Archive for November, 2007
{ November 29, 2007 @ 1:19 pm }
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{ Random }
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-Chan is leaving GT. He is a great christian man, but his coaching style just didn’t fit GT in my opinion.
-My oldest son lied to me last night and then admitted he did it to not get in trouble. He is only four but I of course had the talk about tell me the truth up front so you get in less trouble. I didn’t think I would have to have it this early. I guess I’m paying for my wifes younger days (hahaha)
-Remember College Students, Upper Room is tonight at Hope Church. Click here for some info.
-We are getting Christmas Decorations up around the house. I just love this time of year and enjoy seeing the decorations in the house and lights outside. It just does something for my spirit!
-The last and final thing I can say that I would say over and over is that God is moving right now.
{ November 28, 2007 @ 9:49 am }
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{ Church, Life }
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So We just finished the Thanksgiving “Holiday” and if you are like me, you are still feeling the pain from eating to much. Anyway, often with kids you ask them things they are thankful for during this holiday time. My oldest son even got out of bed one night to ask me what I was thankful for. I told him I would be thankful if he went back to bed! But seriously, you often get some interesting answers from little children. I am about to go and speak for the chapel service we do each week for the school that meets on our church campus. There are around 100 or so kids and I am going to ask them that same question, “what are you thankful for.” Then I’ll proceed to tell them what I’m thankful for…..Now prepare yourself, this is going to get deep…..I’m thankful for people in my life who have set examples for me to follow. My wife, different pastors, and various friends. But I’m most thankful for Jesus—-Yes I know, that sounds like the typical church staff answer but it’s true. I’m thankful that Jesus came and set an example for us to follow. He lived a life that we should all try and model. He showed the church how to carry itself and taught amazing life lessons. One that comes to mind right now is that of servant-hood. Picture this…Jesus who is the king of kings came to serve other people. How awesome is that?!? Not only is that a lesson for us as individual Christians to follow, but for the church as a whole. We have to be focused on other people and realize there are still people out there who don’t know Jesus. Guess who’s job it is to tell them about him? That’s right, ours! Guess how we do that? One way, to serve other people and make it about them and NOT ABOUT US! So that’s my tangent for today….Jesus set great examples in his word for us to follow….Read about them!
{ November 27, 2007 @ 2:32 pm }
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{ Church, Life, Worship }
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After reading that title, you are probably wondering what in the world is he thinking? Well I have been running sound for the children the past few weeks as they have been practicing for their Christmas musical and have gotten to know the production very well. I have heard the songs numerous times and have memorized most of the words. Well the other day, I was playing the CD in my car for my two little guys to listen to and something that was sung really struck me. The particular part of the play where this song is played is where the kids are going caroling and they come to one house that is all decked out….i mean, this house is amazing…the kids are just in awe and the characters in the play say they must love Christmas, i mean-look at the decorations on this house……the characters come to find out that the homeowners, aren’t really excited about Christmas….as a matter of fact, they really don’t care to much for it….they just put decorations up to look pretty…….So I started to think about how we as Christians and churches as a whole, sometimes do what this drama portrays…..we polish the outside, but not what’s inside….Some of the lyrics of the song say “if it’s only glitz and tinsel, it’s a meaningless display” How true is that? Are you thinking back to a moment in your life where you polished up the outside and just put on a show but inside, you just weren’t all together..you weren’t all there………how many worship experiences have you been to where you got the impression that everything that took place was just routine and people were determined to get through the “service” because they were supposed to…….I’m sure we all can think of times where we weren’t right and also places we’ve been and witnessed this……..A challenge from a little children’s musical…..don’t just polish up the outside….allow God to change your world, starting with you from the inside out…….Remember, if it’s only Glitz and Tinsel, it’s a meaningless display!
{ November 24, 2007 @ 7:39 pm }
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{ Random, Sports }
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yes, another year and another loss….I’ll take this loss if it means we have a new coach and QB at GT next year.
{ November 20, 2007 @ 5:40 pm }
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{ Church, Life }
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I have posted below a “Thank You” note written to Pastor Steven Furtick by his assistant. Pastor Furtick is the lead pastor at Elevation Church in NC. As I read this I wondered if someone would honestly say this about me. What about you?
I’m thankful that you are more passionate about reaching lost people than about image, politics and others’ opinions. You believe the message of the Gospel is the most important thing on earth and that’s exactly how I want to live my life, too. It’s exciting to finally live working towards something so much greater than myself.
I’m thankful to serve under a pastor who calls out greatness in people because I’ll never be allowed to settle for anything less than my best. Being challenged isn’t always fun but settling into mediocrity is dangerous and I understand that now.
I’m thankful that your gratitude flows from your mouth so specifically and so freely that it can be an example for me to follow.
And I’m thankful for the courage and boldness you exhibit. You wrestle through things none of us could ever comprehend so that it’s easier for us to follow in your footsteps as God leads so we all can continue to be a part of seeing people far from God, filled with life in Christ. So thank you for taking on the challenge of excellent leadership.
