Happy Monday, folks. The other day I was reading through Hebrews chapters 11 – 12 and as I read it, I began to think today’s title, “Finishing is better than starting.” Now, this isn’t an original idea, in fact, it can be found in Ecclesiastes 7:8 of the New Living Translation. In thinking over what I wanted to say today, I kept coming back to this verse because it is very fitting for what we read in Hebrews 11 – 12.
But first, surrendering your life to Jesus is the greatest decision you will ever make, but that is just the beginning of your marathon life. As a Christian, our life is a race that we were created to run, but that run will not be an easy one. We will face obstacles that will cause everything in us to scream and quit. It is in those moments that we want to quit, that we push through the pain and stay focused on our goal of finishing well.
As I read Hebrews 11, I am reminded of so many faithful saints who endured to the end. Were they perfect? Not at all, but they were faithful even in their weakest moments. Think about it as you read that list in Hebrews 11. Abel had sibling issues. Noah loved wine a little too much. Abraham was a liar. Jacob was a deceiver. Samson, well not only did he love women but he loved himself a little too much! David, he struggled with all the above. But the one thing they possessed was endurance. It was their endurance that made their faith strong.
It is interesting that in the 40 verses in Hebrews 11, “By faith” is listed twenty-seven times. Those saints listed in Hebrews 11 passed away before Jesus came and they didn’t witness the fulfillment of the greatest promise. But, they are with Him now and they are waiting for you, cheering you on to complete your race. Many start a journey of following Jesus without a realistic expectation of the price required to finish their spiritual race. They fail to keep their eyes focused on Jesus and as a result, they get frustrated and they let that frustration destroy their passion for following after Jesus.
I will be the first to admit that my passion for following Jesus is not at the top of my list some days. There are things that I get upset and frustrated about, there are a ton of things that I fail at, but by God’s grace and mercy, He allows me to get back up and continue on. I may have scrapes, cuts and bruises from my decisions and choices, but my eyes are fixed on the healer. Finishing is better than starting, but we first have to start the race with a new birth in Jesus Christ.
We can learn a lot about endurance from those listed in Hebrews 11, but the most important thing we can learn is that it was the faith they possessed to follow after God and finish their race. Will you have the endurance to do whatever it takes to finish the race that God has set before you, so that all glory belongs to Him?
“Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus…” FINISH YOUR RACE.
Hello Friday and welcome back to another edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY. I missed last week’s edition due to the fact that I was getting ready for our youth lock-in last weekend. Yes, you read that right… a youth lock-in where we locked ourselves in the church with a group of students for the night, played games, ate a ton of snacks and slept on a hard floor. Oh, did I mention that we did that willingly! It was fun though and I am glad that we are able to provide our students experiences/memories like that. So, a lot of things have happened in the last two weeks, so let’s get started with this weeks FIVE THINGS FRIDAY.
I. ANOTHER CROSS COUNTRY SEASON IN THE BOOKS
Last Monday, cross country came to an end and our girl came so close to breaking into the Top 20. She finished the season ranked 23rd and what a season she had! I have been so proud of her and the way she finished this season. After a rough start with colds and sickness at the start of the season, the last three weeks she was at her best and it showed. The fact that her last three meets she finished with times of 17:52, 15:45 and 17:14 is truly remarkable and it shows how hard she worked her tail off to get to those times. As an assistant coach, I could not have asked for more from her over these last few weeks. And as a parent I am overjoyed for her and the time and dedication that she put into cross country this season. Te best part is that she is determined to be a Top 10 runner next year as an eighth grader and I truly believed that she is going to meet that goal. Another area that I have seen the benefits of her running cross country as been in her soccer game this season. Because of the workouts that they have been doing in practice, I have seen how it has made her leg stronger on the soccer field. I love seeing my girl go “beast mode” on the soccer field! Quick side note, not only did she work her tail off in cross country, but she also worked her tail off in the classroom and brought home straight A’s on her report card! That is something that this dad knows nothing about! It’s hard to believe that the next time I get to write about cross country our girl will be an 8th GRADER… I’m not quite ready for that yet. 🙂
II. SLAYING THE 5K RACE
A couple of Saturday’s ago, we ran the Hickory Trick or Trot 5K and Jana and Gracie absolutely crushed it. Gracie, of course finished ahead of me, but just barely. She beat me by 4 seconds, but she still beat me! She finished in a time of 29:57 and finished first in her age group. The remarkable thing about that feat is that this is her third 5K this year and she has finished first in her age group every time. But the most exiting part of our race was seeing all the hard work that my wife has put in to get ready for this 5K over the last ten weeks. All those days of getting up early to go walk and run, even on days that she didn’t feel like it, but still got up, got dressed and went out and put the work in paid off. Not only did she crush her time but she finished third place in her age group! There are not enough words to express of just how proud I am of her! She kept telling herself that she just didn’t want to finish last. Not only did she not finish last, she finished THIRD in her age group and received a metal for her accomplishments. I’m looking for her to take me down in our next race in November!
