Love my family...especially my wife...
Really happy about where I am in life right now...
Spring has excited me this year more than any other I think...
Can't wait to be debt free...
Grass cutting season is here!! Yippee!!...
Got about 10 projects going right now and none of them are done...but they will be soon...
Feeling physically fitter than I have in weeks...(back problems stemming from doing something stupid when I was a kid)
Happy with my job...really just thankful to have one...
SPRING IS HERE!!!
Have I mentioned how excited I am that spring is in full bloom...
My yard looks great if I do say so myself...
Went and got chickens with my brother this week...fresh eggs...
Got stranded at Target today for about an hour thanks to my little girl...
Love the fact that I have 3 day weekends right now...
Tracy is a fitness freak right now...me, not so much...
It's SPRINGTIME!!!!!!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
What I think.........
Ok, so here it goes. In light of the events that have transpired over the last few days, I have held my tongue, but no more. Truthfully the past few days have been hard, very hard for myself as well as the people at Revolution. I have gone through every emotion I can think of, and now I'm ready to move beyond all that. You see, God has spoken to me today more vividly than I can remember in a long time, and I would like to share it with you.
First and foremost, what happened, happened for a reason. We do not know how or why, and we may question God, but the fact is He is in control. The biggest thing is, it's in the past. We can't fix it. We can't change it. So why the hell would we dwell on it. It's time to suck it up and move on. I consider Gary a good friend, and hate how everything has gone down, but the fact remains that Revolution was started to create an environment to reach those far from God, and that has not changed! We need to move on from this, starting now. Everyday people are dying and going to hell, and we need to do all we can to prevent that from happening, and we can't do that sitting around moping about what was. We need to now focus on what is to come. This is how I suggest we do it.
Back when I was growing up I was heavily involved in the martial arts for about 7 years. During this time I progressed as most students would, and was taught a series of punches, strikes, and blocks. I want to focus on the blocks. You see for 5 of those 7 years I was told that blocks were for defense. During my 6th year, I was told that everything I knew about the martial arts was wrong. You see, the martial arts has no known defensive blocks. Everything is offensive. Everything. Why I started thinking about this I'll never know, but then I got to thinking about what happened, and wondering how defenses were lowered, then it hit me. God doesn't want us to be on the defensive. Nope, not at all. Then I got to thinking about Ephesians 6:10-18. The armor of God. Just listening to how it is laid down in these verses astounds me. I've always been told that it's these verses that tell us to keep our defenses up, but God showed me differently today. You see, these verses aren't about a person putting up their defenses. Far from it, these verses are about a man fixing to go and kick the devil, satan himself and all his demons square in the nuts. These verses are about a man that is preparing for a spiritual battle, and he is preparing himself to retaliate against all the attacks satan can throw at him. This is where we are Revolution, the enemy is in the camp, and my question is, are we gonna cower in the corner with our "defenses" up, our are we gonna arm ourselves, and kick satan's ASS???? I'm all for option 2!
First and foremost, what happened, happened for a reason. We do not know how or why, and we may question God, but the fact is He is in control. The biggest thing is, it's in the past. We can't fix it. We can't change it. So why the hell would we dwell on it. It's time to suck it up and move on. I consider Gary a good friend, and hate how everything has gone down, but the fact remains that Revolution was started to create an environment to reach those far from God, and that has not changed! We need to move on from this, starting now. Everyday people are dying and going to hell, and we need to do all we can to prevent that from happening, and we can't do that sitting around moping about what was. We need to now focus on what is to come. This is how I suggest we do it.
Back when I was growing up I was heavily involved in the martial arts for about 7 years. During this time I progressed as most students would, and was taught a series of punches, strikes, and blocks. I want to focus on the blocks. You see for 5 of those 7 years I was told that blocks were for defense. During my 6th year, I was told that everything I knew about the martial arts was wrong. You see, the martial arts has no known defensive blocks. Everything is offensive. Everything. Why I started thinking about this I'll never know, but then I got to thinking about what happened, and wondering how defenses were lowered, then it hit me. God doesn't want us to be on the defensive. Nope, not at all. Then I got to thinking about Ephesians 6:10-18. The armor of God. Just listening to how it is laid down in these verses astounds me. I've always been told that it's these verses that tell us to keep our defenses up, but God showed me differently today. You see, these verses aren't about a person putting up their defenses. Far from it, these verses are about a man fixing to go and kick the devil, satan himself and all his demons square in the nuts. These verses are about a man that is preparing for a spiritual battle, and he is preparing himself to retaliate against all the attacks satan can throw at him. This is where we are Revolution, the enemy is in the camp, and my question is, are we gonna cower in the corner with our "defenses" up, our are we gonna arm ourselves, and kick satan's ASS???? I'm all for option 2!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
This week....
