A Note for Parents

This week, I have been home recovering from having my tonsils removed, nose fixed and several other small things that have left me pretty much in a daze since Friday. I'm weaning off the pain meds for now, although I'm told I will start to feel better soon, but then will feel much worse again in a few days, so I'm looking forward to that.

Anyway, tonight I was perusing iTunes, looking for some new music to listen to. I saw a few groups on the Grammy's a couple weeks ago for the first time, so I was just looking to see what the top songs are now.

I hear some of the kids singing some of the songs around church sometimes that are top 40, and Kidz Bop will be releasing a new album soon that my children will likely hear, so I just took a look. My mind was actually overwhelmed and shocked with what I saw.

I've never been one to shout and scream against secular music or avoiding Top 40 radio stations, but you need to pay attention to what is hitting the airwaves right now. Go to your iTunes, take a look at the top singles right now-expand the list. This is the stuff (some of it is edited on the radio) that our kids are hearing and singing and the messages they are absorbing. It seriously blows my mind what has come out over the last 2 years since "I kissed a girl" that is now normal and acceptable. Be aware of what your kids are listening to and taking in! Be proactive!

There are 2 mainline morning radio stations here in the ATL that fully embrace and promote the homosexual lifestyle. The Bert show on Q100 and Elvis Durand on 105.7. If your kids listen to these stations, know what agendas are being pushed and are being "normalized" on these stations, even beyond their morning shows.

I'm not looking to argue or debate with people. I'm just a parent/youth pastor that is blown away by what our kids are hearing! As Christian parents, we need to be aware of what is coming into the minds of our children and students on the computers, iPods & radios we are buying for them.

Again, just go take a look at the expanded top songs list on iTunes. That is what is being played on the main stations that your kids-and even myself until now, are listening to. (Star 94, Q100, All the Hits 105.7). I have never believed in being separatists or being in a Christian bubble, but we are at a whole new level of secular assault on us and our kids that I don't know we have faced in the past.

I don't have all the answers, but I do know there are some artists that I will be deleting from my iTunes. If you are a parent or are a member of FBCM, as one of your pastors, let me advise you not to take this post lightly. Check out what radio stations your kids are listening to, along with the music that is on their phones, mp3 players, etc...

Now, I'm off to take some more pain medicine...

Tough Week in Ministry-Emotionally

I love that God has called me into ministry. There are many aspects to vocational ministry, especially when you get to fill multiple roles! It definitely keeps you on your toes! It can be an emotional roller coaster at times. Sometimes you're celebrating the work of God in the ministry, planning and dreaming into the future and/or seeing your dreams come into fruition. Occasionally, there are challenges that you have to deal with-good and bad. Other times, you share the tough experiences of life with the people you serve within your congregation or in your community.

This has been a roller coaster week. Sunday was uplifting and exciting as we finished out an amazing month in the church, celebrating the increases we are seeing recently in the life of the church. Then, switch gears as Monday involved me officiating a funeral for one of the parents of one of my students. I've honestly done quite a few funerals, but this one was different due to the nature of the unexpected death and the dynamic of the family involved.

Today took the cake.

It is my oldest daughters birthday. She is 8. Tonight, my family will celebrate her special day, but this morning, I went to the hospital and stood with a father as he held his stillborn baby while his wife is fighting for her life in an ICU unit.

I know several people that have experienced this type of tragedy. My own family experienced this when I was growing up. My little sister Melea would have been 28 two weeks from today, but the Lord had different plans. I remember one time in high school talking to my mom about Melea, over 1o years after her still birth, and the emotions that still rose to the surface.

Then I felt bad for my mom. I knew it had to be painful. Today, this all means something more. It has been several hours since I watched the father hold his little, perfect looking, lifeless daughter, and my heart is heavy for him. Now, as a father myself, and as a husband, I can't imagine the hurt he is feeling. However, I know that God is in control. That little girl is now in the presence of Jesus, just as when King David mourned over the loss of his infant son, this father, a Christian, will one day be able to go to his daughter and spend eternity with her, worshipping our Savior.

This family needs your prayers. Again, this wife and mother is hanging on to life on this side of eternity. Pray for the strength, direction and peace of the Lord.

