Jamie Maddox

MUST

2009-05-07T08:05:00.002-04:00

On the first Wednesday of every month, my wife (Kelley) takes a group down the the MUST center in Smyrna to help serve the poor in our community. MUST ministries is an organization that was started years ago to meet needs of the homeless in Marietta and surrounding areas. They do a tremendous job of meeting these needs.

Of course, MUST could not do this without countless volunteers and donations for individuals, businesses and churches. Kelley has made it simple for our congregation to get involved in this ministry effort.

Yesterday I went with Kelley and 4 others to serve and these are my findings:

1) It is a small building in the middle of Smyrna where local residents can get food and clothing

2) The evening shift is relatively new so not many people took advantage of it being opened.

3) The love they show to this community is incredible. Reaching out to them with physical needs as well as training and job opportunities.

4) I had a great time hanging out and discussing DEEP theological topics. Well, at least they were deep for me.

Taking time to serve in this way is a great opportunity to reach out to the poor. It is an opportunity to meet others in our congregation and find out who they are. It is an opportunity to become more like Jesus.

When you check it out, let me know about your experience.

Love

2009-05-05T07:16:00.002-04:00

If I am honest, there are many times when people just get on my nerves. I mean nothing about them makes me want to be around them much less love them. Honestly, that even happens on Sunday morning. As a matter of fact, it happened this past Sunday morning, TWICE!

And then I read, 1 John 4:7-19. John begins here with,"Dear friends, let us love one another,..." Notice that he didn't say, "Dear friends, let us be lovable,..." That would have been much easier for me because, I wouldn't have to love those that aren't lovable. However, it doesn't say that. As I have said before, the Bible is written for me to apply to myself, so I have to LOVE "one another". I am no english scholar (anyone will attest to that) but I believe "love" is used as a verb here and best I remember verbs are the action words.

If love is an action word and the Bible is written for me, then I have to take away that I am to perform the action (love). I must love other believers simply because they are believers. No other motivation is necessary. They don't have to love me or be nice, or cute or my children or whatever. Because they are a believer qualifies them. Why?

Verse 11: "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

Verse 19-20: "We love because he first loved us. If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars."

God loved me when I was terribly unlovable. (I know, it is hard to imagine me that way). Yet he loved me anyway. He wants me to love those that He loves.

I am so thankful that God loved me unconditionally when I was the most unlovable. Because of this love, I want to love others unconditionally when they are the most unlovable.

Pray for me as I strive toward this.

Light or Dark

2009-04-29T07:45:00.002-04:00

I began reading 1 John today. It starts off by letting us know who Jesus is. Then changes to what Jesus told the disciples. I saw something that was very interesting here.

First of all John says, "God is light; in him there is not darkness at all." (verse 5) He goes on to tell us that we are liars if we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in darkness. That seems a bit harsh, since I am a sinner and will sin so I want to know what the phrase "walk in darkness" (verse 6) means.

In his commentaries, Matthew Henry uses the word practice to explain the meaning here. So to "walk in darkness" could say "to practice darkness." To me, this distinction is important.

Practice: to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually

So if I perform often, customarily or habitually an act of sin I am then walking in darkness and therefore a liar if I say I have fellowship with Him. Why is this distinction important to me as someone who is trying to figure this "walk" out? Keep reading.

Verse 7: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin."

If I walk (perform often, customarily or habitually) in the light (that is, after Jesus) the blood of Jesus will purify me from all sin. Notice it didn't say I would not sin. That is huge for me. It says His Blood will purify me from the sin. Read verses 8-10 on your own.

What a relief! Not that I don't have to worry about what I do. It does say that if I "walk in the light" I will be purified. I have to walk or practice the ways of Jesus and that is no small task, but I am not expected to be perfect. Which is good news for someone like me.

May you and I WALK in the Light of Christ and be purified by His blood!

On Guard!

2009-04-28T07:29:00.006-04:00

2 Peter 3:17-18

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from you secure positions. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

We have been forewarned. Now we must be "on guard"

I think you would agree that it is easy to be carried away. I really have to be focused to stay on my guard. So how do I do that? I have to work on my relationship with God. I have to speak to Him and read His word. I need people in my life that will challenge my thinking and my actions.

These things are not easy to do when we are in the throws of living, but they are necessary to be who we really want to be. When I wanted to get a degree in college I spent a lot of time studying. When I wanted to fool Kelley into marrying me I spent a lot of time getting to know her.

If I want to be "ON GUARD", I must study His book and spend time to get to know Him.

False Teachers

2009-04-23T08:16:00.003-04:00

2 Peter 2 is a warning to the followers about false teachers that will come. And come they will. Why is that? Why do people want to join in on a growing, hot, energetic entity only to distort the message and lead people astray?

Look at this example. It may not be perfect but I think it fits. You borrow some money, buy a home, and pay back with interest. Pretty simple. But enter Mr. whoever, and you have "interest only", a loan that only requires purchasers to pay interest on the borrowed money. This also allows buyers to borrow more money than they would have originally borrowed. But bigger than that, now an entire group of people who couldn't have qualified for other loans can make the interest only payments and now buy homes. I don't want to politicize this post, but it is fairly easy to see how this contributed to where the economy is today. Why did someone change the message of mortgages (and therefore home buying)? Was it to help us?

OK, whether you agree or not with that example is irrelevant, hopefully it illustrates what I am getting at. We could all come up with examples of how something good has been distorted by a change in wording 0r description. But again, why would this be done?

Verse 3a:

"In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories."

The root cause of sin is me. I want what I want and I want it now. I will use most any means to get it. I will confuse people with double talk and half truths to get them to "believe". I will change little by little until I have led people miles from where they should be headed.

You have heard put a frog in boiling water and he will jump out, but put him in cold water and turn on the heat and he will boil to death. The same is true for us. We don't notice small changes.

The problem with man is and will always be man. I am so consumed with myself that I struggle to lead people to the God who has saved me.

Do not believe everything you hear or see. I have said many times, "everyone is selling something." God has given us His Word for learning. He wants to be our ultimate teacher.

Abundant Grace & Peace

2009-04-21T08:33:00.002-04:00

I began reading 2 Peter this morning and found something interesting. Peter says in verse 2:

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

So abundant grace and peace are ours through the knowledge of God and Jesus. That sounds simple enough. So why did this stand out to me?

Read verse 8:

"For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

If abundant grace and peace come through the knowledge of God and Jesus I certainly don't want to be ineffective in that. I want to know what these qualities are. Verses 5-7 hold the key:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love."

I don't know about you but reading this list I am far away from qualifying for that abundance! Realizing my short coming, the question becomes what am I doing to move in this direction. As Andy Stanley says, "it is direction not intention that determines destination." (This is from his book "The Principle of the Path.")

I have Faith but what am I doing that is "good"? How am I adding "knowledge"? Do I exercise "self-control"? Am I "persevering"? Do I exhibit "godliness"? Am I showing "mutual affection"? Do I "love" others?

These are tough questions and even harder to accomplish but I must move forward. I must take steps. I must get on the path to abundant grace and peace.

Faith + Goodness + Knowledge + Self-control + Perseverance + Godliness + Mutual affection + Love = Abundant Grace and Peace

To Him be the Glory!

2009-04-16T07:50:00.003-04:00

As I continue to read 1 Peter 4, there are many great nuggets but, today verses 8-11 stand out.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If you speak , you should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If you serve, you should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Love each other!
Offer hospitality!
Use whatever gift!

When I read these verses and remember that Peter is writing to "God's elect, exiles scattered throughout..." (1Peter 1:1) I am reminded, he is talking to me. I understand the following:

I am to love each other!
I am to offer hospitality!
I am to use whatever gift!

I know this. I have known it. I try to do these things and at times am reasonably accomplished at doing it. Where I stuggle is:

I am to love each other so that God may be praised!
I am to offer hospitality so that God may be praised!
I am to use whatever gift so that God may be praised!

Honestly, there are many times that I do things so that I may be praised. Just being honest! There are times when I want praise. Now I think that everyone needs to be recognized and praised for doing the right thing and hard work, but I can't have that desire. And I do. Now what?

In verse 7 Peter says, "The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray." Of course, I have a picture of what being unsober is, so I picture sober as the opposite. Well that is not entirely true. So we look at our old friend the dictionary.

Sober: marked by sedate or gravely or earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor; marked by temperance, moderation, or seriousness

So this is what I see. If I am seeking my own glory, I will be upset if I don't get it. After all I used "I" or "my" 4 times just to write that sentence. If I am alert (or using sound judgement as the NIV states) and I am of a sober ,or marked by an earnestly thoughtful character or marked by temperance or seriousness, mind I can allow the "glory" to fall where it belongs rather than wanting in for myself. Actually, when I am sober or thinking clearly in this way, I want the glory to fall on God rather than myself.

1 Peter 4:11b

To Him be the Glory and the Power for ever and ever. Amen

The Choice!

2009-04-15T09:05:00.005-04:00

Today I started reading 1 Peter 4. I made it half way through verse 1 when God said "did you see that". No I did not hear His voice, it was within my spirit. Another one of those, "you need to know this point" lessons. So now I write. Sorry!

1 Peter 4:1

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attiude, because those who have suffered in their bodies are done with sin.

So what was the attitude of Christ during the suffering and why do I need it? Yesterday, I wrote about "Power"ful Living and how we are to live as Jesus did with a "power under" mentality (for more info on that refer to the previous post). Here Peter is telling me that I need to arm myself with Christ's attitude. Jesus did suffer in "his body". Physically he suffered tremendously but his attitude was one of great willingness to do and allow God's will in His life. He submitted his physical comfort to the work of God.

I need this attitude of submission of my physical comfort to allow verse 2 to become real.

1 Peter 4:2

As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

So, when I arm myself with His attitude of submission I end up being done with sin. And only when I am done with sin can I live for the will of God. The only way to live for His will is to give up the things I desire. I am not just speaking of stuff, I must give up how I want people to treat me. It doesn't matter how I am treated, good, bad or indifferent; I must desire God more than I desire someone to treat me well. I have to give up the desire to get my way or be "right". It doesn't matter if I am right or wrong, His will is all that matters.

In the end, I ask why does this really matter? I read further:

1 Peter 4:3

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do...

"Power"ful Living

2009-04-14T07:28:00.000-04:00

Power is an interesting thing. I looked it up and there are 9 entries for Power. However the one I want to write about is:

possession of control, authority, or influence over others

Generally when we think about power in regards to people, this definition is what we think about. Castro has power and Obama has power they gained the power in different ways, but they have power. My boss has power, my parents have power. The police have power and even the librarian has power (you know you whisper in the library).

I don't usually think about it but I have power as well. And if I am not thinking about it I am probably using it the wrong way at times.

I am reading this book a friend let me borrow, (The Myth of a Christian Nation). I am only a couple of chapters in. The author (who shall remain nameless, because I forgot his name; now that I think about it I could look it up, but so can you, so there is your homework), writes about how power is used either over or under other. It is very enlightening.

When I think about having power over someone, my mind goes to getting them to do what I need done. After all, why have power if you can't gain from it, right? In a "power over" world that is right, but as a Christian I am called to something bigger, something better, something Christlike.

Consider the life of Jesus, He exercised power over evil and things. He ran demons out of people, he multiplied fish and bread, he turned water to wine. But, he exercised power under people. He healed their bodies, he raised them from the dead, he washed their feet, he died for them.

When Jesus was betrayed, he was captured in the garden, Peter drew his sword and cut off an ear. Jesus picked up the ear and healed the man. He exercised power under those who were going to kill Him. His example for us is clear.

So what does this have to do with how we live? I know it is obvious to you at this point, but humor me if you will. For me to live a "powerful" life I must exercise "power under" those that I influence. I must be a servant. I must consider their needs before mine. This is against my nature more than I care to acknowledge.

1 Peter 3 starts off by telling wives to submit then tells husbands to be considerate and then says to all of us in verses 8-9:

"be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit the blessing."

These things can not be done when I am exerting power "over"; I have to use all of my power "under" others, just as Jesus did!

Then and only then will I experience "power"ful living.

Cravings

2009-04-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am reading 1Peter 2.

Verse 2 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,"

So I must do the craving? Another conscious decision! It is not natural, it is not easy and it changes me.

