Lovin’ Psalm 112 today…How can anyone reject what God offers? > “Blessed are those who delight in doing what he commands. 2.Their children will be succesful everywhere. 4.When darkness overtakes the godly, light will come bursting in! 8.They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.9. They will… have influence and honor…” How GREAT is that?

Happy Father’s Day!

Father, thank you for the blessing of children. Continue to teach me how to prepare them for the spiritual battles of their generation so they may stand strong against the enemy. (also see Psalm 127:11)

All of Creation

Left the gym at about 6:30 on this beautiful morning – headed to the church with the top down on my Jeep. I was thinking about God’s blessings when the new song from Mercy Me came on the radio. The song spoke to my exact thoughts about how God deserves our praise when things are great and when we are having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. When things are going well, we sometimes think about how we really don’t deserve the good things God has given us. We may even start comparing our life to the life of someone we know who is really having it tough. We see all the problems and devastation in the world around us and we secretly wonder if that could be us soon? When things are bad, we ask God “why?” and we feel like we have been forsaken. But we know that God is in the sunshine and he also in the rain. His plan and purpose will be seen through our lives as we praise him and give him glory each and every day. This song says it all:

All of creation

sing with me now

lift up your voice

and lay your burdens down

all of creation

sing with me now

fill up the heavens

let his glory resound

…….the reason we breathe

is to sing of his glory

and for all He has done

praise the Father, praise the Son,

and the Spirit in one………

TOYS

OK – I am so excited about the most colossal KIdfest we have ever produced. This is a monumental occasion that you will not want to miss. TOYS – no one is left behind will be held August 1st thru the 4th. You are invited to bring your church groups, neighbors and friends! Woody, Buzz, Jesse, Mr Potato Head, and all the gang will be here starring in a continuing drama. Also appearing will be Yancy! Keep watching for more exciting details!

Ordering my private world

I am going to be very transparent with you. It seems God has been speaking the same thing into the lives of so many around me; the very same thing that He has been speaking to me over the last few weeks. Things such as: slow down, re-order, re-prioritize, find rest, and take more family time are common themes.  I hear them coming from pastor friends, fellow church members, ministers and conference speakers, near and far. Pastor Jerry has been leading the church in a message series from the book, ‘Ordering your Private World’. This series came along at the perfect time (because God’s timing is always perfect). This book confirmed what God had already confirmed to me through many different ways recently so let me share my heart with you.

Those of you who know me and Angie, know that we stay pretty busy throughout the year; speaking and ministering at youth camps, kids leadership conferences, kids crusades, and much more. I know that God has anointed us and called us to minister through those avenues. When God first called me to kids ministry, on Saturday afternoon, September 21st, 1989, at Mt Paran Church of God in Atlanta, He gave me a vision our ministry. It has been one of the things that has helped to motivate me over the years and keep me going when I have felt like quitting. When God places a calling on your life and gives you the heart for a certain type of ministry, you can’t help but be passionate about it. I also believe that God should be glorified and honored in your ministry; therefore I work hard and strive for excellence in what I do. It takes a lot of extra time, energy, and sacrifice to make this happen and handle your weekly church responsibilities, events and activities (which are always the priority). But somehow, God has always provided that strength and encouraged me and my family along this journey. Angie and I look back sometimes and wonder how we were able to do everything, even in years of transition.

I also believe that God knows our limitations and He is more concerned about our private life than He is about the ‘activities’ we are doing for Him. If our personal relationship with Him is suffering and if our family life is suffering, then the rest is going to fall! Therefore, it is wise for us to listen to and heed the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) voice of God when he says to you “take a break”. Which brings me to the heart of this message: God has spoken to me to “take a break” this year from all of those activities and opportunities to minister outside of our regular church events and activities. This includes preparing for and hosting our yearly Children’s Ministry Conference which we love to do and people are encouraged by. This was very hard for me to accept at first because it meant telling youth directors, “I’m sorry, I can’t do the camp”. It meant telling the teens that travel with us during the summer and look forward to it, “Sorry, we are not traveling this year”. When you have to say no to good things (such as ministering at a youth camp), you run the risk of making enemies, disappointing people, and gaining critics, so it has been a difficult decision. But you must lose your pride and obey God’s voice. Honestly, I still really enjoy it (the extra ministry opportunities) and don’t feel at this time that God has released us from this type of ministry. But I do feel that for this year, God is saying to me: “Take the year to rest and re-order your private world”.

