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Honduras 2011 day 2 So what do you believe?

Okay so, day two this may be long but I will try to make it short. Today we gave out 22 food boxes and a lot of clothes and toys. This was so different than any distribution I have ever done.

We went to three homes to give our blessing of Gods love. These are the families of guys who are in the 18th street gang. This gang is notorious for being one of the most violent ones in the world. So basically some bad dudes. The homes we visited are of members who are now in prison serving a sentence for crimes. they also have or are getting close to accepting the Lord. But just because they are saved doesn’t change the neighborhood their families are from. They are very dangerous areas.

Okay I need to tell you about Momma Ti She is the reason these gangsters are being ministered to. She is a white woman that has a amazing faith and has what I can only describe as an anointing of the God on her life.  (reminds me of my friend joyce Welch)

With all that said now I can tell you my experience. My home preacher said you could argue with anyone about anything except what they experience. So this is what happened.

We parked the truck and van up this steep hill at the police station in this area. We left to go to the homes caring our boxes and about 14 gringos 4 guys the rest women. The houses are just cement block sheds stacked one on top another. With only narrow walkways to separate them and they were even far between. So I walked in the middle of the group with Ti leading us, who just was not worried at all about the gang members.

 Some of us noticed some gang activity happening in our walking to the homes. but it didn’t seem to phase Ti at all. We got to the first home and all went great! As we were leaving Rick told me to walk at the front with Ti because of the activity s, I did. As I was walking with her I was aware that we were being watched very closely.

I was not really ready for what happened next. I don’t think anyone else saw or felt what was going on. You believe what you want. But I felt a intense feeling that is indescribable and it rushed past me and stayed before us.  I know what I saw it was like a wave of Syfi force field just moving  before us until we reached our destination. I’m not sure what it was but I have chose to believe it was the Spirit of the Lord. Where Ti goes this seemed to go before her the rest of the day.  It was amazing I tried to tell Rick about it but just couldn’t describe it. Who do we have to fear when God goes before us? Crazy!!

 Today was a amazing day that will be one I will not forget for a while. I can’t wait to see what God will do tomorrow! you can now wrestle with the fact the God does still reveal Himself still.

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In Honduras again 2011

Well, here I am in Honduras again this is my forth trip here. This is the same but different. what I mean is this past year I wanted to come here in the summer to el progresso. I have so many friends there but because of many changes in my life God had prolonged my visit. I so longed to be in this country. Why? You may ask, I can’t explain I just do. This visit I’m at the Hope center it’s an orphanage to 12 amazing kids in Tegucigalpa.

Over the years I have watched people come to Honduras to help the Hondurans but always walk away being helped more themselves. this year I needed to come to be helped and I know it.

This year I have been so drained and wanting and longing to be refreshed. When we arrived here I thought what could I give being so tired. Then I was asked to teach kids church in the morning. I thought God you’re crazy but I will obey your call. So I prepared and went to bed.

I woke at 4 told myself to go back to sleep. So I did till 6:30. I woke up feeling like an old man. My head was pounding and my stomach was churning. I felt awful but knew I had to make kids church happen. I was then asked to do the evening service too. I don’t recall clearly but some how heard my self saying, okay no problem.

Off to church we went. During worship I had a amazing experience.  I can only describe it as when we went to Disney and were greeted by the gate keeper with a huge smile and saying “Welcome Home”.  I felt the a refreshment that only God can give you. It was just amazing.

By the way the evening service was even better than the first! Thank you for all the prayers.
I love this place but so miss home too.

