The influence of a changed life

'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.' (John 12:32)

One of my favorite stories is Jesus witnessing to the Samaritan woman at the well. So many lessons in this story for winning lost people. But what really grips my thought is how a woman of such bad reputation can gain the ear of so many in her town. I really believe they saw in her the change that Jesus made in her life. I believe this change had a far greater impact than the words she spoke. Her changed life lifted up the Lord.

I'm convinced that people will believe more from what they see in my life than what I say about my God.

I want God to actively change my life, so that others can see that God is alive.

We lift up the Lord when He changes our lives.

Proverbs 11:30

Che' Hensley shared his testimony Sunday. I was really challenged with all he said. Such a blessing to hear how God changes lives. But, what really spoke to me was how he tied Proverbs 11:30 in with Psalm 1.

'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.' (Proverbs 11:30)

I've always focused on the second half, 'he that winneth souls is wise.' But Sunday what stood out for the first time to me was the first half of the verse as the key to winning souls, 'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.' The NLT says, 'The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life.' Psalm 1 says of the righteous, 'They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.' Jesus said that we are to be 'salt and light.'

If we want to win lost people to Christ, we must become Christlike. We must allow Christ to influence and change our lives. When we love and care for people as Christ does, we will become more effective witnesses, winning more people to Christ.

Sunday Reflections

Exciting, eventful Sunday...we had five people join the church, one baptized, observed the Lord's Supper, wrapped up our 'iChanged!' series, and heard from three people how God is changing lives. The final message of the series focused on the importance of sharing our story. So important to give glory to God by telling all He does for us.

'Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.' (Psalms 107:2)

A Dogs Life!

A dog's Life!...Buddy is 14 years old...At that age a good afternoon nap is too precious to pass up.

I love my mom!

Mom had never had a latte before her visit this week. The first one I made her was a plain latte. She really liked it. For her second one I made a vanilla latte. She thought she had died and went to heaven. For her third one, I made a Caramel latte. She's HOOKED!

This morning as she was leaving to go home, she asked if I could make her one for the road. So, as you can see, I did...I love my mom!

Sunday Reflections

I really enjoyed church this weekend. A lot going on and that's always exciting. During the morning service the children's ministry did an outstanding job sharing what they they're learning this year. The Master's Club ministry had a regional activity Saturday and won several ribbons. I love the young people of our church and I'm so proud of them. I can't say enough about those who minister to them, they are doing a great job.

The music ministry is really progressing. I really felt the spirit moving during the praise time and thought people were ready for the message. So great to see more people getting involved.

I loved preaching 'Live - by Looking Forward.' So convinced that many people miss God's plan because they stay in their comfort zone never truly following were God leads. Change requires doing things you are uncomfortable with. The more you do it, the comfortable it becomes to you.

Christina put together a promotional video for baptism. So cool! Hopefully I can post it so you will be able to see it.

We wrapped up the morning with a 'Newcomers' dinner. Great food, fellowship, and so excited about people adding to the County Church family.

Air Force One

Jeff's retirement ceremony was a real blessing today. So amazing being in the hanger of Air Force One. The back drop for the program was the actual 747 dedicated to moving the President. The Air Force One crew is one of those organizations that you never hear anything about and that is good. In this case no news is good news. Their mission has been so successful for so many years. They work behind the scenes of the public, with such precision and dedication, yet they never receive public recognition for what they do. I heard the History Channel recently did a documentary. Be sure to watch. It debuts this June.

I really enjoy being invited to the work place of our church members. So cool to see what they do and to be able to meet the people they spend their lives with.

It was great spending my day at Air Force One. Truly is one of the perks in pastoring here in the DC area.

Congratulations Jeff for a very successful 23 years!

I'm sore!

My mom came up to visit last night. She is always such a joy to be with. She truly is one of the godliest people I know. It was great that she was able to be in our prayer meeting last night. Today she wanted to work in the yard. We worked all day. the yard is sure looking better, but now I am sore! We will probably work several more hours this weekend to finish some of the projects we are working on. I'll enjoy it, mostly because I am able to spend time with mom.

Tomorrow we will break for a few hours. Jeff Clark, one of our church members is having his retirement ceremony. He has served in the Air Force for 23 years. I have the privilege of doing the opening invocation. Both my mom and I are really looking forward to celebrating and honoring Jeff. I am a huge fan of our military. So appreciative of their sacrifice for my freedom.

Never Give Up!

Jacob's life really resonated with me this past week.

If any one ever had good reason to quit, it was Jacob. At this point in Jacob's life he had plenty of reason to be discouraged, out of fight and without hope. It seemed as if everything he touched ended in a mess. Imagine taking from your twin brother his most precious possession: The family birthright and their father's blessing. Jacob had deceived his own father to steal his twin brother's blessing. As a result he fled his childhood home fearing for his life.

