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Monday, October 20, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Favorite Time of Year.
Wow! It is so hard to believe that it has been one month since I posted last. I always intend to post every two weeks, but things have been VERY busy lately.
Of course school started back and I am in charge of two Bible classes. This is my first time as a year-round teacher of any kind, but I love it very much. It has consumed a lot of time though, even though I didn't think it really would.
Another reason I have not posted recently is because of what I like to call "technology demons." You know what I mean, for some reason my wireless at my house stopped working a month or so ago, and through countless attempts to fix it or to have it fixed, I had never been able to get it back up. Then out of nowhere I decided to try it again a few days ago, and it mysteriously works again. So that's really neat.
It has been a time of transition and getting things started. Our youth group is starting new curriculum and has made a new partnership with Word of Life, and we were doing a lot of training to get all of that straightened out. And then of course our Evangelism Explosion ministry started up last week and that has taken a lot of my time as well, but it is going to be so worth it if even ONE person gets saved.
So all of those are reasons why it has taken me over a month to make another post. But I know that all of them are paltry.
This is a great time of year for sports, especially a Tampa guy like me. My wife and I have watched at least 75% of the Tampa Bay Rays games this year and we are utterly amazed. My best friend who runs a website called www.3guysandasportspage.com has predicted for years that the Rays were going to hit their stride soon, but to be honest I didn't see it. Our team salary is less than the Yankees luxury tax. We are out spent in that division like 50-1 (that's a wild guess) and the Yankees and Red Sox have looked so dominant over the past eleven years of the Rays existence. But right now our magic number is 16 to win the division.
The USF Bulls have also got off to a 3-0 start. Starting QB Matt Grothe (my friend on Facebook) is a Heisman trophy candidate and that team is easily the best team in the Big East after three games. Go Bulls.
And then there's the Bucs. I am a die-hard Bucs fan, but I have a really bad feeling about this season. I hope that I am absolutely and completely wrong and that the Bucs go 15-1 on the way to the Super Bowl... in Tampa. I do miss the days when we had a respectable and decent man at the head coach like Tony Dungy, but I am still die-hard.
All in all, I love this time of year. School's back in, sports are all over the place, the weather cools off a little bit, and we prepare for the holidays... awesome!
As far as the church goes, tonight we are having the Community Dedication Service for our new building. It should be an amazing service. We are honoring all of those people who assisted in getting that church building back to the beautiful building that we are now corporately worshipping in.
For the spiritual emphasis of this post I want to talk a little bit about Jesus. I recently taught about when Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple. This story really changed my view on Jesus when I first got saved. The Jesus I thought of before was the one in all of the pictures, where he looked like a dark-haired Fabio and had a huge smile on His face surrounded by children and sheep.
But when Jesus walked into that Temple during the Passover season and saw the people selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money for the local temple tax, and saw that these people were making a HUGE profit off of God, Jesus couldn't stand for it. The Bible says that he made a whip and just went in and cleared the place out. This reminds me that Chuck Norris wears JESUS pajamas. (a few of you will get that) Jesus wasn't a sissy, He was a man's man and he had the courage to stand up for what is right. Why don't we?
I am not suggesting that we run people out with a whip, but I am suggesting that we not listen when people try to gossip to us; that we walk away when people try to tell us a dirty joke; that we say something when someone says something offensive toward God.
It takes a lot more courage to stand up for what is right than it does to just let something go. But think of the courage that Jesus had to do all He did for us, let's follow His example.
______________________________________________________________
PS Please comment.
PSS A friend of mine just released a book called "Tatoo on the Heart." Check out his website: http://www.tattooontheheart.com
Of course school started back and I am in charge of two Bible classes. This is my first time as a year-round teacher of any kind, but I love it very much. It has consumed a lot of time though, even though I didn't think it really would.
Another reason I have not posted recently is because of what I like to call "technology demons." You know what I mean, for some reason my wireless at my house stopped working a month or so ago, and through countless attempts to fix it or to have it fixed, I had never been able to get it back up. Then out of nowhere I decided to try it again a few days ago, and it mysteriously works again. So that's really neat.
