Christmas is just 5 Days Away!

As we approach the big day, here are some things I am excited about:

- Kara had her school choir performance today. They did a tribute to the holidays, singing songs about several different traditions. They actually talked about the birth of our Savior!

- Garren is learning the joys of courting. He is giving a Christmas gift to her today. At least I hope he is...he's a bit nervous. Go Garren!

- Kelsey is VERY excited about our trip to Concord Mills Mall this afternoon. We must be insane, I know the rest of the world will be there as well...

- Nancy is super party woman. She has been involved in volunteering at the kids' schools, and has been helping out all week with different party's.

I hope your Christmas season is turning out to be a happy time for you and your families.

On My Mind Lately

I continue to see the pandemic of Biblical illiteracy in the American church. This is something that I have realized for some time, but it has been impressed on me much more lately. I would guess that most church goers have a very limited knowledge of what is in the Bible.

Is that wrong? Yes and no. It's not that we have such a limited knowledge of what God says in His Word. It's that we are not pursuing that knowledge. Show up to church, listen to the Preacher, then go home and pretend it never happened. No wonder so many live day to day wondering what it's all about. We are defeated! We don't know why!

Get your Bible out. Start reading it every day. You don't have to read it all at once. Just read some. Be systematic. Get a chart, or a reading schedule. Just get in the Word. We cannot live our lives for God, if we are not listening to God.

The Greatest Book

I've been challenged lately by the number of people who claim to be Christ followers, who do not read the Bible. That's like saying that I am a student of physics, yet never crack open a physics book! How can this be?

The Bible is the greatest book ever written. It was given to us by God, through men who wrote down what the Holy Spirit was directing them to write. The Bible will change your life. It really will. It is powerful, it is alive, it will penetrate into the innermost part of who you are and show you things you didn't even know about yourself. The Bible has the power to transform and lead you into things we haven't even dreamed of yet.

Have you ever watched "The Neverending Story?" Toward the beginning of the story, a young boy who loves to read is confronted with a book that is described to him as 'unsafe.' His books are safe - he can become the character he is reading about, then close the book and return to real life. But this book is different. Once you enter into the Neverending Story, that becomes your reality, you cannot escape. It's more than just a story.

The Bible is not safe! Once you enter into the story presented in God's Word, you cannot escape. You join the story. You cannot separate reality from what you read in God's Word, because it is reality.

Sounds strange, doesn't it? Trust me, it's the real deal. I dare you to start reading the Bible, today, right now. It's not safe.

God helps me do big things.

The other day Kelsey (3 yrs old) came home from church with picture of David and Goliath. If you take your kids to church, you know they almost always come home with some kind of craft or coloring paper, right?

This one intrigued me just a bit, so I thought I'd share it with you:



In case you can't read what it says (it's kinda small):

God helps me do hard things like save me from the dinosaurs and He already helps me run so fast.

Isn't that awesome? Thank you to those who volunteer their time to teach our children about God, and how awesome He really is.