Just Another Manic Monday . . . and Tuesday . . . and . . .

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Go ahead and sing along the old Bangles song with me!? Don’t you just love the 80s?? They don’t make cheesy goodness like that anymore!? Who knew that Prince, or “The Artist formerly know as,” or simply “The Artist” wrote that gem of a song?

Ok, to the heart of the post . . . It seems as though I am really, really busy, but I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done!? Do you ever feel that way?? We had a great staff meeting yesterday morning, but the day seemed to get away and before I knew it, it was time for Life Group at our house.

We had an AWESOME Life Group.? I absolutely love hanging out with our new found friends and study the Bible and hang out together!? We are really starting to gel and “click,” which is really cool.? We are studying “Discovering God’s Will”–an Andy Stanley/Northpoint study.? Man, what a great study so far.? Some highlight statements that really spoke to me from this week:

“The problem with knowing God’s will is not God’s unwillingness to speak; the problem is our unwillingness to follow through. Discovering God’s Will by Andy Stanley & Reggie Joiner, 21

“God does not give us direction for our consideration; He gives us His direction for participation.”

“God is more interested in your discovering Him than His will.”

“In the process of trying to know His will, we get to know Him.”

The message was built around Proverbs 3:5-6–

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.

I think this verse is very appropriate for my Tuesday that I had today . . .

Have you ever noticed how we seem to tell God “how it’s going to be?”? You know the deal.? We basically expect God to get on board with what we are doing.? When He does something we don’t want, weren’t expecting, or makes us uncomfortable; and we get all bent out of shape.? We tend to work harder, plan more thoroughly…work YOUR plan and ask God to bless YOUR plans.

God doesn’t work that way!? He wants us to wait on Him.? He wants more than anything a relationship with us that is real and personal.? He wants us to be so close to Him, that of course we would know what to do in order to do His will.

I am learning that the more plans I put together, the more they will not go so hot.? When I seek God and work on my relationship with Him, then I set to planning. . . that is when the my plans will become His plans.? When I am so atuned to His heart, that His heart becomes mine.

When things are seeming to “go your way.”? Maybe it is a perspective change?? Maybe it is a change in who is making the plans.? As Experiencing God says, “God is always at work around you.”? You need to find out what He is doing and do it.

Never Give Up in Doing Good . . .

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I have really had several encouraging moments over the last week or so that have really made me rethink Paul’s words in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

First off, I went to my new dentist here in Carthage and one of the dental hygentists is a daughter of a fellow pastor way back when (’95) , when Jenny and I were in Pryor, OK.? Her father is a great man and served in the Methodist Church in both Pryor and Locust Grove (where I was serving).? The work in Locust Grove was especially challenging, but he was always faithful to the call of God on his life.? I learned a lot from him in a very short time.

Then, later on that evening, I got a Facebook message from a former student in my youth group.? He was recalling a particular message I preached on a Wednesday night a LONG time ago that was still impacting his life!? What??? He talked about a simple phrase has stuck with him all these years and has helped him finally deal with some “junk” in his life and actually let some other people in the body of Christ to help him along in the journey!? At this point, I’m feeling really pumped about what God has done through me.? It gets better. . .

This Saturday night, I was studying for the next morning . . . looking over service, message, etc.? I had my email inbox open and got a latenight message from another “blast from the past.”? It was from a young lady that was in my youth ministry in Burleson, TX while I was in seminary.? She had been thinking about me and looked me up on the internet and found the Finley Crossings website and eventually this blog.? While she was looking at the CFC website, she downloaded a podcast–happened to be my last message at Finley before moving to Forest Park Carthage.? As she and her husband were sitting in their kitchen listening to the podcast, they made a decision to find a church in their city and really follow the call of God on their life–AWESOME STUFF!? So now I am really thinking that God is amazing and what am I mopeing around about, right??? It gets even better–last night . . .

I took Dinwiddie with me to Hopedale Baptist Church in Ozark, where I was a student pastor starting in ’99 after seminary.? We went to hear Aaron Hill give his first sermon ever.? Pretty stinking cool!? Aaron? was a 7th-8th grader when I left to plant Finley Crossings.? He was always one of “those kids” that you know God was going to do an amazing work through–you know the kid.? I am really good friends with his dad, John, who’s blog is linked over in the right margin.? Jenny and I have been worship pastors at their (HBC) children’s camps for about 5 or 6 years now and have gotten the opportunity to spend some quality time with Aaron in a cabin with a bunch of crazy elementary kids!!? I have always thought God was going to “do something” with Aaron. . . and I think he deep down thought the same thing.? It was really great!? He did an awesome job!? Brought back a ton of memories of student ministry at Hopedale as well as my “first sermon.”

