Don't Miss This!!!

Luke 19:41-44, "Now as He drew near, He saw the city (Jerusalem) and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes...because you did not know the time of your visitation.'"

This blog was established so that I could share with you the things that are on my mind. After spending the morning at the doctor's office getting a check-up on Hayden's arm (bones haven't moved - so far so good), this is what I have been meditating over. I'm not going to go into great detail but what I have to share is something that you don't want to miss.

Is it possible that YOU could miss the time of YOUR visitation?

Jesus was approaching Jerusalem and was so moved by the condition of the people's hearts that he wept. They were missing out on the things that would bring them peace. They were missing out on the visitation of God. They were missing out on HIM! I want to remind you that Jesus isn't talking to a foreign culture. He is speaking to the Jewish people.

The "children of God" missed God.

Take some time today and ask God to help you recognize His time of visitation.

**Please be praying for our Park Day event that starts tomorrow morning at 10:30 am.
This is our largest outreach event of the year and we are trusting that God will use us to lead many to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed be my Rock!

I was listening to some praise music this morning when I heard these words during a moment of spontaneous praise, "He can't stay away when I sing His name."

One of the awesome aspects of a relationship with God is His constant presence in our lives. The Word promises that His Holy Spirit indwells every believer. And if I ever get to a place in my life when I think that God is "far from me", all I have to do is sing His name.

God indwells the praises of His people. That is, God indwells the spontaneous, heart-felt song of His people. This is the praise that rises up from a heart that is thankful, needful, worshipful, expressive, hungry, etc. I don't know about you but there are times when I am overwhelmed by His goodness or I simply need God to come into my circumstances. The greatest way to get His attention is to worship. Jesus told us that the Father is seeking worshippers that worship Him in spirit and in truth. Open your spirit to Him. Worship Him in truth - not your truth but His - and wait upon the comfort, peace, and presence of Almighty God.

May the God of my salvation be exalted!

TD Jakes tells his congregation to "Praise Him like you've lost your mind." I love this expression. Far too often it is our mind that gets in the way. It's our mind that says we cannot praise God when we are sad. It's our mind that says we cannot praise God when there is great difficulty in life. It's our mind that says we cannot be too expressive in front of others. It's our mind that says we shouldn't dance, shout, run, lift our hands, bow down...you name it. But God is looking for worshippers. Will you be a worshipper today? Will you leave your logic on the sidelines for just a moment and express your love to God.

My brother used to have a sticker that said, "Caution: Driver has fits of praise!" Shouldn't that be true of each of us? I'm not saying that you have to cause a traffic accident but I do think there are times that people ought to look at us funny at the traffic light (ever happen to you?).

Regardless of how you FEEL, God is worthy of our praise. Psalm 18:46, "The Lord lives! Blessed by my rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted!" If I don't do anything else today, I want to exalt the God of my salvation. I want to bless the Rock in my life. I want to do what Jonathan David Helser said in one of his most recent songs, "Waste my time with the angels." They are constantly worshipping around the throne. Can I give Him 5 or 10 minutes? I know that I will be better off!

May you find a place of praise wherever you are today. When you do - "Praise Him like you've lost your mind."

Daily Concerns

What started out as a day of celebration ended up being an evening of concern. This past Saturday during Hayden's birthday party there was an accident and he walked out of it with a broken right arm. I have to give it to him...it was nasty. After going to the ER we found out that he had broken both bones just below his wrist and it would require surgery to fix. We left WCCH late that evening and drove to Radford. Sunday morning around 8:30 am (something like that) Hayden was taken back for surgery. Thankfully, the doctor was able to do a closed reduction which meant that he wouldn't require pins, screws, or plates.

Needless to say, all of this has produces a little stress in our lives. We were given doctor's orders to keep him as immobile as possible {you do realize my son is 9?} and to keep his arm elevated. He's not even supposed to move his right arm without first grabbing with his left. Hayden is doing well and we trust that God will allow him to heal quickly.

It would be really easy to enter into pity party mode through all of this. You know, "Why me?" or "Why now?", but I have come to realize that IT COULD BE MUCH WORSE. I could be the parent of a child taking chemo seeing no results from treatment. I could be trying to care for a dying parent. I could be going to the hospital everyday for dialysis. There are so many more problems that we could have in life. So as for me and my house, we are truly blessed.

