Gratitude Worship

Worship is more than an emotion, More than an experience, more than a feeling, more than a service - It is a time of connecting with our creator. An act of worship can simply be praising and thanking God with a grateful heart for all He has done for you.

Thank Him for your family, your career, your possessions, your friends. Thank Him for your friends, your church, your food. Thank Him with a sincere heart for what He has given you.

Thank Him for calling and knowing your name!

Standing Alone

The other day a friend of mine asked me what I thought of this picture. At first I just thought it was a neat picture, nothing really popped into my head. Later that night as I was driving home I started thinking about that picture again, and what jumped out at me was the formation right in the middle. It was standing there all by itself. It appeared to be made of the same material as the large rock face behind it, but something about this formation made it strong and able to withstand the outside forces that shaped everything around it.

My thoughts went from this rock formation to how we as Christian often will find ourselves standing alone against the large face of society. We are made of the same stuff as all other humans, however what makes us strong and able to withstand the outside forces is what we have hidden in our hearts. The words of our Father have been given to us to make us strong. When we hid them in our hearts we will have the strength to stand in the fiercest of storms. Standing alone is hard, but when you do, you will always be noticed and often times admired by those looking from afar. I've met people who thought they were weak and small, but in reality they were strong and mighty, not of their own doing, but because they loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all their hearts and it is He that made them strong.

Like this rock formation, we as Christians will all face a time of standing alone in our faith, but just remember one thing. God told Joshua that He would never leave him or forsake him. I believe that is a promise for us as well. One that we can take to the bank. We may stand alone in the physical world, but we will never truly be alone.

COLTS WIN

YES, YES, YES,

COLTS WIN THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP!!



I must say I had my times of doubt especially with the "almost was" fumble in the last few minutes of the 4th. OK so this is all new for me. I would rather play football or any sport for that matter than watch it on TV. However, this playoff season Lisa and I have sat together and watched football with great enthusiasm. Tonight was no different. We cheered, booed, and yelled during tonight's Colts, Pat's game. I have lived in Indiana for all my life and have never really been proud of any sports program to speak of. I must now say that my head is a little higher tonight after watching our own fight and win a great game.

Coach Dungy made it better when he and owner Jim Irsay gave the glory and recognition to the Lord for their strength and stamina. You can bet that I will be sitting front row of the big screen seating for the big game on the 4th.

WAY TO GO COLTS!!!

Abels Sacrifice

The little things always seem to get by me, when I read the bible. I always miss the little clues that are there that indicate other information. Like tonight, I was doing a bible study on the "worship of the Tabernacle" The study started in Genesis to lay the ground work, and the reading was on Adam and Eve and then Cain and Abel and their offerings to God. God accepted Abel's offering but did not accept Cains. Abel brought as an offering the fat portions from some of the newborn of his flock, and God accepted it. So when Cain brought an offering of grain or a crop offering of his field, God didn't accept it. I didn't get it at first until I read Hebrews 9:22. It states that blood must be shed in order for the sins to be covered. God didn't accept Cains offering because it was of Cains hard work and sweat, therefore of his hands, and there was nothing to be sacrificed to cover the sins.

In Genesis, when Adam and Eve had eaten from "the tree of good and evil", their eyes were opened and they saw their nakedness. They made clothing from fig leaves and hid in the garden from God. When God found them he questions them and then he makes garments of skin to cloth them. This is one of the things I never thought of. Where did the skins come from? Some of the animals had to die to cover the sins of Adam and Eve. And I think they knew that God had to kill or sacrifice some of his creation to cover the sins they had committed. I can see it now, God saying to them both, "See what you have done, see the consequences of your actions. Innocent blood must be shed in order for me to even look at you." OH the guilt and shame

So it started way back then, blood being shed to cover sins. Only thing is, that's all it did was cover the sins. Christ's blood was the ONLY blood that could forgive those sins.

Just thought I would share the little things I miss every once in a while :-)

Extreme

I have recently been watching a DVD called "The Gospel of John". It's an amazing 3 hour movie set to the words of the bible verbatim. As I watched this dramatization, I realized how extreme Christ was. He was an extreme teacher, friend and defender of His Fathers word. He loved people in the most extreme way and let them know it as well. The Gospel of John came to life for me during those 3 hours and my perception of Christ took on new insight.

I want to be extreme like Christ was. I want to love, live and learn in an extreme way like He did. I would highly watching this DVD, it can be picked up at your local Christian book store.

LIVE EXTREME!

Divine Dust

I have just started a new bible study called "In The Dust Of The Rabbi" I haven't gotten too far into it yet but the title alone has caused me to stop and think about walking closely with Christ. How close did the disciples follow Jesus? Did they walk right beside him keeping pace with him? Did they walk several steps behind? Did they walk right on His heels? I wonder what it must have been like to walk so closely behind Christ that you would have been covered with the dust from His sandals.

Christ takes our sin away, redeems us from unrighteousness and makes us clean and new again. If I'm going to be dirty in any way, I pray that it is the dust from my Masters feet.

As One!

Tuesday I stayed home from work to tend to my son who had come down with the flu. While making his bed with fresh sheets, I heard a long low rumble outside that seemed to last forever. I glanced up to the sky through his window but didn't see anything. I took one more look and noticed some jet trails. The odd thing was they were all evenly spaced about 6 in all, side by side streaking through the sky. I went outside to see what was going on and realized what I saw was a refueling wing. A large tanker in the middle with about three F-15 fighter jets on either side. If you have never seen a refueling wing in action, you are missing some amazing aerobatics and some stunning acts of being "one". As the large fueling tanker flies steady in the middle, the jets flying along act as extensions of the wings of the tanker. As the tanker turns the fighter jets turn in kind and it looks like one large plane flying through the sky, or like a large "V" of geese. I watched in admiration of the skill and precision it takes to fly this pattern.

As I thought about it later that day, I thought about how we as disciples of Christ, should be just like that formation. Christ being the tanker, we being the thirsty jets. When the Jets need fuel, they fall in line and mimic the movements of the tanker, becoming one with the it. We as disciples of Christ, need what He has in order for us to keep flying so to speak. We should mimic the actions of Christ so as to look like one with Him. I know it may be a simple thing, but I thought it was neat. Planes are one of my favorite things to watch, now when I do, I will always be reminded of how closely I must follow Christ in order to be like Him. Have blessed day.

So It Begins!

Well here it is the first post of the new year. So begins the diets, exercise (both physical and mental) and also begins the process of reaching new goals set for 07'.

As I look back at 2006, I see how God has moved in our lives to place us right where we are. A lot happened during 2006, and I can see a lot coming in 2007. There are new things on my plate, things I have never experienced before, goals I've never set before, and I know it will take the hand of God to help me reach them.
God has blessed my family in many ways, some of which I may never realize. I do know one thing though, He has been gracious to me, my wife and my kids. He has lead us through some very trying times and shown us the way when it was dark. He has always been there for us and I have faith that the future will be no different.

As I continue to lead worship and learn new ways to do so, I am awe struck at how big God is. His design of the universe, the human body, the order of nature is amazing to me. My wife often teases me because I enjoy documentaries about nature and space and the oceans. It may be weird, but I get caught up in the "bigger than me" factor. To think that God created all of this, set all of it in place, thought of all the little details, and caused them to work together to enable life on this planet, and yet knows who I am, just amazes me. I hope that I never lose that. I hope that when I'm 78 years old, I'm still humbled that I am an interest to God. It keeps me in my place. I hope your New Year is filled with awe inspiring moments. Moments that cause to stop and think about God and His love for you. Take time to stop and smell the roses so to speak.