III. KICKBALL SEASON IN REVIEW
This fall the Hickory Crawdads hosted their third season of adult kickball and it did not disappoint. This was our third year playing as well and the season came to an end last night. There were 16 teams that signed up to participate this season and we played five games with the top six making the playoffs. We finished in 4th but lost in our first playoff game this past Thursday night. Even though it was a tough loss, it still did not take away all the fun that we had this season. I would have preferred to win it all but finishing 5th out of 16 teams is not too bad either! I am not sure what next year holds, but I am thankful to the Hickory Crawdads for offering this once again. They put a lot of work into making sure that the season is a success and I am grateful for their time and energy that they put into it. Also, it was a lot of fun to be able to play kickball with some great friends every week too.
IV. SOCCER AND FRIENDS
“THERE ARE FRIENDS, THERE IS FAMILY, AND THEN THERE ARE FRIENDS THAT BECOME FAMILY.”
On Monday evening we had a soccer game and some of our youth girls came out to show their support for Gracie and Kennedy. Soccer is always fun, but it is more fun when you have your closest friends show up to support you and cheer you on. Thankfully, we got the win since they showed up, but even if we wouldn’t have got the win, Gracie and Kennedy would have been just as excited that to see them. That is one of the things that I love to see with our students and it’s how much they care about each other. When you look at the picture above, all those smiles are genuine! They love each other, they love being silly and goofy, but most importantly, they love being there for each other, encouraging one another and helping to point others to Jesus.
V. SAYING GOODBYE IS TOUGH
Last week our church lost a dear member and friend. Ms. Jonie was 96 years young when she went home to be with the Lord. As we got word of her passing, it did not take long for me to remember her and the legacy that she left not only with me, but so many others in our church. One of the things that I remember most about her is her big smile that was always wearing. She could be having the worst day ever, but she would still be wearing that smile. She had one of those smiles that could just light up a room as soon as she walked in. In fact, you probably know or have known someone like that. But it wasn’t just her smile, it was her personality too that made her presence so welcoming and loving. I have very fond memories of Ms. Jonie from all of our trips that we have taken with our senior adults over the years and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to know her. My life is better because of it!
In fact, as I think back over the last 16 years, my life is better because of so many saints that I have had the privilege to know before they were called home for eternity. I have said before that ministry can be tough at times, but it can also be very rewarding. Having the opportunity to know so many wonderful people is one of those small rewards in ministry. I absolutely love working with my students every week, but I also love having the chance to spend time and get to know so many of our senior adults. To have the chance to sit and talk with them about life, their experiences and their love for Jesus is something that cannot be replaced. So many of them have been an encouragement to me and my walk with Jesus over the years and I am grateful for each and everyone of them. They remind me of why it’s important to be involved and connected with a community of believers. Life is going to be hard at times, Satan is continually tempting us and drawing us away from our first love in Jesus Christ. Our faithful senior saints have been a blessing to me and my family and that’s not something I want to take lightly. Who is someone that has been a blessing to you? Who is someone that has been a source of encouragement to you and helped you in your walk with Jesus? What was it about them that you remember the most? Saying goodbye is tough, but it is not the end for those who have trusted in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Have you trusted in Jesus today?