A quote in chapter 7 of the book was so true when talking about opportunities that you are presented with and the decisions you have to make whether to accept those request or not. “Your challenge will be not in separating out the good (opportunities) from the bad, but in grabbing the best out of all the possible good.” We have to learn to say “No” to things we really want to do in order to say “Yes” to the very best things. Those very best things are marriage, family, and personal time with your creator. This year I am going to focus more on my family than ever before and my kids will get to enjoy a summer without the busyness and stress of lots of extra ministry events. As I stated earlier, at first this was very hard, but now I am looking forward to it! Oh, by the way, I am still going to camp this year………..but not as the guest speaker………I am going to serve as my youngest sons cabin counselor since he is old enough this year to attend…….it’s going to be so much fun hanging with 15 seven and eight year olds all week!
In closing, this verse explains it all: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest!” Matthew 11:28 (the message)

Steve

Roll Tide/Glory to God

Alabama football and ministry; they both should have a lot in common. Really? Well, at least one thing. I didn’t realize it until last Saturday while I was sitting at the game – high in the upper deck with my son. As i was watching the Bama pregame rituals, i was struck at how professional everything was. Everything was done with such excellence. Now i have been to a lot of Bama games in my lifetime, and it was not always this way, but it hit me hard on this game day. Everything was perfect; the color of the grass on the field, the striping, the logos, the lettering in the end zones, the graphics and videos on the jumbo-trons, the publications, and the signage. Everything was so neat and clean – even the paint job at the concession stands and the restrooms. Everything was so organized and everyone was, yeah, friendly and helpful: from the security personel and ticket takers at the gate, to the supervisors directing the maintinance and cleaning crews who were mopping up water before the game.  The pregame ceremony, the videos, the uniforms of the Million Dollar Band, the music that was harmonious and right on cue, the recognitions, and the introductions. It was all so, so, well, it was just perfect. Everything  flowed so smoothly as if everything had been rehearsed a million times. I was thinking “Wow, this is really nice - who wouldn’t want to be a part of the Bama Nation?”  You could tell that everyone, from the administration and officials of the University, to the guy checking the bathrooms, takes a lot of pride in what they are doing and what is being presented to the 100,000 guest. Nothing was sloppy, nothing was done ‘half-way’, and no detail was overlooked. I am a very analytical person by nature and i was looking hard to find a stone that was left un-turned, and i could not find anything that was not done with excellence.

Now i know what you are thinking this very moment; U of A has money to do this! Not everyone has the resources that a major university has! What ministry has several hundred million dollar donors?? Very few, if any. But that is no reason to not do what we do for God with excellence. The bible has a lot to say about that, in fact. Just read Eccl. 9:10, Proverbs 21:5, Colossians 3:17. 1 Corinthians 14:4 says that everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. No, everything cannot always look like a million bucks, and we don’t always have every resource available to us, but we should take more pride in what we do and what we are presenting for the gospel’s sake, than an athletic program does for it’s football team! We can be organized and run our programs smoothly, our appearance can be neat, we can be prepared for our guest, our facilities can be clean with fresh coat of (walmart) paint on the walls, and our rooms can be inviting. Our greeters can be friendly and helpful, our church grass can be cut, and our graphics and brochures can look professional. We are to bring honor and glory to God in all that we do. I have served in churches of less than 100 to a church of over 2000 and i know that you can have a ministry that is run with excellence. And you know what, one person with those values can make a difference. If you are a follower of Bama, you have noticed it to. Since Nick has been hired, you can notice a huge difference; his passion for excellence has even trickled all the way down to the concession stand operators in the stadium. It takes one person with a passion for excellence. Take pride in what you do for God; It takes planning and hard work, but people will want to be a part of it and God will get all the glory!

