Family Camp 3, 2009

Tomorrow Maggie, Elijah, and I will be heading to Camp for our very first Family Camp! We are very excited about going together! Maggie and I have almost been married two years! WOW! Praise the Lord! Now we have Elijah with us. We are excited about going as a family. Both Maggien and I have gone to family camp with our parents throughout our growing up. But now we have a different experience. I so looking forward to going as an adult, husband, father, and leader of my family. I am praying that God will work in my heart and life as well as Maggie's! Also I am praying that we will have a great time as a family!

Press ON!

Pleasing To Me

Today I read 2 Kings 16 in my devotions. I have been really challenged that living for God is not just a one time choice but is a daily, moment by moment choice to live for God. I have really seen this as I have read through the lives of the kings of Israel and Judah. Today is Ahaz, you know that things are not good when they start talking about how he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord. Ahaz was the king of Judah and I read that he followed the kings of Israel and not God. He sacrificed to gods that pleased him rather than sacrificing to God who wanted him to please Him. Ahaz was being attacked by the king of Israel and the king of Syria. They were not successful in the conquest of Judah. But they did overtake a town called Elath. So Ahaz sends a messege to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria for help in getting rid of these other two kings. Ahaz sees a alter that is pleasing to himself and sends the blueprints of it to the priest of Judah to build one for him. He not only relied on the king of Assyria and not God, but he wanted to continue to worship things that we not God. Ahaz was preoccupied with what pleased him rather than what pleased God. I need to be focused on pleasing God not myself. Who are you pleasing right now? God or self? I choose to please God!

Press ON!

A Glass House?

Someone asked me if being in a pastor's family was like growing up in a glass house.
To an extent I would say that growing up in a Pastor’s family is like growing up in a glass house. Your home life was seen a lot more then say a layman’s family would be. This was not a big hindrance to my life, in fact it may be a tremendous help to my spiritual life. I actually like the fact that people are watching the Pastor’s family. As a Pastor’s family we are an example to the church that we are a part of. If the Pastor is not controlling or running His family well then how can he run the church that God has given him well? There were times when I would get in trouble, deservingly so, but the other kids when they were acting up didn’t get in trouble. I go back to the fact that a pastor’s family will make or break his ministry. His family needs to be one that represents his leadership at home, so others will see what kind of leader he will be in the church.
At times I was considered different for being in a pastor’s family and at times I didn’t really like it. Sometimes you would be asked to do things that other kids in the church would not have to do. I never thought myself as a weird kid because of the things that I had to do for my dad. I don’t really think that I did things just to please my mom or my dad. My parents were always telling us kids that we need to do things for God’s glory and to please Him. That is where my parents wanted our focus to be, not on pleasing them. As a pastor’s kid I got to have a ton of fun! Being in the ministry is a lot of fun. Maybe I didn’t get to do all the things that my friends got to do but I got to see God work in awesome ways! I got to see something my dad had been preaching on (if you see a need and you can meet that need then do it), put into practice by our church when I was very young and I still remember seeing that like it was yesterday. If people think that seeing God do amazing things is boring and no fun! Then they have a wrong view of the ministry. I never really was embarrassed when my dad would use me as an illustration. This may have been because he had told us kids that the reason God gave him children was so he would have illustrations. I thought it was cool that my dad, the pastor, was using me to help get his sermon across to the congregation.
I really never felt any different for living or growing up in a Pastor’s family. My dad and mom made the ministry fun and allowed us to help with it. Times when I may have had to help with something that others my not have had to, gave me a desire for the ministry. I got to see so many things that God was doing. Many times I got to go spend time with my dad and just watch and see what he does and how he ministers. No matter what family you grow up you can either please God with your actions or you can please self. If you are in a “normal” family you can still rebel and not have a heart for God. All of this boils down to whether you are content with where God has placed you in life or are focused on what you can’t do. Instead you should be focused on what you can do! Being in a pastor’s family was a cool opportunity to see God work in and through my dad and our family! Although there are times where I didn’t enjoy being in a pastor’s family, but looking back on it now I am so thankful for being able to grow up in a pastor’s family!

Press ON!