It has been a time of transition and getting things started. Our youth group is starting new curriculum and has made a new partnership with Word of Life, and we were doing a lot of training to get all of that straightened out. And then of course our Evangelism Explosion ministry started up last week and that has taken a lot of my time as well, but it is going to be so worth it if even ONE person gets saved.
So all of those are reasons why it has taken me over a month to make another post. But I know that all of them are paltry.
This is a great time of year for sports, especially a Tampa guy like me. My wife and I have watched at least 75% of the Tampa Bay Rays games this year and we are utterly amazed. My best friend who runs a website called www.3guysandasportspage.com has predicted for years that the Rays were going to hit their stride soon, but to be honest I didn't see it. Our team salary is less than the Yankees luxury tax. We are out spent in that division like 50-1 (that's a wild guess) and the Yankees and Red Sox have looked so dominant over the past eleven years of the Rays existence. But right now our magic number is 16 to win the division.
The USF Bulls have also got off to a 3-0 start. Starting QB Matt Grothe (my friend on Facebook) is a Heisman trophy candidate and that team is easily the best team in the Big East after three games. Go Bulls.
And then there's the Bucs. I am a die-hard Bucs fan, but I have a really bad feeling about this season. I hope that I am absolutely and completely wrong and that the Bucs go 15-1 on the way to the Super Bowl... in Tampa. I do miss the days when we had a respectable and decent man at the head coach like Tony Dungy, but I am still die-hard.
All in all, I love this time of year. School's back in, sports are all over the place, the weather cools off a little bit, and we prepare for the holidays... awesome!
As far as the church goes, tonight we are having the Community Dedication Service for our new building. It should be an amazing service. We are honoring all of those people who assisted in getting that church building back to the beautiful building that we are now corporately worshipping in.
For the spiritual emphasis of this post I want to talk a little bit about Jesus. I recently taught about when Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple. This story really changed my view on Jesus when I first got saved. The Jesus I thought of before was the one in all of the pictures, where he looked like a dark-haired Fabio and had a huge smile on His face surrounded by children and sheep.
But when Jesus walked into that Temple during the Passover season and saw the people selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money for the local temple tax, and saw that these people were making a HUGE profit off of God, Jesus couldn't stand for it. The Bible says that he made a whip and just went in and cleared the place out. This reminds me that Chuck Norris wears JESUS pajamas. (a few of you will get that) Jesus wasn't a sissy, He was a man's man and he had the courage to stand up for what is right. Why don't we?
I am not suggesting that we run people out with a whip, but I am suggesting that we not listen when people try to gossip to us; that we walk away when people try to tell us a dirty joke; that we say something when someone says something offensive toward God.
It takes a lot more courage to stand up for what is right than it does to just let something go. But think of the courage that Jesus had to do all He did for us, let's follow His example.
______________________________________________________________
PS Please comment.
PSS A friend of mine just released a book called "Tatoo on the Heart." Check out his website: http://www.tattooontheheart.com
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
NEW
Well my faithful blog readers. Life is good, and God is on the throne!
I have been writing all summer about change and about how weird it is here at church with no kids running around, and no teachers hanging out. It is almost time for that to change.
This week is when the teachers came back to the school which means that it is not nearly as quiet around here, and it also means that me and my wife are working at the same place again. Life is good, and I am looking forward to all the kids coming back here, even if they may not be.
And of course, this past Sunday was our first service in the new building. It was an amazing, awesome service and I thank God for every moment of it. It didn't come easy. The enemy started to attack and he is still attacking. We know and believe that God is about ready to do some incredible things through the life of NorthRidge Church and due to this the Devil is scared.
I used to not think that the devil attacks in such ways, but I do not believe it to be a coincidence that whenever things start to roll around here, things to seem to get so much more difficult. But here is the good news, while the devil is mighty... GOD IS ALMIGHTY!!!!!
