Are you enjoying life?

Do you enjoy life or just endure it? If the joy meter was hooked up to your heart, what would the reading be? Don't confuse joy with pleasure, happiness, fun, excitement or any other feeling that is temporary and dependent on the circumstances, activities and situations of life. Joy includes those things but is best measured when things aren't going so well, when things aren't fun, exciting, pleasurable or even happy. Joy is not event-driven but God-given. The Bible says that there is joy in God's presence and since God is always with us (the #1 promise in the Bible), joy is always available. Its evidence that we are rising above rather than staying under the circumstances. It comes from knowing that whatever is happening is temporary and that life and love is not out of reach nor eluding me but has been there all along. Psalm 139 is a beautiful picture of the presence of God and concludes with a very important inventory to see if we really understand His presence in our lives.

1. "Search me, O God, and know my heart" If we have secrets and things that need to remain hidden and are unable to lay ourselves bare before God and afraid that someone may find out what you did or who you really are then joy will always be elusive to you. Is there anything that you are hiding from God or others?
   
2. "Test me and know my anxious thoughts" Fear and worry are things that rob us of joy. It is not a path of trust and peace. Jesus taught in the parable of the sower that it is the cares of this world that choke out the life that God desires for you to have. God says to worry about nothing and pray about everything. Worry has never solved a problem (it usually magnifies a problem) but God has been known to do amazing things for those who trust Him. What is keeping you up at night that should be given to the Lord?
3. "See if there is any offensive way in me" Often we sacrifice joy on the altars of pleasure, expediency and acceptance. Sin may bring temporary pleasure and satisfaction but eventually leads us to a dead end. Is there anything that you should confess?
4. "And lead me in the way everlasting" Sometimes joy stays just out of reach when we are not pursuing the life and work that God has called us to do. We set our sights on the next purchase or promotion or award only to find that it doesn't satisfy. Maybe we hate our job or just feel that there ought to be something more or greater to live for. And you are right, God has a plan and a purpose for you, good works that He has ordained only for you to accomplish. Is there something or someone that you feel you should be helping? Is there a charity that you should be active in? Find out what would bring you joy and just do it.
   

Sunday Recap

• I know it is Thursday but I still want to tell you about Sunday. We are still met at the Dorr's house and will be there again this Sunday. It has worked out fairly well.
  
• Joe led worship and did a great job. I was impressed.
• Pattie and Donna returned from Florida on Sat. morning. I was glad to have her home. She had a great time and her back held up well. Keep praying for her as it is still tender.
• Took Jim and Donna to Longhorn's for Jim's birthday. That was fun as well as good.
• Finished our series on "Behold Your God!" with a look at God's omnipresence. It was a good finish to the series.
• Starting the final series as Pastor of Axios next week. We will be looking at Matt 25 and examining each of the three teachings from this chapter. I do not feel really sad nor do I feel like this is the end. We are on a journey and that journey continues. For the last few years, our journey through life brought us together and now our roads are parting. God has a plan for each of us, a next step, a new place to grow, a chance to follow our dreams. May we all faithfully continue down the straight path of trust in our God and take comfort in the promise that this path will bring the greatest amount of glory to God and the greatest amount of blessing to our own lives.
  

Finally getting to blog.

Sorry for not posting lately but I am slammed trying to get this house on the market. So far I have had the front porch jacked up and secured and painted, the inside trim and doors painted, the deck waterproofed and sealed, the garage cleaned out which was no small task, the roofer delivered materials and a dumpster yesterday and the garage doors are suppose to be installed today. This leaves pressure washing the house and driveway, painting the outside windows, and a little yard work. It's a shame to move after getting the house looking so good. I saw Gary Lamb (pastor of Revolution Church and is moving into our old warehouse space) the other day and tried to sell him my house. I reasoned that since he is wanting to reach Holly Springs, he ought to live in Holly Springs. He didn't bite. He did give me a tour of the warehouse and showed me the changes they were making. I was impressed. Its going to look real good. I have no doubt that they will draw a crowd.

Can I Live to Be 140?