CRAVE: to ask for earnestly : beg , demand
to want greatly : need
to yearn for
to have a strong or inward desire

Have you ever thought about how cravings begin? Me either. But now that I am thinking about it, all the cravings I have are of things I like. A craving is a strong desire that comes from missing what I want. I have created cravings. I crave time with family, sex, good food, sports, bad food, friends and just ok food. I have many cravings. They come from enjoying things that I have tried. You can not have a craving for something you haven't tried. How could you crave chocolate if you never tried it? You couldn't!

So, when Peter tells us to "crave pure spiritual milk" what is he saying? We must crave God's Word like we craved milk when we were babies. How can I CRAVE God's word you ask? Look at verse 2 as written above, did you notice the comma at the end? That means verse 3 continues the thought.

"now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

I have to taste the Lord before I can crave Him. I have to be in His Word before I can crave it. Check this out. When children were learning the Torah (the 1st 5 books of our Bible) they read the words and then honey was put on the paper or tablet and they licked the honey from it. The purpose was for the child to see the Torah as being as sweet as honey and to crave more.

This is what Peter is telling us. I need to crave the word because it is as sweet as honey and the "perfect food" for my spirit. It never spoils.

The more I "eat" of the "perfect food" the more I want it. When I abstain from it I lose the desire for it.

So I must be in God's word to crave it, and I must stay in God's word to feed the craving. When I don't feed the craving it eventually fades away.

I have tasted the Lord and I know He is good. I crave more of Him. I pray that I will continue to feed.

Rid Yourself

2009-04-09T08:15:00.000-04:00

Today is Communion day at NorthStar. We set aside the entire day for our congregation to come by and partake of communion. It really is a great day!

While I was sitting in the room this morning, I was reading 1 Peter 2. God brought out many things, but I have 2 I will write about today. One of them, I will not post until tomorrow.

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1

When I read this, it hit me that Peter is telling me to rid myself. I know how we use the word "rid" but I have never looked at the definition. It says the following: "to make free" Interesting, so Peter is saying essentially that I am not "free" from those things.

Sometimes when people tell me things, the first thought I have is "who do you think you are." So I thought, who is he to tell me this. I know that you know who Peter is but just as a reminder. Peter is a tough guy. He is the first to speak up. He is so passionate he acts without thinking. Peter is the guys who jumps out of the boat to walk on water and then says to himself, I can't walk on water. Peter is the guy who pulls a sword and cuts off an ear. Peter is the guy who swears he will not deny but does, three times. Peter is mentally all in but not prepared for the heat. Christ corrects him each time he stumbles. He looks at him when He is denied the third time.

I am much like Peter. I spout off that "I will never." Not thinking how difficult it will be to "never."

Peter says we have to "rid ourselves". You mean I can do that? YES!! I can do that. It is a decision I have to make day-by-day, hour-by-hour and for me moment-by-moment. How? I must abstain from the sinful desires I have.

1 Peter 2:11 says, "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires."

Abstain: to refrain deliberately and often with an effort of self-denial from an action or practice

I can do it!! You can do it!!

God, prompt me to abstain and rid myself!

Hand me downs?

2009-04-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

I was reading 1 Peter this morning and saw something interesting that got me thinking. Read chapter 1:18-19.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."

The words that I have in bold above really jumped out at me when I read this. I don't know about you but if I am completely honest I was handed an empty way of life. There was really nothing spiritually filling about how I was raised. It was fun at times, it was rewarding at times, but it was in retrospect "empty." Obviously, I survived and I am trying to live a full life through Christ now. I thank God He redeemed me. But, I wonder what kind of life am I handing down to my future ancestors?

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Wow! I have a lot of responsibility. I want my children to follow a better path than I did when I was young. I want to "hand down" a better way of life to my ancestors. So how do I do this.

Verse 24 says, "For, All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever."

So if I am like grass and my glory is like the flowers, I will wither and fall, and the only thing of value that I have to HAND DOWN is that which endures forever. THE WORD OF THE LORD.

Today, and I pray everyday going forward, I will ask myself, "What of the Lord's Word are you handing down to your ancestry?"

That is a challenge!

I pray that you will have a wonderful Easter weekend, remembering what He did to redeem you.

Praying & Thanking

2009-04-01T07:19:00.000-04:00

As I opened my Bible this morning, I somehow turned exactly to Philemon. That may not sound like such a big deal, but I have a "slimline" Bible. That means it is small and the words are even smaller. So, Philemon is on page 1106, that is it. And really only a little over half the page at that. So to turn exactly to that page is less than probable. I know whatever.

Anyway, I know that Paul starts out many of his letters by letting his reader know that he is praying and thanking God for them. His line is something like it is in Philemon, "I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers..." So it occurred to me that if this is something Paul did consistently and he has many writings published, maybe it is something I should be doing.

Really, why is this a problem for me to do consistently. I have thoughts all day about people. I am sure it happens to you. I am sitting at my desk and Kelley's name will come across my mind or one of my girls (Dresden & Sierra) or someone in my Crown group or a co-worker, someone I met at the ballpark, whoever. Now that I think about it why would those names just pop into my brain while I am doing something totally unrelated? And this doesn't even count the names that come up related to what I am doing. Could it be that God is giving me those names?

Here is my problem with praying & thanking. Simply, it is my ritualistic thoughts about prayer. Its the close my eyes, bow my head, complete silence, 3 minute prayer for everything that I can think of type of prayer. If I stopped and did that every time a name popped up I would never work, or be with my family or sleep. And, God forbid, I wouldn't have time to eat.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, "pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Another letter from Paul. He says to pray continually. Give thanks. This spoke to me.

If I am to pray continually and give thanks and still work and show love to people and eat and sleep, I can't pray in my ritualistic style. These have to be prayers like, "thank you God for Kelley, protect her today," or "God, thank you for Dresden & Sierra allow them to be a light for you today," or "God grant grace and peace to Niki today." Nothing wrong with that.

I thank God for my wife, who not only is a great partner in marriage and a great mother to our kids, but she is making a difference in the lives of people at our church and in our community. I thank God for my two girls, they are very special, they love others and are leaders in their area of influence. I thank God for my friends and co-workers I can't mention them all by name here, after all, I have over 90 friends on Facebook. They have all had an impact on my life and this world. All of them love people and are striving to make a difference in our community and this world.

God thank you for giving me such incredible people to walk with as we all work toward being more like your Son and bringing the world with us.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon 1:3

Me, Holy?

2009-03-31T07:51:00.000-04:00

1 Peter 1:15, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do." I know you have heard this a million times just as I have. I know it is there, but because it sounds so lofty, so unattainable I can't imagine how I would "be holy".

So it occurred to me this morning that it may be a good idea to know what the word means. I mean, it is possible that I don't even know what Holy is and therefor I can't know if I am able to attain it. I know what you are thinking, God would not ask us to be something that we can not be. I agree! However, if I can't get my mind wrapped around it I will never be able to be it. So I need to know what it means.

If you are like me, when you hear holy in the context of God and His Word your mind goes to perfection, Jesus, loving always, things I can't be. So I need help.

I went to the old dictionary online and found holy, below are the definitions given:

1: exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness
2: divine holy — Psalms 99:9(Authorized Version)>
3: devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity

I don't think God is telling us to be exalted or divine, those are His and His alone so the first two are out. Think about number 3. I believe this is what being holy is for us. Devoted entirely to Him and His work. Now what does "devoted" mean. I am glad you asked. Check this out.

1 : to commit by a solemn act <devoted herself to serving God>
2 : to give over or direct (as time, money, or effort) to a cause, enterprise, or activity

I believe we need to apply both of these definitions. First of all, we should commit ourselves to God and His work. Another word is consecrate (set yourself apart). Secondly, we must give over (time, money & effort) to THE cause.

Now before you start throwing rocks at me, I do believe that being Holy involves removing yourself from sin, striving for righteousness, and loving others. I just think that BEING holy involves more than NOT doing something, it is DOING something. It is giving time to reach out to others, giving money to meet needs and giving your talent to make the church body whole.

In short, being holy is giving our time, talent and treasure entirely to the work of God.

Now, that is something I can aspire to.

Which Dog do I Feed Most?

2009-03-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I wrote here about "My Battle", and received a comment? Yes I know, I was suprised. Really, I write here as an outlet for my thoughts and because it really helps me to think through and apply what God shows me. I receive very, very few comments and am not surprised. I assumed that anything I got from my study was probably common knowledge for the average high schooler.

Anyway, I received this comment about "My Battle":

Jamie, my pastor says there are two dogs fighting inside of every man. The one that wins is the one you feed the most. It looks like you are feeding the right one.

I read this and honestly I thought, wow someone is really bored to be reading this. However, I truly appreciate the feedback and it made me think. First of all, this is a great way to explain the concept to people. Obviously, it is memorable. Secondly, his line I have highlighted above is interesting. Immediately my mind went to Romans 12:2.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...

The two dogs inside us require food to survive and thrive. It is easy to feed the dog that leads to selfish gains, all I have to do is be myself. However, if I want to feed the dog that leads to being Christlike, I have to "renew my mind."

I don't know about you, but I have thought about this as a daily renewing. I should get up and study and pray. Ask God for strength, courage and protection. The problem for me is that once I have done this I am stronger than ever, until someone does something. I mean, I am pulling out of the driveway and no one lets me out. Someone ate the last waffle or took the last drink of Tea. Honestly, it doesn't take long and I am back to ME.

So, for me this renewing, this trying to have my mind in the right place, takes constant work. I have to always be focused. I have to find a verse that applies. I have to think constantly about God's direction. I have to memorize His Word. I have to surround myself with Godly people who will tell me the truth.

Because, I am either feeding the dog that leads to destructive behavior or the one the leads to loving others.

And love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:10

Thanks for the comment Terry.

Judge or Attorney?

2009-03-26T07:32:00.000-04:00

For some time now, I have talked to our Crown groups about how the Bible is to be used. For me, the easiest thing to do is apply what I read to others. When I read, someone comes to mind for every verse. Except of course, me.

Amazingly, I have to consciously apply God's word to me. It doesn't automatically occur. I believe I have stumbled upon the problem.

In James 4:11-12, he is speaking about judging your brothers and sisters. Of course, he is talking about our spiritual brothers and sisters. He says if we speak against them and judge them we are speaking against and judging the law. That's interesting. Never thought of that.

He goes on to say, "When you judge the law, you are not keeping it but, sitting in judgement on it."

So, if I speak against and judge my brothers and sisters I am speaking against and judging the law and therefor I am not keeping the law but sitting in judgement on it. WOW!

When you sit back and contemplate this thought it makes perfect sense. I wonder if I took this time with other verses if I would learn something? Anyway, when I am judging others I am not loving them! (see Matt 19:19 & John 13:34) And isn't love the fulfillment of the law?

I don't want to insult your intelligence by going on and on. This seems pretty straight forward to me. So, the bottom line, as I see it, is this; Am I spending more time worrying about what others are doing or saying than I am loving them regardless of what they are doing or saying?

God is the ONLY judge. I want to leave that to Him.

Jesus is our Advocate, in a sense our attorney. He speaks on our behalf to the Father (The Judge). He does this because HE LOVES US.

I am to be like Jesus,

I want to be like Jesus,

LOVE NOT JUDGE!

My Battle

2009-03-25T08:56:00.000-04:00

I read James 4 this morning. I think I am going to abandon this book. Everytime I read it I get kicked in the head. Now that I think about it, that would probably happen with any reading from the Bible.

Anyway, James asks an interesting question in verse 1. He asks, "What causes fights and quarrels among you?" If you are like me you probably thought something along the lines of, "I am dealing with nutbags." or "This person was mean to me." or whatever else.

But James tells us something totally different than what we think. He says, "Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" When I step out of myself, and for those that know me you know that is a big step, I can see this. When I don't get what I want or desire I get a bit ornery (sorry that took so long I had to figure out how to spell ORNERY). Isn't that true for you as well. I think if we are honest we struggle with this.

So what? There are two things to say about this and trust me I am saying this for me, you get to just read and pray for my struggles if they don't apply to y0u.

1) We are supposed to love one another. Fighting and quarreling with each other does not leave room for love. I must love others more than I want or desire anything. That is huge for me. I am not much of a people person to begin with. I really have to focus and allow God to love people through me.

