never give up

If you know me at all, you know I’m a Tennessee Titans fan.  I was a fan from the day they announced the team was coming to Nashville.  This past Sunday, they were down 17-13 with 2:37 left in the game.  They were also on their own 1-yard line – 99 yards from victory.  This seemed like an impossible task, I’m sure.  It’s not like the Cardinals were just going to lay down and let them go 99 yards.  In fact, Tennessee converted THREE 4th downs in the drive.  They never gave up, they persevered, they gave it all they had.  As time expired, here is what happened:

Did I mention that the Titans started the season 0-6 and have since won 5 straight games?  No NFL team has ever done that.  They aren’t giving up.  They may not win the rest of their games (I hope they do), but they won’t give up.

What is it about your life that you think is impossible?  Losing weight?  Getting out of debt?  Seeing that person you know come to Christ?  Saving your marriage?  Restoring a relationship with a family member?  Getting a job?  Don’t give up.  Keep trying to move forward.  Keep keeping on.

Luke 1:37 reads “Nothing is impossible with God.”  Nothing.  Nothing.  Nothing.  Don’t give up.  Don’t think that God can’t do it.  He created the universe from nothing.  He can make it happen.

thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy this video and remember…no matter what your family’s like, at least you’re not in Carmen’s family.

 

worship

What is worship?

A song?

A service?

That’s what we tend to call it.  But I have a different definition:

Worship is our response to the collision between our sin and God’s grace.

What is your response to a collision?  Shock?  Awe?  Surprised?  Startled?

Think about your sin.

Think about God’s grace.

Can you experience the collision?

Now you’re getting close to worship.

life is short

I’ve been reminded through a couple of different circumstances this week that life is short.

We all face death all day long.

Our next breath could be our last.

Live this breath with all of your soul.

Love deeply, let differences be short-lived, and live abundantly.

It’s not worth a breath to hate, despise, reject, or condemn.

Live and love.

blake’s car – update

I rode in Blake’s car today for the first time since he “cleaned” it.  I have to admit, it does look better although not what I expected.  There are still some random things in it (a Yoggie, toenail clippers, diploma, casserole dish, among other things), but you can see all of the seats and more of the floor.  According to Blake, this is a work in progress and will happen in phases.  Time will tell.

my boys will never understand…

I started looking at how different it was when I was growing up versus now (that’s what old people do) and realized there are a lot of things that my boys will never understand no matter how much I try to explain it to them.  They are only 9 & 6 and it doesn’t seem like this stuff is THAT long ago.  Here is my list so far:

• Taking a nap in the back floorboard of the car
• Listening to an 8-track and having to fold paper just right to wedge in between the tape and the slot so it would play.
• Listening to a cassette
• A swatch (not a piece of fabric, but the watch)
• Putting pennies in loafers
• Wanting to be Michael Jackson (Jackson 5 & Thriller days – not creepy, plastic surgery, wearing makeup days)
• Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn Smith, and Lynda Carter (enough said)
• Playing Pong (and LOVING it)
• The Atari 2600, 5200, and Intellivision
• Not having internet
• Owning a Mac that was boxy and had a green screen
• Riding bikes and running off wherever we wanted as long as we were within earshot by dinner time
• Spending most days not watching TV at all
• Only having 4 channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, & PBS) and no one knowing what cable or satellite TV was
• Having a rotary phone or a corded phone
• Using a pay phone
• Having a TV in a cabinet the size of a freezer
• A remote control with a cable tethered to it

That’s what I have so far.  What would you add?  Send a comment and let us know.

poll results

Thanks to those of you who voted in last week’s poll about how long Blake can keep his car clean.  Here are the results:

<1 week:  45%

1-2 weeks:  36%

3-4 weeks:  18%

>1 month:  0%

It will stay clean:  0%

I understand from Blake that the cleaning is taking place in phases so it’s not quite cleaned out completely yet.  So you still have a chance to vote in the poll if you’d like.

random things in blake’s car

Here’s what I found this week:

• Book – Speaker For The Dead
• Mesh bag with geometric foam shapes
• Claw machine
• Antique chess set

If Blake’s tweet is true, this may be the last installment of this series for a while.  He claims he is cleaning out his car.  I hope to have pictures next week.  Tell me…how long do you think it will take for Blake’s car to have random things in it again?  Take the poll and let me know.  I’ll post the results on Monday or Tuesday.

sunday recap, etc.

Set list:

• Let God Arise
• All Because Of Jesus
• Beautiful Jesus
• Take My Life
• We Are Rescued

Cliff spoke on a topic a lot of pastors get nervous about because it makes people uncomfortable – money.  Now, it’s not a bad thing to have money but it is up to us to control our money and not let our money control us.  Ultimately, finances are a spiritual issue.  To hear the full message, go here.

On a related note, our co-pastor Donny has begun a blog.  I wasn’t sure this would ever happen.  (He still isn’t on Facebook or Twitter, but who knows what might happen?!)  Donny’s blog is going to provide resources related to the weekly message as well as some other insights.  I’d encourage you to read it.

interesting people observation

For the past couple of months, I’ve been working at Liquid Highway (a locally-owned coffee shop).  I’ve noticed some interesting things about people, but especially about how we seem to travel in packs even when we’re completely unaware of it.  It never fails – business will be S-L-O-W (as in no one for an hour) and then all of a sudden there will be three cars in the drive-thru and two people at the counter – and it’s a random time of day.  Then…nothing again.  I’m sure these people don’t call each other to come at the same time nor do they sit in the parking lot waiting for more people to show up.

How many times has this happened to you?  You walk into Target and there is no one at the registers but when you get ready to go and check out, every lane that is open is full.  Why does that happen?  I’m sure there are people much smarter than me who can somehow explain this.  Do they read my blog?  Will they tell us why?