What pleases a Pastor…

There are few things that please a Pastor more than to see some fruit of his labor, especially when it comes to producing more laborers for Christ. If you could put yourself in my shoes as a Pastor, this is the kind of email that really stokes the fire. It’s an excerpt from an email I just received from a college student home for the summer.

Hey Pastor!

     I hope you are having a great day! I just want to let you know that I am praying for you! I am so grateful that you are my pastor and I appreciate everything you do! I also want to ask you if there is anything I can do for you. I know that you are carrying a heavy burden as pastor and if there is anyway I could lighten the load a little bit, I would love to! Whether it is for you personally or something for the church, I would love to be a blessing this summer. Anytime you need a babysitter, please let me know. As this could possibly be my last full summer at home (If the Lord allows, I would like to go on tour one summer with the college playing the piano and go on an off the continent missions trip (maybe to Africa) one summer), I want to do everything I possibly can for the church and for you and Mrs. Michelle. I know that I am going to have to get a couple jobs this summer, but I want to do as much for the church as I can. Please, if there is ever anything I can do for the church or you or your family, please let me know. I want to get as much ministry experience and training as I can. It’s really just fun to serve the Lord! I want to promise you that I will be faithful to church, to go soul-winning, to the bus ministry, and to the 7th-9th grade girls class this summer. I know that I won’t have a focus report to fill out each week, but I still want to knock on doors, see souls won to the Lord and see them baptized and discipled. I am going to try my hardest to have visitors in church as much as I possibly can. I want you know that I’m in this thing 110% and whatever I can do to help, I want to. Please let me know! Have a great day and I am praying for you as you preach Wed. night!

All I can say to that is AMEN and give me some more with this heart, attitude and passion!

May 14 2008 | General | 1 Comment »

Things we know about, but ignore…

The following article has been emailed to me several times by those who have children in public schools as well as those in Christian schools. I have not been to this website that has been cited, therefore not endorsing it or opposing it. This is for your FYI. I especially like his quote, “If you’re going to send your kids to Caesar, you’re going to get Romans back.” Let me add, this is not a pathetic ploy to boost VBS attendance.

Subject: Pull your kids from Public Schools and Gay Life Style

Is it worth the cost to put your kids in a Christian School? With the gay agenda being taught in the public schools, is it worth the risk of a life time to expose your little children to the gay life style?

Making The Exodus From Public School Indoctrination

by Cal Thomas

from The Washington Times, March 10, 2008 National Weekly Edition

——————————————————-

LOS ANGELES. — As one group attempts to use California public schools as laboratories to assist children in “coming out” with their nontraditional sexual orientation, another urges parents to come out from these schools and educate their children with their values at home or in private schools.

On March 2, a group called “Exodus Mandate” (www.exodusmandate.org) began placing literature in scores of Southern California church lobbies, urging parents to take charge of their children’s education and oppose attempts by activists and politicians to shape young people’s worldview in a way that runs counter to what many taxpaying parents believe and teach in their homes and places of worship.

The final straw for some was the decision last fall by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign SB 777 — a bill opponents say will have a long and significant effect not only on California public schools, but on public schools everywhere. That’s because California is one of the largest purchasers of school textbooks and publishers tend to shape content to reflect the wishes of the state that buys the most books.

SB 777, or the California Student Civil Rights Act, requires “nondiscrimination” against sexual orientation, as well as other characteristics. Opponents take that to mean favorable teaching about homosexuality, bisexuality, gender identity and any and every other form of sexual expression for which there is an advocate.

The Rev. Ron Gleason, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Yorba Linda, Calif., is leading the Exodus movement in Southern California. In a telephone interview, Mr. Gleason acknowledges it is difficult work because he says there is virtually no leadership at the pastoral level with the “big name Christian celebrity” pastors largely remaining silent. “They prefer to build their empires rather than step out and lead,” he says. Mr. Gleason says 96 percent of his congregation have their children in private schools or educate them at home.

Mr. Gleason says SB 777 has resulted in California schools not being allowed to use the words “mommy” and “daddy” anymore. “Children will be taught that sexual orientation and gender are merely a matter of personal choice,” says Mr. Gleason, “and they will be taught to find what is ‘right’ for them.”

