I try this all the time, I know I would love to blog more, but I don't.  I'm guessing there are more blog posts written around the world during the first part of January every year.  I felt there was too much to my list for a simple Facebook post, so I wanted to share here.  I challenged our church to focus on the positive things God had done in their lives over the last year rather than just focus on where improvements needed to be made (aka resolutions).  This is my list.  It is no particular order because I don't think I can rank most of them in importance.  Some are obviously more important than others, but most are the same or close to it.  I also decided to not use any blessings that happen all the time, no matter how great they are.  Things like church growth, safety for family, love of friends, and other things that are definitely blessings I am no listing because I wanted to focus on special things specific to the past year.

For those who don't care to read descriptions, here is my list.  I will write more after the list.

Wes accepted Christ

Baptizing Jayden

Wes and I finding an activity special to us (Battle Block Theater)

Jayden surviving first year in Middle School

Brother engaged to what seems to be the perfect girl for him (just happy for him)

Triplet Thanksgiving Vacation

Disney Vacation

Lake Vacation

Mexico Mission Trip

Spiritual growth of people who were thought to be lost causes by most

Building Occupancy done

Jeep

Missed October sickness I have had for the last several years

Cowboys have a good season, Harvick earns his first championship in style

To say I have been blessed in the previous year is a gross understatement of what actually happened.  I'm pretty sure I could not have asked for anything more.  Thank you to all the people who were involved in making my 2014 so wonderful, I pray yours was as good or better.  

Wes accepting Christ was obviously the most blessed thing in the year.  The fact that he did it on the same date Jayden did just a few years ago made it even more special.  I don't push my kids to make that decision.  I leave it to them to hear the message from us, from their friends, and from their teachers (Thanks Mrs. Kirk and Mrs. Miller).  Jayden was talking to Wes instead of them going to sleep and Wes asked Christ to be his Lord and Savior.  We talked to him afterwards and let him explain exactly what all that meant and he did a great job.  Nothing worried more as a parent than the eternal destination of my kids, now I know they will be with me and Jesus.  I am blessed.

I love baptizing believers, especially now that I do it in the river like Christ did.  This was a huge year for the people who got baptized, but that is an occurrence that God keeps repeating year after year.  Getting to baptize the Jaydster was extra special though.  It's a real perk of my position that I didn't take for granted.

I work to find things that are special for me and each boy individually, I think the time I spend with them on an individual basis is always special.  Finding a stupid game that Wes loves and we can play together, just the two of us, was special.  My hands have been in pain all year from all the high-fives I have received in celebration.

Our school system decided to put 5th graders in middle school, which is in the same building of the high school.  Like any parent, we were a little worried about dropping our 10 year old off at school where the seniors were hanging around their cars making out in the parking lot.  He has always rolled with the punches though, and seems unfazed by the enormous responsibility being forced upon him.

Nathan found himself a wonderful girl, and is now engaged.  My blessing for next year will be getting to do the wedding.  He is a good guy and I couldn't be happier for him and them.  His happiness is a blessing to me.

I love the triplets!  I enjoy the presence of my sister and brother-in-law also.  I don't get to see my family often, and the triplets I had spent less than a week with over the last 4 years.  This Thanksgiving we got to spend a week with them, and have a terrific Thanksgiving with tons of family and friends I don't get to see often.  The kids turned 4 yesterday, and I am amazed at how wonderful a job Charlotte and Nick are doing with them.  Not that they aren't capable, but the kids are triplets and AMAZING.  I joke with people that the first child is a trick to make parents think they should have a second because they will be just as good, then the second kid is a warning to not have any more.  The Barkleys solved this problem by having all three as first children.

Jess gives up a lot of things to be with me in the ministry.  Anything I can do to make her happy is worth it.  I was against going to Disney this year and I was WRONG.  We had never taken a family vacation with just us.  We decided to do it this year because we felt the boys were the perfect age and it wouldn't be the same if we waited much longer.  We were right.  It was the perfect vacation.  Perfect from top to bottom.  Everything from the weather to plane rides.  I doubt my boys will ever again have the perfect seating at events, the perfect location for the hotel room, the perfect timing for Star Wars at Hollywood Studios, timing for crowds, timing to get to fight Darth Vader on stage.  The boys will never forget their vacation, and will probably be disappointed if we go there again because it cannot be as perfect.

