My thanks

Hebrews 12:25 says, “Let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts.” I have learned over the years that the people who are the best servants are always the people who are most thankful. THey are the people who are first and foremost appreciative to God and for His love, grace and mercy. They are thankful for the fact that even though they continue to sin, God loves them unconditionally and sent His Son to die on a cross for them. THey are also thankful for their families, their friends and their lives. I am convinced you cannot serve God without a thankful heart. People who serve the right way are doing it for God and because they are doing it for God they only want God to get credit for it. WIth God getting all of the credit they don't do anything to draw attention to themselves or their accomplishments they simply keep on serving. THey also keep on thanking God for the opportunities to serve. Today I want to share the things I am most thankful for in my life. These are in no particular order: 1. I am thankful for God, loving me and sending His Son as a ransom for my daily goof ups. I am thankful that He loves me through my darkest days and not just on my good days. 2. I am thankful for God placing me in a Christian home, I was adopted at just a few days old and placed in a home where I was in church all of my life. I was taught very early in life the importance of reading my Bible, praying and serving and those lessons have stuck with me all of my life. 3. I am thankful for the values my parents put on church. I was raised in a house where we loved sports, I played baseball, basketball and football from 6 years old. I was always doing something with sports but never on Sundays. I was taught that if I wanted to do something for God, I could not do it during a time that I am supposed to be with Him. I now drag race and some of the biggest races every year, the most prestigous opportunities to win a big race come with a Sunday schedule and I will admit I am tempted to attend, but I never do because it just doesn't feel right. Along with this I am also thankful that my children are following that same pattern. Alexa and P.J. realize as children that if they are going to do it for God, you can't glorify Him by skipping church to do it. God's plan for your life is God's plan for your life and putting Him first on His day only multiplies your chances to reach the potential He has given you. (No I am not on my soap box, but I do hate that Christian families push their children to play sports on Sundays thinking it gives them an advantage of those who choose to remain faithful to God) 4. I am thankful for an awesome wife and great children. I love them with all that I have, I love that they support me when they see me struggling with other peopel's inconsistencies. I love that they want to be a part of my ministry every step of the way. From standing on the sidelines of football games, to sitting in the stands during my races and softball games, to attending Monday night small groups and everywhere in between. My family is a ministering family and I thank God for that. 5. I am thankful for the opportunity to have been called in the ministry. I love that God chose to use me, and still chooses to use me to further His Kingdom. THere is no job in the world that compares to the opportunity to minister and to meet the needs of others with love. Thank you for reading and have an awesome Thanksgiving!

Gratefulness is important

The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "Like heck they’re getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of this." She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their own flights." On Thursday we will all be gathering together with our family and hopefully we will remember to do more than eat a meal and watch football or make a mad dash for the mall. The Thanksgiving Holiday gives us the perfect opportunity to transform our lives from those of griping and dissatisfaction to lives of joy and gratitude. Thanksgiving is a good holiday for us to turn the corner and become grateful people. God wants nothing more than for us to be people of thanksgiving and gratitude. Alan Perkins says, “A thankful spirit is one of the key distinguishing marks of a Christian. It sets us apart from the world, it makes us different.” Psalm 118:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.” I. THE BENEFITS OF A GRATEFUL SPIRIT Now why do you think being a thankful person is so important? Well I think it is because gratefulness is good for us. There are a many ways being a grateful person can benefit you. A. INCREASE YOUR PERSONAL HAPPINESS. Most of us think that our happiness is determined by our circumstances. If I asked you, on a scale of one to ten how happy you are right now, you might say, “Well, I’m about a 2 on the happiness meter because of my circumstances.” We’ve been taught that our happiness is somehow dependent on how well things go for us. But really our happiness is determined by attitude. It is really in how we see things. The apostle Paul wrote these words from prison (yes prison). "Rejoice in the Lord always," he wrote, "and again I say it rejoice." (Philippians 4:4). Paul was happy despite being in prison and how, he learned to thank God in everything he did. It was really his perspective on life. You may recall the letter I shared a few weeks back from the young lady to her parents from college. About how she had a dorm fire and jumped from the second floor, got injured fell in love with a gas station attendant, moved into his basement and got pregnant as well as catching an STD. Then she closed by saying it was all made up but she wanted them to have the proper perspective when she told them she made a d and an f in her classes lol. Happiness is really determined by our perspective in life not by circumstances. If we learn to be grateful people despite circumstances that will greatly improve our happiness. B. IMPROVE YOUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST. Having a noticeable countenance of thankfulness and joy will certainly make us better witnesses for Christ. What is sad is that most Christians are the most negative, sour people in the world. It is no wonder people don’t want to have anything to do with us. But when we are thankful, joyful, upbeat people. We attract the lost with our spirit of gratitude because the world is so dark and depressing and ungrateful. Have you looked at this world lately? People are so discouraged? Yet if we can learn to be different, upbeat and thankful, we will attract them. We have something they don’t. 1 Peter 2:12 reads, "Live such good lives among the pagans that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." Living a life of thankfulness will attract the lost. C. ENHANCE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS There is one thing I notice about some married couples. After awhile many of them become ungrateful and unappreciative of their spouses. Over time they take each other for granted. Somebody described the first few years in a marriage this way. The husband seeing the wife has a cold, says, "You don’t look good. You should go to the hospital. I have already arranged it. I know the food is bad there, but we are going to have meals catered in." The second year he says, "You don’t look so good. I have called the doctor. Go and lay down. I will take care of the kids. The doctor will be right over." The third year he says, "You know you are not looking so hot. When you are done feeding the kids and cleaning up the kitchen, you ought to go lay down." The fourth year he says, "Would you quit walking around here barking like a seal, you’re going to give me your cold?" The longer we become familiar; the less thankful we are for each other. How much better would things be if we appreciated our spouses more? Our kids? Our church relationships? Do you know how the apostle Paul began most of his letters in the Bible? To the church in Rome he wrote. “First, I thank my God for all of you.” (Romans 1:8) To the church in Corinth. “I always thank God for you (1 Corinthians 1:4).To the church in Ephesus, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you; remembering you in my prayers.” (Ephesians 1:16). To the church in Philippi, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3). To the church in Colossi, “I always thank God when I pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3). Paul made sure that he let people in the churches know that he was thankful for them. Imagine how much better our church and our relationships would be if we expressed our thanks for each other. D. SOLIDiFY YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD Which is the top benefit. Someone once said that God lives in two places. He lives in heaven and in a humble, grateful heart. Hebrews 12:25 says, “Let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts.” You know what I have found to be true in my life? I have found that I have an overwhelming need to give thanks. I am so thankful most of the time, but not all the time I will admit. Kenny with the chicken sandwich attempt at Burger King successfully and a few days later at Chikfila unsuccessfully. There is something inside of each of us that needs to give thanks to God. When I spend time giving thanks to God for all I have, I just feel close to him, don’t you? I think that is exactly why, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” II. WAYS TO DEVELOP THANKSGIVING IN OUR LIVES A. EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS FROM GOD Acknowledge that everything we have is God’s and not ours. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” When we do this, it reminds us that it is a privilege that God has loaned us everything we have. 1 Corinthians 4:7 says, “What do you have that you did not receive from God? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Everything we own, we ultimately received from God and we owe him thanks. James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting sand.” Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.” Complaining makes us miserable. Psalm 77:3 says, “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.” Philippians 2:13 says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” B. DEVELOP THE DAILY DISCIPLINE OF GIVING THANKS In order to be thankful people we need to start to give thanks everyday. Not just once a year on Thanksgiving. We need to discipline ourselves to find something each day that we should be thankful for and express our thanks to God. Perhaps create a journal or a file on our computers where we list the things God has done for us. Call it a praise file. Thanksgiving must become a daily habit. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.” Always is the key word. Not just on Thanksgiving. Everyday. I read recently that if you own one Bible, you are abundantly blessed, because a third of the people in the world do not have access to a Bible. If you awoke this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than 1 million people who will not survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of war, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation you are more fortunate than 500 million people on earth. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, twenty dollars in your pocket and a place to sleep you are richer than 75 percent of the world. O, God forgive me when I whine. I found this list of questions you can ask to test whether you are a grateful person or not? #1 Which do you tend to talk about more – your blessings, or your disappointments? #2 Are you a complainer, always grumbling, always finding fault with your circumstances? #3 Are you content with what you have, or always dissatisfied and wanting more? #4 Do you find it easier to count your blessings, or is it easier to count your afflictions? #5 Do you express thanks to others when they help you, or do you just take it as your due? #6 Would others say that you are a thankful person? Thanks for reading and have a great day!

