Happy Birthday to my sexy lil wife!!

 

 

A very happy birthday to my sweet, sexy wife… I thank God for you today. Above is a commissioned piece of art that I have spent these past few weeks making for you. I love you!

Synchronized Swimming in the Baptistry

Well… I finally found a way to get this little piece of priceless history onto the world wide web! The student ministry interns at Travis Ave. Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Tx had been given a dare for camp that summer. What you have before you stands as a priceless artifact of that spring 2003 semester. Never in the history of the world has there ever been such a dynamic group of people assembled for such a task. This video was beautifully choreographed by yours truly and by my good friend “ugly” (aka David Bowen). Featured in this video are the interns, Dr. Johnny Derouen (Former Youth Minister at Travis Ave. and current Distinguished Prof. of Student Ministry at Southwestern Baptist Seminary), and Dr. Michael Dean (Senior Pastor at Travis Ave.) So please sit back, relax, and be inspired as you listen to the timeless hymn of yesteryear “Step by Step” by New Kids On The Block… those were the days…

Hey Dave, don’t you miss Casey???

Feel free to share this video with your loved ones… you can find this video on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOtkumpb3xs Drop by and leave a comment!!

The Church of the Holy Comforter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

or Bedside Baptist Church – I attended both very often during my college years. But that’s another story for another time! I came across a quote recently that dealt with the issue of comfort. Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthian believers that God is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction SO THAT we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NASB) But part of what this particular quote hit on was this idea that if all we seek is comfort we run the risk of missing our calling. That hit me pretty hard…

I’m not quite sure where we came up with the notion that success was measured by levels of comfort. The more comfortable our particular jobs & ministries become then that must mean we are achieving more in the way of success. I have to admit, that’s been me a time or two (or ten). I’ve been in places and situations where comfortable would be the last word I would ever use to describe how things were. And it was in those hard times that I really had to question just how much God was using me. I mean, who doesn’t want to be liked? I don’t know too many people who wake up each day and set out to be the least liked person in their workplace. But the more I let God’s Word pour over me I find just the opposite. It seems like the closer we walk with Jesus and the more we get serious about preaching, teaching, and APPLYING God’s Word to our lives, the more we tend to offend others. We have to remember that when we start using the greatest tool that we have as believers – God’s Word – we are confronting our sin and the sin of others head on. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like having my sin confronted! My mentor Dr. Roy Fish always tells me that unless you’re doing a bit of meddling then you aren’t really preaching, because God’s Word is a meddling thing.

But I had to stop and ask myself if I was seeking comfort in my situation now. As I read that passage over again it’s amazing when you realize that Paul says that God is a God of comfort, but also that He’s the Father that comforts in our afflictions so that we can in turn comfort those we come into contact with each day. When we seek God and walk with Him on a daily basis, we’re gonna go through some tough stuff – but what an encouragement to realize that our hard times are designed to teach us how to look for God and in turn how to be God’s hands and feet to others. Pretty deep stuff when you stop to think about it.

The more I’ve been thinking about all of this I started thinking about Comfort vs. Contentment. Is there a difference? I went back to a verse that so many have committed to memory, but I saw in light of it’s context. Paul writes: “for I have learned to be CONTENT in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:11-13 NASB) Paul was essentially giving us the ingredients to getting through the times that weren’t comfortable. It’s about finding a proper understanding of our power source, and gaining a Godly appreciation for the hard times we face. We grow the most in the darkest moments of our lives. You look at the guys in the Bible – guys who very obviously did nothing to deserve what was happening to them (Joseph immediately comes to my mind) but were still very much in the center of God’s will for their lives.

I think that’s why I have such a hard time with these “health and wealth” preachers and the “name it and claim it” jokers… When did we get this idea that following Jesus would result in us being more comfortable?? Jesus said we would have peace, joy, and life abundant – but something about taking up my cross daily leaves me wondering where the comfort is? The ultimate end of our walking with Jesus is to look more like Him with each passing day… I have a long way to go!

If all I ever look for is the comfortable position, I’m missing the amazing adventure that God has called me to. But like Paul, the secret to getting through it all is recognizing that we can do all things through Jesus… man… I’m getting wound up tonight…

In other news… I was having lunch with some of my High School students this past thursday when Double Dave’s pizza caught on fire! And to make this story even more strange, I was the guy who discovered it!! I was headed back to wash my hands when I noticed smoke pouring out of a supply closet. I told one of the employees and his response was so laid back, like it was no big deal that the building (full of people) was burning! He said “yeah, I thought I smelled something burning but couldn’t quite figure out what it was…” So, he didn’t go looking for the source of the smoke, he just kept right on making pizza!! We were eating when everyone started caughing and my eyes started burning. Smoke was pouring across the ceiling! I started to think “hmmm… if this stupid building blows up, I’m in it… with my teenagers!” The owner finally decided that dead customers make bad customers and had everyone leave just as the fire dept was arriving! You probably won’t find my sweet face on the cover of any newspapers, but I slept soundly feeling like a local hero!! hehe… good times!

I have the joy of being the featured speaker at tomorrow’s men’s prayer breakfast, I just hope the bacon makes up for the lack of mental clarity that I often exhibit during the wee hours of the morning!! Until next time sports fans!!