Well, that’s it for this edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY. Thanks for spending a few minutes with me and have a blessed weekend. See you next week for another edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY.
Lately, in my Sunday school class, we are currently reading through the book of Ezra. This past week, we read Ezra chapters 3 -6 and I want to take a minute and let you know what is going on here, just in case you have never read the book of Ezra. The Israelites are returning from a 70 year exile and they are in the process of rebuilding the LORD’s temple. As we get to verses 11-13, we see that the Levites and all the people are gathered to celebrate the laying of the foundation of the LORD’s temple.
“They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD:’For he is good; his faithful love to Israel endures forever.’ Then all the the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s house had been laid. But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads, who had seen the first temple, wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple, but many others shouted joyfully. The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly. And the sound was heard far away.” Ezra 3:11-13, CSB
I absolutely love the scene pictured here! I mean, imagine the emotions here. The pure excitement of the people on one hand, being brought back from exile. They are able to rejoice and shout joyfully because of the faithfulness, goodness and love of God towards them as he restores them. But then we see that joyful shouting is then mixed with weeping, because some remembered what the temple used to look like and what it used to be before God’s people turned from Him towards their own sin. It was in their sin that they experienced the judgement of God through the exile that they were taken into for 70 years. As we look at this scene closely, we see rejoicing over God’s faithfulness, joy over salvation and weeping over sin.
It’s funny that we have lost our capacity to to weep and mourn over our sin today. Because of this, there is a lack of rejoicing, praising and even shouting over salvation today! As I read these verses, I am reminded that this is describes the Christian life. I mean, we shout with joy over the grace, the mercy, and the love of God, that He saves us from sin. But how often do we weep over our sin, weep over our disobedience to God and our not trusting Him? How many times do we weep over our lack of worship towards Him?
I’m not saying that we should be all emotional, but we should as the church, when we gather together, celebrate His salvation through some shouting and exuberance. We should shout, we sing, we celebrate, we weep and we fall on our faces, broken over our sin.
My prayer for you today is that you are able to worship like the Israelites did here in Ezra chapter 3. May we not only weep over our sin, but the fact that we have sinned against You, Lord! Do we truly hate sin like God does? There is a time for weeping and a time for rejoicing as Ecclesiastes 3 tells us.
“Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us…”
“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2, CSB
If you have been with me for any amount of time, you have probably heard me talk about (at least once) the analogy of the Christian life being described as running a race. This picture comes from the verses above in Hebrews, along with the apostle Paul using it frequently in his letters to encourage Christian’s to persevere, press on and “run” as if competing for a prize (1 Cor. 9:24-27; Gal. 2:2; Phil. 2:16, 3:13-14).
I don’t know if you consider yourself a runner or if the very thought of running makes you cringe. The idea of running doesn’t make me cringe, but I don’t consider myself to be a runner either. I guess I am more a work in progress, which is a perfect description of my Christian walk. The Christian life isn’t a sprint, let’s get there as quickly as we can. It’s more like a ultra-marathon.
In a marathon, if you tried to sprint the whole 26.2 miles, you will eventually burn out and crash. Instead, you work on pacing yourself, finding a good rhythm, keeping your eyes focused on what’s ahead. Most definitely there will be times that you will need to “press on” and dig deep when your body tells you to quit and you feel like giving up. This is where our training and endurance help us out. Well, in the Christian life, we are only able to run with endurance if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He is the one who sustains us and gives us the strength we need to continue on.
So, today, how is your race going? Are you fixing your eyes on Jesus or have you lost sight of Him? Have you focused too much on your weaknesses, stresses and anxiety and allowed them to overcome you?
If so, let me encourage you today, to forget what is behind you and press on towards the goal that Christ has called you to!