2) If I have a desire I need to ask God. verse 2 says "you do not have because you do not ask." That sounds really good until you read verse 3. James says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." NOTE: It is incredible to me that a book that was written and put together so long ago can look into my life and point out, in perfect clarity, where I come short. OK, so if I have a desire I need to ask for it. Easy enough. However, if that desire is for the wrong reasons, (ie. for me and my enjoyment), it will not be given.

To sum this up, I would say this. Inside of me, and if you read these passages it will talk to you, a battle is raging. The spirit within me wants to glorify God, but the self within me wants to glorify me. The question of who gets the glory is a matter of submission.

I must submit the wants and desires I have for my life to God's wants and desires for my life. If I do this I will receive what He knows is good for me and I will not battle my brothers and sisters.

Will you join me?

Side-by-side Shake??

2009-03-19T08:02:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a side-by-side shake from Steak-n-Shake?? The Banana/Strawberry is really good. I love Banana! Anyway, I wonder how they do that. I mean do they have some sort of machine that pours both flavors at once. Interesting.

It is interesting how the mind works sometimes. I was reading this morning in James (chapter 3:9-12) and what I read there made me think of food. Now you know!

James is talking about how we use our tongue in two ways (of course I am talking about what we say). In one moment, we will be praising God and in another we will curse humans. He then makes an interesting statement that brought me to what may be a crazy thought. He says, "can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" Interesting question. Have you every thought about it?? Not me.

Because a spring flows from a body of water (called an aquifer) it can only produce what it comes from. The spring itself does not produce anything it is an overflow of its source. Therefor, if the aquifer is fresh water the spring from that aquifer will be fresh water. The same is true for a salt water spring. That makes sense to me. So how do I apply it? I am glad you asked.

As I think about this, it seems to me that if I use my tongue to tear down, maim or destroy I need to consider the source of that spring. Something is not right.

Luke 6:45
Good people bring forth good things out of the good stored up in their heart, and evil people bring forth evil things out of the evil stored up in their heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Just as a spring is an overflow of an aquifer, our tongues (what we say) is an overflow of our hearts. So back to James, he says that we praise the lord and curse his created beings with the same tongue. And we do! He goes on to say, "My brothers and sisters, this should not be." And it shouldn't.

How does all this fit together?

I believe that I MUST take a very close, difficult look into what I say. If I am praising God in one sentence and destroying others the next. I should really really consider that I am making something up. I am faking something. And for me, it would be much easier to fake the praising of God than the tearing down of His created beings. Because of this, if I hear bitterness, deceit, slander and other bad things coming out of my mouth, it is coming from a heart that is filled with that stuff. It needs be drained and refilled with Him.

I pray that I would not make a side-by-side mess of what He intended to be flavored by Him alone.

Can you see my faith in God?

2009-03-18T06:52:00.000-04:00

I read James chapter 2 this morning and a couple of things jumped out at me.

1) I am not supposed to show favoritism
2) I am supposed to show my faith

I will save the favoritism comments for another day. As I was reading today, I wondered if anyone could see my faith in God. Am I showing what I believe by what I do or do I have to tell people what I believe?

Honestly this question is not so big a deal if I just think about it to myself. However, if God were to ask me this question I would be very nervous. I would probably be even more nervous if He were to rewind and show me how I live.

Beginning in verse 14 of chapter 2 James begins to talk about faith and deeds. In verse 19 he says, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." You may have already heard this discussion in many forms in your world. I know I had. But it hit me fresh today.

As I was thinking about that verse, it occurred to me that the word "show" here is very important to James' point. Read the definitions of "show" below.

to cause or permit to be seen : exhibit
to present as a public spectacle : perform
to reveal by one's condition, nature, or behavior

Now reread those definitions and think about how you can do that with your mouth. Of course you can show that you have changed by not saying some of the stuff you were saying before you believed but to truly "show" your faith you have to be DOING something.

This is applicable no matter what or who you have faith in. If you truly have faith in a sports team you wear the shirt, jersey or cap. You don't just tell people. If your faith is in your job you will work 12 hour days or wear an embroidered shirt. Those are things people can see that show your faith/allegiance.

So here is the question that I must consider, that you must consider, "What am I doing that shows my faith in God?" I could say, "well I work for the church." Please believe me when I tell you I could work for the church and go about my business here without any more consideration of God than you must show at your job. I hope I consider Him in all I do, but it would be easy not to.

We could ask why it matters. I mean after all God knows our hearts. But read what James says in verse 26, "As the body with the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." I believe James is dead on here. Of course, it is in the Bible so that helps me believe this but, I know for me that I never feel more alive than when I am doing something for someone in God's name. I believe this feeling comes from my spirit being awakened as it moves closer to being like Jesus.

So for me, I know that I must be doing something consistently that allows me to show my faith in God. Look back at the definitions above and think about it. I am permitting something to be seen, I am presenting a spectacle and I am revealing by my behavior.

But am I "showing" my faith in God or something else??

God, give me a desire to show you in EVERYTHING I do.

Who is MY Customer?

2009-03-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday our staff had the opportunity to make a road trip to the Sheraton Gateway in Atlanta and hear a presentation from its General Manager Kerry Ringham. Kerry and his team did a great job of hosting us and letting us see first hand what service looks like. Thanks to Kerry and his team, it was tremendous.

He spoke about several things; Exceptional Service, Everyone is a brand champion and Brand is an experience. But the most interesting to me was what he says that EVERY individual wants. They are as follows:
1) To Belong
2) To Feel Special
3) To Have Control
4) To Reach Their Potential
5) To be Understood

Obviously, his talk was about how they treat and deal with their customers at Sheraton Gateway Atlanta. Of course, we were there to learn and see how we can apply their world class service to our church.

The first thing to do was to decide who our customers are. The easy answer is the people who show up on Sunday mornings. Of course, they are our customers and it is very important that we remember the list above when we do things for them. But we all have customers in other areas of our lives that we need to apply these to as well. Here is a definition to work off of.

A customer, also client, buyer or purchaser is the buyer or user of the paid products of an individual or organization, mostly called the supplier or seller. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services.

The word derives from "custom," meaning "habit"; a customer was someone who frequented a particular shop, who made it a habit to purchase goods of the sort the shop sold there rather than elsewhere, and with whom the shopkeeper had to maintain a relationship to keep his or her "custom," meaning expected purchases in the future.

In the definition above, you see the word "user". Generally we don't see those people as our customers. For example, I have our congregation and community as my customers but I also have our staff as a customer. They use the services that I provide, (ie... payroll, benefits, conflict resolution, direction, praise, etc...). Everyone on our staff has multiple customer areas. Therefor it is important to remember, the 5 things people want, in our dealings with all people not just the congregation and community. Some times we lose this focus when dealing with those closest to us. We must regain that to be a GREAT TEAM.

Check out the definition of Customer Centricity that the Wharton School of Business uses:

Customer centricity refers to the orientation of a company to the needs and behaviors of its customers, rather than internal drivers (such as the quest for short term profit).

I want to be customer centric. I want to meet the needs of my customers. But I must know who they are first. Who are your customers?

Alluring or Terrifying: It's your choice.

2009-03-05T07:55:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been to an event or on a crowded street corner and heard someone screaming at the crowd with a sign saying something like "Turn or Burn" or "Repent for you are a wicked people." Strictly speaking I suppose these are true statements however the method is a terrible and ineffective way to influence those around us.

In chapter 12 verse 19 of his Gospel, Matthew quotes Isaiah saying, "He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets." Obviously Jesus spoke, after all we have the sermon on the mount, parables and numerous answers to questions He was asked. So why would Isaiah say something like this and why would Matthew quote it?

Remember now that, Matthew is writing after Jesus' death and resurrection. I can't help but wonder if he was a bit angry with this part of Jesus when they were traveling together. After all, the disciples were expecting a king for this world not eternity (a story for another day).

Anyway, both of these Godly writers are giving us a picture of how Jesus let people know about Him, His Father and Their Kingdom. Jesus lived a life and spoke loving words to draw people to Himself and His Father. So how does that compare to us? Do we stand in crowded locations and scream from the top of our lungs, threatening people with certain hell if they don't listen? Or do we live quiet, God fearing and Jesus following lives that draw people to us so that we can give them Him.

Read this excerpt from Matthew Henry's Commentary:
His voice was not heard in the streets; "Lo, here is Christ;’’ or, "Lo, he is there:’’ he spake in a still small voice, which was alluring to all, but terrifying to none; he did not affect to make a noise, but came down silently like the dew. What he spake and did was with the greatest possible humility and self-denial.

I pray that I will speak in humility and draw people to Him.

I am Searching

2009-03-04T07:25:00.000-05:00

I was having lunch with a friend yesterday and we were talking about the comment Jesus made about the Narrow and Wide gates. It was an interesting dialogue and as I was reading this morning I stumbled on the verses that Jesus spoke about the gates.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus starts out by saying, "enter through the narrow gate." To that I say, thanks for the info, but the GPS doesn't have it listed could you give me the address please. Because one thing I do know is if that gate exists I want in that gate. Then Jesus says, "but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." At least I know what it looks like.

I think we can take a couple of points to help us with the gate deal. First, I believe while looking for the gate it doesn't make sense to follow the crowd. Jesus said, "only a few find it." If that is true then following the crowd will only lead me to the WIDE gate (read verse 13 again). I am looking for a small group of people that are going against the grain, headed in a totally different direction than the masses. I believe I will hang out with them.

Second, when I find the gate I will choose it. There are many that see the gate, they gaze at it, maybe even touch it but, they choose to move on.

Read Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Gate:
The gate being so strait and the way so narrow, it is not strange that there are but few that find it, and choose it. Many pass it by, through carelessness; they will not be at the pains to find it; they are well as they are, and see no need to change their way. Others look upon it, but shun it; they like not to be so limited and restrained...

So, how do we travel this path that leads to this gate?

THAT IS WHAT THE ENTIRE BIBLE IS ABOUT!

We should read it.

I know that's right!

2009-03-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

I don't pretend to know much about God or His word but, today in reading Matthew 6:19-34 I saw something that made me say "I know that's right!" The last sentence in chapter 6 is in RED letters (you know what that means) and it says this, "Each day has enough trouble of its own." All together now, "I know that's right!!"

In these verses, Jesus is trying to get us to take our minds off of the everyday worries that each of us have. What will I eat, drink and wear. Now some of us worry more about what we are going to wear. If you know me, you know that I am more concerned about what I am going to eat than wear. We all have our problems I suppose. Jesus asks us this question in verse 27, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" I don't think he expected an answer, He really wants us to consider this question. We can not accomplish a thing through worry.

I know that we need food, drink and clothing. The great news is that Jesus knows this as well. So in vers 31, He tells us "DO NOT WORRY..." Verse 32 says, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need them..." If you are like me you already know and even believe this is true but it is totally different to live like you believe it.

For those of us who find ourselves wondering what to do. I believe God says He will provide and I believe He can provide but I can not stop worrying about His provision and when it will come. Jesus tells us this in verse 33, "but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

So if I see God's kingdom and his righteousness, he will provide my needs? That what Jesus said. It seems plain, not a parable, just Jesus teaching in His first sermon. So how do I do this seeking? A great place to start is turn it all over to Him. You can then begin reading what Jesus says about how we should live in Matthew (chapters 5-7). Of course all of God's word, will lead us to seek His kingdom and His righteousness.

I pray that I will seek His kingdom and righteousness in all that I do. I pray that for you as well.

Peace

2009-02-24T07:49:00.000-05:00

Today I spent a few moments reading Romans 12. I have heard verse 2 about being transformed by the renewing of my mind many times, so I wanted to read the chapter for some background and follow-thru. And as is most often the case I found something God wanted me to have.

V 17: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
V 18: If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

You have heard the saying, "what comes around goes around", I don't know about you but far too often I find myself trying to make sure that something "goes around" for someone who made something "come around" on me. And then I read these verses and God says through Paul to me, that is not your role!! Don't do that. Don't worry about what they did. Love them. Pray for them. Feed them. Give them something to drink.

God says to me don't try to avenge a wrong done to you. Love everyone even when they do wrong to you. You do what I have called my followers to do. Love everyone. Paul tells us to leave room for God's wrath. I am so pitiful to think that I can get revenge against someone. When you think about it, what can I really do to someone that is truly hurtful. Anything I have to offer good or bad (other than God's love) is only of this world and has no lasting value.

So even though I may feel better when I get someone, it does me NO good, it doesn't solve the problem, and it doesn't lead them to the only being that can change their heart.