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Carry Your Cross

In the last few months God has been revealing Himself to me by having me understand what it means to carry your cross. Through most of my life I thought this was just letting God work in your life on a regular basis. Now this fine, but as I’m learning… this is not near enough. Perhaps I was a shallow follower or someone who wasn’t living up to the commitment I had made.
 Honestly, I believe that I have come to a place in my walk with Christ that I am identifying with Him in another way. This is continuously happening, as I am learning to live as a Christian. I guess what I’m saying is that God never stops molding you into what He wants you to be, if you are willing to let Him.
Here is what I have discovered so far:
Jesus said you must daily deny yourself and take up your cross daily. Luke 9:22-27
He meant you had to stop sinning. This is the part I understood. This is the part that means we have to obey God’s word. We are now living for Him… he is Lord (or so I thought). This is the part where we get our lives in order. It’s the next part that I just skimmed over and sometimes chose to ignore. It clearly says, “Take up your cross.” Sometimes we think I’m going to follow God and do as He asks but there’s more to it than that. You could say that the teachers of the law did this much. What?…. Are you kidding? … No seriously.
The part I seemed to always miss was the pick up your cross.  What did this really mean in Jesus’ day? If you picked up the cross beam of a cross and carried it, you were about to die.  You were about to die a humiliating, brutal death; one that would not be pleasant at all.
 I don’t think we are to physically die every day of course, but I do think it’s a death to hopes, dreams and ambitions… things that we may want so much that we will orchestrate our lives in a way to make things happen so that we achieve our wants. Or plainly put, our will. We cannot let God have His way in our everyday lives unless we kill our will. This is hard. I believe we can see this happening in the life of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.
So, how do we do this? I don’t have a simple answer, just a suggestion. Look at Jesus in the Garden… He was alone, no one around Him, only God. Jesus just gave up His desire to find another way to save His people. We need to give up our strategies that we have been taught by this world and look to be totally reliant on God for providing for us. Let Him provide for your hopes, dreams, and ambitions. It may just be better than you ever thought.
 I’m not saying, go quit your job, but I am saying this.  Let Him guide you in your everyday dealings. Look to the knowledge and wisdom that you have received from being in the Word of God. Constantly be in communication with Him all day long. Stop and thank Him for the blessings you have. Take time to help someone in need. Treat someone in a staff meeting or business affair the way that Jesus would have treated him. This is not an overnight thing, but once we start living this way, it will be hard to go back to our old ways of living for ourselves.  

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Just thinking


The other day I was talking to a friend and had realized that it’s been a while that I have sat down and worked on my blog. So today is the day.
I was trying to figure out why it was that I have not written and then it kinda hit me. I’ve been so busy that I have not made it a priority. I have been working day and night. For those of you who know me might say yeah so? But over the last 4 weeks I have been moving our Children’s ministry to a new location, redecorating it, then starting a new lesson series. We then had a chili cook-off and a dedication of our new worship area. Lets see normal family stuff plus some extra stresses of finances. Turning the page in life with another birthday and the list goes on and on.
Looking at this I breath deep and slouch in my chair and say I’m tired! It’s not that sleepy tired either it’s the kind of tired that you say “Lord, Jesus how long will you take?” it’s a tiredness of the spirit. This is beyond physical and way beyond emotional. This is area that I think of that poem footprints was written about. It’s a humbling place to be. I’m glad my God is so big that he can handle anything that comes my way.
You see I’m in a place where God is teaching me what it means to depend on Him to supply all my needs spiritually. You might say duh that’s what He’s good at. Yeah, I know but you see we actually turn to God for our physical needs and emotional needs quicker than spiritual. Think about it when we pray we are so quick to ask for the obvious things money food things then help with those who are hurting but we don’t highlight the need to be crucified with Christ or ask God to help us to understand that or help me die to my selfish ambitions so I can be free to follow you.
It’s not easy to seek God in this way consistently. When I became a Christian I never thought I needed to die to my hopes and dreams to receive the blessings God has for me.  Just didn’t click. I understood the death burial and resurrection in head knowledge but when you get it in your heart and follow that way you’re not the same ever.
I find myself watching God move in people’s lives and the well of the spirit starts to flow down my cheeks. My Honduran friends say this is the Holy Spirit overflowing. I like that it makes me not feel like such a goofball. It’s so cool to watch God move and truly be happy for the person God is blessing. In this I find myself blessed and encouraged.
I’m finding that it can go the other way too. When the poor and underprivileged are abused or taken advantage of or if something is a roadblock to God’s Holy Spirit It kills you. I’m not a radical or even close but if God’s people really stood up for those who need an advocate this world would change.
Arron Chambers said this in his book Eats with Sinners “This world will be changed when Christians resolve to make life, help, hope, peace, joy, truth, and love more accessible.” (pg32)
Basically if we take care of each other instead we look out for number one and choose to ignore the fact that everything we have belongs to God and we are just entrusted to be stewards of it. I’m not saying that we can’t have things but we need to be open to Gods Spirit to use what we have and our resources to help our brothers and sisters.
I was asked how much to give? Till it hurts or till I have nothing left? I say till God says that’s enough. We need to really remember that the more we are given the more responsibility we have to give account for what we did with it. I would want to be on the side of being very generous with the blessings I have been entrusted with. Matthew 25 yikes!!
So… I’m under the broom tree sitting (1 kings 19:1-9 ) and I’m being cared for.  I thank God that He knows what is coming next because if I knew I might not be so willing to make the journey.
So I take a deep breath and slump down and thank Jesus for everything.
Just thinking… 

