Sideline Report

Let me start by saying that I did have every intention of posting yesterday, but this machine on which I write had a difference of opinion. Quick recap: Monday I had the opportunity to assist Bart Boatwright on the sidelines of the Clemson game. It was awesome!!! I have never heard anything so loud in all my life. It was an unbelievable experience and I have determined that is the best way to watch the game. The only bad part was that I didn't get home until 2:20 and I started my new job yesterday. I got around 3 hours sleep before the alarm went off. It was a real long day.

Thank you for your prayers it seems to be a smooth transition so far and I am convinced that it will only get better. I am now employed by a company called Hajoca. I am still selling plumbing and I am an outside salesman. It really is a good opportunity to meet a lot of people and to share my faith with customers.

Hope y'all had a good Labor day and I'll see you back here tomorrow. Oh yeah....How 'bout them Tigers! I pray that if you face trials today you will seek Jesus and let Him have them.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Random Thought Friday

I wanted to just share a few thoughts with you this morning.

I found a new website that has a ton of videos, countdowns, and running loops for worship. It is called Sermon Spice and I want you to click here and watch this video. It is really funny. Also click on these as well to truly receive a blessing, The Plate and Together (Team Hoyt). I love the use of multimedia applications and I think we should use them as much as we can. As you are at this site check out some of the other stuff they have done. There are really some talented people out there. I didn't see anything that Bart couldn't handle. Have you told Bart Boatwright how much you appreciate his talents lately?

LSU spanked Mississippi State last night. I love college football, but I rarely have time to sit down and watch a game and I can't afford season tickets. But I still like it. I really enjoy Sports Center, because it fits with my time schedule. You can watch the highlights from all the games in under an hour.

The bathroom that I have been remodeling is finally looking less like a battle zone and more like a room. This project has really been kicking my tail! I have spent so much time trying to figure out just what to do, it can be very overwhelming when you don't know what your doing.

Have you ever wondered why we get Labor Day as a holiday? Weird. Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend and if you are traveling, I hope you have a safe one.

Finally y'all pray for our church this Sunday as we will be voting on the Youth building. Pray for God's will and that His peace would find everyone. Whether for it or against it I pray that they we commit it to prayer and that we as a body would accept whatever happens peacefully.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Busy Times

What a night! I would say there was well over 200 people there. And I really feel the need to address the fact that we have a pandemic at our church. It appears that there are entirely too many of our members who are happily married, because there were kids everywhere!! Buttons the clown was there and he did a great job keeping all the children entertained.

Prime time with the youth was packed and we had a full house in choir practice. It was a very good night. Jay shared with the youth the plans for the new youth building for the first time last night and they were extremely excited. If you are a member please be there this Sunday for the vote and pray for God's will to be done in this matter.

We got our new Sunday school books last night and I looked over it briefly and I think it will be a very good study. It is a study on the book of Exodus and we will start it this Sunday. I look forward to seeing you there this Sunday. Man this is a busy time of the year. We started soccer this past Tuesday and we have practice again tonight, and I am coaching Sid's team again. I still don't know anything about this sport, but I know kids and that has to count for something. See y'all later.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Wednesday Nights Are Back

I am very excited about tonight. We are having our kick off to Wednesday night activities. We take the summer off due to people taking vacations and such. I love the mid-week service because there is something offered for everyone. Mission friends, RA's, GA's, Youth, and small groups for the adults. I help with the youth and I am really looking forward to getting back down to the dungeon. Jay (our Youth Minister) lets me have a few minutes on the stage to do whatever on Wednesday nights. Sometimes I come with a quick thought for the day and sometimes I just let them ask me a quick question about anything they want. The kids love to ask me the tough questions because they know I will shoot them straight.

The youth don't really require much, but they can tell when you are trying to pull one over on them. The biggest thing they want is honesty. And yes, they deserve it. It is awesome to create an environment where people feel comfortable. We have a great group of kids in our church and it seems to grow every year.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the Deacons are cooking for us tonight. Hamburgers and hot dogs over charcoal. I am like most people in our church, give me food and I'll be there. I am looking forward to see what God will do this year. We have a lot going on at our church and we are really anticipating God to show up and show out. See y'all tonight.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

8-28-07

Good Morning!! Some might say that there is an awful lot of optimism in those 2 words, but I see only truth. No matter what is going on God still reigns. It sure is easy to get bogged down in the worries of this world, but the reality is that they are temporary. Everything we see down here is temporary and only the things that have eternal value will last.