God is Karma

We are on the road to Thanksgiving but I really want to talk about happy people. What are the things that distinguish happy people from others. We can't just say it's being a Christian because I know a lot of grumpy Christians as well. So I wanted to put together a list of things that distinguish happy people from others. The number one thing they do is trust God. Happy people are people who trust God with every single detail of their lives. From bills, to stress, to relationships, to the struggles of others to their health. THey trust God with all of it. 6 Things happy people never do 1. Mind other people’s business. Truly happy people don't feel the need to worry about other people's business, they just lift it up to God in prayer. We all suffer from this we get caught up in others' lives and think we are helping them, when in reallity we are hurting ourselves. 2. Seek self worth in others. We need to find our value and our self worth in teh fact that God loves us and longs to be in a relationship with Him daily. Truly happy people don't value themselves based on what others think of them. 3. Rely on others for their own happiness Truly happy people make others happy, they don't rely on others to bring them happiness. We all know that person that makes us happy when we don't want to be. Those are people who can be happy when we are not, and well sometimes we need to work harder to be that person. Happiness comes from an overflow of joy in our hearts therefore we are never without the ability to be happy, we choose to be. 4. Hold on to resentment Let it go. Let go and let God. Stop spending your time being resentful. Let God take care of it, his word tells us He is in total control and He will take care of the things he wants taken care of the way He sees fit. 5. Spend prolonged amounts of time in negative environments Happy people do not spend their time sulking. Happy people do not subscribe to the theory that misery loves company, they get out and far away from miserable company. 6. Resist the truth They face the truth, they live the truth, and they allow the truth to change them. Here are some verses that help us deal with how God handles business. Galatians 6:7-10 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. You reap what you sow, and you continue to reap even after you quit sowing. Proverbs 19:5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free. Don't worry about people trying to slander you or talk bad about you, God will take care of it. 2 Corinthains 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Proverbs 26:23-28 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent[a] lips with an evil heart. 24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit. 25 Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts. 26 Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. 27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them. 28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Whoever digs a pit will fall in it, that is all I need to know when others do me wrong. God will take care ofit, God will not let it go untouched. And finally our first verses, God cannot be mocked. They may get away with it here on earth, they may puff out their chest and think they pulled a fast one. But God will not be mocked, he will see to it that it is taken care of at some point and that is all the reassurance I need. Close with video, this video shows how we want it handled. We want absulute immediate justice and that just doesn't show any faith in God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1TrDMcaiLM&feature=player_embedded Thanks for reading and have a great day!

A day in my life

I want so badly for others to have what I have, and I can honestly say that only happens in a few areas of my life. My drag racing has taught me a lot of tricks of the trade while I am not the best, I do not win all the time I am riding a pretty hot streak right now, but I don't share those tricks. I am doing things with my daughters to get them prepared to play sports and while I do share the secrets of the trade I only share it with a select few because I honestly want my daughters to have an advantage and be successful. But, my greatest attribute, my greatest possession is my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And that my friends is what I want for everyone. I do not post on Facebook every hour, or every time I think to about it because that isn't how you sell it. You live it, you pray for it, and you cultivate it and others will want it for themselves. The old saying You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink is very true. You can drag everyone you want to church, you can share the Gospel with them all but you cannot force them to want it or accept it. But you can make them thirsty and that is our job. I start out the mornings with prayer and reading a devotional for Pastors that is emailed to me each morning. After that I get up, wake all the girls up and hop in the shower. I don't turn the radio on during my trip to the office, some days I just pray through that time, some days I just listen for God but I give that time to Him as well. ONce I arrive at my office I start blogging, working on my sermons for the following weeks and to be totally honest with you some days I just read the passages in different translations and that is all the sermon prep I do. It's all up to my mood and God's timing to reveal to me what I need to say. After about 45 minutes of sermon prepping I go pick Alexa up and take her to school, this is an important part of my devotional life because my most important ministry is my family. If I am not ministering to them and meeting their needs physically, mentally, emotionally and most importantly spiritually I am a failure as a pastor. After dropping her off I read my devotional book that my dad got me a while back. It's called the focused life and it is a daily reading that includes the chapter of PRoverbs for that date, and a few chapters of Psalms. All of this working together prepares me to face my day. Some days are busy and hectic others are not so much busy as hectic but either way, I am prepared to face the day and all that it throws my way based on my morning preparation. I long to see others grow in their walk, and I hope that in some way I can present it in a way that it makes others thirsty. In Africa there was a village that was not allowed to pray or worship God publically. So they met privately in homes and secretly in different places to avoid being persecuted and possibly killed. Well, in order to do their private prayers and quiet times alone with God each day they would have to leave their huts and walk off into the woods. As time went on they would walk the same path each day out into the woods for prayer and it wore a path leading from their houses to their spots for prayer. It was very common for someone to backslide and not continue their daily ritual and a neighbor would simply ask how they were doing and point out that the grass was beginnig to grow again, or that their path was not looking so worn as a way to remind them they need that personal time with God each and every day. So, I ask you now, what does YOUR path look like? Is it worn out and well trodden? Or is it overgrown and hard to even see? Thanks for reading and have a great Hump Day!

