Sculpting of the Father's Great Design

As cheesy as it sounds, my feelings about us moving to Florida can be summed up in this song by Michael W Smith... NO! It's not "Friends"



Here is where the road divides

Here is where we realize

The sculpting of the fathers great design

Thru time youve been a friend to me

But time is now the enemy

I wish we didnt have to say goodbye

But I know the road he chose for me

Is not the road he chose for you

So as we chase the dreams were after



Chorus:

Pray for me and Ill pray for you

Pray that we will keep the common ground

Won't you pray for me and Ill pray for you

And one day love will bring us back around again



Painted on our tapestry

We see the way it has to be

Weaving thru the laughter and the tears

But love will be the tie that binds us

To the time we leave behind us

Memories will be our souvenirs

And I know that thru it all

The hardest part of love is letting go

But there's a greater love that holds us

The End of the Beginning

For those that have yet been told through the grapevine, Paige & I have taken another Youth Pastor position in Florida. Last night we told the teenagers. Needless to say, it was very emotional. We have made long-lasting relationships with these wonderful young people as well as the youth leaders and others in the church. God has opened a door that we needed to step through. I truly believe that God has someone else in mind that can take the group to the next area of greatness. Three years ago, we came to Kentucky to help a first-time Pastor build a great church. We succeeded in meeting that vision. That first-time Pastor believed in me, my talents, and my calling. We are now in a different season at New Vision and Radiate Student Ministries. There is someone else God has in mind to lead this group of teenagers. There is another church that needs my giftings and abilities as well. It is time for us to show them how they too can be great. This is the end of the beginning for Radiate. You have grown from a small group meeting in a small room to a group that is a force to be dealt with. Look out devil. It is time for you guys and girls to step up and claim your rightful position as a child of the King. You are no longer striving to understand your roles in God's plans. You know what you have been called to do. SO DO IT!!!

You all will have a special place in our hearts. Always remember to BE REAL... BE GOD'S.

"Now let the words of mouth and meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer." --Psalm 19:14

Soap

Do you remember the day when their were only four kinds of soap in the world? Ivory, Dial, Irish Spring and Dove. I went Christmas shopping with my daughter on Saturday. We stopped into Bath and Body Works to get mommy some soap for her stocking. First of all, when did we go from 88 cents for a bar of soap to $8.00 for a bottle of the same stuff? And we have now graduated from 4 kinds of soap to like 50 variations. My head was spinning after the sales associate tried helping. She asked me what scent my wife likes. I looked at my 7 year old and said, "Do you know?" She told her the pink one. THERE ARE 12 PINK ONES!!!!! Wow!! So we had to choose from the massive wall of fragrances. You have to then open each bottle to see if you like the smell. After about the 5th bottle, the Coconut Verbena smells just like the Midnight Pomegranate. Then after we purchased our assortment of product, we had to walk around the mall and air out so that mommy wouldn't 1) suspect where we shopped or 2) accuse me of hanging out with another woman. (Just kidding) Anyway, the adventure is over and my sense of smell has returned. Honey, if you read this, I hope you enjoy the gifts Morgan and I sacrificed to bring you. Merry Christmas!

Wishbone

Tonight, in service, a young lady named Cheryl shared her testimony about how God had delivered her from an eating disorder. I was amazed at the poise and maturity that she displayed. One thing that stuck with me was when she said that if you want God to deliver you from something, it won't be easy. You have to have a backbone, not a wishbone. How true that is. And because Cheryl had a backbone this evening and shared her faults with the group, God spoke through her and many teens came to the altar to give God all their junk. God is amazing and so was Cheryl tonight.

The Bishop

It's been a crazy week with getting ready for the church's auction and everything so blogging has been slow. Please accept the apologies. Anyway, this past week, I accomplished a milestone in my life that is almost 10 years in the making. No, I didn't find a cure for my hair loss, but rather a received my Bishop's Ordination. This is the third and highest level credential you can achieve in our denomination. I took my first test to receive my first level in 1998. I was a young, part-time Youth Pastor and full-time college student. Now, 9 years later, I am now a Bishop and will get my really cool robe in January. I'm thinking about getting my friend Beav to graffiti "J-Mart" on the back of the robe. That will be cool!

Homecoming

Tonight was an unbelievable night in Ground Zero. Tonight is why I do what I do. We had about 10 people give their hearts to the Lord and 15 rededications. We talked about Homecoming to go along with our football theme. God wants us to come home. He, like the father in the story (Luke 15:11-32) is waiting anxiously for our return. He's given us His greatest possession... His Son. What a great night it was. Tears were shed. Hearts were changed. This is what New Vision is about. What an honor it was to be the one God used tonight. Thank you, Lord.

