I get numerous comments at the end of our worship services while greeting people in the lobby. We had a big crowd here yesterday which meant lots of comments (mostly all good ones) but one stuck out at me:
"You've got a bright future ahead of you young man."
He had generous compliments on the service & my message but I couldn't quit thinking about that particular sentence all day long. One sweet lady told me if I ever preached a better sermon I would have to work real hard b/c she loved it...that lifted me up but I already had this previous comment burned into my mind.
Was I encouraged by it? Yes & no.
Yes, because it means God used me to have an impact on his life during the service & knowing I did good for God's glory meant something.
No, because as much as I want a bright future what I'm striving for daily in my ministry is a bright present. The future isn't guaranteed & God has called me to be a difference maker NOW. The future needs to have bright potential b/c if it doesn't then either I'm not doing a good job or I've maxed out my potential & my potential needs to continue to increase until I get to heaven!
I don't know about you, but I'm not going to patiently sit & wait on my bright future, I'm going to give it my all to shine bright today & hope for the opportunity to shine bright tomorrow.
(Disclaimer: I don't over-analyze every comment. I need to be encouraged & take genuine compliments to heart. And I hope he was right about my future.)
Monday, May 11, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Missed Opportunities
Flying home from the Thr3e conference in North Carolina last week put on by Elevation Church I had the privilege of sitting next to a young man my age who was flying back home on business. We small-talked some & then I decided I wasn't going to miss my opportunity to witness to him (sad to say like I do more often than not). He claimed growing up Catholic. I proceeded to ask what the Catholic church believes about Heaven. I could tell he didn't have a solid belief in much of anything though he said before this he was "spiritual" and prayed some but that was it. His intention was to get back in church once they had children.
We had a good & interesting conversation about various things as I used every opportunity to interject about my faith & Christianity. I finally got bold & at one point asked what they believed about Jesus. He quickly became uncomfortable & as I pursued an answer he very politely & uncomfortably said he would rather not talk any more about it & that he had some work to do on his computer. I almost forced a speed of light salvation talk on him but chose to remain quiet.
He initiated some more conversation about general stuff but never ventured near spiritual issues again. After getting off the plane I shook his hand, asked his name again & wished him well. Walking out of the airport I was BUMMED. I missed another opportunity b/c I was a coward & couldn't come out & boldly say what I needed to.
Sitting in bed I shared my guilt & frustration w/ Erin. She quickly changed the tone of the conversation & informed me I did the best I could & forcing it upon him probably would have done more harm than good. I didn't believe her at first, but her wisdom (thank God I have a wife who many times gives a fresh & insightful perspective) helped me process that encounter & maybe she was right.
I shared this w/ our men's group at church this week & shared my disappointment & I was overwhelmed at their disbelief in my seemingly missed opportunity. They were pumped up & encouraged feeling as if I was sensitive to the Holy Spirit & not overbearing, leaving this young man w/ a positive encounter w/ a Christian who cared about him & respected him.
A seed was planted & now prayers are being offered for this man to encounter Jesus in some way. Could I have done more...maybe. But I laid the foundation for the next person who cares enough about his life to share Jesus w/ him. I was a compassionate friend who didn't show judgment or disrespect.
Be BOLD in sharing your faith. Fear not, God will give you the courage & the dialogue. At the same time, realize every seed you plant God may one day choose to water & sprout to life.
We had a good & interesting conversation about various things as I used every opportunity to interject about my faith & Christianity. I finally got bold & at one point asked what they believed about Jesus. He quickly became uncomfortable & as I pursued an answer he very politely & uncomfortably said he would rather not talk any more about it & that he had some work to do on his computer. I almost forced a speed of light salvation talk on him but chose to remain quiet.
He initiated some more conversation about general stuff but never ventured near spiritual issues again. After getting off the plane I shook his hand, asked his name again & wished him well. Walking out of the airport I was BUMMED. I missed another opportunity b/c I was a coward & couldn't come out & boldly say what I needed to.
Sitting in bed I shared my guilt & frustration w/ Erin. She quickly changed the tone of the conversation & informed me I did the best I could & forcing it upon him probably would have done more harm than good. I didn't believe her at first, but her wisdom (thank God I have a wife who many times gives a fresh & insightful perspective) helped me process that encounter & maybe she was right.
I shared this w/ our men's group at church this week & shared my disappointment & I was overwhelmed at their disbelief in my seemingly missed opportunity. They were pumped up & encouraged feeling as if I was sensitive to the Holy Spirit & not overbearing, leaving this young man w/ a positive encounter w/ a Christian who cared about him & respected him.
A seed was planted & now prayers are being offered for this man to encounter Jesus in some way. Could I have done more...maybe. But I laid the foundation for the next person who cares enough about his life to share Jesus w/ him. I was a compassionate friend who didn't show judgment or disrespect.
Be BOLD in sharing your faith. Fear not, God will give you the courage & the dialogue. At the same time, realize every seed you plant God may one day choose to water & sprout to life.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
7 Month Pics
Our little boy is growing up way too fast, but we're trying to soak up every moment. His hair is getting a shade darker & filling in a little more on the sides. He babbles more & more & we can see his motor skills improving each day. I hope in the next couple of days to post some pics we've taken of Cade over the last month or two
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Person God Wants Me to Be
The world tries to tell us what we should be. Our peers try to tell us what we should be. But what does God want us to be? He wants us to be fully devoted followers of Him. Over the next several weeks we'll be looking at a few key characteristics of what it takes to be the person God wants us to be. For those who want to better understand how to live the Christian life, this series is for you.Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter
What a great day! Our church service this morning had a dynamic spirit I'm not sure I've ever experienced in my ministry. The preaching was simple, but passionate. God filled my heart with a message a couple of months ago that overwhelmed me. I felt God gave me this message for Easter. Great crowd, incredible worship, & praying many lives are changed as a result.
