Holy Spirit, Mold Me

I am so blessed by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  The past 4 Sundays, we have been on a journey of learning about the power of the Holy Spirit and how He works to fill our lives.  Today, we studied how to have the molding of the spirit in our lives.

As I reflect on this mornings message and scripture, I am sitting here in awe of just how mighty our God is to give us the amazing opportunity to have the Holy Spirit in our lives.

"Lord, I pray that you would allow the Holy Spirit to captivate and control our family each and every day.  I beg you to do mighty things in us and thru us.  Lord, mold us to be all you desire for us to be.  Give us the freshness of your spirit everyday."

God's Word Is Right On Time

This morning while doing our family devotion before Luke and Anna Brooke went to school, we were reading Psalm 18.  Since today is the 18th day of school, it was the appointed Psalm for the day.  As we were reading, the kids noticed that it spoke about the fact that we are the apple of God's eye.  It was so cool to also realize that Luke's teacher requested for his class to all bring apples to class today.  I thought is was so cool that God gave us this verse this morning and now as Luke looks at his apple today, he can remember that he is the apple of God's eye. 

WOW God, your word is always right on time for our need.  Thank you LORD.

The Triumphant Church

Several months ago, God touched my heart about the importance of having healthy churches.  As I began to study the Bible concerning church health, God continued to draw me back to the wonderful and powerful book of First Corinthians. 

This coming Sunday evening, we will begin a new series entitled, "The Triumphant Church."  Please join us as we embark upon this journey together.  I trust that God will use Paul's wisdom and advice of correction to challenge each of us in our personal walk and in our personal role in His church.  I am excited about what God will teach me and I am praying the same for you.

For those of you who are serving in AWANA, I would encourage you to order the DVD's for each Sunday night so that you can join us on this journey. I can not wait to see how God moves in our midst as we seek His triumph together as a family.

I love you and can't wait to see you on Sunday.

God's Blessings

Today, after Laura and our youngest two kids finished preschool, we had the opportunity to have lunch with an amazing couple in our church.  As we sat around the table and enjoyed fellowship with them, I thought about how God blesses us.  His blessings come in so many ways, but one way they come is by the friendships he provides for us. 

As I think of the many friends that I am blessed to have, I can not help but to thank God for those that he uses constantly in my life to bring me closer to Him.  Today, the friends that he allowed me to be with for a short few minutes over lunch are true portraits of what I hope to become in my walk with God in the days ahead.

Thank you JESUS for friends that we can love and respect as models for the Kingdom of God.

Our First Night of the AWANA year @ Southside

When our family came to Southside, there were hardly any children in our church.  In fact there was only one other child in the preschool department.  Laura and I knew that we had a challenge on our hands but that God could revitalize this ministry with preschoolers, children and youth.  With this hope, God began to put a vision in our heart to start AWANA since it had been so successful at our previous church.

We started AWANA and God used it to really develop outreach and growth into the ministry at Southside.  After the first year, God raised up a person in our church to take this ministry over and they have done an incredible job. Now after a few years of growing and developing this ministry, God has raised up several of our new young families to work in AWANA.  It really blessed my heart on Sunday night as I walked into the opening AWANA rally to find so many young adults and children. (GO GOD)

On Sunday night, we began our new AWANA year and God proved faithful with a record attendance.  It really blessed my heart to see just how far God has brought us from our first AWANA night several years ago with only 6 children on that first night. As I looked around on Sunday night, my heart began to weep with joy to see just how many young families God has brought us who are now a vibrant part of our ministry.

Thank you to all of you who sacrifice, serve and help to make this important evangelism and discipleship ministry such a blessing to the families in our church and to our community.  Your pastor is eternally grateful.

Sarah Belle and Paul on their first morning of preschool

Here is a picture of our 2 preschoolers on there first morning of preschool.  They were so excited about getting started.  It was hard for them to wait 2 weeks after there siblings started school.  we are so proud of Sarah Belle and Paul.

Remembering 9/11

On our way home tonight, one of our children asked why all of the flags were at half-staff.  I answered the question in the best way I could with language that they could understand.  After they posed that question, my mind began to go back to the dreadful day 9 years ago when our country faced such a terrible terrorist attack.  Like most of you, I will never forget where I was and the somber feeling in my soul. Tonight, my heart is reflecting on the families of those who were killed and the many people that have sacrificed their lives to protect our freedom.  I am proud to be a Christian and I am proud to be an American.  With this type of pride in my heart, I pray that I will never forget the hardship that so many have endured so that I can enjoy my life as a Christian and American.