Lead Well

I have a confession to make: I used to hate Christmas music.  Shocking, maybe even sacrilegious, I know, but I did.  My wife would try to play the stuff before Thanksgiving and I'd shut that down faster than... well you get the idea.  Once the Christmas season started I would avoid those all Christmas music all the time radio stations like they're the plague. I started thinking about why I hate the music so much, and I came to some realizations. All my Christmas music and most of what I was listening to has been the same music since Home Alone 1.   I thought all Christmas albums were unimaginative covers of Christmas songs that were written last century.   Everything sounded the same after a while. This year, I decided to branch out, thanks mostly to Relevant Magazine , who continues to introduce me to new music.  All of sudden, I started to hear songs and remixes of songs I'd never heard before.  I started looking forward to Christmas music. So what have I do

courtesy getty images Fasting.  It's hard.  Let's face it, we know that it is something we should be doing.  We know that Jesus fasted. He did a marathon fast of 40 days and nights with no food or water! Nevertheless, I think most of us are scared. "What if I get hungry?  Will I be able to think straight? Will I be undernourished?  I have to fast for how long?  I can't eat what?" We come up with a million excuses. "I have too much to do today to fast. But I'm really hungry. I have no will power.  I can't lie to the people around me.  I don't have a place to do it.  I just don't see the need." How do I know all this?  I've said it all to myself.  It's a hard discipline, but a wise man once said, "if it's not hard, then is it worth doing?"  Or as it says in Hebrews 12:11 "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for th

Recently, I made the announcement that my wife and are moving to Montgomery, Alabama to start a full time children's ministry position.  It has been a long painstaking process and I am only finishing the leaving part.  However, I thought I would share a few words on the journey God has brought me through. During the first week in June, I felt a stirring in my heart.  I felt that God was leading me away from Clearwater to a new place.  I was so shocked by this realization that I sat on it for three days before I told my wife.  I continued to feel the quickening and decided to tell my wife, update my resume, and pray for one month.  If I was going to move my family and leave Clearwater, I needed to be sure this is what God wants me to do. After a month of prayer, I realized that this is what God wants me to do.  I notified some pastors who know me, my senior pastor, and district offices in the region.  It was slow going at first.  I had a couple of leads, but ultimately, they did

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had to deal with some pretty tough questions and attempt to be the spiritual guide in confusing and devastating times.  The first, my senior pastor died of brain cancer two weeks ago, and the second, a three year old girl was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. About 16 months ago my senior pastor was diagnosed with brain cancer and during a biopsy had a stroke which left him paralyzed on his left side for the rest of his life.  As a pastor on staff, I had to stand strong for the congregation and present a united front with the rest of the staff.  For over a year we desperately prayed for God to do a miracle, but unfortunately, God chose to heal him in the next life in heaven. Three days after his funeral, I received a text message that one of our church member's three year old granddaughter has brain cancer that cannot be taken out with surgery and most likely will not be able to receive radiation treatments because it could turn her

Recently I read an article in Relevant Magazine titled " Why Doesn't Anybody Talk about Sin Anymore? "  I was intrigued, and unexpectedly found a deep gaping whole in my Christian walk.  In Leviticus, God commands us to "Be holy because He is holy."  I know this verse; I memorized it years ago, but I forgot what it means for my life.  The article talks about how my generation is so wrapped up in God's grace that sometimes we fall into the trap of believing we can get away with anything because His grace is sufficient.  However there is so much more to following Christ than just leaning on his grace.  When we become saved, we receive and begin what is called sanctification, which is a fancy word for becoming more like Christ.  I say we receive and begin because sanctification has two facets.  The first is instantaneous sanctification or justification and the other is just sanctification.  Justification is a legal term stating that we are no longer held gu

Tonight I spent a wonderful night with the guys from the extreme tour at a friend's house.  They are playing a concert at my church tomorrow from 7-9 pm and my friend is hosting them. My wife and I decided to spend the evening with them. I was utterly surprised by what they planned to do.  When I originally agreed and got the backing for them to come I just thought a couple of bands were coming out to play, but what I got was so much more.  The leaders  spent the afternoon driving through our church community and praying about their effect.  These guys consider themselves musicianaires, musicians and missionaries, and more than just playing music tomorrow night, they are here to win souls to Christ.  I planned for our Summer Kick-Off tomorrow to just be a way for families to get together and build relationships, but now I think there is a real chance for lives to be changed forever by Jesus. I am so excited to see what God is going to do in our community!  I once quoted Rob

The #trust30 prompt today calls for me to write about what I am scared to write.  While that's a good one I will be doing it in my own private journal, not here for the world to see.  It's not that I'm scared to let you read it.  It's just that it's personal.  So I will write about it in my own personal journal.  See you tomorrow!