My Best Friend

Friday, I had lunch with my high school best friend, Kevin. I haven't seen him in about 3 years, so needless to say, we had a lot to catch up on. It's been almost 13 years since we graduated. We grew up together in the same church and spent the night at each other's houses every weekend for years. As I was talking with him, I began to remember all the trouble we use to cause. The following is a short list of things we did to wreck havack on others from age 13-18:
1. At age 14, we filled up an empty plastic bread bag with water, tied it up and dropped it 5 stories onto a limousine roof in Gatlinburg, TN. As we let it go, the bride and groom inside the limo stepped out of the car.
2. When we were 15, we were lighting off bottle rockets at New Years. We decided to put the rockets in the bottle upside down. Blew up the bottle and shards of glass went into the swimming pool. Kevin held my feet while I went head first into the pool to fish out the glass. It was about 10 degrees that year on January 1st. We didn't get all the glass out and his parents had to have the liner replaced that Summer. They still say I owe them half of what that cost.
3. Went muddin' in Kevin's '73 VW Beetle. Got it so covered in mud, the cops pulled us over for driving a dangerous motor vehicle.
4. Senior year, 1995, Kevin and I orchestrated a toga party day at school. We got about 25-30 people to join us on the day we got our cap and gowns. We all got called into the office and repremanded. They made us remove the togas. THE PROBLEM: Kevin didn't wear anything but his boxers underneath his toga. He was sent home.
5. Same year, we signed up for Floral Design class just so we'd be able to be in a class full of girls. THE PROBLEM: 20 other guys had the same idea.
6. Freshman year, we found each of our Dad's old... and I do mean old, golf clubs. With no lesson and no instructions, we played our first round of golf. Been playing ever since.
7. Junior year, after catching his VW on fire, he bought an old Ford 150. It was orange and white. He lived on a hill and the guy he bought the truck from failed to inform him that the e-brake was no longer functional. As soon as Kevin shut the door on the truck, it rolled down his driveway, rolled through a mailbox, bounced off of a tree and stopped in the living room of his next door neighbor.
8. We recorded ourselves reenacting Coolio's Fantastic Voyage video for an English assignment. If you have ever seen the video, you'll understand this. We put the camera facing the trunk of my car and we would go into the back seat and crawl out of the trunk. We would dress differnet everytime we did it so it looked like their was about 30 people crawling out of the trunk. Trust me, it was very humerous and got us a standing ovation and an A+ on the project.

We had some good times. I was blessed to have Kevin as my friend.

Guilt

This week I have been in the town I grew up in... Warner Robins, Georgia. I was at a restaurant when I met an old friend from high school. Haven't seen him in 12+ years. We both have families of our own of which we both were bragging. It amazes me how people's countenance changes when they find out what I do for a living. This guy informs me of what he does for a living. He then asks me the infamous question... "what do you do?" As soon as the words, "I'm a pastor" leave my lips, you can see the blood drain from his face. Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has occurred, so I am use to it. After a few seconds of stammering, this friend begins telling me how he use to go church, but can't now because he has to work. He goes on to tell me that he tries to be an inspiration for those around him. I never asked him what church he goes to or "how's your walk with God been lately?" It's amazing to me how guilt or conviction transforms people's conversation. I never condemned and I never said a word to make him feel bad about the way things were going in his life. I hope things change for him. I hope I made that difference. (More to come later on this blog about this trip to Georgia.)

It's That Woot Woot!!

I was at a store the other day and found a whistle tip for your muffler at a joke store. I was with D-Cat and Beav who have seen the above video and we started quoting Mr. Bubb Rubb. While we were quoting, out of nowhere, the sales associate joins in the quoting with a "It's just for decoration. That's it and that's all!" I was amazed by her knowledge of the Oakland vernacular. I guess the internet can make stars out of people... even Lil Sis.

The earlier the better?

We are about two weeks behind on a family tradition that started the first year Paige and I got married. The first weekend after Halloween we take down all the fall decor and put out all the Christmas decorations. The regular CDs in the car have to be switched out for the Christmas. The pumpkins are thrown out and the trees go up. Our season of giving begins weeks before most people's. This year, we got busy and got behind, so today was the day. The major Martin event started off with an injury this year. As I was carrying the Christmas bins down from the attic, I missed the 5th step from the bottom and fell on my ankle. Below is a picture of what I call my 'cankle'. As you can see, it is swollen and there is no ankle... it just goes from calf to foot.

No, my ankle is normally not that fat. Anyway, so we began the marathon Christmas decorating today. I love my wife, so I say this in love. She is obsessed with Christmas trees. Everytime we have been around someone who is getting a new tree, she asked to take their old one. And even when the trees go on sale after Christmas, we stock up. This year, we added a 9 foot tall, 6 foot wide evergreen to the family. It took 6 - 140 count strands of lights to light it up. It looks nice; even better than the other 5 we already have. I have talked her down to having just three up this year.