Today I pray that you will see this truth as I have and as you apply it to your living, be blessed.

Romans 12:17-21

Fun!

2009-02-23T11:38:00.000-05:00

It is hard to imagine having more fun than I am right now. My wife is leading our church into the community every day. Meeting new people and seeing their lives change in the process. My HS Freshman daughter has a 4.25 GPA and all A's in her current classes. My 7th grade daughter has all A's in mostly advanced level classes. They are great athletes and have unlimited opportunities for the future.

I am working in a job I love at NorthStar. We are a great church just trying to do what God has called us to do. We have challenges, like everyone, but God has and continues to meet all of our needs and provide direction at the right times.

I can not imagine a place (personally or professionally) I would rather be. I pray that you have that in your family and work life as well.

Matthew 6:19-21

2009-01-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

Apparently it has been a while since I took the time to write here. I would apologize but that seems weird.

Anyway, I believe I have written here in the past that my wife and I lead Crown financial Bible studies with people within our church every year. During each session we discuss that God says we should lay up treasure in Heaven not here on earth. Ultimately the point is that we shouldn't put our faith or self worth in the things we are blessed with.

Specifically Jesus says that things we store up here are subject to destruction from moth and rust or theft from thieves. As I said, we have talked about this in every single Crown group. I have never really had an opportunity to live this out in my life.

Well on December 16th we got the opportunity to see if we truly have our treasure in the right place. I will say that I am proud of how Kelley and my two girls handled this situation. Someone broke into our house and took ALL of our electronics. TV's, laptop, cameras, power cords, etc... There really never was much talk or worry about the things that were taken. All of that can be replaced. We were all talking about how blessed we were that no one was home and that we didn't walk in on them in process.

We are so blessed with the things that God has allowed us to use while we are here. But we are more blessed that He has given us the wisdom to use things but Love Him. Thank you God for your blessings and for protecting my family.

Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasure in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasue is there your heart will be also.

Respect #9

2008-06-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

Teammates:

Over the past few days I have talked about respect in an acrostic fashion. As hokie as this may seem, I believe it is a good way to look at the topic of respect. I mentioned teammates each day and I wanted to make sure I made a point about this whole thing.

We have teammates in every area of our lives. We have those we work with, those we live with, those we play ball with, those we serve with, etc...

Many times we give respect at work and not at home. That needs to change. Everyone deserves your respect. You don't have the right to withhold that from them.

I pray that you will give your respect and I pray that God will work through that to make your teams more successful.

Respect #8

2008-06-23T12:00:00.002-04:00

Thank - This is probably as important as anything. We need each other and we need to know we matter to our teammates. Saying thanks is a big part of that. Our teammates need to know we appreciate them.

Thank your teammates. Our church and God’s Kingdom would not be the same without the people we call teammates. We need every one of us to be successful in what He has called us to do. Take the opportunity to thank your teammates. Let them know that you recognize their contribution and the effort they put into their ministry. I thank each of you now for the work you do here. This church would be totally different if you weren’t here. I am glad you are. I will take opportunities to thank you going forward.

Respect #7

2008-06-22T12:00:00.001-04:00

Challenge - For me there are many times when I get stuck in the proverbial rut. I can't see my way out, I need someone to challenge me to look at things differently, to try something else. I appreciate someone challenging me and I look for those opportunities with my teammates.

Challenge your teammates. A challenge is when we are instigated to take a step or do something we would not otherwise do. We all need to be challenged. We have talked about pushing ourselves to always be moving forward, finding new and better ways to reach out. Don’t be afraid to challenge each other when you see opportunities. Don’t be afraid of being challenged. I will continually challenge you to do more than you have done in the past. I will challenge you to get more of our congregation involved in ministries in and out of the walls of our building.

Respect #6

2008-06-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

Elevate - This is another tough one. It requires me to not be concerned with how I stack up against others. I have to be willing to put myself aside and raise others up.

Elevate your teammates. Whenever you have the chance to elevate your teammates take that opportunity. To elevate is to honor, raise, or promote someone. We are only unwilling to elevate our teammates when we are worried about our own position. I will always honor, raise and promote you at every opportunity.

Respect #5

2008-06-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

Protect - Have you ever been asked a question about a teammate that was obviously expecting a negative answer? We all have choices to make about protecting our teammates. I hope you will always make the right choice.

Be a protector of your teammates. We will all be confronted with situations that require us to make a decision. Will I protect my teammate or will I join in on the conversation to tear them down. We must always protect our teammates. There is not one of us who is perfect and we all have things in our personalities and ministries that we could do better therefore we depend on the protection of our teammates. I will stand up for you in all situations. As Mike Linch has said, I will assume you are doing your best until you prove differently and therefore I will defend you as my teammate.

Respect #4

2008-06-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

Support - Have you ever wondered what you would be like without the support system you grew up under? What about the support system you have today?

Ask yourself this question, would the people around you be stronger with you as part of their support system?

Be a support and supporter of your teammates. A support is something that supports. A supporter is someone who backs a cause or keeps someone from falling. Hold your teammates up don’t allow them to fall when you can help it. Back your teammates in their work. I will be here to support you when you need to be held up and I will always be your supporter. I want you to succeed and I know you can.

Respect #3

2008-06-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

Encourage - This is probably the easiest and hardest part of respect. It doesn't cost a thing to encourage someone, however it is very difficult to do consistently. The problem I have is that I get in the way. If I am encouraging someone I can't concentrate on my own problems. On second thought, maybe this is why I should be encouraging others.

Be an encouragement to your teammates. When you know that one of your teammates is down or struggling, take the time to encourage them and let them know you are there with them. Let your teammates know when you hear something good that they have done or has occurred because of their ministry. I will encourage you when you are in a tough spot. I will share the good things others say about you.

Respect #2

2008-06-17T14:49:00.000-04:00

Risk - You say, "what does risk have to do with respect?" I believe part of giving respect is risking yourself for your teammates. You can see below part of the document I referenced in Respect #1.

Take a risk when it comes to your teammates. When you are speaking about your teammates to church members, community members or other teammates, always be positive. There is a term related to risk called “Optimism Bias” this term should exemplify our relationship as teammates. It means simply that we are overly optimistic about the outcome of whatever they are working on. I believe so much in you that I know whatever you are working on will be successful, I will RISK being wrong because I believe in you that much. Because of this, I will not speak negatively about you or your ministry to others.

Respect #1

2008-06-12T09:40:00.000-04:00

For me respect has always been something you earn and I still believe that when I am thinking about myself. However, I am trying to not be as self-centered these days so when I think about respect in that context I realize that the people around me don't need to earn my respect, I need to give it to them. Even writing that now, it is a foreign thought to me. However, I want to give my respect to others.

As an introduction I have pasted an excerpt from a document I wrote a few weeks ago. Hopefully it makes sense to you and gives you an opportunity to think about respect. I am looking forward to the next 6 posts to discuss it. Your comments are welcome.

Respect is the greatest gift we can give each other as teammates. Many things make up the act of respect. It is an action not just a word. We have many different people on this team from many different backgrounds. Some have seminary degrees, some have business degrees. Some have worked in the church world their entire career while others have worked in businesses until recently. None of us are inherently better than others none of our experiences are necessarily greater. The truth is that the mixture of all our experiences and education make for a very diverse and effective team. The only thing that can get in our way is our lack of respect for each other.

LUNCH ANYONE?

2008-06-11T13:47:00.000-04:00

If you know anything about NorthStar you probably know that we try our best to serve our community. In January, my wife (Kelley) began working with Marlon (Community Pastor) to help stratagize (if this is not a word please humor me), organize and mobilize a bigger and stronger group to reach out to everyone in our community.

Today we did our first lunch deal with MUST ministries in Marietta and Smyrna. We had 71 families build 1200 lunches and distribute them to kids who would not have lunch otherwise. If you have never seen 1200 lunches before imagine this:

Take 2 seats out of a 15 passenger van and fill it with lunches.
Fill the back of a 4 door Jeep Wrangler with lunches.
Fill the back of a Jeep Cherokee with lunches.
Fill the back of a full size GMC pick up with lunches.

There you have it 1200 lunches. INCREDIBLE!

I must brag on my wife. She got us involved in MUST (who does an unbelievable job of feeding these kids every day all summer), she organized the volunteers and the event and she delivered 300 lunches with two other ladies today as well. She is an incredible servant.

The amazing part is that our people dove in, built 1200 lunches and want to know what is next. UNREAL!!!

If you want to know what is next, go to www.northstarinthecommunity.com you will find a lot of opportunities there. I hope you will join us in showing God's love to a great community.

Live FLAT!

2008-06-10T13:57:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you but I wish I could start my financial life over with the info I have now. I believe I would make much better decisions that would have me in a much better financial position today. I suppose I can't cry over spilt milk (which is difficult to do now that milk is $4 per gallon) but I wish it were different.

I spoke with a group of High School seniors and underclass college students yesterday about that subject. I think we have discussed here before about cycles in the economy and such, so you already know my thoughts on that.

How cool would it be if a generation were able to grasp the truth about economic cycles and begin to flatten those cycles out for themselves by preparing for bad times during good times? This could change the world. I am not saying that economies would no longer be cyclical, I am not near smart enough to figure out what the ultimate result of this action would be on a macro economic level. The truth is I don't really care.

What I do believe is that if we "Christians" stood out of the crowd during bad economic times as if we were unaffected, man would we have a story to tell. I may have said this before, but I am going to continue this tirade until we get it and change our actions. Think about it. When Joseph gathered the food during 7 good years, everyone came to him during the 7 bad years.

Did Joseph have a forum to speak to people?

Did Joseph create a means to meet everyone's needs?

And oh by the way, he also created a fortune for Egypt as well.

I want to make a wish for you, that may not be Christian but whatever. I wish for you that you would build a financial life for you and your family that will allow you to live a steady life. Not an up and down cyclical what is going to happen next life. A good, fun, happy, no stress, how can we follow God kind of life.

If you do that you will have a forum to share God's love. I promise.

Obvious or am I missing something?

2008-04-17T09:09:00.000-04:00

As you know, I am not the smartest person in the world. For that matter, I am not the smartest person in my office (Niki just walked in). Anyway, economics have always been a matter of interest for me. I think it is cool that our economy is cyclical just like the earth rotates around the sun and causes seasons. It really is cool.

From a Biblical perspective, God told Joseph about 7 years of plenty in preparation for 7 years of famine. Another cycle. I am not saying that our cycles will be 7 years but it is an example of a cycle. You may even think of more Biblical examples.

Here is my problem. We have this example from a long time ago in the Bible. We have lived through economic cycles even if you are only 10 years old you have now lived through the IT bubble of 2000-2002 the relatively short good times of 2003-2006 and now 2007-2008 recession like time. However, we still don't seem to get it.

What I don't understand is why we can't get it through our heads that there will be ups and downs. We will have jobs, we won't have jobs. We will make money, we won't make money. Why don't we prepare for the tough times during the good times.

Okay, you are now saying, "what does that have to do with the title of this incredible rant?" I have attached a link to an article below that is saying exactly what I have just laid out for you. Of course, it may sound smarter coming from her. She is saying that our current downturn is a "blast from the past". Basically that looking at our current situation is more like archeology than economics. That is awesome as far as I am concerned. Archeologists are digging up junk everyday that proves the Bible to be true and this is just another example of that.

You can read the article and then Joseph's story. My point is the cycle should be obvious to us (especially Christians) by now ACT ON IT!

IF JOSEPH HAD HANDLED THE 7 YEARS OF PLENTY THE WAY WE DO, EVERYONE WOULD HAVE DIED!!

Ailing Economy Could Be a Blast from the Past

By Laura Rowley

My President

2008-04-14T16:14:00.000-04:00

You have to be just beside yourself with the presidential election. If that was supposed to be capitalized forgive me. We hear so much junk during this process that you don't even know what to listen to anymore. I really don't get overly involved in politics. I enjoy the presidential election process as a technical process. I hate listening to all the "EMPTY" yapping. I mean how long are we going to talk about who is going to fix education, health care, global warming, taxes, etc... Candidates have told us for decades that they have a fix for these issues.

My question to you is "Has anyone done a thing about any of them?"