So where are you this morning? Are you constantly working on the temporary or are you building up your treasures in Heaven? It really is that simple of a question. God has shown me recently that my mission field is all around me. We, who are called according to His purpose are all preachers, all missionaries, and all God's workmanship, and He is constantly at work in our lives and in our environments. Are you seeking Him; listening and watching for the next opportunity to make a difference?

Have a Blessed Day!!!

New Directions

I hope everyone has not given up on me. I had a real rough one last week. You see I was getting ready to leave my current job and expand my horizons with a new job at a new company. This was not an easy decision, but after a lot of prayer I felt that God had given me this opportunity. I have been praying for a while and I trust I am doing God's will. You all pray for me as I will be starting my new job September the 4th.


I trust you all had a good week and a great day of worship yesterday. We had a busy one yesterday at Belton 1st. Belinda Jolly from the Southern Baptist Office came to talk to us about the importance of Sunday School and how to grow this ministry. It was very refreshing to hear an outsider who helps countless church's across the association come in and tell us what has worked here and there. We had a meeting with all the SS teachers and just shared ideas on how we can increase the ministry.

Then last night we had a meeting on the new youth building. We are having a church vote next Sunday on whether to proceed with it. We desperately need this facility, but we also want to follow God's will on the issue. Y'all pray for us as we seek His will on this matter.

This week I plan on posting every day and I will see you back here tomorrow.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

1st Grade

Today Sid starts 1st grade! It is hard to believe that is even possible. It seems like only yesterday he was born and now he is in first grade. Wow, time really does fly.

Sid is a little nervous about today and I tried to share with him some of my experiences on how I handle being afraid. I took him to 1 John 4:4 last night and shared with him this simple verse;
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4 (NASB)

Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. How simple to say, to read, and to imagine,.............but how many of us actually apply this. Even as I was talking to Sid about it I wondered how many times this simple verse would have helped me if I really believed it. I do really believe it, but I don't actually handle stuff sometimes like I do. It is still a daily battle for me to let go and let God. I always think I can fix it or handle it or just make it right myself, but the reality is we are a lot like children and so independent. Our problems would not grow into mountains if we would just stop, drop, and pray.

Join me today in letting go of your problems; no matter how big or small, just let them go and give them to God. It all starts at the foot of the cross and just like a loving father, God already knows them, he is just waiting on us to surrender.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Prayer

I've got to tell you that last night was great. For those who read in the morning, go back and read the comment left last night by the one and only Biscuit Farmer. God is at work and I can't wait to see where He is leading. Thank you again for your prayers, God did it again.

I want to switch gears a little and share with you something that a customer of mine shared with me. His name is Danny Ivey and he has kinda been a mentor to me. I call on him on Tuesdays and we normally sit in his office and just talk. He is real big in missions and attends Rocky Creek Baptist Church. Anyway I'll let him tell you about his last mission trip. Danny, I hope you don't mind and I appreciate and love you brother.

August 5, 2007

The Bible says in Romans 11:36 "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.


"Let me first tell you all that we didn't accomplish much during our trip. We did not establish any bible studies, we didn't help in any construction or service to speak of, we cannot even confirm any commitments to the Lord through salvation.

I come before you a child of God that has been changed by His grace. I began this trip in a quandary of whether I should even go. Was God calling me to His side in Quebec? Did I desire to go just for the sake of Rachel, my daughter, who has been in Quebec all summer assisting Gary, his family of six, and church planting efforts throughout the province? Was I going just for the sake of my brother, Dave, to under gird his leadership? No matter. I went. I told the Lord: please show me your way. If He desires for me to go simply to support the others, that's okay. I laid myself before the Lord and as we met each Monday for weeks before our departure, our trip was defined to be a trip of prayer. Just prayer. As I have heard prayer described so many times, even in the halls of this building- just pray.

We were to travel the province of Quebec and pray. Pray for the Quebecois, pray for those few thousand workers that labor in the vastness of some 7 million people that are undone with relativism, humanism, and tolerance. Just pray. Yeah, that's a Godly thing. He desires His children to pray. Yet to just pray… The Lord has revealed to me that He desires His people to desire to pray. Fervently pray, not just pray. Pray without ceasing, not just pray. Pray in the manner that our Lord Jesus taught us, pray, not as if our lives depend on it, but pray because our lives depend on it.