Tonight, time will continue to move forward. Life will move on for all-for some of us, here on earth; for others, it will be in eternity. Irregardless, it will keep on moving. Life brings happiness as well as sorrow, God brings peace and hope. There is a time to be born, a time to die, and a time for everything in between. Christ is present and aware for all of these times.

Missions Opportunities & Looking Forward to Labor Day Weekend!

I had the chance today to go to a luncheon hosted by my friend Leo Seminov, with www.tear.org, where he, along with Allan Taylor from FBC Woodstock, shared about a new work they are doing to equip church leaders in Slavic speaking countries in small group strategy and implementation, as well as coaching in the areas of service structure and planning, hospitality ministry, age-group and family ministries, etc... I'm excited about the possibility of us partnering with him in the future to go train leaders, as well as partnering with a local church to work with them in supporting their ministry!

We are in the midst of exciting, incredible days at FBCM! The changes that Mike has made regarding the platform set-up and appearance are awesome! As a member of the band, I am loving standing with the choir, as I feel more of a part of the worship instead of off to the side just "playing". On a related note, I was able to get a new bass this week, which has much stronger pick-ups than my old one, so we spent a little time this morning moving the subs off the wall a little as it was rattling pretty good at some lower frequencies!

I also planned "Redneck" weekend for our students this week, and made some reservations for our Senior Adult fall apple trip this week. More information will be posted on the church website once we get everything approved through the calendar.

We also were able to get some new speakers for our youth room, they sound great-especially now that we have a full band! Be praying for our students. They have tons of potential. My prayer and goal is to help them see their potential in Christ begin to be realized! You can follow our student ministry more closely on Facebook. Search for "First Baptist Mableton Student Ministry".

We will be starting children's church for our 1-3 graders next weekend (after Labor Day). I'm looking forward to that! I think it will be a great thing for our families as more and more young families are visiting and joining!

Pray for our staff and lay leaders as we are preparing and planning for all that is going on! God is blessing! Our Sunday Morning Bible Study attendance is increasing, along with our Sunday Worship attendance!

I'm excited about Labor Day! It'll be nice to have a few days off hanging out with the family! We're all back to the grind next week!

Be in worship this Sunday morning! God is moving! Watch the videos online! We are in exciting days!

Busy Weekend is Underway!

I just finished my last assignment for a seminary class I have been taking over the summer. I'm looking forward to my planned graduation date in May! I have had enough of school for a while!

Now it's time to focus on prep for the Global Focus Seminar this weekend, along with prepping to speak at FBC Acworth Saturday evening!

Tomorrow evening I'm driving FBC Woodstock seniors to a ball game, then EARLY Sunday morning, I'm driving Newsong to the airport on their bus, getting back to the church in time to teach a church-wide SAMBS class, followed by a full rest of the day! I'll be glad to breathe on Monday. For now, it's time to go get tables set up, music prepared and notes studied...and I'm sleepy!

Time for my 17 month Update!

It's time for an update. Much has happened since March of '09. Lisa and I have another child. I'm serving on staff at FBC Mableton. It's been awesome. We're seeing life change, and growth within the church! The new website is coming online within the next few days, you will be able to see it at www.fbcmableton.com. Enjoy!

Amazing Song of Prayer For Us At This Time

Lisa and I are in a transitionary stage of life. I had this plan a year ago of what we would be doing now. God has laughed at that plan.

As I ended the mentor program, Lisa and I made another plan to prepare for our next steps of serving Christ. They were plans that made sense to me, and they weren't bad, but they weren't necessarily what God has planned, at least for how it looks right now.

I thought we were immune to the economy. I am working for Alex at Chick Fil A, and business is up from last year. Lisa is teaching. You've got to have teachers. Evidently, you don't need as many teachers as I thought.

Cherokee County has decided that they aren't going to renew contracts for every teacher that was part time this year. That has made things a little stressful. This really throws a kink in my plans! However, it doesn't throw one in God's plans! Due to the worsening economy, other counties aren't hiring like they were in the past.

So here we are, at a point of dependance on God, praying for what's next, but truly ready to say "yes and amen", whether that means serving God in this area, another area, another state or country.

We truly need direction! There are options, but I don't want to follow options, I want to follow God's desire for us as we serve Him.

It's My Pleasure...

The mentorship has come and gone. 2008 screamed by! We're now waiting to see what's next.