I was sitting at McDonald's yesterday, sipping my medium hazelnut ice coffee, when a thought occurred to me: "I want to live!" Now, not that I had a death wish before this but I suddenly had a new desire to see the next century. So for me to see the year 2100, I would have to live to be 140 years old. Not impossible. Others have lived longer. Methusaleh, Abraham, Moses to name a few. But where did this thought come from? I have a great life, an awesome wife, a wonderful family but when you live in a world where there are hardships, sorrow, difficulties, toils, trials or whatever other word you can think of to describe how we get worn out, the thought of living past 80 can feel wearisome. Then I thought, "I will certainly have to change some things if I am to attain this goal." For one, I would have to stop coming to McDonald's and drinking ice coffee everyday. I must admit that this lessened my desire to live that long but I was still wondering what made me think about this. Then it occurred to me that "change" is the answer. When you are stuck in the bill paying, house keeping, car driving, fast food eating routine that we call life and feel that we have arrived and this is how it is going to be, it is easy to say "Come, Lord, quickly." The last 2 years have been difficult at Axios. Meeting budget was a challenge. Seeing good friends being led away to other churches was discouraging. This is not to say that good things weren't happening also. The last 2 years have also been good. I have read more, learned more, grown more personally than I ever have and there were people getting saved and new families attending. But when it became evident that we had to move out of our warehouse space, I did not know if I had the energy to keep this going. I did not know if changing locations was going to make a difference. I knew that I didn't want to try another 5 years and still be in the same place. I was not unsure of my call just unsure of whether we were in the right place. So I began to pray. And God immediately began to move. And now we are moving to Denver. God is moving us to Denver! He has something more in store for us! It energizes me, excites me, scares me, challenges me but most of all it makes me want to live! It is true that when you stop learning, you stop growing. And when you stop growing, you stop changing, and when you stop changing, you die. What are you reading? Who is challenging you? What new dreams are you dreaming? What new challenge is waiting for you? Moving is not necessary but growing is. God wants to change you and make you cry out "I want to live!" Maybe I won't make it to 140 but I'll die trying.

New Route

I was disappointed to find out at the bus meeting that they had changed my route. My high School route is the same but my elementary is different and that's the one I was really looking forward to doing again. I loved those kids and now I only have 2 months to get to know a whole new set of kids. It will still be fun.

Sunday Recap

• Great to be at church today. I was pumped about the message.
• Spoke on God's omniscience from Romans 11:33 - 12:2. Just reiterating one point. The opening line is "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God." God's wisdom enriches our lives and is better than an endless supply of money. Most people think that most of their problems would be solved if they had more money. I sometimes fall into that trap. We see money as an answer while God consistently exposes it as the problem. Jesus taught things such as how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, that it is the "deceitfulness of riches" that chokes the seed of the Gospel and keeps it from bearing fruit, that it competes for the lordship of your heart, that we should beware of all kinds of greed. The Bible further teaches that the love and desire for money is the "root of all evil." It's not only the problem but also the test. It tests who and what we are putting our faith in. Our lack of money causes us to turn to God while the overflow of reaches opens new challenges of obedience. God says that He is the answer and following Him enriches our lives.
• Pattie went with our friend, Donna, to Daytona for the week. Its their opportunity to spend time together before we move. I don't like being away from my wife but I hope she has fun.
  
• Went to see the Batman movie with Joe, Bob, and Monica this afternoon. It was very good. It was weird watching Heath Ledger knowing that he is dead now but his performance was incredible.
• Hated that Greg Norman couldn't pull out a victory at the British Open.
  
• Have a bus meeting tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to it.
• I'm ready to get on with our move to Colorado. I'm anxious to get started. I hate waiting for everything to get done before we can move. I pray everyday for a fast, generous buyer.
• Its hotter that whooey!
  

Offense or Defense?

I'm still intrigued with the story of Jonathan and Saul in 1 Samuel 13 and 14 and how it relates to Daniel 11:32 (NASB) "the people who know their God will display strength and take action." It is often hard for people to muster the courage to act on their faith. We are obsessed with comfort and safety and do everything possible to prevent the uncomfortable and the risky. Jonathan and Saul are in contrast in this story. The faith of Jonathan is what we should strive for but Saul is the usual picture of how we live. Jonathan had an "offensive mindset" that caused him to initiate action while Saul was more "defensive" and ended up just reacting to the circumstances around him. Jonathan was always taking the battle to the enemy while Saul was always waiting under a tree for God to do something. Jonathan was tackling problems and overcoming obstacles while Saul was talking about problems and using obstacles as an excuse not to move. Most of us don't act because of a lack of resources while Jonathan faithfully used the one sword that he had. Most of us don't act because we think we are alone while Jonathan went with just his armor bearer and God. Most of us like to retreat to the comfort of our homes while Jonathan scaled the cliffs in search of victory. This is one leadership lesson that I believe God has taught me and is teaching me. As a leader, I often waited to long for the sure sign or the clear voice from God only to eventually react to the difficulties I was facing. Instead of initiating action, I allowed my actions to be dictated by circumstances. Fortunately, failure is never final and God is honing me for a new task. May I learn to initiate before I am forced to react. What about you? What does God want you to initiate? What command should you start obeying today? What obstacle is telling you that you can't or shouldn't? God is for you not against you! Go! Do! Act! Live! Conquer! Even dieing is glorious when you die trying the very thing God has called you to do.

