Flag Poles and Prayer

  On this See You at the Pole Wednesday, students across the nation gather around a flag pole to pray and ask God for his blessing in their lives, this nation, and our school campuses. O. Hallesby writes," Listen my friend! Your helplessness is your best prayer.  It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas.  He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness.  He hears today as He heard the helpless and the wordless prayer of the man sick with palsy."
   As a nation we turn to God when tragedy hits.  When we have a national crisis we are all about prayer from the White House down. It is during these times that we get it.  There is no other place to turn to find comfort for the hour, and hope for the future.  Jesus Christ is the answer friends, do you know Him as your Savior? Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."John 14:27
Let's make sure we pray everyday.  

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Happy 30th to my girl!

Today Renee and I celebrate our 30th Anniversary. What a blessing to be able to travel this journey with such a great wife, mom, and memaw! God knew what I would need when He was shaping me to be a pastor.  We have been blessed with a great family and I am honored and humbled to pastor a great church.  It is exciting to think of the days ahead.  Let us be faithful to the call!

        

Proverbs 31:10

Who can find a virtuous wife?

For her worth is far above rubies.

Vv. 28-30

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

29"Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all."

30Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. 

Thank you Lord!

Back to Something!

Where the Bible Meets Life

   I love this time of the year.  College Football and the Ohio State Buckeyes are certainly two reasons, but they are only two of many things that I appreciate. Leaves, pumpkins, marching bands, Pork Festival, Black Walnut Festival!  It is a time for kids to go back to school, a time for farmers to harvest crops, and a time for many after being away during the summer to get back to church. 
   We have designated September 8th as Back to Church Sunday.  That seems to be a little odd just saying it, but we live in a day where we must make choices and my prayer for our church family and for my family is that we choose to worship and to make that choice a priority. I am excited about our new Bible Studies for Life Sunday School that we relaunch on September 1.  All of our age groups  looking at the same lesson together weekly.  The beginning study of James will set the tone for a great quarter of ministry and discipleship together.  I hope you will join us for Sunday School or perhaps it is time to get back to Church.  I pray you will come and I look forward to seeing you!

Joy in the Journey

As we prepare for a family vacation.  This time it is a little different. Since our last trip to the beach as a family, we have added a grandson, Drew and Ashley's second,  and Stacy's husband Kyle.  The anticipation for a trip all boils down to arriving at your destination.  While that is true, I want to slow down and take in the joy in the journey to get there.  The laughs, memories, and sometimes best sermon illustrations actually come from the journey itself. I am going to be looking for those kind of things on this trip, this adventure!

As a Christian, I pray you are finding joy in the journey of serving the Lord.  God gives us something to celebrate, and that is a peace that the world cannot produce.

This summer slow down a step or two and take a look around.

One Step At A time

I hope you were part of the viewing audience that watched Nic Wallenda walk the tightrope over 1400 feet across a section of the Grand Canyon. To make it even more sensational, he did it without a tether or any kind of safety device. If that weren’t enough, he prayed and praised the Lord all the way across with a microphone that went out to the world that was watching. You talk about a public testimony.  I have come to find out that this is nothing new for him to pray and talk to the Lord as he performs. When asked if he got into trouble on the tightrope what would he do, he said, “He would go to the rope as a point of safety.”  At one point he told his dad that he didn’t want to talk to anyone.  It was just him, His heavenly Father, and his earthly father. Our rope of safety as a Christian is in the Divine Hand of a Sovereign God.  When the winds of life knock us off balance, the Lord is there to steady us and to hold us.

Nic Wallenda’s feat reminds us all that the Christian walk is one step at a time.

 

A Prayer on Mother's Day 2013

   Lord, Mother's day is one of my favorite Sundays.  Help me to recognize and preach with a tender heart as I minister to folks in different stations of life and relationships with their moms.  To the moms in attendance, I want to encourage them. To those whose moms  are living, I want to challenge them to take steps of communication. We have several who have recently lost their mothers.  Help me to love that person in a tender way tomorrow.  To the many who have buried their mothers  help me through Your power to rally that person to remember the special memories that each one has of their sweet mother. Help me not to pretend that I know how they feel.  I still have my mom.  To the mothers that have lost children,  help me preach with boldness from Scripture that heaven is real and that reunions will take place one day.
   Lord, thank you for my wonderful mom. While she is away tomorrow, her love and my gratitude will be forever tucked in my heart. This is the first time in my fifty one years that we are not together on Mother's Day, and I am grateful that death or illness is not the barrier that separates us tomorrow. I pray for those who will endure Mother's Day for the first time tomorrow without their mom here with them. I say endure because it must be so emotional for these folks.  Many will choose not to come to church because of this, but for those who do, give me a humble spirit as I preach .  Thank you for a wife who is a Christlike example of a godly mother. Thank you for a daughter in law who is raising with our son boys to love Jesus.
  Thank you Healer, that Renee and our family can celebrate Mother's Day with her mom once again.  We are grateful for Your touch on her body.   In Jesus Name, Amen.

Lord Help Me See Clearly

Anyone who has ever worn glasses or gotten a new prescription for a different pair knows what it is like to adjust to them. Many of us have come out of the optical store high stepping our way to the car.

This new pair of progressive lens actually has far, mid, and reading ranges.  It is amazing what a small tilt of the eye or head changes.  In our Christian lives this is a good application. Oh how we long to see God up close  in our lives working, but for some reason it seems a little out of focus, a bit cloudy.

Maybe I need to fix my eyes on His Word more and lock in to what He is saying and wanting for my life.  It is easy to look around and become a little disoriented by what the world is throwing at us, but when fixed on the Word of God, on the Lord Jesus, regardless of how tough life gets, there is a hope and Someone who will stick closer than a brother.