The Church - Like A Cruise Ship or Rescue Ship?

I have received quite a few requests from newhopers wanting the part of my message on Sunday about the difference between a Cruise Ship and a Rescue Ship. Per requests, this was a part of my sermon on March 30, 2008 and was adapted from Paul Kaak's work with "New Directions for Small Groups.


The Church, newhope, is NOT a Cruise Ship. We all love cruise ships but let me tell you - the church is far more like a Rescue Ship. Let me explain:

➢ On a Cruise Ship, people expect to be served.
➢ On a Rescue Ship people expect to serve!

➢ On a Cruise Ship the staff takes care of the passengers.
➢ On a Rescue Ship those on board take care of one another!

➢ On a Cruise Ship gratification comes from comfort and the beautiful scenery.
➢ On a Rescue Ship gratification comes from participating in the mission!

➢ On a Cruise Ship relationships are superficial.
➢ On a Rescue Ship relationships are close-knit and meaningful!

➢ On a Cruise Ship not much is expected of the passengers.
➢ On a Rescue Ship every person matters and participates in the mission!

➢ On a Cruise Ship the energy is put into those who are “on board.”
➢ On a Rescue Ship the energy is put into those who are “out there!”

➢ On a Cruise Ship the captain responds to the people’s request.
➢ On a Rescue Ship the people respond to the captain’s direction!

➢ On a Cruise Ship you hear “I like this” or “I don’t like that”.
➢ On a Rescue Ship you hear “How can I help?”

➢ On a Cruise Ship the thrill comes from the food and service.
➢ On a Rescue Ship the thrill comes from accomplishing the mission!

➢ On a Cruise Ship individuals rejoice when they get to sit at the Captain’s table.
➢ On a Rescue Ship everyone rejoices when one who is lost is saved!


God is calling the Church, beloved, to be a Rescue Ship in the midst of the troubled and rough waters of the 21st Century! The mission of the Church, newhope, is to rescue people, not to serve the saved. And while a Cruise ship might seem more appealing, I can promise you that being on a rescue ship is FAR more fulfilling.

May we always remain blessable by our God because we are engaged in the rescue mission for which He came, lived, bled, died, and ultimately rose from the grave.

"I have come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Jesus in Luke 19:10)

What A Day...

There are Sundays that are tough as a pastor and there are other Sundays for which you live. If you want to read a great article by my friend, Bryson, about the difficulties of ministry, check out this link.

Today, though, was one of those Sundays that totally reminded me why I love ministry and newhope church! There was an energy and excitement in our church quite possibly more powerful than I have ever experienced. I preached on the biblical vision of the church and newhope's passion to Reach, Teach, and Release! I wish you could have seen what I witnessed as hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people "got it" and left stoked about the potential and beauty of the local church!

As you can tell, I absolutely love preaching about the church. As I said this morning, I am head over heels in love with the church. The biblical vision found in the life of Jesus and the book of Acts has wrecked me. It is the reason why I started this church six years ago.

I also love our leaders. I walked around this morning blown away by the leaders serving God and His purposes through newhope. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU - trust me, more and more people will be joining you as a result of this morning.

And the Evanescence song, "Wake Me Up," by the Worship Arts Team was off the chain! We actually had some people holding up their cell phones in worship. (FYI - that is contemporary way of holding up a lighter in the old days :>) That song was incredible and put the perfect exclamation point on the series, "Crank It Up."

I need to go to sleep but I am afraid it will be a late night. My body is wiped out but my mind and heart are soaring with thanks and praise.

I love this church. And I love serving this church as pastor.

Thanks be to God...

The Most Beautiful Food on Planet Earth...

Most of you know I just came off of the longest fast of my life. It was basically a 40 day Lenten Fast that ended with the Easter Resurrection of Jesus. I basically followed the example of Daniel in the Old Testament and ate vegetables, with some occasional fruit. It was a great experience.

Most of you probably don't know that my all time favorite food is Sushi. There is something pure, healthy, and delicious about grade A Sushi! I know some of you are disgusted right about now but hey, "To each his/her own." I love it and thought you might at least enjoy the picture. I mean, look at that color! I don't think I have ever seen a plate of food more delightful than that!


