Thursday, February 18, 2010



Isaiah Charles Sullivan is here. He was born last night at 9:12 and Weighed 8 lbs and 7 ounces. He was 21.5 inches long. He is perfect

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Best Video Ever

">

Snow Cartoon




Love this Calvin and Hobbes snow cartoon. Thanks for the inspiration Wade

Thursday, February 04, 2010

This Says it all



This sign knows as much as the teachers on TV do

Internal Auditing

Did you hear about the IRS worker who was given notice that he was being laid off and who then mailed twenty good friends large, undeserved tax refund checks? Or did you hear about the hospital administrator, about to lose his job, who reduced the bills of several prominent patients by several thousand dollars? Or how about the just-fired defense contractor who changed five-hundred-dollar screw orders to five dollars? Each made many new friends as a result and thereby received several new job offers.
I don’t know if those events ever really happened. But they are somewhat parallel to a story Jesus once told. It’s found in Luke 16:1-13.

When you read our Lord’s sermons and parables, you are struck with the fact that He had a great deal to say about material wealth. He ministered to people who, for the most part, were poor and who thought that acquiring more wealth was the solution to all their problems. Jesus was not blind to the needs of the poor, and by His example and teaching, He encouraged His followers to share what they had with others. The early church was a fellowship of people who willingly shared their possessions with the less fortunate (Acts 2:44–47; 4:33–37).

Craig Blomberg says "Of all of Jesus’ parables, this is probably the most puzzling. It is certainly the one on which more scholarly ink has been spilled than any other. It deals with one of Jesus’ favorite themes—the right uses of riches. But that, too, makes it particularly difficult to preach on in the twenty-first-century Western world, in which so many Christian leaders who talk about money simply harangue their listeners for more, abuse the Scriptures’ teaching on the topic, or (precisely because of others’ abuse) think that finances are not a topic to be discussed in public at all. Jesus avoided the twin dangers of abuse and silence. Approximately one-fifth of all his teaching was about money matters. And so, despite the difficulty of the passage, despite the possible unpopularity of the theme, it’s one we dare not run away from." I agree

Now first we need to understand the story. This man is a steward. The Stewards task was to manage what belonged to another. Trustworthiness is the essential characteristic needed. Apparently this man wasn’t very good at his job. He wasn’t dishonest just not very responsible. The word wasted in the text is the same word used of the Prodigal son in Luke 15. He did not know how to manage money well and the owner was taking a hit for letting this man have the job. So the master says I am going to fire you so make an account for your successor.

The Point of the parable is God knows whether or not you care about eternal riches or temporary riches by how you use money.

Three critical warnings Jesus gives us about money:
Money is a Tool (8-9)- 8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwelling. Jesus sees money as a God that demands our allegiance. He does not tell us to disdain money but to capture money, subdue it and to use money for kingdom purposes. We need to examine our objectives that we have for money. What are we using our money to do?

Money is a Trust
- 10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?”

God owns everything. Good stewards must understand that what he manages he does not own.
Have you ever heard ________ _________ died a millionaire.The Bible says that is wrong. Nobody dies a millionaire. You die like you were born, with nothing.

Money is a Test (13) 13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” You cannot serve two masters. Serve money and do other things. But not money and God. Money is a test of your ultimate allegiance. Here is where the people of the world are wiser than us. They only serve one God. Mammon. We try to serve them both.

Are you ready for my accounting of your Stewardship? So who is your master? I hope and pray that it is God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that an objective outsider, say an accountant, could recognize that fact if he or she were to examine your family budget, your checkbook ledger, and your credit card statements, particularly in comparison with your average non-Christian neighbor. We have recovery groups for people struggling with addictions of all different kinds. We have accountability groups for people who are not addicted but need fellow believers to keep them on the right track with respect to sex or alcohol or eating. Perhaps we need to begin to add to our recovery and accountability groups people who will ask us the hard questions about our expenditures, about our shopping, about how much we don’t really need to have. That would free up enormous resources for kingdom work. That would truly make us shrewd stewards.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Happy Birthday Jonathan

Today our oldest son Jonathan is 11 years old. Just in time for Isaiah to make his arrival.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Fool Test

When a disaster strikes people begin to look at their lives in a different perspective. The earth quake in Haiti has seen this. We begin to count our blessings and see what is really important. Jesus said, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Several times people have expressed that “I have lost everything, but I am still alive.” Morris Womack “The search for meaning in life is all too often tied up in the worldly possessions.” “Almost everything you have can be taken away from you; only that which is within you is secure.” Our hope in Christ, our faith, the way we manage our lives, how we view what we have are all great determinants of what life is really about for each of us.

