Proud

We had a great day yesterday. We went to Maddie Mitchell's 5th grade promotion. She cleaned up on the awards. Then 18 of us had lunch at Logan's. We had a room to ourselves and had a good time. Then the big event, graduation. We had some friends from Dawson Springs come up and surprise the boys. We had a whole cheering section.

The thing I enjoyed the most is after graduation we went down on the floor and took pictures. In the end all of the First A/G families merged together. We really enjoyed ourselves. We were all proud of our students.

The boys went to project graduation afterwards. They didn't win anything big. Tyler brought home a cooler and Charles got a sleeping bag. They got home around 4:00 a.m. They are still in bed.

We will leave for Saint Louis later in the day. We are taking it easy.

Graduation

Tonight is the big night. Graduation! Cathy and I are so proud of Charles and Tyler. They have done so well. They both graduated 4.0. Charles was prom king and Tyler was inducted in the academic hall of fame. Not bad! It has been a fun year.

Today we are having lunch at Logan's steakhouse and then graduation is at Robert's stadium. The boys will go to project graduation for the night and then we are leaving on vacation tommorrow. For the first time in several years all five of us are going together. This is such a big year that Cathy and I wanted to go on a trip with just us five. We are headed to Saint Louis. We are going to a Cardinal ballgame, six flags, the zoo and some other things. We only get a few days but we are going to enjoy them.

I will try to blog while we are on vacation but no promises.

Message Series

I was reviewing Sunday’s service. I think this sermon series is one of my favorite that I have preached. It is so practical and if our congregation will apply the four principles of “Victorious Living” it will change their lives. The last series I really enjoyed preaching was the “Healing Psalms” from March. Psalms is written in poetry and is a real test to interpret, teach, and apply. It is very different language from the rest of the Bible. It stretched and challenged me personally. I enjoyed the study and delivery of that message series. Victorious Living is such a timely series because everyone is involved in spiritual warfare. Again this message series can truly change lives, if allowed to do so. Paul used incredible language to teach us how to live victoriously. I will finish the series on June 8. I plan on taking the four cds of the series and package them. We will make them available at the welcome center at minimum cost. Hopefully people will listen to them in the future and continue to learn from them.

The next message series is entitled “A Life well Lived.” I have outlined the series and am presently studying and putting the principles together. What excites me about this series is the teaching on the rapture. Good theology is important because what you believe will determine how you live. The early church used the teaching of the rapture to motivate themselves to live a God pleasing life. We will use the teaching of the rapture to create a life well lived.

Picnic

We had a great picnic last night. We had around 300 in attendance. That was a great turnout. Our neighbor even entertained us in the end. I love it when God's people get together and enjoy one another.

The rain today is a bad deal. We were suppose to work in the yard. We are leaving town after graduation and we are really busy until then. It is only grass right?

Hope everyone has a good holiday. Enjoy yourself and your family.

Veterans

We had a great service this morning. Several people committed their lives to Christ and others received a fresh anointing. We learned that your faith must be fresh and current. You cannot live on yesterday's experience.

We had a baby dedication and honored our college and high school grads. It was a good day.

One thing we did not have time to do is recognize our veterans. I appreciate the service our men and women have given our nation. I have the freedom to worship God freely because of the sacrifice of those who have served in the milatary. You all deserve a big thank you.

Another Big Sunday

We have another great day planned for Sunday. We will honor our college and High School graduates. I think this is our largest class ever. We have a baby dedication and we will take an offering for disaster relief. The offering will go to Myanmar and China. We will give it to Convoy of Hope which I think is the best disaster relief agency around. I will continue the series "Victorious Living." We will discuss the third key to living victoriously. The first two were 1) take a stand against the devil and 2) Get God's Word into your mind, heart, mouth, and hands & feet.

Sunday night is our church picnic and fireworks. Bring enough food for your family and lawn chairs. We will put it all together and have a great time. There will be bounce houses, volleyball, horseshoes, basketball, and more. The fireworks will begin at dark.

