I love to write. That is naturally why in today’s computer age, I have a blog. I admit, I don’t keep up with it like I used to when I sat in a cubicle all day. Family, work and ministry keep me away more than I’d like. What I used to do daily (sometimes more like hourly!) I get around to monthly. But the desire to write hasn’t waned, I am happy to report.

Unfortunately, it seems the content has. I have been dealing with writer’s block some. That’s when I read a post on a blog I enjoy, called Evotional, by Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in DC. Mark wrote of the experiences he’s been having as a writer. He’s now got 3 books published, and he is amazed at how God is using his pen around the world to touch people he’d never even dreamed possible to reach.

That got me thinking about my own (very) limited experience with this very thing. From time to time, it seems some things I write strike people and minister to them. It’s not like I got an idea, had a scenario in mind and a target audience. I simply wrote what was on my heart, and God did the rest. The reader happened upon my blog, read the post, and God touched them.

Like the time I received an email from a guy who read a devotion I’d written on God’s activity in us during those “silent times”, when he seems a million miles away. He said that God had told him that he would be entering into a period of what would seem like heavenly silence, but assuring him that He was at work in his heart. He went into that time confident that God was with him, even though he couldn’t sense it.

Then there was the time that a lady I’d talked with on a Christian message board in Tennessee had printed off one of my blog entries to give to a young Christian she knew who was struggling with her newfound faith.

Moments like these get me mad when I am dealing with writer’s block. Really, the reason is that I know there are souls out there who need a touch from God, and I want to be available for Him to use. I want to be that arrow He pulls from His quiver that Isaiah wrote of in the 49^th chapter of his book.

I’m so glad I navigated over to Pastor Mark’s blog today. It lit a fire under me, both to burn through writer’s block, and to use my gift to reach people. If you blog, don’t ever get discouraged that you aren’t reaching people. There are people out there, even if they don’t respond (something I wish I got more of, personally!), that are blessed by what you are saying. So, don’t lose heart. God is using you!

First, my heartfelt apologies for weeks upon weeks of no posting. I’ve been busy, though it is no excuse for not sharing something. Here’s to trying harder…

Every one of us have problems. We all have something that we need to deal with. I don’t know what yours is, but mine is the minivan. It seems that one thing after another is needing replacing or repairing. In the past month, I’ve replaced spark plugs, wires, front brake pads, both O2 sensors, a battery, and the ignition coil pack. (Let me take a breather now!). Over the weekend, the transmission started acting up, so I did a flush and put a new trans filter on. Still acting up. And yet more needs fixing. Of course, I certainly can’t afford to have the work done, so I am forced to do it myself. Pass the Excedrin Migraine, please.

Tonight, while I was in church, I got word that the mom of one of my teens is in the hospital with some vertebrae issues. Then tonight I read a blog post from a pastor I know in Homestead, FL about his wife being tested for a pretty serious illness (she’s young, too). And while I sit here wanting someone to come along and pray for me, I am hit with the fact that my problems just aren’t that big. My health is good. My family’s all well. We aren’t living on the street. What are my little car troubles compared to serious illness?

While I still need my brothers and sisters to come alongside and lift me and my van up to the Lord, it does bring the proper perspective back to my mind. There are others out there with much deeper trouble that me. Lord, help me remember that as I call on You. While God cares about our needs, He does want us to lift up those around us who truly need a touch from God. It is so easy to become “I-focused”. I am reminded of a verse from Philippians 2:

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

May God help me to take the problems of those around me more seriously from now on.

God bless!

We finally had a youth outing last night. I took the teens bowling. We had a great time. I didn’t win, but I did take 3rd place. After bowling, we played lots of air hockey. I went undefeated, much to the displeasure of those I beat.

The gathering was small. Some didn’t show, but I am expecting a lot more later this month. It’s a good way to introduce new kids to the group and the church.