I am wrapping up vacation and can't wait for Sunday at newhope. It is going to be a great day with an awesome feature song. Can you say Evanescence?! I will also wrap up our sermon series titled, "Crank It Up." You don't want to miss it!

BTW - we had tons of first time guests on Sunday. Easter weekend saw right around 1000 people come through our doors. Can you say, "Go God!" I am proud of the way in which many of you invited and brought friends. As more and more new people come to our church, remember to show the love and warmth of God by greeting and sharing with those you don't know. A healthy practice is to remember and repeat this:

"It is not my church - it is God's Church."

If we always remember that, God will keep using us to advance His Kingdom, one life at a time!

Peace - CU Sunday!

A Little R and R...

Today was a great day!

It started this morning with delicious Mocha Java. Few things put me in the presence of God more than a nice Cup of Joe in the early morning hours.

After that, the fam did some fun chores around the house, inside and out.

Played some ball with the kids.

More chores (I love knocking chores off my list :>)

Took the entire fam to the Duke Vs. Brown baseball game. It was the perfect weather day for a spring baseball game.

Went to dinner at Fiesta Grill (BTW - best Mexican food in NC)

About to watch the Idol with Amy Lynn.

Going fishing with Pastor Curtis and my twin boys tomorrow.

If you can't tell, I am on vacation and feeling better. Thanks for the prayers and encouragement.

Good night...

Preaching with the Flu...

More people than I can count have asked me over the course of the last week, "How can you preach/teach 7 times with the flu?" Instead of trying to answer such question, I thought of a passage of Scripture that I believe adequately explains HOW and WHY!

You might consider reading this powerful passage every morning of this week - it might just change your life!

Isaiah 40:12-31

Who has scooped up the ocean
in his two hands,
or measured the sky between his thumb and little finger,
Who has put all the earth's dirt in one of his baskets,
weighed each mountain and hill?
Who could ever have told God what to do
or taught him his business?
What expert would he have gone to for advice,
what school would he attend to learn justice?
What god do you suppose might have taught him what he knows,
showed him how things work?
Why, the nations are but a drop in a bucket,
a mere smudge on a window.
Watch him sweep up the islands
like so much dust off the floor!
There aren't enough trees in Lebanon
nor enough animals in those vast forests
to furnish adequate fuel and offerings for his worship.
All the nations add up to simply nothing before him—
less than nothing is more like it. A minus.

So who even comes close to being like God?
To whom or what can you compare him?
Some no-god idol? Ridiculous!
It's made in a workshop, cast in bronze,
Given a thin veneer of gold,
and draped with silver filigree.
Or, perhaps someone will select a fine wood—
olive wood, say—that won't rot,
Then hire a woodcarver to make a no-god,
giving special care to its base so it won't tip over!

Have you not been paying attention?
Have you not been listening?
Haven't you heard these stories all your life?
Don't you understand the foundation of all things?
God sits high above the round ball of earth.
The people look like mere ants.
He stretches out the skies like a canvas—
yes, like a tent canvas to live under.
He ignores what all the princes say and do.
The rulers of the earth count for nothing.
Princes and rulers don't amount to much.
Like seeds barely rooted, just sprouted,
They shrivel when God blows on them.
Like flecks of chaff, they're gone with the wind.

"So—who is like me?
Who holds a candle to me?" says The Holy.
Look at the night skies:
Who do you think made all this?
Who marches this army of stars out each night,
counts them off, calls each by name
—so magnificent! so powerful!—
and never overlooks a single one?

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.

Good Friday and Easter!

Throughout the course of a year, my favorite worship celebrations occur back to back with Good Friday and Easter Sunday! It is an incredible, "One two punch" in the life of the Church. Satan tried to take Jesus out and destroy the entire plan of salvation but the Father had one more trump card in the deck.

I hope you will join us this week for our Good Friday Worship Service at 7:00 pm. It is on Friday, of course. :>) Every year, this service leaves me speechless and in awe of God's love for me. It also leaves me waiting and longing for Easter Sunday.

The great thing about the gospel story is that it does NOT end at the cross. Instead, as Christians, we gather, on Easter Sunday, around an empty tomb and join those early followers and declare, "HE IS RISEN!"