Advice, we need it!

Proverbs 9:9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. (I hesitated several times to share that first verse because I am in no ways wise, please do not think that I am putting myself in that place, just using it to make the point of my writings.) Proverbs 12:15 The way of fools seems right to them,but the wise listen to advice. Proverbs 19:20 Listen to advice and accept discipline,and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Proverbs 20:18 Plans are established by seeking advice; so if you wage war, obtain guidance. There are so many one man shows out there these days. They are Christians who say they only listen to God, they don't care what anyone thinks and they don't need anyone but God. They are baby Christians looking to make a name for themselves whether they realize it or not. I was 18 years old when I was asked to go and speak at a youth camp. I was honored and nervous because I didn't know what I was headed for that week. I knew with God, and doing God's will it would be great and there was no doubt God wanted me there that week. I had wanted to be a youth pastor for quite some time, even seeking ways to go to school for it. I had even served somewhat as a youth pastor in my church as a teenager in several different capacities and loved it. But it just wasn't solid, it was a great feeling, something I enjoyed but that was it. I still enjoyed playing sports(not as much as serving God but close), I still enjoyed drag racing and many other things. During the next to the last night of the camp it all came together for me. I was speaking during the days and another was speaking during the nights. That night, he was speaking and I was sweating, more than the usual pit stains. I felt like I was catching a fever, so I sat in teh back kind of away from everyone so that I didn't draw any attention to myself. Then, during the closing of the message and during the invitation my heart started to beat so loudly I was sure everyone in the whole auditorium could hear it. It started racing like I had just ran a marathon(I have no idea what that feels like to be honest, but if Jeff Gatlin ran a marathon and actually finished it at even a brisk walk his heart would be pounding) and there was no denying God was speaking to me. I rushed over to my childhood and teenaged youth pastor and started talking to him. He shared some scriptures and then prayed with me. One of the main things I remember him telling me as we talked later was that no matter how close I got to God, no matter how strong I felt to always seek guidance from other strong believers. Sure there will be those moments where people give good advice but let me tell you. If you surround yourself with Christians who are praying and reading GOd's word God is going to use them to mold you and make you into who you should be. I will never forget that advice, yes I am a Pastor now with a church entrusted to me. You will never hear me call it my church, because it isn't. It is God's church and I am just lucky enough that when God called me into the ministry at 18 he planned to use me at Freedom, I love my Freedom family and everyone in it. I spend a lot of my time giving advice, sharing my heart, and helping others as an undershepherd of Jesus Christ but I also take time to listen to advice from those who love me and more importantly love Jesus Christ. The false prophet, the one man shows, and the weak will all claim that they don't need to listen to anyone else but God, I tell you I first and foremost listen to God, and I also listen to those who God placed in my life to make me the whole person he wants me to be for Him. Thanks for reading and GOd Bless!

The Holy Spirit's job description

There was a teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on? He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, "Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet." She looked, and sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on – this time on the right feet. He then announced, "These aren’t my boots." She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn’t you say so?" like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, "They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them." She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said,” I stuffed them in the toes of my boots..." Sometimes, we just need help. 1. Jesus is giving His final teaching before the cross. He knows there is a painful parting ahead. He is leaving them. And it is going to be difficult. Yet, in the big picture of things it will be better. These next chapters are very much like those conversations that start out with what do you want first the bad news or the good news? 2. It is going to be better when He leaves. Jesus, in fact, says that it is necessary. No doubt, this announcement that He was leaving seemed disastrous to them. In three years, they had learned to depend on Him for their very lives. The thought of being separated had to strain them emotionally and mentally. Have you ever thought that it would be so good just to be with Jesus, like the disciples, just to sit and talk and ask questions? Well Jesus is telling us right here that as awesome as we may think that would have been, the Holy Spirit is way more valuable to us in the here and now. This being so, I want us to realize today this simple truth, that… 3. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR FRIEND. The Greek word that is used by John here you may have heard before. It is paraclete “to be called to one’s side.” And many good words are used to translate it -Comforter -Helper -Advocate -Intercessor, and even -Companion. These translations are powerful descriptions of the Holy Spirit’s ministry to us. How does the Holy Spirit act as our friend? 4. We will find in our study of John 16.5-15 three responsibilities taken up by the Holy Spirit that shows us He is our friend. A few weeks back we talked a lot about God as the Gardener and the job description involved in Jesus being the vine and God being the gardener. Well today let’s look at the job description or responsibilities of the Holy Spirit. OUR STUDY: I. The first responsibility is CONVICTION. At this point, the Holy Spirit acts as our prosecutor. We all have friends that tell us what we want to hear. Hopefully we have friends who tell us what we need to hear even if it means hurting our feelings. We need people like that who care enough to tell it like it is, and the Holy Spirit does that. Those moments of guilt we get when we do something we shouldn’t, when we skip our quiet times, or skip church or don’t do the things we should as believers. That guilt, that gut feeling is from none other than the Holy Spirit. 1. The greatest sin is unbelief. The greatest fight each one of us has is to get rid of our self as center. It is the Holy Spirit that brings this conviction. 2. We have no righteous standing before God without Jesus. The Spirit opens our eyes to our need for a Savior. We need the perfection of Jesus, and we cannot attain that. Therefore the Spirit helps point out anything in our lives that is inconsistent with aiming for that. Football teams film everything nowadays. I mean, games and practices and the purpose is to show the players any mistakes that they are making that keep them from executing perfectly. The Holy Spirit is like that, it comes and lives inside of us and slides a little gut check in every now and then when we are not being consistent with what God wants for us. Before Jesus came, God spoke through Ezekiel saying that help was coming (36.26-27)… The final act of conviction the Holy Spirit gives is that… 3. Justice will have its place. There is judgment. God wants that right relationship so badly that he sent his son to die for you and me. II. The second responsibility is DIRECTION. 1. We are given a source of truth. 2. We have a guide for our lives. ILL Holy Spirit (S) You may remember Jim Lovell as one of the astronauts of Apollo 13. He was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie, Apollo 13. Before the Apollo 13 mission he was asked by an interviewer if he had ever had a close call while he was a pilot, and this was the story he shared. “I remember this one time I’m in a banshee at night in combat conditions, so there’s no running lights on the carrier. It was the Shangri-La and we were in the Sea of Japan. My radar had jammed and my homing signal was gone because somebody in Japan was actually using the same frequency. So it was leading me away from where I was supposed to be, and I am looking down at a big black ocean. “So I flip on my map light, then suddenly, zap, everything shorts out right there in my cockpit. All my instruments are gone, my lights are gone, and I can’t tell even what my altitude is. I know I am running out of fuel, so I am thinking about ditching in the ocean. "I look down, and then in the darkness, there’s this green trail. It’s like a long carpet that’s just laid out beneath me. It was the algae — it was that phosphorescent stuff that gets churned up in the wake of a big ship. It was leading me home. “If my cockpit lights hadn’t shorted out there’s no way I would have been able to see that. You never know what events good or bad may occur to get you home.” The Holy Spirit works like that algae that led Jim Lovell back to his carrier. He leads us in uncertainty. It says in Psalm 23:3: “He guides in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” The Spirit leads us deeper and deeper into the truth. He takes the words of Jesus and places them in our hearts and helps us apply them to our lives. We are not alone in our decision making. Our Friend is our helper. III. The third responsibility is REVELATION. The key is Jesus. The Holy Spirit draws our attention to Christ. He makes Jesus a reality to us. The more we pray and the more time we spend in prayer the more that the Holy Spirit is able to reveal to us. At the close of the sermon I held out a glass of water. It was half filled glass and I asked how I could get the air out of the glass. After some time we decided that the only way we could get the air out of the glass was to add more water, and if we added water until it overflowed we would push all of the air out. That is precisely how the Holy Spirt works. God knew that the only way he could continue to work in our lives and to push the sin out of our lives was to fill us with more of Him. The only way to do that was through the Holy Spirit. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

