Clarity

It's interesting how one can experience clarity in their lives - another person's story - the Bible - a song - etc. Often it just appears, and sometimes it takes a great deal of thought. I used to be one of those people who saw everything in absolutes - don't get me wrong I still have a lot of strongly held opinion and surety about specific theology(the deity of Christ, etc.) and ideology, but I used to have absolutes about everything and that got me into a lot of trouble. An example would be thinking that x band was the greatest band in the world and anyone that didn't think the same was a moron - just as an example.

But back to clarity - so recently I have really felt the Lord speaking to me about my life, about my future; gaining clarity on the flow of my life and the import of what God has called me to do in His kingdom and gifted me for in this world. 40 and still gaining clarity - how do you like that! This clarity has really helped me set some priorities and relax about stuff that isn't in my control or that I don't have to worry about or even have influence over. But it has also focused my approach to work, family and God. I just think it is so cool how God is continually at work in our lives.

To other things - for those of you who haven't figured this out yet - I love music and particularly worship music and I love to play the guitar - so on Sunday I get to play in our P&W band after a long hiatus - excited and nervous about it at the same time - pray for me.

Almost finally(feel like my Dad in a sermon close now) LOST is frustrating me to no end - so last week we were supposed to get 3 big answers - I counted one - anyone out there know what the other two - btw - my one is that the others live on another island but work on the one that we have been seeing. Here are the shows that I watch - Survivor, Lost, 24, The Office, Heroes, and Studio 60.

Finally, I appreciate your prayers as I prepare for an upcoming series in March that will deal with holiness - it's called My Secret.

Talk at you next week.

Tough Questions Final

So we finished our TQ series last Sunday - overall - it was a success - people engaging their faith, asking some tough questions - people accepting Christ - good stuff.

Some points to think about

1. A better question than why is what - in other words not why is this happening, but what can i learn from this experience - what is God trying to teach me - I know that is a tough one, but it is an important question to start asking

2. We don't get all the answers, but we get the ones that matter most - the confidence and assurance we have that God created us .Loves us and Redeems us helps us live strong in this life

3. God cares and He is constantly at work in our lives

On another front - Pray for me - I will be preaching a 3 week series in March that deals with holiness, repentance and recovery

Finally, any lost watchers out there - they tell us next week we get 3 big answers - we will see about that - and 24 was pretty good this week - but that guy getting drilled - ouch!

Talk at you soon

Weekend

I love weekends - first, a big part of our church life is focused on our service on Sunday and it is always great to get together and worship the Lord together. But I also love the laid back aspect of some weekends - usually there are about 10 hours of work for me per weekend, but the pace is just different - like this morning - got up - prayed - read the paper - worked out about 10am - grabbed some starbucks and an omelete and now at the office - different pace than my normal days - all of us need a pace adjustment each week - a day or period of rest that allows us to recharge and prepare for the next week...

BTW - any 24, Lost, Heroes watchers out there - what is going on with these shows - every one of them is grinding to a halt - hopefully they can get going here soon....

Anyway - last week - we dealt with what happens when we die - talked about heaven and hell - there is a great Crowder song that says everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die - there is a truth there - but if you are already a believer(someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord) - then remember that death is a reality -hell is a real place and we don't want anybody to go there - if you don't know what I'm talking about but are interested - you could email me and I would love to share what I'm talking about with you or just go to a church this weekend and ask somebody..

Have a great weekend - enjoy some down time...

Blown Forecast

So last night we were supposed to get some snow and then icy conditions. What happened? Forecasters get it wrong all the time - you see the same thing in sports - half the people saying the colts will win and then the other half saying the bears will win - same thing in life - blown forecasts, people with prognostications getting it wrong - isn't it great that we have some anchor in our lives - something true - constant - that's what God is to me - I don't have to worry about the forecast of whether God is going to love me or not - He just does.

We are in the middle of our series "Tough Questions" and things are going great - last week Pastor Jay dealt with why do bad things happen to good people - hearing some great response from that message - dealing with the whole problem of pain/suffering etc. This week we are going to tackle what happens when we die - check back next week to see how it went.

My family went skiing last weekend in Snowshoe, WV - highly recommend if you like to ski - my kids and I went snowboarding during some of the time and that was cool, but I really like skiing - funny thing -so I ski with my ipod shuffle on and I'm on a ski lift and this guy just starts ranting about people on the slopes with their music on - and I'm like huh, excuse me I can't hear you i've got my ipod on - i'm sure i made his day...:)

Been in a little bit of a melancholy mood this past week - so songs like everybody hurts by REM are getting played but then i come back to Rescue which is a great song by desperation band.

OK gotta go - big weekend ahead.