Thankful

Most of my life I have been thankful for good things that have come my way. Good parents, good family, good marriage, good kids, yet as I have seasoned in age I have transitioned from not only being thankful for the good things but also my struggles. I am slowly realizing that if it wasn't for the struggles, my successes wouldn't be quite as beautiful!

Embrace the valleys,

Live 2 Love,
C

A Story To Tell

I am convinced that each person that walks the planet has a story to tell. Yet one of the great tragedies of not only society but also the American church is that we often tuck our stories away in a drawer of guilt and shame. Over the last 5 weeks or so I have been deeply convicted that this must change. I have witnessed first hand our church community connect with individuals who have been brave enough to share their stories week in and week out. In my opinion this is what redemption is all about, humanity sharing their past struggles, then sharing how Christ came into their life and changed things. Have you shared your story?

Live to Love,
C

Herschel is Jenksed

World of Jenks - MTV Shows

Nov 22, Herschel will be featured on MTV World of Jenks. Im so thankful to know Herschel Sims. He is such an inspiring young man. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him, there is no doubt it will be bright.

I took the pictures posted while we were waiting in the locker room to play Florida Plant.


Live to Love.

C

Traditions

This week our blog assignment was to write about our Christmas traditions. Around my household we don't have a ton of traditions, but we do have a few. On Christmas eve we gather together with the rest of our family and have ham and red beans then on Christmas day we have the usual turkey and dressing. Then we take our leftovers to homeless on the streets. Yet there is one tradition that I will never forget, and pray it will be passed on to my children's children. For dessert we always have a birthday cake for Jesus. This provides a great reminder to all of us what Christmas is truly about. 

KING'S TABLE

IT WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR, BUT EFFECTIVE.

Update of Miss Sadie Justice

Here is Sadie at 15 weeks

Compassion Needs Your Help

Today, I couldn't be more proud of our youth pastor Nick Bradshaw. My greatest
desire for our staff is that they would be world changers, there is no doubt
that is exactly what Nick is doing. He is changing the world by working with
Compassion International raising money to purchase water filters. If you are
online, and you can stand to listen to country a little bit, he is on
www.coyotecountry983.com a radio station in Kansas today and tomorrow.

If you can, just don't listen, give..we did...

Your tax-deductible gift of $55 will provide a Water of Life filter kit
to a family, giving them clean drinking water for the rest of their lives.

In addition to the filter, your gift will help Compassion provide training
and education in good hygiene and health practices, as well as helping to
develop better access to water sources so families don't have to walk so
far to get water.

You can save lives today when you join Compassion and give a
Water of Life filter.

Ash and I have supported a child named George who resides in Nigeria for the last 8 years,
I am a huge, huge fan of Compassion.

Alive

Howard Thurman once wrote “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Have you come alive?

Live to Love,
C

Miracle

Today God allowed me to witness a miracle. Sheri texted me and said there was a suprise waiting for me at the office. A surprise, that could be a good thing or bad thing around our place. As I entered the church she handled me an envelope, enclosed in the envelope was our book The Superman Syndrome translated in Portuguese. What a blessing it was to us to be able to hold our story in another language. How beautiful it is to know our story is reaching another country, Brazil.

Never give up on your dreams!

Live 2 Love,
C

Beautiful Struggles

The last few days I have really been struggling with a few decisions that I need to make in the days ahead. The older I become the more I realize how important the decisions I make are. During my single days the decisions I made effected me individually. Seven years of marriage, my decisions now effect my wife,two daughters, and many more that my life influences. As I wade in this sea of decisions, my soul finds rest knowing that struggling with them makes my final determinations so much more beautiful.

Live 2 Love,
C

Long waited arrival

Months and months ago I informed you that the book I calibrated with Sheri on The Superman Syndrome was going to be translated to Portuguese, as a result of a purchaser from Brazil wanting to get 3000 copies. I'm excited to say that I received an email from our publisher informing me that he mailed a copy of the translated book to me. Never in my life did I dream the project would travel internationally, but I'm incredibly grateful to God for the tremendous blessing.

Never forsake to dream,

Lice 2 Love,
C

Enemies? Good!

Churchill once said, "You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something in your life."

Most of my early years of life I did what I could to please people. I wanted to be popular, I wanted to fit in, I wanted to be deemed the cool kid.

As my life has matured in years that once premature desire has fled. I no longer desire to be popular or liked by all. My greatest desire is that when my life evaporates, the remnants of my life that live on after me will be composed around the reality that people knew I stood for something.

I pray the people that live beyond my years will know that I stood against injustice, that I stood for family, and most of all that I stood for exposing the love of Christ to all of humanity.

Live 2 Love,
C

New Series Starting Nov 7th, 2010

The Better Question

Over the last couple of years the concept of what do you want to do before you die has gained a great deal of momentum. A movie based around this concept was created titled the Bucket List, and now on MTV a show called the Buried Life is in it's second season. In all honesty the thought of what I want to do before I die has intrigued, challenged, and convicted me. I must confess that even I am guilty of having a "bucket list." Yet I think there is a question that is even more important than that. Instead of asking what we can get out of this world before our time runs out, I think the better question is what can we give to this world before our time runs out?

Live 2 Love,
C

Hate

There are very few things in this life that I truly hate, one of the things I hate I once again encountered face to face today, Sadly enough it has become too familiar to me. It is one of the most evil and malicious things I have ever witnessed. It is not in any form prejudice, biased, nor does it play favorites. It attacks both young and old. It has taken the very life of my grandmother, two grandfathers, a 16 year old friend of mine when I was in highschool, and so many other people I have known throughout my lifetime. It attacked my father, my uncle, an elder at church, and this very day it attempts to take a mother of 3, a 39 year old woman named Samantha that I met a week ago. If you have yet to discover what I hate, it's one of the greatest threats to humanity, better known as cancer. Please, with great persistence pray that one day soon cancer will be a past threat, due to the discovery of a cure. I also plead for you to pray for Samantha and her family.

Live 2 love.
C