Stay tuned for more and thanks for taking the time to read my blog!  As the readership has grown over the past few months, I am touched that you find it worthy of your time to stop by and read what I have to say.  Thanks!

We do that with God too.  We make promises that this time we mean it when we say “I’m sorry” and I really won’t do that again!  I started this post about 10 days ago.  Actually all I had was the title and the first sentence – but anyway – I had two pieces of scripture that just kept going through my mind.  First, in 2 Corinthins 5:17 we are told that in Christ, we ARE new already!  This is huge when you think about this time of year and well intentioned commitments.  In Christ, we are not new versions of ourselves, but rather new creations entirely!  In my life, I have learned that God rarely stretches me through quick promises that I make to Him out of a desire to become more spiritual. For me, God has chosen to use the circumstances of my life and tensions that are created where my will and His will are in direct conflict.  It’s in these moments of intense friction where the old (me) yearns to go in one direction, but the new (Jesus) pulls me in another.  Every time Jesus wins, another masterful stroke is brushed in the portrait of this new creation I am becoming!  But each time I win, the edges get blurred and the canvas smells of death.  After all, the old me has been dead since the day I met Jesus – but here I go, dragging some rotting corpse into the picture somehow thinking it’s a better idea to listen to him than to Jesus.  Go figure.

I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this – but perhaps this is too transparent for some.  I struggle, I try, and I fail…daily!  If you are longing to grow into the new creation God has designed you to be in Christ -you struggle, you try, and you fail…daily!  Don’t feel pregnant about it – other awesome, imperfect, righteous, sinful men of God struggled too.  Paul said he did even understand his own actions – that he didn’t do the things he wanted to.  No!  Instead he did the things he hated! 

This leads me to the second verse that is on my mind.  Revelation 21:5 says to me that I am going to continue to struggle with this tension as long as I am physically alive.  The day will come when God supernaturally wipes out evil in every form and fashion.  Until then, on a personal spiritual level – I will continue to wage war!  The enemy is brilliantly crafty.  His desire is to kill and destroy!  Jesus wants me and you to have life!

The gospel of John gives a fantastic glimpse into the peculiarity of the event.  John opens up by writing “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.  He dwelt among us!  I can accept the miracle, I just can’t explain it.  God loved me so much that he went to incomprehensible lengths to get to me to show me that love.  He came here and walked around in a body just like mine.  He experienced the emotions that I experience.  He got hungry like I do.

Today, I am thinking of this season that we call “Christ”mas (at least in some places still) and thinking of how far away from what was really going on in that manger we have wandered.  The festivities and all the “big” that surround Christmas have swallowed up the deeper and so much more profound reality of the simple, yet unfathomable truth that God came to us as one of us to make a way for all of us. 

My friend Carl Cartee wrote a song called Glorious Impossible that captures the impossible irony of that moment:

See the virgin is delivered in a cold and crowded stall
Mirror of the Father’s Glory lies beside her in the straw.
He is Mercy’s incarnation, marvel at this miracle
Lift your souls now and receive the Glorious Impossible!

It is so unthinkable to imagine that God himself would stoop to my level to accomplish what could not be accomplished any other way.  But that’s exactly what happened.  So today, I am thinking about what Jesus did for me – and for you!  Even in the cradle, we can see the cross.  Bethlehem’s humility always leads to Calvary’s humiliation.  As the angels join in joyous celebration of this barnyard birth, we must never forget – he was born to die!  He was raised to bring life to us!  So today, I just want to say thank you Jesus for what you did for me!  In light of that, and everything Jesus has done for us, I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas!

At church Sunday, we finished up our series “Unveiling the Vision” where we revealed our e³ strategy.  That’s basically our road map for how we execute the mission Jesus gave us in the Bible: “Doing whatever it takes to reach whoever we can with the hope we have in Jesus“. It’s pretty simple: three E’s: 

• Engage - Connect people to Jesus
• Equip – Connect people to community
• Extend – Connect people to service 

I am so pumped about this series!  I am also jacked from the responses we’ve received from so many people who “get it”!  It is so passed time for the Church to be acting like and thinking “It’s all about me” when people are dying and going to hell without Jesus! To quote my old football coach, “There’s no I in team” and there’s no I in church either!  Funny though, it’s right near the middle of “trad-I-tion“.

