Economy Headed Down the Toilet

"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives!"

Pickin Up The Pace

Ian and I did 5 miles tonight but I couldn't talk to him as well as I have on all our previous runs. I decided to try to pick up the pace and go a little bit faster tonight. The result was a 5 mile time that was at least 2 minutes and 19 seconds faster than anything I have run since spring but the other result was not as good Ian and Shane conversation. I had to concentrate more on breathing than talking. Ian is great about it though. He is really wanting me to go faster so he pushes me and enjoys it too. It was a hard run tonight but a good time. I am so glad that Ian has decided to stick with me. Oh, yeah my time tonight was 41:01. Still not blazing fast but like I said it was over two minutes faster than I have been in awhile.

Presence of God at Crossroads

Let's just say that today was completely amazing at Crossroads Church in Morgantown, WV. From the first words of announcements (great job Chris P.) to the closing prayer and everything in between was totally saturated in the presence of God. It was awesome! Worship was so stinkin great and moved me so much that I had real trouble starting my sermon. I just wanted to keep telling God how great He is. It was kickin! Every Sunday at Crossroads Church is a blessing and it blows me away that God has allowed, even called me to lead this church, but today was something special. I have never experienced the presence of God at Crossroads like I did today. That needs to happen every worship gathering! If you missed church at Crossroads today, you truly missed an awesome blessing!

Oh and on a semi-related note - Ian and the worship team absolutely rocked it out today! All of you guys are awesome and a joy to work with. Thanks for your dedication and hard work and thanks for leading the people of Crossroads into the presence of God on a weekly basis.

After this morning, I am hungry for more! I can hardly wait till next Sunday. Oh and for all of you who read my blog and do not live in Morgantown and to do attend a Spirit-filled church, you need to move. God intends you to be a part of a growing, thriving, Spirit-filled, dynamic body of Christ. This is for your sake and for the sake of others that need to be reached by that body!

Sorry, I got to preaching. I am just so pumped about what God is up to in Morgatnown through Crossroads Church! It is the place to be because God is there!!!!

7 Miles - Weak Legs

Yep, I went 7 miles tonight in 1 hour 5 minutes and 8 seconds. It was not blazing fast but I was thrilled to up my mileage. As pumped as I am about the longer distance, I have a blister on my left little toe and my legs feel like two wet noodles. It's all good though; running seven miles is a good accomplishment especially considering the fact that I have not run like I wanted to this past summer. Another big thanks goes out to Ian. He is continually with me now and I probably would never have gone 7 tonight without him there.

Response to Difficulties

How should we respond when troubles come our way? Should we moan and cry and fuss at God for letting us down? Should we just check out and say since God doesn't care then neither do we?

It is amazing to me how often we (that obviously includes me) think that God exists for our benefit instead of vice versa. When we lose focus of who is big and who is small, our whole perspective on difficulties gets really screwed up.

So what is the answer? What is the proper response when difficulties and negative circumstances come into our lives? The proper response is worship!!!! Man, how do we miss this? When I am worshiping God out of love just for who He is, then my perspective is right where it should be and my circumstances don't seem so black. Worship is the most powerful weapon we have against the devil and all his schemes. Depressed? Worship! Broke? Worship! Worried? Worship! Scared? Worship! Confused? Worship! Whatever the circumstances are, the answer is worship. Take your focus off of you and put it onto God and your heart will be in a better place. Your circumstances may change and they may not but if you worship the one true God with real sincerity, then at least your heart will be right before God and your circumstances will fade into the background of His Greatness and Love!

Don't believe me, go check out Acts 16:16-40 (It's really cool!)

Perseverance

"So do not throw away your confidence because it has great reward. For you need endurance in order to do God's will and receive what is promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

Becky wrote this scripture out the other day on a post-it note and hung it on our computer desk so that every time I sit down at the computer, I see it. I asked her why she did it and she just said that it was because she likes it. I think she had ulterior motives. I think she was trying to tell me something. It worked. This passage of scripture is so convicting where I am in my life right now. I will go run 5 miles like it is nothing but then so easily throw years of spiritual confidence away just because things aren't going the way that I want them to or because I can't fully understand God.