I remember my first sermon in January of 1994 at FBC-Springfield at “College Night at Christmas.”? I gave the message and several of my other buddies did the other parts of the service.? It was a real nerve-wracking experience to say the least!? I was really nervous . . . in a suit and tie . . . had microphone feedback issues . . . and forgot (are you ready for this)–John 3:16.? I think they probably should have pulled my license at that point for sure!!

Again, I am reminded of Paul’s words of “never give up in doing good.”? Even thought things don’t always “go your way” or turn out the way you might want them to turn out . . . never give up.? Life and ministry are difficult and Paul was encouraging the early church to keep pressing on and hope for the harvest.? I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to do what I do and really thankful for His encouragement this week!? Thank you God!

Thoughts on Obama’s Acceptance Speech

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A friend of mine, a church planter in Jefferson City, Marc Backes, just wrote an awesome post on the powerful images of community in President-Elect Obama’s speech last night.? Go here to read the full post.? But here are some nice exerpts . . .

Parts of his acceptance speech last night struck me in one very unique way. They resonated with a powerful Biblical theme and they went to the very core of why I think the church is struggling to stay relevant with younger generations of people.

And so last night as I watched Obama give his speech, I was struck by one thing. There was a deep thread of community woven throughout the speech. Once again, I?m going on the face value of the comments and making no commentary about them. Here?s a couple key excerpts:

It?s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

Sounds a lot like ?every tribe, every nation, every tongue? doesn?t it? The church isn?t made up of rich, poor, Jew or Gentile. We are the church.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other??In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people??to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can?t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

As you watched last night, and as the American people indicated by their votes (regardless of whether you think rightly or wrongly), that sense of call to community resonated. And I think it?s resonating in a deep way in the hearts of people who are tired of going to church and feeling alone. Who are tired of struggling to be good Christ followers and believing that they have no one they can turn to. Who are ready for the church to be a place where we truly do love, honor, welcome, greet, serve, teach, admonish, sing, support, encourage, forgive, bear the burdens of, and fellowship with one another all unto the Glory of God?.

OK, so not a few excerpts, because I felt it necessary to get you folks who don’t follow links to read the meat of his thoughts!

I can recall a time when my friend, Daniel Scott and I were eating at an establishment down in Galloway that there was so much community there it was scary!? The problem was that it wasn’t the true kind of community that a group of people might have with Christ in the center of the community.? I remember thinking that there has got to be a way for the Church, the True Community, ought to be like that community–at least in it’s acceptance and love that seemed to be there in that place.

The problem, I think, (and what our small group studied on Monday night) is that we as believers have become so concerned that people do the right things that we focus on the externals.? What we really ought to focus on, as the old evangelists used to say “focus on what Christ has done.”? We need to focus on our own depravity that has been washed clean by the blood of Christ and begin to be a unifying force for real, lasting change in our world.? But that starts with me . . . if I have the courage to love like Jesus loved.? That’s a tough start indeed.

PAUSE: Stop. Learn. Live.

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We have started our Generations Campaign last weekend and we are SO excited about what God is going to do over the next 6 weeks in growing our faith!? One of the awesome things about this spiritual growth campaign is a 40 Day Prayer and Devotional Guide.? We actually have started a website that you can go to and comment on each day about what the Lord is teaching you.? We believe this is going to be a very powerful tool for us as a church family.

Check out the “pretty” format that looks like the paperback books on our website here.? You can also check out our new website called “PAUSE:? Stop. Learn. Live.” On that site you will also be able to learn more about a daily reading plan, how to journal, how to fast, etc.? The daily reading portion will be up and in full swing after our 40 days of prayer and devotions are over with the Generations campaign.

We will continue a daily reading program after our 40 days of Generations prayer and devo is completed.

Don’t starve!? Feed yourself!? Grab a Bible, a pen, a journal, and a Generations Devo (or hop online) and join us on this adventure to spiritual maturity!

Wow, what a weekend!