Hello, Friday and welcome back to another post of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY. Today is Friday, October 14th and how excited are you that the weekend is almost here? But, before the weekend gets here, we have to unpack some of the things that happened this past week. So, without further ado, here is this weeks edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY.
I. OKTOBERFEST IS BETTER WITH FRIENDS
Last Saturday after our soccer game, we went downtown Hickory to OKTOBERFEST with some of the girls on the team. I will say that I was a little disappointed with the event this year, but it was good to at least have it back after a two year hiatus. It’s all about baby steps for all of us since the pandemic, right? Anyway, the best part of going downtown was walking to Oktoberfest and watching these crazy girls interact with one another. They had a blast as they took pictures, laughed, and even walked on the train tracks. While at Oktoberfest they all got airbrushed tattoos, went through a petting zoo, held a baby goat, fed some of the animals and ate plenty of snacks and food. I seriously think that one of our girls had at least three snow cones from Pelican’s Snowballs. Although there were not any rides, we still had a lot of fun walking around and enjoying the beautiful Saturday together.
But looking back on the day, the thing that I am most thankful for is the friendship that these girls have. They have a special bond with one another and it shows. They act more like sisters at times! But as I watched them interacting with each other throughout the day, I was reminded of what Solomon said in Proverbs 18:24, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (ESV) As I watch these “silly” girls interact with one another on and off the soccer field, I am beyond grateful that God has placed them in each others lives. In fact, we all need that one friend that “sticks closer than a brother” don’t we? Who is that person? Have you told them lately how much you appreciate them and that you are thankful to God for placing them in your life?
II. HARD WORK PAYS OFF
Michael Jordan once said, “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” This past week at our fifth cross country meet, Gracie did just that, she made it happen. She was finally feeling better, she worked hard during practice and she pushed herself until it hurt in her meet this week. The course we were running on is one of her least favorites, but didn’t focus on the course, but the outcome. We were so proud of her as she beasted it and finished her best time ever, a time of 15:45, good enough for 23rd out of 71. She was hurting coming towards that finish line, but she was determined, you could see it in her face as she ran those last few feet to the finish line. The best part was that as she finished the race and then saw her time, she is more determined than ever to try and beat her time at her last cross country meet next week. Even if she doesn’t, I am just so proud of her and all that she has accomplished this season.
But, I am also proud of my wife as she prepares for her 5K this weekend. For 8 weeks she has been getting up early Monday – Friday and walking and running. Between my wife and daughter, I am excited to see how well they are going to do this weekend. They may leave me in the dust and I quite alright with that. I have enjoyed seeing their progress and how far they have come and I cannot wait to see them run on Saturday.
Ready for the Trick or Trot 5K
III. GARMIN WATCH vs. APPLE WATCH
Recently, my Apple watch of 6 years recently “bit the dust” and left me frantically trying to figure out what to do. I wondered since my face plate just popped off if maybe I could get it repaired, but since it’s an out of date/discontinued watch, Apple wasn’t able to repair it. This was devastating news as I really enjoyed my Apple watch. It was very useful for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was to help me keep track of my exercise and running sessions. However, I have several friends that use Garmin watches for their running and training, so I checked with them about the pros and cons of possibly getting one. Well, after much investigating, reading up on all the different Garmin watches, and looking at the pros and cons between Garmin and Apple… I decided to try the Garmin watch. After a month and a half I am extremely happy with my decision. I went with the lower end Garmin Forerunner watch and it seems to do everything I need it for. I do miss being able to play/connect my music through my watch, but that’s a minor issue. I really enjoy how it keeps track of your workouts/runs/walks and gives you a recovery time after each exercise. I like how I can load my information into Strava and get a deeper analysis of all my workouts. It’s very technical… a little too technical for what I need it for at times. Also, I have noticed that my anxiety has gone down some since I got rid of my Apple watch, surprisingly. Over all, I have not missed my Apple watch and I really thought I would being such an Apple type person. Gracie had to wear my watch during her last meet and she loved it too, so much so that she has asked for one for Christmas. (We will see, she better finish in the top 10 at her last meet and then I’ll think about it! ) But seriously, if you want to consider a Garmin watch for yourself, you will not be disappointed.
