P.J. is 5!

So yesterday the baby in our family turned 5 years old. What did she want for her birthday? She basically asked for 2 main things, a party and a horse. Do you know how disappointing it is to tell her we can't afford, house or care for a horse? She loves horses, they are all over her room, the dominate her pictures she colors and they have taken over our house(and yes I know there are far worse things little girls get in to). Well, Tara had to work every night this week and will have to until Monday so we will try to plan something for next week.
Yesterday, P.J. got up and helped Tara make her own birthday cake which was a big deal. She was so excited and proud that she had made her own cake(not to mention she enjoyed a whole lot of the batter while making it). Then when I got off work yesterday she opened some presents and we sang Happy Birthday to her while she blew out the candles on her cake. She stopped half way through opening presents and went into this list of people who needed to be there to watch her open her presents and eat her cake. I just thought it was neat that her birthday in the purest form is about having her friends and family there with her to enjoy the occasion. She didn't mention anything about not getting many presents, or wanting everyone else to bring her more presents, she just wanted everyone there.
After Tara went to work, I took her next door and she opened a few presents from my parents. Then, Alexa and I took her out to dinner at Burger King(what a cheap date). It was a wonderful birthday in her eyes, I felt like I had somewhat let her down in not having a big party and not being able to deliver a horsy! She is however, going to get to go ride a horse as soon as my boss's foot heals she is going to take her riding which was one of the original birthday plans that got shuffled back because of circumstances out of anyone's control.
A few presents, a home made cake and a trip to Burger King. Not usually the formula for a great birthday, but for our little "bulldozer" it was just what she needed.
Have a great weekend and cross your fingers there's no rain Saturday. THis Pastor needs to go do some racing!

Youth

Last night we kicked off our youth series on making God famous with our lives. The world tells us to do the opposite, use what you have in God to make yourself famous. We talked about 3 little words we have to remove from our vocabulary(especially teenagers). Those words are I am only. In the first chapter of Jeremiah, Jeremiah is confronted by God and told that he is going to be a great prophet and that God had great plans for him before he was even knit together in his mother's womb. Jeremiah's response was, I am only a child. Later in the chapter God physically removed those words from the mouth of Jeremiah and he went on to be one of the greatest prophets of the Bible. What took him to that point was the very second he allowed God to remove, I am only, from his vocabulary. So then, I ask you, how often do you use those 3 words or ones similar to them. Things like: I'm only a kid, a teenager, one person, a secretary, mechanic, custodian, grandparent, etc., etc......
We have to get out of excuse mode before we can be used by God. I know I already shared my newfound favorite baseball player Josh Hamilton. He plays for the Texas Rangers now but I want you to read his article that appeared in ESPN the magazine a few years ago. It's awesome to see how he got rid of those 3 little words, and became a walking testimony of God's power in our lives. He states several times that his story isn't about baseball, no one even talks baseball with him in passing conversation. It's about hsi battles with addiction, life and most importantly the power of Jesus Christ to overcome those things in his life.
Here's teh link if you get a chance to read it :http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2926447
You can cut it and paste it in your browser.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Yay!!!

So it's official, I put the nose back on my car. I put everything back together and even got to load it on the trailer and wash it last night. P.J. rinsed(me and the car) while I washed and it is ready to roll this coming Saturday. I'm so excited just to go to the track and ride around will be a thrill for me after such a long time down. It was fun to crank the car up and put it on the trailer.
It's amazing the things we take for granted. The things you realize you value and have and then you're without them for a small or large amount of time and you miss them greatly. Like at camp last week, I enjoyed every second of it, but I missed goodnight kisses, hugs and hi-fives from the girls. I cash in on those every night and they are much more valuable since I went a whole week without them.
I must confess I am still flying high from this past SUnday. Last week was a real treat to be a part of God changing lives right in front of my face was great, but Sunday was the real deal for me. To see a teenager stand in front of a whole congregation and share what God was doing in his life was amazing. To see how everyone was moved and "shaken" was extra special in the life of this pastor for sure. It's no small secret that I am working through the book of Acts with no big plan other than sharing the book expositorily through sermons with the body at Freedom. But, again we were in the middle of chapter 4 where Peter and John were released from jail and they ran immediately back to the believers. When they got there the whole body raised their voices in prayer it says and then the whole place they were in was shaken. It's my belief that if we get the body praying together we will continue to walk out of worship on Sunday mornings shook up and moved by God and the Holy Spirit. So continue to pray for Freedom, it's ministries and especially our young people. Young people have been at the heart of every revival there has ever been great or small. It's through them I believe God is preparing to start another great revival in America and I don't think anyone would say we don't need it right now!
Have a great day and God Bless!

Josh Hamilton

Last night I sat in front of the television in amazement. Here stood a young man, who had tattooes from head to toe. He had sat out of baseball completely for 2 years after having been teh number one baseball prospect in the United States some 10 years ago. Josh Hamilton hit the ball like no one else in the park last night. He's a screw up, a guy who made a lot of mistakes the world would say of him. But God saw a greater plan. He had an audience eating out of his hand last night as he hit 30 homeruns in one round of the homerun derby. It's an all time record for any hitter, and he did it with the greatest of ease. And when he was through he gave all the glory to God. He did it in a way to show us that the world's mess ups are God's greatest conquerors many times. Josh Hamilton found Christ and returned to baseball, he's one of the best hitters in all of baseball and he's doing it knowing that every game, every swing is a second chance given to him by God's mercy and grace. What an amazing testimony of someone who wants the whole world to know his mistakes, his shortcomings and show the world the only way to overcome it is through the power of Jesus Christ!
He may not appear to be humble in the world's eyes as he said he was going to win, and hit the ball out of the building and missed doing so by about 10 feet. But, in God's eyes I think he has got it right. True humility is looking in the mirror and assessing ourselves in light of God's holiness and our sinfulness. I think Josh Hamilon is the perfect example of someone who sees himself as the sinner that he is, and finds no pride in that whatsoever, but in turn gives God the glory for revealing such things to him.
have a great day and thanks for reading!

wow, all I can say is wow!

Last week was a great week at camp. THe most productive week I've spent in quite some time. I saw lives changed for the good, and for the long haul last week. I saw people talking about their weaknesses and their struggles openly with other teenagers and a group become unified like I've never seen before.
And then there's yesterday. I had prepared what I thought was a decent sermon and Aaron did a great job with the music but we got humbled quickly. During small group last week I asked the group to plan to share everything they were feeling and had experienced through the past week and then I told them I needed one person to share it this Sunday leaving the rest an extra week to share the following week. One hand went up immediately, possibly before I had finished the sentence and it was Ethan Gumble. I thought he must have a question about what I had just said, then I realized he said, "I got it". Meaning he wanted to do it. So I got through the sermon, and the invitation and turned things over to him. And he shook the place, tears, and joy filled the entire sanctuary as he shared how God was working in his life over the past few weeks and how he had nailed things down last week. It was amazing and I look so forward to hearing from the rest of the gang next Sunday.
We had some close friends of mine Curt and Ashley Banks join the church yesterday which really made the morning a homerun from every angle for our ministries.
Have a great day and plan to be at our youth service next Sunday if you can!