I did enjoy spending time with my girls today. We spent about three hours taking all the ornaments out and hanging them one by one on the massive tree. These are the memories that I will always treasure and I know my girls will never forget. They'll always remember how we had to rearrange the family room and push everything to one side so that we could fit this green beast of a tree in the house. I love decorating!

Pep Rally

This past Wednesday was an unbelievable night. We continued in our series called "Friday Night Lives". This night we scheduled a Pep Rally for God. We talked about things that we need to be pumped about. 1. We are the apple of God's eye, 2. James 1:18 says that out of all creation, we are God's prized possession. That alone excites me. 3. The Bible tells us that in the end, we win, as long as we are on God's side. I don't know about you, but I want to be on the winning team. The teens were stoked about this event and even dressed in black and yellow. (Michael, thanks for the Stryper shout out.) In two weeks we have the last night of this series. It will be Homecoming and free food for all teens as we have a tailgate party.

Black Out!

I never understood why Louisville fans love the black jerseys so much. And then this weekend happened. I was sitting down to watch "The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry", Auburn vs. Georgia when unbeknownsed to me, my beloved Bulldogs rush the field in silver pants and for the first time ever... black jerseys!!! I was overcome with emotion. How can a jersey stir up those kind of emotions? I was stoked about this. It also helped that Georgia trounced the Tigers 20-45. I am now a fan of the black... now I gotta try and find one of these on the Internet.

Honestly!

Have you ever been talking with someone and they preface what they are getting ready to say with "I'm going to be honest with you." What's that about? Does that mean everything they said before that point was a lie? Or try this one... I was at church the other day and I was joking with someone when I said something that was not truthful. The comment was made that "you can't lie at church." What, does that mean it is acceptable to lie outside of the church? I guess God gives you a mulligan if you don't actually do it in His house. "Hold on a minute, Ralph... let's step outside the church so that I can be honest with you."

Chinese Pizza

Today I had lunch with my wife at a Chinese Super Buffet. The outside advertised that it had 268 items on the bar. Wow! As I am looking over the bar, I see things like pizza, hamburger, french fries and chicken nuggets. I thought I was at the Super Buffet not WokDonald's. Anyway, the food was good with one exception... the sushi. Yeah, two places you should never get sushi from; ValuMarket and a buffet. Trust me.

Friday Night Lives

Can we apply Friday Night Football strategies to our daily lives? Find out this Wednesday night @ 6:30 in Ground Zero when we start our new series entitled, "Friday Night Lives".

Arnold Palmer

Public Service Announcement for Arnold Palmer:

Too many times I have been carded when I order an Arnold Palmer. For the record, an Arnold Palmer is half tea & half lemonade. I hate getting carded for things that don't matter. It's not like I'm buying a large amount of fertilizer. The following is a list of other things I've been carded for:

1. White-Out

2. Canned Air

3. Gasoline

4. Halo 3

5. Sudafed

6. PG-13 Movie (I was 19)

Generation Gap

This weekend I drove to Iowa for my grandmother's 90th birthday. There is almost 60 years that separates me from her and so there are several differences in our languages as well as a large generational gap. The following is a small compilation of information I learned this weekend:

1. I asked her where she kept the towels in the bathroom. She responded with, "They are on the east side of the commode." First of all, where I come from you use directions like 'left', 'right', 'above', or 'below'. Not compass directions. And secondly, who says 'commode'? We use the word 'toilet' or 'potty' if you have kids, not 'commode'.

2. I learned what gout (the 'ou' is pronounced like the word 'ouch') was. I also learned how to get rid of it. I'm not sure how you get it, but apparently it is painful and really hurts your big toe. You are supposed to drink lots of cherry juice to get rid of it.

3. Food on the Senior Menu at the Fairfield Family Restaurant has little or no salt... or flavor for that matter.

4. Grandma saves everything and I mean everything. We have to save the rubber band from around the daily newspaper. We must wash, dry and save the mash potato containers from our to-go order from KFC. Someone may need to take some leftovers home after eating at the house. Apparently those are perfect size for home carry-out. We also are not allowed to throw out aluminum foil or sandwich bags. You just rinse them off, let dry and reuse. Seriously!

5. Werther's Originals are the candy of choice for senior citizens.

I love my grandmother, even after 90 years, she is still spry and has all her barrings about her. I thought she might get a kick out of this blog about her, but I'll have to increase the font and print it out and send in the mail because she has never been on the Internet and certainly doesn't understand what a blog is. She's probably better off not getting online, anyway.

Just Braggin'

Georgia 42

Florida 30

The Absurdity of College Mascots

Luckily, I am a huge University of Georgia fan because I was looking on the internet at several colleges and their mascots, and there are some ridiculous representatives. Georgia's mascot, Uga, was voted the #1 mascot last year by Sports Illustrated. I understand that not all universities and colleges can compete with that, but they have got to try a little harder.

