One of my favorite Fee songs!

A great quote from our youth camp this past week:
Your faith will not be defined when life goes according to plan. Your faith will be defined when everything falls apart!
So when do you feel closest to God? Is it when you think His blessing is on you very strongly? Is it when you are able to keep your head above water but just barely? Or is it when nothing is going right and you wish you were someone else?

Remember that when our steps take us away from His path for us, we are bound for tough times. His path isn’t always without struggle, it is just always under His care.

So is life treating you fair? Show the world your faith!

Matthew 11:2-6, tells of when John the Baptist was in prison about to be killed. He sent to ask Jesus if He really was the Messiah or should they be looking for someone else. Jesus sent word back, telling John things that John already knew. Reminding Him that many miracles had taken place and of many things Jesus had done for others. But He didn’t tell John to expect a rescue.

In essence, he said, “John, I did all of this. You KNOW who I am. But the plan for you, and for me, is death. Walk honorably.”

Life isn’t always fair or fun. Sometimes, it is downright painful. Take heart. God is still in control.

Walk honorably!

In Numbers chapter 16, an interesting thing happened. Some priests rose up against Moses and Aaron. Moses was just being obedient to what the Lord was telling him to do in leading the people. Korah thought that Moses was wrong in taking that leadership even though Moses was God’s chosen. Korah said,

“You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” (Numbers 16:3)

How often do we see that very thing happening? People who, out of a desire to control others, attack the God-called and God-placed leadership. We are all important and called by God, but the Minister’s calling is to lead, train, equip, and challenge in love! The man of God called to lead as a Minister will place value in the following…

1. God’s Kingdom to be exalted, not the minister.

2. God’s people to be led by the Word, not pushed around by those wielding it.

3. Relationships of love to be built and strengthened within the faith-family, not a sense of lording-over or unavailability.

4. An outward focus of reaching the lost, along with the desire of equipping the saved.

5.  Releasing the saved to serve within the capacity of their spiritual gifts, not being a “Lone Ranger” type staff.

6. An ability to see people for who they can become when surrendered to God rather than who they are living for themselves!

7. An understanding of when to reshape an existing “ministry”, kill the “sacred cow”, and develop new ministries while having a spirit of mercy and restoration for those who struggle with change.

Obviously, making God’s Word a priority and being a Prayerful Leader are BASIC and necessary elements of this Leader’s life.

May God bless us as we, at FBC Weaver, move into God’s future for us under the leadership of our new Pastor, Ron Sweatt! We are excited for what God is going to do in and with us under the leadership of Ron’s ministry!

Ron, we love you and are eager for your arrival in late June! May God bring blessings to your family and the faith-family you leave behind!

Hey Wow!

I can’t begin to tell you my excitement level right now! We are looking our future straight in the face this week at FBC Weaver. We have a prospective Pastor coming in this weekend “in view of a call”. That terminology simply means that our leadership has prayed, searched, prayed some more, and truly believes that this man is God’s man to lead our fellowship into the future. He is coming to meet our people, preach in our morning worship time, and be voted on by our fellowship as Pastor.

In our search (a prayed-through year long process)  for both who we are and who God desires for us to be as a church, we believe God has spoken about what our new Pastor will “look like”. We are a people in need of a leader. That leader must step forward with vision and lead out in fleshing out that vision. He must preach the Word without apology and allow it to be the foundation of His leading and our direction. He must be relational, loving our people and our community to Jesus with grace, mercy, and truth! The ability to work the three of those together (speaking bold truth, showing mercy, and allowing grace to the fallen) is truly a God-given ability. These are big shoes to fill.

Let me now say that we also came to some realizations about ourselves. We must be a body who follows this Pastor’s leadership because God will be placing His man here as the under-shepherd of our fellowship. He will be prayerfully leading, which means we must be prayerfully following. We also must be deep in the Word and prayer every day. We have to have our hearts turned outward again remembering that our mission in this world is to reach the lost with the love of Jesus! While we are to train and equip ourselves for ministry, we must actually DO ministry. A pond with no outlet becomes stagnant and stinks, much the same as a Christian who takes in and never gives out.

In almost every miracle you see in the gospels, the person healed or delivered has been in their pain or situation for some time and then Jesus steps in and changes that life totally. Our church has been through some rough years! But God is stepping in to change the life of this church!

Will you be ready? Are you prayed up? Will you pray for FBC Weaver?

God bless you! Good things are being birthed already in the hearts of His people in this place!