Maybe we're their now, I don't know.

For the time being, I'm working at a Chick Fil A in buckhead off of Peachtree Rd across from Piedmont Hospital as a manager. It's a cool opportunity. I'm trying to learn all I can about business, organization and managing people.

Chick Fil A is a class act. Everything must be done with excellence. They are all about "second mile service". Wonder where they got that ;)

It's been pretty cool. A Lambo came through the drive thru the other day, along with a convertible Bentley. We also provided all the food for Georgia Tech for the Peach Bowl-hope it wasn't our fault they got throttled! (CFA also provided the food for LSU).

Dr. Price told me one time to be successful in ministry, I should have the Chick Fil A mentality. Whenever you thank a CFA employee, their response is to be "It's my pleasure". He was teaching me that when responding to people, even the ones that we don't like that much, our attitude is to be "It's my pleasure to serve you". I figured I should go learn this first hand!

If you're in the area of P'tree and Collier, and you have a craving to "Eat More Chicken", or you need an amazing milk shake, stop by!

Baby Aiden

Aiden came a couple of weeks early! Check out a video I made for him on Lisa's Blog!

It was a great thanksgiving-and we didn't have to cook a thing-except the "bun in the oven"!

Full Circle

It's been nearly a year now since God rocked me out of my "safe zone" and led me to Woodstock to be mentored by pastor. The crazy thing is that I'm back where I was a year ago as far as the thought process of "where do I go from here".

Initially I thought that I would sacrifice financially for 1 year for this amazing opportunity, but then God would put me back into a position of service making a more comfortable income to support the family. Now God has fixed my thinking. What if the step of faith to come to this point was just the first in a full flight of "faith step stairs"?

Dr. Price gave me some great insight recently when I was asking for his input in my life. He suggested that whatever excites me on the inside is where I should look to serve God. That is in the context of missions. Whether as a career missionary, a pastor leading a missional church, or as a missions pastor in a large church, I'm not sure. I may even be a church planter one day, but the context of missions is what excites me. I used to resent when people tried to pidgeon hole me as a "missions only" guy, partially because it was actually used against me in a court of "local church law", but also because there are many different areas of ministry that I enjoy, and I felt that people were saying I maybe I was inadequate to serve in other areas. Here's what I've learned. I'm overly paranoid sometimes, and in some other cases, I just need to get over things and move on. But I've also been reminded of an important principle. Other people will often discern your gifts or passions through observing you in action. People observed my love for missions in my life, even though I served in many areas of ministry.

Towards the end of my time at Acworth, I was able, with the help of some awesome givers and workers, to equip a pretty amazing block party trailer. We were able to do some parties in neighborhoods, as well as do some community events that impacted lives. They were even able to get into schools with the equipment after I left. I felt more fulfilled doing those activities than in most of the other things we did for the 3.5 years prior. I was able to lead groups from the church on international mission trips. They were awesome! I loved serving others and impacting lives. I also loved seeing others become passionate about serving God. Short term mission events are a great catalyst for encouraging people in their walk with God. I became passionate about serving God because of a summer spent in China during the beginning of my college career (remember, it was 11+ years from start to finish...too bad there's no retirement in that!).

I say all of that to get to this. I got to go with Pastor Johnny to Southeastern Seminary a couple of times this year. The first trip, I learned of the 2+2 program, where you go to school on campus for 2 years, then overseas doing church planting stuff for 2 years. At the end of the program, you have your M.Div. I like that program because I love doing missions. I also like the church planting side of it. I want to think like a missionary. I truly believe that pastors of the future that are going to reach their full potential for the Kingdom are going to have to think more like missionaries and less like traditionalists. The United States now has the 3rd highest non-Christian population in the world. We need pastors and church planters (many which already are) that are missional in their thinking.

Anyway, we went back recently, and I came under conviction that I need to do that program. That is fine with me. I really want to do it, but the issue is the timing. Is God wanting us to go now, or in the fall, or in the fall of '10, when we can have all student loans gone-which needs to be done before we can do anything with the IMB anyway. Questions Questions Questions. To go now, it would take an absolute miracle of God-but He does like to show off, and He has done so in an amazing way this year.

