Right now I am sitting in my home office trying to wrap my mind around the day that has just taken place. It is amazing how the trajectory of your day can change with one phone call.
Here are a few highlights before I comment on the paragraph above…
- Our band did an incredible job today…when you have a service that goes from The Foo Fighters to “I Surrender All,” DANG!
- Once again it was incredibly tense as we dealt with the subject of money and giving.
- Proverbs 3:9-10 are two verses that has always stood out to me when I have wrestled with whether or not to give God my very best.
- One of the reasons I am so passionate about the subject of money is because my finances were the LAST thing I fully surrendered to Christ…I robbed Him for nine and a half years...and always seemed to lack something…
- HOWEVER, when I put Him to the test…He did what He said He would do!
- When it comes to the issue of giving—either we fully trust Him or we don’t…and the evidence of that is shown by what we offer Him…love…or leftovers.
- I LOVE this church! You guys model generosity in incredible ways! BUT…I know that from time to time (last week and this week) challenges must be issued and reminders must be given—we all need them!
- Mother’s Day is going to be INCREDIBLE! As I said at the end of the service…GET HERE EARLY! It’s going to be a house giveaway, a presentation of the Gospel AND another thing or two that we will never forget!
- This is a test! :-) I want to do a leadership lunch tomorrow with six staff members. The first six staff members who e-mail Jason Wilson are in! We will leave NewSpring at 12:00—SHARP! You must bring at least ONE QUESTION with you to the lunch about leadership…that’s it. I’m buying. (This is open to anyone—even if you have been to lunch before. SMT members are excluded…sorry!!!)
When I began this post I indicated that today was tough…right before I went out to preach the fourth service I received a message that a really awesome friend of mine, who is 32 years old, was on life support and probably not going to live through the night. He has fought an incredibly tough battle with cancer for quite a while…and it looks like tonight He may step into eternity and see Jesus face to face.
I wept. I could not control myself. I love this guy…and while I know all of the theological reasonings—it hurts. I hurt for his wife and two young children…and yet I rejoice that He will soon see Jesus and never feel the pain of cancer ever again.
Please don’t e-mail me that God is good—I know that. Don’t send me Romans 8:28…I’ve got it. Don’t remind me that the Lord gives and takes away…I KNOW ALL OF THOSE ANSWERS…it doesn’t erase the hurt and confusion that goes along with this!
Life is short—God doesn’t owe us another second. We expect people who are in their 80’s and 90’s to die…but not our friends in their 30’s…not the guy who was in my wedding…not the guy who was my accountability partner…not him.
His life portrayed Jesus…and when I received the news I called and spoke to his wife…and I could hear the peace of God in her voice!!! He and his family aren’t the kind of people who just say they completely trust in God—THEY have lived it…EVEN in their darkest hour! That is a faith that you just don’t see everyday.
I came home and hugged my little girl a little tighter…and in a few minutes I am going to go to bed and hold my wife and pray over her and our family and THANK GOD for every second He has given me with her. I don’t want to take life for granted…Scripture says it’s here today and gone tomorrow…
Life is short…live it to the fullest!!! God has given us TIME…and we should do all that we can to HONOR Him, love our spouse and kids…offer forgiveness to those who have wounded us…and LIVE the life He has called us to!