in Burleson, Texas in the year 1990. Those teens decided to gather together with other Christian students and pray for their school, teachers, classmates and country as a group. This is something that has gone on for 19 years now. In recent years it has grown in popularity in St. Johns so much that there are no longer 3 youth pastors running from school to school to be a part of it. I can recall the days of Mason Reigger(anastasia baptist) and myself dividing up and hitting about 4 schools a piece just to let the students know that we suppported them and wanted to be a part of it. Well, today there will be about a dozen youth pastors running all over the place to see students pray, worship and take a stand for Christ on their campuses.
This year's theme is engage, to become engaged in the battle to reach our community for Christ.
2 Kings 22:13 Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."
We need to inquire of God His plan for us, His will for us and that comes from reading the BIble. This verse is the chosen verse for this year's theme, it's a challenge for young people to study God's word, to grow in God's will and to know Him completely.
So pray for our young people, pray that God will protect them and power them at the same time.
My favorite See You at the Pole experience was about 5 years ago at nease High school. Abour 70 students gathered around the flagpole, everyone had prayed so they were singing. A group of kids were mocking them and singing country songs, hip hop songs and things like that. All that did was make the group sing louder. I promise you, by the time they were done the light, faint sounds of them singing was commanding the campus. They were singing loud enough that people were hearing them on the buses as they pulled in.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!

THe cheetah

The cheetah is an amazing and beautiful animal. While originally cheetahs lived in the wild and roamed alongside of lions and hyenas they are mostly captive today. THere are some amazing facts about the cheetah that blow my mind every time. Cheetahs while living in wild cannot kill with the bite like lions and hyenas. They don't have claws like their co-inhabiters either. They are weaker, smaller and less dangerous than all other catlike predators.
So how do they overcome this? They are faster, they can run at speeds of up to 60mph and they can accomplish this in less than 3 seconds. They can also run at that speed for upwards of about 1,000 feet. These are some of the facts that make the cheetah such an interesting animal, besides their catlike appearance and their beautiful spots. Their bite is so small, and so weak that they cannot snap bones like the lion with one bite. They have to run after an animal, chase it by surprise and lock onto the neck of their prey. THey have to lock onto it's neck until it suffocates completely. This is far different from the lion which will break bones and crush its prey with a single bite, or claw it to death with its claws.
So you see the cheetah is unique, it is at a disadvantage. The cheetahs also hunt in the middle of the day when most lions are sleeping. The cheetah hunts much differently in that he must save up all energy for one attack. The cheetah exerts so much energy in just one attack that he is left completely worn out. And if it is not successful, it will not eat and it will take up to 24 hours for it to regain its strength to try again. So success is very important, and the amount of energy exerted for one meal is amazing.
Proverbs 13:4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
If we want to be successful in our fight to reach our community for Christ we must not be sluggards. We must crave the opportunity to reach the lost and desire diligently to take advantage of every opportunity we have.
The cheetah exemplifies all that God wants us to do with our salvation. Wait for the opportunity to share it, and then give every ounce of energy we have to sharing it, and if it doesn't work out. Get up the next day and go after another lost one. We must be diligent in our work to reach the lost. Our bite won't be as great as the world's our claws won't be as sharp as the world's but we do share a message that is far greater than anything the world can offer. God loves you, and wants a personal relationship with you so bad that he sacrificed His own Son.
Thanks for reading and have a great day.

