Throw Another Yule Log On!

We set up our Christmas tree tonight. Does this look like a Norman
Rockwell painting or what? My wife is even sporting a June Cleaver
smile.

Marco was here!

It was great to have Marco back with us this Sunday. He was part of
the original launch team that helped plant SouthPoint. Of course he
had to move....,punk! But he came back to visit this weekend And lead
worship. You can also tell that my son Noah thinks Marco is pretty
cool.

Phoebe's Birthday

Its always rough to have a birthday around a major holiday, but we
gave it a shot! Phoebe is offically 6!

How Thankful Are You?

How thankful are you? Better question: how thankful would your friends say you are? Would you get a, ‘very thankful’ or would you be at the bottom of the ranking with a, ‘not so thankful’? That’s a tougher question, huh?
Of course, everyone would immediately say, “Oh I’m very thankful. I love life and everything about it!” But when you listen to what you say when you are around your friends, it makes you stop and think doesn’t it? Many times we can have a very deluded opinion of ourselves. Deluded from reality, that is.
As you sit around the wonderful Thanksgiving table today, pay attention. Pay attention to how many of your family and friends have a complaining mantra instead of a thankful speech. So often without even thinking about, especially during the busy times in our lives, we complain instead of giving thanks. We all have a lot to be thankful for.
Unfortunately, complaining has become a way of life for so many people. We complain about our cars, our homes, our clothes, and about our very own family. Everything in our lives could be better. Everything in our lives seems to somehow be tainted by the “greener grass on the other side.” Their house is bigger, their car is newer and their kids seem nicer.
No, we don’t actually verbalize this, but somehow, it manages to be lodged in our hearts like a five-day-old burrito. This burrito of complaint is what spurs us on to work harder and longer hours, to achieve more, make more, and therefore, buy more. Thanksgiving is a great time to adjust and examine our hearts.
Adjusting can be a painful process because, first and foremost, we have to admit the point at which we are currently is not the healthiest place for us to be. We have to recognize that we could possibly be operating out of a complaining mindset as opposed to a grateful one. This is not an easy thing to admit. It’s actually very painful.
My very first trip to Honduras was in 1993. I lead a group of teenagers there to do some construction and ministry. I was a cocky, complaining American who had it all figured out. The missionary sent me up the mountain in the back of a truck with all the luggage of our ten-member group. I was going to stay with the luggage while he took the one-hour drive back to the city to retrieve the group members. I was to sit and play guard dog. I figured this would be a cushy job and expected a good two-hour nap in the jungle. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
As I sat there on this giant pile of luggage – 20 suitcases total – I looked across the dirt road at a mud hut that was approximately ten foot square. I watched the family go in and out and realized that about five to six people lived in this ten-foot square mud hut. I looked up and down the muddy path and realized that I was sitting on more stuff than this entire village owned.
I began to cry. I thought about how I had complained that the airplane was too uncomfortable, and how the luggage was too heavy. I had complained about the very things I should have been thankful for because I have been blessed with so much. I was complaining, while I was guarding more stuff than this entire village owned!
Our complaints are usually the very things for which we need to be giving thanks. I am so grateful for my home; so grateful for my family; so grateful for my church; and so grateful for my country (Democrats and Republicans). I am grateful.
So today, let’s look around and see with naked eyes the lack that surrounds the globe, and adjust our hearts to a path of thanksgiving and gratefulness. We all have a lot to be thankful for.

Dinner Give-A-ways

What an incredible day! Special thanks to all the organizations that were involved. We had an awesome day delivering 800 meals! How incredible is that? Over 30 people from SouthPoint showed up to help deliver the meals to families all over Desoto County. It was simply a huge win, not only for SouthPoint, but for all of Desoto County! Since SouthPoint is only 10 months old this is obviously our very first Thanksgiving outreach and it was put together like we had been doing it for years! Dale Cross organized the entire event and managed to get numerous companies and organizations involved. John Woods Catering cooked all the meals and they wee quite tasty. I just can't say thank you enough to everyone involved. I can't tell you how many phone calls we received with people on the other end crying in appreciation for what had been given to them. Woo-Hoo! This was so fun, let's do it again next year! Thanks to all who was a part!

The Good, the bad, the Nutcracker

Went skeet shooting today - that was good.
Michigan lost to Ohio State today - that was bad.
Now I'm headed to watch my two awesome girls dance in the Nutcracker. I guess i could post some pix of them later, but for now - just guns.

Think it - Pray it

Sometimes my wife annoys me. Don’t get me wrong, I have the best wife in the entire stratosphere, but sometimes she annoys me. It happens when I start to tell her something exciting or entertaining that happened to me that day, and she interrupts me with a glorious, “Oh I already know that! Sally’s sister’s nephew, who used to be related to uncle Joe saw you, and he told me.” It only annoys me because I’m a storyteller, and part of telling a story is the joy of taking someone on a mental journey to a fun ending. Yea, it bugs me when you already know the punch line before I get there.
Of course, we’re all that way aren’t we? To make it worse, God pulls the deity card, and says that He knows what we are going to pray, even before we pray it. So it’s like no matter what’s going on in our lives, God already knows what you’re going to pray before you utter the words. So seriously, wouldn’t it be easier to just wake up in the morning and say, “Yea God, you know,” and then go on with our day? It sure would save a lot of time.
The passage where Jesus says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him” is in Matthew. It’s the precursor to the infamous ‘Lord’s prayer’ that many people quote. Understand this, it’s the lead-in that Jesus uses to encourage us to pray, yet we think of it more as a deterrent as apposed to a catalyst.
When we pray, we don’t have to throw up a smoke screen. We don’t even have to use “thee”s and “thou”s. There is no need to convince God how important your request is. There is no need to beg and plead for Him to understand how heavy this weighs on your heart. Not once do you need to convince Him of the pain of loss, the heartache of a jilted love, or the stress of unpaid bills. He knows. In fact, He knows it before you pray it.
This verse that seems to be a deterrent to prayer is actually a wonderful incentive to pray. To share our innermost pains with Him, because He already knows. Sometimes when we share hurts, heartaches, and soul aches with a friend or spouse, things get lost in translating emotions to words. True, others understand better if they’ve experienced the exact same thing as you, but that’s rare. Most of the time they are grappling with their own issues, and listening to your problems through their own filters of pain and hurt. However, God knows.
God not only knows it before we pray it, He truly knows it in every aspect of knowing. He knows your hurts and pain not only intellectually but experientially as well. Through Christ, our heavenly Father knows what we need, and how desperately we need it, before we ever pray it.
When you turn your attention to God; when you throw your attention heavenward, whether it be in anguish or delight, God is already relationally connected with you, knowing your heart’s passions, hurts, dreams, and goals before you pray it.

PICTURES!!

Just added a few photos from the tailgate party. Wanna see? Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/spcmemphis/

Great Sunday

Naeem and Ashley Fazal were here with us and he did a tremendous job Sunday. He gave an awesome talk on trusting God. Working on letting go of those things the we think we have under control. It was nice. I know it ministered to many of our people. It was just one of those messages that was timely and potent. Thanks for coming Naeem!

picked him up

I picked up Naeem & Ashley from the airport today. They are alive and well. They flew in from Mosaic Charlotte today. He will be speaking at Southpoint tomorrow. As for tonight.....well we are going to find some barBque and jazz. Tomorrow is gonna be awesome!