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Made to Love

Wednesday 10.30.13

On our way home from the dentist this afternoon the song Made to Love by TobyMac came on the radio.  The line in the song "Anything, I would give up for you, Everything, I'd give it all away" played and Dru made an interesting comment.  He jokingly said, "Ok, give up your life Cooper."  Not wanting to miss a chance to teach them spiritual matters, I asked the boys "Would you give up your life if God asked you to?"  Their answers were the same answers that we as adults give to that question.  If God asked you or I to give up everything we have to Him and let Him have total control, would we?  Do we answer immediately and excitedly like Cooper and say "Yes!" or do we answer like Dru and consider it before we reluctantly say "Yes."  I am proud of my boys for both being willing to answer "Yes," just as much as God is proud of His children for answering "Yes" to His requests.  We need to have that child-like faith that makes us quickly answer "Yes" to whatever request God makes of us.  The end result is a proud Father who is excited about the spiritual growth He sees in His child.

Thank You!

Monday 10.28.13

Last night I found my self speechless.  For those of you who have known me for any amount of time you know that this does not happen often.  You're more likely to see Bigfoot than you are to find me speechless.  After church last night I sat in my recliner at home and opened card after card after card from our church family at North Catawba.  The cards and gifts were given for Pastor Appreciation.   I would open a card read it and then pass it to Misty to read.  We were overwhelmed (that is putting it mildly) at the outpouring of love and appreciation that our new church has for us.  The gifts, cards, handshakes, hugs, comments and reception were all far above and beyond what a pastor deserves having only served for a few weeks in this church.  The words "Thank You" do not adequately reflect the feelings that we have towards our church family for all they have done.  The only option we have is to say "Thank You" and then show you how we are truly grateful.

You can tell that God is doing a wonderful thing at North Catawba.  Not because we have a new young pastor or for any other reason than to bring Him glory.  As our church moves forward in faith and following God's direction, I, like so many in our number, am excited to see what God does next at North Catawba.  There is a contagious excitement in the air.  If you do not currently attend a church in the area I want to invite you to come worship God with us.  As one who has been a part of this church less than a month I can tell you that you will not feel like an outsider for long.  You will quickly feel like part of a family.  You will feel like you are at home.  We hope to see you soon at North Catawba Baptist Church. 

Take Away the Blessings!

Wednesday 10.23.13

I keep on my desk a journal given to me by a godly couple that I met years ago.  The journal is actually the great spiritual book My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  This book has the daily writings of Chambers and an area on the outer margin for you to write notes, as if anything I could write would ever compare to his writings.  I've tried over the years to make it a habit of reading the entry for the day first thing when I arrive in the office of a morning.  It is usually always very challenging and I look forward to reflecting on some part of the entry that really jumps out at me.  Today's entry had a line in it that really has stuck with me.  It says "Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him?"  I thought "Wow! Do I have that kind of faith in God?"  Could He make me like Job and it would not affect my trust in Him?  Could He take away everything blessing and I would still want to sing praises?  Could He withhold blessings for the rest of my life and I would still faithfully worship Him?  That is a tough question to answer.  On this side of a situation like that it would be easy to naively say "Yes."  But if that were to be the will of God for my life, I pray that my faith in God would be strong enough to be unshaken, regardless of my lot in life.  I pray that I would be able to say with full confidence "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." - Job 1:21 (NASB)