I got to play football with my kids the other day! It is always amazing to watch and listen to them as they do anything fun. They are constantly giving me a running commentary on what is going on and what they just did. "Then the ball went up like this and I ran back for it but I tripped and then I rolled and then the ball hit me on the arm and then it bounced back up and then..." Well, you get the idea. What is so interesting about this, is that I'm standing there the whole time. I was the one who threw the ball. I saw it happen at the same time and speed they did. I thought this was kinda weird until I realized why they were doing it...they loved what they were doing and wanted to tell anyone who would listen. They wanted to say out loud what had just happened in the physical. They want these moments to be burned into their minds as well as mine. You know, we can learn a lot from kids. Like the fact that we should be shouting out the things that Jesus Christ is doing with us and for us. We should be giving people the play by play of what we are doing with Him. "And then Jesus reminded me through a friend that He is in control even when we see life as out of control and then Jesus gave me this calm that only He can give and then He reminded me of areas in the past when He has taken care of situations that seem unbearable and then Jesus let me know that what I am doing is for His glory not mine or anyone else and then Jesus..."

Today I got to do something that I haven't had a chance to do for a long time. I got to build fence. Yes...stringing barbed wire and pounding in posts. I actually love doing it. The sense of accomplishment. The sweat. The hard work. The sore muscles. I love all of it. Especially the alone time that it gives me. Today, as I was putting in an 'H' post it got me to thinking. Now an 'H' post is the wooden posts you put in at the high and low spots topographically. This is the key to a good fence. If you make it weak, your whole fence is weak. If you do it well...well, you have a good fence. I thought it interesting that the strong part of the fence is put at the high and low spots of the fence line. This is just like God. He is our source of strength, not just at the high times of life, but the low times as well. I actually took a moment today and thanked Him for being my strength...my strong part of life...my 'H' post. In all times of life...highs and lows.

Sorry about the long absence. I was in Indiana with the X-treme Team. Check us out at www.radicallysaved.com. Also, please feel free to leave comments on my blog. I will start commenting on more of your blogs. Please also feel free to link this blog or forward it on to anyone and everyone. I pray that God will use it somehow to deepen your relationship with Him.

Today is Father's Day. Of course, I'm writing this at 10:45pm, so most of you won't read this till after the day is over. But that's ok. The truth that lies here is still that, truth.

My dad used to wear this funky sweater that was blue with gold wavy stripes on it. He would wear it around the house when he was relaxing. It was kinda like having Mr. Rogers living in the house with you. I remember that sweater well. The feel of it. The look of it. And even the smell of it. It made an impression on me. I can still see dad wearing his sweater, drinking his coffee, and doing the crossword puzzle while sitting in his recliner. This sweater was a part of my dad.

This winter, as my mom was moving from her house to an apartment, I was over collecting my stuff that I had left there...for 15 years. When I was there, she asked me if I wanted that old sweater. Of course! I put that sweater on and was immediately overwhelmed by the flood of memories. Touch. Feel. Smell. I wear this sweater often around my house now. I think I look silly, but my wife and kids say I look great. My kids love it when I wear it. They say that when I hug them, it smells like me. Wow. It smells like me. I hope that's good. They say that I smell good. And they like the feel of it too. I get to tell them about the history of this great sweater. About the amazing man that used to wear it. To me, I can still smell my dad. To my kids, they smell their dad.

You know, I hope that as my kids hug me, they can smell even a greater aroma. I hope that the texture they feel is more wonderful than any piece of clothing I can wear. I pray that they smell God on me. That they can feel the presence of God around me. As I spend time around Him, I want to start to smell like Him. Feel like Him. Even look like Him. I want to be wrapped in His sweater. That way, when my kids see that 'sweater', I can tell them about the amazing God that gave it to me and what He is like.

Instead of the comfort zone, sometimes life feels more like the Twilight Zone! This last week, I have started a somewhat part-time job. This job is helping a guy make high end cabinets. I will allow those who know about my construction/craftsmanship skills to catch their breath after gasping. God has gifted me in many ways, the above mentioned not being on the list. I have worked for him before and it was easy. Moving cabinets around, a little sanding here and there, nothing big. Oh, no. Not so this time. This time it involves measuring to a 1/16 of an inch, cutting, jointing. Things that require more skill than I have. I am way out of my comfort zone. It is one thing to screw up on a woodshed in the back yard, and another thing to screw up a $40,000 project! But I'm doing it. Not screwing up the project, that is. God is teaching me something in this. I can do things that I never thought possible when I put my trust in Him. Every time I get a new assignment at work, I have to ask God to help me. Guess what? He does! I see this to be true in every aspect of my life. When I put my trust in Him, His power fills me, and I am able to accomplish what He has for me to do. Something else I have learned. It is actually fun to be stretched. Doing something new is a blast. I think I am getting hooked on being stretched. I honestly want God to ask of me the impossible. I don't know what He will ask of me next, but I hope I'm scared to death to do it.