Colorado News

Monica sent me these stats about the most obese states. Here are the 10 states with the highest percentage of adult obesity, according to a 2007 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent
2. Alabama, 30.3
3. Tennessee, 30.1
4. Louisiana, 29.8
5. West Virginia, 29.5
6. Arkansas, 28.7
7. South Carolina, 28.4
8. Georgia, 28.2
9. Oklahoma, 28.1
10. Texas, 28.1
That good old Southern cooking is killing us but what a way to go! The least obese state in the Union is, you guessed it, Colorado with only 19% obesity rate. I hope I don't tip the scales when we move there and they lose this ranking. I feel slimmer just thinking about moving there.

House Keeping

We have been working hard on getting my house ready to sale. I have been painting the trim in Rayanne's room and the master bedroom. Insurance man came and looked at our roof and agreed there was sufficient hail damage to merit a new roof and front gutters. This is a huge answer to prayer. We are past due for a new roof. They said they could have it scheduled and done in under 2 weeks. Brian came today and jacked up our front porch and put new supports in. I am always impressed with his work. If you need remodeling, decks, fences, etc. you should contact him at Classic Design 678-386-6061. Went through the house with Pattie and decided what to take and what to give away. We are definitely downsizing from a 5 bedroom home to a two bedroom apartment. Much of the stuff that we own was given to us and we would like to return the favor. If you need some things or know someone who has needs, let me know. We would rather give it to specific families rather than to Goodwill. Still have to stain the back deck, paint the front porch, pressure wash the house and driveway, do a little yard work, and figure out what to do with the rest of the church stuff. I've got to get this house on the market before August. I'm tired already. God bless all the people who work in this hot sun.

Bus Driving

Transportation called and offered me a sweet route which would have been a middle school only route. I turned it down since I will only be here a couple of months and I would like to see my kids from last year again. Most of my bus driving friends are getting new routes and Sherrie called me to see what I was doing and to tell me of her new route. She also told me to get on the ball with updating this blog. So I hope this will satisfy you till next time.

I had a great birthday!

• Yesterday was my birthday and I have a new motto: "48 is not too late to do something great for the glory of God!" This new call (not Red Bull) gives me wings. I am thankful that God has chosen me to do something different.
• Jenny and Brian and the kids came over for my birthday lunch. Grilled hamburgers and had freshest, sweetest, tenderest corn on the cob from my dad's garden in TN. It was good and fun.
• Ben and Joe took me to the movies to see Indiana Jones. It was fun and I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the Star Wars line Harrison Ford used in the movie, "I have a bad feeling about this."
• Went over to Rachele and Kris' house after the movie. It was good to see them and Camille. Kris put a new radiator in my Jeep. It's great to have the skilled son-in-laws that I have.
• When I got home Rayanne had made me a chocolate Birthday cake. It was good and they did put all 48 candles on it.
• Joseph had the idea for the birthday dance so you can blame him. Fortunately he edited the 4 minute dance routine down to 1:20. Maybe he will put the unedited version on youtube.
  

Sunday Recap

• Had church at one of our member's home. George Barna predicts that "house churches" will be the new trend in the future. I hope not. Not that it was bad, it just seems smaller than the Gospel allows. The Gospel is too big and too powerful to be contained in one home. It may be a good place to start but it has to break out of those walls.
• They surprised me with a birthday cake.
• The owner's two dogs also attended church.
• Continued our series on "knowing God." Started with the premise that "people who know God do exploits." The more intimate we are with God, the bolder we should be in our faith. Your faith is not dead but alive and active.
  