When I think of all of the sacrifice that Pastor David put into the rebuilding process, and when I think of all of the other Pastors faithfully following behind him without complaint, and when I think of the countless hours that volunteers put into getting this building back to where it is now... it overwhelms me.
However, it must be noted and it must be remembered that the church is not a building. The church is the body of believers that follow after Christ. It is so easy to take a church building and to make it an idol. It is so easy to marvel at our new seats, and new colors, and new sound system, and the entire beauty of our new sanctuary. But if we ever put that building above God then we are in huge trouble.
Our pastor has said this to us for the last month now, if not more, and it is a true concern of his. The thing is when I walk in that building I do not see a building... I see what God has done. When I walk in that building I do not see a building... I see Jehovah-Jireh.
God allowed that old church building to burn down, but he never left us alone. It was difficult and it was tedious, but there was always a way for it to be done. God is good and He is worthy to be praised!
Praise God!
_________________________________________________________________
P.S. Leave a comment.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Reflect
Well, it has been an interesting couple of weeks since my last post. I cannot believe that this is my 31st post. It is amazing how fast time flies.
Since my last post my wife and I got a Ford Explorer. It is burnt orange and it is perfect for families. We were planning on saving up for a family car, but now we have one and it is paid off. God is good!
It is quiet here in the office because every one of the Pastors on staff except for me are on a mission trip in Honduras. They are working on a church there as well as doing Vacation Bible School. Our church sent 22 people on this trip, this is quite an undertaking and your prayers would be valued as they are gone.
So with all of the Pastors gone, it leaves me to pick up the slack. Thank God, as of yet, nothing catastrophic has happened. We got through service yesterday with nothing bad happening (that I know of) and I had an awesome time bringing the sermon yesterday. I was fired up and I love each and every opportunity I ever get to speak to the congregation.
This is a pretty exciting time, we have 13 days until we have our first service in our new sanctuary, and I cannot wait. School will be starting back soon and I am excited to have all of the kids running around here again. As a youth pastor I feel it is a blessing to be so close to youth all day long. I will most likely be teaching a few Bible classes this year as well, which is also exciting. I have been working on our church website and it should be up last Saturday :) It will be up very soon, it has been edited and updated and we are waiting for one piece of information to go through the right person's hands and we will be up. Hopefully before the night is out, so that is exciting. And of course Training Camp has started and that means that football season is almost here, which is uber-exciting!
I am hopefully going training camp sometime toward the end of this week, and hopefully I will NOT be watching Brett Favre. The Bucs have 5 quarterbacks on their roster and we don't need the distraction of Favre. Me and my good friend Robert Wiley (who is also a HUGE Bucs fan) and I will be going on Thursday or Friday and I can't wait.
And in case you are wondering about the rest of my schedule for the week, we are going to Give Kids the World tonight and that is very exciting as well. I have mentioned it in previous posts, but it has been months now so I will refresh your memory.
Give Kids the World is a place where terminally ill children go for a week with their families during their last days. It is like a wonder land. Everything there is so amazing and nice, it is like Disney World with love. It is some of these kids last chance to ever have a good time. They will go to this place and be able to forget, for at least a little while, all of the things that they are going through. Tonight my wife and I are going with our church parents, the Beasleys, to work in the ice cream parlor. It is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It truly puts life into perspective.
To end, I want to reiterate some thing I talked about yesterday morning. I believe that one of the most important things in our Christian life is the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation is the hope of salvation, which is the expectation and confidence of salvation. I want for all of you, my faithful blog readers to stop and reflect on what it really means to be wearing the helmet of salvation. Think about how amazing this is. Think about how awesome this is. Think about how good God is.
Reflect.
Since my last post my wife and I got a Ford Explorer. It is burnt orange and it is perfect for families. We were planning on saving up for a family car, but now we have one and it is paid off. God is good!
It is quiet here in the office because every one of the Pastors on staff except for me are on a mission trip in Honduras. They are working on a church there as well as doing Vacation Bible School. Our church sent 22 people on this trip, this is quite an undertaking and your prayers would be valued as they are gone.