Of Him… we were becoming a team of Him… desiring to be led into the inner sanctuary of God himself, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, our creator and keeper. We began this trip with no connections to anyone living in these five most lost cities of North America, save Gary and Jacque in Montreal. With prayer, it seems each week the Lord presented another leader in another city that we would come alongside and pray. God's grace was more than sufficient to guide His children who were becoming obedient to His beckoning. Even as we began our trip with a layover in Detroit, the Lord saw fit to test us.

Dave met a man going to Montreal as well. He poured himself out to Dave and shared that he was returning to Montreal to be with his wife, whose mother was deathly ill, and the two of them were alone. No other family remained. He would be there soon to comfort them. Dave was able to pause with him in the midst of this crowded airport and pray. As they walked and talked, and even stopped to pray, Noel and I were praying from a short distance away. Not knowing the need, we prayed. As they finished praying, our new friend received a phone call and stepped away to receive it. It was his wife… her mother had passed… he told her of a new friend that desired to pray with him and had just done so, and she asked that Dave pray for her as well. Of course he emphatically told her that he had.

The Lord desires that we pray, this is not only of Him, it must be through Him. Acts 17:26 tells us that He has "…determined (our) preappointed times and the boundaries of (our) dwellings, so that (we) should seek the Lord"… so that we should pray. The Lord did not desire us to stay home and pray, we were to go and pray. We sometimes forget that God wants us to not only put words to our prayer, He wants us to put feet to our prayer. He desires us to come along side Him in obedience… to get close… to be so close that we are yoked with Him, feeling His every move, as He goes along we are paired with Him in a yoke that guides us in His path, hearing His quiet whisper. When you get this close to Him, you find yourself also in the shade of His protection, moving as He moves.

We found this very thing being worked out with each day that came. The Lord ordered our steps. We prayed with the humble, with the strong, with the weak, with the meek, some that were just starting a new work, and others that have labored for decades. We met with Tony who insisted that he was not a church planter, yet he had been meeting for six months in his home, and his neighbors have received the Lord to become the first two members outside of his family. We met with Mike. Leading a church for 19 years, he was stale and worn, hiding behind humor and sarcasm. Yet with prayer, oh the prayer of His children, we prayed… Jacque, who has been close to both of these men, wept as he relayed the significance of that one morning. Barriers were falling. For Tony, the wall he had erected had crumbled. He saw himself as a church planter now encouraged to lead. Such courage found only in knowing the Messiah… Tony could lead through Him. Mike was encouraged to a focus on Christ alone. He recognized where his help was found- through Him all things are possible.

I would love to relay to you story after story. We found ourselves in the modest country home of Yves and Claudine. Farmland surrounds them. They are school teachers, yet have begun a church now numbering six. This small church touched our hearts as we prayer walked with them. From this small town we traveled to the provincial capital of Quebec City. Our steps were ordered to be found in the office of Robert Begin, a federal official who is director of the security and homeland defense for all of the province of Quebec. He shared his insight and the rich history of the Quebecois. We shared with him the richness of relationship with Jesus Christ… and we prayed.

I cannot help but ponder the many places we found ourselves. From meager to mighty, we all need Jesus. We traveled north and visited Camp Patmos. As our guide directed us to turn left, he said we cannot go any further north on this road. There are several hundred miles of forest to the north, and after that is the tundra, and after that is the Artic. I cannot help but to ponder where we found ourselves. We were at the end of the earth.

I will be candid and tell you- this trip was very nearly cancelled. You see we just weren't sure of our purpose in going… just to pray… we can do that here. Oh yeah, Rachel was already there, and she was expecting us. She had been faithful and followed the Lord's beckoning to Canada. Last year I recall vividly after our missions conference- she said "I don't know where y'all are going, but I am going to Canada." And for a year she had inquired "Daddy, when is the Canada trip? When do I get to go to Canada?" Well, we sent her to Canada for the summer, so there, and I said "I will see you during the five city tour trip in July." The faith of a school girl led her to Him. It prompted the faith of a team to join her and give our selves over to Him.