Today's #trust30 post asks what I would say to myself 5 years ago and what I would like to say to my future self 5 years from now. To myself 5 years ago I would say it gets better.  I was burnt out and worn out from a long grueling year, one of the hardest of my life.  I would also tell myself to continue to focus on learning and relationships because you never know when the next season of your life begins.  It could all change with a phone call.  Lastly I would say go for it.  Don't hold back and take the opportunities in front of you.  You never know what God has in store. To myself 5 years from now I would say to keep your priorities straight and in the right order.  There will be much more going on in my life in 5 years and a lot more opportunities.  Remember to spend time with everyone you love because you never know when they will be gone.  Also love your wife and do something nice for her.  She deserves it. It's weird to talk to your future self.  I have so man

Today's #trust30 post is about going after a goal and overcoming the obstacles. It has always been my goal to pursue higher learning.  Even though I just earned my bachelor's degree last year, It has never been my intention to stop there.  So why have I stopped after a year and half?  Several obstacles are in my way: I work 2 jobs so I almost have no free time to pursue a degree My wife is in school pursuing her bachelor's degree so there is a already a financial burden I'm not sure of the cost or the financial aid that is available for advanced degrees I haven't decided which path to take, math, education, ministry? There are too many options  So here is my plan:  First I need to get a job that can support my family so that I can have prioritize my time effectively.  Second, I am going to wait for my wife to get her degree so that we don't have to pay double for books.  While she is in school I will continue to do some soul searching and decide which de

  #Trust30 post for the day. Here goes: If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive. If I only had one week to live I would stop working at Sam's club.  As much as I enjoy working there and helping people, I love working in ministry so much more.  I am only doing it to continue to support my family.  I would also leave for the mission field as I said in yesterday's post and go to Russia.  There is so much adventure out there and I feel as though I am stuck here because of obligations I and others have put on me.  I am preparing to make a change.  It takes wisdom to do the right thing at the right time, and that is precisely what I aim to do.  I want to solve problems in the world and discover all the incredible facets of different cultures and interactions between them.

Here is the latest writing prompt from #trust30:  (I took the day off yesterday, so no post) Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there? The one place I would love to go is Moscow, Russia.   I don't know what it is, but I have always wanted to go there and especially see the Kremlin.  I have always been fascinated by Russian culture, it's history, famous authors, scientists, architecture.  But what most interests me are the people.  I can read every book, look at every picture, listen to every song, but never get a true feeling of the culture, unless I meet them and get to know them. This brings me to how I will get there.  I will go on a missions trip to Russia.  Most people would like to travel there as a tourist, but I think you miss what is really going on.  On a missions trip, a trip where you se

I didn't really like the prompt for today, but since this is a 30 day writing challenge I figured I should write something, so here goes. Do you ever get the feeling that there should be something more?  something greater?  A higher calling?  Or, on a similar note, that people are involved in something and because of your circumstances you are left behind?  Sometimes I find myself with these feelings.  Yesterday I posted about opportunities covered by the mundane.  It is so easy to be caught up in the quagmire of everyday life that we forget to look around us.  Forget about the people who care for us.  The mission, job, project, task that God has given us.  Our culture screams if you want it bad enough you can have it.  While I agree with this to an extent, we can forget what is right in front of us.  As the wise old Yoda told us about young Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars reference) "He was too focused on the future, not on the present and not on what he was doing." 

Here is day 2 of the #trust30 challenge. Enjoy! If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tracks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence?  Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day. Today is a day filled with opportunities draped in the mundane nuances of business as usual.

In an effort to make me a better writer the next 30 days I am taking part in a writing challenge hosted by the Domino Project and Seth Godin.  Even though I usually use the blog to post things about politics, religion, my views, the next 30 days will be spent writing what the prompts give me.  If you want to know more about the project you can read about it here . I'm excited about the challenge so here goes... *Note,  I was going to post the story I wrote for the day, but I think it was a little too private for the public.  Maybe someday I will post it.  Tomorrow's will make it to the blog.

There have been many ideas and thoughts swirling around about the "new church."  Many have been wondering what this new generation, what this "new revolution" will look like.  If what I am reading and observing is correct, then where we are headed is vastly different from where we've been, bur remarkably similar to the days of old.  This week I hosted an Easter Egg Hunt at my church and gave over 80 children the opportunity to receive Christ.  Many responded, but now I am left with the question, "How can I disciple these children?"  It is possible that many of them I will never see again.  These kids could grow into adults and claim to be Christians because they said a prayer at a service one day, but have no idea what Christianity, what being a follower of Christ, is all about.  They will barely understand sin, heaven, hell, resurrection, new birth, Christian service.  I love the old style evangelistic tent meetings.  We see so many people come to

Recently, I watched a segment on CNN about how more and more couples are choosing to live together instead of getting married.  The segment included two radio host who frequently talk about modern day relationship issues as advice gurus.  The gist of the conversation ended that marriage is just a sheet of paper and many people in today's culture see no need to go through the legal and financial rigmarole of getting married. The glaring omission from the entire story is the lack of moral conviction.  Think about it.  If there is nothing wrong with having sex before, outside, or after marriage and if there is nothing wrong with having children outside of wedlock, then what is marriage?  A legal contract between 2 people who are dedicated to one another and have decided to make it known to everyone including the state.  It is basically a sheet of paper that gives you tax breaks.  If that is true, then why bother? Last night, I watched in horror and dismay the Charlie Sheen inter

I learned in Bible school Proverbs 3:3: Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  When I first memorized the verse, I thought I had taken God's word and written it on the tablet of my heart, but God is showing me something more.  I'm one of those chapter a day guys.  You know read a chapter of the Bible and my devotions are done for the day.  There's nothing wrong with this way of study except there is no depth.  Sure, I have read the Bible cover to cover, but have I let the words sink in longer than 15 minutes?  Ask yourself, of all the times you have read the Bible have you actually tried to write it on the tablet of your heart? I remember as a kid watching Heidi with Shirley Temple (my sister was a big fan).  In it Heidi tries to read from the Bible and begins to struggle.  Then the big burly man begins to quote the entire chapter! I did that once.  Do I still remember the chapter? No.  God is