Free Time

So what does a 10-year old do when his daddy's Blackberry is within grasp? He snaps off pictures like this and lets his dad find them later. C'mon you got to admit this is funny!

Isaiah sure does carry his dad's DNA. So, today if you just need a break from the grind of life, hand your camera phone to your kids and say Cheese! Man, I love this kid!

Ignite

So how do you kick off your day? What components make that happen? This morning I gathered with my staff in my office and we just had a time of personal worship with each other. So much of our worship is spent leading others and that is awesome. Yet, there is nothing like doing it in smaller circles.

So, six men sat in my office, and were led by Jeremy and Jeremiah, in a time of personal worship. It was refreshing and it ignited our day together. Besides when you are blessed with guys like these, why not spend precious time centering your worship on Jesus together.

It was sweet, rich and refreshing. I love my staff and this was an awesome way to do life together! Thanks guys!

voice for the lost

So who speaks for the lost in your church? Do they have a voice? If our mission is to reach lost people and bring them to Jesus then we should at least give them a voice. How can we ever know what they are thinking if we do not engage them? How can we build outreaches, if we only ever listen to saved people talk?

Well, here at Grace we take that seriously. About 2 years ago, I gave a message on Sunday morning and challenged my people to speak for the lost. I asked them to at least ask the question in ministry meetings, "what would a lost person be thinking right now?" Out of that message came these chairs that were signed by people at Grace. They put their own name on them, and by doing so, said that they would speak for the lost.

Besides, how will they be heard when they are never at our meetings? So,we have asked our ministry leaders to place one of these chairs, in every meeting they have, so that this question will be asked, "what way are we thinking about reaching the lost with this ministry?"

My hope is that these chairs remind us that we should always be on mission, and by doing so, fulfill the great commission. So, the next time you see these chairs scattered across our building, stop and pray for a lost person!

deck the roof

I love this time of year and I enjoy trimming our home with lights. Today we hung our outdoor lights. It sure does put you in the mood as you pull into the driveway.

Isaiah is my climber, he loves checking out the view from the rooftop. With snow in the forecast for later this week, it was so good to walk on a dry roof. My hope is that this will be our only decorations on the roof this year.

One Christmas we came home to find Santa and his reindeer adorning our rooftop. They were fully lit and placed right on top. We ended up keeping them up for the entire Christmas Season, as it snowed the night they were secured to our roof. It created quite a conversation piece for our neighborhood. Especially with all the neighbors wondering why a pastor had Santa on his roof. We enjoyed the way it puzzled people.

One of our favorite Christmas pranks is to place a blinking light on one string of outdoor lights, and then watch the entire string blink on an unsuspecting friend's house. It works really good when you get the second story lights. I Can't wait to do it again ths year!

Post Thanks

It all began sitting in a tree stand waiting for Big Bubba... Thanks Jesus for friends who let you hunt on their property.

Pre-Turkey hoops with my boys and other friends. Thanks Jesus for good health and a great run with my sons. The header above my head seems appropriate doesn't it!

The main course as seen from my actual plate. Thanks Jesus for food and a beautiful wife that outdid herself, and the coma induced sleep that follows so that...

I didn't have to suffer watching the Mighty Lions lose again, 34-12. At least some things remain a constant. Thanks Jesus for comfy couches, remote controls and afternoon naps.

A game of clue while watching Bull Run marathon on speed channel. Thanks for my precious family that is my pride and joy!

Wrapping up the night at the Movies watching BLIND SIDE, outstanding movie. Thanks God for reclining chairs especially when you end up in the second row.

And thanks Jesus for another year of life! You are an Awesome God!

Buzzer Beaters

It seems that we are always working with deadlines and due dates. We have to beat the buzzer in order to win. It is no different with basketball.

Well, hoops season is underway for Josh. This is his senior year and they kick off the season this Saturday night at Concord. I love the game of basketball and love watching the game. Every game, every play, builds character for the next game. It lets you draw upon the memories of the past for the present.

Last season in a big game at Bremen, Josh (number 10) had a chance at the end to help his team win. He followed up a missed shot with the game winner. I still love this moment even a season later! Buzzer Beaters rock!

