Christmas Gift

Up at the crack of dawn,
Eager and filled with glee,
Gifts wait no more,
Ripped, opened, seen,
Eyes full of surprise,
Hearts warmed with love.


It is a joy to watch kids on Christmas morning! The excitement builds to a crescendo until it is about to burst. It is a wonder that they ever went to sleep at all. Hannah and Emily got everything a little girl could possibly want.
I also received many gifts and presents, and opened them with the anticipation of someone much younger than I actually am.

I did finally take a moment to pause and reflect, and I am glad I did. Otherwise, I might have missed Christmas. I have received another gift, one much more important than something that comes in a box. I have received the gift of life. And not just any life, life in Christ, eternal and full of hope, love, joy, purpose...
It takes my breath away! To think that God would send His most treasured Son for someone like me. I am a worm, a wretched man, the chief of sinners, and God gave a Gift, a precious Gift, the Gift of His Son. And this came not in fancy wrapping, but "in the form of man, taking the very nature of a servant, and became obedient to death, even death on a cross".(Phil. 2:5-11) The Gift shed His blood for my wretchedness and sin. He died as my substitute, in my place. And the Gift rose again on the third day. I have received this Gift into my life, almost 18 years ago, by repentance and faith. Have you received the Gift -- Jesus Christ?

Thank You Lord for sending the Gift for us! I praise you!

Champs Again!

Congratulations Dragons!

What a remarkable accomplishment! I am a huge sports fan, and love football. What this program has put together and accomplished is truly astounding. The Carroll Dragons are now 79-1 since 2002 when they turned 5-A. They just won their third straight state championship title. Wow! I know this won't last forever, but it has been fun to watch such determination and success.

How To Be Healthy

Before you follow my plan let me give you some qualifiers. I am not an expert, I just think I am. It does help that I married someone with a degree in Scientific Nutrition, she is an expert. A lot of the balance in my life comes from Michelle’s assistance. She keeps healthy food in the house, and is very consistent at exercise. She does let me have my Dr. Peppers and sweets, but this is balanced with healthy choices as well.


4 Facts

#1 – Fad diets don’t work. There is no way that you are going to lose weight and stay healthy in just 30 days. Studies have shown that you may lose weight, but in the long run most people gain it back PLUS more.

#2 – Health is a lifestyle. You have to make a choice to change your lifestyle. Exercising for 30 days won’t do it, you must exercise and eat health the rest of your life.

#3 – Balance is the key – You do not have to become a vegetarian tri-athlete to be healthy. You do have to have balance. Eat balanced meals and have a balance of exercise.

#4 – Weight Issues – There is a real simple, common sense formula for maintaining the proper weight. If you put more in more calories than you burn you will gain weight. It is that simple. Let me give you an example. If you eat a McDonald’s meal deal(burger, fries, soda) then you have just consumed 1390 calories with 85 grams of fat!

The RDA calories for an entire day is 2000-2500. So if you go with the low end of the RDA in one meal you had almost 70% of a full days worth of calories. Add in 2 other meals with snacks in between and Lance Armstrong wouldn’t burn off those calories.
You can eat McD’s every now and then, but it must be balanced. If you eat something like that once a day instead of once a month, get ready to by some bigger clothes.
Clothes are not even the issue. Being biblically healthy is not about your appearance. That is vanity. It is about taking care of your body. Having a unbalanced lifestyle puts you a such a higher risk physically. Things like heart disease, clogged arteries, and numerous other life-threatening conditions are directly linked to an unbalanced life.

There are more advanced ways to increase your health. Eating organic foods, avoiding processed items, limiting red meat, increasing cardio and strength training, are all worth looking into. My suggestions are the base line. You can move on from there.


Here is a plan. Exercise more often and consistently. Eat better balanced meals. You can have sweets and other things, just not as often. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Be balanced. You will feel better, and you will be obeying scripture.

Boot Camp

Last week I finished my 12th week of boot camp. No, I didn't join the military. Boot camp is a physical fitness program started and run by my brother-in-law who is a professional physical fitness trainer(www.bod-squad.com). It's focus is cardio, strength training, diet, and overall health.
It was great. I was so glad that I committed to this program. It was tough to get up at 5:30 every morning to go run, sweat, and make myself sore -- but I feel great physically.
Many people assume that because someone is thin that they must be in great health. That is not necessarily true. I was not in poor health, but this program really made me get in better all around shape.
I have never done more push ups, sit ups, running, and other exercises than I have in a long time. Although it was difficult, the pay off was well worth it.

And taking care of myself physically is not just a good idea, or a wise thing to do, it is a command from scripture.
1 Corinthians 6:19 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
In context, Paul is using this argument to encourage them to flee from sexual immorality. They should take care of their bodies, and not use them for sexual immorality, because they belong to the Lord.
That is certainly true in other areas as well. We have a directive to take care of ourselves physically.