More of God's teaching me through life

So here I was, Friday morning and I can't sit still. My kidney stone has once again moved to a spot that was unbearably painful. I took the meds, no relief in sight.I went to the doctor, they sent me to the imaging center and now on to a urologist. I hurt most of the day, but they called me from the urologist's office at 4:30 out at Pedro during the team meal where they wanted to see me. I told them that wasn't a possiblity until Monday and they asked me to make sure I drank a lot of fluids, took my meds and stayed active. None of which is a problem for me at all.
Saturday I got up feeling a little bit better, but still hurting. I fought off the urge to shut down all day as I went to the church to meet with some people about a wedding, print the children's bulletins out and get some things accomplished. I got done there and went to play some softball with Alexa and that is when it started to hit. I got sorer and more uncomfortable the more we did it. We got home, I ate some lunch and loaded up for the races. We drove to the races though I honestly for the first time in my life debated turning around and heading home 2 different times during the trip to Gainesville. We got there, I got things set and then found out something I didn't want to know. The most painful thing on a kidney stone attack is strapping yourself in side a car and having it launch violently. I've always thought the car rode smooth and didn't accelerate that much until Saturday night. The pain was so bad that I actually had to stop and throw up after a few of the runs on my way back to the truck just from the pain. It was a long and excrutiating night but I did decent and won enough rounds to qualify for the team to go to division finals so I am happy I endured it.
Yesterday I preached on Faithfulness first and foremost. I talked about the fact that Paul said his life was of zero value if he didn't finish the race GOd had called him to complete.
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the Gospel of God's grace." Acts 20:24
If Paul's life is meaningless unless he endures the pains and afflictions that come with sharing the gospel, then my life should fall into the same category. I should value nothing accept faithfully doing the things that God has called me to do. That's reaching this community for Christ. Whether through, football, softball, racing, eating lunch at the schools or any other means I must remain faithful. But, even more importantly if I can be passionate to race through throwing up, unbearable pain and discomfort then I surely better be able to endure a plateau or two in the church's growth. I better be able to endure the things GOd is calling me to, if I can endure great pain for a hobby!
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Lightening it up on Friday

I thought today I would share with you one of the funniest things I have had happen to me in a long time. You know I am a firm believer in 1 Corinthians 10:13 and the fact that God always leaves a way out in any temptation situation. I was reminded of this very clearly yesterday.
Yesterday I went and ate lunch at one of the elementary schools with some kids from the church, and some kids from the community that I know in various ways. I sat down ate lunch had a great time, signed out and got in my truck. The day was going along great, I was having a wonderful day(should have seen it coming!)
That's when it happened, I drove my truck to the stop sign on 207 where I was honked at as a truck passed by. I was looking the other way checking traffic so I just waved. I pulled out in to traffic and the truck who had honked was about 2 car lengths ahead of me and doing the Gator chomp at me and shooting me a bird. I pull along side of him and he does the Gator chomp motion at me and says the Seminoles #$%&@ @*&$^%^# you sorry &*$#()@*&$ Seminole fan. Remember, on the front of my truck is a WASHINGTON REDSKIN tag. I was baffled, I thought to myself this is really happening and he pulled ahead of me in traffic. He was looking in his rear view mirror flipping me a bird and I was pointing down at my tag and confused. Well, as luck would have it he was right in front of me at the next traffic light. So, I got out of my truck and walked towards his truck. I got to the tailgate(as he quickly rolled his window up) when teh light changed and I just yelled "it's a REDSKIN tag you moron!" A few cars cut over in front of me and I went on about my business, still a little bit of high blood pressure I must admit. Well, as I drove down Holmes Boulevard the cars in front of me turned at various points and I ended up right behind him so I pulled along side and got close enough to give him a piece of my mind for his language and embarassing behavior. When he turned and looked at me he was scared to death, I promise he had 2 teeth in his entire head and I couldn't do anything. I laughed hysterically not just at his appearance but at the fact that this was about a 45-55 year old man. A grown man acting like a juvenile!

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

God gave me a chance to drop it, I didn't. He gave me a second chance to distance myself and I didn't. On the third time, when I was ready to pop God gave me laughter and I walked away with my dignity.
So all you Gator fans out there, I am offically taking my Redskin tag off, it's right here in my office. I am going to get a tag that has the word REDSKINS on it, hopefully this will suffice.
P.S. did I mention I am a huge, huge Gator fan?
Have a great weekend, and GOd Bless!