Speaking of things Jess gives up, none is more hard on her than being away from family.  Every second she gets to be with them is crucial to her survival.  We see them pretty much every summer, but almost had to miss out this year due to our Disney vacation.  The family came all the way out this direction to where I was able to take the extra days off and hit the lake with the family.  Jess needs this more than people can possibly imagine.  Thanks to her family for working so hard to spend time with her (I know you all love her just as much as she loves you).

I haven't been on the mission field in a long time.  Returning to Mexico was a huge blessing to me, and a reminder of how blessed I actually am.  Getting to do rock work and carpentry because people don't know how untalented I am with tools was fun.  Getting to know the people I was with was a real blessing.  Getting to know the Swicks better and crossing the border with my buddy Garrett every day was a blessing.  Knowing that God in his infinite wisdom decided to allow me to live in America was a humbling reminder of how blessed I am.  I can't list living here as a blessing because it happens every year, but people should stop complaining about our amazing country or go somewhere else.

As a pastor, a lot of the spiritual blessings happening in the church are more personal to me.  This past year I got to witness many people come to Christ, or back to church, or make real decisions to grow that people had been praying about for a long time.  Getting to see God work miracles in the lives of individuals and families that were "lost causes" this past year was a huge blessing.

We finally finished enough of the building to get our permanent occupancy.  We are fully legally able to use the building.  I never expected to be stuck in a building project my first year as pastor, but I have been through enough of them over the last 16 years that I know I don't really enjoy them.  They are stressful to all involved, cause tons of dissension, cost lots of money, and always leave you with more problems to fix.  It was a huge blessing to have the government decide we were good to go and up to code so that headache is gone.  Next year's blessing will be our final payment of the debt and be debt free again in March.

Not much explaining necessary, we were starting to look for a new vehicle when out of the blue God led someone to give us their Jeep because they were upgrading to a larger vehicle.  Within a month the car died we would have been in a major bind.  The Jeep being listed near the end of this list is a reminder that I did not put this in order.

I can't say good health for the last year, because it really happens relatively often.  The past five or six years though, I have come down with an bad upper respiratory sickness around October that seems to last most of the winter.  This is the first year in a while I did not get that.  I may get it again next year, but it was a real blessing not to have it in 2014.

It may seem a insignificant to some, but I care about da boys.  I have watched them fight through mediocre season after mediocre season.  Getting to smile while thinking about them this year was a blessing.  Hopefully they continue the amazing season they had through the playoffs, but that is 2015.  Along the same lines, I have been a Harvick fan for Nascar since he entered the sport.  He has been close many times over the last few years, but came up short.  He won race after race to win the championship and he deserved it.  I don't care near as much as I will if the Cowboys can win Super Bowl in 2015, but it was a blessing to see someone rewarded for their hard work.  Although I didn't put these blessings in order, the sports blessings would probably be last, as they should.  If you read all of these, you have a lot of time on your hands, or you actually care about my life.  Either way, thanks for letting me relish in the wonderful year God gave me in 2014.  I can't wait to see where he'll take me this year!

The Actual Supreme Court

There is much confusion about laws and such these days.  Let me first say how happy I am that NY said no to expanding abortion beyond the current age deadline.  Prayers and politics appear to have worked here for now.  Having said that, the Supreme Court of the US made some decisions today.  I'll give my impression of them, though I am probably wrong and have little understanding of law, which my sister and brother-in-law will be happy to point out :-)  In regards to DOMA, the court said that if a state recognizes same-sex marriage, than the federal government also recognizes those unions and gives them the same rights, responsibilities and benefits, while also requiring that state to do the same.  It doesn't seem to directly affect those living in states which have same-sex marriage bans.  This is a strange ruling, as evidenced by the stances of the judges.  Strange because liberals are happy to see support of their moral standard in the case, and conservatives should be (though probably won't be) happy to see the Supreme Court support state rights.  I actually haven't even heard that brought up yet, maybe I am watching the wrong news channels.

The court's ruling on Proposition 8 is a completely different animal.  Proposition 8 was a California State Constitutional Amendment voted on and approved by voters almost a decade ago banning same-sex marriage in California.  The case in the Supreme Court today, though viewed as a victory for the homosexual community, was basically thrown out.  The court ruled that the people who were arguing for the amendment's constitutiality did not have the legal right to challenge the lower California court's ruling negating Proposition 8.  It was a legal boot to the case, sending it back to Californians to figure out.  Again, supporting state rights, but by what most would consider a legal technicality.