I say all of this to introduce this-it is a lesson I got to teach in a church in Russia back in January-just 2 weeks into the mentorship, when I didn't know if we would make it or not. My words have come back to "haunt" me, but they remind me of the faithfulness of God! Maybe they can encourage you.

Are we going to Wake Forest in 6 weeks? Probably not. Will we ever go? I don't know. I know that I desire to do something amazing and significant with my life, no matter in what area of ministry or the globe it is in. I remember a night of prayer when I told God I would leave Acworth, but please give me a direction to go. I need that direction again!

Introduction to Faith

Definitions of Faith

Biblical Definition:

Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we actually hope for will happen. It gives us assurance of what we cannot see.”

Dictionary Definition

Faith: belief and trust in and loyalty to God; complete trust; something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs


James 2:14 “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone”

The faith that is being described here is “dead” faith, or useless faith. Some people might argue that Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we are saved by grace through faith, not works. That’s true, but he’s going deeper here. James is telling us that if we are true Followers of Jesus Christ, then our faith, though not purchased by our actions, will be proven by our actions. He is very bold here. He is saying if you are not living for, following or serving God, or loving and helping others, then you’re not a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 5:44 tells us to love our enemies. Matthew 22: 36-40: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’* This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
The Bible teaches that our actions are just as important as our faith. True faith has actions that accompany it. The faith the Bible is speaking of is a faith that changes your life! It changes the way that you think, which changes the way you live.
Faith is so much bigger than we can imagine. So many people think that the only purpose of faith in Jesus is so that you can go to heaven. That is selfish. It is true that if you believe Jesus died and rose again and if you ask Him to forgive you for your sins, but that is not to be the extent of your faith-just belief.
The faith of the Bible and true faith in Jesus results in following Jesus. It is active. Following Jesus means that you love God with every part of who you are-your emotions, your soul and your mind, and when you love God this way, it impacts the way that you live. When you love God this way, it changes the way you feel about others. Jesus says love God, and then love others-even our enemies!
That’s hard for me. If someone does wrong to me, I don’t love them, I resent them. Jesus says, “Love your enemies”. He says, “Love our neighbors as we love ourselves”.
This is important because Jesus loves people, and when you have true faith in Jesus, you love what Jesus loves. Everything Jesus did was because he loves people. Jesus is the ultimate example of unselfishness.
Faith that does not result in actions-in changing your desires and life-is not the kind of faith that allows us to go to heaven, because it is not true faith. True faith changes us.
Matthew 7:21 “Not every one that says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven”

True, authentic faith in Jesus Christ is not just an emotional experience or a simple prayer. It is a commitment to follow Jesus Christ with our lives, seeking to do His Will.

What is the Will of God? To love Him enough to follow Him with our lives, to love Him enough to do whatever He tells us to do, even if it doesn’t make sense! Faith in Christ is not about saying a prayer and then living life how we want to, just passively experiencing life. Faith in Christ is a decision that says “Get up and go!”

In His Book, Chasing Daylight , Erwin McManus states, “You cannot follow God in neutral.” “We react when we are forced out of neutrality. We act when we refuse to stay there.” “If there is one secret to seizing divine moments, it is that you must take the initiative.”

Faith in Christ is about acting upon what God leads us to do. We react to the call of God when we become a Christ follower. At that point, we act upon that decision actively following God. We must refuse to stay still when following God! Faith calls us to be active in pursuing God! What are your gifts and abilities? What are you good at? How can you use that to follow God? How can you use your gifts and abilities to help your church? How can you use your gifts and abilities to help others here in your city to come and know God?

The decision to become a Christian is just the beginning of faith. James 2:19 says that the Demons believe in Jesus and tremble. Faith is not just belief. Faith is a lifestyle of following Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.* He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. 3 Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.[2]

There are moments when God is going to test your faith. It’s easy to say, “Yes, I believe in Jesus so I can go to heaven.” It’s another situation to say, “Yes God, I’ll do whatever you want me to do, whenever and however you want me to do it.”

Faith won’t always make sense. It doesn’t make sense in the eyes of those who don’t know Jesus to share Jesus with others. It won’t always make financial sense. It won’t always make social sense. But, if you will follow God, have the faith that He desires for you to have, He will do amazing things in your life that you would never have imagined you could be a part of!

Philippians 3:12, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.”