I have been just chillin' with my wife this weekend, catching up on some things. This week, on the sixth, we will celebrate our 14th, yep our 14th wedding anniversary. I can't believe she has put up with me this long, and I only pray she will at least give me another 14. I have been thinking about her alot lately. Mainly wondering why she puts up with a bufoon like me, and I am just so thankful she is my better half. Tracy, thank you for 14 wonderful years!! I LOVE YOU!!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Some simple things.
So far I have been to Unleash three times. Each and every year, I get my world rocked by the leadership and people at NewSpring, but this year, I tried to get in the right mind before I went. I guess the inspiration behind this is the fact that John Maxwell's name has been dropped in Twitterland a few times this month, and with that, it has made me start to think about my role in life, and the areas I need to be shining as a leader.
#1 Am I being all the leader my family needs me to be?
I have always, even before attending Revolution, thought that my family should be at the top of my list, second only to God. (let me clarify family: my wife and children, in that order) I have seen all to many times, failures in the church, because a pastor has allowed his ministry to control his life, while his family is left by the wayside. When I first started my ministry, I had a good friend tell me this, and I quote "Joe, if you lose your family, you've lost your ministry." Now, I can't say I have always put this into practice, and early in my ministry I made some huge mistakes, but since attending Revolution I have learned one thing. How to say, no. You see, it took me several years, but I finally figured out, that a church will let you do as much as you want to, and I never said no, so I was constantly involved in everything. This put a huge strain on my marriage, and took away precious time with my kids. I think I did this, because I wanted to make a huge impact, but I don't believe I was very effective. This is what I have learned. If you focus solely on what God has called you to do, you can make a greater impact, with less effort. That said, I will now answer the question at hand. I could do better. I have my hang ups and problems just like everyone else. One area I feel I need to improve is my quiet time with God. No excuses, I have just let this area in my life slip. Another area I need to improve on is spending more one on one time with my bride. Just as Jesus desires to spend more time with his bride the church, since my trip to Kentucky, I have wanted to spend more time just loving on Tracy. As far as my children, I have tried to be a Godly example in their lives. I want them to have a relationship with God, better than my own. If God calls them, I want them to heed His call without question. Ultimately, I want to be a husband that makes my wife proud, and a father my children aren't ashamed to tell their friends about.
#2 Am I being all the leader God wants me to be in His church?
Big question, huh? I think so. You see, Perry Noble laid this on us last week. He said that he preached every sermon as if it were his last. Now that was awesome in and of itself, but his reason why was even better. He said that when he died and stood in front of God that he knew he would be accountable for everything he said and did while leading NewSpring, and he didn't want to go one second knowing that he had held something back. That spoke to me more than anything has in a long time. I have always had a desire to be a man after God's own heart, just like King David, I just don't think I have had much success up to this point. The fact is I have let some things hinder me from being all that God wants me to be. After what Perry said, I will not hold anything back, and I think it showed last night at Uprising. I have the privilage of leading the High School Guys small group, and last night was the best session so far. Some were opening up about things, and we had an awesome time just with each other and God. I also want to apply this philosophy in Planet Shakers. To say I was jacked up yesterday during first service, would be an understatement. I was bouncing off the walls, I could feel it, the kids could feel it, even the volunteers could feel it. I want the kids, young and old to know that having a relationship with God is the most exciting thing they will ever do. So to answer the question, not yet, but I will be!
#1 Am I being all the leader my family needs me to be?
