Kenya

I went to Wal-Mart today and wanted to complain about the crowded conditions, the northerners, and the overcrowding...but as I consider what is taking place in my second homeland it all pales in comparison. Kenya, a country of nearly 34 million people, just had their elections, the sitting president has been re-elected, but not without controversy, the hanging chad's of Florida and all the upset of that election are nothing, the Kenyans have taken it to the street! Stores are being looted, buildings are being burned, and lives have been taken. One of my friend has opened his home as a refuge and says that Kenya is close to a civil war, other are sending email requesting our prayerful support. Pray for Kenya, these are wonderful people in desperate need of God's intervention! I love Kenya, have been many times and will continue to go the remainder of my life, how I long for their safety and peace, may God give them grace and may the church of Jesus Christ arise in powerful ministry during these difficult times!

Blessed 2 Bless 2B Blessed

The Lord of Heaven blessed me this year with a number of gift cards for Starbucks, people who know me know that it is definitely close to an addiction in my life. Today my wife, our oldest daughter and myself visited one of the Starbucks in the mall, I ordered a tall caramel frap, a tall and a grande strawberry and cream frap, much to my delight the total cost was just over eight dollars...it should have been closer to twelve! As the barrister went over my order we quickly discovered she had missed mine, the larger one, I told her I'd get my trusty gift card out again to which she replied, "Don't Worry About It!" I was taken aback and insisted, no she said, I've got it! Looking around I noticed the tip jar, assumed it would be split by the many, so I took out a five and said, "Well, you take this!", she tried to resist but I smiled, insisted, and walked off, she stood there grinning and my daughter seemed pleased.

This year I probably received 45.00 in Starbucks gift cards, the one I usually drink is 4.00, that's eleven cups of coffee, that's a caffeine heaven, it also became an opportunity to be be a blessing and to be blessed.

God blesses us in order to be a blessing, nothing is meant to be kept totally, we may not always give all of our stuff away, but once we've been blessed we need to look for the opportunity to bless others. I left feeling like I had given a hundred bucks away, when in truth, it was just a dollar over the price of the drink she blessed me with. There was something about giving that money to that young lady that made me feel like a minister!

I'm not meaning to brag, please don't misunderstand, I use this example because it's fresh to me, I want to be a blesser, to impact others without any reason or without seeking a return, if we do, there will be a return, in fact, it will be instant, you will obtain the joy of giving, of imparting something of value into the lives of others and that is powerful.

What would happen this year if we determined to be blessers? What if beyond our normal giving of tithe and offerings, missions and other types of giving, we looked for opportunities to bless people, whether it be a financial blessing, a card or email, a gift, a book, or just a phone call? Wonder how many people we could encourage in the next 365 days? What if once a month we did something out of the norm? Here's a thought, what if you blessed someone you have had a hard time with, knowing that they may not respond initially in a positive manner? Let's try it and see what the Lord will do in our lives!

Happy New Year!

Christmas and Children

This has been a busier than usual holiday season, had to do most of my shopping on the run. Finally got it done, or so I thought...Christmas Eve my wife and I went to Golden Corral for breakfast, walked in at 9:00 AM, they're doors are open but they don't open until 10:00 AM, so we go to K-Mart for the 2.79 special, the place was packed, so we ended up at IHOP in Dade City nine miles away. From there we went to Wal-Mart for our weekly grocery shopping, I nearly backslid, had a heart attack and went crazy all at the same time...but we were done...so I thought! We all start wrapping presents and the baby, our eight year old, starts counting presents...I'm back out to Wal-Mart...two of them to be exact, I got what I was looking for, but it took two stores and an hour to get there, and my baby got a brief, but kind reminder from her mother of the need to be appreciative! Today has been a good day, presents were accepted with great gratitude, dinner was wonderful, and I've been busy putting stuff together, batteries installed, and electronics hooked up...I got a clock that I can put my Ipod in and play it through...pretty cool and I've had several opportunities to use my new pocket knife...I am a real Floridian! 2007 has been a good year, I've been blessed with a wonderful family and the Lord has shown me great favor...thanks for being a part of my life this year...see you in the blogs!

Unbelievable!

I've been glued to the television for four nights watching The Clash of the Choirs. Two hours each night, I even slipped out of the Christmas cookie night at church to come home and set my DVR...Only for Nick Lachey to win...No Way! First of all, we could have got it all done in one hour, but his team while good, wasn't that good...Patti LaBelle and team LaBelle were off the charts...It's unbelievable, my day is ruined...well, that and the fact that I woke up before six this morning and couldn't go back to sleep and that my daughter lost her cell phone and we have to go shopping today...Go Patti!