You know what?  It’s never been about us.  It has only, can only, and will ever be only about one person: JESUS!  Anything else is simply selfish and it’s sin – no matter how spiritual it sounds!  Here are a few examples:

• That’s not the way we do things here. Translation – I am more concerned with my personal preference and tradition than than with seeing God move in a powerful way. (The Pharisees did that here).
• Doing ministry like that is compromise. Translation – I boost my spiritual ego by adhering to legalistic principles that make me feel good about myself.  (Of course, Jesus calls us to live holy lives, but there will always be those who don’t get it!)
• I just want to go ‘deeper’! Translation – I am more concerned with knowing about Jesus than knowing Jesus. (This is an honest misstep, but being madly in love with Jesus like the Bible says here will motivate us to serve Jesus – not join another Bible study class!)
• You’re bringing the world into the church!  I can’t translate this one.  I just don’t get it.  I hope we are bringing the world into the church (engage), so that we can send the church (equip) into the world (extend).  Maybe I’m confused, but I thought that’s what this meant??

I could go on, but I won’t because the task ahead of us is too great.  People are on there way to hell, just like I was before I met Jesus, and there is no time to be distracted from the work at hand.  People need a savior.  His name is Jesus.  I have committed my life to telling as many people as I can about the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone.  Beyond that, I could absolutely not care any less about what people think or say about me.  I have resolved to concern myself only with what Jesus thinks of me.  I don’t want to be one of these guys.  How about you?

Topher’s delivery was also completely normal.  He scored high on all those initial tests they give a kid when they’re only minutes old – which I always thought was completely unfair because they haven’t had any time to study!  Talk about a pop quiz!  The nurses took him back and the next 24 hours went smoothly. 

During the second night on his life, Topher went into serious breathing distress.  His O2 levels dropped dangerously low, and the medical staff that was on at 3am swept in and took him from us.  Delirious with fear, his mother and I spent the rest of the night at the nurses station watching our brand new child struggle to gulp in the air he so desperately needed. 

Tests were run the following day and a pediatric cardiologist found an atrioventricular defect in Topher’s heart.  It’s a kind of hole in the heart where fluid won’t stay where it should and instead backs up in the lungs causing congestive heart failure.  This type of defect was typically seen only in kids with another type of genetic condition.  The geneticist did his work and three days later they confirmed that Topher has Down Syndrome.

In one moment – an instant – everything about our expectations had changed.  The situation had been what it was all of Topher’s time in the womb, but we just found out about it.  Those early days, we had many unbelievable fears.  Even now, we can’t fully see God’s infinite plan concerning our son.  But Tabitha and I both can assure you that God is in control!  I wonder how Joseph felt when his brothers did this?  He had this cool dream where his brothers all bowed down to him and stuff – it was cool!  I’m sure he must have scratched his head a time or two and questioned whether or It was a long time before he saw God’s plan unfold and could say this!

I have rambled a lot more than I intended.  I guess I am just thankful today.  Topher turned 7 yesterday and it just has me thinking about how awesome God is and what an amazing gift the lens of hindsight provides.  I watched him dance at his party on Saturday and it makes me want to do a praise dance and just say thanks God!

Here’s a thought.  Have you ever considered that God never gets overwhelmed?  He never has too many things on his to do list!  Create the world – check!  Part the waters – check!  Go get some friends out of a sticky spot in a furnace – check!  Go to earth as a man – check!  Die for the sins of the world – check! 

But you say, “Wait a minute – that’s not fair! He’s God!” and you’re right – He is and I’m not and you’re not.  But He said here and here that He cares for us and will help us when we need Him.  He is God and it’s never a bad time to ask for help.  He’s never overwhelmed with His to do list.  Help Chris with his stuff – check! 

Perspective is in the eye of the beholder.  Truth is not.  Sometimes our priorities and focus can wander and we need truth to reshape our perspective.  I love ministry.  I love the work of ministry.  I love the church.  Not the buildings or a denomination, but the bride of Christ Himself.  I love people.  We can all get wrapped up in the things we love – especially if those things are good things.  Ministry must always hold the proper place of priority in my life and yours. 

• I am a child of God first.  My personal relationship with Jesus has to be the most important thing!
• Next, I am a husband and father.  God ordained the family before ministry and imbalance in that area goes against the grain of God’s design.
• Ministry is my calling and my passion.  Ministry rarely seems a chore when the other areas are in harmony. 

