yard sales and tribulation trail

Have you ever had a weekend that was great but left you exhausted?  That would sum up mine.  Rhonda and I cleaned out our basement and closets all day Friday and into the night getting ready for the Financial Peace yard sale on Saturday.  We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies coming into the church parking lot Saturday morning.  We had lots of stuff that was priced from $1 to $5.  When our alarm went off at 6:30 a.m., I prayed that God would help us sell all that stuff because all the money was going toward the pledge Rhonda I made to by bicycles for the kids in Henry county who would not get anything at Christmas if it were not for the people of SCC.

We made $358! Praise God!  It was a miracle.  We came with my Envoy loaded from front to back and floor to ceiling along with a small trailer.   But at the end of the day, we left with two small boxes of stuff which we took it to the Haven’s House thrift store.

After we left there, I was so tired and wanted to go home and crash, but Rhonda reminded me that someone had given her tickets to Tribulation Trail.  I must be honest, I didn’t want to go because I was so tired, but I was so glad I did.  Rhonda, Katelyn and friend, Georgia and I walk through the trail together.  I was very impressed with the program, but more than that, I could sense the passion of every volunteer.  You could tell every person from the parking lot volunteers, to the trail guides, to the people who acted out every scene, to the people that prayed at the end, believed they were making an eternal difference.

I must say I was thrilled by the fact that I saw at lest 10 to 15 people from SCC there volunteering.  As a pastor that said to me that we really are a community church.

The most impactful moment for me was when my daughter and her friend said, “I want to volunteer next year to be apart of Tribulation Trail.”

So, I would like to say to all those who volunteer in our community, “Thank you for making life better for people you will never meet.”

Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)   May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What holds you back?

Last night was a great small group meeting. I really enjoy breaking up into a smaller group with the men. Last night we talked about the things that hold us back like fear, guilt, worry, doubt and pride. The question was asked, “Which one of these do you think you struggle with the most?” My answer was, “It just depends on what is happening that day”. As we are finding out in our Life’s Healing Choice series, the greatest choice is to trust God. When we as humans admit that we are not God and that we need him, it removes pride. At this point we stop trying to control things that are out of our control. It’s only after this point that we can move to the next level of trusting God and that is to believe he has the power to change me and my situation. From there, we move to the next step of giving our will and life to Chris’s care and control. Here’s the bottom line that is being revealed to me… If I want to live without fear, worry, guilt and doubt I have to choose to trust God. The result of trusting God with my life is peace in my mind and heart. Someone said in my group God doesn’t want to take the steering wheel out of our hands he just wants to be the GPS that we follow.

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

thank you angie benton

Today I would like to give honor to a very special person who has served me and this church for almost 14 years.  Her name is Angie Benton.  Today is her last day working in our office as the accountant.  She was my personal secretary for 10 years and moved in an accounting role after her first baby, Lindi was born.  Now, after her second child Allison has come, she is going to be a fulltime stay at home mom. 

Words cannot say how much I appreciate her.  She walked with me through all the good and bad times.  There have been many times her words of, “we are going to make it” have given me the assurance that I needed.  She was one of my first employees and she has stood with me and was patient with me as I grew as a pastor and employer.

Words cannot say I how much I appreciate her for her love and loyalty that she extended to me and my family.  I am going to miss her being around the office, but will always be thankful for the impact on my life and SCC.

My life is better because of the people like Angie that have been apart of my life. 

So I would like to say, “Thank you Angie for 14 wonderful years of believing in the vision of SCC.”

back from the beach

I am back and well rested mentally and spiritually.  My family and I went to Myrtle Beach for a five day get away.  It was really fun.  I am not really a beach person but I must say I enjoyed this trip more than any other we have ever taken to the beach.

In September the beach is mostly filled with senior adults who are relaxing and so we don’t have to put up with all the college kids being crazy.  I enjoyed this aspect of the trip, but my children reminded me it was boring to them because there were no young people to hang with.

Needless to say I had the ocean to myself and boy did I take advantage of that.  The waves were about four to five feet high and Katelyn and I played in the water all week long from morning until evening while Rhonda and her mom and dad sat under a 10×10 tent that we put up every morning as Robby, Katelyn and I entertained them with trying ride the waves with a float and inner tube.  They would watch us day after day get flipped, crashed and twisted by the waves.