Before bowling, we had to stop by a birthday party for a little girl in the church. I got a chance to talk for a while with her dad, who does not know Christ. Upon finding out that I am a pastor, he asked me about it. As we left, I invited him out to church. He said to me, “I’ll come fellowship sometime, but I’m too full of sin”. “That is just how the Lord wants you to come to him. Come just as you are!”, I said back. The Lord is waiting for us, sin and all. He’ll do the job of cleaning us up.

Today is Sunday, so it’s off to church. Pastor is in San Antonio for the General Assembly, and our Administrative Pastor is preaching this morning. I’ll be speaking in the evening service, so be in prayer for me.

God bless!

I’ve had one long week. I’ve been working in Ocala, and worked a late one tonight. I missed church, that’s a downer. But I got a little family time in, so it all worked out.

Tomorrow I head back north to Ocala to finish the job. While I’m gone, my minivan is getting a new fuel filter. They should be changed every 60,000 miles, and my van has over 130,000! Waaay overdue, and it’s affecting the van in mileage and running rougher. I got the filter last night, and attempted to change it out myself, but I don’t have the right tools. A mechanic who comes on site to fix our spray trucks is going to replace the filter for me for a mere $20. Praise God! My van will be good when I go home tomorrow night.

God bless!

Tomorrow I start a series I have titled “Life in the City”. It will be a trip through the Sermon on the Mount. So, you may ask, what does that have to do with a city? The Bible tells us that we are citizens of Heaven. We are seated in heavenly places in Christ. As such, we have certain characteristics that Jesus wants to see in us. The first message focuses on the Beatitude section of the sermon.

There are certain values (or non-values!) that the world holds to. Those values run contrary to the values and characteristics that the Lord instills in us. Need for God vs. full of self. Hunger for God’s righteousness vs. worldly pleasures. Mercy vs. harshness. You get the picture.

Next week we’ll continue through Matthew 5, focusing on anger and purity.

God bless!

I have a confession to make. Some may take issue with this dark secret I’m about to reveal, but I can’t hide in the dark any longer. Deep breath…ok, here goes. I am a closet baker. I love to bake brownies!

Right now, I have an 8 x 8 pan of lovely, totally homemade brownies cooling in the kitchen. That’s right, I said homemade. Not that Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines stuff. I made real brownies from scratch and baking cocoa.

I am about to cut out a couple and eat them with some Blue Bunny Neapolitan ice cream! Not good this late, but I have a hankering for it.

Nothing deep tonight. Maybe I’ll blog a devotion in the next couple days about them, though.

God bless!

I am someone that always finds himself running. I get to sleep late. I wake up early, and I start moving 100mph from the bed. And with the cares of family, the pressures of money and the stress from work, the late nights and early mornings often catch me midday. I find myself crashing, needing something to give me a boost. Usually, I reach for something leftover in my lunchbox, like some applesauce or pudding. Sometimes I’ll run into the store for a package of raisins. I need something to pick me up and give me some energy.

Today was one of those days when I felt like I needed a little boost in my body. I am tired, and I needed a little jolt to keep me running till I could hit the bed. That was a Starbucks coffee tonight! I think we need a little jolt in the spirit every now and then, too. Sometimes, we let ourselves wear thin and tire out. We get into a rut, and need something to kick ourselves in the pants and start us moving again.

God knows just how to keep us going. It may come in a church service. It may happen in the prayer closet. It may come in the form of witnessing. It may happen when you decide to take a step of faith and stir up that gift God’s given you.

For me, it usually happens when I decide to step out and bless someone, either by witnessing, or somehow meeting a need in their lives. God designed us Christians to be out-reachers, that is, to get beyond ourselves and look to the needs of others. When we do that, we are flowing in the Spirit and heart of Jesus.

