Ok. No more. But this is for you Meg. These guys are called The Red Hot Chilli Pipers!

Off the Air

October 8, 2008- I will be shutting down for the next few days. I will be practicing the fine art of receiving only and at the same time trusting. Trusting in God and trusting in those who are the capable ones on our Celebrate Recovery Team. Anyway for the next few days all you will see on this site is....

Resilience

October 7, 2008- It is so easy to get knocked around and banged up by everyday life that we tend to think, "possibly that's what God intends for me" or " why do these things keep happening". If we are not careful we will subconsciously start to doubt God. I have to be the first to admit, things look less than appealing for me alot of the time. I do have doubts and fear and that is a major stumbling block for my faith. But I'm not going the route of doubting God. I have what one would call "covenant faith". That is, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, til death, well you know the rest. That's covenant faith and that is what life requires if we are to make the most out of it. Yesterday I made a few statements I thought were very relevant to the issue of time and today I was tested in those areas. I have come to the decision that no matter what comes my way I will hang on to the words of the patriarch Job, "though He slay me yet will I trust Him". You know that is saying alot. God does not slay us. He loves us. But if He sees something that I don't, then I will trust Him, and not my own understanding. If nothing else, I see a quality rising up through all this. A Resilience to stand in the fire and know Job 23:10, " But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold".

Time

October 6, 2008- I have been thinking about probably the most valuable
commodity in the world lately. Oh, I know most would say people are the
most valuable, but this is something that is the most valuable to people.
It is time. Time is something that we all take "for granted". To avoid sounding
nostalgic, or to sound nostalgic while not meaning to(I don't like nostalgic). One day we are all going to wake up and only have pictures to remind us of "the magic moments". Ok, I failed on not sounding, anyway! So, the thing I vow to try and do is to live this life with the most recorded" magic moments" possible.
I was reading James chapter 4 and this whole thing about time just got under my skin and I came up with a list of things to help make the most of this sand in our hourglass called life.
1. Spend time with God- The only way to make the most of our time is to give God His. Our daily time with God will expand our capacity to levels unthinkable. Time is a gift from God and if I've learned nothing else, I've learned to give God His first.
2. Manage time wisely- Each day we have a chance to live a John 10:10 life. The time we are given should be to make the most of our life. My time should be something that is constantly giving glory to the Lord. I know that sounds super- spiritual, but if we look at the life we are supposed to pattern ours after, we see that Jesus made the most of every second.
3. Be thoughtful- Life is not something to be spent dealing with guilt and regret. Think things through especially when dealing with others. Just thinking before we react will maximize our time tremendously.
4. Be a little crazy- To live life and be able to say you made the most of it,risks are going to have to be taken. The only thing about this is, the level of responsibility for taking them. The upside is that nothing is more rewarding than a successful risk venture.
5. Make an impact- Jesus gave us prime examples of how to live. Basically he changed things. My prayer is that in every situation I'm in that I'm able to change things. It might only be a small impact in most situations but it is an impact. Don't be scared to shake things up when they need it. Jesus in us will make the impact, and that will maximize our time.

Modern Church Historical

October 3, 2008- Check this out. This is a must see for church history in just minutes. Pretty funny anyway!!

Ready or not?

October 2, 2008- I'm really excited about tonight. We have put alot into this kick-off for the Celebrate Recovery here at Victory. My prayer, as of right now is that God will use this ministry to touch many lives with His restoration power. So many times we try to do all the work for Him and we Muck it up. But I need not worry about that! I've been so busy with the details( and you know that the devil is in the details) that I haven't spent any time preparing for my part in the service. Not Good! Well, now that we are down to just a couple of hours and everyone else is ready I must find a place and pray that the Lord will pull me out of this one. Thanks for all the prayers.

Embrace expansion

October 1, 2008- Life is a very funny thing. My experience has been that of plenty of stretching. Just months ago my capacity was very limited, to say the least. This hasn't changed so drastically that I can say I have arrived or anything, but through the guidance and leadership of very capable people my limited capacity has been maximized. This is not a fun process or one of comfort. And it is not something that has an arrival point. It continues, and as far as I can see will continue. The beauty of it is, that after every incident of discomfort or should I say, not thinking I can pull it off, God shows up as my comfort and strengthens me beyond my imagination. If you are living in a state of experiencing this, you know that it isn't fun, but after the fact your confidence steps up. It's not confidence in you but in God, the one who lives in you. Because, Greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world. So as a word of encouragement remember to always embrace expansion.