• There are many qualities of God that we can emulate, such as love, mercy, faithfulness, etc., but at least three that are unique to Him that make Him God and ensure that we are not God. They are His omnipotence (all-powerful), omniscience (all-knowing) and omnipresence (all-present).
• Power without wisdom would be frightening. Wisdom with out power would be useless. Wisdom and power without omnipresence would be limited. But since God has all three, we can trust Him for every situation at any time in any place.
• I spoke from Isaiah 40 on God's omnipotence. His power is proven in creation, controlled by His purposes and wisdom, dwarfs any national power, exposes false gods as the powerless frauds they are, extends over the whole universe and is active in our individual lives.
• Because He is all-powerful I can expect the miraculous. I can expect His strength when I am weak. I can expect to soar like an eagle over every circumstance. I can expect to do great things, risky things, powerful things because it is not my strength but His.
  

My 48th Birthday

Today we celebrated my birthday and I had a great day. It inspired this birthday dance.

Book Update

• Finished Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne recently. Shane is definitely a radical but he does live what he believes. Many things I liked, some I didn't, but it all made me think.
  
• Crazy Love by Francis Chan is absolutely kicking my tail and I'm not done with it yet. A couple of chapters, I had to put the book down and examine my heart and repent before I could continue. Many times I get some ideas on my mind such as how Americanized church and faith has become and then a book is placed in my hand that is right along those lines. This book is one of those.
• Right People, Right Place, Right Plan by Jentzen Franklin. This was given to me by a church member who found out I was thinking about moving. Had some good things in it but very sermony. I didn't feel like it completely lived up to its title. Some very good stories in it though.
• Just started Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll. Mark is pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and a church planter. He is reaching people far from God. This book is on basic doctrines of Christianity but doesn't read like one. I just started it but I know I'm going to love it. I've known about Mark but haven't read or listened to him much but several people in Denver were into him so I thought I should check into him more. I like what I'm finding.
  
• Reading the Gospel of Luke in my Bible reading. I'm stunned at the teachings of Jesus. They are radical. I'm impressed with His resolve and His deliberateness. He is an awesome God.
• Also reading Exodus. I'm drawn to the dialogue between Moses and God. God spoke to Moses more than anyone else in the Bible. He is heralded as a great leader. I believe that 90% of leadership (if not more) is listening to God.
  

Sunday recap and more

• We had a good Sunday. The crowd was decent and the atmosphere was great.
• Forgot to assign someone to get the key for the Depot. Donna and I had been responsible for the key but we were both out of town for the week. Rayanne and I showed up just a little before 8:00 am to see if we could break in but right when we drove up a maintenance man stopped in to restock the toilet paper on the way to his church. He let us in and agreed to come back and lock it up. This guy had never shown up on any of the weeks previous. It was a God thing and God's way of keeping me out of prison and the headlines.
• There were some people there who were not there last week and heard about the Denver thing through the grapevine. Not everyone is happy about us moving and some are disappointed that we are closing Axios. Of course, no one is real happy about it but they are very encouraging and understand that I must follow the Lord.
• Started a series on knowing God. Started with Daniel 11:32 (NASB) "the people who know their God will display strength and take action." The KJV says it like this "the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." Knowing God increases courage and gives you the freedom to do things others shy away from. They walk on water, they fight giants, they sleep with lions, they walk away from lucrative businesses such as fishing and tax collecting, they eat manna and drink water from rocks. To them, faith is how they live not just what they believe. We then went to the story of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 13 & 14. I will share more about this later on.
• Ate lunch at Chili's with Jim, Donna, Bob, Monica, and Rayanne.
  
• Pattie had to stay in Chattanooga to care for her mom. This is not an easy situation. Please pray for us.
• Pattie and I are hopefully going to Lakeland, FL for our nephew, Ronnie's, wedding.
  
• Monday and Tuesday mornings, I was able to get back to my morning ice coffee and reading at McDonald's. The people (including workers and other regular customers) were happy to see me again. That may sound sad but I was happy about it.
• I have had 5 local pastors contact me this week, 4 of which want to get together and hear about what I am doing and if they can be of help. 2 of the pastor's I have never met before nor have I heard of them but looking forward to sitting down with them.
• Had a chance to talk with my daughter, Jenny, for a while on Monday. She's a good listener and a great encourager. She has been through a lot and I love to see the health in her eyes and hear it in her voice.
  
• Spent the evening with Rachele and Camille Monday night. It was great. My daughter, Rachele, like Jenny and Rayanne, is awesome. I love talking to her and hearing her opinion on things. She has wisdom like her mother. Sometimes there are no adequate words for Camille. She is a blessed child and a blessing to be around.
• Had lunch today with my son-in-law, Brian. Talked about getting the house ready to sell. He offered his help and his wisdom and expertise is sorely needed.
  
• Traveling should be over after this weekend and I'm glad.