‘Trading Spaces’

As I was having devotion this morning, a quote from the Maxwell Leadership Bible really grabbed my attention; “Never trade what you want at the moment for what you want most”. The devotion was about being a leader who lives a disciplined life. It talked about how that discipline can make us a more effective leader and help us attain our personal goals. I thought about what that really meant and how it related to my life. There were a few things in my life that immediately came to mind. I wrote down 5 main areas of my life that I feel always need my focus. I feel like I have learned to be disciplined pretty well in some, but other areas still need a lot of work! Nevertheless, I know that for me, in order to reach my goals in life, I have to make the following things a priority. It’s never easy and it takes hard work, focus, and sometimes sacrificing what I may want at the moment in exchange for future gain.

My top list of priorities:

Seeking a growing relationship with and understanding of God

Spending time with and mentoring my family.

Personal Health (diet and exercise)

Personal Growth (Intellect, technology, etc.)

Guarding my heart (Self control in my thought life, attitudes, and passions)

Maybe you would have listed different priorities in your top 5 than I did. It may be because
some of the things I listed already come easy for you and you don’t have to focus so much on them.
Maybe some things are not on my list because they may not be a struggle for me but come
naturally. That is really not an issue. What matters the most is that we conquer ourself and
lead a disciplined lifestyle in order to influence others and bring glory to God. It is not
easy; you will be tempted to settle for immediate and temporary gain or pleasure. But the
rewards of a disciplined lifestyle are so much more gratifying. Have I mastered all areas
of my life? Certainly not! Because I am human, some areas will always be a struggle for me.
But what matters is that I always make a disciplined lifestyle my goal. May I never settle
for less in life by ‘Trading Spaces’!

a child’s view

It is so funny how a child views events and the world around them; it never ceases to amaze me how funny they are! I picked Logan up from school today and it was obvious right away that his class had watched some of the inauguration. I asked him what he learned in school today and he told me that he watched the president.  He said that Obama won the race and he is the new president. He says that Obama now lives in the White House and it (the White House) is huge! He then says that he knows how Obama won the race; it is because he has skinny legs! I was laughing so hard and before I could finish laughing he says: “Dad, why do they have to race before they can be the president?” He then goes on to tell me that John McCain is moving out of the White House and that there was a lady who wanted to be the president (he was obviously talking about Sarah Palin) but she lost the race.  It was funny – he never mentioned George Bush at all! I had to write this down because he will not always be so innocent. I want to savor every funny comment. These are the best of times……..

The things ‘church kids’ say……..

While riding home from a family outing a few days ago, Angie and I were participating in some playful banter back and forth with our 5-year old, Logan. We always do this thing where we ask him who he loves the most? (All in fun, of course) Does he love Dad the most or does he love Mom the most?  (On this day,we were also asking him if he loved his new dog, Buddy, the most?) When he makes a choice, the other one of us always pretend we are crying and upset. This always gets Logan going as he tries to see who he can get to be the most upset. Most of the time he finally ends the game when he says: “I love you both the most!” Then everyone is happy! Well, on this day, after the questions about Buddy go on a while, Logan finally says in a sudden moment of deep thought: “You know, there are really 5 people we are supposed to love; The Holy Spirit, God, Jesus, the Angels, and Santa Claus!”  ( This conversation has taken place only a couple of days after Christmas, of course!) After everyone has had a good laugh, Logan then says: “And …….there’s one person I don’t love, and he’s down there! (pointing to the ground) And he stinks because he’s Aubren (Auburn)! 

It was apparent that he had been influenced by our families love for Bama football! Also throw in Christmas, the church Christmas play, and what he has recently learned from his great Preschool class teachers! All of this together had helped to shape his thoughts about who he should and should not love!

What an awesome responsibility we have as parents and leaders! We are shaping the hearts and minds of the next generation! We all have to be aware that there are always little eyes and little ears watching our every move and attitude about life, love, and God.

Father, may I strive to be a Godly example to all children. May I always be conscious of those little eyes and ears!