Don’t miss the defining moments of your faith-when Jesus tests you to see how serious you are about following Him. Keep working your faith-keep following Jesus, so that one day you can be the follower of Christ that He desires for you to be.

Are you ready to really live the amazing life of faith that God desires for you to live? The life you live will depend on the decisions you make when God challenges and tests your faith, to see how serious you are about following Him. Faith will change your life!

Winding Down...

This past year has been incredible. The reality of the end being near is setting in. We've had one last rush of travel over the past couple of weeks, and this is the last week of travel for the year. This past weekend was the last bus trip. We went to eastern Kentucky. Tomorrow we fly to NC and FL, then to MS on Tuesday, then drive up to Wilmington at the end of the week. Then, it's just hanging around FBC Woodstock until the end of the year.

Here's a recap of 2008.

God has amazing things in my personal life.

He did great things in my relationship with my family!

He provided in amazing ways financially.

I finished college, met some great people, learned some incredible leadership lessons from Pastor Johnny and hit medallion status with Delta in June (now I can take 3 bags on a flight)!

I went to 2 foreign countries, 11 states (most multiple times- North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri & Indiana) and saw many parts of Georgia for the first time.

I got to attend some amazing conferences and schools (Stephen Olford school was great!).

I got to build a pretty awesome library (I just finished off my years budget with the latest Logos software, with some extras).

I enrolled in seminary. I'll begin in January.

I learned from Pastor Johnny what it means to make family time a priority.

I got to ride around in a couple of sweet private jets and Newsong's buses are awesome!

I should have bought stock in Cracker Barrell...

These are a few things that stick out from the year. So many great things happened. I look forward to the future, and what God does with Lisa and I.

One of the things I (probably mistakenly) thought for most of the year (and still to some extent) was that the financial sacrifices we made this year would be just for the year, then God would put my back somewhere making money again in January. God called us to take a huge step of faith a year ago, but I'm realizing that God doesn't call us to have faith for just a year. He calls us to rely on Him for a lifetime. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

As this year winds down, I could have never imagined what God would do in just 12 months. This year has truly been a "second chance" for time that I wasted in the past. I told Pastor Johnny this week that I will show him my appreciation with what I do in the future with what I've learned!

Now, I need to go to bed because I have a flight in the morning!

Catalyst-mic

Catalyst was incredible! I got to connect with tons of people I hadn't seen in a while, which was cool, but the best part was that Lisa got to go with me. I'm glad that she has gotten to share lots of cool experiences with me this year. It allows our vision and dreams to align. She understands better where I'm coming from, and were able to dream and plan and pray together more in sync.

The worship rocked, and the preaching was great. I was totally impressed with Dave Ramsey's teaching on Leadership.

The gurus were great this year. They're doing Catalyst in Orange County next year. I'm trying to figure out how to get to that one!

Oh yeah...I'm a Liberty Grad

I finally finished college this week. I know that lots of you have already accomplished this, but I finally did it, while working full time, part time and while neglecting my family. Did you do it that way? That's what I thought...I actually did 16 classes in 2.5 semesters (6 of those were the cleps I did this summer-while taking 4 classes, and making Dean's list in those. Oh yeah, I'm bragging...

Seriously, I'm finally done. I start grad work in January, but for now, I'm enjoying the breather!

It's really cool that we're leaving tomorrow for Liberty. Pastor is preaching at Thomas Road on Sunday night and at Liberty Convo on Monday morning. It's been 8 years since I've been on campus at Liberty, so I'm glad to be going back to my "Alma Mater". What a feeling of relief. It's also my first trip on a private jet. Hope this one is better than Travis Barkers...

This week would have been my 5 year anniversary at Acworth. I do strangely miss it there, but I'm glad where God brought me now. I can't believe how far I've grown in just 10 months. It's amazing what God has done in not just my life, but in my family life (and families life).

We're praying for the future. The mentorship is over in basically 10 weeks or so. I need to find a job!

A Little R&R

The family and I are enjoying our first ever vacation that doesn't involve extended family. I absolutely (most of the time) love hanging out with both mine and Lisa's extended family, but it's nice to have some time by ourselves here at the beach. It's awesome. Pastor Johnny and Miss Janet are incredibly generous in letting us stay at their place this week. There is no other way we could have done something like this otherwise!