The Web site for Mr. Gleason’s group argues SB 777 essentially makes it lawful for public schools to “indoctrinate” children as young as pre-kindergarten to accept as normal and morally acceptable homosexuality and “other sexually deviant lifestyles.” In addition, says the group, the legislation represents a “complete reversal of 2,000 years of Christian moral teaching on human sexuality, family, and marriage.”

Mr. Gleason has a response to questions like, “What about the single mother who can’t afford tuition for a private school or spare the time to homeschool her child?” He offers church families who homeschool their children as places where the single mother can put her child. His rationale is simple. “If you’re going to send your kids to Caesar, you’re going to get Romans back.”

He’s right. It isn’t just the sexual reprogramming. That’s symbolic of a larger problem. The government schools want to shape a child’s mind in ways that reflect a mostly liberal, humanistic worldview. This has implications for a child’s understanding of economics, foreign policy, American history and the size and purpose of government, in addition to what once was know as “traditional values.” It is about reflecting the worldview of the teachers unions, who are in the pocket of the Democratic Party. In other words, the Left uses public schools to produce the next generation of Democrats.

The tragedy is that too many conservative Christian, Republican parents who want their children to have a different worldview — their own — willingly participate in the destruction of their children’s minds by turning them over to a way of thinking that is antithetical to their beliefs. Parents who worship at conservative churches on Sunday willingly send their children to schools five days a week where what they are taught undermines what they learned in church and at home. They would never think of taking their kids to a church that teaches doctrines opposed to their beliefs, but they don’t give a second thought to doing the same thing by sending them to government schools. It makes no sense.

Mr. Gleason has found it difficult to start a fire among conservative Christians because apathy is like wet underbrush. But he is undeterred. He thinks that like those other fires with which California is familiar, the best time to get out is while you still can. http://www.californiaexodus.org

May 12 2008 | General | No Comments »

Missionary Child…a beautiful one!

Here is a picture of Chad and Linda Phillips’ little girl, Elizabeth Grace. (Sent glady by a proud grandfather)  Chad and Linda will be taking her to Cambodia for the first time this year on another survey trip.  Praise the Lord for parents who are willing to follow God rather than worldly logic!  The world say’s there crazy.  I say they’re obedient.  Chad came through our youth ministry and finished his degree at West Coast Baptist College.  He has been serving at First Baptist Church of Long Beach, where Bro. John Wilkerson pastors.  I’m looking forward to seeing the Phillips early in July as they visit their parents before going to Cambodia. 

May 12 2008 | General | No Comments »

Recent Happenings

• Life’s been really busy lately…graduations, birthdays, school picnics and field days, baseball, church activities. Sometimes I wonder if it will ever slow down.
• My female lab had 6 puppies. This is my first full AKC litter and they are beautiful. I only have four left if anyone is looking for a good dog. Both parents are hunters but more than that, just good dogs. The price is a fair one as well so let me know if you’re interested.
• While away last week at a Pastor’s Conference, my male dog, Deke, slipped by my wife as she was feeding him and came back bleeding. It looks as though he was shot. I took him to the vet and they cleaned him up and gave me some antibiotic to take. He was doing okay, but for the last day or so, his appetite has been down.
• My house is coming along. For a while it’s been in disarray as we replaced all the carpet on the main floor, closed in the back porch so we could all sit around the table and eat together, and did some remodeling in the kitchen area. It really looks good, but my wife wants it all together by Memorial Day weekend when we will celebrate Hunter and Malia’s birthdays. (They were both born on May 24^th, two years apart, so we usually have a girl’s party and a boys party simultaneously.)
• Baseball has consumed more time than I originally planned or thought it would. Saturday while my wife was at the Mother-Daughter Picnic, I had the children with games. While watching Cole’s, it dawned on me that Malia’s game had already started on the other side of the park. We rushed over and she just slipped in before her first at bat. Michelle is much better at that juggling than I am. I praise the Lord for my wife.
• I said life’s been busy lately…let me add, my life is good! My life is good because God is good!

May 12 2008 | General | No Comments »

Sunday Summary 05.11.2008

You could say that Mother’s Day 2008 just “blew” right in here. Man, was it ever windy today and especially tonight. However, that didn’t prevent us from having a great Sunday evening attendance.