God is working it out HIS way

I shared a short devotional with the football team yesterday during teh team meal at Pedro Menendez. I love these guys and I have enjoyed being with the seniors for 4 years now and it was our last team meal. They won the North Florida Bowl and went out on top and that is all you can ask for, or is it. When I started at Pedro about 7 years ago I was excited. I called the then coach Keith Cromwell and talked to him about coming on as a chaplain for the team. I would show up at practices with Gatorade and cookies(back when I could afford those things lol) and prayed with them after practices. THe first game we had after that time I shared with the team during the team meal that we would pray together right before we went into the game. So that evening I had them all take their helmets off, take a knee and grab a hand. We prayed the Lord's Prayer together. Sadly, there were a handful of coaches and less than a handful of players who knew it. Now, before the games our new coach Patrick Turner kneels in the middle of them and prays, and they say the Lords prayer together and every single player and coach knows every word. It's my favorite part of high school football Friday nights. Nothing better than a group of young teenaged boys kneeling and praying together, and quoting scripture at that. Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen I explained to the team that I strive to be the least religious person you can find. I hate religion and all that it stands for. To think that a group of rules and regulations decide how and what and when I worship God. No Sir! I worship God all day long, I talk to Him, live for Him and love Him with all I have. Because I have a relationship with the Creator of all things, and the person who sent His Son to die on a cross for my sins and my eternity. I have a RELATIONSHIP, and that relationship stops me from wanting to sin. Saves me from temptation on a daily basis and renews me every morning. And because every one of them has prayed the Lord's prayer, every single one of them has already had their first conversations with God, it's all a piece of cake from there. Then I shared with them that God is at work all around them, even when we can't see it or acknowledge it He is working on us and through us in ways we can't even imagine. God's love and grace and mercy and protection are all around us all through out the day. Illustraton: A young soldier was in the jungles and ended up getting away without being captured. He knew that the majority of his comrades were all either killed or captured. SO he found a hole in the ground like I little cave and he burrowed his way to the very back of it and hid there. For an entire day he hid and prayed that God would save him, that God would rescue him and that his enemies would forget about him. The second day he was there he could here the enemy troops getting closer and closer. THey were closing in on him and his prayer remained God rescue me God save me. Soon he realized they were right above the hole he was in, he then told God I guess this is it, you didn't protect me and you didn't hear my prayers for the past 30 hours. As the first soldier stepped over the hole another soldier stopped and looked down the hole and then walked on. The young man could not believe it, they had walked right past and ignored him. He waited a few hours and then decided to sneak his way up to the top to try and figure out what had happened. As he climbed he saw that a few spiders had built the most elaborate spider webs all accross the top of the hole. That's it the enemy soldiers had seen the webs and assumed no one had passed through there and walked right on by. You see when we pray, God goes to work. And when God goes to work He does things His way which is always the right way. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Be still

