Sunday Reflections

I have to tell you, it was great getting back and serving in my church today. I was encouraged greatly today by all those who told me they had missed my teaching the past week. Thank you to those of you who prayed for Allyssa and I as we were on vacation and all you who have been so encouraging to us as we minister to you.

This morning was phenomenal! We were privileged to have with us a local folk/bluegrass band leading our worship service. I am not the biggest bluegrass fan, but their music was tremendous and their music was so God-centered. The members of the band presented the church with a couple of challenges, and encouraged the church to be obedient to what God has asked of them. Thanks to the guys of "Just Us", and I hope to have you guys back soon.

Tonight, I got the opportunity to finally get to preach again. God has really been working in my life over the past week and I was able to express those things to the church. I spoke about the Rich Young Ruler's encounter with Jesus. Many people use this passage in Matthew 19, to tell people that Jesus requires you to sell all your belongings and give it to the poor. This ideology and understanding really misses the point. Jesus here calls the guy out on his sin, which is the fact that things and doing good has become his false god. Jesus calls him to get rid of his false god, and come and follow the one true God. I challenged the church to rid themselves of the false gods that have taken the role of GOD in their life, and begin to follow Christ. Even though in the world's eyes we may be last, we will be considered first in the Kingdom of God. We are to live our lives with the motivation not to gain rewards and recognition, but to bring glory and honor to God and obey Christ commands just because we desire that His name be lifted high and exalted. There is nothing we can do in our own merit to earn God's favor, but with God working in and through my life anything is possible.

This passage has really challenged and convicted me about letting things, people, and thoughts take the place of God in my life. I need to rid my life of these false gods and begin to follow Christ. I want my life to show that what Jesus did on the cross was not meaningless but in fact was totally necessary. May God be glorified because I am most satisfied in Him (John Piper).

Quote Of The Day

"Imagine you are on a high cliff and you lose your footing and begin to fall. Just beside you is a branch sticking out of the edge of the cliff. It is your only hope and seems more than strong enough. How can it save you?

If you're certain the branch can support you, but don't actually reach out and grab it, you are lost. If instead your mind is filled with doubts and uncertainty that the branch can hold you, but you reach out and grab it anyway, you will be saved. How?

It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is totally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch."
-Tim Keller

Recommended Reading: 13 Ways To Ruin Your Life

When we returned home from our vacation, I went to the post office to pick up our mail from the last week. To my surprise I had a free book in the mail (this is always an exciting time). It was from a great speaker and author named Jarrod Jones. The book is entitled, 13 Ways To Ruin Your Life: A Practical Guide For Guys. This book is on how sexual sins, pornography and lust to be exact, can ruin a man's life.

I have just read the intro, but it looks to be a very promising book. It is designed not only for individual reads, but mainly for small groups of men to follow along and become open about their struggles. I am excited about reading this book, and I am already in planning mode on how I can incorporate this book into the lives of the men in my church.

Men, if we are honest, there is not a man out there who has not or who does not struggle in this area in some form. This is the primary area that the enemy tries to get a hold of us, and it is about time that we become open about it and begin to fight back. I believe that this book will be a great place to start. The author has used Proverbs 7 as his biblical focus, and if we are to follow what Christ modeled, we need to fight temptation by responding with scripture. This is exactly what Jarrod has done in this book.

More to come soon, after I finish reading the book. Check it out.

Final Day of Vacation: Animal Kingdom

Here are a few of our pics from the last day of our vacation at Disney. Animal Kingdom was one of the coolest places I have ever visited. The safari was incredible, and Expedition Everest was an interesting ride.

To end the day, I took my wife to her favorite restaurant, Rainforest Cafe. This was my first time eating there, and it was amazing. I had the 'pot roast', and it was (sorry mom) the best pot roast I have ever eaten. It was a great way to end the vacation. So I suggest you go to the nearest Rainforest Cafe as soon as possible, but watch out for the thunderstorm and the wild monkeys.

Pictures from Vacation: Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios

We are having a great time at Walt Disney World. We have now visited three of the four parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. We are making our way tomorrow to Animal Kingdom, and looking forward to riding Everest. Here are just a few of the pictures we took the past couple of days just to give you a taste of what we are experiencing. We are a little sad, because tomorrow is our last day in the park, and Friday we fly back to Nashville.

We have decided that the next time we come, we are going to do eight days in the park, instead of six. It is so much easier when you can spend two days in each park, and it also allows you to experience everything and not feel rushed. We did this for Magic Kingdom and Epcot. This is the absolute best way to experience Walt Disney World.

Pictures from Vacation Days 1 and 2

These are just a few, but we will post more later. We have spent all morning and afternoon at Downtown Disney and are off to Epcot now to World Showcase and to watch Illumination.

Experiencing The Magic and the Wonder

Allyssa and I arrived in our resort on Friday evening. We had a great flight, especially since we got to fly with a cool group of guys from the band, By The Tree. They were very friendly and I knew people that some of them knew. So that was a great and memorable experience.
We have spent the last couple of days at Magic Kingdom, and we have been loving it. We are now awaiting the parade and fireworks show, which I have heard are great.

I will be posting more about our vacation, as well as some of the great photos that my wonderful photographer wife Allyssa has taken. Well off to continue experiencing the magic and the wonder. More to come soon.