This morning I issued the challenge to read through James and record your thoughts in the notebook we provided. I just got this note from one of the young ladies in United…
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Great to be back preaching again!
- After 5 weeks off I had some butterflies this morning.
- Thought there was a great energy today and that the team did an awesome job with the music.
- Also, Brian and the stage team did an incredible job with the stage set…really love the huge TXT reflective panels.
- Pretty good morning from a set-up standpoint so I was relaxed as we got started.
- At the conclusion of the 9:15, I remembered I had forgotten part of the message…then I realized oops I forgot about 10 minutes worth.
- Can you say rusty?
- In any case, for you 9:15’ers I posted the 10:45 Experience so if you want to hear the entire message you can.
- I’m super excited about this series…I love God’s Word and hope others will fall in live with it as well.
- As a reminder…this week we’re all reading the book of James and answering two questions each day in our notebooks.
- If I had to summarize the chapter I just read in a sentence or two, what would it be.
- Question two is what is one thing I can do today as a result of what I just read.
- After that we’ll all be posting online our answers.
- You can come back to my blog tomorrow for mine and comment there or you can also find it on my Facebook profile.
- Even though attendance was down, there was just somethingspecial about today and I think God is about to break loose big-time.
- Time for a nap then off to freind’s house for dinner.
- “See you” tomorrow online with your answers for James chapter 1.
July 1, 2014?
I was flipping through one of my journals this morning and came across this quote that I had written down years ago, “What you will become in 5 years will be determined by what you read and who you associate with”.
That’s so true. Looking back on my life, I can see greatly how God has changed me through reading His Word and how both ministry and business books have shaped myself and United. In the same way, the people I’ve gotten to meet and hang out with have influenced my thoughts and decisions for today.
The question then becomes for you and I…Who do I want to become and what do I want to accomplish by July 1, 2014? Once that’s determined, you need to see if your reading list and the people your hanging out with are helping you to get closer to those goals or pulling you further away.
For myself, while I am reading more than I have ever read in my life, I’m questioning whether it’s the right stuff so I’ll re-evaluate that. In the same way, there are some relationships that drag me down and drain me more than they lfit me up and encourage me, so I’ll have to do something about that.
So how about you? Number one on your reading list needs to be God’s Word, but after that are the things you’re reading helping you or hindering you? The toughie is the people you hang out with…are they bringing you closer to Jesus and all He wants for you or are they keeping you from growing in your relationship with Him?
Inside Today’s Experiences
- Wrapped up the One Prayer series today with an awesome message from Perry Noble.
- I really enjoyed this series again this year…not only does it give me a break but also getting to hear from so many great communicators is inspiring.
- Set-up this morning was easy, but we were having power consumption issues throughout the building so lights were flickering that shouldn’t have.
- I got the lift out and went up to reset some power buttons which helped a little.
- Thought the band did a really great job today.
- The 9:45 crowd was really into the message…
- It’s amazing being able to sit out in the crowd and see and feel the difference between the two crowds.
- At 9:45 I almost forgot to take the offering…ok I did forget but the ushers bailed me out.
- As I said, after 5 weeks of not preaching, I’m a bit rusty even to do something as simple as doing announcements.
- Loved Perry’s challenge to “run up the score”.
- Basically we’re trying to “win” forgetting that Jesus has already won for us…the game is out of reach…now run up the score.
- Met some great folks from other churches in our denomination…great to have them with us.
- Disappointed that attendance is down for the summer but even with the “summer slump” we just completed our highest attended quarter ever!
- Next week we begin a new series called “TXT” in which I’ll be sharing how to be transformed by God’s Word.
- Also got some cool announcements coming up in the coming weeks…stay tuned…the best is yet to come!
Random Thoughts on a Friday
- Haven’t done a random thoughts for awhile so let’s see where this goes…
- Why oh why on my day off did I wake up at 6am wide-awake?
- Couldn’t believe the news yesterday about Michael Jackson.
- Thriller was the first album I ever bought.
- Too bad he got really weird because he was an amazingly talented man.
- However, no matter how talented you are, death is coming for all of us and it will sometimes come unexpectedly.
- The moral…you’ve got to be prepared for eternity and the best way to do that is to begin a relationship with Jesus.
- I’m getting back into the swing of things after vacation.
- Working on two huge projects right now…1 is exciting…the other is overwhelming…both will be great when they’re completed.
- Vacation highlights were:
- Spening time with Lisa 24/7.
- Celebrating our 14th anniversary.
- Our dinner at Phillips Seafood in Atlantic City overlooking the beach and ocean.
- Not checking e-mail the entire 2 weeks and truly being able to relax.
- Walking with Lisa hand-in-hand up and down the boardwalk with no cares (ok dodging seagulls but other than that) or agenda.
- Treating my parents to a couple days away in the Pocono’s with us.
- Hiking to Bushkill Falls…beautiful!
- Hacking around a par-3 approach course with my dad.
- Celebrating my birthday.
- Getting a sweet authentic Alexander Ovechkin Caps jersey from Andy and Gayle.
- Getting to hang out with my friends.
- We’ve got some pretty cool stuff coming up for July and August in the Experiences that we’re pretty excited about.
- This week is the last week of the One Prayer series…Perry Noble…can’t wait!
- Then I’m back preaching again…really excited about what God is going to do in the next series.