Before I had realized that this was vacation week, I had though this was going to be the week that I caught my breath and got ahead. Now this week threatens to leave me more out of breath than usual! First, a reflection. Sunday was a lot of fun. It was great to share the preaching with Nate. Things flowed very well and God was faithful in speaking through us. We received a lot of very positive feedback and all the praise goes to the Holy Spirit who set the whole thing up and made it work. It is great to work with Nate and have the relationship we do. We will look toward doing a team approach again some Sunday when appropriate. With school vacation this week, I am trying to catch up with some of the guys who are home from college, but this is proving to be hard to schedule with everything else that is going on. Tomorrow we have a scheduled visit with my folks so I will be away most of the day. Thursday and Friday are the youth group retreat and that is going to take up some time. I will probably have to duck out of parts of it just to get some things done or meet with some people. In all this, even though we have been exceptionally busy already this week, there is joy. It is great to be able to serve others and care for others. The exercise leaves you very tired and sometimes there is little in short-term reward, but in the end, you know that it is good.

Hear anyone complain of being bored lately? Been bored yourself? I would give anything to be bored. :) I haven't been bored in years. Too much to do and too many things that I would like to do if I had the time. I have a long list of books, both for pleasure and for edification, that I want to read. I want to learn Spanish and Greek, as well as more web design language like CSS. This is not to mention the people I would like to see more of and spend time with. Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am very thankful that I have such fulfilling work and so many options to pursue. I am very blessed with so many great ministry opportunities. I am the man at the banquet who knows he cannot eat all the wonderful food being offered but would like to get a good bite of each wonderful dish. This week has been another exercise in that. There were some major private issues that demanded a lot of time and attention. Nate and I had to meet twice this week for lengthy work on putting together the special message for this Sunday (more on that in a minute). It was radio show week, although in the end, we only got one show done and will have to do more shows next week to stay ahead. It was home-school co-op week on Monday. We had a deacons meeting Monday as well. It was Friday morning before I was able to get the stuff to Beth, which wasn't good to her. All in all, a very busy week. All that to say that in the midst of all this hustle and bustle, one other activity that I try to stay on top of, the blog, got missed. So today, before I hurry down to a late supper and some time with my kids before their bed-time, I write. Men's breakfast in the morning and I will have to take some time before Sunday night to put the finishing touches on the Organizational Meeting, but it is looking pretty good. I am very excited for this Sunday morning as Nate and I embark on our first attempt at team preaching. I have never seen this done and have never done it, but the Holy Spirit told me that we were supposed to do this for this message, and He definitely helped us put it together. I pray that it is a good experience for the church. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come and join us. SO, if you find yourself being bored, give me a call. I have plenty of exciting opportunities that you can share in. :)

Finished up this weeks sermon yesterday. Had to get back in the groove after a week in the DR and two weeks out of the pulpit. This Sunday we resume our Saints & Sinners series with a look at church discipline. There are so many churches that don't do church discipline or don't do it the right way. It is great to go back and look at this issue in terms of the gospel of Christ and understand how the church is supposed to function. I am looking forward to this Sunday. Nate and I are getting together today to begin real work on next Sunday's special service. We are going to try a new format that neither of us has done before. I think that it will be exciting and challenging if we can pull it off. Pray for us as we work together to make this work. No Sunday night service this week as we gather for SuperBowl parties. I hope that you will connect with others in your family or the church family to make this a time of fellowship and sharing. If you want to drop by our place, we'll have wings & pizza, chips & soda. Should be a fun time.

I heard a comedian once say, "Something about owning a gun makes you start to suspect your feet. Perhaps you think they are plotting against you. But most people only shoot one foot. Perhaps you are teaching the other one a lesson. 'see what happened to your buddy.'" Metaphorically speaking, a lot of Christians are limping around because they have shot themselves in the foot. They are victims, they tell you, of the sins of others. Mistreatment at the hands of other Christians. They may have tales of woe about the things they have been put through by others. They have full accounts of how others have wronged them. What they don't realize is that the gaping wound in their foot came from the smoking gun in their hand. When things started to go wrong, they promptly got out their gun, took aim, and fired...right into their sneaker. People mistreat other people. It is human nature. Much of the time it is unintentional, just the result of everyone's innate selfishness. Even when it is intentional, the real fun comes in how people react. The old saying is, "when life gives you lemons, make lemon-aid." The reaction most people have is more along the lines of, "when life gives you lemons, squeeze them into your eyes, rub them on your wounds, and then suck on them." Fun stuff. So often, no matter how we have been treated, the real wounds come from our reactions, not from others actions. This is especially tragic, and all too common, for the Christian. The Bible is full of teaching on reacting well. "Be angry, but don't sin and don't let the sun go down on your anger." (Eph. 4:26) "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either." (Luke 6:27-29) "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."(Romans 12:14) A lot of Christians forget these verses when things start going wrong. They get angry, they lash out, they react poorly, they contribute to the conflict, they shoot themselves in the foot. I have heard people say that the Christian army is the only army that shoots its wounded. While I know there are times when that is true, often times the wounded shoot themselves. In Christ, there is forgiveness and victory. If God is for us, who can be against us? Joseph suffers terrible unjust treatment at the hands of his brothers and sees God's hand guiding his life. Jesus hangs unjustly on the cross and utters, "Father, forgive them." The next time you feel you are under attack, put down the gun. Respond well. Shooting back will most likely buy you a nice foot wound. Claim the promise that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) And the next time you encounter a wounded one who wants to tell you their tale of mistreatment, offer treatment instead, and point them to the forgiveness and victory of Christ.

I'm not. Ok, I'm close. I'm like Santa, making a list, checking it twice. No doubt Santa has to make a last minute trip to Wal-Mart too. :) So all that is left is the last minute stuff and one small bag to pack. Everything is ready. Preparing for my trip has reminded me of us as Christians. Are we packed and ready to go? We don't know when Jesus is going to return, it could be any minute. Jesus warned that there would be those that would grow lax about His return and would be caught unprepared. It is in our nature to wait until the last minutes to get ready. I think that may be one reason why God doesn't tell us when He is coming back. If He did, we would slack off until the last minute. Are you packed and ready to go? If He came tonight, or tomorrow, would you want to beg for a few extra hours to get in some witnessing you've been meaning to do, or to go reconcile with that brother or sister that you have been mad at, or take care of that sin that you were harboring? Jesus calls us to be all packed and ready to go.

Luke 12:37-40 Servants are fortunate if their master finds them awake and ready when he comes! I promise you that he will get ready and have his servants sit down so he can serve them. (38) Those servants are really fortunate if their master finds them ready, even though he comes late at night or early in the morning. (39) You would surely not let a thief break into your home, if you knew when the thief was coming. (40) So always be ready! You don't know when the Son of Man will come.

Got any packing to do today/tonight?