{ November 19, 2007 @ 8:38 pm }
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{ Church, Life, Worship }
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**I’m opening myself up a little here so crucify me if you want or call me judgemental if you desire but I’m just being open and honest**
“I think we’re losing them”
No, that’s not a quote off a cell phone commercial. That is something that was said to me recently and my quick response was, “Was there a time where you feel like you had them?” You see, I have this gift of being brutally honest sometimes and just spitting out what comes to my mind first, and this situation was no different. I am glad that this question was asked because it actually made me do some thinking. I started to think back to a moment where we “had” them and I couldn’t go back to a particular time. Satan really wanted me to get down on myself and say it’s all my fault. In a few quick seconds I started to think back and see if there was anything I could have done different, and then it hit me…Even though I’m a pastor, I can’t make someone have a desire to offer themselves as a living sacrifice to our Risen Saviour! I can’t make someone have a desire to worship our indescribable God! In other-words, I can’t make someone do something that they don’t want to do! What I can do is provide an environment for these folks to meet with the living God. I can pray for these individuals. I can disciple them and equip them to live the “christian life.” But I can’t make them do any of it. A friend of mine said recently that God created the ocean, the mountains, the rocks, the trees, etc….and they do what they were created to do…They worship God..but the difference between them and us is, their story stops at creation…they have nothing else to live for…but our story doesn’t stop there…our story goes on to salvation and we have much more to be excited about…much more to live for…many more reasons to praise and worship the living ONE! Read Psalm 95:1-3, 6 in the post below…..I realize that we all get busy with “stuff” in our life but all that crap should be secondary to Jesus…..I heard a pastor say yesterday that everyone gets into Thanksgiving this week when we should actually have an attitude of thanksgiving all the time…..It’s that attitude of thanksgiving that gives us the desire to serve, love, and worship God…..The problem lies when we begin to forget what he has done for us….We sometimes think that God should feel lucky because we pay him a little attention……we should have an overflowing desire to serve and worship HIM…..we should be seeking HIM constantly and soaking up as much as we can hold…..So in response to this comment, “I think we’re losing them”……I say, “I think they lost themselves.”
Are we “losing ourselves?” A question we all, yes even I, need to ask from time to time~
{ November 16, 2007 @ 9:56 am }
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{ Random, Sports }
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Tonight in my neck of the woods East Paulding will be hosting Ridgeland in the “boneyard” for a battle to advance to the next round of the playoffs. For you traveling buffs, come with me to watch Paulding County take on MLK in Atlanta tonight! Either way, both games should be exciting, and cold!
{ November 15, 2007 @ 8:21 am }
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{ Church, Life, Worship }
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Some good stuff I was reading this morning….
“But as for me, I will come into your house in the multitude of your mercy; in fear of you I will worship toward your holy temple.” (Psalm 5:7-8)
“O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth.” (Psalm 8:9)
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the great king above all Gods.” (Psalm 95:1-3)
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” (Psalm 95:6)
{ November 15, 2007 @ 8:12 am }
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{ Random }
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-It’s been a long week for me. I’m looking forward to some time off next week for Thanksgiving and getting some rest. I’ll need it after if I eat like I normally do. I love the food at holiday’s. It’s just some good ole cookin.
-Looking forward to GT winning another game this week in preparation for our showdown with the muts from Athens!!
-***Reminder to college students*** The Upper Room meets tonight at Hope Church. Check out their myspace for more info.
-I am being kicked out of my house this weekend. My wife sells Creative Memories and is doing an open house type thing. If you scrapbook, email her so you can buy some stuff.
-That’s about it for this week……Lastly though, I’m thankful for the saviour I found in HIM!
{ November 14, 2007 @ 3:43 pm }
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{ Church, Life, Random, Worship }
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So I was reading my bible today and was really searching hard to find something that was super spiritual that would totally confirm for me what I need to do in my life. I searched long and hard and I was like “Hello, God….you know what I’m searching for, now show me!” You know where I found what I was looking for, Genesis. The 4th word in the bible, “In the beginning God….” For some reason today that knocked me on the floor and I realized I needed to get back to basics with HIM. He always was, he is, and he forever will be. I realized that we as a “body” need to get back to the basics. I think sometimes we get away from what truly matters and occupy ourselves with other church stuff and call ourselves good. We sometimes neglect those who are around us and hurting. We sometimes forget about those who are down and feel like their almost out. We sometimes only go after Christians and we want to have them come from other churches. We sometimes don’t accept the challenge of reaching out to those who haven’t experienced God in such a way that they would exchange ordinary living for an extraordinary life through HIS power, HIS grace, and HIS love. We don’t want to put in the work required to reach those who are totally turned off from church…….Well let me tell you, that is who God has burdened my heart for…..those who currently have no desire to be in a relationship with Jesus. That is what gets me going, what excites me, what encourages me……Have you ever watched someone get baptized before??? Were they the kind of person that you thought would never do it??? I remember a story about a girl who was heavily into illegal activity and heading down a path of destruction…..but she had an intervention…..She made a decision to surrender her life to Christ and live for him…..She was baptized in a swimming pool and she invited all of her friends who weren’t Christians……the pastor explained what was taking place with her and how her life had changed….he talked about how God was transforming her and all her past, was just that…past…..she was a new creation……as a result of her decision and the Spirit moving, a number of her friends standing around the pool made decisions for Christ that day…..the point is this…..someone who you never thought would ever be a christian, has just become one!!! That is awesome……We can’t only focus our efforts on ourselves or people who are in other churches (you know what I’m talking about it….”stealing” members…) we need to focus on the people that no one else wants….there’s a church in cartersville and their motto is that they are a “real church for real people.” That’s good….let’s get back to the basics and go after those folks that no one else wants! Also, check out this video.
Psalm 143says…”Teach me to do your will, for you are my God…” God’s will for my life is that I would live, love, and serve like his son did……I wonder if Jesus were to walk the earth today, would you be surprised at who he shared with, who he helped, who he encouraged…..Would it be the same people we often ignore, walk right by, or just brush off?!?
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