This is a post for props to our praise band at LEAD Ministries. Kyle has done a fantastic job with these kids and getting them to unlock the potential inside them. This was their first non-praise song with the group. They did a great job. I look forward to seeing and hearing more from them as they expand their library of music.

Upacking Your Bags - Cure for the Common Life

I love to hike. I really do. I don't do it as much as I would like but I try to as much as possible. Usually my family goes hiking on top of Mt. Eagle in TN. The hike is 2.5 miles in and out (5 miles round trip). I love this trip. The hike isn't too hard, the scenery is beautiful. There are streams and little creeks that flow, it goes along the ridge of a mountain, so you are overlooking more trees.

I remember I did this trip with some friends of mine. The trip itself was great but between the 3 of us, we brought way too much stuff. Our bags were pretty full and we only needed half of our stuff, but for some reason we brought it anyways. As I continue to go through the Max Lucado book "Cure for the Common Life", I realize that my bags were packed by God, and everything that is in them, is everything that I need to do what He has called me to. I don't have to carry around any junk with me, because He knows my purpose and has packaged me with the specific skill set to do that purpose. He delights in me doing what He has called me to do.

Last night I challenged my students to find their part in God STORY. In his book, Max looks at STORY like this:
S - What are my strengths? What am I good at, like to do?
T - What are my topics? What do I like to work with?
O - What are my optimal conditions? Do I work well under pressure or when things are slow?
R - What are my relationship? How do I relate to people? Am I an extrovert or introvert?
Y - Yes! What happens when they all come together.

Each of us has a place. Like puzzles pieces, we all fit into God's great story. He has prepackaged each of us to accomplish a goal for Him. Once we find our place, life is much better. Moses and Paul started their lives using their gifts for something other than God's plan, but God captured them and set them straight. Each man had a purpose and the gifts God gave them helped them to accomplish that. Moses lead God's people away from the Pharaoh he grew up with, and Paul went from being the church's biggest enemy to being its #1 missionary.

We are grilled as children, then teenagers, then young adults to look for the best job that pays the best money so we can be utterly happy. Most people who follow this thinking end up hating where they end up and then change their life. We need to start down the right road before we lose site of what is important. Our skills, our gifts when used properly bring glory to the God who gave them to us.

Psalms 139:15-16, "15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. "

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Last night Beth and I were going through some pictures because we wanted to fill the frames we have hanging on the wall with no pictures in them. We looked over many years of pictures. On our computer we have over 10,000 pictures that we have taken over the 12 years we have been married, plus we have scanned in a ton from when we were growing up. I enjoy looking at how I used to look over a decade ago. I was a lot thinner then... :( but anyways. I went through some pictures of my father and was printing some out to put in a frame dedicated to him.

This morning as I thought as I thought about those pictures and we ordered them from Wal-mart. I began to think about something a sermon that a pastor had given. He was talking about the Israelites and how when they crossed the Jordan River to go into the promised land, that Joshua had a member of each tribe of Judah to grab a rock and they made an alter when they finished crossing. This alter was a symbol to God for the Israelites to remember the things that He had done for them. As the pastor talked about this story, I began to think about all the other times that alters were made to God in order for His people to remember Him.

The pictures we take in our life are the same thing. As we look back across those events, or moments or times of struggles we remember the things that God has done for us. We might be viewing our wedding as the day God gave us our spouse. Or the photos from a family tragedy that took place and remembering what you have missed. Pictures do say a thousands words and sometimes we need to let them remind us of what God has done for us and be excited that he is working in our life.

What pictures or stones are you leaving in your life, that when people see them, they are reminded of how God is working in you?

Feeling like Christmas...

Do you remember that feeling that you have as a little kid? The night before Christmas and you couldn't sleep, you could hardly stay awake, you just wanted to stay up and wait for Santa and the presents and everything that goes on that morning. Sitting in your room, or pacing around the house, watching the minutes slowly tick by and wondering when morning would get there...

I am feeling that right now. God is really working in my life and there are some major changes on the horizon, but I am having to wait, and I am having to trust God and I am having to surrender my desires to what God's will in my life is. I can't control what is going on. I know that God is in charge and He is working in my life, but I can't do anything about it except wait. I have to wait on God and for some of the time, it is driving nuts. I am going crazy. I wish I could tell my mind to stop trying to think things out, but I am doing a lousy job at it.

Really makes me know that actions speak louder than words. I mean, I know that God is going to take care of me and I KNOW that He is going to move me to where I want to be, but in reality I am not able to put all my faith in Him to do it. I know that I am getting caught up in this. I truly do believe that God is going to take care of me, but my mind likes to wonder. I am impatient (aren't we all) when it comes to these things. We want our lives to map out the way WE want them to, not someone else. Not even God. Pray for me this Wednesday. I am going to be doing something that can change a lot in my life and I want it to go God's way (but my way also :) )

PARTING SHOT: You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

Cure for the Common Life

If you didn't watch the video I posted earlier, then you might know what I am talking about. This month, I am leading my students through a book called "Cure for the Common Life" by Max Lucado. Max uses this book to try to help people understand the gifts we are given, why it pleases God when we do what He wants and how we can live beyond the common life that people tend to get tied up into.

I told my teens that I love what I do for pay. Being a bi-vocational pastor makes it really hard to focus on ministry when you have to focus on another 40 hour job also. Working at Emdeon is great. I love what I do, I love who I work with and the company treats me well. I could probably continue doing this job for many years if I so desired. BUT this isn't what God has called me to do.

I have been doing youth ministry off and on for the last 10 years. If you don't know, I have been at Covenant-Fellowship for the last 3+ years. I love the church, I love the people and I especially love the students. I know that sometimes they aren't what I want them to be or believe them to be, but they are great kids. Many of their lives are being changed and it is because of me, not that I am taking credit, but because God has put me in their lives and He has given me the skill set to help lead those students to a deeper commitment to Him and to help them find their skillset or "sweet spot" so that as they grow they can enjoy what they are doing.

So many of us take jobs because of the money or benefit package. Working in the corporate world and seeing/talking to people, I can tell you that money doesn't make the job easier. If you hate what you do, you can mask that with money but in the end you will become miserable and really hate what you do. God has given us a "sweet spot", an area in our lives that He designed especially for us. This spot is where we can excel at what we do. The Common Life is so common. If you have God in your life, there is nothing common about you and begin to focus on what gift He has given you and find your "sweet spot".