My Night at the Anger Mall

I’m not normally a Black Friday shopper, but wanting to be all that and a bag of chips dad to my kids, I took the two oldest boys to the Tanger Mall for a 30% off sale that started at midnight. I knew we were in trouble when we approached the mall via Hwy. 30 and I saw traffic backed up on I-10 from the east as far as the eye could see. We were moving very slowly and by the time we got into the mall itself, I knew this was going nowhere. Our destination was the new Nike store and some basketball shoes, but as we finally found a place to park and walked too far to the store we were greeted by 7 or 8 lines of 20+ people per line waiting to check out. It seems that the crowd built early so they opened the store early. My son pleaded and so I had to do my best sales job of convincing him that another time would be better. Getting into and out of the place was nightmarish. I’ve renamed the Tanger Mall the Anger Mall because of my subsequent 2 or 3 trips back that weekend to try to get the shoes. The switch has been flipped, and the shoppers are out big time. I’ve decided that I’d be willing to spend 30% more than regular price just so I don’t have to wait in those lines. It’s amazing how hostile people shopping for CHRISTmas presents during CHRISTmastime can be, myself included.

Fruitful

Pictured is the fruit of my very own satsuma tree. Those of you who know me or hear me preach know that I’m not much of a farmer per se. I was required to help in the garden growing up, but never really acquired that green thumb. Shortly after we moved into our home my father planted a satsuma tree for us since we loved to eat the fruit of his trees and garden also. It reminds me once again that God is looking for fruitfulness from our lives. I didn’t plant the tree, have taken minimal care of it, and have really enjoyed the fruit it’s produced. It reminds me of my life, that I have a tree of life in me that someone else planted. I have done my part to tend it and care for it, and the fruit of a blessed life is precious to me. I have watched as my children have eaten the fruit of our tree. My goal is to partner with the Holy Spirit in planting a tree of life inside of them as my parents did for me, and one day see fruit from their tree that will be a blessing to others, maybe even my own grandkids. HOF is busy planting the seed of a tree of life in the people we minister among. If we will prepare our hearts and tend to our tree, fruit will grow that will satisfy the Father. We ate all those satsumas in about a day and a half. My guess is that everyone loves a good piece of fruit, I know I do.

Meet Some Iron

Proverbs 27:17 tells us that, “As iron sharpens iron, so one friend sharpens anther.” I posted some pictures of some of the men who sharpen my life. We had the great opportunity to spend about 4 hrs. listening to Pastor Brian Houston of Hillsongs Church. I believe that what God has accomplished through him and that ministry has touched the world. I also got to enjoy the time with some of the greatest pastors that I personally know. God has allowed me to meet and spend time with some incredible people. They are responsible in large part for our lives. It started with my parents, and others in our church. I remember praying for a friend and Greg walked into the church one Sunday morning. I prayed again after being made senior pastor and met my good friend Jay Miller from Lafayette. We need iron in our life so we can be sharp. You’ll only be as sharp as the great conversations we have. Books are great, but nothing sharpens, shines, and buffs a person like real face to face conversation about things that matter. I love talking to men of God about church, it makes me better.

Candy Land was Hopping

Last night’s Candy Land Harvest Fest was the best ever. I want to give major props to Jason and Holly and their team. It was incredible to be able to touch so many people from our community and let them know that Jesus cares and so do we. I personally spoke to many who were interested in attending our church but that is not the point. Of course we want people to come and grow in the love of Christ but we want to really represent Christ to our community. That means loving with no strings attached. I believe that if we truly love our community then a door will be opened for us to share the reason we love which is that Christ first loved us. That is what Jesus did, He loved and gave whether they ever “joined” His church. I want to ask all of you reading this today to ask God to help us love the people around us, whether they ever accept Christ or come to church with us or join our small group. If we can find God-honoring ways of loving people then we will have opportunity to minister to them. When we make it about attending or joining they will think we are fake and have ulterior motives. I love Him today because He loved me like no one else ever has. Jesus loved people, if we love Him we’ll love people.