I could handle all of that, but Katelyn went to the store and saw a board called a “skim board.”  Some kid salesman told her how fun it was and how easy it is to ride on the edge of the water.

For those of you who have never heard of skim boarding, you take a small board that looks like a small surfboard with no fin, throw it on beach as the water comes into about an inch deep and the board is suppose to skim across the shallow water.

All I will say about this is it doesn’t work very well when you throw it on the edge of the water, run beside it, jump on it and the water runs out.  If you do I tell you from experience, your feet will come off the board and go over your head as your body rolls across the sand.

So, with that said, I am rested, although a little bruised,  but ready to lead SCC into the greatest spiritual growth of our churches history.

my run in with a ticket scalper

You are not going to believe what happened to me last Friday night. I had planned a date with Rhonda to go to the Braves game. I know she is not into sports, but they were having a fireworks show after the game so I knew she would enjoy that. I called one of my neighbors Ann Rourk and asked, “How could I get into the game inexpensively?” She always knows the best deals. She found a coupon for buy one ticket get one free and gave it to me.

Friday night comes and I take Rhonda to my favorite place to eat, The Varsity. Yes I am the king of romance, ha ha ha. We get to Turner Field about 8:20pm the game is in the fourth inning. We get in line to buy our tickets with my coupon and right before I step up to the window a man behind me asked me if I would like some tickets cheap. Well needless to say, those words got my attention because I knew I was looking at spending about fourteen dollars with my coupon. He said, “Step over here.” So I did and he handed me two tickets. I said, “Are you giving me these tickets?” then he said “How much?”

At that point it hit me that he was a ticket scalper and I was about to say, “No thank you”, but before I could say anything I heard a voice say, “Hey come here!” and the guy took off and left me holding two tickets. The voice was a police officer yelling at the scalper to come to him. Well, I don’t know what to do so I look at the officer and he looks at me as he is scolding the scalper for being inside the gated area selling tickets. The officer says, “Sir take those tickets and enjoy the game.” I am thinking, “I don’t want to take the man’s tickets.” So I turned to try and give them to the officer or scalper and the officer followed Rhonda to the gate to make sure we didn’t give the tickets back. It was either we go to the game for free or the scalper goes to jail. After I got into the ticket gate and the attendant scanned them, I looked at the tickets to see where the seats were. They were in section 103 row 8. If you don’t know, there is not a better seat in the stadium. The face value of the tickets were $52 each. After we got over feeling bad for the guy, it was the best night ever. The temperature was great and the fireworks were wonderful.

Luke 6:38 (NLT) If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you.”

don’t blink

Have you ever heard that time flies when you are having fun?  That is true, but time also flies no matter what.  Today is the first day of school and my son is entering his first year as a senior in high school and my daughter starts her first day of eighth grade.  Rhonda and I were talking it this morning and she said, “I don’t which one I am the saddest about, knowing it our son’s last year of high school or our daughter’s last year of middle school.”

It is amazing how looking ahead into the future seems like forever and looking behind seems like yesterday.  The bible tells us life is so brief.

James 4:14 (NIV)   Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

That sounds like a man that is very depressed, but it is actually meant to be a statement that motivates us to not take life for granted.  I shared this yesterday and I would like to say it on this post.  Your life will be defined by the little things you do day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.

So, the question I have to ask myself is, is what I am doing day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.  How do I want to end up financially, physically, relationally and most importantly spiritually?

If you find yourself going south in any one of these areas, why not make the little changes today and start taking baby steps every day, north.  In just no time at all, you will be were you want to go.

Here are a few baby steps you may consider if you would like to make a change:

Financially, take a the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class on Sunday night or Wednesday at SCC.
Relationally, start by speaking kinder, uplifting words to those around you.
Physically, start by taking a 15 minute walk in the morning or evening
Spiritually, start by reading God’s word ten minutes a day.

Go ahead and go for it, take the baby steps to a new life.

I’m Back!