I had a nice day off yesterday. Cathy and I went to a movie last night. Tonight we are going to Cathy's parents for dinner. Several family members had birthdays in May. We will celebrate them all at once.

Hall of Fame

I was a proud parent last night. Charles won the gold award for social studies and Tyler won the gold award for English. Then Tyler was inducted into the Academic Hall of Fame for Social Studies. His picture will be placed on the wall at the high school for next year. He was pretty proud. Neither boy gets real emotional but you could tell Tyler was excited. It was similar to Charles when he won prom king. I was thinking how often does anyone get elected to any kind of hall of fame? It is a pretty special recognition. It was a good night but sitting on those bleachers for two hours was rough.

I was also a proud pastor. Our church was well represented. Several of our young people won scholarships and academic awards. This senior class is our largest and maybe most rewarded we have ever had. It was a lot of fun during the reception to hang around our students and their parents. First A/G had their own section. Congratulations to all the students and parents.

Today is my day off. It has been real busy the last couple of weeks. I plan on relaxing with Cathy. We have something going on everyday over the weekend, so today is it. We will spend time together.

Honors Night

Tonight is honors night at the high school. Charles & Tyler received an invitation so we know they will be recognized for something. It could be an academic award or scholarships. You don't know ahead of time. We are hoping for scholarships. Academic awards are nice but they don't pay for college. Cathy and I are proud of them both regardless of what they get. I'll let you know tomorrow what they got.

What is the proper etiquette at these things? Can you leave after your child's name is called or do you have to stay the whole thing? I have got two that should be enough. I find these things extremely boring, especially after your kid is called.

The Honors star ceremoney was great last night. Everything was so nice. We will put some pictures of the event on the website this week. Way to go Maddie and Kacie!

Birthday

Today is Cathy's birthday. We celebrated last night with dinner and presents. I definitely married over my head. Cathy is an incredible woman. I am truly blessed.

Tonight is the Missionette Honor Star Ceremony. This is one of my favorite services of the year. Maddie Mitchell and Kacie Wallace will be crowned tonight. This is a real honor. It recognizes several years of work. I am proud of both girls. I have a special relationship with each of them.

Last night was seven months till Sarah's wedding.

Charles and Tyler graduate from high school one week from tonight.

They leave for college exactly three months from today.

What a year!!!

Interview

Cathy had her ordination interview today in Louisville. Ordination is the highest level of credentialing in the Assemblies of God. It is a several year process of classes, tests, and interviews. Cathy received an unanimous vote. That means she will be ordained at the next District Council in 2009. You actually become ordained by the laying on of hands by the elders according to I Timothy. An ordination service is a deeply moving service. It is open to the public. Hopefully serveral people from First A/G is be able to come. I am really proud of Cathy today. She did really well.

Car Shopping

Cathy is taking Charles and Tyler car shopping tonight. The boys have been saving for a long time. They are leaving in August for college in Springfield, MO. The trucks they are driving probably wouldn't make it and the gas would kill them. So they are needing new (as in new to them) vehicles. I bow out of the car shopping deal. I hate it. I never know what to do. I can't stand haggling over a price. I always feel I am getting the bad end of a deal. And as a pastor you can only go so far and people think you are unethical. So I let Cathy do the car shopping. When they find what they want, I told them to call me. I will sign papers. Beyond that leave me out of it. When they haggle over price I send in Cathy and my mother. No car salesman has a chance. They are dead meat!

God of this City

Had a good day today. We introduced a new song entitled "God of this City." It is a prophetic song that declares that greater things are still be done in our city. For those who would like to get the song on CD it came from "Passion, God of this City." You can get it at any Bible bookstore.

More importantly I believe the song is true. God is not done with Henderson, KY. Our best days are ahead of us. Jesus himself said that we would do greater things than He did. I believe we are primed for a spiritual awakening in our church that will impact our city.