Here is my list of the top five goofiest mascots in college sports:

The Santa Cruz Banana Slugs

Delta State Fighting Okras

Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes

Evergreen State College Geoducks

University of Kentucky Wildcats

Heartless Storm Watcher

Today I was going to blog on how angry I was that all my shows were canceled due to the major storm that blew through Louisville. I felt that the meteorologists were a little extreme in their coverage of the weather. Once or twice a year, a big meteorological event happens and I felt like these guys live for that once or twice a year occurance, so they cancel all shows so we can listen to them. And let's face it... watching a Doppler Radar is very uninteresting. I was not happy. But, then God, like He is so great at doing slapped me with a reality check. Why was I so upset? So I missed some shows... did I lose my house because of the tornado that touched down? Did any of my family members get injured or lose their lives? Thank God, no! And what if watching these boring radar and sky tracker shots actually saved some lives? Wouldn't it be worth it? Absolutely! My issue should have been more about why I cared so much that I missed my shows. Maybe I watch too much TV. I'll ponder that later. Right now. I'm gonna see if I can download last night's Survivor China and ER from iTunes.

Urinal Courtesy

In men's restrooms, why is it an unspoken rule that when someone is using the urinal, you must never use the one beside them? I was just thinking!!

The Happiest Place On Earth

Today we spent the entire day at Disney World, the "happiest place on Earth." Is it really? I think for a lot of people it is, especially for kids. What makes Disney the happiest place? I was thinking about it today as I was at Pecos Bill's in Frontier Land eating my $13.00 cheeseburger, fry and Diet Coke meal. How sad is it that church isn't known by the same moniker? I feel we as the body of Christ can learn some things from Walt and his crew of Imagineers. The following are a list of my observations:

1. The most important people in the park are the visitors
application: Why are our church visitors not the most important people in service?

2. The second most important people in the park are those who keep the park clean (mostly those who work behind the scenes)
application: Why do people need to carry a title and be noticed before they can add to the Kingdom of God. What if the most saught after position in the church was the parking lot attendant?

3. Organization, organization, organization (everything works like clockwork in the Magic Kingdom... everything from the person who makes the chili-cheese fries to the bathroom attendant... they know their job and they do it)
application: Organization, organization, organization (know your role in the body of Christ and fulfill it... if you are an ear, don't watch. If you are an eye, don't listen. If you are a hand, don't walk. If you are a toe... well, you get the idea)

4. Disney's newest promotion is that it is the "Place Where Dreams Come True"
application: What if church really was the place where dreams come true? I think some times church is subconsciously promoted as the place where we tell you what you can't do anymore.


You get the point. What would happen if we totally changed our way of thinking in the church? If we learned from the Magic Kingdom and revamped our thought process in the body of Christ, could church trully become not only the happiest place on Earth but even the place where dreams really do come true? Where lost loved ones are saved. Where people are delivered from addictions. Where people can turn their lives over to Christ. I am convinced that just like a didn't mind eating my $13 burger at the park that brought me and my family such happiness, if people really began looking at church in the same light as Walt Disnet World, they too might not mind giving back to the House in tithes, giving and service. I was just thinking!

Death and airports

Today I flew with my family to Florida on vacation. As we were getting ready for take-off, I was gripped with fear for a second. My Pastor tells me all the time that flying is safer than driving. So, why don't I feel that way? Besides the fact that the terminology they use in airports is morbid (ie. terminal... departure...) I also attribute this to the the idea that we as humans aren't comfortable if we are not in control. Such is the problem with people committing their lives to Christ. The idea of handing the reigns of life over to God scares some people. But, as we were making our final decent (see there's one of those morbid words again) into Orlando and I heard the Captain say we were landing, a sense of relief came over me. I realized that my life was in the hands of someone who had been through this very same thing time and time again. What would happen if we could get people to think about following Christ the same way? He's been through it. He's experienced more than we ever would. Why can't we just relax, enojy the flight and let Him take control and help us to our destinations. Think about it.

And so it begins...

I've just gotten both of my daughters in bed for the night and I am finally sitting here to write my first rambling on my very own personal blog. I have been putting this off for years because I thought that no one reads this stuff. I thought this as I was reading a friend of mine's blog (www.noefool.com). Then it dawned on me that I was reading his stuff. Surely I've got more interesting stories than he does. Your welcome Clay So here I begin. The first of a long line of posts.

Three things I learned yesterday during our baptismal service:

one:

Water makes people lighter

two:

Some people should not be asked if they have something to say before they take the plunge

three:

God doesn't keep a list of people who signed up to be baptised

After only 30 people signed up to be baptised, Pastor and I (and Bro. Noe) dunked almost 80 people in a service that lasted well over 3 hours. I'm glad God doesn't keep a list of baptism candidates. Had He, I wouldn't have been as touched by the genuiness of His people.