In both cases, it seems to me that nobody really won.  Neither side will look at it that way, but the Supreme Court did what they are supposed to do, and made their determination on the letter of the law, not their personal moral or political convictions, or at least it seems that way to me.  As far as law and politics go, I am happy to see the court support the rights of the states to make their own laws, even if it makes some issues awkward moving between states, while also doing their job of discerning the meaning of the law without bias.  They have a difficult job in doing that, one which I would never want.

As far as the moral convictions of our country, that is a different story.  Honestly, I don't think anybody will change their minds on how they feel about the issues today, but down the road is another story.  Listening to them talk about how they really just want to teach the children it's ok, and how they want it to go nationwide so that the children everywhere think that it's ok made me see the biggest problem with the legal stance of this country (not the courts, not the states, the country).  The children are being told more every day that immorality is ok (and I am not talking about just the homosexual issue).  As our country sways more away from Godly morals, we continue to legislate (yes we, we elect all those that make the laws, even in NY) toward increased immorality.  Don't blame the government, it is not their job to teach morals, nor is it the job of the schools.  They have begun to make and teach moral decisions because the church (Christians) has become so bad at it.

What about marriage?  When did the state get to decide who can and can't be married?  Why is the responsibility of the state to decide the definition of marriage?  It isn't, not in God's eyes.  He specifically defines marriage as the union between a man and woman.  No question about it.  Do all humans deserve the same legal rights?  No question about it (unless they forfeit them by breaking them).  The problem we have is not a legal one, it's a moral one.  The government shouldn't have to teach morals, that is God and the church's job.  We have not done a good job, the result is someone (the government) having to step in and try to teach morals (not the best people for that job!).  We (Christians) have failed in doing our job, teaching the children God's love and rules, so someone else is doing that (not the best people for that job)...

Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
 -  "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 4:9, 6:6-9

Summer is not my favorite season, it's no secret.  I don't like feeling like I'm living in an oven.  It's not fun for me to baste myself everyday so I don't burn while baking in the sun for 3 months.  The nice part about Summer is that things tend to slow down, it gives us a little rest from the busy pace of the rest of the year.

WHAT??  Not a chance!  There is no slowing down.  The kids are home from school and desperately looking to do something.  Jayden is still in school and asks everyday when he gets home, "What do I do now?"  I used to tell him to clean his room every time he asked.  That didn't work.  Now I simply tell him to go read or pray.  Both are quiet and necessary parts of his day.

What about us?  Summer is crazy.  We are so busy taking in every ounce of freedom (be it from snow, cold, or school) that we don't actually take the time to rest.  We are too busy running from ballgame to ballgame, pool to mini-golf, mowing to gardening, that we often forget Summer is our "slow down time."

The other things are great (except mowing, that's just more work), but we need to take time to slow down and charge back up for the next season in our lives.  In the last month I have scheduled four weddings.  Some next year, some next month (he doesn't get to deal with the crazy planning I guess).  What a wonderful time of year!  We just need to be sure to find some time to recharge physically and spiritually while we enjoy the "lazy" days of summer.  Who came up with those names??

It's our fault, not His

This is a necessary blog, because confusion continues to run rampant.  There is a serious problem when we try to blame God for the horrible things that happen in this world.  Too many times Christians decide that hurricanes, earthquakes, and insane shootings are God’s judgment on people.  Oddly, they then have trouble answering why God would do that to someone.  Make no mistake, the world is under horrible judgment, and will continue to be so until the day that God reconciles the world to Himself.  We make too many assumptions about how much we know about God.

We know He loves us. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins.  It was a very horrific, beyond understandable solution to the sin problem.  We know His death on the cross provided a method for us to be made right with Him, but that our sufferings will increase.  We live in an evil world, that is filled with pain and suffering.  Our answer is the peace that only Christ can give.  Some will beg and plead for Him to stay out of their lives, and He does, then we get upset because He doesn’t give the protection we so desperately desire.

The recent shootings were horrible by American standards.  I hate to bring this up, because it hurts us so much, but we are a country who turns our heads to worse atrocities around the world to young kids not even able to go to school.  Maybe we should think a little about that.

Is God to blame?  No.  It is man’s fault, not His.  This isn’t His world, not what He designed, not what He wants.  We don’t like His world, we wanted, and continue to want, this instead.  Is it the fault of all the Godless people in our nation?  Maybe, but how do we expect them to act?  They act the way they are born to act.  We can’t hate a cat because it cleans itself, or a bird because it flies.  Sin is the natural man we are born as.  It takes a radical change to become something else, that is where Christ comes in.

