Ah, to have faith like a child. Apparently, the fervent prayer of a righteous dog can avail much too.
Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. – Matthew 18:19-20
Last night my buddy Chad and I decided we would start something together. We are going to start focusing on one person to pray for every week. We are going to agree in prayer for that person for seven days and look for God to move in their lives. Prayer is a powerful thing, especially when two or more people are agreeing in prayer. We started today. Next Wednesday we will begin praying for someone else. I am really excited to see how God moves.
Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. – Matthew 18:19
Filed under: Football, Life Happens, NFL, Random Junk, Sports | Tags: ESPN2, Media Day, New England Patriots, Super Bowl, Tom Brady
I have to edit my opinion about Tom Brady a little bit. I have always thought he was a bit pompous. He just has that air about him. On the other hand, I don’t know him from Adam so my opinion is based on seeing him on TV and hearing what I hear about him.
Today, on ESPN2, I saw a clip of Mr. Brady at Media Day for the Super Bowl. He was being pestered by the usually media folks and then someone else. It was an obnoxious (or possibly special) woman asking him to marry her. He handled this situation with so much class I couldn’t help but right about it. He simply smiled, said he was flattered and asked her name. When she replied that her name was “Inez” (or “Enez”, not sure which) he said she had a beautiful name. He told her he couldn’t accept her proposal but the person that got to marry her would be a lucky man.
In a world where most celebrities can’t think of anyone but themselves, Mr. Brady actually spoke with this woman instead of blowing her off or simply ignoring her. It would have been much easier but he showed a lot of class. Consider my opinion edited.
[I know Tony is going to love this post.]
Filed under: Conviction Hurts, Daily Living, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Prayer, Question of the day, Religion, church
Something has been on my heart a lot lately and I wanted to share it with you. It’s a question that my brother drew up in me when we were having a conversation no too long ago. We talked about overseas missions and witnessing and reaching the lost. I have been asking myself ever since, “Does my heart break for the lost?” It should and I have found lately that I think it does…but not enough.
With the passing of Heath Ledger and Brad Renfro in the last month I have found myself really pondering this question and becoming more and more saddened by my indifference as it applies to the Heath Ledger’s, Brad Renfro’s and John Q. Public’s of the world. I have been indifferent because I don’t spend a lot of time praying for the lost. I certainly don’t spend any time weeping for them. I have been praying lately that my attitude change toward the people in the world that I may never know and that seemingly will never affect my life. Even if that is true, do they need Jesus any less than the person sitting in the cubicle next to me? Do they need Jesus any less than my crazy in-laws? I prayer for them, why not those I don’t know? I don’t know if they will ever affect me but I know my attitude toward them can affect them. I know that there is power in prayer and if I pray for the lost that power can change lives.
So that is what is on my heart. That is a new resolution for me for the New Year.
Filed under: Random Junk, Stupid Happens | Tags: OSHA, You can't be serious, You got to be kidding me
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I am so glad I live in America.
Filed under: Daily Living, Faith, God, God is good, Jesus, Leadership, Ministry, Prayer, Religion, church, forgiveness | Tags: 1 Timothy, Grace, pastors, The Holy Spirit
I think we, as a people, expect too much of our pastors. No, I know we do. I firmly believe pastors should be held to a higher standard. I believe we should live our lives as purely and Godly as possible. I believe we will fail miserably and often and that is where the Holy Spirit is needed the most, in our failures. If we were infallible we would not need the Holy Spirit. If we were perfect we would not have needed Jesus to die for us on the cross. I know I needed Him to die for me, I know I need Him today and it’s a safe bet I will need Him tomorrow.
I don’t think we, as pastors, have to live our lives a boring and plainly as possible in order to be a good pastor. Now, I am not saying I am a good pastor; I am far from it. Paul said it best in 1 Timothy 15-17:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
I was shown so much mercy in order to be saved. I have been shown more mercy to serve in the ministry and even more to serve alongside a wife such as mine. It is because of this mercy, because I remember where I came from, that I do my utmost to have mercy and grace for others, especially pastors. It seems as if people forget that we need it as much, if not more than others because we are held to a different standard. We are “graded” more severely. We live our lives. We aren’t perfect. Unfortunately, not everything we do or say will be as Jesus would have it. We may laugh at or tell an off color joke. We may not exclusively listen to gospel music. We may not begin every day with an hour’s worth of prayer. We surely won’t live every minute of our lives according to every word of the Bible. I wish I could. I am glad Jesus knew we couldn’t and had grace for me too.
Last night something beautiful happened; I had a Chuck sandwich! Yes, that’s right folks, last night Chuck finally came back. What’s more? There were two episodes of Chuck with an episode of Trumpy “Bad Hair” McChumpy in between (I opted for a DVR’d copy of Battlestar Galactica during that show). I missed Chuck. It is easily my favorite show and I was bent when it ended last year.