Is this relevant? Every time I go to a Baptist convention or meeting I see so many who are obese and out of shape. For a group of people who champion the Bible, this seems to be one truth that is ignored.
It is also relevant because our physical and spiritual our linked together. You see this all throughout scripture. Taking care of yourself physically lends itself to taking care of yourself spiritually. (See 1 Timothy 4:6-9)
I don't want to set myself up as a specimen of physical fitness. I have a ways to go and areas that I can improve on. That is why I joined boot camp.
I also learned some things from this boot camp. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand how to be healthy. The health industry makes billions of dollars every year. People by books, diets, and all kinds of equipment. Instead of purchasing these fads, send me your money and follow the advice I give in my blog titled "How To Be Healthy".

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Christmas is always a busy time. It is also always a balancing act. We try real hard to balance the busy activities, the presents, the fun for the kids, and the needed focus on Christ. I am not sure that we have always won the battle of the balance, but we have tried something this year that has helped.
This year we are doing a family Advent Wreath. Most often, advent and advent wreaths are associated with more liturgical denominations and can become just a ritual. But I have taken the basic concept and adapted it to avoid those pitfalls and make it a way for my family to focus on Christ.
Here is what we do. The first Sunday of Advent we all sat around the table after dinner and made the advent wreath. This wreath is 4 candles on the outside, one in the middle. We simply use the four outer candles as a countdown to Christmas. I assisted one of the girls to light the first candle on that first Sunday showing that there are three more till Christmas. The kids get to take turns lighting and blowing out the candles each day.
Then we have some type of activity to focus on the scriptural meaning of Christmas. For some of these I used a family Christmas devotional book(you can get these at Life Way). A lot of the times I would modify what they had to fit our situation. With my girls being 8 and 4, I didn’t want it to be too sophisticated for them.
I also include some activity for the girls. One day I printed out a coloring page of Joseph and Mary and let them color it while I read the story. Another time I let them pick out one of their Christmas picture books and we read that together.
We have only done this for a little over a week and tried to do it most evenings after supper. I always close with a short prayer.
My hope and prayer for this activity is that it will help us as a family to set aside the busyness for a moment and set our hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Who Are Ohola and Ohilibah?

I have been reading through the book of Ezekiel lately and came across an interesting passage in chapter 23. In chapter 23 the message to Ezekiel is one of comparison. God compares Samaria and Jerusalem, the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel, to two sisters. These two sisters(Ohola and Ohilibah) have turned into prostitutes.
The whole chapter is filled with rather intense and graphic descriptions of how grievous the behavior of these two sisters has become. Of course the comparison is vivid. These two sisters are how God’s people have treated Him. They have repeatedly turned from Him. They have time and again gone and worshiped false gods. God compares turning away from Him and worshiping false gods to adultery.
Most often we think of adultery as an individual sin. One person commits adultery with another. The law was clear that when an individual committed adultery the penalty was death.
Here in Ezekiel God makes it clear that the sin of adultery can have a corporate expression. The people as a whole have turned their backs on God and been unfaithful. They are an adulterous people. They have not been faithful to the One who has chosen them, loved them, provided for them, and cared for them. They have played the prostitute.
And Ezekiel gives them the warning. The penalty for an individual that is guilty of adultery will also be the penalty for the nation that commits adultery. The Babylonians are coming and bring the judgment of God. Many will die, and many will be carted off to a foreign land.
This text makes me think of faithfulness on two levels. Am I personally being fully faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ? No one else has done what He has done. No one else shed their blood and died for my sins. Therefore, no one else is worthy of my utmost devotion and surrender. But, do I always give it to Him? No. May the Lord continue to work in me to bring me further and further down the road of complete surrender.
This also applies to the church as a whole. Are we as a collective group being faithful to the One who redeemed us at such a cost? Are we guilty of collective sins? Then we need to seek repentance.

Fire In My Bones

It wasn't too long ago when someone who knew I was a pastor made this comment, "That's not too tough a job, afterall, you only have to work one day a week." They were just kidding around and we had some fun talking about my "job", but a lot of people do not fully understand what I do.
That's o.k. with me. What others think should not influence who I am or what I do. Although, I admit that sometimes it is difficult not to care what others think.
Sometimes being a pastor can be very difficult, and there are other times when it is easy and rewarding. But, none of that is what drives me. In fact, I don't even view what I do as an "occupation, job, or career". This is not something I chose, it was something I was chosen for.
Regardless of how the week goes, I know that Sunday is coming. I know that Sunday morning I will have the opportunity to preach God's Word. That is my calling and that drives me.

The prophet Jeremiah was under a great deal of pressure and stress. Few looked forward to the messages he would bring and he was told more than once to stop his preaching ministry. It is in that context that we have what he said in Jeremiah 20:9

"But if I say, 'I will not mention Him or speak anymore in His name', His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut within my bones. I am weary of holding it in, indeed, I cannot."

I have never been in the same situation or received that type of criticism, but I love that verse. By the time Sunday rolls around I am ready to preach. I am always a bit nervous and feel a tad timid, but if I don't preach I feel like I will burst.

That is not the only task I have as a pastor, but it is one of the major tasks and one that I do not take lightly. I am constantly aware that it is a huge and humbling responsibility to handle the Word of God and to proclaim that Word faithfully to the flock.