Sharing this experience with my daughters this weekend reminded me of the great responsibility God has entrusted to my wife and me.  My prayer is that God would call each of my children first into a love relationship with Him, and next into their own perfect areas of ministry.  I want to be a success as a husband and a father more than I desire success in anything else.  If I succeed in all of my chosen areas of pursuit, yet fall short as a husband or a father, I have not succeeded at all.  There is no higher calling in this human experience called life.

• Jesus changes lives when and where He chooses!  There were 49 individuals who met Christ in a remote village on the other side of the world last week. No matter who you are or where you are from – there is simply nothing more exciting than seeing people come to know Christ!
• Religion will never bring salvation.  I heard different statistics while we were over there, but as far as I can tell, roughly 80% of the Romanian people are practicing members of the Eastern Orthodox church.  There are so many people trusting in all sorts of rituals and superstitions for their “hope”.  I wonder how different we really are here in America?
• Availability trumps ability.  One of the recurring themes that surfaced throughout our time in Romania was that of inadequacy.  We should most certainly give God our very best.  We do not however have to be the very best for Him to use us.  In fact, when I read Scripture, I see God using a lot of rejects!  Ever checkout the family tree of Jesus?  He wants us to be available and depend on HIM.  That way, we know the results are from Him – not us.
• God is concerned with politics.  (Well, at least in this example) We spent time with the mayor of a village who is genuinely concerned for his people.  He desires to see freedom from the oppression and control they experience from the Orthodox church.  Even though it may well cost him an election, he is determined to see change take place.  Pray for this man and his efforts for change.

There is also a future ministry opportunity for a camp ministry in the part of Romania we were just in.  This is huge!  There are many questions and details that God has to work out, but there have been a number of confirming assurances that God is definitely stirring something up on this opportunity.  The relationships that Washington Avenue has established coupled with the camp experience of Damascus Road Ministries are a great combination.  Pray for discernment and direction on this issue.  Pray about how you might be involved.  I envision a situation in the future where we could send multiple mission teams throughout the year.

• The metric system is stupid!  I hope we never switch to it.  I keep trying to convert the kg. to lbs. in my head and it’s just not working!
• We have so many snacks packed there is a strong chance they will stop us at customs and interrogate us as food smugglers.
• We learned that those vacuum seal bags for packing will compress space but they will not do anything about weight!
• I have been warned that with my head shaved and my curtain goatee, I look like a terrorist.
• Toilet paper does not pack well!

We will miss you guys!  Tab and I are having a little difficulty leaving the kids like this.  We haven’t been gone this long without being able to easily get in touch with them.  They are fine.  Us – not so much.  Clemson will at least partially decide their fate in the ACC while we are gone.  Well…gotta go.  I’ll update as soon as I can in Romania!

Some people love to make decisions.  They are action-oriented people.  They thrive off of movement.  Idleness or indecision is unacceptable to them. Some people, on the other hand, hate to make decisions.  More often than not, they prefer the known to the unknown.  Stationary is satisfactory to them.  Giant decisions, and sometimes small ones, are paralyzing to them.  They are not opposed to decisions being made, they just don’t want to make them – but they will follow a strong leader that they trust.

Then there’s another group of people.  These people are not afraid to make decisions – they are just fearful of change.  Anything that is different rocks their world to the core.  These individuals’ statements are characterized by comments like “We’ve always done it this way”, or “This was good enough for my grandfather so it’s good enough for me”, or “Why do you have to do it that way?” 

Here’s the thing about decisions: I have been trying to think of an example for several days now, and I can’t come up with a single one.  I can’t think of a single decision that does not require change on some level.  It may be very small – microscopic even.  Or it may be analogous to Grand Canyon kind of change.  Every decision represents some kind of change in the way I am doing things.  Change scares a lot of people.  But change is necessary and often times very positive. 

I’ll post some additional thoughts soon, but for now ask yourself, which kind of person am I?

Without doubt, the question I am hearing the most from people is “What does this mean for Damascus Road Ministries?”  The short answer is that this is great news for DRM!  Camp Damascus and the Damascus Fall & Winter Conferences will continue to grow and be the feature events for the ministry.  In fact, the quality of content and the overall impact of these ministry events should increase.  My focus, as well as the focus of our other DRM staff will be focused entirely on these events, rather than on my itinerant schedule. 