I got to spend some time this past weekend with my good friend, Jason Grissom. He is the Pastor of Eureka Baptist. I was there leading worship for their revival services with Evangelist Don Graham. We were confronted with our sin, the need for cleansing, surrendering  to Him, and then being Spirit filled!

I am thankful for my Savior! What He has done for me and called me to…it is more than I can even understand!

My life is His! My family is His! Everything I have is from Him and should, therefore, glorify Him!

My new commitment is to read completely through the Bible. I am ashamed to say that although I study both personally and for my teaching times, I have never made reading through the Bible a priority. Help me be accountable.

My ministry is really just His ministry. I am blessed to be called out into full time service to my King! I will say that redeeming my time has always been a struggle for me. I struggle with being easily distracted and have learned through the years to fly fairly well by the seat of my pants…but I don’t want to do that anymore. If God can bless as He has with the time and serious study I have given Him, what could He do if I were as faithful to my calling as I should be.

Maybe too transparent? Or maybe just honest. We need each other. We need to build each other up and support one another. I’m willing to share and willing to surrender. How about you?

Surrendering to His leading in your life could be…the next incredible move of God in your life!

You know, every once in a while, you just feel overwhelmed. No big event or stressor. No single thing you can put your finger on. It’s just like a funk that sets in. You see yourself there and wonder, “How did this happen?”

When it strikes me, like it has been creeping up these last few months, I see several traits come out in me that I don’t like at all. I find myself really short-tempered over the stupidest things. I lose the desire to be active. Things I know I should be doing, I don’t. I am a procrastinator by nature, but it really becomes an issue. I take comments to heart and become hurt very easily. Normal everyday things begin to look like insurmountable obstacles.

This is a painful process that if not cut off quickly, really seems to engulf a person. I know some people who say it is depression. Others who say it a lack of faith. Some believe it is just not coping with life.

I believe that it is not any one of those things alone. In fact, it may be all of those things. But they are not the cause, they are just another part of the effect! I know that in my life, I can usually look to the foundational areas of my walk with Christ to find the source of my issues. When I am struggling with this sense of being overwhelmed, it usual means I have taken my circumstances and situations upon myself as my own. I have not been as faithful to pray through situations or study up on God’s faithfulness in tough times. I have taken my eyes, maybe not completely but enough to blur my vision, off of Him.

Coping skills are difficult for some to find. Let me lay out a few that seem to help when I find myself in this painful place…

1. Trust Him with your concerns and issues…

Psalm 55:22 – Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the                                                      righteous fall.

1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxiety upon Him for He cares for you.

2. Pray yourself and have others pray for you…

Luke 18:1 – Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray                                    and not give up.

James 5:16 – Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you                                            may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

3. Put the past behind you…Live in victory…

Philippians 3:13-14 – Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. BUT ONE                                                        THING I DO: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is                                                                ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has                                                                called me heavenward in Christ Jesus!

He really has given us the victory!

Thank you, God, for the victory over every area of our lives. May we look to You for the strength to fulfill all You have called us to do. When You call, You equip and strengthen! May our eyes be ever focused on the prize and calling You set before us!

It’s been 21 days since I last blogged. Sounds almost like an intro at a meeting, huh? I may ramble just a bit.

Since my last blog, I’ve been thinking about some pretty interesting things (to me at least)…

Youth Ministry is full of Ups and Downs, just like life…and just like life, it’s a “long-haul” commitment!

One major responsibility (privilege) in Youth Ministry is that of rightly dividing the Word for those under our care. We are to teach them that Truth is not situational and how to take in the wisdom of the Word and Live It Out as a natural overflow (Luke 6:45, Psalm 119:9-16). We should remind them that His Word is NOT outdated and disconnected! It IS wisdom for our lives and guidance for our decisions (Psalm 119:105).

Another area that Youth Ministries are to focus on is developing integrity and a sense of commitment in those under our care. This is best learned by example. The staff that leans into the kids lives in a loving, supportive, and challenging way will develop leaders that are healthy. They will grow student leaders that maintain the inward focus and relationship with Jesus but realize that that focus and relationship is best lived out by pouring into the lives of those around them. The church member or student in isolation from the world is as useless as the church or student ministry in isolation from the world (John 14:17-19).

