We're finally finished. The almost two year process of selecting the new leader of our great country has finally come to an end. No more yard signs, negative TV ads, debates, conventions, or primaries. What's next? Here's a couple of things I think we would do well to remember:
Nothing takes God by surprise.
A couple of years ago I heard a message on leadership from Andy Stanley based on Daniel 4:17. If we believe that verse to be true then we understand that God places leaders in positions of authority for His purposes. We might not understand what those purposes are, but we understand that He is a good God who only wants what's best for us and our country.
The morality of our country doesn't depend on who is President.
When Jesus left earth and returned to heaven He left the job of changing the world to His church, not to any government. As followers of Jesus we need to quit putting so much hope into who is on the Supreme Court, and remember that Jesus wants His church to set the moral direction of our nation. We do that by influencing people in our communities one life at a time.
We should always pray for the leaders of our nation.
Blake read this scripture yesterday at our staff meeting, and it reminded me that praying for our President and other national leaders is something we should do regularly, not just around election time. Whether you are happy or unhappy with the outcome of yesterday's voting, we are still followers of Jesus who live in America, and one of our jobs is to ask God to give wisdom to our leadership.
Hopefully, if we can remember these things we'll quit worrying so much about things we have no control over anyway. Be thankful today that you live in a country where you can freely live for Jesus! Take every opportunity to be a shininbg light of His hope wherever you go!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting
I just arrived in the office this morning after voting. The wait was more than any other time I've voted, but not as bad as I had feared. It took an hour and 15 minutes at my precinct. I'd be interested to know how long you had to wait.
No matter how long the wait is, the whole process is always pretty cool. I'm always thankful that we have the freedom to make a choice, even if the vote doesn't always go the way we want.
No matter how long the wait is, the whole process is always pretty cool. I'm always thankful that we have the freedom to make a choice, even if the vote doesn't always go the way we want.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Everybody sing-along
Yesterday was a great Sunday morning of worship! It was awesome to see the front of the auditorium filled with parents and kids on their knees praying together. The rest of this message series on parenting will be very practical. We always want you to invite your friends to Freedom, but this month will be an especially good time to do so.
I don't know about you, but I've got presidential election fatigue. I don't think I've ever been more ready for an election to be finished. The negativity has just gotten to me I guess. I thought it would be fun for all of us to be reminded how this great country of ours got started. Check out this video on Youtube.
If you watched cartoons in the 70's you should know all the words. Keep them in mind as you vote tomorrow!
I don't know about you, but I've got presidential election fatigue. I don't think I've ever been more ready for an election to be finished. The negativity has just gotten to me I guess. I thought it would be fun for all of us to be reminded how this great country of ours got started. Check out this video on Youtube.
If you watched cartoons in the 70's you should know all the words. Keep them in mind as you vote tomorrow!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween and Sunday preview
Today is Halloween in case you need to be reminded, and I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite childhood memories of the spooky holiday.
- The Halloween Carnival at my elementary school. Every year at Seven Oaks Elementary there would be a Halloween Carnival that I loved to go to. The thing I most remember was the haunted house. I was too scared to go in until probably the fifth grade, but once I did I loved it. I was scared, but I loved it.
- The year my friend had a costume no one could figure out. One year my friend Darrin who lived across the street wanted to be the alien monster from the movie "Alien". There were no costumes or masks you could buy, so he made his own mask using a balloon, toilet paper rolls, and plaster of paris(is that how that is spelled?). Every house we would go to people would try to guess what he was. I think the most common guess was "mole". Darrin didn't like that too much.
- The first year my parents let me trick or treat without their supervision. I was probably in the 6th grade or so and I'm sure it took a lot of begging on my part, but there was a Halloween where me and a group of friends roamed through the neighborhood alone. I remember feeling like I was so mature. I also remember walking home from my friend Jeff's house all alone at the end of the evening, and wishing I had a parent close by. It was dark and I had visions of Jason or Micahel Meyers coming to get me. Being independent and mature wasn't quite as cool as I had thought.
I'd love to hear you memories. Leave a comment so we can laugh together about them.
Sunday we are beginning a new series of messages on parenting called "What Every Parent Needs to Know". You can go to the church website to see the schedule for the month. This week we focus on Psalm 127:3.
Invite some friends to join you this week. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!
- The Halloween Carnival at my elementary school. Every year at Seven Oaks Elementary there would be a Halloween Carnival that I loved to go to. The thing I most remember was the haunted house. I was too scared to go in until probably the fifth grade, but once I did I loved it. I was scared, but I loved it.
- The year my friend had a costume no one could figure out. One year my friend Darrin who lived across the street wanted to be the alien monster from the movie "Alien". There were no costumes or masks you could buy, so he made his own mask using a balloon, toilet paper rolls, and plaster of paris(is that how that is spelled?). Every house we would go to people would try to guess what he was. I think the most common guess was "mole". Darrin didn't like that too much.
- The first year my parents let me trick or treat without their supervision. I was probably in the 6th grade or so and I'm sure it took a lot of begging on my part, but there was a Halloween where me and a group of friends roamed through the neighborhood alone. I remember feeling like I was so mature. I also remember walking home from my friend Jeff's house all alone at the end of the evening, and wishing I had a parent close by. It was dark and I had visions of Jason or Micahel Meyers coming to get me. Being independent and mature wasn't quite as cool as I had thought.
