Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Good Crew
I'm so thankful for our church staff. I was gone this past Sunday to Ft. Worth to see my sister and the family and to do Christmas and got back today. It was great to call and talk to a couple of the staff after church on Sunday and hear that church services went really well. It's great to be able to be away and not have to worry about the church missing a beat. Our church staff works hard at doing their best for the Lord and His church. I'm glad to have such a good team! Praise the Lord!
I had a great time in Ft. Worth. I could tell so many stories, but I need to get back to working on my sermon for this Sunday. This Sunday's message will be a challenge for the new year for every believer. I'm also going to talk about our purpose as God's church and what needs to be more of our focus in the coming year. New Year's is always a good time to start fresh with new ideas and a renewed vision for the future. My prayer last week and this week is that God will prepare the hearts of His people to receive His Word. We need to be about His business even more. I pray that people are open to that message this Sunday.
I thank God for my family, my friends, my church and His love and patience with me. God is so good. We should not ever forget that, especially as we turn over the calendar this week.
I had a great time in Ft. Worth. I could tell so many stories, but I need to get back to working on my sermon for this Sunday. This Sunday's message will be a challenge for the new year for every believer. I'm also going to talk about our purpose as God's church and what needs to be more of our focus in the coming year. New Year's is always a good time to start fresh with new ideas and a renewed vision for the future. My prayer last week and this week is that God will prepare the hearts of His people to receive His Word. We need to be about His business even more. I pray that people are open to that message this Sunday.
I thank God for my family, my friends, my church and His love and patience with me. God is so good. We should not ever forget that, especially as we turn over the calendar this week.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Get-up
I live in a house full of women. I love all of my girls. But let me tell you something about little girls that every man needs to understand. They have get-up!
What is get-up? Get-up is the term that I have coined for their duds, ya know, their stuff. Girls have lots of stuff that they think they need and want to take everywhere. (Maybe that's why they carry purses!)
My girls were cleaning up to leave the house tonight and I told them to gather all of their get-up. Abigail (my 3 almost 4 year old) just starting laughing and said in her own cute sort of way, "Ya, daddy we got lots of get-up." I laughed out loud! Madalyn reacts negatively when I say it. She gets angry sometimes. I ask her to pick up or clean up her get-up and she always says something like, "It's not get-up. It's my precious things, daddy!" in that whiny sort of way.
No matter how you look at it, girls have a lot more get-up than boys. They accessorize. They have more equipment. They pack more for trips. They are always into their duds. They have lots of stuff. They carry bags of their stuff. Well, you get my point.
So when you see me "loading out" at the church, understand that 70% of it is probably get-up. I'm just the special man that God has put with these wonderful girls! (And they truly are wonderful!)
I am blessed better than I deserve. Merry Christmas!
What is get-up? Get-up is the term that I have coined for their duds, ya know, their stuff. Girls have lots of stuff that they think they need and want to take everywhere. (Maybe that's why they carry purses!)
My girls were cleaning up to leave the house tonight and I told them to gather all of their get-up. Abigail (my 3 almost 4 year old) just starting laughing and said in her own cute sort of way, "Ya, daddy we got lots of get-up." I laughed out loud! Madalyn reacts negatively when I say it. She gets angry sometimes. I ask her to pick up or clean up her get-up and she always says something like, "It's not get-up. It's my precious things, daddy!" in that whiny sort of way.
No matter how you look at it, girls have a lot more get-up than boys. They accessorize. They have more equipment. They pack more for trips. They are always into their duds. They have lots of stuff. They carry bags of their stuff. Well, you get my point.
So when you see me "loading out" at the church, understand that 70% of it is probably get-up. I'm just the special man that God has put with these wonderful girls! (And they truly are wonderful!)
I am blessed better than I deserve. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas to All!
It's the day before the big day. If you're shopping, you're hopeless right now. Wal-Mart will take you an hour just to get in and out of the parking lot, and that's without making it into the store! It's pretty crazy.
I'm excited about Christmas. My wife is so good at making it so special. It will be fun watching the girls open their presents. Amy and I got some really good ones that I think the girls will like.
Tonight is our Christmas Eve service at the church. This is a great family event. We sing Christmas carols, have a short devotion about the reason for Christmas, and then families take communion together. It will be a great time of reflection about Christmas. This is always one of those "highlight of the year" type of events. We don't have to invite or really push, and we usually have 250+ people there.
I think that's because people are looking. They are looking for meaning in this season. They want to encounter the Christ child in the manger. They want to understand the meaning of it all. I enjoy being a part of the service and my whole family looks forward to the meaning and experience.
The passage that I'm talking about tonight is Galatians 4:4-5. You might think, what's that got to do with Christmas? Look it up. It's all about Christmas. I'm going to be talking about how God has adopted us as sons and daughters. But to do so, He had to send Jesus to redeem us. The definition in the Greek of the word for "redeem" used in verse 5 is interesting. It means to buy back or buy out and was often used to refer to slaves being bought out of slavery. That's the essence of Christ coming. He came to buy us back to God.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
I'm excited about Christmas. My wife is so good at making it so special. It will be fun watching the girls open their presents. Amy and I got some really good ones that I think the girls will like.
Tonight is our Christmas Eve service at the church. This is a great family event. We sing Christmas carols, have a short devotion about the reason for Christmas, and then families take communion together. It will be a great time of reflection about Christmas. This is always one of those "highlight of the year" type of events. We don't have to invite or really push, and we usually have 250+ people there.
I think that's because people are looking. They are looking for meaning in this season. They want to encounter the Christ child in the manger. They want to understand the meaning of it all. I enjoy being a part of the service and my whole family looks forward to the meaning and experience.
The passage that I'm talking about tonight is Galatians 4:4-5. You might think, what's that got to do with Christmas? Look it up. It's all about Christmas. I'm going to be talking about how God has adopted us as sons and daughters. But to do so, He had to send Jesus to redeem us. The definition in the Greek of the word for "redeem" used in verse 5 is interesting. It means to buy back or buy out and was often used to refer to slaves being bought out of slavery. That's the essence of Christ coming. He came to buy us back to God.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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