I've learned a lot from Pastor this year. His generosity is an example to emulate. I look forward to being able to invest in others one day the way he has invested into my life and in my family's life. A common key I've seen in great Christian leaders I've been around is a giving spirit. Pastor Johnny has it like it's a disease! Dr. Price is extremely generous and encouraging as well.

Jesus is generous too!

I'm reading a new book right now, Mark Batterson's "Wild Goose Chase". So far, so good. His book, "In a Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day" was a catalyst (following that particular conference) that God used in my life to shake me out of my comfort zone and take this incredible journey this year.

The count down is on!!!!

I have 3 weeks and 2 days, and I'll be finished with college! I passed all 6 CLEP tests this summer, and began work on my last 2 classes in August. PRAISE GOD!!! In just 2.5 semesters, I knocked out 16 classes (as long as I complete the work on these last 2 alright!). It'll be nice to have a breather for the last couple of months of the year.

We're praying over where to go in January. Some things are in the works, but nothing yet concrete. Hopefully we'll know something soon. However, knowing what God has been doing in our lives, as long as I have my act together, I know it'll be incredible!

Free Logos Book

Hey, if you are not familiar with Logos software, it's incredible Bible Study software that gives you a full library on your computer. I have a copy that Brett gave me. I'm not familiar with how to use it to it's fullest potential yet, but I love it. They're giving away a new commentary for free here.

Huge Opportunity

Last night I had the amazing opportunity to preach at FBC Woodstock. You can see a video of the service here. It amazes me how the camera adds 50 lbs...

God has absolutely been awesome in my life this year. It was great getting to see some old friends from Acworth. It was fun!

Today I'm moving boxes...back to reality.

Last night really encouraged me about the future!

It also encouraged me to go on a diet. Slim Fast for lunch.

Can you do this?

This is crazy! I don't care who you are!

It's all a blur & Sermon Stealers

Today we took the kids out on the lake. I took off on the waverunner, turned my head to make sure that noone was too close to me so that I could make a quick turn, and my glasses flew off and sunk (sank?). Now everything is blurry. I have a set of contacts that are a year old. I need them to last 4 days. Monday I'm heading out of town back to Knoxville. I'll be back late Tuesday. Hopefully I can get to the eye doctor Wednesday.

I completed another CLEP this week. Oh yeah. I'm down to 3 classes left for college. I will hopefully be knocking one of those out with a CLEP in a couple of weeks.

From looking at the syllabi's for my 2 classes that start Monday, it looks as though I'm about to be really busy for the next few weeks, in addition to all of the other stuff in "life" that's going on. There's lots of travel coming up. September is going to be busy!

I'm sick of people stealing sermons. I know guys that are church planters doing it. I know guys who are "established" pastors that are doing it.

I don't care what style you are. I don't care how much you do in your community or how good your heart or intentions are. If you take someone elses material and present it as your own, you are being dishonest and God doesn't honor a lack of integrity. Our ministries will always be limited if we lack integrity, not just morally, but in our teaching and preaching as well.

I've seen a lot of stuff this year as I've been with Pastor Johnny. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I'll be a better man and minister if I remember these lessons, mistakes and errors of others and avoid them!

I'm getting ready to preach next Sunday night at Woodstock for the 6:00 service. I have my text picked out finally, so it's time to put the message together (my own message).

Losers in the News

What a jerk

What a freak

On a different note...

Clep #4 is done and now, barring any unforseen circumstances, I'm done with College in December! Rock on!

By the way, I'm praying for direction on what to preach at FBCW on the 24th. If God has suggestions through you for me, I'd be glad to hear them!

This year is rocking!

This Weekend

Looking forward to hanging out with my friend Patrick and preaching at his church Sunday night and doing a little "Elvis" action for his seniors on Monday!

Also looking forward to Pastor Johnny being back! His sabbatical has been very boring for those of us left behind. Road trip next weekend! Hallelujah!

"Clep"tomaniac

One of my major goals for this year is to come out of the mentorship finished with college. I need to pass at least 4 Clep tests this summer to do so. Today I knocked out #3!!! Business Management, C-ya! If I get all 6, then this fall will be much easier, which will be nice, b/c my brain is frying and I'm having difficulty with reading comprehension!!!

3.5 weeks until this semester wraps up!!!