In Luke 12 Jesus tells the story of the "Rich Fool." As he is teaching he is interuppted by a man wanting Jesus to mediate an inheritance dispute between brothers. Jesus has no desire to be involved in this. He knows the real problem between these brothers is greed and no answer he can give will cure that.

He tells the story about a man who has a great harvest and needs to build more barns to hold all his crop.Then he can take it easy and just relax. However, he does not know that he will die later that night and will not be able to enjoy his wealth. Jesus ask the question, "Who gets all this stuff now" (Obviously my translation).

Because he was unprepared Christ calls him a fool, and he was. When you read this story ask yourself these questions. The answer will let you know whether or not you are a fool as well.

How do you respond to the wealthy farmer’s dilemma? Here was a man who had a problem with too much wealth! If we say, “I certainly wish I had that problem!” we may be revealing covetousness in our hearts. If suddenly you inherited a great deal of wealth, would it create a problem for you? Or would you simply praise God and ask Him what He wanted you to do with it?

How do you respond to the decisions of the rich man? Are you saying, “Now that is shrewd business! Save and have it ready for the future!” But Jesus saw selfishness in all that this man did (note the eleven personal pronouns), and He said the man was a fool. The world’s philosophy is “Take care of Number One!” But Jesus does not endorse that philosophy.

How do you respond to the farmer’s desires? Are you saying, “This is the life! The man has success, satisfaction, and security! What more could he want?” But Jesus did not see this farmer enjoying life; He saw him facing death! Wealth cannot keep us alive when our time comes to die, nor can it buy back the opportunities we missed while we were thinking of ourselves and ignoring God and others.

Finally, how do you respond to the death of the boastful farmer? We are prone to say, “Too bad this fellow died just when he had everything going for him! How tragic that he could not finish his great plans.” But the greatest tragedy is not what the man left behind but what lay before him: eternity without God! The man lived without God and died without God, and his wealth was but an incident in his life. God is not impressed with our money.

ARE YOU A FOOL?

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Follower

This week we are speaking about what it takes to be a Follower.

Follower
Luke 9:23
The Bible tells us in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” In the Gospel Jesus says “believe in me” 5 times, he says “follow me” about 20. He offers us live but calls us to die. So the question to ask yourself is straightforward: “Are you a completely committed follower of Jesus?” Many of us think of ourselves as followers but when we are standing in front of God, the truth may be that we are just a fan. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”In Matthew 7 there are several questions that need to be addressed when determining if you are a follower:

Question 1: Do you live out what you say you believe? (Matthew 7:21)

We are saved by faith in Christ, but it is important to realize that faith without works is dead. Faith is not something to simply be confessed through the mouth, it must be confessed through our lives.

Question 2: Do you measure yourself as a follower by the good things you have done? (Matthew 7:22).

Placing confidence in works of righteousness leads to a life of simply following the rules instead of knowing and following Christ.

Question 3: Do you Know Jesus? (Matthew 7:23).

Jesus says that it all comes down to this: Do you know Jesus? Does he have your heart? Is He everything to you? Do you invest more in this relationship than in any other relationship? Have you confused knowing about Jesus with actually knowing Jesus?



What is keeping you from being a completely committed follower? Many of us settle for being a fan.



There is so much we overlook from the invitation of Luke 9:23. When Jesus said to take up a cross, it sounded completely different to the First Century Christian who had seen hundreds of people hanging bloody and naked along the dusty roads of Palestine. When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” those First Century Christians had an exact understanding of what he meant. Today, Jesus is still concerned with those who commit to doing what he asks. This is the mark of a follower.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Does God Hate Haiti?

Does God Hate Haiti?

Pat Robertson is Wrong as usual. Earthquakes happen because we live in a fallen world and they will happen until Jesus returns, which this was not a sign of. Thanks Al for this great article

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Committed

I was a big fan of Herschel Walker, running back for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. He was the man. “There Goes Herschel There Goes Herschel.” Then he did something I had never heard of. He left school early. He left after his JR year not to enter the NFL draft but the USFL Draft. Some guy named Donald Trump Gave him quite a bit of money. Being young at the time I was not as interested at that point in UGA. I was a fan of the Bulldogs but not really that committed.

I was a fair weather fan. Many of my friends in College were the same way with the Bulls. They win the big games with MJ we love them. He leaves the team retools not so much.

It is our commitment that determines whether or not we are a fan of Jesus or a Follower. Jesus Calls us to Carry a Cross. Followers pick it up and go where told. Fans leave it and find something easier to do.

This week at Shoals We will discuss what our committment is like to Christ. Are we a Fan or a Follower?

Monday, January 11, 2010

Monday Monday

We had a great weekend at Church. Attendance was down a bit but it was better than I expected with the cold weather.