Chuck is far and away the best new show on TV. Say what you will about The Office or Grey’s Anatomy or any of the other hip shows out there. Chuck is perfect. The characters are likable and fun. The actors deliver their dialogue with just the right amount of cheese (too much cheese can ruin any kind of sandwich). The writing is spot on; witty yet heartfelt at the same time. The actors have fantastic chemistry. Oh, and Adam Baldwin is nails. The only thing I don’t like about the show is the same fault I find with many TV shows; the guest “stars”. Most of the time these guests totally crash the party. The delivery chick from last night’s second show just flat out sucked! Other than that, Chuck is the show to watch people. I also appreciate the fact that it is fairly clean. Go get some Chuck.
Filed under: Conviction Hurts, Daily Living, Faith, Family, God, God is good, Life Happens, Marriage, Ministry, Prayer, Religion, men's prayer, wisdom | Tags: birth control, children, The Patch, The Pill, trust
Trusting God has always been pretty easy for me. At least, that is what I thought. You see, there have been challenging times in my life that I have gone through and many of which I have not lost a minute of sleep over. When I married Cheri I had perfect peace that she was the girl God picked for me. I was right. When we uprooted our lives and moved to Austin to help start a church I trusted that He wanted us to do it and He would take care of us because we trusted. He has blessed us greatly. And when we bought our house we trusted God would provide for us. We budgeted for both of our incomes and when Cheri lost her job it kind of threw that out the window. I didn’t panic, I trusted God. She has been without work for 2 months now and we have been just fine. We aren’t setting the world on fire and we certainly won’t be able to retire soon but the bills are getting paid and we can still afford to go to dinner and a movie every so often.
This morning, in men’s prayer, God let me know what a buffoon I am. I was praying for the children in the church. As I prayed for them I thanked Him for not giving us a child before we were ready (but really, is anyone ever really ready for a child?). Cheri and I will be married for three years in April. We decided we would talk about trying to have a kid sometime after we were married for two years. About four or five months ago we decided to go off of birth control and just let it happen if it happens. So, for the past four or five months I have trusted God to do what would be best for us. For the previous two-plus years I made sure I was in control. Really? There is no pill or patch that will keep God from giving you a child if that is what He wants. I really believed I was in control. What do you think? Do you think you are in control by taking birth control? Even abstinence can’t keep God from giving you a child if He wants to. Don’t believe me? Ask Mary.
My point is not to be an advocate for or against birth control. My point is to be an advocate for trusting in God. I want to trust Him with everything, big and small. This revelation was a step in the right direction.
Filed under: Food, Ministry, Teenagers, Youth Ministry | Tags: ice cream, Marble Slab
I don’t know what it is about cold, nasty weather that makes me crave ice cream but it almost always does. Last night we only had a few students at youth service so I decided to drive us all over to Marble Slap and grab some creamy, delectable goodness in a chocolate dipped cone. Oh, very nice. You know, most folks think of chili or soup or hot cocoa when it’s cold and nasty, not Dave, no sir. I want to mix things up and keep ‘em exciting. I am an odd bird but I am okay with that. But, you know what, every one of the teens last night was pumped that we were going to get some ice cream. They like mixing it up too. They like to go against the grain a little bit. They like to do what nobody else is doing. At least, I think they like that stuff. Maybe they just like ice cream and I am reaching way too hard to find some kind of link between my way of thinking and teenagers.
Filed under: Daily Living, Faith, Family, God, Jesus, Leadership, Learning my trade, Legacy Fellowship, Marriage, Ministry, Prayer, Religion, Teenagers, Youth Ministry, church | Tags: The Cutting Edge, The Lion King, The Watchmen
For the last few weeks I have really felt the push to mix it up. I need to mix it up in my marriage, my prayer life, my bible reading, and especially the youth ministry I lead. I have started calling my wife during the day a whole lot more. Yesterday I met her for lunch. I even let her watch some ice skating movie last night; The Edges Being Cut by Blades of Glory on Ice…or something like that. It had the chick that voices Simba’s girlfriend in The Lion King. Anyway, I read The Watchmen. So, I think that is a good start mixing it up with the wife and I know she appreciated it; she told me so, otherwise I would still be wondering.
As far as the youth ministry goes, I have been mixing it up a little the last couple of weeks. I had Cheri preach to the teens last week and it was good. I think the girls liked the feminine touch she brought to the evening instead of constantly seeing me up there making funny faces with arms flailing like a wounded duck. But I digress. Tonight at Filter (the youth ministry) we are going to have a “round-table” discussion. We don’t have any round tables but you know what I mean, right? Basically, I really feel the need to lead the group to have a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to talk to them tonight about pray and the importance of it. I want to teach them why Jesus prayed, and if the Son of God needed to pray then we definitely need to as well. I want to know what they think about prayer. I will never know how to address their issues, questions and concerns if I don’t know what they are. Hopefully tonight I will find them out.
