Christmas season is here.

We all went to the Christmas parade in Owensboro a few days ago. I really enjoy it because it is an night and the floats are full of lights. Our children really enjoy sitting and watching the parade. This year we filled up their thermoses with hot chocolate to help keep them warm. There were some really cool floats and my favorite was a huge float that shot snow up into the air. Here are a few pictures:





Finally we put our tree up before we left because it will be a busy weekend. Our kids loved it and we spent the evening eating out, shopping for ornaments and decorating the tree. Great night with the family.

Have a great Thanksgiving

Today we head back to Murray for Thanksgiving with family. So it will be nice to sit, fellowship, eat and laugh with relatives. It wouldn't be a Thanksgiving post if there was a thankful list. So let me take a shot at it:

1.) I am thankful that I have a God that loves me so much. In that he provided a way through self sacrifice that I could spend eternity with him.

2.) I am thankful for my wife. Not many people can truly say they have married their best friend but I have. God has blessed me with a loving wife who is also the best mother out there. I never thank her enough for all that she does for our family.

3.) I am thankful for the four wonderful children God has blessed me with. I am thankful for their individuality and the unconditional love they have for us. I am blessed by every moment with them.

4.) I am thankful for my family. I have a great father and mother back in Murray. They raised me with wonderful morals and family values. They are wonderful grandparents and would drop everything at a moments notice if needed. I also have a wonderful set of in laws as well as nieces. I must say that I have a brother that and also call a friend. He and his wife are wonderful to be around and I cherish the time with have with them. It has been great to see them grow up and become wonderful young Christian women.

5.) I am thankful for the ministry that God has intrusted me with. Many times throughout the year I have to sit back and think, "Really God??? Can this be real that you would allow me to be in a church like this??? " The staff is a blessing to be around and I look forward to each day in the office. I also happen to have the best youth and childrens team out there. If you don't believe me....I don't care (lol).

6.) I am thankful for my health. I know that many times I whine about migraines and also having to take medication for "episodes" that are seizure like. You know what though? I can walk, breath, smell, taste, touch, see, hear and sing praises to God. I am richly blessed and will never forget how well I have it.

7.) Finally I am thankful for living in a country where we can be free. I am thankful to those who sit in bases and camps over seas and in the US today so that I can celebrate freely. We will never be able to thank our troops enough.

So all in all you can see that I sure have a lot to be thankful for. This list could go on forever because my blessing overflow. At a lost for words that would show God how I feel I just simply say "Thank you Lord!"

iPod Churches

I finally finished "The Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis. What a very thought provoking book it was. One thing that really stuck out to me was where the devil's workers are going to distract believers. Here is just a part of it " Surely you know that if a man can't be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that "suits" him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches."

Now let me explain the blog title. We all know the iPod generation and how we just wait until the new one comes out. I ask myself what is the primary function of the iPod? Or at least what was the first intention for it's use? The answer may seem simple but it needs to be said. Thats right for listening and enjoying music. Although new applications and features are added it was still orginally created to play music. Music will be music forever. Whatever style you like or listen to it will always be there. What has changed is the very thing we listen to it with. We no longer crave the music as much as the new technology in which we can use to play it with.

Applying this to our churches is easier that it seems. People today are craving the latest and greatest everything in our churches. We have to be catered to for us to enjoy and stay in a local assembly of believers. We want the screens, lights, instruments, sound systems, videos and dynamic speakers. If we don't have everything we want and the newest we move on. The focus drifts from worship and relationships to entertainment and warm fuzzy feelings. People the message of Christ hasn't changed. Christ has always been and never has changed. It is ok to have all the above in our churches. But when we begin to worship it rather than our Savior we have fell into Satans trap. CS Lewis wrote years ago in his fictional book and probably never fully realized how spot on it would be.

The above picture is one I found on the internet. It in no way is the reason I wrote this. I am sure this was for an event. I just thought it would be a great picture to call attention to the post. To finish up the post I would like to use another quote from the book about why Satan wants to keep us focused on such things. It continues on saying, " because, being a unity of place and not of likings, it brings people of different classes and psychology together in the kind of unity the Enemy ( Satan calls God his enemy) desires"

Lord help us to set our thoughts on things above and not on earthly things...

Q and A night

Last night we started our first of what I believe to be many Q and A nights. We handed out envelops to youth and allowed them to place a question on it that they would like a biblical answer to. Then they turned them in and we looked them over. After all of that we devised a panel of experts to answer or discuss these questions. They are as follows:

Donald the note taker. During the Q and A time he had a note card and a pen. I think though he may have been creating a grocery list. lol! There for muscle and over all intimidation. I mean a man that is over 6 foot with muscles makes for a great crowd control guy.

Brandon the Revelation man. He is the one responsible for the boys study in Revelation. So he will now be our Revelation expert. Also you don't listen he can throw a dodge ball at hurricane force speed.

The scattered adults - When published that we would have a Q and A night we had some show up. I think they were there to watch the panel act like fools.

Jamie the jibber jabber king. I felt as if I rambled more than I answered questions. Well except the times where I had to keep some of the middle school students on track. "No no....we are not talking about how to create a plane out of duct tape and popsicle sticks. And no I don't think WD40 would make a great fuel for one."

Now seriously...I think it went great! Our panel and adults did a great job of answering questions and showing them God's word. The youth really seemed to like it. For our first run I think we nailed it. Thanks Brandon, Donald and Adults!

Halloween, Missing Holiday and Christmas

What do I mean by this title. Well with a little thought you would probably figure it out. If you enter almost any department store around this time of the year you will see the Halloween decor on sale 50 PERCENT OFF and then the Christmas isle begins to push it's way in. The fade from one to the other is almost a given and most hardly notice the change.

What I have to ask is: Where is Thanksgiving in all of this? Besides a end cap full of orange, yellow and brown cups and napkins. That is pretty much it. I know...I know... there is that one isle in the grocery area that has all the food preparations. But we can't really attribute that to just Thanksgiving. Christmas serves the same items. What is November known most for? Unfortunately any more it is Black Friday! Thanksgiving is just Black Friday eve. Isn't that just wrong people??

I know as a child I loved Thanksgiving. I remember fall festivals, making the familiar turkey with construction paper, coloring a pilgrim or two family meals and the Thanksgiving day parade. As I child I didn't think about Christmas yet. That time was reserved for December.

I think it is time to reclaim a wonderful holiday and actually be Thankful for what God has provided for us. Get excited about Him and not the great buys the day after.