Are you there daddy???????

Good afternoon everyone. Misty and I went to see this amazing movie called “Courageous” yesterday and it made me look at the role of a father. We are to raise our children up to follow and respect God. To do that, we as fathers must lead from the front. You will never be able to truly lead your family from the backseat.

I had a lot of time yesterday to think about my role as a father and was weighed and measured and found lacking. It is my job to make sure my children are ready for this world when they leave the nest. I don't want to be a good enough dad. I want to be the best daddy I possibly could be.

As a youth pastor I see so many young people that are being raised by single mothers or grandparents or maybe even someone that is not even their family. What breaks my heart is when the parents are able to take care of the children but, they just refuse to. When we bring these children into the world it is OUR responsibility to nurture and raise them up. Not just set them in front of the TV or video game. We must mold them to be better than we are. We must break the vicious cycle. This world we live in is going to hell in a hand basket and I want my children to stand among the few and resist the ways of the world. Please hear this there are too many children without dads and I see the effect it has taken on them. We MUST break the cycle of our culture. We must be the spiritual leaders of our families. We must be courageous!!! We must be men of faith! Have a great day, I love you, and God bless.

Let's go to the Doctor...........

Good morning everyone! I hope you have a great weekend. I spent mine at work but, momma needs a new pair of shoes. At youth last night, we had an emotional service. Toward the end I asked the youth and adults one question. The question was "How is your relationship with the Lord?" and God started to go to work. Let's dig into some of the good stuff and see what God shows us........
Bible Verse: 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do your yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless you fail the test."


Check this out, Paul is urges us to give ourselves a spiritual check-up just like when you go to the doctor to get a physical check-up. He wants us to listen, poke, prod around, and look at what we are doing, how we are doing it, who we are hanging around, how do we look, how do we sound, how are we seen, are we spiritually healthy? we must examine ourselve regularly and look for Christs' presence in our lives.

I want to share something that I found at work yesterday. I needed to make a phone call and was looking for a phone. When I found one, I sat down and was making a couple of calls. While I was waiting for someone to pickup I looked up at a buletin board and saw and devotion that someone had stuck on the board from August 24, 2011. It quoted Provers 19:25 Rebuke one who has understanding, and he will discern knowledge. Here's the thing, we can see every face in the world except one....Our own. We can see what our face looks like in a mirror or in a picture; but it's a reflection, not the real thing. We can't see ourselves the way others can. To be our best, we need to see ourselves as they do. Maybe even enlist the help of someone that will be honest with us. Maybe even brutally honest. I know most people are uncomfortable either giving or recieving constructive critism. Self-examination and accountabilty to others is so very important in our walk with Jesus. We can't just come to Jesus for a "Life-enhancement". We should come to Him with a fully surrendered heart that is open to God being in every part of it. I pray this touched you as it did me. Do me a big favor. Stop what you are doing right now and sit back and examine your walk right now. Take just a few minutes. If God shows you something. Get to work! It's never too late. Have a great day, I love you, and God bless!!