Today has been such a good day:

I was able to reflect on how good our God has been to the United States of America, and pray His blessings upon our Nation, our military, and the American church...

My wife and I hit a key goal we've been working on for a long time...

I spent several hours fellowshipping with some close friends...

And best of all, I just spent 20 minutes singing hymns and worship songs to my daughter as I put her to bed.

Thank you Jesus for blessing after blessing. Thank you for your mighty hand upon our Nation. May America always seek you and your righteousness with sincere hearts.

I'm sitting here in my backyard playing with my daughter. Most of today was kind of tough mentally...just dealing with all the stuff pastors deal with.

But sitting here watching her play as a cool breeze blows, God reminded me yet again that life is too short to be stressed all the time. Too short to be consumed by what others say and do. Too short to walk in strife and unforgiveness. Too short to always be worried about something.

So today, I choose to rejoice in Him and keep my focus on Heaven. I choose to be happy.

What about you?

Hey Friends!

As a consumer of the news and a Momentum sort of guy (LOL), I can't help but
follow all the grim financial news out there: higher gas prices, higher food
prices, foreclosures, a flat stock market, rising credit card debt, and on
and on. Of course, as your pastor these sort of things make me both think
about and pray for you even harder. Today, I offer a bit more than prayers
though; I offer from my heart some friendly encouragement and a few
practical reminders of how you can continue to prosper, keep your debt
snowballs and savings rolling, and keep your heads up. Is that cool? :-)

Some Budget Encouragement

First of all, DON'T QUIT! I know it seems like the economy is working
against you in your journey to debt freedom, but just don't give in. Keep
doing a new, written budget every month. Keep having your spouse or
accountability partner go over it with you. Keep sticking to it. And given
current realities, be strong when it's time to lower categories since others
have gone up so the budget balances and your debt snowball takes less of a
hit. In other words, since many families are spending $100-200 more per
month on gas and food, cable, eating out, mall visits, video games, and
other luxuries may have to be adjusted or cut. YOU CAN DO IT! NEVER QUIT!
With our God, ALL THINGS are possible!

Some Savings and Debt Encouragement

By now, most of you probably have your Baby Step 1 $1000 in the bank. Even
if you don't...DO NOT QUIT! Just do what you need to do...have that garage
sale, work a bit extra, sell something, you know the drill. I just want you
to know that SO MUCH peace lives on the other side of Baby Step 3...a fully
funded 3-6 months of expenses saved. It might be hard for you to see that
but keep plugging away. I truly believe God is smiling on our efforts to
walk families into total health so I'm asking Him for more favor for you as
you save, give, attack your debt, and fund your big emergency fund. Lean on
your friends and your Care Group when it gets hard. And as your financial
world begins to turn around, I promise you that higher prices may still hurt
a bit but they won't break you. So keep saving and killing debt!

Some Momentum Encouragement

Finally, I put some words by ol' Dave below...some words that I go back and
look at occasionally myself. See, let me let you guys in on something about
your pastor. I love to spend. I mean...I REALLY love to spend! Think of
someone you know who is a shopaholic and I could probably go toe to toe with
them! I'm serious!!! LOL. But by God's grace I got this character flaw
under some semblance of control several years ago and have been able to
maintain it. How? By figuring out what causes me to be disciplined in any
area. For me, it requires a rigorous regimen of positive reinforcement.
Translation: I read and listen to (on CD's and podcasts) what I need to do
over and over and over and over and over and over. This is how I stay on
track...in marriage, ministry, and money. For example, there are certain
books I'm ALWAYS reviewing. As another example, I download Dave's podcasts
and listen to them while I drive. Why? To combat my car fever! And you
know what...it works. When I listen to him take a call from a single mom of
two who makes $25k per year, and fought and clawed her way out of $30k of
credit card debt in 4 years by working extra and sacrifice...I feel
absolutely ridiculous about whining over a new car. LOLOL! Find out what
YOU need to do to stay on track and rock it. Love you all!

The Most Important Money Principle: Contentment!