• It was really stormy around my house between 3 and 6 this morning. Trying to study with AM 750 going is not that easy.
• Thought I was preaching on Getting Victory in the Emotion of Worry today but ended up preaching about Depression instead. This was really weird to me and the first time that I’ve done something like it. I preached almost the same message just two months ago from the same pulpit! Obviously the Lord wanted it preached again.
  • Personally, it was a struggle. It was hard to get beyond the fact that it was probably pretty fresh in the majority of minds present.
• We had several people visiting mom today but also had several families visiting their mom at Victory as well.
• I miss my mother-in-law. This was the first Mother’s Day since she passed away last fall. My wife struggled a little as to be expected but we both realized heaven is a much better option.
• I really could have used a nap today (can’t remember the last time that was made possible) between services. My wife got one however with the late starting choir/orchestra practice. (Thanks to Bro. Will) I even think she slobbered on her pillow…it was on of those kinds of naps!
• Again, we had a great number back for the evening service where I preached on the Faithfulness of Christ.
• Two amazing things happened tonight, but I can’t tell you the details on one of them. Suffice it to say, if God is able to have His way in the hearts of some men and women in this particular situation, it will be an awesome thing!
  • The second thing is that I was able to lead Kevin to the Lord tonight following the evening service.
  • I was in another meeting when he came back to the church (after driving around the block) and told me, “I’m tired of trying to do it on my own!” I’m guessing, (I forgot to ask) that he’s about 40 years old.
  • I praise the Lord for all the RU staff that has planted and watered seed in Kevin’s life. He is a product of our addictions program, Reformer’s Unanimous and I’m proud to have had a part in him coming to know Christ.
• A really long day…but a good one. Thank you, Lord.

May 11 2008 | General | No Comments »

Passport

Yes!!! My updated passport finally came in. I’m looking forward to using it later this year when I travel to Arequipa, Peru for my first “off the continent” mission trip. Yes, I said first. What a shame it’s taken this long. But hey, at least I’m starting what I hope will become a frequent occurrence in my ministry. Serving God sure has been great…but I think it’s about to get a lot better!

May 07 2008 | General | 1 Comment »

Twittering

Does anybody out there in my little blogworld know anything about “twittering”, and if you do, how could it be useful or beneficial to the ministry?

May 07 2008 | General | No Comments »

Pastor’s Conference

I had the privilege of attending the Pastor’s Conference for World Evangelism hosted by Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta these past two days. The preaching was outstanding, but the whole conference would have been worth the money (it was actually free) just for the teaching during the day! Honestly, it was great. You could really see the passion for the heartbeat of God…Missions! Bro. Austin Gardner, Tony Howeth, Charles Blackstock, Trent Cornwell, Wayne Cofield and Chris Gardner all taught sessions or preached and all did a great job. (Sorry, it’s 2 AM and I’m not putting links in tonight) However, I wanted to thank all those who did the behind the scenes work…the audio/visual guys, the ladies and men who cooked (excellent by the way), the young people who served and polished shoes, all the wives of the staff who gave up their husbands for the week…thank you for making us Pastor’s feel appreciated and loved. Mission accomplished! I learned things this week that I think will change some areas in my life forever…time will tell and so will I, later! I am very grateful for the men who went up with me…Bro. Doug Kennedy, Doug Hoffman, Darrell Van Horn and Chad Gordon. Bro. Al Blanton also popped in after work. I love you guys and thank the Lord for you. Goodnight and I’ll tell you more tomorrow sometime.

May 07 2008 | General | No Comments »

You Definitely Need to do This!

I copied this from an article I read on the internet. I use a Google Reader for all of my blog reading…this is definitely a better way to read blogs than subscribe by email. Many times email is a day late and if I’m posting something that is going to happen in an hour or two, most people miss it. This is an almost immediate way to read your blogs. What I do is have two home page tabs (one of course if VictoryBc.org and the other is my iGoogle page that has my Google Reader on it. That way, I can catch up very quickly.)

What Is RSS? A Step-by-Step Guide to Google Reader

If you read even one blog regularly, RSS is for you. It will save you time, I promise.