Washington Avenue is completely behind Damascus Road Ministries!  Since this has been my family’s home church, the staff, leadership, and the people support the mission of DRM 100%!  This church really “gets” Kingdom focused work and I am honored and encouraged by the show of love and support by this Body.

The second most frequent question I am being asked is “What can I do?”  That’s easy.  Continue to do the things you have done to this point:

1. Pray – This is the most vital element of support this (or any other ministry) receives.  I am so encouraged by the cards and emails I receive from those of you who faithfully pray for me and DRM.  Please don’t stop!  You can add my additional mission to your list.
2. Volunteer- You guys that volunteer your time and talents to this ministry are priceless.  You are the reason we are able to provide high quality, evangelistic ministry events without cost being a barrier for a student to come.  Thank you and please continue to serve when and where you are able.
3. Support – Our budget has not changed – it has simply restructured.  With my day to day involvement decreasing, the need for quality and gifted staff has increased.  We appreciate your continued financial support today, as always.

Thanks for the prayers and the love many of you have expressed recently.  As always, I am doing my best to serve an AMAZING Savior with my whole heart!  Until next time…

One thing that is crystal clear.  God is showing this small group of believers that our task is not merely a goal that is set before us to travel across an ocean and share our faith and the gospel hope with those who have not heard – it is to walk across the room and share our faith with our neighbor.  Our quest is much more than fulfilling a command to share the love of Jesus with a hurting group of people in a village far from here – it is to share that same love with the guy we pass on the street corner, or the person in the booth behind us at the restaurant, or the lady pumping gas on the other side of the tank. 

Jesus called us to be witnesses!  Here.  Now.  Always.  Witnesses simply give an account of something they have seen and heard firsthand.  The problem is, the church today is often times more filled with prosecuting attorneys and judges in their regal robes than sincere witnesses to simply give their account.  A witness’ testimony is allowed in court as evidence.  Some people in the church only want to speak on God’s behalf – that’s called hearsay – and it’s inadmissible!  I believe that’s the stamp the world has placed on a lot of what the “church” has to say today.  Sorry – that’s inadmissible.

I know a lot of Christians (and I used to be one) who are well known by those around them for what they’re against.  How many people know what Jesus has done in my life?  That’s the question God has been leading me back to time and again – so I pose the question to you.  Do people know you for what you’re against or what you’re for?  If you had to define your life, are you a witness providing testimony, or are you sitting at the prosecution’s table?

Tabitha and I knew God had called us to go.  We felt his leading concerning the planning for the trip.  We are bonded together at the heart strings with the ones going with us.  We knew God wanted us to be on this trip, at this time, with these people.  BUT…. then there’s this little matter of finances.  Knowing all we know about the trip, we had not the slightest idea how we would handle the money. You know what?  I was starting to get a little nervous.  I’m just being real – I was beginning to get a little “make the game winning catch in the end-zone” sweaty palmed and “I really shouldn’t have had that chili cheese and onion Coney Dog from Sonic” queasy!

Now if you had asked us, we would have given you the standard answer that spiritual people give – “We know God called us on this trip and he will provide a way”.  But honestly, I am a spiritual man – but I am just that – a man! And I was beginning to get a little worried.  I’m going to share something without sharing something (I don’t want it to sound like boasting so the details don’t matter).  I had been praying about the situation and I had committed to do something big if God didn’t step in.  I realized that God wanted me to be as committed to getting there as I am about being there.  So I set a deadline.  That was Sunday a week ago.  Yesterday, God used an individual to make a huge financial provision for us. 

What’s the point?  God taught me something through this.  His fulfillment didn’t come until I reached a place where I was willing to make great sacrifice to accomplish his purpose.  I wonder exactly where Abraham’s hand, and more importantly the knife, was when God stepped in?  The Bible doesn’t give us the answer to that, but what is clear – Abraham had committed to the sacrifice.  I had already started making plans for the drastic step I had committed to make.  What are you doubting God about right now?