"When you understand this concept, all the other concepts work, and until
you implement it, none of them will work. When you stick to this concept
deep in your soul, it becomes easy to save money and even have money to
invest. Getting out of debt happens quickly once you learn how to apply
this concept in your life. Budgeting is made easier, and your marriage and
relationships regarding money are freed up and made smooth.

Contentment. That's right, contentment. We live in the most marketed-to
society, and the very essence of marketing is to disturb your peace. We say
things to ourselves like, "I'll be happy when I get that house;" or "I'll be
happy when I get that job." Or, or, or, or! NOT TRUE. Happiness is sold to
us as an event or a thing, and consequently, our finances have suffered.

We live among a bunch of people who are deeply in debt and have no money
saved because their emotions were tricked. You probably think I'm writing
about someone else, but I'm not. I am writing about you. I know because I
suffer from the same disease of "stuffitis" - but I am recovering and so are
many of you. The human spirit was not created to attain peace, contentment,
or fulfillment by gathering more stuff.

You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until your
intellect forces your emotions and your spirit to accept that stuff does not
equal contentment, your money will always feel stressed. It's time to
change your focus and your life for the better!" -Dave Ramsey

Hey Friends!

I believe there are two major things on the mind of Christ for our church this Summer: Purity and Discipleship.  I want to briefly mention each and encourage you to get joyfully involved in these critical priorities.  I know the Summer is a time for rest and fun, so I pray that we've grown to the point where living pure before God and discipling others has become just that for you....FUN!


1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

This passage is our purity theme.  We are launching a program called The Silver Ring Thing (www.silverringthing.com) on June 21st.  The stated mission of the program is "to motivate, educate, support and transform generations of young people to embrace a lifestyle of Christ-centered sexual abstinence until marriage."  I would just like to add that although the program is "geared" for younger people, the information and the way we plan to present it will be applicable for singles from teenager on up. Take a minute and re-read the Scripture above.  Meditate on it for a few minutes.  Breathe it in.  I don't have to say what you already know.  You know that God's standards of purity are mocked in our culture and that impurity is displayed in neon lights.  You also know many people impacted by decisions contrary to God's Word.  The good news is that this program is for all teens, singles and parents of teens, regardless of their past choices.

Will you join us?  Do you know anyone who needs this program?  Will you help them get involved?  The time is now!  Registration ends this Sunday.


Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Most of you have read this Scripture countless times.  You and I know what it means and we understand the eternal ramifications of this Great Commission.  But who are we discipling?  Who are we intentionally walking into maturity in Christ?  How much time do we spend with unbelievers we are leading to Christ or new believers who need to understand the basics of Christianity? 

This Summer...let's be intentional and purposeful.  Let's disciple someone.

When I first started preaching and pastoring, all I wanted to do is BIG things for God.  I taught all my leaders to "dream big dreams" for Christ and endeavor to do big things for Him.  And thinking that way is good when done with the right heart and motive according to His will.

But as I've gone on in ministry, I've realized that the "small" things we do for God (or at least the way WE view "small") are just as important.  What do I mean by "big" versus "small"?  Things like:

-Planting a church versus being faithful in one
-Starting a business versus working everyday with integrity for someone else
-Preaching a crusade versus thoroughly discipling a few people over a period of years
-Writing a book versus being a diligent reader
-Striking it rich versus being a good steward every day

You get the picture.  Of course none of the things in either category are bad; it's just that those of us who lead have a tendency to dream big and overlook or minimize the simple things.  I've come to understand that life is a series of small, interconnected choices.  Taken together, those choices paint a picture of how we live our lives.  I've realized that small choices can add up to a life well lived for Christ regardless of how well we measure up to worldly standards of achievement.  Now don't get me wrong; I want you to achieve!!  But I'd rather serve a team of "small doers" (faithful people who DO) instead of "big dreamers" (flaky people who TALK) any day!

So friends and leaders, I want to remind you to do great and wonderful SMALL things for God.  Things like:

-Telling the truth
-Respecting authority
-Reading your Bible
-Smiling at your neighbor
-Showing up on time and prepared for work
-Praying throughout the day
-Encouraging a friend
-Being faithful to family
-Making holy choices
-Eating right and exercising
-Walking in contentment and peace
-Spending time talking to your kids
-Giving to Kingdom causes
-Inviting someone to church

Wouldn't you want to be around someone like this? I would!