I just finished up a conference call with Pastors Matt and Curtis as we put the final touches on these two services. Trust me, IF you come on Friday and Sunday, you will never forget the way in which we experience the gospel power of Jesus to cleanse sin and give us eternal life and power to live freely and abundantly for God. No more hints - you do NOT want to miss it!

BTW - don't forget the huge FREE Family Festival and 5 K run Saturday at CM Herndon Park. You can get directions and other pertinent info here. You can also register for the race here.

It is going to be a blast! In short, I hope to see you Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

Why Is Easter So Early?

Have you ever wondered why Easter is sometimes in March, and then the next year might be at the end of April? When you are sick, you will research anything. I did a little research, and thanks to several sources, including Tim Stevens, it turns out that you can blame Pope Gregory the 13th. Greg, along with Lilius and Clavius, decided the current method 424 years ago. Get ready for some madness! :>)

Evidently, the aim of the Easter Dating Method is to maintain, for each Easter Sunday, the same season of the year and the same relationship to the preceding astronomical full moon that occurred at the time of Jesus' resurrection in 30 A.D. An ambitious goal, but very confusing nonetheless. Will someone please contact the current pope, or Perry Noble, or our very own Matt Smith, and suggest that Easter always be celebrated on the first Sunday in April. While you are at it, can you contact the public school systems and ask that they NOT schedule Spring Break during Holy Week. This bothers me and encourages people to travel during Holy Week. I am sure they want to know how I feel about it. :>)

Until some of these suggested changes take effect, you'll be glad to know that there are limits. Easter can never be before March 22 or after April 25. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives, since it won't happen again for another 220 years. (If you think you will be around then, come and see me) Oh, and the last time it was this early was 1913.

Here are the dates for Easter for the next four years...

2009 - April 12
2010 - April 4
2011 - April 24
2012 - April 8

If you are a newhoper, please, for the love of God, invite a friend to church with you. It might make an eternal difference. I promise to do my best to present the gospel in a clear and compelling manner. If you are not a newhoper, I pray the resurrection power of almighty God envelops you and your church this weekend.

Peace -

The Flu

Well, it's official - I have the flu. I had forgotten what it is like to be sick. Every minute drags by and I hurt all over, from the outside in. And the fever - it gets very old going back and forth between sweat and shivers.

You might not have known it, but I had it yesterday in church. I felt it coming on Saturday night. I awoke Sunday morning with aches and pains all over so I did what any pastor should do - I drank lots of coffee and asked the Holy Spirit to get me through the morning. Hey, it worked.

I just came back from the doctor and she has told me to take this stuff called Tami-Flu, drink lots of fluids, take Mulcinex D and stay away from all people. That should be easy in a house with 8! :>)

Will you pray for me? As you know, Holy Week is the biggest week in the Christian calendar. Also, please pray Amy Lynn and the kiddos do not get it.

I will keep you posted and will probably post more often this week since I am supposed to stay inside and rest. I don't think working with the lap top is work, do you? :>)

Sunday Night Mind Dump...

* Still blown away by all three worship services this morning. You could feel the passion and engagement level of our church go up several notches!

* Congrats to the Heels on their ACC Championship. They are peaking at just the right time. (BTW - no one picked the exact score a few weeks ago for the DUKE vs. UNC game. Oh well, I guess I don't have to deliver on that $50 gift certificate.

* I can't wait for the new building. This building time/process is harder than I thought it would be. I was fine until we actually started the building. Come December/January!

* I think I have the flu. I started feeling bad last night. I awoke this morning and asked God to get me through the morning, which He did. But I am just plain hurting right now. One of those all over hurts, with a high fever, On top of that, my throat has that Sunday evening feeling that I liken to sand paper ripping my throat to shreds after preaching my head off for three worship celebrations. I REALLY would appreciate any prayers you might offer.

* BTW - the last comment about the flu is not one of those good "fake jobs" I talked about in worship today! :>) Maybe this is some kind of divine sense of humor.

* Lots of guests today at newhope.

* I will post this week re the unleash Conference our team attended this week. In a word - AMAZING!

* I love our Pastoral Team. I can't believe I get to work with Amy Lynn, Theresa, Curtis, Matt, Jarred, Fran, Debbie and Natalie. Thank you, gang. You make doing ministry and coming to the office a lot of fun!

