Kind of a crazy title I know, but it is a new book that I just started reading tonight by Mark Batterson. He is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church (www.theaterchurch.com), it is an incredible church in Washington D.C.
The basis of the book and title are taken from 2 Samuel 23:20-21. A kind of obscure couple of verses in scripture, but with a lot of relevance to our lives today...what are we going to do when lions cross our paths. Obviously he is not talking about real lions, he is talking about opportunities and dreams that we have...when we see them are we going to run "like scaredy-cats" or are we going to be Lions Chasers?
I know in my life, I have the inward desire to be a lion chaser, I want to do some big things for God, but when it comes down to it I get cold feet and shy away. I guess that is why something in particular jumped out at me in the second chapter of the book as I was reading...he says this on page 28 about a quote from A.W. Tozer: "A low view of God and a high view of God are the difference between a scaredy-cat and lion chasers. Scaredy-cats are filled with fear because their God is so small. Lion chasers know that their best thought about God on their best day falls infinitely short of how great God really is."
My heart dropped when I read this paragraph. Do I have a low view of God? Do I not have a very high expectency for what God can do? These kind of questions keep darting through my mind...
I guess it really boils down to this...(and he mentions this in the book) Their are numerous places throughout scripture where God takes a situation that looks hopeless and rescues people from the situation.
I guess we have to be willing to put ourself in places where the only sure way of success is if God shows up! Kind of like Judges 6 when God reduces Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300...crazy huh? But God wanted to make sure that the Israelites could claim one ounce of responsibility...it was ALL GOD!
You will probably hear more from this book in the future...it is incredible!!
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas
Well...It is Christmas Eve, we are down at Meg's aunts and uncles, getting ready to eat dinner and open presents! This is always a fun time...opening presents with the climatic throwing balls of wrapping paper at each other. All kinds of fun! I like to pick on the new boyfriends of the cousins...you know, send a message about messing with my girls...hahaha j/k!
Well I hope you all have an incredible Christmas...Hopefully you get everything that you wanted! Meg and I love you very much!
See ya on Wednesday!
Well I hope you all have an incredible Christmas...Hopefully you get everything that you wanted! Meg and I love you very much!
See ya on Wednesday!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Cleaning House!
I don't know about you, but I feel so much better when things that are sloppy and messy get cleaned up. Today Kris Bright and I went to the church and cleaned up the axiom storage room. It was awesome!! We threw away a bunch of stuff and moved other stuff out...you can actually see the floor now! It is awesome!
I love the feeling of walking away from a project like that where there is a lot of clutter and when you are done...things are clean and organized! If you think about it, it is kind of a cool analogy of what our lives can be like before and after we come to God...we come to God with our lives all cluttered and over time God moves things, gets rid of things and our lives become less cluttered with junk, that just takes up space in our lives.
I love the feeling of walking away from a project like that where there is a lot of clutter and when you are done...things are clean and organized! If you think about it, it is kind of a cool analogy of what our lives can be like before and after we come to God...we come to God with our lives all cluttered and over time God moves things, gets rid of things and our lives become less cluttered with junk, that just takes up space in our lives.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Cool Opportunity
Today Pastor Hiser and I went to a meeting with a bunch of pastors from the area. We were there to hear about an upcoming evangelism opportunity/event that will primarily target the students of the Sandusky area. It is call Impact World Tour, it is a division of Youth With A Mission (YWAM). It really sounds like it is going to be an incredible event, pastor and I are really excited about the possibility of reaching students with this event.
There are already around 8 churches on board with the event (fmc is one of them). I can't wait to see what God does when the churches of a city come together with one goal...reaching the community for God!
There are already around 8 churches on board with the event (fmc is one of them). I can't wait to see what God does when the churches of a city come together with one goal...reaching the community for God!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
The Dilema Within
During our "Ignition" service last night, I was worshipping God and feeling kind of frustrated about where I am at with my relationship with God. So I went up to the altar and knelt down and began to pray and talk to God, then I felt lead to pull out my treo and open the Bible program. As I did Romans 8 came to my mind, so I looked it up in the message version and this verse jump out at me.
It was Romans 8:5: "those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to excercising it in real life...
One of my biggest frustration, struggles, whatever you want to call it as a pastor is always trying to do everything on my own. Let me explain it like this, I read something the other day by another pastor that said this: "I called myself a pastor, thats when it dawned on me: I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ."
It was Romans 8:5: "those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to excercising it in real life...
One of my biggest frustration, struggles, whatever you want to call it as a pastor is always trying to do everything on my own. Let me explain it like this, I read something the other day by another pastor that said this: "I called myself a pastor, thats when it dawned on me: I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ."
It always seems to be a challenge for me to keep my relationship with God ahead of the work that I do for Him. The thing is, and I can't seem to get this through my thick head, is that my relationship with Him determines my effectiveness of my work for Him.
