CHANGE IS COMING!

We have some very exciting news coming our way! On Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2-3, Lana and I will be meeting the people of First Baptist Church of Dawson, GA and I will be preaching in view of a call to become their Senior Pastor!

I haven’t been a full-time Pastor for 6 ½ years although I have had 3 lengthy interims and have filled in for a lot of churches. Thankfully the Lord kept me busy and sharp when it comes to preaching.

He has also used these years to shape me into being a better pastor. And yes, He did it through my 7 years at Chick-fil-A! Actually…I never stopped pastoring…I just did it from a different venue. Chick-fil-A gave me so many opportunities to witness and minister to people. I have prayed for the needs of many of our customers and fellow team-members.  We saw God do some great things in their lives and He gets all the glory!

So…it’s Monday and Sunday is coming! We ask that you pray for us as we prepare for the weekend. We want what God wants for us and for First Baptist!

Eph. 3:20

Joel

MY PASSIONS

What is it is life that you are passionate about? If you knew you could never fail and you had all the resources you ever needed, what passion would you pursue?

I’ve heard those questions for many years. And I have had a lot of things that I have been passionate about. However there are a couple of areas I just can’t get past that generate great passion and excitement in my life.  Both allow me to serve others and meet their needs! Both allow me to help people experience life-change and that excites me more than anything!

First and foremost, I have discovered that we all desire life-change. The single greatest resource for a changed life is God’s Word. I love to preach/teach/speak God’s Word! It is an awesome and humbling experience to stand before people and proclaim the Word of God. People are so hungry to know what the Bible has to say about whatever it is they are dealing with. They want to know how to live out this Christian life that they have surrendered to. They don’t want to be yelled at! They want to be fed, led and cared for! That’s what we preacher types (under shepherds) do – lead the sheep (people), feed the sheep and tend the sheep! It’s humbling to hear, from those who heard you speak/preach/teach, how God used that message to help them! All thanks and praise goes to the Father who brings people and preacher together as He does His work in all of us leading us to experience life-change!

My other great passion that gives me opportunity to serve people and help generate life-change is in the area of health and nutrition. I love talking to people about products that have impacted my life physically. I get real excited hearing great results from others who have also seen great changes take place in their bodies – from Olympic athletes to ordinary folks like you and me.  I highly recommend you take a look at the wonderful products created by the Shaklee Corporation. Their purity, potency and performance cannot be beat. They are the number one natural nutrition company in the world.

I must say that these products have changed my life! For instance, I’m 60 years old working at a Chick-fil-A trying to keep up with 20 year olds. The physical demands of my job are huge. I need strength, stamina and recovery. Check! I’m exposed to numerous people each day who are sick, so I need to stay immune. Check! Shaklee gives me what I need. And it has now for 24 years and I’m so thankful to God that I found this company.

If I can serve you by recommending to you products that can possibly generate the change you have been looking for in your life and health, then I hope you will allow me to do so. We can talk by email, FB, messaging, etc. I post a lot of things on an FB page and you can click here for a link. Please “LIKE” my page for updates, news and life-changing stories. And by all means please SHARE this page with your friends.

Passions… We all have them. Maybe you will share some of yours with me! I hope so.  Thanks for taking the time to read.  More to come!

BLESSINGS

It has been an interesting two weeks for us. We had been smelling antifreeze in the duct work of the Toyota Highlander (Lana's car) and knew something was up...and you guessed it - Heater Core! And we thought that was an expensive car repair ($800 but we decided to bypass it for now) until this past week when I blew a head gasket in the Ford Taurus (my car) and now $1500 later, I have my car back from the shop! It only has 207,000 miles on it so I guess the inevitable was going to happen.  Good news is I now have new heads, new tune up, new antifreeze and a fresh oil change!

I bought that 2001 Taurus when it had only 12,000 miles on it and we have been blessed with how it has performed! And I am so thankful to the Lord Jesus for keeping it running. And the 2003 Highlander has also been a good car full of the Lord's blessings. We were also blessed by not being stranded on some dark lonely highway. And we were blessed to have good friends to help get us where we needed to be until arrangements could be made for alternate transportation while the cars were in the shop!

Besides the cars, I started Physical Therapy on my left shoulder which had been strained. I have a good Therapist and some good meds to help with the pain! I'm blessed to get the help I need for healing and strength!

Speaking of blessings, the Lord has once again opened the door for me to preach more! I am filling the pulpit for a church for the next 2 months.  It's always good to pray for the Lord to prepare my heart and the heart of the church where I have the blessing to preach. It's amazing what God does when I ask for that preparation to happen.  When I arrive at the church I know with confidence that God has been working on all our hearts and when I hear the comments after the service I am humbled that God would still use me! All the praise goes to Him for His incredible blessings!

How have you been blessed by the Lord? Pause right now and thank Him for His blessings in your life.  I bet you won't have to look far to see them.

Joel

So it's been a while since I posted anything on this blog so I decided to finally get back into it once again! 

I am still working full-time at Chick-fil-A on Wynnton Road in Columbus, GA. Just celebrated my 4th year at this location and am presently serving as Director of Hospitality. And when I get the opportunity, I still preach the Word in various churches. It is good to utilize my experience to help other congregations at their point of need. Lana is serving as a church secretary in a local church and we have 3 awesome grandkids! 

This is just a quick update and I'll share more soon!  Thanks for checking in one me! 

Joel

Have You Read the Entire Bible?

