Thanksgiving Inventory

Schweeet Ride……

Today I got to take one of these out for a spin.  I’ve had my eye on it ever since I started subbing at the local high school.  She’s a beauty…if I say so myself.

It’s amazing what people will let you do when you are 42 instead of 17 years old.  All I did was say, “I’ve been wanting to drive that baby since I laid eyes on it” and the head honcho summoned the operator and told him to give me the keys.

As I drove it through the school cafeteria during 2nd period the song that kept coming to my mind was JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.  She ran like a top and it was an experience I’ll never forget. 

Sorry, no pictures of the event, but I did get a few smiles and odd looks.

Can you OINK?

Had some serious pig today in Clayton, Georgia.  I went with the pork plate with Brunswick stew and some awesome steak fries.  Yuh-uhm!  I mixed the mild BBQ sauce with the HOT (Weehoo!)  Good stuff. 

We spent last night and today with our friends, the Webbs, in Clayton.  God painted the sky last night with the stars and it was on display from where they live.  Today we went to Highlands and played along the river.  They took good care of us and we had a blast!

Do you have a favorite BBQ joint?  Oinkers was awesome, but I also love Fresh Air BBQ in Jackson, GA and Sprayberry’s in Newnan, GA.

Who Pushed the Pause Button?

Do you ever feel like someone pushed the pause button in your life?  Or has everything seemed to be playing in normal mode and then things just seemed to stop or worse, they seemed to be going backwards?  What should we do when life has seemed to stall? 

These questions have brought a Bible character to my mind on several occasions and I would like to take a look at his life and how he handled himself through these life pauses.  His name is JOSEPH.  You can read the whole story of Joseph in Genesis 37-45.  What a great story it is.  

Things begin with Joseph at age 17.  His father favored him over his brothers and did special things for him, one of which was making a robe of many colors for him.  Things were going well for the seventeen year old, but his brothers were hacked off at their father’s favoritism, so….PAUSE…they threw him in a pit until they could think of how to get rid of him.  Talk about a pause in life.

Joseph’s brothers didn’t kill him, although most of them wanted to…whew!  Instead, they sold him to some Midianite traders, who then sold him to an officer of Pharoah named Potifar. 

God was with Joseph and blessed him.  Joseph was made overseer to all of Potifar’s house.  God blessed the house of Potifar because of Joseph.  PAUSE….Potifar’s wife got a thingy for Joseph and tried to seduce him.  Joseph ran and she accused him of sexual advances.  Potifar had Joseph thrown in jail.

While in jail, Joseph found favor with the chief jailer and because God was with him, he continued to prosper and he was given responsibility over the other prisoners.  Eventually, Joseph was allowed to interpret a dream of Pharoah and Pharoah found favor with Joseph and made him second in command under himself.

Egypt went through seven years of abundance which Joseph had predicted and stored up grain the entire time to prepare for the seven-year famine which Joseph had also predicted.  The whole Earth began to suffer the famine and Egypt was the only place to find food.  Joseph was a huge success. 

One day his own brothers showed up and after a series of cat and mouse games, he revealed himself.  His brothers were ashamed,but Joseph promised that he would not harm them.  Joseph had Jacob, his father, and their whole family moved to Egypt.

Joseph was 39 years old when he was reunited with his family.  He endured twenty-two years of separation from his family and many pauses in his life, but in the end he saw that God had used this experience to save his family from hunger and to prosper instead.

God’s ways are incredible and his orchestration is amazing.  I try to remind myself that God is orchestrating a greater plan than I could ever imagine.  I want to be like Joseph and always continue to be true in the highs and lows of this life.  When I have a PAUSE in life I can always look to the Father for comfort and know that He is with me and that He uses my circumstances for HIS GLORY!!! 

Are you going through a PAUSE?  Seek Him and be comforted.  You can be His for all time and truly this life itself is really a PAUSE for the GREAT life to come with Him eternally.

Difficult People – New Series at Graystone Church

The Next BEST Thing for Halloween

OK, so I didn’t get to be FAT ELVIS for Halloween 2009, but I got to be the next BEST thing.  FAT ERIC!!! 

Dana and I went to a party of old high school friends and we went as Dana and Eric from the 80s.  Mrs. Dana went as the always beautiful homecoming queen.  The banner she is wearing is from 1986 and that baby is official!  She’s got the look!  Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re thinking.  I out punted my coverage.  Yep.  But I win!  I was me 1985.  That is my authentic Dacula Falcons away football  jersey.  Can you believe I used to get shoulder pads underneath that?  And, I was a fullback!  I tried parting my hair down the middle, but it didn’t look the same as 1985.

We had a great time and saw some people we rarely get to see from the old days.  This photo is me with a couple of childhood buddies.  We all three went first grade through UGA to school together.  Can you believe the pirate on the left is an Optometrist?  Yep.  Mark J. Forster in the FLESH.  The guy in the middle was the best man in my wedding and he hasn’t changed much.  Ha!  Thanks to that wig we were able to use flash photography.  He is the illustrious attorney, Michael T. Smith.  Yeah, you thought it was the lead singer from Grand Funk Railroad, but it’s not.  Great times.  Great people.  Laughs and laughs and laughs.  

Love these folks.

A Very FORWARD Post

I was thinking today….shocker, I know,  about HISTORY and how it affects the present-day and future.  So, here is my statement for the day:

To study HISTORY with no intentions of applying the principles discovered in order to improve current or future conditions is only a collection of records and knowledge that dies when we do. 

In order for us to be productive with HISTORY, or traditions, we must never allow traditions to become the source of our worship.  There is only One worth worshipping and One who came in HISTORY to give us hope in the present-day and an everlasting future and that was Jesus Christ.   It’s not enough to know about him or know all the rules of religion.  We must live a life that is surrendered to Him and use our lives to FORWARD His message of GOOD NEWS to all.  Otherwise, our knowledge of HISTORY, traditions and influence for HIM dies when we do.

Our church, GRAYSTONE puts it this way with this mission statement: 

KNOWING GOD AND MAKING GOD KNOWN

Nothing else lasts….

JESUS RULES!!!

Graystone Miracle!!!

There is HOPE.  God is faithful and trustworthy!  Our church is on God’s heart!!  Bring on the miracles!  God is glorious!!!  JESUS RULES!!!

Check out what our lead pastor, Jonathan Howes, had to say regarding the miracle at GRAYSTONE!

Fat Elvis

If you could dress up as any character and have a killer costume for all the Halloween and fall festival parties, what would you be?

Me, it’s easy…  I’ve always wanted to do my FAT ELVIS impression, but never had the money to do it right.  I dream of showing up in a limo with a soundtrack playing and giving my best FAT ELVIS impersonation.  I’ll probably never do it because I don’t want to be a FAT CHEAP ELVIS just a FAT ELVIS. 

Yes, it’s a shame that it may never come to be considering all the hard work I have put in to being in the right shape to be a FAT ELVIS.

How bout you?  What kind of costume would you love to wear or are planning to wear soon?

Scott Hodge on THE NINES

I met Scott Hodge, lead pastor of The Orchard Church in Chicago, with some friends a couple of years ago in a discussion about leadership in the lobby outside the CATALYST Conference that was going on in Duluth, Georgia.  Scott is the real deal and has great advice for pastors and leaders.  I’ll let you see for yourself.