A proclamation...

I've been working late and just finished. This post is only to say that an Oreo with ice cold milk at midnight is a beautiful thing.

No substitute

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I have had so much activity and so many things going that it seemed I was going at a 'fever pitched" just to get to the essentials.

I have observed the same situation in the lives of many around me. It seems everyone I know is rushing. I wonder if this is a new phenomena of our times, or if our parents were the same way but we just didn't notice?

On Friday I was tired. The Lord reminded me that the activity that I do FOR Him is fine, but it is never a sustitue for HIM. So I repented.

There is a song I heard that says, "you can get what's second best, but you can never get enough". I believe this. I wonder if that is really the reason we work ourselves to these frenzies in activity for Him? Second best is easy. Its tangible. It feels great while were doing it. We can even falsely validate ourselves - "look at me doing this great service for God...!"

The Lord needs nothing from me. The only thing I really need is Him.

I suspect that if our age could get hold of this, it would result in more blank spaces on our calenders, less family casualties falling victim to "ministry", deeper devotion to God, and a stronger more effective church in our time.

It was a rough day...

( © 2007 by Buddy Holt)

"I am thirsty Lord and my soul is dry.
Let your living water flow inside.
Wash away my worry.
Come heal my hurt.
Pour your life into me
and quench my thirst"

"Famished I come before you.
My spirit yearns,
for the bread from heaven.
My hunger burns.
Come and fill me Jesus.
Restore my soul.
Only You prepare a table
that makes me whole"

I'm An Idiot! I hope this helps.

Ok...so I have learned the secret. Do you want a lot of hits on your blog and to get a lot of emails? Post a scandal. WOW!!! I never knew how many non-posting readers I had until now. Thanks for the emails, which far outnumbered the posts.

For the record it really never ocurred to me how short the skirt was. I am truly sorry about that. AND HOW!!!

I praise God for the cross of Christ, and while it is an offense (Gal 5:10), it is the way to life for me. Hiperbole is not always understood, especially in this format. So if my remark offended you, I pray that you will find it in your heart to forgive me. I can be passionate, I can be misunderstood and I can be wrong. I'm certain in this instance I was all three.

The one definitive lesson I have learned from all of this is: I'm out of the church sign designing business.

A Church Sign by Any Other Design...

For several weeks now we have been pushing around ideas for what the church sign should look like. I threw this one into the mix tonight for consideration. It is not the traditional church sign, I know. In fact, it was met with the comment that it might look like there is a new bar in town.

I thought for a moment and actually considered that given the group that we are trying to reach that this might be a good thing. I think at this point in ministry, I would rather get the lost into the church and "preach the cross" to them than put it on a sign and scare them off. What would you think if you saw this sign 25' in the air above the skyline of Mabank?

New Look

I have made some changes as you can tell. Here is a new format to look at. I hope you enjoy it!

Daddy's and their Kids

Well after several nights of sleep deprivation Friday is here! I have been working like a horse with blinders on a presentation that I made today to a potential client. My days were so long this week that I literally was unable to see my daughters for three days, as they were in bed when I left and in bed when I got home. I have some compulsive work tendencies that I have to work very hard to really keep in check, but tonight I am happy to be home.

I have two girls loving on me right now as I'm typing this (my youngest and middle). Fathers love to be with their children, especially after long periods of no communication. How long has it been since you spent some quality "alone time" with THE FATHER?

Ready? Action!!!

I feel like I've been dropped into the middle of a scene in an action movie. All kinds of things are happening and I find myself right in the middle of it and wondering all the time, "how in the world did I get here?" and yet simultaneously elated at what I am observing and experiencing as God is moving all around me!

We are rejoicing in being able to observe the baptism of 6 folks within the past two weeks. The LifeGroup that I am a part of is only two weeks away from splitting into two groups. The other groups which were started only weeks ago are experiencing equal situations, and our Sunday celebrations are growing like crazy! We are at near capacity in the little room where we meet in our present building, but God has provided the AC unit that we will need to double our space for Sunday morning worship. While all of this is well and good, the thing that I am most excited about is simply the genuine changes that I am seeing in the lives around me and experiencing personally.