I have always, even before attending Revolution, thought that my family should be at the top of my list, second only to God. (let me clarify family: my wife and children, in that order) I have seen all to many times, failures in the church, because a pastor has allowed his ministry to control his life, while his family is left by the wayside. When I first started my ministry, I had a good friend tell me this, and I quote "Joe, if you lose your family, you've lost your ministry." Now, I can't say I have always put this into practice, and early in my ministry I made some huge mistakes, but since attending Revolution I have learned one thing. How to say, no. You see, it took me several years, but I finally figured out, that a church will let you do as much as you want to, and I never said no, so I was constantly involved in everything. This put a huge strain on my marriage, and took away precious time with my kids. I think I did this, because I wanted to make a huge impact, but I don't believe I was very effective. This is what I have learned. If you focus solely on what God has called you to do, you can make a greater impact, with less effort. That said, I will now answer the question at hand. I could do better. I have my hang ups and problems just like everyone else. One area I feel I need to improve is my quiet time with God. No excuses, I have just let this area in my life slip. Another area I need to improve on is spending more one on one time with my bride. Just as Jesus desires to spend more time with his bride the church, since my trip to Kentucky, I have wanted to spend more time just loving on Tracy. As far as my children, I have tried to be a Godly example in their lives. I want them to have a relationship with God, better than my own. If God calls them, I want them to heed His call without question. Ultimately, I want to be a husband that makes my wife proud, and a father my children aren't ashamed to tell their friends about.
#2 Am I being all the leader God wants me to be in His church?
Big question, huh? I think so. You see, Perry Noble laid this on us last week. He said that he preached every sermon as if it were his last. Now that was awesome in and of itself, but his reason why was even better. He said that when he died and stood in front of God that he knew he would be accountable for everything he said and did while leading NewSpring, and he didn't want to go one second knowing that he had held something back. That spoke to me more than anything has in a long time. I have always had a desire to be a man after God's own heart, just like King David, I just don't think I have had much success up to this point. The fact is I have let some things hinder me from being all that God wants me to be. After what Perry said, I will not hold anything back, and I think it showed last night at Uprising. I have the privilage of leading the High School Guys small group, and last night was the best session so far. Some were opening up about things, and we had an awesome time just with each other and God. I also want to apply this philosophy in Planet Shakers. To say I was jacked up yesterday during first service, would be an understatement. I was bouncing off the walls, I could feel it, the kids could feel it, even the volunteers could feel it. I want the kids, young and old to know that having a relationship with God is the most exciting thing they will ever do. So to answer the question, not yet, but I will be!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Haven't done this in a while.
Ok, so I'm going to attempt to blog again. Yes twitter has killed my blog, but I will do my very best to revive it. Stay posted, and I will do my best to stay posting!!
Friday, June 29, 2007
The First Night
Well I made it through the first night of Project Fill "it" Up, and I have learned one valuable lesson. DO NOT take high school aged boys to Starbucks at 9pm if you want to go to bed before midnight. We went for our outside game last night, and a thunderstorm rolled in so my idea was to go hang at Starbucks, great idea, wrong time. We then rushed home to watch the original Star Wars Episode 4. We have been through 2 services so far, and things are going great. Can't wait to see what God has in store for us later on tonight and tomorrow!!!!!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Trying to get better....
I know it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post, and man have things gotten crazy. 2 weeks ago when I went to Elevation church, I had thought that it was the most physically, spiritually, emotionally trying week I had ever experienced. I was trying to sell my house, and the home inspector the buyers had hired came back with some bogus stuff, to which I had to hire a certified engineer to refute. (it amazes me how much stock people place into someone who goes to take a one day class and a test to get certified to inspect homes). Never the less, my guy came through and we close on the deal in 2 days. Also that week I got sick, and without going into too much detail, I was selling Buick's to Ralph on the way home from Elevation. On top of all that I am trying to figure out the direction God is leading me into, and Satan is really on my back.
That was probably one of the worst weeks of my life, until this week. Briefly, moving sucks and we are addressing some family issues, and I need much prayer. I know God's word says that He will never allow Satan to put anything on us we can't handle through the power of the Holy Spirit, but man is it tough. On a positive note though, our youth mini-camp, starts tomorrow, and I am excited about what God is gonna do there, and I am gonna get to preach the Friday night message. Haven't got to do that in several months (over 6) and God has given me a great message on His Guidance. I love to preach, and teach, and am really excited about this opportunity. Well anyways if you are reading this, just keep me and my family in your prayers as we work this crap out. PEACE!!
That was probably one of the worst weeks of my life, until this week. Briefly, moving sucks and we are addressing some family issues, and I need much prayer. I know God's word says that He will never allow Satan to put anything on us we can't handle through the power of the Holy Spirit, but man is it tough. On a positive note though, our youth mini-camp, starts tomorrow, and I am excited about what God is gonna do there, and I am gonna get to preach the Friday night message. Haven't got to do that in several months (over 6) and God has given me a great message on His Guidance. I love to preach, and teach, and am really excited about this opportunity. Well anyways if you are reading this, just keep me and my family in your prayers as we work this crap out. PEACE!!
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