Great Message

If you are looking for a good message to watch or listen to check out our Seven podcast. My friend Tim Ross from The Potter's House spoke this week on temptation. Spectacular.

Lots going on. God is proving his point right now in so many different ways.

Provision. Protection. Intimacy.

I have never lived like this in all of my life. He is ordering my steps in a way that I don't ever remember experiencing before. So many incredible things. Hope all is well with all of you too.

He Sees Dead People, I Just See Sheep

Hello to all. Figured I would give a little love to all of those still checking in regularly.

I have never gone through what I am going through right now. This is without a doubt the richest my life has ever been. I have never, ever, ever, felt this close to the Lord or my wife. It is so difficult to describe what I feel to anyone right now. It's so heavy. I love it. The best part about how I feel right now is that even though I don't want to take the energy to explain it...it just is.

God has been so faithful to speak with new revelation, giving new instructions, new relationships and new perspectives. I have dreamt about this since I was 14. No, this is so far beyond what I have dreamt of, it is supernatural. It is God.

I feel safe.

I feel intimate.

I feel loved.

I feel corrected.

I feel excited.

I feel humbled.

I feel grateful.

God is at work. He is proving a point. I have never lived this way in almost 30 years. This is the way it is meant to be.

What's crazy is that the closer you get to the Lord, the more overwhelmed you are with a burden for what He has a burden for. It never looks the way you think it will. It never turns out the way you thought it would. It never takes as little as you hoped it would. If you want to be used by God, you are going to have to die. And death sucks. But there is joy in the morning. A joy we can't understand or express. It's better than we think. It's more than we can hope for.

P.S.- If you haven't seen or heard the message on Expectations last week, go to iTunes and get it. Whether you are 26 or 62, married or single, whatever you are, I promise that message will speak to you in just about every single area of your life. It was ridiculous. It was the Lord. Sorry for the "shameless" plug, but I'm not plugging my trash...that message was just one of those that was obviously God and not this messed up moron.

God is so good. So rich in mercy and grace. So helpful in times of need. And He is so quick to overwhelm us with his richest blessings. Blessings, Preston.

New Experience

Every once in a while I have to host the weekend services. Nothing big, it just means that I have to transition after worship, introduce the guest speaker if we have one, and close the service while making any necessary announcements. I used to think this was a big deal because I got to be on stage where everyone got to see me. What an idiot. Seriously, what a moron.

Over the next two months I have to host like 7 out of 8 Sundays. When Brooke told me I immediately asked when I was doing communion. She told me it was the first week of the stretch, which was last weekend. I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait. And for a different reason than any other time previous. I already had the word the Lord have given me and I knew it would be time to share it the next time I got a chance to do communion.

I shared the Isa. 40 passage after giving the definition of worry after I asked if there was anyone worried about anything (at least two-thirds of the people). It went over really well. I think it ministered to a lot of people.

As I sat down after doing communion in the 3rd service, I saw something I can't remember the Lord ever showing me...I saw sheep. I saw sheep eating. The Lord even said there were some who weren't in the mood to eat that were eating. Now understand this, I didn't preach, I hardly even talked outside of reading the Bible. But it was from the Lord. He used me to feed. And as I sat down the Lord said, "You feed my sheep like that, like I tell you, and I will keep feeding you and you will keep feeding them." He took me to a passage for the first message of the dating/marriage series and I got revelation seeping out of my pores for the message.

The enemy comes to me and says, "You just want to be in front of people. It's not about God, it's all about you." But I read this this morning...

1 Peter 5:2
Care for the flock of God entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly – not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

I didn't care who heard it, who saw it, I didn't care that Pastor Robert wasn't there to "see me hit a home run". It is the very first time that I have ever done something on the weekend that there wasn't ANY crap in me about it being all about me. It was all about God, and all about his sheep.

I was more eager than words could have expressed to serve God by giving that word.
I have the best job in the world and it just keeps getting better.

Goals

It seems like everyone around me is spending a significant amount of time talking about their life goals. Their goals are so big. So audacious. So selfish. Their goals are hopes and dreams for their own lives.

My goals have changed so much over the last 5 years.

Here were my goals 5 years ago...

Be an executive pastor.
Save $100,000 in my retirement.
Be close to Senior Pastoring.

That's it. Shallow, huh? Stupid, I know. I laugh just reading it. What an idiot.

Here are my goals now...

Walk more intimately with God today than yesterday.
Know more about Holly today than I did yesterday.
Raise godly, respectful, submitted children who become two men and a woman of God who use their gifts to serve God and serve people, and who also want to spend the rest of their lives being around Holly and I.
Two specific people in my life who I want to see in an intimate relationship with God.
Try to be faithful to what God asks me to do.

My goals have a much different tone now than they did 5 years ago. I think about how much has had to happen to get me to this place. God is gracious and very, very merciful.

Why?

Why are people still visiting this blog? I haven't posted in what seems like forever. This thing is breaking personal records for visits and I'm not even posting. Huh?

It just seems to be one of those seasons for me where so much is going on between the Lord and I that I'm not sure which to write about, I don't really know how to communicate it, and wouldn't have the slightest clue where to start. But man is it good.

This is just a very rich season of life for me. It seems like the Lord is turning up the excitement and activity level. I love it.

Here's a highlight for those faithful ones who have kept checking in to see if I have posted...