Here is my voting process TODAY. I will vote for the person I here the least out of. Today that is Sen. John McCain. Good for you for keeping your mouth shut, for the most part, for the past few months. Of course, he hasn't had anyone to talk about since they all dropped out. Anyway, he hasn't interrupted my TV viewing at all. Thank you.

I don't really think this stance will change since Hillary can not possibly keep quiet. I believe if she were running unopposed she would campaign against the presidential candidates in 2012. My bad, probably shouldn't have said that.

Forget all of that, what I really want is someone who will go to D.C. and work to solve some of the issues we have. I will not necessarily agree with everything (see previous global warming post) but at least something will get done.

Help us to get better as a country, as a people. Not just the poor, not just the rich, ALL OF US!

THANK YOU!

BALANCE

2008-03-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

We have all heard a million difference sermons, talks, shows, read books, etc... about having balance. We know we should balance ourselves and it is not easy at all.

One thing I don't think we hear enough of is financial balance. Let's say you have your financial life straightened out, you only owe for your home, you aren't spending money wildly, etc... You still need to have balance.

Balance financially comes from what I believe God would have your life look like financially.

1) Giving - According to God's word in Malachi 3:8-10 it should begin at the church with 10%. Of course, it is perfectly OK to give more if you can make that happen.

2) Saving - According to God's word in Proverbs 21:20 only the foolish consume all they have.

3) Spending - spending is not a bad thing. Obviously, you have to buy things to survive in our current world, unless of course you live on a farm grow your own food, use solar panels, and your car runs on electricity from those panels.

I pray that you will try a life balanced on the three financial items above.

It is possible to live in this world and live as God has planned for us to live. It is not only possible but it is beneficial. If we would just CHOOSE to live this way God will take care of the rest.

It is His promise not mine. I trust Him to do that, DO YOU?

5 Rules for Thriving in a Recession

2008-03-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

I guess we could argue for quite sometime about whether or not we are in a recession. I don't really know and personally it doesn't affect ME. Now, you might say that is a little hard hearted but I am strictly talking about me. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife who thinks even more frugally than I do. Because of this unity (for the most part) of thinking, we have created a financial situation in which we are sheltered from the general whims of our economy.

If you pay attention at all you know that our economy is cyclical and because of this we should be prepared. It is interesting that God's word gives us an example of how to do this. You can read for yourself where Joseph prepares for 7 years of famine during the 7 good years. You can find that story in Genesis 41.

Anyway I found an article today that is pretty good. The problem that I have with the article is that if we are supposedly in a recession now how can I possibly prepare for the recession. In other words, we should prepare for bad times (famine) during the good times (plenty). Generally speaking our problem is this, we spend everything we get, and then some, during times of plenty and have nothing set aside for the famine. I know what you are thinking and no I don't believe we will not have food as a nation any time soon. But, too many of us cause ourselves great pain and a lot of debt because we are unprepared for a layoff or economic downturn.

Truly recession is a matter of preparation more than anything else. If you are prepared for a recession you won't be affected by it. As a matter of fact, if you are a Christian you should stand out in your world as someone who is not affected by a recession. This will allow the opportunity to answer the questions of why aren't you affected and you can then share God's story. Think about Joseph here, everyone in the world at the time had to come to Him for food. What an opportunity.

We serve an awesome, giving and caring God. He wants you to look different from the world. He wants you to serve the world in bad times not be in the soup line with them.

If I can help you with this please let me know (jamie.maddox@northstarchurch.org). The link to the article is below and I also am giving you the link to Crown Ministries.

I pray that you will be all God has called you to be.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/104616/Five-Rules-for-Thriving-in-a-Bad-Economy

http://www.crown.org/

Global Warming?

2008-03-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

I believe I have stated in some of my past comments that I am not the smartest person on earth. If you have read many of these posts you, no doubt, agree with that. Today I may take many steps toward proving I am not very smart but I am wondering something. Here goes.

As you are aware, there are many people, (our government, Queen of England, even the Vatican) that are very concerned with this whole Global Warming deal. I suppose those people get paid to worry with things. I don't agree with a whole lot of what they worry with, but who am I. An interesting side note is that I don't know who I agree with most.

Anyway, I really don't know if we can intelligently speak about this global warming thing. Humans have been around for a while and we do have written record for a lot of time but our scales for measuring temperature are less than 300 years old. That's right, Fahrenheit (1724) and Celsius (1742) are relatively young. Now, I found a site with temperatures dating to 1659 (which is interesting considering the info above). If we believe the info on that site our AVG annual temp has increased about 2 degrees since 1659. It has risen less than 1 degree since 1975.

With that said, scientist have told us there was an ice age at some point before humans were here. If I believe that and I guess I should since I saw the movie, then the temperature must have risen since then to get rid of all that ice.

I guess my problem is why should we just assume that what we are doing is causing what we are experiencing. I don't mean to suggest we should continue doing things that we know are harmful for anyone but I think we spend way too much time worrying about the status of Global Warming and not near enough time worrying about the status of humans and their souls.
I believe it is fairly egotistical of us to believe we have enough control over anything to destroy the human race. I believe we should take care of this earth that God has given us to enjoy. I believe we have a responsibility to live a life worthy of Him. But, I also believe it is very selfish that we would spend more money trying to prolong our future (which we can not control anyway) than we do on helping God's people (4.1billi0n in 2000 for Global Warming vs 233 million for public welfare expenditures). The spending difference is more than 17 to 1 for Global Warming projects. Good Lord!

I would argue that we are WASTING money on Global Warming. If you believe the Bible, God has a plan for earth's end. I don't think we are going to have an affect on that other than trying to get as many people on His side as we possibly can.

Equity? What equity?

2008-03-06T16:18:00.000-05:00

People have been buying places to live in for hundred's even thousand's of years. We are no different in that respect today. However we are different in how we pay for and use our homes. Of course, I am talking about the loans we have.

Back in the 1940's you could borrow to buy a home for a maximum term of 7 years. This practice was based off of the Biblical mandate that all property be returned to its original owner every 7 years (called the year of Jubilee). Anyway, today we can get loans for cars for 7 years and in some cases longer than that. Of course, if you buy some cars you need to spread the payments that long in order to be able to make the payment. Unreal!

As you know, you can get home loans for 30 years today but you may not know that you can get them for 40 even 50 years. You can get all kinds of mortgages today. You may have read about how the mortgage companies have contributed to the current housing mess with some of the loans they were making. I agree with that to a point but I want to call US out today. US being home owners. I will share a couple of points below and would love to hear your feedback.

1) We as mortgage consumers should never blindly accept what a mortgage rep (or anyone else for that matter) is trying to sell us on. If you can comprehend what they are saying go it alone, however the vast, vast majority of us are no where near prepared to make that decision based solely on what we are being told. Seek counsel, it is a Biblical principle you know (Proverbs 12:15)

2) We as homeowners should never use our equity as a banking account. As a whole, we want what we want when we want it (nice sentence huh?). This has led to the issue we find ourselves in now. (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080306/home_equity.html). Homeowners have the least percentage of equity since 1945. That is staggering. This is SQUARELY ON US. We have got to get our wants under control. In my mind, it is unacceptable to use your home equity to buy things you otherwise could not afford.

Enough of my ranting! I don't mean to sound course or nuts about this but it is a huge issue. If we continue to use our equity like this what happens when we have a TRUE emergency? We as Christians should stand out of the crowd when bad times come. They are coming, will you be ready??

How do I pray?

2008-03-03T08:38:00.000-05:00

Kelley and I began a Bible study last night on Philippians. The study is really about having Joy under pressure. If you are like me a lot of things come to mind when you think of Joy under pressure, but my thoughts don't automatically turn to prayer.

The first 11 verses of Philippians chapter 1 are really Paul letting the church of Philippi know how he feels about them. Lesson 1 for me it is probably a good thing to let people know how much they mean to you.

He goes on to say that "I thank God every time I remember you, in all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy..." Lesson 2 for me I need to pray for people other than when they are in a struggle of some kind.

Finally he says "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight..." Lesson 3 for me I need to pray that people we grow deeper in love with God.

Why do you think God created prayer? I mean usually we are praying to ask for help. Is that really why he created prayer? He already knows what we need. Anyone who saw Bruce Almighty knows that God knows everything. Is it possible that He wants us to talk to Him? Is it possible He wants us to recognize we need Him? Prayer is not a way for us to get our wants and needs fulfilled. It is a way for us to speak to our Father and seek His will for our lives in EVERY area. It is a way for us to intercede for our friends and family. If it is good enough for Paul I think it will do for us.

I ask you to pray that my love will abound more and more when you remember me. I need that for myself. I commit to pray that for you as I remember you.

If you don't remember me I am 6'3" 210lbs dark flowing hair, chiseled chin, rock hard abs, you get the picture.

Thanks for praying.

I Vote for MORE Government!!

2008-02-21T21:24:00.000-05:00

Let me explain.

I am not a very smart person. I don't know who will be the best person to be president of our GREAT country. I don't know how NASA figured out how to put a missle in the falling satellite yesterday. I don't even know what time of day I am supposed to have my trash can out by. I mean, about half the time I miss those guys. I guess they show up at 4 am to pick up the trash. I'm sorry back to the point.

I saw a story on Yahoo that was created by 60 minutes (and you know 60 minutes is on top of it). If you are like me you don't spend a lot of time thinking about pennies and nickles and apperantly our government doesn't spend enough time on it. Here's the deal!

Each year the U.S. mint creates 8 Billion pennies and 1.3 Billion Nickles. That translates into $80 million in pennies and $65 million in nickles. That's a lot of value for something I don't even bend over to pick up. Maybe I should rethink that. Anyway, even though I don't have an idea why they still make pennies, my indifference to them is not the problem.

The problem is that our brilliant government spends $134 million per year to create $80 million worth of pennies and $124 million per year to create $65 million dollars worth of nickles. GOOD LORD!

Now that I think about it, why should we be surprised when candidates raise and spend well over $100 million to get a job paying $400 thousand per year. Not that I'm bitter.

Singles @ NorthStar

2008-02-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

Every Sunday at 9:30 am @ NorthStar Church you will find around 70 singles meeting in our conference room. Today I was able to hang out with them for about an hour during their class.

They are all single for different reasons but it was obvious they were together in that room as a group of people seeking God's direction for their lives. They are seeking to serve God as they learn the gifts He created them with and how they can use them.

I am so glad that they have Greg & Julie Jones to lead them as they travel on their journey. If you are a single and want more info on what our singles are doing, go to www.northstarchurch.org

The 5 People you meet at the Ballpark

2008-02-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

You may have heard of the book "The Five People you meet in Heaven", I was thinking about that as we started the softball season for real today with a "Friendly" tournament for Sierra.

If you think about it everyone has a story, their own experiences whether they have created them for theirselves, someone has caused it for them or it just happened. Everyone has a story and here are the ones I saw today.

Person 1: A great guy works hard has 3 kids a great job, etc... Somehow finds himself in the middle of a bad divorce situation. It doesn't really matter who is at fault it is what it is, but he will never be the same.

Person 2: A great lady has 3 kids a great husband. One of the children has a dibilitating disease. They obviously love him as you see how they work with him at the park. Her life will never be "normal".

Person 3: A great guy has 2 kids works hard. Gets involved in an auto accident caused by someone else, ends up having his leg amputated. Comes to the park to watch his girl. He will never be the same.

Person 4: Anyone else on the team. Have a relatively normal life. No real apparent drama. I guess the key is apparent. I know they deal with things everyday that cause anxiety. They will never be the same.

Person 5: Me. Great wife, kids and job. I live a realtively easy existance. Nothing overly exotic or stressful happening in my life. I have never been concerned for much of anything that I can remember. Being with these people week after week I will never be the same.

At NorthStar we are in the middle of a series called BraveHeart. We are talking about tragedy and how to deal with it. One of our staff guys (CA) coined the phrase that we are using (What Marks us Makes us). That is a great statement.

I am so grateful to know the other 4 people that will be with me in Heaven.

NorthStar In The Community!

2008-01-29T20:42:00.000-05:00

If you have been around NorthStar at all you know how important the community is to NorthStar Church. We have been working in the Kennesaw/Acworth community for over 11 years now. It realy is incredible to see the work that has been done and the changes that have happened.

As you can imagine, the challenge is how to keep that work fresh. To continue what we are doing while finding new areas to work. The biggest difference between now and 11 years ago is really three things.