My friends, SMALL things DO add up!

Many of you may have heard about the recent tragedy in the family of Steven Curtis Chapman. He is a great Christian music artist who's music has blessed millions around the world including me. He just lost his 5 year old daughter in a tragic family accident. Our hearts and prayers are with him.

The first thing I did when I heard is think about my own daughter. It was another reminder of how precious our time with friends and family truly is and how fragile human life truly is. It was another reminder how precious our brothers and sisters in Christ truly are. It was another reminder to take the time to let somebody know how much you appreciate them and to praise our God for every single day.

Do that today ok?

Today's post is from A.W. Tozer. After Sunday's discussion of John 2:13-25
where we shared some thoughts on Jesus' dismantling of the foolishness going
on at the Temple, posting this devotional seems appropriate. As I mentioned
Sunday, most of us love the "Lamb" part of our Lord's character, but we
struggle with with the "Lion." Oh Lord, help us embrace all of you!

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they
were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that
they had been with Jesus." --Acts 4:13

"The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous
as that taught by our Lord and His apostles. The delicate, brittle saints
being produced in our religious hothouses today are hardly to be compared
with the committed, expendable believers who once gave their witness among
men. And the fault lies with our leaders. They are too timid to tell the
people all the truth. They are now asking men to give to God that which
costs them nothing.

Our churches these days are filled (or one-quarter filled) with a soft breed
of Christian that must be fed on a diet of harmless fun to keep them
interested. About theology they know little. Scarcely any of them have read
even one of the great Christian classics, but most of them are familiar with
religious fiction and spin-tingling films. No wonder their moral and
spiritual constitution is so frail. Such can only be called weak adherents
of a faith they never really understood."

A.W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian, page 76.

"1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.  3 I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.  4 I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.  5 For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn--conflicts on the outside, fears within.  6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.  8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it--I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while-- 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.  10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2 Corinthians 7:1-10)

I can identify with Paul's heart here...if only just a bit.  Last Sunday (Mother's Day) was one of the most powerful Sundays I can remember.  Why?  Because God broke many of us.  What do I mean by that?  Through His eternal Word and the humble wisdom of Mary, we learned and reaffirmed that we must "do whatever" Jesus tells us (John 2:5).  That is the key to Kingdom living: obedience to Christ Jesus in every area of our lives.  As a result, the Holy Spirit began to work on our hearts; He began to convict us out of His overwhelming love for us and His desire that we partake not in our plan for our lives but His.  That's part of what He does:

• John 16:8 - When he (The Holy Spirit) comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. 
• 1 Thes 1:4-5 - For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.
• 2 Thes 2: 13 - But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

But even knowing this, and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that God is more concerned about our holiness than our happiness, preaching the true Gospel is grueling work.  Sometimes in the pulpit, I know that what I'm about to say will be unpopular, will cut, will hurt, will offend, will cause misunderstanding, and that no matter how I try to cutsie it up, will burns ears instead of tickle them.  I know this.  I know that the redemptive plan of God is about our getting free from sin, not getting everything we want in this life.  I understand that following Jesus requires an abandonment of self rather than an exaltation of self.  I know that we must read the Scriptures from a God-centered as opposed to a man-centered perspective.  I'm convinced to my very bones of this.  But as a shepherd let me tell ya...it ain't easy to communicate that all the time!

See, the world tells us we "need" self-esteem, self-worth, self-congratulations, and self-fulfillment.  Scripture tells us the opposite; that we need to be empty of self and full of Christ, that in us nothing good dwells, that the key to life is death to self that we may live in Christ Jesus, that God absolutely hates our pride: "To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech" (Pr 8:13).

But days like Sunday make it all worth it!

Saints, to see you all fall on your faces (metaphorically speaking) before God like that (and to join you)...to sense real, honest godly sorrow in our church, to see our wills break before God and a willingness to allow Him to rebuild us as He wills explode in that place; what a blessing!  "Now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance.  For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death" (from verses 9-10 above).