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We have had a crazy busy and productive weekend so far!? Tucker and Jenny went to Springfield on Friday so Jenny could do an inservice training for the Elementary music teachers in Springfield Public Schools–she’s so stinking talented and smart it’s pretty amazing she hangs out with a schmuck like me!! While they were gone, I took the opportunity to fix the brakes on my car that were about 3 weeks overdue and the rotors showed!? Thanks to my friend Devin Bobbett for helping me change my first set of brakes probably about 7 years ago.? I have always tried to repair them since then after I found out how “easy” it is.? There is always something that goes wrong when I try to do anything it seems.? This time, I stripped out some screws and had to go get some screw extrators from the store to finally get the brakes repaired.? Of course, I had to put the old brakes back on, go to O’Reilly’s and then come back and finish them.? I finally got them fixed at about midnight last night. Henry (our new puggle) and I went to pick up Taylor after school and decided to go to the pet store to get some stuff for the dog.? The pet store has another puggle for sale and the girl was really pushing hard for us to get another to keep Henry company.? Funny thing happens–Henry poops right in the store–while Taylor is supposed to be watching him on the leash!? I told the girl, “see I’ve got one that poops all over the place, I don’t need another!” Jenny and Tucker got home and we went to eat at the Ranch House.? We walked in and saw our good friend Kent Doyle and the Ozark High School varsity girls softball team that was in a tournament here in Carthage.? It was awesome getting to hang out with him for a bit.? Sweet people!? Taylor got to talk to Kaleb on the phone and Morgan got to talk to Jenny.? Pretty cool deal for everyone. Had our first CONVERGE this morning.? It went pretty well.? The next CONVERGE will be in January.? I am really excited about what God is going to do this fall through Forest Park Carthage! Went to Crosswalk tonight to hear John’s message “Dirty Jerseys.”? We are starting a spiritual growth campaign tomorrow called Generations.? It was an awesome message and I am really excited to see the response from our people tomorrow morning.? We have the potential to really reach a TON of people for Christ in the next decade or so through this campaign. The key verse is, “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.” Psalm 102:18.? Stratton, McBride and I went out on Thursday and shot some videos for our children’s ministry classes.? It was a lot of fun!? The best part is related to this verse. . . we have an opportunity in this campaign to reach people of the future generations by our faithfulness to get involved with God in this generation!? I am excited that we are helping Taylor and Tucker’s generation to have a great facility here in Carthage.? My hope and prayer is that they will in turn, because of our example, build His Church for their future generations!? I can’t wait to see what God is going to do through this campaign!? Fasten your seatbelts.

Monday Night Reflections

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  • Mythbusters was AWESOME!!! It is really great to be a part of a church that is willing to be creative to share the Gospel with a hurting world.? Yesterday’s message was one of the clearest Gospel presentations I have heard in a long, long time.? I am really excited about this series at Forest Park!
  • We had a really good staff meeting this morning!? Our staff is really coming together as a team and I am pumped about this group of people!
  • We have a new staff member coming on board September 2nd!!? I am TOTALLY pumped about that deal!!? I will save that for a post of its own an announcement of that magnitude!
  • We had over 300 people at church yesterday!!? WOW!? There were a TON of kiddos running around.? I love that!
  • I am praying for some dear friends that lost a baby last weekend.? Jenny and I lost a baby in between Taylor and Tucker.? We really feel for them in this time of grief, anger, helplessness.
  • I am praying for Ronnie Sanders dad.? He is having open heart surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:00 a.m.
  • Tucker goes to the doctor tomorrow.? Hopefully he will be released completely from the doctor and won’t have to wear that silly brace anymore.
  • I thought I put on the belts correctly on our new (to us) lawn mower on Saturday.? Boy, was I wrong.? I wondered what that smell of burning rubber was on Saturday!
  • The boys finally got to jump into the pool this evening–bugs and nastiness included.? It is really not that bad, mom!? WAY BETTER than the pea green nastiness that I started with!? Just in time to winterize the thing!
  • Wow, Michelle Obama is a great communicator.? That is difficult to do that and pull it off.? Two very talented communicators in that family.? No matter your politics, that was an amazing speech.
  • The Olympics just called–they said I can have my life back until the Winter Games!

Kid’s Camp Pics Days 1 & 2

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We have had an EXTREMELY BUSY day at camp our first full day!? The kids went to “The Edge” here at Windermere, had tribal challenge games (lots of water and messy stuff), and are going to have a pool party tonight.? We are headed to worship and I am really excited about what God is teaching these kids about how we can trust him no matter how afraid we are or how difficult the situation might be.

Here are some pics of Day 1 & 2 . . . mainly my kiddos in my room as well as our Finley Crossings kiddos.? Enjoy!

Children’s Camp

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We are at Windermere on the Lake of the Ozarks with Hopedale Baptist Church and Church at Finley Crossings Kids Camp.? I really love hanging out with these little guys, but they wear me out with all of their stories about everything under the sun.? And the funny thing is like at dinner, they all want to tell their stories to me at the same time and step all over one another!? I remember a young youth pastor appeasing me the same way while I was at a friend’s house for a DiscipleNOW weekend, so I believe turnabout is fair play!!

The thing that breaks my heart is really that these children, really they are just babies, don’t live in a vacuum. Read more