Worship - what can I give?

I had a cool worship experience with Julia this morning. Caleb and Julia were with us in worship. At one point Julia crawled up in my arms and I asked her what she brought to worship Jesus with. Her response....to thank Him and to love Him. Then she thanked Jesus and told Him she loved Him out loud. It was a great moment....that reminded me how much God looks for our authentic heart-felt expressions of our love for Him. What will you bring to worship Jesus this week?

Praying for Scotty

Please join me in praying for my friend, Scotty tonight. We just went to see him at Denton Regional and they are moving him tonight to Cook's Childrens Hospital. We're asking God for healing for his body and provision for his family for the medical bills. Having close friends without insurance facing a medical crisis sure makes you pay more attention to some of the issues in the campaign.

Caleb's Big Catch

Check out the face of that proud fisherman....and the face of the surprised fish!
It was a great weekend!

Angel Food

It's 2:42 AM and I just can't sleep. It's been a whirlwind weekend. Caleb and I had a blast at the lake...both came back a little sunburned. He is the fishing champion...caught a 14" bass....his biggest fish to date and feels like quite the hero. We met some new friends, fished, canoed, made s'mores and talked about life. In one of those moments he told me he was scared about first grade....about not making any friends and about getting an F or a C+ maybe. (This is the first year he'll get letter grades) We talked about how Jesus invites us not to worry about things, but to give them to Him in prayer...he didn't really understand how to do that. There was this really cool moment where we prayed together and I asked Him to picture Jesus in front of Him...and to picture himself putting his worries in Jesus' hands. He thought it was silly and laughed at first...but he said it help Him understand that we could give our worries to Jesus. He went off to school yesterday care-free....and came home with a new friend's phone number. The faith of a child is so cool!
I'm totally stoked about the start of a new journey in two weeks.... Saturday, September 6th we'll have our organizational meeting for Angel Food in Pilot Point. We're busy inviting local businesses to get involved at this point...and I'm excited about the response. Sometimes, God just puts things together...and things are so easy. Turns out a group of pastors have been "talking about" doing this for some time...but no one has pulled the trigger. You can check out more about Angel Food at www.angelfoodministries.com.
So, if you're not doing anything that Saturday morning, come on out. It will be exciting to see what God is putting together.

Friendship

I've been thinking about a post my father-in-law wrote for over a week now. You really need to read the post to get the context. The whole thing is good...but this one statement has stuck with me..."Let’s not confuse the term friends and fellowship together. Fellowship is a church word that describes an activity. Friendship costs something … time, effort and love."
We had a lot of fun having dinner with some new friends last night...enjoyed having coffee with a friend over the last year today and am looking forward to playing tennis with a group of friends on Thursday. Man, I'm blessed. And in each of those encounters I have/am expecting to experience a little more of the Father's love. In all you busyness this week, don't forget to connect with people...they need your friendship, and you need theirs. You never know when a hug, a call, or an email may be just the touch someone needs to remember they have a Heavenly Father that loves them!

Opportunity

So, if you've followed this blog much....there have obviously been a lot of changes in my life recently. No need to go into details; just in a new phase of walking with Jesus and discovering daily His will for my life. I've sensed so much His grace over the past few weeks....manifested through other believers. Thank you for loving us and being an extension of the Father's heart towards us.
I've been fascinated this week with how I can be a conduit of God's grace. So much has been poured out on me....(reference the flow through post a couple of weeks ago)....that I want to make sure I am dispensing God's grace to others. It's really not that difficult, but does involve a commitment of time and some effort. Stuart was a real dispenser of God's grace to me this week when he called out of the blue to let me know he was praying for me and wanted to have dinner with my family. Randy was when he stopped by my office just to tell me he missed me and I needed to play tennis ...mostly so we could see each other every week. (Randy, I re-gripped both tennis rackets yesterday...no excuses now). Jerry was when he stopped to make sure I was ok when I was on the shoulder of HWY 380. (I was....just writing down info off of a realtor sign..work stuff).
My friend, Susan is an inspiration to me as a grace conduit. Her ministry...Hearts for Homes....helps provided needed repairs to the homes of elderly people living on fixed incomes. Talk about a tangible display of the love of God! So, here's the opportunity....join me on Sept 20th on a Hearts for Homes project. There is a need for 4-5 skilled workers and 4-5 unskilled workers. (I am filling one of the latter spots). Email Susan to let her know you're in...and copy me so I can look forward to seeing you there....and ragging you if you don't show.

The Fear of the Lord

I had a fun time talking to Jason Boyd at SWAT last night. He had a very exciting week...picked up his new Kawasaki bike from Carrolton on Friday and drove it home. He told me this great story that happened to him on the way home....when he started the bike and accidentally popped a wheelie on the highway. To be fair, I laughed...but was really thinking about when it happened to me. Each Christmas....Mer's family takes a trip together. Last year...we all went to OK to ride dirt bikes together. I had never ridden a dirt bike, so I practiced a little bit in the pasture out at the ranch. Wayne had bought these little db10 dirtbikes...way small for a guy my size. But they were really pretty powerful...enough so that it was easy to get the front wheel off the ground. I had to learn to sit way up front...which really made me look too big for the bike...because if I sat at the back and gave it any gas at all...I was taking off on one wheel.Jason, I'm a little jealous bro. I hope you have lots of fun on the bike and get to pass it down to Titus. It's funny how we're excited by a powerful machine...but a little scared by it too. A healthy respect we call it. I think that's what the fear of the Lord is all about. Our God is not safe...but He is good. Don't let your image of him get to be too wimpy!