finishing shows faithfulness

I talked yesterday about faithfulness, and Paul's strength when faced with the end of his ministry. He was unsure what would happen when he went to Jerusalem, all he knew was it would not be good, and it would be the end of his ministry. So what did he do, he got on a boat and sailed for Jerusalem.
In the end I feel like God weighs things out far differently from man. We(especially you southern baptist diehards) want to see the numbers and put together the totals to know how many people he reached. Others, want to know how many events he had, how big the crowds were that were actually there in attendance. Still others would want to know the demographics to know what percentages he reached and how many were left unreached. I'm sure this would puzzle Paul to no end and leave him depressed. He would fill out his paper work for the association or convention and feel like he failed in some way. This type of mentality focuses on the failures more than the successes. John Piper wrote a book, Brothers we are not professionals, and it was basically a call to being faithful. Not crunching numbers and sweating out the details but faithfully sharing the Gospel and faithfully sharing God's Word with those we are in contact with.
"I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do" (John 17:4).
These are Jesus' words, no where does it say I reached the multitudes, I preached 200 sermons, I wrote a book, I tithed, it simply states that Jesus had brought God His Father glory by completing the work He was sent to do!
So ask yourself, are you wrapped up in numbers? Is your church all tangled up in numbers? Or are you remaining faithful to what God is calling you to do? To where God is using you? That's all God asks for is your faithful service, and passion for the cause.
Mother Theresa was asked one day by a senator who was travelling with her. They were in what was called the "House of the Dying" where many were dying from cancer, it was a Hospice type of setting. He asked her how she went there continually to pray wiht these people and for these people whom she knew would not live much longer.
Her response, "God never calls us to be successful, He calls us to be faithful."
Think about those words, God has never called us to numbers, to reaching the multitudes. He simply calls us to be faithfully serving Him in the ways that He calls us. So be faithful to God's plan for you, so you can say in the end that you too brought Him glory by remaining faithful to His plans for you.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

faithfulness

When you hear the word faithfulness unfortunately in today's climate many people think of marriages. But the version of faithfulness I want to share with you today is of courage, strength and passion to share the Gospel. Paul was on his third missionary journey and he talks directly to his followers and the leaders who are along with him on his journey.
He had been in Ephesus for a long, long time and now he was ready to move on. He shares with all of he elders a little bit about himself, his goals and then tells them this will be the last time they see him. Can you imagine that? Telling your friends and colleagues that you are going to share teh Gospel and you won't be back, you won't survive it? What would they say? How would they react?
Well, in today's world they would first probably laugh a little because we don't face that type of persecusion here in the United States. But, if you were going somewhere that does, would you go all out? Paul did just that, and he went on faithful to exactly what God was calling him to do.
Acts 20:22 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life woth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the taks the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
Paul admits that he is not going of his own strength or even his own choice. He is compelled by God to go through the Holy Spirit. He's going there not knowing what will happen, it may finally mean death for him, or permanent imprisonment he doesn't know. All he knows is that it will not be good, but, this is a warning he apparently has faced each time he has followed God. Then he says he considers his life nothing, all he wants to do is be faithful to what God has called him to be.
Think about that, faithful to death, faithful to share the gospel no matter what comes his way. We can't even find people willing to choose church over football right now. We have people doing everything but being faithful to God, while their faith to their favorite team is unwavering. If we can't find people to choose attending church over sporting events, then we will never find people to choose persecution for sharing the Gospel. No wonder we are losing the battle against the unchurched.
Examine your own life, your values and ask yourself are you faithful to God's plan for you, and are you finishing the race?
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Finding friends

So with the invention of networking sites like Facebook and Myspace we see that it is increasingly easier too find old friends. I am now able to click on their name and send a message and stay in touch with, and get daily updates from a friend who I used to not have any clue about. You can find a friend who moved away over a decade ago, see pictures of their family, and find out how they are doing without even prying that much. It's fun, and it's interesting to see such things come to life and renew old friendships.
Being a high school softball coach and football team pastor I see that a lot of the students and athletes find me on Facebook and want me as their friend. That's exciting and it opens windows of opportunity that wouldn't be there without Facebook. I have kids that I hardly ever get to have conversations with that are my friends on Facebook and I can message them, write on their walls and so on. There are even a few kids that I have built relationshhips with and bonds with through Facebook that have led to stronger relationships in the real world.
I want you to think about God, about where He is and where He stays in the lives of the unsaved. He's there, He knocks on the door of their hearts and He is always easy to find. You don't even have to wait for Him to confirm you as a friend!
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev 3:20).
We need to be living examples of all that CHrist is and all that He offers so that the unsaved, teh lost and unchurched will want what we have. The beauty of the whole thing is just how simple it is. Just how wonderfully easy it is to call on the name of the Lord and be saved. When He knocks, we answer and we are saved. No search, no confirmation, and no waiting involved. That very moment when your heart is about to beat out of your chest and you know that God is there with you, He takes out His pen and writes your name in the book of life, eternal life. You from that very second on can rest assured of your eternity, and of your relationship with Christ. It's just that easy, we need to sell it and show it as just that easy so that others will get it, and want it, and most importantly experience it.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Favoritism?!