So with all of the Pastors gone, it leaves me to pick up the slack. Thank God, as of yet, nothing catastrophic has happened. We got through service yesterday with nothing bad happening (that I know of) and I had an awesome time bringing the sermon yesterday. I was fired up and I love each and every opportunity I ever get to speak to the congregation.
This is a pretty exciting time, we have 13 days until we have our first service in our new sanctuary, and I cannot wait. School will be starting back soon and I am excited to have all of the kids running around here again. As a youth pastor I feel it is a blessing to be so close to youth all day long. I will most likely be teaching a few Bible classes this year as well, which is also exciting. I have been working on our church website and it should be up last Saturday :) It will be up very soon, it has been edited and updated and we are waiting for one piece of information to go through the right person's hands and we will be up. Hopefully before the night is out, so that is exciting. And of course Training Camp has started and that means that football season is almost here, which is uber-exciting!
I am hopefully going training camp sometime toward the end of this week, and hopefully I will NOT be watching Brett Favre. The Bucs have 5 quarterbacks on their roster and we don't need the distraction of Favre. Me and my good friend Robert Wiley (who is also a HUGE Bucs fan) and I will be going on Thursday or Friday and I can't wait.
And in case you are wondering about the rest of my schedule for the week, we are going to Give Kids the World tonight and that is very exciting as well. I have mentioned it in previous posts, but it has been months now so I will refresh your memory.
Give Kids the World is a place where terminally ill children go for a week with their families during their last days. It is like a wonder land. Everything there is so amazing and nice, it is like Disney World with love. It is some of these kids last chance to ever have a good time. They will go to this place and be able to forget, for at least a little while, all of the things that they are going through. Tonight my wife and I are going with our church parents, the Beasleys, to work in the ice cream parlor. It is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It truly puts life into perspective.
To end, I want to reiterate some thing I talked about yesterday morning. I believe that one of the most important things in our Christian life is the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation is the hope of salvation, which is the expectation and confidence of salvation. I want for all of you, my faithful blog readers to stop and reflect on what it really means to be wearing the helmet of salvation. Think about how amazing this is. Think about how awesome this is. Think about how good God is.
Reflect.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
God will provide!
As I have mentioned in previous posts, this Summer is a pretty weird time for me. A lot of change, a lot of transition. This week is no different.
My faithful readers remember when I mentioned that the music pastor that I used to work with in South Carolina moved here to Florida. Well, he is moving to South Korea on Wednesday. My next door neighbors, who are the best neighbors a guy could ever ask for, and really good friends are moving to South Carolina.
What's behind these moves: the Polk County School Board. Jeremy has a degree in education and was teaching autistic students and because of "cutbacks" wasn't asked back next year. My next door neighbor Sonia has a flippin' Masters in education and wasn't asked back, both of them finding immediate work else where. I could use the rest of this blog to point out all of the problems with such things, but I want this blog to a positive place. But just know that I write this post with an aura of sadness surrounding me.
Last week a major occurrence happened: my wife got in a car accident. She is okay, but the car was totalled. She ran into the hitch on a pickup truck when the dude slammed on his brakes. Nothing wrong with the truck but because the frame on our car was bent the insurance company totalled our car. We are driving one car as we weigh out all of our options.
Here is the neat thing about it though: neither one of us worried about it. It is such a great feeling to know that you are a child of God and that God is going to provide for you. We actually got twice as much for the car from the insurance company as what the Kelley Blue Book value was. Now, we are just in a spot that there a lot of different roads that we could travel in this situation, and if God brought us this far we better make sure we continue to follow Him.
You wanna read some great news? Good, I am glad you do.. I am posting this blog from my office, yes my OFFICE! It is nice and it has a door on it. For those of you that don't know our church had a major fire last September and we haven't had any real place to call an office since then. But before the fire we had cubicles in our office so, once again God in His infinite wisdom provided for us, and now we have beautiful new places to work from.