Some of you may be wondering, “Doesn’t everyone use RSS?” The answer is no; less than 6% of internet users take advantage of this extraordinarily helpful technology.

I’ve read lots of posts on what RSS is and how to use it, but they’re limited in their helpfulness. There are just too many options out there to fully explain any one of them in a post that tackles RSS as a whole. So I am going to use the majority of this article to help non-RSS-users get started on Google Reader.

If you follow these instructions, you will be subscribed to your favorite sites and already saving time by the end of this article.

What Is RSS and Why Is It Worthwhile?

The acronym RSS stands for a couple things. The most helpful as far as a clear explanation of what it’s for is “Real Simple Syndication.”

RSS is a technology that allows you to subscribe to any website that has one of these in the address bar. You can then track every site you’re subscribed to without having to go to each individual site.

If you’re like me there are a couple websites that you love to read. Without RSS, I would be looking at these sites regularly to see if there were new material. Depending on how often I checked, I wouldn’t see anything new most times I visited.

With RSS, I never again have to go to a site that has no new material. I subscribe to the sites I enjoy and am updated every time they post.

(This is especially helpful for keeping track of those bloggers who we want to read but who only post every 3 months.)

Why I’m Focusing on Google Reader

If you’re not a current RSS-user and would like to be, my hope is that by the end of this article you’d have everything you need to begin. In order to do that, I need to pick one feedreader to show you how to use. (”Feedreaders” are the programs that people use to collect and manage their RSS subscriptions.)

I’ve chosen to use Google Reader for 3 reasons:

• It’s free and available to everyone no matter what computer or browser you use.
• It is by far the most popular feedreader that’s out there right now. On both the blogs I write for, Google subscribers are between 35-40% of the readership. The next most popular feedreader only claims about 5% of readers.
• It’s really easy to use, so let’s get started.

Setting Up Google Reader

1. Create a Google account.
2. Go to Google Reader and make sure you’re signed in.

Adding a Subscription in Google Reader

1. Select “Add Subscription” from the left column.
2. Type in the address of a blog you want to subscribe to and click “Add.”

Adding a Subscription from Elsewhere Online

1. When you are visiting a site that you want to subscribe to, click on the orange icon in the address bar or on a link provided on the site.

You will either see a page like this:

Or like this:

2. On either page, select Google as the reader you want to subscribe with.
3. On the first page, you will need to click “Subscribe Now.”
4. On either page, choose “Add to Google Reader.”

Reading and Managing your Subscriptions

Reading Options

You now have a few of your favorite blogs listed in the left column of your Google reader page. The best way to go through your feeds is up to you. Here are some options.

• Home, at the top of the left column, is where you can see new, unread posts listed with just a few lines of content.
• All Items, just below “Home,” is where you can see new, unread posts listed with all their content.
• Selecting an individual feed from the list in the left column allows you to see new posts as well as scroll down through older ones.

Scanning Options

In the upper right corner you will see tabs for “Expanded view” and “List view.” These allow you to decide whether you see all content as you scroll through your feeds or just titles and the first few words.

Marking as Read

You will mark a post as read when you click on it. Scrolling through posts will also mark them as read, although you can turn this feature off in settings if you want to. Finally, if you want to mark all your new posts as read at once, you can do so at the top of the “All Items” page.

Unsubscribing

When you change your mind about being subscribed to a blog, you can unsubscribe by going to the settings in the upper right corner.

You’re All Set!

As you poke around in Google Reader, I’m sure you’ll find more nifty ways to improve your RSSing. But for now, you should have what you need to go blog wild.

May 04 2008 | General | 1 Comment »

Get Victory in Your Emotions

I’m here at the house this morning really looking forward to the topic I’ll be preaching on today. I am starting the Get Victory in Your Emotions Series and more specifically on the topic dealing with Frustration. In a survey that I conducted about two months ago, the number one emotion listed that is being experienced by those attending VBC, was that of Frustration. (Not with the church, but with life in general). Disappointment was listed as number 4 or 5 and since they are very similar I’m grouping them together today. If you are a nursery worker, children’s church worker or are out sick today, make sure you download the message or get a copy from the soundroom. I love you church and am looking forward to seeing you in a little while.

May 04 2008 | General | No Comments »