Youth November 13 2013 “Castaway” with Tom Hanks -In that movie, due to an airplane accident, Hanks’ character finds himself stranded alone on a deserted island with his only companion being a volleyball he named “Wilson” -As we see him progress for hours, days, weeks, months and even years, we find him becoming a much different person -Much of this is due to the fact that his world is different than it was -No more modern conveniences -No more hustle and bustle / stress -No more noise -No more companionship -Yet, to a great degree, he is changed for the better -He comes to realize the unimportance of such things -He comes to know himself in a much deeper way than he could have with those things -What Hanks’ character goes through is, in a sense, what every believer who longs to be a disciple of Christ needs to go through from time to time Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God. What does he mean by be still? Last week we talked about solitude, this week we are going to focus on stillness. What is the first thing you do when you get in your car? How about when you get home, what is the first thing you do when you sit down in your living room, or bedroom? We are addicted to noise and action and interaction aren’t we? It is impossible for us to be still and know that God is God when we are never still. Stillness is not the uncanny ability to keep from moving a muscle. It is not an environment or an arrival point. Stillness is an attitude—a condition of the total you. It’s your heart, mind and soul all completely silent and at peace. Colossians 3:15 We are guilty of this. Tara complains that we go through the whole day and hardly talk any, but then once I lay down at night I have so much to say. That is because I am guilty of not being still during the day. I am not completely where I am until I get home and shut down. We have to learn to shut down through out the day. Stillness is imperative to knowing God. Stillness allows you to gain God’s perspective on Himself and allows you an opportunity to show your perspective to Him. You cannot be intimately friends with anyone in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of life. It is impossible. Stillness also leads to worship. Louie Giglio defines worship as Our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on God. A distracted mind will not worship God. A cluttered heart will not worship God. A still mind however, and a still heart has no choice but to think of God and worship God for who He is. Why is our worship service put together the way it is, let me explain. We start off with an upbeat type of song to get you singing and to lead into the welcome. Then as you move around you have a chance to shake hands, hug, high five and greet others in the church family. After that we close out that song and sing a middle of the road type of song, not upbeat, not slow to move you away from socializing and into an opportunity to worship God in stillness. The next song is a slow song that leads into a prayer and the offering followed by the sermon. In other words by the time I get up to speak on Sunday mornings you have gone from walking through the door with your minds all cluttered with work and stress and relationships and bills and homework or last nights’ events to singing praises to God, to the ability to sit still and listen. Unfortunately many people miss this, last Sunday I watched a couple people talk through the entire songs and it made me angry. Not because they were being disruptive but because they were robbing themselves of an opportunity to be still and worship God. SO please, try to shut out and shut up life so that we can truly hear from God on Sunday mornings. Here’s the problem, with Iphones, and facebook, and twitter and instagram along with all the other social things you cannot get away and be still, truly still. Instead what we end up doing is making our solitude and our stillness resemble a game of freeze tag. In freeze tag you run around until the person who is it tags you. Once they tag you, you have to stay frozen there until someone else comes along and tags you back in to unfreeze you. We sit quietly, we are still until we hear the next thing go off. An email, an update, a tweet or a text message then we are off and running again. Be still, shut it all down and watch what happens to you during that time. Here is your challenge for this week. Try to find a 2 minute point during the day to drive in your car without the radio on. Then, tonight at some point find a 2 minute time to sit without any sound, cellphone or television going on. Let that grow from there. I want to add that last night when we got home P.J. walked into the house and went straight for the television. She sat down in her usual chair and grabbed the remote. Tara and I weren't really paying that close of attention until we both acknowledged what she was doing. She got right up from the chair and went into the kitchen, from there she went to the microwave and set the timer for 2 minutes. She then returned to her seat and sat still and silent with the remote in her lap until the timer went off. As soon as the timer went off she turned on the television and went on about her business. So, lesson learned you just never know when P.J. is actually listening lol. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

The real sacrifice

A lot of people comment all the time about my busy schedule, and yes it is very busy sometimes. But, the way the kids play sports, the way I try to involve myself in the teens and kids at the church's lives and my hobbies lead to one thing. A lot of sacrifice by Tara. She is the one making sure everyone gets taken care of while I am fluttering around ministering in whatever capacity. Sure we do try to do as much as we can together, but that just doesn't work out every day so some days I am committed to being somewhere while everyone else is spread out all over town. From soccer, to volleyball, basketball and softball and the only way it works out is by Tara's commitment to the process. THere are times where I am on the phone late at night, or at the hospital on our day off or attending and event when we had other plans and she is the one that suffers through that. I was called by God into the ministry, but there is no doubt Tara was called to be a pastor's wife and for that I cannnot begin to put into words how thankful I am to her and to God for placing her in my life. I don't know of one other person who could keep up with me the way she does. I read a blog each day, it's sent to me by Thom Rainer with Lifeway and the other day it was a perfect statement of all that I am trying to say so I am going to paste it here below, I hope he doesn't mind lol: Thank you pastor’s wife. You may have one of the most thankless roles in the world. You receive no compensation, but there are many expectations of you. At times you are expected to be omnipresent; and other times you are expected to be invisible. Rarely at any of those times does anyone express gratitude to you. Thank you pastor’s wife. You may have one of the most selfless roles in the world. You are expected to be at the beck and call of church members, regardless of your own schedule. You are expected to adjust your life to the life of the pastor, who just happens to be your husband. You really have no independent life of your own. Thank you pastor’s wife. You may have one of the most challenging roles in the world. You are the only person in whom your husband can truly confide. When he is down, you are expected to encourage and exhort him. You try to provide balance for your family and children, especially since some of the church members expect them to be perfect. Thank you pastor’s wife. You may have one of the most painful roles in the world. You have discovered how hurtful some church members can really be. You listen to criticisms of your husband, and you are expected to be stoic. And when you are hurt, you think you have to keep it to yourself. You internalize it and hurt even more. Thank you pastor’s wife. You may have one of the loneliest roles in the world. People in the church seem afraid to get to close to you. Friendships are rare, if not non-existent. There are times you want to cry out in your need and pain, but there is no one to listen to you. In your darkest moments, you wonder if it’s all really worth it. Thank you pastor’s wife. We who stand on the sidelines may not know your hopes, hurts, and needs. We may not realize the depth of your times of pain and loneliness. But we know Someone who does. And He is with you. He is your strength. He is your comforter. He is your confidant. And one day you will see that Savior named Jesus face to face. One day you will get your rewards for your labor, sacrifice, and love. One day He will look at you with unstoppable love and piercing eyes. One day He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant. Well done.” And then you will know it was all worthwhile. Thank you pastor’s wife. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The real truth about joy

