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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".

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.