Friends, I know our church is on the right track.  I sense God's approval in where we are, what we stand for, and what we are trying to do.  Our patience, discipline, sacrifice, and refusal to bend to the world will pay off.  God is going to reconcile so many people to Himself through our church.  Let's stay the course and preach the Word.  Let's always remember our God does "not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings."  Therefore our "sacrifice(s), O God, (will be) a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise" (Ps 51:16-17). 

So let's continue to keep the attitude of humility and repentance!

If we can continue to be broken and repentant before Him...

If we can repent to our brothers and sisters and be "like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind" (Php 2:2)...

If we strive to "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" so we might "run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Heb 12:1-2)...

Then, "may it please You to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem" (Ps 51:18) at CRCC and indeed, in every church in America.

Hey guys....here is a test of my video uploading prowess.  Watch out world!

Greetings friends!

Well I hope to integrate blogging into a more regular part of my teaching ministry.  Especially since I plan to do a great deal more expository preaching in the coming months, and this format can be useful to provide additional thoughts and clarifying information.  At any rate, I enjoyed preaching the message Sunday: It's All About Jesus!  And given that this Sunday is Mothers Day and John 2:5 is taylor made for such a day, I figured the blog would be a good way to share a few thoughts on the rest of John Chapter 1. 

Thoughts on John 1:19-34

The first thing that grabs me is John's (the Baptist, JB for short) statement in verse 20 that "I am not the Messiah."  I think every Christian needs to understand who they aren't as well as who they are.  I simply love the humility of John the Baptist.  As powerful a ministry as he had, he lived in a humble manner, knew he was simply a servant, and looked to deflect all glory to Christ (v27, 29-34).  That's the kind of preacher I want to be!  I believe that's the sort of Christians we should all want to be.  Bold yet humble.  Anointed yet self-effacing.  Far from trying to gather followers to himself, JB made it a point to point his people to Jesus, and had no issues when they left him to follow the Master (v37).  And isn't this the job of every preacher, leader, and believer...to point people to Jesus?  Or as Henry Blackaby would say...to lead people onto God's agenda?

Thoughts on John 1:35-42

JB called Jesus the lamb of God.  Although I'm not sure if JB's disciples knew that imagery pointed to suffering and sacrifice, they followed Christ nevertheless.  I just love the fact that Jesus asked his new would-be followers straight up, "What do you want?"  And at the risk of reading too much into their response, I love that they didn't respond, "We want a blessin!" LOLOLOL!!  Their response seems to indicate they simply wanted to follow Him and be with Him.  How many of us just want to be where He is, spend time with Him, and get to know Him?  What would our lives be if all we wanted was more of Jesus not Jesus to give us more?  What if He was "enough" (there pastor goes again!) for us?

And then of course is this powerful example of personal evangelism demonstrated by Andrew.  The text says the first thing he did after following Jesus is go get his brother (Simon Peter) and "bring" him to Christ.  It seems he was excited "we have found the Messiah" and given Peters revealed temperament elsewhere in the Gospels, probably determined as well!  What if we rolled like dat!  Can you imagine how God's church would explode with true conversions, or at a minimum, be suddenly filled with many, many people who don't know Christ and would therefore be exposed to the Gospel?  Wow!

Thoughts on John 1:43-51

And the person to person evangelism continues!  Jesus preaches a 2-word sermon ("Follow me") and wins Philip! (I wish I had it like that Lord!)  Philip finds Nathanael and points him to Christ despite his negative attitude, and then we see a marvelous truth of Scripture.  It's our job to share the message; Christ is the one who saves.  Despite Nathanael's negativity, getting him in the presence of the Lord was all it took.  Jesus comment seemed to reveal Nathanael's love for God's law and passion for God's precepts (which is probably why Philip's evangelistic style towards him mentioned Moses and the Law.)  That was enough for Nathanael and he followed Christ.

I wonder what would happened if we (like Philip) pointed the people we love towards Christ and allowed Jesus minister to them?