I'm getting old

On Monday I was mowing the grass, which is always an adventure. Some people I hear have those flat yards without any "surprises." Well, I don't have one of those. I will say though, it is looking more like a yard. I was trying to mow in a place where no riding lawn mower had gone before, and well I got stuck on a tree stump. Being the big tough guy that I am, I tried to lift off the mower off the stump with my bare hands. Well, as I was lifting...ouch...pain....back...sore...hurting...pain... And now it is Thursday, still hurting. Got to admit Emu cream helps a lot. Just thought I would share that with all of you out there in the world wide blog.

Ministry is Messy

The one thing that I don't like about the latest book or conference on how to do ministry is that often they do not mention how messy ministry can be.
Let me explain what I mean about ministry being messy. You can not get involved in people's lives and expect everything to be neat and tidy. It doesn't work. The more you get to know people the more you realize that they have issues too. The more you get to know people the more you realize that sometimes your set of standards don't apply. My dad has a quote hanging up in his office that has caused more then one person to get upset, but it is so true. "People make rules to prevent from making decisions." We do that in ministry all the time. But maybe instead of making rules, we should rely on our gut. Examine every case on a person by person basis. Some would argue that is not fair. That might be true, but who ever said life was fair.
When you get down to ministering to people, when you get involved in their lives, it is going to get messy. It is not a nice pretty set of rules to follow. It is pure messiness. Don't you think it got messy when Jesus was hanging out with the women at the well, or when his disciples were eating on the Sabbath? Jesus' ministry was messy. If you want to make a difference, be prepared to get messy.

I'm loving it right now

I have to admit, I like fall. Latley it feels like fall. As I write this I am sitting in a long-sleeved shirt, under a blanket. The air feels crisp. I actually didn't sweat too much today. That is nice. And now in a couple of minutes or so I am off to Brusters Ice Cream to get a hot apple dumpling. Yumm! Oh, I cannot forget - the Steelers won (didn't like those jerseys though). But man I like the fall, like the weather, like the football, like the food! Hope you enjoy it too!

Staying Power

Something that I have noticed in my life, and I think a lot of this comes from my Dad. The power of staying, staying the course, to invest your life fully in someone. Can I be frank for a second? I think that the reason most businesses, churches, ministries fail is lack of staying power. You all know what I am talking about. Everybody is super excited about something, and get all fired up, you know 'they are going to change the world' type attitude. Then they begin, and it seems like everything is going great. Then inevitably just like everything else, something goes wrong. Sure we might say something like "God is telling me to move on." I wonder if sometimes we use that as an excuse to quit, an excuse to give up, an excuse to fail. I don't really care where you stand on the War in Iraq. What you have to admire is George Bush's staying power. Politically he could gain a lot by getting out of there. But he feels he is doing the right thing and there is nothing that is going to stop him from doing it. I hope that is how you approach something God has called you to do. I guarantee you will experience a lot of setbacks, possible failures, possible heart aches. God will help you through it. He will be with you. Easy? No. But trust me, it is worth it in the end

What are you known for?

It hit me really hard today. If I ask you the list "what is the church against?" how long would your list be? How many things could you name. Go ahead do it. Come back in a couple of minutes.

OK. Now that it has been a couple of minutes, I want to ask you "what is the church for?" Go. How long is your list this time?

My guess is that unfortunately the "against" list was a lot longer and a lot easier to come up with. That is a challenge for me. I want the world to know what I am for. That I am for Jesus, that I am about showing the love of Christ, that I am for being honest and genuine. Stuff like that. That does not mean that there are not things that I am against. It is that I want to be known for what I am for rather then what I am against. I think that is what made Jesus so different. If I asked you what he was against, the only thing I could think of is hypocritical Pharisees.

I challenge you to be a person who is known for what they are for. It is way too easy to be known as person who is against everything. But can you be known for what you are for?

My "Strange" Night

Tonight was well.......strange. Guess what I did? Nothing! It was strange. I guess "nothing" is not really true. But we ate supper, and then well...just hung out. It was wierd. I don't think we have had just one of those "do nothing" nights in a long time. Would I want to do it everynight? Probably not. But tonight, it was really nice. It was, well, ...legendary!

Poster for Chase the Lion

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Trying not to get ahead of myself

Right now my head is spinning. I am really working hard at keeping up with our whole 1 Samuel series. It has been a blast. It has made me have to search for a lot of answers. Made me scratch my head many times and want to rip out my hair. But I think it is has really been a good learning experience for all.
I am also getting ready for the "Chase the Lion" series that we are starting Sept. 30th. Really looking forward to creating a church full of lion chasers. It is going to be well...legendary.
This ministry stuff is so exciting. It is so much fun. Never ending (well...until Jesus come back anyways). In the mean time, I will continue to try not to get a head of myself too much.

Poison Ivy

Somehow I have poison Ivy. This time it is not that bad, just a couple of spots on my arm. Other times I have had it a lot worse. I don't like poison ivy. It is a pain. I wonder why someone has not created a vaccine for it yet. But anyhow, don't worry, I don't think it is going to kill me. I will probably be able to keep on living. The world has not come to an end, and this is not the beginning of the great tribulation. But I just wanted a little sympathy :)

Sunday Morning Nervousness

So I am right now getting ready for Sunday morning. It is always exciting when you have put that much work into it. I figured out the other week or so that for every one minute of the gathering, there is one hour of preparation. Pretty amazing. Today I have two things that are making me a little nervous. One I mentioned earlier about having to deal with occult-like activities. It's not exactly my favorite thing, but it is in the Bible, so I have to deal with it.
The other thing that has me slightly on edge is that we are using some new technology today. I am all for using whatever resources we have available to communicate the greatest message. Today we are using some new stuff. Now rest assured I have tried it, and it worked! Of course it worked at 8:00. Now there are still two hours for something to go wrong. :) Oh well, I guess that is just the way it goes. I am not depending on technology. I am depending on God! He will get us through one way or another. He is good like that.