It’s not a bad thing to have a wife as cool as mine either.  I know guys in ministry who are in a constant struggle to reconcile their calling with their marriage – when he intended for the two to go together.  Thankfully, by God’s grace that is not something I face.  My wife is a ground for me.  She is way more spiritual than I am!  She is my biggest encourager, yet she never hesitates to call me to the principals office when I need it.  I am very, very blessed.  I know this is kind of personal, but I’m in a personal mood today (and this is myblog), but I just wanted to share with you the advice my wife shared with me, and state what an incredible gift God has given me in my wife.

And then there’s James.  James lives in the same complex as we do and last week he shared with me that he and his girlfriend would be moving.  They currently live with her mother and the situation has escalated to the point that they feel compelled to get out.  Now these two are a young couple who live in the world and like most, they have more than their share of difficulties.  James knows I’m a believer and last night we had a sort of lengthy conversation in the parking lot.  He asked me to pray for them and we swapped phone numbers.  To this point, our relationship has been more surface stuff.  We pass each other coming or going and give the typical guy nod by tilting your head back, arching your eyebrows, and kind of snapping it in an upward direction like you’re trying to shake something off your nose.  That’s the official guy greeting.  I don’t know where it came from.

We all know that God uses difficult circumstances and sometimes even tragedy to ultimately bring about good in our lives.  I don’t know what this couple will face.  I don’t know the extent of the damage to the family relationship.  I do know this – God wants these two to draw near to Him.  It is His desire that they would seek Him, love Him, and worship Him and I feel especially burdened for them.  Sure, my weekend was great and I AM excited about this week.  I can’t get these guys off my mind.  Would you join me in praying for this couple? 

For 40 years, God had supernaturally provided a means to meet the physical needs of his people during their time in the wilderness.  I realize that I am making some inferences to scripture here, but go with me for a minute.  For all this time, the Israelites had not had to do anything to survive.  They had their pancakes waiting for them when they woke up each morning.  They didn’t even have to call room service, it was just there.  Now, they are on the very edge of the land God has promised to give them and they are able to gather and eat food from the land.  I have a question.  I wonder how many Israelites spent the next several days going hungry because they kept waiting for their morning manna delivery? 

What’s the point?  There is a time for action!  There comes a point in time when simply “feasting on the bounty of God’s grace and provision” will not suffice.  Do you know what would have happened to the Israelites if they chose to do this?  They would have died!  Now was the time for action.  No more could they rest on the future hope of the promises God had given them.  Now it’s time to act!  I believe the church is in that boat today.  We have boudless volumes of theology and doctrine stockpiled so that generations to come will know of our scholastic aptitude.  But what will future generations know of our boldness for Jesus?  What lasting evidence and legacy will there be from your life and my life that we loved the Jesus we study so vigorously? 

I think now is a time for action.  We have a choice to make.  We can either put legs to our faith and make an impact for the Kingdom of Christ or we can sit back and complacently admire what a great God we serve.  James 2:17 has something to say about that.  There is nothing wrong with the thoughtful and careful study of theology, in fact it’s expected!  The question is what do we do with that knowledge?

That’s not the way it’s always been.  I used to return from some much needed time off and it was a different story when Monday morning came.  I used to return from vacation and scream, “I am sooooo far behind this week!  I will never get caught up!”  That’s because I am a recovering procrastinator.  That’s right.  The ever-unfaithful, I’ll get around to it sometime kind of guy.  My attitude was: Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right?  I found a support group for people with this condition and I was really excited!  It’s called Procrastinators Anonymous but the trouble is – they never get around to meeting!  All the advertisements for the support group meetings say 6:00 “Tomorrow”.  I knew I needed help.  I think the condition might be genetic.  My Dad was afflicted with the condition for years.  When I was a kid, I remember him always carrying around this little book that had a big red STOP! sign on it that read “Do it now!”  I was looking for that kind of inspiration.  I ordered t-shirts that had “STOP PROCRASTINATING” in huge block letters only to find disappointment when it arrived and I read “Later…” underneath in small print.

I have to tell you.  It is a relief to be free from the grips of procrastination.  Now I’m only recovering and I’ll never be cured, but let me encourage you with this.  We need to make the most out of every day that God blesses us with.  We need to treasure and take full advantage of every opportunity we have.  We need to get all we can done today, because we don’t know what tomorrow has for us (Proverbs 27:1). 