* I hurt so deeply when my children hurt. Yet, sometimes the best thing we can do is let our children deal with hurt, disappointment, and pain. It is life, It is just hard. One of my boys really hurt today. It was hard to watch.

* I love this series - the thunder sticks in Worship today were awesome!

* Baseball season starts Tuesday. I am coaching again this year. The Kelley family is doing NO SPORTS this summer. NONE! :>)

* I like 60 Minutes - watch it every Sunday evening.

* Pastor Curtis and I were going to fish tomorrow on our day off - not sure that is going to happen. I feel horrible. :<(

* I can't wait for the weekend. (Good Friday service at 7 pm, 5 K run and festival Saturday from 8 am - 12 noon, and Easter Sunday celebrations at 8:45, 10:15, and 11:45 am.

* Have a blessed Holy Week - I pray you Worship God this week with AWE, ABANDONMENT AND INTIMACY.

Fasting for Spiritual Break Through

I am into day “30 something” of my Daniel’s Fast! Dude, I am sooooo hungry, but only at times. This morning is one of those times. All in all, it has been an amazing journey. I really appreciate your comments, prayer, and support over the course of this journey. I know some of you are in the midst of it with me.

Along with the fast, I have been reading an amazing book by one of my favorite authors. The book is titled, “Fasting for Spiritual Break Through” and the author is Elmer L. Towns. It is a great read that actually discusses, in detail, the various and sundry fasts we find in the Bible. If you want to borrow it after Easter, let me know.
Personally, I have been seeking God in more profound and powerful ways throughout this fast. If you want to pray more specifically, I would covet your prayers in the following ways:

1. I want to be a better husband and dad. To love Amy Lynn as Christ loved the church is a high calling. And to think God has given me 5 amazing kiddos still blows my mind. They deserve such an awesome dad.

2. I always want to lead newhope at the next level. To do so, I have to grow as a leader and transition my leadership. In other words, I can’t lead newhope today like I led her 5 years ago. I can’t lead her tomorrow like I am leading her today. As such, leadership is an organic journey of spiritual and practical growth. This is a HUGE year for our church as move to our post in the heart of central NC. I want God to do a great work in my life and help me reach my leadership potential. (Which is one of the reasons why our pastoral team is at a church and leadership conference right now!)

3. I long to see our church reach, teach, ad release more and more people for the cause of Christ. I shared a few weeks ago that I couldn’t get past the fact that the Bible says people who die without Jesus face a Christless eternity. As I have been on this spiritual journey of fasting, God has ignited that passion to a greater extent. The church is nothing less than a life-saving station so we cannot rest until everyone is safely home in the arms of our Father, through faith in the Son, and living empowered lives in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Well, I have to go – the Pastoral Team is waiting for me at breakfast. More fruit and veggies here I come! :>)

Unleash 2008

It's 9 pm and the Pastoral Team is leaving town right now to go to the Unleash 2008 Conference in Anderson, SC. You can check it out here.


We covet your prayers. I will try and post some tomorrow as we experience awesome worship, great teaching, and relevant break out sessions.

Peace out -

Congrats and Spring Forward an Hour...

Well, congrats to Roy's Boys and all the newhopers out there pulling for the Heels. UNC played a great game and deserve the win.

BTW - spring those close clocks forward an hour and please show up at the early or late service. (8:45 or 11:45 am) The middle service is well beyond 90 % capacity.

Good night.

As Always, It Is Going Down to the Wire...

This is killing me - so intense. They have been tied like 6 time this half.

I am certain Duke Vs. Carolina games will, in the end, take several years off of my life. And I am not joking...

But I love it! Gotta go - commercials are over,,,

PS - For those of you not from around NC or "Tobacco Road," do yourself a favor and ALWAYS WATCH DUKE VS. UNC BASKETBALL! Without exception, It is the greatest rivalry in sports!

Wow - the Heels Look Great!

It's halftime and the Heels are killing it. Duke has a lot of room for improvement.

Come on Duke - you have to come out strong in the second half or this thing will get ugly.

Worse case scenario - Duke loses but I get to worship the Lord with newhope tomorrow. Not to bad, regardless, when you look at it like that. :>)

CU in the AM - can't wait to start our new series!