I have had the opportunity to talk to and see several former students and youth staff from former churches  in the past month or so. And in thinking about them and the great kids and staff here at FBC Weaver, I am thankful to have known and served with them all. I know that above all else, God is the life changer! He is the inspirer, motivator, teacher, guide, shepherd, and developer of  the lives of the students and staff we work with. But it is good for this Youth Minister’s heart to see God still using and growing these that have meant so much to me. And I am thankful and humbled to have had any small part at all in their development. Surrendered leaders change lives. When you surrender, God can use you. And the really cool thing is…once He does use you, and there is no way to claim any credit for yourself, that becomes the place where your joy is found!

I’ve also seen  many who have walked away. They may not consider themselves walked away, but when you live as sinful as you like and then tip your hat at God on Sunday morning, I would say you either turned your back or never looked him truly in the face at all! Because a true taste of Jesus is life altering! For me, I don’t care to live life without Him or without the desire to follow even more closely! It hurts my heart to see people who were once excited about our Savior become calloused or hardened. This usually happens because their eyes were on everything other than God!

Having said all of this, I LOVE my calling to ministry. I am far from all I need to be, and I’m not OK with that. God is always there to restore me. Even when times are hard or people are harsh, I don’t think I could be fulfilled doing anything else. I am thankful that, at least in my heart and mind, I can’t separate  who I am from what I do. I pray that is what others see in me.

Yogi Berra once asked, “How can you think and hit at the same time?” What a deep thought! In baseball and softball, practice is the time to get the fundamentals of hitting down. When your time at the plate comes, you hope that what you have learned and what you are just gifted to do, flows naturally.

In my life, I pray that the things God has done in me and the things He has taught me flow from me naturally. May your life, in the ups and downs, be a natural overflow of what He is doing in your heart!
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out oh the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45

We use it so often and feel it even more often. The church has tried for years to control people’s actions through shame. You know what, controlling people’s actions isn’t the church’s job. Showing the light of truth is! Showing the love of God is! Discipling others (not shaming them) is! When His love overshadows our desire for control, people see Him and not us or our legalism!

When we sin or are about to, we should be immediately confronted by the Holy Spirit and know that this isn’t the direction God desires for us. Do you know what follows that? Not shame and saying “I’m sorry”, but genuine REPENTANCE! Repentance means MOVE in the opposite direction toward God and away from that sin.

Many people in our lives want us to feel rotten and let them decide how long we should feel that way when we mess up. I’m thankful for a God who is willing to say “Yes. You really messed it up big time! Now get up REPENT and get moving!” He doesn’t necessarily take away the consequences for our actions, but He isn’t holding it over us to stack up all of our mistakes until next time. He is truly forgiving. He removes our sin as far as the East is from the West!

Instead of shaming others, how about we, as His church, work to RESTORE others! Instead of constantly reminding people of their mistakes and their past, why don’t we remember ours! Better yet, let’s just all REPENT and move forward! God will honor those steps!

May your day be freeing, restoring, and victorious!

Wanted to look into a few lines from that great Praise & Worship (?) song….Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford…

You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store

My thought for this morning was about how truly blessed I am…

I have a great family. My wife is a strong, independent woman who is an incredible mother and supportive wife. She challenges me, supports me, and loves me. Not sure I could want anything more.

My children are fun to be with, very smart, and love me very much. They are thoughtful of others feelings and pray for their friends regularly. God is already is doing great things in them and He is going to do even greater things as their faith continues to grow.

My youth group, friends, and church family are such a vital part of my life. I have enjoyed and been blessed by all of the friendships I have made both here in this time and place and with those I’ve walked this life journey with in the past! You guys have made me feel both special (lots of jokes there) and important in our times together.

Now, to the “Sixteen Tons” reference above…I don’t think I could have a better calling and vocation in life than serving others in Ministry. I am not always faithful and my failings are plentiful and don’t appropriately show my love for my Savior. My prayer is and has been that God would use the lessons He is teaching me to be teaching moments for others. I pray that as trials and tough situations come my way that I would be transparent enough for those around me to see me PRAISE HIM in both my successes and my failures! I do “owe my soul to the company store” but it isn’t a harsh reality, it is a welcomed opportunity!

Ministry IS difficult at times but it is also a blessing! I wanted to mention some situations, without naming names, that stick out in my mind as fun, hard, difficult, happy, and memorable times throughout these eighteen years of ministry…if you have any other memories to mention, COMMENT them here! Help me celebrate my birthday today with some great memories…would you?