The other thing is, the sanctuary and rest of the church looks amazing. I am putting a video on here that I threw together of the progress made on the construction. You may think that you have seen it but I added a lot to the end of it so this is actually its very first unveiling. I hope you enjoy it.
So here is the spiritual implication of this post, I think it is very obvious... God will provide. His name in this regard is Jehovah-Jireh and the first time it was used in the Bible was when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Why was he asked to do such a thing? As a test of faith, maybe. As a show of obedience, maybe. Some theologians believe that this was God's poetic way of getting people ready for Jesus. If we can feel an emotional connection to the story of Abraham and Isaac, then we will be even more ready to accept the gift that God gave us in His son Jesus Christ.
For whatever reason God asked Abe to do this, the important thing is that he was wiling to do it... with no hesitation. And because of his obedience and his faith... God provided! A ram in the thicket, and no harm came to Isaac.
So if all of my friends move away I have to know that God will still provide. If our cars are out of commission I have to know that God will provide. And if our church burns down then I have to know that God will provide.
What an amazing God we serve! Thank you Jehovah-Jireh.
My faithful readers remember when I mentioned that the music pastor that I used to work with in South Carolina moved here to Florida. Well, he is moving to South Korea on Wednesday. My next door neighbors, who are the best neighbors a guy could ever ask for, and really good friends are moving to South Carolina.
What's behind these moves: the Polk County School Board. Jeremy has a degree in education and was teaching autistic students and because of "cutbacks" wasn't asked back next year. My next door neighbor Sonia has a flippin' Masters in education and wasn't asked back, both of them finding immediate work else where. I could use the rest of this blog to point out all of the problems with such things, but I want this blog to a positive place. But just know that I write this post with an aura of sadness surrounding me.
Last week a major occurrence happened: my wife got in a car accident. She is okay, but the car was totalled. She ran into the hitch on a pickup truck when the dude slammed on his brakes. Nothing wrong with the truck but because the frame on our car was bent the insurance company totalled our car. We are driving one car as we weigh out all of our options.
Here is the neat thing about it though: neither one of us worried about it. It is such a great feeling to know that you are a child of God and that God is going to provide for you. We actually got twice as much for the car from the insurance company as what the Kelley Blue Book value was. Now, we are just in a spot that there a lot of different roads that we could travel in this situation, and if God brought us this far we better make sure we continue to follow Him.
You wanna read some great news? Good, I am glad you do.. I am posting this blog from my office, yes my OFFICE! It is nice and it has a door on it. For those of you that don't know our church had a major fire last September and we haven't had any real place to call an office since then. But before the fire we had cubicles in our office so, once again God in His infinite wisdom provided for us, and now we have beautiful new places to work from.
The other thing is, the sanctuary and rest of the church looks amazing. I am putting a video on here that I threw together of the progress made on the construction. You may think that you have seen it but I added a lot to the end of it so this is actually its very first unveiling. I hope you enjoy it.
So here is the spiritual implication of this post, I think it is very obvious... God will provide. His name in this regard is Jehovah-Jireh and the first time it was used in the Bible was when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.
Why was he asked to do such a thing? As a test of faith, maybe. As a show of obedience, maybe. Some theologians believe that this was God's poetic way of getting people ready for Jesus. If we can feel an emotional connection to the story of Abraham and Isaac, then we will be even more ready to accept the gift that God gave us in His son Jesus Christ.
For whatever reason God asked Abe to do this, the important thing is that he was wiling to do it... with no hesitation. And because of his obedience and his faith... God provided! A ram in the thicket, and no harm came to Isaac.
So if all of my friends move away I have to know that God will still provide. If our cars are out of commission I have to know that God will provide. And if our church burns down then I have to know that God will provide.
What an amazing God we serve! Thank you Jehovah-Jireh.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Youth Camp
Last week we went to Youth Camp. We went to Student Life Missions Camp at Stetson University, close to Daytona Beach.