Friend

Tomorrow I will have a good friend visiting service. I have known Dick VanHuss since I was in high school. He was a counselor at church camp when I was a youth. He became a mentor to me and has made a big impact in my life. He gave me leadership opportunities at a young age. When I was right out of college and at my first youth pastorate, He appointed me men's dean at that same camp. I was leading counselors that were older than I was. It was a stretching experience for me. Dick will give a "window to the world" tomorrow morning. He has recently been appointed a US missionary. He will be involved with Global University on the US side. I am looking forward to seeing him again.

After the service Dick will conduct a survey with our church leadership. This survey will help us to see where our church is strong and what areas we can improve upon.

We had around 20 people at the workday today. The attendance was not as good as last year but we still got a lot done. Simply adding mulch to the flower beds makes a big difference. The outside grounds look nice.

Next Message Series

I have been working on our next message series. I try to work at least one series ahead. This year it will be a summer study. We will begin the series on Father’s Day, June15, and end it on July 27. As I have been praying and seeking God about what to do, the theme that God seems to want me to cover is the rapture. There is an attack on the doctrine of the rapture. Prominent teachers are teaching there is no rapture but the church will take over the world and hand it over to Jesus. Several years ago it was called the kingdom now theology. Today it has been renamed and repackaged as the Dominion Theology. Don’t be mistaken there is a lot of truth in what these teachers teach (as always) but they have taken it to an extreme and denied the rapture. As I was praying over this God is directing me to teach concerning this truth of God's Word. The book of the Bible that teaches this the most is 1 Thessalonians. So beginning on June 15 we will begin a survey of First Thessalonians called: A Life well Lived, the seven essentials

Summer Study

A Life Well Lived, the seven essentials

A study of First Thessalonians

June 15 Essential #1 serve others

June 22 Essential #2 persuade others

June 29 Essential #3 the power of relationships

July 6 Essential #4 living a life that pleases God

July 13 Essential #5 Jesus, the soon coming king

July 20 Essential #6 Jesus is coming soon, be ready

July 27 Essential #7 Fundamentals for Christian Living

Big Weekend

We have a big weekend at First A/G:

1) Margie Adams' funeral Friday at 2:00 p.m.
2) Church Workday Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
3) Window to the World Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday morning I will continue the sermon series “Victorious Living” We will learn about the pieces of armor: the belt of truth, helmet of salvation, and sword of the spirit. All three of these have to do with the Bible, the Word of God. My desire is that every person will begin or continue a systematic, personal, consistent study of God’s Word.

The Bible is an incredible book. It is the words of life. Every day I open my Bible I can have an encounter with God. Why? Because Jesus is the Word. John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God.” That means the reading, study, and mediation of the Bible is an encounter with God!!!

The Bible is the key to the spiritual growth of a believer. It is the key to being full of the Holy Spirit. It is the key to developing character and integrity. It is the key to having an anointing. It is the key to knowing God. It is the key to everything. First A/G must place a high value on God’s Word

I encourage you to become a person of the Word. Read it. Study it. Meditate on it. Make the Book central in your life.

Reading

What I am reading right now. Currently I am reading two books.

1) One Month to Live, Thirty days to a no-regrets life by Kerry & Chris Shook
It is a book about living on purpose and obedience to God's will. How would your life change if you lived your life like you had 30 days to live. I just started it last night so I don't know much about it yet.

2) Experiencing Leadershift, letting go of leadership heresies by Don Cousins

It is a book on leadership. I try to learn how I can better lead First A/G

3) Christ's Healing Touch, volume 1 by Todd Bentley

I just stared this one as well. It is a book on divine healing.

I just finished When the Game is over It all Goes Back in the Box by john Ortberg

This was a great book on developing spiritual disciplines. I highly recommend this book. It challenged me.

I tend to read two to three books at a time. It keeps me from getting bored.

Looking forward to our prayer & praise service tonight. We will meet in the sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. We are having fried chicken for dinner. We begin serving at 5:30 p.m.

Drive

The meeting in Louisville went well today. I think we got good feedback and began planning for next year. We are praying about what project the district should support and how we can raise more money. This year was successful in many ways but we would like to increase the offering.

