Child of God!


A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN.
One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to
enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they
noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to
table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered
to his wife, 'I hope he doesn't come over here.' But sure enough, the man
did come over to their table.

'Where are you folks from?' he asked in a friendly voice.

'Oklahoma,' they answered.

'Great to have you here in Tennessee ,' the stranger said. 'What do you do
for a living?'

'I teach at a seminary,' he replied.

'Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I've got a really
great story for you.' And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and
sat down at the table with the couple.

The professor groaned and thought to himself, 'Great .. Just what I need
...another preacher story!'

The man started, 'See that mountain over there? (pointing out the
restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a
boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every
place he went, he was always asked the same question, 'Hey boy, Who's your
daddy?' Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store,
people would ask the same question, 'Who's your daddy?'

He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students. He would avoid
going into stores because that question hurt him so bad.. 'When he was
about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go
in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question,
'Who's your daddy?'

But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast that he got
caught and had to walk out with the crowd.

Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing
anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, 'Son,
who's your daddy?'

The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church
looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the
question, 'Who's your daddy?'

'This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using
discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to
that scared little boy.. 'Wait a minute! I know who you are! I see the
family resemblance now. You are a child of God.'

With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, 'Boy, you've got a
great inheritance. Go and claim it.'

'With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked
out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever
anybody asked him, 'Who's your Daddy?' he'd just tell them, ''I'm a Child
of God.''

The distinguished gentleman got up from the table and said, 'Isn't that a
great story?'

The professor responded that it really was a great story!

As the man turned to leave, he said, 'You know, if that new preacher
hadn't told me that I was one of God's children, I probably never would
have amounted to anything!' And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress
over &asked her, 'Do you know who that man was -- the one who just left
that was sitting at our table?'

The waitress grinned and said, 'Of course. Everybody here knows him.
That's Ben Hooper. He's the former governor of Tennessee!'

Someone in your life today needs a reminder that, above all else, they're one of
God's children!

'The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God stands
forever.' ~~Isaiah

YOU'RE ONE OF GOD'S CHILDREN!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Future of the Church 2 (of 5)


More Bible, Less Fluff

When I was a kid, many churches didn’t engage my generation. Most of my friends “went to church” but we didn’t follow Christ. The American church (for the most part) lost touch with how to engage the younger generations.

The church needed to change. And it did. We needed to become more relevant in the way we engaged non-believers, challenged believers, and presented God’s Word. One result was the “seeker-sensitive” church. This movement brought some very positive changes, including:

We don’t assume everyone is a believer when they come to church.
We don’t assume everyone knows our language, has a Bible, or even cares about Christ.
We are more outward-focused.
In my opinion though, in recent years, the pendulum has swung too far. Now, in some places, church is so relevant that we almost seem to worship culture more than Christ.

It’s sad to me when pastors think a church must have:

Cool lights and videos
A coffee shop
Sermon series with catchy titles and intro videos
A stool and a table on the stage
Buildings with no Christian symbols
_________________
(Fill in your own blank. There are too many of these things to list.)

When people do finally come to church, we should help them experience Christ—not just something that looks like a rock concert, coffee bar, or movie theater.

(I’m not saying they can’t experience Christ in those environments. I’m saying that some churches are putting more energy into environments than into the preaching of God’s Word.)

Environments don’t change lives. Christ changes lives.

The churches that thrive will be Biblical churches. God’s Word will be preached. People will feel uncomfortable, challenged, convicted. The future church will be more about preaching and living God’s Word than about attracting people with clever sermon titles, videos, and programs. Sure, we might use those things (or maybe not… GASP!). But only those who preach God’s Word will thrive. The rest will die

Going All The Way...

Our pastor Craig Groeschel at LifeChurch recently wrote another book, this one called "Going All The Way". I can't wait to have the chance to read it! This book is meant to help people prepare for a Godly marriage. I have been married for over a year now, but I still can't wait to read and apply God's word into my marriage.

You can find out more about our pastor and the church at www.lifechurch.tv

Future of the Church part 1 (of 5)

I told you about this reading from my Senior Pastor at LifeChurch, Craig Groeschel. This is a series on his theory of the future of the church....

What will the local church look like in the next ten to twenty years? This week I’ll offer some of my theories.

I’m writing from an American perspective. (Those of you around the world can help broaden my perspective.) Many of you will disagree. Please express your theories and we’ll learn from each other.

Larger and Smaller
Churches will become larger and smaller.

Some say mega-churches won’t last. Others think megas represents the only future. Some are convinced small churches will all die. Others believe small churches will be the only ones left standing.

I believe large churches will grow larger and small churches will increase in number.

Here’s why I believe this to be true:

The mega church can do so much with an abundance of resources (including money and people) having a regional, national or international impact. As multi-site ministries expand, the ability to reach more people efficiently will enable churches to grow exponentially.

To me, the biggest downside is that many people are becoming increasingly skeptical (even hateful) of mega-ministries.

As some people reject the mega version of church, house churches will also thrive. (The mega church actually can have both, but that’s a whole other subject.)

On the positive side of house churches, people can engage in deep community and thrive in Acts 2-like living. The danger (in my opinion) is that these groups could easily barricade themselves from the rest of the world and become inwardly focused.

In my opinion, the mid-sized churches will struggle the most to survive and thrive.

I’d caution people from taking pride in their preferred church size. Bigger is not best. Smaller is not best. Whether large, mid-sized, or small, the important thing is that Christ is preached and the gospel is lived.

What do you think?

Hey Everyone!!!

How is everyone doing? I know, it is like a month in between my posts. I don't want to be a once a month blogger...it has just gone that way lately.

I thought I was finished with the hotel life. Apparently, I'm am pulling a one nighter back in this particular Elk City hotel. The good news is I'm not working at Sayre...a little place that I'd love to forget. I spent 7 weeks straight in this hotel while working at that place and hated every second. Tonight I am here for one night while helping at in Butler, which is about 25 miles from here...but this is the about as close as you can get to a hotel. haha!

There is nothing I hate more than being away from my wife overnight. I know she gets a little better sleep, so she doesn't mind it every now and then. She gets tired of it after a couple days, too. I mean, she likes the help around the house, too. I just can't sleep at all if she is not beside me. I will be awake half the night...sleep a little, wake up, etc. The falling asleep is the most difficult. How did I make it 25 years, I don't know. haha! Again, I am so happy it is only for one night...I can't complain. I think about military and so many people go for long periods of time apart. My heart goes out to them!

I have been reading something interesting from Craig Groeschel (our Senior Pastor at LifeChurch) about the future of churches in the next 10 to 20 years. It is his theory on the "future church"...some of you may have seen this already. I will be sharing some of that with you over the next couple days...stay tuned!

AMAZING GRACE...

Props to my friend Jimmy for posting this...I just wanted to share it.