Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.
I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.
I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

Laundry Service

I just finished reading a book yesterday by Perry Noble, called Blue Prints- How to Build Godly Relationships. The book was not an over-the-top Wow you have to read this. In fact, the book was written for a young adult audience, providing guidance on dating relationships and what to look for in a spouse. I read it for two reasons, first I enjoy the author and second because I have a "daughter" in the wings of adulthood and two boys coming up in about 10 years and I need all the help planning for them.

The book did inspire me in one major way, and for that I would encourage those of you who have been married over 5-10 years to give it a read. The book reminded me of all the wonderful reasons I married Autumn. It also reminded me of all the things I used to do for her, that I seem to have run out of time to do.

So, I sit here today writing this blog while doing a couple of loads of "catch-up" laundry while on vacation. I am happy and excited to do it! I am also brain-storming some ideas on how I can really explode the flames in our marriage!

How about you? Is your marriage flaming hot or on a simmering low heat? Turn up the flame today!

See ya when I return!

Vacation Days

That is right! I am on vacation. I am camping at Shaver Lake out of Fresno CA and will be here all week. I wanted to share a brief photo with you. If I do nothing else, this makes it all worth while.

See ya in a week!

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.
I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

Thursday Thinkback

Just some thoughts I had from this week:

• I was doing sound on Sunday. Didn't worship sound great! :-)
• Worship did rock on Sunday.
• Eli has raised the bar!
• Nothin' like a good ole' fashion gospel presentation.
• I learned some great things this last Sunday.
• A friend pointed out that Jesus made the leper whole again, and he wants to do that for us!
• Did I mention I am excited to be a part of this church.
• I am leaving for vacation on Monday. Camping for a week. I can't wait.
• My mom had the boys from Sunday - Wednesday. 3 days with Autumn alone was great!
• I "worked" from home Monday/Tuesday. That was fun.
• I am off the next two Sundays, but I will be around. See ya at church!
  

Pastors are people too!

When I write a blog, I typically try and avoid politics, controversial subjects like abortion or the likes. However, I really felt like God was putting something on my heart to share, so I am submitting to the Holy Spirit and sharing it.

If you live in or near Stanislaus County, you can't be hear about the case of Frank Craig and Pastor Doug Porter from Hickman. This has been an unfortunate string of events over the past 8 years that resulted in Pastor Porter being found guilty of murder.

I don't know what really happened nor do I want to know. I also do not want to argue the facts of the case.

What I do know is that Doug Porter is a person just like you or me. Like you and me, people screw up and make mistakes. The only person on earth who knows for sure what happened is Pastor Porter. That is something he will have to resolve with his Savior.

Our role in this issue or with any issue that a Pastor may is one thing! Can you guess what it is?

Prayer. We need to be on our knees praying for Pastor Porter, his family, the Craig family and anyone else involved. We should be praying for grace, love and peace. We should be praying that through this God will be glorified!

Am I a Pastor that has been burned in the past? No. I am not even a Pastor. However, sometimes I feel like the most criticism of Pastors who struggle with something comes from the church body. That is the last place we should find criticism.

I am going to step down off my soap box now and finish with this:

Romans 15:7 which states:

Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has
accepted you so that God will be given glory.

Lets share the Love of Christ and accept people who are right where they are, regardless if they are a pastor, adulterer, drug addict, housewife, businessman or child!

Who is the GPS of your life?

This last Sunday I had a Welcome Team Ministry meeting. As I was sharing about the vision and passion of the Welcome Team, I shared a story of a hike I took last week. I wanted to share that story with you here as I think that it is something that applies to our lives, no matter what we do. So, I hope you enjoy:

Last weekend, my buddy and I drove up to Kennedy Meadows for a day hike. I had backpacked this area a lot as a child with my parents; however, I had not been up to this trail in probably 20 years.

Being the great techie that I am, I preloaded the trail map on my GPS and printed out the trail map, because I wanted to make sure that there was no chance of getting lost. I was insuring an accurate hike with no chance for error. I had it all planned out in detail.

My buddy and I got started on the hike and, like expected, the GPS was tracking perfectly. I knew exactly where we were and each turn that we needed to make, until...

We crossed over a bridge and came to a fork in the road. No problem. My GPS said to turn right and follow the trail around the mountain. My buddy decided that we should go left and follow the trail along the river. I proceeded to point out the error of his way. I clearly showed him the GPS and how it could not possibly be wrong. After all, we can't stray off the chosen path that I had established. Again my buddy pointed out that we need to go his way. After a few minutes of pointing out his mistake, I finally gave in to his stubbornness and we went to the left.

This trail took us to the same final destination that my GPS showed, but the trail followed a much different path. It was probably the most beautiful hike I had ever taken. It was uphill and challenging. It followed a river gorge about 100 ft up. There was numerous water falls and the views were spectacular.

If I had followed the GPS route I planned, I would missed out on an amazing hike. I would not have known it, because I would have been so focused on the fact that my planning got me where I wanted to go.

As we were hiking back down the hill, it hit me how I do the same thing with God. I work so hard to plan out my life and the events that transpire. I work hard to plan God's will for my life. When I have everything set, God comes along and says "No Jason, lets take this trail."

"But God, my plans say to go this way. Are you sure?"

"Yes Jason, this is the trail I want you to take."

When I do, God opens doors to amazing things that I would never have had the chance to see. When I don't, my plans may be successful, but I don't even realize what I have missed that could have been so much more.

Today, as you prepare your plans and load your GPS, are you prepared to change it if God asks you to, or are you set on the path you have planned? Let me encourage you to be willing to follow the left path if asked...the view is amazing!