John 16:5-6 We are all familiar with the old saying you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. And I have shared with you several times that as Christians it is not our job to make anyone drink, it is our job as Christians to make others thirsty. And it is our joy that will make other thirsty. It is our sorrow transformed into joy that will make others who don’t know Christ envious. God uses our joy to create a hunger and thirst in the hearts of others and that is what we have to offer the world. After all, who wants to hang around a bunch of gloomy and sad people? The very thought is depressing to me. I believe the Word of God and the God of the Word tells me we can capture the joy and keep it. "But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ’Where are You going?’ "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” John 16:5-6 The disciples were sad because Jesus was living out what God had sent Him to do. Understand something Joy comes from selflessness and sorrow comes from selfishness. I. First, capturing the joy means we have to ask what impact our requests and actions have on God's plans. Jesus knew his disciples were not thinking of him or his kingdom. Their hearts were asking where are you going because we are comfortable here and your leaving will upset that. Although their question was right, their motive in asking was wrong. We must ask with proper motive and as two world people when we pray. It is important to ask God if my requests and actions are taking me where He is going. Am I in step with His will? II. Capturing the joy means we must be intent on one purpose: John 16:5, Jesus is intent on one purpose: “But now I am going to Him who sent me.” He came to earth for one purpose: to do the will of His Father – to seek and save the lost; to give his life a ransom for many and accomplish the work he was given to do. We too should have the same attitude and intent in our heart if we want our heart controlled by joy. The Lord said as the Father has sent me so send I you (John 20:21). Philippians 2:2 tells us to“make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” And the Apostle Paul said: “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) Jesus was never distracted and always moved forward in his earthly ministry. Likewise, we must be moving forward in our Christian life. Moving forward means we can neither live in the past nor be content with the false sense of contentment offered by the status quo. Being status quo Christians brought sorrow to the heart of the Disciples. Quoting Paul again, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) Where are you in the race today? Are you living in the past of regrets and failures? Are you content with the status quo? Or are you moving forward with one intent and purpose and experiencing the transforming joy Jesus talks about? III. Capturing the joy means we need to learn God often brings joy to our lives by transformation. The circumstances do not necessarily change but a transformation takes place. Jesus was trying to tell the disciples He was going to the Cross to suffer the most painful death imaginable, yet the Scripture tells us “…for the joy set before Him Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame.” And we are admonished in Hebrews 12:3: “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not, grow weary and lose heart.” Losing heart means to lose your joy. Jesus said to his disciples in John 16:20: “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.” God doesn’t remove the grief but transforms it into joy. God takes seemly impossible situations, adds the miracle of His grace, and transforms trial into triumph and sorrow into joy. IV. Finally, we must continually examine what we are doing now for the Lord. The Bible says, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test.” Life is all about perspective, this letter from a daughter to her parents is a great example: Dear Mom and Dad, It has now been three months since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing this and I am very sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before. I will bring you up to date now, but, before you read on, please sit down. YOU ARE NOT TO READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU ARE SITTING DOWN, OKAY? Well then, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture, and the concussion I got when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory when it caught fire shortly after my arrival, are pretty well healed now. Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump, were witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm. He was the one who called the fire department and the ambulance. He also visited me at the hospital, and since I had nowhere to live because of the burned out dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him and his three buddies. It's really a basement room, but it's kind of cute. He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to be married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show. Yes, Mom and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents! I know you will welcome the baby and give it the love, devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child. The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has some minor infection which prevents us from passing our pre-marital blood tests, and I carelessly caught it from him. This will soon clear up with the penicillin injections I am having daily. I know you will welcome him into our family with open arms. He is kind and, although not well educated, he is ambitious. Although he is of a different race and religion than ours, I know your often expressed tolerance will not permit you to be bothered by the fact that his skin color is different than ours. I am sure you will love him as I do. His family background is good, too, for I am told that his father is an important weapons dealer in the village in Africa from which he came. Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or a skull fracture. I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant and I am not engaged. I do not have syphilis and there is no man (of any color) in my life. However, I got a 'D' in History and an 'F' in Science, and I wanted you to see those marks in the proper perspective. Your Loving Daughter

Solitude is the fix

Last night's youth lesson notes, I will do a better job in the future of putting my thoughts down more completely so that it reads a little better. Capturing your time(your life) Illustration:Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path." Mark 1:35-37 Why did Jesus get up at the crack of dawn and spend time with God? He was God? Listen if Jesus, God’s own son had to get away from everything and renew his mind and spend time alone with God then we must need that desparately. What is a quiet time? It is a time when you sit alone, clear your mind and talk to and hear from God. It's a time that you designate just for you and God, no noise, no distractions, and no one else just the two of you. You cannot have a relationship with anyone, husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, best friend and so on without some time alone with them. You need intimate moments where it is only the two of you without distractions and without others there. You need it far worse with God than with anyone else. What was the purpose for leaving the house? He wanted a completely undistracted time alone with God. Do you turn off the tv, the cellphone, the noise of life when you do your quiet time. Is it even quiet in your room, your area, your mind when you do it? Who needs a quiet time? Here are some names from the Bible: Moses, Jonah, David, John the Baptist, Paul and Jesus Moses was all alone when God called him to lead the Israelites into the promised land. Jonah was all alone when God called him to go to ninevah. David was all alone on several instances that God called him to action. Paul was all alone on the road to Damascus when God changed his whole life. Now Jesus we see several times was all alone when talking to His own Father. God used quiet times of oneness with Him to make all of them different. To mold them into what He needed them to be to impact this world he used times of one on one. One of the best things you can do is have a consistent time and place that you do your quiet times. What is involved in a quiet time? Quiet, stillness and solitude A designated time: you have to set aside the time every day or it won’t happen. A designated place: Every day that you can, you need a place and a time to set aside for your quiet time. Prayer: I prefer to pray, then read and then pray some more. It’s all up to you. Prayer in starts it off and helps me clear my mind of busyness. Reading is where I let God talk to me and allow for my own spiritual growth. Another prayer afterwards let’s me verbalize my learning from the readings that day. Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God. Prayer, reading your Bible and solitude is what it is all about. This is a time when you are more aware than any other part of your day just who is in control, who is in charge, and who you owe everything to. I read a book in seminary called The Way of the Heart, and one of the things I remember about the book was that he described the kind of transformation we talked about last week. He said that “Solitude is the furnace of transformation” In other words nothing about your prayer life, your Bible reading or studying is ever going to change you unless it is quiet. Not just quiet in the physical sense but in the mental and spiritual sense as well. Solitude is another one of those things that we are afraid of isn’t it. Here is a test for you: Do you always have to be communicating with someone? Do you always have to have the television on or the radio? Do you ever sit alone and eat lunch, or dinner? Do you ever sit in absolute quiet and feel okay about it? Do you ever drive all alone in your car without the radio on? Intimacy with God is hard to get, it’s hard to grasp because it is dependent on time. Time is the one thing that we all have the same amount of. We all have the same amount of time each day, though at times it may seem like less and less. I hear people say all the time that time flies by, they can't get a handle on life because time is flying by. I can gaurantee you that if you sit still for a few minutes, no music, no noise, no thoughts about where you should be or what you are doing next time will slow down for you. I do this first thing in the morning, I do this around lunch time and again at night. Some nights Tara and I just go sit outside in the rocking chairs and chill, not really talking or anything, just slowing down and sitting in true solitude. Solitude helps you capture time. Think about it, if you truly relax and slow down and sit in true solitude. Not thinking about where you should be, what you should be doing, or what is going on somewhere else. Really, truly sit still and slow your mind down you will really, truly capture the time. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