Celebrating Jesus

Sunday we had amazing services. I just really feel that way. Our auditoriums were full of worshippers. During the services we had many baptisms. We sang, we had a message, we left with blue bags for an upcoming blitz. I was juiced after the morning services. But we were not finished celebrating our Savior!

To close out the night we celebrated 3 fold communion. We really try to do our best to prepare for this. We give people a chance to spend time on a journey with someone else. We opened by carrying a cross to the center of the auditorium. We also gave people a chance all through the night, to nail their name to the cross. During this journey there was a time for confession, a time to wash one another's feet, a time to read Scripture placed on tables, explaining our core theological values, a time to take the bread and the cup, and a time to kneel at chairs and pray for lost people.

Then we closed out the evening with the love feast. We ate a meal together and then brought out birthday cake and dropped balloons to symbolize a wedding celebration. It quite frankly, just rocked! What a Day!

just do it

I'm still blown away by what God did yesterday at Grace Community. As a Pastor at Grace I have experienced so many amazing interventions of Jesus. Yet, yesterday was a milestone. We began our day with an electricity in the auditorium as 36 people went public in baptism.

The stories still have me weeping of transformed lives. As in the case above, a mother and her two children and her brother all took the plunge together!

Sisters baptized sisters, friends baptized friends, dads baptized their kids, as did moms. It was the very picture of the great commission being unfolded before our very eyes. In the last 5 months we have seen 120 baptisms here at Grace.

We wrapped our evening off, with the most life-changing communion service I have ever been part of. I will blog more about that tomorrow with pictures.

But so much time is wasted these days talking about how to take the Gospel to unsaved people, instead of just doing it. Good people argue over methods, programs and evidence. Yet nothing is more visible of an inward transformation than going public in baptism.

You see, I wish I had the time, to tell you each story, but the majority of these people have been introduced to Jesus at Grace. They let everyone else know that they have a life-changing relationship with him, by taking the plunge. One of the best evidences of new believers, is a baptistery full of people and water!

So if you find yourself talking and wondering if there is new life in your church, take a close look at the baptistery. FOR that will dismiss the talk about whether or not, new life is seen and salvation is evident! Thanks Jesus for taking over!

5 more minutes

This is the view from my deer blind. I sit here waiting hour after hour for a deer to enter my line of sight. Time ticks away, and my mind rattles off a variety of thoughts. When will he appear? How much longer should I sit here? Is he someone else today? Just 5 more minutes!

It is amazing how often you try to convince yourself that if you wait 5 more minutes than he might appear. The time spent waiting is so valuable, because you get to see the lay of the land. You get to determine your shooting zones. You get to experience major adrenaline rushes, as a squirrel scampers by, or a tree sways in the wind. Yet, the thing that keeps your blood pumping is visualizing that big buck entering the woods.

The waiting must happen, and it builds character as you brave the cold. 5 more minutes has helped me slay many deer. I wonder what might happen if you just waited 5 more minutes, for God to bring the thing that you have been visualizing? Don't exit too early and bail out!

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

It's Beginning to look a lot...

I love our Christmas Eve Worship Services! I love the buzz in the kid's hearts as they anticipate the next morning's gifts. I love the sweet spirit that permeates the room as families gather to sing and celebrate Jesus!

Here at Grace we make an effort to make it memorable. I will never forget when we celebrated his birth, with a birthday cake and confetti. We just frankly went all out and tried to make it the best birthday ever. People sang, hugged, and worshipped freely.

I left the service with confetti draped all over me. Yet, I loved it because Jesus' birth changed my life forever, and I was reminded of that as confetti fell everywhere. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas and this author is really excited!

Isaiah 9:6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Same Thing Wrapped Differently

At Grace we want everyone alive to Fall in Love with Jesus! It should be our greatest goal to reach everyone with Jesus Christ! He is the author, perfecter, and finisher of our Faith!

We will do anything to introduce people to Jesus, with the exception of sinning. I have sat with people who are unwilling to wrap the glorious, life-changing gift of Jesus Christ in fresh way!

Lets face it, Paul said he was willing to become all things to all men to win people to Jesus. So at Grace we have worked overtime in prayer, in discussions, in times of fasting, to craft the most dynamic, life-changing presentation on Sunday mornings. We get our share of grief from others who say "you don't have to add all the illustrative stuff that you do, people should just be able to respond to Jesus without it." We've been accused of entertaining people, to that I just laugh and define the word entertain to them. Entertain = the ability to keep, hold, or maintain one's attention on the matter in front of them. And why wouldn't we want to do that with Jesus?