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Not Connected

So I have been traveling in the last month. Since I’ve been traveling I have had to be able to access my e-mail, Facebook, text messages, and of course phone service. With work and family I need to able to stay connected. So, I was in Springfield IL the other day to do a VBS presentation. I was staying in a hotel that said it had internet service what I didn’t notice is that you had to pay for it. That always bugs me. I have a data plan for my smart phone but can’t use it to access the web with my laptop. So looking at a small screen is getting harder and harder.
Some of you know what I mean. I need to be connected and when I can’t ….. I can be a bear with a sore paw.  If that’s not bad enough if the 3G is not working it’s like the end of the world. Okay maybe not that bad but it does drive me nuts. So I start to look for the free areas where I can get a connection. Like Panera or some hotels you have to go all the way down to the lobby. How inconvenient right to think I would have to go all that way.
Okay so I was thinking while I was unhooked just a few years ago most of this was not possible let alone thought of all of it. Then I was thinking what did we do before all this we would pick up a pen and write some one or go visit them. We had to make more of an effort to communicate. Its really crazy how far we have come and how disconnected we are from people.
All this lead to a few thoughts one is about our relationship with God we always have had a wireless communications with Him. He has the most intricate network blows 4G out of the water and it’s so amazing that He knows our thoughts our feelings everything about us and His system never drops a call or is overloaded. You can never go out of the coverage area. He is always there to give you assistance and the web has nothing on Him.
Thinking all about this lead me to think about our (my) need to be connected. We desire to be connected to someone who will listen, someone who cares. We want to be able to handle anything that comes our way. We would love to move mountains if we had to.
Well, you may know where I’m going with this. God can handle all this and more and we don’t want to be connected with Him or don’t take the time. Those who do want to be connected just want a once a day a status update. We don’t want a letter or hour by hour update from God. The thing is though He wants that from us and wants us to give Him the same attention.  Here are a few verses to ponder.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing;”
Psalm 139:1-3
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do

So here is my challenge or encouragement… spend some time with God today grab a God update and spend some time commenting on what He’s doing in your life or those around you. Try opening a chat box with Him and spend some time with our creator and see how He can handle our challenges. I would be willing to think God will handle anything you throw at Him way better than we could ever do. So when we need to be connected with our busy lives don’t forget to include Jesus in on what going on. Stay connected! 