Favorites, I don't play favorites, I like everyone that is just like me. That is a comment I heard a few years back, I first thought it was funny and then I realized it was very true. When we think of favoritism we think of money, and things, and nepotism in the business world. These are major problems in society and in churches unfortunately. We are guilty of it in ways we don't realize. I can remember as a young youth pastor being excited when athletes would come to our youth group.I had a lot of smart kids, a lot of big time video games, and some band kids but not too many athletes. Then, they started coming, and I was excited and I know for a fact that if we had 2 visitors, one being an athlete and the other not an athlete I probably showed favoritism toward that athlete. I could carry a conversation more easily with them, I had more in common with them, and I liked having them around. I dreamed of having a youth ministry full of athletes(which I now have and see the down sides to, be careful what you pray for!) and being able to reach sports teams through sports. I was guilty of favoritism.
I can confess I have never been one to show favoritism towards people of affluence, or money or power that has never been me. But it happens in the church world, people who give a lot contribute to the well being of the church and therefore at times get more attention and have more say in the things of the church. That bothers me a lot, I want people leading and making decisions because they are passionate about it and love the Lord and that is the criteria.
James 2:8-9 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself" , you are doing right. But if you show favoritism you sin.
So now we see that by showing favoritism we are sinning against God, and all sins weigh out the same on God's scale. The root of favoritism is selfishness, and no one wants to be selfish or called selfish.
Favoritism is inconsistent with Christ's teachings, it results from evil thoughts, and it is a by-product of selfish motives. To be in a setting that you control and that is like you is a selfish driven hypocritical atmosphere. Every time we long for these things we are sinning against God and His will for all of the world to know Him as Lord and Savior.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Construction

Road construction, living in Florida we are more than accustomed to it aren't we? We get in the car and I gaurrantee you will run into it at some point just right here in St. Johns County. I live on the not so rich end of town so we are usually the last to have any roads fixed or smoothed over. We even still have a few dirt roads in our neighborhood. We've gotten by pretty well with it at the point to where anytime we are going somewhere we can avoid it altogether. Not anymore, right now they are working on King Street and the water pipes under the road so traffic is closed from Palmer Street to US1 making it difficult for my mom to get to work in the mornings. I just take another route, hah showed them. Then, all of a sudden they start working on US1 almost all the way through town. The lane shift is rough, there's a huge lip to climb over, the right hand lane travelling south is rough and rugged. The left lane is somewhat smoother but not that great. There are cones and road markers everywhere, detours and headaches for everyone driving through town. There is absolutely no way for me to get around it to work in the mornings or to different places in town. I have a strong dislike for road construction.
Isaiah 30:4-5 Every valley shall be raised up every mountain and hill made low;the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
God is working to smooth things out for us. Right here in these verses we see that God is going to smooth out our steps our roads and make it easy to travel. God will put everything in tip top shape and all this will happen to help us appreciate God's glory. We must learn to give Him the glory and accept and understand when He is working in midst.
This doesn't mean we will like the work, or enjoy the process. But, when US1 is finished and all the road construction on there is done, we will forget about the inconveniences for years to come because it will be overshadowed by the finished product. It's the same with God, if we will allow Him to work to HIs fullest in us we will become a finished product. We will be perfectly complete in Him and He will show us His full glory. In those times and especially when we are with Him in Heaven we will not care about the peaks or the valleys that life took us through. We'll be thankful for the finished product.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

who are you praying for?

I know I have mentioned before that I have a morning ritual if you will. That morning ritual involves studying God's word, praying and sometimes a little quiet time to let it all sync in. I do this to allow myself to be refreshed and prepared for the day ahead. I always pray for the lost, the sick, our country and my family and close friends. I studied Matthew 9 several years ago as a youth pastor and it dawned on me that I was praying for the lost, but not for those who will be reaching the lost. That makes perfect sense, why would I pray for the results without praying for strength for those fighting for the results. I mean really, when you play a football game you pray to win ofcourse, but you pray for your team mates to be safe and for them to pray well. Why would it be any different when praying for God's harvest?