Need I Say More? Caffe Mocha with a shot of Vanilla on my desk right now!

Eight Random Thoughts

I've been tagged by my friend Barbara on Tidbits and Treasures, check out her blog some time it's awesome. I'm supposed to share eight random things about myself:

1. I'm 45
2. I'm the oldest of two...My sister is 3 years younger than me
3. I'm addicted to Starbucks
4. I can't stand for the tags in clothing to show
5. I dipped my cats feet in the bathtub while I was in it last night
6. I hate Nextel cellular service but continue using it
7. I love Florida
8. I've been married 20 years to the most awesome friend in the world!

O My Goodness!

This past Sunday we had the most incredible experience! We ate at a Brazilian Grill called Texas DeBrazil. There are over 60 items on the salad bar, and then they start bringing the meat out on a spit, they carve you off a piece and then come around again and again and again. I think that there were at least ten different types of meat, we didn't eat all of them, but several...incredible is all that I can say. Then we went to the Bass Pro Shop, not necessarily my style of shopping, but it was I must say a good experience, they have absolutely the most fantastic selection of stuff for the outdoorsman! Christmas time in Florida, there's nothing like it! We're having a cool spell...down to 70 today!

Being Boring Is So Boring!

My children tell me from time to time that I'm old, I so appreciate their kind words...I usually follow up by telling them they're grounded...they appreciate me even more then! I may be old but I don't intend on being boring! It is my earnest intention to remain on the cutting edge, to keep myself up to date, out of the box, across the top, and to make sure I know where I am and where I'm going...I can't stand to be bored and don't want to be boring. Life is an exciting journey filled with surprises, corners to be turned, trials to be faced, decisions to be made, and life to be lived. Life is full of Starbuck's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Cold Stone, Baskin Robbins and my soon to be favorite Texas DeBrazil...all of these places go outside the norm and offer something beyond McDonald's, Burger King and Arby's, their menu, their atmosphere, and their purpose for existence is cross over into area no one else is going. Don't you ever get tired of being like everyone else? Cookie Cutter Christians, Parrot People, folks that just say, do, and look like everyone else, it just doesn't work for me, I want to identify with others and don't want to impose my will on anyone, but I don't want to just be the same, following in someone else's wake, I want to create a wake others can follow...Just don't want to be boring!

August Rush

My wife and I went to see the movie August Rush this evening, it is absolutely one of the most phenomenal movies I've ever seen. Simple story of a couple that met, got separated, she had a baby, it was given up for adoption unknown to her and a journey begins within all three to find one another. The child is a musical genius...one of those destiny type movies, makes you want to shout in the movie! I will buy this one the day it comes out!

I'm Going To Fire My Wife!

My wife works at our school as the Art, Music, and PE teacher, she is pretty and quite incredible! I'm thinking of firing her...think it may put me on the couch? She is working hard to get her Christmas musical ready for two night of performance next week, one week from today to be exact. Two or three weeks ago she requested that we purchase wireless mics for her, I responded no, we will rent some...I've told her this three times...today she asked me if I had gotten the mics yet...it wasn't good...I am the chancellor you know...I could fire her...I would be in deep doo doo! I just needed to say it out loud...I'm better now, she's still beautiful, employed and I love her...but if she asks the fourth time...it'll be the same!

I'm A True Floridian Now!

Being raised in the Chicago area I have prided myself on being quite Northern. Raised by southern parents I eat more southern than northern, except that I love Italian Beef, Gyro's, and Thin Pizza, all Chicago's finest...I have no southern accent, though I have lived and ministered much in the south over the past twenty years...I drink sweet tea with lemons like it's going out of style and have a deep love and appreciation for the south...tonight I became a true Floridian! After finishing a fine Cuban meal of black beans, yellow rice and roast pork, I opened my Christmas gift from our pastoral family at our annual staff Christmas party...A brand spanking new Winchester pocket knife! What every true southern gentleman needs...Even though Florida really isn't considered the deep south...we're deeper than anywhere else...I am now a Floridan!

