The week in review

sorry that I don't have much to write about today as I have been too busy to study for my articles. Here's all I did this week.
Sunday - had church
Monday- studied all day for my book and then stayed at church till 8:45pm waiting on Jessica's Bible Study to finish.
Tuesday- Planned for FUSION and for the music on Sunday
Wednesday- had FUSION and 5 kids showed up! then had a good choir practice
Thursday - My Day Off!!! - slept in till 10:30, fed the cat and went to lunch with my mom, came home and finished Vixen 03 and started Night Probe. Had dinner at parents and went to the mall with Jessica and mom, and sister.
Friday - paid bills
Saturday - Funeral for a church member (Florence Smith) from 2:00-?

The World Is Your...Oyster Cracker?

O.k. This morning I was in our church's kitchen waiting on the stale Maxwell House coffee to brew so I can officially wake up when I saw it! On the counter was a box of Oyster Crackers from Publix that someone had left for some reason. Well it was a philosophical statement on the bottom of the box that intrigued me. "The World Is Your Oyster Cracker!" What could that possibly mean? I asked Pastor Ron to take a stab at it as he walked in and only got the same puzzled look I had. Going about my business this morning, all I can think about is how is my world like an oyster cracker. Was this some stupid saying they put on the box to get people's attention (it worked) or does it hold actual philosophical relevance? I want your opinions on this matter.

Possible Interpretations:

"You are what you eat?" well I am not an oyster but I am a Florida Cracker!

"The world is salty, flaky, and good with clam chowder?" hhhmmmm.

An oyster cracker is used to add flavor to a soup or salad so can we say the world adds flavor to our lives? What if you don't like oyster crackers? do you hate the world then? Maybe the answer isn't just about the cracker but whatever someone loves in life is considered to be their world! Is your world an oyster cracker?

Marrying Your Sister?

Who did Cain marry? Did Cain marry his sister? Why are these questions relevant to our daily life?

I like to ask questions that aren't normally raised to get you to think about what and why you believe the Bible and God. This question has been raised by sceptics of the authenticity of the Bible saying that Leviticus 18-20 states that it is unlawful that anyone should marry his sister. If Cain married his sister...this contradicts God's law and so the Bible is not true! Wrong!!!
Many Christians try to explain that there might have been another race of created people but this is contradicting to the truth that we are all descendants of Adam (Gen 2:7, 1 Cor. 15:21-22). The truth is that yes, Cain DID marry a sister! It is not clear which one or exactly when the marriage was but it is true. Adam and Eve had a total of 33 sons and 23 daughters! for the human race to survive they needed to marry their own relatives and reproduce. When you think about it, we are all brothers and sisters, we are all from "one blood"
So what about that law? My answer to people who raise such a stupid question is get your timeline straight! The law of Moses wasn't written yet during the period of creation and the fall. Abraham even married his half-sister Sarah (Gen. 20:12) and God blessed his life and made the covenant that a great nation will rise from his seed! The laws were not given until about 400 years later with Moses.
So when you hear someone discrediting the Bible as truth because of issues like this...don't try to make up some answer to fit, read the Bible, study the history, and find the truth. "always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope in you" 1 Peter 3:15

God's Sovreignty in Disasters

I listened to this interview with John Piper on the blog: Pilgrim In A Foreign Land it is very lengthy but good if you have the time. It helps answer the question why do bad things happen to good people like the tsunami victims. click here to listen
comment on what you think!

Forgiven Again

I had the great pleaseure of meeting with Jack Price the owner of Prism Music Publishing this past tuesday morning. I with about 15 other worship leaders and choir members got to sit in and sing some of the new music being published for churches. Besides that awesome fact that the actual owner of the company cares enough to teach us the music shows how great this music is. One song we looked at is titled "Forgiven Again" here are the words (chorus in bold)

I'd left my family, the love I had known,

I couldn't believe how calloused I'd grown.

The I woke up one morning in cold freezing rain

and said I'll go back where I caused so much pain.