I had a nice drive today. The weather was nice. Driving can be relaxing for me as long as it is not too much. It gives me time to think, pray, and listen to the radio. I have XM radio and I enjoy listening to talk radio. That is a big difference between Cathy and I. Listening to talk radio drives her nuts. When we ride together I don't get to listen to it. Today I was alone and so I took advantage of the time. Men and women are different in so many ways.

Missionary

Tonight we are having dinner with one of our missionaries. Her ministry is in a "sensitive country." This means that if her identity gets out it could threaten her or her ministry. She has a wonderful testimony of God's faithfulness and power. We are looking forward to it.

Tomorrow I am headed to Louisville. I am conducting a debriefing meeting concerning the Mission Experience we had at District Council. We will try to learn what we did right, what we did wrong, and how we can do it better next year. I always want to learn. I am a big believer in personal growth. I want to expand my compacity so there is more of me, the Holy Spirit can use. I can grow by what I read, listen to, and who I associate with.

What are you learning? How are you growing? Do you have a personal growth plan? I encourage you to develop one.

Great Day

What a great day we had! We had a wonderful breakfast by the men, a great Mother's Day message by Cathy and outstanding worship. I love the presence of God we have been experiencing in our services. Most importantly we had several people receive Christ today. This makes it several weeks in a row that someone has accepted Christ. I am excited.

Because of the presence of God we have been experiencing, Wednesday night we are going to have a night of prayer and praise after our dinner. Saturday morning we will have prayer meeting before our workday. If you believe God is doing something special then please be at the prayer meetings.

Cathy and I had a nice day. We ate lunch with my mother and grandmother and then visited with Cathy's mom. Now I am watching the NBA in overtime. Can't get much better than this!

Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We are going to have a great day at the church. We will celebrate our ladies by:
1) Ladies breakfast at 9:30 a.m.
2) Ladies choir in morning service
3) Cathy will give the Mother's Day sermon
4) Every lady will receive a gift.
5) Prayer of blessing over every lady.
I hope you are there. It will be a special day.

After the service we are going to my grandmother's for lunch and then we will visit Cathy's mom. The Children will also see Mrs. Crowder. It makes for a busy day but it is good. I want to stay connected to our families. You have to work at that. It does not happen accidentally but intentionally.

Birthday

Today is my birthday. I am 43 years old. We don't make a huge deal out of birthdays anymore. I have had a few. Today Cathy and I will go to lunch and tomorrow I will go to my parents for dinner. Cathy is giving the Mother's Day sermon so I do not have the preparation of speaking. It takes off some pressure. I get to kick back and relax a little.

Last night Charles and Tyler worked on their graduation invitations. I really do no not remember it being this much work when I was a senior. My parents probably do.

Charles and Tyler received another academic reward yesterday. They scored a distinguished on their senior portfolios. I am not sure what that means but they said it was good.

Letter

I received a letter today from a pastor whose son in serving in the military. He is in the Navy and is stationed on a ship in the middle east. I cannot imagine what that must be like. I am dreading sending my sons to Bible School six hours away. What would it be like to send your child to war? I hope I never know.

This reminded me to pray for our men and women serving in the military, especially those in harms way.

Some have asked if we are going to go anything for those hurt by the storm in Myanmar. I received this fax today from AGWM. It said "the damage is of tsunami proportions with unconfirmed estimates of 20,000 to 50,000 people dead, another 40,000 unaccounted for, and 3 million people displaced from their homes."

We are going to take a love offering for them on May 25. It will go to the disaster relief agency "Convoy of Hope." One hundred percent of the money raised will go to relief. Pray about what God would have you to give.

Unsion Challenge Cup

Cathy and I got home last night. Sorry I was unable to update the blog. The hotel was going to charge me $25.00 a day for Internet access. I am too cheap.

The Unsion Challenge Cup went well, especially considering where we were two weeks ago. Tuesday night we had 39 attend the banquet and we raised $11,000.00. This is great considering I went just hoping to come out even. The event cost $5000.00 so we made $6000.00 in profit. Bill said this saves him several weeks of traveling. His average offering is below $1000.00 so this event saves him two months. That makes this a successful event.