Last week the young adults pastor from The Potter's House (TD Jakes church) was at Seven on Tuesday night to check out what is going on for young adults this side of Shreveport. His name is Tim Ross. After the service he came up and said we needed to go to lunch and asked if I could do it the next day. We did and it was life changing. Have you ever felt like God pulled back the curtain for a moment and revealed something to you? There is entirely too much that happened that day at lunch but it was a God connection, think David and Jonathan. It is incredible what has taken place in the 7 days since we met. He actually was speaking this weekend in lieu of TD at The Potter's House so Holly and I went out there and got some serious food. It was unbelievable. God really spoke through him. He has a gift. We learned so much. Words can't express what is happening in this friendship. Never happened to me or him before. It is the Lord.

Here is the quick hits of the last 7 days

God knows everyone. He knows who you need around you. Remember, He is sovereign.
Vegas is still my favorite city in America.
Holly is pursuing me more than ever before. Does it get any better than this?
Rylie is signed up for soccer...I may be coaching her. Haven't heard back yet.
God has an all-access pass to everywhere.
Brokenness is beautiful.
Tyler is ridiculously athletic. Ridiculously. It's almost laughable.
Be careful when you say you just want to be like Jesus...you have no idea what you're asking for.
Surprising my wife is one of the greatest thrills of my life.
Crab legs are still one of my favorite reasons to go to Vegas...can you say All-You-Can-Eat.
Breakfast at the Wynn...tough to beat.
I can't remember a time where I have felt this close to the Lord...ever.
I have an insatiable appetite for the bible right now.
You can't wash your wife if your not swimming yourself...in the Word people, in the Word. Give me a break.
The stock market is worse than bloody right now. Buy more, buy now, just buy.
This was the first time I have ever felt like I fasted and experienced an immediate breakthrough.
I can't do what He created me to do. It's going to take divine intervention.
It's time for me to put the kids to bed cause that's what this daddy does.

Tonight Was a Dream Come True

Exhausted after tonight. I don't know that I have ever given as much away as I did tonight. Tonight was something I have been dreaming about since I was 14. Preston opens mouth, God speaks.

God is doing something that I don't know how to articulate. If that doesn't prove that I have nothing to do with it I do not know what does.

I am grateful that I get to do what I get to do but more than that I am grateful that I get to praise the living God with my life. My life is a dream come true. It's not easy but it is rich. Walking with Him is the greatest opportunity I have ever had. He is good but that's not why I love him...I love him because He says "I alone am He".

I will post a link to the message when it goes online. I don't care that you see me, I really do think the Lord will speak to you. I think it's a good use of your 30 minutes. It was God.

Hearing

Sorry for not posting in a while...actually I am really not sorry. I've been blogging, just not posting them. Much of what the Lord is doing and saying is not meant for public consumption right now. Surprisingly enough my blogging absence is not due to laziness or inconsistency. Shocker I know.

But for those who like to feel connected I'll give you some unexplained quick hits of what the Lord is saying to me right now...

This is not about money, it is about My bride.

Being like Me is not about being good or being better...it is about giving your life up for others. It is about hurting when others hurt. It is about everything but you.

Isaiah 40:12-31

"But God who is rich in mercy and grace".

"It's time when I say it is time."

Nothing is what it seems.

I established your path before the beginning of time.

You are doing good (no, not well).

I'm never surprised by you but I am proud of you.

I love that you want to be more like me this year.

Give it all away and make it all about Me.

Nothing will ever separate me from you. Nothing. I don't need you to be convinced, it will never change.

You don't need to say thank you so much, though I do enjoy it.

Tell me you love me more. I love it when you talk like that.

There is more wisdom to be gained, more revelation to be recieved, more distance to be run, more moments to be enjoyed, more influence to be had, more compassion to be given, more burden to be carried, more story to be told. If you think the first seven years were great, you have no idea. This is just the beginning.....

Time Away Quick Hits

It was nice to get away for a couple weeks and just be with my family.

It was nice not to have to work for a couple of weeks.

I enjoyed being with Holly's family for Christmas. That's the first time we've celebrated Christmas with them since we got married.

I'm glad I still have two weeks before preaching again.

Traveling with 3 kids under the age of 5 is about as difficult as anything I can think of.

Holly is one of the best mother's I know.

Stayed up with Holly's mom till after 4 am...I cherish those 4 1/2 hours.

It's amazing how clear one's perspective gets when they face the possibility of death. How clearly they see the things that really matter to God.

Studied Everest a lot of the break...so many good thoughts...we'll see where they all lead.

Went pheasant hunting with my dad and brothers and Brad's father-in-law. We had a blast in Kansas. Till our flight got canceled. My dad paid for everything. It was extravagant.

It's funny how once you become a father you kind of stop looking forward to Christmas the way you did when you were a kid because you know that if there is really something you want and you don't get it that you can just buy it for yourself. It was very nice to have all of the details taken care of on my trip. Daddy went out of his way to provide a great trip and he did a lot more than that...he provided an experience that I will remember forever.

Wonder who killed the most birds???

Rylie is turning five next week. Tyler is turning two in a month. Preston is changing so much.

I love my wife. There is no one I'd rather be around than her. I'm so proud of her and who she is. We celebrate 7 years of marriage this week. What a ride. What a learning experience. What a privalage to it is to call her my wife. She get's me when no one else can. She gets me more now than she ever has. She pursues me more now than she ever has. I've told her before that if I feel like she is in my corner that I fell like I can handle anything. She is the greatest choice I have ever made. Hope she feels the same way.

I think about the past seven years and I think about how far we have come. 7 years! It's hard to believe. It's funny how the older I get the less stuff means to me and the more a central few things mean to me. My God, My wife, my children, my family...there isn't much else I need...there isn't much else I worry about. If I have them we're good.

I have no idea what 2008 will bring. Do you ever? But I do know that no matter what I will walk with Him who is rich in mercy and grace. I start 2008 thanking God for that.