Just in sight of the place where the lane meets the road,

the Father was waiting to carry my load.

His big arms were open to draw me to Him;

Forgiven, Forgiven, Forgiven again!

If you've broken the trust and betrayed your best friend;

If you're lost and confused, wondering where it will end;

There's a way you can know that wherever you've been

you can make your way home and be forgiven again!

It's an awesome truth that no matter how far away we may run from God, his big arms are there open to accept us back into fellowship with him! Jesus knew while on the cross that we would sometimes doubt him, run away and deny him. Not only did he experience the physical anguish from the nails and the beatings but the emotional burden of his children rejecting him. He died so we can be forgiven, and stay forgiven!

A Break In @ Church

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the minds of criminals that drives them into doing what they do. I am quickly reminded by God that we are all sinners and we are living in the law of sin in us and the fact that no human is "good" (see Romans 7:14-25). No matter how good you may think you are and how good someone else might be the truth is that we are ALL capable of doing evil, criminal things.

We had apparently had a break-in at our church over the weekend. The thieves did not steal money, electronics, etc.they stole food! Our fellowship hall is not under the security system so our huge commercial fridge stocked with meats for Wednesday Supper, milk and juices, and other various kitchen supplies were wiped clean! It's like a college fraternity came home for the weekend. WHY? Why they broke in for food i don't know. Are humans getting so corrupt that not even a church is safe from violence? I see it in the news all the time with the recent shootings and fires during worship. It is sad that the one place people can turn to for assistance now has to have a high-tech alarm system to keep people out.

I agree that it is important to secure the valuables that are a part of God's House. The issue is that the CHURCH HAS NOT DONE ITS PART IN KEEPING OUR SOCIETY FROM BEING THIS EVIL!!!!! Now its coming back to bite us (sorry for the food pun) in the butt!

on a side note...I'm pretty mad that they got my chocolate donuts!

I'm Back and Running

Hey guys...I am back from the FOCUS conference and it was awesome! I learned alot about building relationships with youth and not youth ministries. more of that to come.

I got back Saturday to find out that i will be preaching tonight in church due to the death of the pastor's mother. I have a funeral tomorrow morning for my piano lesson teacher when i was in school, I have a meeting with the high school activities director, a choir music reading conference tuesday in Lakewood Ranch , FUSION on Wednesday, and a See You @ the Pole Rally on Saturday! ...welcome home Bill!

Signing Off for the Week...maybe

Well this week is finally coming to an end! as mentioned earlier I will be gone from town for next week. I can almost see the emerald coastal waters swarming with fish hungry for my bait. i can smell the aroma from the many wonderful restaurants like Tom's, Bayou Joe's, and Coram's. I can imagine the sleepless nights due to late-night Walmart runs, 2-2-2's (if you don't know what that is you are not from P.C.) and trying to catch a run of Spanish Mackerel downtown while sipping Hot Chocolate!

Aaahhh...i can't wait for some relaxation.....wait...oh yeah there might be some conference thingy i have to go to also!

getting ready to focus

Well it's only Wednesday afternoon and it has been a stressful week. The effects of handling two ministries (youth and music) at the same time has its difficulties every now and then. It is so easy to lose focus on what the big picture is. It is easy to let one problem effect the other ministries. It seems to me that i wasted yesterday. I am ready for a retreat next week in Panama City, Fl. Lifeway is holding a Youth Pastor Conference and i will be attending it with my friend Dan Browne (Jesus & Java). The theme is "Focus" and will help us ministers to focus on the important things in ministry and help build meaningful relationships with youth. I'm looking forward to the teaching and worship by Charlie Hall Band as well as hangin out in P.C. with some old friends.

A Wonderful Time in God's Creation

To go along with my creation emphasis i want to share some photos from this past Saturday. I took my adult church choir to Dayspring Conference Center in Parrish, Fl. This campground is on the water and away from everything. how can anyone think that all this beauty that is on earth not have a divine design?