Once again God comes through!

Lexington

Cathy and I are leaving for Lexington today. We are leading the Unsion Challenge Cup. Please be in prayer for us. I believe for a miracle. I believe that we will make a profit for missions.

Yesterday was a great day! God is so good. Remember stand against the devil this week!

I will give you updates of the Challenge Cup this week so you can pray.

Prom King

Charles did win prom king. Isn’t that great? You know several years ago a parent told my wife that our kids were in danger. They were too radical for God and that they would be misfits and outcasts. The concept confused me, the parent seemed more interested that their child was popular with man rather than God, but I began to watch my children. I did not want them to be outcasts. You have to remember that when the children were young we would tell them on the way to someone’s house that when someone spoke to them they had to speak back. They were that shy. Today I look at my children and am amazed at what God has done. Sarah has turned out to be a fine young lady who helps with Sunday School and Missionettes. I am blown away watching Tyler lead worship and now Charles has been voted senior king at the prom. When I went to school only the kids from the rich families ever got elected prom king. The families involved with my children, the Crowders, Millers, and Stones, are all middle class families. What explains what has happened? It is the blessing of God. Teach your children to go after God with all the heart, mind, soul, and strength and watch God’s blessing be on your kids.

I think the thing I am most proud of is watching the other students at the school treat Charles and Tyler with respect. For a high school kid to respect you is something. Why? Going after God will not make your child a misfit. It will make them stand out. People want to see the real thing. Nothing is better than the blessing and favor of God.

Prom

Today is the high school prom. One of our sons,Tyler, went with the group to Florida but Charles is here and going to the prom tonight. He actually made the prom court which I guess means he could be voted Prom King. We will see, doesn't really matter. Cathy and I are enjoying this part of our children's lives. We are going tonight to take pictures. I am going to help Charles tie is tie. Just being there. We are looking forward to it.

The "just being there" principle is one of the most important parenting principles you can learn. It is not so much what you do but that you are there. You are present at the milestones of your children's lives. I never heard a man on his death bed wish he could have worked more. I have been present when people expressed regrets for not being present more in their children's lives. Don't fall in that trap. Know what is eternal. Just be there.

A Recent Prayer

Father I love you. I am in a weird mood today. Holy Spirit enable me to overcome my moods. I don’t want to be driven by how I feel but by what I know of you. You are a great God and I love you with all my heart soul and strength. You are great. I am so appreciative of what you have done for me. You have been so good to me and I never want to live discontented. I want to be thankful and grateful for all you have done for me. Forgive me for not telling you I love you enough. Forgive me for not saying thank you more often. You are good and have been good to me. I love you. I need you. I adore you. I choose to be grateful. I choose to be a worshipper. I choose to be faithful. I choose to be honorable. I choose to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in me today. Thank you. I love you.

Failure

Today I am finishing the registration for the Unsion Challenge Cup. The turnout is not going to be great but it is a whole lot better than it was Monday. I will definitely mark this one down as a learning experience.

Failure is not bad. You must try new things to ever get ahead. I read a leadership book that said try a lot of stuff and keep what works. Many people are afraid of trying a lot of stuff because they fear failure. John Maxwell said failure is not what hurts you but failing to learn from your mistakes will kill you. Leadership is not an exact science. It is an art and you must be willing to experiment. You must be willing to try new things. You must be willing to fail. In all the mistakes you will find gold. You will discover the idea that will take your organization to another level.

What new thing are you attempting to do? What are you experimenting with? Does the fear of failure paralyze you? Don't let it. Try a lot of things and keep what works!

Praise report

Cathy's father had surgery today. He is doing well. He will be in ICU a couple of days. Sounds like he is going to be fine. Thanks for your prayers.

Some of our young people left for Florida today. They are going to Lakeland. There is a church there that is experiencing revival. Pray that they have an encounter with God.

Thursdays are our family night. We have dinner together, watch some television, and hang out together. It is a good time.

Your family nights do not have to be expensive or complicated, just consistent. Spend time together, talk, share. That's all. Many times the simpler times are the best.