My day job

I have to admit I am so blessed in so many ways. Sure, Tara and I have had times where we couldn't pay our bills, went through a dark period of foreclosure and almost lost everything but that was just a small storm that made us stronger and more appreciative of what we do have. When I left Ancient City Baptist Church it was a tough transition. We were looking for a way to serve, the Florida Baptist Convention took us out to lunch and talked with us about a church plant. In hindsight that would have been a better route because the local churches all want to help out a plant, as we found out NO ONE in town wants to help out an already established church. We prayed hard about it and thought about it until we were approached by someone about Freedom Baptist Church, they were down to single digit membership and really struggling to stay alive. I went and preached there one Sunday and then returned a few weeks later. They voted us in and so here we are several years later still serving God and being used by God in St. Johns COunty which is where my heart beat really is. God has given me a fire and a passion for this county and I continue to strive to be a part of waking this town up to God and all that He has for us. When I started at Freedom there was very little opportunity for income. I think we started out making $400 a month. So, I went to work for the Harden family at the Homeless Coalition. While I did enjoy my work there ti was not the perfect fit. I needed a little more freedom, a little more on campus time with students and so I began to pray for a better fit. About a week after I started praying for a better fit teh Homeless Coalition sent me to a training done by the Betty Griffin House. The Betty Griffin House is our local shelter for abused and battered women and their children. I knew a little bit about domestic violence from my schooling, but not as much as I wanted to so I went to the training and learned a lot. I sponged it up day after day and on the final day I asked the program director if there was any opportunity for me to better serve them to please let me know. A few weeks later they called and told me about the new grant they had and how I was the perfect fit. I went by, filled out some paperwork and boom I was in a job that fit me. My job title is Community Educator, the grant is primary prevention. They whole idea behind it is to teach and educate people of all ages about the dangers of domestic violence and help change attitudes as a whole before they are exposed to these dangerous behaviors. So basically, I go into high schools and speak in their freshman health classes about unhealthy relationships, the warning signs and the dangers. I go into elementary schools and talk to them about bullying and the dangers of it, and how the women who are abused and forced to find shelter inside the Betty Griffin House shelter are put there by adult bullies. So isn't God great? I was put in a job that gave me the freedoms to make campus appearances, I am paid by a federal grant to do outreach on campus in classrooms all accross our county. Today I will be starting an 8 week stay at Ponte Vedra High School. Every Wednesday for the next 8 weeks I will be speaking to all of the freshman class at P.V. about the various aspects, dangers and warning signs of dating violenece and hopefully get to them before they are in an unhealthy or controlling relationship. This job has freed me up to still be able to coach high school softball, enjoy my family and do church outreach all without demanding a huge salary from the church. People asked me all the time how we were able to operate at Freedom with so many young people and so few adults for so long, it is because God put me in a job that freed me up and allowed me to need so little from the church. It is also because of the loving support of First Baptist Calahan who gives financially, serves us whole heartedly and prays for us daily. FBC you guys are our second family and we are so blessed by you and your loving commitment not just to Freedom but also to my family as well. Now, I will admit there are times(very few now) that it is a little bit hectic but for the most part it is awesome and I thank God for the opportunity to serve our community in such a unique way. I mean how many pastors get a green light and are even requested to come and speak to students over an 8 week period? Not many at all. So that's what I do, that's why I do it and how I got here. Have a great day and GOd Bless!

The weekend in review

So with my work schedule I am able to work four, ten hour days to allow for a three day weekend. THis is much needed and usually well anticipated for me. I spend Friday mornings finalizing my sermon, finishing up anything I need to so that I can get ready for the weekend because my weekends fly by at an amazing rate of speed it seems. It's funny my three day weekends now seem shorter than my two day weekends used to. I normally get to kick off my Friday mornings with a BIble study bunch, but this past week there was an NHS meeting that knocked out the majority of my crew(yes I know there is always something, sports, school meetings, something to compete with). So I was able to take it easy a little bit on Friday, I had some plans and some things I that had forced me to move my Friday morning ritual to Thursday night(after trick or treating with the girls) and I was proud I had all of that done early. Friday, we did the team meal for the football team at Pedro, hung out with the coaches, the players and managers and got everything pre game done that I usually do. We were heavy underdogs for the game that night but we pulled off the win. I truly feel like that was one of our more complete games, from defense to offense and everywhere in between we executed well, as well as we have for 4 whole quarters all season and came away with the win. It was a great feeling to see our hard working seniors walk off the field for the last time with a win. Then came Saturday which was planned for P.J.'s soccer game and then my first trip to Green Cove Dragway our new home track for some drag racing action.Unfortunately, the weather only cooperated for about half of that. We were able to go and watch P.J. play soccer in the rain, which I must admit is more exciting than in dry conditions. After the game, realizing the rain had washed away any chance of racing we went home and I suffered through the Gator game with Tara. At about 9:30 Saturday night I got the bright idea that we should go race on Sunday. I went next door and then dad and I started loading everything up. The races wouldn't start until 2:00, worship would be over by noon and I would be able to close up and be home by 1 so we decided to give it a go. Sunday morning worship went well, we had a great crowd especially when I went there knowing that we would be missing about 1/3 of the people who should be there and are regular attenders. I was able to announce our plans for December 1st as a church family and they took it and ran with it. We closed up shop, rushed home, changed clothes and took off for Green Cove Dragway. We got to the track after they had run all of the qualifying runs and just had to go up for first round not real sure where we stood. I was able to win 4 rounds of action on a track that was not in aggreement with my rear tires or my set up. We won, so I can honestly say I am undefeated at Green Cove Dragway in Index classes(it may be time to retire from there already lol). It was a great event, well run, and with a few tweaks here and there that place is going to be a place for my family to enjoy many, many an afternoon or evening for many many years we hope. Now for our plans as a church family. Sunday, December the 1st I have a guest speaker coming to share her story which is written in book form, St Augustine the small city with a big heart. She will be sharing, I will be preaching and we will have spaghetti dinner afterwards to raise money to help out someone who is very special in my heart. Mr. Jimmy Wray, Jimmy has had several battles with cancer, given up about 2/3's of his liver and had several heart and instestine complications along the way. He has unknowingly been dropped from his insurance, lost his coverage and had to endure many, many days of not knowing where his next penny will come from. He is unable to work, so his sister Tanya has taken on all of the burdens. She works almost every day to make money to take care of the things that Jimmy used to as well as her own financial needs as a single mom. The two of them are still ever faithful to God, thankful for every day, and fighting every day to improve life for themselves. So, all of the money we raise at the spaghetti dinner will go towards whatever hospital bills, medication expenses(this is a long story too) and just food and basic needs they have. Also, the youth group is going to have a yard sale November 23rd at the Avalos' house in the Shores to raise money to help out. I am so excited to see this all going on in our ministry. Freedom Church is looking less and less like a church and more and more like a ministry which is all that I long for and pray for every day. One last thing, we were able to open through the efforst of Julie Hagar, an account at Island Pharmacy where Mr. Jimmy's medications will come from. THey were able to cover his medications through this month, and in coming months he can just put them on his account and we will be able to make donations to help pay it down. This is another huge blessing and example of God's people being his hands and feet.I look forward to November 23rd, as well as December 1st and can't wait to witness all that God is going to show up and do thru us. God bless and have an awesome day!