1) Marlon Longacre is on staff (for 9 years now) and working harder than ever to touch the lives of our community.
2) We have a couple of thousand people to help us touch this community.
3) Kelley (my wife) is now working with Marlon to take the ministry to the next level.

With Marlon's work ethic and Kelley's organizational skills the sky is the limit.

With this in mind Kelley and Marlon have launched a new website that will allow our church and community access to the inside working of the community ministry. There is now and will continue to be tons of outreach opportunities on the site as well as an opportunity for the community to respond to the efforts.

It promises to be a huge tool in our never ending work to show God's love to our community. You can find a link at northstarchurch.org.

Great work Marlon and Kelley. Keep working it will all come together!!

Politics are fun aren't they.

2008-01-28T22:21:00.000-05:00

As I take time out of my busy life to do my duty and pay attention to the State of the Union address (ok, so I was very aggravated that there was nothing else on, I missed Wife Swap for goodness sake) I am reminded of how important it is to be involved and vote.

I would no more tell you who to vote for than give you a bite of my cheese burger but I am increasingly agitated with the whole process. A few weeks ago our Pastor spoke about Nehemiah and how his life was cushy yet he saw the bad situation in his homeland and how his people were being taken advantage of. The good news is he decided to use his cushy life and its influence to affect change. And he did. You can read about it in the Bible.

I guess for me I don't understand why those we elect can't remember who elected them and work for those people rather than whoever has the money. It seems simple to me. I know that things are never as simple or as difficult as they seem but aren't we making this WAY to difficult.

Anyway, take some time and get to know the candidates. Then vote for whoever most closely holds your view. But whoever you vote for have fun.

Who Am I?

2008-01-19T14:41:00.000-05:00

I have been around for a long time. I have been married for almost 21 years. I worked for Coca-Cola for 17 years. I have a 14 year old and 11 year old, both girls. I have worked for NorthStar for 5 years now. I have seen many things. I don't claim to be the smartest person in the world, but I do have opinions on many subjects (some would say to0 many). I really don't do colors and decorating, fancy food, painting, politics, Lost or 24.

There are many many things that I know little or nothing about. There are many many things that I disagree with others about.

With all that said, WHO AM I, to be deragatory publicly about whatever they choose to do. I mean, if you want to support Hillary that is your decision. Personally I am writing in Queen Latifah ( I like her clothes). I just think you make your own decisions and you live with the consequences of those decisions.

Who Am I to attack the decision you made? I will not do that.

Now that I think about it I guess writing these words is doing exactly that, forgive me for wasting your time.

Real Estate

2008-01-11T09:38:00.000-05:00

In the past Real Estate as always been a great place to invest money and expect a pretty good return. Unless you have been asleep for 2 years you know that Real Estate has taken a big hit and it is difficult to sell a house at all and virtually impossible to get what you think it is worth (which is usually based on what you heard 2 years ago.

Let me encourage you that as long as you don't sell in this tough market your real estate "value" will be fine. This market will bounce back. I have no idea when but it will.

If you are a part of one of the many industries that are affected by the housing market in Atlanta, I pray that God will provide what you need to make it through.

Be patient, work hard and know that God is still there.

Friday

2008-01-04T19:43:00.000-05:00

Friday's are great aren't they?

For me Friday is an off day. I do my best to keep it that way. It is a day for me and Kelley to hang out, work around the house or run some errands. Either way it is a fun day when we get to be together.

I guess the reason I wanted to write about my Friday is I hope you have a day like that. It is not necessarily "down time" but it is not working at my profession. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do but I do need that time away from it and there are certainly a million things I need to do around the home. I really love the time I get to spend with Kelley as we "get things done" or just hang out.

I hope in 2008 you will find a day like this regularly to spend with your spouse and reset yourself.

Predictions?

2008-01-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

There are two things that happen at the beginning of every year. New Year's resolutions and predictions. I for one don't do well with New Year's resolutions (follow through has been an issue). So I will begin in 2008 making predictions. I lean toward the sporting end of the world so they may be mostly sports related. But, I will try to venture into new horizons.

Before I give you a "short list" of my predictions, let me share some predictions from others that I find quite inspiring.

1) "Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments." —Roman engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus, A.D. 100 (Good thing no one listened to him, I haven't seen a camel to ride around here)

2) "Law will be simplified [over the next century]. Lawyers will have diminished, and their fees will have been vastly curtailed." —journalist Junius Henri Browne, 1893 (Another wrong prediction, unfortunately)

3) "The Japanese don't make anything the people in the

U.S.

would want." —Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, 1954 (What was this guy thinking? I love my Mitsubishi toaster)

4) "Before man reaches the moon, your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to

Australia

by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail." —Arthur Summerfield, U.S. Postmaster General under Eisenhower, 1959 (You know I read this quote and I really expected it to be noted as follows (Cliff Clavin , Cheers 1995))

5) "By the turn of the century, we will live in a paperless society." —Roger Smith, chairman of General Motors, 1986 (I bet he is telling his friends "I didn't say what century")

Anyway, just so you will know these great prognosticators (now that is a word) are my inspiration. So below you will see just some of my predictions for 2008.

1) Atlanta Falcons bring Steve Bartkowski back and he uses his hoverround to set single season rushing mark for quarterbacks in leading team to a 5-11 record. Reestablishing their prominence as a perennial cellar dwellers.

2) Atlanta Hawks after a first round loss in the playoffs to the Detroit Piston in 2007-2008 season, decide to trade Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Josh Childers to the Boston Celtics for a two year supply of New England clam chowder, tea and Boston Baked beans. Team GM gurantees no games in April for 2008-2009 season.

3) Atlanta Braves coach Bobby Cox gets finger stuck in ear and is unable to coach the Braves in the 2008 playoffs. Braves run the table en-route to its second World Series Title with whoever replaces him.

4) The killer bees will finally arrive in Georgia. They will find there is no water here and go back where they came from.

I do wish a great 2008 for all of you. I pray your dreams come true and God is at the center of them all.

Blessed 2

2007-12-18T08:30:00.001-05:00

On December 3, I wrote that I sometimes take things for granted until I am reminded of the blessings that I have. I thought about this after a couple of hospital visits I made. Thankfully, both of those people are home now and continuing to get better.

Last week I was again at the hospital. This time I was in a room of my own for 4 days. I don't know if you have ever done that before but those are some long days. I am out now and doing well, thank you.

I guess for me I have never had that experience and it was wierd. Roomservice was great but it wasn't the best food I have had. Anyway, I now understand how important it is to visit and contact those in the hospital. Of course, each situation is different but I would say for most people you trying to do something in the way of contact (whether phone or personal) is the best action. I was bored to tears the vast majority of the days I was there and loved talking to those who called and came by.

I thank God for continuing the healing process on me and for giving me a glimpse of how to handle this tough time in people's lives.

It can be difficult to make the time to visit people but that is why we are here isn't it??

Train up a child....

2007-12-10T11:46:00.000-05:00

We would be hard pressed (whatever that means) to find someone who has not heard the old adage "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it". Did you know that is actually a verse from the Bible? (Proverbs 22:6) I find it interesting that the verse immediately following Proverbs 22:6 (Proverbs 22:7 if you are a little slow) says, "Just as the rich rule the poor the borrower is servant to the lender." I wonder if God is trying to tell us something here?

Anyway, I found an article, that is referenced below for your reading pleasure, that bares out what I believe to be true based on these two verses. The article talks about teaching your kids to give as an antidote to materialism. I couldn't agree more!!!

I believe that giving, in whatever form, reminds us that what we have been blessed with really is not ours. It also allows us to see how blessed we truly are when we reach out to those less fortunate. The difficult part, in today's economical environment, is to recognize that some people who have "nice" things are needy right now. I mean they may have a $300k home and two nice cars that were purchased when the housing market was going well, but today those are a burden that has to be dealt with.

I hope you will join me and my family in reaching out to someone in your community that is in need. ALLOW YOUR KIDS TO SEE GENEROSITY IN ACTION!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/103960/Teach-Your-Little-Ones-to-Love-Giving-Really

Blessed...

2007-12-03T18:26:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but there are times that I forget how blessed I am. I take my wife and kids for granted. I forget that it is not a guarantee that I have health and a home and food and clothing and a car and so on and so on...

I made two visits to the hospital today. One of my teammates had surgery today. She is one of the nicest people you will ever know. I pray God wraps His arms around her. A Friend of mine had his leg amputed below the knee on Friday. I can ot imagine what he is going through. I pray that God will show Himself real to my friend and his family.

Our church has many hurting families, health issues, financial issues and marital issues. I pray that God will use us to touch these families.

Sometimes I need a reminder about how much God is blessing me. I pray that I will never forget His love for me and my family, teammates, and friends.

Now That's Funny...

2007-11-29T08:24:00.000-05:00

In my never ending search to keep you interested (now that I think about it I may be the only person seeing this and therefor I suppose I am just trying to keep myself interested, anyway) I have stumbled across some interesting, sad, nuts and funny stuff. Today I want to share a couple of things I have seen recently that just make me wonder. Here are some headlines.

1) Pink Faberge Egg fetches record $18.5 million. (Good Lord who did that??)

2) Supermodel inspires NBA players hot streak. (I researched this a little... He makes $6+ million/year and has averaged over 12 minutes more per game in the past 4 games what that has to do with a girl....)

3) Sears Holdings 3Q profit plunges 99% (Is this surprising? When was the last time you went to Sears or Kmart)

4) Airlines add traveler services (They are going to contact you when your flight is delayed or cancelled.... My experience has been that they ACT like they don't know until you are on the plane and sitting on the Tarmac... by the way at this point I have already been told to turn off my cell phone... I guess my question is how are they going to contact me, over the PA system on the plane?)

5) Tricks to lessen the house value slide (They never mentioned don't sell... you don't lose money if you don't sell. A few years ago a the statistic for people moving in GA was that over 80% of all moves were from one county to another. If you can stay where you are for a few more years you won't lose money.)

6) Touring 50 Cent's crib ( How does a man with an $80,000 dollar chandelier in his dining room get the name 50 cent???)

And the ultimate...

7) Unlucky lottery winner (It seems this lottery winner is a convicted bank robber who isn't supposed to be gambling... "Sorry, dude you can't have the money!" Talk about a high turning into a low)

Remember...

2007-11-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

In Philippians 1:3 Paul says, "I thank my God every time I remember you."

It got me to thinking two things. First of all, how often do I REALLY thank God for those I remember. Secondly, how often do I take the time to remember in the first place.

I am not sure if remembering others is a "spiritual gift" or not but either way I don't have it. My tendency is to focus on me. I am really not a bad person, at times I consider others, but it takes a lot of discipline for me to focus on others for long periods of time. Truly I am tired after that 10 minutes of focus.

Anyway, I want to remember those who helped me find my way in the darkness. I didn't have a dad growing up to lead me. Thanks to my mom for hanging in there with two idiots for sons. Thanks to Danny (a neighbor) for spending time with me and inviting me to church. Thanks to Paul (Sunday school teacher) for sharing Christ. Thanks to Kelley (my wife) for putting up with my selfishness and keeping me somewhat focused. Thanks to Kenneth & Sarah (inlaws) for "adopting" a kid with no clue who their daughter felt sorry for.

There are many, many people that we cross paths with that have an eternal affect on our lives. If Paul ( a hero of the faith ) can take time to remember and write them notes letting them know you remember, I think I can find some time to follow his lead.

I am striving to take 20 minutes each day and remember 3 people, pray for them and send them a note. I hope you will join me.

God's Power

2007-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I forget that God is truly all powerful. I am not talking about the blue Genie from Alladin, I am talking about real power. This past weekend at NorthStar Daniel Hoover (Worship Pastor) spoke to our congregation about TRUE WORSHIP.

He talked about how true worship carries on outside the walls of the church and outside the calendar day of Sunday. It is really reaching out to the world around us. He did a great job of sharing his heart on worship. We are very lucky to have someone like him on staff.

I don't know what that has to do with God's power except to say that He has put this group of staff together. He has put this congregation together at this time in this location. Mordecai told Esther "who knows that you have been put in this place for such a time as this." I don't know why God has assembled the incredible cast of characters He has put here on staff and in the church, but I believe He wants to show His power in this community through a group of people that will allow Him to. I pray we are always willing to be used by His power.

Who knows that we have been put here for such a time as this!!

Black Friday?