IV. PASTOR APPRECIATION MONTH
October is pastor appreciation month and I could not let this month pass without recognizing some of my favorite pastors. This list could actually be quite long, but I will stick to the few that have made a difference in my life. These are in no particular order, but first I am thankful for my pastor, Pastor Scott Frady. It has been a joy being able to serve/work with you for 16 years! I am thankful for your leadership, your advice, your wittiness and dry humor and I am thankful for the many times you let me just drop in and distract you from your duties and talk about baseball for hours on in. I don’t take a minute for granite and I blessed to be able to serve our church with you! I am also thankful for my youth pastor, Pastor Paul Weakland. Even though that may have been what seems like many moons ago, God used you to put me where I am today. The impact that you have had on my life isn’t taken lightly and I appreciate all you have done for me. Not only did you teach me how to love on students and care for them, but you showed me how to love and care for students. You showed me that ministry is messy and hard, but is so worth it at the same time. I am grateful that you gave me the opportunity to learn from you and to emulate you.
I am also grateful for two of my dearest friends, Pastors Kyle Lloyd and Dustin Lovelace. You guys have been my rocks, my go to’s and my partners in crime for a while now. I have enjoyed every minute, every conversation, every camp, every retreat that we have been a part of. I love seeing your hearts to serve God, I love seeing you serve your students and churches with passion and grace. God has definitely blessed us with the opportunity to work together and that is something that I do not take lightly. I absolutely love hearing you guys preach and share the Word of God with your students. I also love seeing you interact with your kiddos and loving your families. I know I don’t tell you guys often, but y’all are an inspiration to me and I am so thankful for your friendship!
Is there a pastor that God has used to have an impact on your life? Be sure to tell your current pastor(s) how much you appreciate them. I promise you that they do not hear it enough! Like I said earlier, ministry is messy, it’s difficult and at times extremely hard. But it is also hard on our wives and families. Too many times the people we are called to lead are the ones that we end up neglecting because we are leading and working with the sheep that God has entrusted with us. I know for certain that I could not do what I do without my wife. She is my biggest supporter, my biggest critic, my voice of reason and my number one fan! She makes doing ministry fun and I am so thankful for her and all that she does. I am also thankful for my daughter and all her support and help too. She loves going over to the offie and spending time there. I am thankful for her heart for others and how much compassion she has towards others… something that I know is a God thing and that she got from her mother!
V. ROOTED
Last Sunday, we finished a series entitled, ROOTED and I used the illustration of an apple tree throughout the series. The idea was that as believers, we are to be rooted in Christ. We are to let our roots go down in Him in hopes that we will become more like Him. I concluded with cutting into an apple and pulling out the seeds. There are roughly between 5-8 seeds in an apple. Well, if each apple produced just 5 seeds, that means in a lifetime that tree would produce roughly 37, 500 seeds. That’s a lot of seeds! But that is also a lot of seeds that could become trees that could produce more apples. I used this to share with them that if they just planted one seed (shared the Gospel) for every year until they turned 50, look at how many seeds they will plant.
12 years old, you could plant 38 seeds.
13 years old, you could plant 37 seeds.
14 years old, you could plant 36 seeds.
15 years old, you could plant 35 seeds.
The point is that just telling one person per year – planting one seed each year – you could make a big difference. How many seeds are you planting right now? See, when our lives are built on Jesus as our foundation, and our spiritual roots go down deep into Him, our faith will grow strong and tall in the truth and knowledge of Jesus Christ. As a follower of Christ, we want to tell others about who Jesus can be for them because of who He is to us and what He has done for us.
Who is someone that you need to share the Good News of the Gospel with today? We are simply planting seeds, we don’t do the saving, that God’s work, He just wants us to be faithful to plant the seeds.
Well, that is all for this week of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY. I pray that you have a blessed weekend and we will see you next week, Lord willing for another edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY.