The cure for haters

These are my sermon notes from Sunday, November 3rd enjoy: Hater is a term that has become popular in the past 5 years. Hater describes a person who is threatened by someone’s success. But this morning, I want to talk about Haters... A hater is someone that is jealous and envious and spends all their time trying to make you look small so they can look tall… (Tell you…) When you make your mark, you will always attract some haters... That’s why you have to be careful who you share your blessings and your dreams with because some folk can’t handle seeing you blessed… (Just ask Joseph…) But how do you handle your haters so that you won’t abort the blessings that God has for you…? How do you handle your haters so that you don’t miss the opportunities that have been scheduled for your life…? A team or a person that wins a lot at a particular sport will acquire over time a great number of haters. People don’t like someone who wins all the time, well as Christians we are going to eventually run into our share of haters. Those people who don’t understand God’s grace, and His love and mercy. They just know that as Christians we ruin everything for them. They can’t have fun doing the stuff they want to do because we won’t join in. I talk to person after person who says that being a Christian is too restricting. I tell them being a Christian is the most freeing thing you can ever experience. Or they get mad because it looks like so many Christians have such a great life. In all honesty we know people’s glory but we don’t know the story. You don’t know what people go through in trials and tribulations to get where they are and what they have. You don’t know how strongly God tested them before they arrived at the status that you see them at. Who do you belong to? I shared with you that there is no one of the face of this earth that does not want to have their feelings validated. Well, there is also no one on this earth that doesn’t want to fit in and belong. Fitting in is all most of us ever wanted, some want to be in charge and be leaders, others just want to fit in. Many times people want to fit in so badly that they compromise whatever morals, and beliefs they have to so that they fit in. John 15:18-25 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. V 18 Now, Jesus has taught us that we ought to hate our families, our mothers, our fathers and our own children and love Him. By that he meant that our love for them should be so great that all you know is we love Jesus, and seemingly we love our families and our possessions so much less that on a love scale it looks like hate. Now he is telling us that there are going to be times when the world hates us, and when that happens it is actually a good thing. If we are Christians we are Christ like and if you are Christ like you are going to face some ridicule and dislike at some point from non-believers and the world. v. 19 If you belonged to the world it would love you. That is a powerful statement, let’s think for a minute about just how much the world loves us. As a Pastor I often sit and think about this. In my day job, in my coaching am I becoming too well liked or loved by the lost? I want to be in the world, I want to be liked by others, we all do. But am I sacrificing any of my beliefs or any of my morals in any way that I am losing my benefit for God. IN other words, am I watering down my faith, am I sacrificing anything of the power of the Gospel just to get through the doors at any of the places I am able to speak? v. 20 No servant is greater than his master If they persecuted Christ, the person who came to offer eternal life then how much more are they going to persecute us as believers who can offer nothing more than prayer and advice. They treat us that way because they don’t know God. Cold is the absence of heat. Darkness is the absence of light, and bad is the absence of God. They mistreat you because they don’t know God like you do. They don’t have the joy and the peace, and many of them don’t understand how much grace and mercy they really need. They don’t because they do not know any better. How do we combat this hatred? We honestly don’t have to, that’s the beauty of it. We don’t have to resist or fight on our own. We have the Holy Spirit which in this group of verses Jesus refers to with two different names. 1. Counsellor – which conveys helping, encouraging and strengthening work of the Holy Spirit. 2. Spirit of truth – that conscience you have deep down inside your gut that helps you decide what is right and what is wrong. The great thing is the Holy Spirit doesn’t just meet the needs of our hearts, it meets the needs of our heads as only the Holy Spirit can. As Christians, I mentioned last week that we honestly don’t have to ride around quoting the 10 commandments. There are times where temptation peaks its ugly head in and we need to be reminded of them but let’s look at them just briefly. 1 – You shall have no other gods before me 2 - You shall not make for yourself any idols 3 – You shall not misuse the name of the Lord 4 – You shall observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy 5 – Honor your father and mother 6 – You shall not commit murder 7 – You shall not commit adultery 8 – You shall not steal 9 – You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor 10 – You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife Now, I want to try to explain why being a Christian is freeing. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs or chew, and I don’t go with women who do. Even though I did marry a Georgia girl. Anyway. I don’t do any of those things I never have. As a Christian I don’t feel the pressure to do those things, I don’t cheat or dishonor my parents, or work or play on the Sabbath, I don’t murder or commit adultery or steal, I don’t lie and I don’t covet(though that is the toughest one isn’t it) I don’t take God’s name in vain and I don’t make idols for myself. It is not this list of commandments that keeps me from doing those things. It is not, a list of restrictions and rules. What keeps me from doing those things is the fear of damaging my relationship with Christ. That is what the world does not get. I love watching my friends as they change. I grew up with a lot of wild and crazy people. They would stay out all night drinking and hook up with different women all the time, and it was sad to watch. But, then most of them found the right woman, and soon they stopped all of that. They stopped doing any of that because it would damage their marriage. Or, some of them kept up a lot of that lifestyle until they were married and had kids. They found a relationship that they valued above all others. How much more would they change if we did a better job of exposing them to Jesus? The world is going to hate you because they want what you have. The freedom from all of the empty things that the world offers. If the world doesn’t hate you, then you probably look just like it and if that is the case you are more of a fan of Christ than a follower. Read Psalm 1:1-10 1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wickedor stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,and who meditates on his law day and night.3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.4 Not so the wicked!They are like chaffthat the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.