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I seem to always have a hard time coming up with ideas to write on the blog but was inspired by a message taught at our church yesterday. The speaker happened to mention a habit that I use to be in the habit of doing but only do occasionally now. That habit was the act of giving thanks to God for ten things from yesterday that happended or that I just happen to be thankful for, before getting out of bed. I was challenged to start this habit by another speaker at a conference I attended many moons ago. So, this morning, before I got out of bed, I thanked God for ten things from yesterday. I will not be able to recount them all here, but I’ll give it my best shot:

1) For newcomers that visited our church. I love newcomers! Our church exists for God and them.

2) For a great message by Matt. He did an awesome job.

3) For our new worship leader and his wife!

4) For the fact that our media program went completely haywire and we had to worship without the media. It was a good reminder to focus on God and not stuff.

5) For all the people serving in our church. We have so many people making so many sacrifices!

6) That my wife returned safely home from a trip to Savannah with her college friends!

7) For my awesome son! We had some great father/son time this weekend with Courtney gone.

8) I don’t remember

9) I don’t remember

10) I thanked God for God. I was reminded that God is the only thing worth living for and not to forget Him in the midst of recalling all His blessings.

Ephesians 5:19-20 says, “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “

What are you grateful for from yesterday?

This past Saturday, Ozzie Vargas Jr. died in a bizarre accident at a camp. Ozzie was a senior in high school and student body president. He was a member of the Apex Baptist Church youth group. This has to be such a devasting experience for that family, church, and school. I hope that you will pray for all these people. This tragedy hits home with me for a couple of reasons. For one, the youth pastor, Chuck, at Apex Baptist is a friend of mine and I hate that he has to experience this loss. Chuck is an amazing man and I know that if anyone will be a comfort to that family and the students, it will be him. Second, I use to work at a camp with a zip line (which is what calused Ozzie’s death). I have probably sent hundreds of kids down a zip line, and it is like my worst nightmare to think of that happening. Having said that, we should pray for that camp where this tragedy happen and for the staff involved.

Ironically, my sermon at my church this past Sunday was on evil, pain, and suffering. There is a reason for these things, and God can use these things for our good and His glory. If you’re interested in hearing the sermon, the podcast should be online sometime this week. The audio is real scratchy this week, and I apologize that. We just set up new sound equipment and were experimenting with doing the recordings with a wireless mic. We are slightly technology challenged, but we are getting better.

Anyway…pray for those impacted by Ozzie’s death. Thanks.

As many of you know, my family has just moved to a new home. And most of you can relate to the stress of moving. Not only does moving produce stress, but it also can get us out of our routine. I am very routine and schedule oriented person. When I don’t have my routine, it generally leads to neglect of certain disciplines, especially the spiritual ones. Not that I haven’t been connected with God or spending anytime with Him at all, but it just hasn’t been the same. Now that we are “in” the new home and somewhat settled, I was able to spend some quality time pursuing God this morning. I happened to read in a daily devotional the verse, “Wait on the Lord” from Psalm 27:14. I began to meditate on this verse and thought about the meaning of the word “wait.” In this context, it obviously means “to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens.” We are called to “wait on God.” Too often then not, I am not one to “wait” on God. In fact, the opposite is true. I tend to want God to “wait”on me (as in “to wait tables). I tend to approach God and expect Him to be there, ready and waiting for me and ready to serve me. I want Him to give me peace, or make me feel better, or forgive me or whatever. It seems I tend to treat God more like a “waiter” than like the God of the universe. So as I meditated on the word “wait,” I determined that I would wait on Him. I am much more of a “doer” than a “be’er” (not beer!). My tendency is to get my time with God over and done with so I can check it off my list and than move on the rest of the list. I had to ask myself, “When was the last time I waited on God?” So I waited. I refused to be satisfied with trite prayer and petty intercession. I wanted to meet God. I think it meant that I had to clear my mind and get past the box that I wanted to place God in and wait until He wanted to make himself known. Did God show up? I think so. Did I have any inspired revelation? No. But the pursuit of God is a lifelong journey. Knowing Him will take all of eternity. And I will never know Him fully. He is God. I am not, and never will be. There will always be more of God for me to know. And I am called to wait. To set aside the worries of the day and wait. I need to seek God, not for the benefits He offers me, but because He is God and the only thing truly worth pursuing. He is life. If only I would wait more often and experience the greater depths and intimacy that He offers. He is there for me, and you. It is up to us.