So the short and sweet is this, we try to present the life-changing message of the Gospel in creative, new ways, so that people are saved! Same thing wrapped differently! That is why I love this video, they took climbing steps and wrapped it differently and people came alive!

Holding on to the Past

How many times have you seen it happen, where someone is reluctant to change? Where they want to move on, yet still hold on to something from the past. When this philosophy infiltrates a business, a team, or church, you usually end up with something like this.

It is difficult to make a clean break from an idea, a method, a program that you have birthed, yet it is often necessary to do so. What normally happens, when you are unwilling to let go of the past, is that you end up with a clunker that thwarts forward motion.

All over the world are these kinds of models, wondering why we can't seem to make headway?

My hope is that I never become this kind of leader, who wants so badly to hold onto the past, that he chokes off future progress. I long to be the leader that says whatever it takes Lord, even if it means I bury my desires, expectations, and agendas so that the cause of Christ can advance in my Family and Church.

Can you imagine the time and effort it took to build this contraption! Oh please Jesus, help us never to look this way!

don't do it alone

One of the major core beliefs of Grace Community is to do life together. We provide opportunities for Gracies to go on Short-term mission's trips. This year alone we sent out 10 teams. I love this, because a whole team comes back fired-up, with real stories and changed lives, instead of just me or one individual.

So you will see that philosophy unfold over and over again. Besides in the case above, 5 people gained a better understanding and passion for Asia's Hope instead of just me. We got a chance on Sunday to share how our recent trip impacted us. It was great to do life with this team!

Even in our children's ministries you will see this theme! Our kid-city ministry lead by Pastor Jon is right on. One of the many values we have at Grace is to do life together!

We began a new series this weekend trying to emphasize that we value family. So when I see themes like this, I get excited. I love that we have singles, single-again, and married couples coming to Grace. I love that we are all on the same team doing life together for Jesus. So if you are alone and are longing to join a team, come visit us!

We are not perfect, we will disappoint you at times, but we will do our best to get you plugged into the family of Jesus Christ. And he will never leave you or forsake you!

the first step is aways the hardest

I was in the woods this morning and walked by this tree stand. As you can see the first step is a real doozy, but once you get past the first step, it is clear-sailing from there. Your view of the woods is clearer, and it gives you a better picture of your surroundings.

It struck me today that every person who wants to see what is ahead and plan for the future, must see with different eyes.

One of things that drives me as a leader, as a follower of Jesus, a Husband and Father, is to go before them and lead the way. A quote that drives me is this one, "May my family always look ahead and see me there!"

But this requires taking the some really hard first steps. Sometimes they require great faith. Sometimes they are very dangerous and difficult. Yet the view you get from the top is so rewarding. Take that first step today, you will not regret it! You might get a fresh perspective that you have been longing for! Besides who wants to spend their lives wondering what it might have looked like from the top?

it all began 18 years ago

18 years ago today Josh came into the world. He came in the way of an emergency c-section. He gave us quite a scare, as we weren't sure exactly how things were going to work out. But, by God's grace he spared his life during the delivery. We are very grateful that he did.

After he was born I went to the local mall and purchased the smallest Adidas basketball shoes I could find. I was so excited to bring these home to my son. Little did I know that they would swallow up his feet and then some. We have some baby pictures of him with these shoes on him.

One of Josh's favorite things to purchase even to this day are basketball shoes. So today on his 18th birthday we drove to Mishawaka and perused the shoe stores. I find it so ironic that the first gift we bought him were shoes, and now 18 years later we are still buying shoes.

We ate supper at 5 guys and enjoyed time at Dick's Sporting Goods. Tonight we enjoyed time together as he received his birthday cake.

But where has all the time gone? Can it be that we now have an 18-year old in our home. Happy birthday son, I am so very proud of you, you make the world a better place with your presence. Thanks for the way you stand for Jesus and shamelessly live for him. I look forward to sharing many more birthdays with you.

As I wind down the evening I can hardly wait to see how you are going to impact the world as an adult! Go soar with Jesus SON!