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Bubbles and the Cross

Yesterday is one of those days that I love, well I mean most of it at least. I had the privilege of speaking at our schools chapel service. (Deer Creek Christian School Go Lions!) Now the service I usually speak at is in the morning in my opinion too early. At this service I will talk to the kids that are in preschool all the way up to 5th grade. Now if you know anything about teaching kids this is a huge span to keep everyone’s attention and interest. I was told that the focus for the month was gentleness.
Right now I can’t tell you the memory verse they were using for it because each grade had it’s own memory verse in addition to the verse of the month. So there was a lot of scripture. I know excesses.
Any way I had planned to use gentleness from the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
I wanted to tell the kids that when they were gentle to others in all situations Jesus would be edified, because those around them would see that they were different. This in turn may provide an opportunity to share their testimony of what God has done in their lives. yes even Pre schoolers can have a testimony. 
This was all fine and dandy I had illustration set as well as an object lesson. I thought my object lesson would be killer and the kids would love it. I was going to show them that we use not just one of the Fruit of the Spirit but we use all of them to accomplish gentleness then reiterate all the Fruit work together.
 I also wanted to let them know we can display these qualities on our own (with out Gods power and strength) but they would in no way be close to what it would be like if we would allow God to work through us. I would do this by blowing small bubbles then demonstrate how to make huge bubbles. The kind that are huger than Godzilla’s head!
So, great plan I thought but then God had to come along and ask me to take it another step further I felt God’s nudging and had to choose whether to obey or not. I believed God wanted me to explain how He works as the Trinity in this too. I said “oh yeah sure and how can I do that?”( there is sarcasm there) If there is one thing you don’t want to do is challenge God because He will have His way one way or another.
With that I realized that to make the God size bubbles it took three things. Water, Dish soap, and magic bubble powder (glycerin this helps hold the bubble together so it can be huge).  Okay so I have the Father – water, the Son – Soap,  and the Holy Spirit – magic helper powder. I said that would be great but I can’t do it because the soap was green not red. Looking back this is just so stupid to say but I said it. Everyone knows that symbols for Jesus have to be red for the blood of Christ. Duh! So I nixed it and thought next time God I will get the red soap. Thanks for the idea well do this one another time.
Well I started my sermon and told the kids that when were young blowing bubbles can be a real talent because when we would try and blow we wouldn’t use gentleness or self control. We would just blow. And nothing would come out. After much practice we would skillfully blow gently and produce a bubble.
Then I showed them that we could not only blow one but several and, if we could catch one of the bubbles and use it to make more with out going back to the bottle. I compared this to how God can use us if we let Him have control and work in our lives by being teachable.  Others would then see our fruit. The result would be many would be touched by the love of God through you and then you can take one of those changed lives and help it to do what you are doing. Sharing God’s great plan with others and teaching them how to live an honoring life for God. This is doubling your efforts. This is what we would call discipleship.
I then changed focus. I still had everyones attention so, I said the little bubbles are like having good values and doing nice things on our own. what we want is something better than we can do on our own. With God this could be so much better and have a bigger impact.  I asked do you want to see what God can do if we let Him have control? Of course they cheered yes!
 So I brought out the God sized bubbles. This is when God stepped in. I said: You see God is made up of three parts God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Then I related each one to the mixture elements:
Water – God is the living water. John 4:13-14 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The Dish Soap (Still Green) – Jesus Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God
The Magic Powder (this is the helper) – the Holy Spirit
John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
I stood there amazed at what God gave me to say and the kids really understood and got it. I grabbed the wands and made a huge bubble that was as big round as a semi truck tire if not bigger. The kids gasped and Oooed and ahhhed at the floating spectacle as I said this is a God size bubble. This is what God can do through you if you let His Fruit grow in your life then I explained that He would be the one helping us all the way.
 I had volunteers for this next part and asked them to make huge bubble on there own with out my help. They failed. (Part of the master plan) But when I instructed them step by step and they were teachable they had success. I pointed out this is the way God is with us He gives us His word (the Bible) to help us grow in ways that honor Him. Other Christians can help here too with support and prayer.
This was a good day! I just need some help from God.
If you continue on in the passage about the Fruit of the Spirit you will see that we must nail our ambitions, our wants, our selfish desires, to the cross daily.
Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
This day I needed to be guided by God and walk by the spirit but first I had to crucify my desires. I believe this is what it means to daily take up your cross and follow Christ. How about you? 

Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
 
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You’re Part of the Custodian Team?