I'd love to hear you memories. Leave a comment so we can laugh together about them.
Sunday we are beginning a new series of messages on parenting called "What Every Parent Needs to Know". You can go to the church website to see the schedule for the month. This week we focus on Psalm 127:3.
Invite some friends to join you this week. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Mascots fighting...are you serious?
My friend Lance was telling me yesterday that at one of our local high school football games this week there was an altercation between the mascots. Yes, you read that correctly, the mascots. The only thing stupider (is that a word?) than two people getting in a fight over sports is two people dressed in fuzzy costumes with over sized heads getting in a fight over sports.
With that in my mind here's a video courtesy of the good people at YouTube of one mascot executing a spear on another mascot that would make Bill Goldberg proud.
With that in my mind here's a video courtesy of the good people at YouTube of one mascot executing a spear on another mascot that would make Bill Goldberg proud.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Weekend wrap-up
It's hard to describe how exciting this weekend was. Halloween Hoopla exceeded expectations, and worship yesterday was amazing.
First, let me begin by thanking everyone who volunteered at Halloween Hoopla on Saturday. There were around 150 different people who did everything from set-up, clean-up, give out candy, paint faces, cook hamburgers, greet people, and too many other things to list. If you are one of those 150, you are awesome! Your willingness to give up several hours on a beautiful fall Saturday enabled us to put on a party for the families in our community. I can't tell you how many different smiling faces of kids I saw downtown on Saturday. To see the streets of Greer filled (and I mean filled) with families thrilled me.
Just when I was thinking that the weekend had hit a high point on Saturday, we came together to worship on Sunday and things went to a new level. This was the second time we've done a self-directed worship service and once again the results were awesome. I was reminded yesterday about how powerful the words of Jesus are. We added nothing to His words yesterday in the way of explanation, and the truth of His message rang out loud and clear.
I can't wait to see what God has in store for Freedom next!
First, let me begin by thanking everyone who volunteered at Halloween Hoopla on Saturday. There were around 150 different people who did everything from set-up, clean-up, give out candy, paint faces, cook hamburgers, greet people, and too many other things to list. If you are one of those 150, you are awesome! Your willingness to give up several hours on a beautiful fall Saturday enabled us to put on a party for the families in our community. I can't tell you how many different smiling faces of kids I saw downtown on Saturday. To see the streets of Greer filled (and I mean filled) with families thrilled me.
Just when I was thinking that the weekend had hit a high point on Saturday, we came together to worship on Sunday and things went to a new level. This was the second time we've done a self-directed worship service and once again the results were awesome. I was reminded yesterday about how powerful the words of Jesus are. We added nothing to His words yesterday in the way of explanation, and the truth of His message rang out loud and clear.
I can't wait to see what God has in store for Freedom next!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Rainy, random Friday
It's been awhile since I've jotted out the random thoughts in my head on this blog, so here goes:
- Today is the type of day here in the upstate where you'd like to stay inside a read a book.
- I've got Buddy (our dog) with me at the office for awhile this morning until his appointment at the groomer. I wish I got half as excited to meet new people as he does.
- Dustin wrote some great stuff on his blog about true repentance. Check it out here. By the way, continue to pray for Dustin and all the folks at Midtown Fellowship in Columbia. They are doing an amazing job of reaching students at USC.
- I have loved the World Series so far. Of course I haven't been able to stay up and watch an entire game, but the first 6 innings of games 1&2 have been great.
- I'm looking forward to Sunday's worship. Switching up how we do worship from time to time is a good thing. I'm praying that the change in format will help all of us focus more intently on the words and life of Jesus.
- I forgot to mention this yesterday. Happy Birthday Blake! He does a great job teaching our teenagers who God is and what He expects from them. By the way, he turned 24. That makes him the youngest member of our staff by...a lot.
- Am I the only person who is ready for this election to be over? There's too much negative talk coming from both parties for my taste.
- Carolina and Clemson are both guaranteed not to lose a football game this weekend. At last, everyone will be happy!
- Today is the type of day here in the upstate where you'd like to stay inside a read a book.
- I've got Buddy (our dog) with me at the office for awhile this morning until his appointment at the groomer. I wish I got half as excited to meet new people as he does.
- Dustin wrote some great stuff on his blog about true repentance. Check it out here. By the way, continue to pray for Dustin and all the folks at Midtown Fellowship in Columbia. They are doing an amazing job of reaching students at USC.
- I have loved the World Series so far. Of course I haven't been able to stay up and watch an entire game, but the first 6 innings of games 1&2 have been great.
- I'm looking forward to Sunday's worship. Switching up how we do worship from time to time is a good thing. I'm praying that the change in format will help all of us focus more intently on the words and life of Jesus.
- I forgot to mention this yesterday. Happy Birthday Blake! He does a great job teaching our teenagers who God is and what He expects from them. By the way, he turned 24. That makes him the youngest member of our staff by...a lot.
- Am I the only person who is ready for this election to be over? There's too much negative talk coming from both parties for my taste.
- Carolina and Clemson are both guaranteed not to lose a football game this weekend. At last, everyone will be happy!
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