2007-11-23T10:37:00.000-05:00

I think it is interesting that somehow the Friday after Thanksgiving has been dubbed "Black Friday". What is so black about it? Ok, for me it is sort of black, I mean I can hardly move from yesterday so all I can see is the back of my eyelids and even then it is not totally dark. I don't think it is black for the retailers. They are bringing in more cash (or receipts) today than any other day of the year. It's not black for news people, they have plenty to talk about. How many parking spaces are left, who lost the fight for the "tickle me Joe Bob" or whatever.

I just don't know how that happened. The day after the day we reserve for giving thanks should not be dubbed Black Friday. Most of us are off work so we don't even have to deal with that. Granted it is a madhouse at most stores and malls today but even that can be fun if you have the right approach to the "event".

I hope you don't see this day or any other as a Black day. God has created you and me to shine a light on every day. I hope you will.

By the way, I have done a little calculating and the best I can figure is that about 30 days after today is about as close to a black day as you get, after all that is when the credit card bill will come due.

Happy Bright Friday!

Helping others!

2007-11-19T10:16:00.000-05:00

I just saw an article on Yahoo about food pantries seeing a rise in working people needing help with food. One of the people they interviewed said that she makes $9 per hour working full time, has no insurance and sometimes there just isn't enough to make ends meet. So she goes to the local food pantry for a little help. I have been guilty of making all kinds of judgments about people like this lady and many others. After all, the Bible says that if a man does not work neither should he eat. I have applied this to a lot of people.

I have finally learned that the Bible was written for me to apply to me not for me to apply to others. You know what this means. When God says if you don't work you won't eat He is talking to me. He also says over and over that I should help the poor. My thought has been if they aren't working they shouldn't be eating. But God has shown me that He makes those decisions not me.

In Crown, we talk about there being two parts to living (God's part and our part). My problem is that I want to do God's part and ignore my part. I find it easier to decide when someone should receive help and when they shouldn't rather than just giving when God asks me to give.

I guess what I really want to say is that we are called to help others. We are not called to help everyone but we are called to help someone. God will show you who that someone is if you will ask Him.

Our part is to help, His part is to deal with the results of that help. I hope you will join me and my family as we JUST help others and not worry about the rest.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christian Business?

2007-11-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a friend of mine invited me to lunch. He wanted to talk about his business and how you really turn it over to God. Great question. It is very easy to say "God, this is your business" it is not easy to really turn it over. I am sure my comments to him were virtually useless but I have found something I think is very helpful for this and any other thing you want to turn over to God.

I have mentioned before about John Ortberg's book, "When the game is over it all goes back in the box." Last night I found a great quote I want to share with you guys.

"Jesus' idea was that when someone began to follow him, that person would become good news to everybody in the neighborhood, at the office, or in the school. His followers would become more generous and more truthful and would be a blessing to all peoples as God had promised Abraham."

So that is how you know that your organization (or yourself for that matter) is following Jesus. I told my friend that the hard thing about turning your business over to God is that once you have done it you still have to run the business. You have to decide what happens and doesn't happen. It doesn't get easier because you turn it over. In some ways it gets harder because you can't do things the way everyone else does.

Anyway, if you have an organization (business, sports team, weight watchers, whatever) that you want to turn over, commit it to God and then make the decisions that will allow it to be good news and a blessing to everyone who comes in contact with it.

I believe that God will then allow it to be a blessing to you and your family.

To Worry or Not To Worry....

2007-11-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

This past weekend at NorthStar Mike spoke about worry and asked us to list the things we worry about. Those lists were brought to the front of the room and left there for us as staff to pray over. I have looked at many of those and most of them are not really surprising (they are the same things I worry about).

I don't want to diminish or disregard the reality of the feelings associated with the issues that people wrote on those cards. I realize they are real feelings that carry a lot of weight and burden for these people. However, I would like to turn it around a little.

Many cards listed someone as worrying about having to work at a job they didn't like (I have been there). Many listed worrying about future health issues, finances, etc... These are all very real issues that we all deal with at some point on some level. But, doesn't God say who among you can add even a day to his life by worrying? I know it has never helped me.

Let me propose that we focus on the opposite. We thank God for the health we have rather than worrying about getting cancer. We thank God for the job we have rather than worrying about it being bad. We thank God for the money He has blessed us with rather than worrying about not having enough. We thank God for our families rather than worrying about their future. We thank God for our country rather than complaining about its direction. We thank God for His salvation rather than worrying about dying.

Rather than being too worried to be thankful, it is time we are too thankful to be worried!!

You can hear Mike Linch's message on worry @ northstarchurch.org

This week Mike will share with us about PAUSING to be thankful. I hope to see you there.

Nap Time?

2007-11-12T14:38:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt like you needed a nap after lunch? Me too! It turns out that it could be good for you.

Apparently, napping during the day is a great way to relieve stress on your heart. A 30 minute nap in the middle of the day gives your body the opportunity to rejuvinate (big word huh?). The study goes on to say:

Some of the reviving benefits of naps include enhanced cognitive function, better reaction time, more patience, stress relief, and better overall health.

I suppose the idea of a mid-day Siesta is not a bad idea. I know one thing when I am done eating at a Mexican restaurant I feel like I need a siesta.

Caution: Mid-day napping could be hazadous to your employment.

Maybe we could start with 15 minutes.

I hate tests!

2007-11-08T22:50:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow morning I get the pleasure of going for a stress test. Now you should know that I probably have one of the most stress free jobs available. The only thing I could imagine that would be less stressful is Director of Communication for a large church but that is another story.

Anyway, I wrote last week that I was sick and for my trouble I am being sent to do this test. I have always hated a test and am not at all excited about this test. Think about it, it is a pass or fail deal. If you pass, good for you (for a while anyway), if you fail, go to hospital do not pass home do not collect clothing on the way.

I am pretty sure I have no problems with my heart but I suppose this is the right thing to do. After all, I am no doctor. I feel just like I did in High School, I am not looking forward to the test, but I know I have to do it and I want to get it over with.

I hope that the guy on the treadmill next to me is smart and doesn't mind me looking at his work and I hope it doesn't take 2 weeks to find out how I did.

I am BLESSED!

2007-11-01T17:37:00.000-04:00

The last few days have not been good for me. I have a problem that has happened 3 different times. We can't figure out what causes it but are still working on that. Last night I didn't think I was going to make it without a trip to the ER. However, I woke up at 1AM to find myself dripping wet and feeling 1000 times better. PHEEEEW I am glad that life altering, near death, noone is experiencing what I have, time has passed.

Then today I visit two people in the hospital. One is a teammate who is probably one of the sweetest people I know that has a recurring problem with her intestines and has been in since the weekend. The other is a great guy who has become a good friend of ours from the softball field. He has blood clots in his left leg, bypass has been attempted and failed twice and now he is faced with the choice of keep the leg and deal with the pain or lose the pain and the leg. WOW!

I don't know what that means to you but for me I need to get a grip on myself sometimes. No matter how "bad" things are going for me, God has blessed me with a family, a job, a church, health, love, friends, community, etc...

I pray that God will show me those times when I am focusing too much on what I am dealing with when I should be focusing on what I have to be thankful for.

The next time you start feeling sorry for yourself go visit some folks in the hospital maybe I will see you there.

Budget! Is it really necessary?

2007-10-25T09:19:00.000-04:00

As you may know, I have two very distinct parts to my job here at NorthStar. I am the Pastor of Stewardship which allows me the opportunity to work with families, either one-on-one or through Crown, to move closer to God's financial direction for their lives. I am also the Business Administrator which allows me the opportunity to work with the staff members, management team and Pastor on the financial direction of the organization. These two parts of my job have a lot in common, but the main commonality is budgeting.

It really doesn't matter how big the numbers are the process is pretty much the same. It takes time, discipline, patience and will power. The basic parts of the process are:

1 Know what you spend now.
2 Know what you make now.
3 Allocate money to all categories.
(Don't ignore saving, investing and giving. They are vital to the overall picture)
4 Compare your expenses to revenue.
5 Make adjustments to balance the budget.
(These adjustments have to be made in how you live not just on paper)
6 Live within the budget
7 Adjust the budget as needed

The budget is not a document you create and put away. It is a guideline for living daily. Sometimes we need to adjust it to a change (job, family, etc...) that occurs. Other times we need to change it because our short term goals have changed.

I know you are thinking as I have many times, "this budget thing is a pain, I don't want to WASTE the time. I can get everything paid for without it." You are right, most of the time you can pay your bills and live without harassing phone calls without a budget. But the real purpose of the budget is to set up guardrails that help keep you on the path to your goals. That's right a budget should be based on your goals. If you have a goal of "retirement" (we'll talk later) or sending the kids to college or property on the lake or giving 15% to the church, you must have a plan to get there or it will always be just a wish.

Budgeting is how these wishes become reality.

For more info: www.crown.org

You Are Getting Very Sleeeeeepy!

2007-10-23T13:56:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed yourself acting in an irrational or over emotional manner? Oh, Okay. Have you ever noticed your spouse or a co-worker acting in an irrational or over emotional manner? Ahhhhh, me too! So what is up with these people. I mean you ask a simple question about getting 2 months off or a 14.257% raise or a personal assistant to do your work for you and they just go off all crazy and stuff.

Well, as it turns out, there is a reason for this madness. Apparently scientists have found that sleep deprivation causes us to overreact emotionally. This is probably not a surprise to you as it was not to me. But having scientific studies behind it helps us to focus on it more I suppose. The following was stated in the article referenced below: "While we predicted that the emotional centers of the brain would overreact after sleep deprivation, we didn't predict they'd overreact as much as they did," Walker said. "They became more than 60 percent more reactive to negative emotional stimuli. That's a whopping increase—the emotional parts of the brain just seem to run amok." It is traced to a "hyperactive response to a shutdown of the prefrontal lobe, a brain region that normally keeps emotions under control" Okay, shake your head and refocus your eyes and I will explain it to you. When you don't sleep part of your brain shuts down and apparently it is the part that keeps your foot out of your mouth.

For me this was not earth shattering information. However, I do need to be reminded that God created sleep for a reason. Not just to have something to do in a chair or pew on Sunday mornings but to re energize and re build me as the whole person He created. I suppose I should turn the TV off the cage fighting, football, baseball and 2 man beach volleyball and allow God to refresh my body and brain. I hope you do as well, it may make the drive to work less painful.

Good night.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071022/sc_livescience/
emotionsrunamokinsleepdeprivedbrains

Encouragement

2007-10-22T11:17:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you but I love to receive encouragement. It empowers me to take steps I would not have otherwise taken. It gives me courage to stand strong in difficult times. It gives me the will to forge ahead when I am tired and feel like quitting. I love and need encouragement.

However, I am terrible when it comes to handing out encouragement. I have spurts of time when I send cards, slap backs, give credit, etc... But generally they are small and short lived spurts. I know that God has put me in my current position, (whether it be home, work or play) to help those around me be their best. Occasionally, I need to be reminded that I need to be an encourager. I allow myself to get caught up in what "I" am dealing with and lose focus on one of my duties as a leader in these three areas. I can't encourage OTHERS when I focus on me.

I pray that God will help me be an encourager. I want to encourage my wife when she is stuck doing laundry or struggling with family issues. I want to encourage my girls through their homework and tough times on the softball field. I want to encourage my co-workers when they are tired and weary. I want to encourage you through this blog.

Pray for me as I strive to be an encouragement to others.

The Game

2007-10-18T14:13:00.000-04:00

Today, we are hosting a 1 hour talk by John Ortberg based on his book called "When the Game is over it all goes back in the box." The basic premise of the book is that no matter how well we do financially here on earth we can not take it with us. We leave all of it here.

I believe that by now everyone has heard a million times the phrase, " I have never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul." The fact that it is a true statement does not make it any less tired by the way. Obviously, it is true that we will take nothing with us, however, we still have to play the GAME. I mean I still have to eat, pay the light bill, drive, have a place to sleep, etc...

So knowing that when the game is over it all goes back in the box and knowing that I still have to play the game what should be my goal. I mean what is the point in playing if I know the result already (I can't keep it)?

Here is God's "secret". THE GAME ITSELF (not the result) IS THE POINT!!

How we play the game is of concern to God. In week 2 of Crown we talk about what is God's part. Week 3-10 are all about what our part is. In short, it is to be faithful with what He gives (His part) us, but of course there is much more to it than that. In Luke 16:11 Jesus says, "If you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you." How you play the Game determines what kind of riches you are ultimately entrusted with. I am really striving to play this game well. I want him to trust me with TRUE RICHES.

