Vacation thoughts

I want to take the time to let everyone know how thankful I am for those that stepped up at church for Stephanie and me while we vacationed.

Annie did great leading worship the first Sunday and the team did well the second one, though they were fewer singers than usual.

Terry, thanks for doing the funeral and preaching the last couple of weeks.  You did great and people enjoyed the messages.

Since we started the church in '99, this was the first true "vacation" we have really taken.  I was always preaching on Sunday when I got back, so sermon prep happened while we were gone.  I was gone, but never really in my head.  We have had vacations, but somewhere in there I was always working on something.

So our trip to Fripp Island, SC with the Crothers was wonderful.  I did NO sermon prep, made only 1 ministry phone call, and checked NO email for 7 full days (I looked at it the last night before we left).  I have never done that.  I purposely did not even look at the book of Matthew when reading my Bible for fear that I would start working on a message.

I didn't want to make any decisions while we were gone and just needed to relax, and I did.

It is hard to take a day off and get away from it for me because I am always thinking about doing this or that.  I say all that to say thanks to the church and to my family.  We missed being with you on Sun, but went to the Baptist Church of Beaufort, SC which started in 1804.  But it wasn't like being at PSC.  So we drove 20 hours home in time to get a few hours sleep and get to church the next week.  I wanted to see our people and and worship with you and hear Terry too.

This are two of my favorite pictures from the trip.  There are stories of a charging alligator, running, and Cole going back for his shoes after the pic by the sign.

A Great post about relationships

A friend of mine is a Pastor in Tampa.  He has a great church there and we converse regularly about ministry.  Bill Craig is his name and he and I became friends in Seminary and Stephanie and I went to his launch service of his first church in Ohio.  I say all this to quote from a very good blog entry he made today.  http://billcraig.blogspot.com

You need Gate keepers, Singers and Levites

At the beginning of chapter 7 of Nehemiah, He stands out by the people he surrounds himself with. He is undertaking a huge task and he knows that the success of this task will rise and fall on who he surrounds himself with. He surrounds him self with healthy relationships and healthy leaders. Nehemiah 7: 1 After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. 

- Surround yourself with healthy relationships and leaders:

First Team: Gate keepers who oversee mission in neighborhoods, Accountability, staff...7:3 I said to them, "The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses." These are people to protect what comes in and what goes out. If we don't have wise gate keepers in our life ungodly and unholy stuff can get in to our lives.

Second team: the singers: He surrounds himself with people who know how to worship God. If you don't surround yourself with such people, you'll find your self around people who worship themselves, culture, wealth, idols, they worship the moment. Scripture calls such people idolaters not worshipers.

Third Team: Levites, pastors, elders, people who care for other people, males and females who care for people. Want people to be loved. 2 I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with [a] Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do. He put people in charge who were Godly, men of integrity and feared God. These would be men who held God's word in honor, obeyed it, hit it in their heart. Deacons, Elders, Pastors, Priests, Teachers and leaders who walked with God.

Why are such relationships so important? If you shortchange yourself in any of these teams you are opening your self and your vision up to defeat and chaos. Secondly, You deserve the best around you! You are an image bearer of God. You deserve the best gate keepers, the best singers and the best Levites in your life. I'm not saying they have to be the best singers, preachers, but I am saying they need to be the best and walking with God with integrity and they should be spending time in God's word regularly. This is no place to short change yourself. This is no place for the church to short change itself. You deserve it and Christ's bride deserves it. 

I thought this was key because I am preaching on judging others this Sunday and no one like to be judged, but as believers, we need those "Gatekeepers" to keep us on track.

Spend time in God's Word and ask God to bring you someone like that.