Hello and welcome back to another FIVE THINGS FRIDAY! As we prepare to enter the weekend, I want to begin by asking you, what are you thankful for today? For me, I am thankful for longevity. As of October, I have been blessed to be at my church for 16 years. God has blessed me and my family with the opportunity to be able to serve Him in one place for so long. There are also a couple of other reasons that I am grateful for 16 years in one church. According to a recent survey (YMlink.com) the average stay for a youth pastor is 18 months to 3 years. The average tenure for youth pastors is anywhere between 8-11 years. As I begin FIVE THINGS FRIDAY, I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity to blow those two statistics out of the water. Not only have I been at West Hickory for 16 years, I have been in ministry a total of 24 years all together. I am beyond grateful for this and I would not change this experience for anything.
So, what are you thankful for today? That is what this weeks post is all about, thankfulness. So, without further ado, I give you this weeks edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY.
I. CROSS-COUNTRY MEETS
This may sound strange, but I am thankful for cross-country meets. To be more specific, I am thankful that I get the opportunity to help our cross-country coach every Monday during our meets. I am also thankful that I get the opportunity to help assist him with practices every now and then too. It’s fun to be there for the students, to help cheer them on and to see how much they improve from week to week. It is amazing to me to see roughly 60 students compete every week. But not just compete, but to compete in running two miles every Monday. As a middle schooler, I would have no desire to try and run two miles! I loved playing baseball and running bases after every practice. To run two miles is a huge accomplishment. Also, it is fun to watch the girls run since there are several of them that have played or play on our soccer teams. So, not only am I cheering for my daughter and Grandview, but I also want to see “my other girls” succeed!
Cross Country Meet at Newton Conover Middle School
See, being able to be at a church for 16 years as allowed me to help out and be a part of our middle school athletics. It gives me the opportunity to be a part of our community and that is something that I do not take lightly. Also, I just love being around sports and watching students compete. To watch them run every week reminds of 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only receives the prize. Run in such a way to win the prize.” (CSB) During the 1st Century, those competing in the Isthmian games, which was every two years, would compete to receive a laurel wreath. Not everyone got a prize! However, as Christians, our prize is Jesus Christ, so we run our race to live a life of dedication to Him and to be a witness for others. How is your race going today?
II. SOCCER SEASON AND THE JOYS OF COACHING
Okay, after 7 years of coaching soccer, I am still getting use to calling myself a soccer coach. I never thought that I would be that person, but I have come to find the joy in coaching the sport. In those 7 years, God has put some wonderful and amazing people in our lives. I am thankful for that and for the opportunity to be able to coach their daughters. I love seeing the friendships that have been formed along the way too. However, the biggest thing that I am thankful for is seeing our girls enjoy the game of soccer, but it’s not their life. They play for each other because they care about each other and they want to help each other be a better player. They push each other, they challenge each other but they also deeply care about each other. This season in particular has become more than just about soccer. The girls, just like us, have things going on in their lives.
“My coach said I run like a girl, and I said if he ran a little faster he could too!” Mia Hamm
It is a blessing to see them care for each other and talk to each other about things going on in their lives. I know that they are encouraging one another, but I have to say, it encourages me just as much. I am also thankful that when other teams see us play, they know that our girls are different. It really reminds me of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” (CSB)
As believers, we have the privilege and responsibility of representing Christ to others through the way we live. Our lives point to Jesus. So it’s important that we ask ourselves daily, “Is what I have on display right now going to lead people to Jesus or is it going to turn them away?” I am thankful that for many of our girls, they represent Christ to others and that is more beautiful than seeing them win a soccer game any day of the week.
III. KEEPING PROMISES… EVEN IF THEY HURT
A couple of weeks ago, I made a deal with one of my buddies over a college football game. My Liberty Flames were playing the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and my buddy and I agreed that if our team lost, then we would wear their teams shirt for a day. Well, unfortunately my Flames fell short and lost by one point. So, sadly a deal is a deal and I had to wear this hideous looking Wake Forest shirt for a whole day. I did take it off that evening because we had a kickball game and it wasn’t part of the uniform!
