FINALLY BACK

Greetings everyone. I'm finally back from taking my children (Amy and Nathan) and dropping them off to school. I can't believe how empty I feel inside! May Jesus help me with the child loneliness in my heart..... I really wish that my children could be with me forEVER! Now I know how much my mom and dad felt when i went off to school. Every time I dropped each child off at their location my comment to Tandi was, "I think it would be nice to move here." then my wife would say... "really now, you think you would like to live everywhere." then I thought, I would like to live anywhere my children are. After a while I began to realize that God feels the same way about us. He had perfect communion with Adam and Eve and then he had to drop them off outside the garden door. but from that time forward He began to plan the time He could walk side by side with us again. Then Jesus came along and said. "I think I could live down there on earth." and why? because He wanted to be close to His children because He loves us so much. Jesus came to earth because He wanted to be close to His children. God so loved the world that He came to earth to die for those He so much loved for....

Pastor Dave

The Words Guarantee

Oh how easy it is to get caught up in the systems of this world and forget how powerful God's word is and His guarantee to see that His word will perform what it was set out to do.
Jer. 1:12 says, "Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."

I find that I can get so worried about different things in my life and forget the powerful backing that God puts on His word. By the above verse I can be assured that His promises are yes and amen to the glory of the father.
Thank you God for your faithfulness to your word. I'm so glad that I can serve a God that makes sure His word comes true and backs it up with a guarantee.

Pastor Dave

Letting go of things you love

So here we go! the countdown is getting lower. Only 5 days left until I take my son to Texas to drop him off for Teen Mania's Honor Academy. then 5 days later I'll pick up my daughter at the same campus and fly her home for 4 days then driver her to Colorado Springs to attend Ted Haggards school of Worship for the next 10 months. I find myself drawing closer to my youngest that is 15 years old and taller than me and I begin to feel so much older as it seems I'm loosing my grip on a family that I've always had the security of having around. Not to mention it is taking many pennies to fund all my children's ministry dreams. The great thing about this all is my investment in God's kingdom. Never before have I ever had the chance to invest in the kingdom of God as I do now through my 2 oldest children. The bible says "do not lay up for yourself treasures here on earth where moth devour them but lay up for yourself treasures that are eternal. I'm not living my dreams thru my children but I know that I have planted great things of Godliness in each of them and that they will use those things to bring Glory to God. So what do I do? I delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart. Even as David Encouraged himself in the Lord, so I will rely upon Him for my strength thru each and every trial. So as I wait for Him, I will spend my time building a greater relationship with my youngest so I'll even feel more sick when his time comes to leave the nest. Thanks you all for taking the time to read my heart and continue to pray for me.

Pastor Dave

WHY PEOPLE DON'T GO TO CHURCH

I was doing my journal this morning and I came across a verse in the bible that I have read many times but today it really caught me off guard.

John 3:20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."

So there you have it..... the great question is answered "why don't people go to church?" Oh we hear many answers like "don't have the right clothes" or "only hippocrites attend church" and the list goes on. I'm sure there are very good reasons we all have for not attending church but I believe this verse hits it right in the heart. People don't go to church because they don't want to be told that they are living wrong and that they are sinners. Nobody (even me) wants to be wrong. we all want to know that we are doing a good job in this life and that everyone (including God) really likes us. I've found that i can't tell people that I'm a pastor without getting mixed reviews. either they start confessing their sins or they start trying to be very religious around me OR they just want to get away from me as soon as they can. :)
If you are out there and you don't want to go to church, understand that there are times that I as a pastor sometimes (not a lot) don't want to go to church either. But it's not because of all the reasons I've heard in the past as a pastor but because i know that the very message i'm getting ready to preach is light and it is going to expose me to the very things i'm hiding in the dark areas of my life. OUCH! I don't like to be told i'm walking in sin either, especially from ME! IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! Yes it would be easier to just walk thru life and keep away from the light and then none of my sins would be exposed and then I wouldn't have to feel that tugging in my stomach and heart. But I do know that even if i did avoid the light all my life, one day I will stand before the eternal light Jesus Christ and I will be exposed from the very depths of my heart for who i really am and the problem will be that it will be too late. there will be no more time to change and make things right. So i challenge you. find a church that you can survive being exposed to the light. one that will help you get rid of the darkness that hides inside and all the junk that you carry with you throughout this life. Then as you are exposed to the light more and more you'll find that your light will then be a guide to those out in darkness that need direction.
"let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."

Pastor Dave