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Simon Says > Jesus Says I saw this video from Francis Chan about making disciples and it really hits home when he compares how most of us have all played "Simon Says" as a kid, but yet we think that when Jesus says all we need...

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Heart Check For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others...

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Keep Me Humble I occasionally publish notes on my YouVersion profile, but for some reason they don't always show up, so I will also post them here. After reading Luke 8:9-14 I decided to write a letter to God and...

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Merry Christmas 2010 This year seems to have flown by! I am not happy to see it end, but I am thrilled for 2011 to start. This past year I found myself in several interesting places ministry-wise. Many of you know that...

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My Light Will Shine This year I am taking the page from a friend of mine, Adam McLane, and I will not only be passing out candy for Halloween but I will also have some coffee and hot chocolate for the parents that are walking...

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Bloggin’ Through 2009

Category : Random

It is that time again to recap the past year, so as I usually do I went back and looked at the first post of every month and provided a link to them below with a little commentary.

January – The year started off with me debating whether I watch Football or Hockey. Hockey won out because for the first time in pretty much my lifetime Michigan was not playing in a college football bowl game. Sadly the same thing happened again this year. I sure hope that Coach Rod can turn it around this next year. Progress was made but not going to a bowl game 3 years in a row is unacceptable.

February – The month of February found me unemployed and in the state of Texas hoping to land a job with a church in Texas. So my first post of the month was a Texas Recap. I ended up not getting the job, which was very disappointing but we have always asked God to close the doors that we were not supposed to go through.

March – I started of the month with a reflection on the Funny Things We Say. Many people have noticed how much I talk about how much I love my wife and find her beautiful. There is a reason behind it besides the fact that it is true. This blog post explains why.

April – Once again I came to the realization that I Need to Grow Up. Nothing more needs to be said.

May – In May I had grown tired of being asked, “Why Are You Selling Your House?” and so I answered the question publicly for everyone. Sadly, we are still trying to sell our house because Chase Bank sucks and has taken so long on the 6 offers we have given them for our short sale that all 6 buyers have walked away. Hopefully, it will sell in 2010? Especially since we don’t live there anymore.

June – I found myself once again reflecting on the fact that Love Wins. The news of the abortion doctor, Dr. Tiller, being murdered by a “pro-life” person while Dr. Tiller was attending church was the biggest news of the day. I added my own thoughts to what happened in my blog post.

July – The crazy roller coaster ride that I call my life began a new phase this month and all I could do was echo the words of Mike Yaconelli, What A Ride! While we were up in northern Michigan camping I got the call that The River Church wanted to bring me down as their youth pastor, so we began to work towards that with the elders there. It is so weird to think that it has only been a few months that we have been here, because it feels like we have always been here. We love our new church and friends here in Cincinnati.

August – We said Goodbye, No See Ya Later to our home state of Michigan. With all that was going on with packing, moving, unpacking and then settling into the new youth pastor job at The River I didn’t blog other then this post.

September – I was looking for Someone to Pinch Me, because I was (and still am) amazed at how blessed me and my family are to be here in Cincinnati and to be a part of The River Church community. I look forward to the many, many years that we will be here.

October – I started off the month of October warning people that I Am Going to Step on Some Toes and I know that I did, but I also hoped that I inspired some people to make some healthy choices.

November – The month of November had me asking, Porter Family Snowball Fight and then talked about the Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas controversy.

That was my year in a nutshell. Now I need to get busy with my goals for 2010. Should it be twenty-ten or two thousand and ten? What is your preference?

Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas!

Category : Christmas, Church

I posted the following question on my Facebook status update along with asking it on Twitter.

“Why do we (when I say “we” I mean those who are Christ-followers) expect non-Christian companies or people to say Merry Christmas?”

I have to honestly say that I really do not care if I go to Walmart and the cashier wishes me a “Happy Holidays” instead of wishing me a “Merry Christmas”. In the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter. Not too mention that somehow I am thinking that it really doesn’t spread the hope, peace, joy and love of the Christmas Advent when we shout back at that person, “IT’S MERRY CHRISTMAS NOT HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!” Can you honestly say that you think that is how Christ would have us respond?

I believe that if Jesus was walking through Walmart and had the same encounter that He would say thank you. That should be our very same response if we are truly Christ-followers.

This week we are focusing on peace in the Advent season and I want to do what I can to show the peace of God here on this earth as much as I can. So instead of getting all upset and in a rage I would rather sow seeds of peace.

I also find it funny that in 1966 CBS aired an ad like this….


And people thought back then that it was okay. Now suddenly saying things like “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” is bad. Why the difference? I know that some would say that they feel that our government and society was more “christian” then and it isn’t anymore. But I disagree. I don’t think that there should be any difference at all. Besides the word holiday comes from the words “holy” and “day” being mashed together.

So let’s make sure that we actually make it a MERRY Christmas or a HAPPY Holiday in how we respond.

My prayer is that Christ-followers would grasp a hold of the hope of the coming of Christ as we celebrate Jesus’ birth. That we would find ways to sow peace in our world and especially everywhere that we go. That love would be the greatest thing in our lives. And, lastly, that we would share the joy of the Savior with our friends and family.

A Word From Buddy Christ

Category : Fun

I hope you and yours have a great Christmas this year.

Little Big Man

Category : Faith

yellow star

Little
big man.
Big enough,
small enough.

Big enough to be God,
small enough to be baby.

Big enough to create the earth,
small enough to crawl on the earth.

Big enough to rule us,
small enough to serve us.

Big enough to know our names,
small enough to know His name.

“God with us.”

This
is a
Merry
Christmas

HT to Tony Myles.

Merry Holidays

Category : Church, Faith, Life

In case you have not noticed Christmas is only 3 days away. And if you haven’t done so already you will need to go out amidst the rush to buy your presents. However, Macy’s at Oakland Mall in Troy, MI has good news for you because they will be open 24 hours through Christmas.

As head out the doors to go shopping whether it is in the middle of the night or the middle of the day, let’s not forget what the meaning of this season is all about. I will let Linus do the honors, because he has done such a great job.

While that is the true meaning of Christmas, I don’t want us to forget that if we don’t live out that message that Jesus gave then it is no good. We haven’t learned a thing and have just forgotten that baby in the manger, even though we go to our candle light services and read the story in the Bible on Christmas morning. I saw the following editorial cartoon in the USA Today by Matt Davies and it made me think about how we as Christ-followers need to respond to things during this season.
Glad Tidings
I have gotten into so many conversations with people about how stores are saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” and many of these Christians have responded just like this guy in the cartoon did. Is that the way we are supposed as Christ-followers? Sure, you may think you are standing up for truth, but haven’t you missed out on love? Doesn’t the Bible say that “the greatest of these is love”? Shouldn’t that be our response? Instead of screaming, “It’s MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!” We should just simply wish them a Happy Holidays or a Merry Christmas.

The world is watching how we as Christ-followers respond in these situations, so make sure you respond with love. That is and was the message of the baby that we see lying in the manger during this time of year.

Thank you, Matt Davies, for reminding us of that.

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