Today Josh was honored at Rogers High for being among the top students in the Sophomore Class.  He was recognized with about 60 other sophomores (a total of 270 students in all were recognized) for maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or above.  He has raised his average to around 3.8 and has kept it there all year.  We are very proud of Josh as he excels at school.  He may not like school very much but he is passionate about doing his best.  Great job, Son!

Last night we went out for a gourmet dinner at Taco Bell.  As we are eating our Meximelt and Crunch Wrap, I noticed Hannah’s decision to make her own recipe.  She was enjoying Cinnamon Twists dipped in her Nacho Cheese.  It made all of us quesy but Hannah enjoyed it.

God’s Word brings life to our souls and it fits every part of our lives.  There is,however, a danger for making the Bible fit in places it does not speak.,

The other night, Hannah was in trouble and she was unhappy.  She has a little Gideon’s New Testament that I gave her and even though she can’t read, she reads it in  her own way.  Instead of it being a New King James Version, it is the New Hannah Version. 

After I had gotten onto her for something, she opened her Bible and read, “God says not to be mean to me.”  She then looks up at me with those eyes of “you better respond to God’s Word”.  So I replied to her, “God says to obey your father.”  (It is hard to win an argument with a 3 year old).  Hannah then goes to bed and decides to read her Bible some more.  I lay in the bed beside her and she turns toward me with her Bible.  “God says to get out of the bed.”  This time I just got up with no replies.

In our culture today, we try to make the Bible say what we want it to say.  We read into it more than it says.  We try to interpret the Word by reading between the lines.  The legalistic take passages that keep people bound rather than set them free.  Others, focus on the Scriptures that condone there lifestyle or they disregard passages that condemn it. 

Revelation 22:18 warns, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;”

God’s Word is 100% truth!  We cannot add to it or take away from it.  We must be careful to read it, study it and rightly divide the Word of Truth.  It is there for us to use that we might conform to the Word, instead of trying to make the Word conform to us.

Sunday’s message was one of those get to the bottom of the heart messages.  We talked about what it means to walk in the fear of the Lord.  It was a piercing look at things that we might need to change if we want to walk in the fear of the Lord.  This was a message built for a response at the altar.

At the conclusion of the message, the musicians normally come to the platform, but Sonya was in the nursery with Hannah who wasn’t feeling well.  So, as before, we were going to put on some light worship music instead of having live musicians.  The CD is normally in slot 1, but I forgot that we used that slot for a special Easter song by Judy Garland.  Here comes the Altar Call Fail.  You guessed it, heads are bowed, eyes are closed and Judy Garland starts to sing about 5th avenue.  That is the first time I have ever laughed in an altar call.  Then I lost my train of thought, forgot where I was and started to pray again.  Talk about killing the moment.

Listen to the clip of the altar call:

One thing I have learned about leadership is that we should never be afraid of failure and should always learn to laugh at our mistakes.  I tend to think that God might have gotten a kick out of that as well.  If we are too serious, we will be so afraid of failure that we will beat ourselves up over our failures.

As of yesterday the Astros were the only winless time in major league baseball.  That changed today.  They finally won a game.  You might question the fact that I am an Astro’s fan.  I believe that we should be fans when teams are winners and losers.  I wouldn’t want people to leave our church just because I have a bad Sunday preaching.  But I would also hope that I don’t become like the Astro’s and have eight bad ones in a row either.  If I do, the management might think of trading me.  Oh wait, church isn’t like baseball.  But if I made 5 million a year I would understand the board taking action like that:)

Hopefully the Astro’s will begin a turnaround.  Alot of great young talent Bud Norris, Michael Bourn, Tommy Manzella and Hunter Pence.  Go Astro’s!

What if today was the day for God to turn your circumstances around?

The amazing thing about life is that things can change in a matter of seconds.  Sometimes that is good and sometimes that is bad, but let’s dwell on the good.  You may have gone to bed with burdens weighing you down.  Maybe your worries keep you awake and you wonder will God ever come through for you.  All that can change in an instant!

In reading through the Psalms I stumbled across a verse that talks about the tables turning.  Sometimes we just need God to turn the tables to our favor.

Psalm 30:11, "You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."

This sounds good doesn’t it?  What you are facing today can be turned around.  There is nothing impossible with God!  Life certainly gets us down but it doesn’t have to keep us down.  We may fret at times but we do not have to live in fear.  We may be hurting on the inside but God wants to turn your mourning into dancing.

You may go to bed crying but you can wake up in the morning praising God for His goodness.  You never know what a new day holds.  His mercies are new every morning and joy comes in the morning. 

Life changes in an instant!  Your trials could be over before you know it.  Just trust God and let him turn your mourning into dancing.  Be of good cheer friend, God is in the turn around business.  Your turn around is right around the corner!