So the other day I was at a conference that was held at one of Disney’s resorts. I was waiting in line for something when I overheard a conversation between a Disney cast member and a trainee. They were having conversation about a test that would be given to the trainee.
The cast member said, “one question that is usually on the test is how often will you be working as a custodian?” The trainee looked at the cast member as if he was crazy and said, “what?” obviously confused she than continued; “I’m not a custodian” as if it were a slam to be a custodian. The employee laughed with a bit of a sneer and said “Oh but you are”. “You see were all part of the custodian cast member team” he continued, “we take pride in our parks and resorts and are passionate about it being clean and looking the best it possibly can, and it takes concerted effort form all of us.” She nodded with understanding.
I was thinking that if we all could take pride in what were doing like that.  People would want to be apart of our cause or organization. If you watch the cast members you may notice also that they have an attitude of wanting to make things the best they possibly can be for their guests. It’s almost like you’re in their own home. I had many conversations with cast members and even on their bad day their attitude is one that is very hospitable. Most of them said that they enjoy working there the management is great. It was a bit of a different story about the co-workers though but that’s another story for another day. 
I can’t help but think it has to do with the training and being made to feel appreciated. It could also be the sense of being part of something bigger than them, and is moving in a direction that is exciting. It seems that this is an attitude that is expected from the start. If you add all this up it eventually will lead to people being passionate about something. It could be implementing and idea or just wanting to make a difference or helping someone to have a great experience.
Another example was just today in our church the amount of people who showed their support to our NFL team who was in the play offs again. You can see this any time a local favorite team is up to play in a big game. The clothing is on the talk is of support and high expectations of how great the team will play. Don’t even think about talking badly about the team with out getting some sort of guff about it. You can just feel the excitement in the air when a big win is possible. This is passion for something that really has no personal impact on any of us because were just fans. We will only have bragging rights and what is that worth in the over all scheme of things? Not much.
We can learn this though is that people want to have something so desperately in their lives to believe in, that they can hope for, that will give them satisfaction of saying that’s my team with pride.
So I was thinking how can we use this in our churches or ministries to help people be passionate about things that are going on? Which led me to more questions.
One being, why can’t we have a passion or a feeling like were part of something much bigger than us?
Why can’t we be excited about being part of the custodial team?
What stopping us from celebrating big wins in our ministry?
Well I have to go back to the observation of the cast member it comes from those who have been there before and the management. It really needs to be from those who can identify the wins and be excited about it. Because if there showing passion about the wins it will catch on to those who are new or don’t know what is a win for your organization. This will generate excitement and passion for the positive things you value.
Just for example when we have a baptism in our church it’s a big deal at least it should be. In my opinion when a kid is baptized it should be a huge deal. We should draw attention to it because this is a win! We should be celebrating in every way possible letting everyone know how excited we are because of what God is doing in lives at our church.
 Not only that but if it’s a kid how much of a great thing it is because this is securing who we are for generations to come. Our beliefs our values and how many lives this child can impact because they have their whole life ahead of them. In order for all that to happen though they have to have a good management or support system (leadership) in place to guide them, train them, and help them know what and when to celebrate.
This is actually is the responsibility of the parents/guardians of the child. We see this in my favorite passage Deuteronomy 6:4-9. If they have no other support system that is when the church needs to step up and provide as much as they can. Again this is a blog for another time.
So guess to make this all help our churches and ministries it needs to start with those in leadership and those who are mature enough to influence others. This all reminds me of the book of Nehemiah.
 He had a passion to make a difference and change the course of a nation.  He did this by sharing the passion and vision God gave him. Nehemiah showed others what the issue was. (Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.) Then he encourages those in his sphere of influence. Showing them what a win looked like.
Check it out: Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
We can even see Jesus giving encouragement to John in prison. He wanted John to be able to celebrate the wins that were going on even in his depressing situation. You can find it in Matthew 11:4-6. (verse 5: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.)
I also think that Jesus said this so His disciples would understand some of the things that could be considered as wins in ministry. Jesus had a passion for those who were not committed to God and those that wanted to be in relationship with the Lord. I believe Jesus knew that His passion was contagious and exciting. He gave people hope and those around his knew they were apart of something way bigger then themselves.
So if you’re in leadership try and figure out what wins are for you and become so passionate that it’s contagious. Celebrate at every opportunity. Continually share the vision and excitement you see to everyone who will listen. We need to be like the sports fans I talked about and defend your team at all times. Don’t forget to wear you sprit gear for all to see what team you support and are a fan of. Be proud of what God is doing in your house and play on any team that brings passion and excitement to your Game! Go, go, go team!!
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“Crabby Patties”

Have you ever seen the show Sponge Bob Square Pants? Well if you have you either hate it or love it or just don’t care. Some people say I can’t stand the voice  or something I just can’t put my finger on. I’m a sometimes love it and some times highly dislike it.

