Thanksgiving!

This morning I woke up to a house full of family and have the anticipation of friends arriving later. I smell food cooking and hear my children playing. I am able to sip coffee and read my bible. I am warm in my house at a perfect 68 degrees. I am able to look out at the cold and don't have to wake up in it. It was all of this that the Lord used to prompt in my heart a desire to read a Psalm of praise and of thanksgiving. I opened up to Psalm 145. WOW! With all that the Lord has given us we ought to truly be thankful and offer our praise. Let this be my public giving of THANKS to my Lord for all that he has done for me. Notice, I say for me. Although I am extremely thankful for what my family has been blessed with and how the Lord our God has provided for them, the only person that I can truly offer my thanksgiving for is me!

My prayer for all of you is that you are able to give thanks for your lives. Though the Lord our God deserves thanks from every mouth with breath, is only in the regenerate heart that we are able to truly offer it up. My prayer is that everyone will realize that who ever has the Son has life and who ever does not have the Son has not life!

Lord, I thank You first for Your Salvation! When I think of what life would be like without Your intervention and grace, and mercy, WOW! Where would I be? Where would I be headed?

Lord, I thank You for Your grace! It is truly Your grace that has given me everything, and it is Your grace that keeps my heart beating and my lunges breathing. Your grace is what provides my needs and sustains my life. If it were not for Your grace I would have nothing. John 1:16

Lord, I thank You for Your mercy in my life! Lord, I know truly that if it were not for Your mercy not only would I be separated from you for eternity, but my life here would have been destroyed a long time ago. It was Your mercy that kept me, and Your mercy that keeps me everyday! How can I say enough to give Your mercy enough credit and glory? Lord, You are truly merciful! Psalms 40:11

Lord, I thank You for my wife! You have given me a wonderful gift in my wife. She meets every need that I have and is a wonderful encouragement to me. My only prayer is that I am able to reciprocate to her the gifts that she gives to me everyday.

Lord, I thank You for my children! How could I be so blessed to have any better children than what You have provided me. You have called one of them to Yourself already and I see Your wooing in the other. Thank You!

Lord, I thank You for my church! What a wonderful gift You have given me in a church that cares for me and wants the best for my life. Thank You for its' leadership and their desire to serve You!

Lord, I thank You for the ministry that You have entrusted to me! How could I ever have imagined that You would have blessed me with souls to care for and sheep to Shepherd! You have enriched my life with these your sheep that You have entrusted to me to care for and to feed. Thank You so much! I am so unworthy! You are awesome!

Lord, last of all, let me thank You for my friends You have most recently brought in my life; godly friends who desire to see me grow! How wonderful you are! I am so thankful for my "Ephesians 4" friends!

This is in no way an all inclusive list. That is not my intent. My intent is to acknowledge the Lord in my life, and give thanks for His gifts.

Lord, I offer my thanksgiving to You! I pray that You will be pleased with my offering. I fully acknowledge that you regard obedience over sacrifice. Lord may I always be obedient to Your Word over my own heart!

Thank You

AMAZING RACE

I am truly excited! Two days ago I posted a call for help and the response has been great. 24 hours later and I am already 25% towards where I need to be. Where am I headed do you ask? To the Amazing Race BBC style! This New Years Eve the CROSSfire youth group is going to put on one of the most exciting and thrilling events of the year. Now I can't give away what the actual events are going to entail or give away the prizes but I can assure you that they are going to be awesome.

Some of you have already contacted me and asked what you need to do. Well here it is. If you are have already graduated from high school than you need to contact me and volunteer to help run the event. If you are not yet graduated and in the 7th grade or higher than you need to go to the BBC book store and cafe and sign up your 3 or 4 person team. Here is how I would do it. I would pick someone that is smart, someone that is strong, and someone with good common sense to be on my team. You are going to need all of those to be competitive.

The cost is going to be $10 per person to compete. Now I know that I said $7.50 before but let me tell you why I had to go to $10. This $10 is going to get you food, team arm bands, and help pay for the prizes for the winners. I think that everyone will agree that this $10 will be very well spent and go a long way in having a fun, and safe time on New Years.

Check in for the event will start at 9.00pm on New Years Eve and parents will need to pick up their teens at 9.00am on New Years day.

I am so excited about this and I hope that you all are too. Invite a friend, invite two. If you do then you already have a team. Here are a few things that you might want to consider when planning for this night of fun.

1. Bring a change of clothes (you never know what the event might be)
2. Do not bring IPODS, or personal game systems (we will have all of that for you)
3. Bring a good attitude and willingness to have fun (I will personally guarantee your good time)
4. Bring a flashlight (it's going to be dark)
5. Bring a big appetite

I look forward to seeing everyone there and very soon you will be able to find out more about this Amazing Race on bbcfnc.org