Our speaker for the week was a man by the name if Sam Bhatt. This man was absolutely amazing. He was funny, he was so easy to pay attention to, and he was passionate. He said on his first day, "My name is Sam Bhatt, and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ." He wasn't a typical youth camp speaker that thinks he is above people. One of the greatest things for the kids at the camp (there were over 1000) was that Sam loved to just hang out with the kids. I heard Sam plays a killer game of ultimate frisbee.
Our band for the week was the Chuck Hooten band. Chuck was of the same mold as Sam, to where he was incredibly humble and in tune with what God wanted to do. We got even more time to hang out with the band, because they came and spent an hour or so with us during our small group time. I was amazed at how accommodating this band was. At the same time our youth LOVED this band, and I am going to do whatever is necessary to get them to Haines City.
It wasn't just speakers and bands though, during the middle of the day we went on Mission. Our mission for the week was volunteering at a Boys and Girls Club. This was incredibly gratifying for a couple of reasons. 1. The children we were working with was amazing 2. The staff at the BnG was so nice they let us lead them in Bible stories and share whatever we wanted with them 3. My wife used her kindergarten teacher skills to lead at least five of these children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (PRAISE GOD!) 4. Our teenagers stepped up in a huge way. You would be amazed at the ownership and responsibility these teenagers took in the mission we were given. The adults could have left the Club and nothing would have changed. I was so proud of them.
If all that were not enough, I have to tell you about Wednesday night. On Wednesday night Sam's message was so incredibly basic. He took us through some of Jesus' highlights, like turning water into wine and feeding the 5000 and then told us to put ourselves in the shoes of the person who witnessed the miracle. After that he read the horrific tale of the crucifixion of Jesus, but he did so from a medical examiner's point of view. And then he called us to a time of commitment.
Every one of our teenagers stood up to say that they wanted to step up their Christian walk and give God 100%. As I watched them, and saw how God was moving in them, I felt led to take them outside. We went out of the service and just prayed with each other. During this time of prayer we could almost see all of the walls breaking down. All of the stuff that they were holding back, all of the times that they gave less than 100%, and the all the times as their leaders that we let them down. God worked in that prayer circle in a way that will change lives FOREVER.
After that God led me to take them up on a hill and make an Old Testament altar. We got sticks for each of the teenagers and they made a covenant before God and their brothers and sisters in Christ of what God was telling them to do and what they were going to do. I would not trade this time in my life for anything. It was such a humbling, awe-inspiring time.
God is amazing, and worthy of our praise! But remember that God wants 100% and he DESERVES 100%. Don't give God your leftovers. Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow after Him. You won't be disappointed.
Our speaker for the week was a man by the name if Sam Bhatt. This man was absolutely amazing. He was funny, he was so easy to pay attention to, and he was passionate. He said on his first day, "My name is Sam Bhatt, and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ." He wasn't a typical youth camp speaker that thinks he is above people. One of the greatest things for the kids at the camp (there were over 1000) was that Sam loved to just hang out with the kids. I heard Sam plays a killer game of ultimate frisbee.
Our band for the week was the Chuck Hooten band. Chuck was of the same mold as Sam, to where he was incredibly humble and in tune with what God wanted to do. We got even more time to hang out with the band, because they came and spent an hour or so with us during our small group time. I was amazed at how accommodating this band was. At the same time our youth LOVED this band, and I am going to do whatever is necessary to get them to Haines City.
It wasn't just speakers and bands though, during the middle of the day we went on Mission. Our mission for the week was volunteering at a Boys and Girls Club. This was incredibly gratifying for a couple of reasons. 1. The children we were working with was amazing 2. The staff at the BnG was so nice they let us lead them in Bible stories and share whatever we wanted with them 3. My wife used her kindergarten teacher skills to lead at least five of these children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ (PRAISE GOD!) 4. Our teenagers stepped up in a huge way. You would be amazed at the ownership and responsibility these teenagers took in the mission we were given. The adults could have left the Club and nothing would have changed. I was so proud of them.