Either way one of the big themes that run through the shows is a burger called a Crabby Patty” it’s served at the Crusty Crab Dinner. How would you like to eat there? To me the show is filed with charters that are either negative or pessimist that some how get rescued by this optimist Sponge Bob.
I was thinking the other day as Chrissy who loves these gummy candy crabby patties. They look like a burger with everything on it. Reminds me of a “In‘n Out” burger. Theses burgers are only made by Sponge Bob with Mr. Crab’s secret recipe. For some reason Sponge Bob is the only one who can do it right. Once some one has one of these burgers and I could be wrong on this but it seems to me that magically every thing is all right in life.
Any way she was eating a Crabby Patty and I was thinking about how nice it would be if these little gummy burgers had that effect on us. If we were crabby and wanted to change our outlook we just would eat a “Crabby Patty”. Better yet if some one around you was being negative and crabby you could offer them a “Crabby Patty”. The world would be changed by “Crabby Patties” life would be GOOD!
Well the truth is that they don’t change our mood or personality only we can we have the power to do this everyday. Now sometimes for some people there are chemical imbalances that can make life hard. Even with imbalances we still choose or attitude for the day. We can choose to eat a “Crabby Patty” and have a great day or choose to be negative.
The thing about being negative is it’s easy and it’s contagious like a bad cold virus. We shake hands and pass on our gift. I once read that it takes 10 positives to overcome one negative. “Yikes”, that’s a lot of “Crabby Patties”. It’s so over whelming that I might just think, why try with the world being as negative as it is. I’m like a salmon swimming up stream.
When I lived in Maryland we use to go crabbing and you would catch a crab on a string with an old stinky piece of chicken. Put your bait in the water and wait to feel a tug. Then, you would pull it up and throw the crab in a bucket. Yea one crab but the secret to not letting the crabs get out was catching another one as fast as you can. You see the one crab in the bucket would try to escape. It would hit the side try and tip it over the bucket and sometime it would be successful and get away(they can be fast!). Almost always though if you get two crabs together in the bucket they will pull each other down instead of working together. There is no real hope of getting out.
This is the way that negativity works. Where two or more negatives are gathered let the negativity flourish. We need to feed those people some “Crabby Patties” quick! This seems hopeless.
The truth is though is that some of us have an opportunity to release themselves and others from this. Those of us who have Jesus as our Savior can use a secret power that we have at our fingertips. Okay ready for this…Its called Joy.
Joy is a state of being it’s a way of life. Many times we think joy is an emotion but it’s not. The writer of the book of James knew this. James 1:2 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds”. This means when life gets crazy hard.  Then Paul the writer of Philippians say we are to Rejoice in always Philippians 4:4.  Not just part of the time or when were feeling like it. Rejoiced always!
Yes hard times will come but we have to choose our attitude or another way of putting it is a mentality. For Christ followers it should be a mindset of the Kingdom to come. Life is short and we need to help those around us see the light of Jesus. We are just like withering flowers or fleeting shadows (paraphrased) Job 14:1-2 .
Our mentality, be it positive or negative we need to keep it in check. My point is that if we have a negative out look, or if our attitude is negative. It’s harder to be a witness of some one walking in the Joy that Jesus brings to our lives. Yes, it is a choice. When your eyes open or feet hit the ground in the morning, it’s your choice to let the joy of Christ flow out of you. It is a battle and won’t change over night unless God changes it miraculously. (That can happen.)
So here is my challenge to you and myself to choose a positive attitude and have a kingdom mentality every day so we can be a positive witness for Jesus! Don’t eat “Crabby Patties” they don’t change anything. Perhaps the size of your clothes that another thing for another blog.
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Letting Go

I’m in the middle of a transition in my ministry and at times it can be hard. Last year around May, I was talking to my coaching team about retooling our ministry giving it a new look. So we came up with some ideas that would enhance our present ministry. We tweaked a few things in our service and started to plan out some cool, exciting improvements for our first impressions area.  We wanted a fun “wow” factor to kids but more to parents.
You may be saying WHAT? It’s all about the kids well that is only partially true. You see if we don’t have parents saying hey that looks like fun and you just might learn something. The truth is that the kids won’t be dropped off. Especially on the days they need it most. On the flip side parents might look at your first impression area and say yea this church has nothing for our family. They don’t value the most precious gift given to me.  My kids.
You see your first impression is very important and the stats say you have 7 minuets to make an impact to determine whether a family will return or not and that is from the arrival in your parking lot. That’s enough to make your head spin. That’s not a lot of time to show people what your ministry is all about.
I see kids ministry first impressions like this. It’s kind of like this a box of cereal. The kids look at the box and see if it looks fun, and exciting but really they are interested in how it tastes and what the prize is inside.
For parents they want to see that the kids will be excited about it and want what is inside. Then you have the list of ingredients on the back. They want to know what this is made of, but most people look at that part last. It’s not that it’s lacking importance, because you and I both know that this is where the real part is. In our case the teaching about life change and living a life honoring God.
 So you should see this is an important part of our ministry these days not that it should be but it is. You and I know it’s really not the “wow” factor but that kids feel the love of God in a real tangible way.
So, we need to consider the way our ministries look. For us we needed an update and through a transition in our church, our ministry had to speed up the facelift. So one of the areas that needed a change was our welcome center. My team had not discussed the changes that needed to be made at length before but when they headr that the changes needed to be made they were on board. The truth was that I had what some would say high ownership of the way it looked. I say that I was emotionally attached to the way this thing looked it represented the start of a series of changes that would make our healthy ministry into what it is today.
So I approved some changes and entrusted the work to be done by someone else. This was scary but I was ensured I would be consulted every step of the way. As things are progressing I tried to cast a vision for what I saw this to be and we made some choices and compromises.
Today the rubber hit the road. I was approached by one of the people who was going to be working on the project they showed me the materials they would work off of and I agreed that they would do. But deep inside I was not sure this was the best direction for this to go.
So I helped clear a work area and walked away and left it in God’s hands. I returned to see the progress a few hours later and to my surprise it was exactly what I envisioned. This was great but the bad part was that in that moment the vision changed. The materials that we had purchased now would not work. I stood there and communicated the big vision for this to the person who was working on it. After hearing my vision they were able to understand what believed that we needed. They asked if there could be more changes than I had originally said they could do. And I heard a quit voice say… “yes”. (It was my wife) Then I spoke up and said yea we could go for it.
 In that moment I realized I had a sacred cow in my ministry and I needed to have a steak dinner. So now I’m very excited about the new impressions we will be making to everyone who comes through the doors.
Though I have good intentions I need to put my trust in God and He has all the plans worked out. I just needed to seek him. This may seem trivial to some but a big life lesson is this. If we commit ourselves to praying and seeking God we will see His plans for us and we will be encouraged beyond our wildest dreams. He has some of the greatest things in store for us, but we are not the focus here. We will be amazed at the things He can do to bring Himself all glory and fame though our efforts. It’s for God we labor.
I’m reminded of a few passages of scripture that I will wrap up with you figure out how they fit. 