I overheard a discussion the other day about the Bible. One person is a Believer and the other is a Seeker. As the conversation went on I could not be silent anymore. I asked the Seeker if he had read the entire Bible and he said he didn't want to read it. I then suggested that before he criticize the Bible and/or try to prove it wrong he might want to read it all the way through.

He would like to see if the Bible and history correspond together...just read it and find out! Dates given in the Bible have proven to be consistent with historical records but you'll never know it until you read it!

The Seeker proceeded to say the Bible was written by men and I said yes it was, however those men were under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Then I realized something...

People who are critical of the Bible try to understand the Bible from a limited human observation! They are starting in the wrong place! Anyone attempting to understand the Bible must first start with the right perspective - Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning GOD..." You must start with God, not human logic!

So, before you develop your opinion of the Bible, get to know The Author first...then all else will begin to fall in place. You may not understand it all but being guided by Him will make all the difference. He will direct you in what you need to know and when you need to know it. Start today and let the journey begin!

Your thoughts...

New Year 2012

This is a post I did 3 years ago and it still stands true today! Enjoy and Happy New Year!

I absolutely love New Year's Day! There is just something about this particular day that gets most people to thinking. We regretfully think about the past and with great anticipation we think about the future.

Sure, today is no different than yesterday (Dec. 31) but there's just something about this day that puts great hope in all of us. Do you sense that on this day or is it just me?

The Bible teaches us: "Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to the things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19b HCSB)

"Something new" comes daily. With each morning we see a new day. With each day we see new opportunities. With each opportunity we see new progress!

Start each day with anticipation and remember: The past is past! Let's learn our lessons and move on toward our future. Life is better when you look through the windshield than through the rear-view mirror.

Christmas the Season of Hope

CHRISTMAS THE SEASON OF HOPE

Isaiah 9:2 (NIV) ² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Christmas is one of the most hopeful times of the year. It is a season of hope.

• We have presents being given and received
• We have happy music playing
• We have some people actually being happier – with the exception of drives and shoppers
• We have decorations – that started in August
• We have SALES!
• We have trees and…
• We have lights…on the tree(s), on the house, in the yard, on buildings, on Mack Trucks, around the office…just about anywhere you can think!

The lights have their greatest effect in the darkness. Driving around at night looking at the lights brings a great sense of warmth and hope as we are reminded of the season upon us.

Unfortunately, even with all the lights around us at Christmas time, many people are still walking in the darkness. They are living lives of hopelessness because they have never discovered the Life that brings light into their dark lives.

Isaiah 9 takes a look at the prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ and the hope he would bring to the earth when he came.

Isaiah 9:2; 6-7 (NIV) ² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned… ⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

SETTING:

The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been attacked and destroyed by the Assyrian Army. Ephraim never recovered and later became known as Samaria. It was a gloomy time for Israel.

And in the middle of that gloom and darkness, a word of hope came from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah to the oppressed people – a light was coming to remove the darkness of captivity!

Verse 6 – For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given. This child was to be the “light” who was going to be a rescuer for the people.

This is Good News!

Look how the child was described – he was everything the people needed and wanted.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV) ⁶ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

• Government on His shoulders – He will rule and govern as one from the lineage of King David. God promised David that there would always be a ruler on the throne from his household – Jesus fulfills that promise!

He will be called…

• Wonderful Counselor – He will discharge his office with supernatural wisdom…much greater than Solomon who was the wisest of all the kings of Israel…with more elegance and justice than ever seen

• Mighty God – He will be a powerful warrior always winning every military adventure because of his precise execution of his plans

• Everlasting Father – “Father” means originator… he is the originator of eternity and he will be a father to his people throughout eternity with great care, compassion and discipline

• Prince of Peace – When he comes into power there will be peace among the nations of the world

Ever since those words were spoken, Israel has been looking for the Messiah – the wise warrior who would govern them, and lead them to victory in their battles, and establish peace all around them. They are still looking for him today.

What they missed, and I don’t want you to miss this, was that the Messiah did come. And in the middle of the night, in the deepest darkness, a little cry was heard and the light of the world came to be.

Later in his life Jesus said of himself:

John 8:12 (NIV) ¹² "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The Apostle John also wrote of him:

John 1:4-5 (NIV) ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The people that Isaiah wrote about were experiencing hopelessness because of the darkness of their captivity. They were defeated by an enemy who now ruled over them.

The reason the people were in captivity was because of the REAL ruler of their lives – the darkness of the captivity of sin. They had turned away from their God to follow after their own desires and lusts.

What they really needed was not a warrior, but a Savior.

And it’s the same today – the darkness of the captivity of sin has created hopelessness in the lives of people because they have turned their backs on God and followed after their own desires and lusts.

So here comes Christmas as a reminder again each and every year – a reminder of the hope we have through Christ.

He wants to be your…

• Wonderful Counselor – to give you a vibrant life filled with the wisdom you need for your everyday life

• Mighty God – to lead you into defeating sin and the devil who tries to take you captive

• Everlasting Father – to show you great care, compassion and discipline both now and for eternity

• Prince of Peace – but you will never experience peace until the Prince of Peace is in your life

Why is Christmas the season of hope?

• Not because of lights…
• Not because of presents…
• Not because of decorations…

Christmas is the season of hope because “Unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given!”

He came for you because he is what you need.

Make this Christmas the season of hope for your life by inviting the Prince of Peace into your heart to dispel the darkness of captivity created by your sin.

Here’s what you do:

• Realize you need the light of the world in your life

• Repent of the sin that has taken you captive

• Receive Jesus into your heart

• Resolve to live your life for him

Merry Christmas.