I am grateful that Becky hung this scripture passage up in front of my face for whatever reason. I must have read it 20 times in the past 2 days and every time, it is both convicting and encouraging.

I am thankful to God for where He has me right now in my circumstances, my ministry and in my life. I am going to hold on to the confidence that God has been building in me for years and eagerly await the promises to be fulfilled in this life or the next. And I will continue to pray and ask Him for guidance and direction in all the dark and confusing times that are out there in my future all the while holding on tight to the confidence that I have in Jesus Christ. I think that is what He is talking about here in Hebrews. It is called perseverance!

5 More With Ian

5 more miles with Ian tonight in perfect weather. I was two seconds faster than Friday's 5 so tonight was 43:20. With my busy schedule like it is now, Ian and I have set aside every Monday and Friday to go run. I am going to try to work in another day but at least I have two running days a week actually scheduled and I have Ian to hold me to it.

The picture is of me and Ian tonight right before we left my house to go run. Brannon took the picture right before we left her room. You should see some of her other pictures. She is quite the little photographer.

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

I am so thankful for what God is doing at Crossroads church and the growth that He is bringing our way. I am thankful for my stepped up responsibilities and all that God is doing in my ministry. Therefore, I am at a whole new place of ministry in my life. It is both an exciting time and a very nervous time. God is doing great things and I am just trying to keep up!

There is so much going on right now as the church leaves it's infancy and heads into early childhood. It is fun and busy. This is a good thing and is something that I am very proud of, but it also keeps my head spinning most of the time. This week, I have 14 meetings! That is crazy! I really can't believe it myself. Truth be told, this week is not normal and it will not be like this all the time, but I am still a little overwhelmed to say the least. I still have to make time to study for my small group Bible study as well as for Sunday.

I am so stoked that I am this busy. It is a good indication of all that God is doing in and through Crossroads Church. Keep me in your prayers this week and on Friday or Saturday, I'll let you know how everything turned out.

Another 5 with Ian

This week's weather has been amazing! It has been perfect for running. Now that the weather is perfect and I have Ian to go with me, I hate that I only ran two days this week but things are very busy now that our fall small group Bible studies have started.

Anyway, tonight was a great run and the quickest (43:22) 5 miles I have run in quite a while. I am so thankful that Ian is going with me. It makes it easier initially and all the way through as well. It is good for my running and it is good to have that time with Ian as well.

The Speed of Time

I can't believe how fast time seems to be moving. It seems like every time I turn around I am taking out the trash (which only occurs 1 time a week) or putting gas in my car (which hopefully occurs a little less than 1 time a week). It really seems that Sunday comes around every three or four days. I am sitting here in my office and I just finished writing my sermon for Sunday and I am blown away that tomorrow is Saturday AGAIN. I feel like I just preached last weeks sermon two days ago. Time is just blowing by me. It is moving so fast. I am still very young but can hardly believe that I will be 35 in a few short months. When I look at how big my little girls are getting and the fact that we are about to have a third, it blows me away to think that just a little while ago, I was just a kid myself. Time is a crazy thing and it is going way too fast.

The Bible describes our lives as a vapor or a piece of grass, both of which are here today and gone tomorrow. God admonishes us to make the most of every opportunity and to live in light of eternity by storing up treasure in heaven. Life is hurried along by our busyness and we often forget to live for God because we are to busy just living in the moment.

I want to live for God every minute of the day and so as I have recently been reminded how fast life is going by (is it really September 19, 2008?!!!!), I need to be able to recognize how brief my time on earth is and live every moment for the glory of Jesus Christ. I am not the best at this, especially when my circumstances are not what I want, but I need to be more aware of living for God every moment since life is truly so short!