Jeremiah 29:11-14

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Colossians 3:23  whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

 

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Group Hug

Last night I spent some time with a friend who happens to be an elder at my church and one of my coaching staff leaders. We were talking about changes at our church that have come and those that may come one way or another. Some things could be great while others would lead to times of hardship. As we talked and encouraged each other to totally depend on God for direction and provision in our lives. Our conversation took a turn, and we started to look at some of the impact that God has had over the years through our ministry together. He reminded me of something that happened a few weeks ago that was a moment of God speaking to my team and me.
Each Sunday morning my coaching team tries to gather for a time of prayer together. We pray for the day ahead and for each other we ask for Gods blessing to be upon our church and our children’s ministry this day and those to come. So this particular morning we had a late start to our prayer time and kids had stared to arrive mostly kids of our leaders who help in our ministry. As we were praying we could hear playing and some running past us. Just before we were half way done we could hear Marc hading our way.  Now I have to pause for a moment and tell you about my friend Marc.
Marc is one of our special needs kids who is in 6th or 7th grade but comes to worship in the elementary ministry. He fits in great! He’s one of those kids who love to touch your hands or arms when he’s talking to you. He likes to be a clown at times but never is out to hurt anyone.  Mark’s dream is to be the character from the Nintendo game Mario Bro’s. He wants to be Mario. What an imagination he has and he has such a big heart. Mark seems to love everyone but most he loves God.
Well, as I was saying we could here Marc coming he came up to our circle ducked under our hand clasped hands and made his way into the middle. There were only four of us this day. As he stood there in the middle, in his own way asked what were doing? Some one said in a whisper “were praying”. He stood quietly and watched and listened as we prayed for God’s blessing on our team and day. Just as one of us said in Jesus name Marc pointed to another person and said your turn. Then he stood and listen some more until that leader was wrapping up, then if my memory serves me he said I pray and he prayed a short prayer and then pointed and said you go. Then satisfied that we were doing well he ducked under our hands and off to play he went. We all stood there with smiles on our faces tears rolling down some cheeks. We wrapped up the prayer and knew that this day was good and God had blessed us.
My friend pointed this out to me saying “some times we just need a hug from God and other times we just need to jump up in the center of His lap and tell him that we love Him.” He continued to say this what he thought of  when Marc  jumped into our  circle he was jumping into the Lords lap as we were giving God a group hug. Marc wanted to be apart of it.  How cool is it when we see the fruit of our labor?
God showed us that day that we were making a difference in the lives of children and families. Marc would have never felt so comfortable getting in the middle of us if he didn’t know we loved him and God.
So when was the last time you jumped into the lap of our Lord and looked him in the face and a said “I love you.”? 
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.