"Why are you so angry, " the LORD asked him. "Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it." Genesis 4:6,7

It amazes me how God loves us enough to even warn us to watch out for sin. We just have to listen and respond in the right manner to His warnings. Here God is warning Cain that sin will overtake him. Cain will kill Abel. God warns him, tells him to respond correctly, and tells Cain that he must subdue it. Cain must come to God with a right heart. Cain must gain self-control. We know the story goes on and Cain doesn't respond to God correctly. Today, listen to the voice of God. Listen when He warns you about the next step you are taking. Then, respond correctly. God always gives us a way out.

As I was going through my office this morning, and if you have seen it recently you would know what a chore this is, and I came across something that made me pause. I came across an envelope with my tithe checks that go to the NW Ministry Network. As I saw this, I was reminded of my time in prayer this morning. I was praying about my families financial situation, which can be kinda scary sometimes. The Lord quickly told me that I need to be obedient and send that check off because I was not walking in complete obedience. I, of course, came up with the great excuse of, "well, it is a cashiers check and so I technically have paid it already, I just haven't mailed it." Well, this was not the answer that God was looking for. It was very clear that He was not amused by my wonderful explaining away of disobedience. See, I realized then that it does no good to only be half-way obedient. Honestly, God doesn't care about the money, He cares about my walk with Him and my complete obedience to His Word. Unfortunately, we often times do this to God. We do just enough to make it look like we are being obedient to the will of God, when what we are doing is not only being disobedient, but also trying to lie to God. My mom always told me that slow obedience is still disobedience. Ouch! This obedience that I am talking about can be anything that the Lord is asking of you. Is it how you are spending your time, is it reaching out to your friends with the Truth, is it a habit that God is wanting you to give up, or is it the tithe that He is asking from you...whatever it is, are you walking in complete obedience, or have you not gotten around to mailing that envelope on your desk? Well, I gotta go...to the post office!

Within the last few weeks here in Northport we have had some "excitement" at our school and therefore in our community. There was a young man who had been playing a graphic online video game that spilled over into his real life which came out at school one day. The school made decisions that were not all that popular with part of the community and it led to a community wide meeting on Wednesday. I prepared this statement for the meeting and I thought that there was a lot of truth to be gained from it. Not just as a Northport community, but also in any area in life. This is especially true to those on the journey of following Jesus and where He leads. Trust me, even when you are in leadership, there are still those you have to follow, and to be a good leader you must know how to follow well. There are those in my life that lead me and I want to publicly says thanks for making tough decisions and sticking to them. I most certainly want to thank my Lord for His leadership that never fails. So read on and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and reveal to you want He wants said. Blessings to all.

Often, during times of confusion, strife, anger and turmoil, many feeling and actions are displayed. This is a normal, and often, healthy form of dealing with radical change in our lives. As a town, we have gone through a time of turmoil in the last few weeks. We have been thrown into the headlines of many news organizations, we have lost some of our innocence, and we have had an opportunity to come together as a family and community.

The unfortunate part is we have not used this opportunity for good. Instead of really coming together with support for the families involved and for the leadership of the school, we have torn both down. The gossip mill that has its ugly talons sunk deep into this community has once again dictated us. We have gone with the story that best tickles our ears, sounds the juiciest, or that would cause the most harm to someone that we may not personally like.

Often times the truth may not sound as exciting as gossip, but it will never cause the damage that lies do. To make personal attacks and come up with out and out lies against the leadership of the school during a time like this is shameful. These are not the lessons we need to be teaching our youth. They need to see how to trust people, how to support people, and how to deal with conflict in an appropriate manner.

In any form of leadership, whether it is being a parent or a school administrator, we are given knowledge and information that we know is either not appropriate to share with those we are leading or at least should not be shared at that exact moment. We are faced with the decision of discussing all the issues right away, or using judgment to wait until an appropriate time. The leadership of the school used good judgment by using the TRUTH that was known and deciding to not publicly share those facts until an appropriate time. When we look just at the facts that were known at the time, and these are still the same facts now, school leadership did what was right according to policy. They advised the proper authorities, handled discipline in an appropriate manner and gave the correct amount of information at the correct time to the public.
This all comes down to one basic concept so horribly lost in today’s culture…TRUST. We have lied to ourselves for too long saying that we can’t trust anyone but ourselves, especially any leadership. I’m not advocating blind trust or leadership without accountability. I am saying, however, we need to trust that the leadership of our school has, and will continue to, do what is right. It is also important to note, that it is always easier to do a job well when you have the support of those you are leading.