Peace -

Our Prayers and Thoughts...

From a few states away, I heard about the horrible murder of Eve Marie Carson (22). All of a sudden, the game on Saturday night doesn't seem that important.

Why?

Friends, our world needs the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us remember the University. Let us remember the family of Eve Marie. Let us remember how desperate the world is for God and how important it is for believers to rise up and live as peaceable Christians in a world of hate and violence.

You can read her bio here.

Here is her platform web page when she ran for Student Body President last year and won.

With a broken heart and remaining in prayer -

Pastor Benji

UNC Vs. Duke (Saturday at 9 pm)

OK - it is on again. The person who guesses the winner of the game and the exact score will receive a $50 gift certificate to your restaurant of choice.
Your predictions needs to be posted to this blog by tip-off. As always, no anonymous comments, please.

Thanks - this will be fun!

Meet "The Live Oak"

You may not know this, but there are different kinds of oak trees. Most of us are familiar with the tall towering oaks like we see in North Carolina and other places. But for those of you who have lived or visited deeper parts of the southeast like South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, you will no doubt be familiar with "The Live Oak."

As you notice from the picture, instead of growing vertically tall, the Live Oak grows horizontally. This particular oak was the oldest tree at Fort Frederica, which is the place where John and Charles Wesley landed, from England, to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to America. This particular tree was over 200 years old and planted at the end of the American Revolutionary War. Live Oaks grow for 100 years, remain the same for another 100 years, and die for the final 100 years by rotting from the inside out. They are typically covered with Spanish moss, which is not Spanish nor is it moss. :>) It is actually a plant that draws its nutrients from the air we breathe. I grew up around the Live Oak all my child-hood life. I grew up climbing all over these trees while at the same time, the oak and moss were climbing all into my soul. :>) There is something special to me about the Live Oak!

I think we can learn a few points of discipleship from this special tree. Here is what the Lord spoke to me yesterday as Amy Lynn and I walked this historic fort.

Like the Live Oak, Christian discipleship always involves growing horizontally in love and fellowship with other believers and non-believers. There are too many "Lone Ranger" versions of Christianity out there and yet the truth is none of them are faithful to the Word of God. No man or woman is an island unto him/herself. We all know to grow vertically toward God but how are you growing horizontally toward other people? How is your heart toward people far from God? How is your heart toward people who are different from you? How is your heart toward other believers in your Small Group?

Secondly, the Live Oak reminds me of something I want to prevent and stay away from in my life, namely rotting death from the inside out. The reason it is hard to know the exact age of the Live Oak is because they rot for the final 100 years, from the inside out so that one cannot study the rings to determine age. I have known my fair share of people who were dying from the inside out because they were not willing to practice spiritual disciplines of bible study, prayer, fasting, solitude, and fellowship with other believers through Small/discipleship Groups. John Wesley used to ask his preachers, "How is your soul?" It is imperative that we pay attention to the inner life of our soul. If we do not do the hard work of caring for our souls, we inevitably die/rot from the inside out.

I find it incredibly interesting that the Word of the Lord, when discussing those who grow in righteousness, says this:

"They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." (Isaiah 61:3)

As I walked in the footsteps of John and Charles Wesley yesterday, these are the thoughts that came to mind as I studied the Live Oak. I hope it blesses you this day and I pray you become that "Oak of righteousness" the Lord talked about in Isaiah 61:3.

Peace...


PS - Stay tuned, I will post later about the BIG game Saturday. Remember, the person who picks the winning team and exact score gets a $50 gift certificate to your restaurant of choice. Stay tuned.

A Great Day!

I want you to imagine the best possible day. Imagine a perfect day for you. Do you have that image in your mind? Let me tell you about what might have been one of the best days of my life!

It started early. Amy Lynn and I awoke to the alarm clock at 5:00 am. After a brief cup of coffee, throwing our bathroom toiletries into the suit case, we headed to the airport. The sunrise this morning was breathtaking. By 7:00 am, we were in the friendly skies. By 8:30 am, we were sipping a latte while cruising toward downtown Jacksonville, Florida in a white mustang convertible. Again, the spring morning was breath-taking!