Hurt as it may, the majority of any moral responsibility falls squarely on the Christians.  It is the Christians who pray that God will bring this nation to its knees, this may be the last resort.  Natural disasters, financial crisis, and ruthless violence may just be the last resort.  Beyond that, it is Christians who have failed to step-up over the last few decades.  It is Christians who have turned away from God, letting Him be taken out of our society.  We vote for leaders who are against our morals, we show our children how to NOT follow God, and worry more about offending people than loving them.  I do not have to wait until I hear all the details on the recent CT shooting, I can tell you that evil had hurt him tremendously, and that ambassadors of Christ had not been able to share the healing that only Christ provides.  If we want this to end, if we want this country (my state!) and this world to change it will take radical change in the life of those who claim to be Christians.  We should examine ourselves if we want real change.

My prayers are with those who were impacted by this tragedy in CT.  We feel sorrow for the adults in the school, but the concept of all those young kids having their lives ended and horrifically impacted hurts badly.  I pity anyone who has not shed tears for these children and their families.  Gun control, hatred, evil, new security measures, and more education will not fix this.  Only real change in the hearts and actions of first Christians will have any impact.  Showing our love to all we can, especially those who are hurting, is a good start.  Are you ready to do your part?

US Government supports Christ!?

I know many of you are thinking, "No, it can't be true!" but it is.  I just picked up a book of stamps today with Mary and Joseph riding a camel with the star behind them.  The series is called "Holy Family", and has the word "Christmas" right on the front.  The slap in the face to all that is politically (in)correct and offensive to Christians brought a smile to my face.  I felt I needed to share the joy over something so simple, because the anti-PC campaign has already started.  We should fight to make sure our right to say, "Merry Christmas" when ever we want to, to whomever we want to, is just as accepted as saying, "Happy 4th of July."

Let's be honest, most Christians won't even notice what the government did.  They will be too busy looking for all the offensive omissions we are surrounded by on a daily basis during the holidays.  I'm sure there will be no chain letters demanding we overwhelm our elected officials and the postmaster with calls, faxes, and emails supporting the decision to blatantly support our beloved Christ's birth.  We should praise them.  Not for taking a bold stand, but for recognizing that this is a special time for Christians, and acknowledging we have just as much right as anyone to celebrate our special days.

I encourage all of you chain mail writers to do something positive this time.  Thank our officials for reminding our country what Christmas is all about.  Then you can send this to all your friends and relatives who hate Christmas and let them know Jesus came for them, and even the post office wants them to know it.

I want to share some of my OPINIONS on the election.  I know some will be unhappy with what I say, but some of it needs to be said.  Take it as how I see it.  I voted for Mitt Romney, but he lost.  I know that is fine, because God is still in control.  It will have to get a lot worse before America is ready to fall on its knees before God and repent from all the evil.  We obviously don't have it bad enough yet.  Having said that, don't be offended as your read on...

It's been a while since I've posted, but I feel this is a good time to share some of my thinking.  First off, let me share a quote from the Baptist Press...

Fred Luter, the Southern Baptist Convention's first African American president, said the Bible encourages Christians to pray for those in authority regardless of their political affiliation.

"As citizens of the United States, it's now time for us to put away our yard signs and buttons and [pray for] our president," Luter told Baptist Press. "Our nation is in trouble, and we need Believers to pray God's will be done in America. We need to understand it's only going to happen because the people of God start praying for revival in America."

Luter, senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, said God made a promise to His people, not to the government, then quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14. 

"'If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.' So, even though we've just elected a president, it's not dependent on the president, but on the people of God doing our part," Luter said.



I am not afraid to admit that this was the worst election I have ever seen.  It is not easy to choose between a Christian (very liberal, but he is) with morals I and the Bible strongly oppose, and cult leader.  The possibility of 2 Supreme Court judges being replaced over the next 4 years ultimately influenced my decision more than anything else on the moral end.  I would like to encourage Christians to step back from the ledge though.

I am not a prophet, but I don't see Obama's victory as bringing the US under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood during his term.  In fact, with the GOP maintaining control of the house, it will be a stalemate in Washington for at least a couple more years while both sides argue and fight and the majority of America stays in a recession looking for answers.  Pray that God will change our president's heart more in the area of abortion than anything else, secondly his relationship with God's chosen people and the nation of Israel.