Matt 9:37-38, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into His harvest.”

The harvest is plentifu is an understatement. I eat lunch at the public schools each day, I go to football practices and games and I can tell you that the harvest is very, very plentiful. I do pray for those students and players that I am in contact with. I pray for the lost ones, and I now pray extensively for the Christian players that God will use them in the harvesting of their lost teammates. To see God do big things is my greatest desire for that football team and I can't do it alone. They also won't just get up one morning and get it, for the most part it will take the wintess and influence of their peers. So I have to make sure I pray for guys like Ethan Gumble, Terry Raggins, Cole McCartey, Hank Klein, and some of the others. We need to pray for the workers and for their protection then we'll see the harvest.
In 2 weeks we will do this perfectly as we pray for our students who are participating in See You at the Pole. That is a national day where students all over America gather around their school's flagpole and pray. That day we will pray for those students who are gathered around and then we will slowly forget about them. They are the workers in the fields for sure, they are on the front lines so I would encourage you each day to pray for the workers, that God will continue to equip students to reach their campuses, and teachers to impact students' lives. Then and only then will we see this community reached for Christ.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

the trial filled weekend

Last week I closed out with a blog about sitting in expectation of your prayers. Not just praying, but spending your day desiring to see those things happen in your life. Well, I have had a weekend and a half for sure. Let me expound!
First, our computer crashed last week and the computer in my office at the Betty Griffin House goes on the internet only when it feels like it(rarely). So, I was unable to get some of my bills that I have chosen to go paperless on.
For some reason our FPL bill did not go through last month and we were unable to get this month's statement. I made a phone call(to an automated voice ofcourse) and found out that our power was on the verge of being cut off completely. So, I made the payment that I needed to and moved on with things. Then, I spent Saturday, yes the first day of college football season on the phone with dell overseas(which must be my God-chosen mission field) and we had to pay them $49 to use their services. They were unable to help out at all after hours of holding, trying to understand and so on. Sunday, we got up with no bulletins mind you and a sermon that I had to throw together from memory because I had the one I had ptu together weeks prior on the computer ofcourse. Sunday morning I rush to church and get things together and ready and everyone had decided to go on vacation and leave me here, lol! I was shocked and crushed at the turnout, we actually had less people in worship than we did in our guys' small group a few weeks before! then, no one in small group Sunday night. Monday, Tara decided to give it a try and got nowhere after they told her they had no record of the $49 spent last week, so we got stiffed for another $49. She had no luck, I was on the phone with another service and had no luck. Then, late yesterday evening I spent some time just going through different scenarios to fix the computer and here I am typing my blog on it, and it works better now! What a rough weekend, so I have sat in expectation of a better day and decided that today was going to be it, Tuesday(which feels like Monday) is going to be my day to pull out of the dumps.
James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will recieve the crown of life that God has promised to all those who love Him."
I persevered, I did so under trial for sure and I feel like I stood the test so yes I am alive(that was the extent of it yesterday) and here I am. I am ready to fight for another day, to work to make a difference in the lives of others and I await my prayer for a better day!
Thanks for reading(laughing and crying) and have a great day!

Your prayertude

Christmas eve is an exciting time in the life of a small child. I have known that since my days of childhood. What I didn't know about this time was how exciting it is for the parents of those small children. I find that Tara tosses and turns more than usual on Christmas Eve. She can't wait for the girls to wake up and most years Tara has gone in and got them up because she was tired of waiting. I on the other hand have a different kind of fun out of it. I like to squelch the desire and the expectations. I like to make them feel like what they are asking for(what we actually got for them) is a little bit out of reach. I like to make them think smaller, less cool, or less fun. I love doing this not just because I am cruel and have a sick humor like that, but because it makes Christmas morning better and full of more surprise. I like a good surprise and I like to see them react when the realize they got something they didn't think they would.