But as I wore this shirt throughout the day, I was reminded of more than just having to wear the shirt. I gave my buddy my word and I wanted that to mean something. In Matthew 5:37 Jesus says, “But let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Anything more than this is from the evil one.” (CSB) We live in a world where our “word” does not mean anything anymore. I know that there are times in my life where I have fallen short in this area. But, lately, I have been trying to be consistent with this as I try to model it more each day . Jesus’ words remind me that our commitment to what we say is a direct window into who we really are. It is a mirror of our integrity. As a Christian, I want to do better. I want others to see Christ in me and that means letting my yes be yes and my no be no. I am not perfect in this area, but I am working on it. When was the last time you broke your word? Have you confronted the person you broke your word to and asked for forgiveness? This is something that must be done as we strive to show others that we are living to represent Jesus Christ in all that we do… in word or actions.
IV. OKTOBERFEST WEEKEND AND 5K’s
This may sound strange, but I am thankful for random opportunities in October. One of those opportunities is OKTOBERFEST here in Hickory, NC. This will be the first time since the pandemic of COVID-19 that we are able to have this event. I know for many, they like OKTOBERFEST for other reasons, but I enjoy it because it gives us an opportunity to be out in the community and connecting with people that we typically wouldn’t get the chance to have. Typical, our church has sponsored a booth during the weekend, but not this year. My family still enjoys going downtown and walking around seeing all the booths and vendors. We also enjoy the food too! Some of my favorite foods to enjoy are the kettle corn popcorn, funnel cakes the BBQ. I saw where Duck Doughnuts will have a food truck here for the weekend, so I am definitely excited about that! It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend and I cannot wait to get out and enjoy the festivities once again.
Also in October, we are signed up to run in the local Trick or Trot 5K. Be sure to check out the link to sign up and come run with us! We are going to use this 5K as a “warmup” to our runDisney 10K later next year. As of this week, it has been 8 weeks since my wife and I have been consistently training for our 10K. She has made better progress than I have over those 8 weeks! I may or may not have missed a few days, but she has been consistent and steady. With our daughter running cross country and her consistent training, they are going to leave me in the dust. We still have another week before our 5K, so maybe I can get into “race shape” before then!
V. LOOKING BACK ON 16 YEARS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
I stated earlier that I have been at our church for 16 years this October. That is truly amazing to me to sit back and think about that. I mean, think about all that has happened in the last 16 years. In that time I have witnessed four presidents serve our country (Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden). In sports, we have seen the Chicago Cubs win a World Series, my beloved Boston Red Sox win THREE World Series and the Braves winning it all last year (and maybe this year!) We have seen our world and our lives impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We witnessed a massive earthquake in Haiti that killed hundreds of thousands of people. We saw 33 miners rescued after being trapped for 69 days in a Chilean mine. I am sure that there are many more things that have happened in the last 16 years.
What is one of the biggest things you remember?
However, two of the biggest things I am thankful for in the last 16 years is the birth of my daughter and then her profession of faith to follow Jesus Christ and being able to baptize her. Those two things are super special to me and rightfully so. I am also thankful for the people and the students that have been a part of our lives and ministry during this time too. It’s weird to think that many of them are now starting their own families! It’s also special to work with my pastor who has been here for 17 years! That is truly remarkable to think about because it’s so rare today. The average time for a senior pastor at a church is 5-7 years. There have been ups and downs in that time. We have lost people that we cared deeply for and some too soon. We have seen God work in and through His people in beautiful ways. But as I look back on all this, the one thing that it shows me is just how faithful God has been. He has blessed us with a wonderful church family, friends and opportunities to be invested in our community. And I do not take that for granite.
However long God sees fit for me to serve him at West Hickory, my prayer is simply 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” (CSB)
Thank you for joining us today on FIVE THINGS FRIDAY and I pray that your Friday is simply the best. We’ll see you next Friday for another edition of FIVE THINGS FRIDAY. Blessings.
Coffee Conversations 