What if Romney won?  My personal opinion is that some real moves in the area of moral issues such as abortion would have happened.  I would like to say Roe vs Wade would be overturned, but it will take an act of God, not of government, to turn this country to Him.

Let's face it, America no longer has a majority of people who have conservative Christian values.  That is not governments fault, it is ours.  It is not on government to share Christ's love, then His teachings, it is on the church.  Our country voted for the values and opinions it cherishes.  I know that THESE moral issues weren't the main voting issues for many, but maybe they should have been for followers of Christ.  God gave us Obama again, what we asked for.  You may be wondering, how is this supposed to encourage believers?

I was saddened by the way some used religion as their basis for supporting Romney.  They didn't like the way Obama lived out his (liberal) Christianity.  I didn't either.  They decided to support the one they made plain in prior elections and nominations to call an anti-christ, not the anti-christ (quoting 1 John 2:22) for religious reasons.  Forgive me if I was bothered by such a thought.

Mitt Romney as president would have made a anti God, anti Jesus, anti Christian, anti Jew (unless you are talking about native americans!) cult gain ground as being normal.  Christians would have been lumped in with a religion that teaches God had sex with Mrs. God and made lots of kids, Jesus, Satan, you, me, and Mitt being some of them.  Mitt was a missionary and teacher in his church, bringing people to Christ, but sending them away from Him!  I find a golden lining to the results of the election.  Romney as president would have been damning to the cause of Christ.  I honestly believe more souls would end up in Hell if a Mormon became president.

These are my thoughts, I realize they are not popular.  I am still upset that either candidate won, but we had no choice.  I sorta wish I would have voted for Big Bird.  I didn't, I voted selfishly for the person I thought could help our country financially, help the Christians have a better life, see our moral values be brought back to where our founding fathers placed them, even thinking it might send people to Hell.  Would he have been a better president?  I know he would have been.  Would he have done horrible things to the cause of Christ?  I know he would have.  More people will be in Heaven because Obama won this year.  There is a silver lining.

Not a small issue

I'm an emotional person, I have no problem admitting that.  There are times when my emotions get the best of me and I am not able to act the "appropriate" way.  I used to laugh about my messages at Sonrise Bible Church in Rotterdam because I got emotional in half of the messages I preached.  I have no problem admitting I am emotional, but it is hard to preach when you have to worry about electrocuting yourself by getting tears in the microphone.  Forgive me if I care too much about some issues (yes, that is sarcasm).  There are things that always get me upset.  I cried when I watched "My Girl".  Call me a pansy for crying, or even for watching it in the first place, but that's me.  The thought of murdering innocent children bothers me.  It should bother you.  The only thing worse than a child's funeral is a funeral where you are pretty sure the person was lost and headed to eternal separation from God's love in Hell.  That bothers me.  It should bother you.

There are many moral issues the church in America is faced with today.  Divorce rates, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, financial integrity (yes, it's a sin to lie on your taxes), hatred and maliciousness in people's hearts, dare I mention selfishness, materialism, or gluttony?  As I mentioned this weekend, these all seem to pale in comparison to the genocide happening in America.  We are shocked and horrified at what happens in places like Rwanda and Darfur, yet seem to be unhappily settled with the the over 50 MILLION murders of children in our own country.  How did the murder of children ever become an option?  How immoral did we become where murder of children is a "moral issue", not to mention a political one?  The disintegration of morality in America centers around the fact that we no longer respect human life at all.  I don't blame our government (not for this).  Just because something is "legal" doesn't make it right.  Yes, we should work to have our government declare that murder is illegal, no matter how young or old the victim.  Our government does not determine our morals, we do.  If a baby has a chance to live, then we do not have the right to kill it.  It's not an opinion, it's normal decency.  I have several friends that have lost babies to miscarriages, many forced because of the impossibility of the baby to live and the safety of the mom.  Most of them can't understand how anybody could end a healthy pregnancy by killing the child.  We ought not to kill children.  What does that make us if we even argue that point?  I am waiting for an enemy to attack America on the premise that they are attempting to stop the immoral murder of millions of helpless children.  I can't say that I would disagree with them (I don't want that to happen, but it is better than the continued genocide).

I do take some solace in knowing these young lives are in Heaven, not having to deal with our messed up world.  I know many people who are waiting to see their aborted children there, and that is the only peace they can find in the midst of their regrets.  Thankfully, God forgives us even for this (and everything else!).  As a church, a country, and a people we need to seek his forgiveness for all our sins, especially this.