Wouldn’t it be nice if we got that chance in life too?  I mean, we have all had those situations where we really needed (and certainly wanted) a do over.  We sometimes find that we are in the same situation as this guy that got sick.  Either we are too far down a certain road or the cost is simply too high to turn around and start over again.  I don’t really have much more to add than that.  It just got me thinking, we don’t get many chances to start over.  There’s only one first day on the job.  Only one first impression with those new friends.  Only one marriage.  Only one shot at being the best parent you can be.  Some things we only get one real shot at.  We better make it count!

God spoke to me recently through an old friend from high school. This guy, I’ll call him Mike, was one of my closest friends in school. We were tight.  We played football together, rode to school together, hung out all the time – he was always at my house or I was at his. When I met Jesus, my life totally changed! My interests and desires were different. Very different from a lot of the things Mike and I did together.  Mike was not pleased with this. He didn’t want to do the same kinds of things that I did – and I didn’t want to do the stuff that we used to do together. We maintained a relationship, but it was never quite the same. I used to plead with him to give his life to Jesus! This guy is one of the most passionate individuals I have ever met, and a well known individual in the community. I knew if he ever turned that passion over to Jesus, to be used by Him, Mike could have a tremendous impact for the Kingdom.I had lunch with my friend the other day.  I think it’s been 3 or 4 years since we’ve talked to each other. He had asked me to come and speak at his church and we were meeting about that. Almost as soon as we sat down, I asked Mike what was going on with him.  Something was different. He just broke down and began to share all the things God had been doing in his life. He had given his life to Jesus and was now on that track of making an impact for the Kingdom!! So then I began to break down. So there we were, two grown men sitting in the middle of Stax Grill talking about how awesome God is and celebrating what He’s done in both of our lives. It was positively spectacular!I don’t know how many times I prayed for Mike back in school. I do know this though, God answered that prayer. And when my friend shared that with me the other day, it was just what I needed to hear. That day. That moment. God’s cool like that! He wanted Mike to know Him worse than I did. I was so refreshed and energized to learn about my friend. God’s a big God and He’s got a big plan. Why do we get so impatient when we don’t see immediate results? Why is it so hard to wait? The Bible tells us when we wait on God we find strength. But our tendency is to run ahead or fall behind. My desire is to be right where God wants me and I seek daily the patience to wait on Him. How about you?

Here are a few thoughts about balance: 1) Everybody needs it 2) It’s hard to achieve 3) You need constant readjustments.

This past year at camp we had an activity that illustrated this well. We had an 8X16 platform that was balanced on a beam about 8 inches off the ground.  The team goal was to get everyone on the platform without allowing the ends to touch the ground.  The individuals could only enter from the ends and not the sides.  Everyone understood the goal was to achieve balance, but it was still incredibly difficult!  For every pound on one side of the platform, there had to be a pound on the other side to maintain balance. Even when several people were balanced on the platform, the slightest movement by one could throw the whole center off and cause the platform to touch the ground on one side.

As I think about how this applies to our lives, I am reminded that most of us juggle many things at the same time.  Family, job, church, school, friends, hobbies, and our personal relationship with Jesus. Since our time resources are finite, when our plates are full and we spend more time in one area, that means another area gets cheated. Demands on our lives are greater today than ever before. The technology that was supposed to simplify our lives and help us get things done more quickly, has only served to increase workloads and responsibilities. We have to face situations with our eyes wide open when it comes to our most precious and limited resource: time.

Jesus said in Luke 14 that we have to understand the cost before we start something. When we add responsibilities in one area, that means another area is going to get less. If you work more, your family may have more money, but they will have less of you! If you love to fish and commit to spending more time on the lake, you have to give something else up. Now this isn’t always bad – but if we’re honest, many times balance escapes us and we feel like nothing is being done at 100%.  

Let me get a little more specific. Tabitha and I, with God’s help have done a fantastic job at making our family a priority. We made some commitments to God and each other and have remained faithful to those. It is difficult at times.  We have to make readjustments all the time, but God has honored that commitment and He will do the same thing for you (Prov 16:3)! As a result, our marriage is stronger than it’s ever been! I want to encourage you as you seek balance in your life.

