Friday, February 27, 2009

Celebrating Success

Periodically, take some time to celebrate your successes. Not in a boastful, prideful way but in a thankful, grateful way. I'm certain that you've been blessed with talents and abilities and skills that have allowed you to accomplish some pretty impressive things; that you are really good at something, that you've accomplished something amazing, maybe several things.

Sometimes we get so caught up in working on "the next big thing" that we miss the fact that "the right now" is really pretty good. That God has blessed us, right here, right now.

Here's The Point: Take some time today to assess your situation. Be thankful and humble. And celebrate your success.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Updated Website for Sevier Heights

Hope you'll check out the newly updated Sevier Heights Baptist Church website at www.sevierheights.org. It's now much more user friendly and easier to navigate.

One of my favorites things about the new site is that the staff photos have been eliminated. That's good because it means you can no longer view a picture of me in a coat and tie with a slightly contorted upper body with my head turned at just an ever so slight angle.

Ideally, we want guests to the church and to the church's website to have a positive experience. Not so sure that the staff photos were helping the cause.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Flying Solo

Flying solo is the term I use to describe the situation when, due to sickness, work or their spouse being out of town, only one half of a young married couple (either a wife by herself or a husband by himself), attends worship and bible fellowship alone or...solo.

Flying solo can feel uncomfortable. People will care and will ask "where is your husband/wife?" and you have to explain. Sometimes, you may have to sit by yourself (well, sort of....even when I'm with friends, I still feel like I'm by myself when Tonya's not able to be at church).

But flying solo builds character. Not to mention that it's biblical. In Hebrews 10:25 (NIV), we learn to "let us not give up meeting together......but let us encourage one another". The concept here is that we need to be together to connect, to fellowship, to challenge, to encourage, to grow.

So if you are one of those people who, for whatever reason, has to fly solo on many Sundays, thank you. I want to encourage you that your efforts to participate and be involved are noticed and appreciated. And, in doing so, you encourage me.

Encouraging each another. Part of the goal of Hebrews 10:25.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Happy 5th Birthday to Parker

Happy Birthday Parker!!!!!!!

5 years old today! Wow, how time flies by! It seems like only a few days ago that we were hurrying to Fort Sanders Hospital on a Sunday morning (just like this year) so that we could get checked-in to await his arrival. Questions were racing through our minds: Will we be good parents? How would our world change? What would our life be like as parents? How would we respond when he cried or got sick?

And then he arrived in the mid-afternoon on Sunday, February 22, 2004 and we held him and it was, and it is, pure love (there were those early fears of being afraid of dropping him or "breaking" him or not holding him right, but I worked through those).

5 is big. 5 means starting soccer this spring. 5 means starting school this fall. 5 is big. 5 means more DEEP questions about God and Jesus. 5 means that now he really is a BIG brother. 5 is big.

Happy Birthday Parker! Mommy and Daddy love you and thank God every day for you and "your great big beautiful heart".

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

11 Years Ago Today

It was eleven years ago today that I was introduced to my wonderful wife Tonya. A big day. A day well worth remembering.

Looking back, it was really quite awkward the way we were introduced. Daryl, a friend of mine who taught at the same high school with Tonya, told me there was a teacher at his school that he wanted me to meet. Daryl had been trying to "help" me for awhile. So after a couple of weeks of Daryl's consistent efforts to help us meet one another, both Tonya and I eventually gave in and agreed to let him introduce us.

We met at halftime of a high school basketball game. Tonya had stayed late after school and I got to the gym after leading a small group bible study with some high school students. Basically the intro went like this (over the course of about 5 whole seconds):

Daryl: Hey Greg, this is Tonya.
Daryl: Tonya, this is Greg.
Daryl: Well, I'll see you. I've got to get back to the scorer's table for the second half.

And that was that. He was gone. But what he started, God has graciously blessed. Tonya, I love you.

And, as always, thanks Daryl.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Change The World

Over the past three weeks our church has been involved in our annual Missionfest campaign. This year's theme is "Change The World", an effort to encourage ministry and service involvement on international, regional and local levels. One of those local levels is within the church.

Yesterday, during the 9:30 worship service, over 35 young married adults spent the hour serving in the children's ministry area. Giving of their time. Loving children. Being like Jesus. Changing the world.

This effort, where we serve as a group on a given Sunday (we call it TOTS-Together On Third Sundays), began last summer in an effort to live out our faith in a practical way. A big thanks to all those who continue to be involved in serving on TOTS Sundays.