If we do not give ourselves, our prayers, and our new relationships to Him, this trip would have been for nought. To Him are all things. To Him we are to give ourselves over.

I told you as I began that we didn't accomplish much during this trip. That is to say in the manner by which we often keep score. I have been broken of this idea of keeping score. God does not have a tally sheet that is marked simply by the things we do. His ways are not our ways. I am a constructor by trade, and I really like to build things. I really like to provide service and helps. And with these things there is the idea of a tally sheet…keeping score if you will. Here is the tally. Here is all that we did on our trip. We are reporting back now. I can so easily slip into Humanism, which is doing things for the sake of me or others. And then having my ego soothed to report my tally. I have found now, looking back, that I went on this trip so that God could show me the difference in Humanism and living out Romans 11:36:

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To whom be glory forever. Amen.

A friend once told me that no matter what I do, that if it ends with me, it is sin. I have begun to ask myself if there is eternal value in whatever I do. What a great litmus test. Am I bringing Him glory forever by doing all things "of Him, and through Him, and to Him?" I spoke earlier of the yoke that Jesus desires us to wear. I will tell also that this yoke is available to each of us that yield to His leading. We can step into this yoke anytime we desire. And don't miss this- we can also step out of it as we desire. He loves us that much.

My prayer is that we pray. We pray fervently, without ceasing, because our lives depend on it. Even on the Sunday after this journey and praying with others while standing here in the church building, the Lord drove me to my knees in submission, asking our Father in heaven to prick our hearts that we might come to Him in prayer. To Jesus, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Caz and Fried Chicken

Good Morning everyone. I hope y'all had a good night or a good day (depending on when you read this). I am anticipating a good day with various opportunities to see God, hear Him, and talk with Him. I truly believe that it starts with your attitude and if you start out with the right One it all seems to fall into place.

Tonight is the Pastors banquet I talked about on Monday. We will be having some fried chicken and Caz's video. It doesn't get much better than that, amen. I talked with Matt Lusk yesterday and he asked me if I would be willing to give a 5 minute testimony tonight on what Upward has meant to me and how it has changed my life. My only problem is keeping it to such a short time. Sometimes I get to going and I can't quit talking about what happened in the spring of '05 up in Greensboro, NC. I also get very emotional when I start talking about what God has done in my life. So y'all pray for me.

What I need y'all to do is pray for a few things.

1. That God would be glorified in what we do tonight.
   
2. That we would begin the process of bridging the gap between the church's in our community.
   
3. That the Pastors in attendance tonight would go away changed and inspired to join arms with us and try to do whatever it takes.
   
4. And finally that God will continue to bless this ministry across the globe, it really is making a difference.

Thank you in advance for your prayers and I appreciate you as not only readers, but as my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Popeye

The book I'm reading right now has opened my eyes and really stretched me. The Holy Discontent as I stated yesterday is a book by Bill Hybels and it is a must read. It talks about finding your Holy Discontent, fueling it, and doing something about it.


The whole book is based on those who have a Popeye moment. You remember when Popeye would say after a long time of watching something he didn't like or taking some abuse he didn't deserve......He would stand up and say "I've had all I can stands, and I can't stands no more", then he would squeeze open a can of spinach and it was on like a pot of neck bones.


The book shows how God can use the weakest vessel to accomplish His will. And the neat thing is that He always fuels them up with Holy Discontent and waits on their Popeye moment and then God shines. Look at Moses, Nehemiah, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, just to name a few.


So this morning what is your Holy Discontent? What are you passionate about and what are you gonna do about it? Think about it today and if you have a chance to get the book (Lifeway Christian Books has it), it will challenge you.


Have a Blessed Day!!!

Results

It is amazing what you can do when you make up your mind to do it. A little history....normally the alarm goes off at 5am and I get out of bed turn it off and come into the den and turn on Fox news. Then I lay down on the sofa and fall back asleep until around 6. Then the whole time I'm in the shower I'm trying to figure out why I'm running late. It is very discouraging, but it is a simple fix. Just get up and go straight to the shower.

This reminds me of what Caz McCaslin (founder of Upward) always says...."if you always do what you've always done, then you will always get what you've always gotten". Read that again and let it sink in. How true this is and this is why to get the results we desire it takes effort on our part. And more important it requires us to change. Basicly if you don't like where you are or how your doing it then you have to change or it will never change.