Father, help me to put our relationship first and the things I do for you down the list...to do great things for you...I MUST GROW!
Friday, July 28, 2006
Following The Crowd!
I was reading today in Acts 19, about a riot that started as a result of Paul's teaching and preaching...here's the story...
There was this guy in Ephesus who was a silversmith named Demetrius. His company was responsible for making the silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. So Paul goes into the town preaching and teaching that hand made gods weren't really gods at all, needless to say this upset alot of his employees...to make along story kind of shorter...these guys started a riot and everyone rushed into local amphitheater dragging along a couple of Paul's traveling buddies. No doubt with the intention of hurting them or even killing them.
The verse that jumped of the page at me was verse 32, it says, "Inside, the people were all shouting one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn't even know why they were there."
Imagine that you are in this huge amphitheatre and everyone is yelling. You look at your friend and say "why are we here?" And he replies, "I don't know I was just following the crowd."
How many of us do that exact same thing in our lives. How often do we find ourselves following the crowd? Not 100% sure why we are here, but simply going with the flow.
I want to challenge you today to know why you're here! Quit just following the crowd and doing what everyone else does. The other day I watched a movie about a young 13 year old girl. She began as the sweet, smart and innocent girl, but because of her desire to be popular and accepted she began stealing, doing drugs and being sexually active. To see this progression literally broke my heart!
Take a moment today to understand that you are here to have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. God never intended for you to simply follow the crowd. He wants to be your Father and he wants you to be His child!
There was this guy in Ephesus who was a silversmith named Demetrius. His company was responsible for making the silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. So Paul goes into the town preaching and teaching that hand made gods weren't really gods at all, needless to say this upset alot of his employees...to make along story kind of shorter...these guys started a riot and everyone rushed into local amphitheater dragging along a couple of Paul's traveling buddies. No doubt with the intention of hurting them or even killing them.
The verse that jumped of the page at me was verse 32, it says, "Inside, the people were all shouting one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn't even know why they were there."
Imagine that you are in this huge amphitheatre and everyone is yelling. You look at your friend and say "why are we here?" And he replies, "I don't know I was just following the crowd."
How many of us do that exact same thing in our lives. How often do we find ourselves following the crowd? Not 100% sure why we are here, but simply going with the flow.
I want to challenge you today to know why you're here! Quit just following the crowd and doing what everyone else does. The other day I watched a movie about a young 13 year old girl. She began as the sweet, smart and innocent girl, but because of her desire to be popular and accepted she began stealing, doing drugs and being sexually active. To see this progression literally broke my heart!
Take a moment today to understand that you are here to have a relationship with your Heavenly Father. God never intended for you to simply follow the crowd. He wants to be your Father and he wants you to be His child!
Friday, June 30, 2006
New Arrival...
She has arrived! Meg gave birth to a healthy little girl on Friday, June 30, 2006 at 4:06AM. She weighed 6lbs 15ozs and was 20 inches long. Still finalizing the name but will let you know soon! She is absolutely adorable! Check back we will be posting some pictures.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Reflection...
To me, Memorial Day is one of the most reflective and contemplative holidays. Other than Christmas and Easter, their is no other holiday that takes me back more to what others have done for me.
My Grandfather, who passed away in October of 1999, was a World War II veteran. I remember has a child sitting around my grandfathers living room listening to him talk about all the things he saw and did in the war in Germany, especially the Battle of the Bulge in which he fought. My grandfather was truly proud of the job he did serving his country. In 1999 when he died we had full military honors at his funeral. The flag draped over his coffin, taps and a 21 gun salute.
Every Memorial Day I have to fight back the tears. Because one thing my grandfather instilled in me was an appreciation and a respect for those that have fought and given their lives to ensure our freedom. I think of the sacrifice that those men and women gave for me, but I also remember the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. He gave His life so that I might have freedom as well as eternal life.
I hope that you did not let this holiday pass with out thanking God not only for the sacrifice of those that served our country, but also for the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins!
My Grandfather, who passed away in October of 1999, was a World War II veteran. I remember has a child sitting around my grandfathers living room listening to him talk about all the things he saw and did in the war in Germany, especially the Battle of the Bulge in which he fought. My grandfather was truly proud of the job he did serving his country. In 1999 when he died we had full military honors at his funeral. The flag draped over his coffin, taps and a 21 gun salute.
Every Memorial Day I have to fight back the tears. Because one thing my grandfather instilled in me was an appreciation and a respect for those that have fought and given their lives to ensure our freedom. I think of the sacrifice that those men and women gave for me, but I also remember the ultimate sacrifice, the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. He gave His life so that I might have freedom as well as eternal life.
I hope that you did not let this holiday pass with out thanking God not only for the sacrifice of those that served our country, but also for the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
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