Forced Week Off

I have not run in the past nine days. it stinks to miss that many days of running but I felt bad all week last week. I still have some head congestion but I headed out anyway tonight. Ian went with me again and it is so great having him along. It helps tremendously. It was his idea to go 5 miles tonight. I probably wouldn't have done that after 9 days off but with Ian with me, it didn't seem like a big deal. It was a great run. As already mentioned, the company was great and the weather was great too. 68 degrees felt wonderful. The 5 miles was accomplished in 44:42. No one is going to mistake me for The Flash but not too bad for a week off. I am so glad I ran tonight. I really needed it.

Gonna eat and go to bed. I have a very full and long day tomorrow. It should be good and I am looking forward to it.

Blahhhhhh

Very rarely does my body let me down, but today it has. My white blood cells must not be fighting hard enough because I feel bad! Anna and Brannon have both run high fevers over the past 4 days and I must be fighting it. It stinks to feel bad. My head is hurting, my throat is hurting, I can't breath, and I have NO energy. It is no fun, but the good news is that my kids are better. I would rather feel bad any day of the week than have a sick kid. It is so pitiful and stressful to have one of my girls sick.

Going home now to pop some Sudafed and Advil. I hope I can get some sleep tonight.

Ian and Running

Ian went with me again today as I logged several miles (approx 4.3) in a time of 35:27. It is great having him beside me on the bike. His company is great and I think it is helping me get a little faster. I know it helps me get out there more often and takes my mind off the actual running because we talk the whole way. I don't know how much more he will be able to go with me because he starts a new full-time job on Monday but it sure has been nice having him along these past several runs.

Headed down to the church building for a time of prayer before our service tomorrow. It should be a great time talking with God as a Crossroads community. It always is!

Open My Eyes God

"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning


I wonder today how the pace of our lives has affected our ability to see God all around us. There are so many things in our lives that should lead us to worship, but usually we are in too much of a hurry to notice, or maybe we are just to self-centered to care. I just know that this week has led me so much closer in my devotion to and trust in God (I am learning more about who He is) and I desperately long to see and know Him more as my days turn into years. I don't want to miss Him anytime or anywhere because I am more interested in something else! I want my eyes to be opened to Him in order to experience Him and therefore know Him more.

A Few Random Thoughts

* Girls - I have the greatest 3 girls on the planet and we are about to have another one. Yep, another one! I love my girls and I must say that I am rather excited about living with 4 ladies. God has blessed me so much by allowing me to be a husband to the most wonderful woman on the planet and a dad to 2.5 amazing little girls!

* Great Day - I woke up early and kick started the day. It is amazing how much more you get done when you get up early. Met with four of our volunteer Crossroads staff members today. They rock!





* Surrender - Absolute surrender to Jesus Christ is the only place of peace. Holding on to the things we want and think we need only leads to frustration and dissatisfaction with our lives and even with God Himself.





* Matthew 6:33 - Living for the Kingdom Of Jesus Christ is totally where it is at.





* Running - I just got home from a 5 mile run. It was great! Ian went with me again and it was really helpful and nice having him along. I ran the 5 in 43:51 with a final mile in 7:33.





* Ian - It is hard to believe that Ian has been the worship leader at Crossroads Church for over a year. I am so glad he is here and that God sent him to Morgantown. He is a fine young man and a great worship leader and I am very proud of him.





* Baptism - Baptism is so stinkin cool! The symbolism of our old lives being dead and our new life in Christ through His resurrection is awesome! We baptized 4 this past Sunday and it was a great charge. WE should do that more often. Hmmmmmm, yes we should!!!





* 96 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - I must say that I was so stoked this past Sunday when we totally ran out of chairs. It was amazing to see 96 people in attendance at Crossroads Church. It was awesome. We are growing so much. We don't have room for everybody and do not know what to do. Our new building will not be ready until February or March. 96 blew our old high attendance out of the water by 11 and the cool scary thing is/was that we still had 12 or so regulars out. Unbelievable!! Keep going God!! It is a good problem to have and I am so stoked to see what God is going to do at Crossroads this fall.





* Pressure Washers - I think I have a favorite new tool. Pressure washers ROCK! I borrowed the Stagger's pressure washer yesterday and let's just say that my house is now white and not grey and my deck looks like wood and not the creature from the black lagoon. Oh and by the way, my back is red and not white.