How Good is Good Enough is a book by Andy Stanley that was recommended to me today. Apparently, Stanley tackles the issue of whether or not we can “earn” heaven based on our own “goodness” or merit. Sounds interesting. Can’t wait to read it and hopefully recommend it. If i like it, I plan to order some in bulk.

I’m reading a book called “When You Don’t Desire God” by John Piper. The subtitle is “Fighting for Joy,” or something like that. I can’t recommend the book yet to anyone but a struggling Christian. But, Piper makes a great point in the very beginning. He says, and I paraphrase, “God is most glorified when I am most satisfied in Him.” Consequently, I am most satisfied when i find my satisfaction in God. Piper calls this Christian hedonism. But, it is a good kind of hedonism, since we are suppose to desire God. This hedonism is not a new concept to me. I have always been a Christian hedonist, and without guilt. I never feel better/happier than when I am seeking God and connecting with Him and serving Him and others. It just feels good. But, I shouldn’t pursue Him for the feeling, I should pursue Him because He is the only thing worth pursuing.

Anyway…back to the quote. That quote above has really got me thinking. Allow me to use the more Christianese word – I am feeling convicted (I rarely ever hear anyone use the word convicted outside of the Christian sense unless they are being convicted of some crime.)

Before I forget – my wife is currently reading the memoirs of Clay Aiken. Funnier. We happen to know Clay, and think he is a great guy and couldn’t be happier for him and his success.

Back to the quote, again. I am convicted that I am not finding my satisfaction in God. I am convinced that there has been a time in my life when I was being more satisfied by God, but I think I’m sort of drifting. I am going through the motions of life and faith, and not truly seeking after God and finding satisfaction in Him. I am so glad for this conviction. I’ve been more satisfied in God over the last several days then I have been in a long time. I can only hope it will continue. If you happen to read this blog and then see me, you have permission to ask me if I am being satisfied by God.

I am a college fantasy football freak. I don’t have any interest in the NFL, but do I ever love some college football. And playing fantasy football has made me so much more passionate about college football. I am pretty certain that college football has become an “idol” in my life. I cannot wait until August 31 for the first football games and cannot wait to do the “drafts” for the two fantasy leagues I’m in. What’s my point? I don’t really have one. I just love college football.

I was moving out of my house pretty much all of last week. Whew. After 4 straight days of lifting and loading, I was at my wits end. I had to warn C-Joe (a nickname my wife doesn’t like) that I had had it. The moving kinda pinched my time and obviously, there was no blogging. Besides the fact that in the transition time, we didn’t have internet access at home or the temporary home we are in. But, thankfully, Time Warner Cable came to my rescue today and I am back online and wireless.

We closed on our house Friday. That was suppose to take 20 minutes and ended up taking an hour and a half. Fun times.

Today I got to be a part of a pretty unique experience. I participated in a Catholic wedding as a Protestant minister. It was actually pretty fun as I had less responsibility in the service while the priest (Father Tom) carried the load. This wedding was unique also in the fact that the groon was caucasion and the bride was hispanic. It was a very diverse crowd and made for a lot of fun. Even more entertaining was the Mariachi Band that played at the reception. They looked like they were straight out of “The Three Amigos.” They were very entertaining.

I guess the main thing I got out of the whole experience though was being able to be a part of a different Christian tradition. While being a Southern Baptist by birth and by choice, I have had some fairly diverse religious experiences. I have been in all type of churches and have come to experience an appreciation for more than one type of worship experience or tradition. I use to be more of a “there’s only way to do it” kind of guy, but feel that I have grown to respect and enjoy a variety of styles when it comes to faith expression.

Anyway…all that to say that I appreciate and respect variety, and hope that others will grow to appreciate and respect differences as well.

I’m too tired to do too much blogging tonight, so I’ll just post this picture of the cutest kid in the world.

David is world’s best IT guy.