This awesome opportunity, however, does not come without attacks and daily I find myself in vunerable situations, which left unchecked could move me to "the outside looking in." So I diligently pray for the grace to remain in this place.

Real worship is a response to the knowledge of God's working. Its not something we conjure, its something that happens as we are simply awestuck by His wonders and works. These past weeks have resulted in an incredible growth in my worship of Him and with the Psalmist I can proclaim, "better is one day in your courts, O Lord, than ten thousand elsewhere."

Thoughts from a Shallow Mind

My friend and fellow laborer in the ministry at Cornerstone Church in Mabank has just entered the "blogger world". Drop by and give him a shout. May I present to you Mike Cooper.

Breaks Over!

I spent the last week in Corpus Christi: reading, fishing, smoldering, eating seafood and spending money (not necessarily in that order :0) But I had a great time! Now here it is...Saturday night...and I am rushing to get things ready for Sunday...followed by the old "Monday as usual" routine...and now all of the sudden the past few days seem like such a blur .

Vacations seem fleeting, but then again I guess that is true of all of our days, isn't it? I thought about that as I was watching wave after wave roll in one morning, while strolling down the beach with my, now, 11 year old daughter. In her case, it seems I've blinked once and she is 11...I'll blink again and she'll be gone.

The endless waves remind me of one day after another that comes to us while the Lord gives us breath, to do whatever we can to make a little splash for His glory. I'm glad He has given me the ability to make a tiny splash for Him, whether its preparing for Sunday, working at my job, or making a memory with my 11 year old daughter during a morning walk. What a privilege to be in Christ and to have the opportunity to live my days for Him.

Breathing the Breath

I have been meditating through the past week on the following words from Matt Redman's song
"Breathing The Breath". How absolutely incredible is it that our God would delight in us. I am in awe of this.

We have nothing to give
That didn't first come from Your hands
We have nothing to offer You
Which You did not provide
Every good, perfect gift comes from
Your kind and gracious heart
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours

Lord, we're breathing the breath
That You gave us to breath
To worship You, to worship You
And we're singing these songs
With the very same breath
To worship You, to worship You

Who has given to You
That it should be paid back to him?
Who has given to You
As if You needed anything?
From You, and to You, and through You
Come all things, O Lord
And all we do is give back to You
What always has been Yours

We are breathing the breath
That You gave us to breath

Homesick for God

The clock has just turned to the 2:06am mark on my PC. Why am I up so late? I had to make an appearance at a client's dinner party with Cher in Dallas and we had friends graciously offer to take care of the girls. This was especially a big deal because we don't let our girls "sleep over" at other people's houses. Tonight was our first foray into this, but only out of necessity. Shortly after midnight I got the call. On the other end of the phone I heard the sweet voice of my daughter, "daddy, I'm home sick". "I'll be right there" I said and grabbed my keys.

I suppose that some might feel perturbed from having to go out after midnight, but honestly, I felt delighted to do it. It causes a father's heart to swell when his child makes a declaration that they want to be where he is. For little girls different houses, different beds, and different surroundings on a first time sleep-over cause them to make that kind of declaration and their father's delight in responding to them.

To be honest though, I have been reminded over the past weeks that different houses, different surroundings, etc. also make God's adult children respond in much the same way. Tonight I am homesick. With all of the changes and new ministry directions I declare to the Lord that I long to be in His presence. I can't get enough of it! As I sit here and reflect on my experience with my daughter, I know, that He is delighted when I call to Him. He is never perturbed to answer, even when I am making that call to Him at 2am sitting here in front of my computer.

He is a Father who is truly crazy about each of us, His children. He is delighted to respond when we simply declare, "Father, I'm homesick."