In Monopoly, you win by ending the game. In God's game you win by playing the game His way.

Bad Shot, Wrong Focus!

2007-10-17T13:11:00.000-04:00

Some of the guys in the office and some guys we met at the YMCA hook up to play basketball about 3 mornings each week. Sometimes, its 1-0n-1, sometimes 2-0n-2, 3-on-3, 2-on-3 or whatever. It is a lot of fun, a huge challenge and gives some much needed exercise. I am not a good player but I love to play and accept the challenge of whoever I am facing. Sometimes it works out good other times not so good.

Today was a not so good day. Steve Roach and I played today and he won 3 games to 2. I know what you are thinking, how in the world did he beat you 3 times in one morning. I want to say the referee was terrible but there wasn't one, besides that he usually doesn't get close enough to foul me. I will leave you to figure out what that means.

Anyway, my shot was not good at all today. Normally, I am not very good but today was exceptionally bad. In the last game, I actually caught myself keeping up with my shots. I was 0 for 9 before I thought why on earth am I focusing so much on what I have missed. Yes, I actually thought about this while we were playing. When I stopped focusing on my 0% shooting percentage to that point, I actually came back and won that game.

This reminded me that if I focus on the bad things, mistakes and air-balls in my life, I will never hear the "string music" that a great shot makes.

I pray that you will refocus your thoughts on the provision, gifts and love God has put in your life. May you attack whatever your opponent is with a positive attitude, all your effort and God's strength. I know Steve will find it tought to beat me like that again!

Do I have a problem?

2007-10-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you but for me, I have no problem seeing where you, or anyone else, are making mistakes. This goes for any aspect of your life. I can see your flaws from 10 miles away. I can see every pit and pothole you have fallen into and are about to go into. As a matter of fact, when I read my Bible your name comes to my mind. when I read verses and stories I have no problem putting you right there. Not the good ones, the bad ones. For example, when the Bible says "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." I know exactly which one of you that is talking about. Weird huh!!

Answer this question and I will tell you what I discovered.
"Who was the Bible written for?" (Insert the theme from Jeopardy here.)

Here is what I discovered. The Bible was written for me! Yes, it was written for you also. But, from my perspective God intends for me to use the Bible as MY guide not as my guide for YOU! Granted if you come to me for counsel hopefully I will give you Biblically based counsel. But the Word is for ME.

Now, I believe that our challenge is to stop trying to apply the Bible to each other and really, truly, focus on applying it to ourselves. It is easier said than done. It takes a true commitment to want God's best for yourself. It takes humility to admit our flaws. It takes time to find God's direction. It takes strength and determination to make the change. The fact is if we continue to allow satan to put "anyone's" name in Bible verses and stories other than ours we lose, he wins.

I want to stop that cycle. I know you do as well. Let's make a conscious effort to focus on us as we study God's Word. Just say NO - to reading God's Word and applying it to your friends and family.

By the way, if you want to know what you need to focus on CALL ME.

Fear vs Freedom

2007-10-08T11:12:00.000-04:00

Isn't the internet great. With just the touch of the keyboard you can find all kinds of stuff. Well I have found some very interesting info for you today. Have you ever wondered what your chances of winning the lottery are? Come on, you can be honest. Me too. I don't know about you but my chances are zero. It turns out you have to buy a ticket to win and I ain't spending my money that way. But, that is a topic for another day.

I wonder why we really care about odds. We have statistics for everything. Using these numbers we can create odds. Such as:

Odds of dating a supermodel - 88,000 to 1
Odds of having hemorrhoids - 25 to 1
Odds of dating a millionaire - 215 to 1 ( if she can't be pretty maybe she'll have money)
Odds of being murdered - 18,000 to 1
Odds of being considered possessed by Satan - 7,000 to 1

The good news is you have pretty good odds of dating a millionaire. The bad news is he or she is likely to have hemorrhoids and has a good chance of being possessed by Satan. Good luck to you.

Anyway, odds and statistics have always been very interesting to me. I just find them fascinating. But, we can become so fixated on those things that we accomplish nothing. We can spend WAY to much money trying to win the lottery (13,000,000 to 1) and not be able to provide for our family properly.

I want my life to be about more than odds. I know that if I trust God and try to live according to His plan and turn it all over to Him, the odds don't mean anything. Yes, I can still become a statistic, but in God's eyes I am living by His plan. It gives me freedom to live without fear of what may happen. I believe that is what God intended.

What is stopping you from turning it all over to Him?

PS Now that I know I have better odds of winning an Olympic Medal (662,000 to 1) than drowning in a bathtub (685,000 to 1) I will smell better tomorrow.

What's wrong with my skin??

2007-10-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

In yet another article I found, problems with our skin have been linked to stress. Yes, you read right STRESS. Dry skin, inflammation, rashes and even allergies. These can all be traced back to your level of stress. This is on top of the other problems, such as, high blood pressure, ulcers and a sore throat from all the screaming at people. Chill out will ya, I didn't see the light turn green.

As you are no doubt aware, we get stressed more about money and money related issues (job) than anything else. So, how do we begin to lower our stress level? Well, it won't happen by trying to win the lottery! First off, you have to know where you are spending the money God has given you. I recommend you write down everything you spend for a month. This means everything. You buy a piece of gum from the concession stand you write down Gum 5 cents Oct. 3. You do this for a month and you have a start on putting your budget together. You will also be able to see very easily some things that you can stop that will help save money.

The truth is that every one of us know what we have to do to solve this financial issue and relieve the stress that comes from that. No one has a silver bullet to help you. Not me, not Larry Burkett, not even Dave Ramsey!! You have the power to change how you are living in this area and therefor remove that portion of stress in your life.

My question is,

"What is stopping you from taking the steps to make your life more stress free?"

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/skintype/9742/stressed-out-its-showing

Who are you "Hangin' With"?

2007-10-03T14:17:00.000-04:00

I have linked an article below that talks about a study. Studies are always interesting but this one hit me on two fronts. The study says that if you gain or lose weight your close associates will do the same. Very Interesting. Now I know what you are thinking, you are wondering who I have been hanging out with. Stop, that is enough of that. You have problems too!

Anyway as the article went on it talked about how this theory could be applied to other areas of our life. I am not very smart but I can tell you that it absolutely does affect the financial area. The peer pressure to fit in is bigger for adults than for kids. We buy and buy just to make sure we can fit in with the people who "have" money. It is too bad we have to be this way.

There is good news though. Since we know that we will begin to look and act like those we "hang" with the most, maybe we should be a little more careful about who we choose to be around. I mean maybe we should hang out with people who paid cash for their new Jeep rather than those that traded their upside down Expedition for a new Escalade. I would rather be like those with no car payment. Can you imagine what it would be like to have no car payment?

I think you know what I am saying.

I'm off to get in line with my people at Golden Corral.

http://biz.yahoo.com/hmoney/071002/
100207_100400140_moneymag.html?.v=1&.pf=banking-budgeting

Spotlight Focus!

2007-10-01T10:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at NorthStar, I was given the privilege of offering closing comments and announcements at the end of our 3 services. Now, public speaking is not a gift of mine (which is painfully obvious to those in attendance yesterday) but it is fun to share from time to time.
I pretty much made a mess of my time yesterday but I had fun, I may never be allowed back on stage but I had fun.

When I do get that opportunity I have to rely on something to help me remember what I am supposed to say. I don't want to mess anything up. I need this aid because the spotlight is focused on me and it makes me very nervous. I become self-conscious and forget everything.

I was wondering though why I don't make sure I have my aid with me in every day living. I mean God is certainly watching what I do and I know my family, friends, neighbors and even total strangers are watching what I do. The spotlight is always focused on me by someone. I may not feel it but it is there. Don't I need some sort of aid.

The good news is, God has provided that aid. The Bible, His Word, our owner's manual, and the ultimate Self-Help book. Everything we will ever need insight on, anything we need to remember as we live in the spot light of life, is in this book. I guess the question is when am I going to start using it.

Perspective

2007-09-27T10:58:00.000-04:00

It's funny how we see things. The old adage that "one person's junk is another's treasure" is very true.

Have you ever been driving through a neighborhood and seen something they put out with the trash can and said "Hmmmmmm I've been wanting a new ceiling fan"? Yeah, me too!

Interesting how that happens isn't it. Here's the thing about perspective. It is much easier to see the good in things you don't have than in the things you do have. We have this strange desire for almost anything we don't already have.

In Philipians 4 Paul said "For I have learned to be content..." We have to learn to be content with what God has given us and where He has put us. It is not easy but definitely a better place to live. I have gotten there with many things. Now that doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to have a 4 door F150 in the garage, but it means that I don't go get it until I have a "NEED" for it. It is not easy but it is the best way. Long term me and my family will be much better off financially, emotionally and spiritually because we are content where we are with what we have. This contentment is only gained by practice and God's grace.

I pray this contentment for you and your family. We talk about contentment in week 9 of Crown.

By the way, if you are out and about feel free to take the exercise bike by my trash can. If I left a shirt hanging on it leave it by the garage.

Later.

Generation Debt

2007-09-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

Statistics say that the average newly wed couple tries to accumulate in the first three years of marriage what it took their parents a lifetime to accumulate. I don't know about you but when I think about what that means for my kids it is very scary. Our desire to have bigger, better, more, quicker can be devastating for a marriage.

Proverbs 22:7 says, "Just as the rich rule the poor so the borrower is servant to the lender" We will discuss this more in week 3 of Crown. But the truth is the more we are in debt the harder it is for us to be servant to God (" You cannot serve both God and money " Matthew 6:24 & Luke 16:13). Practically speaking if you are having to work two jobs to make ends meet you don't have time to serve God.

It is very difficult to go against culture and not be a part of Generation Debt. I saw an article today that talked about "Staying Frugal in the Age of the iPhone". There are so many "cool" new gadgets in our world it is hard to stay focused on our goals for wanting to be a part of this "age".

I pray that you will stand out from the crowd and show your children that you can have a great life while staying out of debt. A good marriage between a mom and dad are much more important for your kids to see than your new iPhone.

I have linked the article below. Have a great day.

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/generationdebt/46569;_ylt=Ajy5O.d1jBrs37shNbVbpF67YWsA

How Rich Are You!!

2007-09-25T14:08:00.000-04:00

I saw an article today that is pretty amazing!! Apparently there is a resort in Sri Lanka that has a dessert on its menu that costs $14,500. When I saw this I really expected there to be some sort of exotic animal part in the dessert. However, it turns out they put an 80 carat Aquamarine Gem stone in the thing. I wonder how much it would cost to fix your teeth after biting down on it? Anyway, that is amazing. $14,500 for a dessert (and a rock). That is more money than some 90% of the world's population makes in a year. Incredible.

I don't know about you but even if I could afford that dessert I wouldn't buy it. I guess what puts it in perspective though is we would have no problem spending that on a "good" used car.

WE TRULY ARE RICH!

Remembering that we are rich is a big challenge. I have to deal with that in myself everyday. As we move toward week two in Crown it is vital that we remember: "Everything in the Heavens and earth are Yours O Lord!"

Have a great day.

In The Beginning!!

2007-09-24T10:22:00.000-04:00

Good morning!!

Everything has to start somewhere and sometime. So I am beginning this blog today. Hopefully I will remember to update it often. My goal is to put helpful info here for anyone (especially those in our Stewardship Ministry) to use in their daily lives. I know I have to be reminded daily how God wants me to live.

The first thing we do in our Crown classes (find out more @ Crown.org) is establish that our way of thinking is not in line with God's. (Isaiah 55:8-9) This is never more true than in the area of finances. Our challenge is to find out what God says about money that we are not in line with. There are two ways to do that. First, you can read the Bible and pick them out yourself, which is great but difficult. Second, you can join a Crown class and walk through His word with a group. I believe joining a group will yield more fruit for your journey. For more info contact jamie@northstarchurch.org

If you are currently in a group or have been through the class you know that our memory verse for the first week is Luke 16:11. Next week we will recite 1 Chronicles 29:11-12. Tough verse but we need to remember it for our daily living. I truly enjoyed our group last night and look forward to Friday night's first meeting and the second meeting of our Sunday night group.

Have a great day!! Write down everything you spend!