The church gave Tina a baby shower yesterday. We got a lot of great presents and once again was shown what a great church family we have. Robert started basketball Saturday at the YMCA. It was fun to watch the kids learn as they played.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Convicted

Kyle Idleman, who preaches at the Southeast Christian Church, preached a series on Defining your relationship with Christ. As I listened to him talking about really being a Follower as opposed to a Fan it convicted me. Over the next few weeks we will have this same "dicussion" here at Shoals.

Not preaching Kyle's sermon but the idea needs to be presented to all Christians. "Am I a fan or Am I really a Follower?"

Monday, January 04, 2010

Monday Monday

We had a great service yesterday here at Shoals. Even though it was only 4 degrees people came out for worship. The day ended the best it can with two people being baptized.

Now onto a long week. Sermonizing, meetings, buying basketball shoes for Robert and getting him to practice. Thursday is our Faculty Meeting at LBC. I am really excited about our coming semester.

Hope you have a great week as well.

Matthew

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Happy Holidays...it is not a big deal...get over it

I know the word I use is quite provocative. It is not cool to use Holidays in our midst. In the last year we have been told about the War on Christmas. John Gibson and O'Reilly have told us about the Culture vacuum and that Christians are being fought on all sides. I do agree that there is a a culture war and we must do our part I am not sure about the war on Christmas. My guess is the Christmas being spoken of is not what Christ came into the world for. Greed and Materialism is not Christmas. Christ is Christmas. God in the Flesh coming to earth born of a virgin who was killed and bodily rose again is what Christmas is about. So I am not sure we should really care what a clerk at Target or Walmart tells us when we check out. Because I bet the Christmas their is not a Christmas worth fighting for.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Preaching

I am often asked the above question. Is it hard? Well imagine writing a term paper every week. Usually mine are about 15 pages. It takes about 25 hours to write a good sermon. Then there is Sunday School, Sunday night. Trying to visit people that are sick and shut in. Pick up orders, order supplies..etc. Here is a very dated but good quote about what it is like to be a preacher

"This is the claim I make for a good theology of preaching—that it introduces order into the chaos of a mans ministry. He is lost in the thicket and tangle of crisscrossing paths and dense undergrowth. A dozen major responsibilities tug at his sleeve, this way and that. Administrator, educator, counselor, prophet, pastor, social worker, maybe custodian, secretary, copier, plumber, carpenter, and husband and parent—on the side he is expected to be many things, indeed even wants to be. But there are definite limits to his time and energy and physical composure. He would like to be all things to all men, but there are times when he feels the need of saying, ‘this one thing I do.’ And the one thing claiming precedence over all the others, demanding to stand at the center, because it has been the distinctive, necessary task of the ministry in every age, is the matter of proclamation. Nothing else will substitute for it. Its priority is absolute. It alone is capable of bringing to heel the multitudinous and variegated duties which yip and yap at the minister’s coattail like mutts of hell wherever he goes.”

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Monday Monday

I trust everyone gad a great Thanksgiving. I got to spend time with my parents over part of last week which was great. We spent Thanksgiving day with Tina's parents and brother and his family. Got to see my neice and nephew. Spent Saturday night in Greenwood with my wonderful wife and do some Christmas Shopping. The Bulldawgs upset the Jackets and I turned 40. WHEW!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week. Starting a Christmas Series this week. Now to get motivated..lol

Monday, October 26, 2009

Appreciation

I love to be appreciated don't you? I love to know that someone is thinking of me and loves me. My wife loves me and my kids love me. I am a very lucky man.

Yesterday the love the church here at Shoals has for me and my family was reaffirmed. Rowena Tripp wrote a song for the choir to sing about our family and we were given a wonderful gift.

We love Shoals and will serve here as long as God gives us opportunity. I hope my friends felt that as well. I have many great friends who are serving God in churches and I want you guys to know I love and appreciate all of you.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Monday Monday

Had a great day at Church yesterday. We have one baptism and a very good crowd. Looking forward to fall break this week. Me and the boys are going to hang out together on Wednesday and hopefully we will have a fun day on Friday.

We had a great Revival last week with Mike Kjeergard and I wish I could be at the GA camp meeting this week. Three of my students will be speaking.

Have a great week. Starting a new sermon series this week pray that it goes well.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Monday, Monday

Our Revival got off to a great start yesterday here at Shoals. Mike Kjergaard did a great job and I am really enjoying the fellowship. Today we are eating lunch with a great couple, Mike and Kathy Harker, and then off to Boggs Lake for 9 holes of golf with some good friends.

This will be a great week. The Mitchell family will be here tonight thru Wednesday and tomorrow will be our study group meeting and Wed possibly lunch with another good friend. Then to top it all off I get to do my favorite thing on Thursday...TEACH at LBC.


Have a great week...I know I will