He meets Rachel and falls in love with her. To marry her he agrees with Laban, Rachel's father, to work 7 years. After the seven years, Laban tricked him, and Jacob unknowingly ends up marrying Rachel’s sister Leah. Laban insists Jacob work another 7 years before he could marry Rachel. Jacob agrees. He works another seven years, but the marriage is in trouble from the very beginning. Rachel, his true love, is unable to bear children. She becomes jealous of Leah. Now Jacob's home and life is worse than ever.

In time Jacob’s family outgrows his father-in-law’s family. This further adds to the list of 'messes' in Jacob's life. Jacob once again must leave town. To make things worse, Rachel steals and desecrates her father’s god’s, so now Jacob has an angry father-in-law. What else could go wrong?

So Jacob gathers his family and all his belongings and begins his journey back to his homeland; Canaan. But, before he would reach Canaan, Esau is in pursuit of him.

So, it's the night before Jacob's face-off with Esau. Jacob is all alone. It's the middle of the night. And, a stranger comes out of nowhere and starts a fight with him.

Jacob must have been thinking, 'Why doesn't anything work out for me? Why go on? Is it worth all the trouble? Why continue to fight? Why not just give up?' But, Jacob did not give up. In fact, he fought with this stranger all night. What resolve! Jacob obviously had not lost all hope.

He made the right choice. The stranger turned out to be the Lord. And, God gave Jacob a new name: Israel - 'God's Fights for His people.' With God fighting for us, why should we give up. God had a purpose and a plan for Jacob and his dysfunctional family. God promised Jacob that through him would come a great nation. A nation that would bless the entire world. Wow! What a turnaround!

I want that same resolve to never give up. I never want to make the mistake of giving up when my greatest victory may be just on the other side of one last fight!

VBC Accreditation: TRACS Candidate Status

What a day! Today the we met with the TRACS accreditation commission and they granted the college Candidate status. This is the last step before full accreditation, so it is a real milestone for the college and a real victory. Gotta give a shout out to Jeff Walton. He has done a great job as Executive Vice President making this happen.

Sermon Test-Driven

Never Give Up!

That's my message tomorrow. I love preaching, teaching, and working with people as a pastor. A part I don't like is God taking me through experiences to make the message personal. Preparation for preaching involves more that just study. It often involves proving that what you say actually works. I'll definitely passionately preach tomorrow. We must never give up! As long as we stay in the race that God has for us, He guarantees victory. Big mistake to quit!

Small Group Cookout

Looking forward to our small group cookout tonight. We just finished our six week study 'Strong Foundations for Newlyweds.' Thought we would spend an evening and just fellowship. The group wants to continue meeting, so we are praying about our next study. This has been a great group. I look forward to what's ahead.

Encouragement

This has been a difficult week for me in many ways, but the Lord is always faithful to encourage us when we need it. I was able to have lunch today with Brad Diehl. Brad was a teenager when his family first started coming to our church. He and his whole family were saved and baptized in our church. They are wonderful people. It's been ten years since I have seen Brad and have been able to talk with him. Brad is currently full time youth pastor at White Plains Baptist Church. He's 29, married and has two children. His family is still in church and faithfully living for God. It's so easy to get discouraged with current struggles and lose sight of all that God is doing. When Brad shared today how important our ministry had been to him in the past, it encouraged and reminded me that in spite of current struggles, the ministry is too important to quit.

God is at work in ways that we will never know till we get to heaven.

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Happy 20th BD

Happy 20th Birthday Brittany!

So proud of Brittany and the wonderful young lady she is growing up to become. I really enjoyed our birthday breakfast tradition at Bob Evans. Gi and I took her to Mimi's for supper. The food was tremendous. Most of all I really enjoyed the Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake Gi made for her birthday.

I'm so thankful to have two wonderful daughters who love the Lord and are faithfully serving Him!

Is anything too hard for God?

The Lord told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 years old. Sarah laughed. But God's all-mighty power was revealed as he created life from a lifeless womb. After Sarah laughed, the Lord asked Abraham, 'Is anything too hard for the Lord?'

Jeremiah said in 32:17, 'O Sovereign LORD! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!' And in 32:27 'I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?' God wants us to know that he who created the heavens, the earth and all the people in the earth is able to do anything.

There is no problem in our life that He cannot triumph. He is bigger than our greatest need. Let's view our situation as the Psalmist did:

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers the moon and the stars you set in place--what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?' Psalms 8:3 - 4

I Love Lattes!

Just got my new espresso machine in and set up. I have been using a Jura Capressa S9 Fully Automatic machine since August, but just felt I wanted to go back to a manual machine. I know its hard to believe that anything branded Kitchenaid can truly be a man's machine, but I have to say this espresso machine is definitely a man's espresso machine. It is built like a tank! I had no idea when I ordered it just how heavily built it would be. The espresso machine and grinder have exceeded my expectations. If you want to enjoy a latte, just stop by. Lucky's Barista is always open:)

I love Lattes!