Life is fleeting

A few years ago I married this dear couple in a small outdoor ceremony. God had brought them together and they were a match made from heaven. I remember the day Scott gave his life to Jesus and decided to follow him.

It was a beautiful evening as the sun was setting on the ceremony and they seemed to have many rich years of marriage ahead of them. Iris was a perfect fit for Scott and they made each other stronger.

Yet, this year out of nowhere I received a call that Scott has passed away in his sleep. Iris noticed he wasn't moving and well, he was dead. It was so heart-wrenching to witness this, because they genuinely loved each other and he was too young to die at 42.

Iris just let me know that she is moving this week to be closer to her family. Her response during this loss has been impeccable. I watched her faithfully come and worship each Sunday morning over the last couple of months and cling to the hope of Jesus. I miss Scott and I will miss Iris. I really don't have answers to these kind of losses. But it makes me appreciate the time I have with my wife and kids.

All that to say this, love the ones you're with today. Take time today to hug them, hold them, laugh with them, and tell them, "I love you!" You will be missed Scott and Iris!

Highlights of Vision 20 20 Leadership Conference

I just returned from this leadership conference. God really showed up and moved. Imagine what can happen if the church becomes the hope of the world in every city in our world. That is what keeps my fire white hot. I love the local church and take my call as a pastor seriously. I will not fall asleep on my watch, too many people still need the hope  of Jesus Christ.

aging up

 This past Sunday our worship pastors, Jeremy and Jeremiah and our worship band led the whole county in worship. Christians gathered from all the area churches to lift high the name of Jesus. In the midst of this our photographer grabbed this picture below that moves my   heart deeply.

It is kind of photo that should be framed in every church across our world. It is the picture of an dear older couple the Priebes who attend my church. It captures this verse...

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come. Psalms 71:18

May we worship God unashamedly like Norm and Judy pictured above. May this spirit permeate our community and our world. You are never too old to lead the way in worship. This another reason I love Grace Community Church.

the power of team

In 13 days I will be standing here in Battambang Cambodia with 13 other teammates from my Church. We will be loving on 24 rescued orphan children. Less then 3 months ago this was a green pasture that had laid empty for hundreds of years. Yet, from the foundation of the earth God had a plan for this piece of property.

All he needed to complete his plan was a group of people to step up and do it. As I type I am filled with such joy, and I am so proud of my church, because on one Sunday they gave enough money to build this home, so that hope could be delivered on the other side of the world.

Imagine the glee and delight on the faces of our kids after their first night of sleep here. Way to go Grace Community you are truly God's messengers of hope! I can hear the laughter I as type!

remove the labels

I love how God redeems people, marriages, businesses, teams, projects, homes and so much more. He loves making things new and instilling hope into hopelessness. He is able to take our past failures, mess-ups, colossal bombs and put us back to level ground. And what I love the most he removes all the labels from our past, all the names that people knew us by.

I wish we did a better job of that as Christians. I wish we worked hard at seeing people for who they could be and who they are in Jesus. Yet, for some it is so easy to freeze a person in the past, to classify them with a label and to hold them with that name for as long as they live.

What might happen if today you choose to throw the labels away and start afresh with your wife, husband, child, coworker, coach and teacher? There is power in forgiveness, redemption and moving on. However, it begins with you today! Go to the trash can and toss the labels and watch the amazing work of redemption do what it is so good at!

elementary

In every arena of life there are some basic elementary teachings that we need to remind ourselves of each day. If we don't then we begin to drift away and before we know it we do not hit the mark.

Golf has some basic rock solid elementary foundational principles. As a golfer you must keep your head down and keep your eye on the ball. It's sounds so easy, yet golfer after golfer has struggled to do this, because they want to see where the ball is going too soon.

This week I followed Isaiah around in a golf tourney and snapped off a few photos of him hitting the ball, as you can see his head is down. I bet I have said that too him 1000 times over the years. And I have been reminded myself a million times too. While, it is so basic to the game of golf to do this, it is so easy to do just the opposite and to end up far away from the intended landing zone.

I wonder if you need to return to some of the elementary truths in your walk with God, so that you hit the target and find yourself back on the piece of real estate God had in mind, instead of far away from where he wants you?

Hebrews 5:11-12 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact , though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again.

The payoff will come later

This morning part of our staff headed out and ran a trail run together and concluded it by running the hills at Fairfield High School. It was hot and muggy and it would have been easy to say lets do it next time, but we knew that the payoff would help us later in the tough mudder run.

We know that in order for us to perform at our best on race day we must labor through the pain now, even if our bodies are screaming stop.

Many things in life require the same kind of discipline to achieve the goal set before you. And in this case there isn't one man in our group of 7 who wants to be that guy who is the weak link because of lack of training. So as we train we often remind each other that you do not want to be that guy.

So what is it out there that you desire to achieve? There is deep satisfaction at the end of any journey when you can say, I put my time in and I gave it my very best shot. That is all that God requires of us to give it our best shot! 

just 72 hours before this

72 hours before this van flipped over on interstate 70 near Clear Spring Maryland the occupants were in a large auditorium with me near Pittsburgh, with 2000 other people  as I encouraged, and challenged them to make sure they had a personal relationship with Jesus.

On their way home to Hagerstown Maryland and Greencastle Pennsylvania a tire blew out on this van and every life was spared! Our God was so good to these teens and adults to give them a second chance of life!
Life is a vapor that appears for a little while then disappears. I am so grateful for God's unusual grace as all of these teens had a chance to make sure things were right between them and God before this moment. I encourage you today to make sure you know that you know that Jesus is your Lord and Savior before this day ends.

Read Romans 10:9-10  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

make sure you tell them

Last weekend I traveled back East to visit my family. As we were leaving to head back home to Indiana we walked out back to take some pictures. I am so glad Anne snapped off this picture of me and my mom and step father.