I’m back! It’s good to be home after being gone for two weeks. We went on a road trip of over 2,700 miles. We went to Virginia and saw the biggest cave I have ever seen in my life. We also drove over the Blue Ridge parkway on a part called the skyline drive. It was the most beautiful view I have ever seen looking over the valley below. We left there and went to Hershey, Pennsylvania and did the tour of the chocolate factory… it was very interesting. We then drove to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the Amish country and took a tour through the home of the Amish people. It was very interesting to learn about how they do so much without electricity. I have to admit, it was the first time I had ever seen a horse and buggy with turn signals. Then we went to New Jersey just across the River from New York City. We stayed two nights there and also spent a whole day in New York City… as a matter of fact until 1:30 am. I do not advise riding the Path train from New York to New Jersey at that time of morning. We had Rhonda’s parents with us and it was their first time being in a place like that. So, I made sure they had plenty of excitement that they could have done without at that time in the morning. The next day at noon we left for Niagara Falls. But, we decide to drive about half way and had a hard time finding a room with a pool for Katelyn, at least for the price I wanted to pay. We found one in a city called Painted Post, NY which is right outside Corning, NY. We made it to Niagara Falls the next day and had the same problem finding a room, so after a half day of searching for a room because of some festival called “A Taste of Buffalo”, we found one. The next day was a great time at Niagara Falls, it was beautiful. The weather was 76 degrees and sunny. We took the boat ride up to the falls called the Maid of the Mist. I can’t put into words how awesome that was seeing one of God’s greatest designs up so close. The next day we left for Cleveland, Ohio and had lunch on the shores of Lake Eire. We left the picnic and drove to Cincinnati, Ohio and spent the night. The next days was just like the old saying “the horse heading for the barn” as we head home. I got to finish our vacation with a Sunday in church with my Father and spent the afternoon with him, it was great. So I am back now ready to lead our church for the glory of God. I will share with you this week about something I learned on my trip that I think will be a good life lesson for me and maybe you.

ministry is messy

Guest Blogger:  Ricky Mosel

Sometimes in life we sit back for a moment and analyze where we are and where we came from. If you are involved in a ministry at a church on any level, this usually means that you reflect on why you stay involved in said ministry. You can’t help it. That’s what people in ministry do. Why? Because ministry is messy! It’s difficult. It always has been and always will be.

Last week as I was riding down the highway in South Carolina I begin to ponder on this very subject. I was on vacation and enjoying the time of a long needed rest. I was enjoying it so much that I begin to wonder: “Why can’t it be this way all the time?” Ever been there before? I thought so. Anyways, like anyone in this position; I begin to think about all the things I don’t like about being involved in ministry. The problems people struggle with on a daily basis, most of which if you get involved in; you end up being the bad guy (never fun). All the deadlines, all the emotions, all the pains and hurts and struggles, all the people wanting your attention all the time; and getting very upset or angry if they don’t get it. All the times you have to sacrifice or go the extra mile, with no one to notice except you… and maybe your spouse (I said maybe). All the extra hours that you don’t get to count toward overtime at work. All the expectations people put on you, feeling like people are waiting for you to fail. The whole enchilada man! (ok, you get the picture. I’ll move on).

It can become quite overwhelming. You feel guilty because you know you shouldn’t feel this way. God’s not happy with you feeling this way about serving Him; so you should be ashamed. This was me, all in a span of about five minutes; by myself (the only one awake at least)

After returning home and getting back into routine, those thoughts dissipate and you move on. That’s when God likes to show up and blindside you. He allows you to sit in the doctor’s office with your kids and out of the blue your 10 year-old daughter says: “Daddy, camp was cool last week. I had so much fun. I went down during an altar call and ask Jesus into my heart for the first time. I’m so glad I did. It’s the best thing I ever did.” And then your 4 year-old son says: “I got saved to, at my Pepa’s. My sister talked to me about Jesus and helped me pray and ask him into my heart.”

That’s when it hits you like a ton of bricks. Ministry IS messy! And it’s supposed to be! This is why we sacrifice and go the extra mile. There are people that are moving through life lost in a routine and there life is messy. They need the life-altering power of Jesus! And being part of the process can be one of the most rewarding things we do!