We had a church Easter Bash on Saturday for the children which was a good success. Cade looked sweet in his Easter duds. We took his pics yesterday because of the weather today. I will post some pics, but check out Erin's blog to see more.
I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating our risen Savior Jesus Christ. May God give you victory over whatever circumstances you're facing in your life as a result of His overwhelming power over death.
We had a church Easter Bash on Saturday for the children which was a good success. Cade looked sweet in his Easter duds. We took his pics yesterday because of the weather today. I will post some pics, but check out Erin's blog to see more.
I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating our risen Savior Jesus Christ. May God give you victory over whatever circumstances you're facing in your life as a result of His overwhelming power over death.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Who's to Blame?
"Train a child in the way he should go, & when he is old he will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6)
I hear people all the time say things about the younger generation & children today behave worse, learn less, & basically aren't the same as kids were in the "good 'ole days" (whatever that means). I understand the pressures of culture, technology, & the busy-ness of life. It's a rough world we live in today, but who's to blame for how kids turn out when they grow up? I believe Scripture puts an immense responsibility on parents when it comes to children. I know, some will say no matter how good of an environment they provided for their children they still turned out screwed up or whatever.
Many times I tend to give kids the benefit of the doubt when their behavior is sub-par in my opinion. I always wonder what's going on at home or not going on at home that influences this behavior. Let me give you an example of what I experienced on Monday afternoon:
I was in Wal-mart (where it seems we spend a large part of our time & money) waiting on a prescription for Cade. I went back to sporting goods to get my LA fishing license & encountered a sad scene. A mother & another lady had 2 children w/ them & were looking at baseball gloves for the young boy (my guess is 6 or 7 yrs old). The mother got my attention when she was screaming & cussing at this little boy b/c he didn't know how to put the glove on right. If I repeated what she said on here I would probably lose my job, but trust me it was embarassing me & I was 20 ft away!
The little boy was crying & couldn't defend himself b/c the mother was berating him & throwing gloves around. At one point she said something like "hurry up before we get kicked out of wal-mart" (w/ a few choice words mixed in). People were staring & security was almost called before a male associate arrived & helped the boy try on a glove, figure out if he was right or left-handed, & provided the irate, stupid, irresponsible woman who doesn't deserve in my opinion to have the privilege of being a mom, with the right glove.
I walked away at that point & my blood was boiling. I honestly wanted to go help the boy but didn't for fear of getting beat up or sued or something, but more so I wanted to punch the woman in the face (sorry, God & I are working on the anger thing) & give her a piece of my mind. After walking away I prayed for them asking God to dramatically reveal himself to them.
Will this boy when he grows up have to take responsibility for his actions...absolutely. Can we as parents be perfect in raising our children...absolutely not (I'll admit I'm far from it, but I'm striving to do my best everyday w/ God's help). But if we as parents take responsibility NOW for the way we're raising, or not raising, our kids maybe the younger generation wouldn't be so "horrible" in society's eyes.
I hear people all the time say things about the younger generation & children today behave worse, learn less, & basically aren't the same as kids were in the "good 'ole days" (whatever that means). I understand the pressures of culture, technology, & the busy-ness of life. It's a rough world we live in today, but who's to blame for how kids turn out when they grow up? I believe Scripture puts an immense responsibility on parents when it comes to children. I know, some will say no matter how good of an environment they provided for their children they still turned out screwed up or whatever.
Many times I tend to give kids the benefit of the doubt when their behavior is sub-par in my opinion. I always wonder what's going on at home or not going on at home that influences this behavior. Let me give you an example of what I experienced on Monday afternoon:
I was in Wal-mart (where it seems we spend a large part of our time & money) waiting on a prescription for Cade. I went back to sporting goods to get my LA fishing license & encountered a sad scene. A mother & another lady had 2 children w/ them & were looking at baseball gloves for the young boy (my guess is 6 or 7 yrs old). The mother got my attention when she was screaming & cussing at this little boy b/c he didn't know how to put the glove on right. If I repeated what she said on here I would probably lose my job, but trust me it was embarassing me & I was 20 ft away!
The little boy was crying & couldn't defend himself b/c the mother was berating him & throwing gloves around. At one point she said something like "hurry up before we get kicked out of wal-mart" (w/ a few choice words mixed in). People were staring & security was almost called before a male associate arrived & helped the boy try on a glove, figure out if he was right or left-handed, & provided the irate, stupid, irresponsible woman who doesn't deserve in my opinion to have the privilege of being a mom, with the right glove.
I walked away at that point & my blood was boiling. I honestly wanted to go help the boy but didn't for fear of getting beat up or sued or something, but more so I wanted to punch the woman in the face (sorry, God & I are working on the anger thing) & give her a piece of my mind. After walking away I prayed for them asking God to dramatically reveal himself to them.
Will this boy when he grows up have to take responsibility for his actions...absolutely. Can we as parents be perfect in raising our children...absolutely not (I'll admit I'm far from it, but I'm striving to do my best everyday w/ God's help). But if we as parents take responsibility NOW for the way we're raising, or not raising, our kids maybe the younger generation wouldn't be so "horrible" in society's eyes.
Monday, March 23, 2009
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