On my mind today

Who's kingdom are you building?  Who's kingdom are you serving?  At the end of the day, you'll only have two options: serving Christ's kingdom or your own.  As for me, I'm choosing to build the kingdom of Christ.  No more small dreams of what I can do or how it can be done to my understanding.  No more short-sighted belief that if I can't figure it then it can't be done.  I'm done with small thinking and small believing.  If we are to be the church and people that change the world, then we must dream and act on a large scale.  I believe Christ deserves no less.

Keep your eye on the ball.  That's what my coach told me when I was playing little league baseball at 12 yrs old.  While I'm not playing much baseball, it's still pretty good counsel now.  Be focused on what REALLY matters and lock your attention there!  Hmmmmm.  That's harder than it sounds, isn't it?  The temptation to be distracted by the multiplicity of things going on around me is astounding.  Each and every week there are a variety of needs - health needs, financial needs, fundraising needs, leadership needs, missional needs not to even mention the spiritual needs - that come through my door.  It's easy to get distracted and think that pastoring is all about "putting out fires." Furthermore, when you throw in some people who don't trust me (for reasons only they know) or suspect I've got foul motives (I wish I was as clever or devious as some people believe me to be) and the temptation to forget why I started in this is HIGH!  So to ...

Imagine if you will the Gettysburg Address written about Easter in our current times.  So it is that we have a wonderfully written piece by one of our own CBC members, Phil Nash.  A junior high teacher and coach, I've been blessed to find in Phil a godly man who loves the Lord, his family and CBC.  Be as blessed by this as I was. 99 score and 1 year ago God, our Father, brought forth on this planet, a new nation, conceived in the covenant of Grace, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are loved equally by their Creator. Now we are engaged in a great civil debate, testing whether Grace, or any covenant so conceived and so dedicated, can mend the ills of sinful men. Today we pause to reflect on the great battle-field where this war was first waged. We have come to dedicate our hearts as holy ground and residence for our Creator, and our lives in covenant with those who gave themselves as living sacrifices that this message of Grace might be spread to the ends ...

Once upon a time, I was introduced to Mozilla Firefox - the little web browser that could.  I've always been drawn to the underdog and to open source software.  I'd been using Netscape for a long time to avoid Explorer.  I think the first Firefox I downloaded was 2.0.  As I write this, I'm using version 27.0.1 (and it's waiting to update itself).  As of today, however, I'm ceasing use of Mozilla (and I invite you to do the same).  I'm sure they'll be impressed and upset.  I've downloaded Google Chrome and am actually going so far as to delete Firefox altogether.  Why?  Because of their decision to force out Brandon Eich, one of their founders and the CEO.  It wasn't because of anything he had done as a professional or as CEO.  That would be understandable.  Under pressure from outside groups demanding "diversity", they forced him out because of a measly $1,000 donation made 6 years ago in defense of the traditional view of marr...

- Welcome to Michael and Beverly Mock!  I accidentally said "Mack" this morning but they graciously forgave my inability to read!  Either way, we're pleased to have you! - This morning's message was as "out of the box" for me as I think I've ever tried.  It wasn't that I was tackling an edgy subject or approaching it in a ticklish manner.  The "out of the box"-ness was how I longed to communicate the passion of Jesus by walking along side him for the week. The message was started with the stations of the Cross (for non-catholics, learn more about that here ) and a desire to highlight the darkness of Passion week before the brilliance of Easter morning.  I told our staff, our tech guys and anyone else who asked I believe we do ourselves (and the Gospels!) a disservice by rushing past Jesus' passion in our hurry to get to the good news of Easter.  The Gospels each take deliberate time and intensity in describing that last week of Jesus...

--> There’s nothing more dull than hearing about someone else’s trip.   That’s why I put this on my blog instead of somewhere else.   But if you’re at my blog, then you’re okay with being bored by the personal details of my life, so here ya go! Although I’ve been to DC several times, I’d never been invited to an “official” DC event.   So when Congressman Jeb Hensarling’s office called and invited me to join him for the National Prayer Breakfast, I was pleased to say yes.   I had no responsiblities for this event – it was a party I wasn’t going to throw.   I could just go along for the ride.   When I got to DC on Tuesday, it didn’t take long to remember why I brought my “big” coat!   I stepped out into the jetway and went WHOA!   That’s cold!   As soon as my bag came through the carousel, I pulled that coat out!   I had to hurry, however, as I had (foolishly) made a 6 PM appointment with Congressman Jeb Hensarling. ...