If you read 2 Corinthians 11:28 you will come across these words, "besides the other things, what comes upon my daily: my deep concern for all the churches." Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian believers after he had shared accounts of being beaten by rods, being stoned and shipwrecked. He also spoke of weariness, toil, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, fasting, cold, and nakedness. Added to all of that, Paul said, was his deep concern for ALL the churches. In other words, Paul never had a day off from the daily concerns of life. News Flash: neither do you.

Why do you think God's Word teaches us to be anxious for nothing but in all things by prayer and supplication to make our requests known unto the Lord. God knows that we will have daily concerns and he teaches us to take those concerns to Him. When we don't make this a habit of daily life that is when we become anxious. I'm going to say something that may sound a little strange but it is true: God is in control even if my son breaks his arm. What do I have to be anxious about? It's not easy but God has been with us every step of the way.

I thank all of you for praying for Hayden. He definitely has a story to tell about his 9th birthday. Jennifer and I are appreciative of the phone calls, cards, gifts, etc. Hayden will be healed in a few weeks and our lives will return to some normalcy. In the meantime we will acknowledge God's sovereignty in our lives and keep on living for His kingdom.

May you experience His peace today as you turn all of your daily concerns over to His grace.

***After reading this blog entry, please take time to participate in the poll just under the ABC's of salvation.***

Thanksgiving Offering

There's a hymn we used to sing called "Count Your Many Blessing". Well, I don't know that I can count them all on here but I do want to give an offering of thanks to Jehovah.

Hayden turns 9 tomorrow. When I first came to Pioneer he was getting ready to turn one. My how time flies when you are having fun! I'm so thankful for both of my children.

I'm thankful that at PBC we have seen 11 people accept Christ and 15 who followed the Lord in baptism this year already (14 people over the past 5 weeks). Not only that, but since Resurrection Sunday we have had around 225 on average attend our Sunday Worship Service. **Pray that God gives us wisdom in how to handle the growth that we are experiencing.

As I mentioned briefly yesterday, Ron & Sarah had their baby girl on Wednesday. I'm so thankful for what God has done in their life. I'm glad that I obeyed the voice of the Lord when he began to prompt me to pray for Sarah to conceive. Their little girl is a child of promise!!! Praise His name! (For those of you who don't attend PBC, we have seen 5 babies born this year and have 2 more that I know of who are expecting).

I'm thankful for what God is doing in the membership of our church. We have seen much growth already this year and already have at least 2 more couples going through the membership class. 10 people have joined our church in 2009!

I'm thankful for "Bob and Sally Trailblazer" as Ron calls them who are serving in East Asia. These are members of the body who felt called to join God on mission to reach a lost world. They are such a blessing to us personally but also to the body of believers here at PBC. **Pray for their effectiveness in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I'm thankful to have the opportunity to serve on the Executive Board of the SBCV. This past week I was able to sit in on two church planter interviews. It is so awesome to hear about how God is moving in the hearts of people who feel called to plant churches here in the state of VA. **Let us pray for a church planting movement within our state, and while we are at it let us pray for the established churches in our state that they will experience a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

I'm thankful for a church family that understands the need to give to the community without expecting anything in return. On May 23rd we will be holding our annual Park Day event. I'm already looking forward to posting some pics from that one! Last year we saw God blow the lid off of our faith as we basically doubled in turnout by feeding 1200 people. I was talking with one of my neighbors (Wesley) yesterday and he was blown away this past Sunday as we shared what Park Day was all about and how God has used us to do this ministry. ***For those who don't know - we rent the recreation field in our community and put on a big block party with free food, entertainment, and moonwalk type attractions for the kids. Please pray for this year's event as we seek to share the Gospel with everyone who will give us an ear.

God is so Good (all the time)! Praise Him for His marvelous works. Praise Him for His provision. Praise Him for His salvation.

I'm also thankful for those of you who take the time to read PBC Voice. This blog has been a tremendous blessing to me and I hope that it is for you as well.

I'm Working...

Good Morning to Everyone.

Sorry that there will be no blog today (at least not this morning).

I'm helping conduct some church planter interviews.

Congrats to Ron and Sarah on the birth of their baby girl yesterday! Mom and baby are doing well.