As we pulled away Mom and Andy stood in the front lawn and waved goodbye as most east-coast people do. I felt this unusual wave of emotion of gratitude for them and to be honest the van was quiet because most of us were in tears as we drove away. Yet I was so glad that on many occasions that weekend I made sure to tell them that I loved them.

Make sure you take time to tell those closest to you that you love them, because you just don't know how much many more times you will get to do it!

Genuine thankfulness

I am deeply moved when I see genuine thankfulness. The kind that shines through the eyes when someone says thanks. The kind that is  not given out of some obligatory reason. The kind that finds you saying they were really sincerely grateful for that.

Well, as I watch our children grow, that have been rescued in Asia, I am learning what genuine thankfulness looks like. It's as though they understand it in a fresh way. And they seem to know where they would be without God's direct intervention of rescuing them. They seem to have an appreciation of adoption and family that most don't.

Well, this video will demonstrate it up close, as the girls from our Batttambang Cambodia home, sing in front of the new home we are building them. In a society that demands and expects entitlement this is a breath of fresh air!

narrow

It's the morning after speaking at Momentum Youth Conference in Pittsburgh. My Heart is so full of joy as recall what took place just hours ago. I witnessed God grab the hearts of teenagers and then watched them obey him by making a commitment to surrender their lives to him. Hundreds and Hundreds of teens stepped out.

Needless to say, I never tire of watching God move. The Bible gives implicit instructions as to what path Christ-followers are supposed to walk on. The path is a narrow one that can be challenging, difficult, lonely, different, but rewarding. The Bible also says that only a few will travel here and be saved.

As I stood in line after the service and spoke with teens who were choosing to walk on this narrow path, I wish I could have bottled up every conversation, every emotion, every tear, every hug, every word they spoke and given it to them to take  home. Because the days ahead will  not be easy and will require some tough decisions when they get home and they will need to remember how good it felt to surrender all.

I wonder how many of us will be part of the few who will be saved when the day of reckoning comes? It sure looks like there is a traffic jam on the wide road these days!

This move was huge

19 years ago this month we packed up everything we owned and left this home when Josh was only 9 months old. We knew in our hearts that it would be one of the hardest things we had ever done up to that point in our young lives. We felt called by God to move to Indiana and enroll at Grace Seminary.

It was hard leaving family and friends, yet we knew that God wanted us to do this. I will never forget the drive away, as tears ran down my face and Josh was blowing raspberries in the front seat of the Ryder Truck.

There were many unknown answers for us, yet we were confident that God was leading. When we arrived in Winona Lake and unpacked our truck and sat in the boxes all alone in our new apartment there was peace among the tears. While the future was uncertain and yet to be written we were going to give it our very best effort.

Now 19 years later, 3 kids, 15 years at Grace Community, and a zillion God moments we can say it was so worth it. God has taught us so many things and we are better people because of this step of faith. So as we rode by this home yesterday on our way back to Indiana we stopped and snapped a picture of Josh in front of the home we left 19 years ago. He sure has grown into a great man of God, from the 9 month old raspberry-blowing baby boy.

sword talk

The Bible gives implicit instruction concerning our battle gear. It says put it on! Yet all across our world Christians aimlessly walk through the battle zone partially dressed. We leave ourselves vulnerable to the Enemy's attacks on our lives.

There is also clear evidence in Ephesians 6 that some armour is for defense and some for offense. The Bible is called the sword of the Spirit. It is one of our offensive weapons to score and advance on the enemy.

Picture if you will an infantry of soldiers on the front lines without their weapons in their hands, then imagine when the call comes to shoot or advance and one of the soldiers stops and says I'm not sure where my weapon is. At those moments you will be defeated. Now imagine a group of soldiers in the bunker turning and stabbing each other with their weapons. Seems ridiculous, yet it happens everyday in the Christian world.

We stab our own over secondary issues of theology and Satan stands back and laughs because he has us right where he wants us. Isn't it time we quit this nonsense of shooting our own and lashing them through blogs, FB, and twitter? Isn't it time we fight the real enemy and join as one to advance the kingdom as one in Jesus?

The sword is dangerous and is an incredible weapon for Christians to use. Lets dig into it, study it, carry it, quote it to win the battle. But  in the process lets use it on the enemy not on our own!

Taking one for the team

Every so often one must take one for the team. So on Wednesday Night at our Summer Soak Ministries for our kids 4th grade and below Jon and I took the plunge. Needless to say, many wanted their shot to dunk us. However, I must admit I loved talking junk to people as they tossed the balls.

Jon's water for some reason was quite colder then mine. I'm not sure how that happened, but he was convinced I added bags of ice to it. Now would I ever do such a thing to Jon?

My precious daughter Hannah, joined in with the kids and loved on them. Truth be known she was the very first person to toss the winning shot to dunk me. It was a great night to hang with people that were having fun. Plus the water was refreshing, very refreshing and everyone enjoyed watching Jon and me going under!

Never trust a snake

If eyes could talk each one of the men in this photo have something different to say. Even the snake handler to the right of Josh isn't totally sure that everything is okay. Josh is not about to take his eye off of the serpent and his right hand is clenched. The only man who is in some control is the handler who seems to think that all is well.

I often come back to this thought in the Book of Genesis when a talking snake convinced Adam and Eve to take a bite, "Why in the world would you ever trust a snake?"

Yet, for over 4000 years we still get duped by the Enemy's lies, while he isn't dressed up in a snake outfit these days he still disguises himself in other forms. You would think that after all this time we would know his strategies and would just say I'm not trusting a snake.

Since that sin-soaked moment in the blissful perfect garden, no one trusts a snake. I just wish Adam and Eve would have taken that approach. Life sure would be different today.