True story: while driving through Kansas on I-70 West, we passed a billboard that read: "If you die tonight, where will you spend eternity?" My answer ... hopefully not in Kansas.
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Today is our 19th wedding anniversary and Tonya and I will be celebrating by driving through parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. I would say she has put up with me for nineteen years but the truth is ... it's closer to twenty-one when you factor in the dating years. It has been an amazing time and yet ... I'm still amazed that she grew up as the daughter of a pastor and still married one any way. I'm still amazed at how kind and gentle she is with everybody. I'm still amazed at how she loves to study her Bible, alone and with other women. I'm still amazed at her love of singing. I'm still amazed at how she is raising our two daughters to be godly young women. I'm still amazed at the sacrifices she makes to live off a "pastor's" salary. I'm still amazed at how she gives…
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Found this great post from Perry Noble. It's about what questions should church leaders be asking themselves. Seven Leadership Questions Teams Should Be Asking Yes, I KNOW that I posted a “seven things” deal yesterday…but we’re doing it again today…because…that’s what I felt like I should write about! :-) #1 – What do we need to stop doing? Leadership teams are often obsessed with new things they need to do…but what about things that need to STOP being done? Is there ANYTHING in your church that you are having to manufacture energy for? Is there anything that you attend ONLY because you are on staff…and not because you are genuinely excited about it? Why do you do the things you do…because you’ve always done them, or because you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus has commanded you to do them? If you need help in this area…I…
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Later this week we'll pack up the kids and drive to Arkansas. I'm especially looking forward to the long, lonely stretches through Kansas. I hear they have Holiday Inn somewhere in Kansas. We're going to Arkansas to celebrate Tonya's grandmother's 90th birthday. Many of her relatives from her mom's side will be with us at Petit Jean mountain. I've not been there before but have heard about it from Tonya and from friends who went to Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. It should be a great time.
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When we enter into a relationship with Jesus, we give him the right to go through our spiritual closet and add new items, as well as throwing out a few things. I can just imagine Jesus saying, "These pants really don’t match that shirt any more. Throw them out." That's one of the reasons that salvation is also referred to as conversion or transformation. It's not just about "being saved." It's about being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. No small task. What gets converted? For one thing, Jesus has given us a new way of conducting ourselves in our relationships. To be thrown out are things such as selfishness, greed, conceit, envy ... those old clothes that endanger our relationships. It might have been comfortable to wear selfishness on a cold winter's day, but it's not appropriate anymore. We also take on new goals as part of this conversion…
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