If all that were not enough, I have to tell you about Wednesday night. On Wednesday night Sam's message was so incredibly basic. He took us through some of Jesus' highlights, like turning water into wine and feeding the 5000 and then told us to put ourselves in the shoes of the person who witnessed the miracle. After that he read the horrific tale of the crucifixion of Jesus, but he did so from a medical examiner's point of view. And then he called us to a time of commitment.
Every one of our teenagers stood up to say that they wanted to step up their Christian walk and give God 100%. As I watched them, and saw how God was moving in them, I felt led to take them outside. We went out of the service and just prayed with each other. During this time of prayer we could almost see all of the walls breaking down. All of the stuff that they were holding back, all of the times that they gave less than 100%, and the all the times as their leaders that we let them down. God worked in that prayer circle in a way that will change lives FOREVER.
After that God led me to take them up on a hill and make an Old Testament altar. We got sticks for each of the teenagers and they made a covenant before God and their brothers and sisters in Christ of what God was telling them to do and what they were going to do. I would not trade this time in my life for anything. It was such a humbling, awe-inspiring time.
God is amazing, and worthy of our praise! But remember that God wants 100% and he DESERVES 100%. Don't give God your leftovers. Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow after Him. You won't be disappointed.
Monday, June 9, 2008
A Tribute
Change. A very difficult thing. It is especially difficult when you are so content with the way things are. You know the joke: How many Southern Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Change? What's that?
I like things the way they are and so right now is a particularly weird time for me. First of all, school is out and it is sooooooooooooo quiet here at the church now. I really miss my tenth grade Bible class. My wife is out of school, which is good for her, but I really miss eating lunch with her every day. (By the way, it's her birthday today... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) And last but certainly not least, one of my favorite people in the world Michael Bartlett is moving away and taking his incredible family with him. As a way to pay homage to Bartman and to access a therapeutic release this posting is dedicated to him.
I remember the first time I met him, we were at Harold Butler's house for one of those awkward "Meet the New Guy" dinners. (I was the new guy) There were more staff members than I could possibly remember in one night and I always feel nervous at such things.
Bartlett and I met at the dessert table (a theme in our friendship) and he mentioned that he was recently in Pasco County, the site of the first church I ever served at. Me, in all my nervous brilliance said, "Did you know that Pasco County has more Nudist Colonies per capita than any other county in the U.S.?" Somehow he did not know that. Anyone else would have probably thought that was weird but Bartman rolled with it and I talked to him that night more than anyone else.
Well, somehow I still got the job and ended up working pretty closely with Bartman. He was my wife's boss and I am so grateful for the way he treated the one that I love. I could NEVER have asked for a better boss for my wife. Understanding, supportive, encouraging, respectful... it gave me such peace knowing that my wife was working at such an amazing school.
Bartman and I also developed a little tradition. His Bible class usually got over at 10:45 and I ate lunch at around 11. Him and I had an unspoken agreement to meet during that time at least twice a week. I truly miss those 15 minutes as well.
Bartlett and I share a heart's desire for reaching the lost and showing kids the love of God. Sometimes in ministry it can feel like you're surrounded by the world but standing all alone on an island, when those times came I always knew that Bartlett would join me on that island. We always seemed to see things the same way and the only disagreement we ever had was over how much worse his Bears are than my Bucs.
It is hard to believe that after only knowing a guy for one year that you could become this attached, but I have and I truly will miss my friend. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he will be "successful" at whatever it is that he does. He has often told me that he feels like his life is just constantly building to something else. Skills and lessons learned one place prepares him for the next stage of his life. I am sure that that is what is happening here as well.
And trust me, if anyone understands why he is leaving it is me. There is just something within you that is always drawing you to your home. He is from North Carolina and I know this must be a very bittersweet feeling to move back home, but it is definitely God's will.
I will miss him, I will miss our time together, but I will forever be connected through this one amazing year of my life. And to end I am putting on some of his "favorite" photos, and I am also ending with his famous catchphrase... "Onward and upward."
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