Sharing the love of Jesus with children. What a great way to Change The World.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Fun on Friday

Random thoughts:

What is G? Turns out it's the new marketing campaign for Gatorade. But if your name is Grant or George or Greg, you know G is what some people have always called you.

Looking forward to the Daytona 500 and the start of the NASCAR season on Sunday. That I am a racing fan is often a surprise to people but several years ago a friend who worked at Bristol Motor Speedway gave my brother and me a pair of tickets to a race. He also later drove me around on the track one night (granted it was in his 2-door Saturn at about 30 MPH, but it was great fun). Feeling the effect caused by the banking on the track was an amazing experience.

Why is it that so many cartoons on TV today are just crude and vulgar? Back in the day...

Woke up this morning and heard the birds chirping outside as if it were springtime. If only they were right.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

All You Can

I had lunch today with my long-time friend, Tom Freels, who is recently retired. Among many other things, Tom is involved with our church's disaster relief ministry. At the end of lunch, Tom gave me a card with the group's motto printed on it:

Do all the good you can;
By all the means you can;
In all the ways you can;
In all the places you can;
At all the times you can;
To all the people you can.

Challenging words.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Thank You to Brandon and Kelly Burton

Yesterday morning in a Bible Fellowship class at church, Brandon and Kelly Burton shared about their personal journey to parenthood. From being told that they would likely never be able to have children through to their exploring of the adoption process to ultimately the joyous moments of receiving their son, the Burtons were very open that even though times of sadness and disappointment occur, we can have peace and joy.

Brandon and Kelly shared not just a timeline (this happened and then this happened next) but details of difficult discussions and hard questions they had to wrestle with. Their journey is heart-warming and encouraging. Their openness and candor is greatly appreciated and potentially very helpful to other couples dealing with these types of issues. If Brandon and Kelly can serve as a resource or an encouragement for you, they would be glad to do so. If so, please contact me and I'll be glad to connect you with them.

Here's The Point: God has a plan. It may not be the plan we thought it would be. But His plan is always best.

One more thing- Brandon and Kelly's son is adorable.

Friday, February 6, 2009

All I Know Is.....(Part 2)

Every night before bedtime, we read Bible stories with our sons. We've found The Picture Bible to be a great teaching tool (contact me if you need information on it). We also have a smaller Bible story book that Nana and Papaw (my wife's parents) gave the boys that we often will read to our younger son. It has larger pictures and fewer words but still contains great biblical truths.

A few days ago we read the story of the healing of the blind man in John 9. In verse 25, when his healing was questioned, the formerly blind man shares his "All I know" story.

Here's The Point: From very different sources (see previous blog post), God has been showing me the importance of the need for believers to share our "All I know" stories. I've found that when God uses multiple ways to make a point in my life, He's really trying to teach me something.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

All I Know Is.....

I'm currently in a men's small group (actually it's two groups because the original group grew to where it wasn't a small group anymore, so we split up) with several guys and we are working through the "Go Fish" curriculum by Andy Stanley. In the study, Stanley points out that when the fishermen, Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew chose to follow Christ, they followed Him because of what they had seen Him do, which was to help them catch a boatload of fish (Luke 5:6). They didn't understand His greater goal for their lives, which was that they become "fishers of men" (Mark 1:17).

Simon and Andrew were not well-educated men. They were not leaders of society, but they had met Jesus. And when they were later questioned for their faith and beliefs (Acts 4), they may not have understood everything that Christ had taught them, but they shared what they had "seen and heard" (v. 20).

Here's The Point: So many times when we try to share about our faith with someone, we're afraid they'll ask questions for which we won't have an answer, one for which we won't have a solid response, that they will "stump" us and embarrass us. Maybe we should follow the example of the fisherman from Galilee and simply tell our experience, our story, our "All I know is". People may question your beliefs but it's much more difficult for someone to question what you have "seen and heard".

Monday, February 2, 2009

Always

This week, as I was doing some Bible study, I read again a passage from Matthew 28. You may know it as the Great Commission. You may have never read these verses. In verse 20, one of the last things Christ says to His followers before His ascension is "I am with you always". For those who follow Christ, there is great comfort in those words.

He has promised He is with us always and yet I can't count the times I've prayed "Lord, please be with me today" or I've heard someone say "Lord, we ask that You be involved in all that we do".

Here's The Point: For those who follow Christ, He has promised to be with us always. On good days, always. On bad days, always. You don't have to ask or hope for His presence. He promised. Always.