*called into ministry on youth trip in Gulf Shores at 16! Great trip! *Preached first sermon, incredible 10 minutes! *Church league volleyball, AWESOME! *Superman, Leethal, and so many others at Christians! *Basketball and pool at Stephenson (?) *First ministry position at Southside *Children’s Choir at Central *Max’s huge heart for others *Fellow Youth Workers in T’dega *Shockwave *High Calling *Trip to Savannah & SC with High Calling *Blowing speakers at Mt.View *Working with abused teenagers *Called to the school for counseling after teen school shooting and car deaths *Community Fathers *AIDB Super Bowl Parties *Wedding & Married Life *Move out of state *Awesome church experience *Alyssa is born *She gets second and third sets of parents (great friends) **worked with first Praise Band *Really watched God move *worked with Katrina victims *Huntsville big city life *More lifelong friendships *More movie quotes and song lines than anyone should know *Seeing many teens come to Christ *One workout *KK is born! *Someone let our balloons go! *Horton’s Child Care *Second calling to same church *Judgment Houses *Mission Trips *Camp Happy Days *Gulf Shores Beach Retreats *Bran-Fuge *Let’s welcome Erin! *Weaver! *10 yr old softball *Road Rulz *Rescue Mission *Committed kids *Good friends! *Catching up with old friends *Severe enema *Great ministry opportunities @ FBC Weaver *more?

Thanks you guys, I love you all.

My thoughts for you all…

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.  Philippians 1:3-11

I know I’m probably not documenting this correctly, but I want to share a quote with you from a book by Erwin McManus called “An Unstoppable Force.” Read the quote then stay with me …

“Several years ago my wife, Kim talked me into going to The Price is Right. I’m really not a big fan of the show, but I’m a great fan of my wife, so I went. We stood in line to get tickets to stand in line to get into the show. This was an all-day affair. If I’d had to stand in line for thirty minutes, I’d have been irritated, but this was close to five hours.

Several hours into the process, we were sitting next to a family from the former Soviet Union. You can only go so long without talking to the people next to you, so we finally stuck up a conversation. The person next to me described her journey as an extraordinary opportunity to come from a place like Uzbekistan and be in Los Angeles. As I talked with her about her spiritual background, I led into sharing with her about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

She asked the question that so many have asked, “How can I believe in a God who only comes to people in America and not to people around the world? What about the person in India or China who has never heard?” I looked at her and asked if she felt that God loved her more than He loved the individual in India that she was concerned about, and she said, “No, that’s the whole point.”

Then I summarized for her what was so obvious for me in that moment. God had brought me from El Salvador via Miami, to throughout the East Coast, to be sitting in Los Angeles in line at The Price is Right to see a show that I didn’t even want to go to. And here she was from the former Soviet Union, having lived in a small town in a nation-state whose name I could not pronounce. If God could bring me from one part of the world and her from another part of the world and move us to the exact same place at the exact same moment so that she could learn that Jesus Christ died for her, didn’t she think that God was both creative and powerful enough to bring life to everyone who would cry out to Him? There in line at The Price is Right, her heart softened and she turned her life over to Jesus Christ.

Now watch the lesson we can learn here…

The world looks different when you understand yourself to be a child of the wind. You realize that when your sail is up, God’s wind blows you to places you never imagined, at just the right moment for someone else. The apostolic ethos (an actual cultural environment driven by the NT mission of reaching others) is an environment in which all of God’s people are guided by the wind. If all are not apostles, at least all are together on the apostolic mission. At Mosaic (his church) we say it like this: Mission is why the church exists.”

So many times we talk about being anchored and I agree that God’s Word is our foundational anchor. So, I’m not addressing that. I am, however, addressing the fact that life becomes an anchor. Have you evaluated much of what you do and what your family takes part in? I haven’t done enough of that. The trappings, not necessarily bad things, of this world weigh us down. Especially when they keep us from having the time, finances, or insight to be in tune with God and His desires for us.

We need to raise our sails! Allow the Spirit to carry us and lead us into what God has us here for! Would we have been looking for an opportunity to share Jesus with that lady in line or would we have missed the moment? Fresh wind in our sails is freeing. Much more so than dragging around an anchor!

Be free in Christ!

“For if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit,” Galatians 5:25.

11Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.15Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1 Tim. 4:11-16

They really have “IT”!

Have you thought about that on a personal level? In sports, one might say that someone was “in the zone”, “in the sweet spot”, or “locked in”. But what does that mean for us in our relationship with Christ?
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deut. 6:5
I think the starting point of “IT” is a genuine love for Jesus. That love is fleshed out in service and devotion to Jesus through our personal devotion, family life, church life, and serving the world.

What is “IT” to you? Leave me a comment on the “IT” factor in your life…