A Florida Christmas

Today it is nearly 80 degrees, last night there was a Christmas parade in the town next to ours, there are Christmas decorations up all over our neighborhood...it's 80's! Christmas in Florida seems strange, I love it, but it is really different...I'm trying to get my wife to do away with the Christmas trees and decorate palms...it isn't working! The Yankees have returned, in full force and I believe they've brought more with them, our town of 30-40 thousand has now become a town of e nearly 90 thousand and more are on their way. Traffic is slow, restaurants are packed, and the stores are filled with wheel chairs and those little motorized carts...I keep getting stuck in lines at Walmart surrounded by seniors and behind people who have some type of issue that requires the calling of someone or the return of something...I'm trying to be patient and haven't blown a gasket ...yet! Last night I went to a Holy Spirit conference near Orlando, Pastor Ron Phillips was the guest speaker, it was timely and powerful, many were touched. The Holy Spirit asked me a simple question as we stood worshiping, "What are you leaving the next generation?" I'm still working on an answer!

Is Everyone Right?

In 1980 I had a spiritual encounter while at a college retreat in North Dakota, while kneeling in front of a window overlooking a lake, the Holy Spirit spoke a simple word into my spirit, "I have called you to be a pastor!" From that time I have desired to pastor a growing congregation, a group of people who love God with all of their hearts, who worship with passion, who minister to others with zeal and a harvest mindset, who give generously, who believe in global missions and most of all, believe that life is all about God! Simple as it sounds, that has been my dream and mission for nearly 29 years. The Body of Christ is in a season of transition, shifting, a time of decision, we are seeking to follow Christ and to be all that we can be, and it isn't always easy. There are many voices telling us which way to go, conservatives that tell us just hold the fort, don't make any waves, traditionalist that are convinced they are the only way to go, moderates that say we must blend yesterday and today in order to reach tomorrow, and then there are the emerging, those that say the past really doesn't matter we must become the church eventually...We debate over styles of dress and worship, wear jeans and t-shirts, suits and ties, sing old worn out hymns and new found worship songs, it seems that we are trying to determine what is right. Could it be it's all right? Could it be that we need to hold on to the foundation of our faith given by our forefathers, that some traditions have a place, and yes, we are constantly growing, or emerging into what God has always desired for us to be? Is it possible that in some places jeans and t-shirts are ok, while in others suits and ties are more appropriate, and that what is happening is we are trying to create a cookie cutter church where everyone is just the same? For me, I believe we're in a crisis of faith, we must know what we believe and who we are, how we express it and what each church does to make their ministries effective is going to be different. Our foundational truth can never change, who we are deep inside must always be secure, truth never changes and the Word always works! Solomon said that when it's said and done we need to love and fear God, keep His commandments, this is the whole duty of man while on earth!

Thanksgiving

The scripture keeps going through my mind that says that in everything we are to give thanks, to rejoice in the Lord always, and to be thankful and bless His holy name. I am thankful today for the Lord, His amazing grace and constant love...I'm such a loser, who knows why He cares for me, but I'm so thankful that He does. I am thankful for my family and friends, for my church and pastoral family...I'm thankful that it doesn't snow in Florida and that we aren't freezing to death...I'm thankful for the freedom to express myself and for the opportunities that have been afforded me...I'm thankful for the huge Thanksgiving dinner we enjoyed today, turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, no stuffing, and punch bowl angel food cake...Can you say stuffed? I'm thankful for my blogland friends and wish each of you a Happy Holiday Season!

football fans

We're sitting in Beef O Brady's this afternoon having lunch when our oldest daughter starts giggling. There are two little old ladies sitting at the bar wearing Indianapolis Colts Jersey's watching the football game, one of them has a sign "Go Colts!" that she holds in front of the television periodically....sports fans just aren't right! My wife is the sports fanatic in our home, I just go to my room and shut the door. When she gets a sign to post in front of the television I'm her a special room...one with rubber sound proof walls!

My new friend!