• I am glad the Worship Rally is behind us and we are excited about our Fall in Cheraw event.
• Clemson Football can not get here soon enough!
• I have been thinking a lot lately about how tired Jesus must have been sometimes. After days of ministry, He learns about his cousin having his head chopped off and just wants to get away for a little while and thousands of people follow Him looking to have their needs met. And they didn’t even bring lunch with them!
• I am so thankful for good friends.
• I learned this weekend that pregnant women can lift heavy boxes that they shouldn’t.
• The topic of leadership has been on my mind a lot lately.  This subject is critical when it comes to executing the plans God has in store for this ministry.  I am going to be doing several posts on leadership over the next few weeks.
• Carl Cartee is as strong any artist out there – and that dude loves Jesus!
• What do men and women in ministry do who do not have the absolute support of their spouses do?  Probably many of them fail!  I have the greatest wife in the world and she is dabbling in the blogosphere!  You can check up on her at www.tabithalewisblog.com.
• I am thinking about changing insurance agents.
• I wish I knew how to work on cars!  My Jeep died last week and a friend from church is trying to breathe life back into her. We are praying that Big Red survives. Updates will follow…
• Shut the front door – I start back to class in a week!
• Do you think I could ever be a contestant on Dancing With the Stars?  That chick Sabre can absolutely tear the floor up!
• Did I mention Clemson plays in 21 days!  Oh I almost forgot!  The kid that won the Clemson vs. Florida State tickets on Saturday night is a raging Gam_____ fan (I can’t even type it out)!  I will furnish the seat numbers closer to game time so that everyone can throw things at them.

My pastor, Chuck Bridges, began a series on prayer yesterday.  He opened with this statement: “Prayer should be like breathing for the believer”.  While I have spent time with my Lord, and sought His guidance about the Worship Rally, I wish that I could say that I invested an amount of time in prayer commensurate with the time spent planning and preparing for this event – but I can’t. Sure, I have petitioned God for His guidance, confessed my unworthiness, prayed for those who will attend, sought God’s anointing in my preaching, asked for strength and inspiration for all of our volunteers – but if prayer really was my oxygen, my O² levels would freak my doctor out!Now I have a strong prayer life, but the point I want to make is this. God expects us to do our part. I am fully convinced that a lazy spirit is not something that pleases an almighty God.  He expects us to do our part. To kick it in neutral and then sit back and say, “No worries! God will handle the details” is deplorable. That’s testing God and Satan tried to get Jesus to do precisely that.

What I am saying is that no amount of planning or preparing on our part compares with time spent talking with God about the situation! Prayer is most relevant and effective when we align our priorities with His. Jesus gave us come pretty strong clues regarding what His priority is and how we can pray about it (2 Pet 3:9, Luke 10:2). God wants people to be saved. He wants people to repent. He is in control of the Soul Harvest. We are to ask (pray) for the workers (that’s me and you) to go out.  I’ll do another post another time on our responsibility for personal evangelism. Right now, I’m asking you to pray for this harvest. The gospel will be presented.  Jesus will be praised and worshipped. Pray for opportunities to invite people. Bring anyone you know who might need to hear about the love and forgiveness Jesus offers.  Invite strangers and people you meet this week to join you next Saturday. You can bring people to a “concert” who would never darken the doors of a “church”. 

God is up to something.  I can’t wait to see what He does! We have prayed. We have planned. We have prepared. By God’s grace and His strength, we are ready.  The tendency is to let up now.  Please don’t do that.  Pray.  Pray now.  Pray hard.  Pray often.  Pray together.  Pray by yourself.  Pray when you wake up.  Pray when you go to bed.  Pray in your car.  Pray in the shower.  Pray without ceasing.  Pray again.  Just pray.

• I am preaching a youth revival at Forestville Baptist Church this week and we are trusting God to move in the lives of students and that people would come to know Jesus and apathetic believers would surrender their will and live lives of authenticity.
• Our 2nd annual Damascus Worship Rally is just 2 Saturdays away! Our whole ministry team is fired up about this and are convinced that God is going to do something ridiculous!
• I have the opportunity to work with a worship leader I have never worked with before.  I love the chance to minister with new people and make new friends.
• I am excited with my kids.  They all go to new schools this year and our 5 year old asks us everyday if today is the day she gets to go to her new school.
• Kickoff is 35 days from today.  I will be in the middle of the ocean and will have to miss that game, but we do get ESPN.

I hope you are excited with us. Pray for the ministry opportunities God puts before us.  We have been so blessed to see God do some pretty cool things recently. Everytime I see God do something awesome, it’s almost as if He says, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”