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3

I spend my first waking moments in prayer, spending time praying for my day and thanking God for another day. Praying for those who are sick, those who are lost and unchurched. Praying for the church and its people, praying for other pastors and youth pastors and their days. I do this every morning and I have to be very careful in how I do it. At times it can become repititious and monotonous. I have to make sure I don't just pray the same thing each morning, then go through the day expecting to do the same the following day. Do you pray with expectations? Do you offer your requests and your needs to God and sit waiting for them to come through? I hope so because David did and you should also. I fully expect the things I pray for to come through and I fully expect my day to be full of answered prayer, every day. The world however, feeds us doubt through out the day. The news is bad, the news covereage is always extremely pessimistic and that is what makes this world go round. You have to see your way through this mentality. The world is taking away your strength but we have something far stronger. Faith and we know that our faith in God is going to be overwhelmed by our hope. God tells us in Romans that hope does not disappoint.
So lift up your prayers each morning and wait for them to be fulfilled. It's not an empty list of petitions and going through your day forgetting them, it's praying and waiting to see it. Watching and waiting with full expectation of God's power in your life.
thanks for reading and have a great day!

Procrastination

I read all types of sayings and quotes that make fun of procrastination.
Like : A Procrastinator's work is never finished.
Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the next day.
or, I was going to talk about procrastination but I will wait until tomorrow.
Procrastination is a natural thing that we all have, it is usually due to our lazy nature. If we are tired, hungry, overwhelmed in any way we tend to put things off. We say, "I will take care of it tomorrow." Don't get me wrong there are times when things need to be put off until tomorrow, but there are also times when we need to take care of it today. I like the quote, "Why put of until tomorrow what you can finish today." I try my best to live more by that than the procrastinator's code that I started this article with.
"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Proverbs 21:1
We need to be ever so careful that we don't put off sharing the Gospel. There are times when it works, and times when it doesn't. I had a lot of close friends in high school, but one jumps into my head quite often. He was a close friend and I invited him to church. He told me he could come, I told him that I had other plans that weekend but the following weekend he could come stay the night and then go to church with me because we couldn't drive yet. He said that was fine and we were settled. I was excited because in reality it had taken me a few weeks to work up the guts to ask him for some reason, I'm not sure why.
Well, the following week about Wednesday he didn't show up for school. I didn't think too much of it and I went on about my business. Thursday still no sign of him, Friday there's a story going around that he is in the hospital. It turned out to be true and he had an inoperable brain tumor. He died a short while later and I never had the chance to take him to church, to share the Gospel or anything like that. I had a plan, a great plan to invite him to church and Sunday School. I knew after he attended that would open up dialogue for me to share more effectively with him. I was being a good Christian and fulfilling my calling from God.
Truth was, I was doing all of those things problem is I was too late. I had put it off, too long. I can't say that much would have been that different if he had gone to church, if I had invited him sooner, but I do know I wish I had.
Don't put off sharing the Gospel with those you care about. If you have an opportunity today, take advantage of it. In my case, you may be much happier with a rejection today than finding out a few weeks from now it's too late.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Just do it!

Think about what life would be like if Just do it was truly our motto. What if we all just did exactly what we were called to do without looking around? What if we didn't question why others aren't doing the same thing as us? What if we just focused on what God made us to be?
I know in the workplace it happens all the time, someone gets a promotion or a job or a raise and eventually everyone finds out about it. There are those who are sincerely happy for the person. Then, there are those who are distraught and completely unhappy about it. What if we all just went to work and focused on what we are being told to do and not on those around us?
What if we only paid attention to what we have, what we own and what we need. What if we no longer looked over our shoulders at what others have, at what we feel God has unfairly given to others. Whether it is possessions, abilities or talents we shouldn't worry ourselves with others and what they have.
Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (Rom 9:21).
Think about that, the writer is telling us that God has the right to make whatever He needed out of us. If I am a potter and I have a huge amount of clay. I may need some jars for water, some jars for growing plants, some decorative vases and some soap dishes. I am going to make all of these things so that together they complete what is needed from that clay. Do you ever stop to think that it is the same with God? He has the resources, and He makes us into what He needs us to be so that together we are a total product. A great follower of Christ wants what Christ wants for his or her self. To reach the full potential of your area of expertise you must continually seek God and follow after what He wants for you, not what others want, or even what you think is needed to complete others.
God knew exactly what He was doing when He made you, when He knit you together in Your mother's womb He already knew what you could do to best contribute to His Kingdom.
So follow God's will for you, don't look around, and don't compete with others.

Thanks for reading and sorry I didn't get this out yesterday. I had no internet on my work computer and Windows has crashed on my Laptop. Yikes! It was certainly Monday, all day long!