The Past, The Present, and The Future

I returned to my home state of Illinois last week to minister in Carmi, IL. Though I am from the Chicago area and Carmi is in the southern part of the state, it was quite the joy to be home for a few days and to enjoy fellow Illinoisan's! In fact, on my last full day there I traveled further south to Golconda, population 750 where I spent two and half years of my life as a child, and on down to Dixon Springs, a quick visit to the Chocolate Factory, owned and operated by Jim and Linda Meherg, friends and family that I've known and loved my entire life. While in Carmi I ministered to a congregation that has a tremendous past, established many years ago, pastored by some top notch pastors, this church has such a rich history, I drove past their first building, and their second building, and I preached in their new third building. The congregants of this church are middle age and up, many of them past 60, and maybe even 70. As you look down the walls you see the old stain glass windows of the old church embedded and lit up in the walls of the new church, and you hear the echoes of the past shouting into the present, prophesying to the future...Your time is now! I loved yesterday, it was a great day, it created opportunities for today, it blessed me with a fantastic foundation. In my yesterday someone paid a price that I could never have paid, they paved paths for me to follow, and they prayed that God would raise me up to take the reins when they could no longer lead, but that was yesterday...I live in today! Today is a great day, it was tomorrow yesterday, just as today will be yesterday tomorrow! Today I have the opportunity to pave the way for others, to impart into this present generation, into my family and friends, to impress upon my children the urgency of living in today, or as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The fierce urgency of now!" Today is the day the Lord has made and now is the time to rejoice and be glad. Today is the day to touch others, to impact lives, to make a difference in the world I live in...To live in My Space to the fullest! Tomorrow will never come, it will become today, what I want to be in my tomorrow must be planted today! In his book "The Present", C. Spencer Johnson offers these three options for life: a.) Appreciate your past, b.) Live in your present, c.) Plan for your future! We cannot afford to forget yesterday, but we must live in today, we cannot afford not to plan for tomorrow, we must sow into tomorrow...Today! I am convinced that we can learn from where we've been, enjoy where we are, and become what we've always been destined to be!

Hanging Around The House!

Since August I've been gone as much if not more than I've been home, so when I flew in Thursday it was a thrill knowing that I am home for four weeks...That's right, four weeks! As I was flying into Tampa on Thursday my wife was flying to Dayton, OH to visit her family in Hamilton, her Dad turned 80 this week and her birthday was on Friday. So I'm here at home with my two daughters, one of which is rarely home and the other is either trying to be gone or to have some one come over, and then there's the pets, a dog, a cat that is crazy, and a new goldfish...if history proves to be true the fish will have a limited tenure here, we'll see! Last night my little one and I made the quick trip to Duncan Donuts, after 2:00 PM if you buy six you get six free...we bought six and got six, five are already gone, thank goodness only two of us are home, we'd be fighting for that last donut! Have you ever snuck into the kitchen to grab the last donut before your child got it? I have to admit, that's pretty bad but I've done it! There's no place like home, getting back into the swing of things, getting caught up and reconnected...There's probably a spiritual lesson to be learned here...for now I just want to quote the great prophet Ty Pennington, "Welcome Home Smith Family, Welcome Home!"

Intense Searching

Have you ever lost something that you just knew was still around, you just had to find it? You turn the car, house, office, briefcase, whatever you can find and wherever you have either been or think you've been or even thought about going in hopes that the item will show up. I have, it's one of the most frustrating feelings in the world, especially when you either don't find it or it was right out in the open and you looked over it forty times...Kind of like loosing your keys and they're in your hand! In Luke 15, Jesus told the parable of three lost things: a Lost Sheep, a Lost Coin, and a Lost Son, while He dealt primarily with the concept of being lost, He also revealed the necessity of intense searching. The fact that the lost item had such value that it could not remain lost, it had to be found regardless of the time and cost it took to find it. We generally use these scriptures to describe the lost sinner, the person who doesn't know the Lord and have a walking relationship with Him, but what if it goes beyond that? What if we can be saved, know and love the Lord, and still be lost? Is it possible that we become lost to ourselves, to others, and yes, lost to the relationship we have with Jesus, but not lost from Him? Is it possible that there are times when we lose our joy, our spunk, our desire, our intensity and must seek diligently until we find it? I think so, personally, there have been times when I just wasn't certain who I was anymore, I knew my geographical location, but wasn't sure of my place there, I had to search for myself, had to refind myself, and sometimes it required intense searching... I've also found that I and my stuff are usually where I left them, much like the student who came to the prophet sorrowful that he had lost a borrowed axhead. The prophet asked a simple question, "Where did it fall?", to which the student, in the water...he knew exactly where he lost his edge and I contend that most of the time we do too...We just have to look for it!

Lost Thunder

After years of being the "Big Dog" and the only pet in our home, thanks to the baby kitten, Gizmo has lost his thunder. A baby kitten is cute and cuddly, cries allot and needs much attention, is small and light as a feather, he's just a baby...and is getting that new child attention...So our dog looks like he might be depressed. On top of that the kitten has him on the run, he's afraid of it, I keep calling him a girl, which is better than my usual daily dose of calling him an idiot! I think I've lost my thunder a few times, moments when I wasn't sure of who I was, where my place was, and wondered if I really fit. Nothing anyone could say or do was enough to make me feel better or change the way I was thinking, I just had to work it out...Maybe I can learn a lesson from my dog!