My Year Through the Bible...God's Helper!

Do you know everything? Do you have the answers to all your problems? Do you know what is best for your life?

Then why not act now? Are you being held back by God? Is He not listening to your suggestions for your life? After all, who knows you better than you!

As a Christian (or even non-Christian) the statements I just shared, aside from sounding like a late night infomercial, are pretty ridiculous. We know that God is in control, right? We know that God knows whats best for us, right?

If so, then why is it that our prayer life sometimes sounds more like an evaluation at work then a time of worship with our Lord?

It seems that we get impatient, or frustrated, or we are offended by someone, or...or...or. I could go on. But what ever our individual reasons are, our prayers (at times) somehow migrate to us providing God with direction for our life as opposed to us asking for God's direction to follow.

When we sit back and read it, as I wrote it above it is almost humorous. The unfortunate part, though, is not as funny. We are missing out on so many things that God has planned for us when we are trying to make it our will and not God's Will. He has an amazing life for each one of us.

When we try and hide our actions or give direction to God...we miss it big! In Isaiah 29, God shares with us how impossible it is for us to guide the Creator...much like clay trying to speak back to the potter.

Let me encourage you to spend some time in the book of Isaiah today. Submit your life to your Lord and allow Him to mold you like a potter does to clay.

Change...it is coming.

Yesterday was our quarterly Welcome Team Ministry meeting. One of the things I talked about during the meeting is change.

I am a change agent by gifting. I am one who enjoys the uneasiness of change. However, most people usually squirm or get uncomfortable when they hear about impending change.

So why talk about change? Simple. Change is an essential part of every day life. The world around us is in constant change.

The music our kids listen to is different then what we listened to and what our parents listened to. The clothing being worn today is much different. The fact is, that as we stand still, the world around us passes us by.

This is even more visible in the church. In case you haven't noticed, New Life is changing. I have been attending for 3 years now and it has changed quite a bit since I have been here. If you have been here longer, you have definitely seen the change. Even more, I don't think we are done changing. I would even be so bold (since I am not on staff) as to say that if we are going to reach people far from Christ, we should never stop changing.

Does that mean we need to be conforming to the world? Certainly not. Yet, I do believe that the way to communicate the love of Christ today is different the methods used 20 years ago. These will be different than the method used 20 years from now.

Let me ask you a question. Are you fearful of the change that the church is going through? Why? Let me encourage you to be excited about the change. Get pumped up! In fact, become a part of the change! The Church is on a mission to reach people far from God and change is part of the method to reaching them. Join us! If we work together, we can reach more people for Christ!

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.
I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!

Thursday Thinkback!

Here are some thoughts that have been on my mind this week:

• It was great to see the new series kick-off this week.
• The message was amazing.
• I think we are going to be challenged to step out of our comfort zones this month.
• Am I living for me or for God?
• The music was "on", Sunday.
• We had some problems with some transitions on Sunday, but the service was still great!
• I did not come to church Sunday with the right attitude (I was going through some self-pity).
• I spent Sunday night and Monday away with Autumn on a short business trip.
• God cleared up my self-pity in a hurry, and reminded me why I am where I am.
• Do you have a hard time hearing from God? How much time are you in the Word? I heard a great message from this guy that talked about hearing from God through his Word. Did wonders for me!
• So...I can't wait. Who did you invite to church this week?
• Who is the "One" you are praying will find Christ?
• I love my church!
  

My Year Through the Bible...Laundry Detergent

Have you ever watched the commercials on TV for laundry detergent? It usually has one of 2 scenes:

There is a boy playing outside, as boys do, and while playing they become covered in mud and grass stains. The mother is perplexed on how she is going to get those clothes clean.

The other is that of a young lady out for a night on the town in a beautiful white dress, but sometime during the evening, some one bumps her and her red wine goes all over her very white dress. She is frustrated. How will she ever get the dress as white as it was when she first got it.

In either case, in comes the advertised detergent that will save the day. The detergent shows how it can take even the toughest stains out of clothes or how it can get even the nasty stained dress as white as snow again.

However, in our sinful life simple laundry detergent is not going to get us clean. The stains of sin in us are permanent and cannot be cleaned out with anything we can find on this earth. I know because like so many others I have looked for it. I have searched for it in many things, and not found it. In fact, all those things did was make my stains worse.

There is one thing that will clean us "white as snow". It is our Lord and Savior.

In Isaiah 1:18 the Lord states,

"Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool."

The next time you sit and watch one of those commercials, just remember that your stains can be cleaned by something that will run circles around the competition!

Are you willing to be attacked for God?

I wrote a blog a week or so ago here about being or not being afraid to take hits while on our journey of sharing the love of Christ.

I recently read an article about missionaries who were attacked and left for dead in Kenya. They returned home to receive medical care, but now they want to return to Kenya. They want to continue their mission, but further they also want to go to the prison where their attackers are and offer forgiveness and share the love of Christ with them. You can read the whole article here.

I was amazed at their resilience and their commitment to Christ. Frankly, I don't know if I have that kind of faith. That is the faith we pray about. To serve God...no matter what.

It is something we blog about, write about and pray about. How many of us act it out?

As we learn about how every One matters. What are we doing about it? Normally I would encourage you to look deep inside and seek God for guidance. Not this time!

I want to challenge you to do something. Do something this month that requires total and complete faith, something way outside your comfort zone!

Funny Friday Fun

Every Friday I post a video that is funny or fun or just plain enjoyable to watch. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is meant to be something enjoyable, if you don't find it funny or enjoyable, then please turn it off.
I didn't make them, I simply shared them. Chill out a bit will ya!