I am now reading a book by Bill Hybels who is the senior pastor of Willow Creek Church in Illinois. The name of the book is Holy Discontent: Fueling The Fire That Ignites Personal Vision and it is a great book. I will go ahead and put it up there with Barbarian Way. I will talk more on this tomorrow, but if you get a chance buy this one it will challenge you.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Monday Morning Ramble

Sorry for the sporadic post here lately. Work has just been very demanding and it is hard sometimes to just be still and focus. To listen to what God is saying is sometimes a lot harder than it sounds. I have never been diagnosed with ADD, but I'm beginning to think I may have a slight case. Anyway I hope your weekend was great.

• Newspring has had 387 people in the last two weeks to make a profession of faith. You read it right. That is incredible and I am very excited for them.
  
  
• Dale's sermons from the book of 1st Corinthians have challenged me. And I would like to thank Matt Wurst for the nudge to start taking notes during the sermon. It really does help you stay focused.
  
  
• This Thursday night we are having a pastors banquet for the upcoming Upward season. Be in prayer that some walls would be broken down and a Kingdom building attitude would be taken away from this meeting. I am ready for us as a community to stand together and do Whatever It Takes to reach the lost.
  
  
• This Friday is Lori's 21st birthday for the umptenth time. Y'all got any good ideas on what I can get her?
  

Have a Blessed Day!!!

8-9-07

Good Morning all. I have to make a much needed trip to the dentist this morning. And I am running behind, but I just wanted to drop a line and remind you that no matter where you are, no matter what you've done, and no matter where you are headed..............God Loves You.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

What is Your Salt Lick?

What is your Salt Lick? For those of you not privy to growing up in the country....let me explain. Cows love salt and salt drives them to drink. Duh, and um, no I'm not referring to y'all as cows. You can buy salt licks with minerals, medicine, and even flavored salt licks for deer. The apple flavor is my favorite, I'm kidding.

What is your spiritual salt lick? What drives you to drink the good stuff? What causes you to want to read more, learn more, and become a spiritual sponge? For me it is simply to be more like Jesus and I love reading all kinds of books, especially Matthew, Mark, luke, and John. I also love listening to preaching and christian contemporary music. I firmly believe that what you put in is what you get out. And I need all the daily help I can get. Lets look at the book of Hebrews right quick:

1 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2 Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.
Heb 12:1-2 (MSG)

Have a Blessed Day!!!

What A Weekend

WOW!! We had a great time in Atlanta at the Upward Leadership training. The guy who founded Upward; Caz McCaslin, was there and he is a solid speaker. I love to hear him tell his story. My favorite part is when he tells of Johnny Hunt coming to their church and talk to them. He said that Johnny ask a simple question that I want to ask y'all this morning. Why is it that we go to church? Why do we have a youth program? Why do we have Sunday School classes? Why is it as Christians that we do what we do? The simple answer is to REACH THE LOST!! That's it folks, no other answers needed. We are called to do Whatever It Takes to reach people and grow the kingdom.

It always fires me up to here that, because I think a lot of times church's get caught up in the land of people pleasing. I want to see a revival sweep the land and people stand up and say to there friend base, peer group, or you name it.........I've had all I can stand and I can't take it anymore. It only takes one person that is willing to be used by God to make a difference. Look back through scripture and you will see that God always did the unbelievable through someone who had all they could stand.

Where are you this morning? Are you comfortable or are you ready for something different? Are you willing to ask God where He wants you and what does He want you to do? You just may be surprised, God can do great things through those who allow Him to use them.

Have a Blessed Day!!!

Upward Weekend

Today we are going to be heading down to Atlanta for an Upward basketball seminar. There are 11 of us going down and I am pumped. 2 years ago we went to Greensboro to learn about Upward and it is going to be good to see it again and know what they are talking about. Also we are taking some women with us and we are going to be introducing cheer leading for the girls this year. We are very excited about this ministry in our community and we are looking forward to where God is leading.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and may God Bless You!!!

The Duck and The Devil

I received this email from my sister and just had to share it.

The Duck & the Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes" but Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help" She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Thought for the day and every day thereafter? Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done...the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you. The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved. Always remember that God is at the window! When Jesus died on the cross; he was thinking of you!

Have a Blessed Day!!!