Food is the fuel for the human body. So it’s interesting to read in John 4 something that the Lord said to his disciples. He had been ministering to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well when the 12 returned from town. They went to buy some food, and came back to get Jesus to eat some. He said this to them:

But He assured them, I have food (nourishment) to eat of which you know nothing and have no idea. So the disciples said one to another, Has someone brought Him something to eat? Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work. John 4:32-34

Jesus was of course telling them that he had just eaten spiritually. He gained strength from the ministry he had just done. Like the Lord, we find strength and joy in reaching out and blessing people. Remember, the Lord did tell us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We’re great at getting, but it’s usually much tougher when it comes time to give. It costs us something. Maybe time, maybe money. But it will cost us something. But hallelujah, the Word of God is still true! When we give, God gives back, and like the Lord Jesus, we come away from ministry full from the spiritual meal he fed us via reaching to others.

So look for the opportunities this week to eat. Reach out and touch someone. You’ll find that it is food for your soul that will fuel your spirit and drive you deeper in your life with God.

God bless!

This morning, my wife and I were having a talk with our oldest daughter, Machaela, privately. To keep my boys, 4 1/2 and 2, from running in and out of the room, I locked the door. It is one of those doors that you can unlock from the outside with a coin. As we talked, the door suddenly opened, and in came Timmy and his little brother, running around. I asked him how he got in, and he showed me a penny!

“How did you know to do that?”, I asked. “Mommy does that with my Leapster (beginner handheld game system like a Nintendo DS). Sure enough, after we laughed that our boy was smart enough to figure that door out, my wife admitted that she uses a coin to take the battery pack out. I guess someone had been watching her.

I gotta watch what I do and say around that boy. He really picks up on things. Today, as we were leaving Wally World with our groceries, I found myself annoyed and loudly wishing the people coming out of the store would stop so I could drive away. I quickly heard Timmy repeating everything I said. Oops. And just so you stop thinking that, no, I didn’t cuss.

I could preach right here, but let’s just leave it off with this-people are watching, and how we live is an example to someone. So live as close to Jesus as you can.

God bless!

Well, last night was another Friday youth service, and it went well. I was a little disappointed, because our youth fellowship nights also double as youth choir practices (we’ve actually got a pretty kick-butt choir!), and half the choir was AWOL. We had about 18 kids last night, so quite a few were out.

I had a pretty rough day yesterday. All morning long I was fighting fear and anxiety. All I could muster was to sing a few worship choruses. God was faithful, and he got me through it. I was tired to say the least when I got to the church. Kind of like Wednesday’s service. Again, I led them in a song called “You Deserve The Glory”, and God’s presence was so…peaceable. I finally felt ready to preach.

Before leaving for the church, God began to give me a message for the kids. I had something prepared, but I felt that God was telling me to change it. So I made a mental note, and rushed out the door. I took a few to put it together at the church and it all flowed. It blessed them. It was about how the stones used to build the temple was chiseled out while at the quarry, so that no sound of hammers or other tools were heard at the temple site. So, we, as living stones (1 Pet. 2:5) are being chiseled off and shaped into Christ’s image before that day that we see him face to face.

Anyway, just keeping everyone updated. God bless!

Hey, all. Last night went really well for youth service, as I blogged about last night. I got to thinking about what to do next week. Man, I still have to prepare a short message for tomorrow night’s youth fellowship, and I’m already thinking about Wednesday. Sometimes I wonder if I have ADD, seeing that my mind seems to fly way ahead of me.

Anyway, I’ve been reading and studying the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5-7. Some of it naturally seeped out last night. I think it will be a good study for the teens to help bolster their foundation. Also, we’ve found with Sunday School, when we do a series and push it from the pulpit Sunday AM, parents respond and get their kids there. I think it will keep a fire lit under the parents of these teens.

Several of our young people have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in the past couple of months, and good studies in the Word of God will give them the knowledge they need to back their zeal for service up. I’m stoked!

Any suggestions from anyone? Especially other youth pastors. Looking forward to hearing you all out.

God bless!