Amy Lynn has been missing some of her family and friends lately on "the farm" so we stopped by her old stomping grounds and visited loved ones. It was one of those priceless surprise visits!

We cruised downtown to a favorite Jacksonville hangout called, "The Landing," which is a boardwalk down by the Saint Johns River. On one side is the river and on the other side are all kinds of cool shops and excellent restaurants. After a slow stroll down by the river, and hanging out in some shops, we landed at a lovely restaurant, outside, on the second floor, and overlooking boats and birds and the rays of golden sunshine dancing on the river.

It was one of those long lunches. You know, a lunch that you never want to end. The good news is that it didn't have to end because we had plenty of time. So there we sat for three hours talking about life, newhope, our marriage, and each of our five kids. We actually talked about all five kids, how we think they are doing, how we think we are doing as parents and how we can do better as a family. Time like that doesn't come around often, friends.

It's about 3:00 pm by now so we take a ride up the coast and arrived at St. Simons by the Sea just in time for the conference. I guess they were expecting us because they gave us this incredible room! As soon as we walked into the room, a nice man came knocking on our door and handed us this basket of fruit from my assistant, Theresa Johnson, on behalf of newhope church! That was too cool!



THANK YOU THERESA!

We then took a walk under these 100 year old Oak Trees covered with Spanish moss. By now, the sun was setting on the marsh land so we enjoyed God's sunset and then joined hundreds of others in worship and Word! Here was our passage of focus this evening:

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Ephesians 2:19 - 20)

Friends, that is a great day! And just think, the conference continues with Holy Communion at 7:00 am tomorrow morning!

Night - night! I am going to sleep, with a smile on my face!

FLAME

Sup? It is late on Sunday night and I am still reflecting on the day at newhope. I can't believe the way God is moving among us. The hands that shot up in the air this morning in all three services blew my mind. Father God, unleash your power in the lives of those who surrendered to you this morning!

My blogging will be slightly limited this week. Amy Lynn and I board a plane at 7 am to fly into Jacksonville, Florida. From there, we will get a rental car and drive over to St. Simons by the Sea in Georgia. I have been invited to help lead a world-wide movement of Christian leaders called FLAME (Faithful Leaders and Missionary Evangelists).

I am looking forward to five straight days of worship, biblical teaching, new friends from around the world, and lots of one on time with Amy Lynn. I love my kiddos but it is really nice to get away from time to time with just Amy. :>) Please pray that God will move mightily at the conference. Pray that our hearts will be, in the words of John Wesley, strangely warmed! Pray that Amy Lynn and I will get some needed refreshment. Pray that God will enlarge our territory. And please pray that God will give us more and more vision of how He wants to lead our church family!

If you are around this weekend, I look forward to the start of our new series, "Crank It Up!" Remember to invite those friends.

See you Sunday.

Saturday Night Waiting and Sunday Morning Delivery

I might not be able to sleep tonight. I am super jazzed about tomorrow's worship and message. I get to preach in a boat! Gotta love it!

Go read Mark 4. Check out sleeping Jesus in the fetal position in the stern of the boat while the disciples melt down. I can't imagine how anyone would not like Jesus. Even for those who don't believe He was the Son of God, can't they see that He was the coolest person to ever walk planet earth! Sleeping Jesus in a wild and crazy storm!

Saturday nights are tough days/nights for me. It is the closest thing to pregnancy that a man like me can imagine. :>) I am sure I will get some feedback for that sentence from the women among us. But seriously, I liken Saturday nights to the waiting and delivery of pregnancy. Though I would not know for sure, I have vicariously been through this experience 4 times with my wife! (I know I have 5 kids but you must remember we have a set of twins)

On Saturday nights, I am done with a week of work. I am done with my sermon. There is nothing left to do but pray and wait - pray and wait - pray and wait. That is until the sun comes up in the morning and I give birth to the Word God has given me. It is weird thing to experience and I don't expect you to understand a word of what I am saying. :>)

I guess that is why I am so wiped out/exhausted on Sunday afternoons. When I leave the church every Sunday, I might not have a baby in my hand, but hopefully God has brought something beautiful forth and delivered it to His people.

I only hope and pray it is something that makes our Father proud.

Pray for me. If you are in town or passing through, I hope you will join us, in the delivery room that is... :>)

Peace -