Just a reminder to whoever needs reassuring, God always comes through! No matter if your issue is physical, mental, emotional, or especially spiritual. You can always count on him to deliver! Even in a messy ministry.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Hearing God and Finding Nemo

What a weekend.  I had the privilege of going on a trip with my daughter and her school to Chicago.  We left Wednesday at 6:00pm on a bus and rode 14 hours.  Needless to say there was no sleep that night.  We did the same hours Saturday. We left at 6:00pm and arrived by back at the school Sunday at 8:00am.  I don’t want to take another bus ride in near future.  It was a lot of fun with the middle school kids.  You know God is amazing in how he speaks. I don’t how it works with you, but with me he does it at the most unlikely times and ways.

On the way back I had been looking over some notes I had made of the Man 2 Man series that we are going to be doing in June.  I was asking God what was the main thing he wanted me to share with the church during this series.  I can tell you at that time nothing special came to my mind. I wrote some thoughts down but nothing I felt was directly from God.  The bus stopped at 3:30am in Kentucky to change drivers and I got up out of my seat to stretch my legs. The movie, “Finding Nemo” was on.  I have seen it and it is not one of my favorite movies.  So, I sat back down and thought I will try to go to sleep, but couldn’t so I watched the end of the movie.  What was interesting is that the part of the movie I started watching is where Nemo’s father and the little angel fish were inside the whale. Nemo’s father was holding on and trying not to go into the whale’s belly.  The other fish was telling him to let go and fall into the unknown.  Nemo’s father asked, “How will I know that everything’s going to be alright?”  The other fish answered, “We don’t know that it will be, we just have to trust it will be.”  At that point they let go and fell into the whale’s belly and he blew them out the hole that is on the top of a whale’s head to freedom. Then, they were able to arrive at the place they had wanted to get to.

 

The message to me was, trust God in the unknown even though it is scary and believe that I will end up at the place in life the I have been trying to get to.  In other words it was just another reminder from God, let go and let God.

Ephesians. 3:20 (Msg)   God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

oops

I don’t know why such crazy things happen to me, but they do.  Friday I was with the young man that I mentor at Stockbridge Middle School and we were talking about why he didn’t get to go to Six Flags with the rest of the school.  The reason was because he had to spend some time in in-school suspension because he had so many silent lunches.  I said Jalen, “why do you get so many days of silent lunch?” Come to find out it was because when his classmates say something he doesn’t like he will yell out, “SHUT UP!”

 

So, I was in our little room that we meet in every week and I said, “Jalen do you understand that two words are causing you all this trouble to the point of not allowing you to go to Six Flags?”  At that point I said, “Here they are,” and I them said loudly, “SHUT UP!”  After I said that I saw the assistant principal look in the window as if to see if everything was alright.  I thought, “oh great,” I am sure he thinks, “Some mentor.  I am yelling at this kid, telling him to SHUT UP!”  Everything in me wanted to tell Mr. Glen, “I was trying to teach Jalen to control his tongue.”  So after I left the room with Jalen I saw Mr. Glen and said, “Hey, how are you?” He said, “Good,” and kept on walking.  Everything in me wanted to say, “I am not the jerk you probably think I am.”  By the way, did I tell you Mr. Glen’s child attends our academy at our church?

 

I just had to go because at that point anything I said would have made things worse.  It just happens to me.  Sunday, in our second service, I was trying to say I want to “recap” the last four weeks.  What came out was I want “re-crap” this series and everyone laughed and I had no idea as to why.  I did everything every public speaker does when people laugh and you don’t know why.  I checked my zipper to make sure it was up and I checked my nose to make sure nothing was hanging.  After checking those two things in a split second, I had no clue until after the service.  One person said, “We need to re-crap the service today.  That was a good one!”  Then, it hit me that is what everyone was laughing at.  I just hate I didn’t get to enjoy the moment with them.  Just another day in the life and times of the one and only Jeff Daws.

 

I feel Paul’s pain in the Bible when he said this in  2 Corinthians. 12:11 (NIV)   I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it.

 

Have you ever been there?